Above Are the Bare Facts of the State Service of the Indiana Legion in 1893 and 1894
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Above are the bare facts of the state service of the Indiana Legion in 1893 and 1894. The medal associated with this duty is shown in figures 1 and 2. It is a well made piece with a dark brown finish. The pendant is 36.4mm in diameter, has the 1893- 1897 Governor of Indiana, Claude Matthews, on the obverse and the seal of the State of Indiana on the reverse, bordered with the inscription "FAITHFUL AND MERITOR- IOUS SERVICE/INDIANA LEGION." The top bar has three stacked muskets inside a wreath on a medallion on its obverse; a T-bar pin and catch on the reverse with "CHILDS/ CItlCAGO" maker mark. Suspended by two links from the top bar is a bar inscribed "RIOTS 1894," beneath that a bar inscribed "ROBY," and beneath that a link suspension to Figure 3. S.D. Childs maker mark the pendant. Top to bottom the piece measures on reverse of top bar. approximately 84mm. Locating information on Indiana National Guard service at Roby in 1893 and 1894was not difficult. Research on the medal was an entirely different matter and much more difficult. Known medal references and various pamphlets in the Indiana State Library say almost nothing about the medal illustrated in figure 1. One pamphlet acknowledges the existence of such a medal but states nothing was known about it. The Adjutant General’s Office of the Indiana National Guard had no information, nor did annual reports of the Adjutant General, State Treasurer, State Auditor’s records or the Acts of the Indiana State Legislature. The single archival reference turned up in an extensive search was a copy of a letter in the correspondence file of Governor Matthews in the Indiana State Archives: Mrs. Edward Roby Dec. 17, 1894 170 Madison St Chicago, Ill. Dear Madame, I am just in receipt of yours of the 12th inst (post marked the 15th). It is very considerate of you in your busy life, to undertake to present medals to the militia. The steel engraving of myself, which you have is one of the best and only one I now have, pictures I have ever l~ad. Have none of tb.e profile, but just so soon as I can have the opportunity will furnish you with one. I shall obey your instructions to say nothing to the officers of the Militia of the design besides ! must confess that I could not give them a description if desired. Regretting that I cannot immediately comply with your request for a profile picture. With High regard, I am very respectfully s/Claude Matthews. The above letter was a great breakthrough and established that the Governor had knowledge of a proposed medal, indicated a time frame for further research, and that the Roby’swere from Chicago. Illinois Supreme Court records and Chicago city directories revealed that Edward H. Roby was a prominent attorney with extensive real estate interests. At this point it was clear that any further information on the medal had to come from a laborious search of Indiana newspapers. After determining that the entire state militia was encamped at Indianapolis in July 1895, the Indianapolis newspaperswere reviewed for that period. The Indianapolis News of July 22, 1895 mentioned that the Kokomo unit "was proudly wearing the famous [Roby] medal they had previously been awarded by Mrs Roby." Several other units were also reported to have been wearing the medal. Kokomo papers were then checked. Fortunately someone had compiled an indexwhich led to a story about Mrs. Roby presenting medals in Kokomo on February 14, 1895. Additional newspaper articles helped to flesh out the story of the creation and distribution of the Roby medal as summarized in the following chronology: July, 1894 - Indianapolis Sentinel of February 8, 1895. Mrs. Roby was driving in her carriage near her palatial home on Lake Michigan and was favorably impressed by the Elwood Guards (Co F, 2nd Regt) who were guarding the bridges there. She declared they deserved medals and would see they got them. December 17, 1894 - Letter from Governor Matthews to Mrs. Roby as quoted above. February 8, 1895 - Indianapolis Sentinel. Mrs Roby and son stayed at the Bates House to make arrangements to present the medals she had made at her own expense. Originally she intended to give the medal to those stationed only at Roby, but expanded the distribution to include other boyswho stood by the flag. She had nearly 3,000 of the medals. She complimented the Governor although he was making a war which might wreck the Roby family property, noted she had no lobbying to do in the interests of the Roby Race Track. (The Indiana Legislature was in its 60 day biennial session at the time and considering horse racing and prize fight legislation.) February 9, 1885 - Indianapolis Sentinel. Mr and Mrs Edward Roby visited Governor Matthews for a half-hour, arranging approvals and presentation of the medal. Governor Matthews would not make an official presentation although he appreciated the compliment. Matthews was quoted as saying Mrs Roby was very wealthy and determined to recognize the militia, a patrioticwoman prominent in GAR circles, and that the presentation of the medals was a source of great satisfaction to her. February 13, 1895 - Elwood Free Press. Mrs Roby presented the first medals to the Elwood Guards (Co F, 2nd Regt) at a civic reception on the 12th. Her presentation address was patriotic, chaste and eloquent. She discussed the reasons for devoting so much of her time to the soldier, having lost four brothers in the Civil War. February 14, 1895 - Kokomo Dispatch. Mrs Roby presented medals to Co L (2nd Regt) at a reception. She would be conferring a total of 2052 medals to honor those who did service suppressing the railroad riots. February 14, 1895 - Kokomo Dispatch. The Dispatch noted that simultaneously with the arrival of Mrs Roby to present the medals, copies of a petition to the Indiana Legislature were in circulation. These were signed by two members of Mrs Roby’s family and requested the protection of the law for the O’Malley prize fight arena and thewinter race track bearing the Roby name. The paper questioned the propriety of accepting medals from an individual, the bestowal of which should be made by the state. The final comment was that the medal pleased the militia and to decline would not have been chivalrous. February 21, 1895 - Anderson Herald. Report that some of the Anderson Militia objected to the word "Roby" on their medals. [Co C, 2nd Regt, of Anderson served only in Sullivan County in the southern part of Indiana in June 1894, was not called out for Roby duty in 1893.] A quote from the Elwood Press advised that if "if these boys cannot accept the medals as presented, they should return them. March 5, 1895 - The "Roby" bill passed the Indiana State Legislature outlawing prizefights and winter horse racing. From the above reports it is clear that the Roby medal was privately procured by Mrs Roby as a gesture of appreciation to the members of the Indiana Legion who served during the labor unrest of 1894. All of the companies that served at Roby in 1893were on duty the following year, though some individuals on duty in 1893 would not have been present the following year. Were the medals also intended as recognition for 1893 service at Roby? The bar "ROBY" might indicate so. Mrs Roby herself said the medal was for the 1894 duty and that she originally intended to present them only to the troops who had served in Roby in 1894. The most likely explanation is that the medal design was fixed when she intended the medal only for the 1894 Roby troops, then struck in much larger quantities when she decided to extend distribution to all troops on duty in 1894. Thus the bar "RIOTS 1894" indicated the duty and the bar "ROBY" the place. Had the second bar been intended for the 1893 Roby duty it logically should have included the year. The reported numbers of medals procured and planned for presentation clearly indicate they were to go to all who had served in 1894, though addition of those who served only in 1893 would have required Figure 4. Capt Otto C. Meyer wearing only a few dozen additional medals. Was the the Roby medal in a photo taken medal issued in a one bar version? Had the approximately 1900. He served on "ROBY" bar been for !893 service it would strike duty in 1894 in Co G, 3rd Regt, commanded the company during SAW seem appropriate that it be removed for service in the 157thlndianaVolunteers. those who had served only in 1894. Photos in the 1901 history of the Indiana National Guard5 show several officers whowere not at Roby in 1893 wearing the standard two bar medal. Indeed, all descriptions from contemporary newspaper articles make no mention of anyversion of the medal other than the standard two bar medal. .