Powell Howland (1799 - 1878)

Powell Howland was a very successful person in Marion County, Indiana and he was a descendant of the Mayflower pilgrim George Soule. In sorting out the ancestors of his great granddaughter, Edna Hammond Wright Kemps, it became apparent that Powell Howland was a key person. His obituary and a published sketch are provided in his biography along with additional references to this prominent individual in the history of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Charles and Louise Byrne

Charles Hoster Byrne was born in Cairo, Illinois in 1900. Clara Louise Kemps was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1905. In 1927, they were married in Los Angeles, California. Their two children were born in Chicago, Illinois. In 1938, they moved to California and worked, played and spent the rest of their lives there. For additional details about their lives, see Charles Hoster Byrne and Clara Louise Byrne. Be sure to find the links for additional pictures.

Oakdale Reformed Presbyterian Church

The search of the Reformed Presbyterian Archives produced four pages that were related to the history of the Oakdale Reformed Presbyterian Church. It became clear that the a separate page was appropriate for this congregation. It includes the 50th, 100th and 125th Anniversaries of the congregation and the Covenanter Soldiers' Record for the Civil War. The links in twelve biographies were changed to reflect this new page. For the details, see Oakdale Reformed Presbyterian Church.

Rev. Hugh Park McClurkin D.D. (1821 - 1905)

The biography of the Rev. Hugh Park McClurkin, D.D., has been re-written. It is now in a more cohesive form that flows chronologically. This biography is now consistent with my other biographies and includes siblings, children, and additional references sources, drawn from the Reformed Presbyterian Church Archives. See biography.

Sources of Reformed Presbyterian Church Information

For the past six months, I have been searching through the archives of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, for references to family members. Many of the McClurken/McClurkin families were Covenanters (members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church) and active in the church. In addition, several were elders and eight were ministers. This church had monthly and weekly newsletters that were assembled into volumes by year or half year. A total of 239 volumes are available to search and each consists of about 400 pages. In addition, four books were published and available for searching. I have created a web page to provide further details about this collection: Sources of Historical Information about the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. For each of the six newsletters, a file was created for the various family references that were located. I have previously extracted some references and made them available. Many additional references will be described in future posts.

Mathew Henry McClurkin (1761 - 1847)

Mathew Henry McClurkin was born in Ireland in 1761 and came to Charleston, South Carolina in 1772. He fought in the Revolutionary War during 1780 and 1781. Six of his eleven children were born in South Carolina. About 1804, the family moved to Tennessee and then to Ohio and Indiana near their border. In 1833, Matthew applied for, and received, a small pension for his Revolutionary War service. Mathew died on May 1, 1847 and is buried in Preble County, Ohio. His biography is available at this link.

Mathew McClurkin (1761 - 1847) Revolutionary War Pension File

I have recently been in contact with a descendant of Mathew McClurkin. I assembled all the information that I had about Matthew and sent it to him. I have decided that I have enough information about Matthew to create a biography. Meanwhile, I have made his Revolutionary War Pension File available. For the 30 page file, see this link.