Indiana Statehood

by Thais Carrillo | Dec 11, 2025 | General History

On December 11, 1816, Indiana became the 19th state to join the Union. The journey to statehood was long with several hurdles along the way. In honor of Indiana’s 209th birthday, we retell the story of our state. Today, we are known for our demonym “Hoosier,” corn, the Indy 500, our sports teams and more. Our history, however, spans thousands of years, starting with Paleo-Indians who roamed the Americas, including present-day Indiana, around 8000 BC following the end of the Ice Age.

Prehistoric Era

Paleo-Indians were nomadic hunter-gatherers who used stone tools and hunted large game animals (you can learn about the Ice Age in our Prehistoric Animals book, available now in our store). There is evidence of more permanent habitation around 5000 BC with earthen mounds that were used for habitats, ceremonies and temples. The Hopewell People around 1000 BC grew various crops, created pottery and engaged in trade. Between 1000 and 1450 AD, there was a Mississippian settlement near Evansville, Indiana on the Ohio River. They created complex mounds and earthworks that aligned with celestial events with incredible precision. You can visit this archaeological site today.

European Exploration

In the 17th century, French explorers reached present-day South Bend and traded with Native Americans for highly desired fur skins. French and French Canadians soon established trading posts, and some tried to control Native trade routes. When the British arrived, they also wanted control of the fur trade. The Natives sided with the French in these tensions and eventually went to war against the British. When the British won the French and Indian War in 1763, all French lands east of the Mississippi River and northwest of the colonies were ceded. The Crown proclaimed the land west of the Appalachians as “Indian Territory” and did not allow colonists to settle there, angering many people.

During the American Revolution, Congress passed a “Resolution on Public Lands” and allowed settlements west of the Appalachians with the intent to create new states. The United States gained its independence in 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. In 1787, present-day Indiana became part of the “Northwest Territory.” The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 gave this territory a government and a process to create states if they met certain stipulations. To apply for statehood, you had to have sixty thousand people or more, prohibit slavery and have a bill of rights, amongst other things. This land would eventually become Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

Expanding Settlements

In 1800, Congress divided the land again into the Northwest Territory, which would become Ohio three years later, and the rest was the Indiana Territory. The territories would be divided and changed many times as new states formed. The Indiana Territory was governed by William Henry Harrison, and its capital was Vincennes. In August 1804, Harrison called for an election to see if voters wanted a state government. By December, Harrison proclaimed that the Indiana Territory would have a General Assembly, moving it one step closer to statehood.

By 1809, the borders of our state were outlined with the formation of the Michigan and Illinois Territories. Ohio was still the only state that had formed from the original Northwest Territory, however. Becoming a state was controversial. Some people wanted to continue slavery, and some did not want the increased taxes and costs that came with statehood. It also meant leaders would be far away in Washington, making it difficult to communicate with them. Statehood slowly chugged along, and fighting between settlers and Natives continued.

Road to Statehood

In 1811, the Indiana General Assembly voted 4-3 to petition Congress for statehood. Congress denied their petition until the state’s population reached 35,000. Efforts were abandoned by the territory due to a lack of money and the beginning of the War of 1812. During this time, the territory’s capital was moved to Corydon because it was more central and less likely to be attacked by the Natives after the Battle of Tippecanoe.

The General Assembly petitioned for statehood yet again in 1815. With 63,000 people, we were above the minimum population. The only thing left was to form a constitution, which President Madison allowed by signing the Enabling Act in May 1816. The constitutional convention was led by Jonathon Jennings and continued through August, when Jennings himself was elected as the first governor of Indiana. While writing it, there were heated debates. Ultimately, the constitution did not allow for women or people of color to vote. It prohibited slavery within Indiana. It was also the first state to start a state-funded school system, which is now Indiana University. That November, we held our first General Assembly under the 1816 Constitution. Finally, on December 11, 1816, President Madison admitted Indiana into the Union as the 19th state!

For those curious, Indianapolis became our capital in 1825 after it was chosen and built in 1821 for its central location. Visit the Museum from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm, Tuesday through Saturday to learn about early Marshall County. The Museum is located at 123 N. Michigan St., Plymouth. Call us at 574-936-2306.

Santa’s Political Past

by Anita Boetsma | Dec 5, 2025 | General History

Although the history of Santa Claus stretches back to the third century, you might be surprised how much influence the United States has had on his image. The origin of Santa Claus is St. Nicholas, who was born around 230 A.D. in Patura in Turkey. St. Nicholas was known for both his piety and his kindness. As his popularity spread, he became known as the protector of children and sailors. His feast day is celebrated on the date of his death, December 6th.

St. Nicholas’ reputation grew such that by the Renaissance, he was the most popular saint in Europe. Even after the Protestant Reformation, when the veneration of saints began to be discouraged, St. Nicholas maintained a positive reputation, especially in Holland.

Santa Comes to America

St. Nicholas was first introduced in the United States in December 1773, and again in 1774, when a New York newspaper reported that Dutch families had gathered to honor him on his feast day. The name “Santa Claus” is derived from the Dutch “Sinter Klaas,” which is a shortened form of “Sint Nikolaas,” Dutch for “Saint Nicholas.”

Washington Irving declared Santa Claus the patron saint of New York in 1809 in his book, A History of New York. One of the first “Americanized” images of Santa Claus was distributed at the New York Historical Society annual meeting in 1810 by member John Pintard. The background of the woodcut images contained stockings full of toys and fruit hung over a fireplace.

Media Representations of Santa

In 1822, Episcopal minister Clement Moore wrote a long Christmas poem for his daughters, “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas.”. Of course, we know it as “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The Santa Claus Moore described cemented the image of a portly “right jolly old elf,” with the ability to move through a chimney with a nod of his head. The miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer flying from house to house to deliver presents to good children is legendary. “An Account of a Visit from Saint Nicholas” created a new and immediately popular American icon.

The image that first introduced our modern idea of Santa Clause was drawn in 1862 by political cartoonist Thomas Nast, an illustrator for Harpers Weekly magazine. In the image, Santa is pictured distributing gifts from his sleigh, with reindeer, in a Union Army camp. The centerfold inside was a two-sided woodcut image of a wife praying at home and a husband far away at war. Nash wanted to memorialize the family sacrifices of the Union during the early, and for the North, dark days of the Civil War. Nast went on to create a total of 33 images of Santa, all illustrated his support for the military.

More on Nast

Nast created his most famous, and much jollier drawing in 1881 of the Santa Claus we recognize today. Nast drew upon the Clement Clark Moore poem to illustrate all of his Santa drawings, but he alone created Santa’s bright red suit trimmed with white fur, North Pole workshop, elves and his wife, Mrs. Claus.

Ryan Hyman is a curator at the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum in Nast’s hometown of Morristown, N.J., which holds a large collection of his work. Even after the end of the war, Nast’s drawings were pointed, and the 1881 Santa drawing was a political commentary about the government’s indecisiveness about paying higher wages to the members of the military.

Hyman said “On his back isn’t a sack full of toys—it’s actually an army backpack from enlisted men. He’s holding a dress sword and belt buckle to represent the Army, whereas the toy horse is a callback to the Trojan horse, symbolizing the treachery of the government. A pocket watch showing a time of ten ’til midnight indicates the United States Senate has little time left to give fair wages to the men of the Army and Navy.”

Merry Old Santa Clause by Thomas Nast, 1881.

History of Christmas Cards

by Anita Boetsma | Dec 2, 2025 | General History

The very first Christmas card was printed in Victorian England in 1843. Sir Henry Cole, who is known for founding the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, had a problem. It was customary at the time to send letters at Christmas to all one’s friends. Because it was considered impolite not to answer a letter, someone with a lot of friends could have a correspondence crisis every December. Sir Cole approached an artist friend, J.C. Horsley, and asked him to sketch out an idea he had in his mind to solve his problem.

Cole took Horsley’s illustration and had 1,000 copies made by a London printer. The image was printed on a piece of stiff cardboard, 5-1/8” X 3-1/4” in size. He included “TO:_____,” allowing Cole to personalize his responses. The card said “A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year To You,” and showed a family celebrating a holiday meal, flanked by two images of people helping those in need. It was the first Christmas card. Eventually, several in Cole’s circle recognized the value of his creation and started sending their own cards at Christmas.

First American Christmas Card

Louis Prang, a Prussian immigrant with a print shop near Boston, is credited with printing the first American Christmas Card in 1875. Unlike Cole and Horsley’s holiday inspired design, the first card had a picture of a flower with the greeting “Merry Christmas.” First-generation American card designs were mostly drawn from nature. Animals, flowers, and landscapes were common.

In the late 1800s, collecting Christmas cards became so popular that the new crop each season were reviewed in the newspaper, much like a film today. And of course, they became more creative and elaborate.

Modern Christmas Cards

The modern Christmas card industry began in 1915 when a Kansas City-based postcard printer named Joyce Hall published his first holiday card. Hall, later joined by his brothers Rollie and William, founded the Hall Brothers Company. Ten years later, the company changed its name to Hallmark. They set the industry standard of cheerful sentiments and holiday-inspired images on a booklet style card of 4” X 6,” which was then inserted in an envelope.

This new-style card became enormously popular from the 1930 to the 1950s. As demand for cards grew, Hallmark and its competitors reached out for new ideas to sell them. Commissioning famous artists to design them was one way. Salvador Dali, Grandma Moses and Norman Rockwell all designed Christmas cards for Hallmark.

Stamps & Other Designs

The U.S. Post Office printed their first dedicated Christmas stamp in 1962. It featured a wreath, 2 candles and the words “Christmas, 1962.” They ordered the printing of 350 million of the 4-cent, green and white stamps. They had wildly miscalculated the demand and had to reprint. Unfortunately, they did not have more of the original size paper for a 100-stamp sheet, so the remainder were printed on sheets of 90. Eventually, a total of one billion 1962 Christmas stamps were printed and distributed by the end of the year.

Today, more innovative designs and concepts are coming from niche publishers. As the digital age has exploded, greetings come in many forms like audio and video, as well as on paper. As always though, it is big business!

We have a wonderful selection of Christmas and holiday cards at the MCHS Museum. Stop in soon!

Thanksgiving in World War II

by Anita Boetsma | Nov 25, 2025 | General History, War

After celebrating Veteran’s Day, and as we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, it’s a good time to look back to wartime holiday celebrations, particularly during World War II. So many of the things we take for granted were adversely affected by Word War II, even the emotions of Americans. In 1944, Thanksgiving headlines were “50,000 Nazis Trapped on Rhine” and “Germans Fire Rocket Bombs at U.S. Army.”

Not all Americans celebrated Thanksgiving on the same day either. In 1941, federal legislation changed the date from the fourth Thursday of November to the third, but a few states were still celebrating on the later date. Favorite holiday traditions were suspended during the war. The famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade had not been held since 1941, as the company donated the rubber used in their balloons to the war effort. The Detroit Lions, who had hosted an annual Thanksgiving game since 1934, put this tradition on hold from 1939-1944.

Kindness & Gratitude During Thanksgiving

Many hospitable families filled empty spaces at their own Thanksgiving tables with servicemen and women stationed nearby. Because of the ongoing war effort, many people were employed in defense- related industries. Production never stopped, so families had to schedule family time around shift schedules. Travel was difficult because of gas and tire rationing. Americans were encouraged to leave empty bus or train seats available for servicemen and women on furlough.

The war directly influenced food choices, again due to rationing. Imported foods like coffee and sugar, foods that needed to be shipped long distance, processed foods like cheese, butter, margarine and canned fruit were rationed. By 1944, there was great reason to be thankful though, because red meat was available again.

Planning Ahead During WWII

Rationing required a lot of advance planning. People saved rations for the big day! Newspapers published rationing calendars that listed which rationing stamps could be used and when for what products. Cooks could save their stamps to purchase food when available. Families that kept Victory Gardens generally had canned and preserved food to serve.

Newspapers also published articles about the local availability of items for Thanksgiving during World War II. The adverse effect of gas rationing affected trucking, with government demand for turkeys for troops, made even this dinner centerpiece unavailable in many areas. There was a black market for rationed or rare items if one wanted something bad enough. By 1944, lard, shortening, processed foods and coffee were no longer rationed in the U.S.

Rations ad during World War II.

Even with hardships, people were generally willing to sacrifice for the war effort, but by 1944, the end of World War II could not come fast enough!

The Town of Donaldson

by Anita Boetsma | Nov 20, 2025 | Donaldson, General History

This article was published on November 30, 1911, in the Weekly Republican newspaper. It’s interesting to get a look at the Town of Donaldson, back when it was a truly bustling community. Note that the location is described according to which railroad the town was adjacent to, as opposed to roads. I have edited very lightly for readability.

“One of the interesting centers of Marshall County is the town of Donaldson, eight miles west of Plymouth on the Pennsylvania railway. This is an energetic little town and a good business center. The two institutions which make the place of more than ordinary interest, and more than an ordinary trading point, is the presence of Schlosser Bros. creamery station and of the Heinz salting plant. These two industries bring a large amount of money into the community every year. Milk, pickles and onions are the special crops which make Donaldson a prosperous center. By far the most important of these is the creamery. Its steady stream of money in return for the steady stream of milk and cream furnishes the big part of the “life blood” of the business. Onion and pickle raising are good sources of income also, but their returns come in bunches in the fall.

This goodly community has two good general stores, a blacksmith shop, meat market, a post office with a rural route, a railway station, hotel and livery, telephone exchange, United Brethren church and multi-graded schools. Donaldson needs a good physician. A large amount of veal, chickens and turkeys are shipped annually from Donaldson to Chicago. It is no uncommon sight to see two trucks full ready for shipment. It is estimated that about 500 dressed veal are shipped from here annually.

From 12 to 14 carloads of onions are shipped from Donaldson each fall, and this industry is increasing, as there is much land in this vicinity adapted to that kind of crop. The largest onion growers here are Nils Pearson, Lewis Seibert and Victor Newburg.

The largest pickle growers are Victor Newburg, who from 2 1/2 acres this year received $523.34: John Lavine, who got $195.01 from 1 1/2 acres; Andrew Bergstedt, who got $173.81 from l 1/4 acre and John Anderson, who received $126.98 from one acre.

Donaldson may congratulate itself that it has a very fine blacksmith shop. Mr. C. T. Danielson erected last summer a new building, 24 feet X 50 feet, and it is well equipped for the trade. It has a cement and wood floor combined. He learned his trade thoroughly when he learned it many years ago, and one will get here only the best of work. He makes a specialty of horseshoeing and knows that work in all its details. He is also equipped for and does all kinds of wagon work. Owing to the excellent character of his work, he draws trade from far to the north, from the south and from miles into Starke County.

In 1905 Mr. J. D. Garrison erected a splendid and well-equipped storeroom about a block north of the railway and opened a first-class general store. Here in neat arrangement, one may find those wares in the line of groceries, dry goods, clothing, rubbers and shoes, hardware, tinware, flour, horse blankets and saddlery goods, school supplies, etc., etc., which are the necessities of a country community. On entering this store, one is impressed with its cleanliness and neatness, and with the unusually large stock of all goods carried for the benefit of the community. Mr. Garrison is a careful and accommodating businessman and has built up a large and lucrative business which is still growing at a rate pleasing to the owner.

J. Burgener has conducted a general store at Donaldson for 23 years and there is no one within a radius of miles who does not know him and his store. This wide acquaintance, coupled with fair dealing with all customers, has made his a large and constant business. About two years ago Mr. Burgener decided to move to Chicago, and in order to continue the business in the same good way he associated with him Mr. Albert Baum, a well-known young man of the community who has since been in active charge of the store. Mr. Baum is also acting agent for the Adams Express Co. and looks after the large express business connected with this trade center.

Mr. Burgener is also president of the Donaldson telephone company and was with others instrumental in forming this valuable local system, which not only gives the community good local service but allows them to reach without extra charge all the patrons of the Winona Telephone company in Plymouth. Mr. Hayes Munn is secretary of the company, E. R. Day treasurer, and F. H. Bollinger a director.”

The MCHS archives contain microfilm of all of the county newspapers. If you need to research a place or an event, we have the information and the way to read it efficiently. Stop by between 10:00 and 4:00 from Tuesday through Saturday at 123 N. Michigan St. and let us help you research your favorite topic! Call us at 574-936-2306.

Marshall County’s Only Prize Fight

by Anita Watts Kopetski | Nov 20, 2025 | Crime, General History, Visitor Stories & Oral Histories

The story is told in McDonald’s History of Marshall County of the only prize fight held in Marshall County:

The prize fight was to take place at Baugherville, on the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, about nine miles northwest of Plymouth between Lou C. Allen of Chicago and H.C. Hanmer of Michigan City, middleweights, on the evening of April 30, 1891. That afternoon some of the local boys were told about the upcoming event. “The favored few who were let into the secret were on tiptoe of expectation, and preparation was made to pull out quietly by livery teams about 9 o’clock. The secret was to be kept from Sheriff Jarrell and from those who would likely give him a pointer in that direction.”

It was not easy to get there. “The night was dark and the corduroy road through the woods was more than ordinarily rough. Some of the drivers lost the direct road and went a considerable distance out of the way; others ran into ‘chuck holes’ breaking a spring or a single-tree or something of that kind, but where there is a prize at the end of the goal there is always a way found to reach it. On they went, helter-skelter.

“The prize ring was in a large barn near a sawmill and a lumber yard near the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, a short distance northeast of Tyner. Lumber was piled up and scattered about everywhere, and there were acres of sawlogs and slabs and log wagons. There were no lights about to indicate that there was anything unusual going on, and those who were not familiar with the lay of the land had to feel their way in the dark.

“The Lake Erie fast train from the north arrived at 11 o’clock, bringing the pugilists and about 150 sports (fans) from Chicago, Michigan City and other points along the line, and it was but a short time until the preliminary arrangements had all been completed. A twenty-four-foot ring had been measured off, the building was gorgeously lighted, and in the glare of the kerosine the lamp of Aladdin would have cast but a faint glimmer. The 175 spectators who had each paid an admission fee of $5 were seated about the ring as conveniently as circumstances would permit, and the remainder were stowed away in the haymow, in balcony rows, one above another, from which elevated position they were enabled to look down upon the interesting spectacle before them through the large opening in the center.

“The gladiators were stripped to the skin and took their places in the ring, accompanied by their backers, trainers, seconds, umpires, spongers and assistants.” Also in attendance were a couple of Chicago newspaper reporters. “The doors of the barn were locked and guarded, and the doorkeeper was ordered not to admit anyone under any pretext whatever. Time was called and the pugilistic pounders came smilingly to the scratch. They knocked away at each other with all the strength they possessed. There was no doubt they meant business from the word ‘go.’ The first round was a success, and applause greeted the bruisers as they retired to their corners to be rubbed down.”

But when that many people know a secret, it is hard to keep. “It was late in the evening when Sheriff Jarrett was informed of what was going on. He and his deputies, Eugene Marshall and William Leonard, and Plymouth marshal William Klinger “pulled out from the county seat shortly after 9 o’clock and drove rapidly toward the seat of war. He had the misfortune to break his buggy, which delayed him, and he did not arrive until the first round had been fought.” The sheriff asked the doorkeeper to be admitted. “That distinguished dweller in the tents of iniquity informed them that under no circumstances could they be admitted, whereupon the sheriff jerked the latch off, opened the door, and he and his deputies rushed in upon the pugilists and their assistants, who were standing in the ring ready to commence the second round.

“Then ensued a scene of consternation which no pen can describe. There was a general stampede for the door and in the rush and confusion several were run over and knocked down. Some of the lights were turned out, and for a few minutes it seemed as if pandemonium had been turned loose. Both principals escaped the officers and got out of the building with only their thin fighting suits on. In the melee that ensued, trainer Ed Corey and seconds Con Cavanah and Dick Ford were captured. The remainder got away. Hanmer was so cold with only his tights on that he could not stand it and returned in search of his clothes. He was captured by the sheriff. Allen, the other principal, took the railroad track north as fast as he could run and never stopped until he reached Walkerton, where he boarded a freight trip for Michigan City and made good his escape.

“The spectators – well, they were panic-stricken and, if anything, were worse frightened than the fighters. When the sheriff and his party entered, the rapidity with which that audience dispersed has never been equaled in this part of the country. They did not stand on the order of their going, but they went at once. It was every fellow for himself, and the devil take the hindmost. As soon as they got out of the building they took to the woods as fast as their legs could carry them. They tumbled over one another, went head over heels over saw logs, log wagons and lumber piles, skinned their shins and bruised themselves up generally.

“Those who were in the hayloft, most of them Marshall County fellows, were all captured without an effort. They had climbed up on a ladder which had been removed when the fight began, and there they were, prisoners and unable to make a move for liberty. So, they scrambled back as far as they could and covered themselves with hay, except their feet, which stuck out in irregular sizes all around the first row, and waited further developments.

The suspense did not last long. One of them came near smothering in the hay and yelled out, ‘Put up that ladder. I can’t stand it with this d____d gang any longer.’ The ladder was put up and you would have just died laughing to have seen capitalists, merchants and businessmen, old men and young men, bald heads and gray heads, married men and single men, backing down that ladder with hayseed in their hair, and on their hats and all over their clothes. As they reached the floor, one of them remarked, ‘What in ____ would my wife say if she could see me in this fix?’”

There were probably many married men who would shortly find out what their wife would say. “They were greatly relieved when Sheriff Jarrell informed them that he had no use for them, and they could go about their business.” The four who had been arrested were each fined $50, which was promptly paid. And thus ended the only prize fight ever witnessed in Marshall County.”

I would imagine that most of those married men suffered harsher punishment than the prisoners, don’t you?

It may not surprise anyone that Daniel McDonald was a newspaper owner and editor. His writing style is so highly entertaining. Come on in to read more from his History of Marshall County. The Museum is open 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

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