Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10,25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
1999
• The Terre Haute Torpedoes U.S. Swim Team competed at the IUPUI Natatorium placing eighth of 19 teams from all over the nation. Brian Heaton and Donnie Bush were the coaches.
n Holly Klotz, West Vigo High School graduate who was instrumental in the success of West Vigo’s Community of Caring project, received a Daily Point of Light Award.
n The Wayne Newton Post 346 American Legion baseball team was undefeated in the Princeton Invitational winning the championship game over Vincennes.
n The Bemis Company Foundation awarded a $7,095 grant to Gibault School for Boys to use for staff training by Boys Town personnel from Omaha, Nebr.
n Don Brazzell and Joan Keegan were named King of Cowboys and Frontier Girl in the Wabash Valley Horseman’s Association annual Frontier Day Parade. John Hendrix and Tara McMillan were the junior royalty.
n After four years in Terre Haute, American International Freight was moving its cargo operation to Fort Wayne affecting 300 mostly part-time workers. It was the fourth air cargo operation to have come and gone from Terre Haute in the past 12 years.
1984
n Martin’s Snap Shop, one of the original stores in The Meadows, was closing. Stewart and Charlotte Martin had opened the business 28 years before, had sold it in 1979, and returned in 1982 to operate it once again.
n Robert Beall succeeded Jack Gelder, vice-president and general manager of WTWO-TV who retired.
n George Loesch and Mike Hambrock won the men’s division and Janet Mace and Diane Jackson the women’s competition at the Terre Haute Tennis Club Doubles Tourney at Rea Park.
n The Carmelite nuns of Terre Haute invited the public to join them on “A Journey of Faith” involving nine days of prayer in the Chapel of Carmel, Allendale.
n Girl Scout Camp Na-Wa-Kwa in southeastern Clay County celebrated its 30th anniversary. The facility had been dedicated on July 6, 1954, and opened to the first 120 campers from the Terre Haute Covered Bridge Girl Scout Council.
n Co-owner Bill Elliott announced Ross Elliott Jewelers, 622 Wabash Ave., was opening a branch in Honey Creek Square. Lee Black was to be the manager.
1959
n Root’s store announced plans to erase “the old fashioned Victorian fussiness” of the three Wabash Avenue buildings it occupied with a striking new facade. The improvement was said “to contribute greatly to the enhancement of the downtown shopping district.”
n South Lake Beach, 11/2 miles southwest of West Terre Haute, advertised motor boating, water skiing and swimming. Admission was 35 cents for adults and 15 cents for children.
n Key Auto Sales, 1800 Wabash Ave., re-opened as a Plymouth and DeSoto dealership with Thomas P. O’Daniel as general manager.
n Joe S. Francis and William Johnston headed the three-day sixth annual Free Fair staged by the Prairieton Firemen and Fire Department Auxiliary to raise funds for the installation of a water supply needed to fill tank trucks.
n Mrs. Louis Theide, Mrs. Margaret Barnes, Mrs. Alex Irving and Mrs. P. N. Sturtevant were the new officers of the Vigo County Republican Women’s Club installed at the Throckmartin Restaurant.
n John T. Royse, Merchants National Bank president, announced plans for a southside branch at 2004 S. Third St.
History
LOOKING BACK: 1984: Carmelite nuns of Terre Haute invite public on ‘A Journey of Faith’
- History
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Terre Haute Works of Allis-Chalmers closes
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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GENEALOGY: BMD website great for tracing England, Wales
If you have ancestors who trace back to England or Wales within the past 175 years, then the Free BMD website at RootsWeb, at freebmd.rootsweb.com/, is the place to visit.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: WBOW introduced some fine Valley talent
When it first began broadcasting in 1927, station WRPI (Rose Polytechnic Institute) focused on educational programing.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Inventor John B. Deeds and highwayman William G. Murray
Among the many unsolved local history mysteries is the fate of master machinist and inventor John B. Deeds.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: This little-known compromise may have saved the union
When the Constitution was signed in September of 1787 and sent to the Congress that then existed under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was instructed to send that Constitution to the states to be ratified … or not. The message to the states was clear: Accept the Constitution or reject it, but don’t try to change it.
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Traveling Civil War exhibit makes history personal
Civil War history will come alive for visitors to the Sullivan County Public Library who experience “Faces of the Civil War,” a traveling exhibition created and managed by the Indiana Historical Society.
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GENEALOGY: Virginia Historical Society takes on ambitious project
Over the past few months, the Virginia Historical Society has launched an ambitious project to scrutinize more than 8 million 17th, 18th, and 19th century documents in order to identify the enslaved population of those times.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: The Legacy of ‘The Old Silkworm House’
In 1837, and for several years thereafter, a gray sandstone obelisk was installed next to a one-story frame residence at the northwest corner of Sixth and Eagle streets.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: A blast from valentines past
Valentine’s Day — it brings to mind simple paper valentines and the elaborate, fancy store-bought cards with multiple verses and glittery covers.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Flu outbreak forces Schulte closed
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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Original copy of 13th Amendment at Lincoln Library & Museum
A fully signed and recently restored copy of the Congressional resolution for a 13th Amendment to the Constitution, the official act that would abolish slavery in the United States, will be on display in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum’s Treasures Gallery.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: Freedom of religion — beliefs and actions
Because religious faith is, arguably, the quintessential example of our right to privacy, to say nothing of its prominent place in our First Amendment, throughout our history court cases involving the free exercise of religion have been handled with great trepidation and with particular care. One of the milestone “free exercise” religion cases, Davis v. Beason, was decided by the Supreme Court this week (Feb. 3) in 1890.
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GENEALOGY: SoCal Genealogical Jamboree coming up in June
The Southern California Genealogical Society announces its 43rd Annual Jamboree, to be staged for three days on June 8-10, at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel in Burbank, Calif.
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LOOKING BACK: 2002: Disco Ernie featured on Maury
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Flashing the mayor's badge
This mayoral badge was presented to the Vigo County Historical Society by Elizabeth K. Schultz, the granddaughter of Samuel E. Beecher Sr., who served as mayor of Terre Haute from 1936 to 1940.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Deadly tornado devastates York in 1907
John T. Staff loved water and, particularly, the Wabash River.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Notorious Western desperado Ellsworth Wyatt captured in Clay County
In October 1892, Terre Haute police received a circular from the State of Kansas containing a description of Ellsworth Wyatt and offering a $1,200 reward for his capture.
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LOOKING BACK: 2002: ISU students honor Martin Luther King Jr.
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: News letter filled with wonderful local news
We recently received five bound volumes of copies of the “Terre Haute Onizette,” the Owen-Illinois Glass Company news letter for the Terre Haute Plant.
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GENEALOGY: Peyton, Downey, Fifer queries and a plea for help from Scotland
This week, we have several queries.
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Extension plans seminar on land use
The Purdue Extension Land Use Team is hosting a video seminar titled “Welcome to the Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals” from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: Kennedy, Camelot, and other myths
This week (Jan. 20) in 1961, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as our 35th president, and his tragic death by assassination notwithstanding, his was a mediocre presidency that, undeservedly, became the stuff of legend — in part because of his assassination.
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Actor to portray Lincoln at dinner for historical society
A special program, “And Lincoln Wrote,” is coming to Harlan Hall in Marshall, Ill., with a featured presentation by Dick Benach as Abraham Lincoln and Chuck Hand as the publisher of the Prairie Beacon.
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GENEALOGY: Celebrate MLK Day with the Indiana Historical Society
On Monday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Indiana Historical Society will offer free admission to celebrate Martin Luther King Day.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Light Guards savor military and social experiences
Never during the Civil War was there a time when the City of Terre Haute was in danger of hosting an armed conflict involving one or more armies.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: 87 high school hoops teams compete in 47th annual Wabash Valley Tournament
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: A bottle of clove oil at the pharmacy
The Historical Treasure for today is a bottle of Clove Oil.
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LOOKING BACK: 1987: St. Mary’s Parish congregation celebrates 150th anniversary
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Fire up the jukebox for a great night
The jukebox existed long before Glenn Miller’s “Juke Box Saturday Night” swing version.
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GENEALOGY: 1752 is one memorable year for genealogists
The year 1752 is one to remember if you have ancestors who lived in areas controlled by Great Britain; and this includes the American colonies.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Terre Haute Works of Allis-Chalmers closes








