March 23
In 1999, Hancock County Area Planning Commission deadlocked 5-5 over the proposed 470-home Stansbury development in the McCordsville area.
March 24
In 1913, parts of Greenfield were flooded after about two days of steady rain. A bridge over Potts Ditch near Fourth Street and a bridge over Brandywine Creek south of the city were swept away. Several downtown businesses, including a hotel, had flooded basements; so did a church. Martha Duncan, a widow, left her home on Fourth Street near the ditch at about 1 a.m. to stay with friends, having moved furniture and other belongings — except the piano — to prevent their being damaged.
In 1988, a group of students from Weston Elementary School, the Weston Community Problem Solvers, approached Greenfield City Council about changing the city building code to allow planting seedlings within 10 feet from the sidewalk. Students had sold doughnuts at school to buy 150 seedlings to plant around Greenfield in the yards of interested homeowners. Their tree-planting efforts led to the formation of Regreening Greenfield.
In 2020, Hancock County Health Department announced the county’s first death from COVID-19 after receiving the individual’s positive test result. The Indiana State Department of Health later reported that the county’s first death occurred on March 21.
March 25
In 1943, Wilkinson native Col. Harvey Weir Cook died in the South Pacific during air combat in World War II. He was 50. Cook shot down seven German pilots in World War I. The Indianapolis airport bore his name from 1944 to 1976; when Indianapolis International Airport’s new terminal opened Nov. 11, 2008, it was named the Col. H. Weir Cook Terminal.
In 2008, Chelsea Clinton visited Arbor Café and Tea Room in Cumberland to campaign for her mother, Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was seeking the Democratic nomination for president.
March 26
In 1942, Hancock County superintendent of schools S.R. Boring announced county schools would be in session Saturday as part of a “war time schedule” to allow students in agricultural areas more evening hours to help with farm work. Greenfield schools had already been on the schedule.
March 27
In 1964, Greenfield Banking Co. announced the installation of three Burroughs electronic accounting machines that could “read” account information stored in magnetic ink stripes on the back of customer ledger cards. Bank president J. Freeman Wilson said the equipment’s arrival would not lead to a cut in staff but would free employees to “keep pace with the amazing growth of the pay-by-check movement which has been swamping our present clerical force.”
March 28
In 1921, four men pleaded guilty in Mayor’s Court to the charge of manufacturing “white mule” for the purpose of selling it or giving it away. The four had been arrested by federal prohibition officers, who charged them with operating a still and disposing of the product. The still was believed to be the basement of a home northwest of Greenfield.
March 29
In 1943, six Hancock Countians were among the 18 arrested as Indiana State Police confiscated 32 illegal slot machines in simultaneous raids over three counties — Hancock, Madison and Delaware.
