File

July 2015 Newsletter
Volume 19 #5
In Appreciation….
Submitted by Janet Henderzahs
The
Clarksville
Historical
Society July
meeting will
be a
presentation
by Town
Redevelopment
Director Nick
Lawrence on
riverfront
development
in south
Clarksville.
The meeting
begins at 4:30
P.M.
Wednesday,
July 8 with
the
presentation
starting
at 5:00 P.M. at
the Clarksville
Community
Center.
The Society would like to give a big “THANK YOU” to our speaker at the
May meeting: Jeanne Burke, Clark County Historian and President of
the Clark County Historical Society. Her topic was the Clark County
History Museum. The museum was originally housed in the Clark County
Municipal Building in Jeffersonville. For various reasons, such as space
restrictions and limited access, the City of Jeffersonville provided two
buildings for the Museum that had been originally purchased for the
expected canal project that was cancelled. The one building at 725
Michigan Avenue was formerly a sign company. The city also provided
an old house nearby that had been owned by the Howard family (not
related to the Howard Steamboat family). I understood it to be the
oldest house in Jeffersonville. Mr. Howard was a Democratic boss and
named all his boys after Democratic presidents. One, Andrew Jackson
Howard, was warden/superintendent of the old state prison in the
1860’s, which all CHS members know to be located in Clarksville and
eventually became Colgate. His brother, Martin Van Buren Howard,
succeeded Andrew at the prison.
Jeanne brought several museum items for our viewing and explained
how some of those items came into her possession. Some clothing
articles were retrieved from an old home in Charlestown, which the
owner refused to allow the house to be sold. Eventually the family
members died off and the property was abandoned with all its contents.
Unfortunately, abandoned homes and buildings tend to be real dirty and
attract local critters so you have to be a “brave soul” to go treasure
hunting in such locations. She also had drawings from a couple of
cartoonists that originated in Jeffersonville, Ernie Burt, who ended up
working in Knoxville, TN, and Tom Linley, who was an artist of Gunnison
homes. There were many more items for our members to peruse and
there is a much larger collection to be seen whenever the Clark County
Museum becomes a complete reality.
As a side note, Jeanne let us know that the Evening News is on microfilm
from 1872 forward.
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CHS
July 2015 Newsletter
We have a lot to appreciate this month!
The Society would like to give a big “THANK YOU” to our speaker at the June meeting: Allison
Frederickson, “Chief-in-Charge” of the Indiana Room at the Jeffersonville Township Library in
Jeffersonville. She had a very long “official” title but I shortened it. Allison is also one of our very own
CHS members. She presented a slide show about “how to use” the resources in the Indiana Room and what
resources were available. She also had handouts for everyone that captured the information in the slide
show. Good thing, too. No way I could remember all the information she presented!
The Indiana Room has various resources available. Unfortunately my note taking wasn’t the best but I will
give you an idea of some of the resources. For accuracy you need to verify with Allison.
Some resources:
1872-present-----Jeffersonville Evening News (now News-Tribune)
1882-1922--------Health Dept. Records
1801-1850--------County Records
1790-1930--------Federal Census
1860-1900--------Deeds
1903-2014-------City Directories (sporadic before then)
Other resources:
Cemetery Records – Eastern Cemetery & St. Anthony’s Cemetery
County Histories
Military Indexes
Obituary Indexes
Family Histories
Photos (not stored in the Indiana Room)
Some other information Allison shared was that the Indiana Room has “free” access to Ancestry.com or
HQO Heritage. There are also microfilm scanners available compatible with thumb drives.
Don’t need an “official” birth or death certificate? You can get a “free” copy at the Indiana Room.
Page 3
CHS
July 2015 Newsletter
Clarksville Historical Society
Board of Directors Meeting
Clarksville Community Center
May 22, 2015
Minutes
(Abbreviated) Work-in- Progress
~By-laws (procedures, etc.) and written Board position descriptions are still a work in process.
~Committees:
~Membership Committee: Janet Henderzahs, Chair
Reported the Membership Committee met during the past month. The committee has suggested
membership cards be issued to each member. After some discussion, it was approved by the
board to proceed with having membership cards made.
~Communications/Public Relations: Josh Whicker, Chair
Reported the ad was sent to the News-Tribune newspaper about the Memorial Day Program at
the War Memorial. The information was printed in several issues of the newspaper because they
received the request several times.
Good job! Josh also reported that the $40 paid to Clarksville High School for the ad in the
program for their theatre production, “Annie”, was returned. Due to an oversight, the ad was not
printed.
~Program and Services: Pat Knight, Chair
Reported the speaker for the June membership meeting will be Allison Fredrickson. She will be
speaking about the Indiana Room at the Jeffersonville Public Library.
~War Memorial: Don McDonough, Chair
Reported plans for the Memorial Day Service at the War Memorial were complete.
The date is Sunday, May 24, 2015 at 2 pm. The program will be moved indoors for inclement
weather.
~Nominating Committee: No Report.
Action Taken by Board:
~It was unanimously approved for CHS to have membership cards for all members.
Information on when they will be available will be announced.
Due to time constraints, the next agenda item, Establish 2016 Bicentennial Planning Committee, was
tabled until the next meeting.
Treasurer’s
Report
05/01/15
05/01/15
05/30/15
06/02/15
06/02/15
06/04/15
06/04/15
06/25/15
Opening balance
Staples
Income
John Gilkey
Kay McDonald
Amer Legion
Clark County Museum
Closing balance
printer switch
wireless adapters
ink/print programs
memorial day
Jeanne Burke
$10,091.38
$24.99
$100.00
$36.78
$96.46
$100.00
$100.00
$9,833.15
Page 4
CHS
July 2015 Newsletter
The Society offers condolences to the family of our lost member…
Barbara L. (Plaiss) Rice, 85, died Wednesday, June 10, 2015, in Fort Myers, FL. She was born June 14, 1929 in New Albany, Indiana to the late George and Ann Plaiss. Barbara was a member of the Clarksville Historical Society and along with her parents was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Rice; son, James "Jim" Rice; and sister, Jennifer Hill. Survivors include her daughter, Angelia Vittitow; companion, Charles Saul; sisters, Betty Stiller, Edith Gutkese; brothers, George "Bud" Plaiss, Robert Plaiss. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family. Information from the News and Tribune and
DignityMemorial.com
Clark Days
The Society made $168.00 on the 2 day Clark Days event. Thanks to all who volunteered to participate! The weather was great! Please visit our website at www.clarksvillehistoricalsociety.org and our new
Facebook page at www.facebook.com/clarksvillehistoricalsociety