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 Back in 1871, Joel Jessup platted the tiny burg of Friendswood southeast of Plainfield; it was settled by the Society of Friends. The venture grew. By 1878 there was a cheese factory, store, post office, railroad depot, steam-powered sawmill and gristmill, two blacksmiths and a wagon shop. Doctor Mary Jessup based her practice from her mansion at the town’s west edge. She taught “scientific temperance and narcotics” at the Hadley Industrial Home for girls in 1896. Friendswood area men founded Indianapolis’ first ice cream firm. More milk reportedly was shipped from the thriving village that is no more than from anywhere else in Indiana. The Horse Thief Association entertained at the Friendswood school assembly hall in March 1921. There were piano duets, poem readings and light refreshments. The program: “Resolved, That the Red Men Have Received More Abuse at the Hands of the White Men Than the Negro.” Elements of that widespread association were allied with the Ku Klux Klan. Thirteen years earlier, in what might be called domestic terrorism (The Republican termed it “partisan bitterness”), someone dynamited the nearby Fairfield brick schoolhouse to the tune of $25 in damages. State authorities had condemned the Fairfield and Friendswood schools (about a mile apart), and a plan called for a new school to serve both groups of students, with Friendswood kids attending Fairfield in the meantime. Someone did not fancy the idea. Anyway, Fairfield school reopened within a week. A Friendswood woman “who years ago kept the Springtown neighborhood in an uproar,” landed in jail in December 1906, “charged with attempting to regulate matters around Friendswood according to her own notions, cleaning out the school, etc.” Another Friendswood woman, weighing 380 pounds, was the heaviest in the county. She died in September 1896. A fellow calling both Mooresville and Friendswood home and already jailed in late 1914 on drunk and disturbing the peace complaints in Plainfield, faced even more when two area farmers swore out eight more charges including malicious trespass, pulling a knife, profanity, provoke, and assault and battery. Released on a Sunday, he was arrested the following day for those latter charges while he was drunk yet again. The Gazette declared he might be one of the first to occupy the new “penal farm” in Putnam County. By February, he was of “the opinion that jail life is a living death.” He implored Prosecutor James Snodgrass to release him, pledging to leave the state. “He will probably be given the opportunity to make good.” I found nothing further. I may suggest a similar approach to Prosecutor Delp, subject to a trifling consideration. Charles L. Mendenhall, during his teaching stint at Friendswood schools, served as state representative from 1915-1920. His ambition at Friendswood was to build “a notable high school . . . with a corresponding neighborhood spirit which will result in Friendswood becoming a community center known far and wide.” Standard Oil Company in 1901 bought, it was said, “the finest pair of mules seen in Danville” from Friendswood’s Ethan Kendall. Jessup & Son flouring mill was the scene of a horrific fatal accident early in 1892 when the long-time engineer was caught up in the machinery. By the time the 450 RPM shaft was stopped, what was left of the lifeless dismembered corpse was wrapped around it. I’ll not further describe the scene, dutifully reported in graphic detail -- as was the practice then -- other than to suggest it was a closed coffin funeral. Another paper’s account was far more vivid. Jessup & Son’s store in 1892 sold some serious quackery, along with at least 17 other “first-class firms” across the county. Clinic Sarsaparilla remedied “all diseases arising from impure blood,” including pimples, boils, carbuncles, pustules, scald head, running sores and ulcers, scrofula and syphilitic affection, cancerous tumors, ringworm, eczema, tumors “and all hereditary blood taint whatsoever.” From Chicago, that outfit also made the Clinic Kidney Cure, and it fixed Bright’s Disease, diabetes, female weakness, lumbago and incontinence. A “splendid dinner pill” worked marvels combating flatulence. Anyone who mailed two packaging wrappers from that pill was promised a free souvenir album depicting lithographic views of the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Sufferers were urged not to fall prey to others who sought to “palm off inferior or worthless concoctions in place of these splendid remedies.” Paul Miner Lizton ______________________________________________________________________
Publisher’s Point of View ______________________________________________________________________
Happy Holidays? Happy holidays everyone. Before you judge the use of this word instead of Merry Christmas, please read on. This time of year is a bit of a paradox to me. We are taught as youngsters that Thanksgiving and Christmas are times to be around those who love us and to appreciate the good things in our life. As kids, they let us out of school during these times so that we can be with our families and loved ones for fun and games and food. But for good reason a lot of us grownups don’t have the same feeling about the holidays as we once did. A lot of us “hate” the holidays. Just hearing the word can cause crippling anxiety. For some, the season of giving becomes the season of dread. How did this happen? We let it happen. Why did we let it happen? That’s a question only we can answer for ourselves. Interesting, as I am writing this, I just looked up the word “holidays” and here is what it said: “Leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure.” Wow. That got me interested in the origin of this word so I looked up “holiday” in the etymology dictionary. Funny how something so obvious can be overlooked. The word “holiday” came from Old English and literally means “Holy Day”. If you look at the word it’s right there, holi-days. Who knew? So, why do we get upset when we are wished Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas? That’s a question only you can answer for yourself. This may sound easier than it is, but maybe worth a try. Identify what is keeping you from that magical feeling of the “holidays” as a kid, and change it. Only you have the power to do that. No one else can or will. Good luck. From all of us here at The Republican newspaper, we truly wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving, a magical Christmas 6 East Main Street ~ P.O. Box 149 and most of all, yes, you Danville, IN 46122 guessed it, Happy HoliPhone: 317-745-2777 / Fax: 317-647-4341 days. E-mail: therepublican@sbcglobal.net __________ BETTY JO BARTLEY Editor SUBSCRIPTION RATE $40 PER YEAR SINGLE COPY 50¢ PUBLISHED WEEKLY
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I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending. Fred Rogers
Thursday, November 25, 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 November 26, 1896 Why not organize a debating club among our young men? Instead of loafing around town at night in the stores and on the corners, the boys could be instructing themselves in the leading questions of the day. The new home of the First National Bank is virtually completed and is a credit to that institution as it is a source of pride in the town and county. The building is heated with steam, lighted by electricity, furnished with city water on every floor and has toilet rooms with sewer connection. This paper is authorized to announce that Miss Lina Hinks is a candidate for the Danville post office. Mr. Newsom, of Danville, presented this office a choice assortment of delicious persimmons. Mr. Newsom has young persimmon trees for sale. The body of Mrs. Fred Fouse, formerly Miss Zella Mendenhall, arrived to Danville yesterday from Marion where she died Tuesday. The funeral is today from the home of John Lee. The owner of the block on the south side of the square is contemplating removing all the partitions in the upper stories and make a town hall fitted with stage, etc. The pleasing manner in which Miss Puntenney, of the Central Normal College presents the work of her Physical Culture course is very complimentary to her. The principle of culture is to acquire nobility of soul and to train the body to reveal this to the world. John T. Bell has retired from the office of sheriff with the good wishes of all who have had business with him. Mr. Bell has purchased a meat market in Pittsboro and has moved there. _____ ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO Issue of November 24, 1921 Monday, the commissioners tentatively adopted a plan for redistricting the various townships of the county for election purposes when machines will be used. The present number of precincts is thirty-one. With machines, there will be nineteen precincts. H.H. Rufus walked through Danville yesterday, carrying a sealed message from Danville, Ill. to President Harding. He started the trip Nov. 18 and is eight miles ahead of schedule. Mrs. Winburn Dillon has been appointed postmistress at Pittsboro. Mrs. Pearl Rutledge was elected noble grand at the election of officers of the Rebekah lodge, Tuesday night. Word has been received from Mabel Miller, the little Esquimaux, who has made so many friends here, and who is attending a girls’ school in Washington, D.C., that she is very homesick to return to Danville. “Disarmament” has become so popular that last week “Big Chief” Reeder disarmed the crossing signals on each corner of the square that bore iron arms which read: “Drive to the right.” He thinks everybody ought to know how to drive by this time. Clayton: Charles B. Nicholson has harvested eighty bushels of turnips off a quarter of an acre of ground. The Phillips brothers have installed this week a gasoline filling station. This makes the fourth filling station in Clayton. The Avon Independents have organized a basketball team. Civic Club’s Christmas carnival and sale of cheap, charming Christmas commodities. The cautious catering café will cater to a curious crowd at community center, Avon school, Dec. 2, 7:30. Carefully care in mind cordial invitation of comrades in charge. . _____ SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO Issue of November 28, 1946 Danville merchants and other citizens were responding to pleas from state and federal officials to observe the restoration of the wartime brownout this week in an effort to conserve the dwindling coal supply. Paul and George Burch, brothers, have taken over the management of the City Restaurant. Eugene Ross announces, in response to numerous requests, he will do custom curing in addition to slaughtering at the Danville Frozen Food Locker plant this year. Dr. Edgar C. Cumings, president of Canterbury College, reports that the Founders association has received amounts totaling $6,298.25 since the launch of the drive. If the project now being sponsored by
the Danville Conservation club receives a little more co-operation from the general public, this locality will have a new lake and recreation grounds. Chester V. Parker, of Pittsboro, was elected district chairman of the Central Indiana Boy Scouts, last Thursday night at the Methodist church. All school busses in the county were inspected yesterday by state policeman Charles Williams. According to reports of Mr. Williams, school busses in this county are in very good condition compared to other counties. _____ FIFTY YEARS AGO Issue of November 25, 1971 Coatesville man who claims he was an elector entitled to vote in the Coatesville Town Election on Nov. 2, 1971, has filed a complaint in the Hendricks Circuit to contest the election. While Mr. and Mrs. Montelle L. Davis, Danville, were vacationing last July in New England and Nova Scotia, she decided to write a note and put it in a bottle during a cruise. This week, she received a letter from Ladd York, Vinalhaven, Mass., saying he had found the bottle on Sept. 10. Dr. Robert W. Kirtley of Danville has been appointed local chairman for the 1971 campaign of the Indiana University School of Medicine Fund. He is one of eight graduates of the school living in Danville. New Winchester: A “Community Meeting” is scheduled at 7:30 p.m., November3, in the VFW building for the purpose of discussing plans for obtaining the old school grounds and building an inexpensive shelter or some kind of building so that the community could have a public place to have meetings, parties, dinners, and charitable events. Two Plainfield Messenger staff members received honors at the fifth annual HSPA Newsroom seminar at Indianapolis. Dee Lee, editor, won third place among weeklies in the feature story category, while Larry R. Trent, sports editor, was awarded second place with judging of sports columns. North Salem High School has issued regulations for student activities during and following basketball games. _____ TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO Issue of November 21, 1996 The Greater Danville Chamber of Commerce is having the first annual Holiday Dance on Saturday, December 7. The dance will begin at 8 p.m. in the rotunda of the Hendricks County Court House. Rick Battershell of R.W. Curry & Associates architects, reported preliminary cost estimate to remodel the old National City Bank building for the Town Hall to the Danville Town Council Monday night. The price tag is $269,425. Completion of the work would be made in 120 days. Miss Michelle Elizabeth Colman, a junior at Purdue, and daughter of Judge David H. Coleman and Carol Coleman has been selected as a Dean’s Ambassador. Work has begun on the roof at the Hendricks County Museum, formerly the Hendricks County Jail, in Danville. The slateline asphalt shingles are being put on now. The design restores the roof to its original appearance. Hendricks County is second only to Marion County in the number of Christmas tree farms – 7. Mr. and Mrs. John Rutledge of Lizton will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, Nov. 24. _____ TEN YEARS AGO November 24, 2011 There’s no place like home for the holidays and no better place to get ready than the annual Holiday Fest, sponsored by the Hendricks County Extension Homemakers and Hendricks Power Cooperative. This year’s event will take place December 2, at the Conference Center on the Fairgrounds. Citizens of Amo, nearly 100 of them, came to the Community Building last Thursday to learn more about the United States Postal Service study which designates approximately 3,700 post offices for closing, including the one at Amo. This year, the Danville Parks Dept. will offer a different way to see the colorful display of lights with the inaugural Winterland Run/Walk on Saturday, December 3. The Cascade High School Spell Bowl Team set the highest score in school. History and brought home the second consecutive Indiana Spell Bowl State Championship last Saturday. A.T. Waddington of Avon has published a novel, “Essence,” which will be the first in a series. __________
