This week in Indiana’s history …
1859 – Andy Adams was born in Whitley County where he grew up on a farm and worked with horses and cattle. As a young man, he traveled to Texas where he lived the cowboy life. After mining for gold in Colorado and Nevada, he began writing novels. His most successful book, The Log of a Cowboy, is widely considered one of the most authentic narratives of cowboy life ever written.
1869 – The Indiana General Assembly, under the Morrill Act, accepted $150,000 and 100 acres of land from John Purdue to build a college in West Lafayette. The school, to be named for its benefactor, would concentrate on the study of science, technology and agriculture. Purdue University is one of 68 “land grant” schools in the nation and the only one in Indiana.
1919 – Thousands lined the streets of Indianapolis to welcome soldiers home from World War I. A victory arch spanned Meridian Street at the south entrance to Monument Circle. Over 20,000 soldiers marched in the five-mile long parade. The men and women in uniform represented every county in Indiana. The bells of Christ Church Cathedral on the Circle rang in honor of those who had died for their country.
1934 – Frances Fairbank Godown, age 101, voted in the primary election in Indianapolis. Considered the oldest voter in the county, she had been married to Civil War Captain John M. Godown, who had been secretary to the Commission which built the Statehouse. Mrs. Godown said she considered it the duty of every woman to vote. It was noted that she had lived during the time of the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War and World War I. She had seen the passage of life from kerosene lamps and stagecoaches to electricity, automobiles, radio, telephones and airplanes.
1937 – The German airship Hindenburg exploded and fell to the ground in Lakehurst, N.J. Of 97 people aboard, 62 survived. Among them was 39-year-old Clifford Osbun, a Chicago resident who had spent much of his life in Indiana. A graduate of Purdue, he had lived in Muncie and Marion and was an executive with the Oliver Farm Equipment Company in South Bend. He was returning from a three-month overseas business trip when the tragedy occurred.
1989 – The Lottery Act was approved by the Indiana General Assembly. The bill was signed a week later by Governor Evan Bayh. The sale of scratch-off tickets began in October. The Hoosier Lottery is the only one in the nation to use the state’s nickname.