1894 - 1905 Marmont and Culver City Town Board Minutes  

Culver, originally known as Union Town, was laid out and organized June 8, 1844, by Bayless L. Dickson, who owned a farm bordering Lake Maxinkuckee. His log cabin was the only dwelling in the new town. In 1851 the town was resurveyed and the name was changed to Marmont in honor of a French general of that name. At this time the town had grown until there were eight streets - Jefferson, Madison, Cass, Scott, Washington, Lake, Plymouth and Main. The location of these streets gives an idea of the original part of the present town.

It was forty-three years after the village took the name of Marmont before it as incorporated under the law as a town. The first election was held under the corporation July 5, 1894; the election board being composed of J. H. Koontz, D. C. Walter and E. M. Scates. The following was the res ult of the election - Trustees: S. E. Medburn, Marcus F. Mosher and John W. Solider ; clerk, Fred L. Carl; treasurer, Henry M. Speyer; marshall, John F . Crumley. Crumley did not qualify, and the board appointed Ozlas Duddleson who did not furnish bond. The board then appointed Nathaniel Gandy, who qualified and served. On October 4, 1895, the board of commissioners changed the name from Marmont to Culver City, on petition of 0. A. Rea and ninety-nine others, being a majority of the qualified electors of said Culver City.

In 1895 it was proposed the name be changed to Culver City but the Post office Department in Washington D.C. declined the name as a village in Tippecanoe county Indiana existed under that name. Mr. Henry H. Culver negotiated with their town officials after finding out that it was named for Crane Culver . He offered to pay all expenses involved with the name change from Culver to Crane. He prevailed and Marmont became the town of Culver during a Special Fall Term of court in 1895 It is recorded in the Miscellaneous Deed Book D pg. 497 In part it reads: Change of Name of the Town of Marmont, Indiana to Culver City, Indiana ...At a term of the Board of Commissioners of said county, begun of Wednesday the 23rd day of October 1895.. the following proceedings were had on the 24th day of October 1895 in the cause of...Comes now O. A. Rea and ninety-nine other qualified electors of the town of Marmont, Indiana and present their "verified" petition... And it is now ordered, considered and adjudge by the board that said town of Marmont, Indiana shall from and after this date be known as Culver City, Indiana....Received for record October 25th, 1895 at 9 1/2 o'clock A.M. Thomas H. Walker, Recorder Marshall County, Indiana. One can find the name on maps and documents as: Town of Culver and Culver City but it was not until 1949 that it was officially and legally changed to just - Culver .

Thanks to the initiative of several people (former Culver Town Manager Jon Guinin, genealogy volunteers Chris Landskron and Connie Van Horn) and the tireless efforts of library staff member Amanda Miller, what follows are images of the complete 1894-1905 minutes of Culver's town board, a veritable treasure trove of information about the history of the town and its people. The original book from which these minutes are derived is stored in the vaults of Culver's Town Hall, and the staff there, as well as the Town Council, have been very helpful in loaning us these rare items for digitization and archiving/preservation.

As there are 340 images pertaining to the minutes, the collection has bee broken down to a yearly basis for your conveneience. Also I am transcribing them as there are to many old Cuvlerties mentioned and alot of history that needs to be searchable - the images as is are non-searchable for content.

Click a page to browse the minutes from the indicated time period.

Index ~~	1895 ~~	1896 ~~	1897 ~~	1898 ~~
1899 ~~	1900 ~~	1901 ~~	1902 ~~	1903 ~~	1904 ~~	1905 ~~