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65-550: The Roots brothers located their business in Connersville, Indiana, as the Whitewater Canal provided a convenient 11-foot (3.35 metre) drop, suitable for an undershot mill wheel. When this proved insufficiently powerful, Philander Roots built a more efficient "water motor" to exploit the power source. However, the lobe impellers were made of wood, which warped and caused the motor to jam when used under water. As

130-414: A new state constitution was created and ratified. Among the constitution's new clauses was an extension of the terms of representatives to two years and senators to four years. It also made many of the previously appointed positions open to public election. The new constitution delegated many minor tasks to newly created elected offices. With its workload considerably decreased, instead of meeting annually,

195-671: A base annual salary of $ 22,616, plus $ 155 for each day in session or at a committee hearing and $ 62 in expense pay every other day. Article 4, Section 7, of the Indiana Constitution states the qualifications to become a Senator or Representative. The candidate must have been a U.S. citizen for a minimum of two years prior to his candidacy and must have been resident of the district that he seeks to represent for one year. Senators must be at least twenty-five years of age and representatives must be twenty-one when sworn into office. The candidate cannot hold any other public office in

260-660: A distance of 76 miles (122 km) and stretched from Lawrenceburg, Indiana on the Ohio River to Hagerstown, Indiana near the West Fork of the White River . As with most transportation improvements during the early nineteenth century, industry paved the way within individual states. After successful canal development projects further east in the United States , it was not long until canals were dug across

325-585: Is left of the Whitewater Canal today. Some towpath was bought by the Whitewater Valley Railroad Company and has been used in various train operations over the years. A section of the rail line is still in use as a tourist railroad. The Whitewater Valley Railroad operates between Connersville, Indiana and Metamora, Indiana . The remains of many of the canal locks on this section of the canal can still be seen as well as

390-579: The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 1992. Indiana General Assembly 38°46′07″N 86°9′46″W  /  38.76861°N 86.16278°W  / 38.76861; -86.16278 The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature , or legislative branch, of the U.S. state of Indiana . It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house , the Indiana House of Representatives , and an upper house ,

455-681: The Indiana Senate . The General Assembly meets annually at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis . Members of the General Assembly are elected from districts that are realigned every ten years. Representatives serve terms of two years and senators serve terms of four years. Both houses can create bills, but bills must pass both houses before it can be submitted to the governor and enacted into law. As of 2023,

520-615: The Lieutenant Governor of Indiana , presides over the Senate while it is in session and casts the deciding vote in the event of a tie. The Senate President Pro Tempore is Senator Rodric D. Bray of Martinsville . The 2019–2020 Senate has a Republican super-majority, with Republicans holding 40 out of 50 seats. The Senate offices are located in the west wing of the second floor of the Indiana Statehouse, and

585-594: The Midwest . The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 paved the way for improvement projects across the United States and changed the course of American transportation history. The Erie Canal was an immediate financial success. This set the precedent for future canals and proved canals could provide a viable contribution to local economies. There was the need for a high-speed transportation system that could link

650-535: The Republican Party holds supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly. Republicans outnumber Democrats in the Senate by a 39–10 margin, and in the House of Representatives by a 70–30 margin. The Indiana General Assembly is made up of two houses , the House of Representatives and the Senate. Indiana has a part-time legislature that does not meet year-round. The General Assembly convenes on

715-516: The State Seminary and of roads in the southern part of the state. Initially, the General Assembly was faced with low tax revenues. In response to the problem, they created the Bank of Indiana and sold nine million acres (36,000 km ) of public lands to finance their projects. The General Assembly relocated the capital to Indianapolis in 1824, and in 1831 they authorized the construction of

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780-479: The Treaty of St. Mary's . After two months of debate in the House, and Jennings having destroyed the evidence of his role, the House of Representatives dropped the investigation and issued a resolution that confirmed Jennings in his position as governor. In its first two decades, the General Assembly laid the foundation of the state. They created the framework for the state's public school system, began construction on

845-460: The executive branch of the state government, has limited power to regulate the county governments within the state, and has sole power to initiate the process to amend the state constitution. Under Indiana law, legislators cannot be arrested while the General Assembly is in session unless the crime they commit is treason , a felony , or breach of the peace. The Indiana Senate consists of 50 members elected to four-year terms. Suzanne Crouch ,

910-601: The 1970s, the General Assembly still retains the power to remove much of that authority. The authority and powers of the Indiana General Assembly are established in the state constitution. The General Assembly has sole legislative power within the state government. Each house can initiate legislation, with the exception that the Senate is not permitted to initiate legislation that will affect revenue. Bills are debated and passed separately in each house, but must be passed by both houses before they can submit to

975-505: The Canal Era is recreated and tourists can stroll through a nineteenth-century town. There are museums, shopping, eateries, and you can even take a horse drawn ride on the canal. An aqueduct carries the canal over Duck Creek at Metamora. It is a twentieth-century reconstruction of the wooden aqueduct built in 1846 to replace an earlier one that was washed out by a flood, and was listed as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by

1040-592: The GE Energy Services and Power & Water business units. Five years later in 2015, the Roots company was acquired by Colfax Corporation, and became a part of Colfax's UK based engineering company Howden. In 2023, Chart Industries purchased Howden and quickly divested of Roots in a sale to Ingersoll Rand. The Roots factory is still located in Connersville, Indiana and produces a range of positive displacement blowers and centrifugal compressors. Francis Roots

1105-553: The General Assembly only convened a session every two years. The new constitution also placed new limits on the General Assembly's power to create local laws, the General Assembly having become notorious for creating state-level laws that were only applied to one town or county. The new constitution led to the gradual erosion of the Democratic majority. In 1854, the Republican Party was established and drew in many of

1170-613: The General Assembly using information from the U.S. Census Bureau to ensure that each district is roughly equal in population. The districting is maintained to comply with the United States Supreme Court ruling in Reynolds v. Sims . The Indiana Senate and House of Representatives each has several committees charged with overseeing certain areas of the state. Committees vary in size, from three to eleven members. The committees are chaired by senior members of

1235-584: The Indiana Senate and legislation that desegregated the public schools in 1949. The General Assembly established the state's first sales tax at two percent in 1962. The revenues from the tax led to a host of new projects across the state. The General Assembly also passed the Indiana Civil Rights bill in 1963, granting equal protection to minorities in seeking employment. In 1970 a series of constitutional amendments were passed. Among them

1300-687: The Indiana state constitution. There, the General Assembly began its development into the institution it is today. The original constitution provided that representatives served terms of one year and senators served terms of three years, and permitted an annual meeting of the assembly from December until March. At first, there was only one political party of any consequence in Indiana, the Democratic-Republicans . The party was, however, broken into three divisions that would later split off into their own parties. The divisions were mainly over

1365-489: The International Derrick and Equipment Company to found Roots-Connersville Blower Company. The same year, the company began production of centrifugal compressors. During World War II , the company made screw compressors for U.S. Navy submarines , which they used to blow ballast water. From 1944, Roots became a product brand of Dresser Industries . In 2010 Dresser was acquired by GE and integrated into

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1430-462: The Senate chambers are on the west wing of the third floor. The Indiana House of Representatives consists of 100 members elected to two-year terms. The current Speaker of the House as of March 2020 is Representative Todd Huston . In 2015, the House of Representatives has a Republican majority of 70 seats, while the Democrats have 30 seats. The House offices are located in the east wing of

1495-744: The Whitewater Valley to the Ohio River. Before the canal, farmers had to transport their goods and livestock to Cincinnati, Ohio on badly rutted and often impassable roads. The journey to Cincinnati could take several days. In 1836 the Indiana State Legislature approved the Mammoth Internal Improvement Act , which allowed for the development of the Whitewater Canal and a host of other improvements throughout Indiana. The Whitewater Canal

1560-792: The Whitewater descended 6.4 feet per mile compared to the Chesapeake & Ohio at 2.9 feet per mile, the Erie at 1.7 feet per mile and the Wabash & Erie at 1 foot per mile. The steepness became a problem whenever heavy rains came. Because of the steep grade, the canal required 56 locks and seven dams. The canal was started as a state project and ground was broken on September 13, 1836. The first boat arrived in Brookville from Lawrenceburg on June 8, 1839. Because of budget problems construction

1625-433: The advent of the state's political parties. Once in power, a party could stack the government with its own members, making it difficult for the minority to regain power. Another problem was that the authority for many trivial issues was not delegated to other authorities. For example, if a man was to divorce his wife, the divorce bill had to be approved by the General Assembly before being allowed to legally remarry. In 1851,

1690-415: The authority of the other branches of the government. Among these checks and balances is the governor's authority to veto any bill passed by the General Assembly. The General Assembly may, in turn, override his veto by simple majority vote in both houses. Bills passed by a supermajority automatically become law without requiring the signature of the governor. Once the bill is made law, it can be challenged in

1755-429: The authority to call on the General Assembly to convene a special session if legislators are unable to complete necessary work within the time allotted by the regular sessions. Special sessions of the General Assembly were rarely called in the state's early history, but have become more commonplace in modern times. The General Assembly delegates are elected from districts. Every ten years the districts are realigned by

1820-470: The beginning of the war, the General Assembly was controlled by the southern sympathetic Democrats . Governor Oliver Morton and the Republican minority were able to prevent the General Assembly from meeting in 1862 and 1863 by denying the body quorum . Morton even had some members of the body arrested or detained on suspicions of disloyalty. The lack of funding created by this crisis again led to

1885-468: The brothers studied the problem on dry land, one of them rotated a shaft, causing the impellers to spin in the air, "blowing off his brother's hat". This attracted the attention of the superintendent of an iron foundry, who observed to Roots that it could be used to help melt iron. Roots followed up the idea by designing the Roots blower , "now (1931) the leading product of the plant". The foundry superintendent

1950-596: The canal into Cambridge City from Connersville. From Cambridge City to Hagerstown the Canal was built by the Hagerstown Canal Company and was finished in 1847. The Whitewater Canal was a short venture, but it left a lasting mark on the communities it traveled through. The canal development project was funded under the Act of 1836 and was allotted $ 1,400,000 to build the canal through the Whitewater Valley. This

2015-463: The canal were washed out. The section between Harrison and Lawrenceburg was never rebuilt. This effectively ended the canal era in Lawrenceburg after only eight years of service, and only a few months after the canal was finished to Hagerstown. It was ten months before the canal was again operational north of Harrison. Debt incurred to finance repairs in 1847 were a serious problem for the rest of

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2080-523: The canals active history. The White Water Valley Canal Company was granted a charter by the Indiana General Assembly of 1825–26. The company was set up after the State of Indiana could no longer afford to finish the Whitewater Canal system. The White Water Valley Canal Company finished the canal through Cambridge City, Indiana . It constructed the Canal House at Connersville in 1842. The building

2145-502: The diversion dam near Laurel, Indiana that was rebuilt in the 1940s and provides water for the restored canal section in Metamora as well as the mill. The restored grain mill in Metamora which runs on water provided by the canal shows that transportation was not the only use of the canal. Hydro power was in use for many decades after the canal was closed as a transportation route and even was used to generate electricity in Connersville in

2210-778: The early part of the 20th century. The most visible area of the Whitewater Canal that exists today is in Metamora. This section from the Laurel Feeder Dam to Brookville was listed on listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 as the Whitewater Canal Historic District . The district encompasses 1 contributing building and 31 contributing structures. They include the Metamora Roller Mill, Laurel Feeder Dam, Duck Creek Aqueduct , and Millville Lock. Here

2275-530: The first Tuesday after the first Monday in January. During odd-numbered years the legislature meets for 61 days (not necessarily consecutively) and must be adjourned by April 30. During even-numbered years the legislature meets for 30 days (not necessarily consecutively) and must be adjourned by March 15. The General Assembly may not adjourn for more than three days without a resolution approving adjournment being passed in both houses. The governor has

2340-703: The first dedicated statehouse. In the 1830s, the Whigs split from the Democratic-Republicans in response to national policies. The Whigs held a strong majority in the General Assembly in that decade. In 1843, the remnants of the old slavery party had strengthened into the Democratic Party and swept into power, the Whigs never regained their majority and the Democrats maintained power until

2405-501: The former Whigs. That year the General Assembly was split with no party attaining a majority. The Democrats held the largest number of seats, but the Whigs and Republicans caucused to form a majority and control the assembly. The result was a deadlock on most issues because Republicans and Whigs could not agree on most major issues. By 1858, the Whigs were almost completely disempowered and the Republicans gained enough seats to become

2470-414: The governor. Each law passed by the General Assembly must be applied uniformly to the entire state; the General Assembly has no authority to create legislation that targets only a particular community. The General Assembly is empowered to regulate the state's judiciary system by setting the size of the courts and the bounds of their districts. The body also has the authority to monitor the activities of

2535-507: The issue of slavery, but they would develop more differences in later years. The Jennings party, made up of abolitionists, was dominant in the beginning. The Noble party was in favor of slavery, and the Hendricks party was generally neutral, although Hendricks himself was openly anti-slavery. In 1818, the Noble party tried to impeach Governor Jennings over his role in the negotiations of

2600-499: The largest party, but not enough to form a majority on their own. That year Governor Ashbel P. Willard called the first special session of the General Assembly because they had been unable to pass an appropriations bill. Democrats regained a small majority by gaining the votes of the disaffected Whigs in the 1860 election. During the 1860s and the American Civil War , the legislature was the scene of intense debate . At

2665-513: The late 1830s, but it was avoided when the General Assembly spun off the failing canals, and half of their debts, to private companies in 1841. The failure of the projects was the main factor in the Whig's loss of power. The state constitution had come under considerable criticism beginning in the 1840s because it allowed most government positions to be filled by appointment. The problem with this method of filling positions did not manifest itself until

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2730-443: The majority party. Senators and representatives can be members of multiple committees. Most legislation begins within the committees who have responsibility for the area that the bill will affect. Once approved by a committee, a bill can be entered into the agenda for debate and vote in the full chamber. Although not common, bills can be voted on by the full house without going through the committee process. Indiana legislators make

2795-419: The middle of the American Civil War . In 1836 the General Assembly passed the Mammoth Internal Improvement Act and set plans into motion to modernize the state's infrastructure . The wilderness of northern and central Indiana was slowly developed as the General Assembly approved the construction of roads, canals , railroads, and numerous other infrastructure projects. This led the state to near bankruptcy in

2860-532: The near bankruptcy of the state. In 1864, the Republicans gained a majority and convened the General Assembly to remedy the state's funding problems. During the 1880s and 1890s, Indiana industry began to grow rapidly because of the Indiana Gas Boom , leading to the creation of many labor unions and a return to Democratic control of the General Assembly. One of the events to occur during the period

2925-462: The podium to deliver the vetoed bill; one newspaper said Democrats and Republicans "fought like beasts of the forest." During those decades, the General Assembly enacted a series of laws to protect the rights of workers and encourage more industrial growth. The women's suffrage movement also began in the state and rallies were held in Indianapolis to support the female suffrage legislation that

2990-402: The same exhibition. In 1885, Edgar Dwight Johnston joined the firm of 30 people; he became vice president in 1889 and president in 1898, remaining so until at least 1931. At that time, the firm employed about 225 people. In 1900, Gottlieb Daimler patented a Roots supercharger for a car's internal combustion engine. In 1931, Roots Blower Company and Connersville Blower Company were bought by

3055-471: The second floor of the Indiana Statehouse and the House chambers are on the third floor. Indiana's first constitution was ratified on June 10, 1816, and the election of the first General Assembly took place on August 5 of that year. They convened in the original three-room statehouse located in Corydon . The body consisted of ten senators and twenty-nine representatives, sixteen of whom had been signers of

3120-436: The senators serve for a term of four years. The House of Representatives can contain no more than one hundred members, and the representatives serve terms of two years. There is no limit to how many terms a state senator or representative may serve. There are several checks and balances built into the state constitution that limit the power of the General Assembly. Other clauses allow the General Assembly to balance and limit

3185-401: The situation under control. A second bout of violence broke out in the 1894 regular session when Republicans locked the doors of the House chambers preventing Governor Claude Matthews from delivering a veto of a bill that repealed over a decade of Democratic legislation. The governor personally led fellow party members in beating down the door and unsuccessfully attempting to fight their way to

3250-404: The state courts which may rule the law to be unconstitutional , effectively repealing the law. The General Assembly could then override the court's decision by amending the state constitution to include the law. The General Assembly has historically been the most powerful branch of the state government, dominating a weak governor's office. Although the governor's office has gained more power since

3315-547: The state government being charged with various crimes and removing much of the Klan's power. In the 1930s, the General Assembly established the state's first general welfare programs to help the poor affected by the Great Depression . The General Assembly passed the nation's first DUI laws in 1939, establishing a blood alcohol level of .15 as the legal limit. The 1940s led to the first African American being elected to

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3380-475: The state in 1989. Governor Evan Bayh called a special session of the General Assembly in 1992 because no budget had been passed in the regular session. During the special session, the General Assembly passed the budget and also legalized the operation of riverboat casinos in the state, overriding the governor's veto to prevent it. The General Assembly passed property tax reform legislation in 2008, capping property taxes at one percent, making Indiana one of

3445-401: The state or federal government during their term. The candidate must also be a registered voter within the district they seek to represent. Candidates are required to file papers stating their economic interests. Article 4, Section 3, of the state constitution places several limitations on the size and composition of the General Assembly. The Senate can contain no more than fifty members, and

3510-506: Was a huge sum at the time and investors did not take out many loans due to the prediction that they stood to make considerable profit. It was the Mammoth Internal Improvement Act of 1836 that ended up straining the coffers of the State of Indiana. Indiana went bankrupt during the summer of 1839, and canal construction was halted until 1842. In November 1847 the Whitewater Valley flooded and many sections of

3575-436: Was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Hagerstown was supposed to be the northernmost terminus of the Whitewater Canal, but after the state went bankrupt, Hagerstown was forced to finance and construct its own canal to Cambridge City. The Hagerstown Canal Company completed an eight-mile (13 km) long canal between Hagerstown and Cambridge City in 1847. A connecting canal built to reach Cincinnati

3640-492: Was born in Oxford, Ohio on 28 October 1824 to Alanson Roots and Sylvia Yale. He married Esther E. Pumphrey on 8 October 1850. He died in Connersville on 25 October 1889. His brother Philander died in Connersville in 1879. 15.www.roots-blowers.com Whitewater Canal The Whitewater Canal , which was built between 1836 (188 years ago)  ( 1836 ) and 1847 (177 years ago)  ( 1847 ) , spanned

3705-403: Was built based on an 1834 survey conducted by Charles Hutchens. The design called for a canal seventy six miles long starting at Nettle Creek near Hagerstown and following the river valley through Connersville, Brookville and into Harrison, Ohio, then back into Indiana to finish at Lawrenceburg. In the 76 miles (122 km) the canal dropped 491 feet (150 m). This a very ambitious route as it

3770-529: Was discovered that the Indiana Branch of the Ku Klux Klan controlled over half the seats in the General Assembly. During the session, Grand Dragon D. C. Stephenson boasted "I am the law in Indiana". During the next two years, the federal government intervened, Stephenson was convicted of murder. After the governor refused to pardon him, Stephenson indicted his co-conspirators, leading to many of

3835-640: Was given the role of foundry foreman at Roots Blower. The Roots brothers patented the Roots Blower in 1860. In 1869 they were granted a patent by the United Kingdom Patent Office for the invention of "improvements in rotary blowing machines." In 1875, Roots exhibited a blower at the Saint Petersburg Exhibition; Thwaites and Carbutt exhibited a Roots principle "air blowing machine" for mine ventilation in

3900-497: Was known as the Cincinnati and Whitewater Canal. This canal was built by Ohio interests and went from Harrison to Cincinnati. It was completed in 1843 and replaced Lawrenceburg as the end of the line after the 1847 November flood. This stretch of canal closed in 1862 and was used as a railroad right-of-way at that time. A canal tunnel constructed to obviate a ridgeline at Cleves still exists, although badly silted up. Little

3965-492: Was one that authorized the General Assembly to meet annually instead of biennially. During the 1988 session, the Indiana House of Representatives was split evenly between both parties for the first time in Indiana's history. After a period of negotiations, both parties agreed to share majority powers, alternating which party controlled the position of speaker each day. The same General Assembly legalized horse racing in

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4030-517: Was quite steep and required the crossing of the Whitewater over an aqueduct at Laurel as well as several other streams of lesser size. The 491-foot (150 m) drop compares to the Erie Canal that dropped 500 feet (150 m) but did so in 300 miles (480 km). The Wabash & Erie Canal dropped 450 feet (140 m) in 460 miles (740 km) while the Chesapeake & Ohio dropped 538 feet (164 m) in 184 miles (296 km). That meant that

4095-624: Was suspended in August 1839 not to be resumed until 1842. In 1842, the state of Indiana transferred its ownership in the canal to the White Water Valley Canal Company which was required to complete the canal to Cambridge City in five years. By 1843 boats were arriving in Laurel. 1845 saw the canal operating into Connersville. The canal company was running out of money and borrowed from Henry Valette of Cincinnati to finish

4160-528: Was the Black Day of the General Assembly , a situation arising from Governor Isaac P. Gray 's desire to be elected to the United States Senate . Beginning with the state senate's refusal to seat a new lieutenant governor, fighting broke out in the chamber and spread throughout the statehouse. Shots were fired, and Democrats and Republicans threatened to kill each other before police could bring

4225-529: Was ultimately voted down in the General Assembly. During 1907, the General Assembly made Indiana the first state to enact eugenics legislation, and the law remained in effect until 1921. The law led to the forced sterilization of thousands of criminals until it was ruled unconstitutional by the Indiana Supreme Court in 1921. In 1921, Julia Nelson was the first woman elected to the Indiana General Assembly. Scandal erupted in 1925 when it

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