Postcards to an Irvington Family

What morsels about our lives do we leave behind? Only a few of us make it into the history books.  So, you can imagine my delight this winter upon finding a treasure trove of crumbs about an Irvington family. Sitting in boxes in a local antique shop and mixed in with hundreds of other families, sat dozens of postcards sent to the Barneys, who dwelled in Irvington for many decades. But what did these notes reveal? Stay tuned! 

In 1907, Ennis and Effie Fink Barney moved into their brand new Dutch Colonial home at 5452 Lowell Avenue (previously numbered as 5556 Lowell Avenue). The couple had been living at 49 South Irvington Avenue. Mr. Barney was the Assistant Superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League and he also worked as a salesman for the Mishawaka Rubber Company. Sometimes he served as a part-time minister and usually filled in for small churches around the Indianapolis area whenever there was an unexpected vacancy.  The couple had four children named Chester, Virginia, Marian, and John. They remained in the Lowell Avenue dwelling until 1914 when they moved into a larger home at 41 North Webster Avenue.  By 1920, the entire family relocated to 5351 University Avenue where they resided for years.

Newspaper accounts from the early twentieth century, reveal that Mr. Barney was committed to the temperance movement. Like many other Irvingtonians, he believed that alcohol was the root of many social ills in our nation. He campaigned vehemently for prohibition. His sermons were printed in newspapers throughout the state. In 1907, he spoke to a large crowd in Richmond where he quoted from the Gospel of St. Luke and noted that the destruction of saloons would be the "salvation of these boys and girls." (Richmond Palladium, November 25, 1907)  Audiences in Angola, Muncie, Brazil, Columbus, and Frankton heard similar speeches. In 1910, he appealed to Indianapolis Mayor Samuel Shank to stop the practice of allowing saloons to have electronic pianos. He referred to these businesses as "disorderly houses."  (Indianapolis Star, May 25, 1910, 8) Mr. Barney was particularly thrilled to note the number of dry counties in the southern part of the United States and in Indiana. Irvington, of course, had been founded as a dry community so he must have felt at home on Lowell, Webster, and University Avenues. We have no record of his reaction to the passage of the 18th Amendment prohibiting the sale of alcohol nor his likely disappointment at its repeal with the 21st Amendment. 

The only known surviving postcard from Mr. Barney was sent to his oldest child, Chester Fink Barney in the summer of 1911. Chester would have been 13 years old at the time. Mr. Barney sent the card from Blaine, Washington near the Canadian border. He mentioned nothing of the temperance cause, but he does reference the rubber company for whom he also worked. 

Ennis Barney sent this postcard to his son, Chester Barney of 5452 Lowell Avenue in the summer of 1911. 

Mr. Barney mentioned the rubber company that he worked for so perhaps he was in Blaine, Washington on business. He wrote to his son:  

Dear Son    I have boiled or fried salmon for about one meal each day. They are cheep (sic) only 20 ‘cents’ for all you can eat. These men use Ball Rund Rubber boots; That’s why the salmon are so good and catch easily also. Papa

Chester Barney was an avid scout under Francis O. Belzer, the head of the Boy Scouts in Irvington. He  later served the country during World War One. He lived with parents until he was he in his 30s and then married Mildred Avis.  The elder Barneys spent their later years living with the younger Barneys. Chester lived in all of the Barney homes on Irvington, Lowell, Webster, and University Avenues. (Photo: Indianapolis Star, October 28, 1918, 11)

Ennis and Effie Barney lived at 5452 Lowell Avenue from 1907 until 1914. Mr. Barney held a variety of jobs including as a salesman, minister, and as a leader in the Anti-Saloon League. (photo 2017)

Mrs. Barney also traveled. She had family who lived in Colorado so there are several postcards to the family from this state.  In one of her notes, she wrote of a stay in the mountains.  She addressed the card to her husband on August 12, 1911, from the Long's Peak Inn at Estes Park.

Mrs. Barney mailed this postcard from Estes Park, Colorado in the summer of 1911 to her family at 5452 Lowell Avenue

Mrs. Barney wrote:  

We are 9000 ft. above sea level, it is cold, heavy wraps, fires and winter comforts. We will go to Denver tomorrow and I will write you more of this wonderful trip.   Love from Effie

Chester Fink Barney, the oldest child of Ennis and Effie Barney sent at least two postcards back to his mother. He had beautiful cursive writing and would later become president of the Camera Club of Indianapolis. Some of his artistic photography would later be featured in the Indianapolis Star. On August 15, 1915, he sent a brief note home to his parents as he had been attending a scout's camp in upstate New York. His family had only recently moved to the large American Four Square at 41 North Webster Avenue.

Chester Barney traveled to New York in the summer of 1915 and sent this postcard back to his family now living at 41 North Webster Avenue.

Chester Barney wrote this informational blurb to his mother in 1915:  

This is the summer home of the prop. of the Waldorf Astoria hotel at N.Y. Its cost was about $2,000,000. Yours CFB 

Virginia Barney in 1922 (Indianapolis News, June 17, 1922)

Marian Barney in 1931 (Indianapolis Star, June 8, 1931)

John Barney (Indianapolis Star, October 6, 1944)

Chester Barney, a photographer, snapped this image of Culver cadets sailing in 1938. Several of his photos were featured in the Indianapolis Star including this one on September 11, 1938. 

The Barneys dwelled in lovely home at 41 North Webster Avenue from 1915 until 1920. They then moved to 5351 University Avenue.  (photographed in 2017)

Virginia Barney, the second child of Ennis and Effie, graduated from Butler University in 1922. She was later married by her father to William Schumacher at their University Avenue home in 1923. Marian followed suit and graduated form Butler in 1926. She married Theodore Randecker and was also wed in the family home by her father. John Barney, the youngest child married Helen Adams and served the country during WWII.  Ennis Barney died first in 1940. Effie lived to be 91 and passed away in 1970. 

It is unclear of how a collection of 13 postcards ended up in antique store, but there are Barney family descendants living in the United States today. If any of them happen to read this post and are interested in the collection then drop me a note at williamfranklingulde@gmail.com. Otherwise, they will be donated to the Irvington Historical Society. 

Sources not already mentioned:

Federal Census Records; Ennis Barney's obituary, Indianapolis News, March 16, 1940, 20; Virginia Barney's marriage, Indianapolis Star, February 14, 1923; John Barney's obituary, Indianapolis News, November 13, 1997, 50; Effie Barney's obituary, Indianapolis News, June 9, 1970, 38; Ennis Barney's Prohibition articles came from the Stueben Republican, Richmond Palladium, Muncie Press, and many others; 

Wallace-Bosart Home Predates Irvington

It is impossible not to notice the beautiful brick two-story home at 4704 East Washington Street. Most sources indicate that the large farmhouse was likely built around 1862 for the Wallace family. Little is known at this point about that family other than that they lived in the house until 1881 and that a nearby street is named for them. Ads placed in the Indianapolis News from March until November 1881, listed the house as for sale.

                    Farm of Wm. John Wallace--19 acres, great deal of fruit, outbuildings,
                    and a handsome brick house. Price low, terms easy. (March 31, 1881)

The Wallace-Bosart home in 2017. The two-story brick porch was likely added around 1915.

The Wallace-Bosart home appeared in an Indianapolis Star article on March 5, 1906 (p.3). The house had a one-story wrap around porch at the time and a windmill in the back. 

In early 1882, Timothy and Ruth Bosart along with their five children moved into the lovely estate. The children had plenty of room to play and in the backyard sat a three-story Second Empire structure with a windmill on top of it. Mr. Bosart had earned a comfortable income in the wholesale grocery business and then in the new electric power industry. He actually filed several patents and served as the Vice President and business manager for Jenney Electric Company. Mr. Bosart owned quite a lot of property and helped to develop the area north of his house now known as Bosart-Brown.  The street that bears the family name was also put in sometime in either the late nineteenth-century or early twentieth century. An Indianapolis Star article noted that sidewalks were added along Bosart Avenue north of Washington Street on May 2, 1903.

Two tragedies struck the Bosart family within two years. The first blow came on May 4, 1900, when Mr. Bosart died of a massive heart attack while at work. He was only 55 years old. The second and more horrifying event occurred on June 1, 1902. Mrs. Bosart along with her young son, Russell, and her mother, Lucetta Murray had gone to Crown Hill Cemetery to visit Mr. Bosart's grave. Upon leaving the cemetery, Mrs. Bosart's mother failed to see a streetcar. Lucetta Murray was instantly killed in front of her daughter and grandson.

Timothy Bosart (1844-1900), was a successful businessman. He helped to develop much the area around East Washington Street and Bosart Avenue. His untimely death of a heart attack shocked his family. (Photo courtesy of the Bosart family descendants via Ancestry.com)

Ruth Bosart (1858-1943) did her best to hold the family together after her husband's passing. Some of her adult children lived with her in the large house at 4704 East Washington Street. She died at the age of 84 having been a widow for forty-three years. (Photo courtesy of the Bosart family descendants via Ancestry.com)

Lucetta Murray, the mother of Ruth Bosart, was killed in horrible streetcar accident in 1902 near Crown Hill Cemetery.  (Photo courtesy of the Bosart family descendants via Ancestry.com)

Despite the sadness in her life, Ruth Bosart continued to manage and live in the large home with her children. In March of 1906, a reporter from the Indianapolis Star, profiled the Bosart family and property. He noted the flowing well, the large veranda that wrapped around the house (removed), and the number of fireplaces in the dwelling. At the time, the property was managed by Ruth's son, Oscar Bosart.

Several joyful moments took place on the property including an unusual event, a graduation ceremony. On June 13, 1909, the nearby Emerson School at New York Street and Linwood Avenue held their eighth-grade celebration on the lawn of the property. The students recited poetry by Longfellow including, "The Birds of Killingsworth" and "Tales of a Wayside Inn." They also sang words to Mendelssohn's "Spring Song." The Assistant Superintendent, Nebraska Cropsey, distributed diplomas to the 15 graduates who all held a garland of flowers while the remaining students and families watched.

The windmill on the Bosart property at 4704 East Washington Street as it looked in 1906. An Indianapolis Star article noted that the mansard-roofed structure was also likely used as a smokehouse in the nineteenth century. 

Dora Bosart, the daughter of Timothy and Ruth Bosart, became quite active in the Women's Franchise League, an organization dedicated to getting women the right to vote. The Smith College graduate, campaigned in the years leading up to the passage of the 19th Amendment. At some point, she met and fell in love with a British naval war hero, Alfred Evans. The young man was a veteran of the Boer Wars in South Africa and he had fought in World War One. The couple lived at 4704 East Washington Street along with other Bosarts until 1925 when they moved to Long Beach, California.

The Bosart sibling to have the most important role in the home was Oscar Bosart.  Along with his wife, Mabel, and their children, the next generation of Bosarts transformed the residence into the Green Lantern Tourist Home in 1936. A "Talk of the Town" article from the Indianapolis News in 1937 revealed that Oscar and Mabel had the house painted white with green shutters to reflect the Civil War era. The author pointed out that the house had been painted red, gray, and brown in previous years. A 1944 Indianapolis Star ad touted the inn as having "running water in rooms." Weary travelers along the National Road could stop off and stay with the Bosart family.

The matriarch of the family, Ruth Bosart, moved to Long Beach, California to live with her daughter in 1928 and died there in 1943. Oscar and Mabel Bosart continued to dwell in the family home for the next several decades. Their daughter, Jane, was married in the house and the society page of the Indianapolis Star on April 20, 1941, wrote of the beautiful candlelit service. One of their sons, Oscar, Jr., sadly drowned in an accident near New York City in 1936. Their youngest son, Robert, served the country during World War II as a pilot in the North African and Italian campaigns.

Oscar and Mabel Bosart took over the management of the property. The young couple, photographed in 1914, were likely standing in front of an older porch at 4704 East Washington Street. They later turned the home into an inn in 1936. (Photo courtesy of the Bosart family descendants via Ancestry.com)

By 1917, the Bosarts had removed the older porch and added a two-story brick porch. In this photo, Mabel Bosart posed with her children, Jane and Oscar, Jr. (Photo courtesy of the Bosart family via Ancestry.com)

So, the next time you drive or walk by the large house on the northeast corner of Washington Street and Bosart Avenue, you will know that you are viewing one of the oldest homes still standing on the east side of Indianapolis.

Sources:
Timothy Bosart obituary, Indianapolis Journal, May 5, 1908, 8; Lucetta Murray's Death, Indianapolis News, June 1, 1902, 2; Ruth Murray Bosart obituary, Indianapolis Star, May 1, 1943, 3; Profile of Bosart Family, Indianapolis Star, March 5, 1906, 3; Ads for Wallace Sale, Indianapolis News, March 31, 1881, 1; Dora Bosart and the Women's Franchise League, Indianapolis Star, November 3, 1914, 8; Graduation Ceremony, Indianapolis Star, June 13, 1909, 20; Jane Bosart Wedding, Indianapolis Star, April 20, 1941, 47, Talk of the Town, Indianapolis News, October 19, 1937; Date of Wallace-Bosart home--

• Bodenhamer, D. J., Barrows, R. G., & Vanderstel, D. G. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1262.