Starke County (Ind.) ; Posters; Memorabilia; Big bands;
This poster is advertising the 12 Creoles, a big band popular in the 1920s that played often at the Savoy in Chicago. The Crytal Ball Room, built c.1925 at the south end of Bass Lake, was a popular place through the 1960's. It featured big bands...
Civil War, U. S., 1861-1865; Correspondence; Fortune telling; Love-letters; American Civil War, letters and diaries; Military life
Ernest Schleicher, a soldier in Company I 38th Regiment Indiana Infantry, wrote letters home during the Civil War to Harriet Jackson of New Providence, Indiana. Ernest mustered in as a private in 1861 and was discharged in 1865 as a sergeant. These...
Outdoor group photograph of the Kelly family reunion. It is blindstamped in lower right corner ""O.F. KELLY / SOUTH WHITLEY / IND."" This is the family of the photographer and dated 1924 by the donor.
History; County government; Pioneers; Families; Farm life; Farming;
Mr. McCormick describes his work as an "An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with an Extended Survey of Modern Developments in the Reclamation of Lands and the Progress of Town and Country".
Steamboats; Riverboats; Stern wheelers; Greene Line; Madison-Milton Bridge; Ohio River
Built in 1925, this was the second "Chris Greene" of the Greene Line. One can see the Madison-Milton Bridge in the background on the left hand side; it was built in 1928. The first "Chris Greene" was lost in the great fire at Cincinnati in...
The steamer "City of Louisville" was billed as the "fastest boat in the world". Its dimensions were: length, 307 feet; beam, 43 feet; hold, 7 feet in depth. It was chartered to carry 1,500 passengers. It had 72 state rooms with sleeping...
The "City of Madison" was built in 1860 and originally ran from Cincinnati to New Orleans. She was built in Madison, Indiana and was used as a government boat during the Civil War. She participated in Grant's campaign on the Tennessee and was at...
Steamboats; Riverboats; "City of Madison"; Dikes (Engineering)
Built in Madison in 1882, the boat was the second "City of Madison," the first having been lost in a devastating explosion during the Civil War. On June 18, 1894, she was returning from a trip to Memphis, with a stop-over in Owensboro, Kentucky,...
Steamboats; Showboats; Riverboats; "Grace Devers"; Towboats; Tugboats; Levees; Otto Hitner
The "Cotton Blossom" began life in 1896 as a raft for a lumber company working out of St. Paul. She handled the large excursion barge named "Mississippi" at one time, was renamed "The Princess" and was then sold to the Barrett Line for use as a...
Steamboats; Riverboats; W. S. McChesney, Jr.; Diesel; Ohio River
The "Froman M. Coots" began life as a steam ferry built for the Wiggins Ferry Company of St. Louis. At that time she was called the "W. S. McChesney, Jr." She served the Louisville and Jeffersonville areas. It was converted to diesel-electric...
"General Pike"; Steamboats; Riverboats; Steamboat accidents; Mail steamers
On January 1, 1891, the "General Pike" collided with one of the Middleton and Wymond coal barges, causing both to sink in a very few minutes. Captain Sam Bryant, Clerk Ed Long, and Pilot Bowen managed to save everyone on board. She was built for...
Steamboats; Riverboats; "Cape Girardeau"; Greene Line
This boat was built in Jeffersonville, Indiana and was originally called "Cape Girardeau". She was acquired by the Greene Line in 1935 and became their family boat with Captain Thomas R. Greene in command. His mother was usually on board with his...
The "Hattie Brown" was built in 1884 and made a regular run from Warsaw to Madison, Indiana and back daily. She was converted to an oil engine in 1915; two years later she was lost in the terrible freeze of 1917-1918 when the Ohio River froze for...
On March 28, 1896 at St. Louis, a great, black cloud loomed menacingly over the city. The "City of Monroe" chanced to be moored at the Anchor Line wharf-boat, ready to start on her regular trip to New Orleans. She was heavily laden with freight...
According to Way's Packet Directory the "Homer Smith" was build by Howard's in 1914. The "Homer Smith" ran excursions on the lower Ohio in 1915 and briefly tried the Louisville and Cincinnati trade. It became a regular excursion boat at Pittsburg...
John Brough; Railroad locomotives; Railroads; Mountain railroads; Cog railroads; Baldwin Works; Madison
The cog locomotive "John Brough" was designed in 1849 and delivered in 1850 by the Baldwin Works to climb the "hill" in Madison. It was owned by the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad and named after John Brough, president of the company. It was...
