Beeks line: Harvey Homer Aldridge 1857-1930

 I've posted a couple of articles about Harvey Aldridge before, one transcribing his obituary and one an article about the celebration of his (and Margaret Catherine Dunham's) 50th wedding celebration.  But I've not really outlined his life, and I'm reminded I needed to do that as I've seen obituaries for two Aldridge-related cousins over the past couple of weeks.  

Harvey was born August 13, 1857 near Kempton, Tipton County, Indiana.  Less than two years later, his father, Darlington Dart Aldridge, died, so he was raised mainly by his mother, Leah Folsom Aldridge.   After about twelve years of widowhood, she married Asa Sewell in 1871, when Harvey was 12, and he probably lived with the couple, although we don't know for sure.  Harvey was the youngest of the nine Aldridge children.

The next record I can find for Harvey is his marriage to Margaret Catherine Dunham, daughter of Samuel G and Eliza Matilda Reese Dunham, on April 1, 1880 in Kempton.  When the 1880 census was taken on June 1 of that year, the couple was living with her parents, and Harvey worked on her family's farm.  Of course, the 1890 census is missing, but in 1900 Harvey was living on his own (mortgaged) farm in Jefferson township, Tipton County, along with all 7 of the couple's children.  He apparently lived in several locations in Tipton County, because I've seen him referred to as of Goldsmith, and Ekin, also.  He moved to Ekin not long before he moved to Huntington County, where we find him in the 1910 census on "Thomas Road" in Polk Township.  Once again, he owned his own farm and it was mortgaged.  5 of the couple's children were living with them, the other two having died during that ten year period.

By 1920, all of the remaining children were living on their own.  Bertha's death in 1909 left two children who were living with their grandparents, and they lived on Berry Street in Andrews, Dallas Township, Huntington County.  Their home was mortgaged, and Harvey was working at a lumberyard, probably Wasmuth's, in Andrews.  It's possible that they had moved to town so their grandchildren, now 15 and 12, could more easily attend school. Harvey had just an eighth grade education and may have wished for better for his grandchildren.  

There are newspaper references to him as living near Bippus, Warren Township, Huntington County, Indiana during the mid 1920s so perhaps once the grandchildren had finished their education, the couple once again turned to farming.  In 1930, the couple, now just the two of them, lived on "Long School House Road" in Polk Township.  They rented this property, where he was a farmer.  The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on April 1 with a large, mostly family, open house, and sadly, Harvey died a few months later, on August 1, 1930.  His wife lived until May 7, 1942.

I've learned a few other things from reading the gossip columns of Tipton and Huntington County newspapers.  The Aldridge family was quite close knit, and they visited back and forth often.  At lease one of Harvey's siblings lived in Huntington County also, and there were quite a few nephews and nieces who were in the area.  It seems a bit odd that although I've found a lot of mentions of Mr. and Mrs. Aldridge visiting other Aldridge members, I haven't seen any that I recognized as being relatives of Margaret Dunham.  As far as religion, Harvey seems to have been a Methodist (that was the only church near Kempton in Tipton County, and that's where his funeral was held) but I'm not sure how active he was, or what church, if any, he attended in Huntington County.  

Harvey Aldridge was a man on the move, probably striving always to better provide for his family with his many residence changes.  He was a caring man, as he raised grandchildren, and definitely was a family man.  It must have been heartbreaking for him to see six of his Beeks grandchildren die, and to watch Wilbur go to World War I.  There are family members still alive who may remember hearing stories about Harvey from his widow, and I'd love to hear those stories!

The line of descent is

Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants