 The Forming of Ripley County (Some history) |  |
| LOCAL HISTORY AND GENEALOGY LIBRARY |
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P. O. Box 525 Versailles, Indiana 47042 812-689-3031 |
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Hours: Monday - Tuesday - Thursday - Friday 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM |
Membership Fees: Life Membership $150 Annual Membership & Renewal $20 Renewals due by 1st of each new year. |
Library Use Fees: Members Free Non-Members $10 Daily Everyone pays copy fee of $1.00 per page. |
| The next quarterly meeting will be April 14, 2024 at the Archives, 2 p.m. |
| RCHS is not legally liable or responsible for the content on non-RCHS websites that are linked to on these pages. |
Requests for information MUST BE MAILED to us! There is a $10.00 research fee, plus copy fees of $1.00 a page. Send an extra $1.00 postage for more than 5 pages of copies.
Questions mailed without the fee and an SASE will be answered with minimal information, but copies will not be sent until the fee is received.
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| Past Quarterly Bulletins |
| The following links are presented to this website by Joseph M Jarvis, with thanks from RCHS! (Opens in new tab.) Transcription of the 1880 will of Harvey Jarvis Transcription of the 1840 will of James Jarvis |
| Effectively Tapping in to Local, County, State Historical Societies and Libraries by Barry J. Ewell is an excellant presentation for genealogists - both the newbies and experts! Companion article for the presentation. These files are in PDF form. Get the latest Adobe Reader here |
| ADOLPHUS DIMMICK a small bio. |
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| Name | Price Add $7.50 if mail order | Name | Price Add $7.50 if mail order Lest We Forget WWII by Norris & Joan Krall | 25.00
| Ripley County Indiana, Volume 1 (hard bound) | 65.00 | Ripley County Indiana, Volume II (paperback | spiral bound) 25.00 | Brown Twp.Tales by Alan Smith | 20.00 | Osgood, IN Sesquicentennial 1856-2006 | 17.00 | Vintage Postcards by Alan Smith | 20.00 | Jackson Township Cemetery Index | 13.00 | Brown Township Cemetery Index | 10.00 | Johnson Township Cemetery Index | 10.00 | Broken Wings, By Robert Kelly | 20.00 | Versailles, IN School Life 1818-1966 | 20.00 | Napoleon & Vicinity 1820 Sesqui-Centennial 1970 Historical Souvenir | 12.00 | Sugar Branch by Don Morrison | the Morrison family in Switzerland County (Historical fiction) 16.00 | The Dark Line by Don Morrison | the Morrison family in Switzerland County (historical fiction) 20.00 | A Century of Schools by Alan Smith | 20.00 | Adams Twp. Cemetery Directory | 10.00 | History of Adams Twp 1950 by Harold Freeland | 20.00 | Milan Indiana: A Storied Past 1854-2004 | 16.00 | Old Timbers by Chilton Thompson | 23.00 | Revolutionary War Soldiers and Patriots | with ties to Ripley County Indiana by Marlene Jan McDerment 34.00 | Story of the Bradt Fund, the F. Hale Bradt Family | and their Versailles, Indiana farm 1906-2001 n/c | Take the River a DVD PBS presentation | 25.00 | Tales of Versailles by Alan Smith | 16.00 | The First Bright Days of Elvis by Josephine Rascoe Keenan | 14.00 | Wilbur's War by Hale Bradt | 15.00 | In Those Dazzling Days of Elvis by Josephine Rascoe Keenan | 14.00 | |
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to purchase one or more books or for more information |
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Visit the RCHS buildings
located in Versailles.
 RIPLEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY library located in the old Versailles Bank Building. 
Smith-Engel log cabin built about 1830 located behind museum. Built & owned by Jacob & Nancy Funkhouser |
Courtesy of Margaruite Walker  Photo by Ann Gibbs. |
 | Ripley County Veterans | St. Magdalene Catholic Cemetery |
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| The Society of Indiana Pioneers |
| Some Ripley Trivia |
| Morgan and his raiders entered Ripley County from Jennings County on Sunday, July 13, 1863. Their first
stop was at Rexville in Shelby township, where a general store was looted. From Rexville they
marched to Versailles where they were met at the new courthouse by a hurriedly summoned band of
the militia and citizens. The raiders seized the guns belonging to the militia and broke them against the
corner of the courthouse, which at that time was not completed. The Deputy County Treasurer, B.
F. Spencer, had buried the county funds for safety from the raiders. The treasurer's office was looted
and it is reported that several thousand dollars was taken by the raiders. Private citizens having funds or
valuable jewelry and silverware hid them in a safe place. Many housewives hung their jewelry in the
bean vines and other secret hiding places. Horses were hidden as well as possible in advance of the
raiders, as they constantly seized fresh horses, leaving worn out nags, occasionally, in their stead.
Housewives were ordered to prepare meals for the marauding cavalry and feed was appropriated
for their animals, all available supplies were used or carried away. The detachment, to be known
forever in American history as Morgan's Raiders, did not march in a compact body but followed a
general course in scattered units, the central force of about three thousand men, containing the
leaders--John Morgan, and his two lieutenants. |