Much of the public’s attention was divided between recruiting efforts to fulfill Indiana’s draft quota with volunteer enlistments and the trials of Mrs. Mary Ann Longenecker of West Indianapolis for the murder by poison of her husband, Samuel Longenecker last June, and James Sutherland for the murder of Roddy A. Small in August. To encourage recruitment and save counties from the draft, bounties began to be offered to help in “filling the broken ranks of the Union Army.” In Bartholomew County a $100 (2012: $1,838.50) bounty (enlistment bonus) to “each accepted recruit” was matched with a $100 bounty to the family of a married recruit. The cash-strapped Marion County Commissioners also offered a $100 bounty to each soldier recruited “to be paid as soon as he is mustered into the service,” and banks and private individuals were asked to advance orders and $41,000 (2012: $743,785.14) was collected. Dr. G. P. Miller, a black physician from Battle Creek, Michigan, known as the “war horse of the West,” spoke at the Georgia Street African Methodist Church, “upon the great duty of colored men enlisting in this war against the rebels….It would demonstrate our manliness, and bravely help to obtain the freedom of our enslaved brethren and our own inalienable rights.” He was the recruiting officer for the 1st Michigan Colored Regiment and also offered a $202 (2012: $3,713.77) bounty. On the first Saturday of the month at Noon, Marion county farmers from every direction responded to the call to share their abundance. A grand procession of wagons led by military units and a band playing martial music proceeded along Washington Street to the Court House bringing great loads of wood and produce of various kinds “to gladden the lonely household of the soldier’s wife.” Among the farmers from Warren Township were John Ellenberger with one load of wood and John Hathaway with one load of wood, two bags of apples, and one bag of turnips. Earlier that morning, the jury returned a guilty verdict in the trial of Mrs. Longenecker and recommended life in prison. A week later, a jury found Sutherland not guilty in the killing of Roddy Small.
Indiana’s military agent in Washington, Rev. J. W. Monfort, reported to Gov. Morton that arrangements have been completed for getting clothing and other items to Hoosier soldiers held in rebel prisons. The governor immediately forwarded 700 full suits of clothing for our Indiana boys. About 100 rebel prisoners, taken in recent fighting around Lookout Mountain, joined 3,000 of their friends at Camp Morton “who have taken up quarters there during the past few months.” Several attempts by prisoners to escape from the camp, either by tunneling or scaling the walls, have been discovered. One prisoner belonging to the 27th Louisiana was shot and killed when he disregarded warnings and approached the prison fence nearer than was allowed.
The ladies of Indianapolis held a series of festivals and a fair at Masonic Hall for the “relief of soldiers’ families in Indianapolis and vicinity.” The five day event began with lectures and recitations. A grand concert featuring 250 of the best singers in the city and county provided the second evening’s entertainment, and the third and fourth nights were “devoted to carefully prepared and interesting tableaux, charades, and suppers.” On Saturday, November 21, a grand gala and fair concluded the events. Donations of flour, corn meal, potatoes, and woolen yarn were requested “for the support and comfort of the families of our noble soldiers.” The Ladies’ Soldiers’ Festival was such a success that it continued into the following week. At Gov. Morton’s direction, a “Ladies Home” was opened near the Union Depot to accommodate the wives and children, mothers and sisters of soldiers who are either passing through the city or visiting their friends in the army here. It provided a free place for a woman to stay where she could be “furnished all she needs, and perfect security against imposition or insult.”
Kingan & Co commenced slaughtering hogs in its “monster pork house” that was constructed last summer on the bank of White River. Capable of processing 3,000 hogs daily, it is “the largest single establishment, conducting all its processes under one roof, in the United States.” The stockholders of the Citizens Street Railroad met to elect directors and expressed the desire to commence immediate operations in the city once the City Council grants a charter. President R. B. Carherwood has told the council that two miles of track will be laid and cars running by the Fourth of July next, and “some six miles completed” by the close of 1864. The railroads serving the city announced a change of time for the winter schedule effective November 16.
Gov. Morton and “quite a large party of citizens of the state” attended the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. The procession and ceremonies “were appropriate and admirable,” but the “great surging crowd” of 20,000 around the platform and spreading down the slope made it impossible for all “but those closest to see or hear.” The President rode on horseback — nobody used carriages – “and his deeply cut features looked hard and worn.” He made the closing dedication remarks. The Journal correspondent observed, “I couldn’t hear a word….But it is no matter; it will be published.”
Stores and workshops in the city closed in the general observance of Thanksgiving Day, “and unusually good sermons were preached in many of the churches.”
