Saturday, May 08, 2021 1:00 am
Our enduring symbol
Timothy S. Goeglein
The chaos that often defines contemporary life can send all of us looking for signposts of continuity, stability, beauty, faith, sacrifice, service, patriotism and duty. It s mostly immaterial in this quest whether a person s worldview is grounded in progressivism or traditionalism.
An anchor of familiarity and the things of the human spirit are the ineluctable longings of which I write. These are the things that bind us together as a community in an era of polarization and sometimes toxic difference.
Such a moment occurred in the very center of Fort Wayne on a chilly, autumnal day in 1897 – an otherwise consequential year: William McKinley had been inaugurated the 25th president of the United States in March; the first Boston Marathon had been run; and Ulysses Grant s Tomb had been dedicated in New York City.
On the Banks of Yesteryear â Tolan: architects, mayor, publisher, veterans Thomas J. Tolan
3 Tolan,
it’s not a typical Delphos name and there are no Tolans living in the
city any more but the name shares some interesting history with our
town.
James and Elizabeth Tolan lived in Carrolton, Ohio, about 20
miles southeast of Canton, in the early 1800s. They had eight children
including Thomas Jefferson Tolan and David Henry Tolan. The family moved
across the state to Delphos some time after 1860, where James became a
marble cutter. Thomas J. followed his father as a marble cutter but some
time before 1870, became a self-taught architect. In the mean time,