THETHE Volume 36, Number 43 Thursday, October 29, 2020 TMTM 911911 FranklinFranklin StreetStreet WeeklyWeekly NewspaperNewspaper MichiganMichigan City,City, ININ 4636046360 HHappapp y HHallall o woweeee n THE Page 2 October 29, 2020 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] email: Classifieds - [email protected] It’s Time http://www.thebeacher.com/ PRINTED WITH Published and Printed by To Fall Back TM Trademark of American Soybean Association THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS Sunday, November 1st Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is also delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. Wha t Lies ea th Ben ea th by William Halliar I can still feel the dust of long-forgotten spaces and old bones in the back of my throat. I shiver as I recall ducking under rough-hewn fl oor joists and between cobwebs to peer at gravestones in the dark basement of St. Mary’s Church. I remember the un- derground rooms that form the basement of Trinity Episcopal Church and Barker Hall. As we drive past these and other land- marks, we may admire the beauty of their architecture, but we seldom think of what lies below. Many of these sturdy old build- ings hide dusty secrets beneath their stout walls. Seldom visited spaces nestled be- tween thick foundations, hidden beneath well-maintained workspaces, they contain bits and pieces of the history of lives lived in the world above. St. Mary’s Church on 11th Street was built in 1867. By that time, the city was thriving. It originally was surveyed and laid out by representatives of Isaac C. Elston, merchant and land speculator, in 1832. Streets were arranged in a grid with numbered blocks in between. Some city plots sold to out-of-town speculators who sought to make a profi t in this new town growing at the northernmost terminus of the Michigan Road. Many lots were sold to pioneers eager to make this their new home, all with great hope in what Michigan City could become. The lots sold rapidly, making Elston a $50,000 profi t, which today would equal more than $1.5 million. After changing hands several times, it was recorded in No- vember 1862 by the Michigan City Common Council that Lot No. 90, along with portions of several adjoining lots, could be used by “the catholic congregation of Michigan City... for the purpose of a burial ground.” Custodian Tony Quartuccio shows the entrance to St. Mary’s basement. THE October 29, 2020 Page 3 bbeacheach bbumum jjewelsewels CCreatingreating AAuthenticuthentic BBeacheach GGlasslass JJewelryewelry fforor 1155 YYearsears 662222 FranklinFranklin St.St. 2219-743-959519-743-9595 MMichiganichigan CCity,ity, IINN wwww.beachbumjewels.comww.beachbumjewels.com HHours:ours: TTues.-Sat.ues.-Sat. 1111 aa.m.-5.m.-5 pp.m..m. • BByy AAppointmentppointment GALLERY AND ART CLASS STUDIO St. Mary’s Church, located on 11th Street in Michigan City. t fused glass t mosaic art t mixed media workshops This site was located closer to the center of town 622 Franklin ArtAndScienceworks.com than the burial plot originally proposed by Elston in 1835, which had been in use by citizens of the town since that time. The new burial place would be specially consecrated to people of the Catholic faith. According to Pat Harris, historian of St. Mary’s Church, this burial ground was, for a long time, “the only consecrated burying ground in this part of the state, and it was customary to bring bodies here from all over the area.” Bodies were brought from San Pierre, Wanatah, Westville and Otis. Interments were made at the new Catholic cem- etery until, soon, the dead outnumbered the liv- ing. In 1863, the city purchased 20 acres to create Greenwood Cemetery as a new and permanent rest- ing place for its dead of all faiths. 622 Franklin Street • 219.552.2419 • A November 1864 city ordinance made it illegal for “any person, or persons, churches or associa- tions to bury any more dead in any of the cemeteries within the corporate limits of Michigan City.” In accordance with the law, therefore, the resi- dents of Michigan City’s Catholic cemetery were disinterred and moved to Greenwood. The problem was that complete records were not kept, and no one knew for sure where all of the dearly departed Open 701 Washington St Mon - Sat 11-7 were buried. Workers did the best they could, but Michigan City, IN 46360 Sun 11-3 219-814-4127 occasionally for years afterwards, more bones would be found. Dine In or Outside on the Patio In 1905, when the foundation for a new rectory Drive Through & Carryout Available • Catering was being dug, some bones and several skeletons were found. The Michigan City News of June 21, Say you saw us in The Beacher! Continued on Page 4 THE Page 4 October 29, 2020 The existence of these gravestones and the old Wha t Lies Ben ea th Continued from Page 3 cemetery has been known to students and teachers 1905, reported the discovery of the remains of seven alike over the years. Michigan City Historical Soci- human bodies. ety President Jim Retseck, who attended St. Mary’s A grisly discovery also was recorded. The paper as a lad, recalls that the nuns, who taught there at gives this account: “in one of the human skulls was that time, would threaten students with the idea of found a rusted knife blade, which no doubt was the putting them with the haunted stones in the under- cause of death of the person whose skull contained ground graveyard if they did not behave. the piece of steel. The blade was extricated from the brain cavity of the skull and was embedded therein to the depth of two inches.” Are there any other bodies left to be found? Who can imagine what other discoveries might be made in the future in the vicinity of St. Mary’s? Pat Harris, historian at St. Mary’s Church. Pat Harris speculated that Johannah and Phil- lip might have been parishioners of St. Ambrose Church, which merged with St. Mary’s in 1867. Pat has researched interments at Greenwood and can The basement at St. Mary’s Church. fi nd no record of these two individuals there. I took a tour of the basement of the old church. A We have their headstones, where are their bones? creaky, rusted door opens to reveal an even creak- Could their bodies still lay somewhere beneath the ier wooden stepladder that leads down to a space present-day church? with little headroom beneath the church. Custodian Just north of St. Mary’s on Franklin Street in the Tony Quartuccio was my guide. He led me to a dusty Uptown Arts District is Trinity Episcopal Church. space with dirt fl oor and low-hanging beams and pipes. We bent low as we proceeded into the space to discover two grave headstones leaning against a rough brick wall. The fi rst headstone was rectangular at about 1½ feet wide and ap- proximately 4½ feet tall. It had a crack running across it, but the carved text could be plainly read; “Johannah wife of Thomas Riley died April 8, 1860, 22 y’rs. A native of Castle, County of Kary, Ireland.” The second stone was of somewhat more deco- rative shape. It was The gravestone for Johannah Riley. smaller than the fi rst and read, “To the memory of Phillip Ryan of Thurles Co. Tipperary Ireland who died June the 7th 1857 aged 36 years. May he rest in peace.” Trinity Episcopal Church at Sixth and Franklin streets. THE October 29, 2020 Page 5 Though several congregations may lay claim to having offered the fi rst Christian service in Michi- gan City, Trinity Church archivist Matt Kubik has established that the fi rst service held here by an Episcopal priest was on Oct. 5, 1834. The Episco- pal congregation built the fi rst permanent church building in town in 1836. Today’s impressive limestone church, the third this congregation has built through the years — the second being in 1858 — has a tall corner bell tower with carillon. It was built in 1889 and is located at Sixth and Franklin streets. The church is attached to Barker Hall, which served as a sort of community center for Michigan City for many years. Trinity and Barker Hall have been remodeled and reformatted, so to speak, many times over the years to suit the congregation and the community’s needs. Barker Hall was built by John Barker in honor of two of his children who died as infants. Barker’s daughter, Catherine, rebuilt and modernized the hall in later years. All of this remodeling and reconfi guring created an interesting basement that twists and winds un- derground. It is lined with interesting side rooms Matt Kubik, photographed on his way to the and alcoves, each holding items long discarded, but Trinity Episcopal Church basement. not yet consigned to the dump. Here is a stack of old The Trinity basement is built like a solid bunker, pews. There are a couple of old stained-glass win- with thick concrete and stone walls dividing its var- dows, over there and old pulpit. ious sections. The area under the sanctuary has a Kubik kindly took me on a tour of these spaces. Continued on Page 6 THE Page 6 October 29, 2020 Wha t Lies Ben ea th Continued from Page 5 dirt fl oor, which is unusual for a building so well- built.