1800-1899 Life In Columbus/Bartholomew County

[Deleted]

Bob,

That is Jefferson School, I attended 4th through 6th grades there.

George

[RER]

Nov 24, 2009 13:13:20 GMT -5 george said:

Bob,

That is Jefferson School, I attended 4th through 6th grades there.

George

Thanks George........

Bob

[RER]

North Side School Year 1892 (Re-named McKinley School)
17th St. & Home Avenue (at some point Union Ave was re-named to Home Ave)
Columbus, Indiana

North Side School was built in 1892 and later renamed McKinley School. The building was designed by Charles F. Sparell. After the school closed it was converted to residential apartments. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

1892

2009


Comment: No copyrights apply to the early picture. Also, the owner of the colored picture released the photo to the public domain and may be used for your interest per Wikipedia 2009.

[David Sechrest]

The 1898 Sanborn Insurance Map shows a Livery on the southwest corner of 3rd and Franklin (B. Patterson's Livery). A dwelling is noted on the southeast corner.

Nov 23, 2009 9:20:58 GMT -5 RER said:

History & Locations Of Presbyterian Church From 1824 to 2009 (185 Years History)
Two Known Addresses On 3rd and 7th Franklin Street
Columbus, Indiana

The first building was erected in 1846 on the corner of 3rd & Franklin Street for $1,200. Then, in 1871 the present Presbyterian Church (now located on the corner of 7th & Franklin Street) was constructed for $26,000. The first church was erected on the old Jive Kennel corner (1950s) per the history that will follow below. The present location may be the oldest church in Columbus.

The below red oval is the area the church would have been built during 1846. After the church moved to 7th Street it was a livery stable. It was called the Bennett Patterson's Livery Stables. Later after the Jive Kennel closed it was Phillips Stevenson and Wells Lawyers Offices. The blue oval is the future and present Crump Theater.

1870s Picture




Church 1890s/built 1871
Church 2009

After Church Moved To 7th Street (Old Jive Kennel Area)

Sources: Address re-checked 1903 Bartholomew County Directory, History provided further by the Souvenir and official program: 19th annual encampment, Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Indiana and auxiliary societies, Columbus, In., May 17-20, 1898 No copyrights apply because of the age of the picture and booklet. New York Public Library by Schaub, J. T. -- Photographer. Original source: Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views of ladies in protest.

[RER]

Bicycle Hospital & Long Time Famous Bakery 1890s Advertisements
Washington Street Addresses (Interesting 5th Street Corner & Washington)
Columbus, Indiana

Note: The Kitzinger Bakery started in year 1862 and went well into the 1900s years. Check out the brand names of the bicycles. Now, John A. George apparently didn't stay in business long because his business was not listed in the 1903-1904 Bartholomew County Business Directory.

Wondering Thought Here: The 5th Street corner of Washington Street didn't seem to have a lot of extra room for a bicycle business; so I guess maybe the bicycle shop was at the blank triangle area, well before the future popcorn shop and jewelry store in the later years. Interesting, for sure.

[David Sechrest]

Location of the bicycle shop from the 1898 Sanborn map:

[RER]

Great! John A. George apparently had his bike hospital at 509 and 511 at the triangle area (end of GAR Bldg) on 5th and Washington Streets. Thanks............Interesting for sure.

Bob

[David Sechrest]

Bob, items from the 1898 GAR Book: Thanks for posting. It is rather hard to find.

[RER]

McEwen-Samuels-Marr House
524 E. 3rd Street (behind old Ice Plant)
Columbus, Indiana



Building Information: The home was built in 1864 by William & Mary Ann McEwen. The house is named for the three families that lived in the house. They were William and Mary Ann McEwen, David and Samuel Samuels and James and Mary Marr. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

William McEwen bought the land from the owners of the Liberty School and Meeting House for $150 in 1864. He built a simple brick house of two rooms downstairs and two rooms upstairs. McEwen was president of the Kentucky Stock Bank, which he later bought out his partners and reorganized under McEwen & Sons.

The year 1870 saw him overextended by borrowing for other investments. He went bankrupt in the Panic of that year. It was two years before his affairs were settled, and in 1872 David and Samuel Samuels bought the property from McEwen.

During 1889 Samuels sold the house to James Marr, retiring from his farm north east of town. Mrs. Marr died a few years after moving into the home. The home is the present Headquarters of the Bartholomew County Historical Society (BCHS).


Sources: The picture is available in the Public Domain. A release was granted for anyone the right to use without conditions per Wikimedia information. The history brief is partial wording from the BCHS.

[RER]

Settler's Oldest Homes Of Columbus

Point: Someone asked a while back: Where are the oldest homes (still standing) in Columbus Indiana?

Well, there are maybe farm houses outside the main Columbus area just as old or older, but two houses stand out within the main city area.

According to Ricky Berkey there is another one older but no picture can be found for that 1835 house. It is located supposedly next to the Irwin Miller home at North Washington Street. That structure is called the Perry-Reeves-Marr home at 2900 Washington Street. It is a large brick home, built in 1835 by Colonel James Henry Jeter Glanton.

The other two oldest former homes were built the same year of 1864 as follows:

Former John V. & Addie M. Storey Home
Former William & Mary Ann McEwen Home

Addresses/Renamed Homes Above: The Storey home is now the Columbus Visitor Reception Center. The McEwen home was lived in by three different families and renamed to McEwen-Samuels-Marr House. It is now used as the Bartholomew County Historical Society Headquarters.

The Storey home is on the corner of 5th and Franklin Street. The McEwen home is on 3rd Street between Franklin & Lafayette Streets.

Professions of Mr. Storey & Mr. McEwen: Mr. Storey was a land owner, Drug Store Owner, and Mill Owner during his lifetime. Mr. McEwen was a land owner, Businessman, Joint Bank owner of the McEwen & Jones Bank. The bank failed in 1871 and Joseph I. Irwin started his banking after the McEwen bank failure.

Biographies/Overviews Of Both:

Mr. Storey: files.usgwarchives.org/in/bartholomew/bios/storey853gbs.txt

Mr. McEwen: columbushomestour.blogspot.com/2008/07/524-third-street.html

Comments: If someone reading this board has a picture and the age of a home just as old or older, we would really be pleased to see it and post it.

Ricky Berkey stated this in a post December 2004 (Re: Miscellaneous Columbus Indiana Topics Result #20 on Dec 1, 2004, 4:43pm ): "The oldest building I know of is the Perry-Reeves-Marr home at 2900 Washington Street. The large brick home was built in 1835 by Colonel James Henry Jeter Glanton for Ransom and Catherine Martin Perry. At the time it was north of Columbus and part of a large farm---the only house north of Columbus on that Road. Although the building has been enlarged over the years its integrity has not been compromised."

[RER]

Comment & Source: The wall phone and switchboard picture is only a sample of the type used during the early years of the phone companies. Most phone numbers for businesses in the early days were no more than 3 digits. The advertisement and information was obtained from the Bartholomew County, Indiana, 1903-1904 Directory.

[RER]

"Ivory Soap" And It Still Floats After 125 Years
Common Hand & Body Soaps Used In Columbus (starting 1884)
Columbus, Indiana

Comment: Ivory Soap has been produced by Procter & Gamble Company since 1884. There is a plant on the Indiana side before you cross the Ohio River into Louisville. Now, if you have ever used this historic soap, you won't lose it in a tub bath, because it really does float. Now, when I was a young guy growing up in Columbus, it seemed that we alway used Ivory Soap bars that are white. Now, I haven't bought or used any in so many years that I suppose they are still white. My family uses a different brand these days.

In the early days Washington Street stores and Columbus Mom & Pop Stores sold this floating bar. Here is an advertisement from Procter & Gamble Company promoting their soap two years after they put it on the Indiana and other states markets.



Note: The advertisement is dated 1886.

[RER]

J.E. Ferguson Photographer (1895-1909)
Columbus, Indiana

Brief: J. E. Ferguson was an early Columbus photographer. He started his business during 1895 and sold the business April 7, 1909 to C. C. Pritchard.

Addresses: Ground floor gallery at 429 Washington Street and 517 Washington Street across from the former St. Denis Hotel.



Note: Ad is dated 1890s and 1903.

[David Sechrest]

From I Discover Columbus:

How you you like to eat this dinner, if you had seen the ingredients purchased? Beefsteak, cut from a carcass that had hung all day in front of the butcher shop in summer heat. Bread, unwrapped, delivered by a man who both drove a horse and counted out, unwrapped the loaves to the grocer boy who in turn swept the floor and then handed the bread to you. Coffee scooped from an open bin. Pickled pigs feet from a barrel standing open for weeks. Cucumber pickles from the next barrel. Sauerkraut from the third one, dished up with a fork that lay in the brine when not in use. Vinegar and molasses, drawn from two barrels in the dark dirty backroom of the store, right alongside the kerosene barrel. Prunes fingered out of a crate by the boy. Crackers and sugar, each scooped from open barrels which the loafers sat on. Milk drawn from a five gallon can into a pint measure; after the milkman William Kailor, Rudolph Schnier or Henry Lambert had been round most of his route on a hot July day, with the dust blowing through his cart.

Sounds awful, doesn't it? But that is exactly what you would have eaten if you had been living in Columbus, or anywhere else, in 1900.

We had four downtown butcher shops. Wolf's at 425 Washington, John Dahn's in the Ulrich Block, Dave Pyle's at 7th and Washington, and George Werner's on Washington just north of your new Irwin Trust Building (nw corner of 5th and Washington). There was one uptown store on the corner of 7th and Chestnut. The downtown stores had iron bars across their windows with half a dozen large hooks. When they opened for business in the morning, they hung on these, full carcasses, exposed all day to flies, dust and weather just as the pawn broker hangs out three ball's to advertise his trade. Inside, they cut your steak or roast as ordered.

The big meat store was Mrs. Elizabeth Wolf's. This remarkable German immigrant woman was left a young widow, practically penniless, with four daughters and two sons. She died 50 years later, wealthy, all made by hard work. Her slaughter house was run by the sons, and the store by the daughters. They bought all the livestock they could get in the county, shipped the best to Indianapolis and Chicago and local people ate the rest and liked it because we liked the Wolfs. The two elder daughters, Barbara and Katie, cut meat in the store and the younger, Emma and Anna, did the delivering. Columbus was a Saturday night town and every weekend found half a dozen housewives sitting in the store, buying their meats and listening to Barbara who retailed the chit-chat of the town while never missing a stroke with the cleaver. She always ended with a compliment and if children were along, three inches of bologna. Wolf's store was an institution.

We had a dozen large downtown grocery stores and fifteen or twenty scattered over the residence district. When I was a very small boy (late 1800's), Amos Hartman was at 409 Washington, Way & Jeleff at 521 Washington, Henry Brockman had the Champion Grocery in the Bissell Hotel (what would become the Belvedere, nw corner of 3rd and Franklin). George Winans was at 6th & Washington, with Hughes Brothers succeeding Jeleff. Fred Oberwitte had the Hartman store, Frank Nolting in the Irwin Building on 5th. Fred Fehring (a former cobbler) at 2nd and Washington, Fred Tormehlen's Quaker Grocery opposite the Court House (he doesn't say which side it was opposite!). Ad and Al George at 227 2nd St., Patterson's at 3rd and Jackson, John Vorwald on the opposite corner (ne corner of 3rd & Jackson), and Howard Tooley in the same block. Pete Sohn combined groceries with a bakery on Washington near 2nd.

George Winans who bought out Ryan & Winkler had the ritzy store of the town, the only one which stocked expensive and rarely-called-for specialties. He also had a fresh fish market on the sidewalk, run by Fatty Hartwell, and every Saturday in winter, George Rhubottom had a booth inside where he ground horseradish and cocoanut.

Small groceries were scattered all over town. Burnett's on 5th opposite the old fire house, owned by "Tode," who traveled for a wholesale house and run by his sister, "Tot." George Habig was at 16th & Washington (se corner--this was also a bar/tavern at some point. It would be a gas station in our not too long ago past). The old Kobbe store at 5th and Pearl. Bruning's near 7th on Sycamore; Kellenberger's in Maple Grove (neighborhood by the old Garfield school). Frank McKeal's where Butler's drug now is at 7th and Chestnut. Joe Condon's at 10th and Mechanics (Lafayette), and Patram's across the street. Mart Snively's in Northside (I wonder what was considered "the north side" back then? Lee Loy had a grocery on north Chestnut and thereby an anecdote: He applied for life insurance once and was rejected on the grounds that "we do not insure Chinamen."

February 1, 1898, Campbell, Boyd & Ross opened our first wholesale grocery (except for a little wholesaling George Winans did as a side line) in my father's old location at 430 Washington but soon put up their own new building at 2nd & Brown.

Package goods then consisted of a very few items. There were two brands of coffee, Arbuckles and Lions, which the older wives will remember for the premiums you got for saving the Lion Heads of the Arbuckle signatures. During a price war in 1893, these sold down to 5 cents per pound.

You could buy canned tomatoes, corn, peaches, pears, and one or two other items, all in the large quart size. Jellies and preserves were made by the housewife at home, who would have felt life-long shame to serve them otherwise. Ginger snaps were almost the only prepared cookies. Crackers were mostly made by the Taggart bakery at Indianapolis, and kept in large barrels--remember their round cracker, saw-toothed and stamped with a new moon? Spices were kept in bulk properly flavored with dust and bugs and measured out as the housewife needed them.

The bakery trade, before the days of break factories with silly commercials, was supplied by John Scott (just below Noblett's drug store--I wonder where this place was?). Fritz Roth's was at 311 Washington, John Rebenack at 7th and Washington, Kitzinger's 75 years at the same location, Fred Ulrich's at 4th and Franklin, Sohn's near the Court House on Washington and Frank J. Rentzler across from the court house.

About the only food purveyors I have not mentioned were William Blackwood, who made cider down on the river bank and peddled it from door to door, and John Crump who made up a lot of maple syrup every spring.

For 50 cents you could get a passable meal at the St. Denis. The standard price for a restaurant meal the country over was 25 cents. The best restaurants then were the Delmonico, Lindsay's on Washington, next to Matt Pfeiffer's saloon, which was equipped with the waving fans operated by a water motor that made more noise then the flies they were supposed to chase away. In earlier days, the Bon Ton on 3rd was run by L. J. Kaufman, after wards a JM&I agent. When the interurban came in, a lunch counter was operated in the ticket office by Lige Hammond, a colored man, which after wards grew into a very good cafe. Hammond being about the best chef we ever had. Henry Kruse, who had a saloon west of the court house, also operated an excellent dining room, and Kitzinger's and Dahn's did a large business in lunches for the farmers. I think the best meals I ever ate, though, away from home, were at Mrs. Remy's boarding house on 5th near Chestnut. Fred Ulrich had a restaurant with his bakery at 4th and Franklin.

[RER]

Columbus Milling Company
324 5th Street (behind present Irwin Bank)
Columbus, Indiana

Comment: The Columbus Milling Company was operational in the 1890s and even during the 1940s. It's actual date of opening and closing is not known to me. However, it is known that it was torn down when Irwin Bank was constructed in the 1950s. The picture below shows the a small portion of the old Irwin Union Bank Clock. In the background is the Columbus Milling Company during the late 1940s before destruction. The picture view is standing in middle of Washington Street looking down West 5th Street during the late 1940s.



Milling Company Executives/Employees Years 1890s to 1903:

-J. P. Sohn, President
-W. H. Everroad, Vice President
-R. H. Everroad, Secretary & Treasurer
-Elizabeth L. Adams, Bookkeeper

-Charles Christian, Civil Engineer
-Richard Lee, Miller
-Christian Maus, Civil Engineer
-Claude White, Civil Engineer
-Edward J. Enochs, Flour Packer

Here is a picture of a family almost standing in front of the former Columbus Milling Company in 1950:


Pictures URL Link Address (Time Inc Standard): images.google.com/hosted/life/l?q=columbus+indiana&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcolumbus%2Bindiana%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D21%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D525&imgurl=6decbd1270d6bdbe

Sources: The first picture is a partial that Richard posted in the 1940s threads. The names were obtained for the 1903 Bartholomew County Directory.

Also: Source of 2nd picture:
Date taken: January 01, 1950
Photographer: Francis Miller © Time Inc.

This black and white photo was take from the Google hosted Time Inc/LIFE Photos Archive. Permission was granted March 16, 2009 to post selected pictures and our discussions relative to the pictures.. Time Inc. approval was given to the Columbus Historical Message board.. The photos are for personal use and not for commercial use per Time Inc.

[David Sechrest]

Happy New Year Everyone!

I owe some people an explanation here, especially if you read Harry McCawley's column in today's Republic.

As you know, the ladies picture that Bob Records found on the NY City public library website has been driving me batty ever since I first laid eyes on it (for reference, go back to page 24 of this Thread).

The picture of the ladies was one of 4 pictures found. Two of them showed the Courthouse sans window glass and clock facing. These two we can date prior to April, 1874. But does that necessarily mean the other two (i.e., the picture of the ladies and the picture of the train engine) were taken at the same time?

In an earlier post, Jason Hatton proposed that the ladies picture may have been taken years after the Courthouse pictures. At the time, I wanted to try and prove that the ladies picture was, indeed, taken during the same time frame, but just could not come up with enough proof to come out and state it was. Heck, I even went as far as trying to base the picture on a birds nest in a tree! I got that crazy about things. I became too obsessed with the picture and had to step away from it for awhile. It was then that I thought maybe I could get a date when the picture of the train engine was taken. I felt if I could prove that the train engine picture was taken at a different time, it would blow the theory that all 4 were taken in 1874.

Well, I didn't have much luck in that direction either. It was then that I decided to take a break from these, as it was getting hard to focus.

Several weeks passed by and I pulled out the ladies picture once again. This time, I inadvertently posted it on another message board. Someone there noted that the lady sitting at the far left bears a striking resemblance to Carrie Nation! Well, that really took me by surprise. I knew who Carrie Nation was, but didn't know what she looked like. It was then that I started pulling up various images of her from the web and comparing the two, and yes, there were striking similarities between these two ladies.

But the real question remained: Did Carrie Nation ever visit Columbus?

That wasn't the only thing that bothered me about the picture. I kept asking myself, why? Why did Mr. Schaub take that picture? What was the significance behind it? And it only seemed logical to me that there was a specific purpose behind him taking this picture.
NOTE: the women in the foreground are sitting down. There were no benches or such on the street where they're sitting. Why are they sitting down? Then, look more closely at the women in the background. Some of them are staring directly at the lady sitting at the far left. Why wouldn't they all be looking at the camera? (that's a pretty questionable thought though).

Anyway, these questions gnawed at me for some time. I'd loaned out my copy of I Discover Columbus to my aunt and didn't have that as a handy resource, but seemed to remember something in the book about Carrie Nation coming to Columbus. My aunt did return the book and I went directly to the chapter dealing with the temperance movement at the time, but still, no word of Carrie Nation.

Then, last week, I began reading the series of I Remember When articles that Richard sent me, and there! There it was! The reference I was looking for!

From May 9, 1935: I Remember When, by Will Marsh: I had a tip one day that Carrie Nation, the great hatchet saloon-smasher, was coming through Columbus and I got on the train to interview her. As soon as I introduced myself she exclaimed "Young man, do you smoke cigarettes?" And since I didn't, she seemed entirely deprived on a subject, so my interview fell flat.

I got so excited, I immediately sent Harry an email. Harry was under the impression that all four of the pictures came from 1874 in an earlier email discussion, so when I found this reference in the article Richard sent to me, I dashed off an email that simply said, "What do you think of that picture now? ? ?"

Still excited about everything, I posted here about my theory (this was around New Years night). I woke up the next morning, read through what I'd posted, didn't like it, and removed it. I felt like I was a crackpot, coming up with some weird connection that I couldn't prove.

Then I got up today and read today's paper.

I really wasn't expecting Harry to write an article about my theory. At least not yet. I really wanted to see if I could find more tangible proof regarding Carrie Nation, and that ladies picture that's haunted me ever since I first laid eyes on it.

But now that the "cat is out of the bag," here my thoughts regarding the subject:

If the ladies picture was taken in 1874, Carrie Nation would have been 28 years old. That rules out the fact that the lady could possible be her.

But let's take Jason's proposition a bit further:

Will Marsh was born in 1883. He moved away from Columbus for good in 1906. In 1900, he was 17 years old. My questions are: Was it possible for a high school student to graduate from high school at the age of 17 in those days? The reason I ask this is because Will Marsh's dad did own a newspaper in Columbus and Will was a reporter for that paper. Maybe he does mention somewhere in the book when he became a reporter. I'll have to do a little more digging on that.

But what this does give us is that Will Marsh interviewed Carrie Nation on a train in Columbus Indiana, let's say, somewhere between 1901 and 1906. Now, if you look at the picture of the lady, she would be comparable in age to Carrie Nation (in her mid to late 50's). The lady in the picture sure looks to be that age to me.

Then, let me ask you one other question: What is the possibility that we have this picture of a group of ladies taken on 3rd Street in Columbus Indiana with the lady on the far left looking very much like Carrie Nation, then we learn that she did visit Columbus? Is it just a coincidence?

I'm beginning to think not. That would be a perfect reason behind why the picture was taken.

My own personal feelings is that Jason was right all along and this picture was taken much later than the two showing the Courthouse. Can I prove it 100 percent? No, not at this time. I still need to do more research. That's another reason I removed my earlier post (I'm glad that some of you did get a chance to see it however).

If this picture can be proved that it was taken in the early 1900's, that sheds a lot of light on many things. One important one in my own mind is the Crump Theatre in the background.

I'm sorry, but I just can't imagine a city like Columbus building a building looking like the Crump in or prior to 1874. It looks too much like an Opera House or Theatre, and that's exactly what John Crump wanted. I have a feeling that when the actual Theatre was being built at the back of the existing building, John Crump had the front of that 3rd Street building remodeled, incorporating the three arched design across the top. The words "J. S. Crump's New Theatre" are inlaid in brick within those three arches. The paper of the day does talk about remodeling of that building. Why not the front as well?

Anyway, that's the story behind why I posted and then deleted my earlier post.

I haven't had time to get down to the library because I've been out of town (just got back last night from a visit to my sister's house). And as soon as this weather breaks, I'll be there going through old newspapers, hoping to find something.

One last thing: the matter of semantics in the Will Marsh statement. In his article, he states that Carrie Nation was passing through Columbus. Well, what exactly does that mean? Anyone who has read any of I Discover Columbus, or the I Remember When articles in the paper, know that he had a unique style of writing. At times, he uses words and phrases that were probably popular in his day, but reporters wouldn't write that way in this day and age.

So, when he states that Carrie Nation was passing through Columbus, does that mean she didn't get off the train?

I don't think so, but that's only my own supposition.

[RER]

Letter Mailed From St. Denis Hotel Year 1888
Hotel Was Built During The 1870s
432 Washington Street
Columbus, Indiana

Comment: This letter was mailed from the St. Denis Hotel prior to the fire at the hotel 11 years later in June 1889.



Picture of St. Denis Hotel During 1880s

The all weather horse carriage is backed into the front of hotel.




Sources: George and I worked together to obtain this historical 1888 envelope among several others to be posted.

[RER]

Jackson Buggy Works
422 Jackson Street (5th & Jackson St. Corner)
Columbus, Indiana

Comment: The Jackson Buggy Works was operational in the 1890s. The Proprietor was Mr. G. Frank Jackson. The below letter was mailed December 5, 1913.



Owner and Working Staff 1890s and Early 1900s

Proprietor: G. Frank Jackson
Blacksmith: George F. Repp
Carriage Trammer: Ezra Storey (lived at Storey home 506 5th Street)


Sources: George and I worked together to obtain this historical 1913 envelope among several others to be posted.

[RER]

Caldwell & Drake Iron Works, Inc.
Businesses Started During 1887
Columbus, Indiana

Owners: George W. Caldwell and Lester Drake

They started businesses in Columbus Indiana in 1887 and forward into the 1900s. The primary names behind this company and a few others are George W. Caldwell and Lester Drake of Columbus.

. Mr. Caldwell was born in August 16, 1860 on a farm near Sunbery, Ohio. His family apparently migrated from Pennsylvania. Mr. Caldwell came to Columbus in 1887 involved in insurance and real estate businesses. He supposedly had the largest insurance and real estate business around. The Columbus Maple Grove housing development was largely handled by him as the story goes. He formed a partnership with B.M. Hutchins in real estate, contracting and construction for about three years. During that period the company constructed 147 houses and made a profit of $85,000 (sizable amount in those days). Mr. Hutchins retired after the 3 year surge and Mr. Lester Drake joined with George Caldwell to continue in business adventures.

At some point the two started Caldwell & Drake Iron Works of Columbus Indiana. They also opened the same named company in St. Louis, Missouri and Mr. Caldwell's brother was the primary director of that branch of the business.

Envelope dated June 22, 1910:




Sources: George and I worked together to obtain this historical 1910 envelope among several others to be posted.

[David Sechrest]

For background on the following, refer to my earlier post, #455...

Well, it does appear that Carrie Nation did indeed visit Columbus, and thanks to both Richard and Harry McCawley, we now have a date.

Richard talked to his 90 year old aunt and, Richard, correct me if I'm wrong, she called the library. A lady at the library called back and told her that Carrie Nation's visit was written up in the Evening Republican on July 12, 1904 and July 21, 1904. Harry also talked to Rhonda Brown at the library and passed along the same info to me.

So, what's all this mean? Well, at this point, your guess is as good as mine. Does it strengthen any evidence of our lady in the picture being Carrie Nation? Not really.

It's hard to get a good look at the woman in The Republic. Here's a blow up of her, compared to a photo of Carrie Nation I found on the internet:




I wish I could get a better scan from the ladies picture, but this is about the best I can get. Regardless, look at the similarities between the two women! The eyebrows...the nose...the mouth...

I don't know when the bottom picture was taken, but it was definitely taken by a professional photographer in a studio. That, and age, could possibly explain some of the slight differences.

After I got off the phone with Richard, I was so excited that I jumped in my car and drove down to the library, but it was closed due to the snow today.

I'm hoping I can get down there tomorrow. . .