Between the Lines: Family History and Quirky Stories From Our Forgotten Past

  Newspapers in the 1870s and beyond almost all had a column with a name like “Gleanings,” “Brevities” or “Town Topics” in which the editor commented on local happenings, seasonal changes, who was visiting in town and so on. I’ve compiled collections of these from the two places the Barbour branch of my family were living in during this era: Coffeyville, Kansas and Fort Wayne, Indiana. Almost all my earlier “Gleanings” articles were from Coffeyville, however. I picked up with Fort Wayne items in April 2024.         An 1888 sketch of "Smiling Tim" Keefe, a pitcher with the New York Giants. 6 May 1881, Fort Wayne Sentinel Clean up the alleys. Baseball clubs are springing up all over. The oats is up and looks beautiful at the county farm . The fields are ready for planting corn.  The street car drivers are asking for an increase of wages from $1.25 to $1.50 per day. The matter has been taken under consideration by management. Superintendent Wilkinson to...

  This is the final part in a 4-part series on the Allen County Asylum (the Poor Farm) in Indiana. H.W. Felts (1893-1901)   A newspaper photo of Harman Felts in 1914 when he ran for Wayne Township trustee.       Harman Felts was born in 1862 in Fort Wayne. Harman was his mother’s maiden name, but his name was misspelled as Herman more often than not. He attended Methodist Episcopal College, which later became Taylor University. His first career was as a locomotive engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad, a job he gave up to become the asylum superintendent. A “practical farmer” in Lafayette Township, he was the brother of the recently-resigned school superintendent George Felts. He and his wife Emma had three children, Clifford, Homer and Grace, who were only six, four and one when he took the position.       As usual when there was a change in administration, the newspaper reported a thorough cleaning and overhau...

  This is Part 3 in a 4-part series on the Allen County Asylum (the Poor Farm) in Indiana.  John Wilkinson (1880-1893)       When Wilkinson was appointed as superintendent of the Allen County Asylum in July 1880 the Fort Wayne Daily Gazette said there was a mistaken impression that he pulled every string to get the job. On the contrary, the newspaper said, “The new man was chosen first for his worth and then on account of his faithful service to his party.” He was an ardent Democrat in a predominantly Democratic town, “thoroughly in sympathy with the party,” and represented the Ninth Ward on the Fort Wayne City Council. Of course he had to resign that position to take the asylum job.      Wilkinson was born in Washington Township in 1844, the son of Irish Catholic immigrants who were pioneer settlers in 1835. He graduated from the Plymouth schools and taught in Noble County from 1864 to 1871. He moved to Fort Wayne in 1872...