Caring &
Sharing
A History Of Giving
In Topeka and Shipshewana
by Harold Gingerich
One of the great
things about living in a
small town is that you
know everybody. The
bad thing is that they
also know everything
about you. There aren’t
many secrets and the
gossip lines are often
buzzing. There is one
line that pretty well
summarizes things,
“Not much ever happens in Shipshewana
or Topeka but, Boy,
there is a lot to talk
about!” People are often
frustrated by all the
coffee shop talk; that is,
until disaster strikes.
When a need arises, so
does the community.
Not only has the
Westview community
cared for its own, it
has also been ready
to extend a helping
hand to hurting
pg 16 · The Hometown Treasure · Dec. ‘11
people around the world. The communities of Shipshewana and Topeka
have a well documented history of caring and sharing that goes back to when
this area was settled.
It’s hard for readers today to
envision what this area was like in
the early 1800s. This was the frontier
wilderness with hardwoods so thick
that a wagon could hardly be driven
between the trees. Survival depended
on people helping one another. The
early white settlers would have had a
difficult time without the help of the
peaceful Potawatomi Indians in the
area. Anthony Nelson, the first white
settler in Clearspring Township, is
said to have had help from the Indians
in planting his corn. Granted they
thought he was crazy to plant in rows,
but nevertheless help him they did.
Marlene Campbell, a descendant of
Nelson, has on more than one occasion
shared with this writer how Indians
would suddenly appear out of the corn
fields asking for food. And, food was
always provided. The sharing clearly
went both ways.
At left: The megaphone used in the sugar give-aways in Topeka.