Sample Chapter - Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites - North West Edition - Lincoln Funeral Train

Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites - North West Edition

Title of Marker:
The Lincoln Funeral Train
Location:
100 E. Michigan Blvd. (U.S. 12), Michigan City, IN 46360 (Laporte County, Indiana)
Installed by:
Installed 2010 Indiana Historical Bureau and Indiana Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission
Marker ID #: 
46.2010.1
Marker Text: 
Assassinated President Abraham Lincoln's funeral was April 19, 1865 at the White House.1 The funeral train left for Springfield, Illinois April 21 directed by military; stops en route allowed the public to pay homage. 2 From Indianapolis, train passed mourners lighted by bonfires and torches along the way; arrived in Michigan City by 8:35 a.m., May 1.3
Residents decorated depot north of here with memorial arches adorned with roses, evergreens, flags, and images of Lincoln. 4 Train stopped to switch engines and to allow dignitaries from Illinois and Indiana to board. Sixteen women entered funeral car to place flowers on casket.5 Train left for Chicago on Michigan Central Railroad; track was lined with mourners.6
Brief History by the Author
Southern sympathizer and actor John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre on April 15, 1865. It was just six days after General Robert E. Lee had surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. The surrender effectively ended the Civil War that had raged across the nation for four years. After funeral services in the White House on April 19, 1865 after lying in state in the East Room of the White house on April 18.  After the funeral, an honor guard transported the casket holding the body to the Rotunda at the United States Capitol for a ceremonial service. The body lay in state on April 20. At 7:00 AM, an honor guard escorted the President to a waiting funeral train that would transport the President to Springfield, Illinois for burial. The funeral procession for President Lincoln began at 8:00 AM with around 10,000 people observing. The route the train would take would mirror the route he took on his journey to Washington DC from Springfield, Illinois on his inauguration journey in 1861. Before reaching Indiana, the train would travel through Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio. The President's son, Todd, who had died in the White House was disinterred and placed in the train for burial with his father.
Last Time in Indiana 
The President reached the state he spent his boyhood in, crossing the Ohio Border into Richmond, Indiana at 7:00 AM, April 30, 1865. Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton got on the train and accompanied the fallen President to Indianapolis, where Lincoln lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda. Thousands gathered to pay their last respects to the fallen President. Along the way, the train passed through various Indiana towns, including Centreville, Germantown, Cambridge, Knightstown and Charlottesville. Church bells tolled and crowds gathered to watch the solemn procession stream by. A heavy rain had accompanied Lincoln along the route. The rain prevented Governor Morton from delivering his public address. The train departed Indianapolis late in the evening and arrived at Michigan City, Indiana. At Michigan City, the train delayed while Chicago dignitaries gathered to board the train to accompany the President to Chicago. Local officials conducted an unscheduled funeral as they waited. The train departed Michigan City May 1, 1865 at 8:35 AM. Lincoln left Indiana, the place of his boyhood, for the last time.

Sample Chapter - International Circus Hall of Fame - Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites - North Central Edition International Circus Hall of Fame

Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites
North Central Edition

International Circus Hall of Fame
See a miniature of the 1934 Hagenbeck Wallace Circus as well as many other circus related exhibits.
International Circus Hall of Fame
3076 E. Circus Lane
Peru, IN 46970
800-771-0241
circushalloffame@gmail.com

April 26, 1884 - The Great Wallace Show Begins - Peru
Benjamin E. Wallace opened his Wallace and Co.'s Great World Menagerie, Grand International Mardi Gras, Highway Holiday Hidalgo and Alliance of Novelties in Peru, Indiana on April 26, 1884. The show began with great fanfare, featuring a parade of exotic animals, top-notch performers and brass band.
Benjamin E. Wallace (October 4, 1847 - April 7, 1921)
A native of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Benjamin was the son of Ephraim and Rebecca Wallace. Wallace migrated to Peru, Indiana and established a livery business there. He became interested in the circus business so he and a business partner, James Anderson, began assembling a collection of circus equipment. The largest complement of equipment came from a circus called the W. C. Coup Circus. This circus had become financially unstable and went bankrupt. Wallace traveled to Detroit and purchased much of the equipment, which included rail cars full of tents, poles, costuming and other equipment. From other circuses, he obtained many of the animals he would need for the act. He set up headquarters outside of Peru and billed his first show for April 26, 1884 in Peru.
Fire Strikes
On January 25, 1884, a fire from an overheated stove swept through the circus. The fire killed many of the animals. Monkeys, tigers, deer and other animals perished in the fire. Wallace persisted with the opening of the show. Until the damaged living quarters for the animals could be repaired, he kept many of the surviving animals in an abandoned chair factory on Second Street in Peru.
Opening Night
The Wallace and Co.'s Great World Menagerie, Grand International Mardi Gras, Highway Holiday Hidalgo and Alliance of Novelties in Peru opened on schedule, accompanied by the Peru brass band and over 5,000 spectators. Spectators packed the two performances, with many turned away. The show was a success. The season open, the circus went on tour, visiting many small towns in southern Indiana and Ohio. The tour also included towns in Kentucky and Virginia. Since there was no entertainment of any sort in most of these towns, people packed the shows. Wallace did not disappoint them as his retinue included some of the best performers and animals that were well trained and treated. The next year he shortened the name to The Great Wallace Show. He had winter quarters for the circus in Peru.
Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus
The circus continued for many years with increasing success. In 1907, Wallace purchased the Carl Hagenbeck Circus. He combined the two acts into the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, which continued operations until the Flood of 1913 damaged the circus and killed many of the animals. He sold the circus to a corporation that continued the circus as the American Circus Corporation before operations finally ceased in 1938.

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Sample Chapter - Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites - North East Edition - Johnny Appleseed Park

Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites
North East Edition

Johnny Appleseed Park

This thirty-one acre park serves as the final resting place for Johnny Appleseed. The park is home to the annual Johnny Appleseed Festival in September.
John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) (September 26, 1774 – March 18, 1845)
The son of Nathaniel Chapman and Elizabeth Simonds Chapman, John was a native of Leominster, Massachusetts. His mother died giving birth to a son, who died about two weeks after his mother. Nathaniel had enlisted in the Continental Army. He was away at war when his wife died. Historians know little of Chapman's early life. He and his eleven-year-old brother migrated west into the Northwest Territory in 1792. The two boys lived a life in the wilderness until their father migrated into the new state of Ohio in 1805. Apparently, at that time, John became apprenticed to a nurseryman who tended apple trees. Thus began Chapman's lifelong career.
Johnny Appleseed Businessman
Most of the legends that surround Johnny Appleseed, the nickname that people gave him, involve him randomly planting apple seeds in the frontier. The truth is far different. Chapman foresaw that the frontier would expand west. By planting the apples, he established a claim on the land on which they were planted. He moved ahead of the wave of settlement, planting apple tree seeds, a valuable commodity on the frontier. Thus, by the time he died in 1845 he had accumulated over 1200 acres land. By the time the apple trees were ready to sell to incoming pioneers, the pioneers had arrived to buy them.
Johnny Appleseed Nurseryman 
Chapman moved through the wilderness, choosing his land carefully. Once he found choice spots, he would clear a section, fence it and plant his seeds. Every couple of years he would return to the site to tend the seedlings. He worked mostly in the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana. When the pioneers arrived near his nursery, he would sell off the trees, then much of the land. He sold his seedlings for three cents each, seven cents if he wanted the buyers to allow him to plant them. The apples he planted were not the familiar types found in grocery stores and orchards today. These apples were hard, tart and nutritious. Pioneers used them to make cider, applejack, apple butter and other frontier staples.
Missionary
Chapman was a devout Christian and a member of the Church of Swedenborg, known as the New Church. During his travels, he served his church as a missionary, spreading his message to isolated pioneer homesteads, where he frequently boarded, and to the natives he encountered as he traveled. He would spend his evenings at a homestead spinning stories and telling about his faith. His beliefs spurred his celibacy. Chapman never married, believing that God would reward his abstinence in heaven.
Death at Fort Wayne
Chapman lived in the Fort Wayne area from the mid-1830's until his death in 1845. His orchard about twelve miles south of Fort Wayne, on the banks of the Maumee River, held around 12,000 trees. He died in Fort Wayne in 1845 and is interred in Johnny Appleseed Park in Fort Wayne.
Johnny Appleseed Park
1500 E Coliseum Blvd
Fort Wayne, IN 46805
Johnny Appleseed Festival
(260) 427-6720

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Sample Chapter - Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites - West Central Edition - Westernmost Naval Battle of the Revolution

Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites
West Central Edition

Title of Marker:
Westernmost Naval Battle of the Revolution
Location:
0.7 mile south of junction of SR 58 & US 41, between Old US 41/Earl J. Abe Rogers Road & new US 41, Carlisle. (Sullivan County, Indiana)
Installed by:
Erected by the Sullivan County Historical Society 1985
Marker ID #: 
77.1985.1
Marker Text: 
On 25 February 1779 Col. George Rogers Clark captured Ft. Sackville at Vincennes from the British. About 6 miles west at Pointe Coupee on the Wabash River on 2 March 1779 Capt. Leonard Helm commanding 3 boats and 50 volunteers from Vincennes captured a reinforcement fleet of 7 boats carrying 40 soldiers and valuable supplies and Indian trade goods. This small naval battle completed destruction of British military strength in the Wabash Valley.
Brief History by the Author
Colonel George Rogers Clark captured Vincennes from the British garrison that held it in July 1778. Clark left Captain Leonard Helm in charge of a militia force to hold the town. Clark departed with his main force to capture Cahokia and Caskaskia near the Mississippi River. After Clark departed most of the militia under Helm deserted, leaving Captain Helm with only a handful of men. Hearing that Vincennes was now in the hands of the Americans, British Lieutenant-Governor Henry Hamilton left Detroit and moved against Vincennes to recapture it. He succeeded in taking the post, making Helm and the remainder of his soldiers captives. Fur trader Francis Vigo visited the fort after Hamilton had captured it. Hamilton took him prisoner, and then released him after Vigo would not aid the Americans during his return trip. To honor the promise, Vigo returned to St. Louis. After his return, Vigo traveled to Kaskaskia, a distance of fifty miles, to inform Clark that the British held Vincennes.
Recapturing Vincennes
Clark responded by leading his 170 men through 180 miles of flooded countryside in eighteen days. In a surprise attack, Clark took Vincennes. Helm took an active part in the negotiations.
The Naval Battle
Clark learned that a shipment of supplies was due to come down the Wabash from Detroit. He dispatched Captain Leonard Helm with three boats and fifty men. The American force encountered the enemy at night by discerning the fires of the enemy in the darkness. Helm's men surrounded the British flotilla and captured it without firing a shot. The British supplies became American supplies. British power in the Western theatre was broken.

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Sample Chapter - Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites - Central Edition - 28th Regiment USCT

Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites
Central Edition

Title of Marker:
28th Regiment USCT
Location:
Virginia Avenue & McCarty Street, Indianapolis. (Marion County, Indiana)
Installed by:
Installed: 2004 Indiana Historical Bureau, Indiana War Memorials Commission, Andrew & Esther Bowman, and African American Landmarks Committee of Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, Inc.
Marker ID #: 
49.2004.5
Marker Text: 
Side one:
Indiana's only African-American Civil War regiment served as part of the 28th Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops. African-American infantry was authorized in 1863 to help fill federal quota for soldiers. The Reverend Willis Revels was recruiting officer. Recruits trained at Camp Fremont, established on land near here owned by Calvin Fletcher.
Side two:
In April 1864, six companies were organized and activated. The 28th regiment served valiantly in the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg, Virginia on July 30, 1864, when nearly half of the men were killed or wounded. The 28th returned to Indianapolis January 6, 1866 to a reception in its honor; officers and men were discharged January 9.
Brief History
The United States Department of War authorized the only black troops from Indiana that would serve during the American Civil War on November 30, 1863. Enlistments began on December 3, 1863 and moved to a training camp on the south side of Indianapolis called Camp Fremont. The regiment's commanding officer was Captain Charles S. Russell. The regiment left Indiana on April 24, 1864 for Washington, DC and then to Alexandra, Virginia for additional training.
Combat
On June 21, the 28th engaged in its first battle at White House, Virginia. General Sherman took the unit along on his march through the Chickahominy swamp. During this campaign, the unit suffered heavy casualties. It participated in the sieges of Richmond and Petersburg in Virginia. It lost almost half its soldiers to death and wounding at the Battle of the Crater in Virginia. After reinforcement and enlargement to a full regiment, the unit marched into Richmond, Virginia on Richmond, April 4, 1865. At war's end, the Army deployed the regiment to Brazos, Santiago and Corpus Christi, Texas to deal with unrest there. The regiment mustered out on November 8, 1865. It returned to Indianapolis on January 8, 1866 to a reception held in its honor.
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Sample Chapter - Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites - Southwest Edition - Site of Hindostan

Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites
Southwest Edition

Title of Marker:
Site of Hindostan (.6 mile south)
Location:
SE corner of SR 550 & CR 55, near Hindostan Falls, Loogootee. (Martin County, Indiana)
Installed by:
Erected by Indiana Sesquicentennial Commission, 1966
Marker ID #: 
51.1966.1
Marker Text: 
First settled in 1818, Hindostan became county seat of Martin County, boasting a population of approximately 1, 200. A "Great Sickness" struck in 1828 bringing death to the inhabitants. The town was never occupied again.

Brief History
A report by the Indiana Historical Bureau corrects and updates the information on this marker, much of which is incorrect or unverified.
The date of settlement is apparently incorrect. A journal entry from a traveler in 1817 who says, “This beautiful country continues as far as Sholt’s Tavern on White River, thirty-six miles east of Vincennes.” The man that owned the tavern was also the principal founder of Hindostan, thus the area was settled before 1818.
Hindostan did become the county seat in 1820, upon the establishment of Martin County; however, the population of the town given as 1200 is suspect. Census data from the time indicate that 351 people lived there.
The third assertion of a "Great Sickness" in 1828 is also unsubstantiated. There are records that several times disease did strike the community, notably in 1819 or 1820. There is a record in a newspaper that mentions the request to the state legislature that the Martin County Seat be moved because of an epidemic that struck the town, leaving it depopulated. The Bureau could find no source document to verify the statement.
The last assertion that the town "was never occupied again" is also in error. From newspaper accounts over the years after the move of the county seat, the town was still occupied, thought the population declined. The town is now abandoned. For more information on the Bureau's Report, see this link.
Hindustan
A promising town called Hindustan Falls once occupied the site now occupied by Hindustan Falls Public Fishing Area. In 1816, the same year Indiana became a State, Hindustan Falls became a town. It flourished since it was on the original stagecoach route between New Albany and Vincennes and on one of the only roads in the area. By 1820, the town's population grew to 1200 at a time when the population of Louisville, KY was only 1300 people. Since most were, adventurers from New England and Kentucky and few were farmers many lived in flatboats on the river. Captain Caleb Fellows, a soldier who had served in the East India Company, named the town.
Disaster
The town grew, its exports floated by keelboat as far as New Orleans. The people of the new town exported corn, bacon and "Hindustan oil stone,” which was a whetstone used for sharpening knives and gravestones mined in quarries nearby. Abundant meat in the form of bears, deer, and squirrels inhabited the forest lands around the settlement. There was a hotel, gristmill and sawmill in the growing town. There was a constant flow of people in and out of the town. In 1820, disaster struck the town in the form of either cholera or yellow fever, or possibly both. The disease, whatever it was, was particularly virulent, often killing whole families. Many dead families were burned in their cabins in an effort to contain the pestilence. A mass grave, whose location is unknown, held the remains of many of the deceased. By 1824, half the population had gone and by 1840, the once promising village was completely depopulated.
Hindustan Falls Public Fishing Area
Hindustan Falls Public Fishing Area is located on the East Fork of the White River southwest of Shoals and southeast of Loogootee on County Road 55, just of Indiana State Road 550. To get there drive southeast of Loogootee on Indiana State Road 550 to a right turn on County Road 55. Camping is available at nearby Martin State Forest and Glendale State Fish and Wildlife Area. The fishing is good at Hindustan Falls for freshwater drum and in the river for trotline fishing.
Canoe Floats
There are two canoe floats associated with Hindustan Falls Public Fishing Area. The first one begins north of Shoals, the put in point on private property from which permission must be gained from the owner of the land before proceeding. To get there from US Routes 50/150, go north on Main Street in Shoals to a right turn on East River Road. After about a mile and a half East River Road meets the river and follows its course for a while. This is the place to put in. There is limited parking on the road and this is private property. Please respect the owners and ask permission before trespassing. The canoe ride from that point to Hindustan Falls is about sixteen miles long. It will take approximately six hours. There is one riffle area that will probably require a portage.
The take out point is the public fishing area ramp. Cars will drive south on Indiana State Road 550 to Hindustan Road. If canoeing past this point portage around the falls as they can be dangerous.
Canoe Ride on the East Fork White River
The canoe ride from Hindustan Falls to Portersville is a pleasant twenty-mile float that will take about nine hours. The put in point is at the second ramp below the falls at Hindustan Falls and the take out point is at the Portersville State Launch Ramp northeast of Portersville. The car shuttle needs to return to Shoals on Indiana State Road 550 to US 231. Turn south on US Route 231 and drive to County Road 650 S. Turn west and drive to Alfordville. South of town stay on the blacktop jogging west on 700 S then south on 1125 E and proceed about four miles to the river near Portersville. The take-out site is on the northeast side of the bridge.

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Sample Chapter - Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites - South Central Edition - Private Barton W. Mitchell

Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites
South Central Edition

Sample Chapter - Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites - South Central Edition
Title of Marker:
Private Barton W. Mitchell
Location:
SW corner of town square, SR 46/East Harrison Street & North Washington, Hartsville. (Bartholomew County, Indiana)
Installed by:
1992 by Indiana Historical Bureau
Marker ID #:
03.1992.1
Marker Text:
Mitchell, Co. F, 27th Indiana Volunteers, is buried in Hartsville Baptist Cemetery. He found Confederate General Lee's "Lost" Special orders No. 191 Near Frederick, MD, September 13, 1862. Union General McClellan then engaged Lee at the Battle of Antietam.
Barton W. Mitchell (1816 - 1868)
Mitchell joined the Union Army on Sept. 12, 1861. He reported to the 27th Indiana Volunteers. His unit was at Frederick, Maryland. They were resting from a previous battle near a campground previously occupied by Confederate Major General Daniel Harvey Hill's troops. It was around noon on September 13, 1862, when Mitchell noticed a packet lying in the grass in the campground Hill's troops had occupied. Picking up the packet, he found three cigars. Wrapped around the cigars he found a piece of paper. Upon examining the contents of the letter, he realized he had made an important find. He turned the letter (no word on the fate of the cigars) to his sergeant. The letter made its way up the chain of command until it reached the Commander of the Union Troops, Major General George B. McClellan. The contents of the letter delighted General McClellan, who told a subordinate officer, "Here is a paper with which, if I cannot whip Bobby Lee, I will be willing to go home."
Special Order 191
Mitchell had happened upon a letter that was of great importance to the Confederate Army. Many historians consider his find to have changed the course of the war. Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee drafted the letter on September 9, 1862. It contained detailed troop movements that Lee planned to make during the next few days. The intelligence contained in the letters contributed greatly to the Union victories at the Battle of South Mountain and Battle of Antietam.
Wounded at Antietam
Mitchell received a leg wound at the Battle of Antietam. Due to the lack of antibiotics at the time, many wounds became infected. This was the case with Mitchell and he mustered out on Sept. 1, 1864. He died in 1868, possibly because of the infected leg, which probably never healed properly.

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