From the Files of the Kosciusko County Historical Society

Editor’s note: This is a retrospective article that runs a few times a month on InkFreeNews.

Information for this retrospective series is courtesy of the Kosciusko County Historical Society.

Dec. 4, 1984 — Kosciusko County’s war dead will not be forgotten.

The Kosciusko County Commissioners unanimously approved a contribution of $20,000 to the county’s Veterans’ Memorial Fund and cleared the way for construction of a large granite memorial honoring the local men who were killed in action in five wars.

Middle District County Commissioner Fredrick Gilliam led the movement to provide the $20,000 needed by the Memorial Fund Committee to pay for the 21,000-pound granite war memorial that will be installed on the local courthouse lawn next spring.

Dec. 8, 1969 — Byron Tinkey and Debbie Groninger were selected as King and Queen, respectively, at the Akron High School Homecoming Saturday night. Byron is the 17-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Tinkey, Rt. 2, Akron. Debbie is a 17-year-old senior, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Groninger.

Dec. 9, 1968 — A new post office for Warsaw has been approved by the Post Office Department, according to Third District Congressman John Brademas of South Bend.

Specifications for the new facility call for substantial increases in exterior and interior space. Plans for the new building set the interior at 16,500 square feet compared to the present 9,273 square feet; 1,300 square feet of platform and 27,000 square feet of parking and maneuvering area in the new facility compared with 216 and 4,996 square feet respectively, in the present post office.

The present building, which is government owned, was built in 1931. It is at the southwest corner of Lake and Market streets.

1828 — Thomas Thomas, grandfather of Creed Thomas, of Winona Lake, came to Indiana in 1828 and was the county’s first clerk. When Thomas came to Indiana, he lived in Elkhart County, which at that time included Kosciusko, then a township. He moved to Warsaw with his son, Charles W. Thomas, father of Creed Thomas, local insurance man, in 1861 and died in 1886. He was the county’s last veteran of the War of 1812.

– Compiled by InkFreeNews reporter Lasca Randels