Years before the enactment of the 18th Amendment, many locals were involved in the temperance movement. The temperance movement promoted the ban of alcoholic beverages. There were even organizations dedicated to the cause, such as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Members would ask individuals to pledge to vote for anti-saloon politicians. They also called on ‘druggists’ to dole out alcohol by prescription only, visited saloon keepers to ask them to stop selling alcohol and prayed outside saloons.

Feelings were intense on both sides of the debate. On Thursday evening, August 27, 1891, a dynamite cartridge was exploded in the United Brethren Church in Bourbon. Straightaway, the Bourbon Mirror called for a temperance meeting to be held the next day. A large number assembled for the meeting, undeterred.

Eventually, in 1909, Marshall County voted to go dry, well before Indiana did. When the Wright “Bone Dry” Law in Indiana was passed in 1925, it became one of the toughest prohibition laws in the nation. During Prohibition, the United States Treasury Department authorized physicians to write prescriptions for medicinal alcohol. The “Bone Dry” Law outlawed the possession of all liquor – even by prescription for medicinal purposes, which was allowed under federal law.

Even with the strict laws, Marshall County had its own speakeasy. A speakeasy was a secret establishment that sold alcohol illegally during Prohibition. The most notorious use of the Hoham-Klinghammer-Weckerle property in Plymouth occurred during Prohibition. In the 1920s the property was a roadhouse called the Pine Tree Inn. In 1928 officers led what was considered the county’s greatest raid on the roadhouse. Evidence was found that beer was being sold there. Two officers and three deputies went in just before midnight and took patrons by surprise. Officers found “Monte Carlo style gambling and free flowing liquor.” No one attempted to flee, and 35 violators were taken into custody, some from as far away as Ohio. Officers seized 38 cases of beer and found two slot machines.

Large headlines in the Plymouth Daily Pilot on July 30, 1928, read, “14 ARRESTED IN RAID ON LOCAL GAMBLING HOUSE,” with subtitles like “OFFICERS STAGE CLEANUP – MINORS BROUGHT TO COURT.” In large print the newspaper called the event the “COUNTY’S GREATEST RAID.”

One article stated that practically all of the boys and men arrested had brought girl friends with them to spend the evening. Many of the men involved were “prominent in their communities.” The house was leased by Bertha Bozarth from W.J. Hayes of Chicago. Hayes pled innocent of any knowledge of the use of the property. Bozarth was assisted by Robert Wolcotte; both were arrested and charged with operating gaming devices and the possession of intoxicating liquors.

The paper reported that the business had grown until it became more publicly known, at which time the county prosecutor took steps to investigate. This would assume that the public knew of the illegal activites. Judge Albert B. Chipman of Marshall County then ordered the establishment padlocked for one year. The Plymouth Daily Pilot ran front-page headlines such as “PADLOCKS PINE TREE INN FOR ONE YEAR” and “CHIPMAN ENDS CAREER OF PRETTY LAKE ROADHOUSE.” They stated that the “Pine Tree Inn has come to the end of its short but hectic career.” The padlocking of the establishment included the “brick house and garage, all out buildings, the tunnels (vaults) and the frame house to the west of the brick (house).” A bond was placed on the property for $1,000 stating that only the owner, W. J. Hayes of Chicago, could use the property else.

Bozarth claimed under oath that she paid “protection” money to Justice of the Peace Walter A. Zeroll. After the raid Zeroll left the city in the middle of the night and a warrant was issued for his arrest. A month later Bozarth was found guilty. She was fined $150 and sentenced to 60 days at the Indiana Women’s Reformatory. That was the end of the speakeasy.

The Marshall County Historical Society Museum has an interesting display on Prohibition. Check out our west window on Garro Street to learn more!