The Vidette-Messenger Centennial EditionThe 1936 special edition celebrating Porter County's centennial year . . . .

The following article has been transcribed from the August 18, 1936, issue of The Vidette-Messenger, published in Valparaiso, Indiana. This particular special edition focuses on Porter County's centennial celebration and contains a 94-page compendium of Porter County history up to that time.

Return to the index of articles from The Vidette-Messenger's Porter County Centennial special edition.

Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; August 18, 1936; Volume 10, Section 4, Pages 11-12.

 

There are Only Four of Porter County's G. A. R. Surviving Ravages of Time

Four men, all living in Valparaiso, comprise the total survivors in Porter county of the war of the rebellion. All are members of Chaplain Brown Post, G. A. R. of this city. They are: Jacob Mooker, Charles Doty, Valentine Kretle and Harvey Knickerbocker.

Johnny Anderson, who died this year at his home in Chesterton, was the last member of the A. B. Wade Post, No. 208, at Chesterton, and Parmer Temple, who died on May 29 at his home in Hebron was the last survivor of Walters Post, of Hebron.

Chaplain Brown Post 106, of Valparaiso, was instituted on October 24, 1882, by James R. Carnahan, department commander. Twenty-six veterans were on the charter list, none of whom survived. They were E. M. Burns, T. B. Louderback, E. T. Chester, Valentine Swartz, Stephen Selman, I. C. B. Suman, Joseph W. Zea, Thomas S. Robinson, Ezra Ferguson, John G. Halladay, Fred Gesser, William Emery Brown, James J. Ferris, Harmon Baylor, Russel D. Pelton, John H. Mills, J. F. McCarthy, Frank P. Thompson, David Dickson, Aaron Parks, J. F. Carter, John W. Elam, John Billodo, William C. Wells, Lorenzo D. Frantz, and Harrison M. Keyes.

The post was named in honor of Rev. James C.  Brown, former pastor of the Presbyterian church of this city. Rev. Mr. Brown was chaplain of the 48th Indiana regiment, and died in the service of the union.

Quarters are maintained in Memorial opera house, built in 1892 and 1893 by popular subscription and county donation as a memorial to the soldiers and sailors of the Civil war. The building is controlled by the Porter county commissioners, but is under the management of the Sons of Union Veterans, auxiliary of the G. A. R.

Chaplain Brown Post was not the first soldier organization to spring from the Civil war. On December 13, 1866, Post No. 1, of Porter county, was organized by Henry Binnamon. It consisted of 33 charter members, of whom George S. Haste, who died last fall was the last surviving member. The post disbanded after three years, and no attempt was made to form another until Chaplain Brown Post was organized in 1882.

Members of that post were Henry Binnamon, commander; L. B. Fifield, George S. Haste, E. Peacock, William Jewell, A. T. Cross, William S. Odell, J. L. snyder, F. M. Hamilton, W. S. Hornie, L. J. Needham, S. L. Bartholomew, Thomas Ward, W. H. Moist, J. V. Bevinger, William Reece, G. Jones, S. Kitchell, Clinton Frazier, Thomas McConnell, James Bell, Thomas Pratt, F. M. Salisbury, J. T. Heaton, Gilbert A. Pierce, R. A. Cameron, J. F. McCarthy, H. M. Buel, R. B. Broackway, C. C. S. Keetch, H. J. Upthegrove, J. B. Marshall and H. A. Brown. From the time of its organization down to the present time the master roll shows names.

A. B. Wade Post No. 208 was organized at Chesterton on July 14, 1883. John T. Taylor was the first commander; John C. Coulter, senior vice commander; Harrison H. Williams, junior vice-commander; Charles Jackson, adjutant, and Martin Young, quartermaster. The charter members, in addition to the above named officers were: Frank Bergstrom, Robert Lansing, John Williams, John B. Fuller, H. Green, Harvey Allen, Jacob Beck, Solomon Repfogle and Hiram Knapp. More than a hundred members are buried in cemeteries about Chesterton. Of late years memorial services have been conducted by World War veterans.

Walters Post, No. 229, located at Hebron, was organized on Sept. 1, 1883. The charter members were: William H. Adams, Jacob Alyea, George C. Gregg, Jacob Seigley, John C. McAlpin, William B. Doddridge, L. C. Pomeroy, James P. Downs, M. J. Sweet, James E. Bryant, H. W. Shafer, John Morrow and Benjamin Shoup. In 1893 the post lost all its records and papers by fire, so that much pertaining to its early history was destroyed. Two years after the fire the membership reached eighty-six, but in 1912 it had dropped to nineteen. The last member, Parmer Temple, died on May 29 last.

The Women's Relief Corps, an auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic, had its inception at Portland, Maine, in 1869, when the wives of some of the members of Bosworth Post of that city, organized a local society for relief work. Other localities followed the example, and in 1879 representatives of these societies in several states met at Fitchburg, Mass., and formed the national Women's Relief Corps. In 1883, when the Grand Army held its national encampment at Denver, Colorado, the officers of the organization recognized the women's society as an auxiliary, and since that time nearly every Grand Army post has had its Women's Relief Corps to work in conjunction with the old soldiers in caring for the distressed and conducting memorial exercises.

The charter to Valparaiso Auxiliary No. 24, Women's Relief Corps, was granted on Jan. 2, 1886, by Alice E. Griffin, department president. Charter members of the auxiliary were: Mary R. Cross, Alma F. Dunlap, Victoria J. Wells, Lottie M. Drapier, Mary J. McCarthy, Flora Crisman, Mary E. Buel, Delia E. Lytle, Elizabeth Arnold, Hula E. Hunt, Freelove W. Elam, Philena Albery, Jane Parks, Louise O. Binnamon, Emily A. Smith, Mary D. Foster, Elizabeth Keyes, Mary G. Franklin, Sarah M. Porter, Marthia McNay, Amanda A. Brown and Emma Haste.

Present officers of the corps are: Mrs. Rose Hagen, president; Mrs. Jessie Bradley, secior vice; Mrs. Amy Stappenbeck, junior vice; Mayme Louderback, secretary; Mrs. Mattie Robinson, treasurer; Hilla Ballinger, Minnie Gunder, Molly Lutz and Rebecca Mockler, guard; Mrs. Griffin, assistant guard; Mrs. Mary Shenck, conductress; Mrs. Emma Lytle, assistant conductress; Miss Cora Duclos, musician; Mrs. Anna Small, press correspondent.

The Woman's Relief Corps, No. 148, of the A. B. Wade Post, No. 208, of Chesterton, was instituted on June 11, 1936, by Mrs. Ocie Tuney, of Bedford, Ind., state department president, assisted by members of the Michigan City W. R. C. Mrs. Mathilda Jensen is present of the organization. Other officers are: Mrs. W. A. Riley, first vice-president; Miss Viola Riley, second vice-president; Mrs. Ruth Fuller, secretary; Mrs. Margaret Smith, treasurer, and Mrs. Alice Wiseman, chaplain.

Another auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic was the Sons of Veterans, an organization of the sons of those who fought on the side of the North in the Civil war. Its objects are to perpetuate the recollection of the gallant deeds of their fathers, instill lessons of patriotism in the rising generation, collect and preserve war relics and historical documents, and care for the needy and distressed.

Porter Camp No. 116, of Valparaiso, was organized in the hall of Chaplain Brown Post, Feb. 9, 1905, and was formally mustered in on March 14, with forty-five charter members. Rodney J. Kitchen was the first commander; Robert B. Swing, senior vice-commander; William W. Bozarth, junior vice-commander; Clinton Jones, treasurer. Mark L. DeMotte was present and delivered an address. On August 1, 1905, R. J. Kitchen, of Valparaiso camp, was appointed judge advocate of the Indiana division by Commander T. W. Blair, of Fort Wayne. The twentieth annual state encampment was held in Valparaiso June 6 and 7, 1906, when the ceremonies included a parade from the Lafayette hotel to Memorial hall, where an address was made by Mayor W. P. Spooner, which was responded to by W. W. Hoffman. At this encampment John H. Arnold was elected senior vice-commander for the state organization, and John W. McNay was chosen as delegate to the national encampment. Company B, First Indiana Sons of Veterans Reserves, was formed at Valparaiso on May 13, 1908, with thirty-five members and the following officers: Richard Smith, captain; Franklin T. Fletcher, first lieutenant; Julius E. Bornholt, second lieutenant; Roy Chester, first sergeant; Everett Drapier, second sergeant; John Jones, third sergeant. The company was mustered in by Major R. F. D--omb, of South Bend, after which a banquet was served at Dudley's café. For a time drills were held regularly. Then the novelty wore off, interest decreased, and the company dropped out of existence without the formality of disbanding.

Porter camp at the present time has 62 members, Leslie Hall is commander; Fred Hall, senior vice-commander; Cassius E. Barrett, junior vice-commander; Julius Bornholt, secretary, and A. W. McDaniel, treasurer. Mr. McDaniel is treasurer of the state organization, and is now serving his fifth year. He also served as department commander, being elected at the Marion, Ind., encampment in 1915. The name of the organization was changed to Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil war at the Des Moines, Iowa, encampment in September, 1926.

A charter list of Porter camp, Sons of Union Veterans at the time of the institution in 1905, is as follows: Harry Albery, Theodore Thimings, Adelbert Jones, William Bozarth, William Forney, William A. Moore, John H. Mooker, James A. Jones, Charles F. Bornholt, M. E. O'Keefe, Carl Wood, Richard Smith, Charles Crisman, Rodney J. Kitchen, Myron Brown, Matthew Brown, D. L. Matthews, L. T. Campbell, A. W. McDaniel, J. E. Bornholt, Clayton Wood, Charles A. Pratt, Roy Chester, John Jones, Charles Phares, Frank Carter, Harry E. Smith, C. J. Hand, Warren G. Elam, J. F. Snyder, John Forney, John Fitzwilliams, Jr., John R. Hall, Arthur A. Finney, William N. Muster, Clinton Jones, O. C. Ferrell, Everett Drapier, Frank W. Jones, J. Herschell Arnold, George J. Cole, James A. Frayer, Walter Anderson, Ira B. Tillotson, Earl J. Finney, John Keyes, Robert B. Ewing, John H. Massey, Gifford Herring, Gust E. Bornholt, W. P. Shinabarger, Fred W. Flint, Charles S. Hicks, Albert Anderson, A. J. Louderback, John M. Mavity, R. W. Lytle, H. R. Bidwell, H. M. Miller, Glen Crisman, J. A. Wise, Paul Hayes, H. L. Bornholt, Arthur A. Croke, Edward Miller, Alonzo Jones, Samuel Parks, George Spaeth, James H. Pratt, L. E. Smith, Joseph Sego, C. M. Jones, William Flint and John W. McNay.

Previous to the institution of the camp in 1905, a flourishing camp existed in the late eighties. Harry Albery, Matthew Brown and Elden Small served as captains of the camp. There was considerable enthusiasm among the members and the attendance at meetings was large. A strong district organization comprising camps of Porter, LaPorte, Marshall, Lake, Starke and St. Joseph counties, known as the Northwest Indiana Association of the Sons of Veterans functioned at the same time. In 1892, a meeting was held in Valparaiso. Presidents at various times of the district organization were Horace R. Bidwell, Valparaiso; George Newman, Hammond; James F. Gleason, Michigan City, and Elden Small, Valparaiso.

Interest in the Valparaiso camp dwindled and the camp was inactive for a number of years until its reorganization in 1906.

Valparaiso Camp No. 53, Auxiliary to Porter Camp, No. 116, Sons of Union Veterans, was instituted on November 24, 1905, with the following as charter members: Frances Fitzwilliam, Emma Brown, Lottie Chester, Amy Forney, Edith Baldwin, Della Stokes, Edna Forney, Minnie Sheets, Maggie Horner, Lydia Bornholt, Isabelle Fitzwilliams, Nettie Pratt, Kacid Lawrence, Nettie Baldwin, Edith Brown, Florence Myers, Georgie Fleming, Elizabeth LaForce, Sadie Bornholt, Mae Corcoran, Annie Pratt, Clara Jones, Anna Bowman, Ida Cego, Frances Whitehead, Rith Hippensteel, Ellen Meagher, Lida Fitzwilliam, Ida Jones, Lacelia Laduer, Mrs. H. R. Bidwell, Lizzie Mae Richards, Dora Osborne, Mrs. A. M. Kitchen, Bertha Drawans, Belle Chester, Ida Jones, Anna Brown, Jessie Ladauer, Iretta Jones, Stella Sweet, Clara Sego, Mrs. Wheeler, Edith Sheets.

The present enrollment of the auxiliary is 69 members. Mrs. Rebecca Mockler is president; Mrs. Harry Albery, vice-president; Mrs. Georgia Fox, past president; Mrs. C. E. Barrett, secretary; Mrs. Alice James, treasurer; Mrs. S. C. Williams, guide; Mrs. Edith Martin, assistant guide; Mrs. Dorothy Bruck, first color bearer; Miss Jessie Ladauer, second color guard.

On Nov. 19, 1910, Shiloh Camp No. 54, Sons of Veterans, was organized at Hebron with the following charter members: Charles F. Leeka, A. R. McAlpin, J. J. Nichols, C. M. Fuller, James M. Wilson, John T. Sparking, J. M. Morrow, S. E. McGinnis, G. E. Wood, C. J. Hobbs, James C. Williams, B. E. Thompson, John W. Patterson, Ross Stewart, J. P. Wood, C. O. Shoupe, F. E. Nichols, R. M. Hamilton, A. H. Gibbs, Vere Aylesworth, Bert Aylesworth, E. A. Edmonds, Lee Morrow, James McKnight and George Davis. Because of dwindling in the membership the post was disbanded and the remaining members are now affiliated with Porter Camp No. 116, of Valparaiso.

Chesterton has no Sons of Union Veterans camp at the present time. At one time a number of members of the organization lived there, but they belong now to other camps.

Article transcribed by Steven R. Shook

 

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