The Story of Us!

May 2022

The Woods Are Lonely Now

By Susan Joyce Dansenburg Campbell

The story of the Potawatomi Removal from the Twin Lakes area south of Plymouth, Marshall County, Indiana to a small mission south of Osawatomie, Linn County, Kansas is a story well-documented in history. It can be found on microfilm records in the National Archives and documented in books and articles dealing with the history of the Potawatomi people.

Sketch by George Winter. Trail of Death leaving Winamac's Old Village west of Logansport, September 10, 1838.

It can be found in history books, although merely annotated in some, that tell the story of places and people in the not-so-distant past, places whose names often bear remnants of the original Potawatomi name, people whose beliefs and actions formed the standards by which so many of us live today.

The Removal story is a story of people, people who lived on the land, planted and harvested their lands, built homes, lived, laughed, loved, gave birth and died. People who honored their Creator in ceremony and song, Christian and non-Christian alike. It is also a story of greed, of corruption and of fear, a story of expansion, of “manifest destiny” if you will.

But most of all it is a story of people. It is a story of families. And it is a story of my family. That is the story I want to share in this introduction.

READ MORE. If the link does not work, go to the website and scroll down on the first page until you come to the post.

"How to Research the History of Your Old House," is a four-session workshop that will be offered this summer by the Pulaski County Historical Society.

The workshop will consist of two parts: how to understand legal property descriptions, deeds, mortgages, abstracts of title, etc., and then how to research that sort of information at the Recorder's Office.

The second part will focus on the "taxonomy" of house styles: Jeannie Regan-Dinisius from the Indiana Office of Historic Preservation and Archeology will introduce and explain using the SHAARD database of historic properties.

Attendees will receive a copy of "A Field Guide to American Houses" and the workshop will end with a tour of local homes that represent classic house styles.

Each attendee will choose a property to research and share the results with others in the workshop.

SCHEDULE

The first session will be held at the former Medaryville Public Library, now known as the West Side Center, at 510 East Main Street, Medaryville, on June 14, beginning at 7:00 PM.

The second session is actually an assignment. Details will be given at the first session. Participants will visit the Recorder's Office - either online or onsite, to research the chosen property. The assignment is to be completed by July 9.

The third session will be on July 9 in the afternoon (time to be announced by no later than the first session), at the Pulaski County Historical Museum, 500 South Monticello, Winamac (The Carriage House). This session will be presented by Jeannie Regan-Dinius, Director of Special Initiatives, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation & Archeoloty.

During the third session, arrangements will be made for the final session, a tour of historic houses, possibly including property or properties being researched by participants.

PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Because materials will be supplied, pre-registration will be required.

Registration will cost $15, $10 for members of Pulaski County Historical Society.

While you are required to pre-register, payment does not have to be remitted until the first session.

If you would like to prepay, send a check, made out to Pulaski County Historical Society, to PO Box 135, Winamac IN 46996, or visit our webpage to use PayPal. Scroll down to "Donations." We will match your payment to your emailed pre-registration.

Send registration information (name, address, phone and email address) to the Workshop Facilitator, Brian Capouch, at this address: workshop@pulaskihistory.net, by June 5.

Once again, we thank our benefactors: Jon Chapman (Edward Jones), Carroll-White REMC Operation Round-Up, and Fulton County REMC Operation Round-Up.

This month, we feature the Winamac School exhibit. You'll see old photos, totems, some items of clothing and some artifacts.

We're using SignUp.com to organize our upcoming museum shifts. Here's how it works in 3 easy steps:

1) Click this link: https://signup.com/go/RuLRDVM

2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.

3) Sign up! You will NOT need to register an account or keep a password.

Note: If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact Kathi Thompson and she will sign you up manually.

The 1st Thursday of every month: persons interested in genealogy can attend the monthly meeting of the Genealogical Society at 5:00.

The 3rd Thursday of every month: Historical Society Board meeting at 6:00. Members and interested parties are invited to attend.

You may find this small space a perfect meeting place for your organization. We'll be happy to work with you, as long as our open hours and standard meeting times are honored.

Visitors to the museum in April both brought family artifacts to enhance our veterans display and visited that display with other family members. We were gifted not only a uniform from a Pulaski County veteran, but his tools. He was a cook in the U.S. Army, and we now have the cookbook!

It's fragile, and we want to preserve it. We are looking for online photos of the recipes and photos in the book to display.

NOTE: We cannot accept all family heirlooms. Our space is very small, and we must be careful what we take in.

One of our digital displays focuses on the Potawatomi who lived in what is now Pulaski County. The Museum focuses on The Story of Us. Our story starts when the first residents appeared on our soil, thousands of years ago.

You can watch our garden grow this year two ways.

One, you can take a look here, because we will take a photo monthly. Two, stop at the museum any Saturday between 10:00 and 4:00.

This is a "before" photo from mid-April. Our gardener is Kaity Stacy.

From the May/June 2022 issue of Indiana Preservation, a publication of Indiana Landmarks:

Seat of Power: Courthouse squares at the center of downtown revitalization

After such high-profile advocacy in defense of historic courthouses, a 2018 plan by commissioners to demolish Pulaski County's 1894 Romanesque Revival courthouse came as a shock. Indiana Landmarks added the building to its 10 Most Endangered list and hired Indianapolis-based Rowland Design to review the county's initial plans, proving that demolition would be far more costly than moving forward with renovation. Though the commissioners reversed their initial decision and moved forward with a bond to expand a modern Justice Center, several officials expressed skepticism about pursuing additional funding to renovate the ehistoric courthouse. At the close of 2021, the county council and county commissioners voted to support the courthouse's renovation 4-3, planning to decide on how to fund the project in the coming months. "We're cautiously optimistic," says Todd Zeiger, director of Indiana Landmarks' Northern Regional Office. "But we won't be fully at ease until we see construction underway on the courthouse."

To subscribe to this publication, visit indianalandmarks.org.

A brief history of Vurpillat's Opera House is available on our YouTube channel. Check it out HERE.

Also on our channel:

2021 Annual Meeting, featuring Brenda Gilsinger and the history of Pulaski (the town)
2022 Annual Meeting, featuring Shirley Willard from the Fulton County Historical Society, the history of the Potawatomi in Fulton & Pulaski Counties and the Trail of Death

From The Francesville Tribune July 13, 1972, Written January 1, 1971

This is a continuation of the poem, begun in the Newsletter dated June 2020. You can find past editions of the Newsletter HERE.

Stanzas 85 - 88

I can see May Hayworth teaching

"The Kings Sons class" again,

And telling us that smoking

Cigarettes was such an awful sin.

I see Harry and Dessie Foster there

Every Sunday without fail.

I can hear the choir singing yet

As they sat behind the rail.

I see Flo and Agnes Byers there too,

Dode Garrigues and his wife;

Of course I see Mrs. Daseke there

For she went all her life.

I see the "Street Fairs" we used to have

More than sixty years ago,

And they will never be forgotten

At least by me I know.

Willard C. Myers is connected to the town of Francesville through birth and remaining family. We will continue to feature this poem until we have offered it to completion. Natives will probably recognize many of the people and places that will be mentioned.

Gifts That Keep Giving

A gift to the Historical Society will continue to give back. Find a convenient way to do that here.

Gifts For Any Reason

What do you give to the person who loves history? Give a gift that supports local efforts to record it.

The quick and easy way to make a contribution to the Historical Society is to utilize this QR code. We're trying to drag history into the 21st Century!

Thank you for considering this opportunity!

If interested, contact us!

info@pulaskihistory.net

574-270-0128

The successful operation of the society includes dues from members to assist in the day-to-day operation of the society, as well as their participation in activities and on committees. Information is always detailed in our e-newsletter.

Individual dues are $30.00 per calendar year, family dues are $40.00 per year, and corporate dues are $80.00 per year. Pay your dues easily by visiting our website. Or mail a check (please include your email address) to PO Box 135, Winamac IN 46996.

Send an email.

Plan your visit to the Indiana Historical Society today! Information here.

Additional Opportunities to Enjoy the Indiana Historical Society

Information here.

WFYI's "Birch Bayh: American Senator" Documentary Screening

May 11, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., free, History Center

In Birch Bayh: American Senator, discover how one legendary Hoosier’s career spanned — and shaped — a time of tremendous change, and how his legislation still resonates today.

Birch Bayh was a man of civility and optimism who worked in the “Golden Age” of the U.S. Senate, an era of bipartisanship and progress. From the fall of Kennedy’s Camelot, through the war in Vietnam, to the Civil Rights and Women’s movements, Bayh created some of the most influential legislation in American history in a time that called for bold action. Meet the man and policymaker through archival footage and new interviews with Evan Bayh, Billie Jean King.