William A. Foster, UGRR Conductor & Founder of Goodland, Indiana William A. Foster was a quiet hero when it came to assisting freedom seekers via the Underground Railroad from Crawfordsville to Lafayette, Indiana.  An agent for the New Albany and Salem Railroad, Foster reportedly instructed his train conductors not to inquire about the comings and goings of African American passengers who were given access to ride the trains.  He instructed the employees that taking their tickets was to be their only business with the clandestine travelers. Lewis Falley, Jr. was a boy when his father assisted freedom seekers in Lafayette, Indiana, and later in his life, he shared memories of Foster’s involvement in the Underground Railroad network. “The general superintendent of the steam railroad, William Foster, lived here at that time,” said Falley, “and I believe he did what he could to pass fugitives from here to Michigan City; from that point to Canada, it was easy traveling.”...

  Joe Egan, Jr. in front of Carmen's Grocery Store, Wabash Avenue in Lafayette, IN Joseph Egan, Jr.,was six years old when his father was tragically killed in a train accident in 1901.  The son of an Irish immigrant, he was forced to navigate life without a father for most of his life.  The loss of his father forced the Irish family into poverty.   Many unemployed workers found relief through a federal program, known as the Works Project Administration (WPA), during the Great Depression years.   Joseph Egan, Jr., found relief through this program and went to work building the golf course at Purdue University. While riding on the back of a truck in 1939, he lost his footing and fell, breaking his neck in the process.  Egan died six days later at St. Elizabeth Hospital, leaving a widow and three children.  One of those children was this writer's grandmother, Lorraine Egan Hanthorn.  She was twenty years old and a mother to two small child...

 This story from the November 5, 1901, edition of The Call (Lafayette, Indiana) is personal, because it involves the tragic death of my 3x great-grandfather, Joseph Denis Egan.  Grandpa Joe immigrated from Limerick Ireland in 1872 after his own parents died under tragic circumstances.  This particular train accident occurred at the train depot in Fowler, Indiana.  Whenever I travel through that area, I think of how the death of Joseph Egan, Sr. changed the course of history for my local Irish family.

Gish-Rogers Historic House Now 180 Years Old   Journal & Courier (Lafayette, Indiana) November 5, 1955, by Mrs. Otto C. Baker     This stately, old, red brick, two-story early Victorian house, built so many years ago in the little village of Linnwood before it was annexed by Lafayette in 1882, stands today as a gentle reminder of the gracious living of some of our forefathers. It is known to many as the Gish-Rogers-Leiter home at Twelfth & Roberts Street.     Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Gish, born in Botecourt County, Va., came to Lafayette in 1829, making their home in a log cabin situated on the "old packet landing lot" at Second and Ferry Streets. In 1832, they purchased 40 acres of land in the Linnwood addition (a portion of which is now Greenbush Cemetery and the other the Gish addition. Before a suitable home could be built, Mr. Gish died in 1833, and it was not until 1844 that his widow built the house at Twelfth and Roberts Streets. Here, too, lived a da...

 From The Lafayette Argus (Lafayette, Indiana) Thursday, July 5, 1860 The Fourth at Crawfordsville Lew Wallace       The eighty-fourth anniversary of our National Independence was celebrated at Crawfordsville in a  patriotic and becoming manner. The day was ushered in by the firing of cannon, ringing of bells, and juvenile demonstrations generally. At about 10 o'clock A.M. the various military companies of Montgomery County -- consisting of the Montgomery Guards, College Cadets, Ladoga Blues, and two other companies, the names of which we did not learn--the Lafayette Gun Squad, each with their respective music, and the Crawfordsville Brass Band, paraded the various streets, followed by a large concourse of citizens and strangers, thence to a grove near at hand, where the various ceremonies of the occasion, as published, were consummated.      Dr. White, President of Wabash College, opened with prayer, in his usual efficient and effective ma...

 The Weekly Journal (Lafayette, Indiana) - Fri, Apr 24, 1863 Conductor Rides Hand Car to Lafayette to Get Rescue Train  The train due from New Albany at this city on Saturday evening at 9 P.M., did not arrive until Sunday morning in consequence of an accident at Cherry Grove, five miles north of Crawfordsville. The switch at that place had been so arranged, whether by accident or design is not known, as to run the train off the track. The train was nearly two hours behind time, the night very dark and a frightful storm raging at the time, and but for the fact that the engineer was unable with the green wood he happened to have to make as fast time as he desired, we should have had to record a dreadful accident. As it was no person was hurt. The locomotive and tender ran off the track and were turned over in the mud and a portion of the track torn up. The passengers were compelled to remain all night in the cars while the conductor went to LaFayette in a hand car, got another t...