The Highs and Lows of an Irvington Family on Lowell Avenue

    Editor's Note: This post contains mention of self harm.  

     In the spring of 1895, Daniel and Edith Lesley along with their two children, Royden and Mary, moved into a two-story frame home located at 5716 Lowell Avenue. Their lovely property with a wrap-around front porch was featured in a publication called The Indiana Woman in 1897. Their biggest legacy to the community is the nearby street named for them. 

A very early photo of the Lesley home at 5716 Lowell Avenue (photo courtesy of Ron Flick and Charlotte Ottinger)

     Daniel Lesley was a relentless entrepreneur. He had his hand in several ventures. He was part owner of a coal mine near Edwardsport, Indiana and he helped to develop an electric rail line from Indianapolis to Martinsville. The state of Indiana employed him as an accountant. He also bought and sold real estate. He became one of the most important people in the community when he agreed to serve on the Irvington School Board in 1895. He was first elected secretary of the board and then treasurer. In the wee hours of December 16, 1898, he was likely awakened with the surprising news that the beautiful Second Empire style school located across the street from the Irving Circle Park had burned to the ground. Mr. Lesley and other members had to deal with finding temporary classrooms for the children and then hiring an architect for a new school. 

Daniel Lesley (upper right) posed with his brothers Amos, Jacob, and Reuben for this photograph in the late nineteenth century. (photo courtesy of the Lesley family descendants via Ancestry.com)

      Edith Lesley was a society woman. She involved herself in numerous clubs. For instance, on March 17, 1899, she invited members of the Shakespeare Coterie to her residence for a buffet luncheon. She decorated the dining room in red and green colors. She also employed a local artist named Florine Williams to paint various watercolor sketches representing the principal characters from The Merchant of Venice. After visiting France in the summer of 1899, she formed a local French club. She sang in the church choir at the Downey Avenue Christian Church. As a Butler alum, she hosted the Catherine Merrill Club. She knew all of the powerful women in the neighborhood. And then something happened that still needs clarification. As Mrs. Lesley was getting ready for another social event at the home on April 9, 1900, she got into some kind of altercation with a servant named Ellen Thaldorf. In a lawsuit that made the Indianapolis newspapers, Ms. Thaldorf alleged that Edith Lesley threw hot coffee on her causing extensive burns on her neck. She demanded $500 from the Lesleys for her injuries. What really happened in the kitchen on that spring morning? So far, I have been unable to find out how the judge ruled on the case. 

Edith Lesley as she appeared in the Indiana Woman, August 7, 1897, Page 10

     Mrs. Lesley put the scandal behind her and kept up her relentless club schedule. Scarcely a month went by in the early twentieth century that she wasn't hosting or attending meetings. Ever the businessman, Daniel Lesley placed an ad in the Indianapolis Journal on October 26, 1902, announcing that he had formed a new company called Pine Mountain Mica and Asbestos Company. He listed himself as the president. Five days later, the couple threw a huge masquerade Halloween Party at their home. Soon, Mr. Lesley turned his business interests to the West. He started investing in gold mining in both Arizona and Oregon. The family kept their Lowell Avenue home, but started to spend more time away from Irvington. While they were gone, the couple leased their pretty house to various people including the Marshall family. 

1908: A Year of Shocking Tragedies for the Lesleys 

     On February 2, 1908, Edith Lesley announced via the Indianapolis Star that she and her daughter Mary would be joining her husband and son who were living in Oregon.  Nearly four months after they arrived in the small village of Jacksonville, Edith and Mary received the shocking news on May 26 that Daniel Lesley had died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 59 near the gold mine forty miles from the nearest town. An employee had to bring his body back to the village via horseback. Edith Lesley buried her husband in a cemetery in the nearby village. Then, she had to figure out her next step. Meanwhile, more horrifying news awaited her back in Irvington. 

     First, she learned that on September 10, 1908, a rubbish fire burned out of control and spread to the Lesley family barn. The Irvington Fire Department was able to save the structure. Then, a more horrifying event took place inside the house on Lowell Avenue on December 3, 1908. Her boarder, Harlan P. Marshall, age 42, waited for his kids to go to school and for his wife to go shopping in downtown Indianapolis. He had been struggling with tuberculosis and likely from depression. He cut down a clothes line and hanged himself inside the house. Carrie Marshall found her husband and enlisted a neighbor to try to save him, but it was too late. 

     Mrs. Marshall and her children moved out of the home. Edith then had to face her next issue. Could she move back into that house? The answer arrived the following year when her daughter Mary Lesley married James Melville Abbett. He took out a building permit and remodeled the Lesley home. The young couple along with Edith moved back into the Lowell Avenue house where they remained for two years. They sold the home to the Parker family for $10,000 on April 4, 1911. The Lesley era in Irvington had come to an end. Edith and the Abbetts moved to California. 

Harlan Marshall sat for this portrait as a young man long before he married and started a family. He worked as a manager for the Remington Typewriter Company in Indianapolis while living at 5716 Lowell Avenue. One can almost see the sadness in his eyes. (Photo courtesy of the Marshall family descendants via Ancestry.com) 

Carrie Marshall outlived her husband by decades. She had to pick up the pieces after his untimely death and raise their two children. (photo courtesy of the Marshall family descendants via Ancestry.com) 

5716 Lowell Avenue, Summer, 2026

Sources:  Daniel Lesley's Business Ventures--Edwardsport Coal--Vincennes Sun-Commercial, June 15, 1899, p. 1;  "The New Electric Road," Indianapolis News, July 19, 1899, p. 7; Asbestos Company--Indianapolis Journal, November 2, 1902, p. 17; Oregon--"Indiana Men Back Oregon Canal Building, Indianapolis News, October 2, 1905, p. 17; Arizona--"Incorporations," Indianapolis Star, November 2, 1907, p. 7; Daniel Lesley on Irvington School Board--Indianapolis News, June 11, 1895, p. 2; Edith Lesley Club Meetings--Indianapolis News, May 30, 1895 p. 10; Indianapolis Journal, September 6, 1896, p. 16; Shakespeare Club--Indianapolis News, March 18, 1899, p. 8; France and French Club--Indianapolis News, July 1, 1899, p. 8 and Indianapolis Journal, August 13, 1899, p. 11; School Issues/Fire--Indianapolis News,  March 25, 1899, p. 3; Lawsuit by Ellen Thaldorf--"Mrs. Lesley Sued," Indianapolis Journal, April 15, 1900, p. 8; Halloween Party--Indianapolis Journal, November 2, 1902; Daniel Lesley death--"D.W. Lesley's Death," Indianapolis News, June 4, 1908, p. 11; Harlan Marshall Suicide--Indianapolis Star, December 10, 1908, p. 5 and The Star Press (Muncie, IN), December 9, 1908, p. 2; Building permit to remodel house--Indianapolis Star, April 6, 1909, p. 4; Sale of the home--"Real Estate Transfers," Indianapolis Star, April 4, 1911, p. 11; Federal Census Records for 1900 and 1910.