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The Baskin and Forster Atlas was packed with interesting items for me.  One of the maps that I found surprised me.  It was a detailed map for the city of Hope, Bartholomew County, Indiana in 1870.  I have several members of my line that lived in the town at the time, so I was curious about the map.  Upon closer inspection it turns out that the map has some pretty significant information for me.

The surnames that are linked to the City of Hope are maternal lines, and center on the Spach/Spaugh and Arbuckle surnames.  The map in particular is significant to the Spach/Spaugh name. 

A little history about the Spach/Spaugh surname.  Adam Spach is the patriarch for the Spach/Spaugh surname in the United States.  Adam was deeply involved in the Moravian Church, and even helped start a Church in North Carolina.  A few generations after Adam Spach died, the Spach/Spaugh's moved to Indiana.  I am failry certian that they moved because of the Moravian Church, but I am not sure if the Church founded the City of Hope.  The Spach/Spaughs that I am related to were active members in the Hope Moravian Church, and may have been "founding Members". 

If you look at the map (click on it to make it bigger), you can see a few things :

• The Spaugh's had a very large tract of land that borders Elm street (which is still there today..)
  • I take this to indicate that they had money at the time and or
  • They were some of the first people in the town and had the chance to acquire a large piece of land.
• You will also notice the Moravian Church is mentioned a few times:
  • 3 Separate tracts of land marked as "Moravian Trustees"
  • A large parcel of land that is marked "Moravian Church Lands" 

The large parcel of land that is marked as Church lands, I believe is where the Hope, Gods Acre Cemetery is now located.  I am not totally sure, but the locations do look similar.

Also noted on the maps are a prominent family, the Romingers.  I know that the Rominger family was in North Carolina with the Spachs before the move to Indiana, and they also became a prominent local family in Hope, Indiana.  My question's now are, was Hope Founded by the Moravian church, and if so, where the Spach's one of the first families in the city?  It appears that if the Spach's were not among the settlers of the city, they were there pretty quickly after.

Ian