By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the December 16, 2020, edition of the Brookville American, and is in Forgotten Franklin County V. 2. …three simple words stated by Josephine Kraus in New Trenton 1816-1976. What would we do without local historians? They are the dedicated researchers who take…
Franklin County’s Yesteryears
Read your favorite Forgotten Franklin County articles from the Brookville American online and in color!
Erecto Homes
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the February 5, 2025, edition of the Brookville American, and will appear in Forgotten Franklin County V. 7 which is slated to be ready in November of this year. In the Forgotten Franklin County column of September 11, 2019, I briefly discussed…
Who was Edwin May?
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the July 17, 2024, edition of the Brookville American and in Volume 6 of Forgotten Franklin County. Edwin May was an architect. Primarily based in Indianapolis, May was one of the most prominent first-generation architects working in the Hoosier state. Why is…
The Movie and the Man
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the August 12 and 19, 2026, editions of the Brookville American and will appear in Forgotten Franklin County V. 7, which is slated to be ready in November of this year. “Life in Brookville”…that was the name of the movie. Yes, a…
200 Years of Change
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD This article ran in the April 6, 2023, edition of the Brookville American and in Volume 4 of Forgotten Franklin County. Practically everyone in Brookville has heard the story of Phoebe Meeks. To a few readers, her story may be new. She is famous. Not for…
The Daguerreotypist and Phebe Fitch
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD “This is the day of the camera. The click of the picture-making machine has become one of the biggest noises of the age. Yet, it was only sixty-eight years ago that the world first learned of the marvelous discovery of Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre. It…
Oldenburg Furniture
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD When I write something for the Forgotten Franklin County page, I am always fearful that what I contribute is old news to everyone. I always wonder how I can write something that people will not already know. Fortunately, so many of you have commented that…
The Baker Cane
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD Nice surprises happen on a regular basis at the History Department of the Franklin County Public Library District. In August of 2019, I had a phone call from a man in Florida. He straightaway asked, “What do you know about W.S. Baker?” It was like…
Land Office?
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD Did you ever see this plaque on the front of Knecht’s Interiors at 766 Main Street and wonder what it was all about? A land office was a location established by the United States Government from which to sell territorial and treaty lands opened to…
Fairgrounds of the Past
By Julie Schlesselman, Local History & Genealogy Department Manager, FCPLD In the Forgotten Franklin County column of last year at this time, we mentioned briefly the site of the current fairground and a little of its history. If you remember, it was originally part of the old county Poor Farm, and across the street from…