This week in Indiana’s history …
1824 – Nine Native Americans were murdered near Pendleton. It came to be called the “Fall Creek Massacre.” The crime resulted in the hanging of three white men the following year, the first time such a penalty had been carried out for the killing of Native Americans.
1885 – The Willard Library was dedicated in Evansville. The beautiful Gothic-Revival structure includes a tower with steeply-pitches roofs and ornamental gables. Delicate terra cotta covers much of the exterior in the form of rosettes and owls (symbols of wisdom.) Legend has it that the library is haunted by a gentle ghost known as “The Gray Lady.”
1899 – Ruth Page was born in Indianapolis. She attended Tudor Hall for Girls and became life-long friends with Elizabeth Harrison and her mother, Mary Lord Harrison, widow of President Benjamin Harrison. Ruth grew up to become a world-renown ballerina and choreographer. Her legacy is the Ruth Page Center for Performing Arts in Chicago.
1913 – A series of tornadoes swirled from the Great Plains into the Ohio Valley. Winds whipped through the southern section of Terre Haute, damaging or destroying 300 homes. One five-block area was completely leveled, and 21 people lost their lives. Subsequent flash flooding took an additional dozen lives.
1947 – Thousands of kids across Indiana gathered around their radios to read the Sunday comics with “Uncle Wally” Nehrling. He went through the “funnies” each week, adding drama and laughs to the printed pages. The long-time radio personality sometimes attended birthday parties for his young listeners. Nehrling’s familiar voice was heard on WIRE Radio for nearly 40 years.
2012 – The Honorable Randall T. Shepard retired as Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. He was the longest-serving Chief Justice in Indiana history. Appointed to the Court in 1985 by Governor Robert D. Orr, Shepard had earlier served as Judge of the Vanderburgh Superior Court in Evansville.