Judge Mary Wertz led a dedication ceremony.
“ The only artifact that was discovered by our History Center volunteers was a receipt showing that the clapper bolt was fabricated and installed in 1905. The cost of making this special bolt and installing it was one dollar,” Parson said.“ The clapper weighs in at about 25 pounds.”
For 142 years, the bell tower kept the bell safe, even during courthouse renovations in 1939, in the 1950s, and in 1992.
It wasn’ t until an inspection in 2019 when county employee Ric Fox determined that the bell tower could no longer safely hold the weight of the bell. He rang the bell one final time before a crane removed the bell and it was sentenced to sit in the Brown County Law Enforcement Center for safe keeping.
“ The bell has really been absent for far longer than that,” according to Judge Wertz.“ As I prepared for this day, I sought to find stories of the bell being rung and was surprised that there are very few in the memories of our citizens. In fact, I think most of us did not even realize there was a bell in that belfry.”
Brown County resident Rick Bond remembers the bell ringing on the 4 th of July in 1976 to celebrate the 200th birthday of the United States of America.
Wertz also found an article published in the Indianapolis News on November 11, 1982, which quoted Wilma Riley, a past elected auditor, recounting that the bell“ was rung each morning when court convened and every night at curfew.”
Continued on 46 March / April 2025 • Our Brown County 45