Henry County Historical Society & Museum Historicalog~Fall 2022

The Henry County Historicalog

“Bringing

Make a date with history

Presentations planned at library will focus on Maxwell/Chrysler, World War II, Perfect Circle

As the leaves change col ors, so, too, will local history be illuminat ed through 6 p.m. presenta tions featured at the New Castle-Henry County Public Library.

The library’s Henry Coun ty Bicentennial Magical Mys tery Tour will conclude with two speakers from the Henry County Histori cal Society.

will feature many interesting photos from both Maxwell and Chrysler days along with a personal perspective from In gram, who worked at Chrysler for 40 years.

On Thursday, Nov. 10, Bruce Smith, author of “The War Comes to Plum Street,” will be the library’s featured speaker. Smith talks about what it was to experience World War II in small-town America.

Bruce Smith’s book will be explored Nov.

On Thursday, Oct. 13, Henry County Histor ical Society Board President Gene Ingram will present a program on Maxwell/Chrys ler history. The presentation

Then on Thursday, Dec. 8, Henry County Historian Dar rel Radford will conclude the series with a PowerPoint pre sentation on the Perfect Circle Strike of 1955. Radford, who is also co-director of the Hen ry County Historical Society along with Kaye Ford, will fea ture newspaper articles in his presentation as he tries to sep arate facts and myths from that dark time in local history.

Former Courier-Times teammates Darrel Radford and Donna Cronk display their new books during this past summer’s Henry County Historical Society ice cream social. Radford’s “This Day In History”

booklet sold out in about three months. There is talk of a reprint. Meanwhile, Cronk has taken her book “There’s A Clydesdale In the Attic” to various events throughout East Central Indiana and developed a program on what to keep and what to let go. The Henry County Historical Society hopes to host one of Donna’s programs in the near future. Stay tuned.

NCHS Madrigal Singers will bring holiday cheer to museum again

For the second consecutive year, the New Castle High School Madridgal Singers will bring holiday cheer to the Henry County Historical Society.

New Castle’s Madrigal Singers perform in the Hen ry County Historical Society Museum during last year’s Holiday Open House. The group will be back for this year’s event.

The popular group will perform at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4 during the society’s annual Holiday Open House. The event, which begins at 1:30 p.m., will also feature re freshments along with a presentation about the origins of popular Christmas songs.

Mark your calendars early for this special event that’s sure to add meaning and enjoyment to your holidays

Gene Ingram

This day in Henry County history

Darrel Radford, Henry County’s of ficial historian, has been featuring a “This Day In Henry County History” tidbit on the historical society’s Face book 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. Here’s a sampling of the Facebook posts from the past few months.

On Sept. 18, 1967, preparations were intensifying at 1332 Broad St. in downtown New Cas tle, where a Jan’s Hall mark Store was sched uled to open eight days later.

Here is a picture from the early 1980s of Bud and Sally Bunton in the Henry County News Republican.

The Buntons lived in New Cas tle for 37 years and owned Jan’s Hall mark Center, The Front Porch women’s clothing store and B & B Shoes family shoe stores with locations around Indi ana.

Many may remember Bud as a downtown New Castle merchant, but few may have realized he was quite a basketball player back in his high school

He played a key role in leading the Madison Cubs to the 1950 Indiana High School Athletic Association boys basketball state championship and was a center on the Indiana High School Basketball All-Star team in 1951.

American art with his iconic “LOVE” sculpture that was so popular, it was featured on a U.S. postage stamp.

On Sept. 6, 1882, the town of Kennard was platted and named for Jenkins Kennard. Above is an early Kennard photo of a bottling company that used to operate there along with the company logo.

The photo above from the files of the late Mike Bertram, show’s Hor ney’s Alberta Lowe behind the counter playing a record for Cynthia Bryan in a 1960s photograph.

On Aug. 24, 1983, Blue Riv er Valley’s Plaid Brigade, directed by David M. “Marty” Spitzer, became the second marching band in school his tory to make the Indiana State Fair’s “Sweet Sixteen.” The band, more than half of which were either freshmen or eighth-graders, placed 13th overall, playing “Through the Eyes of Love” and “For Your Eyes Only.” Spitzer’s band consisted of 53 playing members, 20 on the drill team along with two drum majors. It was the first time a Blue Riv er band had participated in the Indiana State Fair contest since 1974.

On Sept. 13, 1928, Robert Clark, better known as Robert Indi ana, was born in New Castle. He be came one of the preeminent figures in

On Aug. 17, 1977, local res idents were flocking to stores buying as many Elvis Presley records as they could find. The music icon had died the day before, Aug. 16, in Memphis, Tenn. at the age of 42. Local historian Mi chael Davis wrote that at Horney’s Mu sic Store that morning, 50 people were waiting for the doors to open. He said one person bought $97 worth of Presley records.

A genealogy treasure trove: 1950 U.S. Census data release

By KAYE FORD Co-Director, HCHS

The 1950 United States Census data was released on April 1, 2022. A preliminary digital index was created by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) using optical charac ter recognition (OCR) and computerized handwriting recognition. You can search this index here: https://1950cen sus.archives.gov/. When you find your ancestor, you can view a digitized image of the census sheet. You can also review a digital image of the enumeration dis trict map for your ancestor.

Example: I wanted to find Donald Bal lard on the 1950 U.S. Census. I entered the state (Indiana), county (Henry), and surname (Ballard). See top photo.

NARA’s index noted a “Tonald Ballard,” so I checked the actual image. It was, in fact, my grandfather, Donald. See middle photo.

The enumeration district was given as 33-42. When I clicked on “ED Maps,” I saw a map of the neighborhood where my grandfather and his family were living in 1950 (see bottom photo). You will need to consult a street map and compare it with the ED map to determine specific locations.

Another great feature at the NARA website is “Help Us Transcribe Names.” You sign up with a valid email, to which NARA will send you a code. You enter the code on NARA’s website and can then add correct transcriptions of first, middle, and last names. Be sure to have the census image pulled up because you will be asked what line you want to transcribe.

You may also search the 1950 U.S. Census on Ancestry.com for free here: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collec tions/62308/. Check out the 1950 U.S. Census on FamilySearch.org, as well: https://www.familysearch.org/1950cen sus/. For more help with family history research, contact Kaye Ford at Kaye@ HCHC.me, Hoosier Connections in Hen ry County (https://www.hchc.me).

A ‘remember when’ for your taste buds

Lobster anyone?

Remember when

The Tank Restau rant served the seafood favorite a half-century ago. The restaurant was located at 1550 Walnut Street. This photo is from 1972. Pictured l-r with boxes of live lobsters are Harry Burke, Jane Burke, ‘the Tank girls’ and Fred Burke. Photos courtesy Doug Magers and the late Mike Ber tram.

Here’s Jill Burris at The Top Hat Restaurant from 1968.

Remember The Spot? Located at 2106 Broad St., the root beer here really “hit the spot” as did the sandwiches.

Remember Doug’s Hamburgers in front of the old Interurban Station in the 200 Block Of South 14th Street? This photo is perhaps one of the last taken before the area was transformed by the new Courier-Times building.

Historical society receives grant for Boyd-Joyner House window improvements

Efroymson Family Fund awards grant to help with window work

Ournext-door neighbor, af fectionately referred to as the BoydJoyner House, has gotten a facelift recently.

The historic house, which has stood since 1903, was recently paint ed and, thanks to a $5,000 grant from the Efroymson Family Fund, had windows rehabilitated.

The Henry County Historical So ciety grant request was approved by Lori Efroymson-Aguilera.

The Boyd-Joyner House, located next to the Henry County Histor ical Society Museum on S. 14th Street, has been painted recently and had new windows installed. The windows were made possible by a grant from the Efroymson Family Fund. The house is owned by the historical society and has, in the past, been used for special

events and storage needs. The upstairs apartment has also been rented to help provide needed income for the museum. The apartment is currently vacant and undergoing improvements. If you know of anyone who would like to rent the apartment in the near future, please contact the muse um at 529-4028.

“The Efroymson Family is proud to support the work of the Henry County Historical Society and its mission to educate, both young and old, about the rich history of our county by stimulating community involvement, fundraising, and the collaboration of like-minded orga nizations through programming, special events, meaningful storied exhibits, and diversified long-range planning,”

Efroymson-Aguilera and Brian Payne wrote in a letter to the society announcing the grant.

Over the years, the historical so ciety has used the house for special events as well as storage needs. We’ve also rented an upstairs apartment to provide income for museum expens es. The upstairs portion of the house is being prepared to rent again. If you know of anyone interested, please call the museum at 765-529-4028. Here are photos of improvements to the house. The outside painting work on the house was done by Joe Devine. We appreciate all involved in making our next-door neighbor look great.

Byrd Winters with Dr. W.A. Winters

This photo of little Catherine Winters with her doll was recently donated to the Henry County Historical Society Mu seum by Lisa Perry and her late mom, Charlene Perry. Both Lisa and Charlene have written extensively about the case and claim to have solved it in a book entitled “Looking for Catherine: Mem oirs of a House That Spoke.” The book is available at the museum. Call 529-4028 for more information.

Cemetery tour, library event highlights Catherine Winters mystery

By DARREL RADFORD Henry County Historian

Catherine Winters dis appeared from New Cas tle streets more than 100 years ago, but has never left the hearts and minds of many residents here.

That was evident earlier this month when not one, but two special events in cluded discussion of the nine-year daughter of a lo cal dentist who seemingly vanished without a trace on March 20, 1913.

First came the Henry

County 200 Magical His tory Tour on Thursday, Sept. 8. Colleen Steffen, who has written a book about the Winters’ dis appearance, and Kandice Marie Chesher, who has created a movie on the na

tionally recognized case, both provided interesting insights about theories of what may have happened. Then came the South Mound Cemetery Histori cal History Walk on Thurs day, Sept. 15, where a stop was made at a Catherine Winters memorial. While the nine-year-old is not buried there (she has nev er been found), New Cas tle Cemetery Supt. Dan Denney made it a point of interest in the tour. Steffen and Chesher share more than just an interest

in the Winters’ case. Both have sons born on March 20 , the calendar day Cath erine disappeared.

Steffen says New Castle police made several mis takes during the investiga tion.

“They put Dr. Winters (Catherine’s father) in charge of the investiga tion immediately,” Steffen said. “They don’t search the Winters house for months.”

Steffen also said the search for Catherine did

Steffen Chesher

A group stops during the recent South Mound Cemetery Walk to view a memorial dedicated to nine-year-old Catherine Winters, who went missing on March 20, 1913 and was never seen again. The memorial is seen in more detail below.

Catherine

We love visitors!

The Henry County Historical Society Museum is open by appointment. Call 529-4028 and leave a message with your request to see one of the state’s oldest museums. Here are just a few of the recent visitors we’ve had.

A gift from Gen. Grose

The Henry County Historical Society recently received a donation that Gen. Grose would be pleased to see in his home -- the Bible he gave to daughter Sarah M. Moore on Christmas Day in 1866. The Bible was donated by Yvonne Romero, whose family members are decendants of Sarah M. Moore. She mailed it here from New Mexico.

Lexington, Ky. residents Mitch and Carla Bryan visited the museum recently. They were intrigued by the Jim Reno sto ry. The New Castle graduate was commissioned to do a lifesized sculpture of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat (seen in framed photo). The Bryans said they had seen that statue. Now they know, as the late Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of the story.”

Greg Hertenstein of Indianapolis visited recently and had a particular interest in the Hoosier Kitchen Cabinets on display at the museum. He also purchased a copy of “The Hoosier Cabinet in Kitchen History” by the late Nancy R. Hiller, who died Aug. 29 of pancreatic cancer.

Author dies

Nancy R. Hiller, 63, of Bloomington, Ind., died August 29, 2022, after a cou rageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Among her books was “The Hoosier Cabinet in Kitchen History,” now out of print. The Henry County Historical Society has a few signed copies avail able. Interested? Call 529-4028.

Henry County history comes to life through our gift shop

From Richard Ratcliff’s “Henry County At the Mil lennium” and other books about SpiceLore, to Mount Summit’s Ruth Phelps true story about her son, “My Daddy, A Soldier” and much more, the Henry Coun ty Historical Society Gift Shop is a place to remember as the holiday season nears. You can also pick up au tographed copies of Larry Lockridge’s “Shade of the

Raintree” novel about his late father, Ross Lockridge Jr., author of “Raintree County” as well as Rick Cott man’s book “In Colored Circles,” the most compre hensive book about black people, their experiences and contributions in Henry County. Come see us and shop! Call 529-4028 and leave us a message request ing an appointment. Museum admission is free!

Catherine / Continued from Page 6

include $2,200 spent by Dr. Winters, who traveled an estimated 12,00 train miles looking for the little girl.

Yet, at one point, Dr. Winters and his second wife, Byrd, were indicted by a grand jury for murder, even though no body was ever found. The charges were dismissed by Ed Jackson, a New Castle judge at the time who would later become the 32nd governor of Indiana.

Steffen doesn’t believe Dr. Winters had anything to do with Catherine’s disappearance. She also doesn’t buy into the popular theory that Cather ine found stepmom Byrd and a lover together by accident and was killed as a result.

“Blaming the stepmom is so stereo typical,” Steffen said.

A bloody sweater found in the base ment of the Winters’ home serves to exonerate Dr. Winters, Steffen said.

“He could have cut the sweater into pieces instead of traveling hundreds of miles by train searching for her,”

Catherine Winters (back) and friends enjoy a buggy ride down N. 16th Street about a year before she disappeared. (Photo courtesy Doug Magers)

Steffen said. Steffen believes an outsider kid napped Catherine.

“The unidentified man theory try ing to steal children was not followed,” Steffen said. “I think New Castle grew faster than it was ready to. The town traded safety for progress.”

In her presentation, Chesher admit ted she had been “bitten by the Cather ine Winters bug” and has spent six years developing a movie about the mystery. A trailer of that film was shown during the Sept. 8 event at the library.

Making of a movie about the Catherine Winters mystery includes its own disap pearnce intrigue.

“We filmed one weekend at the Henry County Courthouse and lost every bit of it,” Marie said.

But what started out as a play at the Guyer Opera House in New Castle is close to a completion as a movie, thanks in part to the Henry County Historical Society and the City of New Castle as well as $15,000 in donations.“We did a million dollar movie on a $15,000 bud get,” Chesher said.

A solid date for the movie’s release, tar geted during the month of October, will be announced soon. Watch www.face book.com/HenryCountyMuseum.