Neighbor to Neighbor Holiday Greetings--1915

William E. M. and Pearl Hackleman first moved into their beautiful home at 5438 Lowell Avenue in 1908.  Mr. Hackleman had earned his fortune by writing Christian hymns.  Two doors down at 5452 Lowell Avenue lived a good friend, the Reverend Ennis Barney and his wife, Effie.  Mr. Hackleman and Mr. Barney were of like minds on many issues especially Prohibition.  The Reverend Barney was Superintendent of the Indianapolis Anti-Saloon League.  Mr. Hackleman sat on the board of the same organization.  Both men could breath easily in Irvington in 1915 because the town fathers had decreed in 1870 that Irvington would be a "dry" community.  (a covenant until 2000!)   The two men fought heavily for a constitutional ban on alcohol in the United States and eventually won.  It is likely that many of their Irvington neighbors agreed with their stance although these men likely noted that the parishioners of the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church allowed alcohol at their festivals!

On December 23, 1915, William Edward Michael Hackleman pulled up a chair somewhere in his beautiful home and sat down to write his friends and associates holiday notes.  One of those recipients was his neighbor, the Reverend Ennis M. Barney.  He could have dropped the card off at his house but that would have not been considered proper in 1915. At some point, a member of the Barney family would have stopped by the Irvington Post Office (5501 East Washington Street) to pick up the mail and  among their other holiday cards they would have found this nice note from Mr. Hackleman.  To learn more about the biography William E. M. Hackleman, click on the link below.

William E. M. Hackleman and his wife and family dwelled at 5438 Lowell Avenue in 1915.  This is the house as it appeared in a Butler University yearbook in 1924

Prohibitionist, Christian Hymn composer, and pillar in Irvington, William E. M. Hackleman died in a car crash in 1927.

The recipient of the card, the Reverend Ennis Barney and his family dwelled at 5452 Lowell Avenue.  Mr. Barney was Superintendent of the Indianapolis Saloon League

The historic Christmas card is courtesy of Susan Gulde.