Presidential Ties, Mayors, and Patents. Oh My!

It’s a little soon for another reader response column, but I have some column business that needs attention. Mainly, I want to apologize to Dan Haskett. He mailed an envelope to me back in December and it somehow got mislaid for a couple of months. I didn’t see his note until a few weeks ago. …

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Virtual Museum Features New Exhibits

From Time to Thyme By Paula Dunn Spring has brought a change of exhibits to the From Time to Thyme Virtual Museum! Come on in and don’t crowd — there’s room for everyone (especially since this is a museum that only exists in cyberspace.) Our first exhibit is an artifact Jacob Case dug up in…

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Our Man Inside The Carter Administration

From Time to Thyme By Paula Dunn When I heard the sad news about former President Jimmy Carter entering hospice care, my thoughts automatically drifted back to Noblesville’s man in the Carter White House, Tim Kraft. I never met him, but I sure knew his father, Dr. Haldon Kraft. Dr. Kraft delivered me and was…

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From Time To Thyme

Since March is Women’s History Month, this seemed like the perfect time for a column on Frances Neal Ellis. I’d be willing to bet most people who just read that sentence are muttering “Who the heck is Frances Neal Ellis?” right now. Don’t feel too bad if you’re one of them. I didn’t know who…

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Remembering Clean Laundry

In the last reader column, I tried tracing the history of the old laundromat building, one of the structures at the intersection of Noblesville’s Tenth and Pleasant Streets that was recently razed for the Pleasant Street project. That column prompted a response from Martha Tunget Spurrier. Martha has good reason to remember that building —…

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A New Truth or Tall Tale Quiz

As you know, I get most of the historical information for this column by poking around in the old newspapers. I’ve found they tend to provide the most accurate accounts of whatever I’m researching, especially if they’re contemporary to the subject matter. However, even the newspapers don’t always get their facts straight. That’s why it’s…

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Here’s Another Roberts Settlement Success Story

Despite its small size and rural setting, the African American farming community of Roberts Settlement produced a number of successful professionals — doctors, lawyers, ministers, politicians, businessmen and especially, educators. More educators came out of Roberts Settlement than any other profession, a feat that’s all the more impressive when you consider that most of the…

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Do You Remember? . . . 10th and Pleasant

My friend, Pam Ferber, recently gave me some newspaper clippings her late mother, Pat Gibbs, had saved. Pat was very interested in genealogy and local history, and she’d cut out a LOT of articles. Among Pat’s clippings are some titled “Remember When?” and “Do You Remember?” A little research revealed that this was a feature…

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The Wit and Wisdom of Betsy Birdwhistle

It always saddens me when I go through the obituaries and find a name I need to remove from the Notable Nineties list. It’s even worse, however, when I have to remove one of our Sensational Centenarians. This past year I had to take two Sensational Centenarians off the list, both of whom were friends…

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