The Laramores of Goose Haven

George Laramore, Mayor of Knox 1868-1870

The title just doesn't have the same refined ring of say, oh, the Crawleys of Downton Abbey, does it?

At the end of 2012 I mapped out my year to include several small personal projects that I wanted to complete.  These included additional genealogical work to round out the research that I had started in college.  With the advent of on-line searchable databases and membership to ancestry.com I had much of what I needed at my fingertips....and now I am knee-deep in new information on my roots.

That research led me to a photograph of a great x3 grandfather named George Laramore.  While I had the Laramore line extended back as far as I could go and knew when and where the family settled in Indiana, I didn't have the photo and what is more, I didn't know that he served as one of Knox's first mayors.  Being that the Laramore name is decidedly Irish, I thought it was only fitting to explore this story post-St. Patty's day.

George was born in 1822 in Muskingum County, Ohio to Thomas and Mary Laramore.  Thomas died shortly after George's birth and that is all that is known of his line.  George's mother remarried and they traveled first to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, then Carroll County where George married Sarah Hatter.  George and Sarah moved to Starke County with Sarah's parents in 1851.  They first lived in the San Pierre area before moving to a farm northwest of Knox.  A sketch of the Laramore family in the county history book said that they dubbed their neighborhood "Goose Haven".  I can only imagine this descriptive name was tied to the abundance of waterfowl in the, then, undrained Grand Kankakee Marsh.



Nelson & Jennie Laramore Bryant, at their Starke County orchard



John & Eliza Laramore Bryant, at their Fulton County farm

George and Sarah moved into Knox, but kept their farm in the country.  He was elected mayor in 1868 and served through 1870.  He died in 1878 and Sarah died in 1887.  They are buried in the Crown Hill Cemetery in Knox.  Unfortunately, one time I stopped by the gravesite the stone had been toppled.  I inquired with the sexton if they would repair it.....yes was the answer, but the last time I stopped it was still down.  He must not have been a very popular mayor.  Their daughters, Eliza and Hannah (Jennie), married Bryant brothers, John and Nelson of Athens, Indiana.  Nelson and Jennie settled in Starke County.  I'm descended from John and Eliza, who stayed in Athens.  When I moved to River City I met some distant Laramore cousins and have always considered them some of the finest people I have ever met.  People don't often say that about family.