This coming week in Indiana’s history …
1817 – The Indiana Supreme Court held its first session in the state capital of Corydon. The three judges were John Johnson, James Scott and Jesse Holman. They were appointed by Governor Jonathan Jennings to serve seven-year terms “if they should so long behave well.”
1909 – Belford Hendricks was born in Evansville, where he attended high school and was a member of the band. He became a renowned composer, pianist, arranger and conductor, collaborating with Count Basie, Dinah Washington, Nat King Cole, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Mathis and many others.
1911 – Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show came to Indianapolis with “hundreds of stupendous startling sights … Annie Oakley, peerless rifle shot of the world, cowboys, trained buffaloes, acting bulls, educated mules, a company of Cossacks, former U.S. Cavalrymen, Rangers, Northwest Mounted Police, and the Rough Riders … preceded by the Parade of the Century on public streets.”
1915 – Elbridge Thompson of Seymour was one of the over 1,100 people who died in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. He was director of the Seymour Water Company. His wife Maude was among the 764 survivors of the tragedy, caused by torpedoes fired by a German U-Boat.
1923 – Anne Baxter was born in Michigan City. The granddaughter of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, she became a star of Broadway, movies, and television. She worked with top directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, and Cecil B. DeMille. She won an Academy Award for her role in “The Razor’s Edge.”
1942 – Lieutenant Edgar D. Whitcomb, from Hayden, was captured and placed in a Japanese prison camp. He escaped by swimming eight miles through shark-infested waters. Soon recaptured, he escaped again. In 1958, he told the story in his memoir Escape from Corregidor. He served as Indiana Secretary of State and, in 1969, became the 43rd Governor of Indiana.