Pittman’ s Inn sign circa 1909.
to size. It was then taken to Indianapolis and had glass protection added to both front and back. A heavy iron frame and brackets from the local blacksmith completed the new sign. It was hung on a post in front of the Pittman Inn.
This hotel was sold to Billy Musselman. When the Pittman family moved to the southeast corner of Main and Van Buren Street and operated a second Pittman Inn, the portrait-sign went with them. The family business continued for eight more years.
Weather-beaten at the time the Inn was torn down fifteen years later, Will Vawter, who had lent his brush to the original picture, touched up the damage. Unfortunately, most of the artists’ names were covered up during this restoration. Artists known for their part in the piece are: T. C. Steele, Adolph R. Schulz, Ada Walter Schulz, John Hofen, L. O. Griffith, Lucia Hartrath, Will Vawter, Mary M. Vawter, Frank Albright, Harry Engle, Wilson Irvine, Charles W. Dahlgreen, Adam Emory Albright, and Fred Hetherington.
When Miss Pearl married Peter Joseph( P. J.) Fushelberger, their wedding gifts included artworks from the Brown County artists— pieces by Gustave Baumann, Ada Walter Schultz, and a pencil sketch by L. O. Griffith of Bill Pittman’ s wife and Miss Pearl’ s mother. Amanda, P. J., and Miss Pearl met each other when he came to work in Brown County as an educator. He served as a teacher, principal, and the first superintendent of Brown County Schools. P. J. and Pearl Fushelberger later lived in Hayden for a short time, then made their home in Columbus for the rest of their lives, where P. J. was a realtor and landlord.
Bill Pittman died on May 13, 1923 and is buried in the Henderson Cemetery, located east of Gnaw Bone. His abiding wife, Amanda, died on November 5 a year later and rests beside Bill.
Miss Pearl graciously gave the unique“ front and back” painting-sign of her father to the Brown County Art Gallery in 1968. Visitors coming to the Brown County Art Gallery can easily find it in the permanent collection. There are Frank Hohenberger photographs, including one of the painting when it was being made by the artists. There is also as an actual hotel register book from the Pittman Inn which bears signatures of many artists. The impressionists that immortalized Brown County’ s natural landscape in the first part of the twentieth century collectively represented Brown County’ s human soul in the likeness of Bill Pittman.
Many thanks to Steve Fushelberger, great-grandson of Bill and Amanda Pittman, for his input and enthusiasm. •
Artisan Guilds of Bloomington Art Show and Sale
Bloomington Spinners & Weavers Guild Local Clay Potters’ Guild Indiana Glass Guild
Friday, November 1, 2019 • 4pm – 9pm Saturday, November 2, 2019 • 9am – 5pm
Monroe Convention Center 302 S. College Ave., Bloomington, Indiana facebook. com / artisanguilds
Sept./ Oct. 2019 • Our Brown County 65