Kosciusko County, Indiana
Thanks to the efforts of Sue Zellers, presented here are the records from the Kosciusko County Farm, also known as the Kosciusko County Infirmary. This is a good place to look for individuals that seem to have disappeared. These records are from four books in the Kosciusko County genealogy library. The frist book started in February, 1879 and ended November, 1907. During this time, quite a few individuals died and were buried "on the farm". There remains a question as to exactly where on the farm these individuals were buried. About 2/3 of those who died there have no other death record in the county. There also were births, some with the exact time of birth. In this book you can find age and place of birth. Book 2 covers March 1907 through December 1926. In this book they listed the fathers name along with the mothers maiden name, place of birth, age, and physical & mental condition. In 1920 all deaths in our county had to be recorded by the county health department. If you find a death after 1920 there will be a death certificate. Book 3 is from December 1926 through January 1938. It includes all of the above information. Book 4 is of a different shape. It takes you from December 1948 to March 1953. Now the "county farm" is more like a nursing home. There are some names that did not have any other information in these books.
This was a working farm. If they could do any type of work, they did. There are two other books that go along with this set of books. One is the receipt book that shows the farms earning by selling the milk, eggs, flour, etc. The other is for visitors that came to visit those that were living there. This book does not tell who they came to visit.
The page numbers listed with a (-) means that person was there through all of the pages listed. If there is a comma they are only listed on those pages. There is a column listed a remarks. Some of the younger children were sent to the orphan homes, some of the older ones went of solders homes or the asylums.
Created 6 March 1999
Gene Andert / Fort Wayne, IN / gandert@mac.com