Project Scroll Research Note 2026-25
One week in the Indiana House: the dates of the Jackson Lodge bill of E Clampus Vitus, 30 December 1846 to 6 January 1847
Summary
House bill No. 242 of the Indiana General Assembly’s session of 1846–47, “An act to incorporate Jackson Lodge of the ancient order of Eclampses Vitus, of Centreville, Indiana,” is usually dated by the Indiana State Sentinel’s report of 14 January 1847. The Journal of the House of Representatives dates each sitting, and its day headings fix the bill’s course. Mr. Julian introduced it in the afternoon sitting of Wednesday, 30 December 1846 (p. 259). It was read a second time and referred to the committee on corporations in the afternoon of Thursday, 31 December (p. 272). The committee’s report was read on Wednesday, 6 January 1847 (p. 345): the bill was “for the benefit of a species of animals with which the country is now abundantly supplied, and of which it is not desirable either to increase the number or improve the breed”, and it was indefinitely postponed and laid on the table. The House disposed of the bill in a week, and the 14 January date is only the date of the newspaper’s report.
The record
Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Indiana, 31st session (Indianapolis, 1846–47), p. 259, in the sitting headed “WEDNESDAY MORNING, December 30, 1846” (after the adjournment “until 2 o’clock, P. M.”)
“Mr. Julian, on leave granted, introduced the following bill: No. 242. An act to incorporate Jackson Lodge of the ancient order of Eclampses Vitus, of Centreville, Indiana.”
Indiana State Library, via the Internet Archive · See the record
Ibid., p. 272, the afternoon (“2 o’clock, P. M.”) of “THURSDAY MORNING, December 31st, 1846”
“No. 242. An act to incorporate the Jackson Lodge of the Ancient order of E. Clampses Vitus, of Centreville, Indiana; … Were each read a second time and referred to the committee on corporations.”
Indiana State Library, via the Internet Archive · See the record
Ibid., p. 345, under “WEDNESDAY MORNING, January 6, 1847”, the committee on corporations’ report
“… the bill is for the benefit of a species of animals with which the country is now abundantly supplied, and of which it is not desirable either to increase the number or improve the breed. They therefore recommend that it be indefinitely postponed; Which was concurred in. Said bill was laid on the table.”
Indiana State Library, via the Internet Archive · See the record
What it changes
The life of the only known bill to give a lodge of E Clampus Vitus a charter is dated to the day from the legislature’s own record: introduced 30 December 1846, referred 31 December, and put off with the committee’s joke on 6 January 1847. The 14 January 1847 date found in later accounts is the date of the Sentinel’s report, not of the House’s action.
Limits
The dates are taken from the Journal’s day headings as read in the Internet Archive’s machine-read text and its page numbers; the report’s reader is printed “Mr. Purler” in the machine text, probably Mr. Porter, whose report follows. The Journal records the House’s actions, not who drafted the bill or the report. The Sentinel reports of 7 and 14 January 1847 were read on Hoosier State Chronicles and the Library of Congress.
What we searched before calling it new
The Indiana House Journal of 1846–47, searched in the item for “Eclampses,” “Clampses” and “Jackson Lodge”; the Internet Archive’s full text (books and newspapers) for every spelling of the order’s name; Hoosier State Chronicles; the order’s histories (Then and Now, 1966; Credo quia absurdum, 1949); web searches for “Jackson Lodge” with Clampus and Centreville.
Our standard for calling a finding new is set out in How we research, and how we weigh each kind of record in Scrollsigns.
“New” means new to print as far as we can tell. If you know of an earlier publication, tell us and we will credit it here and raise the note’s version.
Project Scroll is independent research. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by E Clampus Vitus, Inc. or any of its chapters, and it does not speak for the order. E Clampus Vitus®, ECV® and Clampers® are registered trademarks of E Clampus Vitus, Inc., as are its designs of a kicking jackass, of a miner and a braying jackass with the motto Per caritate viduaribus orphanibusque sed prime viduaribus, and of a coat of arms with the banners “Satisfactory” and Credo quia absurdum. The order’s names, mottoes, emblems, plaques and publications are named or quoted here only to identify the order and report its history; this site sells nothing, all rights in them remain with the order and its chapters, and nothing on this site is a product or publication of the order. Book covers and plaques are shown only to identify the works and places discussed. Help from individual members is credited to them personally and is not an endorsement by the order.
Works cited
Earlier work, catalogues and databases named in this note, besides the records quoted above.
- E Clampus Vitus, E Clampus Vitus: Then and Now, 1852–1966 (Stockton, 1966). https://ecv13.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Then_and_Now_1966.pdf
The full story
The finding is set out in context, with the rest of its sources, in A lodge of E Clampus Vitus, in Cassopolis, in 1846. In the discoveries register:
How to cite this note
Michael Urbanski, “One week in the Indiana House: the dates of the Jackson Lodge bill of E Clampus Vitus, 30 December 1846 to 6 January 1847,” Project Scroll Research Note 2026-25, version 1 (5 November 2026), https://projectscroll.com/discoveries/notes/2026-25/. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23968679.
BibTeX
@techreport{urbanski202625,
author = {Urbanski, Michael},
orcid = {0009-0006-8183-5828},
title = {{One week in the Indiana House: the dates of the Jackson Lodge bill of E Clampus Vitus, 30 December 1846 to 6 January 1847}},
institution = {Project Scroll},
type = {Project Scroll Research Note},
number = {2026-25},
year = {2026},
month = {nov},
url = {https://projectscroll.com/discoveries/notes/2026-25/},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23968679},
note = {Version 1}
}