SERVING HENDRICKS COUNTY SINCE 1847
Page A-2
The Republican
Delving Into Yester~Year
Local historian and writer Paul Miner takes items from
The Republican’s Yester-Year column to develop an interesting, informative and often humorous article.
To the Editor: Memories some consider acute often are fogged by time’s distance. Only through checking did I discover such was the case in March 1888 when “Uncle” Billy Baugh recalled the first run of the Vandalia train from Indianapolis to Terre Haute. Billy told a Terre Haute reporter the debut was March 4, 1852. Naturally, since the Vandalia, then called the Terre Haute & Indianapolis, ran through Hendricks County, I searched the papers for accounts of that day. I learned Billy was wrong. The trains were running by February that year; the final rail had been laid by mid-month and an entire train of cars promptly passed over the span February 16. Newspaper accounts reveal roughly a mile of track was laid each day as completion neared. One subsequent report declared the tracks were “in a wretched condition,” but the line daily carried 200 passengers east and west. Billy claimed the first train of one coach and 10 box cars left Indianapolis at 7 a.m. with him at the throttle of “Henry Clay,” and crewed with a fireman and conductor. At Coatesville, a car loaded with poultry was added. At Staunton, a coal car was coupled in front of the locomotive. The train arrived in Terre Haute at 4 p.m. – a nine-hour trip. Seems slow, even for those times. TH&I owned nine other engines, drably called Vigo, Terre Haute, Hendricks, Indianapolis, Putnam, Marion, Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio. Any nicknames were not recalled. Train speeds increased substantially over time. Vandalia Passenger No. 20 made the three-mile trip between Coatesville and Amo in “exactly” two minutes, 30 seconds, in June 1888. The “flying run” between Terre Haute and Indianapolis, 73 miles, consumed an hour and 45 minutes. I wonder whether that first TH&I coach car was as “elegant and commodious” as one made in February 1852 for the Terre Haute & Richmond line. Joseph Farnsworth and William Vincent Clough’s new Southwest Car Shop in Madison had built a car “with the especial design of attaining the greatest perfection in both material and construction.” It was “unsurpassed” in both “appearance and style of finish.” Everyone says that, then and now. The car had 15 India rubber spring supports and its design of “free, lateral swinging motion” resulted in “obviating the unpleasant jar” of other coaches. One man had painted and gilded the coach while another had completed graining and eight landscapes. Stage-delivered mail delays arose in April that year. Sending mail by the TH&I was far faster, allowing correspondence arriving in Terre Haute in the afternoon to receive responses that evening. The article failed to clarify why the stage line was still carrying the mail. Maps from 1865 reveal to some degree what Hendricks County towns on the rail line were like 13 years afterward. Amo was largely built on the north side of the rail line. North to south, the town had North, Sycamore, Main and Railroad Streets. West to east were Vine, Pearl and Walnut. M.G. Parker at the northeast corner of Main and Walnut, was town physician and surgeon, although he later relocated to Danville. B.F. Scherer’s Amo Mills was just east of the depot. Cartersburg was much larger, at least on paper, as almost 200 building sites were platted on both sides of the rail line. Forty-nine sites were shown at Cincinnatus. Clayton had its own siding, where the express office and A.S. Wills’ woolen factory were found. Coatesville was still called West Milton in 1865; it was mostly north of the tracks. A water tank was just east of town. A hotel was found then and even some 20 years later just west of where the siding split from the tracks. Pecksburg was evenly split by the line, with the Lutheran church on the north and the school on the south. Two county roads intersected just south of the tracks. Plainfield was almost entirely south of the tracks, with a steam planing mill and furniture factory just west of the depot. The tracks crossed the Plank Road at Six Points east of Plainfield. Anyone with a particularly ponderous bent can visit the county website’s on-line archives (scroll to “maps”) and pore over five 1916 Vandalia Railroad maps as the line wends through our territory. Paul Miner Lizton ______________________________________________________________________
Yard Waste Recycling Centers Open
Hendricks County Recycling District operates two Yard Waste Recycling Centers that accept woody waste (brush, limbs, firewood, etc.), grass clippings, leaves, and other organic matter from Hendricks County households. Material collected at the centers will be recycled into mulch. Brownsburg Yard Waste Recycling Center is at 90 Mardale Dr. Hours are Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Phone: 317-8588231. Plainfield Yard Waste Recycling Center is at 7020 S. CR 875 E. Hours: Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Phone: 317-838-9332. To learn more about the Yard Waste Recycling Cneter and check out the online recycling guide, visit RecycleHendricksCounty.org. 6 East Main Street ~ P.O. Box 149 Danville, IN 46122 Phone: 317-745-2777 / Fax: 317-647-4341 E-mail: therepublican@sbcglobal.net BETTY JO BARTLEY Editor SUBSCRIPTION RATE $40 PER YEAR SINGLE COPY 50¢ PUBLISHED WEEKLY
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Thursday, July 15, 2021
Yester~Year
The Republican has published local news weekly since 1847. We offer this column as a look back at events from our archives and to help connect today’s readers to the people and events in our past. ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO Issue of July 16, 1896 Brownsburg: The prospects for a good canning season are very bright. The factory will be working to its fullest capacity this year and that means employment to nearly 200 people for two months. Hadley: Mrs. Matilda Hastings has woven 300 yards of carpet this summer. Oak Ridge: Abram Hoadley had 800 bushels of wheat, every bushel grading No. 2. This was the best on the ridge. The Town Board met in regular session Friday evening in the new council room in the Fair building with all members present. Wild goose plums, ten cents per gallon at J.A. Little’s one mile west of Cartersburg. Mrs. Dr. Records is learning the mysteries of a bicycle with Prof. Stone as instructor. There were twenty-two baptized at the meeting on Big Creek Sunday – thirteen by sprinkling and nine by immersion. A grand musical and literary entertainment will be given on the colored camp meeting grounds at Evergreen park Saturday night next. Admission ten cents. B.B. Demarcus, of Spencer, has opened on the south side a restaurant fully abreast with the times. Hadley: The Indianapolis photographer will be out here again next Friday. Anyone wishing pictures taken can leave orders with George Walters. Perry West has returned from his Chicago trip and is busily engaged trying to convince the natives that Chicago is larger than New Winchester. A young lady cyclist came in contact with a herd of cows lying down in the road and she could not stop nor turn aside by landed on the back of an astonished cow who arose with the lady on her back. She gave a kick at the wheel and deposited her rider in the dust and “lit out.” John L. Bacon and wife of the city spent Monday with the latter’s cousin, J.M. Barlow. They were “chums” on the Atlanta campaign and the war was fought over again. The McKinley League will have a rousing meeting in the court house Monday evening at 7 p.m. Good speakers will discuss the issues in an eloquent and logical way. The public is invited to hear the truth. _____ ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO Issue of July 14, 1921 Bundle day is Thursday, July 21. Bundle day is the time for you to bring your old, clean clothes for the relief of the Armenians. Some 6,000 fleeces were sold in Danville, Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Undoubtedly this was the most wool ever delivered to any town in the county any two days. Dr. A.G. Barrett and family are on their annual vacation and are motoring out of Indianapolis to various points. Clayton: Beginning next Saturday there will be an ice cream, soda and lunch stand at Camp Short for the benefit of all comers. Come out and enjoy your selves to the fullest. Avon: The family of John H. and Dr. Earl Ferree motored all the say to Decatur county Friday night for blackberries. They reached home at evening with 22 gallons. There is a discussion on these hot days in Danville of why the people do not have the pleasure of enjoying a bathing beach. The general answer is that through a term on years, there has been a splendid job of passing the buck. The ball game between the Coatesville Bluze and the Danville team, at the local park last Sunday, was a slug-fest and a nip and tuck affair until it went into extra innings. In the 12th inning, the Danville pitcher weakened and the visitors made eight runs, winning the game by a score of 21 to 13. Dr. Amos Carter, formerly of Plainfield, was last week re-elected superintendent of the Tuberculosis Sanitarium at Rockville. _____ SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO Issue of July 18, 1946 Melvin Sturgeon officially became Superintendent of Hendricks County schools, Tuesday. Vincent H. Crane, former principal of the Clayton high school, has been named assistant professor of political science at Canterbury College. Clyde Goodwin, Danville, has been named county service officer by Hendricks county commissioners at a special meeting, Monday night, in the court house. Trustee Marion H. Shearer is in a quan-
dary. It seems the lumber shortage will prevent basketball games at New Winchester this week, if hard maple flooring cannot be found. The Avon community club picnicked at Merritt’s park, Sunday. A fried chicken supper was served, followed by an ice cream social and game hour. The North Salem Eastern Star chapter will have a sack and rag party in the hall, August 14. The sack will contain the owner’s lunch, the rag is to dust and clean windows. Thus, the ladies will enjoy the day and at the same time have an immaculate hall for the annual inspection, August 23. Four great-grandchildren of William and Anna Walter were participants at the 4-H round-up at Purdue last week. They are Miss Betty Henry, Pittsboro; Marilyn Walter of Danville and James and Robert Walton, North Salem. _____ FIFTY YEARS AGO Issue of July 15, 1971 Walter E. DeLong, age 26, Brownsburg, is a new patrolman on the Brownsburg Police Department. The new horse barn is ready for its first annual Open Horse Show, July 31 – Aug. 1. The Norman Gulley family enjoyed the holiday weekend camping at Lane’s Camping Retreat, near Spencer. Mrs. Don Pierson entertained with a family get-together and cook-out, Friday evening, celebrating the 11th birthday of her daughter, Donna. Brown Township is Hendricks County’s fastest growing township according to the 1970 census figures. It has increased 91 percent from 1960 to its present population of 2, 113. Phillip Cole, southwest of Pittsboro, had predicted he would have ripe tomatoes by July 1; however, he picked his first ripe one on June 22. Paul Wingler, son of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Wingler of Coatesville, is attending the Indiana University Performers’ Clinic on the Bloomington campus through July 18. _____ TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO Issue of July 11, 1996 Baker Funeral Home, Danville, announces the retirement of Maxine Alexander. She began her employment in August of 1978. The music of Andrew Lloyd Weber will resound throughout the White Lick Amphitheater in Ellis Park, Danville, Friday, July 12, as the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra for the 11th season of Symphony in the Park. “It’s my hope that your family will join ours by donating to the Danville Flag Fund,” says Roy Walter. Collection points will be at Huntington Bank, Union Federal Bank, National City Bank, North Salem State Bank, Super Clean Coin-Op and The Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Rex Wilson of Danville announce the engagement of their daughter, Wendy Sue Wilson, to Boyce E. Ruegsegger. The wedding is set for August 17, at the First Baptist Church of Danville. Twin Bridges Toastmaster, Hendricks County’s newest Toastmaster Club, received its official Charter, June 3, from Toastmaster’s District 11 Governor, Melody Deal, during a special Charter Presentation meeting. Hendricks County Senior Services is sponsoring a four-day Branson Christmas trip with Ron Weisheit of I-V Coaches. ______ TEN YEARS AGO Issue of July 14, 2011 The 2010 4-H Supreme Showman became the 2011 4-H Fair Queen as 18-yearold Kelsey Grace Covey was awarded the crown before a packed audience at the Hendricks County 4-H Fairgrounds. Jessica Kirkham, junior athletic training manager at Harding University in Arkansas, is among 23 athletes and students that traveled to Italy as part of the Bison Athletes in Training. Jessica is a 2009 graduate of Danville Community High School and daughter of Jesse and Loria Kirkham. The Hendricks County 4-H Fairgrounds and Conference Complex hosted the National Powwow for the first time, July 6-9. Happy birthday to Master Logan Huntsman, who is nearly a handful. He celebrated his 4th birthday on Friday, July 14. The title of 2011 Little Miss Hendricks County went to 7-year-old Ashlynn Marie Moodie Brownsburg. Bennett Schirmer, 6-year-old son of Mark and Melissa Schirmer of Lizton was chosen as the 2011 Little Mister Hendricks County. _________
