NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH MANCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
Volume XXXI, No. 3, August 2014

 

DR. DANIEL M. MARSHALL

at Rush Medical College, 1855-1856

By John Knarr

 

At the Public Annual Commencement, held in Metropolitan Hall, on the evening of February 20th, 1856, the Degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred on the father of Thomas Riley Marshall by Professor Daniel Brainard, President of Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois.

 

Dr. Daniel M. Marshall was one of forty-two graduates to receive the M.D. degree in the February 1856 ceremony. His written thesis was on Scarlatina, under the preceptorship of Dr. J. Millan.

 

The prerequisites for the degree of Doctor of Medicine at Rush Medical College were:

 

(1) The candidate must be twenty-one years of age, and give satisfactory evidence of possessing a good moral character.

 

(2) The candidate must have pursued the study of medicine three years, and attended at least two courses of lectures, the last of which must be in this Institution. Four years of regular and continued practice was considered equivalent to one course of lectures.

 

(3) The candidate must deliver to the Secretary of the Faculty a thesis on some medical subject, written by himself, on or before the 1st of February, and at the same time deposit the graduation fee.

 

(4) The candidate must have taken the necessary Dissecting and Hospital coursework during, at least, one College term.

 

The above information was included in the Fourteenth Annual Catalogue and Announcement of Lectures of Rush Medical College (Chicago: W. Cravens & Co., 1856). The Lecture Fees were listed at $35.00 and the Graduation Fee was $20.00.

 

The Rush Medical College Catalogue stated, “Good board with rooms and all the usual accommodations can be obtained in this city from $3.00 to $3.50 per week” and “A good assortment of Medical Books and Surgical Instruments can always be found in this city.”

 

The textbooks most in use were the following: Richardson’s and Wilson’s works on Human Anatomy; Carpenter’s and Kirk’s and Paget’s on Physiology; Pereira’s Materia Medica, and the United States Dispensatory; Fowne’s Chemistry, Churchill’s, Meigs’ and Ramsbotham’s works on Midwifery; Druitt’s Surgery, and Wood’s Practice, or Bell and Stokes’ Practice.

 

American Medical Association’s Directory of Deceased American Physicians 1804-1929 lists the following information for “Dan M. Marshall”: 1856 Graduate, Rush Medical College, Chicago; Type of Practice, Allopath. Allopathic medicine is the treatment of disease using conventional medical therapies.

 

Before attending Rush Medical College, Dr. Daniel Marshall had studied medicine under his brother-in-law, James Scott Shively in Marion, Grant County, Indiana. The Grant County Medical Society was organized in June 16, 1848, and J.S. Shively was present at the formation of the society.

 

In  November 1846, the very first Medical Society meeting for our region was held in Wabash, and the Upper Wabash Medical Society was then organized. Physicians in attendance included: Thomas Hamilton and James F. Brechnur of Lagro; C.V.N. Lent of Liberty Mills; Eicholtz of Laketon; and William Willis of North Manchester. The Constitution was drafted for the Upper Wabash Medical Society, and a signing ceremony was held at Peru on June 22, 1848. Signatories included J.S. Shively of Grant County and Daniel Marshall of Wabash County. Daniel had not yet married at that time and was living in Lagro Township. In the 1850 Federal Census, Daniel and Martha Marshall were living in Attica, Fountain County. Daniel Marshall returned to Wabash County and advertised his practice in Lagro during 1851-1852. According to the Daniel Marshall Family Bible, in Daniel’s own handwriting, daughter Susan Elizabeth was born December 26, 1852 “in North Manchester, Wabash Co. Indiana.” Susan Elizabeth Marshall “departed this Life April 24th, 1853, Aged 17 weeks of Acute Bronchitis” and Thomas Riley Marshall “b. March 14th 1854 in North Manchester Wabash Co. Ind.” The Family Bible of Daniel M. Marshall M.D.  can be viewed at the Indiana State Library, Indianapolis. The entries in Daniel’s own handwriting were made when the Marshalls lived in Pierceton, Indiana, during the 1860s.

 

In June 14, 1854 the Wabash County Medical Society was organized, and Daniel M. Marshall was in attendance. In the previous year, Daniel had been appointed (June 11, 1853) Postmaster of North Manchester. Daniel Marshall purchased property on Main Street on February 3, 1854 and sold it on February 7, 1856. Shortly after selling the North Manchester property in February 1856, and upon graduating that same month from Rush, Dr. Marshall moved his family to Rantoul, Illinois. In 1856 Dr. Horace Winton arrived to North Manchester, “replacing” Dr. Marshall. Horace Winton also had studied at Rush Medical College during 1855-1856. Dr. Winton practiced medicine in North Manchester until his death in 1893. Horace’s brother Dr. Charles H. Winton arrived in North Manchester in 1869 and joined the Winton medical practice.

 

Dr. Marshall’s reputation in Illinois was that of a pioneer doctor in the prairie community of Rantoul, Illinois. According to A Standard History of Champaign County, Illinois (Vol. I, 1918, p. 208): “The village of Rantoul, as well as the township in which it is located, takes its name from Robert Rantoul, one of the original stockholders and charter members of the Illinois Central Railroad Corporation. Rantoul was first settled in 1855-56. The first physician to locate there was Dr. D.M. Marshall, who came in 1856 and remained till 1860.” The track of the Illinois Central Railroad had been laid through Rantoul in 1854 when line from Chicago to Urbana opened up bringing development and immigration. (See Katy B. Podagrosi, NEIPSWAH Rantoul 1776-1976, p. 5.) In the latter publication on Rantoul, Dr. D.M. Marshall was said to have arrived during the period of 1856-1857. Other historical publications document the Marshalls arriving in Champaign County, Illinois, at the town of Rantoul in 1856, viz: Early History and Pioneers of Champaign County by Milton W. Mathews and Lewis A. McLean (1891, p. 119), and Charles B. Johnson, M.D., Medicine in Champaign County—A Historical Sketch (Champaign, Illinois, 1909, p. 68).

 

ENDNOTES: The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance during March and April 2007 of Librarian and Archivist Heather Stecklein of the Rush University Medical Center Archives in providing copies of the Annual Announcement for Rush Medical College for the year that Dr. Marshall graduated. It is 14 pages long and includes a short student handbook, the curriculum/courses, and a list of students. It also listed Dr. Marshall’s thesis topic and preceptor. She also provided a copy of the entry regarding Dr. Marshall in the American Medical Association Directory of Deceased Physicians. The Rush Medical College lost many of its original records in the October 1871 Chicago fire.

 

In his dissertation, Woodrow Wilson’s Vice President (Ball State University Ph.D. Dissertation, July 1970, p. 9) John E. Brown claimed that Dr. Daniel Marshall “went to Chicago on horseback to study at Rush Medical College, from which he graduated in 1845.” But the Rush Medical College records clearly indicate that Daniel M. Marshall received his M.D. degree in early 1856. Rather than ride a horse all the way to Chicago from North Manchester, Daniel might have ridden to Warsaw, stabled his horse there, caught the stage coach on its run between Warsaw and Goshen and Mishawaka, and then rode the train into Chicago. By 1855 the railroad across northern Indiana had been completed. According to William Comstock’s diaries (1850s), he would walk to Warsaw from Liberty Mills, ride the stage coach north to catch the train. William would then head eastward on the train to attend school in upper New York State. Daniel might also have taken such means of transportation into Chicago without riding his horse the entire distance from North Manchester.

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New Face on Main Street & Other Updates
 by Mary Chrastil, NMHS President

 

For months, the North Manchester Center for History (NMCH) has been planning and building its new face on Main Street.  Inspired by the town’s façade improvement program, the NMCH decided to address two of its most pressing problems—new windows and improved handicapped access.  

The first step was to decide on a plan.  In the 115 years since the original Oppenheim Department Store building was constructed, there have been two major façade renovations, in the 1920s and in 1969.  The building next door at 120 E. Main, which was incorporated into the 1969 renovations, was another factor.  Photographs of all these reincarnations are available in the NMCH collection and at the NMHS website. 

 

NMCH has had four separate architectural plans suggested for its façade in the 14 years since it moved into its present location.  A NM Historical Society committee consisting of Ralph Naragon, Dave Randall, Jim Garman, Joe Vogel, Tim Taylor, Joyce Joy and Mary Chrastil examined all of the previous plans, taking ideas from each to decide on the best option. We would have loved to return to the façade from Victorian times.  But that front no longer exists.  The windows both on the first floor and upstairs were substantially changed during the 1929 renovations, and further altered in 1969.

 

The overall plan decided upon was to return as much as possible to the 1920s look, which might be describe as early 20th century commercial style. A plan taking the most desirable features of the four suggested architectural plans was adopted with NMHS Board approval.  Since NMHS knew it could not afford to restore its entire façade at this time, the plan that was adopted has several stages.  The first stage, completed this year, is to replace the main floor windows and doors.

 

The plan needed to take into consideration that the building is now used as a museum, with requirements concerning public access and protection of any artifacts on display.  The most noticeable difference is the darkness of the new windows.  The old windows had film affixed to them which protected against ultraviolet rays, one of the most damaging challenges to museum collections.  The film was scratched and crackled and needed to be replaced with UV protected glass, which looks dark from the street.  To offset the darkness, the NMCH is hoping to upgrade its window spotlights to LED lights eventually.  LED technology has improved rapidly the past several years to the point where LED lights are more affordable.  They are so energy efficient that they can be on for extended periods yet use much less electricity than the Compact Florescents now in the windows.  This will be the second time the Center has upgraded its window lighting; the CFs were a big improvement several years ago when they replaced the original old-fashioned, energy-wasting spotlights. 

 

Another noticeable difference is the elimination of an entrance in the east portion of the building (the former men’s store), and the addition of ADA-compliant doors in the central portion.  The new doors are wider to bring them into compliance and have an automatic door opener making it easier for wheel chairs and walkers to pass through.  It’s not that handicapped access was not available before, but we had to open both of our double doors (each of which was too narrow by itself), and there was no automatic assistance.  The doors themselves were very heavy and hard to use.  In addition, when the doors are locked you can now exit with a crash bar, giving safer exit from the building in an emergency.  The new entrance configuration also provides an airlock, which will help with utility bills.

Eliminating the doors in the east alcove of the building provides symmetry to the façade, and has the bonus of adding some welcome exhibit space.  The difference is that the space is entered from the inside rather than the street side. We were able to save the terrazzo floor in the entranceway, and the original window platforms, which were highly desired objectives.  Removing the windows from the alcove opens up the space, making a unique area where special exhibits can be highlighted, all with losing only inches of the total window display to the exterior.

 

There was an added bonus to the construction.  Once the windows were cleared, NMCH decided to take up the unattractive floor coverings that had been used for years.  Several layers down, they found original hardwood floors.  The floors have now been scraped, sanded and sealed, resulting in beautiful window display areas.

 

Another bonus was finding railings in the basement from long-ago Oppenheim Store displays.  The railings have been repaired, painted and reconstructed to fit into the new display area in the former east alcove.  Lemoine Gemmer, a master craftsman, did a wonderful job of rebuilding and attaching the railings.  It’s nice to be able to use something from the original store in our restoration efforts.

 

While there have been dramatic changes to the façade and display windows, there are other less-noticeable improvements.  For 80 years, nails, staples and hooks have been pounded into the ceilings and walls.  These have now been removed, and the ceiling repainted for the first time in almost 50 years.  The brick façade that was installed under the windows in 1969 has been removed, revealing the original metal facing.  Further brick removal of the façade bricks has exposed brick and granite surfaces from the 1920’s, somewhat damaged but with good promise for the next stages of restoration.

While the window installation was contracted, much of the other work was done by volunteers, led by Ralph Naragon and assisted by Dave Randall.  Ralph has spent weeks doing prep work, refinishing floors, and assisting the contractors.  He’s saved the Center thousands of dollars.  This project has expanded well beyond its original scope.  It’s like replacing a sofa in your living room—then a chair needs to be recovered, the carpet looks shabby and needs to be replaced, the paint needs to be freshened up, and new curtains would be nice.

 

What’s next?  It’s been very expensive to implement the restorations so far, even with a significant amount of volunteer labor.  The town façade program was designed to help the normal sized downtown storefront; the reality is that we have a front the size of three normal storefronts.  The funds from the town program covered less than a third of our window costs.  We know that the next phase—the removal of the overhang, addition of awnings and restoration of the upper story—will be even more expensive than the first phase, partly because we don’t know what damage was done to the 1920s façade when the 1969 front was constructed. 

 

The town façade program got us started on something we might have delayed for years.  We are so grateful to the town for their program, and we are pleased to be able to invest in our community.  We are devoted fans of the efforts over the past several years to improve Main Street.  It may take a few years, but the next phase is definitely one of our goals.

 

New Museum Coordinator Named

 

Paula Dee joined the Center for History staff in April as Museum Coordinator.  She has worked in publishing, so has a good eye for making attractive exhibit labels and signs.  She also has a solid background in working with the public as a concierge at a retirement home, where she assisted families in meeting the needs of their resident members. 

 

Paula jumped right in with several major projects happening at the Center.  Within her first two months at the Center, she was involved in the annual volunteer reception and recognition, revamping and executing new programs for our second and third grade visitors, planning and implementing new window displays, and implementing new volunteer guidelines.  Since then, she has assisted with the window restorations and Funfest activities.  She designed a “treasure hunt” for young visitors to the Center that was a big hit with children and their families at Funfest. Good wishes and welcome, Paula.

 

Gladys Airgood is Volunteer of the Year

 

Approximately sixty volunteers to the North Manchester Historical Society and North Manchester Center for History were honored at a reception at the Center for History in April, National Volunteer Month.  The volunteers gave 6,640 hours of volunteer service in 2013, equivalent of $143,153, serving as docents, researchers, program committee members, board members, preservation group members, and in many other capacities. 

 

The Volunteer of the Year award was given to Gladys Airgood, who has logged over 600 volunteer hours in the past two years.  Airgood not only manages the NMHS’s direct mail program to members and donors, but also makes all membership cards.  In the past year, when the Center for History has been short staffed, Airgood stepped in to reinvigorate the docent volunteer program by initiating revised scheduling, training, and improved communications.  She has taken the lead in reorganizing the Center for History school programs and cash flow procedures. 

 

Special recognition was also given to Nancy Reed for Lifetime Volunteer Service to the Historical Society.  Nancy was a founding member of the Historical Society, and served as president for several terms.  She was instrumental in purchasing, moving and renovating the Thomas Marshall House.  From 2007-2010 she served as volunteer Director of the Center for History, and became one of its first paid staff starting in 2011.  She retired in August, 2013 with over 4,100 hours of volunteer service recorded, and she is continuing to help by being a docent. 

 

Volunteers who have accumulated 100 hours of service received a polo shirt with the North Manchester Center for History logo.  Those achieving this milestone this year were:  James R.C. Adams, Charles Boebel, Judy Glasgow, Karen Hewitt and Becky Naragon.

 

Since the NMHS started to keep records in 2001, 43,736 volunteer hours have been recorded, the equivalent of $942,944.  If volunteer participation continues at the same level in 2014, the NMHS will reach the milestones of 50,000 volunteer hours with a value of over one million dollars next year. 

 

 Without volunteers, the North Manchester Historical Society would simply not exist.  We have interesting and worthwhile ways you can help—research, exhibits, serving at the front desk, transcribing documents, construction, genealogy, planning our dinner programs, working with school children, even light cleaning!  If you can give a few hours each month, or if you would be interested in a one-time project, call Paula, Mary or Joyce at the Center for History, 260-982-0672, to become part of our family and part of an organization that is well regarded as a top community asset.

 

 

Traveling Exhibits

 

 As it does every year, the Center for History has continued to take advantage of three wonderful traveling historical exhibits program offered by the Indiana Historical Society.  We are currently exhibiting Auto Indiana through August 29.  Auto Indiana, takes visitors on a ride through Indiana’s rich automotive past, from inventors and innovators like Elwood Haynes and Ralph Teetor to automakers like Studebaker and Duesenberg.  Indiana has left an indelible mark on the industry for more than a century—and vice versa.

 

April 19 through May 22 we featured The Golden Age: Indiana Literature, 1880-1920, a time period in which Hoosier authors achieved both national prominence and popular acclaim.  It concentrated on the lives and careers of four individuals who loomed large during this period—George Ade, Meredith Nicholson, Booth Tarkington and James Whitcomb Riley.

 

From September 29 through November 10, the Center will host Local Treasure.  It gives a brief history of the Federal Section of Painting and Sculpture, which existed from 1934 to 1942 “to secure suitable art of the best quality for the embellishment of public building.”  It focuses on the histories of some of the murals commissioned and executed for Indiana post offices.  Thirty-six are in existence today, including one located right here in North Manchester.

 

The NMHS would like to be recognized as the place where these professionally-designed exhibits are available to them on a regular basis.  You don’t have to go all the way to Indianapolis to see them!

 

 

Video on North Manchester and Video Archive

 

The NM Historical Society decided to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the 1938 film about North Manchester, See Yourself in the Movies, by creating an updated version.  This silent film featured scores of North Manchester residents at work, shopping, at play, and during town gatherings.  The film was a novelty back in 1938; now it is an important resource showing what life was like then. 

 

To date we have received grants from Indiana Humanities, the North Manchester Fine Arts Club and Manchester University in support of the project.  We have taped over 35 excellent interviews with a broad spectrum of community leaders and representative citizens, with plans for about 50 interviews in all.  Jim Adams, Charles Boebel and Mary Chrastil are heading the project.

 

We recognize that we have far too much information for a 90-minute video, although the stories we tape have created an important picture of our community at this point in time.  We are therefore adding all of the interviews to our Historical Society archives to create a rich video history of North Manchester in 2013-2014.  This archive will be a treasure trove of information for generations of researchers, scholars and town residents for many years to come.  We are in consultation with the Indiana Historical Society about the best ways to make the archival information easy to navigate and available in the latest formats. As historians, we are as excited about creating the interview archives as we are about making the movie!

 

Historic Homes Preservation Group Update

 

In the 7-plus years the North Manchester Historic Homes Preservation Group (HHPG) has been active in North Manchester, it has rescued eight properties from being demolished or made into rental units.  HHPG purchases endangered houses, uses its capital to restore the properties, transforms them into tax-paying community assets, and then sells them to cover expenses.  The group is delighted that several of the properties have been purchased by first-time homeowners who had not thought it possible to own their own homes. In the past year, the group sold a restored house at 512 E. Third Street and has purchased two additional homes, at 404 W. Second Street and 110 N. Mill Street.  It is a stretch for the group to own two properties at once, but low-cost loans from Indiana Landmarks have helped to cover cash flow; once the house sale is completed, the loans are repaid. 

 

The group couldn’t resist purchasing the house on Mill Street.  Most community members know the house, on the southwest corner of Mill and Second Streets, as the brick house half painted yellow.  HHPG feels many town residents will be happy to have this abandoned property restored to a more appealing appearance.

 

This May, HHPG joined Indiana Landmarks with a special Preservation Month program, offering tours of the two new properties and a lecture/slide show on historic home paint colors. 

 

There was also an open house for the public to see the restored home at 404 W. Second Street on Wednesday, August 27, from 5 to 7 p.m.

 

 Making a Name for the Center for History

 

Indiana Historical Society Award.  In December, 2013, The North Manchester Center for History was named 2013 Outstanding Event or Project of the Year by the Indiana Historical Society.  The award was presented at the IHS’s annual Founders Day event in December in Indianapolis.  The award-winning project was the NMCH’s “Year of the Opera Curtain, “ inspired by the restoration of a rare 1910 opera curtain in our collection.  The resulting year-long celebration consisted of 14 events, including lectures, historical interpreter’s performances, receptions, musical programs and the commissioning of a contemporary opera curtain and an original melodrama.

 

This is not the first time the NMHS was recognized by the Indiana Historical Society.  In 2009, NMHS was named Outstanding Historical Organization in the state.

 

Bicentennial Designation.  In March, the North Manchester Historical Society was one of the first Indiana organizations to receive an endorsement from the Indiana Bicentennial Commission as a Bicentennial Legacy Project.  The NMHS project is the video with the working title, “North Manchester Video History, Yesterday and Today.”

 

Legacy Projects are generated by community members and endorsed by the Bicentennial Commission on a quarterly basis.  They must meet at least one of the following goals or characteristics:  culturally inclusive; creates a legacy for the  future; celebratory; and/or engages and inspires youths and young adults.

 

HHPG Project-404 W. Second St.   

 HHPG Project-404w2nd

 Auto Indiana-IHS Exhibit

Traveling IHS Exhibit-Auto


 

Acquisitions Received Since January, 2014

By Joyce Joy, Curator and Archivist

 

Ø Dresses from the 1940s made by Martha Miller

Ø Items left in Ferne Baldwin’s house on Miami Street – Old teakettle, metal bucket, flue cover, wooden pencil box from the Blue Front Shoe Store, door-stop doll from 1900.

Ø Two family Bibles – One from the Rufle Family which was acquired by John Knarr from a Bible collector in Indianapolis and donated to us.  And a Kieffaber (Keaffaber) Family Bible.

Ø Kerosene lamp from North Manchester’s first fire wagon.

Ø Lester Binnie and wife’s school photos from 1914 to 1926 at Laketon School.

Ø Old back drop, used behind coffins at funerals.

Ø 1920s Boy Scout uniform.

Ø Early 1900s cookie cutters.

Ø Several abstracts.

Ø Old high chair and baby clothes (Christening dresses)