Paula Dunn

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…

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…

Because I run the annual tribute to the Notable Nineties at New Year’s, I’ve never explored the way New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day used to be observed in this county. This year I decided to be different. With both Noblesville and Hamilton County celebrating a bicentennial in 2023, it seemed an appropriate time…

Once again it’s time to honor our Notable Nineties (and a few “graduates” who’ve become Sensational Centenarians!) If you follow this column regularly, you’ll know all this already, but in case you’re a new reader — the Notable Nineties is something Jerry Snyder thought up several years ago when she was writing her column for…

When I was working on the Thanksgiving column, I noticed the January 1, 1875 Noblesville Ledger contained accounts of several Christmas celebrations around Hamilton County in 1874. I thought it was interesting to read about the differences and similarities between Christmas then and now. In Noblesville, the holiday was observed with both public and private…

Attention bird watchers — it’s almost time for the Christmas Bird Count! You may recall the column about the Christmas Bird Count I wrote a few years ago, but just to refresh everyone’s memory — the CBC is a project the National Audubon Society has undertaken annually for 121 years. From December 14 through January…

Okay, I’ll confess. I didn’t have time to do any in depth research this week, so, this being the season for holiday pitch-ins and parties, I decided to raid my recipe files for some easy cookie recipes. I got this one from a clerk I worked with at Speedway Public Library in the 1980s. She…

Today, Hamilton County has several small airports, both public and private, but back in 1945 there was only one and I’ll lay odds most people don’t know where it was located. Fishers? Carmel? Noblesville? Nope. It was Sheridan. In February of 1945, the United States Department of Commerce notified the Town of Sheridan that Blackhawk…

A recent discussion with a friend about cranberries got me started wondering when cranberries, turkey and all the other traditional Thanksgiving dishes began to appear on Hamilton County tables. Unfortunately, I can’t provide any exact dates because we’re missing so many issues of the county’s pre-Civil War newspapers. However, other Indiana newspapers make it clear…

It recently occurred to me that, although the life of Hamilton County pioneer William Conner is fairly well known, few people are probably familiar with his parents’ story. Their history is just as interesting and, in some ways, not that different from William Conner’s own life. Richard Conner, the father of William Conner, was born…