149. Randolph County Misc

Heathering-Berner, Randolph County Highway Department Road Paving Machine.  @1940.

                                              Vern Brown   Jim Pegg     Ronald White

                                           

1929. New County Highway Garage To Be Built.

  The Randolph County Commissioners have decided to erect a steel building 50 x 90 feet in size, on the piece of land bought by the county of Samuel DWIGGENS, southeast of Winchester. The building will be used to house all of the county tools, trucks and machinery.  Winchester Journal-Herald, November 7, 1929.

1930. Bid Let For Building.

  The county commissioners have let the contract for constructing the county highway storage building to H.R. CRAWFORD and Son for the sum of $9,066.50. The building will be located on a triangle tract of land southwest of Winchester where the Bloomingsport road branches off of the BUNDY Mill pike. The structure will be 60 by 100 feet of steel and glazed block walls and cement floor. The building is to be completed by September 1, 1930. This building will house all of the road machinery and serve as storage for highway building supplies.   Winchester Journal-Herald, April 10, 1930.

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1950.  Lynn Farmer Arrested.

  It took seven police officers and tear gas bombs to capture an enraged 69-year-old farmer after he locked himself in his house and threatened to shoot the heads off the invading policemen at a farm near Lynn Monday night.
  When finally captured, Herman HILL was arrested and charged with carrying a dangerous weapon and for resisting arrest.
  In Randolph circuit court Tuesday morning the elderly farmer was described by Prosecutor Merrill NICHOLS not to "be of sound mind to determine right from wrong." Hill said in court that he couldn't remember resisting arrest and spoke of persons trying to poison his drinking water.
  Judge John Macy ordered the proceedings to be halted until Hill could be properly examined and ordered the defendant to be held in custody of the sheriff until the examination was concluded. He ordered Dr. Russell B. ENGLE and Dr. Lowell B. PAINTER to make the examination.
  HINES reported that the trouble started at Hill's farm, one mile south and three miles east of Lynn, after Hill had ended an argument with several neighbors, Tom BROWN and Paul WITTER of Lynn, and a tenant, Russel MANNING, by shooting a double barreled shotgun and injuring Brown who was later treated by a private physician.
  Hines reported that Hill became enraged when he felt he was getting the short end of an agreement to divide the corn on his farm. Hill then ran to his house and returned with the gun. After firing the shot wounding Brown, he ran back into the house and locked himself in.
  Hines and Deputy PERRY were called and arrived at 4:30 p.m. When they heard the story they returned to Winchester and obtained a warrant for the elder Hill's arrest.
  They returned to the scene accompanied by State Police Trooper Merrill WANN. Darkness had set in so Jennings and Wann threw their police car spot-lights on the farmhouse while Hines tried to open the door. He got a screen door jerked off when the other policeman shouted a warning that Hill was drawing a bead on him.
  When their constant pleadings for Hill to surrender were futile the officers called the state police at Pendelton for tear gas. State Police Detectives SPANNUTH, JESSUP, COOK and Perry arrived about 9 p.m. In the meantime a neighbor of Hill's, Roy BOWEN, approached the house to get the aged farmer to give himself up but Hill shouted that he was "gonna shoot all of 'em."
  When the tear gas bombs arrived the state policemen shot them into the upstairs windows and then into the downstairs windows but still Hill would not surrender.
  The officers laid back awhile to let the gas spread through the house. Finally Hines, Jennings and several of the state policemen saw Hill crack open the front door to get some air. They rushed the door and forced it open. Jennings and Hines then grabbed Hill who was armed with a large kitchen knife but subdued him before anyone was injured.
  Hines reported that it was after 10:30 p.m. before they finally got him in jail at Winchester.   Winchester Journal-Herald, October 31, 1950.

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1942. Kelly Tool Co.

  An infant Winchester industry, just past five years old, is turning out 800 to 900 finished parts weekly to keep the army, navy and air corps in the thick of the fight against the Axis.
  The industry is the Kelly Tool Company which moved to a new location September 21 after outgrowing its second successive building. The present location is on Railroad avenue at East street in the building formerly housing the Randolph County Farm Bureau and the drying plant of the Randolph County Hybrid Corn Growers Association.
  The company is owned and managed by Beneville (Ben) K. KELLY who founded the factory as a one-man institution in August, 1937. The first location was on West Franklin street in a building that has since been razed and the second location was in the former Indiana Union Traction Co. car barns on West Washington street near the city limits. At the car barns it was known as the Kelly Gunsight Company.
  Back in the early days, Mrs. Kelly helped with the office work and the two sons of the family, John and Robert, helped in the shop, but most of the work was done by Mr. Kelly.
  Today the plant employs 24 persons and is working 21 hours a day, six and one-half days a week. Ninety to 100 percent of the production is on war contracts, Mr. Kelly said.
  Bringing with him a wealth of experience in tool making, Mr. Kelly learned his trade at a glass factory in Cincinnati. During the first World War he was employed at the Washington Navy Yard and subsequently worked for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad and the Cincinnati Milling Machine Company before coming to Winchester in 1925 with the Overmyer Mould Company. Before leaving Overmyers in 1937, Mr. Kelly was tool room foreman.
  Although the war has brought a more rapid expansion to the company, it is by no means a "war baby" but has grown steadily since its establishment. The company still makes tools, as it did at the beginning, but much of the production is in small parts for local industries and for factories in Muncie, Dayton, Ohio, Louisville, Ky., and Washington, D.C. In recent months, because of war shortages, the company has built some machine tools for its own use, but not for other companies.
  The shop in the present building contains about 5,000 square feet of floor space and about 15,000 square feet is contained in the entire building including storage and office space.
  Several new machines have been added since the factory moved and continued expansion is expected, Mr. Kelly said. New expansion will be to the second floor of the present building although there is room for new additions to the structure if they are needed.   Winchester Journal-Herald, October 19, 1942.   (Years after the war "Rudy" Litschert said that he had a contract with the government during the war to make the lenses, or optics, for the Army Air Corps bomb sights. He said that Ben Kelly's company and Overmyer Mould were also making metal parts for those bomb sights also.  mh)

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1930. Lynching In Grant County.

  This is not Randolph County related but I thought it might be of interest. My father and his brother were on their way back to Purdue in Lafayette from their home in Adams County early on the morning after the lynching and as they drove by the courthouse they saw the bodies of the two young black men still hanging in the trees. He told me about seeing the bodies but never said anything about what had happened the night before as he probably never knew more than what they saw. This is the story that was printed in the Winchester Journal-Herald on August 14, 1930, possibly taken from a Marion newspaper.

Marion Mob -- Hang Prisoners Taken From Jail.

  A mob of several thousand persons broke into the Grant County jail last Thursday night and took from the authorities two negroes, Thomas Shipp, 19, and Abram Smith, 19, charged with killing Claude Deeter and attacking Miss Mary Ball, his companion. The attack on Deeter and Miss Ball took place Wednesday evening and the negroes were caught Thursday morning.
  The excitement over the deed grew all day and when evening came a crowd began to assemble. The mob spirit grew as the crowd increased and in a short time leaders took charge of things. Hoot Ball, father of Miss Ball, entered the jail to talk the matter over with Sheriff Jacob Campbell. He had been sick and as he left the jail, Ball stumbled and fell. This seemed to turn the frenzy of the crowd loose and a rush on the jail started. The jail was attacked on two sides. Holes were battered through the walls, locks were broken and as the leaders gained admittance to the prisoners quarters Shipp and Smith were recognized. They were dragged from the building, beaten by the mob and taken to the courthouse square where they were hanged from trees, where the bodies remained until early morning when they were cut down by the sheriff.
  Great excitement prevailed throughout the night.
  Efforts were made by the sheriff, his deputies and others to prevent the crowd from breaking into the jail but the crowd was too large and excited to be controlled.
  Two companies of National Guard troops were hurried from Camp Knox to help keep the peace and prevent further conflicts between the negroes and whites of the area.

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1927. New Swimming Pool On Orange Street.

Aug. 25.    The new swimming pool for Winchester, the need of which, recent drownings have made very evident, is now assured. The ground has been bought and the cement work will be started soon. The pool will be located in the low land, south of Orange street, and just east of Salt Creek, and will be 60 x 150 feet, ranging in depth from two to ten feet. Playgrounds will be provided for small children, tennis courts for older boys and girls and all the accessories of a first class swimming pool will be installed. Best of all, there will be supervision by competent and experienced attendants. Glenn DAVIS is in charge of the construction.

Sept. 22.   Those interested in the proposed new swimming pool, and they are many, will be glad to know that the driven well just finished at the Orange street pool site is furnishing a fine flow of water of unquestioned purity.

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