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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.
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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.
