Indian Artifact Finds in Coal Creek Township--1903

     In our Local History collection, we have many books that cover the history of small towns in Montgomery County.  One interesting book is “According to the Record—Selected Articles from the New Richmond Record 1903-1904. In the October 22,1903 issue of that paper, there is an article about Indian artifacts found in Coal Creek Township, near New Richmond.

Early in the twentieth century, two men, J. Lee Allen and Winton Utterback discovered such relics as axes, arrowheads, ceremonial stones, a celt, and other items.

The ax that was found was of such immense size, that they considered that it must have been used for hewing out trees, and other heavy work. It was too big for use in battle. Pictured on the left is a celt, used to scrape animal skins. On the right is an early woodland arrowhead, similar to what may have been found here.

     State Geologist Blatchley took possession of these artifacts for further study. He proclaimed them to be some of the finest of their kind to have ever been found.

     The area where these artifacts were found was on the farm owned by Mr. Junius Allen, presumably in section 28, almost straight south of New Richmond.  In the center of this property was a small pond that may have been used by those who built the mound containing the artifacts. 

The Crawfordville Record--Our First Newspaper--It's Available Now!

     From a great book on our Local History shelves, “Early Days in a College Town,” I found the story of The Crawfordsville Record, our first newspaper in town. Frank Mills, the author of “Early Days,” tells us that he found some copies of the first issue, printed just six months after his birth, in 1831, when Crawfordsville had only 500 inhabitants. He comments that the Record contained less than six inches of advertising, as opposed to later papers that contained mostly ads, and very little news.

     The Record is available online through CDPL website, on the Services tab, then click on Local History, then Early Montgomery County Newspapers.  Scroll down the list to find several other county papers. All of these old papers are also available on microfilm in our Local History Department.

    A cursory glance through the February 8, 1834 issue of the Record shows us that the more things change, the more they stay the same!  Martin Van Buren was the vice-president, and Daniel Webster was the senator who spoke with Van Buren. 

     This paragraph was from an article on the Bank of the United States. This event took place in U. S. Senate, where there was much to-ing and fro-ing from many senators about how the system was or was not working. This paragraph could easily be dropped down into any article about the Senate from the last over 200 years of our nation’s history!

     While the online newspapers are not quite searchable yet, you may still be able to find jewels of family history hidden in there if you have a date for an event, such as this marriage. The marriage is between Mr. James M. Vangordan, of Butler County, Ohio, and Miss Lilee Jane M'Maken, of this county.

     The property advertised for sale (one of the few ads in this paper)should be quite familiar to county residents. It would be the Yountsville property that eventually becomes the Yountsville Woolen Mill, in 1849 when Jacob Yount changed his carding mill into a woolen mill. 

Montgomery County War News—This Week in 1917

     In the October 4, 1917, Crawfordsville Daily Journal, there is a front-page article about twenty-two men from our county who were about to be sent overseas to fight in the Great War. They were members of the Indiana and Illinois artillery units that had been training at Camp Mills, Garden City, Long Island, New York. These soldiers were part of the “Rainbow Division,” the first National Guard unit to be sent for active service overseas.

     From this list, the only one that did not survive the war was Melvin Cook of Darlington.  He died from tuberculosis, a not uncommon occurrence during wartime. 

Gold star honor roll. A record of Indiana men and women who died in the service of the United States and the allied nations in the world war. 1914.  from the Indiana Historical Commission, 1921.

   From a collection of World War I letters written home and then published in the local paper is one from Albert “Abe” Goltra, who is listed above.  Here is an excerpt:

    Somewhere in France, May 18, 1918.  “My Dear Ones;--It has been so very long since I have been able to drop you all a line.  I received a nice letter from you, Pop and Elba about a week ago. I am now separated from my regiment but hope to rejoin it soon. I am now living with a first lieutenant up in the front line infantry. The place I am now in has been shelled to pieces. I have a fairly nice cot, made of boards and chicken wire. I also have my horse with me and expect to go back to regimental headquarters tomorrow to visit over Sunday. Just think, I am the only one in the whole regiment to get to go to the front line.”

     Upstairs in the Reference/Local History Department is a display about local involvement in the war.  A book of collected letters from local soldiers is available for your perusal.