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.

April 15, 1968 — Veteran of 11 months of jungle fighting in Vietnam, 23-year-old Warren A. Stephens, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Stephens, CR 250S, must typify the true returned seasoned veteran. He thought everything he did while battling the enemy was all in a day’s work, not associating any particular acts as “acts of heroism.”

In a simple but impressive ceremony at the Warsaw American Legion Home Saturday afternoon, former Sp. 4 Stephens was honored by the Army with three medals, the Bronze Star for heroism, the Army Commendation Medal for heroism and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, for wounds received in two military operations in Vietnam.

1882 — The year 1882 meant a great deal to the south part of Kosciusko county. It was during this year that the last spike was driven on the Nickel Plate Railroad which connected Lake Erie with Chicago. The last spike was driven in April at Sidney by Mrs. W. L. Sarber of Claypool and a Miss Brown of Clay township. After the ceremony was over, the crowd of some five hundred people repaired to Mr. Boltz’s sawmill and all sat down to a grand banquet of fried chicken and all the necessary side dishes.

The coming of this railroad caused towns to spring up and become known as Sidney, Packerton, Burket and Mentone. It also caused Claypool to take on new life. Papers of the time were full of ads trying to sell the lots in these boom towns for large sums. Kinzie and Dodgertown were on the map at this time. Sidney arose like a mushroom out of the pasture fields of Nelson Baker’s estate. Caleb Hughes and Amos Thompson Shaw Kist hurried to a point half way between Warsaw and Rochester and laid out a town which afterwards became Mentone. 

Mr. Jefferies, a business man of Mentone now, recalling these days says that he saw the present main street of Mentone when it was a bridle path leading through the timber. A church used to stand about where the main street crosses the railroad tracks of the Nickel Plate Railroad and this was known as Morris Chapel. Hiram E. Smith, our present drainage commissioner, used to attend this church as a boy of the 70s. Packerton was one of the busiest points along the line. John C. Packer, an enterprising citizen, had sawmills and a store at Packerton and sold groceries and whiskey. A tile mill was located here. Packerton was a busy place even in the late 90s. Sidney and Mentone both enjoyed rapid growth for a number of years. The Davis store at Burket has been there ever since the town was founded.

April 1836 — Under the provisions of the legislative act creating Kosciusko County, an election of officers was held at Leesburg, the temporary seat of Justice, on April 4, 1836. The election judges were Samuel Stookey, C.W. Royce and Elisha Boggs and the clerks were Benjamin Johnson and John G. Woods.

– Compiled by InkFreeNews reporter Lasca Randels