Irvington Brownie Troop Photo--c1942

When Ann Schmidt of 5702 Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive joined a local Brownie Troop in the early 1940s, she became part of a tradition that had been in the neighborhood for decades. Her particular group met at the Irvington Methodist Church. The girls gathered regularly and usually made some kind of craft. Ann Schmidt Brown still has a sunflower pin cushion she created as a Brownie over seventy years later.

In this photo, we have identified several of the girls, but not all. If you know of additional names for this photo, please contact me at williamfranklingulde@gmail.com. We are estimating the date to be 1942, but let us know if we are off on the date as well.

Front row:  (left to right) Marianne Baker, Dianne Hoffman; Second Row (left to right): Marilyn Moffett, ?. Ann Schmidt, Alice Aldrich, ?,?, Cassie Armstrong, Judy Wurster, ?, ?; Third Row (left top): ?, Janet Paxton, Lou Ann Bischof, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?; Top Row (left to right): Babs Fry, Dorothy Gerstner. Carol Kendrick,  Barb Swengel, Betty Cowell, ?, ? (photo courtesy of Ann Schmidt Brown and Doreen McGuire Crenshaw)

A special thank you to Ann Schmidt Brown and Doreen McGuire Crenshaw who opened their scrapbooks and memories to me.

An Oak Avenue Home--1911

Dawson C. and Ida Belle Kile moved into their brand new home at 5921 Oak Avenue in 1911. Mr. Kile, who was 34 years old at the time, had lived part of his life in a house with his parents, Oliver and Sarah Kile, under the giant oak tree (now called the Kile Oak) on Beechwood Avenue. The younger couple were able to purchase the triangular lots on Oak Avenue because they belonged to the Frys, who were related to the Kiles. The house, fashioned in the American Four Square design, was a very popular style in the U.S. in 1911.  On the back of the photo, a realtor or family member described the interior of the home. Downstairs, the Kiles could enjoy a brick fireplace in the living the room with a coal grate.  The first floor also included a library, a dining room, the kitchen, and a pantry. The lower level had beautiful hardwood floors. Four bedrooms with "large" closets and a bathroom occupied the second floor. The builder attached city water and included a coal furnace that pumped warm air into the home on cold days.

The price of the home in 1911 or perhaps in 1913 was $5000 although the seller was willing to go down to $4500.  The Kiles moved from Irvington in 1913 so it is possible that this photo was used to try to sell the house at that time. It must have worked as the Evans family moved in and remained until 1918.

Dawson C. Kile worked as a railway mail clerk for the Pennsylvania Railroad for 37 years. He serviced various parts of the line from Pittsburg to St. Louis during his long tenure with the company. The couple had one biological son who survived into adulthood, John Albert Kile,  but he died at age 20 from malaria after they had moved to Ohio. The couple also adopted many foster children over the years. The Kiles left Irvington for Zanesville, Ohio after only living in this home for two years. The beautiful photo of their home shows the house before some of the later alterations occurred including a sizable rear addition. Mr. Kile's sister, Mae, continued to reside in the family home two blocks south on Beechwood until the early 1970s.  Ida Belle Kile passed away in 1948 while Dawson Kile lived until 1967.

Dawson and Ida Kile moved into this American Four Square at 5921 Oak Avenue in 1911. By 1913, they had moved to Zanesville, Ohio. Other families to reside here over the years included the Evans, Whiteman, Shirey, Kramer, Fee, Collins,  Pedigo, and Thomas families. (Photo courtesy of the Irvington Historical Society)

Most likely in 1913 when the Kiles were putting the home on the market, someone wrote all of these details about the residence on the back of the photograph.  (Photo courtesy of the Irvington Historical Society)

I wish to thank Paula Schmidt of the Irvington Historical Society for loaning me this wonderful image. 

Sources:  Information about the purchase of the lots came from the Indianapolis Star, May 23, 1905 and the Indianapolis News, March 19, 1907, 8) Other useful information came from the obituaries of Dawson, Ida Belle, and John Albert Kile.

Rushville Couple Move to Irvington

     Carl V. Nipp (1876-1939) grew up in Rushville, Indiana. A talented student, he later graduated from Indiana University and the University of Michigan Law School. He returned to his hometown and opened a law practice eventually serving as the Deputy Prosecutor for the Rush-Shelby County Circuit. He married Ethel Fry (1881-1963), who dwelled on a farm near Raleigh in northern Rush County. The popular couple frequently made the news in Rushville for their travels and gatherings. They lived in a fashionable part of the city and attended the Main Street Christian Church. When a train they were riding on near Muncie was robbed on April 5, 1911, the Rushville Republican carried the story on the front page with quotes from Mr. Nipp, who had to turn over his valuables. Mrs. Nipp gave birth to their two sons, Carroll and Francis, and it appeared as if the couple would spend the rest of their lives in that city, but then Mr. Nipp had another idea.

     In 1922, the Nipps bought a home at 27 South Arlington Avenue in Indianapolis from the Campbell family when Mr. Nipp took a job as an agent for the Continental Insurance Company. Their Rushville friends were likely surprised, but the Nipps never returned. In fact, Mrs. Nipp's mother, Mary Fry Clifton, moved with them to Irvington. In 1926, Mr. Nipp submitted a photograph for a publication called Fellow Citizens of Indianapolis. His business was doing well.  Carroll, their oldest son, eventually married and moved around the corner on Dewey Avenue. He also went into the insurance business. Their second son, Francis, moved to Lansing, Michigan where he became an English professor at Michigan State University.

     The family seems to have weathered the Great Depression and the Nipps continued to dwell in their Arts and Crafts bungalow on Arlington Avenue. The couple could easily visit family in Rushville by either catching a train or merely driving down Highway 52. Tragedy struck the family on May 8, 1939, when Mr. Nipp was involved in a terrible auto accident on Highway 37 near Martinsville. He survived the initial crash, but succumbed at age 63 from his injuries a few weeks later. His hometown had not forgotten him and his death made front-page news in the Rushville Republican. Mrs. Nipp continued to dwell in their Irvington home with her mother.  In July of 1943, Mrs. Fry, the mother of Mrs. Nipp, passed away in the house on Arlington Avenue.  Ethel Nipp was not completely alone however, as she eventually went to live with her son and his family on Dewey Avenue.

Source: Indiana University School Yearbook, 1895

Fellow Citizens of Indianapolis, 1926

Building permits reveal that 27 South Arlington Avenue was constructed in the summer of 1915 for James C. Douglas. The Nipps purchased the home in the early 1920s.  (Photo taken on March 27, 2018)

Sources:  Obituary for Mr. Nipp, Indianapolis Star, May 21, 1939, 14; Rushville Republican, May 20, 1939, 1;  Train Robbery--"Local Man Was There," Rushville Republican. April 6, 1911, 1. Obituary for Mary Fry Clifton, National Road Traveler (Cambridge City, Indiana), July 24, 1943, 7.