23. Headless Baby Found In An Old Well Near Carlos City

Winchester Herald, January 22, 1919



  Sunday afternoon, January 19, the coroner, Dr. Markle, was called to the farm owned by Mrs. George W. Fox, one and a half miles north of Carlos City. In an old abandoned well in an unoccupied house there had been found what was supposed to be the mutilated body of a baby of unknown age. On examination there was nothing left but the trunk. The legs, arms and head have not been found. It was undoubtedly a portion of the body of a human being. This house had been unoccupied since the first of April, 1918. It is situated back from the road quite a little distance and was very seldom visited by the owners of the farm. On last Sunday, John A. Shoop of Richmond, father of Mrs. Fox, was visiting with the family, and he and George Fox, in a ramble over the place got a whiff of a skunk and thought they would find the hiding place of said animal as the fur at these times is a very valuable article. Thinking probably they would find some trace of it under the floor of the old house, they approached it and started an investigation. In fishing around they found the old well from the bottom of which they pulled the dead body of the baby, which Dr. Markle is certain had been there about three months. The well is fifteen feet deep and nearly full of water. There was no way, of course, of telling whether or not the baby had ever drawn a breath, what sex, or anything else about it except that there was enough of it left to tell it was a human being.
  The Doctor is certain that it was a plain case of murder by some unknown person who wished to get rid of a baby.

22.Year Old Baby Found Lying In Mud On Union Street

Winchester Journal Herald, February, 1957. By Jerry Davis.

  Parents of a crippled, one-year old baby boy found Wednesday morning lying in a muddy, but partly-frozen front yard at 521 Short Street, were in the Randolph county jail awaiting a 4 p.m. hearing in city court before Judge Ralph West.,
  The mother and father of the youngster, Anthony, are Ervin, 50 years old and Joyce X, 22.
They were arrested Thursday at 10 a.m. by Winchester police on a warrant charging them with "cruelty and neglect of children."
  The baby boy was discovered about 10 o'clock Wednesday morning by a neighbor, who related that she had seen a bundle lying near the porch of the X's four-room house. However, she had thought it to be an older brother that was playing around the house.
  The neighbor woman watched for the return of Mrs. X, whom she had seen earlier leave the house and go to McCoy's grocery.
 " Mrs. X returned with some groceries," the neighbor continued, "and went into the house, only to come back out again and leave once more." Apparently the mother ignored her nearly frozen child lying in the mud and filth.
  The neighbor woman then went to the front yard and picked up the trembling child and called the police.
  Officer Robert Wagner arrived and took the baby into the house. The mother arrived a short time later as did Chief of Police Jim O'Dell and this reporter.
  Other women and a high school boy in the neighborhood told this reporter that Mrs. X frequently left the children alone in the house while she was gone for several hours. No one knew exactly where the 22 year-old mother of three went.
  The X's have three boys. Anthony, the baby, is slightly over one tear old. Ivan, two years old, was in the house when the officers arrived. Larry, five years old, is a kindergarten pupil. Ervin, the father, is employed at the Anchor Hocking Glass factory.
  Neighbors said the X's had lived in the frame dwelling for about three years. Police officers have been called to the residence before and last spring a detail of volunteer workers went into the rubble to scrub the floors and restore some semblance of order to the virtual "pig pen."
  The neighbor woman who found the baby boy said she thought he had been lying in the mud for at least 30 minutes.
  There was no heat in the house. The local gas company had been forced to turn off their services earlier this week because of non-payment of bills. The house is located directly north across Short Street from the Union Mission, a haven for the destitute.
  The four rooms were a mass of filth and rubble. Only in a few areas could you see the linoleum floor covering for the disorder of thrown clothes, food, baby diapers and other unpleasant things that go with little children.

21. The Moorman Orphans' Home, Randolph County

Winchester Journal Herald, December 6, 1934.




  To most people the word "memorial" suggests something constructed  of stone, marble or bronze. Something that is cold and lifeless, erected to commemorate some deed of valor, or some individual who has passed to eternal rest.
  Randolph county has a memorial which reflects the disposition and character of one of it's early citizens, better than all the monuments that could be placed in the public square.
  Randolph county's memorial is located two miles west of Winchester as a tribute to James Moorman. It is the orphan's home which this kindly old gentleman made possible for children bereaved of their parents. It is known as the Moorman Orphans' Home. Only a small plate at the entrance could be considered a monument. The remainder of the 160 acre farm is devoted to making life happier for bereaved boys and girls.
 James Moorman, better known to Randolph county residents as "Uncle Jimmy" was one of it's early settlers. He started as a pioneer in the woods, making his living with the axe as a young man. He seemed to be a born financier. He knew how to make money and how to invest it wisely. His motto was "Make just a little more each day than you spend."
  "Uncle Jimmy" did not make money to develop power, but that the world would be better for it's investment. Considered stern by many still he had a kind heart. When he said "No" in reply to any person, that individual learned to know that he did not change his mind and "No" remained the answer.

  Although a bachelor, he loved children and those unfortunate in the loss of their parents, seemed to touch the tenderest of his emotions. Much of the large fortune which he accumulated was set aside for orphan children of the county.
  Through wise investments, he not only gave the county an excellent home, but endowed the institution, which with the products of the farm, make it self sustaining. Randolph county children are boarded and clothed without one cent of cost to the taxpayers.
  The large farm is well located and the soil is good. It has been possible to produce most of the food. The environment is excellent. It is near enough to the city to seem modern, far enough from the highway for safety and elimination of traffic noises.
  In 1898 the present large brick house was constructed. Barns and outbuildings are equally good. The government of the home is handled by a board of directors composed of Randolph county business and professional men.
  At present the board consists of the following members: E.W. Hill, president; A.F. Huddleston, vice-president; R.F. Moorman, treasurer; Phillip Kabel, secretary; A.L. Nichols, Lee Mendenhall and Henry O. Cox, members.
  Much of the success of the home is due to the sympathetic interest shown by Mr. and Mrs. Fred E. Moore, the former acting as superintendent and the latter as matron of the institution, who are starting on their seventh year.
  It is erroneous to call the place an "institution" as every effort is made to destroy institutional atmosphere. At school or church services one cannot tell the children from those who came from private homes. A real home atmosphere always prevails.
  One of the interesting sights is meal time. The home has a capacity for 40 children, with 25 there at present, six girls and nineteen boys. The dining room is in the sub-basement, adjoining the dining room of Mr. and Mrs. Moore. It is finished in bright colors, which appeal to any child. The smaller children eat at low tables, more comfortable for the little bodies. One of the girls acts as a "little sister" and sits at the head of each table. It is her work to see that there is always a supply of milk and water available.
  There is always plenty of food of the best quality. Much of it is raised on the farm. Besides milk, vegetables and meat, sufficient poultry is produced to have plenty of eggs and chicken for the children. The farm has a large "sugar camp" and 100 gallons of maple syrup was made this year in the farm evaporator. Some of the children prefer sorghum, so 60 gallons of this was made for the winter.
  The children attend a consolidated school and many are active in 4-H club products. Boys from the farm have been county champions in livestock and judging projects. Calves produced by the boys have won as high as third place in state fair competition.
  No particular religious creed is taught, but religious instruction is not overlooked. Each Sunday morning the children attend services at the Winchester Friends Church as a tribute of respect to Mr. Moorman, who was a devout member of the Society of the Friends.
  This farm could well be a model for any agricultural college. At present there are six pure-bred horses on the farm, one a brood mare weighing 2,200 pounds. A herd of pure-bred milking Shorthorn cattle is being built up. At present the farm has 40 head of cattle, 18 being milch cows and the remainder feeders. Twelve are producing milk. The farm also has 50 pure-bred Poland China hogs.
  Feed for the stock is ground each Saturday morning by Mr. Moore, assisted by the boys. Rough feed is stored in the mows and two large silos.
  The barn and all outbuildings are a model of cleanliness and sanitation. Each boy, who is old enough for regular work, is assigned some task of keeping a building or a section of it in sanitary condition. This not only teaches practical agriculture, but the boys develop a pride in their work. Mr. Moore states that the older boys are able to feed and care for the stock with almost no supervision.
  Mr. Moore employs one farm hand for field work and two women are employed at the house. One acts as cook and the other as seamstress. Each child has some definite work each day, although school work comes first in the routine of the home during the term.  While it is impossible to replace lost parents, Mr. and Mrs. Moore are beyond any reproach as substitute parents. Whenever possible, outside homes are obtained for the children, making room for others less fortunate. But no child is turned out to drift, even after reaching young manhood and young womanhood.
  "Uncle Jimmy" Moorman stills lives in the lives of boys and girls who are making good through his liberality and thoughtfulness.

20. A Randolph County Pioneer, Asenath Smith Edwards

By "A Neighbor." Journal-Herald, October 23, 1930.

  Asenath was born September1, 1838, hence is now a little more than 92 years of age, retaining her faculties and strength to a remarkable degree. She was the seventh child of Durant and Elizabeth Keys Smith.
  Her parents emigrated from Surrey County, North Carolina about the year 1825, with two small children, Nancy and Alexander, and settled on land which afterward became the farm now owned by Charles Edwards, about four miles southeast of Winchester, afterwards moving to a point about three miles east of what is now our county seat, then only a very small village. There were born ten more children, all but one of whom lived to rear families of their own
  Quite early in the life of the settlement, Durant Smith donated ground on which was built the school house afterwards known as Roundtop, because of it's octagonal form. Here the children, grand children and even some great great grand children of the family received their pioneer education.
  Just here let me say that Mrs. Edwards wishes to emphasize the fact that the foremost thought of these early settlers, especially of the Society of Friends, of which she has been a lifelong, birthright member, was to erect homes for their families, next to build a house for Divine worship, and, third, to build a school house, thus placing all importance upon Divine worship and Christian love, and fellowship for all mankind.
  She distinctly remembers the building of the Bee Line Railroad, and seeing the first train that passed over its rails in 1853.
  Wild animals at this time were common; bears, deer, wolves, squirrels, coons, opossums and many smaller animals as well as wild turkeys, pigeons and other birds without number. All of these were very important to the settlers as they furnished a large part of their food, as well as clothing and bedding. Wolves and bears were often troublesome, carrying off sheep and calves which the settlers could ill afford to lose.
  Mrs. Edwards in speaking of her childhood relates the following incidents. While she and other children were one day playing in the woods near home, they discovered a bear cub in a tree above them. Being pioneer children, they knew that "Mother Bear" might put in an appearance at any moment and decided that their safety depended on scampering home which they did.
  On October 22, 1857, Asenath became the bride of Hamilton Edwards also from North Carolina. They became the parents of ten children, five of whom with the father have passed on to the Great Beyond.
  Many and wonderful have been the changes witnessed by Asenath Edwards; changes made by clearing the forests and laying out roads; changes in modes of travel, the ox cart, the saddle and high wheel wagon giving way to the automobile and plane; changes in lighting from the home made tallow dip to gas and electricity; changes in clothing from the home spun garments made of wool or flax by the long and tiresome processes then used to the "ready to wear" garments; changes in cooking methods from the cast iron pots and skillets in the old time fire place to the modern electric range of today-these and many more changes all occuring within the span of one lifetime.
  Aseneth and Hamilton Edwards settled, soon after their marriage, on a part of what is now the Randolph County Infirmary farm, where they lived throughout most of their married life, acquiring, through industry, economy and frugality, a competence of this worlds goods, and setting for future generations, examples of quiet, neighborly, forebearance and Christian love for all mankind.-A neighbor.
 

19. Randolph County 4-H Club, Inc. To Be Built Near Goodrich Park

Winchester Journal Herald, August 7, 1951




  It has taken years and plenty of work and planning, but at last there seems to be some tangible progress in a building program for 4-H in Randolph County.
  In fact, the plan began back in the 1930's and since then the Randolph county adult committee composed of a man and a woman from each township has worked and planned carefully to bring about a building program which would house, in a centrally located spot, all of the county's 4-H activities.
  Culmination of the work came last September when a corporation was formed to carry on the planning and handle finances.
  This organization is called the "Randolph County 4-H Club, Inc.," and is incorporated under the laws of Indiana with papers filed in Indianapolis and the county recorder's office in Winchester.
  Here is the tangible feature-
  Randolph County 4-H Club, Inc. has just signed a 99-year lease with the Winchester city park board for more than seven acres of land just south of the Morton grade school on Union Street.
  This acreage will be the site of an extensive long-range building program which, when completed, may approach the $100,000 mark.
  With a 99-year lease signed and in legal form, the Randolph County 4-H Club, Inc., is looking ahead to 1952 when, it is hoped, the first phase of the building program can be started.
  Finances, however, must be solved and officers of the corporation are planning to go to the Randolph county commissioners for help.
  First building of three, to be erected on the site is to be a heated structure facing east, a building with an auditorium to be used for year-round meetings.
  The land has been leased from the Winchester city park board, papers being signed only a few days ago.
  Signing for the 4-H Club were Samuel M. Hinshaw of Winchester, president, and Ermal (Mrs. Clyde) Gordon of Stoney Creek township, secretary.
  John B. Goodrich and Thorald Steele signed for the Winchester Park Board.
  A long range program will call for at least three permanent buildings, first to be the auditorium facing Union Street which will house girls exhibits and actually be an all-year community center for all of Randolph county.
  Other structures will include, eventually, a livestock building for pens and stalls, a large open affair which may be used otherwise throughout the year as a shelter house.
  Then there will be a pavillion with a seating capacity of from 1,500 to 2,000 persons, in the center of which will be a "show" ring. This building, unheated, would be used for other activities during the year.
  Why did the 4-H club group choose the Winchester site?
  It didn't seem difficult to decide as the site is centrally located in Randolph county, there's ample ground for further expansion in the years ahead, it's connected with Winchester's fine park system and near the Goodrich swimming pool, there are water, sewage and electrical facilities, plus the fire and police protection so often needed.
  Expert advice was asked and received from two Purdue University experts who checked, rechecked and approved the Morton school site as "ideal," in addition to the above advantages realizing it is easily accessible with added parking space on Union Street if needed.

18. Cox Boy Killed Near Winchester's Goodrich Park

Winchester Daily News, July, 1937


 
Raymond Cox, 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Cox, 401 West North St., Winchester, was almost instantly killed yesterday afternoon about 4 o'clock when a borrowed car driven by Chester (Shorty) Kress, 15, also of Winchester, got out of control and overturned. The accident occurred on the cinder road bordering the west edge of Goodrich Park in Winchester, the road winding around until it merges into Residence St.
  Young Kress, son of Lillian Kress of East Third St., was uninjured but was a badly scared and saddened boy.
   Cox, placed in the Clark, Maynard and Potter ambulance, died enroute to the Randolph County Hospital and was taken to the funeral home for burial preparation.
  Dr. Lowell W. Painter, county coroner, said death was caused by a fractured skull. The boy was nearly scalped by the impact.
  Too much speed was given by city police, who investigated, as the cause of the fatal accident. Kress was going south at the time and failed to negotiate a turn in the road, the back end of the car skidding in the cinders, hitting a bank and overturning.
  The Cox boy's body was still in the car when it overturned, his head protruding from the window on the right side and being pinned underneath the car door. 
  Kress was driving the several-times wrecked Desoto of Roy Beachler, Winchester filling station operator of East Washington St. The car was badly damaged, the front end being caved in, the windshield completely demolished and the top bent.
  Paul Beachler, son of the owner of the car, was in the Goodrich Park swimming pool, so Kress reported, stopping there for a swim while delivering groceries for the Fixel grocery. Not wanting to interrupt his swim, Beachler asked the two boys to finish his deliveries. They consented and began the fatal ride around the park.

[ Chester would be the father of Karen and Kent.]

17. The Cherry Grove Friends Church Is Torn Down-Randolph County, Ind.

Paul Pickett, June, 1949.



  For the first time since the passing of the old Indian trails, since many years before the Civil War, there is no church building overlooking the old Cherry Grove cemetery just west of Lynn. Sold to a contractor about three months ago, the almost-immemorial Cherry Grove church has been torn down and hauled away.
  One of Randolph County's oldest landmarks and one of the most popular meeting houses in the late nineteenth century, the church was sold after standing empty for almost four years.
  Although the building which was hauled away was comparatively new, built in 1922, this is the first time any living person has been able to travel along the gravel road in front of the Cherry Grove cemetery without passing a church.
  This building was erected in 1922 to take the place of the original Cherry Grove church, built almost 130 years ago on the hill overlooking the cemetery.
  Of Friends denomination, the original church was built by a group of pioneers on the hill and named Cherry Grove because of the large number of wild cherry trees growing nearby. At the time of it's construction all travel was on horseback or on foot, and the one-room building was large enough to accommodate the limited number of members able to make the trip from their homes to the church each Sunday morning.
  As was the custom at the time, the church had no regular minister, depending on traveling preachers for the Sunday morning services.
  The original church building was sold in 1922 after being struck by lightning and burned, but many of the older residents of the community can remember the now old-fashioned methods of conducting the worship services.
  The building was designed with a large partition near the middle of the room which could be lowered or raised by ropes. Before the start of the worship service the partition would be lowered between the men and the women, sitting on their respective sides of the room, and would remain lowered until all group business had been transacted. Then it would be raised for group worship. The old partition was used until about 55 years ago.
  At that time the church supported and operated a school in conjunction with the church. Although the school was managed by Friends teachers, virtually all neighboring children attended regardless of their religious affiliation.
  The school was abandoned following the introduction of public schools. Arthur Pegg, 73 years young, who lives within stone-throwing distance of where the church stood, purchased the school building and now uses it for a workshop.
  Although travel was difficult following the construction of the first church, that section of Randolph County was covered almost completely with timber, meetings were held in the church each Sunday and "fourth day" meetings each Wednesday. The church members built many of the nearby roads to facilitate Sunday morning travel.
  The church finally failed when more churches were built and travel became easier, splitting the congregation among several other memberships.
  The cemetery, started with the first church, was plotted when the town of Lynn consisted of a store and a crossroads. When the first person, a young woman, was buried in the cemetery, the people of the Lynn community were still trying to decide between the names of Lynn and Lynnville for their town.
  The Cherry Grove church possibly had as long a record of ministers as any church in Randolph County. Among the recent ministers were Ed Howell, Elvin Thornburg, Olive Harris and Roe Amburn, but few former members can tell you about the sermons of Jonathon Hodges, Armon Kenworthy, Eldwood Ozbun and the many, many other ministers who helped build the late Cherry Grove church.

Photo is Cherry Grove Friends Church. taken by Willard C. Heiss, 1947

16. Beeson Park Golf Course Will Hold It's First Tournament, 1937

Journal Herald, September 17, 1937



  A Winchester city championship tournament will be played at the new Beeson Park golf course beginning September 20, it was announced yesterday. Medal play is impossible due to the fact that there are no available scores to handicap all the players. Hence the tournament will be match play.
  In order that all players may have the opportunity to participate, a consolation flight will be played along with the championship flight.
  Prizes will be awarded in both flights. All entries must be in by Sunday to Harry Smith, Caddy Master  at the golf course.
  Entry fee is 50 cents.

Tournament ends October 23, 1937:

  Johnny Monks today is champion golfer of Winchester by virtue of his 4 and 3 victory over Francis Simpson in a match played in a mixed snow and rainstorm on the Beeson Park course in Winchester. With the championship, the first of many to come on the new course, goes a silver loving cup.
  Johnny Perkins won the consolation tournament with a victory over Fred Lattin in the final match of the medal play event and received eight golf balls for his efforts. Lattin received four balls as runner-up.  There were eight entries in the championship flight after qualifying rounds had been played and Monks fought his way through to the title by defeating Robison, Smith and Simpson. The runner-up defeated Mendenhall and Perry to gain the final round.
  Perkins in winning the consolation was the best of 16 entrants. He beat Zayas, Fulkerson, Burnhardt and Lattin to win, while Lattin defeated Phistner, Armstrong and Ashley.

Earlier in the Journal Herald, 9-3-'37, Orla Davis, city clerk-treasurer, announced that as of September 1, there was a balance of $116.30 in the Beeson Park golf course fund.
  Since the course's opening, about the middle of July, to September 1, 1937,  income from green's fees totaled $364.10. Expenses to the Caddy Master and caretaker were $247.80.
  This is a creditable showing for the new course and reveals already that it will be a money maker, or at least self-supporting when in better shape and more widely known.

15. Jealousy Brings Murder-Suicide To Winchester

  Journal Herald, Dec. 1, 1938

Driven by a temper which at times was uncontrollable and meditation upon the fact that he was about to lose the love of his young sweetheart, Austin Roberts of near Saratoga, killed Harriet Jordan of 529 West South St., after he had seen her in company with another young man at the home of a neighbor the night before.
  Actual details of the tragedy will never be known as both were dead when their bodies were discovered after the kitchen door had been broken in and the bodies found side by side on the kitchen floor, their heads beneath a small table and blood spattered over the linoleum.
  Roberts shot the girl four times with a small .22 caliber revolver, the fatal shot penetrating her heart. Bullets struck her on the left cheek, the chest, left upper arm and right forearm, this shot going through her arm into the chest. The shot which killed the young man penetrated his heart. Both died instantly.
  That Roberts came to Winchester for the purpose of murder is borne out by the fact that the girl's mother, Mrs. Stanley Tobolski, was asked by Roberts to go to Shires, a neighborhood grocery, for two bottles of pop, indicating that the young man had planned her absence to commit the crime.
  Mrs. Tobolski went to the store leaving her daughter alone with Roberts. Returning with two bottles of pop, which were never opened, the mother found the kitchen door locked and peering in the window saw her daughter's body on the floor. She did not see Roberts.
Screaming, Mrs. Tobolski ran to the home of a brother, Elwood Van Note, 518 West Will St., not far distant. Accompanied by his wife, Van Note rushed to the Tobolski home and then to the home of Everett E. Stegall, just west across the alley, where he called the Sheriff's office.
  In the meantime, Mrs. Tobolski and Mrs. Van Note heard one shot, the shot with which Roberts ended his life.
  The kitchen door was broken in by Harry Fraze, Everett Diggs and Van Note and the gruesome double tragedy was revealed.
  Five shots had been fired from the revolver, two of the discharged shells being found on the floor and three in the cylinder. The revolver was found between the two bodies.
 
 

14. The Outhouse Police Are Coming

The Winchester Herald, 1889

  To the Citizens within the Corporate limits of the Town of Winchester: You are hereby respectfully asked to put the premises which you now occupy, own or control, within the corporate limits of the town of Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana, in a good sanitary condition by May 1, 1889, by removing from said premises all Manures, Accumulations in Outhouse Vaults, Pig Styes, Stables, Barn-Yards and all other places on said premises, the same to be moved outside of the corporate limits of the Town of Winchester. You are further notified to disinfect all outhouse vaults by thoroughly slushing each vault with not less than two gallons of a solution of copperas in water, using one and one-half pound to the gallon of water, or as much more as should be necessary to thoroughly disinfect the same, and repeat the disinfection as often as should be necessary, and not less than once a month during fly season being May, June, July, August, September and October. Pig styes, poultry houses and yards must be kept clean and free from foul odors by frequently cleaning and disinfecting with lime and copperas.
  You are also notified to fill up with earth, or drain all cesspools or places where water or pig slops accumulate and become stagnant.
  Serious objections are also being raised to the practice indulged in by some citizens of throwing rats which have been killed into the street, there to fester and rot, and raise a stench which is offensive to the nostrils of all persons passing by. This must stop.

By order of the Town Board of Health, Winchester, Indiana. J.W. Jackson, Pres't, F.A. Chenoweth, Sec'y.

13. George W. Peele, Good Man Gone To His Reward

Winchester Journal, 1924


  Since the death of George W. Peele, ninety-two, colored, at Muncie last week, interested persons have made an investigation of the negro register at the court house and find that George W. Peele was given his freedom by his master, Amos Wiley, who moved to Randolph County from North Hampton County, North Carolina, November 1, 1851.

  Mr. Wiley brought with him ten slaves, all of them he gave their freedom at this time. The register states that Mr. Peele was nineteen years old when brought to Winchester and describes him as a negro, five feet seven inches high and well made. Henry H. Neff, who was later a colonel in the Civil War, was clerk of the court when the register was recorded and Nathan Hinshaw witnessed the act. The Wiley negroes are the only ones who ever received their freedom in Randolph County.
  Mr. Peele remained a resident of Winchester until a short time before his death, when he went to Muncie to make his home with his daughter, Mrs. Dan Keith. He was well respected here and was familiarly known to almost every man, woman and child as "Uncle George."

12. Swimming Pool, Golf Course, Ball Diamond etc.To Be Built At Beeson Farm

Winchester Daily News, April 18, 1935


  The first concrete steps toward the actual work on the proposed Beeson Park in Winchester, were taken at the regular meeting of the city council last night, when a proposed contract between the members of the Beeson Park board and the tenant on the farm at the south edge of the city, for the vacation of the property was ratified by the council.
  Tentative plans presented by the members of the board, Dr. J.S. Robison, John Monks, Louis Mendenhall and Francis Simpson, call for the immediate construction of a nine hole golf course followed by a swimming pool, baseball diamond, two hard surface and one sand surface tennis courts, a club house and the laying out of a fine park equipped with benches, playground equipment, etc.

 A project application will be submitted to the state ERA office at Indianapolis in the near future, providing for all labor needed in the construction of the park to be provided by the ERA, or it's successor. The estimated labor expenditure in the park will probably exceed $25,000, according to the estimate. All expenditures for material and for the maintenance of the park will be paid out of funds provided for under the terms of the Beeson will.

  Work is expected to be started on the golf course within the next few weeks, pending the successful completion of the negotiations with the tenant and the ERA.

11. Two Men Freeze To Death: James R. Scott. James Fred Dewey

Winchester Journal Herald, 1953


  Discovered frozen to death at 9 a.m. was James R. Scott, 82 year old Negro, who lived alone in a four room frame house two and one-half miles north of Modoc on St. Rd. 1. His body was found by a brother-in-law, Albert Barrax, who lives a mile west. Mr. Barrax, who checked on the elderly man, Barrax himself is 82 also, about "every other day" saw the body in the rear of the house at the opening of a dilapidated woodshed where apparently Mr. Scott had gone sometime Sunday for coal from the small pile stored near the shed door. He told Coroner Harvey White that he had seen his brother-in-law about noon Saturday when he took him some groceries. He said that Scott had been taking medicine but seemed in normal health, for his age, at that time.
  He was a bachelor, born and raised in the community where he lived and had recently returned from the home of a niece in Detroit. The back door of the house, formerly a grocery store at what is known as "Scott's Corner" was standing open and water in a bucket in the kitchen was frozen solid.
  He will be buried in the Baptist cemetery, south of Farmland


  James Fred Dewey, 74, a former glassworker at Anchor Hocking was found dead Saturday morning at his home, 535 Maple Street in Winchester.
  Doctor Harvey White of Farmland, Randolph County Coroner, has ruled that Mr. Dewey had apparently frozen to death.
  Found with him when Winchester Police broke into the unheated house was Patrick (Shorty) Coon, 65, in such poor physical condition that he had been unable to move and make outside contact since his companion's death "three or four days ago."
  Mr. Coon was taken to the Randolph County Hospital for medical treatment and Sunday Morning was transferred to the Randolph County Infirmary.
 
 

10. Mrs.Emmaline (Emily) Hunt - 100th Birthday 1951, Winchester, Huntsville

By Paul Deming 1951


   "A century of living, of sharing and giving" is the motto of Mrs. Emmaline (Emmy) Hunt who celebrates her onconsiderably e-hundredth birthday anniversary Friday August 31, 1951 at her home in Winchester to become Randolph County's only living Centenarian.
  Still active for a person her age, Mrs. Hunt demonstrates in the photo that she can still "thread a needle" and sews daily, her favorite pastime.
  How does she feel at age 100? Not more than 70 at the most," answers the smiling and pleasant Mrs. Hunt. When querried as to how long she expects to live, she will say "Just as long  as the good Lord will let me." Asked about her interest in sewing she replied, "Mercy-I wish you knew of all the quilts, cloths and things I've made. One of my best quilts I made when I was 95-years-old. I still sew and love doing it.
  Her reaction to the modern world- "I don't enjoy times now in comparison to the way they were when I was a girl. I think times have definitely become worse."
  And, reflecting her simple Hoosier homespun philosophy, she looks back over the last hundred years of her life and recalls the happiest single day of her century as- "When my husband and I moved to Winchester and established our first real home, then I knew we would always be secure and have a place of our own."

  Her only advice to aspiring centenarians, Mrs. Hunt says. is clean and simple living. As to her secret of longevity, she explains it as the "confidence and joy of living." She says she tries to lead a temperate life and is particularly careful about eating.
  She says she never drinks coffee and never eats meat. Milk and water are her sole liquids for lunch and dinner, while for breakfast she drinks heated water with a little sugar and cream added. She sleeps approximately nine hours a day, retiring at about nine o'clock in the evening and rising at six o'clock in the morning. Occasionaly she may take a short nap in the afternoon.
  She immensely enjoys seeing and talking with friends, and is looking forward to many visitors through the day Friday. For those who will visit her then, her son and daughter ask that they please refrain from shaking hands with Mrs. Hunt as many people often do. They explained that so much hand shaking in the past has proved to bruise the elderly lady's hands severley.
  Mrs. Hunt is the only living member of a family of ten children and is a descendant of one of Randolph County's oldest pioneer families. She was born on August 31, 1851 on a farm near Huntsville and her mother, Harriet Ann (Cropper) Botkin, came to Randolph County from Henry County, Kentucky at the age of 11.
  Her brothers and sisters were Bealie, Edward, Malinda Jane, Matilda Ellen, Mary Eliza, Rebecca, Horace, Silas and Stacy Lincoln. Her father died in 1891 at the age of 71 years and her mother died in 1905 when she was 89-years-old.
  Emily was married to Addison Hunt, also a pioneer of Randolph County, on September 8, 1879 in a ceremony read by Harvey Patty, justice of the peace in Winchester. The Hunt's moved to Winchester in 1902. Mr. Hunt died in 1933.
  Descendants of the new centenarian now living are a son, Basil C. Hunt of Dayton, Ohio: a daughter Sadie DuBois of 427 Thompson street, Winchester, with whom Mrs. Hunt lives; two granddaughters, Harriet Holladay of Muncie and Jean Fast of Fort Wayne; three grandsons, Wayne F. Hunt, William A. Hunt and Robert L. Puckett: four great grandsons Jackie Holladay and Ronnie Holladay, Marshall A. Hunt and Buttchie Cook; and five great granddaughters, Wanda Lou Holladay, Caroline Sue and Sandra Kay Fast, Diane Puckett and Melonia Ann Hunt.