#Wabash County

[the-bridgehunters-chronicles]

BHC Pic of the Week Nr. 262

Also Mystery Bridge Nr. 204 Basketball season is just around the corner and what perfect time it is but to play a game of basketball, regardless if it is one on one, three on three, etc. Or one can play a game of HORSE. This bridge in Liberty Mills, Indiana provides a perfect spot for that purpose. Imagine a beautiful Fall afternoon and you are looking for something to do- something for your…

[autotrails]

American Auto Trail-Western Williams County (Ohio Turnpike to Bryan OH)

American Auto Trail-Western Williams County (Ohio Turnpike to Bryan OH) https://youtu.be/ie009iogcVY This American auto trail traverses western Williams County, Ohio, passing through Edon and Blakeslee to Bryan.

[nobrashfestivity]

Mollusks,

INHS MOLLUSK COLLECTION

Illinois Natural History Survey • Prairie Research Institute

ELLIPSE Venustaconcha ellipsiformis (Conrad, 1836)

INHS 4137. Rock River, Illinois. Length: 2.9 inches (7.4 cm).

ELKTOE Alasmidonta marginata (Say, 1818)

INHS 11754. Blackberry Creek, Kendall County, Illinois.  Length: 2.8 inches (7.1 cm)

PONDHORN Uniomerus tetralasmus (Say, 1831) INHS 7807. Mississippi River, Perry County, Missouri. Length: 4.0 inches (10.2 cm).

ELEPHANT-EAR, Elliptio crassidens (Lamarck, 1819)

INHS 2655. Ohio River, Pulaski County, Illinois.  Length: 4.2 inches (10.7 cm).

ORANGE-FOOT PIMPLEBACK, Plethobasus cooperianus (Lea, 1834)

INHS 186. Cumberland River, Cumberland County, Kentucky. Length: 2.5 inches (6.4 cm).

MONKEYFACE, Quadrula metanevra (Rafinesque, 1820)

INHS 6221. Wabash River, Tippecanoe County, Indiana. Length: 2.4 inches (6.1 cm).

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this Chicago Tribune story:

After several years of litigation, a Cook County judge has found operations at Trump Tower violated state and federal environmental laws that protect the fish in the Chicago River, the Illinois attorney general’s office announced Wednesday.

“The Chicago River is one of our city’s most treasured natural resources, providing opportunities for recreation and commerce,” Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement. “For years, Trump Tower failed to follow state and federal regulations that protect the health of the Chicago River and the balance of critical aquatic ecosystems therein. All entities — no matter who they are — must be held accountable when they willfully disregard our laws. I am pleased with this decision, and I am committed to continuing to vigorously enforce our environmental laws.”

Cook County Circuit Judge Thaddeus L. Wilson on Monday granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs, finding Trump International Hotel & Tower at 401 N. Wabash Ave. liable on all counts. This means there will be no trial. Raoul’s office is seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief, to be determined by the court at a future hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

“Effectively, what was found is, there’s no question that they have done all the things that they were accused of doing,” Margaret Frisbie, executive director of Friends of the Chicago River, told the Tribune.

A lawsuit filed in 2018 by then-Attorney General Lisa Madigan alleged the cooling system intake structure at Trump Tower siphoned water from the river so powerfully that it sucked in fish and trapped them against its screens, resulting in the death of thousands of aquatic organisms. Because of the system’s capability to pull in more than 20 million gallons of water from the river per day, federal law required extensive studies of its environmental impact and of fish populations in the river. The building also pumps water back into the river that is up to 35 degrees hotter.

Advocates say the Chicago River is healthier now than it has been the past 150 years. It is home to all kinds of animals, including migratory birds, beavers and turtles, as well as 80 species of fish — up from fewer than 10 in the 1970s. The system has become a natural resource for local businesses and recreation.

[deadpresidents]

Vice Presidential Profiles: Thomas Riley Marshall (VP #28)

THOMAS RILEY MARSHALL 28th Vice President of the United States (1913-1921)

Full Name: Thomas Riley Marshall Born: March 14, 1854, North Manchester, Wabash County, Indiana Religion: Presbyterian College: Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana Career Before the Vice Presidency: Lawyer, Columbia City, Indiana (1875-1909); Unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Prosecuting Attorney of Whitley County, Indiana (1880); 27th Governor of Indiana (January 11, 1909-January 13, 1913) Political Party as Vice President: Democratic State Represented as Vice President: Indiana Term as Vice President: March 4, 1913-March 4, 1921 Length of Vice Presidency: 8 years, 0 days Age at Inauguration: 58 years, 355 days Served: President Wilson (1st term and 2nd term)/32nd Administration (1913-1917) and 33rd Administration (1917-1921)/63rd Congress (1913-1915), 64th Congress (1915-1917), 65th Congress (1917-1919), and 66th Congress (1919-1921) Post-Vice Presidential Career: Lawyer, Indianapolis, Indiana (1921-1925); Author (1921-1925); Appointed by President Harding to serve as a member of the Lincoln Memorial Commission (1921), Appointed by President Harding to serve as a member of the Federal Coal Commission (1922-1923) Died: June 1, 1925, Washington, D.C. Age at Death: 71 years, 79 days Cause of Death: Heart attack Buried: Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana

Random Facts About Vice President Marshall: •On August 27, 1858, 4-year-old Thomas Riley Marshall accompanied his father, Daniel, to Freeport, Illinois, where Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas were engaging in the second of seven debates which would go down in history as the epic "Lincoln-Douglas Debates". Little "Tommy" was too young to understand what was going on, but he had the best seat in the house. When Lincoln spoke, Tommy Marshall sat on the lap of Senator Douglas. When Douglas spoke, Marshall sat on the lap of Abraham Lincoln. •While Marshall attended college, he wrote an article for the school newspaper about a visiting female speaker who gave a lecture on campus at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The woman felt Marshall had crossed the line and sued the future Vice President for libel in 1872. Each side lawyered up with notable legal representation. The plaintiff hired Lew Wallace, who was a Union General during the Civil War, later became Governor of the New Mexico Territory, and is best-known today as the author of Ben-Hur. Marshall found himself a lawyer in Indianapolis that was also a former Union General during the Civil War and who would later surpass even Wallace's political accomplishments. Marshall's lawyer was able to make it clear to the plaintiff that Marshall's comments might have been in poor taste, but they were likely true, and the case was dropped. Marshall's attorney was future President Benjamin Harrison. •After beginning his own law career, Marshall fell in love with a young woman named Kate Hooper, but she died shortly after they were engaged to be married. Marshall was devastated by her death and began drinking heavily. Alcoholism took a toll on Marshall's health, career, and reputation until he finally married Lois Kimsey in 1895. Lois helped Marshall quit drinking, which gave him the focus to begin his political career. He didn't win his first political election until he was 54 years old.

•In 1909, Marshall -- as Governor of Indiana -- installed the final brick to complete the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the site of the Indianapolis 500. •Marshall was not Woodrow Wilson's first choice as his Vice President in 1912. In fact, Marshall wasn't Wilson's choice as a running mate at all. Wilson had wanted the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Oscar Underwood of Alabama, to join him on the ticket, but Underwood declined the offer. The delegates of the Democratic National Convention decided upon Marshall, and Wilson was not pleased with the choice. He thought Marshall was a "small-calibre man". •Despite his original doubts, Wilson stuck with Marshall in 1916 when many of the President's closest aides suggested dumping the VP in favor of another running mate. With their victory that year, Marshall became the first Vice President since John C. Calhoun in 1828 to be re-elected to another term. •Thomas Riley Marshall is largely remembered because of his many humorous quotes poking fun at the insignificance of the Vice Presidency. When he was nominated as VP, Marshall pointed out that it made sense since he was a native of Indiana, "the mother of Vice Presidents, the home of more second-class men than any other state." A favorite Marshall story was one about a man who had two sons: "One went away to sea...the other was elected Vice President...he never heard from either one afterward." •Other popular Marshall quotes: -"I don't want to work [after retiring], but I wouldn't mind being Vice President again." -"If you look on me as a wild animal, be kind enough to throw peanuts at me." (To a group touring the Capitol) -"What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar." •Despite Marshall's humor and frivolity, there was a serious Constitutional crisis near the end of Woodrow Wilson's Presidency. Wilson suffered a massive stroke in 1919 that virtually incapacitated him and kept him from fully discharging the duties of his office. For the last 18 months of of Wilson's Presidency, Wilson's wife and a handful of close aides carefully managed the Administration, keeping the truth about Wilson's health hidden. Today, a President in Wilson's condition would almost certainly need to hand the office over to the officer next in the line of succession, either temporarily or permanently. But the 25th Amendment did not exist during Wilson's time, and a group of Wilson confidants conspired to keep the truth from the rest of Wilson's Administration, including Vice President Marshall. Marshall didn't push to find out the extent of Wilson's illness; if he had, Wilson likely would have been forced to resign and Marshall would have become President. Most of the people close to President Wilson believed it would be disastrous to pass the reigns of government on to Vice President Marshall. But considering the track record of the Wilson Administration at the end of his Presidency, many historians believe that "President Marshall" could have helped get the Treaty of Versailles ratified and shepherd the United States into joining the League of Nations.

[veronicaleighauthor]

Fun Facts About “A Slice of Life”

Last Sunday, my story “A Slice of Life” was published in Black Cat Weekly #141. It is the second installment of the Sleuthing Smith Sisters Series. If you’re interested in buying the issue for your Kindle, you can do so here. If you’re interested in buying the story alone for your Kindle, you can do so here, and I’ll get royalties.

Today I’m going to write about the Fun Facts/Behind the Scenes stuff that went into writing this story. Enjoy!

This story takes place in January of 1919, during the Spanish Influenza pandemic. Minnie is working as a housekeeper in a hospital and Brenna is studying to be a veterinarian. Much of their feelings and experiences are based on my own and my sister’s during the covid pandemic. I was working as a housekeeper in a nursing home, and my sister was studying to be a vet assistant. The fear, the pain, the loss, the mask wearing – it was the same in 2020 as it was in 1919. However, by 1920, it is estimated that anywhere from 17 million to 100 million people worldwide died from the Spanish Flu.

Contrary to what it was called, the Spanish Flu didn’t begin in Spain. It began in an army camp in Kansas in 1918, although it may have had a precursor in 1916/1917 in military hospitals in France and England. It was believed that the strain was beginning to die out in the fall of 1918, but when the Great War ended and people gathered in crowds to celebrate, it created the deadly second wave. There were four waves altogether, which lasted into 1920, and a milder version of it in 1921, but by then it was considered more of a seasonal flu. So, why was it called the Spanish Flu? Because Spain was the first to report on the pandemic. A neutral nation, they had a free press and stated how many died from the flu in Spain. This gave the false impression amongst other countries that the flu began in Spain. America, Great Britain, and other European countries had a censored press and they didn’t cover it the way Spain did. For that reason, it was called the Spanish Flu.

The house the Smith sisters live in is a Parsonage, which belongs to the church their father serves as a minister. The house is in fact based on the house I live in, and have lived in for nearly twenty-six years. Built in 1913, it is a Sears Roebuck House. Well to-do families in the early 20th Century could order plans and materials from the Sears Roebuck Catalogue and build the house of their dreams. This isn’t the first time I featured our house in a story. The first time I wrote about it was in a gothic mystery entitled, “No Place Like Home.”

It is briefly mentioned in the story, that when Minnie and Brenna were younger, they had knock-down-drag-out fights. Well, when my sister and I were growing up, we had knock-down-drag-out fights. They tapered off when I was about twelve and she was nine. One time, we were fighting and losing our balance, we slammed into a piano. Neither of us told our parents, fearing we would get into trouble.

To my surprise, there really was a Providence, Indiana, in Johnson County. However, this was meant to be a fictional town, set in Vigo County, along the Wabash River.

Louisa May Alcott, author of “Little Women” is mentioned. Her classic coming of age story of the March sisters heavily inspired my own writing when I was a teen. I wrote about Minnie and Brenna back then, though they more resembled the March sisters, than when they do today. To this day Alcott is an influence in my writing.

A Hoosier Cabinet is shown in the story. A cupboard, or free-standing cabinet, it could be used as a workstation. According the Wikipedia, in that era, many homes didn’t have built in cabinets and Hoosier Cabinets were used to store and make meals on. Discontinued in 1942, you can still find different styles of Hoosier Cabinets at antique shops nationwide.

Until next time!

[vintage-every-day]

Tall corn in the Wabash bottoms. Grand Chain farm, Posey County. Early November 1938 by C.W. Cushman.

[middleland]

Oak Openings Preserve Metropark. by Tim Kiser

Via Flickr:

In Oak Openings Preserve Metropark in Swanton Township in Lucas County, Ohio, on April 24th, 2020, an intermittent stream that flows to an unnamed tributary of Swan Creek, as viewed from the Wabash Cannonball Trail on a section of the North County National Scenic Trail. Swan Creek flows to the Maumee River, which flows to Lake Erie &c &c.

[jwood718]

In October of ‘22, I posted some photos of a view that hadn’t been available for a few decades: across the Wabash Valley from the corner of Wood and Chauncey Street allowing someone to see downtown Lafayette and the Tippecanoe County courthouse.  The courthouse is still visible, for now, but a new high rise apartment building is going up, so that scene will be gone in a few more weeks.

Just a block away, a building that’s been occupied since 2018 (I think it was 2018) is having its facing re-done.  

With traffic re-routed for some time now to allow for boom lifts (boom lifts are popular around here these days), much of the fake brick-facing is being pulled off sheet by sheet, revealing the underlayment.

What prompted the removal I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if something hadn’t sealed correctly allowing for leaks or the possibility of pieces falling off (but you can’t use my supposition as evidence of anything, just to be clear).

R. Jake Wood, 2023.

[venicepearl]

Gene Stratton-Porter (August 17, 1863 – December 6, 1924), born Geneva Grace Stratton, was an American writer, nature photographer, and naturalist from Wabash County, Indiana. In 1917 Stratton-Porter urged legislative support for the conservation of Limberlost Swamp and other wetlands in Indiana. She was also a silent film-era producer who founded her own production company, Gene Stratton Porter Productions, in 1924.

Stratton-Porter wrote several best-selling novels in addition to columns for national magazines, such as McCall's and Good Housekeeping, among others. Her novels have been translated into more than twenty languages, including Braille, and at their peak in the 1910s attracted an estimated 50 million readers. Eight of her novels, including A Girl of the Limberlost, were adapted into moving pictures. Stratton-Porter was also the subject of a one-woman play, A Song of the Wilderness. Two of her former homes in Indiana are state historic sites, the Limberlost State Historical Site in Geneva and the Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site on Sylvan Lake, near Rome City, Indiana.

[glossahistorica]

RAISIN-SKINS.

RAISIN-SKINS.—The skins of raisins are utterly indigestible. A child recently died at Barton from convulsions induced by eating raisins. Dr. Dewees mentions the death of three children from the same cause, and remarks that there is no stomach, unless it be that of the ostrich, that can master the skin of the raisin.

The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine, August 1855, p.159. [x]

See also: "The Rind of Fruit Indigestible", Scientific American Magazine Vol. 13 No. 22 (February 1858), p.171, although they had previously (in 1852) taken "Dr Devees" to task according to The Old Foodie:

Skins of Raisins. We see it stated in some papers, that Dr Devees, of Boston, has said that raisin skins are indigestible, and that nothing but the stomach of an ostrich can master them. He mentions the deaths of three children, caused by skins of raisins not digesting in their stomachs. Well, Dr. Devees, what about their digestibility when cooked? Raisins are fruit, which from time immemorial, have been used as a nourishing and healthy food by all Orientals.

(Given that this is the first appearance of language like this on this blog, I would like to make it clear that whilst I don't condone nor enjoy language like "Orientals", I will be leaving it intact for context.)

And the claim from Dr Dewees repeated earlier in 1852 in the Wabash Express, Vol. 11, No. 10, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 18 February 1852.

And since you were so patient to read all these words on raisins, here is Dr William Potts Dewees making his claim, "Of Dried Fruits", in A treatise on the physical and medical treatment of children, p.199, this edition published 1853.

[autotrails]

American Auto Trails-Wabash, St. Louis & Northern Railway (Moulton to Missouri State Line, IA)

American Auto Trails-Wabash, St. Louis & Northern Railway (Moulton to Missouri State Line, IA) https://youtu.be/YRBxH8R-YA4 This American auto trail explores along the former tracks of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway, from Moulton to Coatsville.

[rainbowcafelgbtqcenter]

The deadline for our Tim Rice Scholarship is coming up!

It's worth $1,500 this year, so make sure you apply by August 15th while there's still time!

The Tim Rice Scholarship is Rainbow Cafe LGBTQ Center's first-ever scholarship program, named after one of RC's original founders, and helps LGBTQIA+ students in Southern Illinois afford higher education. It's worth at least $1,500 and can be used for any/all college-related expenses such as tuition, books, housing, etc.

APPLY DIRECTLY VIA GOOGLE FORM: https://forms.gle/5ZiE3DtoqV8rMXbR6

CRITERIA:

Applicant must openly identify as LGBTQIA+.

-Applicant has made contributions to the Southern Illinois LGBTQIA+ community in some way.

Applicant resides in the general Southern Illinois region - such as Alexander, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Massac, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Union, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, White, or Williamson counties.

Must be enrolled in an accredited United States college or university (community college, 2- or 4-year university, or graduate student) for the 2024-2025 school year (deferment may be requested for up to one year).

Applicant can be documented or undocumented.

Applicant is not a Rainbow Cafe LGBTQ Center staff member, Board member, or related to an RC staff or Board member.

Applicant demonstrates financial need.

Recipient must be available to receive the Tim Rice Scholarship at the Rainbow Cafe Annual Gala, currently scheduled for Saturday, October 5th (Recipient will receive three complimentary tickets, one for recipient + two guests).

Want a paper PDF application? Have other questions? Visit our website at www.rainbowcafe.org/scholarship.

[therelativecartographr]

The Longest Living Ancestor: Nathaniel Lewis

My 2nd great-grandfather through his daughter, Elizabeth. Nathaniel Lewis was born the fourth child of twelve to Thompson Price Lewis and Elizabeth Green on January 6, 1866. He and his siblings grew up on a farm outside of Mt Vernon, Indiana, near where the Wabash river flows into the Ohio River. Nathaniel married Lena Benner in April 1888 in Posey County, and that’s where the couple settled…

[tsmom1219]

Why does Illinois' Department of Natural Resources claim the public has no right to 98% of waterways?

Read the full commentary in the Chicago Sun-Times. Not far from our office door in Champaign lies the source of the Embarras River, which flows southward for 195 miles, coursing through eight counties before emptying into the Wabash River. Early settlers used this river and others as corridors for travel, trade and fishing. They enjoyed boating on it in places like Greenup in Cumberland…

[the-bridgehunters-chronicles]

Mystery Bridge Nr. 215

Marty Smith brought this mystery bridge up to my attention recently when he submitted a pair of photos via Messenger. They were taken by his grandfather from a long time ago, who originated from Patolka in Marion County, Illinois. According to him, this may have spanned the Wabash River, even though the river is located much towards the middle than in the western part of the state, towards St.…