Our Casbon Journey

A Letter from Wisconsin

February 13, 2020April 15, 2020 admin1 Comment

Among the many newspaper articles I found in early Porter County, Indiana, newspapers (on microfilm) last year was this one, from the Porter County Vidette, 17 January 1901.

It is an interesting article because it refers to a letter written by the former Anna Mae Casbon, now married to [John] Newton Kitchell and living in a remote part of Wisconsin. The letter gives some interesting details about this period of Anna’s life. One wonders to whom the letter was addressed and how it came to the attention of the newspaper. Did she intend it for publication?

Anna was the second daughter of Jesse and Emily (Price) Casbon. She has been featured in several earlier posts. Anna was born 22 December 1876 on the family farm outside of Valparaiso, Indiana.^[1] Her mother died when Anna was 16 years old.

Anna married Newton Kitchell in Porter County on 9 July 1898.^[2] They must have moved to Wisconsin soon after the wedding, since their first child, Jesse, was born there in December 1898. We find Newton, Anna, and Jesse living in the town of Cavour, Wisconsin, in the 1900 U.S. census.^[3]

Detail from 1900 U.S. census, Cavour, Forest County, Wisconsin (Click on image to enlarge)

In the census, Newton’s occupation is listed as a “day laborer,” yet he owns his own home, and apparently a 100-acre farm as well. I wonder if he had help paying for these.

The Kitchell family had been in Porter County for decades. Why did Newton and Anna leave Indiana for Wisconsin? Were there family connections on the Kitchell side? Were there good job opportunities? Anna’s letter tells us the sawmills were running continuously, but she doesn’t say if Newton was working in one. Perhaps he was working in the sawmills in winter and intended to farm in the summer.

Forest County is in the northernmost part of Wisconsin, just below the Michigan upper peninsula. From the letter, it seems that the family was living in the town of Wabeno for the winter months. Wabeno is in the southern part of Forest County, and is about 15 miles south of Cavour, where the family was recorded in the 1900 census.

Composite map showing Wisconsin and Forest County; Wabeno (Anna’s home in the news article), Cavour
(family’s residence, 1900 census), and Lilypad Lake are circled (Google Maps) (Click on image to enlarge)

The article tells us that the family would move to Newton’s farm at Lilypad Lake in the spring. Was this to be a permanent move, or was the home only habitable in warmer months? This photo, taken about 1902 (based on estimated ages of the two boys), is labeled “Hunting Lodge Wisconsin” on the back.

Photo showing John Newton Kitchell (“Dad’s Father”), Anna Mae (Casbon) Kitchell (“Mother),
Steven and Jesse Kitchell (the two small children) and other unknown people;
courtesy of John N. Casbon (Click on image to enlarge)

The photo shows Newton, Anna and their two sons, Jesse and Steven, who was born in August 1900. Other than being in Wisconsin, the location of the hunting lodge is unknown, although it seems likely that it was taken in Forest County.

While the tone of Anna’s letter seems positive and the photo appears to show a happy family gathering, all was not well between Anna and her husband. Anna left Newton and moved to Minnesota in about 1904 (see “1905, Red Lake County, Minnesota”), and later, back to Indiana. At some point, Anna divorced Newton and had her name and that of her children changed back to Casbon. I haven’t been able to locate the divorce paperwork. However, thanks to the divorce and name change, her descendants live on today with the Casbon name.

[1] “Mrs. Anna Mae Fleming,” The (Valparaiso, Indiana) Vidette-Messenger, 21 Dec 1957, p. 2, col. 5 (Newspaper Archive).
[2]Porter County, Indiana, Marriage Record Book 11, Sept 1895–Jan 1899, p. 430; imaged as “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1410397 : accessed 18 June 2017) >Porter > 1895-1899 Volume 11 > image 254 of 286; citing Porter County Clerk, Valparaiso.
[3]1900 U.S. Census, Forest County, Wisconsin, Cavour, ED 39, sheet 5B; FamilySearch.

“Short a hand”

February 8, 2020April 15, 2020 admin3 Comments

This is my 10^th post for the Guild of One-Name Studies blog challenge 2020. The challenge was to write ten blog posts in the first twelve weeks of the year.

Today’s post features two newspaper articles about an unfortunate incident that occurred in 1889 in rural Porter County, Indiana.

Source: The Porter County Vidette, 18 Jul 1889

The boy who lost his hand was Lawrence J. Casbon, who was born in Porter County
26 August 1875. Another article provides more details about the incident.

News clipping from unknown paper, courtesy of Ilaine Church

Young Lawrence was lucky to escape with his life. I have a hard time believing that he reacted as “cooly” as the first article states. It was quite literally a traumatic experience. Imagine what it must have been like—the horses getting spooked by the noise of the mower and then and then bolting, young Lawrence hanging on for dear life until he could hold on no longer; then being dragged and losing a hand in the blink of an eye. It must have seemed surreal. Life on the farm could be dangerous.

The mower in question was probably a sickle-arm machine in which a set of reciprocating blades would be lowered to the side to cut a swath of grass. The operator was seated above the axle and a horse team was hitched in front. For a short video demonstrating how the mower worked, click here. Now imagine the horses panicking while you are trying to ride the mower!

“Oliver Mower – Eureka, MT – Old Agricultural Equipment” on Waymarking.com

We know from later reports (see “Lawrence J Goes Transcontinental”) that Lawrence recovered from his injury and was able to adapt to being one-handed. He became a successful entrepreneur and businessman. I believe he was the first of the Indiana Casbons to enter into a non-agricultural career field.

Portrait of Lawrence and his wife Lydia May (Pauter); courtesy of Ron Casbon

For those familiar with Porter County, here is a map showing the location of Charles Casbon’s farm, just south of Division Road and just west of Sager Rd, in Morgan Township.

Detail map showing location of Charles Casbon’s farm; Lee and Lee’s atlas of Porter County, Indiana : Illustrated, (Chicago: Lee & Lee, 1895); Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/)

The Photographer

February 5, 2020April 15, 2020 admin1 Comment

This is my ninth post in the Guild of One-name Studies (GOONS) blog challenge 2020.

A post by fellow GOONS member Vivienne Dunstan was the inspiration for today’s post. She reported on a photograph she found on eBay that showed someone with her surname of interest. I was curious whether I could do the same so I logged into eBay and typed in “Casbon.” The search mainly turned up a few books (not mine!) and marketing items such as t-shirts with “Casbon” printed on them. However, one item of particular interest turned up—a photograph taken by Charles Casbon of Hornsey, London, England. The owner of the photograph was kind enough to let me use the images.

Carte de visité (front and back), portrait of two young girls, taken by “Chas. Casbon,” undated
(courtesy of Helen Flavin, Black Cat Books & Ephemera, Wiltshire, United Kingdom)

The little girls are cute, but I was interested in the photographer, not his subjects. We see that Chas. Casbon was a professional photographer with a studio located at 6 Alexandra Road, Hornsey. The picture on the back of the card depicts a camera on a stand in front of a screen. The information given about the photograph on the eBay site says that the original size is 4 by 2.5 inches.

A website dedicated to London photographers says that Charles Casbon had his studio on Alexandra Road from 1888 to 1892,^[1] while another source says he was located there until 1896.^[2] Thus we can date the photograph to this range of dates.

This kind of photograph is known as a carte de visité. They consisted of small photographs mounted on card stock measuring about 4 by 2.5 inches, and usually containing printed information about the photographers on the back. Cartes de visité were immensely popular in the late 1800s and early 20^th century. People collected and kept them in albums.^[3]

Charles Wheeley Casbon received brief mention in an earlier blog post about his father, Thomas, who was suspected of jumping into the Thames in an unsuccessful suicide attempt. (See also “Lost Man, Found”) Charles was descended from the “Peterborough Casbons,” a family that settled in the vicinity of Peterborough, Northamptonshire, in the mid 1800s. I have never been able to connect this family to my own. The earlier generations, including Charles’s father, were all gardeners (see “How doth your garden grow?“). Charles was probably the namesake for the “Charley Casbon” flower I discovered in an 1871 Washington, D.C., gardening catalog a few years ago.

Advertisement for “Charley Casbon”; John Saul, Descriptive catalogue of new, rare and beautiful plants, dahlias, chrysanthemums, geraniums, fuchsias, carnations, verbenas, phloxes, &c. for spring, 1871 (Philadelphia: Horticultural Book & Job Print, 1871), p. 30; Internet Archive

Charles was born in Peterborough on 18 June 1866.^[4] His given name on the Peterborough St. Mary’s parish baptismal register was Charles Thomas Casbon.^[5]

Detail from Peterborough St. Mary’s parish register, 1866; note the father’s occupation: “Nurseryman”

His mother, Emily (Cantrill) filed for divorce when Charles was 2 years old, and it appears that he lived with her after the divorce. Her dislike of her former husband must have been intense, because at some point Charles’s middle name was changed from Thomas to Wheeley, the middle name of Emily’s father, Samuel W. Cantrill. Charles, his mother, and his sister were enumerated at Samuel’s residence for the 1871 and 1881 censuses. In the 1891 census, we find Charles as the head of household, residing at 6 Alexandra Rd. in Hornsey, a district in North London. This is the same address as that given for his studio. His occupation is recorded as “photographic artist.” His mother and sister are also in the household, along with a visitor, a boarder, and one servant.^[6]

Detail from 1891 England census for Hornsey, Middlesex; Ancestry (Click on image to enlarge)

In the 1901 census, he is listed as a visitor in a different Hornsey household; his occupation is given as “photographer’s draughtsman.” This seems like a step down from having his own studio.

I haven’t found Charles in the 1911 census, but he does appear in 1910 and 1912 London city directories, still living in Hornsey, but now living at Rathcoole Gardens (road). It is unknown whether he was still in the photography business at the time. The only other record I have is a copy of a French death certificate from Levallois-Perret, a suburb of Paris, showing that Charles had been residing in Paris. He died at the age of 63 on 6 August 1930.^[7] The death certificate includes the word “artiste,” so this probably explains what he was doing in France.

There is no record of a marriage or of children being fathered by Charles; therefore no descendants to preserve his memory.

[1] PhotoLondon website (https://www.photolondon.org.uk/).
[2] Photographers of Great Britain & Ireland website (http://www.victorianphotographers.co.uk/).
[3] Richard Davies, “The First Great Photography Craze: Cartes de Visites,” 14 Mar 2019, PetaPixel (https://petapixel.com/2019/03/14/the-first-great-photography-craze-cartes-de-visites/ : accessed 4 Feb 2020).
[4] “Casbon vs. Casbon,” Court Minutes, Her Majesty’s Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes, no. 787 JS; image copy, “England & Wales., Civil Divorce Records, 1858-1915”, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2465/ : accessed 19 Feb 2017); citing The National Archives; Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes, later Supreme Court of Judicature: Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Files; Class: J 77; Piece: 84; Item: 787.
[5] Peterborough (Northamptonshire) parish register, baptisms 1866, no. 494; image copy, “Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1912”, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9200/).
[6] 1891 England census, Hornsey, Edmonton, Middlesex; image copy, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6598/); citing The National Archives, RG 12, piece 1059, folio 130, p. 51.
[7] “UK, Foreign and Overseas Registers of British Subjects, 1628-1969,” image copy, Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1993 : accessed 18 September 2018) ; citing The National Archives, RG 32/16.

Sunday School

January 31, 2020 admin4 Comments

This is my eighth post in the Guild of One-Name Studies blog challenge 2020.

Many genealogy researchers have learned that old books can be a valuable source of information about their ancestors. Many books that are no longer protected by copyright have been digitized and are available online. The three book sources that I use most often are Internet Archive, Hathi Trust Digital Library, and Google Books. You can go to any of these sites and type in a search term, such as a surname, and then get a list of books containing that search term. A regular Google search will also find these references, although they may be scattered throughout the search results.

A recent search turned up a source, titled The Sunday Schools of Lake: An Account of the Commencement and Growth of the Sunday Schools of Lake County, Indiana, from about 1840 to 1890.^[1] The book was written to commemorate the 25^th anniversary of the Lake County Sunday-school Convention, an interdenominational annual meeting of many of the county’s churches, as well as “the 50^th Anniversary of Sunday-school work in Lake County.”^[2]

In addition to giving a detailed history of Sunday schools in the county, the book provides a listing of students enrolled in the Convention’s Sunday schools in 1890. A few Casbon names turned up in this list.

Detail from pages 161-2 of The Sunday Schools of Lake, showing students enrolled at the Deep River Union School in 1890; (note: “1888” next to the name of the school is the year the school was organized)
(Click on image to enlarge)

The three names on page 161, Charles, Lawrence and T. (Thomas) Casbon, are all known to me. They are the sons of my second great-grandfather, Sylvester Casbon. Sylvester had moved to Deep River from Porter County in about 1865. Lawrence was born in 1865 to Sylvester’s first wife, Mary Adaline (Aylesworth), who died in 1868. Thomas and Charles were born in 1870 and 1872, respectively, to Sylvester’s second wife, Emilene Harriet (Perry), who died in 1874. In 1890, Lawrence, Thomas, and Charles would have been about 25, 20, and 18 years old, respectively. All three were still unmarried.

I must admit that I am completely baffled by the name on page 162—Stella Casbon. There is no other record of a child with that name. She does not appear in vital records, census reports, family histories, newspaper articles, or photographs. The fact that she was enrolled in the Boys’ and Girls’ class tells us that she would have been younger than the three Casbon sons. But there are no records of a younger daughter being born to Sylvester. Nor was a child of that name born to any of Sylvester’s siblings. There is no record that Sylvester’s third wife, Mary (Mereness) had any children. There were no other Casbon families living in Lake County at the time. So, who was Stella? I just don’t know.

The fact that the Casbon name appears in this book led me to reflect upon the religious beliefs and practices of the early Indiana Casbons. I’ll say at the outset that there is insufficient information to draw any firm conclusions. The Indiana Casbons are all descended from Isaac Casbon of Meldreth, Cambridgeshire, England, who lived from about 1773 to 1825. The baptisms, marriages, and burials of Isaac’s family were recorded in the parish registers (i.e., Church of England) of Meldreth and nearby parishes. Since this was the near universal practice of the time, it tells us nothing about the family’s religious beliefs or practices. The baptisms of two of Isaac’s children, Joseph and James, were not recorded, which suggests that the sacrament was not a high priority. As a poor agricultural laborer, Isaac was at the lower end of the social order. Putting bread on the table was probably a higher priority than religious practices.

Of Isaac’s son Thomas, my third great-grandfather, nothing is written about his religious beliefs. The few biographical references I have seen do not mention religion. If he is mentioned in church records in the U.S., I am not aware of them.

However, I do have a little information about Thomas’s sons. An 1882 biographical sketch of Sylvester Casbon, the father of the three sons mentioned above, states that “he is liberal in politics, attends church, and is much esteemed by his neighbors.”^[3] The 1912 History of Porter County Indiana includes sketches about Sylvester and his brother Charles. Of Sylvester, the book says “he and his wife are members and liberal supporters of the Christian church [of Valparaiso, Indiana], with Rev. Hill as their pastor.”^[4] Charles and his wife, Mary (Marrell) were also said to be liberal supporters of the same church.^[5] Sylvester’s obituary also mentions his membership in the Christian church.^[6] The fact that Sylvester and his brother were members of this church tells us that they considered themselves to be Christians, like the majority of Americans at the time. However, it tells us nothing about how important their Christian beliefs were to them.

The Christian church referred to above is now known as First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and was founded at Valparaiso, Indiana, in 1837.^[7] A modern source describes the denomination in these terms: “the Disciples of Christ, also known as the Christian Church, has no creed and gives its congregations complete autonomy in their doctrine. As a result, beliefs vary widely from individual church to church, and even among members of a church.”^[8] Thus, it is hard to tell exactly what the members of The Christian Church in Valparaiso believed.

First Christian Church, Valparaiso, Indiana, 1950 (https://www.fccvalpo.org/our-building-over-time)

Going back to the Sunday school roster of 1890, The Sunday Schools of Lake tells us that the Deep River Union School was organized “in August, 1888, by the evangelist ‘Christian’ minister of this district, Rev. Ellis B. Cross.”^[9] I haven’t been able to find out anything more about the school or its founder. Were the three Casbon sons there because of their Christian beliefs or was it more of an acceptable social outlet—something young men in Deep River were expected to do (especially since there was also a young ladies’ class!)? How was their Sunday school experience reflected in their later lives?

I was always under the impression from conversations with my father that his family in Indiana wasn’t very religious. His grandfather was Lawrence Casbon—the one listed on the Sunday school roster above. Lawrence’s obituary mentions his membership in the local Masonic Lodge but says nothing about church membership.^[10] Likewise, the obituaries of his three sons, Leslie, Loring, and Lynnet, mention their memberships in the Masons, Scottish Rite, American Legion, and similar organizations, but say nothing about church membership. Perhaps these social organizations became their surrogates for participation in an organized church. [Update: see comment from Dave Casbon, below.]

Of Lawrence’s two brothers, Thomas’s obituary describes him as a member of the same Christian church as his father.^[11] Charles’s obituary says that he belonged to the Elks lodge but does not mention a church affiliation.^[12]

As I said earlier, there isn’t enough information to draw firm conclusions. The Indiana Casbons described above were all respected members of their communities. They fit in with the norms and expectations of their fellow citizens. Church membership and Sunday school attendance was probably one of those expectations in the late 1800s.

I will be eager to hear from any of their descendants whether they have different recollections or opinions.

[1] T.H. Ball (Crown Point, Indiana: T.H. Ball, 1891); Google Books (https://books.google.com/books?id=g5A_1QM4wVAC : accessed 21 Jan 2020)
[2] The Sunday Schools of Lake, p. 5.
[3] Weston A. Goodspeed, Charles Blanchard, Counties of Porter and Lake Indiana: Historical and Biographical, Illustrated (Chicago: F.A. Battey & Co., 1882), p. 707; Hathi Trust Digital Library.
[4] History of Porter County Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1912), p. 484; Hathi Trust Digital Library.
[5] History of Porter County Indiana, p. 461.
[6] “Death Calls S.V. Casbon; Reached 90,” The (Valparaiso, Indiana) Vidette-Messenger, 10 Dec 1927, p. 1, col. 1; Newspaper Archive (accessed through participating libraries).
[7] “Our Story,” First Christian Church (https://www.fccvalpo.org/our-story).
[8] Jack Zavada, “Disciples of Christ Beliefs and Practices,” Learn Religions (https://www.learnreligions.com/disciples-of-christ-beliefs-and-practices-700019).
[9] The Sunday Schools of Lake, p. 86.
[10] “85-Year-Old Resident of County Dies.” The Vidette-Messenger, 16 Jun 1950, p. 1, col. 5; Newspaper Archive.
[11] “Deaths … Thomas S. Casbon,” The Vidette-Messenger, 16 Mar 1955, p. 6, col. 3; Newspaper Archive.
[12] “Death Takes C.P. Casbon,” The Vidette-Messenger, 1 Feb 1949, p. 1, col. 1; Newspaper Archive.

“Wedding Bells”

January 26, 2020April 15, 2020 admin4 Comments

This is my seventh post in the Guild of One-Name Studies blog challenge.

My last post was about the period in Amos Casbon’s life before his marriage. Today we read about his wedding to Carrie Belle Aylesworth on 28 November 1900. This is another newspaper discovery from my visit to the Valparaiso (Porter County, Indiana) public library in May 2019.

Here is the article from The Porter County Vidette of 6 December 1900.^[1]

(Click on image to enlarge)

Wedding Bells
The Marriage of Amos J. Casbon
and Miss Carrie Aylesworth

Mr. Amos J. Casbon and Miss Carrie B. Aylesworth were united in marriage Wednesday evening, Nov. 28, at the bride’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Aylesworth, of Boone Grove. The bride was very tastefully attired in a beautiful cream cashmere, richly trimmed in silk lace.
The young couple were attended by Mr. Clyde Aylesworth, a brother of the bride, and Miss Sadie Breyfogle.
About seventy-five of their friends and relatives were present to witness the ceremony which was performed at 8 o’clock by Rev. Miller, of Indianapolis. After congratulations were extended a bountiful repast was served.
Mr. and Mrs. Casbon expect to go to housekeeping in about six weeks and will reside on Mr. Casbon’s farm, two miles west of Boone Grove.
They were the recipients of many useful and valuable presents, viz: Dinner set, Mr. and Mrs. John Aylesworth; clock, Clyde Aylesworth and Sadie Breyfogle; coffemill [sic], Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Aylesworth and family; butter knife and sugar shell, Glenn Aylesworth; set silver teaspoons, Wm. Sawyer and family; silver cracker jar, Misses Sina, Lillian and Maud Casbon; salad dish, Floyd Aylesworth and Jettty [sic] Carson; silver sugar shell, Mr. and Mrs. Clinton Aylesworth and family; silver gravy ladle, Mr. and Mrs. L.H. Coplin; glass salt and pepper box, Bessie Shreve; half dozen napkins and bed spread, Emery Wickham; one pair linen towels, Mrs. J.W. Aylesworth; rug, Mr. and Mrs. [i.e., Cora Casbon] John Sams and Elmer Stulz; bed spread, Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Massey; silver gravy ladle, Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Skinkle; silver jelly spoon, Mr. and Mrs. L.L. Casbon and family; set silver teaspoons, Jesse Casbon; silver berry spoon, Mrs. Belle Aylesworth and daughter; bed spread, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Shreve; broom, Mr. and Mrs. Guy Aylesworth; pair linen towels, Mr. and Mrs. [i.e., Lodema Casbon] Hiram Church; glass salt and pepper boxes, Anna Aylesworth; glass vase, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Massey; silver gravy ladle, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Casbon; one dozen water glasses, Mr. and Mrs. H.B. Kenney; silver pickle castor, Mr. and Mrs. S.V. Casbon; glass tea set, Giles Aylesworth and family; cream ladle, Mr. and Mrs. W.E. Black and daughter; chamber set, Mr. and Mrs. Wallace, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Leeka, Mr. and Mrs. Guy Aylesworth and Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Aylesworth; pair white leghorn chickens, Mr. C. Wallace. The house was a piece of Mr. Wallace’s own work and showed his skill as a workman.

The article is full of interesting details, from the description of Carrie’s dress to the itemized list of wedding gifts.

Wedding portrait of Amos and Carrie (Aylesworth) Casbon;
courtesy of Ron Casbon (click on image to enlarge)

I suspect this wedding was a bigger affair than many in the local community. Carrie’s father, John Aylesworth, was a prominent farmer. Members of the Aylesworth family first settled in Porter County in 1842. Their descendants owned several hundred acres of land in Boone Township.

Carrie Belle was not the first Aylesworth to marry a Casbon. Sylvester (“S.V.” in the article) Casbon’s first wife was Mary Adaline Aylesworth, who died in 1868. Consequently, the Aylesworth and Casbon families have always had close ties, and Casbons have been invited to the annual Aylesworth family reunions up to the present day.

I think it’s very interesting that the minister, Rev. Miller, was said to be from Indianapolis, which is about 140 miles away from Boone Grove. A search on FamilySearch.org shows that Rev. Melnotte Miller was the officiating minister for many weddings in various Indiana locales, although Indianapolis is not among them. He officiated at many Porter County weddings in 1899 and 1900, so perhaps he was temporarily assigned to the county at that time.

The list of gifts reveals a mix of practical items and valuable silverware. Have you ever heard of a pickle castor? I had not. This was apparently an ornate container for serving pickled condiments.

Pickle castors (www.carolsantiqueshop.com)

I especially like the gift of two leghorn chickens, apparently with their own henhouse, custom built by Mr. Wallace.

I wonder if any of these gifts have been handed down in the family?

From the standpoint of my one-name study, the guest list is chock full of Casbons, indicated in bold font in the transcript. This is not surprising, given that Porter County was ground zero for all the Casbons of English descent. Notably absent, however are any of Amos’s immediate family, which then consisted of his stepmother, Mary, and his sisters Margaret “Maggie,” and Alice. He was said to have been estranged from Mary and Maggie, but I don’t know why Alice wasn’t there. Or, perhaps they were in attendance, but just not listed as the givers of gifts.

There is one other item of interest in the article: the statement that the couple would “go to housekeeping in about six weeks and will reside on Mr. Casbon’s farm, two miles west of Boone Grove.” The location doesn’t make sense to me. In the previous post, I mentioned a January 1900 news item stating that Amos, then living in Chicago, was job hunting in the Boone Grove area.^[2] He apparently found a job, since we find him in the 1900 U.S. census, residing in Porter Township.

Detail from the 1900 U.S. census, Porter Township, Porter County, Indiana
(FamilySearch.org) (click on image to enlarge)

Amos is listed as a boarder on the farm of William Shreves. (Note that Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Shreve and their daughter Bessie were present at the wedding). Amos’s occupation is not given in the census listing, but presumably he was engaged in farming. The Shreve farm was located about 1 ½ miles west of Boone Grove, so perhaps that is the location referred to in the article. However, if that is the case, it could not be rightfully described as “Mr. Casbon’s farm.” Also, I doubt that Amos’s lodgings on the Shreve farm would have been suitable for a young newlywed couple.

The statement that Amos and Carrie would start housekeeping “in about six weeks” brings another explanation to mind. I have reviewed the Porter County deed records and note that Amos’s first land purchase closed on 14 January 1901, almost six weeks exactly after the wedding. On that date, Amos purchased 65 acres from Hattie Dye for the price of $3,250.^[3] That land is located about one-half mile southwest of Boone Grove. Although the location does not match what is written in the article, the timing and the description as “Mr. Casbon’s farm” make this the likely place.

Detail of 1895 plat maps of Porter and Boone Townships, Porter County, Indiana, showing John Aylesworth’s farm, Amos’s residence in the 1900 U.S. census, and Amos’s first land purchase in 1901. (Porter County Indiana: A Part of the InGenWeb Project, http://www.inportercounty.org/)(Click on image to enlarge)

At any rate, this is where Amos and Carrie spent their lives together. Over many subsequent years, Amos bought adjoining plots of land to increase his holdings and the value of his property. This land remains in the family today.

[1]“Wedding Bells,” The Porter County (Indiana) Vidette, 6 December 1900.
[2]“Boone Grove Items,” The Porter County Vidette, 25 January 1900.
[3]Indiana, Porter County, Deed Records, vol. 59, 1899–1901.

Amos in Iowa?

January 23, 2020April 15, 2020 admin1 Comment

This is my sixth post in the Guild of One-Name Studies (GOONS) blog challenge 2020. The challenge is to post 10 blogs in the first 12 weeks of the year.

Amos Casbon is not a new character in my blog. He can be considered the patriarch of what may be the largest branch of Casbons living in America. He was the son of James and Mary (Jackson) Casbon and the brother (or half-brother?) of Margaret “Maggie” Casbon, about whom I wrote in the fourth post of the GOONS challenge. Amos was born 6 July 1869 at Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, England.^[1] He was only a toddler when his family emigrated to Porter County, Indiana, USA, in late 1870. He was probably only 4 or 5 years old when his mother died. His father remarried in 1876.^[2] James was murdered in an unprovoked attack in August 1884, when Amos was 15 years old.^[3]

After his father’s death, there is little solid information about Amos until his marriage to Carrie Belle Aylesworth in 1900. He was probably forced to grow up fast, without the support of a close loving family. Family tradition has it that Amos and his stepmother did not get along and that he was estranged from his sister Margaret, who seemed to have strayed from the “straight path.” He might have lived with and worked for local farmers. He was said to have lived for some time with his older cousin, Jesse Casbon, who also lived in Porter County. My impression is that this was an unsettled time in Amos’s life.

Portrait of a young Amos Casbon; undated, courtesy of Ron Casbon

We know that he worked as a grip for a Chicago streetcar company for four years in the late 1890s.^[4]

Amos’s entry in The Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago
(Chicago: The Chicago Directory Co., 1896), p. 391; Ancestry.com

In addition, a 25 January 1900 news announcement tells us that Amos, then living in Chicago, was job hunting in the Boone Grove (Porter County, Indiana) area.^[5]

Last May, when I spent time at the Valparaiso Public Library, I discovered that Amos had also spent some time in his late teens and perhaps early twenties living and working in Iowa. The discovery was made when I found this news item on microfilm.

Untitled Article, The Porter County Vidette, 11 July 1889

Why is this important? For one thing, it puts another data point on the timeline of Amos’s life, during a time about which we have little other information. The timeline is probably only important to me and to those descendants of Amos who share in interest in their family history (of whom there are several).

The second reason is that Amos’s presence in Iowa connects him to another branch of the family, specifically the branch living in Iowa that consisted Emma (Casbon) and Robert Rigg, and their nephew George Washington Casbon (see “Introducing the Iowa Casbons! Part 1”). Emma, although 22 years older, was Amos’s first cousin, the daughter of his uncle Thomas Casbon (1803–1888). George, who was five years younger than Amos, was his second cousin, the son of Emma’s brother Sylvester Casbon. Emma, Robert, and George lived on a farm in Tama County, Iowa, about six miles away from LaPorte City, where Amos was reported to be living in 1889.

It is unlikely to be a coincidence that that Amos was living and working so close to his Iowa relatives. It is a little surprising, though, since the Rigg family had moved to Iowa in 1876, when Amos was only 7 years old. Considering the difference in their ages, he was hardly old enough to have formed a close personal friendship with Emma, or with George, who was only 2 years old when he moved to Iowa.

We can infer from this that family ties between all the branches of the family—Amos, his stepmother and sisters, Emma’s family in Iowa, and her siblings in Indiana—were still very close. There had probably been occasional family visits between Iowa and Indiana, and letters were probably frequently exchanged. Even though Amos might not have had a close relationship to Emma and George, he was a member of the larger family. That bond was strong enough to bring him to Iowa as a young man.

Ties between the Iowa and Indiana Casbons remained strong for a generation or two. We know this from photographs and other items documenting visits between the Iowa and Indiana families. There is even a news item from 1931 reporting that Amos and his family had returned “from a trip to points in Iowa visiting friends and relatives.”^[6]

By my generation, the ties between the Iowa and Indiana clans were virtually forgotten. For that matter, the ties between my branch and the descendants of Amos were very weak. Even though their families continued to live in the same county in Indiana, I never met or knew any of these cousins until recent years. I don’t believe this was the result of any kind of hostility; it was just a natural process that happened as each generation grew in size and the degrees of separation increased. Thankfully, as a result of efforts by members of all three branches to reconnect with our common heritage, not to mention modern conveniences such as Facebook and email, we are communicating and sharing stories with each other again.

[1] England, birth registration (PDF copy) for Amos James Casburn, born 6 Jul 1869; registered September quarter 1869, Chesterton District 3b/452, Willingham Sub-district, no 45; General Registry Office, Southport.
[2] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1410397 : accessed 24 October 2015) >Porter >1871-1875 Volume 4 > image 242 of 246; Indiana Commission on Public Records, Indianapolis.
[3] “Murder! That is About what is Made out of the Case of Old Man Casbon,” Porter County (Indiana) Vidette, 28 Aug 1884, p. 1, col. 2.
[4] “Boone Grove Couple Will Observe 50th Anniversary,” The (Valparaiso, Indiana) Vidette-Messenger, 21 Nov 1950, p. 1, col. 6.
[5] “Boone Grove Items,” The Porter County Vidette, 25 January 1900.
[6]“Aylesworth,” The Vidette-Messenger, 27 Nov 1931, p. 6, col. 1.

The Deaths of Thomas and Hannah Casbon

January 17, 2020April 15, 2020 admin3 Comments

This is my fifth post in the Guild of One-Name Studies blog challenge 2020.

One of my favorite sources of information about the Casbons who left England and eventually settled in Porter County, Indiana, USA, is The (Valparaiso, Indiana) Vidette-Messenger, or The Vidette, for short. For most of the twentieth century The Vidette was the main newspaper for Porter County. Thanks to my local public library, I have free access from my home computer to the digital archives of The Vidette from 1927 to 1977. That’s because my library subscribes to the Newspaper Archive web service. (Hint: see if your local library subscribes to Newspaper Archive—it’s a great resource.). The Vidette archives are also available up to 1995 with a paid Newspapers.com subscription.

Although I love The Vidette archives, they fall short because they don’t cover the first six decades of the Casbon family’s presence in Porter County. Many of the earlier Porter County newspapers are available on microfilm at the Valparaiso, Indiana, Public Library. Unfortunately, I live almost a thousand miles from Valparaiso, so I don’t have ready access. Therefore, it was a real treat for me to spend several hours in Valparaiso planted in front of the microfilm reader last May. I collected many articles about my early Casbon relatives and plan to feature many of these in upcoming posts.

In this post, I am highlighting three articles printed about the death of my third great-grandfather Thomas Casbon and his second wife, Hannah.

The brief announcement of Thomas Casbon’s death appeared in The Valparaiso Messenger on 9 February 1888. Thomas died on 7 February.

“Local News,” The Valparaiso Messenger, 9 Feb 1888

I haven’t found other contemporary accounts that describe Thomas. The statement that he was “an old and highly respected citizens [sic]” tells us very little about him but reflects that he was regarded in a positive light.

The following article was printed in the 16 February 1888 Porter County Vidette. It includes a poem written by Thomas’s daughter, Emma.

“In Memorium,” The Porter County Vidette, 16 Feb 1888

Emma’s poem is sweet and sentimental. Her words, “Now our mother and brother, will lead you in a better land” refer to the deaths of Thomas’s first wife, Emma (Scruby), who died in in 1870, and their first son, Sell, who died in infancy while the family was still living in England. Emma—the daughter—was living in Iowa at the time of Thomas’s death, but it’s quite likely that she returned to Valparaiso during his final days or shortly after his death.

Hannah’s obituary appeared in The Porter County Vidette on 5 April 1888. She died in late March, six weeks after Thomas’s death.

“Mrs. Hannah Casbon,” The Porter County Vidette, 5 April 1888

It’s interesting that Hannah’s obituary contains so much more information than the brief paragraphs announcing Thomas’s death. It includes a rather nice biography as well as a testimony to her Christian faith.

Thomas and Hannah died before death registration was required in Indiana. Consequently, we don’t know anything about the circumstances or causes of their deaths. Thomas was buried in Merriman Cemetery with his first wife, Emma. As far as I know, he died intestate, and I haven’t located any probate papers.

I haven’t been able to locate Hannah’s grave. It is not listed on FindAGrave.com under any of her surnames and does not appear with her first husband’s FindAGrave entry. Her will was signed 3 August 1887 and was probated in the Porter County Circuit Court on 4 April 1888. She bequeathed ten dollars each to a granddaughter and grandson and the rest of her estate to her two daughters by her first marriage. It isn’t surprising that Thomas’s four children were not mentioned, as they were all adults when Thomas married Hannah, and she was not involved in raising them.

As I was writing this post I realized that I have not written a single post summarizing Thomas’s life. However, many details of his life are described in the following posts: “A Christmas Baptism”; “From England to Indiana” Parts 2, 3, and 4; “Why Indiana?”; “From Labourer to Landowner”; “Pursuing the Parkfield”; “Was my Third Great Grandfather a Convicted Thief?”; “A Practical Guide for Emigrants”; and “The Appeal.” I guess there is too much information to contain in a single post!

More About Maggie

January 13, 2020April 15, 2020 admin6 Comments

This is my fourth post in the Guild of One-Name Studies blog challenge 2020.

I have written two previous posts about Margaret—“Maggie”—Casbon (1864–1903), who was born out of wedlock as Margaret Jackson, the daughter of Mary Jackson (abt. 1833–abt. 1875). Mary Jackson married James Casbon (abt. 1813–1884) at Stretham, Cambridgeshire in 1866, when Maggie was two-and-a-half years old. James might have been Maggie’s father, but that is unknown. My first post about Maggie, written in December 2017, summarized everything I knew about her life at that time and the second post, from February 2019, presented her obituary. Today’s post is an update, with a correction and clarification about information I discussed in the 2017 post. It is also a cautionary tale about how incorrect conclusions can be drawn from derivative sources.

In my December 2017 post, I quoted the source “Genealogical Notes from the Porter Vidette, April 7, 1881 – Sept. 14, 1882,”^[1] This was a typewritten extract of items of interest printed in an early Porter County, Indiana, newspaper. The entry dated 9 February 1882 listed a few marriages and deaths and then this statement: “Maggie Casbum living with Ben Woodard.”

Excerpt from “Genealogical Notes from the Porter Vidette, April 7, 1881 – Sept. 14, 1882”

I interpreted the phrase “living with” from my modern perspective as meaning that Maggie was in a relationship, i.e., “living in sin” with Ben Woodard. This seemed like an odd thing to print in the newspaper, but then again, newspapers from that era tended to be more gossipy about local matters than they are today. I couldn’t view the microfilm of the original article at the time because it was at the Porter County Library, almost a thousand miles away from me. It wasn’t until early 2019 during a short visit to Indiana that I was able to view the microfilm. That was when I realized that my interpretation completely missed the mark. Here is the article.

Untitled article, The Porter County (Indiana) Vidette, 9 Feb 1882, p. 5, col. 1.

As you can clearly see, the phrase “living with” in the extract simply meant that Maggie had been living in the home of Ben Woodard and his family. There is no suggestion of an inappropriate relationship with Mr. Woodard. The article tells us that Maggie was suspected of stealing clothing from the Woodard family and was now missing. It also says that she has been suspected of similar activities in the past.

My mistake was that I had misinterpreted the limited information contained in the extract. This shows how a derivative source can sometimes lead us astray in our genealogical research. Elizabeth Shown Mills defines a derivative source as “material produced by copying an original or manipulating its content; e.g., abstracts, compilations, databases, extracts, transcripts, translations, and authored works such as historical monographs or family histories.”^[2] She goes on to say: “Derivative sources also span the entire spectrum of reliability—depending upon the form they take; the circumstances of their creation; and the skill, bias, or aim of their creators.”^[3] In this case, the extract failed to convey the true meaning of the original article.

This isn’t necessarily an error on the part of the librarian who prepared the extract, since she probably only intended to note the fact that both Maggie Casbon and Ben Woodard were mentioned in an article. The purpose of the “Genealogical Notes” is to save readers hours of time they would have spent scrolling through microfilm reels and reading the fine print of newspapers in search of their persons of interest. Instead, a library patron, upon reading the extract, would know which microfilm reel to pull and which newspaper edition contained the information they wished to find.

The “real” story about Maggie as told in the article fills in another blank in what we know about her and portrays her in a negative light. The article also raises new questions. It was written in 1882, when Maggie was 17 years old. This was two years before her father (or stepfather?), James, was murdered. Yet, she was said to claim that she was “an orphan, and destitute of a home.” Why would she make such a claim? We can only speculate, as there are several possible reasons: 1) After her mother’s death, perhaps she truly was an orphan (i.e., without a living parent) if James was not her biological father; 2) Perhaps for reasons unknown to us, she was estranged from James and her new stepmother and had been turned out of their home; 3) Perhaps she left her home of her own volition and was posing as an orphan in order to take advantage of the good will of others. We will probably never know the whole story.

One danger of genealogical research is the risk of drawing broad conclusions from limited information. It would be easy to dismiss Maggie as a “black sheep,” but this would be an oversimplification. I prefer to look at this episode in the context of what else is known about her.

Maggie did not have an easy life. Born out of wedlock, she was taken to a strange land (Indiana, USA) when she was only six years old. She lost her mother when she was probably no more than ten and then raised by a man who might not have been her biological father and a new stepmother. We know nothing about her home life in Indiana except that her father or stepfather was a poor laborer. This man (James Casbon) was murdered when she was 20 years old. Maggie had an unsuccessful marriage about seven months after the Vidette article was printed. Then there is a huge gap in information between 1882 and her second marriage in 1899. This marriage was ended four years later by her untimely death at the age of 39 due to uterine cancer. She never had children. The 1882 news article is the only piece of information portraying her in a negative light. It would be wrong to draw a general conclusion about her character based on this episode that took place in her teenage years.

Unless new information turns up, this is probably the last thing I’ll have to say about Maggie. Why do I write about her at all? Part of the reason is that I am especially interested in those family members who made the difficult journey to America in the mid- to late 1800s. Part of the reason is that there is no one else to tell her story, and I think it is worth telling. And finally, I have to admit that I have the genealogists’ disease of being unable to resist the desire to go down rabbit holes in search of just about anything.

^[1] Kaye Griffiths, compiler (typescript, 1983), no. G977.298; Genealogy Department, Porter County Public Library, Valparaiso.
^[2] Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence Explained, 3d ed. (for Kindle) (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2015), p. 24.
^[3] Shown Mills, Evidence Explained, p. 24.

Writing the Book, Part Five

January 8, 2020April 15, 2020 admin6 Comments

Book cover 27Nov thumbnail This will be the final post in this series describing the steps involved in writing The Descendants of Isaac Casbon in America, which I published in late November 2019. This is also my third post in the Guild of One-Name Studies 2020 Blog Challenge.

In the previous post I described the final steps in preparing a print-ready manuscript. So today, I will talk how that manuscript was converted into a printed book and made available for purchase.

I haven’t mentioned previously that I had decided to publish the book only in printed form—not as an e-book. The reason for this was all about privacy. E-books are very popular and generally less expensive than their printed counterparts. However, due to their easy accessibility and the ability to disseminate them electronically, I was concerned that it would be too easy for information about living people to be shared or possibly misused. Even though I had received permission, I felt that I had a responsibility to limit access to that information.

Before I could print the book, I had to decide which company use for self-publishing. A Google search on self-publishing companies turns up a dozen or more options. After reading about these, I narrowed my list down to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and Lulu.com. They both seemed to have well-developed platforms for publishing and marketing, and there were no up-front fees for either.

I initially decided to use Amazon KDP because of the ability for my target audience to use Amazon to purchase the book. I also figured that many of my readers would be Amazon Prime subscribers and would therefore be eligible for free shipping. I went so far as to print a proof copy of the book before I changed my mind and went with Lulu.com. I’ll explain the reason for the change when I talk about distribution.

The process for submitting a manuscript on either Amazon KDP or Lulu.com is very similar. The manuscript can be uploaded in either Microsoft Word (DOCX) or Portable Document Format (PDF) format. I saved my Word draft as a PDF file before uploading it to Lulu.com. Lulu then converted it to a print-ready PDF which I was allowed to download and review The only difference between my PDF and the print-ready PDF seems to be that the top, bottom and outside margins were increased slightly, so that the edges could be trimmed to the final 6 by 9-inch size after printing—hence the term “trim size.”

However, before the book could be printed, it needed a cover. Both Amazon KDP and Lulu.com have cover creator wizards that allow you to choose from a variety of templates and colors to design a cover. Some of the templates allow you to upload your own photos or images for use as cover art. They also allow you to design your own cover without a template. Once completed, the cover is saved as a PDF file.

With the manuscript and cover uploaded, the book was ready for printing. At this point, I was given the choice of releasing the book to the public or ordering a print copy. I strongly advise anyone considering self-publishing to order a proof copy. This allows you to see the final product and review one last time before sending the book to market. Amazon puts an overprint on their proof copies that reads “Not for Resale.” The proof copies from Lulu.com are the same as what will be sold to the public—the only difference being that the proof copy is available at a reduced price.

After reviewing my proof copies, I was ready to start selling books. But first, I had to decide on a price. Both Amazon KDP and Lulu.com have calculator tools to help you with pricing. The calculator subtracts printing costs and publisher’s profits from your target retail price, allowing you to decide how much, if any, profit you want to make on the book. My goal was to provide an affordable book to my readers, not to make a profit. After all, this wasn’t intended to be a best-seller!

Once the price was set, all I had to do was push a button on the computer and the book was available for sale, with its own product page on the website.

Screenshot of the book’s product page on Lulu.com

Why did I finally go with Lulu.com instead of Amazon? It all came down to privacy again. Since the book contains private information about living people, I wanted to have the ability to limit sales of the book to family members and others of my choosing. Lulu.com provides this ability through a sales option called Direct Access. With Direct Access, the book can only be sold to people who have received a link to the product page. The book does not appear on Lulu’s search page or online catalog. Amazon KDP does not have this option, so the book would have been available to anyone. I didn’t realize this until I had already received my proof copy from Amazon, so I switched to Lulu.com at that point.

As an aside, since I received proof copies from Amazon and Lulu.com, I was able to evaluate the print quality of both. Both were excellent quality and the graphics came out very well. The only difference between them was that Amazon seemed to use a slightly heavier weight of paper, so the book was a little bit thicker.

The final step was letting people know about the book. I did this through the same means I had contacted people to send them permission forms and family information sheets. I announced the book on the Casbon Family Facebook group, asking them to contact me for the link if they wished to purchase copies. I sent emails to everyone I had email addresses for and I sent letters by regular mail to those who don’t use email or the internet.

After almost a year of work, the book was finished! I’m very happy with the final result and have a great sense of accomplishment. I’ve already learned of a few corrections that will need to be made and I’m looking forward to providing an updated edition sometime in the future. But for now, I’m happy to get back to blogging and spending time doing anything other than working on the book!

Writing the Book, Part Four

January 5, 2020April 15, 2020 admin7 Comments

This is my second post in the Guild of One-Name Studies 2020 Blog challenge.

In the previous post, I discussed the process of writing the text for The Descendants of Isaac Casbon in America. Today I’ll talk about three important steps needed to get the text ready for printing. These are use of illustrations, editing, and layout. These steps don’t necessarily fall into chronological order. In fact, they were ongoing throughout much of the writing process.

Illustrations. These are not strictly required for traditional family history books, but they certainly make them more appealing. I knew from the start that I wanted to use illustrations in the book. Over the years, several Casbon relatives have shared family photos with me, so I had a good selection to choose from. When I started writing the book, I created an “Illustrations” folder on my computer to store photos that I thought I might use. As I wrote the text in Microsoft Word, I inserted the photos at appropriate points and wrote captions for them.

Photographs weren’t the only type of illustrations. I also wanted to use maps to illustrate important places in the family history, notably Cambridgeshire (England), Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa. I found good examples of period maps on public-domain websites. Then I did some additional editing, such as shading or highlighting certain areas of the maps to show where the Casbon ancestors lived. I created nested maps that allow the reader to “zoom in” to see certain areas in more detail. Here is an example of one.

Example of a nested map showing England (top), Cambridgeshire (center-left), and detail of
southwestern Cambridgeshire (bottom). The villages of Meldreth and Melbourn are circled.
John Cary, Cary’s new English Atlas: Being a Complete Set of County Maps (London: John Cary, 1809);
David Rumsey Map Collection, https://www.davidrumsey.com. (Click on image to enlarge)

Other illustrations included a chart of Isaac Casbon’s ancestors, images from parish registers, censuses, and other online document collections, excerpts from newspapers,
a handwritten family history, and pages from a family Bible.

Most of the images needed some kind of modification before they were ready to insert into the book. For printed books, a resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi) or higher is recommended. Most of my images were lower resolution—some as low as 72 dpi. Although this resolution looks fine on a computer screen, it isn’t detailed enough for a print publication. I won’t go into details, but I was able to use image-enhancement software to increase the resolution of my pictures. I also used the software to adjust the lighting and contrast, to sharpen the images, and to crop them. Most of the photographs were originally printed in black and white or sepia-toned. Color photographs would have greatly increased the cost of the book, so I converted all the images to greyscale.

A photograph of Sylvester and Mary (Mereness) Casbon, before and after image enhancement;
Courtesy of Ilaine Church

Editing. I was blessed with a “secret weapon.” My daughter worked as a copy editor for a New York publishing company for several years. She graciously accepted my request for her to review my text. She happened to be on maternity leave during the time that I needed her skills. Although taking care of a newborn child was her first priority, she managed to keep up with my writing.

I usually sent her one or two completed chapters at a time by email. She returned them to me with comments which we then discussed over the phone. Even though I had carefully proofread what I had written, she invariably found errors and made helpful suggestions on ways to improve the text for readability. We had good discussions about the finer points of grammar, such as use of commas and when to spell out numerals.

For those who don’t have an editor in the family, I strongly suggest finding someone with a good grasp of grammar and composition to edit your text for you. It’s important to have another set of eyes read what you’ve written, not only to find typos and grammatical errors, but to make sure your target audience will understand what you are trying to say with your words.

Layout. This is the process of placing all the elements of the book—text, illustrations, headings, page numbers, etc.—into the final form needed to make it print-ready. Up to this point in my life, the only experience I had in publishing was some professional correspondence and my annual Christmas letter. I had a lot to learn!

The first step in layout was deciding what size I wanted the finished book to be. This is known as the trim size of the book. I decided upon a trim size of 6 by 9 inches—the most common size for paperback books in the United States. Based on this I changed the page size in Microsoft Word to 6 by 9 inches. I also set the margins, leaving room for a header on top, page numbers on the bottom, and a gutter. The gutter is the additional space added to the inside page margin to account for the binding. The page layout was set for mirror margins so that the outside and inside margins would match on odd and
even pages.

I learned that chapters should always begin on odd-numbered pages. This means that an extra blank page must sometimes be inserted at the end of a chapter so the next one can begin on an odd number. I set up headers so that the book’s title would appear on even-numbered and the chapter title on odd-numbered pages. I set footers so the page numbers would be placed at the outside bottom margin of each page. I found headers and footers to be very frustrating. They seemed to keep moving to places I didn’t want them or disappearing from places I did want them. It took a lot of time, trial and error to get
them right.

Once the page size and margins were set, it was time to fill the pages with my text and illustrations. Of course this required a number of decisions as well: typeface, or font (Times New Roman), type size (16-pitch for chapter headings, 12-pitch for body text, 11-pitch for child lists, 10-pitch for bibliography and index, 9-pitch for captions and endnotes), use of small caps for names, line spacing, justification, and placement of headings. I didn’t find many rules for these decisions, so I looked at a lot of examples and made my best guess.

Another aspect of layout is making sure your pages don’t break at undesirable places. For example, you don’t want your reader to have to turn the page to read the last word or two of a paragraph (a “widow”). Likewise, a single line of a new paragraph or section should not fall at the bottom of a page (an “orphan”).

Placement of illustrations greatly complicates the layout process, You have to decide where to place them and what size they should be. They should be in close proximity to the relevant text so your readers don’t have to flip pages trying to find them. Microsoft Word isn’t an ideal program for illustrations and it takes quite a bit of fine-tuning to adjust spacing and how words and paragraphs flow around pictures.

One other aspect of layout is the creation and placement of the front- and back-matter of the book. Front-matter is everything that goes before the main text of the book: half title page, title page, copyright page, dedication, preface, etc. Front matter is numbered with small roman numerals, beginning with the half-title page. However, these page numbers are not printed until the table of contents, which was page vii in my book.

The back matter is everything that comes after the main text. In my book, these included the Notes, Bibliography, Index, and About the Author.

My table of contents, showing the front matter, main text, and back matter

Obviously layout is complicated and makes the difference between having a professional versus home-made appearance to the book. Many people pay professionals to help with this part of self-publishing for good reason.

At this point in the process, other than proofreading a few more times, the book was ready to publish. Stay tuned for the next and final post in this series!