By Terri Gorney Lehman
Photos by Randy Lehman
The Society’s 2026 Spring Pilgrimage was on June 18 to the Wabash and Erie Canal Park in Delphi. It was a beautiful day with plenty of sun, mild temperatures and light breezes.
Mike Tetrault, the Executive Director of the Canal Park, was very welcoming. Mike and eleven volunteers made our day very enjoyable. It was a good day of learning about the canal and Indiana in the 1840s. The day began with a welcome from Mike and a short history from Dan McCain, a former Society board member. In 1994, Dan took early retirement so that he could focus on his vision of a canal park in his hometown. It’s amazing what has been accomplished with all volunteers!
We enjoyed a two-mile boat ride on the historic canal. The Wabash and Erie Canal was once 468 miles long from Toledo to Evansville. The town of Delphi has been recreated along the canal boat path. You have a feel of being in the mid-nineteenth century. In those days, the canals were the main “highways.” The canal period didn’t last long, though. The Wabash and Erie closed in Indiana in 1874 as railroads began to replace canals throughout the U.S.
A museum tour with volunteers on hand to answer questions followed the ride, and you could go at your own pace and go back again after it was over.
In the afternoon, we had a tour of the Reed Case home which was built in 1844. He was the contractor for the canal from Delphi to Lafayette.
We were the first group to tour the “new” 1830 cabin that was moved to the park. A new roof and the cabin’s restoration were completed just a few weeks before the pilgrimage. The logs are wide. A family saved the cabin from being lost to history and were pleased to donate it to the canal park.
There were demonstrations by a blacksmith making nails and a broom maker. Broomcorn is one of the types of corn planted in Indiana for making brooms. There is also an historic school from 1834 on the property. One of the volunteers acted as a teacher as if it were the summer of 1840 and William Henry Harrison was running for President of the United States.
Stacks BBQ catered our meal. Bud did his best to create a 1840s meal, consisting of smoked chicken and pork, green beans, cheesy potatoes, coleslaw, molasses and sugar cookies with choice of lemonade, tea or water.
A wonderful day of history and fellowship!
