Emma Berniece PFEIFFER

1906 - 1997  (90 years)

• Name	Emma Berniece PFEIFFER
  Birth	15 Dec 1906	Marshall County, IN
  Gender	Female
  Death	15 Jan 1997	Indianapolis, Marion County, IN
  	Cause: Pneumonia
  Burial	Oaklawn Memorial Gardens, Fishers, Hamilton County, IN
  Notes	(1) Elizabeth Ann Grubb: NOTES: Compiler requested that Emma (PFEIFFER) GILCHRIST send information re her early life in Marshall County, IN. The following is a synopsis of a letter Emma wrote in response to this request in October, 1995. Compiler has taken the liberty of reorganizing the information contained in that letter to group chronological events where possible: "I cannot tell much about my background. I was born in Marshall Co., IN about five miles west of Bremen. That area must have been swampy; I'm not sure if the spot where we lived was called Jackson Island or an area south" (of there) "where there was a farm called 'The Section.' My Dad helped build a barn"; (there) "a new house was to have been built a little later, but the owner died...On the new barn a good swing was put up for me. There was a good apple orchard; some years" (we had) "apples to sell. There was quite a number of children for play; 'good neighbors for harvesting and butchering help. 'Went about three miles to school in a 'kid hack' drawn by horses...winter time a sled." ("kid hack" probably refers to an early type of school bus.) (The school was) "...one room... We moved to another farm east of Bremen, 1?? miles where we lived till I was 15 or 16...After we moved east I walked;" (to school) "'one room also, but much smaller; then into town for H.S. (high school), walking also, till we moved." (again) "Then it was 5 or 6 blocks. West of town is where I had my first car ride. A neighbor bought a car and all the kids got a ride in it from the salesman; we were about three deep in the back seat. East of town we ran to see an airplane go over; west of town" (we had) "our first telephone;" (then we had) "electricity and" (indoor) "bathroom after."(moving into town) Threshing day was quite an event; 'dinner for the kids or sometimes we could go to play and have noon time dinner, after all the men had eaten but the food was wonderful and plentiful. South of us were peppermint farms. Some fortunes were made till the black, muck soil ran out of something mint needs. In summertime boys on their hands and knees could pull weeds - hot, dirty work, but some money to help buy clothes and school books...(for) some (it) even (helped) with college... Part of our play dishes were the white things from old fashioned can lids; 'most anything that looked like cookware. There were geese at one time till the gander got after me...We went barefoot all summer; then had the ordeal of foot washing before bed. Mother's mother" (Eliza MORRIS) "came to our house part time about then and I have her dining room table that she brought with her. I was told it was made from walnut from a chest someone brought from England or where ever. My Dad did some work on it so all seven kids could get around it... When I was seven or eight a neighbor girl got Brights disease and died; 'my first experience with death... ...I was kind of "poorly" then. A neighbor man came one morning at sunrise, bundled me up from the cold then took me outside to look at the sun. He said something for a cure. I must have hated what he did for I was always threatened (with) they'd call him. The cure seems to have kept me a long time... There was a huckster who gave a stick of candy; one day a prune or some such - 'made a broken heart. 'Christmas was an orange, a sack of hard candy from church and school; 'one year a doll who went to sleep and was ruined in the farm house fire. This is enough for now. Love, Emma and Byron This has not been proof read so it may not make any sense; just pretend we are talking." (And compiler DID "just pretend we were talking.") * * * After their retirement, the GILCHRISTs moved from their home in South Bend, IN to their farm in Argos (Marshall County) IN. A few years later, a wiring problem in the T.V. ignited a fire in the farm house. The house was damaged beyond repair; the GILCHRISTs barely escaped. The farm was sold, and the couple had a new home built on State Road 10 just west of U.S. 31. Compiler thinks this is the fire that Emma refers to in talking about the doll in her letter. Apparently, that doll had survivied many, many years! The reference to the Civil War Veteran who was an ancestor of Emma's was a brother to Eliza MORRIS and a great uncle of Emma's. Compiler requested veterans files (from National Archives, Nov. 1, 1995) on Cornelius MORRIS, a Union soldier who resided in Wakarusa, IN with his wife, Sally. Emma remembered him coming to their house "...in summertime... Mom always wanted him to play the fiddle, "Marching Through Georgia." REFERENCES: 1. Compiler's personal knowledge. 2. Emma (PFEIFFER) GILCHRIST; 1790 E. 54th Street #225; Indianapolis, IN 46220. (Letters, interviews, questionnaires between compiler and Emma GILCHRIST 1989-1995.) 3. "Fulton County Cemetery Inscriptions; Vol. 4;" page 301; "I.O.O.F. Cemetery, Rochester" Book on file: Fulton County Public Library; Rochester, IN. Inscription for Forest M. PFEIFFER, 1893-1973. (Brother to Emma PFEIFFER). 4. Letter written to compiler by Emma B. (PFEIFFER) GILCHRIST, October, 1995. 5. Written response to a list of questions sent to Emma GILCHRIST re an ancestor of hers who served in the Civil War. (2) In the 1910 census of German Township, Marshall County, IN, Emma PFEIFFER is listed as as a boarder in a household headed by Jerome STROUP. According to the 1910 census, Emma was then 3 years of age; therefore, according to the 1910 census, she was born in about 1907. According to the 1910 census, she was born in IN, and both of her parents were also born in IN. (3) Tombaugh, Jean C. and Wendell C., Fulton County Indiana Obituaries 1997 - Rochester Sentinel, Rochester, IN: 1998: Thursday, January 16, 1997 EMMA B. GILCHRIST Dec. 15, 1906-Jan. 15, 1997 Emma B. Gilchrist, formerly of Argos, died on Wednesday. Born in the Bremen community to John and Ellacinda Pfeiffer, she married Byron Gilchrist on Aug. 18, 1928 in South Bend where they lived for many years. In 1968 they retired to a farm in the Argos community, moving to Indianapolis in 1995. He survives. She was a member of the Argos Progress Club, the Green Township Home Economics Club and a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Plymouth. In addition to her husband, she is survived by two daughters; Dr. Mary A. Gilchrist, Indianapolis, Mrs. J. Michael (Janet A.) Frost; two grandaughters; Mrs. Salvatore (Susan D.) Rojas, Scotsdale, Ariz., Mrs. Warren H. (Catherine A.) Nichols, Chandler, Ariz.; two sisters, Mrs. LaRoy (Omah R.) Carothers, Mrs Ray (Martha Anna) Padgett, both of Bremen. Services will at 11 a.m. Friday at Flanner and Buchanan Mortuary, Broad Ripple. Burial will be at Oak Lawn Cemetery, Indianapolis. There will be no visitation and no flowers. Contributions may be made in Mrs. Gilchrist?s memory to the Argos Community Library, Argos, Ind., 46501. (4) Social Security Death Index: Name: Emma B. Gilchrist SSN: 309-48-6391 Last Residence: 46220 Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana, United States of America Born: 15 Dec 1906 Died: 15 Jan 1997 State (Year) SSN issued: Indiana (1962) (5) www.findagrave.com: Emma Berneice Pfeiffer Gilchrist Birth: Dec. 15, 1906 Death: Jan. 15, 1997 Note: Wife of Byron B. Gilchrist Burial: Oaklawn Memorial Gardens, Indianapolis, Hamilton County, Indiana, USA Created by: Ann Grubb Record added: Sep 15, 2002 Find A Grave Memorial# 6779605 [Note by compiler: This cemetery has a post-office address of 9700 Allisonville Road, Indianapolis, Marion County, IN 46250, but it is physically located immediately north of Marion County in Hamilton County, IN.]
  Person ID	I4	Frost, Gilchrist and Related Families
  Last Modified	28 Nov 2023

  
  

  Father	John C. PFEIFFER,   b. 22 Jul 1861, Elkhart County, IN d. 19 Jan 1936, Bremen, Marshall County, IN (Age 74 years)
  Mother	Eliscinda STANLEY,   b. 10 Aug 1866, Wakarusa, Elkhart County, IN d. 19 Sep 1948, Bremen, Marshall County, IN (Age 82 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1890	Marshall County, IN
  Family ID	F697	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Byron Bruce GILCHRIST,   b. 27 Jan 1903, Fulton County, IN d. 7 Jan 1998, Indianapolis, Marion County, IN (Age 94 years)
  Marriage	18 Aug 1928	South Bend, St. Joseph County, IN
  Notes	(1) http://www.rootsweb.com/~instjose/marriages.htm: Saint Joseph Co, IN Marriage Index 1927-1954 Marriage Record for Byron Gilchrist Spouse: Emma PFIEFFER Date: 18 Aug 1928 B/G: Groom Source: Book:042 Page:585 Record #: license date 1928/08/18 County and State: St Joseph Co. IN
  Children	1. Dr. Mary Alice GILCHRIST,   b. 8 Jan 1930, South Bend, St. Joseph County, IN d. 18 Mar 2008, Sherman Home Hospice, Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ (Age 78 years)   2. Living
  Family ID	F696	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	28 Nov 2023

  
  

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