Brownsburg schools deal with rapid growth (1955)

source: Danville Gazette - issue of Thursday, June 23, 1955 - page 1, column 1:

According to a newspaper article, in June 1955, Brownsburg's schools were dealing with rapid growth. Figures from the Hendricks County Schools Superintendent show that for the 1950-1951 school year, Lincoln Township schools had about 500 students; for the 1954-1955 school year, Brownsburg's elementary and high schools had 951 total students, almost double what it had been just 4 years before.

In 1952 Lincoln Township built a new 8-room elementary school on 12 acres of land, at a cost of $160,000. In 1954 they contracted to build 4 additional rooms at a cost of $56,000, to be ready for the 1955-1956 school year. In 1955, they were in the process of designing a new high school and gymnasium east of the new elementary school, estimated to cost $450,000 to $500,000 and to hopefully be ready for use in the 1957-1958 school year. The new high school would have 16 classrooms and the gymnasium would have seating for 3,000 people, plus temporary bleachers to seat another 1,000 people.

Adoption of Larry Dean PRIDEMORE, Jr. and Roy Jacob PRIDEMORE (1977)

source: Danville Gazette (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, March 24, 1977 - page 9, columns 2-3:

According to a legal notice, in March 1977 Cheryl Denise Pridemore filed a petition in the Hendricks County Superior Court (case # A 77-11) to adopt minor children Larry Dean Pridemore, Jr. and Roy Jacob Pridemore. Their biological father, Larry Dean Pridemore, consented to the adoption. Their biological mother, Betty Pearl Pridemore Hall, was said to have abandoned and deserted them, and her whereabouts were unknown. The petition was scheduled to be heard in court 30 days after the legal notice had been published.

List of Danville High School graduates 1923-1978 added

An index of the graduates of Danville High School from 1923 through 1978 has been added to the school records section of the Hendricks County GenWeb site. This index (which contains over 3,500 people) was compiled from the graduates list that was published in Danville newspapers each spring.

Adoption of Michelle Dawn GATES (1980)

source: Danville Gazette (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, October 23, 1980 - page 10, column 6:

According to a legal notice, in October 1980 Donald D. Clark filed a petition in the Hendricks County Superior Court (case # A 80-34) to adopt Michelle Dawn Gates, a minor. Her biological father, Robert Joseph Gates, was said to have abandoned and deserted her, and his whereabouts were unknown. The petition was scheduled to be heard in court 30 days after the legal notice had been published.

James H. SMITH sued for divorce from Philadelphia (1961)

source: The Republican (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, June 22, 1961 - page 6, column 6:

According to a June 1961 legal notice, James H. Smith was being sued by Angela Smith for divorce in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (case #1433). His current whereabouts were unknown, but his last known residence was Rural Route 2, Box 178, Danville, Indiana. The grounds for the divorce petition was desertion. The case was scheduled to be heard by the appointed Master of the Court, Max E. Cohen, on July 6, 1961.

Hendricks County estate index for 1976 added

An index of the Hendricks County estate cases that had legal notices published in the Danville newspapers Danville Gazette and The Republican for the year 1976 has been added to the probate records section of the Hendricks County GenWeb site.

This index of estate cases now covers 1945-1976; more years will be added later.

This may not be a comprehensive list of all the Hendricks County estate cases for this time period; legal notices could be filed in any newspaper in the county.

Alice June BAKER graduates from Ball State University (1941)

A commencement program for Ball State Teachers College for June 6, 1941 lists among its graduates Alice June Baker of Amo. She received a Bachelor of Science in Education.

Plainfield library to host DNA family history workshop

The Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library will host a free workshop on DNA on Saturday, November 5 from 1 to 4 pm. The workshop will be given by the Central Indiana DNA Interest Group (led by Denise Anderson-Decina) and will discuss what DNA testing can show you about your family history. The workshop will be held upstairs in the library's meeting rooms.

Registration is required - register online or contact the library's Indiana Room - e-mail askindiana@plainfieldlibrary.net or phone (317) 839-6602 extension 2114.

Alan Thornton MORPHEW graduates from Purdue University (1943)

A commencement program for Purdue University for April 18, 1943 lists among its graduates Alan Thornton Morphew of Plainfield. He received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering.

List of North Salem students in 1968 added

An index of the North Salem students in grades 1 through 12 in 1968 has been added to the school records section of the Hendricks County GenWeb site. This index was compiled from the North Salem High School 1968 yearbook, Echo. This yearbook is in the collection of the Danville library.

Adoption of Jeffrey S. Brooks YATES and siblings (1970)

source: Danville Gazette (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, October 29, 1970 - page 13, columns 4-5:

According to a legal notice, in October 1970 there was a petition filed by Robert Gray and Linda Gray in the Hendricks County Superior Court (case # A 70-34) to adopt minor children Jeffrey S. Brooks Yates, Jerome Scott Yates, and Penny Jo Yates. Their biological mother was listed as Ruth Anne Frances Hoyt, aka Ruth Anne Frances Yates, whose whereabouts were unknown. The case was scheduled to be heard in court sometime after November 12, 1970.

Hendricks County residents who graduated from Indiana University (1919)

source: A commencement program for Indiana University, Bloomington for June 11, 1919:

BROWNSBURG:
Lawrence E. Henderson - Bachelor of Science in Medicine

CLAYTON:
Elizabeth Candy - Graduate Nurse
Beth Reid - Graduate Nurse

DANVILLE:
Joel Bert Thomas - Master of Arts in Education

List of New Winchester students in 1963 added

An index of the New Winchester students in grades 1 through 12 in 1963 has been added to the school records section of the Hendricks County GenWeb site. This index was compiled from the New Winchester High School 1963 yearbook, The Warrior. This yearbook has been digitized and is available online in the Archives section of the Hendricks County Government website.

Danville gets its first color television (1956)

source: Danville Gazette (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, February 9, 1956 - page 1, columns 3-4:

COLOR TV MAKES DEBUT IN DANVILLE LAST WEEK
Mr. and Mrs. Rawleigh Baker entertained members of the press Thursday evening at a special showing of the new RCA color television. So far as it's known, this is the first color TV set in Danville. It has been reported that there are three other color sets now in this county.

By this time next year, color television will be a common-place thing. But at the present time, it is a new and exciting form of entertainment. As I watched a full-hour program, I was most conscious of the stars' hair. On a black and white program, you accept all hair has been dark or light. While the hair had a natural look, it sometimes looked more like a wig than the real thing, with each hair in its proper place.

Woodwork shown on the screen looked natural, as did the pastel-colored settings. Lipstick and fire extinguishers were shown in a peculiar shade of purple. During a commercial a red-haired hostess presented the commentary. Redheads really show up on color tv. However, a twist of a dial can ruin any girl's complexion.

Another advantage, or maybe disadvantage, color television can make your mouth water when it comes to scenes of food. Although I enjoyed my first colored tv show, I imagine a spectacular, with brightly colored costumes, would show up more effectively than a drama show.

Brownsburg genealogy group to discuss DNA research

The Brownsburg Branches genealogy group will meet on Tuesday, October 4 from 1 to 3 pm at the Brownsburg Public Library. Steve Smith from the Danville Public Library will discuss DNA testing and how it can improve your genealogy research.

Registration is requested - register online.

If you are interested in the group, or have questions, please contact Linda Cook - e-mail lcook@bburglibrary.net

Adoption of Michael Lee TINGLE (1970)

source: Danville Gazette (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, April 9, 1970 - page 11, columns 4-5:

According to a legal notice, in April 1970 there was a petition filed by Hames New and Ernestine New in the Hendricks County Superior Court (case # A 70-13) to adopt Michael Lee Tingle, a minor. His biological parents were listed as Lee Tingle and Pamela Tingle. The case was scheduled to be heard in court on May 7, 1970.

Hendricks County estate index for 1975 added

An index of the Hendricks County estate cases that had legal notices published in the Danville newspapers Danville Gazette and The Republican for the year 1975 has been added to the probate records section of the Hendricks County GenWeb site.

This index of estate cases now covers 1945-1975; more years will be added later.

This may not be a comprehensive list of all the Hendricks County estate cases for this time period; legal notices could be filed in any newspaper in the county.

Name change of Bernadine Joy FRANKLIN (1978)

source: Danville Gazette (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, May 4, 1978 - page 9, column 1:

According to a legal notice, in May 1978 Bernadine Joy Franklin filed a petition in the Hendricks County Superior Court (case # S 78-114) to change her name to Bernie Joy Franklin. The petition was scheduled to be heard in court on June 30, 1978.

Harriet Jane NICHOLS to wed in Germany (1957)

source: The Republican (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, January 17, 1957 - page 4, column 3:

NORTH SALEM GIRL TO WED OVERSEAS
Miss Harriet Jane Nichols of North Salem, now teaching in the Oliver P. Morton High School at Hammond, will become the bride of David James Kluxdal, who is now in Germany with the United States Air Force. Miss Nichols will fly from Indianapolis February 9 for Germany where the couple will be married.

She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Franklin Nichols of North Salem. The bridegroom-elect is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Iver Kluxdal of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The bride-elect was graduated from Indiana University School of Business. She is a member of Delta Pi Epsilon sorority. Mr. Kluxdal was graduated from the Air Force Language School at Indiana University.

List of North Salem students in 1969 added

An index of the North Salem students in grades 1 through 12 in 1969 has been added to the school records section of the Hendricks County GenWeb site. This index was compiled from the North Salem High School 1969 yearbook, Echo. This yearbook is in the collection of the Danville library.

Name change of Patsy Ann RICKER (1962)

source: The Republican (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, October 22, 1962 - page 5, column 5:

According to a legal notice, in October 1962, Patsy Ann Ricker of North Salem was petitioning the Hendricks County Circuit Court (case # 62-51) to change her name to Patsy Ann Davidson. The petition was to be heard in court on January 7, 1963.

Brownsburg purchases land for new park (1958)

source: Danville Gazette (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, May 8, 1958 - page 10, column 3:

According to a newspaper article, in May 1958 the Brownsburg town council arranged to buy a 39 acre piece of land from Mrs. Ivory Tolle, at a cost of $25,000, in order to build a park. The land was described as being "immediately north of the railroad" and "at the northwest edge of the town."

NOTE: Today this park is known as Arbuckle Acres (address 200 North Green Street).

Danvile gets direct dial telephone service (1954)

According to an article in the September 30, 1954 issue of The Republican, Danville was scheduled to get direct-dial telephone service beginning on Friday, November 12 at 8 pm, courtesy of the Indiana Bell Telephone Co. The change meant that all of Danville's 1,800 manual telephones had to be switched over to the new rotary-dialed telephones, a project which cost $135,000.

Before the switch, if you wanted to call someone, you had to lift the receiver on your manual telephone, which engaged the operator. You then had to tell your operator what 3 digit phone number you wanted, or ask them to look up the 3 digit number from a directory. In either case, the operator was the one who actually placed the call.

After the switch, everyone in the Danville telephone exchange would have a phone number that began with SH (referred to as "Sherwood") and 5, followed by four digits. For example, the Weaver Funeral Home had a phone number of SH 5-4411, and when they told it to people they could use the shorthand version, "Sherwood 5 4411". Many Danville phone numbers today start with 745; if you look at those buttons on the telephone, the "S" corresponds to 7, the "H" corresponds to "4", and then the 5.

Before the switch, Indiana Bell held programs for the public showing them how to dial, which included picking up the phone and waiting to hear the dial tone/hum before beginning to dial.

To make a long-distance call, you still had to contact the operator first, EXCEPT if you were making a call to New Winchester or North Salem. Those two exchanges had special 3-digit prefixes you could use to dial the call yourself.

Danville was the first community in the Hendricks County area to get the direct-dialed service.

As a result of the switch, many of the women who had been employed as operators were no longer needed (although under the direct-dialed system, you could still dial "0" if you needed help from an operator, such as when placing a long-distance call).

Hendricks County marriage index for 1999-2000 added

An index of Hendricks County marriage license book 63 (which covers 9 October 1999 through 2 September 2000) has been added to the marriage records section of the Hendricks County GenWeb site.

This marriage index now covers 1904 through 2000; more years will be added later.

The Hendricks County Government's Archive has digital files of the marriage license books for 1824 through 2003.

Pardon for Joseph GATES denied (1924)

source: Danville Gazette (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, October 9, 1924 - page 8, column 3:

PARDON DENIED
Joseph Gates of Plainfield, who is in the Pendleton Reformatory for issuing checks without having funds to meet, was denied a pardon by Governor Branch last week. Nine pardons were issued and 35 appeals denied.

Plainfield genealogy group to discuss digitizing and preserving records

The Family History Hounds genealogy group will meet on Thursday, October 6 from 1 to 3 pm at the Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library. The meeting will be held upstairs in the library's meeting rooms. Steve Smith from the Danville library will give a presentation on digitizing and preserving your family records and how to share that information online.

If you are interested in the group, or have questions, please contact Plainfield library's Indiana Room - e-mail askindiana@plainfieldlibrary.net or phone (317) 839-6602 extension 2114.

Hendricks County estate index for 1972-1974 added

An index of the Hendricks County estate cases that had legal notices published in the Danville newspapers Danville Gazette and The Republican for the years 1972 through 1974 has been added to the probate records section of the Hendricks County GenWeb site.

This index of estate cases now covers 1945-1974; more years will be added later.

This may not be a comprehensive list of all the Hendricks County estate cases for this time period; legal notices could be filed in any newspaper in the county.

Adoption of Terry Wayne DIXON (1974)

source: The Republican (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, June 13, 1974 - page 5, column 5:

According to a legal notice, in June 1974 there was a petition filed by Rodger Nelson Theodore Felty in the Hendricks County Superior Court (case # A 74-22) to adopt Terry Wayne Dixon, a minor. His biological father, Calvin Tiffiany Dixon, was listed as whereabouts unknown, alleged to have abandoned and deserted him. The case was scheduled to be heard in court 30 days after publication of the legal notice.

Adoption of Kelly Jo JUSTICE (1974)

source: The Republican (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, April 18, 1974 - page 7, column 6:

According to a legal notice, in April 1974 there was a petition filed by Phillip Max Hensley, Sr. in the Hendricks County Superior Court (case # A 74-11) to adopt Kelly Jo Justice, a minor. Her biological mother was listed as Martha Lee Hensley; her biological father, Donald Joe Justice, was listed as whereabouts unknown, alleged to have abandoned and deserted her. The case was scheduled to be heard in court 30 days after publication of the legal notice.

Adoption of Kim Elaine WOLFE and Janet Dee WOLFE (1974)

source: The Republican (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, April 18, 1974 - page 7, column 5:

According to a legal notice, in April 1974 there was a petition filed by Joseph Louis Prano in the Hendricks County Superior Court (case # A 74-9) to adopt minor children Kim Elaine Wolfe and Janet Dee Wolfe. Their biological mother was Alberta Kay Prano; their biological father, George David Wolfe, was listed as whereabouts unknown, alleged to have abandoned and deserted them. The case was scheduled to be heard in court 30 days after publication of the legal notice.