Dearly Departed 2014

by Nancy McCammon-Hansen

Saturday is Dearly Departed at Lindenwood Cemtery, located on the west end of Main Street. This free program runs from 2 to 5 p.m. and features a look at some of Fort Wayne’s more notable residents who are buried there AND....have streets named for them. 

You can read more about my love of studying history through headstones at http://historycenterfw.blogspot.com/2012/05/history-and-headstones-celebrating.html but for now, here’s a look at who will be featured in this year’s tour.

Dearly Departed is sponsored by ARCH with assistance from the History Center.

Harry W. Baals - Section C, Lot 14 Most newcomers to Fort Wayne, or those not familiar with the city’s past, will remember the name Harry Baals as a suggestion for the name of what is now Citizen’s Square. Baals was mayor of Fort Wayne and a former postmaster. One of Baals’ major accomplishments was to garner Federal funds for various city projects in a time when a Republican office holder (1935) had a harder time than he would have today. But Baals was successful and the city was able to undergo street construction, improvements to the City Light and Powerworks and the erection of a $5 million sewage treatment plant.

Sylvanus F. Bowser - Section I, Lot 7 Bowser founded the S.F. Bowser Company in 1885 on Creighton Avenue (the former police station was in the building until moving into the Rousseau Center). Bowser’s design for a water pump eventually led to the invention of the gasoline pump. To learn more about Sylvanus Bowser, go to our blog and read: http://historycenterfw.blogspot.com/2012/08/sylvanus-bowser.html

Joseph Brackenridge - Section J, Lot 86 Brackenridge was a judge, first appointed to the Courts of Common Pleas in 1857. He ran for re-election in 1858 and 1860 and served until 1864. Brackenridge had been a Circuit Court Judge in 1846 and was Allen County Prosecuting Attorney from 1846-1851.

Louis Curdes - Section I, Lot 21 Lt. Louis Curdes was Fort Wayne’s first WWII ace, piloting a P-38 Lockheed Lightning. On April 29, 1943, he was attacked by a dozen German planes. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was involved in other major battles, was shot down over Italy and taken prisoner, escaping and reaching Allied lines. He was then assigned to the Pacific theater and achieved the distinction of being only one of three airmen to destroy German, Italian and Japanese aircraft.

Captain Asa Fairfield - Section B, Lot 114 Much of the property south of Creighton was once owned by Fairfield as part of his farm. This property was annexed in 1894 and made a part of the city. Fairfield was a former sea captain who moved to Fort Wayne from Maine in 1835. He constructed the first boat to operate on the canal.

Oscar G. Foellinger - Section A, Lot 90 The Foellingers were one of the most influential German-American families in Fort Wayne in the 20^th century. Oscar became general manager of The News in 1906, after joining the company only twelve years prior as a junior accountant. Oscar died unexpectedly in 1936 on a hunting trip in Canada and his daughter Helene became publisher. The Foellinger Foundation is a lasting legacy of this family and a tribute to Oscar’s campaign to “Build Fort Wayne”.

Colonel David N. Foster -  Section G, Lot 178 Foster was one of the owners of the Foster Shirtwaist Factory. You can see a shirtwaist in our gallery Allen County Innovation. Foster and his brother Samuel donated the land where Foster Park now is located near Bluffton and Old Mill Roads between 1912 and 1913. This occurred as part of a move to improve the overall appearance of Fort Wayne and followed upon George Kessler’s plans for beautification.

John B. Franke - Section I, Lot 59 Franke was the founder of Perfection Biscuit Company in 1901. Franke donated the 80 acres of land on North Sherman for the park that bears his name.

Bert J. Griswold - Section I, Lot 34 If you’re a reader of the Old Fort News, the magazine published by the Historical Society, you’ve likely seen a Griswold cartoon. You’ll find a number of his illustrations in the two-part “History of Fort Wayne” that is for sale in our gift shop. Griswold was the author of “A Pictorial History of Fort Wayne” published in 1917. You can see his portrait in the stairwell at the History Center or on our blog at http://historycenterfw.blogspot.com/2014/09/portraits-in-grand-staircase.html

Olaf N. Guldlin - Section G, Lot 174 Guldlin Park is named for Olaf in one book and another says the park was named for his wife. Olaf outfitted the children’s playground at this park at  his own expense. The play equipment was later destroyed by river ice one winter. Olaf was married to Addie Bleekman Guldin, who was a major advocate for the establishment of playgrounds for children. See http://historycenterfw.blogspot.com/2013/04/signs-of-history-times.html and http://historycenterfw.blogspot.com/2011/03/addie-bleekman-guldlin-notable-reformer.html

Allen & Emerine Jane Hamilton - Section H, Lot 27 Allen was a sheriff in 1824 shortly after Allen County was formed. He formed a partnership with Chief Richardville and amassed a great deal of wealth through land purchases from Richardville’s land reserve. He became postmaster in 1828 and joined with other “civic leaders” in businesses. Hamilton is said to have fraudulently acquired some of his land. Emerine Hamilton, Allen’s wife, took an active interest in the promotion of women’s rights, particularly as they related to ownership of property and the abolishment of “legislative divorces” that allowed men to divorce their wives and take their possessions. She was a friend of Lucy Stone and Susan B. Anthony and pressed the issue of suffrage at First Presbyterian Church. At Emerine’s urging, Allen “introduced a motion in the Presbyterian assembly that ‘the ladies be allowed to vote on the question before the meeting’.” This was not a popular position to take at the time but the Hamiltons prevailed, women gained voting privileges and Elder James Robinson, who vehemently opposed the measure, left the congregation.

Samuel Hanna - Section B, Lots 60 & 61 Hanna was an influential businessman in the early days of Fort Wayne and opened a trading post at the corner of what would become Barr and Columbia Streets in 1819. He was a long-time investor in his adopted cit. You can see his portrait in the stairwell at the History Center or by reading http://historycenterfw.blogspot.com/2014/09/portraits-in-grand-staircase.html Hanna was highly in favor of a canal linking Fort Wayne with the Great Lakes. He became a canal commissioner in 1828. Land values in Fort Wayne increased and Hanna gained wealth by being a major purchaser of property. See also http://historycenterfw.blogspot.com/2013/07/samuel-hanna-founder-of-fort-wayne.html

William Rockhill - Section F, Lot 5 Rockhill was prominent in Fort Wayne in the same time period as Hanna. Rockhill’s land holdings eventually became the West Central neighborhood which at one time was the most prestigious spot in Fort Wayne in which to own a residence. The Rockhill House hotel, built in 1840, was considered the most elegant building in Fort Wayne during its heyday.

Henry W. Rudisill - Section H, Lot 1 Rudisill, a contemporary of Hanna and Rockhill,  built a flour mill on the St. Joseph River. He later constructed a major woolen mill for carding of wool into yarn. Rudisill was instrumental in urging John Barr to bring German immigrants to the city to work. In 1841, Rudisill and S.C. Freeman joined forces to create a regulator group after a number of citizens expressed frustration with the local marshal. The Wayne Guards were short-lived and just one of many groups that tried to bring law and order to the city.

Colonel Thomas Swinney - Section D, Lot 86 Swinney built a federal-style mansion near the St. Mary’s River which still stands today and is the home of The Settlers. The house was the original location of the Historical Society. Swinney is also remembered as a farmer, speculator and entrepreneur. The grounds of the Allen County Fair were once located on a part of Swinney’s farm property. See the blog post http://historycenterfw.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-short-historical-tour-of-central-fort.html and also http://historycenterfw.blogspot.com/2014/04/swinney-home.html

Information for this blog post comes from The History of Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana and Twentieth Century History of Fort Wayne by John Ankenbruck

Civilian Defense in World War II

by Nancy McCammon-Hansen

War and politics make strange bedfellows, so they say, but war can also bring about major changes to “business as usual” in a community. Such is the case of Fort Wayne during World War II. Close to a year ago we brought you a blog post about the work that Jeanne S. Miller and Lorraine H. Weier had completed after two years working on documents of the World War I era Allen County Council of Defense (COD). This year they turned their attention to World War II and so we asked them to share a little of what they learned about that time in Fort Wayne history.

On March 25, 1942, the “New York Times” published an article stating that the possibility of an enemy attack on the continental United States was slim at best. Distances were too great between the continents and even a one-way flight did not seem likely. The United States military did not share this view, nor did Fort Wayne’s residents, who knew that the many defense industries located here could make the city a likely target for an air strike or poison gas attack, especially after the bombing of London in 1941.

Protection of the city was the one and only purpose of WWII’s Fort Wayne Civilian Defense as opposed to the multiple roles that the WWI era organization fulfilled. By WWII, the national government was more centralized, with federal agencies and bureaus that could handle the work that local efforts had accomplished in the past.

Although no air raids against the city occurred, and the NYT was correct, the efforts of the 8100 unpaid citizen volunteers, in league with paid fire and police personnel, led to “many mythological barriers of religion, race and neighborhood prejudice” being “broken down by wide participation. The training and service united the people in their will to victory. It maintained their morale. It taught them discipline and initiative, and skills which would be of use to future generations should another nationwide emergency arise,” said Jeanne and Laurie when asked to reflect on the times and referencing the August 19, 1944 issue of “Civilian Front”.

Just as in WWI, leadership roles were filled by “captains of business and the professions”. Mayor Harry Baals was Director and Police Chief Carter Bowser Commander of the Control Center. Men dominated the group but two women did hold responsible positions: Margaret Ann Keegan chaired the Salvage Committee and Ann Waterfield the Red Cross Motor Corps. In all there were 4,137 wardens, 513 auxiliary police, and 532 auxiliary firemen.

“The enthusiasm for volunteering is illustrated by Mrs. Laura Trowbridge, 311 Brandriff Street, pledging her services, at age 101, to help civilian defense.”

Jeanne and Laurie said there is no clear answer as to why business leaders also held the leadership positions in the Civilian Defense organization, but they speculated that leaders in the group had already demonstrated their abilities and had the experience that would mean they would “naturally be selected for this new task which would require a great deal of organizational ability. The regular police and fire fighting forces were the core of the organization. They already had experience dealing with catastrophes and were most frequently involved in training volunteers to respond appropriately in the event of disaster. The desire to show the soldiers abroad, who were risking so much, that the people at home were likewise doing their part must have been an important motive. One might call this patriotism or service to country, or even self-preservation, but there were many volunteers who cooperated and served without complaint.”

Civilian Defense started on one’s home block. Each block had a warden and an assistant warden who, as residents of the block, likely knew most of the people who lived or worked there. These two inspected each home or building on the block and were warned by the mayor that no “Gestapo” methods were to be employed in fulfilling the task. Since no one knew when an emergency could arise, and because the wardens were trained to look out for the welfare of those in their area, cooperation was high. The WWII era Civilian Defense workers had no authority to investigate loyalty to the government and so prejudice against those of German descent was not as blatant as in WWI days.

In 1942, Civilian Defense conducted surprise blackouts in all parts of the city. Block wardens were responsible for making sure no lights were shining to make the city visible to enemy planes. Vehicles were drive without headlights and streetlights were also extinguished. Air raid warning sirens announced the commencement of a blackout and the approach of an enemy bomber. Minute by minute warnings came via radio. Fire and police were dispatched to find the location of bombs.

A Control Center coordinated transportation and communications. First aid stations, doctor, nurses and ambulances were made ready. As one of the most important and best documented activities of this time, military officials were in the city to determine the effectiveness of the efforts, naming Fort Wayne as an example to be emulated in other parts of the country.

Civilian Defense oversaw US government properties in the city such as 77,748 four-gallon fire extinguishers, 2,825 gas masks and 4,820 military steel helmets. Chicago, which had less need for helmets, somehow acquired more, upsetting our local officials.

The phone number “119” (no, that’s not a typo—it was 119) put the public in immediate touch with fire stations and the Control Center for the reporting of fires and bombs. Materials that the duo cataloged did not uncover where the idea of the “119” phone number originated.

Fort Wayne even “went Hollywood” with the production of the film “Bombs Over Fort Wayne”. Created and produced by Civilian Defense with assistance from WOWO, the film was a look inside the Control Center during a simulated air attack at the corner of Calhoun and Pontiac. After distribution to many other locales, Fort Wayne received a letter of commendation from James M. Landis, the national director of Civilian Defense in Washington, D.C.

Two copies of the script are in the History Center’s archives but no known copy of the film itself is in existence to the best of our knowledge.

All of the training for an air raid paid off in 1943, not when the city was bombed but during a major flood. Auxiliary firemen secured boats and hoses, rescued stranded people and animals, measured the river as it rose, flushed debris from streets and mapped damage.

Sometime in 1943, efforts switched to welcoming veterans home from the war and providing services to them. Families of soldiers were assisted in getting help from the appropriate social service agencies, a corps of chaplains was formed to help deliver the news of casualties to families, and work to provide solutions to postwar social and economic problems begun. As the threat of enemy air raids receded, a history of the war effort was written and donated to the Historical Society by the Fire Department.

A Veterans Aid Committee administered benefits to servicemen as late as July, 1945 and in a story in the April 8, 1944 edition of the “News Sentinel”, the wardens are quoted as saying, “’Let there be no forgotten soldier during or after the war’ is the objective of Civilian Defense in its program for service men and their families.”

Jeanne and Laurie both remember WWII, although from different perspectives.

Laurie’s family lived on a farm in Illinois. She recalls food stamps were needed for items such as beef, sugar and coffee. Gasoline was also rationed but farmers could get all they needed to run their machinery. Auto speeds were limited to 35 mph to save on gas. Feed sacks replaced fabric to make aprons and tablecloths. Laurie walked to school because there were no bicycles available for purchase.

“…I always walked down the country roads to my one-room school house, often seeing Stars in the farm windows of those neighbors who had children in the service. I had two cousins in the service overseas. Whenever family or friends gathered, the conversation would always begin, ‘Did you hear from Joe or Harold this week?’.”

Jeanne was a teenager at this time and remembers R. Nelson Snider, principal at South Side High School, announcing one morning over the loud speaker that President Roosevelt had asked Congress to declare war. Jeanne’s father was chairman of Selective Service Board 98 and so conversation at home concerned the draft. The schools cooperated with the need for military personnel by allowing accelerated courses and early exams for those wishing to enlist.

“Occasionally a young solder or sailor would visit the school while on furlough before being sent overseas. How handsome they were in their uniforms. Patriotism in the school was high. We all knew about the evil Hitler and Mussolini and wanted to stop those dictators. We were less aware of what that would take. The war seemed far away and even exciting. Not until newspaper headlines and movie theater newsreels announced casualties, including the death of my first cousin, Charles Pask, did the enormity of it all strike home to me.”

Scottish Rite History in Fort Wayne

The Scottish Rite is moving out of its building at the corner of Ewing and Berry as St. Francis University has purchased the structure and prepares to expand course offerings and create a new program in Media Entrepreneurship in the Arts.

This remarkable downtown building holds a great many memories for Shrine and Scottish Rite members and is a part of the history of our city.

The Scottish Rite is one order of the Masons, an organization created in 1717 in England that claims George Washington and Benjamin Franklin as members from colonial days in America.

The original Scottish Rite Cathedral in Fort Wayne was on the corner of Washington and Clinton Streets. This building, which sat next door to the Masonic Temple, no longer exists. The Scottish Rite bought the Mizpah Shrine building on West Berry in 1953.

Guy Mahurin, who at the time was one of the better-known architects in Fort Wayne and a member of the Shrine, designed the structure on Berry for the Mizpah Shrine with a façade “intended to create an atmosphere of the orient and yet give it a logical setting in the midst of a modern American city,” according to a history of the Scottish Rite provided to this writer.

Max Irmscher & Sons began construction in April of 1924 with 200 workers, mostly local, taking a year and a half to complete the project at a total cost over $1 million. The ballroom’s excavation took two steam shovels and six weeks to complete. More than 350,000 bricks were used in the building’s construction and led to the structure being considered the most “fire-proof” building in the city at the time.

The facility, which had its grand opening on November 18, 1925, was created to provide Northeast Indiana with some much needed community meeting space for speakers and theatrical productions as well as for large banquets. The original configuration of the auditorium allowed for 2,400 patrons and the lower level banquet hall seated 2,000. Because the Shrine needed the auditorium no more than five days a year, the remainder of the time was filled with other events.

The first of these was a performance of “Aida” by the Chicago Grand Opera Company. This was followed by “The Ziegfield Follies” with Fanny Brice, Mae West in her controversial play “Sex” and Ethel Barrymore in “Scarlet Sister Mary”.

In 1937, due in large part to the Depression, the Mizpah Shrine lost the building, which was purchased by Kaplan Realty for a cost of just over $50,000. Continuing as a community center, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic was one of many groups performing there.

Mayor Harry Baals, with the support of local music groups, stopped a move in 1941 to rip out the main floor seats and turn the auditorium into a bowling alley. But in the 1930s and 1940s, the ballroom was used as an indoor golf course.

The Quimby Theater chain leased the auditorium in 1945 and renamed it Quimby Auditorium. Entertainers such as Victor Borge, Duke Ellington, Tallulah Bankhead and Janet Blair performed in stage productions. The Quimby’s also showed popular movies of the era such as Laurence Olivier’s “Hamlet” and “The Mikado”.

The auditorium remained the home of the Shrine Circus until 1952 when the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum was built.

The Scottish Rite purchased the facility in 1953 and in 1958 undertook a major renovation which updated the building. Use of the structure by community groups continued as well as the hosting of performers such as Imogene Coca, Betty Grable, Marcel Marceau, Eileen Brennan, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, and Peter Nero.

The year 1963 saw the addition of the west building, which housed Scottish Rite administrative offices, the Gentleman’s Lounge, Lodge Room and small dining room.

Popular entertainers continued to perform in the auditorium with Glen Campbell, Jack Hanna, The Temptations and Keith Urban featured on stage at various points.

One of the more interesting facets of the Gentleman’s Lounge was a large flag—12 feet by 16 feet--that was the first official flag flown for a vice president of our country. Thomas Riley Marshall, vice president during Woodrow Wilson’s administration, substituted for Wilson at the opening of the Panama-Pacific Exposition on March 15, 1915. When the fleet commander discovered that Marshall was stepping in for Wilson, he had the flag made at the Navy Yard in San Francisco for the USS Colorado, the battleship designated as flagship.

The flag was first displayed in Fort Wayne at the original Scottish Rite Cathedral on Clinton and East Washington Streets. Similar to the Presidential Flag, it has a white background as opposed to the blue of the president’s flag. Mrs. Marshall, upon the death of her husband, gave to the flag to William Geake, one of the founding members of the Fort Wayne Scottish Rite.

For those of you not familiar with Marshall, he was a prominent lawyer in Indiana, and as our state’s 27^th governor, served amid some controversy over his proposal of progressive reforms to the state constitution.

Marshall’s time as vice president was also not without controversy as he and Wilson disagreed on political ideology, leading Wilson to limit Marshall’s influence and move his office away from the White House. Marshall was the first vice president to conduct cabinet meetings, doing so while Wilson was in Europe. He presided over a Senate during anti-war debates that gridlocked legislation, leading Marshall to move forward on a procedural ruling that filibusters could be ended by a two-thirds majority vote.

Wilson’s advisers and wife, none of whom liked Marshall, kept him from assuming control of the presidency when Wilson suffered a stroke in October, 1919. Although he was urged to forcibly assume the presidency, he declined to do so, fearing this would establish a precedent that was not good for the country. But because there was no strong leadership in the executive branch, the ratification of the League of Nations treaty was defeated thanks to the work of the administration’s opponents and the United States returned to an isolationist foreign policy.

Marshall coined a quote many of us remember: “What this country needs is a really good five-cent cigar.” This was in response to Senator Joseph Bristow’s list of the nation’s needs during Senate debate.

Marshall opened an Indianapolis law practice after serving as vice president, traveled, wrote several legal books and his memoir, “Recollections”. He died on a trip in 1925 after suffering a heart attack.

Even though the Scottish Rite has sold their building, they will continue to be a part of the Fort Wayne community. New office space will soon be announced and if there is room to display Marshall’s flag, it will again be on display. If that is not possible, the flag will be sent to the American Heritage Museum in Massachusetts, also home of the Supreme Council of the fraternity.