Newsletter of the Madison County Historical Society
Volume 42, Issue 2, April, 2009 Carole Carlson, Editor
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MCHS Has Lost A Great Friend
Dr. Jack B. Nicholson
Dr. Jack Nicholson passed away on March 28 at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis after several years of poor health. He was 78. Jack had a long and active association with the Madison County Historical Society. He served as the Madison County Historian from 1996 through 2003 and as the MCHS President, 1997-1999. Jack was the founder/director of the Nicholson Research Library located in the Madison County History Center from its inception three years ago until his death.
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BOARD MEMBERS ADDED
Judge Fredrick Spencer has joined the MCHS board and Gene Yates has returned to the board after a short hiatus.
MCHS CALENDAR
April 27 — “The Battle of Okinawa,” World War II in the Pacific by Don McAllister of the National Veterans Historical Archives
May — No Meeting
June 22 — “Photos of Old Anderson Buildings” by speakers Gene Yates and Donna Welch
From the President’s Desk by Roger Hensley
As the economy goes down, much of our money dries up. For those who are new here, we have been in this building just over four years. In that time we have finished the first floor. We have added many volumes to the library, completed the Bowman Room, — where we hold a number of meetings with facilities for projection — using the accessions room and vault, finished the exhibit rooms, set up an office for the County Historian, prepped the Genealogy Library and have offices in the remaining three rooms. We also have a 1908 Anderson automobile on exhibit in the lobby.
We have had a car crash into the exhibit rooms thus making them unusable just as we were preparing for an exhibit of small Christmas type buildings. The room that was hit contained many of the buildings and they were completely destroyed. In fact, the insurer of the auto that did the damage refused to pay and we had to fall back on our insurer. Repairs are now under way, but this cost us as our insurance had a high deductible and it left the exhibitor looking to her insurance agent for coverage.
The bright spot is that we are taking in a lot of material that would have been thrown away or given to some one else. That IS a bright spot as people find out that we are here and come in to visit us and donate items.
The other bright spot is the radio. We are now on the radio once a month to tout the Society and Center’s Civil War Roundtable and the Society’s monthly meeting. In addition to that is the general information about the Society that we can give the listeners. Don Hunt and Steve Jackson are the two that do this for us. The show is on WHBU the Wednesday prior to the Civil War Roundtable at 8 a.m.
The Elevator
Elevator donations are not moving. Before we can use the upstairs or downstairs, it is necessary to bring the elevator back into operation. We have a quote of $25,000. We are now looking into how we can raise that amount of money. Several donations have already been made totaling about $2,500. What can you do? You can donate whatever funds you can give. You can sign a Pledge Card for the Society or for the elevator fund. Please give what ever you can. Thank you.
What else can you do? We are in need of photos of Anderson, Pendleton, Chesterfield, Alexandria, Elwood, Orestes and other sites around Madison County. Pictures of unknown people are not really needed unless there is something that makes them stand out or are unique.
Treasure Sale
Please remember that we are planning on having a Treasure Sale. This is known by the term ‘Rummage Sale’ for nearly everyone else. We will not be giving away any of our cataloged material. There are a few books and other odd items that will be included. It will be held in July and we need those things that you may have that we can put in the sale. Please, no clothes, just hard goods. We will store them here until it is time for the sale.
Madison County Historian Report: by Stephen T. Jackson
Activities: February 23 – March 23
March 2, 2009 — Responded to an inquiry by a Ball State University professor regarding the burial site of Delaware Indian Chief Buckongahelas. He was making the request for his father who is writing a book entitled, “The Theft of Ohio”. On March 5th the author wrote me directly asking for additional information about Buckongahelas to which I responded.
March 2, 2009 — Responded to a request for information by the Historian at History Associates Inc., Rockville, MD, regarding Anderson native, PFC Paul H. Pavey, who was killed on June 6, 1944, on Omaha Beach, Normandy, France.
March 2, 2009 — Responded to a request for information from a lady in Scottsdale, AZ, regarding her great grandfather’s participation on an Anderson baseball team in 1904.
March 11, 2009 — Appeared on the WHBU Radio Station program, The Morning Show, representing the Madison County Historical Society. The appearance was to promote the Society.
March 15, 2009 — My article about the Hydraulic Canal appeared in the Herald Bulletin as part of the newspaper’s History Page in the Community section.
March 17, 2009 — Visited the Alexandria-Monroe Township Historical Society Museum where I was given a tour by their president, Mr. Larry Maple. We discussed areas of mutual interest between their museum and the Madison County Historical Society.
March 17, 2009 — Responded to a request from Beam, Logest and Neff, LLC to investigate the historical impact upon the addition of travel lanes on U.S. 36 from its south junction with SR 9 to Fall Creek. I found no conflict.
March 21, 2009 — Authorized a “Deed of Gift to the Indiana Historical Society” for my digital image of the Paramount Theatre, Anderson, Indiana, to be used in their Destination Indiana exhibit.
From the editor
A nationally known historian/genealogist will be in Marion, Indiana, May 30, 2009, presenting five sessions on using DNA in genealogy research. Megan Smolenyak is chief historian for Ancestry.com, creator of Roots Television, contributor to the PBS series Ancestors, and an author. Visit her website at http://www.honoringourancestors.com to learn more about her. She will be at the Ivy Tech campus – SR 18 and I-69 – for an all-day workshop followed by a reception and dinner. It will also include lunch. Cost of the all day event is $65. For more information and/or reservations, call the Marion Public Library at (765) 668-2900 or go to their website at http://www.marion.lib.in.us or contact rstoffer@marion.lib.in.us.
Accessions Report: by Mary Lou Moberly
Thank you, Gerald Jones, for purchasing and putting together a new shelving unit for storage in the accession area. We have another empty filing cabinet in the safe, so we have solved the storage problem for awhile.
Donated Items:
1. Two donations of miscellaneous train items for Roger Hensley’s collection.
2. Five cameras and a mobile phone from David Dillon.
3. From Barry Gaar – 12 photos of landscape designed by his grandfather, Milton Gaar.
4. Roger Ritter donations of 22 Cal. Colt “Lightning” Rifle, pat. 1889; a Franklin sewing machine in cabinet, pat. 1927; Ansonia wood clock, 21 inches tall, dated 1875.
5. 2 CDs of Guide Lamp pictures by Ken Burke, from Steve Jackson.
6. Mable Bronnenberg donated 2 photos for the Bronnenberg family collection.
Genealogy Committee: by Phyllis Leedom
Bill Upperman is setting up a bulletin board in the Zook library for our volunteers to follow the events of the day.
Beginning Genealogy classes will start Monday, May 4, at 9:30 a.m. The first three will be for the very beginner or someone who took a class sometime ago and never did do anything with it and needs a refresher class. Those who wish to participate need to call MCHS at 683-0052 to register. Beginning in September, the classes with the following subjects to be discussed: (9-14) Research in a library; (10-5) Computer research tips; (11-2) German research – 1709ers and on (12-70) How to research land records.
Lucretia Lawler is in charge of the CIVIL WAR EXHIBIT. For most of the exhibit, only soldiers born in Madison County will be displayed. Exceptions will be made when a family of 6 or 7 brothers all served but the oldest son was born in Ohio and the others born in Madison County. Lucretia has been in constant contact with our County Historian, Steve Jackson, and other members of the Civil War Roundtable. There are around 150 soldiers who served in the Civil War and were born in Madison County. Several families had as many as 6 or 7 brothers who served such as the Gross, Adams, Makepeace, McCallister and Keesling families.
If you have news for the next Gazette in July, call Carole Carlson, 649-4471.
