Allen County, Indiana Genealogy

The Thirteenth Indiana State Fair was held in Fort Wayne from Monday, October 2 to Saturday, October 7, 1865. Fort Wayne was incorporated 25 years earlier as a city in Allen County 41 years as a county in 1824, with less than 20,000 city inhabitants. Transportation was mainy by horse or train.

1. The 1865 Indiana State Fair was held from October 2 to October 7 in Lawton Park that was established January 24, 1864.
2. 41 years earlier Allen County was designated in late 1823 as a county taking effect on April 1, 1824.
3. 25 years earlier the city City of Fort Wayne was incorporated on February 22, 1840 from the City of Fort Wayne Facts page.
4. The 1865 Fort Wayne City directory on page 10 said the city population in 1860 was 10,300, at the present time, from the rapid growth of the past three years, the population must exceed 16,000. The 1866 Fort Wayne City directory on page 10 said the population was likely around 20,000 in 1866. A couple of paragraphs above this it says 1825 when the first plat was laid of the town was made, and it was laid out as the Town of Fort Wayne. [ Griswold's pictorial below says 2,100 admissions which is over 10% if the city population was round 20,000. Neither directory seems to mention the state fair? ]
5. The 1865 Fort Wayne City directory on page 10said the Wabash & Erie Canal , completed from the west in 1838, and from the east in the fall of 1842, thus connecting Fort Wayne with Lake Brie, at Toledo.The same paragraph also says the era of Plank Roads was in 1848. It then discusses the railroads. The Ohio & Indiana R. R. was first located, in 1852, and completed in 1851. The Fort Wayne & Chicago R. R. commenced in 1854, and completed in 1857, which two roads being consolidated with the Ohio & Pennsylvania R. R., constitute the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago R. R. Company, making a line 467 miles in length, and inferior in importance to no road in the United States, and equal to any in its management and success. Next followed the Toledo & Western Railroad, located in 1854 and completed in 1856, connecting Lake Erie with the Mississippi.
6. Indiana State Fair on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
7. December 27, 2024 post on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook asked about any photos of this Indiana State Fair. Raises the question when did newspaper and other publications start publishing photo for the Fort Wayne area? September 4, 1888 is when George Eastman patented the Kodak roll-film which likely led to easily available photographs of everyday events. One of the earliest known photos is the 1852 daugerreotype photograph of the blockhouse of the 1816 Fort Wayne. The Fourth Day October 5, 1865 newspaper article mentioned photographs were displayed.

Page 472 from The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River Volume 1 by Griswold, B. J. (Bert Joseph), 1873-1927; Taylor, Samuel R., Mrs, Publication date: 1917 on Archive.org.

LAWTON PARK.

The city authorities, supported by a growing civic pride, purchased, on the 24th of January, 1864, the major portion of the lands which now comprise Lawton Park. In the beginning the tract was known as the City park, later as North Side park and, finally, in honor of General Henry W. Lawton, by its present name.

The purchase was made from William Fleming, S. B. Bond, C. D. Bond, W. H. Jones, Hugh B. Reed, Henry J. Rudisill and J. W. Dawson at a ccst of $35,500. The balance of the tract was purchased in 1866 and 1881 from Mathias Mettler for an additional sum of $37,255. In 1872 the city council donated to the Fort Wayne, Jackson and Saginaw (New York Central) railroad twenty acres of the west portion of the park for a right-of-way and railroad shops.

FIRST COUNCILMANIC ACTION ON PARK PURCHASES.

The first action taken by the city council toward the purchase of park lands — other than that of the acquiring of Old Fort park in 1863 — was that of the evening of November 14, 1865, when the council "Resolved, That the mayor and city attorney be and are hereby required to communicate to the city council their opinion as to whether the city can purchase real estate for parks or public grounds upon bonds or evidence of debt in payment therefor."

FORT WAYNE ENTERTAINS THE STATE FAIR.

Fort Wayne drew to itself enviable attention as the city of entertainment of the Indiana State Fair in 1865. In response to an invitation from the Allen County Horticultural society, supported by liberal financial contributions from citizens, the exhibition was held from the 2d to the 7th of October on grounds which now form a portion of Lawton park.

Several large, barn-like buildings were erected for the displays and the fair was opened under favorable conditions. The gates registered 2,100 admissions and the total receipts from all sources amovmted to $14,000, which figure was far in excess of the expenditures for premiums and all other financial obligations.

For convenience a pontoon bridge was built across the St. Mary's river to connect the grounds with the town. A swampy section of the fair grounds was converted into a small lake from the center of which spouted a fountain fed from the waters of the feeder canal.

Among the leading local promoters of the exposition were I. D. G. Nelson, a leader in horticulture; Robert S. Taylor, who had charge of Fine Arts hall, and Henry J. Rudisill, superintendent of the Floral hall.

Fort Wayne manufacturers were well represented at the fair. Included among these were : French, Hanna and Company, woollen cloth and yarn; Peter Kline and Kelcher and Saxton, boots and shoes; Weiser and Company, tanned leather; I. N. Topliff, carriages; C. Stanley and Thomas Stevens, wagons ; C. Schmidt and Company, files ; Olds, Hanna and Company', wheels ; Bass and Hanna and Murray and Bennigan, engines.

In conjunction with the state fair the Indiana Pomological society held its sessions and drew to Fort Wayne some of America's leading fruit growers.

During the fair Governor Oliver P. Morton addressed a large street audience from the balcony of the Aveline house. The fire department entertained the visitors with a parade and a demonstration of the efiiciency of the fire-fighting equipment of the town.

Did you know? In 1865, the Indiana State Fair was held on the north bank of the St. Marys in Lawton Park, and for many years, the Allen County Fair was also held on this river just west of downtown in what is now Swinney Park. #FortWayne

— Riverfront Fort Wayne (@RiverfrontFW) September 24, 2018

September 24, 2018 Tweet by Riverfront Fort Wayne:

Did you know? In 1865, the Indiana State Fair was held on the north bank of the St. Marys in Lawton Park, and for many years, the Allen County Fair was also held on this river just west of downtown in what is now Swinney Park. #FortWayne

1865

In the late 1860's and 1870's Fort Wayne was home to sixty saloons which thought to be the root of the growth of a...

Posted by Indiana Historical Bureau on Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Tuesday, April 25, 2017 post by Indiana Historical Bureau on Facebook

In the late 1860's and 1870's Fort Wayne was home to sixty saloons which thought to be the root of the growth of a criminal underworld in the city.

One big player in that criminal underworld was Ed Ryan. Ryan and his gang set up shop at a saloon situated on Railroad Street. From this saloon, the gang members would prey upon the unsuspecting travelers who were new to the city.

The state fair of 1865 was held in Fort Wayne and provided Ryan and his group of troublemakers with nearly twenty thousand new pockets fit for picking. Apart from picking pockets, the gang also set up quite the elaborate scheme in their saloon; "In this den, after a drink or so, a trapdoor opened and a blow on the head sent the victim to the cellar to be robbed. Many a sucker was drugged and robbed of his last penny in this drive."

In the years following the State Fair, the heyday of the Ryan Gang was over. Traffic on local railroads decreased, possibly due to the gang activity, and finally Ed Ryan was arrested for attempted theft. Before he could be tried, he escaped to Canada where he was later arrested and deported, as the following article from the Fort Wayne Daily Gazette reports.

Read more in Crime and Crinoline by Bessie K. Roberts published in Volume 41, Issue 4, December 1945 Indiana Magazine of History published online by the Indiana University Department of History.