In 1929, Julia Brewer Shaley, the wife of William and Nancy Criss' grandson, Fred Shaley, wrote a two page account, available in the local history files at the Vigo County Public Library, about the lives of William and Nancy Criss [separate accounts on the Shaley/Scheele family]. I can verify some of it, some of the rest I really doubt. William and Nancy's daughter Matilda Criss married F. W. Shaley, a Terre Haute grocer who supposedly came to Owen county to buy poultry, eggs and butter, and Fred was the son of FW and Matilda. Julia says in this account "The family moved by wagon trail to Iowa, but gandmother was so dissatisfied over the unsettled condition of affairs prior to the Civil War that she persuaded her husband to return to Indiana, which they did about 1858, to their old community. (They had lived, she says, "two miles off the highway from Spencer to Vandalia".) "They built a house, quite large, on the road connecting Spencer and Vandalia and it was called "The Ohio House" and used as a public tavern for the travelling public. (Does this sound plausible for Methodists???) The house still stands [1929] on the left side of the road coming from Spencer to Vandalia, but is in sad repair." She goes on to say that Nancy and William were reported to live to advanced ages, which is untrue, although she states that she scarcely believed it herself since she never knew them after her 1886 marriage. In fact, William died in 1862 and Nancy in 1863. She goes on to say "In their later years they lived in Terre Haute on the place Father Shaley bought from {for?} them on the Bloomington Road beyond 25th Street. Charles Shaley lives on and owns five acres of the old home place." "While she was of this strong physical build, yet she was gentle and kindly in spirit, while her husband was of an unusually happy disposition and something of a fiddler I believe. Travellers always found a jolly reception at the Ohio House." So, any feedback on this? Your collective knowledge may help! Laura E. Mitchell lmitch@iquest.net 2522 College Ave. lmitchell@vigo.lib.in.us Terre Haute, IN 47803 (812) 234-0692 Visit the Vigo County Public Library Webpage at: http://vax1.vigo.lib.in.us or http://www.vigo.lib.in.us Genealogists: Check the VCPL webpage for an index of obituaries in the Terre Haute newspaper, 1903-1966, http://vax1.vigo.lib.in.us/~obits/index.htm VCPL now has the 1820 census of Vigo County online: http://vax1.vigo.lib.in.us/1820/index.htm