The Lake Shore Wreck at Shadyside Crossing, 1909

According to one enumeration, at least 145 people have been killed and another 437 injured as a result of railroad wrecks in Porter County, Indiana. Four wrecks, in particular, resulted in significant casualties. Three of these four wrecks were, in part, due to the lack of train crews' visual confirmation of signals, flags, and lamps.

Blame for the Sandy Hook wreck (1887) in Boone Township was placed on a freight train engineer who failed to heed the warning of a trackside semaphore lamp indicating that a train was idle on the track ahead; dense fog was said to have made the lamp nearly impossible to observe. Heavy snow and wind played a significant role in Porter County's worst rail disaster at Woodville in Liberty Township (1906). The horrendous Porter wreck (1921), whereby a New York Central passenger train tore through a Michigan Central passenger train crossing its path, was blamed on the failure to observe a stop signal. The stop signal, however, was claimed to have been cloaked by smoke generated by another Michigan Central train standing idle on a sidetrack.

The ability to visually observe a signal had nothing to do with the fourth major railroad wreck in Porter County. Instead, the motorman of an interurban train failed to heed a dispatch order.

On December 2, 1901, the Chicago & Indiana Air Line Railway incorporated with the intention of connecting the Indiana cities of East Chicago and South Bend with electric trolley service. By 1903, the company had completed a 3.4-mile streetcar route between East Chicago and Indiana Harbor in Lake County. The golden age of interurbans was just beginning and the railway company reincorporated and recapitalized in 1904 as the Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railway, commonly referred to as the Lake Shore, to better reflect the region that it intended to service.

The Lake Shore continued extending it service eastward. Ten trains per day were operating between Hammond and South Bend by September 1908. Before the end of that year, the Lake Shore had extended its service westward into Chicago. Chicago service was achieved by leasing the Illinois Central Railroad's Kensington & Eastern Railroad line between 115th Street in Chicago to the Illinois-Indiana border. On July 1, 1909, a passenger could travel continuously without transfer from Chicago to South Bend on the Lake Shore line; the cost of establishing the line between these two cities was $4.55 million [nearly $118 million in 2017 dollars], $2 million more than had been anticipated.

In 1909, the Lake Shore interurban line was owned and operated by a syndicate headquartered in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Cleveland banking professionals George Newcombe Chandler, Henry Payne McIntosh, Joseph Randolph Nutt, and Myron Henry Wilson were the trustees of the syndicate. Harold Ulmer Wallace, formerly of president of the Wallace-Coates Engineering Company of Chicago and a graduate of Purdue University, was employed by the syndicate to serve as the Lake Shore's general manager. A few years previous, Wallace's father, John Findley Wallace, had been appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt as chief engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission, the developers and builders of the Panama Canal.

Photograph of Harold Ulmer Wallace, General Manager
of the Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railroad.
Source: Electric Railway Review, 1908.

June 18th and 19th, 1909, were extremely busy days for the Lake Shore. Ridership on the single-track line was at capacity since the Cobe Cup Race, the predecessor of the Indianapolis 500, was taking place in southern Lake County, Indiana. During the early evening of Saturday, June 19th, Lake Shore trains were transporting Cobe Cup spectators, who had earlier in the day witnessed Louis Chevrolet win the Cobe Cup Trophy, back to their homes.

The chain of events that led to the collision at Shadyside in Westchester Township began at 7:55 pm when Lake Shore train No. 59, operated by Motorman George Andrew Reed and Conductor Delmar Kinney, departed the Pullman Station in Chicago for South Bend. When they arrived at the Gary station in Lake County, Indiana, there were more than 50 passengers on board the passenger car.

Pinback souvenir from the Cobe Cup Races, June 18-19, 1909.
Source: Collection of Steven R. Shook.

Postcard image of the Cobe Cup grandstands
at Crown Point, Lake County, Indiana.
Source: Collection of Steven R. Shook.

Meanwhile, Lake Shore train No. 58, operated by Motorman Fred Schimmel and Conductor E. A. Pahl, had departed South Bend at 7:02 pm headed westbound for the Chicago station at Pullman. The time card schedule for train Nos. 58 and 59 indicated that they would meet at Long Lake at 8:55 pm. Long Lake is situated directly south of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore's West Beach parking facility, immediately southwest of Ogden Dunes in Portage Township. Since the Lake Shore was a single line track, one train would take to a sidetrack at Long Lake while the other proceeded past on the main line.

Westbound train No. 58, however, arrived late at its Franklin Street stop in Michigan City. As a result, the Lake Shore dispatcher relayed to the agent at Michigan City an order that train No. 58 would meet train No. 59 at Wilson located 3.4 miles east of the scheduled Long Lake stop. The order was passed on from the station agent in Michigan City to the train's crew.

Eastbound train No. 59 had arrived slightly late into the station at Gary. In addition, Conductor Kinney was ill and had requested to be relieved at Gary. Though Kinney had expected a substitute to replace him, there was no Lake Shore conductor available at Gary to do so. The Lake Shore dispatcher, being made aware of a situation in flux between the two trains, issued to the agents at Gary and Michigan City three separate and distinct orders; each subsequent order extinguished the dispatcher's previous order. The first order stated that train No. 58 would purposely run 25 minutes behind schedule. The second order was that the two trains would meet at the Mineral Springs stop in Westchester Township. The third and final order was that the two trains would meet at the Wilson stop in Portage Township, which was identical to the earlier order received by train No. 58 at Michigan City. Conductor Kinney received the dispatcher's third and final order from the Lake Shore station agent at Gary, which he was required to relay to Motorman Reed.

Thus, both trains departed their respective stations with a dispatch order to meet at the Wilson stop. At Dune Park, eastbound train No. 59 stopped to let a passenger disembark; Dune Park was located one-quarter of mile east of the Wilson stop. Hence, train No. 59 had already passed the ordered meeting point at Wilson. Train No. 59 reportedly started up rapidly when leaving Dune Park and soon collided with westbound train No. 58 at a sharp curve in the line at the Shadyside Crossing in Section 32 of Township 37 North, Range 6 West in Westchester Township.

Map showing location of collision at
Shadyside Crossing (shaded oval) and Mineral
Springs Station in Westchester Township.
Source: George Ogle and Company's Standard
Atlas of Porter County, Indiana, 1921. [see p. 25]

Therefore, train No. 59 had already ventured more than one and one-eighth miles past the Wilson stop when it collided with train No. 58 shortly after 9:00 pm. Signs along the track were installed at points before the curve at Shadyside Crossing warning trains to slow to 30 miles per hour.

Motorman Schimmel, operating the westbound train, apparently saw that an oncoming collision was going to take place and had fully stopped his train before the eastbound train, traveling more than 50 miles per hour, smashed into his train. Schimmel would later testify that he had even attempted to move his car backward before the collision, but the air brakes had not yet released the wheels when the impact took place. Motorman Reed and ten of his passengers on train No. 59 were killed and more than 40 others between the two trains were injured.

Front page headline concerning the Shadyside wreck.
Source: The Chesterton Tribune, June 24, 1909.

Postcard image of wreck at Shadyside Crossing on the Chicago,
Lake Shore & South Bend Railway near Baillytown, looking eastward. Train
No. 59 (Motorcar No. 73) is the passenger car to the right in this image.
Source: Collection of Steven R. Shook.

Nils Haglund, residing very near Shadyside Crossing, was one of the first individuals to arrive at the wreck and assist in rescue efforts. Haglund also telephoned to Chesterton requesting that Dr. Frank M. Axe be immediately sent to the site of the disaster to render medical aid. Chesterton undertaker John B. Lundberg was soon on the scene as well. Within hours, Lundberg had transferred all the dead to the fire engine room at the Chesterton Town Hall.

Postcard image of Chesterton's business district (present
day Calumet Road looking south). At far left is John B. Lundberg's
furniture and undertaking business. Those killed at Shadyside
Crossing were taken by Lundberg to Chesterton's Town Hall,
which is the building with tower immediately adjacent to Lundberg's
business in this image. Thomas Centennial Park is to the right.
Source: Collection of Steven R. Shook.

Almost immediately after the collision, the nearby house of Emil R. Borg was converted into temporary hospital and morgue. The Borg family reportedly "assisted in having the relatives of the victims notified and the hospitals to which the injured were to be sent to prepare places for the patients."

Another nearby resident, John Arndt, also rendered aid. These efforts were made difficult, however, since the only light available came from hand lanterns that were procured from residents living close to the scene of the accident.

David Crawford, a resident of South Bend and an uninjured passenger on train No. 59, provided this graphic description of the wreck that was published in the June 21, 1909, issue of the Belvidere Daily Republican:

There were about fifty on our car. Most of us got on at Hammond, having been at the auto races at Crown Point. It seemed to me that the majority were from South Bend and Mishawaka. Tired out by the long day of excitement, many of the passengers were asleep.

About nine o'clock, when we were running between 50 and 60 miles an hour, I noticed Kinney, the conductor, in the smoking compartment. Suddenly there was a terrific crash, smashing of timbers and creaking of steel. Then suddenly everything was dark and a death-like stillness followed.

But it was for a second only. Immediately afterwards the stillness was broken by the cries of the injured and dying. Shrieks and groans horrified the passengers who had escaped. The cars telescoped each other. The forward trucks of each car were welded together. As soon as possible, those of us who were uninjured, helped the living victims who were buried in the wreckage and carried the dead from the scene of the catastrophe. Motorman George Reed was pinned between the vestibules of the two cars so solidly that it was impossible for us to remove his body.

As far as I could determine the accident occurred on a straight-away track. There was no reverse made by the motorman to check the speed of the east-bound car. I was told that the west-bound car was at a standstill.

Many of those injured in the wreck were taken to hospitals in Gary and Michigan City. Interestingly, all but one individual killed in the collision were riding in the smoking compartment located at the front end of eastbound train No. 59. This particular space had originally been designed for use as a baggage and freight compartment, but was later converted to a passenger smoking room. One can speculate as to whether the death toll would have been much lower if that space had remained a baggage and freight compartment.

Railroad employees and residents living nearby quickly removed the debris from the track so that rail traffic could continue between Chicago and South Bend. Within two hours of the wrecking crew's arrival, all debris had been removed from the Lake Shore right-of-way, piled, doused with kerosene, and burnt. The heavily damaged passenger cars were pulled to a nearby sidetrack.

On Sunday morning, June 20, Porter County Coroner Joseph C. Carson arrived in Chesterton to view the remains reposed at the town hall; he also ventured to observe the scene of the collision. Carson authorized Lundberg to prepare all the bodies for burial and to notify families of the victims - if that information was ascertainable. Lundberg numbered each body and placed all contents found on each body in a corresponding numbered bag. With the exception of one victim, all decedents were identified by papers they were carrying with them at the time of the crash. Two passengers that survived the wreck would shortly succumb to their injuries.

The twelve dead included:

• BARBER, Henry A. - Aged 30 years. Resident of Mishawaka, St. Joseph County, Indiana. Barber was a sales agent for automobile companies. Sustained skull fractures and internal injuries. Killed instantly. Death certificate indicates that Henry's remains were removed to a cemetery located in Danbury, Fairfield County, Connecticut.
• GILBERTSON, Edward Anton - Aged 40 years. Resident of Porter, Porter County, Indiana. Death certificate indicates that Gilbertson sustained mangled limbs and a skull fracture. Funeral service took place at the Gilbertson residence on June 24, 1909, followed by burial at Chesterton Cemetery located in Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana. Gilbertson's wife, Reka M. (Hallberg) Gilbertson, would receive a settlement from the Lake Shore in the amount of $5,000, plus reimbursement of all funeral costs, burial clothing, and burial lot.
• GONDECK, Michael - Aged 37 years. Died Wednesday, June 23, 1909, at Mercy Hospital in Gary. Gondeck was traveling to Michigan City to visit family members; he was married and had four children. Death certificate indicates that Gondeck suffered a skull fracture. Resident of Michigan City, LaPorte County, Indiana. Interred at St. Stanislaus Cemetery located in Michigan City. Note that newspaper reports and death certificate provide a given name of Michael, while tombstone is engraved with Nicholas.
• HUTSON, Herbert H. - Aged 38 years. Killed instantly. Resident of Niles, Berrien County, Michigan. Death certificate indicates that Hutson was buried on June 22, 1909, at Silverbrook Cemetery located in Niles.
• JOHNSON, Charles G. - Aged 47 years. Resident of Porter, Porter County, Indiana. Sustained a crushed skull. Funeral service and burial took place on June 23, 1909, at Burstrom Cemetery located in Baillytown, Porter County, Indiana. Johnson's wife, Christine (Lindeen) Johnson, would receive a settlement from the Lake Shore in the amount of $5,050.
• LAKE, Frank A. - Aged 35 years. Resident of Dowagiac, Cass County, Michigan. Killed instantly. Vice President of the Dowagiac Motor Car Company. Death certificate indicates that Lake was buried on June 22, 1909, at Riverside Cemetery located in Dowagiac.
• LYLE, Leon Richards - Aged 28 years. Resident of Dowagiac, Cass County, Michigan. Killed instantly though death certificate fails to indicate specific cause of death. Secretary and Treasurer of the Dowagiac Motor Car Company. Buried at Riverside Cemetery located in Dowagiac.
• McDONALD, James J. - Aged 22 years. Resident of 5414 Honore Street, Chicago. Employed as a teller for the Chicago Trust & Savings Bank. McDonald had attended the Cobe Cup Race and was traveling to visit friends at South Bend. Sustained skull fracture, crushed chest, and fractured left leg. Death certificate indicates that James' remains were removed to a unnamed cemetery located in Chicago and buried on June 22, 1909.
• MERRIMAN, Ray F. - Aged 27 years. Death certificate indicates that Merriman died at Mercy Hospital located in Gary, Lake County, Indiana, on Sunday, June 20, 1909, succumbing to a fracture at the base of his skull. He was newly married at the time of his death. Buried in Riverview Cemetery located in South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana.
• MOORE, Edward T. - Aged 50 years. Resident of Hillsdale, Hillsdale County, Michigan. Moore was a sales agent for automobile companies in Michigan. No specific cause of death appears in Moore's death certificate. Buried on June 25, 1909, at Oak Grove Cemetery located in Hillsdale.
• REED, George Andrew - Aged 28 years. Resident of Villa Grove, Douglas County, Illinois. Motorman of eastbound train No. 59. Body crushed, arm and leg amputated by impact. Death certificate indicates Reed's cause of death simply as "crushed." Buried on June 23, 1909, at Mount Hope Cemetery located in Chicago.
• SWANSON, Charles "Carl" J. - Aged 41 years. Resident of Porter, Porter County, Indiana. Death certificate lists cause of death as crushed chest and internal injuries. Buried on June 24, 1909, at Chesterton Cemetery located in Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana.

Those injured in the wreck included:

• AUSTIN, Edward - Resident of Michigan City, LaPorte County, Indiana. Gash on head.
• BARNUM, George Homer - Resident of Knox, Starke County, Indiana. Not injured, but sick from sight of blood and the injured. Taken to Epworth Hospital in South Bend.
• BROTHERS, B. E. - Resident of South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana. Broken leg.
• BRUEGGER, Donald - Resident of 909 Wilcox Avenue, South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana. Son of Mrs. Mary Bruegger. Left leg broken. Treated at Michigan City hospital.
• BURLINGAME, Edward W. - Resident of Gary, Lake County, Indiana. Broken nose and head bruised. Taken to Gary hospital.
• CALVERT, Everett B. - Resident of 1012 Colfax Avenue, South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana. Bruises. Treated at Michigan City hospital.
• ERICKSON, Adolph - Resident of Porter, Porter County, Indiana. Badly injured by cuts on head and face. Taken to Gary hospital.
• GAFFENBERGER, Esther - Resident of South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana. Both ankles sprained.
• HAGELS, Albert - Resident of Michigan City, LaPorte County, Indiana. Arm broken.
• HEATH, Frank or Fred - Resident of Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana. Slightly injured, scratched, and suffered from shock.
• HERSHEY, Rose - Resident of Goshen, Elkhart County, Indiana. Bruised and severely cut by glass.
• JOHNSON, Arthur "Art" L. - Resident of Route 1, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana. Serious skull fracture, hip broken, bruised. Death was expected due to injuries suffered from wreck. Treated at Michigan City hospital.
• KEENE, Secordus - Resident of South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana. Badly cut on legs, face cut and bruised.
• KELLY, Richard - Resident of 308 South Williams Street, South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana. Injured about head and face. Injuries not serious. Treated at Michigan City hospital.
• KERRIGAN, Paul - Resident of Michigan City, LaPorte County, Indiana. Cuts and bruises. Not taken to a hospital.
• KINNEY, Delmar - Resident of Michigan City, LaPorte County, Indiana. Scalp wound one inch long, two left ribs fractured, right arm broken, and right leg crushed. Conductor on eastbound train No. 59. Treated at Epworth Hospital in South Bend.
• LAWSON, Mamie - Resident of Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana. Lawson was returning to Chesterton from her place of employment as a stenographer at Tolleston, Lake County, Indiana. Internal injuries. Initial reports indicated that Lawson's injuries were so severe that she would likely die.
• LEIN, A. - Resident of Stevensville, Berrien County, Michigan. Son of Henry Lein. On leg seriously sprained. Treated at Michigan City hospital.
• LORSE, T. W. - Aged 51 years. Resident of Mishawaka, St. Joseph County, Indiana. Chest concussion. Taken to Epworth Hospital in South Bend.
• LUCE, T. W. - Resident of Knox, Starke County, Indiana. Facial artery cut, cheek bone splintered, and numerous cuts on body.
• MANTOFFEL, Louis - Resident of East Gary, Lake County, Indiana. Broken nose.
• MENDYKE, Stella - Resident of South Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Slightly injured.
• MILLER, John F. - Resident of 312 Baltimore Street, Michigan City, LaPorte County, Indiana. Leg broken, lip and chin cut, and head injury. Injuries serious. Treated at Michigan City hospital.
• MOORE, J. - Resident of Hillsdale, Hillsdale County, Michigan. Scalp injured. Injury not serious. Taken to Gary hospital. 
• MYDEK, Mary - Resident of South Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Nose injured. Not taken to a hospital.
• NISSEN, Charles - Resident of Tolleston, Lake County, Indiana. Head, back, and shoulder injuries. Injuries not serious. Treated at Michigan City hospital.
• PEO, L. V. - Resident of 125 Franklin Street, Michigan City, LaPorte County, Indiana. Grandson of Mrs. Patrick Murkiff. Both legs broken (one broken in three places), but no internal injuries. Treated at Michigan City hospital.
• PHILLIPS, A. C. - Resident of Chicago. Cut on head.
• PHILLIPS, Mrs. A. C. - Resident of Chicago. Cuts and bruises. 
• ROBERTSON, George Aaron - Resident of Sidney, Shelby County, Ohio. Cut and bruised on head.
• ROBERTSON, Mame - Resident of Sidney, Shelby County, Ohio. Cut on head and broken nose.
• RODERICK, Meyer - Resident of South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana. Severely cut. 
• SAWACKI, Fred - Resident of 1909 Franklin Street, Michigan City, LaPorte County, Indiana. Slight scalp wound. Not taken to a hospital.
• SCHIMMEL, Fred - Resident of 1127 Spring Street, Michigan City, LaPorte County, Indiana. Son of Mrs. H. Schimmel. Back and knee injured, but no fractures. Motorman of train No. 58.
• SCHOLLY, Mrs. A. B. - Resident of South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana. Left eye bruised and right leg lacerated.
• SIMONS, C. A. - Resident of Mishawaka, St. Joseph County, Indiana. Sprained back and broken legs. Dr. Axe was quoted in newspapers stating the "I found Simons lying flat on the ground, and he had rolled a big stone on each side of his broken legs to prevent the throbbing and stop the flow of blood. When I stopped to bind his shattered limbs he said, 'Doctor, I can get along with these stones for some time, and I want the injuries of everybody else attended to before you do anything for me. There are dozens who are worse off than I am."
• STUTZMAN, Maude E. - Resident of Mishawaka, St. Joseph County, Indiana. Hole cut in back of head, face severely cut by glass.
• TUCKER, F. L. - Resident of Mishawaka, St. Joseph County, Indiana. Cut and bruised.
• WILSON, Paul - Right leg broken and bruises. Treated at Michigan City hospital.Wilson was the Assistant General Manager of the Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railroad Company and was a passenger in eastbound passenger train No. 59.
• WORDINE, George - Resident of Michigan City, LaPorte County, Indiana. Leg bruised.
• WURSCH, Fred - Resident of 1270 Michigan Street, Michigan City, LaPorte County, Indiana. Chest crushed, scalp wound on back of head. Injuries not serious. Treated at Michigan City hospital.

The Railroad Commission of Indiana would soon conduct an investigation of the Lake Shore accident. The Commission's official report states that Conductor Kinney of train No. 59 had received the third dispatch order from the station agent at Gary indicating that his train would meet westbound train No. 58 at the Wilson stop. Kinney, when interviewed by the Commission, readily admitted to receiving the dispatcher's order from the station agent.

Kinney also testified that he delivered the dispatcher's order to Motorman George A. Reed, but the Commission's report states that "Kinney cannot be believed." Neither the copy of the order given to Kinney nor the duplicate supposedly delivered by Kinney to Motorman Reed, whose clothing was thoroughly searched after the crash, was ever found. The Commission states that it was plausible that the written order was lost at the site of the accident and that Kinney and Reed had simply overlooked the order.

The Commission's report is rather damning of Conductor Kinney:

Kinney stated to the Commission that he noticed when he had passed Wilson, and put on the emergency brake in the toilet room, and sounded the emergency stop, three bells twice, but the fact that he stopped at Dune Parke, east of Wilson, and started up again, coupled with all we have learned about him, shows that his statement is false; the chief and awful fault and crime are his, and if there is any way under our laws to prosecute and convict him, it should be done. He may have been sick, and may have been drinking; in fact, from the manner in which he quarreled with passengers and failed to take up fares, he was mentally and physically incapacitated to perform his duties that night, and should not have been on the road if he was ill, or had been drinking. The order was given to him, and he overlooked, forgot, disobeyed; and primarily he is responsible for the death of ten innocent people.

Despite placing blame on Conductor Kinney for the collision and essentially calling him a liar, the Commission also concluded that the management of the Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railway was partially responsible for the wreck. The company was failing to properly manage its growth and was ignoring important issues related to the hiring and training of employees. Upon investigation of company records, the Commission found that only 11 of 48 motorman and conductor applications involved a background check. In other words, 37 individuals were put to work on the line "without the company receiving any replies from persons formerly employing these men." In fact, nine of these 37 men had never submitted a formal written application for employment.

Digging deeper into the employment records of the Lake Shore, several examples were discovered of men that should never been hired as either motormen or conductors. For instance, one man had been dismissed by the Wabash Railroad "for violation of Rule G, which is the frequenting of saloons and the use of intoxicating liquor." This man was still employed by the Lake Shore at the time of the investigation of the wreck at Shadyside Crossing. Another man in the employ of the Lake Shore was found to have been recently dismissed for a collision that he was found responsible for near Carthage, Hancock County, Illinois.

The Commission also noted the past employment history of train No. 59's motorman, George A. Reed:

Take also the case of Reed, who was killed in this accident. While Reed was regarded by his companions as a good railroad man, and while he has gone to his final account, it is true of him that he was discharged from a steam railroad for burning an engine, a serious neglect that might have caused the explosion of the boiler and the consequent death of many persons.

Findings from the Commission's investigation also seem to have been supported by eyewitness claims provided by Chesterton area residents concerning the behavior of motormen on the interurban line. For instance, the following statement by Burdick resident William M. Wiesemann was published in several newspapers covering the wreck:

Almost every day green hands at the motor handle are seen racing their cars with the Lake Shore flyers, which they invariably outspeed. The customary interurban speed is 75 to 80 miles an hour, with spurts at the rate of 90 miles, while the fastest flyers on the steam road make 70 miles at the most.

 Accordingly, the first recommendation of the Commission's report stated:

That the personal and past record of all men who may apply for positions as trainmen, shall be scrutinized carefully; that full files be kept of applications and recommendations, and replies to inquiries about them; and that no person shall be employed for the position of motorman or conductor on said railroad until after the most careful investigation has been made, with satisfactory results. This personal record should be kept so as to show the condition of the same without difficulty or delay whenever an investigation is being made, or when there is any need for it for any purpose.

The conclusions made in the Railroad Commission of Indiana's report on the wreck were consistent with those made by Porter County Coroner Joseph C. Carson after conducting an inquest. Coroner Carson's inquest report states, in part:

I find that the cause of said collision was the result of the disobedience of Train Order No. 442 to Train No. 59, Car No. 73, received at Gary, Indiana, eastbound....

I would, therefore, place the entire responsibility of said wreck, with its dire results, upon the mismanagement in the operation of Train No. 59, Car No. 73, for disobeying said Train Order 442, in not taking the siding at Wilson as the said order clearly specified and directed.

The deaths of Henry A. Barber, Herbert H. Hutson, Leon R. Lyle, and Frank A. Lake could be considered a product of fate. All four men had been promoting a truck manufactured by the Dowagiac Motor Car Company, a automobile manufacturer co-owned by Messrs. Lake and Lyle. On June 18, 1909, the men had been in LaPorte and Valparaiso publicizing their truck. Their vehicle broke down in Valparaiso, however, which necessitated repairs.

The four men proceeded to the Cobe Cup Race in the southern half of Lake County. After the race, the men continued on to Hammond where they boarded the South Shore's eastbound train to return to Dowagiac, Cass County, Michigan. The men sat in the train's smoking car and were killed instantly by the force of the collision.

This photograph was taken on June 18, 1909, at LaPorte, LaPorte County,
Indiana, one day prior to four of these passengers being killed at Shadyside Crossing.
In the front of the vehicle are Frank A. Lake (left) and Herbert H. Hutson.
Seated in the middle of the vehicle are Robert Atkinson (left) and Harry Huston.
Seated in the rear seat are Leon Lyle (left) and Henry A. Barber. Only Robert
Atkinson and Harry Huston were spared from the wreck; they had arranged a
return trip to Dowagiac, Cass County, Michigan, by taking the Michigan Central Railroad.

Source: Collection of Steven R. Shook.

A coincidental story related to the Shadyside Crossing wreck appeared in the June 22, 1909, issue of The Lake County Times. The newspaper reported the following concerning Ray F. Merriman, who died one day after the wreck succumbing to injuries he sustained:

Another incident in connection with this wreck was related by the Sisters of Mercy hospital yesterday afternoon, after the death of Ray F. Merriam [Merriman] of South Bend. This young man had ridden on the cars with them from Gary to Hammond a short time ago and paid their fares, although a perfect stranger. When he did this he remarked: "I never allow a Sister to pay a car fare on a train that I am riding on. It may be that they will have a chance to take care of me some time, and I will have to depend upon them for assistance."

As soon as he was brought into the hospital dying from his injuries he was recognized by the Sisters as the man who had paid their fares.

The death, injury, and damage claims resulting from this collision led to a change in management for the railroad and the installation of automated signals. By October 1909, Charles N. Wilcoxon was appointed the General Manager of the Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railway. When Wilcoxon was elected President of the company in June 1914, the railroad's debts exceeded $120,000 solely due to court-ordered judgments arising from assorted injuries and deaths on the rail line, which is the equivalent to nearly $3 million in 2017. Claims resulting from the Shadyside Crossing wreck alone reportedly exceeded $80,000.

Incidentally, Charles N. Wilcoxon would later murder his wife, Hettie Elizabeth (Todd) Wilcoxon, beating her over the head with an axe and potato smasher, and then commit suicide by hanging himself in 1924 at Michigan City. The couple had been involved in an automobile wreck on U.S. Route 12 earlier in the day and it was surmised that "The shock of the accident ... precipitated Wilcoxon's loss of mind."

Front page headline concerning Charles N. Wilcoxon
murder-suicide at Michigan City, LaPorte County, Indiana.
Source: The Muncie Evening Press, July 9, 1924.

The Lake Shore would continue operating its interurban line, but always struggling under considerable debt. In 1925, industrialist Samuel Insull purchased the bankrupt Lake Shore line and reorganized it as the Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad. Similar to its predecessor, the name of the railroad was often referred to by a shortened name - the South Shore. The railroad remains in existence and is the last of the hundreds of interurban lines that once operated in the United States.

Remarkably, one of the passenger cars involved in the Shadyside Crossing wreck, Motorcar No. 73 representing eastbound train No. 59, still exists. Motorcar No. 73 was constructed by the Niles Car & Manufacturing Company located in Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio, in 1908. The 1909 collision had resulted in about one-half of the car being ripped off its underframe. A railroad company would typically scrap such a heavily damaged car. The Lake Shore, however, was under significant financial stress. Instead of purchasing a replacement car at cost of about $20,000, the company decided that it could rebuild Motorcar No. 73 for approximately $7,000. The rebuilt car, using the same car number, reentered service in 1910 on the Lake Shore line.

In 1927, Motorcar No. 73 was retired from passenger service and rebuilt as Work Motor No. 1126 on the South Shore line. As a work motor, the car was used in various capacities until it was finally retired from service in 1941. The purchaser of the scrapped car used it as a house, and it remained relatively unchanged through the mid-1980s when it was purchased in 1984 by Bob Harris of the RAIL Foundation. The car was put into storage for many years, but has recently been undergoing a complete restoration in Murphysboro, Jackson County, Illinois. One can view the progress of the restoration on a Facebook page dedicated to this rail car.

Niles Car & Manufacturing Company advertisement showing
Motorcar No. 73 in service on the Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railway.
Source: Electric Traction Weekly, January 9, 1909. [see p. 30]

Photograph of the Lake Shore's Motorcar No. 73, one of the cars
involved in the 1909 wreck at Shadyside Crossing. This photograph
shows the car at the Pullman terminal in Chicago after is was rebuilt in 1910
Source: Central Electric Railfans' Association, 1960. [see p. I-10].

Source Material

Books
Arseneau, Steven, and Ann Thompson. 2005. Images of America: Dowagiac. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. 128 p.

Central Electric Railfans' Association. 1939. Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad. Bulletin 4. Chicago, Illinois: Central Electric Railfans' Association. 12 p.

Central Electric Railfans' Association. 1960. Electric Railways of Indiana. Bulletin 104. Chicago, Illinois: Central Electric Railfans' Association. Unpaginated.

George A. Ogle and Company. 1921. Standard Atlas of Porter County, Indiana: Including a Plat Book of Villages, Cities and Townships of the County. Chicago, Illinois: George A. Ogle and Company. 61 p. [see pp. 25, 28]

Lane, Harold Francis. 1913. The Biographical Directory of The Railway Officials of America. New York, New York: Simmons-Boardman Publishing Company. 623 p. [see p. 569]

Orogrek, Cynthia L. 2012. Images of America: Along the Chicago South Shore & South Bend Rail Line. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. 127 p.

Railroad Commission of Indiana. 1910. Accident Report No. 4: In the Matter of Investigation of Fatal Accident on the Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend Railroad near Chesterton, Indiana, June 19, 1909, at 9:15 p. m. In Fourth Annual Report of the Railroad Commission of Indiana 1909 (pp. 399-406). Indianapolis, Indiana: William B. Buford. 656 p.

Periodicals
Anonymous. 1908. Personal Mention. Electric Railway Review 19(9):279.

Anonymous. 1909. Niles Car & Manufacturing Company [Advertisement]. Electric Traction Weekly 5(2):30.

Newspapers (listed by date of publication)
The Butte Miner, Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana; June 20, 1909; Volume 46, Number 276, Page 1, Column 3. Column titled "15 Dead, 25 Hurt in Electric Car Wreck in Indiana."

The Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan; June 20, 1909; Volume 74, Number 268, Page 1, Column 2. Column titled "15 Die in Car Crash."

Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana; June 20, 1909; Page 1, Column 1 and Page 4, Column 7. Column titled "Fifteen are Dead and Twenty-five are Injured in Traction Wreck."

The Indianapolis Sunday Star, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana; June 20, 1909; Volume 7, Number 15, Page 1, Columns 6-7. Column titled "Extra. Fifteen Dead, 25 Hurt in Traction Car Crash."

The Muncie Sunday Star, Muncie, Delaware County, Indiana; June 20, 1909; Volume 32, Number 53, Page 1, Column 7. Column titled "Fifteen Dead in Car Wreck. Interurbans Collide on South Shore Electric Line, Near Chesterton, Ind."

The New York Times, New York, New York County, New York; June 20, 1909; Volume 58, Number 18775, Page 1, Column 6. Column titled Twelve Killed in Wreck?"

Belvidere Daily Republican, Belvidere, Boone County, Illinois; June 21, 1909; Volume 17, Number 146, Page 1, Columns 1-3. Column titled "Catastrophe on Electric Road Worst in History."

The DeKalb Daily Chronicle, DeKalb, DeKalb County, Illinois; June 21, 1909; Volume 13, Number 181, Page 3, Column 5. Column titled "Inquest Over Wreck Victims."

The Inter Ocean, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois; June 21, 1909; Volume 38, Number 89, Page 4, Column 1. Column titled "Blames Wreck on Motorman, Killed."

The Lake County Times, Munster, Lake County, Indiana; June 21, 1909; Volume 4, Number 3, Page 1, Columns 1-2 and Page 5, Columns 6-7. Column titled "12 Dead: Score Hurt. Electric Cars in Collision."

The Muncie Evening Press, Muncie, Delaware County, Indiana; June 21, 1909; Volume 9, Number 70, Page 2, Columns 3-4. Column titled "Orders Were Not Obeyed."

The Pittsburgh Post, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; June 21, 1909; Volume 67, Page 1, Column 1 and Page 3, Column 1. Column titled "Big Electric Cars Collide, Killing Ten."

The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana; June 22, 1909; Volume 7, Number 17, Page 4, Column 2-3. Column titled "Conductor Silent on Wreck Details."

The Lake County Times, Munster, Lake County, Indiana; June 22, 1909; Volume 4, Number 4, Page 1, Column 1. Column titled "Another Victim Dies Last Night."

The Richmond Palladium, Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana; June 22, 1909; Volume 34, Number 225, Page 3, Column 1. Column titled "Conductor Very Silent on Wreck of Traction Car."

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; June 24, 1909; Volume 26, Number 13, Page 1, Columns 3-4 and Page 2, Columns 2-3. Column titled "Eleven Were Killed; Twenty-Five Injured."

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; July 1, 1909; Volume 26, Number 14, Page 1, Column 3 and Page 4, Columns 4-6. Column titled "Neglected the Order."

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; July 1, 1909; Volume 26, Number 14, Page 1, Column 4. Column titled "Two Claims Settled."

The Muncie Evening Press, Muncie, Delaware County, Indiana; July 9, 1924; Volume 32, Number 251, Page 1, Column 2. Column titled "C. N. Wilcoxon Slays Wife, Kills Himself."

© 2017 Steven R. Shook. All Rights Reserved.

Three Phases of Bailly Cemetery

Bailly Homestead is a National Historic Landmark that is managed by the United States Department of Interior's National Park Service. Located approximately two miles inland from the Lake Michigan shoreline and about half way between Gary and Michigan City in Westchester Township, the landmark was the home Joseph Bailly.

Bailly was an independent fur trader who, at the age of 48, took up permanent residence in what would later become Porter County. Thus, Bailly and his family became the first Euro-Americans to permanently reside in the county.

The Bailly Homestead also embraces the Bailly Cemetery, located in the northeast quarter of Section 27 (Township 37 North, Range 6 West). This cemetery is quite unique in its historical development relative to any other burial ground located in Porter County. Many visitors to this historic site likely believe that it has changed little since Joseph Bailly first used the location to bury his son Robert. However, if Joseph Bailly were to view the cemetery today, it would not appear at all like it did when he resided at the homestead.

There have been three distinct phases the evolution of the Bailly Cemetery. To understand each phase, we have to examine the contextual history that led to changes in the cemetery's physical appearance.

First Phase, 1827-1885
Joseph Aubert de Gaspé Bailly was born April 7, 1774 in St. Anne, de Varennes, New France, now part of Québec, Canada, the son of Michel de Messein Bailly and Genevieve de Gaspé Aubert. By the age of 22, Joseph was involved in the fur trade at Michilimackinac (Mackinac Island, Michigan). 

Within a few years, Joseph had developed and extensive fur trading network that included trading posts at Kankakee, Kankakee County, Illinois, Wabash, Wabash County, Indiana, and St. Joseph, Berrien County, Michigan. At these posts Bailly would operate similar to a merchant wholesaler, aggregating furs from both French fur trappers and Native Americans, processing them further, and then packing and shipping the processed furs to Detroit. Ultimately, the furs were shipped to Europe.

Joseph was married twice. His first wife, whom he married around 1794, was Bead-way-way, the daughter of Patrick McGulpin and a Native American woman of the Ottawa tribe. Bead-way-way was referred to as Angelique, and she bore Joseph at least six children. Bailly and Angelique had separated by 1810. Family lore states that Joseph, a very devout Roman Catholic, had attempted to convert Angelique, but that she refused conversion. Frances Rose Howe, granddaughter of Joseph Bailly, writes of Angelique:

Yet his [Joseph Bailly] sorrows had been many and great, for in the days of his early Western experience he had met a very fascinating girl of mingled Indian and Eurasian blood, born of civilized parentage, whom he had made his wife according to common-law usage ere he discovered that, true to her Eurasian descent, she was a secret votary [devoted follower] of the Spirit of Darkness. Patient endeavor for her conversion, earning expostulation with her on account of her persistent adherence to the rites of that fearful cult, proving of no avail, he had long since put her aside, caring for the children born during their union as best he could. He had put her aside, not choosing to bear the yoke with an unbeliever, even as the early Church established the rule against obstinate pagans in the days of St. Paul. 

Bailly then wed Marie LaFevre de la Vigne in 1810, the daughter of a Michigan fur trader and, similar to his first wife, a Native American woman of the Ottawa tribe. Marie, with one child from a previous marriage, bore Joseph five children.

By marrying women of Native American descent, Joseph held an advantage over other fur traders in that he could more easily and readily trade with the various tribes of the region.

Strategically, Bailly established his homestead and trading post in 1822 near the junction of several Native American trails traversing along the southern boundary of Lake Michigan. Due to its location, the homestead quickly became a noted meeting place for travelers, including Native Americans. There are numerous early traveler accounts where the homestead is mentioned, several of these noting the presence of Native Americans at the trading post.

Approximately three-fourths of a mile north-northeast of the homestead is a ridge of sand dunes that early settlers of the area referred to as Indian Ridge. U.S. Route 12 closely follows the ridge in this area. The ridge generally rises approximately 50 to 60 feet higher than the surrounding moist and marshy land, making it ideal for a burial ground. Indeed, according to contemporary accounts, on a slightly higher dune along the ridge was a Native American cemetery. That dune is where Bailly Cemetery is now located. Note that though several skeletons have been uncovered at the cemetery site on numerous occasions, they have always been reburied without a determination of their race. Hence, despite the strong evidence against the contrary, it has not been conclusively determined whether the Bailly Cemetery was originally a Native American burial ground.

It was at this Native American burial site that Joseph Bailly buried his son, Robert "Napoleon" Bailly, in September of 1827. Robert was attending school at the Carey Mission in Niles, Berrien County, Michigan, when he died after contracting typhoid fever. The school at Carey Mission was established in 1822 by Baptist missionary Isaac McCoy and was named after noted Baptist missionary, William Carey. In his book History of Baptist Indian Missions, published in 1840, McCoy mentions the great sickness at and surrounding the Carey Mission during the summer of 1827; McCoy himself was extremely ill and believed he would die that summer.

Joseph brought Robert's body home to be buried near the homestead. Therefore, the Native American burial site north of Bailly's homestead became the site of the first known burial of a white man in Porter County. The 1940 historical fiction novel Wolves Against the Moon by Julia Cooley Altrocchi inaccurately dramatizes Robert Bailly's death; Altrocchi suggests that Robert was stabbed to death by a sword wielded by his sister, Lucille. Joseph Bailly had no daughter named Lucille.

Soon after the burial of his son, Joseph erected a large cross on the site and a small structure for conducting prayer that protected its occupants from the weather - essentially a shrine. Frances Rose Howe, Joseph Bailly's granddaughter, details the origin of the Bailly Cemetery from her perspective. In her book The Story of a French Homestead in the Old Northwest, Howe writes:

He [Joseph Bailly] had chosen a spot for a cemetery on a sandy knoll, about three-quarters of a mile from the house. There he had buried his son and had raised a huge cross of oaken beams as a landmark. In front of the cross he erected a little log building, where the only opening was a rather wide door, facing the cross. This building was not a chapel, but merely a shelter for those who went to pray at the foot of the cross, as did all the household on Sundays and Holy Days. There was no appointed hour for this visit, neither was there any public prayer. The rile was that the visit should be made in the morning, and each one prayed silently, according to the bent of personal devotion.

An oak cross has remained standing at this burial site for nearly 200 years.

Frances Rose Howe also relates a story of the death of an infant of Joseph and Marie Bailly in her book. In 1814, while Joseph was imprisoned at Detroit for being a traitor to the United States government, John Baptiste Clutier, Joseph's valet, transported Joseph's wife Marie by canoe to Mackinac (Michigan) from Menominee (Wisconsin) to reunite her with her children and other family members. Also traveling with John and Marie was Marie's very ill infant daughter. 

While at Mackinac, Marie also became quite ill. While she was sick, the Bailly infant passed away. The local Native Americans buried the infant in a birch bark casket under a "...beautiful forest tree, where it lay for many a year ere its parents knew that it had been thus baptized and buried. Grandmother [Marie (LaFevre) Bailly] could not be told that her infant had died, so another infant was placed in her arms, and she never knew the difference until fifteen years had come and gone." 

About a year or two after the burial of Joseph's son, Robert, this substituted infant, now a teenage girl, had become very sickly. It was at this time that Joseph learned of the death of his blood-line infant at Mackinac and how he and his wife were deceived by the replaced infant. Howe writes:

About this time, or a year or two later, Grandfather learned that the sickly child, who had been the object of so much solicitude, and who was to be the cause of great sorrow, was not his child. He was told the true story of the birth, the death and burial of the infant born after the hardships of Grandmother's weary flight. Guided by the Indians who had buried the child, he sought its grave, but the ax of the white settler had felled that edge of the forest, and it was with great difficulty that the Indians identified the stump of the tree under which they had buried the babe. A search for the remains resulted in finding a few fragments of a birch-bark basket, a few tiny bones, and earth colored by essence of the human body. Sadly and reverently Grandfather gathered these precious relics, bringing them home to be laid beside his other child. This is the true history of the origin of our homestead cemetery -- "A sorrow's crown of sorrow," reaching up to the happier things beyond the grave.

At this time, also, Grandfather sought legal advice regarding the child substituted for his, but found that the testimony was insufficient to warrant a repudiation, especially after the long lapse of time since the event. He concluded to accept the situation, and consider it as a matter of almsgiving. He told his family all the circumstances and requested them never to mention the subject outside the family, and never to speak of it among themselves without absolute necessity. As years went on the girl developed traits of character, which led her to cause dissension and sow discord in the home that sheltered her. It is not my purpose, however, to dwell at any length upon her misconduct, neither now or later on, when I shall be compelled to allude to it in connection with its consequences.

Given the narrative, it appears that the second burial of a white in Porter County took place soon after Robert Bailly's burial -- the disinterment of the infant daughter at Mackinac and her reinterment at the homestead's cemetery.

The late Duneland historian Olga Mae (Landin) Schiemann remarks in her manuscript From a Bailly Point of View that the Bailly Cemetery was referred to as Indian Cemetery. The use of the name Indian Cemetery, she writes, angered Frances Rose Howe considerably since she did not want to be associated with Native American ancestry. Schiemann writes:

People of Baileytown, seeing Indians at the Homestead, referred to the whole group as "The Indians," just as the Baillys spoke of them as "The Swedes." The Finlanders were another group. It was not in the spirit of name-calling, just as convenience. The townspeople called the cemetery of the Baillys "the Indian Cemetery" because it belonged to the so-called "Indian" group. It was the only name many people knew, but it greatly incensed Miss Howe, so much so, she considered it a "slander really punishable by law."

In fact, Frances Rose Howe spent considerable effort denouncing her own Native American heritage, writing letters to friends and newspapers claiming that she was not of Indian ancestry. Her claim was patently false. On the front page of the August 24, 1905, edition of The Chesterton Tribune, is printed an example of a letter authored by Miss Howe claiming that she was not of Indian descent. The letter reads, in part:

I write these lines to inform you that I am not an Indian, neither was my mother an Indian. Such statements are lies, and you will be kind enough not to tell any lies about either my mother or myself. We are aristocracy, much higher in social conditions than yourself or any one else around here. My mother's family was French and noble, my father was a New England gentleman likewise of a very noble family. My mother's parents did missionary work here, and my grandmother used to dress something like a nun, her dress of the religious missionary society to which she together with many other French ladies belonged. It is true that about two hundred years ago some one of the family did marry an Indian, but that is very long ago, and people of good sense and education do not speak of our family in the way, my adopted daughter tells me you [Henry Friday] did.

You a not my social equal, and you have no business to pretend that you know anything about a family so far above your own.

It is suspected that this and other letters by Miss Howe resulted in considerable damage to the Bailly and Howe legacy in the northern section of Porter County, as local newspapers were still referring to the animosity between the Bailly's and old settlers in the area more than 50 years after the publication of Frances' letter above.

Some researchers are skeptical of Frances Rose Howe's claim that Robert "Napoleon" Bailly was the first white interred in Bailly Cemetery. In a National Park Service historic structure report concerning Bailly Cemetery published in December 1976, Clemensen et al. write:

Joseph Bailly's granddaughter, Frances R. Howe, claimed the first interment occurred in 1827 when Bailly buried his ten-year-old son Robert. However, it is very doubtful that this boy was the first white entombed there. Just outside the present cemetery wall on the north are tombstones containing eight names. Four of these markers have dates preceding 1827, the year Robert Bailly died. These include: Isaac Schellinger, 1811; Peter Carlbon, 1814; Rhoda Schellinger, 1816; and Thomas B. Speer, 1817.

It is not inconceivable that Euro-Americans were buried in the Bailly Cemetery prior to its use by Joseph Bailly. As previously mentioned, Bailly established his homestead near the junction of several well-traveled Native American trails. These trails were also utilized by whites traversing through the region prior to Joseph Bailly's permanent settlement in the area, especially as they ventured westward from Detroit.

It makes reasonable sense that if a white person died between present day Gary and Michigan City, or perhaps beyond, that they would have been interred at a location already being used as a burial ground by Native Americans. The Native Americans in the area at the time prior to Joseph Bailly's settlement, the Pottawatomie, were noted as being generally friendly with the whites passing through their territory and may have allowed burials of Euro-Americans within their burial ground.

Second Phase, 1885-1914
After Robert "Napoleon" Bailly's burial in 1827, the site essentially became a family graveyard, although burials of individuals unrelated to the Bailly's were numerous. For instance, it is known that several Swedish residents of the area are buried in the cemetery in unmarked graves.

In March of 1864, Rosene Marie Victoire (Bailly) Howe, commonly referred to as Rose Howe, acquired title to her father Joseph Bailly's property, which included the cemetery land. Soon afterward, in 1866, Rose Howe enclosed the cemetery area with a wooden fence. She also specifically requested that her neighbors, being mostly Swedish immigrants, to discontinue using the cemetery for burials and to remove their dead relatives and bury them elsewhere.

Few neighbors apparently complied with Rose's request. In fact, during Rose (Bailly) Howe's absence on an extended trip with her daughters to Europe and the Holy Land between 1869 to 1874, at least three Swedish immigrants are known to have been interred in the Bailly Cemetery. As mentioned previously, most locals referred to the graveyard as the Indian Cemetery and did not necessarily associate it with belonging solely to the Bailly family.

When Rose's unmarried daughter, also named Rose, was buried in the cemetery in April 1879, she became increasingly anxious about the privacy at the cemetery. Namely, she wished the cemetery to be used only as a family burying ground. Reportedly distressed by the fact that her neighbors did not comply with her previous requests concerning burials and disinterments at the cemetery, Rose (Bailly) Howe had a six-foot limestone wall constructed on the site in 1885, topped with iron spikes. The inside of the wall included stations of the cross placed inside wooden cabinets mounted into the limestone, as well as an altar at the southeast corner.

View of interior of Bailly Cemetery in 1910,
before being filled with sand in 1914. Stations of
the Cross are visible along the wall.
Source: John O. Bowers' The Old Bailly Homestead, 1922.

Only Bailly family members were interred inside the limestone wall. Individuals not of the Bailly family were left outside the walls or disinterred and placed outside the wall. It is suspected a few individuals were disinterred and moved to nearby cemeteries, such as Augsburg Cemetery and Burstrom Cemetery.

Third Phase, 1914-Present
In 1914, Frances Rose Howe, daughter of Rose and granddaughter of Joseph, hired Theodore Stephens of nearby Chesterton to erect a concrete wall following the 1867 fence to control entry into the cemetery. The local newspaper contained an article whereby Frances indicated that she was troubled by the fact that the cemetery was becoming somewhat of a historical tourist attraction. The introduction of the automobile, the considerable improvement of the Old Chicago Road (also referred to as Dunes Highway and U.S. Route 12), and the proximity of the cemetery to the highway likely had a substantial impact on increasing the awareness of the historical significance of the cemetery and the homestead.

Theodore Stephens erected stairs on the north side of the cemetery and an ornamental railing was installed on the top of original 1885 limestone wall. The plaques installed in 1885 were moved from inside the wall to the outside of the wall, and the interior of the enclosed wall area was filled with sand. During the 1914 renovations and construction, numerous graves were uncovered and reportedly moved just outside of the new construction in unmarked graves. Thus, visitors walking around the perimeter of the walled structure of Bailly Cemetery today are likely treading over the remains of those not of Bailly ancestry.

Postcard image of Bailly Cemetery, circa 1930s, after the interior
was filled with sand. Note small white tombstone at right of walkway.
This tombstone is no longer present in the cemetery. It was
reportedly the tombstone over the burial site of "Ida Peterson's brother."
Source: Collection of Steven R. Shook.

In 1921, Carl and Antonia (Zohner) Danielson purchased the land embracing the cemetery ground from James L. and Emma C. (Bachmann) Huston. Emma was adopted by Frances Rose Howe on September 26, 1904, in Porter County, and she had inherited the property when Frances passed away in 1917.

The Danielsons raised livestock, and they allowed their cattle to use the cemetery as a pasture. It is suspected that descendants and friends of individuals buried at Bailly Cemetery complained to the Danielsons about the desecration of the burial grounds by the grazing cattle. Consequently, the Danielson barred all visitors to the cemetery. As The Chesterton Tribune reports in its August 18, 1927, edition:

The Danielson's [Sic] have taken it upon themselves to take possession of the plot, using it as a pasture for their cattle and ordered many people from visiting this historic spot. No one was allowed on the grounds at any time by them. Even close friends who wished to place flowers on the graves of Miss Howe and others were ordered away by the Danielsons.

A civil suit was filed by 24 individuals living near the cemetery in the Porter Circuit Court on August 15, 1927, seeking to restrain the Danielsons from interfering with the public's access to the cemetery grounds. When the suit was filed, Judge Grant Crumpacker issued a temporary restraining order against the Danielsons and set a hearing date for the following week (Monday, August 22); the Danielsons were compelled to allow visitors to the cemetery.

Upon hearing the case, however, Judge Crumpacker dissolved the restraining order against the Danielsons. The September 1, 1927, edition of The Chesterton Tribune includes the following information uncovered at the hearing:

It was brought out at the hearing that the persons claimed to be buried in the cemetery are really interred on the outside of the stone wall surrounding the historic grave yard.... The court's ruling was on the theory that the Danielson's [Sic] were innocent purchasers and had no knowledge that the cemetery existed outside the stone wall. 

Judge Crumpacker issued a final ruling in the case on November 10, 1927. According to the November 17 edition of The Chesterton Tribune:

Cattle may be permitted to graze unmolested over historic Baillytown cemetery, overlooking Dunes Highway, save where a deed protects the small stone surrounded burial plot of Joseph Bailly, Porter county's first white resident and members of his family.

Thursday in Porter circuit court, Judge Grant Crumpacker dismissed the injunction case brought by a number of residents in north Porter county represented by Attorney James J. McGarvey, when the plaintiffs did not appear to fight the desecration of the cemetery which linked the county with pioneer days of the state.

Some time ago Judge Crumpacker dismissed a temporary restraining order granted without notice and refused a temporary injunction because the cemetery, established in 1832, was not registered and because the deed to the land purchased by Carl and Antonia Danielson, its present owners, lists only the stone-enclosed burial ground.

The little burial ground on the crest of a slope overlooking the Dunes Highway, includes a small plot walled in by stone and surmounted by a tall cross -- the resting place of Joseph Bailly and members of his family.

There are others buried there in the three acres surrounding the area with its weather-beaten stone, but there are no tombstones over their graves, evidence of which caused the court to rule the Danielson's [Sic] were "innocent purchasers" in refusing the injunction pleas.

The Danielsons, however, have kept the premises outside the Bailly plot in fine condition, despite the allegations made the desecration of wholesale character were being perpetrated.

For eleven years Joseph Bailly, who came to Porter county in 1822, was the only white settler in Porter county. In his trading relations he built up a close friendship with the Indiana tribes and married the daughter of an Indian chieftan [Sic].

His old homestead, with its various buildings, in Old Baillytown, south of the Dunes highway, still remain, and are being perpetuated as a pioneer settlement by the Sisters of Providence, of Notre Dame, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Bailly-Howe Disconnect
From a historical perspective, it has been well documented that Frances Rose Howe's attitude and behavior toward local residents was quite condescending and not harmonious, which may have been partly due to an outcome associated with the Bailly Cemetery's use by individuals outside her family.

Interestingly, despite the Bailly family's historical significance to Northwest Indiana, there are only very brief mentions of the Bailly and Howe families published in The Chesterton Tribune during the late 1800s and early 1900s. These news items overwhelmingly paint the family in a  negative light, being rather obtuse, and essentially ignored by local residents.

In 1901, for instance, John O. Foster authored an "old timer's" history of Porter County that was published as a series in several issues of The Chesterton Tribune. Foster devotes very little of his reminisces to the Bailly family. He does briefly mention the existence of a Native American burying ground on the Howe property, stating that:

The owners of the estate have not been unmindful of the resting place of these sons of the forest, and have marked the graves of some of those who have gone to the happy hunting grounds. It is said that Bayee [Joseph Bailly] and John Whistler and wife's remains are there, and others who were staunch friends of this departed tribe, and for whom no one seems to care for the histories or the dust.  

Other historical evidence clearly supports the strained relationship between the Bailly-Howe family and area residents. To illustrate, Frances Rose Howe writes in a letter dated December 27, 1915, to Caroline M. McIlvaine:

Do you know a certain Dr. Herbert (or Hubert) Skinner who poses as a historian? He is too funny for any use about our family. He says ‘he has always taken the greatest in our family.’ If so why has he never called at Bailly Homestead. If I invite him, he always wants to plunge into a wilderness of the Dismal Swamp variety and come on horseback through a net work of Indian trails.
- Letter archived at the Chicago Historical Society

Despite Frances R. Howe’s perception and general disregard for the historian, Skinner was likely to have been keenly aware of the historical developments of Porter County and an able writer of them. The first published comprehensive history of Porter County was written by Skinner. Mention of Skinner’s 1878 history of the county is made in the 1912 History of Porter County, Indiana, where it is written that although the Skinner history is a “small work,” it “shows much careful research and investigation.” The 1912 history contains numerous passages that were essentially lifted directly from Skinner's work.

In 1910, Porter County levied a tax of $15,447 against Frances R. Howe, alleging that she was hiding approximately $100,000 in assets from tax assessment. Howe obtained a temporary injunction against the county's collection of the tax. In 1913, the case came to a head.

Porter County Treasurer Lycurgus Coplin filed suit to have the temporary injunction removed and to collect the taxes due. Again, the county was alleging that Howe was hiding about $100,000 in property from taxes. At a conditional examination at the court house in Valparaiso, likely a deposition for the case, Miss Howe responded to one question stating that she spent $5,100 a year on clothing. Will Daly, an attorney representing the county, sarcastically remarked that she did not look as if she spent that much money on clothing. Miss Howe reportedly:

...flung up her hands, threw back her head and screamed hysterically. All the occupants of the room, including Stephen Corby and Harriet Cross, court reporters, fled, except F. H. Wurzer, of this city [South Bend]. The examination was thus abruptly ended.

Apparently infuriated with the county's action and the coverage of the alleged tax evasion case in the regional press, Howe wrote letters to several newspapers. A Howe letter published in the July 10, 1913, edition of The Chesterton Tribune, concludes by stating:

Therefore I beg the people of Westchester township to desist from blindly opposing my efforts to arrange my affairs in proper shape, and I'd like to add a bit of advice frequently heard on the Pacific Coast, "Don't holler before you are hit." 

Another letter written by Howe to the South Bend News-Times appears in that newspaper's July 23, 1913, edition. It reads in part:

The origin of the affair [alleged tax evasion case] comes from the superstition of the Irish and Scandinavian peasantry, who firmly believe that the presence of fireflies in any locality indicates buried treasure. In a meadow east of our old family home in Westchester township in Porter county, there seems to be something peculiarly attractive to fireflies; they swarm there by the hundreds, not to say thousands. Our old Swedish neighbors believed, of course that much treasure lay hidden there. When they discovered that the superstitious part of their statements about this buried treasure met with ridicule they suppressed that part of their tale, but said that they knew treasure lay hidden in that meadow.

Such statements passing from mouth to mouth get varied. After a few years the scene of action was transferred by neighborhood gossip to the Chicago board of trade, and from there to Wall street, and it was declared that I rivaled the Goulds and Vanderbilts in financial transactions of every description.

Howe was successful in securing a change in venue for her tax case to St. Joseph County, her attorney arguing that it would be impossible for her to receive a fair trial in Porter County due to the overwhelming prejudice against her. It was immediately after this case was resolved that Howe began the process of banning visitors at the Bailly Cemetery and hired Theodore Stephens to redesign the grounds and fill in that portion of the walled cemetery with six feet of sand.

It is worthwhile to note that while Frances R. Howe was a granddaughter of one of Porter County’s most prominent settlers, it is estimated that she spent far less than one-quarter of her life in Porter County. Her family resided in Chicago during her youth, where her father was a prominent banker. Frances also traveled extensively for long periods of time; for instance, she toured Europe and the Holy Land with her mother, Rose, and sister, Rose F., during her youth for five consecutive years. Frances also maintained a winter residence in Hot Springs, Garland County, Arkansas; for nearly twenty years, the local newspaper reported when Frances would travel to her winter quarters in Arkansas in the fall and return back to Porter County in late spring.

Huston, Frances R. Howe was regularly absent from her Westchester
Township home, thereby necessitating her to grant power of
attorney to individuals to manage her property.
Source: Chesterton Tribune, November 23, 1894.

Most notably, Frances R. Howe was correct in writing that she was part of a much higher social class that only a handful of Porter County residents could claim. In this regard, she was likely to be a very disconnected member of the general society and culture of Porter County. In fact, as previously mentioned, it is documented that animosity existed between local residents and the Howe family. This animus was carried through for nearly a half-century after Frances Rose Howe's death in 1917. The December 28, 1957, issue of The Vidette-Messenger, published in Valparaiso, quotes Earl Reed of the Duneland Historical Society as stating:

... old antagonisms toward the Bailly family by old settlers is gradually dying out, as the old timers drop off, one by one. Perhaps the present generation will encourage a history of the old [Bailly] family, without letting minor irritations of pioneer days influence their thinking. Of course there is no doubt that the Baillys did assume an upper bracket status in the early days, but that is a part of history, not an excuse to bury the memory of Porter county's first settler, who came here with his family in 1822.

Even Frances R. Howe's death notice, published in the January 24, 1917, issue of The Porter County Vidette, suggests a rather clear disconnect between Howe and the local community. Her death notice reads in part:

... She has been away from her Baillytown home for a long time. She had built her own chapel, in which she worshiped, and her home was so private that few of the neighborhood ever saw its interior.

Frances had passed away at the Clark Hotel in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, while visiting her adopted daughter, Emma. Approximately one year after her death, Frances' remains were transported back to Porter County and a funeral took place at St. Patrick Church in Chesterton on January 30, 1918. The weather that day was terrible; after the funeral Mass, Frances' body was hauled by bobsled during a blizzard to Bailly Cemetery. Due to the inclement weather, it is believed that only the pallbearers and the priest were present at Frances' burial - the last burial to take place at the cemetery.

Emma C. (Bachmann) Huston, Frances' adopted daughter, inherited about $3 million from Frances' estate, which included extremely valuable real estate in downtown Chicago. Emma and her first husband, James Lee Huston, were granted a divorce on June 1, 1920, in Los Angeles County, California; James was barred from associating with his two children resulting from his marriage to Emma. There son, James Francis Huston, committed suicide in Los Angeles on March 16, 1937.

Newspaper item concerning suicide of James Francis
Huston, son of Emma (Bachmann) Huston.
Source: The Los Angeles Times, March 17, 1937.

Emma later married a man named John W. Price, and they reportedly spent all of Emma's inheritance. When Emma later divorced John, she cleaned houses and cooked for a family to earn an income. She died poor in 1963 and was buried without a tombstone marking her grave.

Cemetery Ownership
The chain of title ownership of the land upon which the Bailly Cemetery is situated is as follows:

July 8, 1834: Jacob Stair purchases land via government land patent.

February 15, 1839: Jacob Stair deeds land to Therese de la Vigne, Joseph Bailly's stepdaughter, after de la Vigne pays delinquent taxes on the property.

1856: Joel Wicker, Joseph Bailly's son-in-law, acquires title to the property. Wicker owned and operated a sawmill less than one-quarter mile northeast of the cemetery.

March 1864: Rosene Marie Victoire (Bailly) Howe, daughter of Joseph Bailly, acquires title to the property.

1891: Frances Rose Howe, granddaughter of Joseph Bailly, acquires title to the property upon her mother's death.

1917: Emma (Bachmann) Huston, adopted daughter of Frances Rose Howe, and Emma's husband, James Huston, acquire title of the property upon Frances' death.

1921: Carl and Antonia (Zohner) Danielson purchase the property upon James and Emma (Bachmann) Huston.

1949: Carl and Antonia (Zohner) Danielson deed the property to the Michigan City Historical Society.

1971: United States government acquires title to the property.

Emma Cecilia (Bachmann) Huston, adopted daughter
of France R. Howe. This photograph was taken circa
1900 when Emma was traveling with Frances on a tour of Italy.
Source: Indiana State Library.

It should be noted that the chain of title for the land upon which the Bailly Cemetery is situated differs from that of the Bailly Homestead.

Postcard image of Bailly Cemetery located on Indian Ridge,
circa 1908, prior to the interior being filled with sand.
Source: Collection of Steven R. Shook.

Enumeration of Bailly Cemetery Burials
Information below concerning burials in Bailly Cemetery is quite fragmented and very likely to be incomplete and incorrect. The burial information provided here originates from a variety of sources, including local newspapers, the National Park Service, published records of the Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society, among others.

Known Burials
The following burials are confirmed from a variety of source material, as well the presence of tombstones located within the cemetery grounds.

BAILLY, Joseph (Baptized Honoré-Gratien-Joseph Bailly de Messein)
Birth: April 7, 1774, at St. Anne de Varennes, Québec, Canada
Death: December 21, 1835, at Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana
Note: Son of Michel Bailly de Messein and Geneviève Aubert de Gaspé; tombstone located on south wall of 20-foot by 20-foot elevated area. Frances R. Howe provides details concerning her grandfather's burial. She indicates that family members and any other Catholics were not to attend his burial at the cemetery. Jacob Beck, a Methodist minister, was to prepare his body for burial and to lay it to rest in the cemetery. When Bailly died, Beck arrived with a homemade casket and Bailly's remains were laid into it. The coffin was then lifted to a Beck's wagon and conveyed to the burial ground. A large number of neighbors reportedly attended the funeral service at the cemetery and "Friendly hands heaped the beautiful yellow sand into the grave...."

BAILLY, Marie (LaFevre de la Vigne)
Birth: 1783
Death: September 15, 1866, at Chesterton, Indiana
Note: Aged 83y; tombstone located on south wall of 20-foot by 20-foot elevated area; when Marie (LaFevre) Bailly died on September 15, 1866, Mrs. Emma Persson prepared her body for burial while Emma's husband, Carl Persson, drove the ox-cart which brought Marie's remains to "Bailly Hill" where she was laid to rest by the side of her husband. Frances R. Howe, Maries' granddaughter, wrote the following concerning Maries' death and burial: "Early in the March of 1866, she met with a slight accident while returning from a characteristic errand of mercy and charity. She slipped in crossing the lawn, not noticing a thin sheet of ice lying in the path, she fell in a manner as to jar her spine; being too old for the forces of nature to rally, this was her death blow. The annual Mass at the Homestead was delayed that year, in hopes that Grandmother would regain sufficient strength to be present, but she never did. She received all the last rites of the church in the same room, in which her husband breathed his last in the peace of the Lord passing all understanding, she slept in Christ, the 15th day of September, 1866, and the delayed Mass was said as her Requiem. The funeral was as devoid of pomp, as her husband's had been, for such was her wish, and the few Catholics present at her burial, chiefly persons of the laboring classes, were too ignorant to appreciate the holiness of her life, but they humbly accepted their pastor's declaration that they were assisting at the funeral of a great Saint."
[Source: Howe, Frances R. 1907. The Story of a French Homestead in the Old Northwest. Columbus, Ohio: Press of Nitschke Brothers. 131 p.]

CHELLBERG, Frank Leonard
Birth: September 2, 1902, at Porter, Porter County, Indiana
Death: January 24, 1903, at Porter, Porter County, Indiana
According to Margaret Larson, who lived at the Bailly Homestead during the early 1900s, Frank Leonard Chellberg was buried outside the walled portion of the Bailly Cemetery. Larson reported that Frank's parents, Charles L. and Mina (Peterson) Chellberg, obtained permission from Bailly family member to inter their son at the cemetery. The Chellberg family owned real estate adjacent to the Bailly Homestead. Frank L. Chellberg's death certificate indicated that he was interred at "Baillytown." A short death notice appears in the January 30, 1903, issue of The Chesterton Tribune: "Frank L., the four months old son of Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Chellberg, of Baillytown, died last Saturday. The funeral was held Wednesday from the Swedish Lutheran church."
[Source: The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; January 30, 1903; Volume 19, Number 43, Page 5, Column 6. Column titled "Porter Pointers."]

DANIELSON, Antonia "Toni" (Zohner)
Birth: October 10, 1885, at Austria
Death: April 22, 1954, at Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Note: Antonia (Zohner) Danielson's remains were cremated and interred at Bailly Cemetery. Antonia and her husband, Carl, once owned the real estate embracing the cemetery.

DANIELSON, Carl John
Birth: January 31, 1883, at Sweden
Death: January 15, 1953, at Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana
Note: Carl Danielson's remains were cremated at Mount Hope Cemetery in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, and interred at Bailly Cemetery. Carl and his wife, Antonia, once owned the real estate embracing the cemetery.

ERIKSON, Peter [or Erickson]
Birth:
Death: November 1862
Note: Civil War veteran; burial mentioned in report prepared by C. W. Nelson in 1949.
[Source: The Bailly Cemetery. Manuscript in Reed Folder, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Park.]

HOWE, Frances Rose
Birth: February 4, 1851
Death: January 20, 1917, at Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California
Note: Daughter of Francis Howe and Rose (Bailly) Howe; never married, but did adopt Emma Cecilia Bachmann in Chicago, Illinois, on September 26, 1904, when Emma was 23 years old. Died at the home of Emma Cecilia (Bachmann) Huston located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, on January 20, 1917.

HOWE, Francis
Birth: January 8, 1811, at New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut
Death: August 23, 1850, at Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Note: Husband of Rose Bailly; tombstone located on south wall of 20-foot by 20-foot elevated area. Francis died suddenly soon after contracting cholera. Prior to his death, he had been overseeing a lumber camp located near the Bailly Homestead.
[Source: Howe, Frances R. 1907. The Story of a French Homestead in the Old Northwest. Columbus, Ohio: Press of Nitschke Brothers. 131 p.]

HOWE, Rosene Marie Victoire (Bailly)
Birth: February 25, 1813, at Michilimackinac, Michigan Territory
Death: May 15, 1891, at Porter County, Indiana
Note: Daughter of Joseph Bailly; wife of Francis Howe; tombstone located on south wall of 20-foot by 20-foot elevated area.

HULT, Florinda Amalia
Birth: 1858
Death: 1858
Note: Aged 3m, 15d; daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Hult; burial mentioned in report prepared by C. W. Nelson in 1949. Otto Holt, Florinda's father, obtained permission from Joel Wicker to bury Florinda's remains at the Bailly Cemetery.
[Source: The Bailly Cemetery. Manuscript in Reed Folder, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Park.]

HULT, August Wilhelm
Birth: 1853
Death: 1858, at Porter, Porter County, Indiana
Note: Aged 5y; son of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Hult; burial mentioned in report prepared by C. W. Nelson in 1949.
[Source: The Bailly Cemetery. Manuscript in Reed Folder, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Park.]

LUNDEEN, Female Child
Birth:
Death:
Note: Daughter of William Lundeen; burial mentioned in manuscript prepared by Theodore Stephens and published in 1956: "While I was working outside the north wall, Mr. William Lundeen, who was standing nearby, pointed to a grave near the foot of the stairs and said it was his little girl's grave, a young child of three or four years. I didn't say anything at the time but later, I had the men tear up the weeds, put a concrete low wall around the little plot and stood the tombstones up straight in cement bases. He later said he was very glad I made it so nice but the stone is now broken."
[Source: Stephens, Theodore. 1956. Bailly Cemetery - Roman Style. Duneland Historical Society 2(4):1-6.]

MICHAELS, Frederick
Birth: April 27, 1829, at Bresslau, Germany
Death: December 23, 1884, at Porter Station [Porter], Porter County, Indiana
Note: Obituary published in January 1, 1885, issue of The Tribune [Chesterton], states that "He [Frederick] has a fine family vault in the Baillytown cemetery, value about $1,000. . . . the remains of Frederick Michael were laid in the family vault at the Bailly cemetery." The burial location may be in error or Frederick Michaels remains may have been disinterred from Bailly Cemetery and reburied at nearby Augsburg Cemetery.

NORTEN, Augusta Charlotte (Peterson)
Birth: September 16, 1878, at Sweden
Death: January 8, 1902, at Porter County, Indiana
Note: Wife of Samuel Constans Norten, who is interred at Pine Lake Cemetery in LaPorte, LaPorte County, Indiana. The Porter County death record for Augusta Norten indicates that she was interred at "Baillytown."

PETERSON (Brother of Ida Peterson)
Birth:
Death:
Note: A burial is shown for "Ida Peterson's Brother's grave" on Theodore Stephens' map at beginning of the concrete walkway located at the rear of the walled portion of Bailly Cemetery.
[Source: Stephens, Theodore. 1956. Bailly Cemetery - Roman Style. Duneland Historical Society 2(4):1-6.]

SAMUELSON, Sophia (Johnson)
Birth: 1832, at Sweden
Death: Porter, Porter County, Indiana
Note: Burial mentioned in report prepared by C. W. Nelson in 1949 as follows: "It is the resting place of Mrs. Carl Samuelson, who was the sister of Mrs. Emma Persson or Peterson, as she was later known. This Mrs. Peterson used to visit her sister's grave as long as she was able. The spot is marked by a bed of graveyard myrtle."
[Source: The Bailly Cemetery. Manuscript in Reed Folder, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Park.]

STEPHENS, Magdelena (Rausch)
Birth: 1793, at Bavaria (Bayern), Germany
Death: August 24, 1875, at Porter, Porter County, Indiana
Note: Burial mentioned in report prepared by Theodore Stephens in 1956. The Stephens family resided at the intersection of Waverly Road and Oak Hill Road, very near the Bailly Homestead.
[Source: Stephens, Theodore. 1956. Bailly Cemetery - Roman Style. Duneland Historical Society 2(4):1-6.]

STEPHENS, Margaret (Cissna)
Birth: 1838, at Indiana
Death: 1864, at Porter County, Indiana
Note: A letter written by Dr. Irma Stephens and published in the January 13, 1949, edition of the Chesterton Tribune states: "My father's mother, Margaret Cissna Stephens is buried there [Bailly Cemetery] and we frequently visited the place. I understand the cemetery was largely a burial ground for French and Indian settlers...." The Stephens family resided at the intersection of Waverly Road and Oak Hill Road, very near the Bailly Homestead.

TAYLOR, Mrs. Edgar
Birth:
Death:
Note: Taylor's burial is mentioned in a newspaper article concerning a manuscript prepared by historian Thomas Harvey Cannon. The article reads in part: "Among the many manuscripts that he [Cannon] left was one on Portage township, in Porter county, entitled 'The Recollections of Darius Blake,' dated 1929. He quoted Blake as saying: 'There was only one instance of early day Indians being suspected of poisoning the incoming settlers,' said my grandfather Jacob Blake. He recollected a man named Edgar Taylor told incoming home-seekers that he and his wife had been poisoned by having been given 'doctored' fish by an Indian pretending friendship. The wife died, and was buried in the outer area of the Bailly cemetery - and Taylor abandoned his almost completed log cabin, and returned East. On Oct. 22, 1833, Jacob Blake and his family arrived at the empty cabin. Tired out, and seeking shelter, they moved in. From nearby Indians encamped at Bailly's Landing they learned that the builder had abandoned it, and the land. So Jacob Blake took possession, and went to the Government Land Office at Winamac to perfect his title."
[Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; October 16, 1958; Volume 32, Number 87, Page 1, Column 1 and Page 6, Column 5. Column titled "Manuscript Tells of Portage."]

VEDEN
Birth:
Death: May 18, 1891, Baillytown, Porter County, Indiana
Note: A death notice published in the May 22, 1891, issue of The Tribune (Chesterton) details the horrific death of a three year old with the surname Viedeen; the actual spelling of the surname is Veden. The death notice reads, in part: "On the day in question he ["Charles Viedeen" or Karl Johan Veden] was working for a neighbor, Mr. Chellburg, burning brush, and was assisted in the work by his wife [Christina Maria (Swanson) Veden]. Necessity compelled them to leave their children at home alone, in charge of their oldest, a girl [Alma M. (Veden) Lucker] scarcely nine years. She was taking care of a babe 18 months old [Ernest Oscar Veden]; the little victim, three years old; and a little boy five years old [August Hjelmer Veden]. About 4 o'clock this little mother went to the top of the sand hill back of the house, to see if her mother was coming, and in her absence, one of the children got hold of some matches. The five year old and the three year old toddled into the woodshed, and began playing with the new toys. They got a stone and began pounding the matches to hear them crack, and as a matter of course, they ignited. The clothes of the babe took fire and were a mass of flames before the child on the hill could get back. She heard its screams, and rushed to its assistance, but being unable to do anything, ran to Smith's, a near neighbor, and gave the alarm. Mrs. Smith at once responded, but when she got there the child was dying. Someone ran to tell the parents, and when they got there the little sufferer was lying on its little bed, made of a horse blanket, and a little feed in a bag, for a pillow, gasping its last. The poor father asked the child if it were going to Heaven. "Des, papa," was its reply, and then began showing him the cruel wounds. In a few moments after Death put an end to its suffering. The fire burned great holes in the flesh from head to foot, and must have caused awful pain. On Tuesday the father went out to get a coffin. He was without a cent, and was fearful of asking for credit. He succeeded in borrowing $5 of a man who lives out there somewhere, and with it got a coffin. When a TRIBUNE reporter went out there Tuesday evening the family were all alone. The children were crying, the father and mother crazed with the calamity that had befallen them, and the little victim lay in a little hot room unwashed, and rapidly decomposing. The father said no one had done anything for him and he expected to be alone with his dead that night as he had been the night before. He told of his circumstances, not as a mendicant, but as a broken-hearted man. Neighbors were told of the situation, and Undertaker Lundberg went out early Wednesday morning and prepared the corpse for burial. The funeral was held Wednesday afternoon at three o'clock, and the remains buried in the Baillytown cemetery." The Veden family members are interred at the nearby Augsburg Lutheran Church Cemetery; it is possible that the three year old mentioned in this death notice is buried at this cemetery as well rather than at the Bailly Cemetery.
[Source: The Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; May 22, 1891; Volume 8, Number 6, Page 1, Column 2. Column titled "Burned to Death."]

WILLIAMSON, Hubert
Birth:
Death: 1855
Note: Williamson's burial is mentioned in a story concerning the first train to pass between Michigan City, LaPorte County, Indiana, and Chicago and the Lake Shore and Michigan Central Railway in 1855. Reportedly, Williamson was owner of Green's Tavern at Tremont, Porter County, Indiana. A Native American named Spotted Buck had entered Williamson's tavern and began helping himself to alcohol behind the bar. Angry, Williamson struck Spotted Buck in the head with a fireplace poker and the Indian dropped dead. Spotted Buck's death was soon discovered and Williamson, who was already known by the county sheriff for other misdemeanors, tried to escape the area. Williamson boarded the westbound train at Tremont, but the train derailed near Baillytown. Williamson was killed by the derailment. The article reads in part: Somehow, in one of those cases of co-incidences, the train struck an ill-made bit of track at the vicinity of Baillytown. The rails spread, the train was derailed with an emphatic jerk, and the only person injured was the fugitive, Hubert Williamson, who was thrown against an obstruction and killed.... Thomas G. Lytle was the sheriff in 1855, Ruel Starr was one of the commissioners, and Sylvester Smith was the auditor. The county records of that year show a remuneration to John Lundberg for coffin and burial of a man named Williamson, killed in a train wreck at Baillytown. The burial was apparently in a cemetery at Baillytown, and a Rev. French, officiated."
[Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; July 11, 1957; Volume 31, Number 6, Page 1, Column 1 and Page 6, Column 1. Column titled "New Train is Delayed in County."]

Other Bailly Family Burials
There are reportedly an additional twelve Bailly family interments in the cemetery, but no tombstones can be found for these burials.

BAILLY, Robert "Napoleon"
Birth: April 1816, at Drummond Island, Canada [now Drummond, Chippewa County, Michigan]
Death: September 1827, at Niles, Berrien County, Michigan
Note: In Frances Rose Howe's book The Story of a French Homestead in the Old Northwest (pp. 68-69), it is stated that "He [Joseph Bailly] had chosen a spot for a cemetery on a sandy knoll, about three-quarters of a mile from the house. There he had buried his son [Robert] and had raised a huge cross of oaken beams as a landmark. In front of this cross, he erected a little log building where the only opening was a rather wide door, facing the cross. This building was not a chapel, but merely a shelter for those who went to pray at the foot of the cross, as did all the household on Sundays and Holy Days." In John O. Bowers' book The Old Bailly Homestead (p. 6), it is stated that "In 1827, while attending the Carey Mission school, near Niles [Michigan], Robert Bailly, the son, then 10 years old, became sick with typhoid fever and died. His grave was the first in the family cemetery, located a half a mile north of the old homestead." Julia Altrocchi, in her historical fiction book Wolves Against the Moon, writes that Robert's full name was Robert Michel Antoine Bailly.

HOWE, Eleanor
Birth: August 23, 1848, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Death:
Note: Infant daughter of Francis and Rose (Bailly) Howe. This burial is enumerated in the National Park Service's Historic Structure Report, Bailly Cemetery: Historical, Architectural, and Archeological Data, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana, prepared by A. Berle Clemensen, Kenneth W. Bennett, and Catherine H. Blee and published in December 1976.

HOWE, Francis (Frank)
Birth: August 3, 1846
Death:
Note: Infant son of Francis and Rose (Bailly) Howe. This burial is enumerated in the National Park Service's Historic Structure Report, Bailly Cemetery: Historical, Architectural, and Archeological Data, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana, prepared by A. Berle Clemensen, Kenneth W. Bennett, and Catherine H. Blee and published in December 1976.

HOWE, Infant Daughter
Birth:
Death:
Note: Infant son of Francis and Rose (Bailly) Howe. This burial is enumerated in the National Park Service's Historic Structure Report, Bailly Cemetery: Historical, Architectural, and Archeological Data, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana, prepared by A. Berle Clemensen, Kenneth W. Bennett, and Catherine H. Blee and published in December 1976.

HOWE, Infant Son
Birth:
Death:
Note: Infant son of Francis and Rose (Bailly) Howe. This burial is enumerated in the National Park Service's Historic Structure Report, Bailly Cemetery: Historical, Architectural, and Archeological Data, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana, prepared by A. Berle Clemensen, Kenneth W. Bennett, and Catherine H. Blee and published in December 1976.

HOWE, Rose Bailly F.
Birth: November 12, 1842, at Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Death: April 5, 1879, at Baillytown, Porter County, Indiana
Note: Daughter of Francis and Rose (Bailly) Howe. This burial is enumerated in the National Park Service's Historic Structure Report, Bailly Cemetery: Historical, Architectural, and Archeological Data, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana, prepared by A. Berle Clemensen, Kenneth W. Bennett, and Catherine H. Blee and published in December 1976.

Photograph (carte de visite) of Rose Bailly F. Howe taken
by Lydia J. Caldwell, Lydian Art Gallery, 103 State Street, Chicago, Illinois.
Rose died soon after this photograph was taken.
Source: Collection of Steven R. Shook.

NADEAU, Mary L. Therese (de la Vigne)
Birth: October 13, 1808, at Michilimackinac, Michigan Territory
Death: December 17, 1867, at Shawnee County, Kansas
Note: Daughter of Marie (LeFevre de la Vigne) Bailly by her first marriage. This burial is enumerated in the National Park Service's Historic Structure Report, Bailly Cemetery: Historical, Architectural, and Archeological Data, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana, prepared by A. Berle Clemensen, Kenneth W. Bennett, and Catherine H. Blee and published in December 1976. The report states that Therese de la Vigne died in 1843, though no source is provided as evidence. However, David Frederick, a Bailly descendant, has provided ample evidence to show that Mary Therese de la Vigne was buried in Uniontown Cemetery located in Willard, Shawnee County, Kansas. He reports the following: "She [Mary Therese de la Vigne] used several names in her lifetime. Her birth name was Mary Therese Lavigne, her Pottawatomie name was Terrez. In her early years, she most often used the name Therese Bailly. Contrary to her portrayal in Francis Howe's book and other accounts, she attended Carey Mission longer than any of the other Bailly children and was an outstanding scholar. At the mission, she was given the name Martha Shields. She attended Worthington College in Ohio. In 1830, she married Peter Nadeau, with her mother Marie Bailly serving as witness. The name given for the marriage record was Mary Rousseau. She and her husband took over Joseph Bailly's trading concession with the Nottawasseppe Pottawatomie village near current Mendon, St. Joseph County, Michigan. They had two sons and two daughters. A notarized affidavit by her son Eli G. Nadeau is in the collection of the Oklahoma State Historical Society which asserts that the small Nadeau children spent a great deal of time with their grandmother at the Bailly homestead. She and her husband sold their Michigan land in 1836 and returned to Indiana. Mary Therese was a full member of the Pottawatomie of the Prairie tribe, and accompanied, or was part of, the "Trail of Death" forced march from Indiana to Kansas in 1839. She traded with the Pottawatomie in association with her brother-in-law John H. Whistler and his brother-in-law Robert A. Kinzie (his sister's husband). She was already living at the town site of Uniontown, Shawnee County, Kansas when the town sprung up in the 1840's. The town faded rapidly, but she remained; dying on December 17, 1867. Her daughter Mary L. Bourassa, three grandchildren, and her daughter's stepson are also buried in Willard Cemetery."

WHISTLER, Mary Esther (Bailly)
Birth: July 27, 1811, at Michilimackinac, Michigan Territory
Death: January 29, 1842, at Baillytown, Porter County, Indiana
Note: There is no known tombstone to exist for Mary Esther (Bailly) Whistler in the Bailly Cemetery. In a book published by her niece Frances Rose Howe titled The Story of a French Homestead in the Old Northwest (p. 148), it is stated that "I remember that Aunt Hortense died when I was about five years old, and that her remains were brought here [Baillytown] from Chicago, to be laid beside Aunt Esther." However, it is believed by Bailly family descendants that Aunt Hortense was buried in Chicago, Illinois, which would suggest that Mary Esther (Bailly) Whistler was also buried in Chicago. In the same book mentioned above, it is stated (pp. 136-137) that "The next time she [Rosene Marie Victoire (Bailly) Howe] entered her old home, just a few months later, it was to see her dear sister Esther laid in a grave at the foot of the old oak cross. Uncle Whistler was wild with grief and could not endure to remain, where everything reminded him of his bereavement. He had a good opportunity of beginning life anew in Kansas, and taking his four boys with him, went there, severing himself entirely from all that could recall to mind the days of a vanished happiness." The February 9, 1842, edition of the Chicago Daily American newspaper includes the following death notice for Mary Esther Whistler: "Died, at Baillytown, Porter Co, Ia., on the 29th ult. Mrs. Mary Esther, wife of Mr. John H. Whistler of that place, aged thirty years, six months and two days. She has left an affectionate husband, and an interesting family of five young children. She died of internal hemorrhage soon after giving birth to a healthy son. Medical aid was sent for in due time, but did not arrive until a few minutes after her decease."

WICKER, Josephine Hortense (Bailly)
Birth: Circa 1819, at Michilimackinac, Michigan Territory
Death: 1855, at Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Note: There is no known tombstone to exist for Josephine Hortense (Bailly) Wicker in the Bailly Cemetery. In a book published by her niece Frances Rose Howe The Story of a French Homestead in the Old Northwest (p. 148), it is stated that "I remember that Aunt Hortense died when I was about five years old, and that her remains were brought here [Baillytown] from Chicago, to be laid beside Aunt Esther." However, it is believed by Bailly family descendants that Aunt Hortense was buried in Chicago, Illinois.

UNKNOWN
Birth:
Death:
Note: Two nephews of Francis and Rose (Bailly) Howe. These two burials are enumerated in the National Park Service's Historic Structure Report, Bailly Cemetery: Historical, Architectural, and Archeological Data, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana, prepared by A. Berle Clemensen, Kenneth W. Bennett, and Catherine H. Blee and published in December 1976.

The McDonald Tombstones
The 1876 plat map of Porter County indicates that Henry R. McDonald owned at least 900 acres of land in the Furnessville area of Westchester Township. Henry married Martha (Wilson) McDonald in 1830 and settled in the Furnessville area around 1832. Henry and Martha were the parents of Charles, Martha, Fanny, Lynn, Abbie, Henry, Mary, Sidney, and Elixa. The tombstone for Eliza and Sidney were discovered on the back of the McDonald farm and reportedly removed to Bailly Cemetery.

McDONALD, Eliza
Birth: At Minnesota
Death: July 16, 1864
Note: Aged 9y; daughter of Henry and Martha McDonald.

McDONALD, Sidney
Birth:
Death: March 4, 1862
Note: Son of Henry and Martha McDonald.
 
Tombstones Warehoused by National Park Service
The following tombstones are reportedly in storage at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore warehouse at the park headquarters. It is believed that these tombstones represent individuals interred in the Bailly Cemetery.

BERGSTROM, F. Louisa (Johnson)
Birth: January 10, 1829, at Sweden
Death: January 10, 1873
Note: Aged 43y, 3m, 9d; wife of Frank Bergstrom.

CARLSON, Peter
Birth: April 11, 1814, at Sweden
Death: February 6, 1875
Note: Bottom half of tombstone is missing.

DEMPSEY, Lewis
Birth:
Death: February 25, 1854

SCHELLINGER, Isaac
Birth: 1774
Death: August 1811, at Porter County, Indiana
Note: Aged 67y; year of death may be 1841 or 1844.

Tombstone of Isaac and Rhoda Schellinger stored in warehouse
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore headquarters.
Source: Eva Hopkins, posted to Find a Grave

SCHELLINGER, Rhoda
Birth: 1785
Death: October 1816, at Porter County, Indiana
Note: Aged 61y; year of death may be 1846.

SPEER, Thomas B.
Birth: January 1844
Death: June 30, 1847, at Porter, Porter County, Indiana
Note: Aged 3y, 6m; son of J. and E. Speer.

UNKNOWN
Birth:
Death: February 6, 1875
Note: Tombstone broken and pieces missing.

Source Material

Books and Reports
Altrocchi, Julia Cooley. 1940. Wolves Against the Moon. New York, New York: The Macmillan Company. 572 p. [pp. 386, 445-458]

Bowers, John O. 1922. The Old Bailly Homestead. Gary, Indiana: John O. Bowers. 13 p.

Clemenson, A. Berle, Kenneth W. Bennett, and Catherine H. Blee. 1976. Historic Structure Report, Bailly Cemetery: Historical, Architectural, and Archeological Data, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Historic Preservation Division. Denver, Colorado: United States Department of the Interior. 85 p.

Halpenny, Francess G., and Jean Hamelin (eds.). 1987. Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume VI, 1821 to 1835. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press. 960 p.

Hoffman, Charles Ferno. 1835. A Winter in the West. By a New Yorker. Two volumes. New York, New York: Harper & Brothers. 683 p. [see pp. 224-241].

Howe, Frances R. 1881. Memoir of Rose Howe. Chicago, Illinois: Fergus Printing Company. 64 p.

Howe, Frances R. 1907. The Story of a French Homestead in the Old Northwest. Columbus, Ohio: Press of Nitschke Brothers. 131 p. [see pp. 68-69, 114-116, 132, 136, 138, 154]

The Lewis Publishing Company. 1912. History of Porter County, Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests. Volume I. Chicago, Illinois: The Lewis Publishing Company. 357 p. [see p. 257]

McCoy, Isaac. 1840. History of the Baptist Indian Missions. Washington, D.C.: William M. Morrison. 611 p. [see pp. 312-319]

Nelson, C. W. 1949. The Bailly Cemetery. Manuscript in Reed Folder, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Park.

Pfanz, Harry W., and T. Russell Jones. 1972. Historic Structure Report, Bailly Homestead, Historical and Architectural Data, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Historic Preservation Division. Denver, Colorado: United States Department of the Interior.

Schoon, Kenneth J. 2013. Dreams of Duneland: A Pictorial History of the Indiana Dunes Region. Bloomington, Indiana: Quarry Books. 286 p. [see pp. 140-143]. 

Sleeper-Smith, Susan. 2001. Indian Women and French Men: Rethinking Cultural Encounter in the Western Great Lakes. Amherst, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press. 264 p. [see pp. 155-159]

Sullivan, James R. 1958. Historic Site Survey: The Bailly Homestead, Porter County, Indiana. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Region Five. 40 p.

United States Atomic Energy Commission, Directorate of Licensing. 1973. Final Environmental Impact Statement Related to Construction of Bailly Generating Station Nuclear-1, Northern Indiana Public Service Corporation. Docket No. 50-367. Washington, D.C.: United States Atomic Energy Commission. 332 p.

Writers' Program, Works Progress Administration. 1939. The Calumet Region Historical Guide. Gary, Indiana: Garman Printing Company. 271 p. [see p. 139]

Periodicals
Schiemann, Olga Mae. 1955. From a Bailly Point of View. Duneland Historical Society 1(5):1-95.

Stephens, Theodore. 1956. Bailly Cemetery - Roman Style. Duneland Historical Society 2(4):1-6.

Newspapers (listed by date of publication)
The Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; January 1, 1885; Volume 1, Number 40, Page 1, Column 2. Column titled "Obituary. Died, on Tuesday, December 23rd, 1884, at His Residence at Porter Station, Frederick Michael, of Heart Disease, at the Age of 55 Years."

The Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; May 22, 1891; Volume 8, Number 6, Page 1, Column 2. Column titled "Burned to Death."

Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; November 23, 1894; Volume 11, Number 33, Page 1, Column 1. Column titled "Power of Attorney."

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; September 24, 1898; Volume 15, Number 24, Page 4, Column 1. Column titled "Miss Howe and the School."

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; October 11, 1901; Volume 18, Number 27, Page 8, Columns 2-4. Column titled "Looking Backward, An Old Timber's Narrative of Porter County, Indiana," by John O. Foster.

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; February 7, 1902; Volume 18, Number 44, Page 5, Column 4. Column titled "Chesterton Chips."

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; January 30, 1903; Volume 19, Number 43, Page 5, Column 6. Column titled "Porter Pointers."

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; August 24, 1905; Volume 22, Number 21, Page 1, Column 6. Column titled "Miss Howe Airs Her Woes. Thinks Her Example of Culture, Refinement, Virtue and Intelligence is Not Properly Appreciated. Indignantly Resents the Statement that She is 'An Indian.'"

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; October 7, 1909; Volume 26, Number 28, Page 8, Columns 1-3. Column titled "Effaced Footprints on the Sands of Time," by France R. Howe.

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; June 12, 1913; Volume 30, Number 12, Page 1, Column 2. Column titled "A Historic Spot. Remains of Early French Days Attract Considerable Attention."

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; July 10, 1913; Volume 30, Number 16, Page 4, Column 3. Column titled "Miss Howe Cards the People."

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; July 10, 1913; Volume 30, Number 16, Page 6, Column 3. Column titled "Woman Screams; Others Flee."

South Bend News-Times, South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana; July 12, 1913; Volume 30, Number 196, Page 1, Column 5. Column titled "Dress Criticism Caused Hysterics."

South Bend News-Times, South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana; July 23, 1913; Volume 30, Number 207, Page 1, Column 6. Column titled "Fire Flies Started Story of Buried Treasure She Says."

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; July 31, 1913; Volume 30, Number 19, Page 1, Columns 4-5. Column titled "Hidden Treasure is a Myth. Miss Howe Says the Fireflies are to Blame for Sequestered Taxes. Far Fetched Story Going Rounds of the Press Regarding the Origin of the Suit to Collect Back Taxes From Her."

The Porter County Vidette, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; January 24, 1917; Page 5, Column 1. Column titled "Miss Howe is Called by Death."

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; January 25, 1917; Volume 33, Number 45, Page 1, Column 6. Column titled "Frances Howe Passes Away. Succumbs to Disease at the Home of Her Adopted Daughter, Mrs. Houston, in Los Angeles."

The Porter County Vidette, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; February 7, 1917; Page 2, Column 3. Column titled "Body of Miss Frances Howe Coming in Two Weeks."

The Porter County, Vidette, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; February 21, 1917; Page 6, Column 5. Column titled "Local Squibbs and Personals."

The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California; December 9, 1919, Volume 29, Number 9, Part II, Page 1, Columns 4-7. Column titled "Award Heiress Children, Home. Adopted Daughter of Frances Howe Bests Husband."

The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California; June 2, 1920, Volume 29, Number 183, Part II, Page 21, Columns 1-3. Column titled "Heiress Wins Divorce Fight."

The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; August 16, 1927; Volume 1, Page 1, Columns 7-8 and Page 2, Column 3. Column titled "A Three Acre Plot, Porter County's Oldest Burial Spot Cause of Bitter Court Action," by Englebert Zimmerman.

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; August 18, 1927; Volume 44, Number 23, Page 1, Column 4. Column titled "Suit Filed to Prevent Closing Howe Cemetery."

The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; August 24, 1927; Volume 1, Page 1, Column 3 and Page 3, Column 3. Column titled "Court Balks on Issuing Outer Writs."

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; September 1, 1927; Volume 44, Number 25, Page 5, Column 4. Column titled "Local - Social - Personal."

Boyden Reporter, Boyden, Sioux County, Iowa; September 29, 1927; Volume 35, Number 39, Page 2, Column 1-2. Column titled "Battle on Over an Old Cemetery."

The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; November 11, 1927; Volume 1, Page 1, Column 1. Column titled "Court Ruling Ends Historic Cemetery Suit."

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; November 17, 1927; Volume 44, Number 36, Page 1, Column 4. Column titled "Court Ruling Ends Howe Cemetery Suit."

The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California; March 17, 1937; Volume 56, Number 104, Part II, Page 17, Column 4. Column titled "Motor Fumes Fatal to Young Musician."

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; December 26, 1929; Volume 46, Number 42, Page 6, Columns 3-4. "Column titled "Bailly of Colomique. Site in Porter County Recalls Struggles of Pioneer in Northwestern Indiana."

The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; February 8, 1949; Volume 22, Number 183, Page 1, Columns 1-2. Column titled "County Landmark is Bought by Michigan City Society."

The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; July 11, 1957; Volume 31, Number 6, Page 1, Column 1 and Page 6, Column 1. Column titled "New Train is Delayed in County."

The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; December 28, 1957; Volume 31, Number 149, Page 2, Column 7. Column titled "Gathers Material On Joseph Bailly, Pioneer Settler."

The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; October 16, 1958; Volume 32, Number 87, Page 1, Column 1 and Page 6, Column 5. Column titled "Manuscript Tells of Portage."

The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; July 29, 1972; Volume 46, Number 22, Section II, Page 14, Column 1-4. Column titled "Rollie Barnhart's Somebody, Or Something." 

© 2016 Steven R. Shook. All Rights Reserved.