A weird story from Weston Cemetery

A while back I stumbled on the site genealogytrails.com and found a story from a newspaper in 1899. (You can see it here.) I tried to find this story on the Hoosier State Chronicles, but found another that I attached to the findagrave memorial for the main character of the story. (You can find it here.) (I should have checked the Library of Congress site of Chronicling America.) But I figured that they probably got the details from a local paper, so I went to the microfilm at the Rensselaer Library.

Back then Rensselaer had competing newspapers. The editor of the Rensselaer Republican was George Marshall, who in the early 20th century sold the paper and moved to Oregon to run an orchard. He is mostly remembered today as the father of Edison Tesla Marshall, a very successful writer in the first half of the twentieth century, though his books are rarely read today. Below is the column George Marshall wrote. Note that the "incident" is not mentioned until the very end and there is no name mentioned.

I was not familiar with the word "Zouaves". Here is an explanation.

The other paper was the Jasper County Democrat, edited by Frank E. Babcock. Mr. Babcock was often at odds with other local people, especially Republicans, and my guess the William Rhoades was a Republican. Here is his take on the incident.

It is always interesting to see different accounts of the same event. All news reports are filtered through a human brain and humans can have very different ways of seeing the world. What I like about the old newspapers is that they did not pretend that their reporting was objective but openly announced the positions from which they would report the news. 

Post settings Labels No matching suggestions Published on 1/1/21 12:05 PM Permalink Location Options

What's new?

I visited Francesville this week and saw the new mural.

Excavators were digging up South McKinley on Thursday. 

They were also digging out many of the sidewalks along the street. I think most of the rest of the work on street repaving and sidewalks has been completed.

The first Cylinders and Snacks event was held on Front Street on Tuesday evening.

It was lightly attended.

I was not observant enough to notice that the windows of the former Stunt Dog building were papered over.

The Women Who Know Almost Everything are confident that this will be the future home of Erica's Boutique.  According to the Facebook page, the store will open the week of June 22.

There is a new business in the College Mall, K&G's Overstock Outlet. It is in the space between the License Branch and Training Elite, another new occupant in the College Mall. A few years ago Fastenal was in this spot.

The business sells new merchandise, but because it gets overstocked items, there is not a fixed set of goods that it sells. It has a lot of space and room for a lot more merchandise than is currently there.

The business had a lot of clothing and smaller amounts of other items such as toys and electronic items. It will be fun to check them out occassionally to see how their merchandise changes with time.

The business is not completely new to Rensselaer. Previously the owners operated under a different business name from the garage next to Ron's Barber Shop on Vine and McKinley. (That complex is for sale.) 

On Monday the Memorial Day ceremony in Weston Cemetery will feature State Representative Doug Gutwein as the main speaker. The ceremony will be smaller and less contentious than the Memorial Day ceremony of 1899. Saturday's post will tell you about that embarassing event.

Dedicating Baby Box 71 and much, much more

On Monday Franciscan Health Rensselaer blessed and dedicated a Safe Haven Baby Box on the east wall of the Hospital, on the outside of the area where ambulances pull into the Hospital. The ceremoney had a surprisingly large crowd, many from outside of Rensselaer. 

Among the speakers was Monica Kelsey, the "Baby-Box Lady". The Baby Box program became her passion when, as an adult, she learned the story of why she was adopted. Her mother was raped and became pregnant as a result. After her mother was kept in seclusion during the pregnancy, Monica was placed for adoption. Her story has recently been published as a book, and reading through the bit one can preview on Amazon, it seems to be a compelling story.

The celebrant for the blessing was Bishop Doherty of the Diocese of Lafayette.

The Baby Box provides a way for a woman who has an infant that she does not want or cannot support to anonymously give up the child. She opens the door to the baby box and places the infant inside. 

The box is temperature controlled, and once the door is closed, an alarm will notify hospital employees that there is a baby in the box.

The first baby box was installed in 2016. In the years since, 11 infants have been left in boxes in fire departments and hospitals. 

Speaking of books, Carlee Alson has recently published a book, Rolling On: Two Hundred Years of Blair Iron and Steel. I asked her if it was commissioned and she said it was. I also asked it the company had provided archives for her to use and she said that the company provided very little information about its history and she had to do the research herself.

The large warehouse that Smith Transport opened east of Remington had a ribbon cutting last week. The Rensselaer Republican has a full report.

 The tees for disc golf at Brookside Park have been installed.

You can see one of the ball games from last weekend in the picture. There were 31 teams and they played Friday evening and all day Saturday and Sunday. Teen Mission ran the concession stand.

A digital sign for the Court House is under construction. It will be used to advertise local events and will replace the banners previously used in this location.

Walls are starting to appear on the vet clinic under construction east of Fountain Stone Theater.

There was a crane doing some kind of work on the tower behind Midway Electronics. I took a picture because I like cranes.

The Rensselaer City Council met on Monday evening and began with three citizens approaching the Council. First was Rein Bontrager who wants to start a Tuesday Cruise-In (or Park-In) for downtown Rensselaer. He would like the block of Front Street next to Embers to be one-way from 5 to 7 so that cars could angle park along it. It will be open to all cars but would be designed to attract cars that would be car-show worthy. The request was approved and the first night should be tonight.

The second request was from the Prairie Arts Council for a new Art in the Alley event. It would be held on July 17 from 11 to 8 and the location would be the new Filson Park. It would feature an art fair and market, a tent with activities, and some small bands. The Council referred to a request to a tech review meeting, and if that group approves, it has the Council's blessing. 

The final citizens item was a Mayoral proclamation celebrating the 30 year anniversary of the Jasper-Newton Foundation by declaring "Love Where You Live" to the the theme of the year. The foundation began as a way to save the Carnegie Building after the new library was built. Over the past 30 years it has given grants of about $15 million and currently has invested funds of $23 million.

Moving on to the main agenda, the Council had three ordinances that redistributed money that the City receives from two tower leases, one from Sprint that leases an antenna on the Rachel Street Water Tower and the other from Verizon that has its own tower next to the Drexel Water Tower. The money was divided between the Public Relations Fund, the Sidewalk Maintenance Fund, and the Future Development Fund. Two of the ordinances were passed and one was tabled to be rewritten.

The Council then ratified a poll that had approved some additional street work by Walsh and Kelly (which was recently acquired by Milestone).

The Council recognized Jerry Lockridge for 40 years of service with a jacket. It approved a family medical leave. And it approved the purchase of a new truck by the gas department to replace one recently totaled in an accident. The truck is being purchased from Twin Lakes Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram and will cost $33,151.25. The insurance settlement for the truck it is replacing was a bit under $17,000.

The Police Department is still learning to use the Spillman dispatch software but likes being able to share information with the Sheriff's Department and other agencies using the software. Most of the paving has been completed, with two streets and filling around new sidewalks left for this week. Walsh and Kelly will be digging out South McKinley beginning this week. This weekend the Blacker Fields will host a softball tournament with 17 teams on Friday and Saturday. The annual Memorial Day ceremony will be held at Weston Cemetery at 11:00 am on Monday.

Leaving the meeting, I noticed that the old Moonshiners window has lost the picture of the moonshiners. I liked that picture, but I am happy that someone seems ready to reopen the restaurant.

Odds and ends, May 20, 2021

 The County Council met Tuesday evening with most of the members present in-person. Once again there were problems in getting audio working correctly for those on Zoom. 

The Council did not approve the minutes because the minutes from the continued part of the meeting had not been prepared. The Council appointed Steven Eastridge to the Remington Economic Commission, a body that is becoming active again. (The Council has one appointment to make to the Commission.) It approved continuing the tax abatement for Wilson Industrial Sales. The abatement is on year nine of ten. Over the years the firm has averaged seven additional employees. Currently they are trying to hire four hazmat drivers and recently the company got a new president, a third generation of the Wilson family.

There was a long discussion of a request from the County Prosecutor to hire a full-time investigator to replace a part-time investigator who recently retired. The Council did not doubt the need for a full-time position but wondered from which fund it would be funded and if their approval would step on the toes of the Commissioners, who had tabled a similar request at their last meeting. They finally approved funding the position and the Prosecutor said he would not fill it until the Commissioners approve the hire.

The rest of the meeting was routine. The Council approved some additional appropriations for the Surveyor and Emergency Management. They also approved an amendment to the Salary Ordinance to conform to new salaries in the Sheriff's Department, CASA, and Community Corrections. Finally they corrected some appropriations that they apparently had doubly passed.

In other happenings, the contractor for the DeMotte sewer/water extension hit a gas pipeline on Tuesday, causing some excitement in the northern part of the county. The Francesville mural is finished and has been dedicated. Eden Valley Farms, also in Pulaski County, will have an open house  on June 12. I have always wondered what the strange building on the northwest corner of the US 231/SR 16 interchange was. A video from Alliance Bank reveals that it was once a grocery store. It is now a residence. 

The Senior Trail is now up in Milroy Park.

Paving of streets south of the River seems to be finished. North of the River Emilie and a block of block of Walnut are finished. As I write this, the crew is working on Franklin. There are still bits of Milton, Webster, and Merritt that are milled but not paved.

The White County United Way is administering a grant from the Lilly Foundation to help non-profits affected by the Covid shutdown. The grant has moneys allocated for Pulaski, Jasper, and White Counties and has to be spent by the end of July. The White County allocation has been totally spent but there is still a lot left in the Jasper County and the Pulaski County allocations. Groups that have received funding from the Jasper County funds include CDC Resources, Fendig Theater, Junior Achievement, KV School Corporation, St. Augustine School, Wheatfield Fire Department, SAGA in Kentland, Growing Patch Learning Center, and the Tri-County Backpack Program. If you know of an organization that can make a case, have them contact White County United Way. It would be a shame if we leave money on the table.

On Monday the Jasper County BZA met to consider two cases. One was a setback variance for a large garage that could not be put behind the house because of extreme changes in grade. The other was variance for sand mining north of Rensselaer where there are many ponds and lake from previous sand mining. Both were approved. Someone at the meeting said, referring to problems getting audio from the on-line viewers, "Technology is great, when it works."

As of last weekend, the new vet clinic had a concrete floor.

Paving

 Corn is sprouting in some fields. Maybe we have had our last frost of the Spring.

I have heard frogs chirping in Weston Lake. I wonder if the water will last long enough for their tadpoles to mature. (Update: I noticed on Saturday that it had already dried up.)

The geese at Donaldsons have goslings.

Donaldsons also has "hiring" signs. There are a lot of "hiring" signs at local businesses.

The basketball court at Brookside Park now has a new asphalt surface. The hoops are not yet installed.

Paving City streets kicked off in earnest this week. Parts or all of John, Charles, Emmett, Kannal, Fleming, and McKinley Streets were milled. The picture below shows milling on McKinley.

Paving started with Charles Street being the first with new blacktop.

I stopped in Walmart and saw that their photo department was no more. That space will become their pick-up desk for things ordered on-line.

There were a couple of meetings on Friday. In the morning the Jasper County Commission of Public Records met. It took 15 minutes to assemble a quorum and while people waited, I learned that the Animal Shelter is closed because a vehicle ran into the building. On November 12 there will be some kind of ceremony to mark the 125th anniversary of the Court House. The Court House has new gutters to fix a leak, but there was skepticism that it would solve all the problems. There seems to be leaks that are higher in the building than where leaks caused by gutters are supposed to be.

The purpose of this commission is to give permission to government units to destroy old paperwork. There are regulations about what paperwork must be kept and for how long. Eventually an office will run out of room if it cannot throw away or shred unneeded files. The Commission heard requests from the County Prosecutor, City of Rensselaer Utility Office, City of Rensselaer Clerk-Treasurer, the Jasper County Library, Probation Department, Clerk's Office, Recorder's Office, Veteran Service Office, Treasurer, Health Department, The Sheriff, Animal Control, Marion and Carpenter Townships, Rensselaer Central School Corporation, and the Town of Remington. A visit from a shredding company will be arranged for July and boxes and boxes of paper will be waiting to be shredded.

The other meeting was a continued meeting of the County Council. At their April meeting they began a process to grant an abatement to a project that will convert cow manure into natural gas. They needed to have a public hearing as part of that, and they scheduled it for Friday. The meeting was short and there was no one from the public who commented. 

I missed the Airport Authority meeting on Thursday evening. I chose to attend another event.

We have celebrated the 125th anniversary of the Fire Department and will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Court House. There is another 125th anniversary that we could celebrate this year. In 1896 Rensselaer became a city. It has previously been classified as a town.

Rensselaer no longer has an aerial fire truck. It is now the property of the Brook-Iroquois Township Fire Department.

Jenna Morello has begun her Francesville mural.

226 tons

 On Monday morning I saw frost on a roof and some grass. It may not be the last of the season.

Rensselaer received a bit more than two inches of rain Saturday evening and Sunday morning. The baseball tournament games at Blacker Fields were canceled for Sunday. The river has risen but is three feet below flood stage. For the first time this spring there is water in the field east of Weston Cemetery (an area that I sometimes call Weston Lake). 

The Fire Department had a busy weekend. On Friday their fish dinner served almost 1100 meals and ran out of food. It was drive-through and was very efficiently run. On Saturday the Department celebrated its 125th anniversary with an open house. The event began with some speeches that you can view on Facebook. (Skip to the 34 minute mark to hear Kenny Hahn review the history of the Department.)

The open house had a free lunch with sugary cupcakes.

The Department has a room that displays old equipment once used by the Department, including a wagon that was horse drawn. (Notice the spelling of Rensselaer.) Members of the Department had to take care of those horses.

In 1920 the Deparment purchased a motorized vehicle that is in the musuem.

The Deparment also owns a firetruck that it purchased in 1940.

I was fascinated by the fire insurance maps that were on display as part of the Open House. (Some of these maps can be found on-line.)

Francesville is getting a mural. It will be painted by Jenna Morello, the artist that painted the large mural of purple cone flowers in Rensselaer.

The new gas-line feed is not yet live. The Gas Department is waiting for some final parts.

The City Council met Monday evening. There were two items from the public. An organization called Rensselaer Bomber Youth Basketball wants to host a 3-on-3 tournament on July 17th at Foundation Park and needs more than the two courts there. So they requested that Francis Street between Monnett and Kannal be closed for the day so they can set up temporary courts. The request was granted.

Fendig Summer Theater gave an update of its summer plans and requested use of Foundation Park for its performances July 8-11. Their request was also granted. It plans to hold all rehearsals, which will start June 1, outdoors. They will need electricity for the public performances and are working with City officials to arrange that.

Moving on to the main agenda, the Council passed an ordinance setting up an account for funds that it will get from the American Rescue Plan, the name of the latest Federal spending plan intended to provide Covid relief. The City will get about a million dollars but does not know yet what restrictions will be put on the spending of that money.

The Council approved a couple of transfers of funds and then approved the May gas tracker of a 7.5¢ decrease per hundred cubic feet. The gas department needs a new truck because one of its trucks was involved in an accident. The truck t-boned another vehicle that failed to stop at a stop sign and is considered totaled. There may be difficulties in replacing the truck. Right now there is a shortage of some computer chip that the trucks need, so the manufacturers are sitting on large inventories of almost-completed trucks. 

The Council approved hiring a electrical consultant. The person being hired worked for the City electric utility from 1985 to 1991 and will be needed for some projects that are planned. The Council also approved its appointment to the Rensselaer School Board. Only one person, Emily Lyons, applied. She will join the Board in July.

In adminstrative comments the Police Chief noted that the Department would be going live with Spillman software on Tuesday. (Sheriff Williamson pushed for this software that  does a variety of things for police departments and other first responders.) On Wednesday the Brook Fire Department will take delivery of the Rensselaer aerial truck.

City crews picked up 226 tons of garbage during clean-up week. They also hauled away 24 truckloads of yard waste, 19 truckloads of scrap metal, 129 car and truck tires, and 26 gaylord boxes of electronics.

Pouring sidewalks as part of the Community Crossings grant is finished. Milling of streets will start this week. South McKinley (the part that is not also U.S. 231) will have more than a resurfacing. The street will be dug out and a new base installed. It will be closed for three or four weeks.

****

There will be another big baseball tournament at Blacker Fields on May 21-23. I finally found a list of softball tournaments scheduled for the Blacker Fields.

Finally, Father Ralph Verdi, who taught for several years at SJC, died on Monday.

Updates and more

Fendig Summer Theater has announced the plays that they will present this summer. Instead of a two-hour musical, they will present two one-hour productions, Xanadu Jr and  Disney's Moana Jr. Each will have a separate cast. The performances will be over four days, Thursday through Sunday, July 8 through 11, and probably outdoors in a park. July 10 is Cruise Night and the performance that day will be in the afternoon.

The new classroom building planned for Brookside Park is being financed by grants from the Jeff Goad Memorial 5K and the Jasper-Newton Foundation. The Rensselaer Republican had full details in this week's paper. 

Did you see the caravan of vehicles cleaning up the City for clean-up week? I will be interested in hearing how much they collected. I would expect that it will be more than usual because there was no clean-up week last year.

The containers in the Walmart parking lot that were pictured in a recent post are now enclosed in a fence. Comments on that post suggested that Walmart will be doing some remodeling.

Paving of the parking lot at the recycling center is finished.

There is a new tenant in the College Mall, Training Elite. I was told that it offers wrestling classes. I recall that a few years ago there was a martial arts studio that briefly rented in the College Mall.

The Smoked food truck will be at the bowling alley every Friday afternoon. It is owned by people who live a few miles from Rensselaer. They may do more days during the summer and expect to be at local festivals. On Saturdays they set up in DeMotte.

Here is a rather bad picture of their menu. 

Work began this week on sidewalks. Below is a cement truck getting ready to pour.

Here is a completed sidewalk on Home Avenue.

I only visited the construction site of the new vet clinic once this week. The day I was there they were installing what appeared to be the sewer line.

The maple trees are shedding their leaves. I have had some young morning doves in my backyard, so the first generation of birds has left the nest. Both signs of spring, but we had patchy frost on Saturday morning and may have more next week. 

The Tourism Commission met Friday. Revenue from the innkeepers tax has rebounded from last year as people are once again staying in motels. The Tourism Commission was a major contributor to the mural that DeMotte will be getting. Cameron Moberg, who will paint the mural, has had his sketches approved by the authorities in DeMotte. They will also get a sculpture that is being done by the same artist that did the bird outside of eMbers. This bird was given to the City but the City has not found a place for it to be permanently displayed.

The Commission had four requests for funds. They approved $175 for new plants in the Court House planters and a sponsorship for the Weston cemetery walk scheduled for September 18. Touch of Dutch is planning a smaller event this year, more a music festival and less arts and crafts. The Commission turned down a grant request and instead agreed to sponsor them at the $1500 level, their highest level. The Commission is trying to move away from grants to sponsorship. It also has increased its funding of capital improvements and to do that has had to reduce what it gives to events. 

The Commission approved paying the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority for the services they provide Jasper County Tourism. The person from South Shore noted that there has been a huge demand for sporting events and that the facilities in Crown Point and Hammond are totally booked. Perhaps that is why the Blacker Fields have had so many events scheduled in its first year.  The tournaments do seem to be filling hotels rooms.

Fourth Annual PAC Member Show

 The 4th annual Prairie Arts Council member show is on display at the Fendig gallery.

The Gallery is open on Tuesday and Thursdays from noon until 4:00.

It is no longer necessary to schedule and appointment, but you are supposed to wear a mask.

This year's exhibit seemed a bit smaller than the first two. Last year's was only on-line. 

The show runs until June 18.

The closing reception will be on the 18th at 6:30.

*************************

A former Rensselaer resident, Amanda McIlwain Hauser, was featured on the Today Show. Video here.