Last of a Generation

Mary Frances and I just returned from a family history research trip to the Midwest – Illinois, Indiana, Missouri. The major purpose was to research Tapscotts for a book now being written, but we also did a little research in preparation for the Imle book I still plan to write.

While there we attended Sunday services at Emmanuel, the Imle (Grand Turn) church, which will celebrate its 175^th anniversary next year. But like many old country churches, attendance is decreasing. I remember congregations of well over a hundred when I was a child. Only forty or so people were present for the service Mary Frances and I attended.

Marguerite, 19 Sep 1918 - 6 Oct 2017.

After church we had lunch at the Lincoln Trail State Park Restaurant with Millers and Schaefers, long-time Grand Turn families related to the Imles by marriage. It was at lunch that we learned of the recent death of Marguerite Gard (Imle) Irwin, the last of the thirty-two grandchildren of Christoph Frederick and Anna Maria (Reichert) Imle, founders of the Wabash Valley Imles.

Marguerite, daughter of William and Fairy (Gard) Imle, passed away 6 Oct 2017 in Florida. Earlier this year, on 27 Apr, we saw the passing of Marguerite’s cousin Dorothea Rose Maria (Imle) Dunlap, daughter of Herman and Eva Ann (Manhart) Imle. These were the last Christoph and Anna Maria descendants of my mother’s, Mary (Imle) Tapscott’s, generation.

Dottie, 8 Aug 1927 - 27 Apr 2017.

I did not really get to know Dorothea (“Dottie Rose”) well until I was an adult. Dottie and Marguerite were “much too old” for me to consider them close acquaintances when I was a child. In later years Dottie played a key role (along with her cousins Paul Harry Imle and John Frederick Imle) in collecting family history data for the 12 Jun 1981 Imle reunion at Lincoln Trail State Park. Once I developed an interest in family history, Dottie suggested that I combine and expand the family group sheets into one unified volume.

Dottie, I still hope to accomplish that task.