First Families of Hope programs to start Feb. 3rd

The Yellow Trail Museum and Bartholomew County Genealogical Society are launching a new program to recognize the first pioneer settlers of the town of Hope.

The First Families of Hope will feature monthly talks recognizing and researching the early settlers. Those will be in the form of discussions on the first Saturday of each month from February through August of 2025.

In the first group, there will be a focus on the families who attended the first services at Hope Moravian Church in June of 1830. The first discussion will feature the Chitty Family and will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3rd at the Yellow Trail Museum research center on the northwestern corner of the Hope Town Square.

You are asked to bring any photos, genealogy, documents, stories, or anything else you might want to share. The Genealogical Society will scan copies during the sessions to make available to the public and to the museum.

The Hope Moravian Church family series will run through August of this year. A second series will focus on the 124 early landowners who had purchased land in Flat Rock and Hawcreek Townships by 1830.

The program is also part of a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Yellow Trail Museum in 2025.

For more information, contact Kim Ray 812-344-2920