Henry County Historical Society~2023 Winter Historicalog

The Henry County Historicalog

“Bringing history to life...and life to history”

Winter 2023

Lights, camera....history!

Historical Society video interviews now featured on YouTube channel

Years from now, a Henry County resident will be able to learn first-hand about the unique experiences of living through World War II,serving on a secret mission in the military or just what everyday life was like here. They’ll be able to hear first-hand accounts from Henry County people, thanks to a new effort at the museum to video one-on-one interviews.

Board President Gene Ingram and Darrel Radford, co-director of the museum, have teamed with Brad Burk to start videotaping various individuals and their fascinating stories.

Kaye Ford, another museum co-director, has been putting the interviews on the historical society’s designated “YouTube” channel for all to enjoy.

See VIDEO, Page 8

Journalist, author to speak at society’s annual meeting

Donna Cronk to discuss heirlooms here in April

Award-winning journalist and author Donna Cronk will be the guest speaker at the Henry County Historical Society’s 136 annual meeting in April.

The annual meeting will be Sunday, April 23 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the museum, 606 S. 14th St., New Castle.

Donna says the average American attic, basement, closet—or all of those—are often filled with our belongings. Often, those belongings include objects inherited from parents and grandparents;memorabilia that

our kids want to keep—in our home; and items that are near and dear to our hearts. Yet there are other things we need to part with, but struggle getting it done.

Donna is right there with you. Sentimental about heirlooms, she also likes to keep things organized, and decide what legacy items she hopes that her kids and grandkids might appreciate, yet let go of things that aren’t so precious. Often it’s enough to keep the memories, and lose the stuff. Her See SPEAKER, Page 8

On Feb. 7, 1987, the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame selection committee visited New Castle Fieldhouse and attended the Trojans’ game with Winchester. This photo, courtesy The Indianapolis Star, is not from that particular game, but is an example of the basketball spirit that helped New Castle win the hearts of the selection committee and become the new home for the Hall of Fame.

This day in Henry County history

Darrel Radford, Henry County’s official historian, has been featuring a “This Day In Henry County History” tidbit on the historical society’s Facebook page. We invite you to like our Facebook page and go there daily for some interesting historical events that have happened in our county over the past 200 years or so. Here’s a sampling of recent Facebook posts.

On Feb. 2, 1837, “Jamestown” became “New Lisbon” by an act of the Indiana General Assembly.

On Feb. 3, 1864, the body of Orlistus W. Powell, right, was laid to rest in South Mound Cemetery. Powell had been killed in the Civil War battle of Chickamauga five months earlier. His body was identified in a mass grave because of his name tattooed on one of his arms.

On Feb. 4, 1903, the Henry County Commissioners met today and placed a quarantine against Dublin where several cases of smallpox has appeared. This was done at the insistence of the Dublin Township Trustee. Also, Henry County Commissioners passed a resolution for every person in Henry County to be vaccinated immediately. O.P. Hatfield and Dr. Harvey Koons were appointed to select four guards to be placed on the roads leading into Henry

County from Dublin and no one is to pass or re-pass.

On Feb 4, 1977, New Castle Elks Club officials were cel- ebrating a youngster named Steve Alford, who won the district “Hoop Shoot” in Anderson.

On Feb. 4, 1980, New Castle’s Kent Benson, riight, was traded by the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks along with a first round draft choice to Detroit for Bob Lanier.

On Feb. 5, 1918, Henry County’s last abolitionist, John William Griffin, dies at his farm home near Dunreith.

On Feb. 6, 1839, the Indiana General Assembly passed the incorporation act for New Castle.

On Feb. 7, 1987, the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame selection committee visited New Castle and attended the Trojans’ game with Winchester at the fieldhouse. The New Castle Area Chamber of Commerce had purchased 4,000 tickets to give away, hoping to pack the facility and make a good impression on the committee.

On Feb. 8, 1851, the Indiana General Assembly passed “an act prohibiting the sale of intoxicating drinks in Middletown (except for medical, mechanical or sacramental purposes or within one mile thereof.” Offenders were to

be fined not more than $100 or less than $25.

On Feb. 9, 1982, U.S. President Ronald Reagan addressed a joint session of the Indiana General Assembly and mentioned Knightstown when talking about a popular poem by William Herschell entitled “Ain’t God Good to Indiana?” Herschell was inspired to write the poem after visiting Knightstown in early 1919 and talking with Emmett Wood, a colorful community resident. In his opening paragraph, President Reagan commented: “In 1919 William Herschell, a columnist for The Indianapolis News, came upon another admirer of this state -- an old man near Knightstown who was sitting on a log in the warm sunshine fishing in the Big Blue River. With a sweep of his arm to encompass the countryside, the old fellow explained “Aint God Good to Indiananny!”

On Feb. 12, 1983, Dr. Herbert Heller, right, a New Castle native who authored the three-volume “Historic Henry unty,” died in Greencastle at the age of 74. His books are available today at the historical society and the library’s Indiana Room.

Hallowed ground for genealogists: tips to help with cemetery searches

By KAYE FORD Co-Director

Occasionally, you’ll luck out and find a cemetery that has provided a searchable database of their burials online. One such cemetery is the St. Joseph New Cemetery located in Cincinnati, Ohio (https://www. stjoenew.com/ page/genealogy). This database allows you to search burial records by first and last name, which is helpful. Until you’re searching for John Doyle, of which there are 27. This specific database also provides the burial location within the cemetery (the section, the lot, the part, and the range). You can take those four pieces of information to search others buried in the same lot, just remove the first and last name from your search. In John Doyle’s lot, there are five burials: Doyle, his wife, and their three sons. This is the only marker at the site.

Other information provided is burial date, age, and parent’s names, if known. Catharine Doyle, above, was a Fitzgerald, who had an older brother, John. I searched for a John Fitzgerald, found one with parents James Fitzgerald and Mary Sullivan, and then did a search of John’s lot. This is what I found:

It turns out that James Fitzgerald and Mary Sullivan had divorced between 1857 and 1861, and Mary had remarried Cornelius Sullivan. These results have given me a lot more to explore in this family!

At HCHS, our volunteer Ben Clark has been working diligently entering names into a database of obituaries, scrapbooks, and old courthouse ledgers. He is nearing the end of this project and is at 79,000 names right now. Watch for it soon on our website! Once he finishes that project, he’s moving to entering names into our very own cemetery database. We hope that this will help people locate their ancestor here in Henry County. Keep making those connections!

Katharine Doyle’s headstone. (Photo provided by Kaye Ford)

St. Joseph New Cemetery database results for John Fitzgerald and family. (Left side).

St. Joseph New Cemetery database results for John Fitzgerald and family. (Right side).

DAR Chapter to host plaque presentation at museum March 11

The Governor Oliver Perry Morton Chapter, National Society Daughters of the Union 1861-1865 will be hosting a plaque dedication for local Civil War Brigadier General William Grose at the Henry County Historical Society Museum in New Castle, Indiana on Saturday March 11th at 1 p.m.

The dedication will honor this local civil war general for his achievements as a pioneer, lawyer, legislator, judge, and author. A reception with light refreshments will be served after the dedication and speakers. The public is invited to share in this historical event.

This painting of Gen. Grose has hung in the same spot on the parlor wall since the museum opened in 1902.

The National Society Daughters of the Union 1861-1865 is a non-political organization that celebrates our history. We are a growing and vibrant Society made up of women who share common interest in honoring our ancestors and heritage.

The objects of our Society are:

(a) To honor the memory of the men and women who contributed towards the preservation of the Union during the Civil War extending over the years 18611865.

(b) To foster a spirit of patriotism, loyalty and love of country.

(c) To uphold the honor of the Flag of the United States of America.

(d) To give financial aid to Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee.

For more information on our society, please visit nsdu.org. And in the words of our society motto, “Let us Have Peace.”

New exhibit in 2023 will honor founders of historical society

One of the new exhibits planned in 2023 at the Henry County Historical Society is a tribute to our founders.

Henry County’s courthouse was just 17 years old when the historical society was founded in 1886.

When visitors enter the historical society museum annex doors, a plaque with the names of founders greets them. The list includes Joshua H. Mellett, Eugene H. Bundy, Nathan H. Ballenger, John R. Millikan, Daniel H. Stafford, Benjamin S. Parker, Martin L. Bundy, Elwood Pleas, Thomas B. Redding and Mark E. Forkner.

They came from all parts of Henry County. Mellett was from Springport; Redding, Elliott and both Bundys from New Castle; Ballenger from Knightstown; Parker from Hopewell;Millikan from Liberty Township; Pleas from Dudley Township; Stafford from Greensboro and Forkner from Liberty Township.

Their diversity included in occupations as well as locations.

Most of them at one time or another had also farmed, although only five – Ballenger, M.L. Bundy, John Millikan, Stafford and Pleas – had done so extensively.

Five of the founders were prepared to practice law: Mellett, Redding, M.L. Bundy and Forkner.

Seven of these men had taught school at one time or another in their lives, but only Rogers on a continuous basis.

Five had been journalists. In most instances, they were editors of New Castle newspapers.

They were relatively young by today’s standards. Four of the men were in their 40s. The youngest, at age 40, was E.H. Bundy. Three of the men were in their 50s. Four of the men were in their 60s and only one, John Millikan, was 72.

What they started 137 years ago is now the oldest, continuously operating historical society and museum in the state of Indiana.

We hope you’ll make plans to come and see this interesting exhibit to learn more about the men who not only made history, but enabled it to be preserved for generations of Henry County residents. Plans are for the exhibit to be ready when regular museum hours resume Thursday March 2. The museum will be open 1-4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and by appointment on Saturday.

Tale of two strikes

Looking back at the Chrysler and Perfect Circle walkouts of the 1950s, their causes, effects and legacies.

New Castle was the site of two major strikes in the 1950s, the first at Chrysler Corp. and the second at Perfect Circle.

Henry County Historian Darrel Radford attempted to separate the myths from the facts during a special presentation Thursday night, Dec. 8.

Sponsored by the New Castle-Henry County Public Library, program was the last in the year-long Bicentennial Series “Magical History Tour.” It was held at the Henry County Historical Society museum at 606 S. 14th St.

You can see the presentation on the Henry County Historical Society’s YouTube channel. Go to YouTube and search for Henry County Historical Society AND Perfect Circle.

The two New Castle strikes created major news for different reasons.

The Chrysler strike, which went on for 100 days, was largely peaceful and effective. It resulted in major changes to worker pensions. The Perfect Circle strike was shorter, 76 days, but far more turbulent. It began on July 26, 1955 and continued through Oct. 10. As many as 600 National Guard troops were called into New Castle to keep the peace. Reporters from LIFE Magazine and The Christian Science Monitor wrote about the Perfect Circle strike. Two newspapers in London, England, actually called The Courier-Times here for more details. Martial law was enforced. Six people were shot and 50 arrested at the Perfect Circle plant.

Using newspaper archives, historical society files and photos from Doug Magers as well as the museum, Radford has created a PowerPoint that attempts to

tell the story of what really happened. The presentation also leans on the book Legacy Costs: The Story of a Factory Town by Richard Hudelson.

Historic photos like this one from the archived collection of Doug Magers are featured in the “Tale of Two Strikes” presentation, now available to view on the Henry County Historical Society’s YouTube channel. Top, left, is a photo from the Chrysler strike of 1950. Top, right, is a photo of Perfect Circle. Above, strikers prepare to turn over a car in protest.

When auto pioneers Jonathan Maxwell and Benjamin Briscoe decided to bring their new factory to New Castle instead of Muncie, it was a momentous decision that had major impacts on New Castle and Henry County for nearly a century. Learn how it all happened in PowerPoint presentations now available to view for free on the Henry County Historical Society’s YouTube Channel.

Vintage photos like this one are featured in the PowerPoint presentations led by Henry County Historical Society President Gene Ingram.

The Maxwell and Chrysler years

Henry County’s 200year history includes an extensive background in automotive manufacturing. At the center of this history is the Maxwell plant, which eventually became Chrysler. This history topic was the subject of not one, but two presentations late last year by Henry County Historical Society President Gene Ingram.

The first, hosted by the New Castle-Henry County Public Library, was held Thursday, Oct. 13 in the library auditorium. It focused on both the Maxwell and Chrysler automobile history here.

The second presentation, held Nov. 9 at the Henry County Historical Society Museum,

focused only the Maxwell-Briscoe Automobile Factory, its origins and impacts.

Both programs were well-attended and well-received. You can view either or both on the Henry County Historical Society’s YouTube channel.

Dozens of vintage photos are featured as Ingram traces the tracks of the Maxwell Automobile from its creation at the turn of the 20th century to its arrival in New Castle and its transition into one of the original six Chrysler Corp. plants. Ingram

Here is one of the most unique and important photos in New Castle history. It was taken in October, 1906, at the Nip and Tuck Country Club, where auto manufacturers Jonathan Maxwell and Benjamin Briscoe were wined and dined in an effort to lure their new automobile factory, originally planned in Muncie, to New Castle. Gene Ingram’s PowerPoint presentation dives into that momentous time which led to the largest automobile factory in the world at that time coming to New Castle.

will also highlight the unique stories behind the Maxwell, including the Nip and Tuck Coun -

try Club, the automobile company’s mark on major sporting events and more.

For the second consecutive year, the New Castle High School Madridgal Singers performed at the Henry County Historical Society Christmas Open House. The well-attended event was held Sunday, Dec. 4.

A December to remember

Henry County Historian and museum co-director Darrel Radford presented a program on the origins of popular Christmas carols as Celia Burns played them on a Jesse French piano.

Henry County Historical Society co-director Kaye Ford welcomes the holiday crowd.

Musician Kevin Stonerock made a surprise appearance and performed “Silent Night.”

Brad Burk, who has done lots of great videography work for the museum, was on the job again at the Christmas open house. Go to the society’s YouTube channel to see it.

Henry County Historical Society Board President Gene Ingram shares a holiday moment with his daughter, Julie, who was instrumental in decorating the 12-foot tall live Christmas tree,.

Photos by Mitch Soliday

The Henry County Historical Society is planning a big 2023! Please come visit our museum at 606 S. 14th St., New Castle.

Spring is near! We hope to see you here!

A slogan coined by the Henry County Historical Society years ago still rings true today. “Bringing history to life... and life to history.”

Society directors, board members and volunteers worked hard in 2022 to fulfill that slogan during the 200th birthday for Henry County. In 2023, the team at 606 S. 14th Street is eager to do it again as the city of New Castle celebrates its bicentennial.

CANNONS

Henry County Historical Society President Gene Ingram is also planning a PowerPoint presentation about how a dedicated team of volunteers worked together in restoring the German Krupp cannon at Memorial Park. That cannon has great historical significance. It was captured by Gen. Omar Bundy’s forces during a pivotal battle of World War I.

The cannon restoration process was a slow, detail-intensive battle for Ingram’s team. The PowerPoint presentation will show in a series of photographs the process and progress of restoration that would have made Gen. Bundy, whose forces captured the cannon, proud indeed.

Now new generations of future Henry Countians will be able to enjoy and learn from it.

Regular museum hours to resume March 2

The Henry County Historical Society Museum will resume its regular Tuesday-Friday hours (1 to 4:30 p.m.) on Thursday, March 2.

The museum is open anytime by appointment. Call us at 529-4028 and leave a message.

HAPPY 200TH BIRTHDAY NEW CASTLE!

Two other PowerPoint presentations planned for 2023 include a look back at New Castle’s origins and early leaders along with an examination of the amazing Thaddeus Coffin desk.

New Castle was platted in 1823. The Henry County Historical Society is planning a special PowerPoint presentation to tell the city’s story in pictures and interesting key moments. Also planned is the re-release of the popular coffee table-sized book New Castle: A Pictorial History. Citizens State Bank will spearhead the project as a way to celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2023.

Video / Continued from P. 1

Recently, our Henry County Historical Society Board President had a chance to sit down with Charles Werking, a military veteran who was part of the the Convair B-36 “Peacemaker” project. It was a strategic bomber that was built by Convair and operated by the United States Air Force from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft ever built. It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built. Its mission was to carry a nuclear weapon should the need ever arise again.

It’s a fascinating conversation. Visit the society’s YouTube channel to see it. If you know of someone you think would be a great historical interview, or if you would like to be interviewed yourself, please call the museum at 529-4028 and leave a message.

“We’d like to interview retired police officers and firefighters as well as veterans,” Ingram added. “They have stories to tell, and we’d like to not only share those stories, but preserve them for future generations.”

Speaker / Continued from P. 1

memoir, “There’s a Clydesdale in the Attic: Reflections on Keeping and Letting Go,” is about the memories, stories, and people behind the heirlooms.

She has developed an audience-participation program where she spends 20 minutes talking about practical ways to preserve legacy belongings, ideas for sharing heirlooms with loved ones that are both personal and welcome, and tips for organization. The second half of the program is fun for everyone! Those in the audience are asked in advance to bring an heirloom or keepsake of any kind and tell its story.

Cronk peppers her talk with examples of oddball belongings kept in her family and ideas on how to organize yours.

Smith, author of “The War Comes to Plum Street,” will complement Cronk’s presentation. He will offer advice on writing about your heirlooms or family stories.

Watch the society’s Facebook page and The Courier-Times for more info as the date nears.

Gene Ingram with Charles Werking.

Flashback: Remembering the day Frederick Douglass delivered a speech at the Henry County Courthouse

By DARREL RADFORD Henry County Historian

More than a decade had passed since the end of the Civil War, but on an early fall night of 1876, a packed crowd in the Henry County Courthouse learned the struggle for black people continued. They heard it from one of the most powerful anti-slavery voices of the 19th century – Frederick Douglass.

The former slave who first came to Henry County in 1843 and was given refuge by Greenboro’s Seth Hinshaw was back, this time as a free man.

DOUGLASS REMARKS AT COURTHOUSE

The New Castle Courier reported the event this way in its Sept. 29, 1876 edition.

“The speech of Fred Douglass at the court house on Tuesday night was an important event in the campaign in Henry County. Although the meeting was little advertised, the court house was densely crowded, and the close attention manifested, showed the respect entertained for the distinguished orator. The audience, too, was different from the audiences found at ordinary political meetings. The old anti-slavery pioneers were out in force to hear the man whose utterances had been so potent in creating an anti-slavery sentiment in the north.

“It was Mr. Douglass’ second appearance at New Castle,” the article continued. “In the summer of 1843 he spoke at the old court house in this place and those who heard the speech remember that he recounted upon that occasion the story of the brutal outrage which was committed upon him at Pendleton a few days before by Democrats of Madison county. The changes which have occurred in the nation since that time seem marvelous. Then slavery existed in one-half of the Union. The Fugitive Slave law was upon the statute books, negroes were forbidden by law to come into the state of Indiana, and John Tyler was in the Presidential chair. When Mr. Douglass traveled through the North, he was subject to outrage and insult, while he would have been

For the second consecutive year, the Henry County Historical Society has featured a daily black history post on its Facebook page during the month of February. If you missed any of them, you can visit our Facebook page and see them all. Here is the most recent post, a flashback of the day Frederick Douglass came to New Castle and spoke to a large crowd at the Henry County Courthouse.

remanded to slavery if he had visited the South.

DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES, SIMILAR CHALLENGES

“Upon the occasion of Mr. Douglass’ second appearance at New Castle, he came as an enfranchised citizen, but he is still the earnest advocate of his race, whose wrongs, he believes, are today but little less than in many sections of the South than those endured thirty years ago,” the article continued. “When Mr. Douglass appeared before the large audience, he was greeted with hearty applause. He is now about seventy-five years of age and his abundant hair is nearly white. He is still vigorous and eloquent, but has lost some of the fire of his youth; but when recounting the wrongs inflicted upon his people by the Kuklux and White Leaguers of the South, his old fire seemed to come back.”

While the newspaper article reported there was passion in his voice, pessimism colored his tone and a sense of renewed urgency rose in his words.

“Mr. Douglass regards the future of the country as dark, in the event that the Democratic party obtains control of the government,” the Courier article stated. “He is no alarmist; and spoke of a change of administrations as being desirable in ordinary times, but the utter disregard for law in many of the Southern States, the

massacres at Coushatta and Hamburg and the many thousands of murders of negroes by the Democrats of the South filled him with forebodings for the future of his race. The people of the North could scarcely comprehend the atrocity of the Southern Democrats, and it was creditable to their civilization that they could not.”

The Coushatta massacre in 1874, just two years prior to Douglass’ second appearance here, was an attack by members of a white supremacist organization composed of white Southern Democrats, Republican officeholders and freedmen in Coushatta, the parish seat of Red River Parish, Louisiana. They assassinated six white Republicans and five to 20 freedmen who were witnesses.

The Hamburg Massacre (or Red Shirt Massacre or Hamburg riot) was a riot in the town of Hamburg, South Carolina, in July 1876, leading up to the last election season of the Reconstruction Era. It was the first in a series of civil disturbances planned and carried out by white Democrats in the majority-black Republican Edgefield District, with the goal of suppressing black Americans’ civil rights and voting rights.

The Courier article said Douglass used both of these sad events as an example that while the Civil War was

See DOUGLASS, Page 10

Douglass / Continued from Page 9 over,

civil injustices were not.

“Mr. Douglass adjured the people of the North to save, for the sake of freedmen or the South, the government from falling into the hands of men who, by reason of slavery, had so little regard for the welfare of colored people of the nation. Questions of finance and tariff were of minor importance compared with the existence of the nation and the supremacy of law. As the sleeping babe is safest in the arms of its mother, so the freedom vouchsafed the nation by the Republican party is safest when that party is in power. The address throughout was eloquent and philosophical, and showed a thorough knowledge of the animus and purposes of the late slave power of the South.

BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES CRITICIZED

Douglass was as critical of Republicans, however, as he was Democrats in his speech here.

“The Republican party had given them their freedom, but still owed a debt to them,” the article continued. “It had emancipated them, but they were still without homes, without the means of gaining a livelihood and at the mercy of their offended masters. The Republican party had given the negro his freedom and it was now the duty of the party to protect him. The Democracy, by their policy of murdering the inoffensive and long suffering black men were to bring about a solid South for the Democratic party. But let them have a care. By their course, they bring about a solid north against them... The negro, when called upon to aid the Union, had rallied two hundred thousand strong. The Democratic party had in times past been the defender of a hellish crime, which for gold sold human flesh on the auction block and sold babies to build churches. Even the pulpit had been the defender of slavery, and the minister was paid from the proceeds of human chattels. The speaker closed by saying the peace of the country depended upon the continued success of the Republican party, and he believed it would succeed. The people of Indiana had a great duty to perform, and that was a vote for Harrison and Hayes.”

HAYES WON, BUT STRUGGLES CONTINUED

The 1876 election saw the highest voter turnout of any in U.S. history (82 percent) and was decided by a single electoral vote.

Rutherford B. Hayes was the eventual winner, and true to Douglass’ wishes, Henry County supported him. But Douglass had to be disappointed in the Hayes administration.

An article on the University of Virginia website by Sheila Black said Hayes was unable to advance the cause of civil rights.

“While Hayes strongly supported African Americans’ right to vote and protection of their civil rights, he had little influence in the South,” Black wrote. “By the time he took office, the only federal troops still in the South protecting Republican governments were limited to small areas surrounding state houses in the capitals of New Orleans and Columbia.

“He (Hayes) bitterly complained in his diary, for example, about the fraud, intimidation, and ‘violence of the most atrocious character’ that white southerners used to win elections in 1878,” Black wrote. “And he used his presidential veto multiple times to try to preserve some element of federal oversight over African American voting. But his efforts did little, and white supremacy dominated life in the southern states well into the second half of the 20th century.”