Early Photos of an Irvington Avenue Home

Florence and Marcia Doan, who grew up at 47 North Irvington Avenue, frequently played in the lot north of their home. Their father, Wilson Doan, was a prominent attorney who later sold one of his lots to his law partner, Charles Orbison around 1906. Before the sale of the lot, the Doans enjoyed the use of the wide open space. Photographs from 1903-05 show the girls playing in the lot with other neighborhood children and even enjoying a horse-driven wagon ride. Behind the kids in most of the photos, you can see the home of Jesse and Sarah Josephine Stuart Lowes at 59 North Irvington Avenue.

Jesse Lowes and Sarah Stuart married on November 23, 1892. Shortly after their marriage, the couple moved into their Irvington home around 1895. It is not known at this time if they built the house or if they are the second owners. The Indianapolis Journal noted in a "Society" snip in 1896 that the couple hosted some of Sarah's family from Acton, Indiana on Elm Avenue, the former name of Irvington Avenue. The couple had one daughter, Eunice Isabella, who likely played with Florence and Marcia next door.

Mr. Lowes first tried his luck as a grocer at 203 South Audubon Road along with Arthur L. Porter, but that partnership dissolved in 1900. He also became active in Republican Party politics and was one of the founders of the Irvington Republican Party Club. He worked for various Senators and even sold his Irvington Avenue home and moved to Washington DC with his family around 1905 to work in the US Senate. Upon his return to Indianapolis, the voters of Warren Township elected him as their Assessor in the 1920s.

Mrs. Lowes made headlines years later in 1925 when she testified at the murder trial of D.C. Stephenson, who was the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana. At the time, the Lowes lived on Hibben Avenue just behind the Stephenson home. Mrs. Lowes testified that she heard the screams of Madge Oberholtzer in the middle of night on March 17, 1925, along with the sounds of barking dogs, which belonged to Stephenson. Her testimony along with many others helped to convict the Klansman of murder.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Lowes passed away in 1945 while their daughter, Eunice, who married Kenneth Johnson, died in 1990 at the age of 97. Their former home at 59 North Irvington Avenue was later enlarged and cut into apartments. To learn about another family, who lived in the house from the 1920s to the 1940s, click on "Adams Family" link below.

Marcia and Florence Doan gathered on the front porch at 59 North Irvington Avenue c1904. The older lady is possibly Sarah Lowes and the young girl next to her is possibly Eunice Isabella Lowes.
(Photo courtesy of Jim and Ann Brown; Indiana Album)

Florence Doan, who is standing barefooted in the tall grass next to her home at 47 North Irvington Avenue pulls her sister Marcia and an unidentified boy in a wagon. Behind the kids, you can see an empty lot and the Lowes family home at 59 North Irvington Avenue in June of 1903. (Photo courtesy of Jim and Ann Brown; Indiana Album)

Marcia and Florence Doan, who lived at 47 North Irvington Avenue, posed in their side yard c1904. Behind the girls, you can see the Lowes home at 59 North Irvington Avenue complete with a windmill under construction in the backyard. In the far distance you can see the Ingersoll residence that used to stand at 5408 Lowell Avenue. (Photo courtesy of Jim and Ann Brown; Indiana Album)

Florence Doan pushes her sister Marcia in a wheelbarrow next to their family's home at 47 North Irvington Avenue (then called 27 North Elm Avenue) c1903. Behind the girls, you can 59 North Irvington Avenue (then called 37 North Elm Avenue). Jessse and Sarah Lowes lived in that house along with their daughter Eunice. Across the street, you can see the cottage located at 72 North Irvington Avenue. That house has been greatly modified over the years. (Photo courtesy of Jim and Ann Brown; Indiana Album)

Tall grass and weeds stands on an empty lot behind the Doan sisters on a summer's day most likely in 1903. The house most visible in the photo is that of 59 North Irvington Avenue. (Photo courtesy of Jim and Ann Brown; Indiana Album)

On a wintry day, the Doan sisters posed for a photograph near their front porch at 47 North Irvington Avenue c1903. Behind the sisters, you can see the house at 59 North Irvington Avenue. (Photo courtesy of Jim and Ann Brown; Indiana Album)

59 North Irvington has been enlarged over the years and converted into apartments. (photo taken in the winter of 2020)

    To see more images from the Indiana Album, click on the link below:
https://indianaalbum.pastperfectonline.com/randomimages

I wish to thank Jim and Ann Brown for their wonderful hospitality and assistance with these posts and the Indiana Album, a digital museum dedicated to capturing images from throughout the state including Irvington.

Sources:  1900 Federal Census; Obituary for Jesse Lowes, Indianapolis News, March 3, 1945, 14; Early house--Indianapolis Journal, July 19, 1896, 13; Mr. Lowes jobs--Indianapolis News, February 3, 1900, 13; Indianapolis News, December 15, 1903, 3; Mrs. Lowes and DC Stephenson Trial--Noblesville Ledger, November 3, 1925, 2.

Butler Basketball Team--1905

The Indiana College Athletic Association was in its infancy when Butler College (later University) joined in 1905. Coached by Edgar Wingard, the team had two winning seasons in 1904 (9-1) and in 1905 (7-3).  The men played against both local high schools like Shortridge and Manual and against colleges like Indiana University and Wabash College.  In this photograph, the squad posed with their coach and championship trophy. The only known names at this time are Coach Wingard (black suit) and John Kaylor Kingsbury (top row upper right).  Mr. Kingsbury was a talented athlete and student. He grew up at 348 North Layman Avenue and later became a physician. He made history in 1925 when in his role as a doctor he rushed to the bedside of Madge Oberholtzer, who had been brutally attacked by D.C Stephenson, the Grand Dragon of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan. As she grew weaker, he summoned a stenographer to take what would later be her deathbed confession. Her words helped to bring down not only Stephenson, but also the power of the Klan in the United States. In 1905, however, young Kingsbury knew nothing of these events as he was merely celebrating a great winning season at Butler College. Mr. Wingard left Butler in 1906 for the University of Pittsburg.

Butler College basketball squad in 1905 was coached by Edgar Wingard (black suit). John Kaylor Kingsbury is located in the top row and at the far right. We are currently searching for the names of the other players.  

The historic photograph is courtesy of Kelly Wheat, a descendant of John Kaylor Kingsbury. 

The Kingsbury Family Arrived Early to Irvington

James Goodwin Kingsbury (1831-1913) was a successful editor for both the Indiana Farmer and the Indianapolis Journal. Mr. Kingsbury spent his childhood and early career in western Indiana. He married Mary Layman and had three children with her. Sadly, she died at the age of 33 in 1870.  A daughter, Fannie, died in 1866.  With his two sons, James L. and Edward, he relocated to Marion County to start a new life. He eventually remarried and moved into three homes in Irvington with the first at 5860 Lowell Avenue followed by 98 North Layman Avenue, and then to 71 North Ritter Avenue. He was likely enthused about living in the community as he was an ardent Prohibitionist and Irvington was a dry village.  Many of his children, step children, and grandchildren continued to dwell in the area and became quite prominent. One grandson, Dr. John Kaylor Kingsbury, was a physician who had an office at East Washington Street and Ritter Avenue. Dr. Kingsbury became important in history as he was the physician to attend to the dying Madge Oberholtzer. Miss Oberholtzer had been brutally raped and assaulted by the D.C. Stephenson, the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana.

The elder Kingsbury, James Goodwin Kingsbury, lived to be 83 years old and with his fourth wife at his side, he died in his Ritter Avenue home in 1913.

James Goodwin Kingsbury was photographed by A.F. Wise in Crawfordsville, Indiana in 1857. 

James Goodwin Kingsbury wrote and edited the Indiana Farmer for decades. He was still working for the paper when he died in 1913. Family members assumed control of the publication upon his passing. 

Mary Layman married James G. Kingsbury. She died at age 33 in 1870 in Putnamville Indiana.  

Fannie and James Layman Kingsbury were the children of James G. and Mary L. Kingsbury. They posed for this photograph around 1863. Note how James was dressed as a little girl and he still had his curls. Dressing young boys in this manner was common in the nineteenth century. A.F. Wise of Crawfordsville, Indiana photographed the children.

Fannie Kingsbury was the daughter of James G. and Mary L. Kingsbury. She posed for photographer, A.N. Pierce of Lafayette, Indiana, most likely in 1862. Tragically, she died in 1866.  

James L. and Fannie Kingsbury c1865

James Layman Kingsbury was the son of James G. and Mary L. Kingsbury. His biological mother died when he was ten years old in 1870 so his step mother, Mary Taylor Kingsbury, raised him into adulthood. In this photograph taken around 1870, James posed for the photographer G. W. Apple of Indianapolis.  

James Layman Kingsbury c1874

In 1880, first cousins, Robert Layman Dorsey (left) and James Layman Kingsbury posed for this photograph by Frank M. Lacey

James Goodwin Kingsbury c1900

"A good likeness" is what James Goodwin Kingsbury wrote on the back of this novelty photograph in 1906. Mr. Kingsbury resided at 71 North Ritter Avenue at that point in his life.

James Goodwin Kingsbury c1902

One of the last photographs of James Goodwin Kingsbury occurred on May 3, 1909 when he sat for this photograph. Note the swastika symbol below his image before it became synonymous with evil.  

The historic images and newspapers clippings are courtesy of Kelly Wheat, a Kingsbury descendant.  

Lost Irvington: Downey Avenue Homes

Like many folks after a beautiful snowfall, Dick and Mildred Palmer grabbed their camera in the winter of 1947 to document the lovely moment. The couple resided in a small apartment at 55 South Downey Avenue along with their first child, Janet. Either Mr. or Mrs. Palmer snapped this photo most likely from a second story window. While they knew they were documenting a wintry scene, they had no idea at the time of course, that they were also capturing images of two Irvington homes that have been gone for many years.

The most visible home in the photo is that of 52  South Downey Avenue.  The unusual dwelling hosted some important Indianapolis residents over the years. City directories indicate that the home was built in 1901 for Amos and Mary Reynolds Butler and their five children. Mr. Butler was the Secretary to the Indiana Board of Charities. He was an avid birder and the local chapter of the Audubon Society would be named for him. He was also caught up, like many in his generation, in the eugenics movement. A trained scientist, Butler embraced the view at the time that some people were defective or "degenerate." His position with the Charity Board gave him great power. He believed that people labeled as "feebleminded" must not be allowed to marry or procreate.  Butler was a proponent of Indiana laws that called for the sterilization of women who might have mental illnesses, epilepsy, or mental deficiencies. Hundreds of Hoosier women in the twentieth century were forcibly sterilized. Butler played a strong role in that movement.  

As Mr. and Mrs. Butler began to age and their children started to move away, they started to lease part of their home. Throughout the 1920s, Merritt and Ann Harrison along with their daughter resided in part of the dwelling. Mr. Harrison was a skilled architect and actually designed the "new" Irvington Presbyterian Church in 1927 while living at 52 South Downey Avenue.  Others who dwelled in the home included the Linton, Parsons, and Blaase families. The house was torn down in 1958 to make room for a playground for the Our Lady of Lourdes School.  

The other home visible in the photo was of 28 South Downey Avenue. It was built in 1893 for David K. and Mary Carver. The couple moved to Irvington from Anderson. Mr. Carver, a veteran of the Civil War, had the distinction of being the first Republican ever elected in Madison County, Indiana. He served as sheriff in Anderson for a couple of terms. Mrs. Carver, while dwelling in Irvington, was an active club woman. Both spent the remainder of their lives in the home. They frequently leased rooms to various boarders. In the 1920s, the Marsh family resided in the home. Robert I. Marsh was an attorney for D. C. Stephenson, the Grand Dragon of Ku Klux Klan in Indiana. To learn more about his role in that episode of history, click on the Marsh family link below.  For most of its tenure, the large old home served as the convent for the Sisters of St. Francis, who taught at the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. The house was torn down in 2001 to make room for an addition to the Our Lady of Lourdes School. 

Today, on the former site of the Butler and Carver homes, children play kickball and attend classes at the nearby Catholic school. Most neighbors have forgotten the Butler home and soon the Carver residence/Convent shall also fade from memory. 

52 and 28 South Downey Avenue in 1947 (photo courtesy of Dick Palmer and Janet Chapman)

Amos Butler moved into 52 South Downey Avenue in 1901.(image courtesy of Butler family via Ancestry.com)

David Carver moved into 28 South Downey Avenue in 1893.  (image courtesy of Carver family via Ancestry.com)

To learn more about the role of Amos Butler in the eugenics movement read Robert Osgood's article in the Indiana Magazine of History titled, "The Menace of the Feebleminded: George Bliss, Amos Butler, and the Indiana Committee on Mental Defectives." (vol. 97, Issue 4, 253-77)  Information for the Carvers came from "David Carver Funeral to be at Home," Indianapolis News, May 20, 1915, 5; "Mrs. Mary Carver Dead," Indianapolis News, March 30, 1918, 13.  Dick Palmer and Janet Chapman provided the original historic photo for this story.  

A Young Attorney Defends D.C. Stephenson

George O. Cowan grew up in Decatur County, Indiana and graduated from Greensburg High School in 1915. In May of 1917, he became one of the first young men in that county to enlist in the U.S. army for service in World War I. He was likely wounded in the war as he joined the Disabled Veterans of America shortly after his return.

After Cowan mustered out of the military in 1919, he enrolled and graduated from Butler University and then the Indiana Law School in 1924. The timing of his admittance to the Marion County Bar landed at an ominous time in Indiana history. Just as he was starting his law career, David Curtis Stephenson, the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana and Ohio, was a rising force within Indiana politics. Stephenson had become a millionaire by selling Klan memberships, robes, and paraphernalia as thousands of Hoosiers joined the "pro-American" organization. Stephenson helped to get many politicians elected including Governor Ed Jackson and Indianapolis Mayor John Duvall. With his flush bank account, the Grand Dragon purchased the Graham home at 5432 University Avenue.

In a story now well-told and well-known, Stephenson kidnapped and brutally raped and attacked Madge Oberholtzer in the spring of 1925 on a train ride to Hammond, Indiana. Miss Oberholtzer, who dwelled nearby with her parents at 5802 University Avenue attempted suicide shortly after the attack by swallowing poison. The next morning Stephenson sobered up and brought the now dying Miss Oberholtzer back to Irvington. Unsure of what to do with her, his bodyguards eventually dropped her off at her home. She lived long enough to give a deathbed confession to authorities although she warned the police that Stephenson had bragged to her that he was "the law in Indiana."

Two local Irvington men served as attorneys for D.C. Stephenson including Robert I. Marsh of 28 Downey Avenue and George O. Cowan, who rented a duplex at 5020 Orion Avenue When detectives came to question Stephenson about Miss Oberholtzer at the Hotel Washington on April 2, 1925, it was Cowan who was alone with the Grand Dragon. When Stephenson needed $10,000 to post bail for him, it was Cowan who scraped together the money.

Neither lawyer was able to save Stephenson from his fate after Miss Oberholtzer's death. The sensational trial of the Klansman brought down the Governor of Indiana and numerous other politicians. It also ended the reign of power for the racist and anti-semitic organization. Ordinary Americans finally realized what they had been a part of and most no longer wanted anything to do with the Klan.  While his client headed to prison, George O. Cowan married Ella McClure on January 23, 1926.  He was 30 years old. For the first several years, they rented a small double at 5020 Orion Avenue in western Irvington. Perhaps he struggled to get back on his feet after being associated with one of the most infamous men in America. Did George Cowan subscribe to the ideology of the Klan? Did he attend the notorious Bacchanalias at the Stephenson home in the months before the Grand Dragon's arrest? He was obviously close to Stephenson, but how close?  His obituary in his hometown newspaper in 1955 spoke of none of this. The residents of Decatur County were clearly proud of their hometown boy as they spoke of him as being "prominent" and involved with lawsuits related to the trucking industry.

Cowan graduated from the Indiana Law School in 1924

Mr. Cowan lists 325 North Ritter Avenue in Fellow Citizens of Indianapolis, but there is no such address, nor is there a 325 South Ritter Avenue. City directories reveal that he rented a duplex at 5020 East Orion Avenue in 1926.  

5020-22 Orion Avenue on snowy January day in 2016

Sources:

William Lutholtz. Grand Dragon: D.C. Stephenson and the Ku Klux Klan. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue Press. 1991, pp.190,191, 197,198.

Greensburg Daily News, February 9, 1955.

Kingsbury Home on Layman Avenue

James L. Kingsbury and his wife Minnie likely moved into 348 North Layman Avenue in the late nineteenth century.  Mr. Kingsbury's father lived around the corner at 71 North Ritter Avenue.  The elder Kingsbury published a newspaper in Crawfordsville and eventually moved operations to Indianapolis in the 1870s.  Upon James G Kingsbury's passing in 1913, his son, James L. Kingsbury  took control of the Indiana Farmer.  James L. Kingsbury would later serve two terms in the Indiana House of Representatives as Irvington's legislator in the 1920s. A loyal Republican, James L. Kingsbury also served as the Warren Township Assessor in his elder years.

Minnie and James L. raised their two sons, John Kaylor and Layman Dwight Kingsbury, in the beautiful two-story Gothic Revival home in northern Irvington. The Kingsburys possessed a large tract of land and had lovely orchard. They remained in the home until their deaths in the 1940s and 1950s.  Their oldest son, John, became a physician and would make history as the doctor who took the death bed confession of Madge Oberholtzer, a woman who was brutally raped and attacked by the powerful Ku Klux Klan leader, D.C. Stephenson, in 1925.  Her words helped to bring down the KKK in Indiana and in America.

Kingsbury Family Portrait:  James L. Kingsbury can be seen standing next to a tree in the center of the photo. Standing in front of him, you can see John Kaylor Kingsbury. Nearby, stood Layman Dwight Kingsbury. Presumably Minnie Kingsbury is one of the ladies in the photo, but which one? The older lady standing at the far right might be Mrs. Kaylor, the mother of Minnie Kaylor Kingsbury.  (c1905)

Kingsbury home and orchard (c1900)

 
To see a contemporary photo of 348 North Layman Avenue, click on the link below. The historic images are courtesy of the Larry Muncie Collection Irvington Historical Society.

The Grahams of the Graham-Stephenson House

William H. H. Graham, a prominent attorney from Kentland, Indiana, moved to Irvington in 1889.  He and his wife Ellen McLeod Graham built their dream home in that year at 5432 University Avenue.  Mr. Graham, a Civil War veteran, was very involved with the Disciples of Christ.  The organization would later name a chapel after him at their headquarters at 222 Downey Avenue.  The Grahams had several children, all of whom would go on to successful careers.

Two tragedies struck the family within a four-year time span.  Mr. Graham passed away in 1906 leaving Mrs. Graham a widow and alone in a very large home.  Her daughter and son-in-law moved in with her shortly after Mr. Graham's death at age 65.  Then, Mrs. Graham received horrible news during the summer of 1910 that her son Ernest had died under mysterious circumstances.  The young man worked for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as a general engineer.  He had graduated from Butler University in 1900 and had impressed his employer.  The company gave the young man the task of supervising the construction of a bridge over the Monongahela River in West Virginia.  While walking ahead of the rest of the management team, Ernest vanished from view. His brother-in-law, Luther Eldridge, immediately began looking for him and could hear him moaning down in a deep ravine. By the time rescue crews could reach him, he had fallen into a coma and later died. West Virginia authorities were unable to determine if he merely slipped or if he was pushed.  His devoted friend and brother-in-law brought the body back to University Avenue where the family held a memorial service on August 6, 1910.

Mrs. Graham continued to dwell in the large home.  She invited her sister, Sophronia, to live with her and she occasionally rented out rooms.  In 1920, a teacher by the name of Frances Darracot lodged in the mansion with the two sisters.  By the early 1920s, Mrs. Graham was in her seventies and the home became too much for her so she rented it out to a Butler University sorority and moved in with her daughter, Mary Place, at 5452 Lowell Avenue.  Although she did not want to part with the family home, she finally came to terms that she would have to sell the property. When David Curtis Stephenson approached her with a tempting offer, she sold the place to the powerful leader of the Ku Klux Klan. How much she knew about the man is unclear, but her decision to sell to Stephenson would place her beautiful house into infamy.  One can only speculate on what she must have thought of the sordid events that would unfold in her former home. Amazingly, Mrs. Graham would live to the ripe old age of 93  She passed away in 1940.

The Graham Home in 1905:  Local historian, Larry Muncie, printed this photo from the original glass negative. Notice the beautiful setting and the former porch.  

Kappa Kappa Gama rented the Graham home in the early 1920s.

Scene of the crime in 1925:  Ku Klux Klan leader, David Curtis Stephenson, removed the tasteful porch and placed pretentious columns on the front of 5432 University Avenue.  He would later be convicted of the rape and murder of local Irvingtonian, Madge Oberholtzer.  His conviction ended the reign of the Klan in Indiana and really in the US.

The historic photos are courtesy of Larry Muncie, Amy Friedly, and the Indianapolis Star.

Graham-Stephenson Home Damaged by Fire

Smoke bellowed from the rafters above the porch of the Graham-Stephenson home on September 1, 2012.  Quick work by local firefighters helped to contain the blaze to the attic.  An unidentified person at the scene helping with cleanup, reported that "everything is under control."  Although the dwelling developed an infamous legacy in the 1920s, as the home of D.C. Stephenson, the Grand Dragon of Ku Klux Klan, it began life with the Graham family.  The Grahams were pillars in Irvington and very involved with local charities.  For a brief stint, the house served as home for a local Butler University sorority.

Update:  Local media outlets are reporting that the blaze started when the homeowner attempted to burn a nearby pine tree.  The fire then spread into the home.

Fire-damaged eaves at 5432 University Avenue

D.C. Stephenson Home in 1925

Kappa Kappa Gamma Home in 1920.  Stephenson would add the huge columns.  

Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority--5432 University Avenue

Before it was known as the infamous D.C. Stephenson Home (Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in the mid-1920s), 5432 University served as the private residence for the Graham Family. By the early 1920s, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority leased the home. In these photos taken around 1920, the young ladies pause for three photos. Notice that porch used to be very tasteful. Stephenson had the porch ripped off when he purchased the dwelling and added two-story columns to resemble a plantation. You may read more about his era by clicking on "DC Stephenson" below.

In the top photo, the entire Kappa membership gathered for an exterior photo. The two remaining photos show some of the members in two of the parlors. Note the wonderful light fixtures, dark woodwork, and heavy furniture. These images are courtesy of Amy Friedly.

Graham-Stephenson Home

Irvington's most infamous landmark is the D.C. Stephenson Home. In the 1920s, Indiana and the nation came under the grip of the Ku Klux Klan. The Governor of Indiana and many other politicians fell under the sway of Irvington's most notorious resident. A millionaire, Stephenson added the columns onto the Graham family's home. Mr. Graham had been a prominent minister and his family was greatly respected in Irvington. The house at 5432 University Avenue was photographed for the Indianapolis Star while Stephenson stood for trial in the rape and murder of an Irvington woman named Madge Oberholtzer. The trial became a national sensation and Stephenson's conviction helped to end the power of the Klan in Indiana and around the nation. This photograph was taken in 1925.