IHS Civil War Trail: Tennesee Revisited trip

The Franklin Township Historical Society is not affiliated with the Indiana Historical Society, but the members of both organizations have similar interests. For that reason, you might be interested in this recent press release from the IHS:

Join us as we continue our travels in celebration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial this fall. During this trip, we explore both well-known and less familiar Civil War sites in Tennessee. Noted author and historian James Hoobler, senior curator for the Tennessee State Museum and former executive director of the Tennessee Historical Society, joins us and brings to life notable Tennessee battles and generals.

Our tour begins with a visit to Civil War and Reconstruction at the Tennessee State Museum. We travel on to Shiloh to learn about the controversial Battle of Shiloh and its connection to Indiana and General Lew Wallace. From there, we follow John Bell Hood’s campaign, learning about the Battle of Franklin with stops at Fort Granger, Winstead Hill, Carter House and Carnton Plantation, the setting for the New York Times bestseller Widow of the South. We’ll also visit Harrison House, a private home and formerly General Hood’s headquarters, and enjoy a progressive dinner in three significant Civil War era homes: Elm Spring, Rippavilla Plantation and Ferguson Hall.

To register or receive more information please contact Jennifer Hiatt at 317-234-2670 or e-mail at jhiatt@indianahistory.org.

Members' Lunch at the Propylaeum

submitted by president emerita Sylvia Henricks

A day-trip is always fun, and the Society members who drove into Indianapolis in early July to visit the Propylaeum on Delaware Street for a tour and lunch had a good time. The big “Queen Anne style” mansion is the headquarters for a woman’s organization to “encourage the appreciation of the arts for the public, and especially for women." The name itself means “Gateway.”

It was organized in 1888, under the guidance of May Wright Sewell -- a painting of her by T.C. Steele is in the entrance hall – who became the first president. The group built an imposing stone clubhouse on North Street where they remained, sponsoring many groups for women, until the building of the World War Memorial in 1922 forced them to move. (Our member Joe Seiter brought a postcard of that first building to show us.)

The ladies purchased the house and lot at 1410 N. Delaware in 1923. The house had been built in the 1880s by a brewer whose wife wanted to live on the near north side, known as “the Gold Coast” area. It has many fine details – 12 foot ceilings, “pocket-doors.” A broad, carpeted staircase ascending three floors. A ballroom is on the third floor, along with the servants’ quarters. Six bedrooms and baths are on the second floor. Downstairs, the fireplace fronts are decorated with tile, believed to be Rookwood.

Later owners were George McCulloch, owner of the Indianapolis Star, and President and General Manager of the Indiana Transit Co. Another brewer, with many financial interests became the third owner, In the 1920s the College of Music and Fine Arts, a forerunner to the Jordan College of Fine Arts at Butler University, bought the property, but “decided to free itself from the financial burden, and the house was purchased with Liberty Bonds by the Propylaeum for $65,000. (Most of the above information is from a brochure given guests.)

As funds have allowed the house has been restored. It is a beautiful example of elegant living in a bygone era. We –14 of us—enjoyed a lovely meal in one of the formal parlors, the table set with stemmed glasses, china and

flowers.

It was Evelyn’s birthday, and the hostess put her at the head of the table, with a tiara on her head. Our meals enjoyed and finished, our thank-you’s expressed to the hostess and the servers, we left through the “Georgian Style” front door with its hand-wrought iron grill, to return to our humbler, but no less treasured, Southside homes.

General Lew Wallace Study & Museum

A few days ago, I had the privilege of making a special tour of the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum in Crawfordsville, IN, an easy morning's drive west of Indianapolis. If you have not had a chance to learn about this great American hero and author, I encourage you to make the trip!

Lew Wallace fought in two American wars (most notably in the Civil War, where he successfully defended both Washington, D.C. and Cincinnati, OH from major Confederate attacks), served as governor of the New Mexico territory -- where he famously made a plea bargain with Billy the Kid, who later violated the agreement by breaking out of prison -- and served as the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey. He presided over the trial of the conspirators who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. He was also an artist, a musician, an inventor and technological enthusiast. But he is best known as the author of the best-selling novel of the 19th century, a Biblical epic titled Ben-Hur. The book has been made into four motion pictures -- one of which is still tied for the record of most Academy Awards ever won by a single film -- an equally groundbreaking Broadway stage play, two stage musicals, and more.

The study, an exotic building of Wallace's own design and decorated with carved faces of characters from his books, is a delightful tour for those interested in history or architecture. It has been preserved in an almost undisturbed state -- it still contains Wallace's furniture, library and personal effects -- and is currently undergoing restoration on the interior to restore the original paint and intricate murals that were covered at some point in the past.

Also open is the visitor's center, originally the site's carriage house -- the gift shop is located in the stall belonging to the horse Wallace rode in the Civil War -- which houses an informative exhibit on historic preservation. For tour information, please visit the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum website.

Special Events

For Civil War enthusiasts, the museum is hosting a number of lectures and reenactments throughout the month of July, including lectures on the Underground Railroad, Civil War photographer Matthew Brady, and Mary Todd Lincoln. For more information, please visit http://ben-hur.com/aboutus/newsevents.html.

Lunch at the Propylaeum

Join us Wednesday, July 6 for an exclusive FTHS Membership event! We'll have a private tour of the historic Propylaeum, followed by a delicious lunch. (A donation of $1 is requested for the tour, and the full menu can be viewed here.)

For more information on the Propylaeum, visit thepropylaeum.org.

If your FTHS membership is not current, don't worry -- an annual membership is only $10, and you can renew it at any time! Visit our website's membership page for more information.

To RSVP to this event, email Nancy at nanvana@gmail.com.

IHS "Grave Matters" Cemetery Trip

The Franklin Township Historical Society is not affiliated with the Indiana Historical Society, but the members of both organizations have similar interests. For that reason, you might be interested in this recent press release from the IHS:

On June 9 join IHS Membership and Local History Services staff for an exciting day-trip to Spring Grove in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of the Midwest’s oldest historic cemeteries!

Founded in 1845, Spring Grove boasts over 400 acres of beautifully maintained gardens and cemetery spaces. The tour group will be treated to an in-depth, one hour walking tour by Spring Grove’s chief horticulturalist. The trip will include stops at two additional cemeteries in Indiana for brief walking tours.

Indiana cemetery experts Jeannie Regan-Dinius of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and Sheila Riley of The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis will accompany the group and make presentations throughout the day. Lunch, snacks and transportation via coach will be provided.

Space is limited, so register now! To secure your spot, please contact Jennifer Hiatt at (317) 234-2670 or jhiatt@indianahistory.org. The registration fee is $40 for IHS members and $60 for non-members (includes Individual membership).

Please note: for the purposes of the walking tours, guests should be able to stand and walk for up to an hour at a time.

Today, we bring you one of Sylvia Henricks' "Remembrances." You can read more of Sylvia's columns weekly in The Franklin Township Informer, or in her book From The Ash Grove (available directly from the FTHS, and via the web site).

Beech Grove, our neighbor community to the north west, is the subject of a new book. being sold by the Beech Grove Library. Produced by Arcadia Publishing, as one of their Images of America Series, the 127 page book is well-written, interesting and full of new and old black and white photographs. Eleven of the photos are of postcards from the collection of our own society member, Joe Seiter. The text is written by Jim Hillman and John Murphy, “with the Beech Grove Public Library.”

The Foreword by former Beech Grove Mayor Donald Joe Wright gives an overview of the earliest days of the area, when the prominent families were the Churchmans, McGregors, Boltons and Cottmans. The Churchman property was then in Franklin Township, and George Cottman, who became a historian, wrote at one time of attending school at “No.9,” the one-room Franklin Township district school known as Poplar Grove.

In 1904 construction began on a large repair facility by the Big Four Railroad (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St.Louis Railway). Beech Grove as a town also had its beginning, at first only four homes and two businesses. But as the repair facility for engines and passenger cars grew, so did the town. Beech Grove was incorporated in 1906. The Shops were completed in 1908.. “Of the original 2400 acres the railroad had acquired, 640 acres were reserved for the Shops and rail operations, and the balance formed the original land for the town itself,” the authors wrote.

The name of the facility has changed over the years. In 1923 it took the name of its parent Company, the New York Central Shops. During World War II, it had its busiest years with 5000 men and women employed, but after the war railroad traffic declined, and in 1968 the NYC Railroad merged with Penn Central, and the facility became the Penn Central Shops.

The Federal Government created the Amtrak passenger rail system, which used the repair facilities of the Penn Central Shops in1975. In 1986 Amtrak took control of the facility, renaming it Amtrak Shops.

The attractive paperback, which sells for $23.50 at the Beech Grove Library also records the growth of Beech Grove, its businesses, schools, homes and celebrations. Beech Grove opted, in 1970, not to join UNIGOV, the county-wide consolidation with Indianapolis, and maintains its own government and municipal services. The Society has added a copy of the book to our collection of local histories, and you may look at it at our Meeting House.

2011 Quilt Show

We had quite a turnout for our 7th Quilt Show! If you missed the event, here are a few detail pictures highlighting the gorgeous pieces that were entered. You can view the full gallery at https://picasaweb.google.com/FranklinTownshipHistory/7thQuiltShowApr162011#.