Limberlost State Historic Site

The Herald

9/14/2018

The Herald - One Way to Find Out

by Willy DeSmet

Inspired by Melissa Fey, my wife Phyllis started raising Monarch butterflies from eggs and caterpillars we found in the yard. Going around in the garden we came across other caterpillars, including some of the Red Spotted Purple butterfly (which she has already raised to butterflies and released). She asked me what a rather non-descript green caterpillar would turn into. I didn't know but answered if she wanted to know, she could raise it and see what it turned into. She did. She put it in a ventilated box with some of the leaves it was on and changed the leaves for fresh ones every couple of days.

One day she let out a surprised yell. She said she thought she saw a dead and withered leaf in the box and reached in to replace it with a fresh one. It moved! The caterpillar had pupated and hatched into an adult moth. This is a moth, called The Herald, Scoliopteryx libatrix (Scolio: curved; pteryx: wing; libatrix: someone or something that pours.)

As you can see in the photo, the wingtips have not completely straightened out yet. Being newly emerged, the colors are strikingly strong.

Some species of moths look a lot alike and are difficult (sometimes impossible) to tell apart just by looking at them. The color and pattern is quite unique in this moth The orange colored patches are described as "wide streaks of mottled orange." they remind me of glowing coals. it almost looks like there's a fire burning through the wings from below. maybe that's just my imagination.

Phyllis was fooled by the moth's camouflage pattern. Hanging among (wilted) leaves it really does blend in. It is a fairly common moth, but rarely noticed.

The caterpillar prefer poplar and willow. An interesting note is that this species overwinters as an adult, often in caves or in man-made structures like basements, barns and sheds.

Dated 12 September 2018

A Tale of Two Genevas

8/30/2018

A Tale of Two Genevas

By Adrienne Provenzano, guest blogger

Limberlost State Historic site in Geneva, Indiana is where Gene Stratton-Porter (1863-1924) wrote many of her articles, books, and poems, inspired by the surrounding Limberlost Swamp, Gene hiked, took photographs, observed the changing seasons, and created classic stories such as "Freckles" (1904) and "A Girl of the Limberlost" (1909).

About a century earlier, in another Geneva, a different classic story was created. The English author Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley (1797-1851) first created the idea of what became the novel "Frankenstein" when in Geneva, Switzerland in 1816. She was visiting the villa of the poet Lord Byron, who challenged Mary and his other guests to write original ghost stories. Mary was later encouraged by her then lover, and later husband, Percy Shelley, to expand the story into a novel, and "Frankenstein; Or, the Modern Prometheus" was first published on January 1, 1818.

To celebrate that work and encourage reading, discussion, and related events during this 200th anniversary year of Frankenstein, the Indiana Humanities Council has organized a statewide read of the book as part of a program entitled One State/One Story, offered in partnership with the Indiana State Library. Information about the program can be found at www.quantumleap.indianahumanities.org, including calendar of events around the state.

Earlier this month, the 155th birthday of Gene Stratton-Porter occurred on August 17th. This week, August 30th, marks the 221st birthday of Mary Shelley. Two women authors whose works have stood the test of time, inspired by two Genevas!

Late Summer Nature at Limberlost

8/27/2018

Late Summer Nature at Limberlost by Kimberley Roll

Kimberley has been exploring Limberlost this summer with her camera. We will let her camera speak for her. Enjoy your hike with her!

Male goldfinch

Kestrel

Kingbirds

Yellow-billed cuckoo

Great blue heron

Monarch

Painted turtles

Tiger swallowtail on milkweed

Blazing star

Limberlost Swamp Wetland Preserve - Jay County side

The tall and regal prairie dock

Great egret and a large snapping turtle at the Loblolly Marsh. This has to be the picture of the year.

Nature Woven Into Her Stories

8/5/2018

Limberlost Nature Woven Into Her Stories by Terri Gorney

"I live in a world of light, fragrance, beauty, and song; no wonder some of it overflows in my books," wrote Gene Stratton-Porter. Gene was a great storyteller and she wove nature into her stories. Her Limberlost books were known as much for the nature within as they were for the stories themselves.

In one of the early book reviews of her first book, "Song of the Cardinal," the Chicago Tribune wrote that the book had the true "Spirit of Nature" with "artfully blending" the "field and swale" with the story of the cardinals. The story was about a pair of cardinals and the setting was Rainbow bottom on the north side of Geneva. Gene wrote about the silver beauty of the Wabash River at Horseshoe Bend. This area is owned by the Friends of the Limberlost and it has been restored to wetlands.

Gene's second book was "Freckles." One of the most descriptive passages in the book was about the beauty of Limberlost in the fall. "The Limberlost was now arrayed as the Queen of Sheba in all her glory. The first frosts of autumn had bejeweled her crown in flashing topaz, ruby and emerald. Around hr feet trailed the purple of her garments, while in her hand was her golden scepter. Everything was at full tide."

Her main character, Elnora, in "A Girl of the Limberlost" enjoyed being out in nature. One passage in the book was about the sounds of spring: "Back in the deep woods a hermit thrush was singing his chant to the rising sun. Orioles were sowing the pure sweet air with notes of gold poured out while on the wing."

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote a favorable review of Gene's book, "The Harvester." "She may write indoors, but she lives, moves and has her being in the open and like most nature worshipers, exercises her imagination as freely as her powers of observation. The setting is the Limberlost woods in Indiana, the descriptions are as entrancing as the story."

Gene wrote, "I have never seen any person who on being shown any of ten of our most beautiful moths did not promptly pronounce it the most exquisite creation he had ever seen, and evince a lively interest in its history." She wanted her book "The Moths of the Limberlost" to be a book that the average reader could learn about the moths she found so fascinating. She did not want a dry text book full of facts. "It is in belief that all nature lovers afield for entertainment or instruction, will be thankful for a simple method of becoming acquainted with moths, that this book is written."

Gene drew inspiration from the nature and saw aspects of it as a treasure. She described the "gold of sunshine, diamond water drops, emerald foliage and sapphire sky." We are happy that she shared her special place of Limberlost with the rest of the world.

Spring Birds at Limberlost

5/28/2018

Spring Birds at Limberlost by Kimberley Roll.

We thought our Limberlost followers would enjoy a look back at some of the birds that Kimberley Roll photographed at the Limberlost Territories this spring.

Sandhill Cranes flying north in mid March. A pair has been spotted in May at the Limberlost Swamp Wetland Preserve. Our hopes is that they are nesting here.

Redheaded ducks

Woodcock. This bird is a secretive one. Normally it is heard by its "peenting" call but not seen.

Robin

Hooded merganser

Green-winged teal; not as common as the blue-winged teal which have been nesting at the Limberlost Swamp Wetland Preserve.

Northern shoveler

Great blue heron are commonly seen all year round at Limberlost.

The dickcissel is a summer resident at Limberlost. You can hear the calls during this spring and summer.

We hope you enjoyed your look back at some of the birds who visit the Limberlost Territories. this spring.

The Chorus of the Forest

5/20/2018

From Chorus of the Forest, Part One, "Music of the Wild"
by Gene Stratton-Porter

Note: Gene Stratton-Porter's book "Music of the Wild" was published in 1910. Some of the places that Gene walked, studied and wrote about in this book, may be visited today. Her words are vibrant and descriptive of this area of the Limberlost Swamp around Geneva that she loved.

The leaves and mosses near earth were the darkest, growing lighter through never-ending shades. No one could have enumerated all of them. They were more variable and much more numerous than the grays. But in dim forest half-light all color appeared a shade paler than in mere woods.

From the all-encompassing volume of sound I endeavored to distinguish the instruments from the performers. The water, the winds, and the trees combined in a rising and falling accompaniment that never ceased. The insects, birds, and animals were the soloists, most of them singing, while some were performing on instruments. Always there was the music of my own heart over some wondrous flower or landscape picture or stirred to join in the chorus around me. The trees were large wind-harps, the trunks the framework, the branches the strings. These trunks always were wrapped in gray, but with each tree a differing shade.

Woods on the Limberlost Territories, spiderwort, phlox, fungi, and the Limberlost Creek. Photos by Terri Gorney.

The Dandelion

5/8/2018

The Universal Dandelion by Gene Stratton-Porter

If the little yellow flower were imported and cost us $5 a plant, we would all be growing it in pots and exhibiting it as something rare and beautiful. But because t grows in field and wood and is the universal flower of the soil, few people bother about it or take the trouble to notice how pretty it is. It is useful too, for the roots are a fine blood purifier and the wine of our grandmothers is justly famous. Properly cooked, there is nothing better to eat than the leaves, and honey gathered from the flowers is delicious.

The leaves gave it its name. They are long and slender with a lovely rich green color and ragged edges which have reminded scientists of the tooth of a lion - dent de lion - or lion's tooth. The bloom is a flat round disk of gold, thickly petaled and lightly dusted with pollen. After a day or two of bloom the disk folds up for the seed to ripen, and in a few days lifts itself again, except that this time it is a ball of misty white. it stands only for a little, which before the wind harvests the seed and scatters them to the four corners of the earth.

We hope you enjoyed Gene's writing about the dandelion.

Limberlost Owls

4/21/2018

One of Gene Stratton Porter's favorite birds was the screech owl. In Music of the Wild, she wrote "I love to hear the screech owl screech.....He is a friendly, social bird. Every winter he comes around the cabin hunting food, and he will answer my repetition of his calls until I become uncomfortable and close the window."

The above picture is one of Gene's photos of a screech owl.

On April 9 2018, Rick Bergman, spotted a snowy owl in Adams County. Almost two weeks later, he is still in the same area. This photograph is by Kimberley Roll.

Photo by Randy Lehman of the snowy owl. He was often seen in the field or perched on or around a dirt clump.

Photo of the snowy owl in flight by Randy Lehman.

One of the favorite owls this past winter was the short-eared owl. The Limberlost Swamp Wetland Preserve and the Loblolly Marsh make a good winter habitat for this owl. Photo by Kimberley Roll.

Barred owl taken along the Wabash River in an area that Gene Stratton-Porter called Paradise on the Wabash. Photo by Randy Lehman.

Gene Stratton-Porter would be pleased to know that the owls of Limberlost are thriving. Screech owls can still be heard in the trees of the Limberlost Cabin. Great horned owls can be heard at the Limberlost Swamp Wetland Preserve. The short-eared owls have been wintering at the Limberlost Swamp Wetland Preserve since 2011 and in 2018 we had a snowy owl visit Adams County.

Limberlost and Loblolly Sunsets

3/21/2018

Limberlost Swamp Wetland Preserve and the Loblolly Marsh have some of the most spectacular sunsets. Kimberley Roll took this beautiful sunset in March 2018 at the Loblolly Marsh.

Kimberley Roll took this sunset photo at the Loblolly Marsh in March 2018.

Kimberley Roll snapped this picture at the Limberlost Swamp Wetland Preserve of the Canada Geese flying into the sunset.

This sunset at the Loblolly Marsh was taken by Kimberley Roll.

Naturalist Bill Hubbard took this beautiful sunset at the Limberlost Swamp Wetland Preserve in January 2018.

This beautiful sunset was taken by Kimberley Roll at the Limberlost Swamp Wetland Preserve in November 2017.

Sunset at the Loblolly Marsh by Randy Lehman.

Curt Burnette took this picture of a January sunset at the Limberlost Swamp Wetland Preserve.

Gene's #1 Swamp Guide

3/5/2018

Wherein Gene Stratton-Porter's #1 Swamp Guide is Revealed
By Terri Gorney, Vice-president, Friends of the Limberlost

Who was the man that Gene Stratton-Porter wrote was helpful in her field work and good at finding bird nests? She referred to him only as Paxson. Gene gave clues as to what he looked like and his clothing as she had taken a couple photos of him that she included in her nature book, "Homing With the Birds." The caption she provided beneath one of these photos said "Paxon, my best Limberlost guide, shinning up a small tree to see what a nest contains." Although Gene spelled his name differently, it was assumed this Paxson was linked to the Paxsons of Jay County, but that could not be proven.

There was a short notation in the Geneva Herald, dated July 5, 1901, that stated Mr. Paxson who worked as an oil pumper on the C.D. Porter farm had burned his hand with fireworks. This was the first time that we knew that a Mr. Paxson had worked for Gene's husband Charles. Could this be Gene's Paxson?

The 1900 Federal Census showed there was a J. W. Paxson living in Hartford Township, which was the same township where the farm was located. His profession was listed as oil pumper. Other information included he was married to Isora, and was born in 1867 in Ohio. This put him in the age range of Gene's Paxson. He had one son, Chester, this was the only Paxson family for 10 miles around.

According to the Geneva Herald in October 1902, Mr. and Mrs. Paxson moved into a flat in T. E. Mann's Building in Geneva.

The 1910, 1920, and 1930 Federal Census were studied. J. W Paxson was James William Paxson. Paxson could be traced through his lifelong profession as an oil pumper through the oil fields of Wichita County, Texas and Carter County, Oklahoma. He died February 6, 1938 in the community of Wilson, Oklahoma.

Fast forward to the present. Limberlost naturalist Curt Burnette portrays Paxson. He has studied Gene's photos to examine his clothing. His hats and his simple garb of a homespun shirt and sturdy pants were typical of common laborers of the early 20th century. Curt purchased clothing of the type Paxson would have worn. Curt then works his own special magic to bring Paxson "to life." "Paxson" has even been the guest speaker at the Pink Tea held at the Barker Mansion in Michigan City, Indiana. Curt has acquired a new family. he has been made an honorary member of the Paxson Family by Marty Paxson Grundy who created the Paxson Family: Sixth Generation hosted by Rootsweb and Ancestry.

Do you want your own tour of the Limberlost Territories? Curt has created the Rent-a-Naturalist Program. A tour of the wetlands with a modern Paxson is as close as you can get to walking with Gene in the Limberlost. Nowadays, in addition to being able to proclaim that the Limberlost lives again, we can also say that Paxson "lives" again.

Writer's Note: This article appeared in the Berne Witness on November 17, 2017. A more detailed account of the research on Paxson was written for the Ohio Genealogical Quarterly in 2017.

Curt Burnette as Paxson with one of our Friends members at an event.

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