Sifting for clues
A short musing
I can’t decide whether it’s exhilirating or depressing that so much time is spent chasing tiny little clues to how things went down ere so long ago. Both, I guess. There are a lot of wrong turns. But occasionally there is a connection, and all the work is justified.
The official Medaryville sesquicentennial book, published in 2003, doesn’t have any chapters, page numbers, or any other means of navigation. Just page after page after page of stuff, with more stuff after it. A few minutes ago I realized that I have now TWICE read some of these same facts, missed their significance, and then later on, book closed and no markers left within, I suddenly realize a connection. Then what?
That said: Henry Poisel paid for a license from the town in 1904 to sell liquor. This must have been the grandson of “our” Henry Poisel, who died in 1887. Frank Baughman’s house downtown burned in 1895. C. L. Posey’s business interests seem legion. Henry Ballard put in the foundation for the cheese factory. Frank Baughman owned the house I now own from 1891 to 1893, and then again from 1910 to 1914. Before and between, it was owned by other members of his immediate family. The first of the line was Mary Poisel, Henry’s widow and Martha Posey’s mother. She bought it in 1888. The land it sits on was was sold by developer Wm. O. Clark to Dr. William T. Elston, Medaryville’s first doctor, who was the second owner of the hotel. His wife and children developed it as Theodocia Elston’s Addition to the town. Properly, the street in front of the house should be called Elston Street instead of Ridge Street. Someday I would like to see the street signs corrected.
Cyrus and Martha Posey are buried in the Medaryville cemetary.
Posted by Brian Capouch on Saturday, November 18, 2006