As promised, I’m going to start on my mother’s family tonight.  Searchable Vincennes newspaper archives are a dangerous tool to let me have access to.

August Cardinal was my great grandfather.  He was born August 21, 1893 in Knox County, IN to James S and Anna Gravel Cardinal.  It’s likely he was named after his birth month.  There is a discrepancy in the year of his birth, however, as some sources say he was born in 1894.  He was the oldest of 4 children who lived to maturity.

In January 1911, he attended the 18th birthday party of Maggie Dellinger.  Others in attendance whose names caught my eye were Ben Gravel (possibly his cousin), Leo Sievers and Lawrence and Raymond Siewers.

In 1915, August met and married Ethel Thompson, daughter of John and Hannah (Butler) Thompson.  Their first child, Donald, was born in 1916. A couple years later, in June 1917, August was arrested for stealing farm equipment from farms south of Vincennes. His daughter Virginia was born while awaiting trial which was set for April 1918.  Nothing was easily found in the newspapers regarding the outcome of the trial, however, their third child, Marlin wasn’t born until 1920, so maybe he did do some time in the pokey.

Things were fairly quiet for the next few years for August.  Norma, Dorothy, and Morris were all born in the 1920s.  The family seemed to move around a bit living in both Harrison and Johnson Townships (Monroe City and Decker areas, respectively).  In 1934 it was reported that August ran his car into a guy wire, taking out a light pole.  Wayne, their youngest child, was born around this time as well.

1940 found the family renting in Busseron Township (Emison/Oaktown area).  When World War II came along, Marlin enlisted and August and Ethel were reported to live at 309 Depot Street, near the present day Vincennes University campus.  In 1949 when they were living at 121 Tecumseh, Ethel passed away at age 53.

Nothing more could be found in the archives regarding August until his death in 1964.  His obituary mentions a widow surviving him, but I have no idea who that might have been as she was not specifically named.