First Churches

by Tom Castaldi

Fort Wayne’s first church buildings reveal interesting stories. The Presbyterians built the first church structure during the years 1836 and 1837. A forty by forty feet frame meetinghouse, it was situated on the south side of Berry Street between Lafayette and Barr streets. The Presbyterian congregation, in 1836, established the town’s first year-long school.

  Inside the walls of the church, five other local religious groups held their initial meetings. That list of early worshipers includes some familiar names: the First Baptist Church constituted in 1837; Episcopalians in 1839; St. John’s German Reformed congregation founded in 1843; the Methodist North Indiana Conference organized in 1844; the Trinity English Lutheran Church held its first services there in 1846.  When the county courthouse was deemed too unsafe in 1842, court was convened in the old forty by forty foot church.  The English Lutherans bought the facility in 1846 and installed its original bell in the steeples of its successive buildings.

Trinity English Lutheran c. 1870 from the Randall Estate

During 1846 the English Lutherans separated from the German Lutherans.  The congregation grew slowly, receiving members from among new arrivals from the eastern states as well as American-born children of immigrants and a few Scandinavian Lutherans.  The congregation first worshiped on Sunday afternoons in the First Presbyterian meeting house on Berry Street.  The Presbyterians, in anticipation of moving into a new church, soon sold their fifteen-year old building to the English Lutherans.  When the completion of their new structure was delayed for two years, the Presbyterians were forced to rent their old church from its new Lutheran owners.

Under the leadership of the first full-time ordained minister with pastoral experience, Reverend William Patton Ruthrauff arrived in 1859 and the membership of Trinity English Lutheran doubled. It meant that the parish might now support a larger church.  A lot on the corner of Wayne and Clinton streets was purchased and the cornerstone was laid on July 29, 1863.   By 1864, a gothic-style brick church building was erected.

 In 1868, the Reverend Samuel Wagenhals assumed the pastorate, continuing for fifty-two years, the longest tenure of any Fort Wayne clergyman.  His successor, the Reverend Paul H. Krauss, served the parish for nearly fifty years and led the congregation in the erection of the present facilities on the south side of Wayne Street between Fairfield and Ewing streets.

 

Designed by B.G. Goodhue, one of the leading architects of the Gothic revival style, the church was dedicated in 1925.  From the steeple still rings the town’s oldest church bell.  Originally installed in the steeple of the First Presbyterian Church, the bell first rang in 1837 both as a call to worship and as the town’s “fire alarm.”

In the autumn of 1995 through the spring of 1996, the congregation celebrated its 150^th anniversary.

Originally published in Fort Wayne Monthly “Along the Heritage Trail with Tom Castaldi” – March 2010 No. 64.

 

  Allen County Historian Tom Castaldi is author of the Wabash & Erie Canal Notebook series; hosts “On the Heritage Trail” which is broadcast Mondays on 89.1 fm WBOI; and “Historia Nostra” heard on Redeemer Radio 106.3 fm.  Enjoy his previously published columns on the History Center’s blog “Our Stories” at historycenterfw.blogspot.com.

What this Country Needs is a Good Five Cent Cigar

by Carmen Doyle

“What this country needs is a good five cent cigar” may be the most famous line ever spoken by Thomas R. Marshall, Woodrow Wilson’s Vice President. Another Vice President no one ever heard of,  Marshall was known for his wit, but he had a hard time working under Wilson, who was known for his quick intelligence. Marshall had down home humor. Wilson had political wit.

Marshall was from Columbia City and rose to Indiana governor before being selected as the vice presidential candidate.  Marshall considered himself a progressive and Indiana was an important swing state for Democrats at the time. (Yes, Indiana at one point was Democratic!) He and Wilson did not see eye to eye. Marshall was considered conservative by many in D.C., known for his folksy stories and humor and not his political acumen. The Vice-President has really has only one duty- to be ready to be President. Otherwise, he does whatever the President doesn’t want to do. (Wilson had previously expressed his opinion of the Vice-Presidency, saying that the Vice President’s only importance is that he might cease being Vice President.)

Marshall originally did not want to be Vice President; he only took it at his wife’s request. Marshall felt that the salary was too small--the Vice-President made six times less than the President and had to provide his own housing, as well as his own staff. He was provided with a car, but he had to supply his own gas and tires. Wilson was idealistic and outgoing, everything Marshall was not. Wilson broke tradition by addressing Congress himself, being his own lobbyist. (The majority of Presidents before this had used the Vice President as a go-between.) Marshall was kept out of the loop and was aware that Wilson may not have liked him much. (Marshall once gave Wilson a book inscribed “from your only vice.”)  Marshall was also aware that Wilson would not give any of Marshall’s ideas merit. Marshall was mainly relegated to playing host to various foreign diplomats that Wilson did not want to meet.

When Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke in 1919, leaving him incapacitated, Marshall refused to take over the Presidency.  (The Twenty-fifth Amendment, which allows the Vice President to assume Presidential duties when the President is unable, was not passed until decades years later.) Marshall was also kept uninformed about Wilson’s health, and was the victim of a hoax in which he was told that Wilson had died. But when Marshall went to the White House to see what his next step should be, he found that Wilson was still alive. (It’s believed that many of the Presidential decisions made during this time may have been made by First Lady Edith Wilson, who did not like Marshall.) 

Perhaps the best example of Marshall’s humor and the view of the Vice-Presidency is his statement that, “There were two brothers. One ran away to sea, the other was elected Vice-President, and nothing was ever heard of either of them again.”

Congressman Samuel Brenton of Fort Wayne

by Tom Castaldi

A Gallatin County, Kentucky native, the Reverend Samuel S. Brenton was born in 1810, ordained a Methodist minister at the age of twenty, and began his career as a circuit rider in southern Indiana. When his health failed in 1834, he became a local preacher, studied law and was admitted to the bar, and twice was elected as a representative from Hendricks County to the state legislature. At the end of his second term in 1841, his health had sufficiently improved to permit his return to the active ministry.

Reverend Brenton came to Fort Wayne after accepting an appointment of pastor of the Berry Street Church and the following year was named presiding elder of the Fort Wayne district. In 1848, he suffered a debilitating paralytic stroke and lost the use of the right side of his body. By May 1849, however, he was able to move about on crutches and had recovered sufficiently to be named Registrar of the United States Land Office in Fort Wayne.

Samuel Brenton declared his candidacy for Congress as representative from the Tenth Congressional District in 1851. A man of strong convictions, his speeches cried out in opposition to the extension of slavery outside the old South and urged that the western territories be preserved as “free soil.” He also called for, “the entire and unconditional repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law, believing it immoral, unnecessary and uncalled for.” One consistent theme was his assertion that, “he was independent of all parties, always thought and acted for himself, and that no party could or should dictate to him.” Brenton went against the Democrat Party tide and won. During his first term in Congress he purchased the lot on the northwest corner of Wayne and Van Buren streets now 802 West Wayne Street where he erected the town’s first Italianate-style residence.

In his bid for reelection in 1852, Brenton was defeated in the wake of the disintegration of the Whig party. Soon afterwards, he was named president of the Fort Wayne College. (See Fort Wayne Monthly, March 2006) Five years before, Brenton had given the principal address at the laying of the cornerstone of the college, and he had been tireless in recruiting teachers. In 1849, he had urged the trustees to establish a “male department,” which soon became the Fort Wayne Collegiate Institute; a month after Brenton assumed the presidency, these two institutions were formally merged to become the Fort Wayne College.

In 1854, Brenton entered the race for his former seat in Congress as a Free Soil candidate and won the election. In 1856, under the banner of the newly founded Republican Party, he was reelected. Brenton’s deteriorating health, however, did not allow him to return for the opening of the Thirty-Fifth Congress. He died in Fort Wayne on March 29, 1857, at the age of forty six, and is buried in Lindenwood Cemetery.  

Originally published in Fort Wayne Monthly “Along the Heritage Trail with Tom Castaldi” – February 2010 No. 63. 

 

Allen County Historian Tom Castaldi is author of the Wabash & Erie Canal Notebook series; hosts “On the Heritage Trail” which is broadcast Mondays on 89.1 fm WBOI; and “Historia Nostra” heard on Redeemer Radio 106.3 fm.  Enjoy his previously published columns on the History Center’s blog “Our Stories” at historycenterfw.blogspot.com.

The Purple Heart

by Nancy McCammon-Hansen

At her Mather Lecture on January 4, Marsha Wright brought along the Purple Heart that her father, Morris J. Ringenberg, had won for service at the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. Since many of us have likely never seen a Purple Heart, we thought it would be a good time to write a little about this high honor given to the men and women who have served our country.

A brief examination of the history of the Purple Heart shows that its origins and history are somewhat open to debate, so we have chosen www.thepurpleheart.com as our source for the bulk of the information in this blog post.

A Purple Heart is exactly that—a purple heart with a gold border and the bust of George Washington resting in the middle of the heart. Purple Hearts are awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of the Armed Forces or civilian national of the US who has been wounded, killed or dies after being wounded in action against an enemy of the United States. Those receiving the Purple Heart are not recommended for the honor, as is true for many medals, but are entitled to the medal after meeting certain criteria, not all of which we have listed here. Oak Leaf Clusters are awarded for subsequent injuries and are worn on the medal or a ribbon.

The forerunner to the Purple Heart was the Badge of Military Merit. 

New Windsor, N.Y., in the Hudson Valley, is the home of the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor. New Windsor served as a major depot of the Continental Army and Army Medical Department during the Revolutionary War. It was here that General George Washington created the Badge of Merit to reward the faithfulness of his soldiers. The town of New Windsor has worked hard to preserve the history of this era.

The Continental Congress did not want Washington to grant commissions or promotions to recognize merit but the General saw a need to honor same, especially for enlisted soldiers, who had suffered many hardships in the fight for independence against Great Britain. Washington established the badge on August 7, 1782.

"... The General ever desirous to cherish virtuous ambition in his soldiers, as well as to foster and encourage every species of Military merit directs whenever any singularly meritorious action is performed, the author of it shall be permitted to wear on his facings, over his left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk edged with narrow lace or binding."

Only enlisted men could receive the award and their names were to be kept in a “Book of Merit” that has never been found. But three persons are known to have received the award:

• ·      Sergeant Elijah Churchill, 2nd Continental Dragoons
• ·      Sergeant William Brown, 5^th
• ·      Sergeant Daniel Bissel, 2nd Connecticut Continental Line Infantry

Washington did not want the award to be permanent and so the Badge of Merit was forgotten until the time of World War I when General John J. “Blackjack” Pershing  suggested that an award for merit was needed. 

       In 1932,

“the Purple Heart was created in recognition of Washington's ideals and for the bicentennial of his birth. General Order No.3 announced the establishment of the award:

"...By order of the President of the United States, the Purple Heart, established by General George Washington at Newburgh, August 7, 1782, during the War of the Revolution is hereby revived out of respect to his memory and military achievements.

By order of the Secretary of War:
 Douglas MacArthur 
General, Chief of Staff”

New Windsor was the site of the conferment of the Purple Heart for 138 World War I veterans on May 28, 1932.

According to www.thepurpleheart.com:

“The Purple Heart has undergone many changes with respect to the criteria for being awarded. At first, the Purple Heart was exclusively awarded to Army and Army Air Corps personnel and could not be awarded posthumously to the next of kin. In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order allowing the Navy to award the Purple Heart to Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guard personnel. Also in that year, the Purple Heart was made available for posthumous award to any member of the military killed on or after December 7, 1941.

“Originally the Purple Heart was awarded for meritorious service. Being wounded was one portion of consideration for merit. With the creation of the Legion of Merit in 1942, the award of the Purple Heart for meritorious service became unnecessary and was therefore discontinued. The Purple Heart, per regulation, is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after April 5, 1917 has been wounded, killed, or has died after being wounded.”

Editor's note: For information on members of the military in past wars who were residents in Allen County, go the catalog of the ACPL's Genealogy Center at www.genealogycenter.org and type in "American Legion" and "Fort Wayne".