Report on September 16 Events

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). 


Will it rain – or be cold and windy? Are there seats enough out on the terrace at the Meeting House? Will anybody come? Will there be enough punch and cookies – or way too much? Where did I put the notes for the speech I plan to make, thanking those that let us photograph their WP Outhouses? Where’s my camera?

So ran my thoughts as Sunday afternoon, September 16 approached. The second half of a “double event” at the Township Historical Society it marked the completion of a self-published booklet, Humble but Historic, The Surviving WPA Outhouses of Franklin Township produced by Faulkenberg Printing, Indianapolis. I planned to autograph copies of the book for the invited guests – and others who might purchase one. (The other event, at 1:30, was a Big Run Cemetery Tour by Dana Crapo who has researched the early years of the cemetery when, privately owned, it was known as the Smither burial ground. See next week’s “Remembrances.”)

As often happens, my worries were needless. The weather was perfect, and a good crowd favored us. My daughter Ann and her three girls handled the punch and cookies, with more cookies supplied by Society members. Granddaughter Molly took photos including the one below.

There was an additional attraction on the Society grounds. With thanks to Yolanda Hughes, one-time owner, and Kathy George of Bob Cook Realtors – and Tommy Grimes, who moved it to our lawn—our Society is the proud owner of an authentic WPA outhouse, to be restored, repainted and valued as an exhibit of The Great Depression Days.

Ghost Stories - October 21

It's coming up on Halloween, and that means it's the perfect time of year for ghost stories! Indiana has its fair share of paranormal oddities, and even Franklin Township has a few stories that just might make you shiver. Join us at Open Hours on October 21 for some chilling local legends and delightfully creepy tales from history. You can even see the infamous Black Dress, one of the stars of our collection, which has been featured on the TV shows Sightings and Unsolved Mysteries.

(Please note that this will be our final regular Open Hours of the year. You are still welcome to join us at any of the scheduled events during the off season, such as our Old Fashioned Christmas Celebration on December 16.)

Cemetery Talk September 16

Love cemeteries? Love local history? Or just want to learn about those strange symbols that mark the places of the dead? Join us September 16 at 1 p.m. for an informative tour of the Big Run Cemetery, led by our resident expert (and FTHS board member) Dana Crapo. Parking is available at the Meeting House (6510 S. Franklin Rd.); the cemetery is just across the street.

While you're there, step across the street and visit our Meeting House during Open Hours, which last from 1 to 4 p.m.

Antique Postcard Exhibit

Just a reminder that there will be a special exhibit of vintage and antique postcards on display at this week's Open Hours! Join us at the Meeting House (6510 S. Franklin Rd.) between 1 and 4 p.m. on June 2. Postcard enthusiasts are invited to bring their own collections to share and discuss, and everyone is welcome to visit!

Croquet Tournament May 20

Our third Barnyard Croquet Tournament is this Sunday, May 20 at 1 p.m. Join us on the Meeting House lawn for a delightful game, with prizes to be awarded! Dress is casual. Refreshments will be served.

Vintage Toy Exhibit

Just a reminder that there will be a special exhibit of vintage toys at this Sunday's Open Hours! Join us at the Meeting House (6510 S. Franklin Rd.) between 1 and 4 p.m on April 15. Everyone is welcome!

Open Hours today!

Today kicks off the first Open Hours of the year! The Meeting House will be open from 1 to 4 PM. Stop by for a visit and see the new items in our collection!

2012 Open Hours

Just a reminder that Open Hours will be starting soon! You can visit the Meeting House on the first Saturday and third Sunday of each month, March through October, from 1PM to 4PM. The year's first Open Hours will be Saturday, March 3.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we have a lot of new artifacts on display. Come and see them!

Cemetery Talk September 18

A Big Run Cemetery Talk is planned for Open Hours at the Franklin Township Historical Society Meeting House on Sunday, September 18.

Dana Crapo, the Society’s treasurer, is also its most knowledgeable person concerning burials in the Big Run Cemetery, across the road from the Society’s Meeting House at 6510 S. Franklin Road. Dana says he has long been bothered by extra names on headstones in the cemetery, not included in the cemetery records made by a locarecorder (Mrs. Leo C. Hoyt)) in the 1960s. (At that time the Big Run Church was still in operation. It became the property of the newly formed Historical Society in 1976.)

Dana, long wondering about those unrecorded names in the cemetery, now believes he may have the answer, that before the Big Run Church was built in the 1870s, there was a Willis Smither family burial plot on the site of the current Big Run Cemetery. That will be the basis for his talk at the Meeting House during Open Hours on Sunday, September.18, at 2 p.m. “I will provide maps and hand-outs,” he says, and invites all interested persons to attend.

2011 Events

2011 promises to be busy! You can always check our online events calendar to see what's happening, but here's a quick reference of dates to save for this year's special events:

April 16 - 7th Quilt Show at Zion Education Building

May 15 - Croquet Tournament during Open Hours at Meeting House

June 4 - Postcard Exhibit during Open Hours at Meeting House

June 26 - Old Settlers Day in Wanamaker

July 6 - FTHS Members Tour and Lunch at the Propylaeum

July 17 - Vintage Toy Exhibit during Open Hours at Meeting House

September 18 - Big Run Cemetery Walk during Open Hours

October 16 - Ghost Stories during Open Hours at Meeting House

October 29 - Membership Harvest Dinner

December 18 - Old Fashioned Christmas Celebration at Meeting House

We're always adding more events to the calendar, so be sure to subscribe to our email list and check back for updates. If there's an event or topic you would like us to cover, be sure and let us know! You can visit us in person during Open Hours (the first Saturday and third Sunday of every month from 1 to 4 p.m., May through October) at the Meeting House, 6510 S. Franklin Rd., or contact us through our website.

Post Cards on Display

Franklin Township Historical Society invites all those interested in post cards to come to Open Hours at the Meeting House (6510 South Franklin Road) on July 18, from 1-4 p.m. "It is interesting to see what cards are most valued by collectors," says Joe Seiter, long time post card enthusiast. FTHS has several collections that will be on display and some cards will be offered for sale.

Remembrances: Watercolor Cabin

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).

Open Hours at the Society's Meeting House -- 6510 S. Franklin Road, from 1 to 4 p.m., on the first Saturdays, and the third Sundays of March through October -- are almost always an interesting time. All members are invited to share the afternoons, greet visitors, and perhaps help answer their questions.

We never know what a visitor may ask for -- information on his family -- the history of an old house he may be remodeling -- the photo of a great-grandparent who may have attended one of the district schools. We have a variety of places to look: abstracts, files of photographs, our own publications, scrapbooks and family histories. Sometimes we can help, sometimes not, but we never fail to try.

When township resident Stanley Wise came on our first Open Hours of the season, he said, "My father, Donald Wise, who died a few years ago, told me you had a picture of the old house -- a log cabin -- that once stood on Maze Road where the house my parents, Don and Iona Wise, later lived, and where I now live. The old house, my father thought, had a dug well in front, and another in the back, with a few outbuildings."

Several of us looked through our Area Old Houses book, our 2009 Calendar of historic homes, and through our collection of old photographs. Nothing. And then I heard Stanley say, "Yes, that's it." Dave Ostheimer had found what we were looking for -- but in a form that I, at least, had not thought of. It was a small framed watercolor, one of three given to the Society by Leroy Compton many years ago, on display in one of our cases.

The paintings were done by a relative of Leroy's, Dale Hendrickson, who with his wife liked to come "from the city" and visit his wife's sister, Leroy's grandmother, Edith Rabourn Maze at their farm home on Knapp Road. Dale sometimes brought his paints along. The other two watercolors are also country scenes -- a house on Knapp Road, and a log barn.

A card taped to the bottom edge of the frame identified the scene. "This log house was located where the Donald Wise family now live at 9540 Maze Road. Leroy Compton commented: 'My grandfather, Roy Maze, had a brother, Erasmus, who returned to Indiana from one of the Dakotas where the had homesteaded. Erasmus moved into the house where the Chamberlains now live, down a lane by the west side of the house in the picture. In the 1930s Erasmus built a new house on the site of the log house. My folks tell me that they remember the last occupant of the log house, an elderly single fellow who did odd jobs and lived from his garden, which occupied most of his summer time. My mother thinks the man's name was Nixon. Before the house was torn down, my grandfather stored farm implements in it.'"

2010 Open Hours Begin!

Join us this Saturday for our first Open Hours of 2010! The Meeting House (located at 6510 S. Franklin Road) will be open for visitation from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

The Meeting House is open to the public on the first Saturday and third Sunday of the month from March through October. During open hours, visitors may tour the Meeting House and Big Run Cemetery, read and purchase FTHS publications, research their family's local history, view our collection of artifacts, period photographs, vintage clothing, township school yearbooks and athletic records, and more.