Forsythe Family Network

The following information taken from Findagrave.com
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Birth: Jul. 19, 1896
Death: May 22, 1912

Ward of Glenn Home
Female
Vigo County Health Department Book H-42 / Page 107

Had a sister, Mary, at the Rose Orphans Home same time.

Burial:
Glenn Home Childrens Cemetery
East Glenn
Vigo County
Indiana, USA
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The sister to which reference is made above could be M. Helen Gibson (Mary Helen?)

According to the 1910 census, Elma was age 11, implying that she was born around 1899. Though I don't find an accurate record of her date of birth, I do for her sister Eloise, (1902). In this same census, Eloise is shown as age 6, or two years less than her actual age at that time which would have been about 8. Therefore, adding two years to Elma would make her 13. Also, see the census from 1900 where it shows Elma aged 4. - Rick Forsythe (2013)

April 2, 2007
Lost Creek Township to erect memorial to children buried at Glenn Home cemetery

By Laura Followell

TERRE HAUTE — Lost Creek Township Trustee Rick Long said he did not know the cemetery existed until he received a phone call five years ago from a terminally ill man who wanted to be buried on the grounds of the former Vigo County Home for Dependent Children.

Long and the man walked several acres on the Seelyville property in search of the cemetery, but did not locate it.

“It was like we were looking for mushrooms. You don’t see anything but leaves and trees,” Long said. “It’s kind of a difficult situation when you’re a trustee taking care of 10 to 12 cemeteries and somebody says, ‘Hey I want to be buried here,’ and you don’t know where it is,” he said.

Now, Long wants to erect a memorial for the children buried there. Long said he gave up searching for the cemetery until a few months ago when a representative from the Vigo County Children’s Homes contacted Long concerned about surveyors’ flags at the site of the cemetery.

Long said he found himself walking around in the middle of the woods again at the site, but this time the location of the lone tombstone was marked with yellow plastic caution tape. One stone was discovered next to a dead beech tree. The grave marker reads, “Sept. 18, 1906. David R. Anderson. April 18, 1908.” Trees and time have decimated the cemetery, located in a wooded area on the grounds of the former orphanage.

“We want to do something, but not in the middle of the woods,” he said, “because somebody will tear it up.” Long said he is working to erect a monument for the former orphanage at the Chamberlain Cemetery on Maple Avenue, located across the street just off U.S. 40.

The new monument is estimated to cost $3,700 and will be 3 feet wide and 5 feet tall, made from granite and etched with gold-colored inscription. Long said it will be installed in late June or July. Jennifer Krockenberger designed the front and back of the black granite stone. She developed an interest in the project through her work as an advocate for adult adoptees.

The Vigo County Home for Dependent Children was active from 1903 until 1979, when it was deemed impractical to renovate. The orphanage is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Laura Followell can be reached at (812) 231-4253 or laura.followell@tribstar.com.

Built in 1903, the former Vigo County Home for Dependent Children, better known as Glenn Home, is located on a hill overlooking U.S. 40, about 5 miles east of Terre Haute in the small community of Glenn. The Home ceased operation in 1979.

Intended to provide housing for orphans as well as abandoned, neglected, abused or otherwise unfortunate children of Vigo County, the original grounds consisted of an administration building containing offices, housing for staff, school rooms, and a dining facility as well as three unattached, identical dormitories.
Barns, a formal schoolhouse, and other outbuildings completed the campus as it was a full, self-containing, working farm.

Currently, the fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha of Rose Hulman Institute of Technology resides in the main building and keep up the grounds. The Main house and Boiler House still stand as well as cottages and a gymnasium built between 1926 and 1949. The Main house and Boiler house were honored with being added to the National Register of Historic Places in the year 2000.

It is unknown the exact number of children who succumbed to accident, illness or other factors. The cemetery is located on original Home grounds deep in the woods. Only one headstone has been found to date.
There were several children who passed away while at the home and are buried elsewhere in Terre Haute cemeteries.

The entire Glenn Home Campus grounds are now a private residence and not open to the public.

There is a complete list on the Glenn Home History website.
www.glennhomehistory.com

Birth Records:

Name: Gibson
Father: Henry
Mother: Lillie Carpenter
County: Vigo
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 19 Jul 1896
Reference: Vigo County, Indiana
Index to Birth Records
1882 - 1920
Volume I
Letters A - C Inclusive
Vigo County, Indiana
Index to Birth Records
1882 - 1920
Volume II
Letters D - G Inclusive
Book: H-5
Page: 29