Family Hosted Wedding in Bosart Avenue Home

 

A Beautiful Day for a Wedding--Saturday, April 2, 1921

     Residents near the intersection of North Bosart Avenue and East New York Street likely noticed many cars parked along the nearby streets. By 3:00 PM, the sun was out and the temperature neared 60 degrees. It was a perfect day to host a wedding in Irvington. If the neighbors opened their windows at that hour they would have heard Elizabeth Engle's rendition of the bridal chorus on the Webster family piano at 131 North Bosart Avenue. Miss Engle took piano lessons from Edna Webster and it was time for her most important recital thus far. 

The Websters Move to Irvington

     Dana and Annie Dicks Webster first moved to Indianapolis from New England in 1906. Mr. Webster had been hired by the Aetna Insurance Company as a safety engineer. They first lived on North Central Avenue, but by 1916 the Webster family, including daughters Arline and Edna, moved into their newly-built home at 131 North Bosart Avenue. Today, we know this area of Irvington as the Bosart-Brown neighborhood. Mr. Webster's name appeared in newspapers all over the state of Indiana as he was in high demand as a guest speaker about worker safety. Mrs. Webster stayed home to raise their two daughters. She was an outstanding seamstress and during the war years she knitted for the Red Cross and later for Goodwill industries. Both Arline and Edna graduated from Arsenal Technical High School and Arline attended Purdue University. Later, long after both girls had moved out and married, Mr. Webster became upset by the tax increases upon his Bosart Avenue property and in 1938 he led a successful petition drive to lower the tax rate in the city. On this day, however, his mind was focused on his daughter, Edna and her soon-to-be husband, Thomas Shimer. 

Annie Dicks Webster wore a "Harding blue" dress on the day of her daughter's wedding in 1921. Both Mr. and Mrs. Webster, who were in their mid-forties, posed along their sidewalk at 131 North Bosart Avenue. Behind the couple, you can see the home of Agnes Haddow at 133 North Bosart Avenue and in the distance you can see the Morrow home at 4702 East York Street. (photo courtesy of Chris Shimer)

The Shimer Family Pre-dates the Founding of Irvington

     Edna Webster had been born in Connecticut, but her fiance, Thomas Shimer, had been born into a family who had lived in the area since the early nineteenth century. The Shimers owned farms along Brookville Road for decades. By 1921, they had sold off much of the land and lived in various houses along South Emerson Avenue. Nelson Shimer, the father of Thomas, was ten years old when founders, Jacob Julian and Sylvester Johnson, began buying land north of the Shimer farm for a planned community named Irvington. In his lifetime, he watched as developers and contractors built houses and commercial structures on former meadows and woodland. By 1921, Nelson had retired from farming as he was 61 years old. Mila Murphy Shimer had been busy on the farm as she helped raise nine children. For many decades the couple resided at 422 South Emerson Avenue so their commute to the Webster home would have been a short one.  

Nelson Shimer was 61 on the day of his son's wedding, while Mila was 59. They lived nearby on South Emerson Avenue. In this photo, they stood along the sidewalk belonging to the Webster family of 131 North Bosart Avenue. (photo courtesy of Chris Shimer)

Thomas Shimer and Edna Webster Marry

     With Miss Engle playing the piano, sixty guests crammed into the home attempted to watch as Edna Webster and Thomas Shimer took their vows in front of the fireplace at 131 North Bosart Avenue. The couple stood near lattice work buttressed by ferns. Greenery and flowers draped the nearby staircase and even from the hanging lights. Ralph Shimer, the groom's cousin, served as the best man while Arline Webster, Edna's older sister, served as the maid of honor. Both Thomas and Arline had graduated from Arsenal Technical School. Did they meet there? We do not know. Thomas served his country during World War One and had found work in the insurance industry upon his return. Following their honeymoon, the couple took up residence in the Spink-Arms Apartments at the southeast corner of East Washington Street and Downey Avenue. 

Thomas Shimer and Edna Webster married at her home at 131 North Bosart Avenue on April 2, 1921. The couple would eventually move into a bungalow at 5815 East New York Street in Irvington. (photo courtesy of Chris Shimer)

131 North Bosart Avenue along with 133 North Bosart and 4702 East New York Street on December 4, 2023. 102 years earlier, a wedding took place at this house. 

Sources:  I wish to thank Chris Shimer for his help with this post. About the actual day--"Wedding," Indianapolis News, April 2, 1921, 14; Mrs. Webster--"Annie Webster Dies at Hospital," Indianapolis News, July 26, 1957, 5; Mr. Webster and tax revolt--"Taxpayers Unite in Strong Demand for Heavy Slashes," Indianapolis News, August 31, 1938, 1. Federal Census Records for 1920; Polk's City Directory for 1916-1921.