Finally in Bartholomew County, Indiana...135 years later

One hundred thirty-five years ago, our great, great grandfather Walter Harrison and his wife, Melissa Caroline Luckey Harrison, migrated to North Central Kansas from Bartholomew County, Indiana.  Today, Shirley and I walked around in their footsteps, read about his father's land acquisitions, and fell in love with the community of Columbus, Indiana.

Quick!  Who is Bartholomew County named after?  Bingo!  General Joseph Bartholomew!

One always hopes that a community honors its past and all of its lessons while looking to the future and all the hope that it promises for a better life for future generations.  Columbus is a prime example of a city that is successful in doing just that.

We started our day with a tour of Columbus architecture.  In 1942, the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen completed the new First Christian Church in Columbus and an era of modern architecture was born along with a strong emphasis on adaptive reuse of existing buildings.  

Names like Eero Saarinen, Harry Weese, Richard Meier, and I.M. Pei led the American Institute of Architects to rank Columbus sixth in a list that included Chicago, NYC, San Francisco, Boston and Washington, D.C for architectural innovation and design.  To date, the National Park Service has designated seven modernist buildings as National Historic Landmarks.

Not to be outdone by the architects, there is a major emphasis on public art including a gorgeous Dale Chihuly suspended in the Columbus Visitor Center.

Yellow Neon Chandelier and Persians/1995, Chihuly










In The Commons, you can find a moving piece of public art sculpted by Jean Tinguely....farm implements from all around Indiana -- aptly titled Chaos I.

Adaptive reuse of buildings is well illustrated by the Columbus Visitor Center -- once a private home built in the early 1870's (while Walter and Melissa Caroline were still in Bartholomew County).  The addition on the building is so seamlessly executed that it's hard to tell what is old and what is new.

Of special interest to me was the courthouse which was begun in 1871 and finished in 1874 so it was also there when Walter and Melissa Caroline still lived in Bartholomew County.

After two fabulous hours it was time to visit the Bartholomew County Historical Society.  We walked in hoping to see a bit of history....and walked out after making new friends who willingly shared wonderful resources on Vincent Dilliard Harrison, Walter's father.  We came away with land records, clues to find Vincent's will, maps, cemetery records and a spectacular gift from them of Volumes I and II of the History of Bartholomew County!  Wow, we were stunned!  Thanks to Julie Hughes, Executive Director, and her dedicated staff for their help.  They've done a great job of displaying early artifacts of the county and have a plan for relocation and expansion that is exciting.  We'll be watching for their next steps....after all, we ARE an early pioneer family in Bartholomew County!

We had just researched Vincent's parents in Williamson, Rutherford and Davidson counties in Tennessee so it was fun to move our research to Bartholomew County.

Vincent was born in 1801 and made his way to Bartholomew county in 1819 He was one of the earliest landowners in 1834 and died in 1857.  

Tomorrow we will spend the morning traveling the countryside (we have coordinates for Vincent's land and great directions to the area where Vincent and his wife, Nancy, were buried in 1848 and 1857).  Unfortunately, the limestone tombstones have long since been tossed in the creek according to a newspaper article from 1908, but we know where they were buried and will leave some flowers as a remembrance from the Kansas Harrisons thanking them for our gggrandfather Walter!

The afternoon will be spent at the courthouse and the public library --- stay tuned!

Kay