INDIANA GENEALOGY TRAILS a proud member of Genealogy Trails presents
Lake County, Indiana
Genealogy and History
View of Gary, Indiana in 1910.
Welcome to this Lake County, Indiana Genealogy Trails website.
My name is Kim and I will be your host for this website.
I do regret that I am super-busy and just don't
have enough hours in a day to perform personal research for anybody.
Our group's goal is to transcribe data and add it to our sites and any Lake County data I come across will eventually
be put on this site, so please continue to check back here.
Lake County is a big place, with lots of people, making it a daunting place to research. In fact, it's the second
most populated county in Indiana and is loosely considered a suburb of Chicago. Before its proximity to Chicago
and its relatively low taxes made it a popular place to live and commute to Chicago from, the big draw to the area
were the steel mills. From the early 1900's and on, the steel mills lured many immigrants to the area. The city
of Gary was actually founded by the United States Steel Corporation as the home for its new plant in 1906 and was
named after the chairman of U.S. Steel, Elbert H. Gary. They employed thousands and paid well, attracting a big
melting pot of nationalities throughout "The Region". Though ethnically diverse, it has always been racially
divided, with middle class and more affluent residents having long left Gary for the surrounding towns.
Crown Point's courthouse had the early reputation of being a "marriage mill". If you're looking for your
Cook County, IL ancestors, make sure to check Lake County, Indiana's marriage records.
Lake County was formally organized February 15, 1837, and was named for its location on Lake Michigan.
It is divided into 10 Civil Townships:
Calumet ~ Cedar Creek ~ Center ~ Eagle Creek ~ Hanover
Hobart ~ North ~ Ross ~ St. John ~ West Creek ~ Winfield
Cities and Towns Cedar Lake ~ Crown Point ~ Dyer ~ East Chicago ~ Gary ~ Griffith
Hammond ~ Highland ~ Hobart ~ Lake Dalecarlia ~ Lake Station
Lakes of the Four Seasons ~ Lowell ~ Merrillville ~ Munster ~ New Chicago
Schererville ~ Schneider ~ St. John ~ Whiting ~ Winfield
Crown Point is the County Seat. Prior to establishing the County Seat, court was conducted in the home of Milo
Robinson,
as nearly all the lands within the limits of Lake County were still the property of the government.
Liverpool was selected the first County Seat.
The County Seat was moved back to the location of Milo Robinson's home
and was originally to be called "Lake County Courthouse". The name was latter changed to Crown Point.
First settled in 1835, by Solon Robinson, Esq., by 1849, Crown Point contained three stores, one hotel, Presbyterian
and Methodist churches, a good High School kept by the Rev. Wm. Townley, and about thirty-five dwelling houses.
Website Updates:
Apr 2013: obit for GYURE, LOWELL fire news story; sicklist
involving fighter Jack Johnson; crime news involving fighters O'Malley, Costello; divorce notice for MICHAEL
Oct 2012: Marriage Licenses from 1935, 1938 and 1940
Aug 2012: Crime news re: RYAN; obit for HAYES
July 2012: History of Cedar Creek Twp; List of Populated places
June 2012: bio of John P. Reeder; MORGAN death notice; Marriage Announcement for CLEMENT-MCFARLAND
May 2012: Crime news for JOHNSON; bio and congressional recognition for Agnes Lynch
Mar 2012: BLACK death notice; Weather news story; Community News: Annual convention of High Court of Foresters
Feb 2012: Gossip news for JANNOCK
Jan 2012: obit for HICKS
Dec 2011: Bios for ALBERT, BONEY, BROWNELL, BURNHAM, DUTTON, DODGE, GERRISH, MERRILL, MICHAEL, RAGAN, REIGER, SPAULDING,
TRAUT, WELLS, WISE, BRYANT
Nov 2011: obits for BOWERS, BARRS
Aug 2011: Crime News story for McInerny
Apr 2011: Crime News story; Death notice for WOOD; Old Settler Deaths 1928-1933; "Early Days in Munster"
Feb 2011: Divorce stories, Crime news from 1913, death notice for HANSEN, marriage notice WARD-COLE; obit for ALSPACH
Jan 2011: PIEPHO obit
Dec 2010: St. Peter and Paul Cemetery Burials; Burials in Merrillville Cemetery, Chester/Ainsworth Cem., Holtzworth/Holtzwarth
Cem, Lake Prairie Cemetery, Sturdevant Cemetery
Nov 2010: Hammond Deaths, A Surname
Aug 2010: The first marriages 1837-1849 with license date and "married by" info; Pioneers residing in
Lake county 60 years or more; Burials in St. Francis Xavier Cemetery; Native American Data
Jul 2010: Interview with ex-slave John Eubanks; 1923-24 "Pioneer" Deaths; 1924-1929 "Pioneer"
Deaths
