The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1915-08-25
Early City Histor
Contributions On the Early Days Of viii Appear
N This Column Daily.
Nv EoeAa lllEF.

~ EooA1 lllEF.
The nrst directory Of Richmond vas
published BY Robert o. Dofmer and
W. Z. Holloway and printed By Hole
way and Davis 1t the Palladium once
! in 1857.
The year 1857 was very bad time
for business ventures. The country
had elected James Buchanan, Demo
crat, to the presidency, defeating the
| hrst Republican candidate. John G.
Fremont. Buchanan vas duly inaug-
urated In March, 1857. and before the
summer was over the nation was
plunged into panics, business paralysis
| and widespread distress such as
| America has seldom experienced. Ere
mont had been assailed as Roman
Catholic. It was charged that he had
cut cross on Independence rock in
| his western mountain explorations;
| that his adopted daughter had been
educated In Catholic school; that
| his French ancestors were Catholics,
and that priest had married him to
Miss Jesse Benton. The vilest and
most contemplate Of all political
schemes is this appeal to religious
| prejudice. The years from 1850 to
1860 were full Of it. But the civil war
broke much Of 1t down. for 1t showed
how brave and loyal the Catholic sol
| diers we're. This attack on Fremont
defeated him.
Under Buchanan, in 1887, money dis
appeared, specie payment was sus-
pended. there was no work, and hun
ger meetings" we're held all over the
country. A hunger meeting in
Philadelphia was composed Of 10000
| idle workingmen clamoring for bread.
Fifty thousand unemployed men had
marched down Wall street, New York
| City, carrying banner inscribed:
I'VE Want Bread"
| Another famous event makes the
year 1857 memorable. The supreme
court handed down the bred Scott.
case decision. One sentence alone
set the northern states all ahlaze. 1t
| was this: For more than century
| the civilized world has regarded the
negroes as beings Of an inferior order
and SO far inferior that they have no
rights which the white man is bound
to respect"
1t was in such stirring and distress
| ing times that Robert O. Dormer, W.
r. Holloway, BENJAMIN w. Davis and
David P. Holloway issued the first d.
rectory of Richmond. 1t is just and
| proper to say here that these men
| were among the earliest pioneers of
| the Republican party; that they all
espoused that party because it was
the party OF justice and humanity, the
party Of education and progress. And
they were valiant fighters, too. Ben
1amin W. Davis was one of the keen
est editorial writer's in Indiana, and
as editor of The Richmond Weekly
Palladium he was most 3esrtess pan.t
preferring poverty on the side of truth
| and justice to wealth on the side of
| venality and time-serHing.s- ,----.a-.~ .=se.
twenty-eight pages ct names Of resi-
dents-about $50 in all. It has a
pages Of tho advertisements Of Rich
mond business men. 1t contains
very good wood cut OF the Meredith
House, which stood on the corner of
Eighth and Main streets, just where
| the Dickinson Trust building is now
being erected; also a good picture Of
the Huntington House, which stood
where the Colonial building now is.
Eighth street was then Fifth street
and Seventh street was Franklin
street. Sixth street was then Marion,
and Fourth street was Front street.
because it was the brow of the hill
looking down into the valley Of the
Whitewater.
One Of the advertisements reads like
this
| starr Hall! This new and commo-
dious hall is centrally located upon
Main street and is capable of holding
an audience OF two thousand persons.
is furnished in the most comfortable
manner, has a stage Of sufficient size,
! furnished with foot lights, drop cur
.tain, etc. The wallis and ceilings are
frescoed in the richest style and the
whole Is lighted with more than sixty
gas lights. x.
JAMES NJ. STARR,
| proprietor"
Starr Hall is now occupied by
Druitt Brothers furniture store. 1t
was sold to the Methodists at one time
and converted into a church and was
called Union Chapel. The congrega-
ton was "split-off" from the old and
original Methodist church on North
Fifth street, called the Pearl street
church" The split was caused by a
difference about "promiscuous set
ting and music. The departing in
surgents objected to men and women