Thanks to the LaGrange Publishing
Company, who compiled and printed
“7 Score and 10, LaGrange County’s
150th Year” (published in 1982), we get
a glimpse into how people reached out
to those in need over the years. While
little has been written about specific
ways the community cared for its own
during those early years, we know it
happened. Numerous droughts and
epidemics were known to have plagued
the area. People simply had to band
together in order to survive. Stories
of generosity and sharing during the
Great Depression abound.
Here are a few examples of community caring that were found in “7
& Score and 10”. During the SpanishAmerican War (1898) the residents
of Topeka were involved in collecting
hospital supplies that were sent to the
Army. In 1933, residents distributed
3,400 pounds of government pork to
the poor. When the area was paralyzed
by a blizzard and seven days of subzero temperatures in 1936, more than
1,200 men worked to open the roads.
Trains were derailed and 100 men
shoveled snow all day for FREE just
to get things moving. In 1941, over a
ton of aluminum was collected for the
war effort. In 1943, War Mothers from
across the county served 3,231 meals
to service men and women at the LaGrange Depot Canteen. In 1944, area
residents gathered 2,000 five-pound
bags of milkweed floss to be used in
life preservers. The next year five tons
of used clothing was sent to help warstricken Europeans. Mennonite and
Amish churches sent a train carload
of flour to impoverished people in
Europe. In 1954, when fire destroyed
the Wolfe Grain Elevator in Shipshewana, 200 volunteers helped clean up
the debris.
Perhaps the greatest disaster to
strike this area was the Palm Sunday
tornado of 1965. Twenty three people
died, including LeRoy Yoder, the
beloved principal of the Honeyville
School. Disaster teams and volunteers
poured in, working untold man-hours
to clear the debris and the fields for
spring planting. The Red Cross reported that they fed 12,000 victims
The Hometown Treasure · Dec. ‘11 · pg 17
and volunteers. One volunteer was Paul Jones, 21,
from Shipshewana. He was killed while cleaning
up the storm damage.
The spirit of caring and sharing has continued
over the years, most of the time without any fanfare or notoriety. In 1966, Dr. Kenneth Lehman
from Topeka volunteered for a 60 day medical tour
of duty in Vietnam. In 1980, area farmers don