Romig Monument at Spring Vale Cemetery By Diana Vice Did you know that Romig Street in Lafayette, Indiana, is named after Solomon Romig, a Pennsylvania native born in 1802?   Romig earned a living as a farmer in Fountain County before moving to Lafayette around 1839. He purchased a tract of land to the south of the town square, which became known as Romig’s Addition. He proceeded to sell individual lots, making a large profit from the investment.   Romig increased his wealth by winning a lawsuit against the New Albany and Salem Railroad for building a line through his land in 1852. His substantial financial gain enabled him to begin lending money, which made him one of Lafayette's wealthiest men at the time. Romig acquired the Norway Waterpower Company and two sawmills in White County a few years before his death at age 77 on January 28, 1879, which was his birthday. Romig Street & Lingle Avenue Romig’s death drew attention to long-standing rumors about a secret d...

  The Tragic Story of Patrick and Bridget Flynn   Flynn Family Plot at St. Mary's Cemetery By Diana Vice   My husband and I are regular visitors to the St. Mary’s cemetery in Lafayette, Indiana. We enjoy cleaning unusual gravestones and visiting the gravesites of relatives and early ancestors.   It was a pleasant summer day on August 2, 2025, so we chose to give the St. Joseph’s Orphans monument a good wash. My husband walked down the hill to retrieve water when he ran into an elderly man who relayed an incredible story about an apparition that frequently appeared at the gravesites of the Patrick and Bridget Flynn family. Rick Vice at St. Mary's Cemetery St. Joseph Orphan Asylum Monument  The man stated that during a recent morning visit to the cemetery, he saw a gray-haired woman wearing a plain dress appear from behind the trees. She stopped near a group of gravestones on a hill near the winding road toward the southwest part of the cemetery, and just ...

By Rebecca Ball Mary was the child of Roman Catholic parents, and although she had been a wanderer and an outcast for many years, subject to the insults and scoffs of those whose fortune had placed them above the wants and privations from which she suffered, still her mother’s early teachings had not been forgotten. And although taught to believe in many errors, this little disciple of a false creed wished to do what she believed to be a duty. So, one evening, just as the sun was setting, she called Mrs. Doty to her and said, “I feel the life going out of me. I feel it right here, laying her hand on her breast, and I want to confess. Won’t you bring the priest? My mother had no priest with her when she was dying; I don’t want to die so. You’ll bring him to me, won’t you, Mrs. Doty?” Mrs. Doty told Mary that she would go then, before the night set in, and turned to leave the bed, but Mary called her back and said, “Come very close and bend low down that you may hear me, for I want y...

A Second Visit to the Shanty Rebecca Gordon Ball One morning shortly after my first visit, I went again to the shanty. This time I found the children quite alone. Little Cathy met me and told me that Aunty had gone somewhere, she did not know where; but she often went away and left them alone, and that sometimes they were very cold and hungry, and that when Aunty came home, if she had the “staggers,” she would beat them O’ so hard. “Well, but, Cathy, said I, “don’t you remember you told me, some time ago, that the old woman was good to you?” “Yes, ma’m,” said she, “I was afeard to say she wasn’t, ‘cause when you’d go away, then she’d beat me.” “Which do you fear the most, Cathy,” said I, “God, or the old woman?” “Oh!” she answered quickly, “I’se most afeard of the old woman.” “But, don’t you know it’s very wicked to lie?” “Yes, ma’m,” said Cathy, “but the old woman said she would get Father Dennis, the priest, to rub it out, and then God wouldn’t know it.” “But,” said I...

 Part One of this story was written by Rebecca Gordon Ball for the Lafayette Journal after the Civil War during a time when orphan children were sent from New York to parts of the Midwest to find homes. Rebecca was an eyewitness to a tragic scene at the train depot in Lafayette, Indiana. This riveting encounter with a little orphan girl and her wicked caretaker will touch even the coldest of hearts. Rebecca Gordon Ball  (Courtesy of A. Winter Ball Bottum) I had just returned from the depot, where I had seen, gathered together, a large number of  children and youths, taken from the highways of New York City and sent West to claim that charity which, I think, in many cases might be invested at home, for although the old adage of “Charity beginning at home” is by many voted a selfish one, I cannot but think it a truth which through a mistaken zeal is too often overlooked; however, I with others, had gone and looked upon the group of orphans, and dropped a tear at the sad tru...

Did you know an orphan from Lafayette, Indiana, gained national and international fame for creating a multi-million-dollar carnival empire in the early 20th century? The humble beginnings of Con T. Kennedy, “the Carnival King” and his rags-to-riches rise to fame is an inspirational, true story about a boy who overcame many obstacles in life. He ran away from a Lafayette  orphanage at twelve years old, headed west, and "grew up with the country."    This story will evoke a roller coaster of emotions. It’s long, but worth the investment of your time.  Orphan Never Felt the Loving Arms of a Loving Mother St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum (Photo courtesy of Preserve Historic Lafayette) The story begins with Cornelius T. Kennedy, an orphan about whom little is known regarding his family background.  Cornelius was born in 1870 to parents of  Irish descent.  The 1870 census records show Cornelius residing in Jackson, Ohio, with his parents, Thomas and Hanora Kenn...