Fort Wayne city directories start in 1858 with business and city resident addresses. Public domain copies before 1923 are listed on the City Directories page and embeded within the Timeline pages.
1890 - Streetcars came to Fort Wayne in 1871 as a way to easily get around town after the Civil War. They ran on tracks in the ground and were pulled by horses. Relying on horses came with a few problems, such as disease that would shut the whole system down. In 1890, there was a fire that killed several dozen horses in one of the stables. Copied from May 16, 1939; Fort Wayne begins transition from streetcars to buses with several Allen County Public Libraryphotos by Adam Solarczyk posted May 16, 2022 by CBS WANE-TV NewsChannel 15.
1890 - did you ever notice highway signs don't have an apostrophe? Here is why - Since its inception in 1890, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names has discouraged the use of the possessive form—the genitive apostrophe and the “s”. The possessive form using an “s” is allowed, but the apostrophe is almost always removed. The Board's archives contain no indication of the reason for this policy. From USGS U.S. Board on Geographic Names Domestic Names - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) #18
TUESDAY TIDBIT: In 1890, the Indiana State Board of Health did a statewide survey of schools. They found that 71% were poorly ventilated, 30% had an unsafe water supply, and 10% had no outhouse or lavatory.
Source: Ninth annual report of the State Board of Health of Indiana, for the fiscal year ending October 31, 1890 (Indianapolis: William B. Burford, 1891).
The survey also found that many schoolyards had cows and pigs wandering in them, because no fences had been put up.
Summer is the perfect time for Hoosiers to enjoy the great outdoors via a bike ride, but women have not always had access to such leisure activity. In the late 19th century, social critics feared that bike riding would make women unfeminine and perhaps corrupt their innocence. By the 1890s, bicycling became a symbol for the fight for women’s equality and freedom. With the bicycle, women no longer depended entirely upon men for transportation and no longer were encumbered by layers of petticoats. Learn more via our Indiana History Blog: Being a “Bicyclienne:” Balancing Freedom and Femininity
Got your spring seeds ready? January is National Mail Order Gardening Month 🌻🌷🍓
🥕! Here's a little inspiration, via our Seed Catalog collection, which includes over 10,000 seed and nursery catalogs from the 19th and 20th centuries.
1890, June 2 - the census enumerator, started recording the 10th U.S. Federal Census. January 10, 1921, a fire in the Commerce Department building, Washington, DC, destroyed most of the 1890 census. Congress ordered the destruction of the remaing records in 1933.
#TBT On this day in 1890 the Washington Post published a letter that was the catalyst for the creation of the Daughters of the American Revolution! Who wrote this article and how did it spark the creation of the nation’s largest women’s organization? Check out these items from the NSDAR Archives to find out and learn more!
1890, December 29 - 297 Sioux Indians were killed by federal agents and members of the 7th Cavalry at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. 200 of the 297 victims were women and children.
On this day 131 years ago, on January 1, 1892, a 15-year-old Irish girl named Annie Moore became the first of the more than 12 million immigrants who would pass through the doors of the Ellis Island Immigration Station in its 62 years of operation. Today in History - January 1
On January 1, 1892, Annie Moore from County Cork, Ireland, became the first immigrant processed at New York’s Ellis Island Immigration Station. It was her 15th birthday.
Moore and her younger brothers were some of the 12 million immigrants processed at Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. After arriving in New York City, Moore settled in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where she married and formed a large family of her own.
Learn more about Moore from her 1900 Census record.
September 8, 1892 "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
June 14 1923 - "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
December 28, 1945 Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance.
June 14, 1954 - "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister and one of the founders of the Society of Christian Socialists, composed the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892, intending that school children recite it as part of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the New World. The pledge was very well received and soon became part of every school’s morning rituals.
The pledge as Bellamy composed it was: “I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Children would begin with their hand over their hearts, then extend their right arm toward the flag, palm up, when they got to the words “my flag.” During World War II the arm-extension (called “the Bellamy salute”) was eliminated because of its resemblance to the Nazi salute.
In 1954, during the height of the Cold War, the words “under God” were added to the Pledge to distinguish America from the godless Soviets (one critic of the Pledge had argued that as originally written, “even little Muscovites could say it”).
Bellamy lived in Tampa, Florida during the last years of his life, dying there in 1931 at age 76.
The Pledge of Allegiance, written by Francis Bellamy, was first published on September 8, 1892, one hundred thirty-one years ago today
The photo shows school children reciting the Pledge and giving the Bellamy salute.
First column, 3. Salute to the Flag, by the pupils. The Youth's Companion 1892-09-08: Vol 65 Iss 36, Publication date 1892-09-08 on Archive.org At a signal from the Principal the pupils, in ordered ranks, hands to the side, face the Flag. Another signal is given; every —_ gives the Flag the military salute—right hand lifted, palm downward, to a line with the forehead and close to it. Standing thus, all repeat together, slowly: ‘I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.’’ At the words, ‘‘to my Flag,”’ the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, towards the Flag, and remains in this gesture till the end of the affirmation; whereupon all hands immediately drop to the side. Then, still standing, as the instruments strike a chord, all will sing AMERICA—‘“*My Country, ’tis of Thee.”
From today's Writer's Almanac: It was on this day in 1892 that the Pledge of Allegiance was recited en masse for the first time, by more than 2 million students. It had been written just a month earlier by a Baptist minister named Francis Bellamy, who published it in Youth's Companion and distributed it across the country. It was recited on this day to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the Americas. It was slightly shorter in its 1892 version: "I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands — one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
After that, it got revised twice, and both revisions made the Pledge wordier. The first was in 1923, when it was changed from "my flag" to "the flag of the United States of America." This change was made to ensure that immigrants were pledging to the American flag and not the flags of their home countries. The second change was to add the words "under God." A few determined preachers worked for years to get it changed, but it wasn't until 1954 that it was amended. President Eisenhower attended a sermon by the Reverend George Docherty, who said: "Apart from the mention of the phrase, 'the United States of America,' this could be a pledge of any republic. In fact, I could hear little Muscovites repeat a similar pledge to their hammer-and-sickle flag in Moscow with equal solemnity." Eisenhower was convinced and within a few months the Pledge was amended to include "under God" as a way to distinguish this country from the Soviet Union.
1892, November 29 - the first patent for the rotary dial telephone was awarded, was first introduced in 1904, did not enter service in the Bell System until 1919, and was popular until 1962 when "Touch-Tone" technology with new "push-button dial" phones became more popular.
1893: Nix v. Hedden decision by the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed that the tomato should be classified as a vegetable rather than a fruit under the ordinary meaning of the words "fruit" and "vegetable," where a tomato is classified as a vegetable, instead of the botanical meaning where a tomato is a fruit. From WIkipedia.
1893 - The last reported wild deer was killed in Knox County in 1893. See our Deer page.
1893, June 12 - End of an Era - historian Frederick Jackson Turner delivered an academic paper saying that the American Frontier had closed based on 1890 Census data that showed that migration from the East, the building of railroads and hundreds of new towns had combined to forge a single nation from coast-to-coast.
On April 14, 1894, the editors of the Indiana Farmer wrote about soybeans: “In this country experiments are being made with the plants for forage. It remains to be seen whether it is adapted to our climate. They are not quoted in our seed catalogs.”
The editors raised the legitimate question about whether soybeans could grow successfully in Indiana. The next spring Adrian A. Parsons, likely after a few years of experimentation, planted the first of successive crops of the legume on his Hendricks County farm. Parsons’ advocacy for planting soybeans earned him the moniker “the soybean crank” from his more-skeptical fellow farmers.
Parsons, however, was proved correct as the crop becamemore widely grown in the 1920s and 1930s. By 1939, Indiana ranked second in the nation in soybean production with over 1.3 million acres planted.
The image below shows Parsons feeding a pig soybeans, courtesy of Soyinfo Center.
Question in the comments: is there any way of finding out what my Grandfather grew on his farm?
There certainly is! There are a number of ways you might find information such as this but a good starting place is the National Agricultural Statistics Services. They have surveys of agricultural products being produced by county going all the way back to the 1860s. You can check it out here: https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/ If you want more detailed information, you might reach out to your county historian or local historical society as they often have great resources on local history. You can find a list of local history resources by county here: https://indianahistory.org/.../find-who-you-need-by-county/
#OTD in 1894, the editors of the periodical “Indiana Farmer” wrote the following about soybeans: “In this country...
On July 4, 1922, a plaque and historical monument was dedicated in Kokomo to commemorate Elwood Haynes’ first ride in his experimental gasoline powered automobile. The ride took place on July 4, 1894. This photograph of Haynes and his first automobile was taken during the monument dedication. Haynes donated the car to the Smithsonian, and it is one of the earliest made cars in the museum’s collection. Elwood Haynes with car and historical marker
Today in 1857: Auto pioneer Elwood Haynes is born. This 1894 automobile, known as the Haynes "Pioneer," was donated to the Smithsonian in 1910 by Haynes, its designer. Built in Kokomo, Indiana, it could reach 7 or 8 miles per hour.
On this day in 1894, Elwood Haynes tested his Pioneer gasoline-powered car for the first time in Kokomo, Indiana. Haynes...
On this day in 1894, Elwood Haynes tested his Pioneer gasoline-powered car for the first time in Kokomo, Indiana. Haynes later became the first one to produce a commercially build gasoline-powered automobile in Indiana. Pictured here is Haynes with his automobile in 1922.
Bicycles were a revolutionary means of transport for women during the Reconstruction era. Three decades after Civil War era hoop skirts, Herbert Luey patented this bicycle habit: a skirt and trousers combination to “permit the greatest possible freedom of movement.”
1895, June 1 - Ft. Wayne, Ind May 23 - A shocking accident occurred yesterday during the parade of Ringling's circus. A horse attached to a buddy standing on Columbia Street took fright at the elephants and plunged into a crowd of women and children; injuring at least 18 people and shashing six baby carriages. The dead: Mrs. Eliza LeMay, struck square in the face and died shortly afterward without regaining consciousness. The fatally injured: Mrs. Frederick Wehner had scalp wound and internally injured; will die. Harry Wehner, 3 years old, skull fractured, will die. The others are all badly bruised about the head and body, but not fatally hurt. Suits will be brought against the proprietors of the circus. Copied from the Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana Weekly Argus News June 1, 1895 page 7 in December 2017 by Karen Zach county co-ordinator for Montgomery County, INGenWeb.
1896
1896 - Wing & Mahurin, architects, Fort Wayne, Ind 1896 - Wing & Mahurin, drawings ... a record of a few of the many buildings erected from plans prepared by us and under our supervision, and many sketches on file in our office of public institutions, municipal buildings, schools, churches, residences, etc. ... Archive.org.
1896, May 18 - The Supreme Court issued its decision on Plessy v. Ferguson. It gave constitutional credence to segregation in public spaces that would stand until Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
1896, August 6 - a book The silver question, an address ... - Taylor, Robert S, DELIVERED AT FORT WAYNE, IND., AUGUST 6, 1896, BEFORE THE SOLDIERS' SONS AND CITIZENS' REPUBLICAN CLUB at Archive.org.
1896, October 15 - the first Rural Free Delivery post offices were established in Indiana at Hartsville and Hope. The service delivered mail directly to rural residents and eliminated the need to pick up mail at distant post offices or pay for delivery. John Wanamaker, U.S. Postmaster General from 1889 to 1893 reasoned that with Rural Free Delivery, businesses could expand their markets, important information could be spread more quickly in rural areas, and young people might be more likely to stay on the farm if things like magazines and mail delivery items were more readily available. In the early years of Rural Free Delivery, everything from lard pails to old cigar boxes were used as mailboxes, but by 1901 it was decided that a standardized box would improve service. From then on out, specifications had to be met. Copied from an October 15, 2022 post by the Indiana Historical Bureau on Facebook.
April 19, 2024 post on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook. City Livery Stable on Wayne Street, 1890s
"The 1900 City Directory listed seventeen(!) livery stables, with the majority of them being located on Broadway, Main and Harrison Streets." - Fred J. Reynolds (Photo via ACPL)
The same photo of City Livery Stable Wayne Street, near Calhoun Street, looking west, Pen Eng Co. Detroit, from page 62 of Fort Wayne illustrated Publication date 1897 on Archive.org. Several other advertisements show horses in their photos. Photo discussed July 31, 2024 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook. April 19, 2024 Facebook with the same photo stated:: "The 1900 City Directory listed seventeen(!) livery stables, with the majority of them being located on Broadway, Main and Harrison Streets." - Fred J. Reynolds.
1897, January 18: the Indiana Pi Bill #246 submitted, then almost passed February 5 by the 1897 Indiana General Assembly was actually a method to square the circle, rather than to establish a certain value for the mathematical constant π (pi), the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.
On January 18, 1897, Representative Taylor I. Record introduced House Bill 246, also known as the "Pi Bill," to the Indiana General Assembly. Amateur mathematician Dr. Edwin J. Goodwin authored the bill, declaring the value of pi to be 3.2, rather than 3.14.
The House unanimously passed the bill, but before the Senate could vote, Purdue professor Dr. Clarence Waldo convinced members of the theory's inaccuracy. Although HB 246 was shelved, it garnered much ridicule.
ON THIS DAY // On On February 5, 1897, Lawmakers in Indiana almost passed a bill that erroneously changed the value of pi to a solid 3.2. You can read the full story here: http://bit.ly/1UpaNOI via Purdue Agricultural Economics
1897, March - the Indiana General Assembly passed a law requiring doctors and midwives who wished to practice medicine to procure a license. Read more in the June 3, 2013 Indiana News monthly by the Indiana Genealogical Society.
1897, April 19 - the first Boston Marathon is run.
The famous "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" editorial was first published 125 years ago, in 1897. This now-iconic response to 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon's question about Santa's existence was written by Francis Church for The Sun newspaper in New York. This clipping shows that original version!
1898 - the Welcome Arch 1898 historic photo was posted in a newly opened Meijer store and discussed May 27, 2022 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook. It is explained in the article Street fair a festive affair in 1898 where B.J. Griswold gave it just a brief mention in his well-known history of Fort Wayne, when he wrote, "A street fair of large proportions was held in October 1898." But at the time, to the 45,000 residents of Fort Wayne, the 1898 Street Fair and Carnival was the biggest thing to hit this town since H.W. Meyer puttered down Main Street with the first horseless carriage the year before. Copied from a longer article by Richaed Battin published July 14, 1993 in the Summit City History Notes in the
The News-Sentinel newspaper. The photo is from the Fort Wayne's Welcome Arch photo with the Description: Photograph of Welcome Arch at Calhoun Street and Lewis Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is on the right. and Source: Photograph : black and white ; 10 x 8 inches; Handwritten on back: "Probably Calhoun at Lewis with Cathedral at right, 1898.". A similar photo is also labeled Fort Wayne's Welcome Arch with the Description: Photograph of Welcome Arch and clown on Calhoun Street , Fort Wayne, Indiana. Source: Photograph : black and white ; 5 x 6 9/16 inches; Handwritten on back: "Reprints from negative: Bob Parker, 2447 Broadway, 456-3271." Several more result on a Calhoun Street search at the History Center Digital Collection on the mDON mastodon Digital Object Network.
The Indiana Woman - later known as Illustrated Indiana Weekly - included stories, society mentions and photos. The March 19, 1898 issue gave tips on “making exposures” since it relied on reader-submitted photos for content. The Indiana woman, 1898-03-19#Indiana#women#photo
1898, April 11 - U.S. President William McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war with Spain. Congress would debate the resolution for almost two weeks and would not officially declare war against Spain until April 25, 1898. Act of April 25, 1898, Public Law 55-69, 30 STAT 364, which declared war between the United States and Spain.
1898, April 25 - Governor James A. Mount called for 4000 volunteers to fight in the war with Spain. Response was strong and Indiana was the first state in the nation to meet its quota. From an April 25, 2013 post by Indiana Historical Bureau on Facebook.
France in 2000, as envisaged in 1899. Some tech is wonderfully prescient: we've versions of Zoom, the Roomba, drone deliveries. Other visions less so, particularly those anticipating a life beneath the waves, of underwater croquet and whale buses... Lost Futures: A 19th-Century Vision of the Year 2000
1899 - first successful goldfish farm in the United States was opened in Martinsville, Indiana.Grassyfork Fisheries was established in 1899 by Eugene Shireman in Martinsville, Indiana. Shireman inherited swampy land in Martinsville that was ill-suited for farming and at the time goldfish were gaining popularity within the United States. The first goldfish had arrived from China around 20 years prior and there were limited sources within the United States. Indiana: First in Goldfish Farms? December 9, 2018 by OrangeBean.com. The "Goldfish Capital of the World" might be closer than you think by Mitch Legan, posted May 13, 2022 at IndianaPublicMedia.org.
Grassyfork Fisheries Historical Video by Ozark Fisheries Sep 10, 2021
on YouTube.
Grassyfork Fisheries was started in 1899 and is one of the oldest continuously operated private fish farms in the United States. Grassyfork was acquired by Ozark Fisheries in the 1970s and continues to raise goldfish and koi. This historical video is a TV feature from the late 1930s or early 1940s.
UPDATE: The Grassyfork Fisheries property was recently sold to a preservation-minded buyer! Thanks to everyone for your support of this historic structure and of the Morgan County Historic Preservation Society!
Throwing it WAY back this #tbt. Our Indiana location, founded in 1899, was originally named Grassyfork Fisheries. We've heard a few stories that local folks out raccoon hunting, could find their way out of the woods on dark nights by looking for the neon Grassyfork sign.
Grassyfork Fisheries raised not only goldfish but also lilies and other types of plants for fish ponds, trees, and beef cattle. Water lilies were displayed in the glass conservatory on the east side of the building (facing the state highway). See the next image for a view of the interior.
Mary E. Landon is believed to be the first woman in the United States to drive a gas powered automobile. Landon was the cousin of Elmer Apperson, founder of the Haynes-Apperson Wagon Company in Kokomo, Indiana. In the fall of 1899, she and Mr. Apperson drove downtown. He did not go back to factory, but he left the vehicle, asking her to drive it back.
As Mary Elizabeth tells it; "As Mr. Elmer Apperson and I drove to town for lunch one day in 1899 he said, 'I will not be out to the factory til late this afternoon. I want you to drive the auto back after lunch'. And I did -- the whole one and a half mile trip."
She gave up driving quickly because she said the roads were "too crowded." In the spring of 1905, Mr. and Mrs. Landon moved back to Elkhart and opened the first automobile shop in the city. #IndianaTrivia
Fighting for healthy milk, page 12 of the 16-page Public Health in March 1989 The Indiana Historian A Magazine Exploring Indiana History . Cartoon on right caption: According to Rice (161) “in 1896 it was a very serious matter indeed if a mother could not nurse her own child. . . . few such children even lived to adult life. . . . The biggest reason for all this was . . . the very poor quality of the milk which was available for baby feeding and for use by the public in general.” This cartoon by Gaar Williams visualizing the situation appeared in the Indianapolis News (date unknown, circa 1900). The caption reads, “It looks like a tough battle for the little fellow” (Rice, 163). Williams was a famous Hoosier cartoonist.
Have you ever wondered how we arrived at our current dairy regulations? Well here’s part of the story. From Deborah Blum and Undark.org, here’s how an obscure Indiana public health official pioneered a campaign against tainted dairy products at the turn of the 20th century.
At the turn of the 20th century, Indiana was widely hailed as a national leader in public health issues. This was almost entirely due to the work of two unusually outspoken scientists. Harvey W. Wiley, the father of the “Pure Food and Drugs Act.”
One was Harvey Washington Wiley, a one-time chemistry professor at Purdue University who had become chief chemist at the federal Department of Agriculture and the country’s leading crusader for food safety. The other was John Newell Hurty, Indiana’s chief public health officer, a sharp-tongued, hygiene-focused — cleanliness “is godliness” — official who was relentlessly determined to reduce disease rates in his home state.
The Pure Food and Drug Act was signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 30, 1906, regulating for the first time the traffic of adulterated or mislabeled food and drug products.
FRIDAY FACT: Indiana passed a law in February 1899 prohibiting railroads from being built on any land that was being used as a cemetery. The penalty for violating this law was a fine of between $50 and $500. Source: Acts of 1899, Chapter 14, as appears in "Laws of the State of Indiana, passed at the sixty-first regular session of the General Assembly" (Indianapolis: William B. Burford, 1899)."
FRIDAY FACT: In March 1899, the Indiana legislature passed a law aimed at protecting workers. It said that children under the age of 16 could not work more than 60 hours a week, or 10 hours a day, and women could not work in any factory jobs between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am. Factories had to provide at least 1 toilet for every 25 workers they had.
Source: Laws of the State of Indiana passed at the sixty-first regular session of the General Assembly, begun on the fifth day of January A.D. 1899 (Indianapolis: William R. Burford, 1899).
1899, May 2 - German drug maker Bayer registers Aspirin as a trademark in US.
#OTD in 1900, before a crowd of 15,000 "whooping and hurrahing" people at Indianapolis's Military Park, William Jennings Bryan received news of his nomination for president and Adlai Stevenson for the vice presidency.
A brilliant orator, Bryan "sounded the keynote of the Democratic national campaign" by delivering a speech entitled “Imperialism,” a policy which he opposed in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War. As with the 1896 and 1908 elections, Bryan lost the presidency to the Republican Party.
1899, September 13 - Henry H. Bliss, a pedestrian in New York City, was the first person struck and killed by an automobile in the United States. He died the next day on September 14, 1899.
TUESDAY TIDBIT: In 1899, Indiana first started using voting machines in elections. The machines had to be able to show the tickets of 7 political parties, and voters had 3 minutes to cast their vote.
Source: Laws of the State of Indiana, passed at the sixty-first regular session of the General Assembly (Indianapolis: William B. Burford, 1899).
