The Candidate

Cast a vote for myself today - that was a new experience.


I'm one of six names on the ballot for five at-large seats on the Sweetser Town Council.  I've already been serving on the council since March, when I was appointed to complete the term of a member who resigned.  That started a season of turnover in town government, as right after I was appointed, another board member moved out of town and had to resign.  Then, the Clerk-Treasurer moved out of town and resigned.  A fellow board member took that spot, so that created yet another opening.  Basically, we've had full turnover this year without even having an election.  Today we have the opportunity to complete the process.


One of the names still on the ballot is a council member who resigned due to his job commitment.  It was too late to remove his name from the ballot.  If he's elected, it would make for an interesting story in the paper, as he would have to decide if he wants to keep the seat or resign again.


Our town has some big issues to deal with over the next few years - including building our own sewage treatment plant.  I'm looking forward to the opportunity to be able to see that project to completion.


There's an old adage that says if you want to find out about your family tree, run for office, so your opponents will dig up all of the skeletons.  I pretty much already know where all of them are buried, and if your read this blog, you do too.


[Update: I made the cut, election results are posted here.]

Two Candidates Aided By Late Returns

Anderson Herald, November 9, 1978, page 1.

This newspaper clipping from 1978 details the election victory of my maternal great aunt, Martha (PHILLIPS) LAMBERTSON as the Madison County, Indiana Recorder.  Her victory was considered an upset, according to the paper.

Martha was elected to her first term in 1978, and re-elected in 1982.  She was a Republican, though her husband, Harold, was a lifelong Democrat.

Transcript from flyer:

Martha Lambertson is completing her first term as Madison County Recorder.  She was elected to this post in 1978 after serving many years both in and out of government service.  Martha prepared for the job of Recorder by working 16 years (7 years as office manager) of the Elwood Water Company.  She also served over two years as a Deputy Clerk of Madison County and 2 additional years as Office Maintenance Manager of the State Highway Office in Anderson.

Since being elected Recorder in 1978 Martha and her staff have improved the efficiency of the office.  Intensified training of each deputy and improved procedures have resulted in the best possible services to Madison County residents.  Constantly striving to improve the office, Martha attends yearly State Board of Accounts Training Seminars on new laws as well as an annual educational workshop scheduled the Indiana Association of Counties and Cities.  Martha has also been active in the State Recorders Association.

A life-long resident of Elwood and Pipe Creek Township, Martha is married and is the mother of 2 children.   She is a member of the First Baptist Church in Elwood.

Martha Lambertson...our BEST for you in '82  Vote Republican November 2nd.

Black Sheep Sunday: Police Lose Trail of Kokomo Bandit Gang, Blue Car Found

Source: Marion Leader-Tribune, Marion, Indiana, March 28, 1925, p. 1.


POLICE LOSE TRAIL OF KOKOMO BANDIT GANG, BLUE CAR FOUND


Marion police have been asked to aid in the search for bandits, who held up and robbed the South Kokomo bank of $4,000 in cash and a like amount in Liberty bonds yesterday afternoon, and whose trail was lost when the conspicuous blue car, used by the bandits, to make their escape, was found concealed in a slough five miles southwest of Kokomo.


A farmer reported he saw the bandits, about seven in number, change to two small cars, which were a coupe and a sedan.


Many Reports Received


In the meantime many reports had come from Grant, Madison and other counties telling of blue cars which had been seen.  This information became of no value when it was found the bandits had abandoned this car.


The bandits entered the bank singly.  While the first was having a $10 bill changed a second entered and waited at the cashier's window.


The third suddenly displayed a gun and ordered A.E. Gorton, cashier, Miss Winifred Dimitt, assistant cashier, and Miss Frances Gorton into the rear room. Gorton was forced, with a pistol at the back of his head, to open the inner vault.


"Speedy," a small terrier, boldly attacked the burglar's ankles, and was kicked into the basement.


The bandit's car was stolen from Ft. Wayne Thursday night, and carried the license plates of a phaeton belonging to Barrett M. Woodsmall of Indianapolis, stolen from there March 11, and found here riddled with bullets Thursday night.


Holdup is Watched


The holdup was watched by three young men in a drug store across the street from the bank, but they were prevented from calling police because of fear of a stranger who stood in the store and watched them closely.  The alarm was not sounded until the bandits had escaped with their money.


The bandits, at least several of them, have been seen twice in Kokomo recently.  They took lunch at a small cafe in the south part of town last Sunday, and previously tried to get rooms in the hotel above the restaurant.


Cashier Gorton had some difficulty in working the combination of the safe, and this angered the bandit who held the gun over him, and he threatened "to blow his brains out."  The men were in the bank about ten minutes.  Only one customer tried to enter, Vernon Shaw, and he was slapped by one of the men and later robbed of $18.


The bandits tore the telephone from the wall, and also broke a shotgun and took away the extra cartridges.


The impression was that the bandits had gone to Indianapolis, but after they abandoned the blue car it was difficult to determine which road was taken.  Reports came from many places of seeing cars travel at a fast rate of speed, but none were definite.


------
This article is another in a series of follow-up stories to the robberies of the South Kokomo State Bank by a group of robbers, led by my paternal cousin, Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934).  Harry later became famous as a member of the "Terror Gang" with John Dillinger.  These earlier robberies terrorized Indiana during 1924-25.



Black Sheep Sunday – create a post with the main focus being an ancestor with a “shaded past.” Bring out your ne’er-do-wells, your cads, your black widows, your horse thieves and tell their stories. And don’t forget to check out the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG). This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.