Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 185, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 August 1912 — REPRESENTATIVE OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY HERE. [ARTICLE]

REPRESENTATIVE OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY HERE.

Ernest V. Shockley Gathering Data From Jasper County to Go In State History. Ernest V. Shockley was here today in the interests of the Indiana Historical Society, which is now making a historical survey relating to the geographical and political statistics of ,the state. Mr. Shockley is visiting all the counties of the state and is now in Rensselaer gathering data of Jasper county which, together with, the history of all the counties of the state, will be published by the Historical Society in ten volumes. He called at The Republican office to’get a start on his work here. He is being assisted in his work here by a large number of the older residents who have the history of the county pretty well in mind. Among them' are Norman and Marsh Warner, Stewart Hammond, Mrs. E. Thompson, S.\ E. Yeoman, Henry Pierson and several others. He was also put in touch with S. E. .Sparling, who is well«*Versed in the county’s history. Mr. Sparling is devoting considerable time assisting him to start out the work here. Mr. Shockley gains 0 his information by talking to old residents and through reading old manuscripts and going 'through old newspaper files. He is especially inquiring into the incidents relating to the Dodd’s raid in the year of 1863. There was much bitterness engendered at that time and much partisanship fostered by the incident and even now, after a lapse of fifty years, some of our older residents are reluctant to tell all they know of the circumstances leading up to and resultant of the incident.

~ It is the aim of fte society to gather all data and have the historical volumes published by 1916, which is the centennial of the admission of this state to the union. Mr. Shockley was much surprised when informed that there was no county historical society here, and stated that, out of the forty-eight counties'he had already visited, in only two or three instances were they without a society of some sort. He dropped a suggestion to the effect that it would be well to form a society to gather history for permanent keeping, as most of this county’s past history is unrecorded. The most that is known is retained in the minds of and resting with the memory of the old residents who are fast dying off.