Another Day in History…

(Picture is from the 1954 Centennial of the Kosciusko County Courthouse in Warsaw, Indiana.)

June is a great month for getting outdoors and enjoying this great country and county! With the release of the 1950 census there is an increase in family research.  And for our other activities and exhibits don’t forget to check the events page often this summer!

The following facts and trivia were gathered from the Northern Indianian and the Warsaw Daily Times newspapers. They were then printed in previous Thaddeus issues and noted again for this blog. They are organized by the month and day rather than by year.

So what happened in Kosciusko County on this day in history…?

June 1, 1888 – Phillipson’s Clothing Store moves from a building near the northwest corner of Center and Buffalo in Warsaw to one at the southwest corner of Market and Buffalo.  Hundreds of people visit the new store on the first day of its grand opening celebration, an event that includes music by the town’s cornet band.  The store, operated by Marcus Phillipson, has been in Warsaw since 1863.

June 2, 1933 – The Town of Winona Lake agrees to stop charging people to enter the town during the summer conference season.  The move comes after Winona residents sign petitions requesting the change and postal authorities inform the town that the post office will be closed unless the town ends its admissions policy.

June 3, 1929 – Six “downy white” swans are born at the lily pond at Winona Lake.  The newspaper says the babies are soon following “momma swan” all around the pond.

June 4, 1915 – The newspaper reports that a brand new Buick roadster was stolen from Harry Hapner of Syracuse while he was watching the recent Indianapolis 500 automobile race.  Hapner drove the Buick to Indianapolis and parked it in a garage; it was stolen from that spot during the race.  Later, the big car is located in Nebraska.  The 500 is won by Ralph DePalma; a few days afterward, DePalma and several other Indy drivers pass through Warsaw on a trip through northern Indiana that draws attention to an upcoming automobile race in Chicago.  DePalma’s racer is a 12-cylinder Packard roadster.

June 5, 1902 – A 10-horsepower automobile has been purchased by a group of Warsaw men including Frank Hafner, C.M. Ford, T.A. Goodwin and a company identified as “Rosenstock & Shield.”  The vehicle carries 12 passengers, and will be used to carry people to the Assembly Grounds at Winona.  The automobile is capable of speeds of as high as 25 miles per hour.

June 6, 1931 – The mystery of the candy bars stolen from the club house at the Warsaw Country Club and Golf Course has been solved.  The candy bars, it was discovered, were taken by a squirrel that had a nest above the porch of the club house.  Until the squirrel was identified as the bandit, Mrs. Carl Chapman, the manager of the club, blamed her husband and the golf course’s caddies for the theft.  The golf course is on Country Club Drive south of Warsaw.

June 7, 1930 – Abshire Oil Co. begins selling six gallons of Red Hat gasoline for $1.  The gasoline is of premium quality and has an anti-knock formula.  The gas station is on the corner of Market and Washington streets in Warsaw.

June 8, 1932 – The Eagles Lodge of Indiana holds its 27th annual convention in Warsaw.  Between 250 and 300 members of the club are in town for the event; for their benefit the streets are lighted by new flood lights.

June 9, 1906 – A wind storm causes much damage in the county.  Several barns are knocked over and the belfry is blown off a church in Palestine.

June 10, 1905 – Bert Noel is arrested for robbing cottages at Lake Tippecanoe.  When a sheriff’s deputy comes to take Noel into custody, Noel threatens to shoot the deputy with a revolver.  But the deputy draws his own gun, and tell Noel that any fireworks this far before the Fourth of July would be “premature.”  Noel drops his gun.

June 11, 1903 – Warsaw’s City Council agrees to pave downtown streets with brick, and begins soliciting bids from contractors willing to do the work.

June 12, 1908 – A man posing as a salesman for a map maker rents a horse and buggy from a livery stable in Leesburg, but fails to return them.  A few days later, an unsigned letter arrives at the stable telling the stable’s owners that the horse and buggy are in a school yard at Greenville, Ohio.  The owners of the stable are skeptical, but one of them goes to Greenville, and sure enough, the horse and buggy are there.  The horse and rig are brought back to Leesburg; the thief is never caught.

June 13, 1930 – Two North Webster boys who have been missing for almost a week are located in Atlanta, Ga. The boys had been corresponding with two girls who live in Atlanta, and decided to drive down and see them.  They drove to Atlanta in a Ford touring car; the father of one of them will go to Georgia and bring them back.  The boys are Maurice Lewallen, 17, and Walter Baugh, 15.

June 14, 1877 – Henry Lathrope completes construction of the largest beer vault in this part of the state. He sells Milwaukee lager beer, and has a bottling machine that can supply druggists, saloons and private parties with beer, ale and porter.  The cost is $1.25 for a dozen bottles.  His store is located in his “old stand” on Buffalo Street across from the Courthouse.

June 15, 1882 – A train load of new buggies arrives at Ripple’s Livery Stable in Warsaw.  The buggies were manufactured by the Globe Carriage Works of Cincinnati, Ohio.

June 16, 1881 – Amos Hider shoots Alexander Cook during an argument at Cook’s sawmill southwest of Warsaw.  According to the newspaper, Hider calls Cook a liar as Hider is climbing into his buggy to leave the mill.  Cook hears it, and storms up to the buggy.  As he does, Hider pulls out a Colt revolver and fires two shots.  One of them hits Cook under the eye, breaking his glasses and penetrating his head.  Later, while Cook is sleeping, he has a coughing spell, expels a bullet from his nose and goes on to recover fully.  Hider disappears after the shooting, but finally turns himself in to the constable at Sevastapol.  He is charged with assault with intent to kill and is prosecuted by Warsaw lawyer John Widaman.

June 17, 1907 – Unknown people explode dynamite in the waters of Lake Webster, killing a large number of fish.  Police begin an investigation of the crime.

June 18, 1932 – Clothing belonging to 15 young men is stolen from their cars while they swim at Barbee Lake.  The men, aged 21 to 25 go home in their shoes and bathing suits.

June 19, 1886 – Daisy, a steam-powered excursion boat, is launched at Eagle (Winona) Lake.  It is a new attraction at the Beyer Brothers’ resort, known as Spring Fountain Park.

June 20, 1929 – The Pennsylvania Railroad announces special excursion trains to Atlantic City, New Jersey.  Sixteen day trips from Warsaw are available  for $28.60.  The Nickle Plate Railroad has trips to Niagra Falls, New York, for $7.50.

June 21, 1904 – Owners of cottages at Winona begin arriving for the summer season, and the toboggan, merry-g0-round and the “intramural” railroad on the lake shore begin operating.  Among the first events on the grounds are meetings of the Young People’s Missionary Movement and the United Brethren Church.

June 22, 1906 – Chevalier Gargiulo, an internationally-known band leader from Italy, presents a series of concerts at Winona.  More than six interurban cars bring people to Winona from Warsaw; several more cars bring people from Elkhart.

June 23, 1863 – A Warsaw man serving with the 30th Indiana reports that since 1861, a total of 196 of the regiment’s 1,013 soldiers have died of battle wounds or disease.  Of the total, 54 were killed in battle and 24 were mortally wounded while fighting.  In addition, 145 men were captured by the Rebels.  The regiment has fought at Shiloh and several other battles.

June 24, 1927 – Work on “new” Highway 30 is progressing rapidly.  Workmen are now paving with concrete the portion of the road between Atwood and Warsaw.

June 25, 1930 – Firefighters from throughout northern Indiana gather in Warsaw for a convention.  About 2,500 firefighters attend; there is a big parade of the firemen and their fire fighting equipment.

June 26, 1905 – The Warsaw Canning factory is busy canning peas.  There are 61 people working at the factory, which turns out 30,000 cans of peas each day.  In about a month, the factory will begin canning corn.

June 27, 1906 – Elmer George, 21, a brakeman on the Pennsylvania Railroad is killed in Orion, a hamlet between Warsaw and Atwood.  George swung out of the engine of a moving train to look toward the caboose at the very moment the train passed an iron bridge over the Tippecanoe River.  George hit a steel girder on a bridge, then tumbled into the Tippecanoe River.

June 28, 1905 – Walter Myers, an inmate at the county jail, is charged with defacing public property after he carves his name in the wall of his cell.  Myers, who has been serving a 30-day sentence for drunkenness, is fined $2 and costs.

June 29, 1930 – The summer season begins at Winona Lake with 5,000 people in attendance, the largest opening day crowd in several years.  Merchants in Warsaw have agreed to sell 1,200 season tickets; in exchange, Winona is no longer charging a park admission fee.

June 30, 1931 – Heavy rain falls in the county, although temperatures still hit the 100 degree mark.  Farmers claim corn has grown 3 inches in 12 hours.