INDIANA QUICK QUIZ
- Which of the following counties is named for an Indiana Territorial Governor? a. Boone b. Cass c. Posey d. Clay
- Which county is named for the state's first governor after statehood?
- Which Indiana county is named for a Revolutionary General known as the "Swamp Fox"?
Answers Below
1862 Indiana soldiers fought in the Battle of Perryville, a Union victory in Kentucky. Among the 20 states represented at the battle, the Indiana 22nd Volunteer Regiment suffered the highest casualty rate. Over 60 percent of the men in that unit were killed or wounded. Kentucky, a border state, was secured for the Union for the rest of the war.
1866 John and Simeon Reno, brothers from Jackson County, staged the first robbery of a moving train in the United States. They stopped the Ohio and Mississippi train in a sparsely populated area outside of Seymour and made off with $13,000. Their new method of railroad robbery quickly became popular in western states.
1890 The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) was organized in Washington, D. C. The first President General was Caroline Scott Harrison, the wife of President Benjamin Harrison. A local Indianapolis chapter of the DAR is named for the former first lady.
Did You Know?
Caroline Scott Harrison was a college graduate and an accomplished pianist and artist. When her husband Benjamin became President of the United States, she took a keen interest in White House china She designed the pattern which would be used for the Harrison term. It is considered by many to be among the most beautiful of Presidential china service. Consider this quote from the John F. Kennedy Library website: "Whenever possible, Mrs. Kennedy used the old china – that is, Lincoln's purple china, the china designed by Mrs. Harrison, and pieces of the Hayes's service – to represent the traditions of the past. Her preference for the Harrison china was shown in her selection of pieces from that service to decorate the breakfront that she had placed in the family dining room during the years that she and President Kennedy occupied the mansion."
The Riley Home on Lockerbie Street in Indianapolis
1949 The state celebrated the centennial birthday of poet James Whitcomb Riley. In his hometown of Greenfield, a 77-foot tower on the lawn of the Hancock County Courthouse was covered with flowers sent by Indiana children. In Indianapolis, students brought bouquets of flowers to Riley's home on Lockerbie Street, and Governor Henry Schricker dedicated a new research wing at the Riley Hospital for Children.
1956 Janice Voss was born in South Bend. She earned engineering degrees from Purdue University and MIT. Accepted into NASA's Astronaut Program, she flew on five space shuttles, travelling a total of 18.8 million miles in 779 orbits.
HOOSIER QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"I learned to read very young, and it was always one of my favorite hobbies. I happened to pick up the year before my sixth grade, a copy of A Wrinkle in Time. I was just fascinated. It was the most interesting thing I had ever read. . .and that's what got me an interest in space and put me on my path to be an astronaut." - - Janice Voss
1969 Robert Merrill, star baritone of New York's Metropolitan Opera, was the guest soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Maestro Izler Solomon, in his 14th year as ISO conductor, introduced Merrill to the capacity crowd at Clowes Hall. Indianapolis News reviewer Charles Staff reported that the famous baritone "capped his success by charming listeners right out of their seats."
Money: Why the Census Matters to Indiana
Congress uses census data to allocate funds under various federal grant programs to state governments. Many state-funded grant programs also rely on census data. Because the annual population estimates use the decennial census as a base, if a community's population is undercounted in the census, these funds get misallocated for an entire decade.
ANSWERS: 1. Posey (for Thomas Posey) 2. Jennings (for Jonathan Jennings) 3. Marion (for General Francis Marion)
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