KENDALLVILLE — Arthur Franklin Mapes, whose official state poem “Indiana” helped earn him the title of Indiana poet laureate, captured the flavor of life in Kendallville, Noble County and the state in the late 1800s in many of his poems.
Mapes, who died Jan. 4, 1986, at the age of 72, authored the poem “Indiana” in 1963, when it was adopted as Indiana’s official state poem. Later, in 1977, the state decided to honor Mapes as Indiana’s poet laureate.
A lifetime Kendallville resident, Mapes worked 33 years as a machinist at Flint and Walling, but his hobby was poetry. His poems reflected his humble beginnings and the love he had for his hometown and state. Many of his poems were printed in national and international publications.
One of Mapes’ poems, entitled “Our Town,” was written for the 1963 Kendallville Centennial, and another favorite, “The Blacklegs,” received acclaim. Both illustrate life in Kendallville and Noble County in the late 1800s.

MUSIC STORE — George Kihm shown here stands in his music store in this 1940s photo. The music store was located at 109 E. William St. just off Main Street in Kendallville. (Photo contributed by Phil Kaiser)

The Blacklegs

Ole Sassafras John lit up his pipe,
An’ gazed up at the sky.
I knew ’at he wus dreamin’ up
A tale of days gone by.

I scooted over by his side
As quiet as could be,
Fer I liked to hear the stories
’at ole John would spin fer me.

He told about the settlers
Of the Indiana hills,
Of wagon trains, an’ Indian trails,
An’ creakin’ water mills.
He remembered when the stagecoach
Rumbled down the ole plank road,
An’ how a yoke of oxen
Could pull a heavy load.

He talked about the cabin loft
Where he would lay an’ dream,
An’ seemed as tho’ he still could see
The tallow candles gleam.

’Twus the days when Greg McDougal
Led his darin’ Blackleg band
Until the Regulators
Rose in strength to take a hand.