The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1908-08-18

tO"nunued from page 0ne.)
meeting from an old settler of Lake
county will show the mammoth growth
OF the society. Sixty-nine enteries
were made that year and thirty pre-
miums awarded, which amounts to
$4s.
Receipts First Year Were sol.
The same president and secretary
were reelected until the seventh an
nual fair The receipts of the first fair
were s91. the expenditures s5s25. bal
arce in treasury sS275. The fair grew
year by year until 1855 in the mean
time the society having purchased two
and half acres of land from Henry
Wells. who decided the land to the So
ciety upon a payment of $500 The ex-
citement caused by the wars at this
time caused a suspension of operations
and by mutual consent the holding of
the fair was stopped until July 90,
1867, the citizens again met at the
court house to reorganize the society
and elected the following officers:
President Hiram wason, treasurer. ].
c. Sauerman, secretary, A. E. Beattie.
Grew With Big Strides
From this time on the society grew
with rapid strides and purchased
ground to hold their fairs. The pre-
mum lists grew year by year and the
receipts made a corresponding gain
On June 30, 1876, l. D. Search sold to
the county commissioners the present
site and quarters of the fair, contain
ing 40 acres for $4,000. and an in
cumbrance of $1,000 and the beautiful
spot has been improved year by year
by the society until it is now one of
the best grounds in the country, fam
Gus for its beautiful little lake and
half-mle track. In the year 1881 the
receipts of the fair were s140e.56, of
which more than half were realized
from the sales of tickets After the
reorganization in 1867 the fairs were
numbered as If no Intervening time
had elapsed and the fair of 1881 was
named the twenty fourth annual fair
Dfssession have arisen from time to
time among the officers and the peo-
pie. but the society has gone steadily
forward and perhaps in the last 10
years has shown the most wonderful
growth and improvement of its entire
existence.
Value is TrebIed
Not only is the site of the fair which
originally cost the society $4,000, worth
treble that amount at the present time
but the prizes for one horse race
would have aggregated the receipts
expenditures. in fact, every financial
transaction of the society in it's ear
lier days of its existence for the entire
session.
Visitors to the fair this year will
sketch at the wonderful advance and
growth of the society in the last fifty
years, keeping pace with the great
development of Lake county and ex-
hibitlng its wonderful resources that
are probably beyond the widest dreams
of the twenty men who met at the court
house in the year 1851 and organized
the present Lake County Agricultural
society. Who can predict its growth
in the next twenty-five or fifty years
should its directors keep pace with
Lake county's growth as the officers of
the society have done in the past The
officers and directorsof the society, on
whose shoulders fall the burden of
making the affair a success or failure
are given below. and they deserve all
the praise and congratulations for their
untiring efforts to make the fiftieth
anniversary of the fair the success
that is now practically assured it, and
every Lake county citizen, rich or poor,
who has the county's interest at ieart,
should attend and not only show his
appreciation of the work and efforts
of those who have departed this life
but help the present society by taking
an interest in their efforts to show the
product of the farm and the craft of
the artisan to the public of Lake coun-