A History of the Rotary Club of Lafayette, Indiana the Beginning
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A History of the Rotary Club of Lafayette, Indiana The Beginning Charter Members Professor Thomas F. Moran Professor of History Dr. Arett C. Arnett Purdue University Surgeon Res. 24 Russell St, W Laf 524 Columbia Street Res. 516 S. Seventh Street Charles Radersdorf Retail Furniture & Carpets Frank M. Best Mgr., D.C. Foster Fum. & Carpet Co. Drugs 622 Main Street Partner, Wells-Yeager-Best Co Res. 1219 Cincinnati Street 120 N. Third Street Res. YMCA Moses Schultz Prop. Dept. Store Karl R. Bachman 334-336 Main Street Secretary, Chamber of Commerce Res. 517 Lingle Street 607 Main Street Res. 120 Chauncey Ave. W. Laf. William A. Shipley Retail Hardware Dr. Lewis M. Ellis President Shipley Hardware Company Dentist 330 Main Street 40 Loan and Trust Building Res. 1000 Pontiac Avenue Res. 717 Columbia Street Christian G. Stocker James C. Farrington Hotels Fire Insurance President Lahr Hotel Company Partner, Farrington & Lienkaemper Cor. Main & Fifth Street 57 Loan and Trust Building Res. 512 S. Tenth Street Res. 272 Littleton St., W. Laf. Frank B. Timberlake William D. Foresman Past Service Grain Dealer Pump Manufacturers President, W.B. Foresman Company Secretary Biggs Pump Company 54-55 Loan & Trust Building Cor. Brown, Erie & N. Thirteenth Sts. Res. 907 State Street Res. 102 S. Ninth Street Orin L. Foster (honorary) Abner E. Werkhoff Victrolas Life Insurance Prop., The Foster Shop Pres., Lafayette Life Insurance Co. 116 N. Third Street Emsing Building Res. 411 W. State St., W. Laf. Res. 1244 N. Fifteenth Street It was on February the 23rd, 1905, that Paul Harris, a Chicago lawyer organized the first Rotary Club. With three friends, one a coal dealer, one a mining engineer, and the third a merchant tailor, these men conceived of the unique idea of organizing a club through the selection of only one man from each line of business or profession; and Rotary was given as the name of this organization as the meetings were to be held at the places of business of the different members. Its purpose, these men said, was to promote friendship and understanding, knowledge and broad mindedness and interest in the other fellow. Three years later one of the members of this first club told the story to a group of San Francisco men and the second club was organized. Other clubs were formed on the Pacific coast; the movement spread to the East; and then to the South. It was in 1910 that the first Convention of the National Association of these clubs was held, in Chicago, and Paul Harris was elected to the Presidency. Three years later Rotary came to Indiana; Indianapolis and then Terre Haute and Evansville organized clubs. The latter part of that year E. J. Krous of the Lafayette Ice Cream Company corresponded with the International office relative to the possibility of Lafayette organizing a similar club. However nothing came of this first interest, though during the next two years clubs were formed at South Bend, Vincennes, Fort Wayne and New Albany. With seven clubs in the State the movement attracted the attention of Dr. A. C. Arnett who made inquiries of Herbert C. Angster, Governor of the 8th District. Literature was sent to him from the International office, and before the month of December had passed Doctor Arnett forwarded a list of seven names as an Organizing Committee to the Rotary Office. Further interest was evidenced, however, before the actual organization of a Club. In February Charles Radersdorf visited the Indianapolis Club as a guest, and was so impressed with the aims, purposes and spirit of this Club that he discussed his impressions with James Farrington and Frank Timberlake of Lafayette. Letters followed from these two men and from Karl Bachman to Governor Angster and to the International Office with the result that Governor Angster came to Lafayette and met with the following men on April 24th at the Lahr Hotel: Dr. A. C. Arnett, Karl R. Bachman, Frank M. Best, Lewis M. Ellis, James C. Farrington, Thomas F. Moran, Christian G. Stocker and Frank Timberlake. At this council it was decided to form the Lafayette Rotary Club, with the first meeting to be held on May the first, 1916, in the Blue Room of the Lahr Hotel. This meeting was held as planned; officers and directors were elected, and Lafayette Rotary began to live. The membership of the Club was made up of the fourteen men whose names are listed on the following page; and on subsequent pages is the story of the first seventy-five years. 1916-1917 Officers District Convention Thomas F. Moran, President Danville, Illinois William A. Shipley, Vice President February 22, 1917 Karl R. Bachman, Secretary James C. Farrington, Treasurer New Members Directors Edward Ayres Clarence M. Bivins Moses Schultz Charles Bradshaw Abner E. Werkhoff Stanley E. Coulter Lewis M. Ellis Thomas Duncan Orin L. Foster Cecil G. Fowler Charles Radersdorf C. Francis Harding George F. Keiper International President Lawrence C. Kigin Allen D. Albert, 1915-16 Richard B. Moore Paris, Illinois John S. Morrison Levi Oppenheimer Arch C. Klumph, 1916-17 David E.S. Perry Cleveland, Ohio R. Joseph Plaistridge International Convention Edward L. Pottlitzer Charles C. Pyke Cincinnati, Ohio George L. Roberts Delegate: Thomas F. Moran Herbert G. Sattler District Governor Winthrop E. Stone Burr S. Swezey Herbert C. Angster (8th), 1915-16 Roy Wallace (honorary) Chicago, Illinois Charles A. Woodbury (honorary) Frank P. Manly (8th) Indianapolis, Indiana Allen D. Albert of Paris, Illinois, was International President of Rotary for the first two months of the Lafayette Club's life, with Arch C. Klumph of Cleveland, Ohio, elected for the following year, July 1st, 1916, to June 30th, 1917. The District, No. 8, into which the Lafayette Club entered was composed of Illinois and Indiana. Herbert C. Angster, of Chicago, was the Governor for those first two months, and Frank P. Hanley of Indianapolis for the ensuing first full year of the club's existence. In this story of Rotary at Lafayette and at Purdue we are heading each year with the organization of the club, its officers and directors, followed by the name and home of the International President, the name and home of the District Governor, with the number of this changing district of ours, and then a bit of a story of that year. By no means is this more than an attempt to sketch a few of the interesting things that have happened to Rotary here in Lafayette. Thomas Bailey Aldrich states it well, for we know we have remembered many little things, possibly leaving out the important facts and figures, the failures and accomplishments. "My mind lets go a thousand things, Like dates of wars and deaths of kings, And yet recalls the very hour - 'Twas noon by yonder village tower, And on the last blue moon in May - The wind came briskly up this way, Crisping the brook beside the road; Then, pausing here, set down its load Of pine-scents, and shook listlessly Two pews from the wild-rose tree." The Secretary wrote early in May that President Thomas Moran would be the official delegate to the Cincinnati International Convention, and that Abner Werkhoff would also attend. "We also wish to call to your attention," he wrote, "that Lafayette is situated on what is know as a Dustless Air Line and is now a part of the National Highway," And again he wrote, "Keep your eye on the Kid." We suppose the "kid" our first Secretary referred to, was the "club". The Club issued a monthly publication named "THE ACORN, from which a mighty oak will grow." Looking back to those first fourteen months of Lafayette Rotary it seems far away and long ago. The Lusitania had just been sunk by a German submarine; Henry Ford's Peace Ship had sailed to Europe, and returned entirely unsuccessful. Dr. Winthrop E. Stone was President of Purdue University, a school of twenty-four hundred students. The Ladies Hall stood on the Campus; there was no Union building, not a single building in Stuart Field or on beyond. Before Rotarian Thomas Moran’s term expired the United States had declared war on the "natural foe to liberty;" the first division of American soldiers had embarked for France; and ten million men had registered in the United States under the selective draft law. 1917-1918 Officers District Convention George F. Keiper, President Terre Haute, Indiana William A. Shipley, Vice President March 8, 1918 Karl R. Bachman, Secretary James C. Farrington, Treasurer New Members Directors Thomas F. Bauer George Bergman James C. Farrington Howard A. Decker Eugene L. Dyer International President Thomas J. Follen E. Leslie Pidgeon Edgar Goldsberry Montreal, Quebec, Canada Floyd A. Loop Llewellyn V. Ludy International Convention John M. McWilliams Kansas City, Missouri Frank P. Riedel Samuel E. Souders (Honorarv) District Governor Benett Taylor Percival G. Rennick, Governor (8th) Ernest S. Urwitz Peoria, Illinois John W. VanNatta Edward M. Watson This was the year Rotary grew rapidly throughout the state, twenty clubs now being organized. This was the year of Chateau-Thiery and of the counter attack at Belleau Wood, and the crossing of the Marne. Picture Lafayette and Lafayette life. Fred Reule sold buggies and Over land cars; and at the Family Theatre it was "Always a Good Show" with "Ladies' Bargain Matinee every Tuesday and Friday, five cents." Ritter and Mauch were Practical Horseshoers at 219 North Second Street; and Ruger's bread was advertised as "The three times a day treat." Weibers and Rogers did a thriving business at the Seeger Transfer and Livery, and the American Laundry was damming socks free, besides doing a good business in "Americanizing" your laundry.