Short-Lived But Well-Loved

During the late evening hours of May 14, 1909, someone padded softly onto the front porch of the Fordyce home at 228 South Lincoln Street in Muncie. The person, apparently a young woman, left a bundle there in hopes of it being found. The family, carpenter James Leonard Fordyce, wife Henrietta, and adult daughters Edna and Mabel, saw a woman outside near the house around 9 o'clock, but no one thought twice about it. There was a well near the house that was regularly visited by strangers. Shortly after, the family called it a day and went to their rooms for the night. About 10 o'clock, Mrs Fordyce woke to what sounded like a baby crying. She woke her husband but the two initially attributed it to neighborhood cats, but as the sound continued, the couple made their way down to the front door. One can imagine there surprise when they opened to door to a month old baby boy waiting there. Soon, the house was abuzz with excitement. Police were summoned and Chief Van Benbow and Capt Hamilton Beall quickly arrived to investigate.

Capt Beall and his wife lived next door. Mrs Beall came forth and said that she had seen the woman come onto the Fordyce's porch but then left hurriedly. She speculated that the woman may have thought they were already in bed. Curiosity got the better of her and Mrs Beall stepped out of the back of her house to see where the woman went. In the dark, she got no good look at the woman crossing the tracks headed south. She shrugged it off and didn't think twice until she, too, heard the baby cry. She reached the Fordyce porch about the same time as the home-owner.

With no good look at the woman, there was no description to distribute and virtually no leads to follow up on. The tracks run just to the south of the house heading west through downtown, north east to Albany or east to Selma. She could have come from virtually anywhere. And gone back there just as quickly.

The child, a baby boy of about a month, appeared clean and well-kept, but was under-nourished. A clean change of clothing was tucked in with him. He was found to have a bit of a cold. After a string of questions for the dazed family, the officers concluded the child was in good care, at least until another plan could be put in place. Mr and Mrs Fordyce had raised three children of their own, a son Frank, and the two daughters. They had also taken in Mr Fordyce's young nephew, Rhotan Malcolm, about 3 years old at the time.

The baby seemed happy enough and reveled in the attention from the Fordyce family and all those who stopped by to see him. More than seventy-five people stepped up within 4 or 5 days to apply to take the little fellow in hopes of keeping him out of the children's home. Most would make fine arrangements for the baby.  The family, along with the local probation department, worked together in an effort to select a suitable foster family for him. The Fordyces could not afford to keep him as their own, but were willing to keep him until one was decided on. They hoped a decision would be made soon so they would not become too attached to him. He was doing well in their care though. His cold seemed to be subsiding, as was some tummy trouble resulting probably from his new diet.

After a week of contemplation, the family of oil worker Edward Fleming of Selma was selected to take the child. Mrs Cora Fleming had given birth to a baby boy of her own on January 4 of that year. Unfortunately, he only survived for about a day. They were willing and able to provide a loving environment for this abandoned child. They took their new baby to his new home on Friday May 21. Whether the process was much less cumbersome in 1909, or it was expedited based on the facts of the case, papers filed Monday May 24 resulted in the finalization on Tuesday the 25th. Probation Officer A M Van Nuys and the Board of Children's Guardians approved of the choice of the Fleming family. Judge Leffler of the Circuit Court agreed. The baby that had found himself a topic of front page news about 2 weeks prior left the court room as Ralph Eugene Fleming, legal child of Mr and Mrs Edward Fleming.

We don't know much about the next few months of Baby Ralph's life. One could imagine the little family making the most of their unexpected addition, especially after their heartbreak earlier in the year. But it seems that some health issues were not completely overcome. Tragedy struck. Little Ralph, the abandoned waif turned beloved community prince, passed away at his home near Selma in July of the same year.

Our Darling Babies
Children of Edward & Cora Fleming
1909
(Photo used with permission of photographer)

Both baby boys, Edward and Cora Fleming's natural born son and the adopted Ralph, are buried under this sad little marker in White Cemetery on the north side of Selma. The lettering across the top is a bit hard to read but says "Our Darling Babies".

Edward and Cora moved from Selma to Oklahoma following Ralph's death. In August of 1911, Cora gave birth to Edith Lucille. Cora and one-year-old Edith returned to Selma for a visit. No doubt old family friends were overjoyed at the site of the little girl. Edward and Cora passed away in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, decades later, Edward on May 27, 1942, and Cora on July 20, 1957. Daughter Edith, later Mrs J C Harris, lived to the ripe old age of 87.

If anyone has additional information on Ralph, please leave a comment or drop me a line at banksofwhiteriver@gmail.com. I am still looking for Ralph's death certificate should anyone come across it!

Eber Cemetery-A New Mystery

As part of my massive cemetery spreadsheet project, I ran across two (at this point) death certificates, dated 1901 and 1903, that mentioned burials in "Eber Cemetery". In four plus decades of local cemetery research, the isn't a name I have ever run across. One d.c even states that the cemetery is in Center Township. Unfortunately, both burials were for stillbirths or quick infant deaths which were seldom covering in the local news. A search of local newspapers resulted in obituaries for eight additional people buried there, wherever 'there' is. Of those, only one has appears to have a marked grave according to current entries on findagrave.com. That was the marker for Evan Weir, a local farmer and former deputy sheriff, who died 10 April 1915 found in Collins Cemetery. Other memorials on the site exist for several of the other people documented by the obituaries, but none have photographs. They may have had markers at one time but are no longer visible or legible.

Below are those I have found so far. Either the death certificate or obituary says Eber. No doubt there are more out there waiting to be discovered.

Cox	Charles	F	30	Jun	1915
Cunningham	Joseph		31	Oct	1902
Eppard	Infant	Son	14	Apr	1904
Eppard	Mary	E	5	Sep	1916
Eppard	Ruth	May	9	Aug	1925
Eppard	Sarah	A	22	Mar	1914
Eppard	Virgil		18	Nov	1921
Harper	Ralph		23	Aug	1914
Miller	Infant	Daughter	13	Jan	1903
Morgan	Marie	Adeline	31	Jan	1933
Rank	Infant	Daughter	24	Apr	1901
Weir	Evan		10	Apr	1915

Thomas Collins of Scioto County, Ohio, received the land where Collins Cemetery lies via patent from the federal government on 15 November 1830. The parcel was described as the East half of the Northwest quarter, section 18, township 20 North, range 10 East.

Lost in the Shuffle

Mortuary markers are meant to temporarily identify graves until a permanent marker can be placed. They are often made up of a metal frame with letters that snap in. Many also contain dates. Weather and yard maintenance often result in a loss of the letters and numbers, and eventually, the little marker disappears altogether taking with it all opportunity to identify the grave.

A cemetery transcription for Zion Chapel Cemetery in Washington Township done in the 1970s included a mortuary marker for William Morgan. The following decade, William's was no longer around, but one for Mary Morgan was found. What was the relationship between William and Mary? Husband and wife? Father and daughter? Mother and son? The mystery became buried in the ever-growing files (or piles) of things to research later.

Over the decades since those markers were discovered, more and more information has been made available online. With no birth or death dates available, pinning them down might take more than a few clicks. No records appeared to fit either William or Mary in Delaware County. As part of a massive burial database and paper trail project for the Delaware County Historical Society, a death certificate for Florence Marie Morgan, born 21 April 1910 and died 15 May 1910. The little girl's parents were listed as W Elias and Mary (Roberts) Morgan and her burial location was listed as Zion. That find moved the Morgan mystery to the top of the pile...err...file.

A few hours renewed enthusiasm resulted in not only the confirmation of their relationship as husband and wife as well as their death information, it also brought to light the names of ten of Mary's twelve children (six identified as belonging to William and four, possibly six, belonging to her former husband, Abraham Miller. Four of those fathered by William died as infants or children. Their burial locations have also been confirmed in Zion Chapel Cemetery.


Children of Abraham Miller and Mary Roberts
Cora D Miller Gillenwater 14 Feb 1889-17 August 1980
Odie Otto Miller 15 Jan 1895-30 Nov 1948
James Miller 14 Sep 1897-31 Jul 1990
Henry/Harry F Miller 27 Apr 1899-23 Dec 1967

Children William Morgan and Mary Roberts
Leroy "Roy" Morgan 28 April 1906-25 April 1911
Mable Lavonne Morgan 2 Feb 1908-9 Nov 1983
Florence Marion Morgan 21 Apr 1910-15 May 1910
Eddie Leroy Morgan 13 August 1911-23 February 1912
Etta Mae Morgan 13 August 1911-10 Feb 1912
Charles Harold Morgan 7 November 1912-3 December 1986

Two additional children who were born and died prior to 1910. Based on the timing of Mary's identified children, it seems they were most likely born between Harry born 1899 and Mary's marriage to William in 1905 or between Cora born 1889 and Odie born 1895.

None of the Morgans buried at Zion have any sort of marker as of 21 May 2020.

Mary E Roberts married Abraham Miller on 20 January 1888. The couple lived together as man and wife until 20 November 1901. She filed for divorce on 6 October 1902 on the grounds that Abraham had treated her cruelly and inhumanely, and was a habitual drunkard who refused to provide for his wife and children. She stated that he had had been 'calling her vile and indecent names, and accusing her of being unchaste, in the presence and hearing of others'.  He had regularly spent what little money he had in areas saloons. The situation had reached the point of Mary having to make her own way. At the time she filed, she requested that the court grant her custody of the couple's four children, Cora aged 13, Odie aged 6, James aged 3 and Harry aged two and a half. She had left the children with Abraham in Grant County as she tried to find sufficient work as a house keeper to support herself and the children while living near Gaston.