Fire and Police Department Record

J.M. Vickroy & Co. published various broadsides and certificates, often catering to fraternal organizations, veterans of war, and genealogical interests. James M. Vickroy, born in Pennsylvania, had various occupations before he entered the publishing business. Sometime before 1880, he was working for the M.C. Lilly Co. of Columbus, Ohio, which produced swards and certificates for fraternal organizations. Such fraternal groups were a major social and political force in the US in the nineteenth century, as well as a lucrative source of income for a publishing house. In 1885, he and his wife Elizabeth Elnora Boore moved to Terre Haute, Indiana where they began to produce large certificates catering to these fraternal groups. The first lithograph was for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), and by 1904, he was the exclusive publisher of these charts for no less than 28 fraternal organizations. His company also extended out to publish pictorial war records for veterans, prints for local groups, fraternal textbooks, and genealogical certificates including “Family Record” and “Afro-American History Record.” James died in 1913 and the company continued to operate under his daughter Pearl for another two decades.