Telling our stories
During Madison's Bicentennial year, costumed characters walked the streets of Historic Madison, telling first-person stories of the city's 200-year history.
If you are interested in having any of the characters visit your event, either in Madison or elsewhere, please send an email.
Among the re-enactors are (from left): Joyce Randles as Lydia Middleton; Connie Partington as Sarah Bolton; Sandie Gooden as Helen Spry; Ashley Roberts as the fictional Betty Roberts; Stephanie Hellmann as Delia Webster; Emily Roberts as the fictional Sadie Lankford; Bryce Worrell as Lt. Col. Alois Bachman; Brianna Worrell as Harriet McGlasson; in the gray pinafore, Brandilyn Worrell as the fictional Lillian Williams; in the red dress, Margo Watkins as Irene Dunne; Wayne Engle as Michael Garber; Jan Vetrhus as Charlotte Sullivan; Bob Fourhman as John Brough; Betsey Vonderheide as Drusilla Cravens; and Bill Demaree as Gen. Walter Krueger.
Sheriff Robert Right Rea
Mr. Rea was sheriff of Jefferson County during a very interesting period of Madison’s History, the period prior to the Civil War. He was a Presbyterian and a hotel keeper.
Sheriff Rea was a well built man of ordinary size, and with a kindly face. He was unlettered but was unusually shrewd and cunning. He was a natural detective and a terror to absconding thieves and runaway cows. He was also feared by runaway slaves, for many a panting fugitive was arrested by him and returned to bondage.
As noted by William Woollen, “ I never could satisfactorily account for this trait in his character, for he had a kind heart and was no slave to Mammon. It probably was the effect of his early education.”
Robert Right Rea was born on April 12, 1800, in Bee Tree Creek, Swannahoa, Buncome Co., North Carolina. He died on March 8, 1869 in Madison Twp., Jefferson Co., Ind. He is buried in Underwood Cemetery, Madison. (Sheriff Rea is portrayed by W. Dennis Jorgensen.)
Patsy Ann Harris
Patsy Ann Harris was the wife of Rev. Chapman Harris, better known as the Colored Apostle of Freedom. He was a free black leader of the Underground Railroad and Pastor of the St. Paul's Second Baptist Church at Madison, Ind. Patsy along with her two oldest sons, Henry and Charles, assisted her husband in his efforts for the liberation of the colored people. Married in 1841 the couple settled at Eagle Hollow where Patsy and Chapman raised their family on a 21 acre site. Together the two of them worked in the Madison area. (Patsy Harris is portrayed by Sue Livers.)
Charlotte E. Sullivan
Charlotte E. Sullivan was the daughter of Judge Jeremiah Sullivan, a leading citizen of Madison, from 1817-1870. Charlotte was the fifth of 12 children. She married John H. Sullivan from Saluda Township and moved back to the family home in 1875, upon the death of her mother. Her son Jeremiah was a doctor on the Mojave Indian Reservation and served as a naturalist for the Smithsonian. (Charlotte Sullivan is portrayed by Jan Vetrhus.)
Movie celebrity Irene Dunne was sighted outside the Ohio Theatre in the city where she grew up, Madison, Ind. (Irene Dunne is portrayed by Margo Watkins.)
Madison's historical characters topped the Bicentennial float when it traveled to Cincinnati for the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade on April 6.
