The last words of Jennie L. Dugan were poignantly expressed in recently discovered poetry written by  Rebecca Gordon Ball in the form of historic sheet music.   The poetry was put to music by Composer Chandler Robbins and published by Oliver Ditson & Company after the death of Jennie Dugan in 1860.   A copy of the sheet music was found among the Ball artifacts in the historic Lafayette home that was built in 1869 for Cyrus and Rebecca Ball.   The iconic house has remained in the family since that time and is currently occupied by a direct descendant and member of the General de Lafayette Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution.   Jennie Dugan, a 22-year-old woman from Delphi, Indiana, was tragically killed in 1860 when her dress caught fire as she was carrying a lampstand while bidding her parents good night.   Her father was severely burned in attempting to rescue his only child.   It was a devastating blow to Joseph and Miranda ...

  An old, but controversial tombstone sits just  southwest of the old Sexton’s office within the Spring Vale cemetery in Lafayette, Indiana.  The story behind the Martin P. Jenners’ tombstone controversy has been written about by historians over the years with limited information extracted from minute books and a December 23, 1919 obituary that was printed in the local newspaper.  Additional details have been unearthed by the discovery of a June 22, 1907 newspaper article from The Star Press (Muncie, Indiana), which has shed new light on an old story.   Martin P. Jenners was interviewed by a reporter when he was 76 years old, twelve years before he died in 1919.   The details have been long forgotten, but here is the rest of the story story told in some of Jenners’ very own words:    From The Star Press …(Muncie, Indiana) June 22, 1907 Arraigns Religion in Unique Manner “When you are dead, that’s the end of you.   Then it’s oblivion—...

  Lafayette Weekly Call (Lafayette, Indiana) 11 Sep 1897  LAFAYETTE  VIEWED AS SON OF FRANCE   Lafayette Described in His Relations to His Native Land.   Preface:  The following 1897 article from the Lafayette Weekly Call recalls long forgotten history of our city's namesake, the Marquis de Lafayette and the role he played in our nation's history.  Much of the article focuses on the teachings of M adame Pauline Mariotte-Davies, a popular Purdue University Professor of her time.  Dr. Mariotte-Davies gave many speeches in the Greater Lafayette area during her tenure at Purdue. About Dr. Pauline Mariotte-Davies (1849-1930) - Madame Marlotte-Davies, Ph.D., long a much-loved figure at Purdue University and community circles, died at Petoskey Michigan in 1930 at the age of 81. Madame Davies was born in the Madelene Quarter in Paris and received her primary education in a private school from which, after a competitive examination, received a schol...