A Snowy Day at the Corner of North Ritter Avenue and Michigan Street

      Little Gladys Hackleman, the youngest granddaughter of Americus and Mary Jane Conner, posed along the sidewalk on a snowy day in front of 340 North Ritter Avenue in 1913. Her mother, Pearl Conner Hackleman, likely pulled her in the wagon from their home located nearby at 5438 Lowell Avenue.

     While Gladys, with her basket full of snow, might have been the subject of the photo, behind her you can see the two residences located at 351 and 345 North Ritter Avenue. Both of these homes have stories to tell.

Gladys Hackleman of 5438 Lowell Avenue sits in front of 340 North Ritter during the winter of 1913. Behind her you can see 351 and 345 North Ritter Avenue as well as a glimpse of 5514 East Michigan Street. (photo courtesy of Anne Gribble Spurgeon)

     351 North Ritter Avenue: A Young Couple Moves into Their Dream Home

     Gilbert and Stella Laymon watched patiently as their new home was erected on the southeast corner of North Ritter Avenue and Michigan Street in 1909. They had been renting a home across the street for several months. Dr. Laymon was only 29 years old and running a  thriving dental business. The couple had two children, Ruth and Russell, who likely knew the older siblings of Gladys Hackleman. Perhaps they had also been out playing in the snow on that winter's day. On July 25, 1909, the Indianapolis Star featured the Laymon home at 351 North Ritter Avenue complete with a photo of the house and floor plans. The residence had been constructed by the Home Building and Realty Company for $3,500. David A. Coulter, the president of the company, built dozens of custom homes like this one throughout the city. His creations were frequently featured in the Sunday papers. 

     The new Laymon home contained beamed ceilings, a fireplace with built-in bookcases, beautiful interior columns, and oak and mahogany woodwork. The 1910 Federal Census reveals that the family also employed a seventeen-year-old live-in servant named Floy (possibly Flora) Blankenship. Despite their apparent upper middle-class status in a charming home and in a desirable neighborhood, the Laymons left Irvington for Miami Beach in 1918 where Dr. Laymon served as one of the earliest dentists to operate in that newer community. They spent the rest of their lives in Florida. 

The Laymon home appeared in the Indianapolis Star on July 25, 1909.

351 North Ritter Avenue in the winter of 2020 (photo courtesy of Amy Hall)

     345 North Ritter Avenue: Tragedy Follows Tragedy

     If I had been writing a fictional novel about the two-story Arts and Crafts bungalow located at 345 North Ritter Avenue, most would have said that the following story would have been implausible. How could so much tragedy exist within the walls of one residence? I have been researching and writing this blog for eleven years and I have never encountered such a story.

      Walter and Nora Burns along with their four children moved into 345 North Ritter Avenue in late 1912. The home had been newly-built and it must have been exciting to move into the pleasant dwelling. All six members of the Burns family could have peered out their window in the winter of 1913 to see little Gladys Hackleman riding in her wagon across the street. How could they know that the world and their family was about to change? 

     The United States avoided entry into World War I until 1917. Dozens of young Irvington men enlisted or were drafted into service and shipped to Europe. Paul and Victor Burns of 345 North Ritter Avenue answered the call of duty. Paul, the younger of the two, was gassed in France, but survived the attack. His father, an editor for the Indiana Daily and later other Indianapolis newspapers, published his letters in the local papers. Paul recovered from the attack and was sent to a small village near Paris to load munitions. In August of 1918, he died after a tragic accident. The news must have been devastating for the Burns family. On October 8, 1918, as the war was winding down, Victor Burns died as a result of injuries he suffered in a battle. Instead of two blue stars hanging in their window, the family now displayed two gold stars. 

      At the same time that the Burns brothers were fighting and dying in Europe, a terrifying disease, the Influenza, began to sweep the world peaking in 1918. Margaret Burns, the seventeen-year-old daughter of Walter and Nora became sick with the dreaded illness. Her health deteriorated and newspapers of the time noted that the Burns family made frequent trips to Arizona most likely to help with her breathing. She lingered for two years and died at the Ritter Avenue home on November 27, 1920. 

     Marie Burns was now the only surviving child. In 1917, she married Varian Parker and the newlyweds moved into the family home on Ritter Avenue. The Burns family could not catch a break. Young Varian became ill and died on July 17, 1923, after an operation. For Mr. Burns it was too much. He had lost his sons, his daughter, and now his son-in-law. He went into the basement of the family home and attempted suicide. Two weeks later he died from his wounds. 

     Mrs. Burns and her daughter did their best to move on in life. They joined the American Legion Auxiliary and stayed active in the Irvington Methodist Church. Mrs. Burns passed away first in 1938 at the age of 66 leaving Marie Parker all alone at the Ritter Avenue home. She died in 1943 at the age of 52. Her obituary noted that she only had two surviving aunts and one uncle. 

Gladys Hackleman posed for this photo in front of her grandparents' home at 340 North Ritter Avenue in the winter of 1913. (photo courtesy of Anne Gribble Spurgeon)

345 North Ritter Avenue via Google Streetview, July 2019

     Now, dear reader, if you think that this ends the saga of a tragic house history, you would be mistaken. In 1943, the Ragsdale family moved into the home. In a shocking turn of events, two of the Ragsdale sons died in World War II. In 1944, the photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt came to Irvington for Life magazine. He was there on assignment to photograph local residents who were interviewed about their thoughts on what should be done with the Germans and Japanese after the war. His photos reveal the anguish of several local families including that of Mr. and Mrs. John Ragsdale, who sat on their front porch for the interview. You may read and see photos of other families in the link below. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ragsdale were photographed by the famous photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt, on their front porch at 345 North Ritter Avenue in 1944 for Life magazine. 

Link to Life magazine article about Irvington families during World War II below:

Life Magazine

     I would like to thank Anne Gribble Spurgeon for access to scans from her family's scrapbooks. She is the great great granddaughter of Americus and Mary Jane Conner, the great granddaughter of William E.M. and Pearl Conner Hackleman, and the granddaughter of Wayne and Grace Hackleman Carson. 

Sources:  Laymon family--"Building Permit," Indianapolis News, March 6, 1909; "How Others Have Built," Indianapolis Star, July 25, 1909; "Dr. Gilbert Laymon," (obituary), Miami News, January 8, 1944; "$17,750 Left to Children," (death of Stella Laymon), Miami News, September 23, 1945. Burns family--"Paul E. Burns Gives His Life on Battlefield," Indianapolis Star, August 13, 1918, 1; Victor Burns--"Dies at Front," Indianapolis Star, November 1, 1918, 1; "Miss Margaret Burns Dies," Indianapolis Star, November 28, 1920; Obituary of Varian Parker--Indianapolis News, July 17, 1923; Death of Walter Burns--"Only Two Members Left of Walter L. Burns Family," Indianapolis News, April 16, 1924, 10; "Tribute is Paid to Walter Burns," Indianapolis Star, April 19, 1924, 11; "Mrs. Nora Burns Succumbs at 66," Indianapolis Star, March 31, 1938, 4; "Funeral Services Today for Mrs. Marie Parker," Indianapolis Star, August 12, 1943, 12;