HISTORICAL TRIVIA 1951-1955 Fulton County, Indiana From The Rochester News-Sentinel Selected, copied and indexed by Wendell C. Tombaugh Special thanks to Jack K. Overmyer for suggesting the Title.. = = = = = = = = = = = MAIN TAVERN Pur. F. Johnson The News-Sentinel, Jan. 3, 1951 Ford Johnson has closed his restaurant in Akron and purchased the Main Tavern there from Everett Smith, it was announced today. Possession has already been given. Mrs. Charles Lotz, who was employed at the Johnson restaurant, has accepted employment in the Eat Rite Cafe in Akron. GLORY INN Truck Stop The News-Sentinel, Jan. 10, 1951 Sale of the Glory Inn Truck Stop, located north of Rochester on 31 by the Tippecanoe River bridge, to Mrs. Flossie Coop, formerly of Kokomo, was announced today. Mrs. Coop, who was a restaurant operator in Kokomo about 14 years ago, purchased the establishment from Mrs. Martha Alber. Alterations will include the name, which is to become, in the near future, Rainbow Inn. - - - - ENGLE TRACTOR Lee Beehler The News-Sentinel, Jan. 13, 1951 Lee Beehler, of Richland Center, is once again connected with the Engle Tractor Sales, Rochester, as a mechanic, it was announced today. Beehler has four years experience on John Bean wheel balancers, visualiners and frame straighteners and is one of the best operators in Indiana, company officials said. (1) SMOKEHOUSE Pur Howard Fred The News-Sentinel, Jan. 15, 1951 The Smokehouse, 711 Main street, was under new ownership today. The sale was made by Harold Lowe, Cities Service bulk manager here, to Howard Fred,, World War 11 veteran and former Kingsbuty policeman. Lowe, who has owned it since 1940, said the business was sold so that he could devote more time to Cities Service. No changes are planned, either to the name or the business, Fred announced. FOSTER FUNR HM Mrs. Ora Foster The News-Sentinel, Jan. 17, 1951 Mrs. Ora Foster today announces that the Foster Funeral Home, 128 West 6th street this city will continue in operation. The business has been established here for a quarter of a century. Mr. Foster, founder, passed away the forepart of last week. - - - - JOYNER CORP New Factory Bldg The News-Sentinel, Jan. 18, 1951 - - - - This new building will house a spacious branch of the Joyner Corp. which already has modern factories in Bourbon and Warsaw, Ind. This corp., which manufactures parts for both radio and television equipment, already has a branch factory in operation in the Kepler building, 120-22 East Eighth street, this city, where an average of 250 persons are given year around employment. - - - - ARMOUR & CO. E.R. Woodcox, Mgr. The News-Sentinel, Jan. 19, 1951 Rochester relatives today received news of the appointment of E.R. Woodcox, as manager of the Armour Creameries plant at Bismark, N.D. Mr. Woodcox, a former employee of the Armour branch here in Rochester, is the son of Ray Woodcox, of this city. He began working for Armours here in 1937. In 1944 he moved to Lincoln, Ill., where he was assistant manager of the firm’s (2) plant in that city and later accepted an assistant manager’s post with the company at Woodstock, Okla. Mr. Woodcox is married and has two sons. TWIN BEAUTY SHOP, Closes The News-Sentinel, Jan. 24, 1951 The Twin Beauty Shop, located at 824-1/2 Main street for the past nine years, is going out of business. Mrs. Robert Tirrell, operator, her husband, and their family have announced that they are moving to South Bend the latter part of this month, where he is employed. A similar shop may be opened there at a later date. KINDIG Floor Covering & Drapes The News-Sentinel, Jan. 31, 1951 Rochester born Floyd Kindig, who started out 22 years ago as a stock boy for M. Wile & Sons, and later worked his way up to manager of the department store, has resigned that position to start his own firm. Kindig said today he would open a floor covering and drapery speialists concern at 109 E. Ninth Stret late nexr week. The building, owned by Con Ahlstrom, formerly housed Kirk’s wallpaper and Paint Store. - - - - - TOPPS To Open Kewanna Branch The News-Sentinel, Feb. 3, 1951 Kewanna’s new branch of the Topps Mfg. Co., will start production Monday. For the first week, only three to six girls will be working at the garment factory but more employees are expected to be hired later, until the branch is on a full production basis. At present, there are 26 machines in the factory and more are scheduled to be added. First garments to be manufactured will be white aprons. (3) LEITERS HDWR Pur, Vernie Bowen The News-Sentinel, Feb. 12, 1951 Charles Wyland, proprietor of The Village Hardware and Supply Store of Leiters Ford, today announces the sale of this well-equipped hardware and sportsmen store to Vernie Bowen and his son, Richard. The Bowens took over full control of the business at noon today. The elder Bowen, resides in East Chicago, Ind. where he is a teacher in the Washington H.S. His son and family who have already taken up their residency in Leiters has been engaged in business in Crown Point, Ind. for several years. Vernie Bowen was born and reared in the Richland Center community and is well known to Fulton county residents. Mr. Wyland, who has operated the hardware business for the past five years has not announced his plans for the future. HAWKINS CAFE Partnership Formed The News-Sentinel, Feb. 13, 1951 George Chimes, owner of the Hawkins Cafe on Main street, announced today the forming of a partnership with Mrs. Goldie Hindel, former resident here. Mrs. Hindel was born in this county and owned the Hawkins Cafe in 1946. She has been operating Goldie’s Grill in Plymouth. Mrs. Hindel said she would also cook and bake at the restaurant, which will keep its same name and continue service for both the Lions and Kiwanis clubs. Chimes bought the restaurant Jan. 2, 1950, from Walton Challman. NEW CITIZENS Hittle & Lamberti The News-Sentinel, Feb. 15, 1951 Two Rochester residents became American Citizens in the Fulton Circuit court today. They were: Mrs. Ada Alice Young Hittle, 517 Ohio Street, who came to the United States from the British Isles July 17, 1926, and Clara Lamberti an Austrian, who came to this country March 15, 1935, with the Ringling Bros. Circus. - - - - (4) FOSTER FUNR HM Mgt., Floyd Grogg The News-Sentinel, Feb. 16, 1951 Mrs. Ora Foster today announces that she has secured the service of Floyd Grogg, of Akron, to assist in the management of the Foster Funeral Home, this city. Mr. Grogg is a graduate of the Indiana School of Mortuary Science and is a licensed embalmer and funeral director. Mr. & Mrs. Grogg have taken up their residency in Rochester at 130 West 8th street. MOWE, RAY Ft. Wayne Paper The News-Sentinel, Feb. 16, 1951 A former Rochester baseball and basketball star, Ray Mowe, was one of a group of former baseball stars who were featured in a picture carried in today’s edition of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. The old-time baseball notables were honored guests at a Sports Night event sponsored by the Wayne Transportation Club, Wednesday evening. Mr. Mowe played in both major and minor leagues in the East, a number of years ago. His position was shortstop. MATTICE Tells Of His Telegraphy The News-Sentinel, March 7, 1951 In the March edition of Railroad, a national magazine devoted to the interest of the railroad, appears an interesting article by Floyd J. Mattice, of Washington, D.C., a former resident of this city. The forepart of his featured story reviews Japanese railroading methods. Mr. Mattice was stationed in Japan immediately following the end of World War 11, where he was a member of the International Tribunal for the Far East, at Tokyo, which tried the Japanese war criminals. The former local man was a railroader in his earlier days and also was telegraph dispatcher for several years. In relating his experiences the article states: “ I learned telegraphy while clerk on the Lake Erie and Western R.R. These were my first real jobs. In those days telephones were few, he recalls. Crews were called by a boy on a bicycle. I worked at Lima, Ohio. One night the first station to the northeast asked for help (5) to put out a big fire. A special train was ordered to the town with the Lima fire fighting equipment. The boss gave me this message to deliver verbally to each crew member I routed from a warm bed about 3 o’clock in the cold morning: “ ‘Jump in your clothes as quick as you can. There’s a fire at Beaver Dam.’ “ I learned telegraphy while I was playing with a line strung between the homes of several boys with no intention of ever working at it . One evening the LE&W chief dispatcher who lived next door to me beckoned me over to the fence and said he wanted me to go to Bluffton on No. 2 to relieve a sick operator. “ ‘Why, I couldn’t do that,’ I protested. ‘I’ve never worked a telegraph job in my life.’ “ But he persuaded me and I went . I got along fine until 1 a.m. when the dispatcher called me saying, ‘31 copy 3.’ It was a meet order for an eastbound and a westbound passenger train No. 3, on which my father was conductor, and my brother was brakeman. “ That gave the usual buck fever. I could read the DS all right but couldn’t write it down.