Henry County Historical Society & Museum Historicalog-June 2022

The Henry County Historicalog

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

Summer 2022

Delicious fun planned at ice cream social New 100-page bicentennial booklet to be unveiled

By DARREL RADFORD Historical Society Co-Director

W

hat’s a birthday celebration without ice cream?

In this, Henry County’s 200th anniversary year, the Historical Society has planned an ice cream social sprinkled with Civil Warera performances, pioneer trade demonstrations, a new local history booklet, self-guided tours of the museum and more.

The event is planned from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Gen. William Grose home and grounds, 606 S. 14th St., New Castle. A special plaque presentation by the Daughters of the Union will kick things off at 10 a.m.

The ice cream social will serve as a kick-off for release of a new 100-page booklet created by

Darrel Radford, the society’s co-director. Entitled “This Day In Henry County History,” the booklet features an historical tidbit for each day of the calendar year. Then, the booklet shows how “Henry County has made history from A-Z,” an alphabetical look at key local historical people, places and moments.

More than 500 photos are included in the booklet, thanks to the collections of Doug Magers and the late Mike Bertram along with archives from The Courier-Times, Henry County News Republican and New Castle-Henry County Public Library. Priced at just $10, the booklet is sure to be a keepsake All proceeds will be split by the society and a 529 college plan for county students.

This day in Henry County history A 365-day look at the historic and unique events which have shaped our home over the past 200 years

From the first courthouse — a $247 structure (inset at bottom, right) — to the one built in 1869 we know today in the Betty Shaffer drawing (bottom left), much has happened in the 392-square mile area known as Henry County, Indiana. Let’s board the interurban that once ran by our beloved courthouse (bottom right) and take a 200th birthday trip back in time.

Edited and produced by Darrel Radford, Henry County Historian Sponsored by Citizens State Bank / Printed by Mitchell-Fleming Inc., Knightstown

Kevin Stonerock to perform at society’s ice cream social

Henry County’s own Kevin Stonerock will take us back to the Civil War days in both story and song with his portrayal of “Billy Yank” during this Saturday’s Henry County Historical Society Ice Cream Social.

Plans are for Stonerock to give two performances. Watch the Henry County Historical Society Facebook page for more details.

Henry County Historicalog Spring Edition

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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. Here’s a sampling of the Facebook posts from April and May Lincoln Funeral Train On April 30, 1865, the funeral train carrying the body of slain U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (r) made its way through Henry County communities along what is now U.S. 40. The New Castle Courier described the scene this way: ‘The funeral procession of our late loved President exceeded in solemn grandeur anything of the sort ever witnessed in this country or perhaps in the world. Everywhere along the route of over a thousand miles, at every village and hamlet, the people turned out with emblems and decorations of mourning to testify their share in the sorrow, and appreciation of the worth of the illustrious dead.”

Robert Reed, a Knightstown journalist and author, wrote a book entitled “Lincoln’s Funeral Train: The Epic Journey from Washington to Springfield.”

Sadly, Reed died June 10, 2014, just 18 days before his book was published on June 28, 2014.

dy Auditorium. At the time of her appearnce, Mrs. Bush was the “second lady” as her husband, George H.W. Bush, was vice president.

“Your success as a family... our success Dr. Lynn Bowers Dr. Mark Smith as a nation... depends not on what School Board tie happens inside the White House, On May 6, 1986, Dr. Lynn Bow- but on what happens inside your ers and Dr. Mark Smith each re- house,” Mrs. Bush (pictured above) ceived 2,017 votes for a New Castle said. school board seat. The tie ultimately was broken by Circuit Court Judge On May 16, John Kellam, who said Bowers was 1984, New Casdoing an outstanding job as Henry tle’s Kent BenCounty Health Officer and Smith son had the Delikewise as school board member, so troit Pistons on the two should remain in their cur- a roll. The 1973 rent positions.

Trojan graduate and Mr. Basketball had started the last 58 games and the Pistons were an impressive 38-20 in those contests.

Frances Goodwin’s U.S. Senate Sculpture On May 13, 1886, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution authorizing procurement of a marble bust honoring U.S. House Speaker and later Vice President Schuyler Colfax, a former Indiana resident. The bust was created by New Castle artist Frances M. Goodwin and it remains on display in the U.S. Senate Chamber.

Barbara Bush here On May 13, 1985, Barbara Bush, future first lady of the United States, was the featured speaker at a literacy conference in New Castle’s Bun-

On May 30, 1924, the statue on the Henry County Courthouse grounds was officially unveiled in memory of veterans from the Civil War, Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection and China Relief Expedition

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A reader’s feast available at ice cream social In addition to the brand new “This Day In History” booklet by Darrel Radford, three other books by local authors will be available at Saturday’s Henry County Historical Society Ice Cream Social.

Donna Cronk, the popular Neighbors Editor at The Courier-Times for three decades, will be at the event signing her new book “There’s a Clydesdale In the Attic:

Reflections on Keeping and Letting Go.” Also present will be New Castle native Bruce Smith, who will have copies of his “The War Comes to Plum Street available to purchase and sign.

Then there’s Mooreland resident Terry Marsh, who will add mystery to a day of history with his fantasy thriller “Scourge: The Kiss

of Death.” He will also have books available to purchase and sign.

We hope you’ll come and support these fantastic local authors at the ice cream social, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the museum grounds, 606 S. 14th St., New Castle. The first 150 guests will receive free ice cream. Pioneer trade demonstrations will also be held throughout the day.

Special presentation Saturday morning Saturday’s ice cream social will begin with the cherry on top — a special plaque presentation by the Daughter of the Union.

The 10 a.m. presentation will be made in honor of the Gen William Grose house, which has been home to the historical society since 1902.

Historical Society President Gene New Castle musician Celia Burns adds to the Ingram introduces the program atmosphere of yesteryear at the Jesse French for the annual meeting piano.

Annual meeting features ‘War Stories’ along with noteworthy songs of the past

Henry County Historical Society Co-Director Darrel Radford presented the program for the annual meeting held Sunday, April

24.

The PowerPoint presentation focused on Civil War Gen. William Grose, the moving father-son story of

Simon and Orlistes Powell, the heroics of Gen. Omar Bundy and the military Jeep creator Ward Canaday.

See excerpts on Page 8.

Henry County Historicalog Summer Edition

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Underground Railroad

The red parts of this map show where Underground Railroad activity was most prevalent.

Henry County was active in helping former slaves in many ways Darrel Radford, co-director of The Henry County Historical Society, recently gave a presentation on The Underground Railroad to the Middletown Historical Society. Here are excerpts from that presentation. If you’d like Darrel to speak at your group meetings, call 529-4028 and leave a message.

“It is not light we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, the earthquake.”

-- Frederick Douglass.

F

rom the Middletown area to Greensboro and Spiceland, many Henry County citizens were the behind-the-scenes thunder, storm, whirlwind and earthquake that Frederick Douglass spoke of in one of his many eloquent speeches.

Let’s take a trip on the Under-

The historical marker in Greensboro is weather-beaten, but speaks volumes about local effors with the Underground Railroad. ground Railroad and meet some of these brave Henry County people who believed slavery was wrong and did something about it.

There are no tracks or train whistles, yet Greensboro was known for a railroad in its early days -- the Underground Railroad Herbert Heller

writes: “At one time prior to the Civil War Greensboro was nationally recognized as a center of anti-slavery intrigue and old Liberty Hall was the scene of many an abolitionist rally and fiery oration against the system.”

Frederick Douglass, the fiery black orator who crossed the country giving anti-slavery speeches, spoke in Greensboro, where he was given refuge by well-known Quaker and abolitionist Seth Hinshaw. Douglass would come back to Henry County several years later, after the Civil War, and speak at the Henry County Courthouse.

Dr. Thomas Hamm, an Earlham College Professor who lives in Spiceland, wrote a booklet called “The Antislavery Movement in Henry County, Indiana. He called his “little volume” an attempt to describe the See UNDERGROUND, Page 7

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Flashback: Decoration Day, 1876, in New Castle Darrel Radford, co-director of The Henry County Historical Society, recently gave a Memorial Day presentation at the Henry County Veterans Museum. Here are his remarks.

Deep, tender, warm and true, a nation’s heart Throbs for the brave ones that have passed away Who, in Grim Battle’s drama played their part, And slumber here today.”

S

o began a moving military tribute written by a man who became known as “the Hoosier Poet” – James Whitcomb Riley. It was May 30, 1876, and Riley, then just 26 years old, had written the poem especially for the New Castle Decoration Day ceremony at South Mound Cemetery.

Riley and New Castle’s own poet laureate, Benjamin Parker, were good friends.

Parker called him “a young man of decided genius.”

The original poem, entitled “A Different Thing To Do,” puts Memorial Day 2022 into perspective, even though the words were written 146 years ago.

Some misunderstandings about Memorial Day still exist. It is not a day to honor all veterans. That day comes on Nov. 11.

It is a time intended to reflect and appreciate those who gave their lives in military service, a day to honor those who did not come back from battle.

Riley’s poem puts the occasion and the ultimate sacrifice given by so many into eloquent perspective.

“When angry guns, like famished beasts of prey Were howling for their gory feast of lives, And sending dismal echoes far away To mothers and to wives.

The mother, kneeling in the empty night,’ With pleading hands uplifted for the son Who, even as she prayed, had ‘fought the fight – The victory had been won.”

“The wife – with trembling hand that wrote to say, The babe was waiting for the sire’s caress The letter meeting that upon the way – The babe was fatherless.”

And lives that bound themselves in strongest chain Are sundered and the broken links of love In fragments now, must evermore remain Until rejoined above.”

Benjamin Parker, seen at the left in a statue at the New Castle-Henry County Public Library, was a good of James Whitcomb Riley (r), who wrote an original poem just for Decoration Day at South Mound Cemetery in 1876.

Since that Memorial Day 1876 occasion in South Mound Cemetery, many more Henry County mothers, wives, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters have experienced first-hand the emotions Riley described in his poem. Just 41 years after that event, the U.S. entered World War I, when at least 25 county residents gave their lives.

A mere 24 years after that, World War II came, and many brave Henry County residents went, with 44 soldiers never making it back home to enjoy the freedom they fought so hard to preserve.

Just 11 years later, duty called again and Henry County answered, bravely taking the fight against communism to Korea. Today, there are 22 names etched in their honor, those that paid the ultimate price in defense of their nation.

And, after another 11 years passed, young Henry Countians were faced with the horrors of war once again, this time in Vietnam. Names of 19 soldiers killed in another war so very far away are etched in gray at Memorial Park.

Then came Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and the War on Terror in 2001. Henry County paid the price and made the sacrifice in those military encounters, too, in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This Memorial Day weekend, they should be more than just names on a wall.

We may not have met them all, yet we knew them all.

Many of them loved to stand on a green hill, in a place like Memorial Park, look over the landscape below, breathe in the fresh air and literally taste the freedom – just like us.

Many of them loved to hear the laughter of children as they played in a safe place, unafraid of what enemy could be lurking over

that hill.

Many of them loved to look at a starry night sky and dream of the possibilities their future held, a night sky not blurred by the rocket’s red glare – just like us.

And so many of them gave up all the blessings we cherish – trading the green hill for a bunker, the laughter of children for the thunder of gunfire, the starry night sky for the shadows of death.

How many bedtime stories and birthday parties did they miss? How many Sunday picnics and baseball games and county fairs went on without them?

How many precious moments with loved ones were traded for the duty that makes them all possible for us today?

This is not to say Henry County residents shouldn’t enjoy the upcoming three-day weekend. On the contrary. The brave soldiers no longer with us wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s why they did what they did.

In his poem, Riley colors the somber hues with distinctive red, white and blue.

“O mother, you who miss the happy face Of that dear boy who vanished from your sight And left you weeping o’er that vacant place He used to fill at night.

“Be glad and proud you had a life to give Be comforted through all the years to come Your country has a longer life to live Your son a better home “O, widow weeping o’er the wondering child Who lifts his questioning eyes to only send A keener pang of grief unreconciled Teach him to comprehend He had a father brave enough to stand Before the fire of Treason’s blazing sun That dying, he might will the rich old land Of Freedom to his son “And maiden – living on thro’ lonely years In fealty to love’s enduring ties With strong faith gleaming through the tender tears That gather in your eyes Look up, and down in gratefulness of prayers Submission to the will of heaven’s high host I see your angel soldier pacing there Expectant at his post.

On this Memorial Day 2022, it’s incumbent upon all of us to remember why we continue to be the home of the free. It’s because we still live in a land of the brave. And to all of those who made the ultimate sacrifice on this day we say: Yes, we knew you.

Yes, we thank you. Yes, we remember you.

Henry County Historicalog Spring Edition

We love visitors! Call us at 529-4028 to schedule your tour today

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Photo courtesy Judy Hayworth Stevens

Historical Society Co-Director Darrel Radford takes a “selfie” alongside Blue River Valley classmates l-r Tony Goff, Ray Kepner and Donann (Hoopingarner) Kissick. In the back is another BRV alum, Rex Kepner.

Sesquicentennial Time Capsule Revealed

By KAYE FORD Historical Society Co-Director

Former New Castle residents David Whiteman and daughter, Cindy Whiteman Smith, visited recently.

Pete Peters and Susan Rodrigez pose for a photo in front of the former “Castle” school building cornerstone on museum grounds. The site included in the Henry 200 Passport activity.

In 1972, the New Castle-Henry County Sesquicentennial organization buried a time capsule on the east lawn of the Henry County Courthouse with instructions to open it in 2022. One of the first major events the Henry County 200 Bicentennial planning commission orchestrated was to unearth the 50-year-old gift from the past.

The present Time Capsule Committee is co-chaired by Aaron Dicken and Betsy Mills. Their hard work and determination allowed all those interested to witness the opening on Saturday, June 4, 2022.

Sadly, most items were wet and covered with moist soil. Everything in the Time Capsule was transferred to HCHS for careful cleaning and preservation techniques. We hope to have some items on display at the upcoming Ice Cream Social on June 11.

A huge thank you to Kim and Rachel Willis and Lillianna Tuterow for helping sort items as they came above ground. In 2072, Rachel and Lillianna can be in charge of the next Time Capsule!

Henry County Historicalog UNDERGROUND Continued from Page 4 participation of some Henry County people in the greatest of all reform crusades of the 19th Century, the antislavery movement.”

“As a result of their efforts, for a few years in the 1840s and 1850s, Greensboro and Spiceland became well-known far beyond the boundaries of Indiana,” Hamm wrote.

“Walter Edgerton, Seth Hinshaw and Huldah Wickersham became, within a certain sphere, nationally promiment figures.”

Hinshaw, once helped Douglass after a scary encounter in Pendleton during the summer of 1843.

“Hinshaw is one of the most important and fascinating figures in Henry County antislavery history,” Hamm wrote. “Popularly known as ‘Old Uncle Seth,’ Hinshaw was a master agitator, bearded like an Old Testament Prophet and a devotee of all radical and reform causes.”

Hinshaw operated a “free produce store,” refusing to sell anything that had been gleaned from slave labor.

“At this time, almost everyone used something, especially cotton or sugar, that was produced by slave labor. To abolitionists, however, purchasing slave produce was indirectly supporting the institution of slavery, so they sought to abstain from such products.”

Because of Hinshaw, Greensboro was “the undisputed center of all anti-slavery and reform efforts in Henry County, second only to Newport in Wayne County for all of Indiana,” Hamm wrote.

Spiceland also played a key role in helping former slaves find freedom.

“Spiceland was a major center of American Quakerism in the 19th century,” Hamm wrote. “One observer in the 1860s thought that more Orthodox Friends lived within a 20-mile radius of it than any other place in the United States.”

DRAMATIC ESCAPES In his book, “The Antislavery Movement in Henry County, Indiana” Hamm relays some dramatic escape stories.

One involved William Beard, fa-

Greenboro’s Seth Hinshaw ther of Charles A. Beard, who would become a nationally known historian and have a Knightstown-based school corporation named in his honor.

“He made several trips accompanying fugitive slaves from North Carolina to Spiceland before he settled there himself in 1851,” Hamm wrote.

Then there was a man named George Evans, who often aided fugitive slaves; Thomas Cook hid them in a cupboard in his house. More than once some weighty old Friend would get word to a fugitive that “There is a mighty fine horse in my stable; and if he gets lost some night, there will be no questions asked,” Hamm wrote.

The last group of fugitive slaves to reach Spiceland came around Christmas 1861, according to Hamm.

“Five or six escapees from Kentucky arrived in Carthage in a sleigh driven by a Quaker named White.

Their master had been close behind.

Two, a young woman and her baby, were left at Walter Edgerton’s south of town, while the rest were taken to the home of Joshua Foster.

“That night, a number of Spiceland Friends crowded into the Foster main room to see the visitors,” Hamm continued. “One present later remembered that ‘one was a

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droll story teller and was quite a clog dancer, and one could greatly tickle the young Quakers with his songs.’

“The next day the master and two slavecatchers appeared. Immediately the local network of abolitionists went into action. The fugitives were loaded into a sleigh driven by David Wickersham and headed south to Dunreith. Meanwhile, back in Spiceland rumors spread that the party was heading for Dayton. Soon the master was once more in hot pursuit, but Wickersham had out-witted them. East of Lewisville, he turned north to Rich Square. Dawn found them in Randolph County on their way to Canada.”

NORTHWESTERN ACTIVITY One of the Underground Railroad stations was at the home of John Swain Sr. His farm lay directly on the line between Madison and Henry counties.

Isaac Adamson was also active in the movement. Closer to Middletown, the Simon Summer Depot was a station. One source stated that John Swain sent the fugitives to Westfield which would take them through Madison County. Other sources state that they sent them on to Fairmount.

In the “History of Mechanicsburg” by Elizabeth Weeks, it was noted that “Many a negro slave was brought here from Greensboro by Daniel Saint who always came in the night, rapped at the door, stepped aside, where he could not be seen when the door was opened, and with a laconic ‘Here’s your goods’ sped away in the dark.”

For more information on Underground Railroad activities, Hamm’s book “The Antislavery Movement in Henry County, Indiana,” is a tremendous read and resource. A copy is available at the Henry County Historical Society. Call 529-4028 if you’d like to make an appointment to review it.

There is discussion about reprinting Hamm’s book. Watch the Henry County Historical Society website and Facebook page for more information.

Henry County Historicalog Summer Edition

War stories

Gen. William Grose

Orlistes Powell

Gen. Omar Bundy

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Ward Canaday

These New Castle men came to the aid of their country

Henry County Historical Society Co-Director Darrel Radford gave a PowerPoint presentation entitled “War Stories” at the April 24 annual meeting.

Here is a summary of that presentation.

If you’d like Darrel to present it to your group, call us at 529-4028 and leave a message.

GEN. GROSE From leading the fight for his country in the Civil War to being instrumental in bringing railroad lines here, Gen. William Grose left indelible tracks in New Castle.

He was there at Lookout Mountain, Chickamauga, Shiloh and Atlanta in the Civil War, leading the Union charge. One historian said Grose always seemed to be “where the bullets flew the thickest.” The names of commanders he served under reads like a PBS documentary – Buell, Nelson, Thomas, Sherman.

For many years – even generations – the Grose name symbolized patriotism, leadership and courage. Both of his grandfathers had served in the Revolutionary War and one of them actually died trying to give America its first taste of freedom. His father was a soldier during the War of 1812. Grose carried battle scars with him. On two occasions, his horse was shot out from under him.

Gen. Grose, who gave everything he had during the Civil War to keep this nation together, died at the age of 87 – which, to borrow a phrase from President Abraham Lincoln, is four

score and seven years.

ORLISTES POWELL On Sept. 20, 1863, Orlistus Powell was killed in the bloody battle of Chickamauga, Ga., a battle that produced the second-highest number of casualties, trailing only Gettysburg.

Hazzard’s History of Henry County said that Powell’s remains fell into the hands of Confederate troops and he was buried on the battlefield.

“It seems that sometime before the battle, Orlistus had had his name, ‘O.W. Powell’” worked on his arm in India ink,” Hazzard wrote.

“After the battle of Missionary Ridge, when the Federal army again occupied the old battlefield at Chickamauga, Simon T. Powell appeared on the scene to recover the body of his son, Orlistus, and in the first trench opened, in taking out the bodies, mangled and decomposed beyond recognition, it was found that the body resting on the arm of Orlistus had preserved, as clear and distinct as in life, the name ‘O.W. Powell,’ thus the identification was complete and his mortal remains restored to the care of the family whose sacrifice he had been to the cause,” Hazzard wrote.

Paintings of both Simon T. Powell and his son, Orlistus, hang in the Henry County Historical Society museum today. Both men are buried in South Mound Cemeterhy.

GEN. OMAR BUNDY His troops were one of the last lines of defense when the Germans attempted to push through Belleau (prounounced bellow) Wood during a battle that took

place in June 1918. It was one of Germany’s final attempts to take Paris.

In the battle, Bundy and his troops refused French orders to retreat. Bundy’s official reply to the French remain inspirational words today, more than a hundred years later.

“We regret being unable to follow the counsels of our masters, the French, but the American flag has been compelled to retire. This is unendurable and none of our soldiers would understand not being asked to do whatever is necessary to reestablish a situation which is humiliating to us and unacceptable to our country’s honor. We are going to counter attack.”

The troops endured heavy casualties, but stopped the Germans 69 miles outside of Paris. Some 15,000 Germans were captured by the U.S. and French forces, including the two cannons now permanent parts of Henry County Memorial Park WARD CANADAY Ward Canaday is the man who developed and built the Jeep, the sturdy automotive workhorse introduced for military use.

He began working for the Hoosier Manufacturing Co., innovators of the Hoosier Kitchen Cabinet. Eight years later, he joined the Willys Overland Motor Co. in Toledo, Ohio. It was there Ward led creation of the General Purpose Vehicle or GP, pronounced “Jeep.”

Born in the heat of battle, the Go Anywhere. Do Anything.® Jeep® Brand 4x4 emerged a hero to thousands of Allied soldiers around the world.