THE DUGAN HOME OF DECATUR

Charles A. Dugan didn't set out to be a banker. He fell in love with a banker's daughter, married her and built her dream house for her. She designed it in 1899, it was finished in 1902. Charles stayed in Decatur, Indiana and became the town banker after his father-in-law had long passed.
The Dugan's had three daughters, one died of TB quite young and the Dugan's raised their granddaughter in this house as well.

The third daughter never married and lived in the house until her death in 1967. This lovely old place, uniquely and comfortably designed for its time,  was by then,  run down and in rough shape. Covered with vines, badly in need of paint and restoration, the newly organized Adams County Historical Society wanted to buy it, but didn't have the money. Somehow, they cobbled things together with the will of their supporters and purchased the beautiful old home for $17,000.  Other bidders backed backed off when they knew the historical society was interested, and this wonderful jewel allows us all to step back through time.

Here is not only the history of the Dugan family, but relics from the Civil War, 69 years of local sports memorabilia, artifacts and equipment from two prominent local doctors, maps, journals, old photos, toys, quilts, books, records, trinkets and furnishings.

Mrs. Dugan loved  built in furnishings, such as this  black satin sideboard buffet with a mirror and leaded glass prism doors. She had built in cupboards and pieces all over the house including the benches in the Cozy Room.

Not pictured is a unique "telephone" room (now converted to a downstairs bathroom)  built when telephones were new.  Folks of the day considered telephone communication to be private.

The "built ins" ,benches, fireplaces, open foyer, stained glass windows, lighted newel posts, chandeliers and oak wood beams lend this house such personality. The house has five bedrooms and a  full usable attic. The attic once had a lead cistern that collected rainwater from the roof.

Only one bedroom has furnishings original to the Dugan Family, but all of it is local and much of it appropriately Victorian. The zither above is so unique, no one knows how to tune it. The Adams County Historical District is looking for a professional who may know how to do that.

I loved this old piano and especially the fancy leg. My favorite room, though, was the Cozy Room that the family enjoyed the most as well. For more pictures, click on the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/1579penn/82910DecaturMuseum#

ARE YOU OUT THERE JIM CREWE?

The Alameda County Sheriff's Archive project was started in 1989 and if it weren't for the pack rats of the world, we'd have very little for our archive. We now have hundreds of pictures, old signage, pieces of outdated equipment and uniforms, thousands of pieces of paper in old files and great stories. The archive is run by volunteers, mostly retired deputies, who meet and identify people in old photos, arrange displays, host tours (by appointment only), and collect items of historical value for posterity. We also have historical mug books from San Quentin; FBI wanted posters from all over the United States; we have California jail and Sheriff's history, U.S. directives during WWII about moving the Japanese into internment camps and other Civil Protection materials. I mention that because we are not limited to just the Alameda County Sheriff's Office.
The Chowchilla Bus, from which the children were hijacked during the infamous Chowchilla case was demolished after we established the archive, and no one knew we existed. It was a missed opportunity for us to obtain a piece of historical rolling stock. We have the room, but no rolling stock of any kind.
Berkeley P.D. is also working on an archive with volunteers. It was started and is run by volunteer retired deputies working to preserve their own interesting history. Alameda County's archive is funded by fund raisers. We are a non-profit 501c-4 organization.

Gary Lindsay and Bud Harlan have been hard at work while I've been on the road. They "procured" two new rooms for us. They are small and will be used as storage for items too big to display in our present facility. The rooms were full of cast off furniture and stuff headed for recycle.
Deputy W. Rhodes came by the archive to visit while we worked on Tuesday. He is planning a retired Deputy Sheriff's Reunion for Oct. 2010. He'll prepare exhibits from our photos and artifacts. This reunion is different than the usual once a year dinner where people gather for an evening and shoot home. This will be a three day event staged at the Nugget in Reno. That way people will come from greater distances and have time to really visit old friends they haven't seen in years. He's doing a great job of prep, getting an early start, and we are glad to have the archive materials put to good use.
So far, we've had three college students use our materials to write papers, one a thesis. The Oakland Museum did their retrospective on the 1960's Civil Unrest using our materials. We've reunited people with old friends. We've helped folks searching for records of their grandfather's employment or incarceration and assisted quite a number of genealogy quests. We have prepared displays for retirement dinners, funerals, and other sheriff's office events.
Many people keep their memorabilia in their garage, maybe an old uniform, or a badge, or just an appointment book. Their children or grandchildren have no use for it and it gets destroyed. We encourage people to place their historical memorabilia in the archive where it will always be appreciated and preserved. For instance, we are looking for a picture of Cecil Poole, the United States Prosecuter during the 1960's deputy indictments. He was photographed holding a brick behind his back as he viewed the riots in the streets below him. We believe the picture was taken by an attorney by the name of Jim Crewe. We have very little in the way of early female matron or deputy uniforms. Can anyone help us in our quest???
You can contact me at 209 728-3235.