A Young Couple Moved into a New House on Lowell Avenue in 1912

      On Wednesday evening, May 15, 1912, dozens of guests arrived at the Goe family home on South Ritter Avenue to witness the marriage of Theodore Kingsbury to Cornelia Goe. Their union brought together two very prominent Irvington families. Theodore was the seventh son of James G. Kingsbury, the publisher of the Indiana Farmer. Theodore hardly knew his biological mother as she died when he was two years old. His stepmother, Kate Gunckel Kingsbury, helped to raise him in homes on Lowell and Layman Avenues along with his stepsister, Edna Gunckel. At the time of his marriage, he worked for his father at the Indiana Farmer.

     Cornelia Goe was the daughter of Hezekiah and Cornelia Farnsworth Goe of 128 South Ritter Avenue. She had two brothers and two sisters. She graduated from Emmerich Manual High School and later attended Butler University. Her father earned a comfortable income running a popular grocery store in Moore's Hall at 130 South Audubon Road. Since her family attended the Irvington Methodist Church, the Reverend John Bickel officiated the wedding that night. We do not know if the couple went on a honeymoon, but we do know that on June 12, 1912, James G. Kingsbury hosted a dinner for the couple at his home at 71 North Ritter Avenue.

     Three days later, the newlyweds moved into a new house at 5515 Lowell Avenue. Theodore would have known the location of the house quite well as it was built in the backyard of a previous home belonging to his father at 98 Layman Avenue. William Babbitt took out a building permit in the spring of 1912 and erected the Dutch Colonial Revival residence for $1600. Babbitt used concrete blocks to clad the first floor and wood shake for the second floor. The elderly Kingsburys lived just around the corner at 71 North Ritter Avenue--also in a concrete-block home. 

     The Kingsburys lived here for five years before moving to Washington D.C. Cornelia appears to have adopted the Irvington Presbyterian Church and attended services with her husband's family. Various Presbyterian groups met at their home including the group seen below in the photographs. She was also very involved in a women's group called the Irvington Coterie Club. They met on Thursdays and newspaper accounts reveal that she hosted the ladies numerous times in this house. The club focused on historical topics as well as current events. Theodore spent much of his time during the warmer months on various golf courses. He was quite good at the sport and frequently made the sport pages for his low scores. 

     Within one year of moving into the residence, Theodore Kingsbury suffered the loss of his father in the spring 1913. The burden for operating the Indiana Farmer fell upon both he and his brother, James L. Kingsbury. Joy found a way into the home in 1915, with the birth of the couple's first child, Cornelia. If you are keeping track, that is the third Cornelia mentioned in this article. 

      In 1917, the Kingsburys relocated to the nation's capital where he found employment with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They didn't stay there long, however, and by 1919, the couple found their way back to Irvington. 

Cornelia Goe Kingsbury sat on the steps of her new house at 5515 Lowell Avenue c1912 (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

Theodore Kingsbury sat on his porch at 5515 Lowell Avenue c1912. Behind him you can see the residences at 5506 and 5510 Lowell Avenue. (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

Cornelia Goe Kingsbury sat on the front porch at 5515 Lowell Avenue. If you look closely, you can see a horse in the alley next to the residence. (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

A group from the Irvington Presbyterian Church met in the home of Theodore and Cornelia Kingsbury in either 1912 or early 1913. James G. Kingsbury was a founder of the church and considered an elder at this point in his life. Pictured: Front row left to right--James L. Kingsbury, Charlie Davis, Theodore Kingsbury, Cornelia Kingsbury (above Theodore), Reverend John S. Martin, Merrill Woods; Second Row--Grace Goe, Anna Kingsbury, James G. Kingsbury, Edna Boyle, Mary Martin, ?, Maude Martin Davis, ?, ?, Clara Goe; Top row--listed in order on photo although some names have been left off by the original documenter: Mrs. Martin, Gertrude Meisenhelder, Bonnie Major, ?, Mr. and Mrs. Layman?, Edith Schowe, Hermine Reller, and ? (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

     I wish to thank Kathy and Dick Meyer for their stories and photographs. I also wish to thank Alyssa Stewart and Steve Barnett for their help with research on this house. 

Sources:  Kingsbury-Goe wedding: "Kingsbury-Goe Wedding," Indianapolis News, May 16, 1912, p. 7; "Irvington," Indianapolis Star, June 16, 1912, p. 26; House construction: "Building Permits," Indianapolis News, May 21, 1912, p. 15; Irvington Coterie Club: "Affairs of Clubs," Indianapolis Star, May 20, 1014, p. 13; "Clubs," Indianapolis Star, December 12, 1915, p. 37; Irvington Presbyterian Church involvement: "News of Churches," Indianapolis Star, August 29, 1914, p. 3.

New Photo Emerges of 1953 Irvington Plane Crash

On June 20, 1953, two brothers, Charles and Robert Woods, lost control of their small plane and crashed into the Rennard family home at 354 North Bolton Avenue.  Although severely injured, the siblings survived the crash.  Throughout the day, crowds from the neighborhood and beyond gathered at the scene except for the Rennards who were out of town that day. Bill Sohn, a teenager who lived at 378 South Downey Avenue, heard about the crash and grabbed his camera.  He arrived on the scene after the plane had been removed from the attic of the Rennard home and snapped this photo.  To read more about the events of that day, click on the link on below.

On June 20, 1953, the Woods brothers lost control and crashed their plane into 354 North Bolton Avenue. Bill Sohn of 378 South Downey Avenue, photographed the aftermath of the crash. Behind the plane, you can see the houses on the eastern side of the 300 block of Bolton Avenue. (Image courtesy of Bill Sohn)

http://vintageirvington.blogspot.com/2014/12/plane-crashed-into-irvington-home-in.html

Plane Crashed Into Irvington Home in the Summer of 1953!

Eighteen-year-old visitor, Allen Fechtig, stepped outside of the Koten family home at 750 North Bolton Avenue on a warm summer day on June 20, 1953.  He looked up into the sky after hearing a loud noise and noticed that a small plane seemed to be flying just above the chimney tops in northern Irvington.  Other folks in the neighborhood began to peer out their windows and stepped onto their front porches.  The teen never took his eyes off the plane and what he saw next sent him into action.

Up in the sky, Charles and Robert Woods, both brothers, were in a state of panic.  Their small plane was not cooperating. Twenty-nine-year-old Charles Woods had only possessed the airplane, a Swift, for two weeks.  Both brothers loved auto racing and they decided to fly to Springfield, Illinois to see an event hosted by the American Automobile Association.  They also planned to visit family there.  Charles had only recently recovered from a fall from a job at Central State Hospital.  He was avid about flying despite the fact that he had lost an eye as a child from an infection.  His thirty-two-year-old brother, Robert, had vowed never to get on an airplane again as he had been shot down during World War II in Europe and had been taken as a prisoner of war.  He likely could not imagine his misfortune to be in yet another plane that appeared to be crashing.

On the ground, the young Allen Fechtig could tell that the plane was in trouble as it began to spin and then dive towards the neighborhood.  He began to run towards the airplane as it crashed into the roof of a house at 354 North Bolton Avenue. He wasted no time getting to the dwelling and would be the first person to arrive on the scene of the disaster.

Neighbors in the 300 block of North Bolton Avenue scrambled out of their houses and looked on in disbelief at the site of an airplane sticking straight out of the Rennard home. Charles and Martha Rennard had only owned the lovely two-story brick house at 354 North Bolton Avenue for one year.  Mr. Rennard had earned a comfortable living as the manager of the East Side Realty Company. The couple had four children.  Although some neighbors were horrified at the thought that the Rennards could have been in the house, most knew that the family had just left town to relax at Lake James in northern Indiana. The Rennards had no idea that their house was the scene of an intense drama that was now beginning to unfold.

While neighbors looked on in disbelief, Allen Fechtig somehow reached the attic of the house by scaling the walls of the two-story home where he found the Woods brothers entangled in a mess of metal from the plane and wooden rafters from the house.  The teen reached Charles Woods first who was alive although badly injured.  He then saw the former prisoner of war, Robert, who was also alive but trapped under a large joist.  Allen Fechtig worked desperately to try to free the brothers, but it was too much for one person. He comforted the men until help arrived.

Thankfully, someone along Bolton Avenue called the Irvington Fire Department.  Robert McDonnell along with firemen on duty that day, received the call and within minutes rushed to the scene.  Other firemen, police, and medical personnel arrived onto the chaotic street as news spread. Emergency officials struggled to make it down Bolton Avenue due to the number of bystanders who had shown up to see the plane sticking out of the house.  Only Allen Fechtig had made any attempt to help the brothers trapped inside the wreckage.

Firemen made it into the home and noticed that jet fuel was leaking out of the plane and into a child's bedroom on the second floor. They worried about fire.  For thirty minutes, they raced to get the Woods brothers free of the wreckage and treated them on the scene.  While the wings had been sheared off, the tip of the plane had gone through the attic floor and into a bathroom closet.  The heat inside the attic became too much for some of the rescue workers and one policeman, William Snedaker, had to be transported to the hospital due to heat exhaustion.  

Paramedics rushed the brothers to the hospital and saved their lives.  The Rennards returned from Lake James to find their home heavily damaged although reparable.  Life eventually returned to normal along the once quiet street and over the decades most had forgotten about the frightening moment.  No exterior evidence of a plane crash remains in 2014 as workers removed the wreckage and rebuilt the roof and attic at 354 North Bolton Avenue.

Emergency personnel work to save the life of Charles Woods upon the roof of 354 North Bolton Avenue. Irvington fireman, Robert McDonnell, can be seen giving medical aid.  (June 20, 1953)

Scene of chaos no longer:  354 North Bolton Avenue in 2014

Vintage Swift Airplane (courtesy of FitzVideo)  

The historic image is courtesy of Terry Wilgus, whose father Robert McDonnell can be seen on the roof in the photo.  Information for this story is courtesy of Steve Barnett, Larry Muncie, and Chris Capehart. For further information:

Carolyn Pickering, "Two Brothers in Crash on East Side," Indianapolis Star, June 21, 1953, 1.  

These Scouts Were Prepared!

Eight scouts from Mr. Smith's Sunday School class at the Irvington Presbyterian Church went on an adventure sometime in the summer of 1910.  The young men ranged in age from 10 to 12 and dwelled in southern Irvington.  In the top row, starting at the left, John Wamsley (5718 Oak Avenue) stared pensively at the photographer.  He was one of the few boys not holding a prop.  Next to him, Walter McCoy proudly held a baseball for a future game.  In the middle, a formidable Albert Stone (5927 Rawles Avenue) grasped a gun for the hunt. Next to him, Harold Wilson (5907 Rawles Avenue) displayed an unidentifiable object, and at the end of the row sat Raymond Woods. (308 South Audubon Road) In the front row, Bud Bunnell (5919 Rawles Avenue) practiced tying knots for all to see.  Smiling Walter Porter (342 South Arlington Avenue) was ready for a game of football, while Clyde McVey (211 Good Avenue) showed off the troop knife.

It is unclear as to where the boys gathered on that lovely day.  Behind them, you can see a small cottage and a swing dangles from a high branch.  Over one hundred years ago, a group of Irvington kids sat under a tall tree...

This image is courtesy of Bill Ferling and the Irvington Presbyterian Church.