March 13, 1946: Files For Post Held By Granddad In 1868

Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on March 13, 1946.

Files For Post Held By Granddad In 1868

From 1868 to 1874 Samuel Putnam Robbins served as county commissioner of Porter county. Today his grandson, Joseph S. Robbins, of Portage township, is a candidate for the republican nomination for county commissioner of the North district.

Samuel P. Robbins was identified with the early life of Porter county, coming here in 1835, before the county was established. During his service on the county board Valparaiso university came into being, and the present county jail was built. The elder Robbins played a prominent part in encouraging Henry Baker Brown, then a young Ohio educator, in starting the school in Valparaiso. He favored a donation to Brown, but was opposed by the other commissioners, A.V. Bartholomew and A.B. Price.

Idea Ridiculed

Many people at the time ridiculed the idea. But Robbins persisted and won Bartholomew over to his side and Brown went on to build one of the greatest educational fronts of learning in the United States.

Joseph S. Robbins, who aspires to the county board post, was born and reared in Porter county. He is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis H. Robbins, both Portage township pioneers.

Robbins has confined his public office holding to acting as a member on the Portage township advisory board and serving as postmaster at McCool for nine years.

He is married and has four children: Lewis Robbins, who lives on the old Robbins homestead near McCool, and three daughters, Miss Ruth Robbins, a deputy in the Porter county treasurer’s office; Mrs. Ralph Herren, home economics teacher in the Portage township school, and Miss Loretta Robbins, visiting nurse for the Goodfellows’ club, Carnegie-Illinois Steel company, Gary.

March 3, 1956: Relief Seen Necessary For Muddy South Sagers Road; Carrying Heavy Load Since State Highway 49 Is Closed

Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on March 3, 1956.

Relief Seen Necessary For Muddy South Sagers Road; Carrying Heavy Load Since State Highway 49 Is Closed

By ROLLIE BERNHART

A slithering, splashing muddy ride over a two-mile span of South Sagers Road in Center and Morgan townships, Friday afternoon, convinced south Porter County Commissioner C. A. Carpenter that immediate corrective action should be taken before the roadbed is completely undermined.

Carpenter made the test ride with a complainant, Wilbur Finn, a resident along the road, and a V-M reporter-photographer.

Carpenter’s conclusions were summed up in his statement following the test run, “It is almost as bad as it was in the old horse and buggy days.”

Finn, a resident in the section for the past two years, complained to Carpenter that inadequate grading and lack of gravel had resulted in a gradual undermining of the roadbed.

In not less than six spots along the approximately two-mile span tested, the road was veritably a quagmire with little or no gravel to be seen.

Carpenter also observed that the original ditches had long been filled with loose gravel, dirt and weeds, providing little or no drainage during rain, snow and thaw. In one spot near the Gatewood farm, a slight downgrade was almost a washout.

Traffic Increases

Both Finn and Carpenter were of the opinion that additional heavy traffic, shunted on south county roads through the recent closing of Indiana 49, has contributed greatly to the condition of the road.

Carpenter said he also felt that with the eventual closing of Indiana 8 for widening purposes, south county roads will suffer still more as the spring thaws come.

In this respect, Carpenter said he would confer with the county commissioners and Mox Ruge, county attorney, Monday, concerning the possibility of procuring some aid from the State Highway commission in lieu of damage caused to county roads because of the current widening programs on the two highways.

Carpenter stated that he will present the issues involved on the road’s condition to the other members of the board at its regular monthly session Monday. A trip along the muddy strip for the board and road supervisor Anton Jensen is also to be proposed.

Just Like Horse and Buggy Days

“IT’S ALMOST AS BAD as in the horse and buggy days” is what C.A. Carpenter, right, south county commissioner, told Wilbure Finn, left, a resident along the old Valpo-Kouts (now Sagers) road, who points to one of the badly undermined spots near his home.