USA > Indiana > Johnson County > Franklin > One hundred year old houses, Franklin, Indiana > Part 1
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One Hundred Year Old Houses
Franklin, Indiana
.
JOHNSON
COUNTY
MUSEUM
The log cabin
The Suckow House Johnson County Historical Museum 150 W. Madison Street
STORY
Ruth Trout Hougham (Mrs. Robert B.) Curator "Johnson County Historical Museum 1961-1972
COMPOSER
Rachel Saunders Henry (Mrs. Hermann R.) Curator "Johnson County Historical Museum" 1972-
PICTURES
Chelsea Dinn
COVER DESIGN Myla Rusie Smith (Mrs. Elmore)
Story 1967 Printed 1974
FRANKLIN'S 100-YEAR-OLD-HOUSES
This is a talk given by Mrs. Robert B. Hougham to the Franklin Rotary Club in 1967 during the Indiana Sesquicentennial. It is a history of some of the houses in Franklin and vicinity that were 100 years old or older.
Mr. Vandivier and Members of the Rotary Club:
George has just told you about when I was here in February. When I went home, my husband said, "Well how did you do?" and I said, "It must have been OK, because George Vandivier asked me to come back." He thought that was a pretty good recommendation.
I hope I won't bore any of you, being here a second time, but I did bring along the map again because I thought maybe some of you would want to see the residences. You know that I couldn't begin to tell you about all of them, because you'd be here all night, but I am going to tell you about the ones that are a hundred years old or more.
The old houses in Franklin -- or any place else, for that matter- have many wonderful and interesting stories, because along with each one go some personalities. Although we have no mansions in Franklin we do have a few old residences that are landmarks today, just the same as when they were built a hundred or more years ago.
1876 MAP OF FRANKLIN IN BACK FOLDOUT
.1.
The country club was built in 1826, and could well be the oldest residence still standing and in use in the county. Lewis Hendricks and his bride Sally LeMasters came here from Kentucky in 1822 and built a little log cabin on this ground. They lived in it about four years before they built this larger house. They reared twelve children, and they had six sons who served in the Civil War. Their youngest daughter was Mary Hendricks, who married a man by the name of Lycurgus Wagner; and they, too, lived in this house a long time, rearing a large family. They were the grandparents of Thomasine Allen, who has been a missionary in Japan for over fifty years. Lewis Hendricks was quite a substantial citizen, I would say, because he served on the Franklin College Board of Directors from 1836 to 1845. I doubt if many of you, especially the younger members, know this: that just fifty years ago, in 1917, this 54-acre farm and house was put up for auction on the Courthouse Square to the highest bidder. My Husband's brother, Charles Hougham, bought the farm for $3,000. He immediately wanted to sell it to us. We came out to look the house over, and we liked it very much, especially the view from the top of the hill, but what dawned on me was that I had been a town girl all my life. We had already bought our first automobile, and I had failed to learn how to drive, and I said, "No, I'll be stuck in the country, so we'll just stay in town." Then a year or two later the Hillview.Country Club was organized and they purchased this farm. I have no idea how much more they paid than the $3,000.
Hillview Country Club
-2-
Just east of here, Lewis Hendricks entered some more land in 1835, and another log cabin was built. That was on the farm Mr. and Mrs. Frank Mitchell now own, and just this last spring, they gave this log cabin to the Johnson County Historical Society to be moved to the Museum grounds. This log cabin -- no one knows more than I -- that it will be the greatest asset the Museum ever had, because that is where all the school children come to see pioneer living; and we have enough things in our own museum by way of pioneer items that were brought in the early 1820's to furnish it.
JOHNSON
COUNTY
Sesquicentennial Headquarters
MUSEUM
The next house I am going to tell you about is not pictured either. It is on North Hurricane Street. If legend is true, it is the old log courthouse that was built in 1824 just where the Artcraft Theatre now stands. The Kenneth Manions live in this house ·-- up by Arvin -- and Percifields before that. There are 70 years of unrecorded history about the old log courthouse, but they do know that it was moved; and people have been up there and measured those two rooms down stairs and two rooms upstairs, and they fit exactly what Judge Banta gives in his 1888 History for the dimensions and the thickness of the walls of the log courthouse. If that is so, that is the oldest building in the county.
-3-
Mrs. Homer Percifield 945 N. Hurricane Street
Another old residence I want to mention -- it's not in the picture -- is the Ira Haymaker home on the east side of Franklin. It was built in 1835 by the Strohmeier family. Strohmeier is the one who owned the inn on the corner of East Madison and Wilson Streets just west of the Pennsylvania Railroad; and of course, having an inn, he sold wine and brandy and what-have-you. He raised his own grapes out on that farm -- it was a farm in those days -- and made his own wine; and when Ira Haymaker bought this house, there were still evidences of the wine cellar and how they kept it.
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-5-
In the picture there is a house that is not in existence, but because it was built by the founder of Franklin, George King, I want to tell you a little bit about it, because it was the first brick house ever built in Franklin -- around 1828 or '29. I think it had two rooms and a large pioneer fireplace. As the story goes, Mr. King became quite wealthy from the sale of land. When he came here, he entered much land, and what he didn't enter, he tried to buy up, and from the sale of that land, he had plenty of money, and he had a vault under the floor of this brick home. The story that I am telling came from Mrs. Vera Tranter, Bob Tranter's mother. In 1866, George King sold this house to Frank Snow, and Frank and his first wife lived here for a good many years until she died. George King built a house north of the Masonic Temple, which later belonged to Dr. Carl Payne -- it was torn down in the last year to make a parking lot. There is where George King died in 1868. But to go back to Frank Snow: After his first wife died, he married a widow by the name of Martha Neal Reece, and her daughter was Vera Tranter. I think they were married in the '80's, and Vera lived here for several years, so she remembers quite a few things. When Mr. King moved, he left all the equipment around the fireplace and Mrs. Snow and Vera took charge of it and gave quite a few of those things to the Museum.
House built by George King, Founder of Franklin Dr. Carl Payne
-6-
Another old house that is still in existence stood on the corner where the Phi Delta Theta House is. It was built in the early '40's, I have been told by Johns S. Hougham, who owned most of this square. This house is now owned by Franklin College and was moved to the corner of East Monroe and Hougham Streets.
The next house that was built about this same time -- in 1842 -- is where Dr. Harry Mock lives. You will see in the picture on that corner, a two-story frame house which never was torn down -- that is, the two front rooms. I happen to know, because I visited in this home. It belonged to Ida Overstreet, and she had a daughter Gretchen who was in my class at school, and I visited there many times. When it was remodeled by A.J.Engler, the front of that house was never torn down.
Much of this information I got from the 1906 edition of the Franklin Star, which was their 21st anniversary. Mr. Roger Owens lent it to me, and it is full of very wonderful information of the old, old houses and places of business in Franklin. (Since then, Robert Todd has given us one for the Museum.) I don't know how it happened that I missed it, but in 1906, I wasn't much impressed with such historic things as that.
Joseph M. Lay 201 East Monroe
-7-
Col. Lloyd W. Hough, owner Dr. John N. Records 249 E. Jefferson Street
Coming back to Jefferson Street, the second door east of the First Baptist Church is an old house that was built by James and Isabella McClellan in 1846. He was postmaster for a good many yearss/ and he was also a Pennsylvania Railroad station agent.
Related e
through
Across the street, the Sarah Deitch Seibert (or Sibert) house- There is a good story connected with that. It was built in 1852 by Felix Deitch. In 1836, there were three Hebrew brothers who came Herriott to America from Alsace-lorraine, and they landed in Johnson County éde The three brothers' names were Felix, Joseph, and Samuel. Joseph/ is the one who married Susan Strickler, sister of Henry Strickler, an early grocer in Franklin. Joseph was one of the founders of Strauss and Company, and did quite well. Samuel is the one who married Caroline Lowe, daughter of Thomas Lowe and Sarah Whetzel. Sarah was the daughter of Jacob Whetzel, who cut the first trace across Johnson County, in 1818. Caroline Lowe Deitch's parents wanted to do something for her when she married Samuel Deitch, so they asked Felix to sell them this house for their daughter in 1856, just four years after it was built. According to Dr. Wallace's history of Jefferson Street, which is in the library: "This was the happiest day in the lives of the McClellans across the street, who had no children at that time, because it was the exchange of Felix and five rollicking boys for Samuel and one little well-mannered, five-year- old daughter." So I guess, as Dr. Wallace says, times have not changed.
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Siebert House James B. Young, Atty Richard W. Vandivier, Atty 151 E. Madison Street
PARKING LOT
Chamber of Commerce
On Water Street just south of the Franklin Bank and Trust Company is the brick double house where the Chamber of Commerce and the Christian Church are. That, too, is over a hundred years old.
-9-
On the next corner, where Dr. Deppe has his office -- that has been in this family for over a hundred years. W.S.Ragsdale built the house. He was the father of Cora Ragsdale Drybread, and the grand father of Martha Drybread Deppe. It is one of the fascinating old square red brick houses in Franklin. It was built in the late '60's.
Dr. C. F. Deppe 301 E. Jefferson Street
The Franklin Girls Club
Where the Girls Club is -- that was a rather pretentious home, built by Henry Strickler. I don't know when it was built, but it does precede the 1876 map, so it must be around a hundred years old.
-10-
we're related to the Provences through the Detmer See p. 16
On the next corner, the two houses that belong to the Provinces- just south of the Presbyterian Church -- are very typical of that period with their high ceilings and very lovely woodwork and winding stair- ways.
Dr. William D. Province 99 N. Water Street
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-11
Mrs. Bess C. Vandivier 99 E. Madison Street
Across the street is the apartment house that was built by W.C. Wheat; and on the corner north, the Robert Alexander house -- Nancy and Robert Todd's grandparents . It's a littler newer - - it was built in 1870.
Wayne King 100 N. Water Street
-12-
On the next corner, just north of the Christian Church -- the original of that old house was built by W.C.Wheat for his daughter Ophelia. Ophelia married John W. Ragsdale in the early 1870's. I perhaps shouldn't tell this story, but it is one of the interesting things one comes across in making research. At the Museum I am given all kinds of old newspapers, and finally I get around to reading some of the interesting items. This was one: It was a lawsuit of Sally McClain against Ophelia Wheat. Sally McClain had gone with John Ragsdale for fifteen years, then all of a sudden he jilts her to marry Ophelia Wheat. So the little item said in this paper in the early 1870's that the outcome of the lawsuit would be the next day, so I never will find out just how it came out.
Dr. John E. Gilliland 200 N. Water Street
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McCaslin House
On North Main just north of the Courthouse -- all of those houses gave way to progress many years ago. But some of the families that lived in them -- I don't want you to think that I am so old, but I can well remember most of them -- there was the Jones family, the Goods, and the Sloans. Still standing is the Maggie McCaslin house, which is now the hotel on the southeast corner of the Main-Madison interesection. There are lots of good stories in connection with all of them, but one just can't take time to tell all of them.
OTEL
The Willard Hotel Don Anderson 99 N. Main Street
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6
R. C. Fetterley 500 N. Main Street
Up where North Main joins Martin Place is the Fetterly house, one of the fascinating old ones. Many years ago when it was first built, it was out in the country. It was built by Captain John P. Banta in the early 1850's. His daughter Christine married W.B.Ellis, vio had been in the Civil War. 'Their daughter married James E.Covert. Captain Banta had purchased about 275 acres -- that was all in this section -- in 1837 from Samuel Harris, who had entered the land in 1826. It was farm land, and is where our first Johnson County Fair was held in 1852.
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Just north of there is another one of our newer houses, built in 1875 -- the S.B.Scott home. It is interesting because of the history connected with it. As you read abstracts, you learn a lot of things that you wouldn't know otherwise. Garrett Bergen had entered this land in 1824, and his widow sold it to Peter Ditmars. Peter Ditmars had come from Holland, as well as some of his brothers, and they entered much of the land. They are Dr. Province's ancestors. All the wood in this S.B.Scott house was cut from trees on this farm, and it is very beautiful woodwork. According to the abstract, Peter Ditmars had made $6,000 on the Board of Trade by selling grain, so he decided he would build his wife a real substantial house, which that really is.
This was recently up for sale for #99, 00te, can't think they got that?
Formerly S. B. Scott home Rev. John M. Fall 667 N. Graham Street
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H
Judge Jack Rogers 668 N. Graham Street
n Lepère related to Herrolls
Across the street is the John Herriott house -- I know very little about it. John Herriott built it, as he did the brick house on North Main where Ruth Ritchey lives. Both of those are over a hundred years old.
Ruth Ritchey 698 N. Main Street
-17-
Perhaps the most historic house in Franklin would be the Banta house on Banta Street. It is quite a landmark; it was built in 1859 by Judge David Demaree Banta, who wrote his Atlas of 1881and the Johnson County History of 1888. You will, see in the picture that is a large lot, and the house is surrounded by trees, and faced east, instead of Banta Street as it does today. Later Elba Branigin lived here and reared his four boys, and much history was written in this particular house.
Dwight Smith 157 W. Banta Street
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Out on West Jefferson Street, the brick house on the corner of Walnut and Jefferson was built by Ernest Zeppenfeld and his wife - Elizabeth, who came here from Germany in the 1840's. Many of you will remember the daughter Jeannette Zeppenfeld, who was a professor of German and French in Franklin College for many years.
In this same vicinity, George King had built his first cabin. (By the way, I've always thought someone should write the story of George King's life because it really is a most interesting and fascinating story but it is found in too many places -- someone has to collect it and write it. But here is one story that I read.) He had built this log cabin -- two rooms with a dogtrot in between. Having bought all this land, he was very much interested in keeping any newcomer to the county in order to sell him a lot. There was a young lawyer who came to the county -- he , wasn't interested in buying a lot. By the way, George King was a Presbyterian -- he was one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church - and he was very kind to them, expecially to the ministers. So this young lawyer who later became a judge -- his name was Daniel Wick -- just loved to tell a joke on himself -- he loved that as well as he did the bottle. When he came here, he posed as a Presbyterian minister, and George King took him in. The next morning when they got up, it was a very cold and disagreeable day, so when Mr. King got his bottle of whisky and set it out on the table, and suggested that he have a drink of whisky before he went out into the bad weather, Mr. Wick didn't offer any objections, and then he went out into the cold. In later years, after he became judge, and a very prominent man, very well-liked by aff the people of Johnson County, he said that never in his life had he been so sorry of anything as posing as a Presbyterian preacher instead of a lawyer, because that morning, instead of a preacher's dram, he really wanted a lawyer's dram!
Dale Kelly, Owner 300 W. Jefferson Street
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FIRST CABIN IN FRANKLIN
A two room log cabin was built on or near this site in March, 1823 by George King, by whose efforts Johnson County was authorized Dec. 31, ' 1822 and organized March 8, 1823.
King donated land for the county seat and Franklin was founded May 22. 1823. King.
who came from Kentucky, started the First
Presbyterian Church in 1824, served on the
first Board of Directors of Franklin College, was a businessman, farmer. postmaster. and Justice of the Peace, died in 1868 and is
buried in Greenlawn Cemetery.
CHECYED IN 1873 BY
THE *ESQUICENTENNIAL COMMITTEE OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY HISTORICAL KONSEYY
Up Yandes Street, just west on Madison, is another large brick house. The house was built by Edward O. Halstead, a contractor, who laid his own brick. There was a brickyard just at the north part of town, and he built some of the fine substantial homes that are in Franklin.
This is a neighbor
Otho Hogue 399 E. Madison Street
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On the next corner, Yandes and King, where Marybelle Harris lives, is another Brick house that was built by Abram and Elizabeth Voris in the 1860's. I want to tell you this because it will show you how King did get rich. This section of town had 15 acres, and it was a part of a 160 acre tract of land which King had bought in two plots -- each of them 80 acres. One of the 80 acres he bought in 1825 from Daniel Prichard, who sort of beat him to that, for which he paid $200. Then he bought the other 80 acres from Simon Covert for $300, so you could see how he made his money when he started selling lots.
2 This is another neighbor of ours.
Mrs. Grant Rogers 399 E. King Street
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3) This is
James D. Acher 398 E. King Street another neighbor of ours.
Right across the street from Marybelle's house is Jim Acher's home, which was built by William Beard in the very early 1850's. This is another neighbor!
4
John Sellers 400 E. King Street
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Across the street from that is John Sellers' home, built about 1850 or '51. In 1852 when they had that first Johnson County Fair, it was voted the Number One house of Franklin in a Better Homes Contest. John told me that when his wife got on one of these urges and wanted a brand new house to live in, he always reminded her, " Well, you may never live in a Number One house again, so we better stay where we are."
Richard Overstreet Related on Herriott side evidently
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Sigma Alpha Epsilon House Burned 1966 Present site of Hathaway Apartment House
Out on East Jefferson where the SAE house stands -- this 80 acres was entered by Simon Covert in 1822. He sold it to George King in 1828 for $300; then George King sold 15 acres of it to Tunis VanNuys for $750. Evidently Tunis VanNuys built the house you see in the picture there probably in the 1840's, according to what the people have made out of the abstract. It was sold to Dr. Theodore A. Pinkney and his wife Helen in 1859. As the papers have told you, he was a sympathizer with the run away slaves, and of course you know what the story is there. Pinkney, too, was on the College Board of Directors, 1860-1863, so I could say he had a very substantial personality. He sold it to Richard Overstreet in 1866, and we have a picture of the house in the Museum about that time -- you can see how far the land goes in the map, too, down to Hurricane Creek -- so there was a very large yard. This happened to be the home of Dr. E. B. Bryan, president of Franklin College from 1906-1909. He came here in 1905 -- but I have another house where he lived at that time that I will tell you about a little later.
-24-
John Campbell, Owner Peter G. Phelps 560 E. Monroe Street
Over on East Monroe Street, just where State Street joins, you know the little red brick house, Gothic style, that's very clean and attractive. This was built in 1855 by the same contractor I told you about -- Ed Halstead. This was where Dr. Fritz Deppe was born. Across the street in the picture is a large house which is no longer in existence, where the Kappa Delta Rho house now stands. That house was built in the 1840's, and I know some of you can remember the days when Professor Hall lived there and reared a very large family. It was sold to a Baptist preacher, the Reverend Robert Parks; and one of his daughters, Theodosia, married Professor Hall, who was professor of Greek at Franklin College for so many years. Theodosia Parks Hall, her sister, Viola Parks Edwards, and Prudence Hougham Hall (my husband's father's sister) -- they were the first three women to graduate from Franklin College, in 1874.
Now we go down into Province Park -- in the picture is the old Oyler home -- it has been torn down. This was one of the attractive houses, built of brick in 1848 by Samuel Oyler, who came here in 1845, I think. He had married Lucy Howe, who was the widow of Daniel Howe. Captain Oyler was in the Civil War -- he was a lawyer in Franklin, also mayor. His stepson Daniel Waite Howe was one of the early benefactors of the city library. This lovely old house was really grieved over when the Park Board decided to tear it down - it was such a wonderful example of architecture. Now the rose garden blooms in its place. This is where Dr. Bryan lived the first year he was president of Franklin College in 1905. Of course, that was long before we had a park.
Ditmars ma ried Province
Samuel Oyier
The first part of Mrs. Garrie Tilsons abstract reads like an early history of Franklin. The original deed, from the United States Government to Daniel Pritchard in 1823, was transferred to George King in 1825. The house was built ca 1845. The Tilsons were married in 1917 and moved into this small 6 room red brick house.
The Garrie Tilson home 153 East Monroe
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The last one I am going to tell about is where the president of Franklin College lives now -- that, too, is one of the newer houses in Franklin when this picture was made, because it was built in 1874 by Ed Halstead. All this land through here, the Hougham Addition, was owned by Professor John S. Hougham, who was connected with Franklin College for a long time.
E
F
699 E. Jefferson Street
I have tried to bring you just the oldest houses -- there are many . that I am sure some of you know of, that are as important as the ones I have given you. I will close by saying that Franklin is a city of homes and one that is known far and wide, and I think that we are all proud of our heritage.
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