Culbertson Mansion Timeline

1813 - Town of New Albany is founded in Indiana Territory.
1814 - William Stewart Culbertson is born in New Market, PA.
1816 - Indiana is admitted to the Union as the 19th state.
1835 - Culbertson moves to New Albany, Indiana's largest town. He began work
          as a clerk in a dry goods store owned by General Alexander Burnett.
1840 - William Culbertson marries Eliza Vance (1822 - 1865)
1841 - Their first child, William Arthur, is born.
        - The dry goods firm, "Culbertson & Bro.", is formed with William
            Culbertson's younger brother John.
1843 - A second son, John Vance, is born and dies 5 months later.
1847 - Their first daughter, Mary Julia, is born.
1848 - The Woman's Suffrage movement is launched in Seneca Falls, NY.
1849 - Another daughter, Frances Stuart, is born (she dies 2 years later).
         - "Culbertson & Bro." adds partner R.G. McCord to become "Culbertson
            Bros. & Co.".
1852 - A son, Charles Stuart, is born.
1854 - The utility company, New Albany Gas, Light, and Coke, is formed with
           Culbertson as its president.
1855 - A fourth son, Joseph Simpson, is born.
1857 - By this time, William S. and his brother John have brought their mother to
           New Albany and built her a house.
1859 - A third daughter, Anna Vance, is born.
1860 - Abraham Lincoln is elected President of the United States.
1861 - The Civil War begins.
1862 - A fifth son, Samuel Alexander, is born.
           Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation.
1863 - Culbertson purchases the land for his future mansion.
1865 - Eliza Vance Culbertson dies at age 43 of typhoid pneumonia.
         - The Civil War ends, and Lincoln is assassinated.
1867 - Culbertson marries widow Cornelia Warner Eggleston (1834 - 1880).
         - Construction on the Culbertson Mansion begins.
         - A son, Walter Stuart, is born to William S. and Cornelia (he dies 8 months
            later).
1869 - Culbertson Mansion is completed, and the first formal reception is held.
1870 - The tenth and last Culbertson child, Blanch Warner, is born.
1873 - Culbertson builds the Widow's Home.
1880 - Cornelia Culbertson dies of cholera.
1882 - Culbertson builds the Cornelia Memorial Orphan's Home.
1884 - Culbertson marries widow Rebecca Keith Spears Young (1846 - 1924).
1886 - The Culbertson-backed Kentucky & Indiana Railroad Bridge is completed.
1887 - The Citizen's Electric Light Co. of New Albany is incorporated, promising
           to light the streets within 6 months.
1892 - William Stuart Culbertson dies of congestive heart failure at age 78.
1899 - The Culbertson Mansion is sold at auction to John McDonald.
1946 - After John McDonald's death (1945), the mansion is sold to American
           Legion Post #28
1964 - Historic New Albany, Inc. purchases Culbertson Mansion, saving it from
           destruction (to build a gas station).
1976 - Historic New Albany, Inc. donates the Culbertson Mansion to the State of
           Indiana.
1980 - Exterior restoration of the Culbertson Mansion is begun to return the
           outside to approximately its 19th-century appearance.