Clark County, Indiana - Chapter 40: The Jeffersoxville Carxegie Library Axd the Bordex Museum, 1909

Chapter 40: The Jeffersoxville Carxegie Library Axd the Bordex Museum

An old township library had exi.^ted in Jeffersonville for many years and had in a small way catered to the wants of the public. It was in politics and was kept in the Trustee's office, usually a place where men loafed and smoked and discussed the issues of the day. It was no place where children or women could suitably visit. The W^omen's Literary clubs of the city became so aroused to the condition of affairs and the needs of the people that they determined to take the initiative and established a libran,' which would be under better management and cater to a broader field than the old township librar}^ had done. At the suggestion of Miss Hannah Zulauf, a public spirited woman, a meeting was called at which each literary club in the city was represented by two delegates. Judge John F. Reed, a retired lawyer and a staunch friend of the project, gave aid and counsel which was invaluable. Under his suggestion the ladies raised one thousand two hundred dollars and proceeded to form a library association under an old law of 1852, which provided that when the citizens of any township had raised a fund of one thousand dollars and formed an association they might ask the Board of County Commissioners to turn the township libran,' over to them. A technicality in the law was discovered and a wait until the winter of 1899 had to be endured when the Legislature passed a law satisfying the new association. LTpon the expiration of the term of office of the Township Trustee then sen'ing, December i. 1900. the books to the number of one thousand four hundred volumes, and other property, were turned over to the association, and a room over the Citizens' National Bank was given, rent free, for their use. On December 17, 1900, the library was opened to the public under the name of the Jeft'ersonville Township Public Library, and the subscription money, as it was paid, was used for the purchase of new books. The income was from a tax levy of one cent on each one hundred dollars' worth of property assessed in the township, giving the library about five hundred and fifty dollars a year. At that time there were about one thousand seven hundred volumes upon the shelves. They were classified according to the Dewey system, and from the first the public ha? had access to all except fiction.

Miss Bertha Poindexter was secured as librarian and slie has worked earnestly for the upbuilding of the library and in educating the public taste for good books rather than catering to a taste for worthless matter.

Soon after the library was established the idea of asking Mr. Carnegie for money with which to erect a building was conceived, and again Miss Zulauf took the initiative and a donation of fifteen thousand dollars was secured. Arthur Loomis, a citizen of Jeffersonville and an architect, drew the plans for the present beautiful and commodious building, and on September 19, 1903, the Most Worshipful Grand Ltxlge of F"ree and Accepted Masons of Indiana laid the corner stone: the Rev. E. L, Powell, of Louisville, delivering the address.

The library has at present an unusually fine collection of reference books for a hbrary of its size. There are at present six thousand six hundred fiftyfour volumes on the shelves : thirty-one periodicals on the reading tables : one thousand two hundred volumes in the children's reading room, and the number of borrower's cards in use amounts to two thousand six hundred eighty-five.

The popularity and recognition of the great value of the lil^rary has grown beyond the expectations of the most sanguine, an everage of one hundred nine volumes daily being issued this year. The public spirit evinced by Miss Zulauf, Judge Read and Air. Loomis, and the philraithropy of Mr. Carnegie have lidded an institution to Jefifersonville whose worth can not be estimated.

The Borden Museum

Ranking among the finest institutions of its kind in the state of Indiana, is the Borden Museum of Borden. It was founded by the late Prof. William W. Borden, one of the wealthiest and most public spirited men which Clark county has ever produced. A collector of interesting and valuable specimens all his life, he soon realized that to preserve them he must have a building of some kind, and to this end erected a substantial fire-proof building, on the site of his parents' home. The building which this niuseum replaced was a substantial two-story brick erected in 18 19. The brick were made near the spot then, masons and carpenters were imported and its walls slowly arose. W'indow glass seven by nine was brought from Pittsburg. Such a house was a novelty in its day. The modern building is an ornate and handsome structure well adapted for the uses for which it was intended. The professor was always a collector and scattered throughout his valuables are curios of his early days of travel. After he had become financially able he began to buy collections systematically. His first collection bears the date of 1844. and it contains few inexpensive things. He added to this his own finds, particularly silver and other minerals, collected at Leadville in 1878 and 1879. In 1886 he bought the Knapp collection of Silurian and Devonian fossils and Indian

In 1887 he purchased the collection of Dr. S. H. Harrod, of Canton, Indiana. Living near Spurgeon's and Paynter's Hills, places rich in the fossils of the St. Louis group. 'Doctor Harrod had become possessed of the finest crinoidea these places could afford.

In 1889 the Doctor Lavette collection of fresh water shells was added to the museum. This collection was the result of a lifetime work. Shortly after this the Dr. C. C. Graham collection of bones of prehistoric animals was added. These remains had been unearthed at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky.

In 1897 a valuable collection of ancient pottery and culinary utensils of the Cliff Dwellers of Arizona and New Mexico, was purchased. In 1898 the G. L. Barnes collection of mound builders' remains was added to the museum. This addition was one of great value. Besides these larger additions the professor was continually acquiring single specimens and their aggregate is considerable.

In 1 90 1 the G. K. Greene collection of over one thousand crinoids was purchased, making the Borden crinoid collectiijn number over three thousand, and making it the largest in the state.

Besides the many books, pamphlets, etc., which are uncatalogued, the museum catalogue has a voluminous list of specimens arranged under the heads of Palaeontology, minerals, marine shells, archaeology and curios, and it represents one of the most valuable and instructive collections in the state of Indiana.

In his journeys to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, through Canada, to Alaska and through Europe, the professor was continually adding to his collections, and the magnificent institution which stands as a monument to his memory, as well as a memorial to the memory of his parents, as he intended it should, represents a public spirit which flourishes far less verdantly in other parts of the county than at the quaint old town of Borden.