III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 284 

Recognizing the 125th Anniversary of the Indiana Veterans’ Home. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2021 

Mr. BRAUN (for himself and Mr. YOUNG) submitted the following resolution; 

which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the 125th Anniversary of the Indiana Veterans’ 

Home. 

Whereas Indiana has a proud tradition of honoring its veterans and those who serve our country; 

Whereas 3 out of 4 Hoosiers of eligible age served in the Civil 

War; 

Whereas 1 out of every 10 Union Army soldiers enlisted from 

Indiana, and only 1 State, Delaware, provided more soldiers in the Civil War based on per capita population 

than Indiana; 

Whereas the Soldiers and Sailors Monument is located in the 

center of Indianapolis and the State of Indiana, and 

when it was dedicated in 1902, the only monument taller 

in the United States was the Washington Monument; 


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Whereas, in 1886, at the annual encampment of the Department of Indiana Grand Army of the Republic (‘‘G.A.R.’’) 

held in Indianapolis, Indiana, Department Commander 

David N. Foster urged the G.A.R. to establish a State 

soldiers’ home in Indiana to care for the disabled Union 

Veteran Soldiers; 

Whereas intensive lobbying by the G.A.R. resulted in the Indiana General Assembly of 1888 resolving to found a 

home for veterans, and in 1890, work toward the home 

began; 

Whereas a committee was founded to find a suitable location 

for the home, with a member-at-large and 1 member 

from each congressional district, including James R. 

Carnahan (at large), W.H. Tucker, David N. Foster, C.J. 

Murphy, D.F. Spees, Andrew Fite, H.B. Martin, U.D. 

Cole, A.O. Marsh, C.M. Travis, W.S. Haggard, D.B. 

McConnell, Jacob J. Todd, and Jasper E. Lewis; 

Whereas, in the summer of 1892, the committee decided to 

formally recommend 187 wooded acres in Lafayette, Indiana, as the location of the Indiana State Soldiers’ Home 

(also known as the ‘‘Indiana Veterans’ Home’’) (referred 

to in this preamble as the ‘‘Home’’); 

Whereas the City of Lafayette and the County of Tippecanoe 

agreed to donate 200 acres of ground and $5,633 for the 

Home; 

Whereas General Richard P. DeHart, a local veteran and 

business man, donated a 2,000 foot strip of riverfront 

property, which is now known as the Tecumseh Trails 

Park, to the Home; 


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Whereas the committee, having secured a location, prepared 

a bill to be presented to the Indiana General Assembly 

for the establishment and maintenance of the Home; 

Whereas, due to lack of time, the bill failed to pass the Indiana Senate, but in 1895, the Indiana General Assembly 

unanimously passed a bill to create the Home and appropriated $75,000 for its buildings; 

Whereas, on February 23, 1895, Governor Claude Matthews 

signed the bill, and it became law; 

Whereas the Governor appointed 5 men as the first Board of 

Trustees of the Home to work without compensation 

other than their actual traveling expenses; 

Whereas the Indiana General Assembly appropriated 

$61,723.61 to be used in building an old men’s home, a 

chapel, and an addition to the dining room, constructing 

sewers, furnishing the different buildings, graveling 

streets, roads, and sidewalks, and purchasing a pump, a 

dynamo, and a fire apparatus; 

Whereas, by 1900, numerous buildings had been erected for 

the use of the residents of the Home, and the applications for residence at the Home were far greater than its 

facilities were capable of handling; 

Whereas, on October 31, 1900, there were 9 State buildings, 

39 county cottages, 5 cottages built by the G.A.R., 1 cottage built by the Woman’s Relief Corps of Indiana 

(‘‘W.R.C.’’), 1 cottage each built by the John A. Logan 

and Marsh B. Taylor W.R.C. of Lafayette, and 1 cottage 

built by the John A. Logan Circle, Ladies of the Grand 

Army of the Republic of Lafayette; 


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Whereas, in addition to these buildings, the Home built a 

public restaurant, Commandant’s home, Surgeon’s cottage, and combination carpenter and paint shop; 

Whereas, in addition to the sums donated for the buildings, 

the W.R.C. and Ladies of the G.A.R. throughout the 

State gave $1,326.25 to furnish rooms and cottages in 

the Home; 

Whereas, in his written history of Tippecanoe County from 

1909, General Richard P. DeHart wrote of the Home, 

‘‘If one ever doubted that America appreciates and cares 

for her defenders, a visit to this beauty spot of Indiana 

will convince them that not only in times of peril and war 

does she care for her brave soldiery, but that now after 

forty years have come and gone, she still seeks to show 

these old and infirm men that she wishes them all the 

peace and comfort possible to provide for them, at any 

cost.’’; 

Whereas peak census was reached in the 1910s when the 

Home housed over 1,400 residents and another 200 staff 

members; 

Whereas the Home operated as its own little town, complete 

with a hospital, electric light plant, bakery, fire department, and an assembly hall with a seating capacity for 

600 people; 

Whereas census in the 1920s had declined to the average 

number of residents numbering in the 1,000s; 

Whereas this state of affairs continued, and, by 1950, it was 

apparent that the Home needed a major revamping; 

Whereas this revamping resulted in the destruction of almost 

all of the original buildings, and today only 5 structures 

remain from the earlier years of the Home, including the 


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Commandant’s home, the Administration Building, the 

Lawrie Library, the bus station, and the cemetery chapel; 

Whereas 9 acres of the Home’s land were listed in National 

Register of Historic Places in 1974, including 4 original 

buildings—the Commandant’s home, the library, the Administration Building, and the post exchange; 

Whereas, in addition, a collection of approximately 165 oil 

portraits and charcoal drawings of Civil War generals 

and important political figures, painted by Captain Alexander Lawrie, are housed in the library and add a major 

cultural dimension to the Home; 

Whereas, in 1974, the Home became a licensed healthcare facility; 

Whereas, on June 4, 1976, the Home’s name was officially 

changed from the Indiana State Soldiers’ Home to the 

Indiana Veterans’ Home, and the title of the chief administrator was changed from Commandant to Superintendent; 

Whereas, in 1976, the construction of Ernie Pyle Hall, MacArthur Hall, and Mitchell Hall began and continued until 

completion in 1982; 

Whereas, in 2009, the Commandant’s Row buildings were 

placed under the authority of the Indiana Department of 

Veterans Affairs and the Home; 

Whereas census has declined over the decades as Civil War 

veterans passed, but the Home has averaged 200 residents annually, ranging between 120 to 265 residents 

from the 1970s to the present; 

Whereas the Home is operated by the State of Indiana to 

care for honorably discharged Indiana veterans and their 

spouses and Gold Star parents; 


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Whereas there is no wartime service requirement in order to 

be eligible to apply for admission to the Home, and the 

Home accepts all periods of service; 

Whereas the Home is a full-service care facility, offering a 

complete array of on-site services for its residents; 

Whereas the Home currently boasts a small museum of historical artifacts related to various wars, as well as artifacts from the Home’s history; 

Whereas the Home provides quality care for veterans, their 

spouses, and Gold Star parents; 

Whereas there are currently 3,000 graves in the Home’s cemetery, which serves as the final resting place for its residents and their spouses who chose internment there; and 

Whereas the Home has played a vital role in assisting Hoosier Veterans and their families in their time of need: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) the Indiana Veterans’ Home has been, and 

3 continues to be, an example of Hoosiers’ dedication 

4 to their veterans, especially those who served in the 

5 Civil War; 

6 (2) the Indiana Veterans’ Home, along with the 

7 other State-owned and managed war memorials 

8 throughout Indianapolis and Indiana, including the 

9 Soldiers and Sailors Monument, highlights Hoosiers’ 

10 appreciation for the service of its veterans; 

11 (3) the Indiana Veterans’ Home continues a 

12 strong tradition of providing care to Hoosier vetVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR284.ATS SR284

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1 erans at the beautiful property located in Tippe2 canoe County, Indiana, and offering a historical 

3 glimpse into the past with its museum and the nota4 ble nearby physical locations; and 

5 (4) the Indiana Veterans’ Home should be rec6 ognized for its 125 years of care to the veterans of 

7 Indiana and their families at this beautiful and his8 torically significant property in the State. 

Æ 


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