Warren Forgey holds his certificate to honor his induction into the Jackson County Pioneer Society on behalf of his ancestors, Jesse and Eve Callahan, during the Jackson County History Center’s 13th annual Pioneer Dinner on Thursday, Oct. 24, at the center’s livery barn in Brownstown.
Chey Smith | The Tribune
The binder for Jesse and Eve Callahan, Warren Forgey’s ancestors, that showcases the family’s involvement in Jackson County alongside letters, written by fourth graders who have visited the Jackson County History Center, during the history center’s 13th annual Pioneer Dinner on Thursday, Oct. 24, at the livery barn in Brownstown.
Chey Smith | The Tribune
BROWNSTOWN — Remembering where we came from is important, which the Jackson County Pioneer Society aims to do with its annual Pioneer Dinners, honoring the families that built up the county from a range of time periods.
The society recognizes those showing direct descent from someone in one of four time periods — before 1821 (First Families), 1821 to 1850 (Founders), 1851 to 1880 (Settlers) and 1881 to 1910 (Builders).
Warren Forgey received the First Family Award on behalf of his great-great-great-grandparents, Jesse and Eve Callahan, during the 13th annual Pioneer Dinner on Thursday, Oct. 24, at the Livery Barn at the Jackson County History Center in Brownstown.
This year, Forgey’s family was the only one to receive an award.
Forgey said that in talking to Bill Day with the history center, he learned that applications were sent out, but none of them came back, potentially due to unsuccessful research, time restraints or other reasons.
In 2023, Forgey received the Founder Family Award for his great-great-grandfather, Hugh Forgey, who started a farm around Freetown.
To conduct research on a family in the earliest category takes a lot of work, but thanks to the research Forgey’s father had already done, it made the process of tracing their family line back to before Indiana was a state much smoother.
Finding birth and death certificates dating back to the 1820s is tricky, but Forgey said they discovered a crucial piece of information to officially tie the Callahans to the county at a time before 1821.
“We actually found a War of 1812 widow’s pension application, and that’s how we connected finally back to that they were actually living in Jackson County at that time,” Forgey said.
Jesse served for a year in Capt. James Bigger’s company, listed as private in June of 1814. After his death in 1866, the veteran’s widow pension was filled out by Eve.
When accepting the award, Forgey gave a special shout out to Day for the encouragement and guidance he provided along with family members that helped throughout the researching journey.
“I want to thank the leadership of the history center for making this type of recognition available,” Forgery said. “It encourages genealogy research.”
If you think your family has ties to Jackson County, visit the genealogy library at the center, 105 N. Sugar St., Brownstown, or call 812-358-2118. The history center has applications and are able to help with the research required.
To be eligible to join the society, copies of sources of proof will need to be provided, including vital records, land records, school records, census records, church records, will or probate records, military records, cemetery records, burial records, obituaries, tombstone pictures, court records or naturalization records.
This year’s dinner consisted of fried chicken, pork loin, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, macaroni and cheese, bread rolls and an assortment of desserts, including peach cobbler, prepared by Raquel’s Restaurant and Catering from Salem.
The night ended with a raffle that featured an air fryer, John Mellencamp CD, gift cards, tools, toy trucks, swimwear and more up for grabs.