Tales from the graveyard (3)

A lot of history is buried in Weston Cemetery and this blog occasionally tries to dig up some of it. Two years ago I had a second post called "Tales from the graveyard." (The first was in 2014 and is here.) It listed a number of people who had tragic or early deaths. Today's post continues the series with accounts of  tragic and early deaths. If you click on any name, you will go to the findagrave.com memorial for that person where you can find additional information, including obituaries or newspaper reports of their deaths.

Entering Weston Cemetery from Abigail Street, we have Section E on our west. About four rows in are twin towers marking the Moody lot. One of them is for Thomas Moody (1884-1906) who was killed by a falling tree. His death was a blow to the family because he had been groomed to continue running the prosperous farming business that his father, Granville Moody, had built.

Closer to the road and a bit to the south is the lot of the Yates family. Buried here in an unmarked grave is the unfortunate John Yates (1890-1908). He fell beneath a moving train and was so horribly mangled that his identification was made from his clothing and watch. The coroner ruled his death accidental.

Continuing along the road, we turn to the west and walk between Sections G and E. When we reach the sixth row of graves in E, leave the road to find the Day lot and the marker for Dan Day (1887-1936). Physically and mentally handicapped, he supported himself by buying and selling junk. He ended his life with a gunshot. Today obituaries downplay suicides to the extent that they often are not mentioned. A century ago the press did not. However, the report of his death ignored a serious and tragic incident earlier in Dan Day's life that made headlines in 1908.

We now leave the road and head south into Section G, looking for the grave of Truit Parker Wright (1849-1901) a member of the Wright family of undertakers and sellers of furniture. Truit was the County Coroner. He may be Jasper County's first victim of an accidental overdose of opioids.

Continuing to the south, we find a group of large and impressive tombstones, the largest of which belongs to William Baker. Among these monuments is a small stone marking the grave of Edward Honan, one of Rensselaer's prominent lawyers early in the twentieth century. His first son, Paul (1885-1894), died as the result of an infection after he was hit on his heel by a stone from a slingshot. At the time, he was the only son of the Honans. Also in the lot but in an unmarked grave is E. Honan's nephew, John Leahy (or Leahey) (1875-1905) who committed suicide by drinking carbolic acid. Drinking carbolic acid was a common method of suicide a century ago.

Going the west a bit north off the road, we find the Platt marker with many names on it. One of the names is David Platt (1867-1904), who also committed suicide by drinking carbolic acid. Newspaper accounts often portrayed suicide victims with sympathy and surprise, but this was not the case for David Platt. One can almost read the message of "Good Riddance" in the report.

Turning to the south, we find the Simon Parr Thompson lot. Among those buried here is Simon's granddaughter, Jeannette (1910-1915). Her death is one of the saddest in all of Weston Cemetery. She was excited to dress up for Halloween and went outside to play. She set a pile of leaves on fire and the fire spread to her clothing. Help arrived too late to save her.

A bit further to the south is the grave of Fred Trussell (1876-1904) who was found dead in a haystack near Fair Oaks. Suicide was suspected but homicide could not be ruled out.

Now we head east to the distinctive marker of Dr. Israel Washburn (1838-1903). He died after an operation that was searching for why he had been left in pain from a previous operation. The second operation was s success—it found that a six-inch steel forceps had been left inside of Dr. Washburn from the previous operation. Unfortunately, he was too weak to recover from this second operation.

Crossing the road to the edge of Section B we find the grave to Maude Eldridge (1902-1927), a young mother who died leaving two small children.

Continuing to the west among the graves, we find the Baech markers as we reach the edge of Section C. Little five-year-old Dorothy Baech (1899-1905) choked to death on a cherry pit.

We turn to the northwest and look for a large, black Parker monument. On its north side is the inscription for Wayne Dee Parker (1881-1906). He was a law student at Columbia University in New York City when he suddenly became sick and died. To compound the family's grief, another son, Korah Parker (1872-1906), died a few month later.

Continuing to the Northwest we look for the grave of Dr. Francis Hemphill (1872-1927), another suicide, this one by gunshot. Here is a case where the reporting expressed surprise and sorrow at the loss of an esteemed citizen.

We now head to the west to find a group of three burials with tragic stories. Harlow Morton (1892-1913) was killed when his truck was hit by a train in Goodland. Trueman Delos Woodworth (1904-1912) drowned in the Iroquois River during a high-water event. Harrison Wasson (1865-1912) was another suicide by ingesting carbolic acid.

Heading to the southeast we find the grave of Iva Washburn Robinson (1878-1906) who died in childbirth. To her east is the grave of William Ramey (1886-1905) who drowned in the Pinkamink River while herding cattle. In the same block but a different lot is the large marker for Jay Williams (1845-1908). He was the son-in-law of John Makeever and was at the apex of Rensselaer's social order in his day. He owned the largest furniture business in Rensselaer and was active in the Methodist Church. Hence his suicide was a shock to the community.

We now turn to the southwest and find the marker of Leslie Smith (1904-1918), a twelve-year-old boy hit by an auto in Hammond. He had gone to Hammond to live with an older brother.

Our final stop on this tour is at the west edge of Section G. Frank Padgitt (1860-1913) died as the result of a horse racing accident in Lawrenceburg.

October is almost gone

Halloween may not yet be here, but most tricks-and-treating is finished for Rensselaer. The Halloween mural received a fair number of visitors on Sunday evening, and you can see some of them posing on Facebook. I asked what the future of the mural would be and was told that it will soon be painted over with a Christmas theme. So enjoy it while it lasts.

The Rensselaer City Council had a routine meeting on Monday evening. The Council changed the date of its next meeting from November 11 (Veterans Day) to November 12 (a Tuesday). It approved a couple of requests for public-relations funds. One was for a City utility entry for the upcoming Christmas Tree Trail in Potawatomi Park. The plan is to purchase a live tree that will be planted in the park after the event.

Trunk or Treat had a big crowd, a reported 1800+ people.

A letter has been sent to the owner of the building at Clark and Cullen, the former bottling plant/laundry, telling him that he has 30 days to either begin improving the building or demolishing it, or else the City will demolish it. There was a discussion of the problems that the Fire Department is having with its aerial truck. The control of the ladder and bucket is not reliable. The Council approved a transfer within the Fire Department to see if it can be repaired, which may take several months. Parts for the truck are no longer manufactured. The Council also gave permission to the Fire Chief to start planning for a possible replacement. It will be expensive, with a new truck costing in the $1.2 to $1.5 million range. Rensselaer may be without an aerial truck for months to several years.

A while back a gas line was exposed in the ditch east of the I-65 intersection. A contractor has finished installing a new line six feet below the bottom of the ditch. Paving of Scott Street is finished but there is still work needed to fill around the curbs and new sidewalks. The house that the City recently purchased on Clark Street will probably be demolished this week.

As of Monday, the equipment was set up to pour a new surface for the SR 114 bridge over the Iroquois. The new surface will not be in place until next week.

 Last week Fall Fest attracted a large crowd. The hay ride seemed to be especially popular.

 From limited driving in the country, it appears that about half the harvest is completed. There is still a lot of moisture in the corn.

 Main Street Rensselaer is preparing some short videos promoting Rensselaer. You can see them here.

The Rensselaer football team won its first sectional game so the signs on the stores downtown will remain for at least another week. I like the ones that connect to the business, such as Gutwein Seeds.

First Merchants Bank.

 DeMotte Carpeting.

 Fenwich Farms Brewing.

Autumn odds and ends

Some of the Court House offices have gotten into the Halloween spirit. The Clerk's office has what appears to be a witch.

However the really scary office is that of the Auditor. Look at the floor. You can see what happened when one of the customers complained too much.

On Monday evening both the Jasper County BZA and Plan Commission met and had agendas that were not especially interesting. The BZA granted a variance for frontage to a person in Kankakee Township. He had a lot he wanted to subdivide into three parts and the total frontage was not enough for one parcel to meet code requirements unless he put the lot line through a building he wanted to keep. The BZA also passed changes to its rules and procedures that it had been discussing for several months.

 The Plan Commission had four causes on its agenda. Two were for replats, that is, altering the lots that had previously been platted. A replat in DeVries Manor in Keener Township combined 11 lots into one and the other, also in Keener Township, split a large lot into two lots. Both requests were granted. The other two causes were rezones from A1 to A2. A lot zoned A1 must be ten acres to have a house while an A2 zoned lot needs only three(?). The first was in Wheatfield Township and the second in Milroy. The Milroy case involved an existing house. The owner had an offer to buy the existing house but wanted to keep the surrounding land and the purchase would not happen without the rezone. Both were granted. The Plan Commission also amended its rules and procedures. It also discussed something called "As Built." The issue here is how to make sure contractors build to approved plans and how to deal with landowners who fill in approved swales, causing runoff problems for neighbors.

Also on Monday the Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission met to allow the public to comment on the consolidation of the Drexel and Fairground TIFs. I went expecting a five-minute meeting with no members of the public. Instead there were half a dozen people and the discussion took well over an hour and was quite informative.

The main reason for combining the TIFs is to allow for bigger bond issues, if needed. The fear of those who spoke was that there were already plans to issue bonds to fund downtown revitalization and that if that were done, there would be no funding available to develop the infrastructure needed to develop the area between the old edge of Rensselaer and the Interstate, the SR 114 corridor. No one disagreed that this was the only area that any large factory could use. Lintner Industrial Park is full and the area around Drexel is split into multiple small parcels with a variety of land owners. North of Rensselaer along US 231 is swampy and to the south the bedrock is close to the surface.

Although City utilities serve the SR 114 corridor, the water line cannot deliver enough water to support a factory that would use a lot of water. Two or three businesses have looked at the area as a possible site but rejected it because of the water constraint. The City's ability to supply natural gas is also a possible constraint and this is due to the limitations that the trunk line supplying gas imposes on the City. One potential developer eliminated a site near I-65 due to this gas limitation. In contrast, the I-65/US 24 intersection has abundant water, gas, and electricity and that is a reason that there has been considerable recent development near that intersection.

It seems that everyone in the room recognized that sooner or later a water tower needs to be built near I-65 if that area is to attract large businesses. (The hypothetical tossed around was a manufacturer employing 200 people.) The guesstimated cost of the water infrastructure was about $2 million.

The discussion ended on a positive note, with everyone saying that they were on the same page. The Commission then approved the resolution. This meeting was the final step in combining the two TIFs. (The two TIFs abut. The Drexel TIF extends from Saint Joseph's College into downtown Rensselaer and the Fairgrounds TIF from downtown Rensselaer to I-65. The increased tax from improvements goes to the TIF district and can only be used to fund improvements that benefit the district.)

Before the Redevelopment Commission met, the Franciscan Health Walk with a Doc had its final walk. The speaker spoke about yoga and had the participants do a few poses. There was light rain and only a few diehards showed up. Although on Monday only four people completed the one-mile walk around the perimeter of Weston Cemetery, over the course of the seven week series, 41 or 42 people participated. There may be another series in the spring.

This week the leaves have been turning yellow, orange, and red and are starting to fall; it looks like autumn. We have had two mornings with frost and may get another before the week is out. Much of the soybean crop has been harvested but there a lot of corn is unharvested. It looks ready but I am told that it still has a lot of moisture. 

A new mural

On Sunday I noticed that a new mural was being painted on the Rensselaer Art Walk. What could it be?

 A few days ago I did a post showing the scarecrows on the Scarecrow Trail. After the post was published, three more scarecrows appeared on the Trail. None is marked but all seem to have been created by students.

 The approaches for the bridge over the Iroquois on SR 114 have been poured.

 On Saturday work was being done on Scott Street from Grace to Emilie and then a bit of South McKinley.

 The building next to the City Parking lot on North Front Street has a new sign with a new name.

 The Jasper County Airport put out this update:

On 10/17/19, the airport closed on a ~72 acre parcel of land just west of the airport. This lot directly adjoins the west end of the grass runway. The acquisition was made possible through federal and state grants that made up almost half of the purchase price, with potential to receive additional funding reimbursement in the future. The acquisition was vital for the safety and security of the airport, allowing the airport to keep the flight path west of the grass runway clear and obstacle free. In the short term, the land will likely be added to the airport’s leased farm grounds. Long term plans for the back portion include development into an eventual east/west runway, taxiway, and terminal building, leaving the front open for airport-adjacent, airport-compatible development opportunities.   

Municipal elections are only two weeks away. Election day is Tuesday, November 5 but early voting has been going on for some time. If you want to vote early, you can do so at the Court House, though I do not know the hours. There are only two contested contests. I am always amused when a lawn has signs for both candidates for an office.

 So what does the finished mural look like? It is a Halloween mural that invites kids to stand in front of the bat wings for a picture.

The Great Race

The program for the Jasper County Historical Society on Tuesday evening was "The Great Race." It was presented by Jeff Hermanson who has participated in the race and is a native of Jasper County. His parents once ran the Nash-Rambler dealership. The Great Race is a weird race where the winner is not determined by who crosses the finish line first but by how closely you hit check points in set times. Too fast or too slow incurs a penalty, and the team with the lowest penalties wins. New cars are not allowed and there are bonus points given for really old cars. Mr. Hermanson drove a 1939 Ford ½ ton pickup. It was parked outside the JCHS museum. I did not stay for the entire program but left to attend the County Council meeting.

The County Council approved the budgets of the Rensselaer Central School Corporation, the Jasper County Airport Authority, and the Northwest Indiana Solid Waste District. It also needs to approve the budget of the Iroquois River Conservancy, but because of glitches, it did not hear their budget until Tuesday evening and it cannot approve the budget at the same meeting as it hears it. There will be a special meeting on October 28 at 4:15 to approve this final budget.

The Sheriff requested an additional appropriation of $18,000 for utilities. This has been an annual request. There was hope that with the installation of the solar park it will no longer be necessary. He also informed them of his desire to not fill an vacant dispatcher position but rather hire an additional corrections officer. The Commissioners had approved this change earlier this month. The Council approved the changes in the budget needed for this restructuring. Councilmen had questions about other issues. The jail recently passed state inspection. It has a capacity of 112 and averages 80 inmates. Very few of the residents of the recovery house east town have been from Jasper County. It draws from a much wider area. There was a lengthy discussion of the Spillman software the Sheriff wants. It will make pulling data from the files much easier but it is expensive and the Sheriff is trying to get other County departments that will use it (police and fire mostly) to contribute to cover the initial cost.

Animal Control was granted permission to take $1000 from its donation fund to pay for bug-proofing its animal food storage. They have had 525 intakes this year, up about 70 from last year. They have had slightly more cats than dogs. Sixty dogs and fifty cats have been adopted.

The Council approved a transfer for mowing grass (grass has grown well this year) and approved an ordinance establishing a Jasper County Recorder Access fund that will allow people to pay for records obtained on-line. This topic was previously addressed and approved by the Commissioners.

The leaves on a few trees are starting don fall colors.

 Walnut trees seem to have had a bumper crop of nuts. Every walnut tree I see has lots of nuts beneath it.

 The Saint Augustine rummage sale has begun. This year it is a three day event. It begins at 9:00 in the morning and on Saturday will close at noon. Fill a bag for $3.

 For now the dirt movers are gone from Brookside Park and the men building the concession stand are busy.

Newton County is going to have a cemetery walk, though with a very different format than the Weston Cemetery walk.

A meeting, a trophy, and a ribbon cutting.

Monday's City Council meeting lasted about an hour, which is longer than usual. Two items contributed to the length. First, citizens living in the very north part of Rensselaer, along Owen Street and Deere Road, were concerned about what is being planned for the sewer extension to that area. They had heard conflicting reports and at least one council member told them to attend a Council Meeting to get answers. They were told that at present there are no complete answers available. The engineering firm that the City hired to plan the project has only recently finished its survey and has not yet presented plans to the City. The citizens were assured that they would be able to see the plans and have input on which options were chosen. The entire project, which includes replacing the City's lift station near Weston Cemetery, is estimated to cost $5 million. The City has a grant for $2 million and will be able to get low-interest loans for the other $3 million. The project is mandated by IDEM.

One of the speakers mentioned that the City's well north of Deere Road affected the water level of the people in the area and some wells went dry. The City's response was to extend the City water lines to them. Also, when the sewer lines are installed, the septic tanks will have to be cleaned and filled.

The other item was a presentation of a traveling trophy. Lawrenceburg Indiana sponsors a lineman rodeo that attracts entrants not only from Indiana but also from other states and Canada. Many of these linemen work for large, investor-owned utilities. Three apprentice linemen from Rensselaer's City Electric Utility participated this year and did very well. In each of the five events, at least one of the Rensselaer apprentices was in the top ten of 33 and in several was the best of the Indiana apprentices. (Results are here.) A Rensselaer apprentice was the overall winner of the Indiana apprentices and was presented with a large traveling trophy.

In other business, the Council passed a salary ordinance that will give City employees a 3% raise. There was a transfer of funds to buy a house adjacent to Brookside Park. Later in the meeting it was announced that the closing would be on October 17 and the property was being purchased for $78,000. The gas tracker for October will be slightly more than a penny per hundred cubic feet.

Trick and treating hours will be from 5:00 to 8:00 on October 27. Estimated attendance at last week's open house at the fire station was 400 to 500. The aerial truck continues to have issues and will not be used until a repairman can examine it. The field of candidates for the open position in the police department has been reduced to five. Blacktopping of City streets is about 80% finished and it will take about three more weeks to finish the section of Scott Street that is being rebuilt.

After I left the meeting, I noticed flashing lights at the SR 114 and US 231 intersection. I rode down to see what was happening and saw two police cars blocking SR 114 at Washington Street and two more blocking it at Kellner. I decided my presence was not welcomed and left. On Tuesday I noticed NITCO trucks in the alley and went to see what they were doing. A City lineman told me that on Monday evening a combine had hit the power line and taken down a couple of utility poles. They had been replaced and power was back on. NITCO was finishing repairing the damage their lines suffered. On benefit is that the power lines are no longer in front of the mural on the back of the Horton building.

Grace Point, a religious counseling service, had a ribbon cutting on Tuesday.

It is located next to First Merchants Bank. Behind the lobby where the ribbon cutting took place is a large conference room. It will be used for classes.

Behind it and along the long hallway are three offices.

I do not know of any other organization in Rensselaer like Grace Point. It will have an open house on Saturday. Its web page is here and the Rensselaer Republican report on the ribbon cutting is here.

The shelter house under construction in the Jasper-Newton Foundation Park got a concrete floor on Tuesday.

Finally, SJC has published an update of their efforts to make something happen on the campus.

Odds and ends 10-14-2019

The second week in October was busy. On Wednesday morning the Senior Expo was held at the fairgrounds. Vendors came from as far away as Winamac and Watseka. The attendance was light, with fewer than 50 people registering. I suspect the low attendance may put the continuation of the event in jeopardy.

 The vendors may not have reached many people, but they did network among themselves. I learned that Goodland has senior-housing apartments.

Franciscan Health had a health fair in the east building. There were no waiting lines.

 On Thursday the fire department held Fire Prevention Open House and it was well attended, attracting dozens of small children and their families. Most of the children got toy fire hats and many were delighted with the bouncy slide. There were lines to sit in the medical evacuation helicopter and to get fitted for a bike helmet.

 No one seemed to want to sit in the 1941 LaFrance fire truck. The Rensselaer Fire Department purchased it for $8,850 in December of 1941 and the firefighters repurchased it in June of 2012.

 I wonder how many people today could drive this. I learned on a manual transmission but it has been so many years since I drove one that I am not sure I could still do it.

 I do not understand the engine with all the spark plugs.

 On Friday Utility Office in City Hall served a Customer Service Day Lunch. They got many more old people enjoying it than came to the Senior Expo.

 I noticed that the Johnny Rusk lot had been filled. The Commissioners had talked about putting in some fill on Monday and asked if the County Highway Department had something they could use to level it. Obviously fill was found somewhere. The Commissioners have signed a contract to have it seeded with grass and they intend to eventually sell it. They had purchased it with the thought that it might be needed for future expansion but the acquisition of the old PNC Bank building makes this lot expendable.

 On Saturday morning we got the first frost of the season. It killed less in my garden than I feared.

 During the past week the approaches to the bridge on SR 114 were taken out and rebar was installed.

Have a happy Columbus Day.

Scarecrow trail 2019

This year's Scarecrow Trail is now installed in Milroy Park. It will remain there until the end of the month. The exhibits and exhibitors are quite different from last year, which surprised me.

REMC is at the north end of the trail.

 Skater Boy reminds people that Rensselaer still has a roller rink.

The entry from the Bethany Youth Group, "Head over Heels for Jesus," is clever and creative.

 I originally wondered why North Judson High School had an entry, but then figured out that it must be the National Junior Honor Society.

 Little Cousin Jasper is one-dimensional.

I never could get a good picture of the IBEC entry. When I tried to take a picture from the front, the light from the sky overwhelmed the features. Behind this corny scarecrow is General Milroy, overseeing everything.

 I also had problems getting a picture of the Brookside Florist entry. It and several others were set up to be viewed from the street rather than from the walking path. I doubt if people in cars can really see much as they drive by.

 Rensselaer's chapter of Tri Kappa contributed the entry below.

 The scarecrow from the Rensselaer Care Center is fishing.

 The keyboard and the old adding machine should tell you that Huth Thompson is an accounting firm.

 Doctor Frank and Nurse Francine represent Franciscan Health.

 The scarecrow with the swim cap and googles was entered by the Waves Swim Club.

 These two pumpkin heads are distinctive and unlike anything else along the trail. They were entered by the primary and elementary schools.

 Just as it did last year, Brown's Garden Shoppe has a very attractive exhibit.

Earlier this year Chief Industries had an open house and gave away lawn decorations like these created with their plasma cutting machine.

The City of Rensselaer utility office highlights the gas, water, sewer, and electric utilities with its scarecrow.

 The Rotary scarecrow looks like a construction worker but the message is Rotary's End-Polio-Now campaign.

 Brothers Broadcasting had two scarecrows. This one highlights their county music and sports coverage on The Bear, 104.5 FM and 1560 AM.

 The second one is for WLQI, which plays classic rock at 97.7 on the FM dial.

Five posts in five days—highly unusual.

Addendum: We woke up to the first frost of the season this morning.