Are We Related?: Lewis, Spencer and Herndon (revisited)

November 4, 2024

I go through a lot of names while searching for ‘Are We Related’ connections for this blog series. Some of those names are not represented in our collections. Those are the easy ones to discard. Other surnames, those found in our holdings, cause me to fall down the rabbit hole trying to locate connections between individuals named in our collections and those related to myself or other staff members.

After a year of working on this blog, I wanted to run through a couple of names that I have been researching for this project from my own family trees. Some of the surnames, Barenie, Sabol, Jadrnak, et cetera, don’t come up in the IHS library collections. Though I wish they did, they are easily placed on the blog option chopping block for this series. Others, such as Lewis, Spencer and Herndon, all find representation in the library holdings, all with multiple avenues to explore.

Amy Spencer, originally of Logansport, in Terre Haute while attending St. Anthony’s Nurses Training School (ca. 1925) and Geraldine Spencer, a 1931 graduate of Honey Creek High School in Vigo County (ca. 1930). Martin Collection, IHS

Take for instance Spencer, there are two photographs in our Martin Photo Collection of women sharing the Spencer last name. After sleuthing my way through city directories, digitized newspapers, census records, and any other forms of information I could get my hands on, I determined that neither of the two ladies pictured above are related to my Spencer family out of Northwest Indiana, particularly my great-grandmother, Ina (Spencer) Barenie.

Cards related to the medical education of Samuel B. Lewis, Cincinnati, early 1860s; Image of Mrs. William Lewis and children, Terre Haute, 1929. IHS, M0331; Martin Collection, IHS (cropped)

Another name that I have been researching is also through my great-grandmother’s line, but a couple of generations removed. My Lewis ancestors appear most recently in the form of Amanda (Lewis) Spencer Melcher, the grandmother of Ina, above referenced. Amanda was born and lived in [English] Canada, more specifically Ontario, before moving to Northwest Indiana. From what I can determine she is not related to either of the Lewis’ mentioned above, in the collection of Dr. Samuel Bigger Lewis (1840-1920), or as related to the William Lewis family appearing in the photograph from Terre Haute in 1929. The William Lewis family is more complex to determine given the common nature of the first and last name and the lack of a photograph of the father who carried the Lewis surname into adulthood. However, much investigation into historical records took place, and no obvious connections were found.

Ken & Barbara Herndon, Indianapolis, 2002. IHS, P0637

Finally, returning back to a name for which a connection was already found in the very first blog of the ‘Are We Related’ series, Herndon, another potential match was researched. In the Indianapolis Coffeehouses oral history collection, Ken and Barbara Herndon are noted as being former managers of the Sonshine Inn, a Christian coffee house. With the interview, conducted by Sarah (Wagner) Metcalf as thesis research, a photograph, shown above, as well as a tape of an interview with the Herndons is available. I probably had the most hope of a connection, yet again, with this surname, Herndon. There are some family parallels such as a Kentucky connection and common family first names. Though I haven’t dug deep enough yet, this one could be a match. You may see a full ‘Are We Related’ on this connection in the future.

Overall, this continuing blog series really helps me to bring life not only to my family connections but those of my colleagues. It’s really interesting to see what avenues I need to take to try and find those with the same surnames in the Historical Society’s collections as well as matching them up to our families. It really does take you down a rabbit hole.

Speaking of that, don’t miss out on the new subseries of IHS’ Unbound podcast, Unbound: Down the Rabbit Hole. The first episode is available here along with the other episodes of the 3^rd season of Unbound already released!

Amy Vedra is the director of reference services. She is currently reading her way through the Great American Reads list.

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