This week in Indiana’s history …
1828 – Sarah Lincoln Grigsby died at age 20 in Spencer County. She was the older sister of 18-year-old Abraham Lincoln. She had played a major role in raising her brother after their mother had died 10 years earlier. Married to Adam Grigsby, she died during childbirth. She was buried in the cemetery of the Little Pigeon Creek Baptist Church, which is now part of the Lincoln State Park.
1875 – Zerelda Wallace, widow of Indiana Governor David Wallace, addressed the Indiana General Assembly and presented over 21,000 signatures on temperance petitions. She was the first president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in Indiana and a member of the Equal Suffrage Society of Indiana. In 1880, she testified before the United States Senate in favor of giving women the right to vote.
1921 – Herbert Hoover, former director of the United States Food Administration, hosted a $100 per plate luncheon in the Riley Room of the Claypool Hotel in Indianapolis. The lunch consisted of cocoa, rice stew and black beans. The meager fare was a representation of food rations for hungry children in Central Europe. Hoover went on to become U. S. Secretary of Commerce and, in 1933, President of the United States. The $100 lunch in 1921 would be over $1,400 in today’s dollars.
1968 – Rowan and Martin’s “Laugh-In” show premiered on NBC. Among the regular cast each week was Jo Anne Worley. The comedian, actress, and singer graduated from high school in Lowell, Ind. In addition to many television and movie appearances, she has performed in scores of musical productions on and off Broadway.
1989 – Dan Quayle of Huntington, Ind., took the oath of office to become the 44th Vice President of the United States, serving under President George H. W. Bush. Quayle had spent eight years in the United States Senate and four years in the U. S. House of Representatives. He graduated from Huntington High School, DePauw University, and the Indiana University Law School.
2009 – In a non-binding resolution, the Indiana Senate made sugar cream pie the “official state pie” of Indiana. Also known, as “Hoosier Pie,” it is made from a simple recipe and was a popular, easy-to-fix dessert in pioneer cabins across the state.