IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 483 
Recognizing the 125th Anniversary of the Indiana Veterans’ Home. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 17, 2021 
Mr. BAIRD (for himself, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. BANKS, Mrs. SPARTZ, Mr. 
PENCE, Mr. CARSON, and Mr. HOLLINGSWORTH) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the 125th Anniversary of the Indiana Veterans’ 
Home. 
Whereas Indiana has a proud tradition of honoring its vet-
erans 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 sol-
diers 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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•HRES 483 IH 
Whereas, in 1886, at the annual encampment of the Depart-
ment 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 In-
diana 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, Indi-
ana, 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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•HRES 483 IH 
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 Indi-
ana Senate, but in 1895, the Indiana General Assembly 
unanimously passed a bill to create the Home and appro-
priated $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 applica-
tions 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 cot-
tage 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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