Old Knightstown Houses

16 West Main Street

16 West Main

I found a biography of Mr. Hinshaw which was probably written about 1910 on a “Quaker Roots” web site and I’ll include it below:

The gentleman of whom the biographer now writes was for many years identified with the interests of Henry County and contributed in a large degree to its material progress and prosperity. One of the extensive landowners of the county, he was an important factor in its varied interests and thus advanced the general welfare. Few lives furnish so striking an example of the wise application of sound principles and safe conservatism as did his. His was an honorable life, consistent with itself and its possibilities in every particular. Elias Hinshaw, deceased, was born in Guilford County, North Carolina, on the 9th of November, 1830, and was the youngest in a family of twelve children, nine sons and three daughters born to Benjamin and Annis (Bowman) Hinshaw. Shortly after the birth of the subject his parents came to Indiana living for one year in Wayne County.
In 1832 they settled on a farm near Greensboro, Henry county, and made that their home until a short time before their deaths, when they moved to Greensboro, where their deaths occurred, when he was eighty-two years old and his wife seventy-six. They were both members of the orthodox Society of Friends at Greensboro. The names of their children were as follows: John, Anna, William, Jesse, Susan, Edmond, Franklin, Seth, Cyrus, Lindsay, Millie and Elias. Of this large family but two Sons and two daughters are now living. Seth resides at Greensboro, aged eighty-three years; Lindsay is a well-to-do farmer, living in Greensboro Township; Susy lives in Nebraska and Millie in Charlottesville. The entire family came to this county in poor financial circumstances, but all became wealthy.

Elias Hinshaw the immediate subject of this memoir remained on the home farm until he was eighteen years old. At that age he went to Knightstown and entered a shop owned by his brother Franklin to learn the blacksmithing trade. He worked at this trade until he was thirty-one years old, most of the time at Knightstown, and then started a shop of his own.

He later settled on a farm of two hundred and eighteen acres, three miles west of Knightstown, on the Greensboro pike. He had with the earnings from his shop work at first bought a tract of eighty-two acres and gradually added to it until he possessed four hundred acres, which he afterwards sold. He also owned another farm of seventy-two acres, which he sold. As a young man he had the knack of making money easily. He was industrious and skillful and exercised sound judgment in his business ventures, so that he made rapid and continual progress in his financial affairs constantly adding more land to his possessions he kept much high grade live stock and was generally accounted one of the leading farmers of his community. He was liberal hearted to a fault and sustained some losses by lending money and not exacting security. His home farm was originally entered by William Macy, who erected upon it a residence, but never lived there.

In 1883 Mr. Hinshaw built the house that now stands there, a large, roomy, well-built house. The death of Mr. Hinshaw occurred on the 11th of April, 1900. About nine years before that time he had received a stroke of paralysis but partially recovered his health, being able to walk about until about six years before his death, when he was stricken the second time, and after that was practically helpless and gradually failed. His mother and others of his family passed away as a result of the same disease his mother being apparently well and able to attend to her household duties until a few minutes before her death.

Politically Mr. Hinshaw had originally been a Whig, and afterward became a publican but was never a seeker after office. However, he was prevailed upon to serve his fellow citizens as a member of the town council and remained a member of that body for several years. He made a splendid record there for his sound judgment and energetic efforts in behalf of the interests of the community his advice being constantly sought on all questions affecting the public welfare.

Religiously he was a member of the Society of Friends, but upon his marriage outside of that society, the society withdrew from him. However, he was a friend of all churches and liberal in his donations to all benevolences. He simplified the settlement of his estate by leaving it all to his widow. When he was twenty-one years old Mr. Hinshaw was united in marriage with Miss Angeline Lewis, who died, however, with-in a year of their-marriage. Mr. Hinshaw was again married, this time, on the 3rd of July, 1856, to Miss Emma Hall, the daughter of Eskridge and Mary (Wilkinson) Hall

Mr. Hinshaw and his wife became the parents of seven children. Three died in infancy while Lola M. lived at home until her death at the age of twenty-two, and Willie died when in his ninth year. Those living are: Charles H. who has been honored with the office of mayor and town clerk, and is now living with his mother and managing the farm for her, and Earl, who is a printer employed in the Banner office.

Mrs. Hinshaw still retains active control of the farm and is an intelligent and well-informed lady. She has a taste and aptitude for many kinds of work, but because of delicate health is compelled to confine her work to art and music. Religiously she is connected with the Presbyterian Church and lends her influence in every way possible to the advancement of all good works.

Despite his Quaker upbringing Elias did a small bit in the Civil War. Seems he was part of a group of able bodied men not yet serving that were quickly put into service especially to repel Morgan’s Raiders in Southern Indiana. He and his regiment (They were called the “Minute Man” Regiment) only served the one week in July of 1863 but history tells us they got the job done…..!!

In the late 1920s and most of the 30s Orville Wilson had a Funeral Home at 16 W. Main.
Note the fancy wooden porch they had back then.

The Hinshaws lived there until sometime after the turn of the 20th century. The 1900 K-town directory lists: Hinshaw, Charles - Attorney; Hinshaw, Earl - Compositor; and Hinshaw, Elias - Retired. There is no mention of Emma the wife of Elias. This was just before Elias died.

Owners of the house:
1883 Built by Elias Hinshaw (blacksmith and farmer) who died in 1900
1903 Sold to Erie Morgan, Banker
1929 Sold to Orville Wilson and used as a funeral home
1938 House was traded to Minnie McGraw
1944 Sold to Blanche Stair and used as an antique shop
1971 Sold to Bill Kiger who divided the house into apartments
1976 Sold to Patricia Goodspeed who utilized the house as an Attorney’s Office
1992 Deeded to Robert Goodspeed who devoted 4 years in renovating the house
back to a “home” and removing apartments.
1996 Sold to Terry Long who is currently finishing what Robert Goodspeed
started

The Hinshaw house was placed on the National Register largely due to its unique architecture, the Italian Villa style and the fact that it is the only example with an Italianate Tower with French Mansard modification located on US 40 or the National Road from the Ohio state line to the Illinois state line in Indiana. It is the intention that the house is on the home tour on an “as is” basis for people to see what “all the activity has been” over the last several years. We invite you to come back in two years for the next home tour to see what progress we have made.

The previous owner, Robert Goodspeed, undertook the major effort in renovating the house including replacing electric, plumbing, plaster work, exterior brick repair, painting, replacement of wood cornices in addition to removing apartments installed during the 1970’s. Because of the lack of maintenance to the house over the years, the wall of the glassed in porch off of the library had to be removed and currently has been screened. The current plans are to make a brick extension to the flower box outside of the porch.

The tower roof was discovered to be leaking and it was decided to renovate the tower in the manner in which it was built originally which includes copper built-in gutters and slate roof with design. The second story roof is covered with Celadon Slate tiles due to the more expensive nature of a slate covered roof. It is anticipated that the two remaining roofs will be covered with standing seamed metal roofing material which was in keeping with the time frame of the house. No pictures have been located of the house during the turn of the century.
The porch was apparently added after 1914 and appears to be a typical 30’s style porch. Another plan for the house is to remove the porch and reconstruct it as in the style of the period in which it was built. Ghost marks of wood pillars can still be seen on the brick walls and a plat mop of 1914 demonstrates that it was a small porch.
Interior
As you enter the house, There is a hallway off of which are two parlors. The east parlor has bay windows, a pointed slate Eastlake gas fireplace in addition to an 8′ Eastlake mirror. Elias’ signature appears on a wall in this parlor. The west parlor has a green tile gas fireplace with marble top
which was apparently installed at some point in the 20’s or 30’s. The unusual aspect of this house is that there is no grand staircase - the stairs are enclosed to the upper portion of the house. The library contains an iron Eastlake gas fireplace which has since been bricked up and contains the gas flue for the boiler. The current dining room, it is believed, was the library. The kitchen leads to the utility area and full bath which was added to the house at a later date in addition to the rear room.
The upstairs houses a walk-in closet, full bath and 3 bedrooms in addition to what used to be the entrance to the tower. This small room was enclosed after the stairs deteriorated and were removed. Entry to the tower itself is via pull-down attic stairs. Not only was the tower a decorative item but it also serves as an “attic fan”. Because there is no air conditioning, during the hot summer months, a window is opened in the tower and it pulls the heat directly out of the house. The temperature upstairs is no more than two degrees difference than the downstairs.

Here’s a picture of 16 W. Main from the 50s
They had an Antique shop there back then.

308 North Washington Street

The Greek Revival/Classic style Richard Schweitzer House

Richard Henry Schweitzer is secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Parish Alford Fence and Machine Company at Knightstown. About the first experience he had in the business world was as a minor employe with a wire fence factory. Working hard along one line, and with ability increasing in proportion to his experience, Mr. Schweitzer has been able to give Knightstown one of its most flourishing and important industries, the product of which is distributed all over the central states, thus serving to advertise Knightstown and its resources to the outside world.
Mr. Schweitzer was born at Crawfordsville, Indiana, October 25, 1877, son of Christian and Theresa (Hermann) Schweitzer. His grandfather, Frederick Schweitzer, came from Bavaria about seventy years ago, locating at Columbus, Ohio. He was a professional musician and reared his family and died in Columbus. Christian Schweitzer was reared in Columbus, and afterwards moved to Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he died in 1916. His widow was born at Reading, Pennsylvania, and is still living in that state.
Richard Henry Schweitzer attended the public schools of Crawfordsville, was at high school until his senior year, and first went to work for the Indiana Wire Fence Company under 0. M. Gregg of Crawfordsville. For a short time he was shipping clerk, later general traffic manager, and subsequently was secretary of the Crawfordsville Wire Company for a year and a half. He next became associated with C. D. Voris of Crawfordsville in organizing the Crawfordsville Wire and Nail Company, and was its secretary and sales manager from 1901 to 1906.
Mr. Schweitzer then became associated with Sears, Roebuck & Company of Chicago in purchasing in 1906 the wire fence factory at Knightstown, and has since beew secretary, treasurer and general manager of the company. This plant at Knightstown, employing 100 hands and manufacturing several substantial grades of wire fencing, supplies a large part of the great volume of wire fencing sold and distributed by the Sears, Roebuck & Company organization.
Mr. Schweitzer is also a stockholder and director of the First National Bank and a director of the Citizens National Bank of Knightstown. He is also a stockholder in the Crawfordsville Wire and Nail Company, and has an interest in the One Piece Bi-Focal Lens Company at Indianapolis.
In 1899 he married Miss Effa Strauss, daughter of Charles and Sarah (Schooley) Strauss of Crawfordsville. They are the parents of two children: Elizabeth Katherine and Richard Karl, the latter born in 1902. In politics he is a republican. He is a past master of Golden Rule Lodge No. 16, Free and Accepted Masons, at Knightstown, is past commander of the Knights Templar Commandery No. 9, and is present senior grand warden of the Grand Lodge of Masons. He also belongs to Murat Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Indianapolis. He has been deeply interested in Masonry, and was a member of the building committee and secretary when the Indiana Masonic Home was built at Franklin, Indiana. He is now a member and secretary of the board of directors of that home.

308 N. Washington in the 40s

The house listed as 308 N Washington was owned by me from 1960 to 1071 and was occupied by my family which included Stephen D Smith M D, MaryLou S Smith, [ my wife since 1955 ] and my [our] 3 children Kimberly, Marce, and Elizabeth along with us for 5 years we took care of a man named Leander Donaldson

Since it was the primary home that our daughters had been raised in they still consider it their home. We added a lot of structures to the house: insulation, air conditioning , retaining wall for my wife’s rose garden, [she once had over 1000 roses in bloom at one time] pool room in the attic into another bedroom, ping pong room in basement and poker room in basement.
While living there I was appointed Professor at Cincinnati University and had a 5 year student in their Medical School training. He and his wife were living with us over the garage. This training program was written up in Ohio Indiana Medical journals as part of the future of medicine in rural America to encourage students to remain in the areas of under served Indiana and Ohio.

I don’t know who had the house after Dr. Smith and family moved out. I think a conservative political orginazation owned it for a while. I know it’s for sale right now. Maybe I should buy it and fulfill my childhood dream….not….

7014 W.County Line Road

Thornhill/The “Pest” House

The house was given the name “Pest House” during the epidemic and the name and stigma stuck. Probably as a result, the house was boarded up and stood empty for many, many years. When I was in high school it was a big deal for a bunch of kids to break into it on Halloween and then try to scare the girls who were along. However, not for one minute did any of us think the place really had any ghosts.

The June-July Knightstown Epidemic of
Small-pox; 85 Cases and 15 percent, of Death.

Knightstown, Henry county, 34 miles east of Indianapolis, is a town of over 1,000 people, situated on the Pennsylvania Railroad and the present terminus of the Indianapolis and Greenfield Interurban road.
It has a perfect natural system of drainage, good water and has not had a case of typhoid fever in five years. The town has been singularly free from scarlatina, measles, whooping cough and diphtheria as testified by all the physicians. Its physicians are Drs. Olin E. Holloway, Omar H. Barrett, John B. Cress, F. J. Drake, 0. F. Fleenor, Wm. McGauran and L. V. Winston, men of high professional attainments and possessing the confidence of the community.

All of the physicians are advocates of vaccination and stand ready at all times to vaccinate the new-born, the child of 6 years entering the public schools, and any and all citizens who have not been vaccinated since smallpox began to spread over the United States four years ago. But the exceptional mildness of this epidemic, unparalleled in the history of smallpox, destroying less than a score of persons in four years among thousands of cases affected in Indiana, led the people to believe that it was not worth while to vaccinate, and that the people had better take their small chance of mild smallpox rather than the inconvenience of vaccination. The attitude of this community was not different from that of hundreds of other communities in the State of Indiana and throughout the United States, and they arc not to be condemned or criticized over others.
But now all is changed. The people are ardent advocates of vaccination and there is not probably an unvaccinated person in Knightstown or in its adjacent farm-houses, hamlets and villages. And this simply because what has been feared since the mild smallpox became prevalent in Indiana four years ago has transpired. A virulent type of the disease was brought into Knightstown from the East or the South, where it has prevailed in both the mild and severe form, and the result was that from June 2 to July 20, there were 85 cases of smallpox with 13 deaths, or a mortality of over 15 per cent., which is about the mortality in New York City last year.

The first case was in the person of Jesse Swain, a young man of 24 years of age, who had worked in Ohio towns just preceding his coming to Knightstown, and who was seen by Dr. Chas. E. Ferguson of Indianapolis, to confirm a diagnosis of probable smallpox in an unvaccinated person, which at first simulated measles.
The case was confluent and died in a week. About June 18 to June 24, some 30 cases developed. These were scattered all over the town regardless of age, sex, locality, social state or wealth of the individuals, for smallpox is no respecter of persons unless they are thoroughly vaccinated. Stringent measures were at once taken by the efficient health officers of the town, Drs. Barret, Holloway, the town board and citizens. The Secretary of the State Board of Health, Dr. Hufty, had been to the town in March to look after stream pollution and at that time predicted to the Town Board that smallpox would visit that town as it had visited other localities—that the town could only escape the disease by general vaccination, a prediction that can safely be made of any town in Indiana where smallpox has not yet appeared.
Dr. Hurty’s next visit was not of his own motive or desire; he was sent for and was badly wanted and worse needed. Not only the Town Board and the Health Board were present, but the hall was crowded with citizens.

Nothing new was said as there is nothing new to say to an unvaccinated community afflicted with smallpox; it was the same old advice— “vaccinate at once the entire community; make vaccination free and thorough; do not depend upon the packets of salts and digitalis your druggists are selling by the hundreds to take internally to prevent the disease; do not establish domiciliary quarantine over forty different houses at a cost of $100 a day; quarantine is not needed if the people are vaccinated; offer free vaccination to everybody. Quarantine the man who refuses to be vaccinated, for while there is no law in Indiana compelling a man to be vaccinated, he can be kept lawfully in his house or arrested and quarantined as soon as he becomes a menace to the public health.

It is needless to say that the public at once worked together and all took the advice. The present writer and Dr. Hurty visited Knightstown Sunday, July 20, and spent the day with Drs. Barrett and Holloway and our four signatures at the leading hotel—the Arno—were the first that had been written from June 19 to that date. Senator Newby, one of the first victims of the disease was out of his guard ropes that day for the first time; he and many other citizens, including the doctors, said their work of vaccination and control was made easy by the address of Dr. Hurty, emphasized by the presence of a loathsome, preventable disease and needless death.
We visited the smallpox hospital, a large, roomy brick house on a high knoll across the river, costing $10,000, but purchased with 20 acres of land for less than $3.000. Here under the care of Dr. Holloway for the city and Dr. Smith of Greensboro, .for the township, were 27 cases all doing well. There was a family of seven in one room presenting every stage from perhaps 50 to 100 pustules on a little daughter of a nearly confluent pregnant mother, who was nearly well without abortion.
One case had secondary abscess. On the third floor was an old war veteran physician, Dr. L. V. Winston, unvaccinated in many years, suffering with a very mild varioloid. All were well fed, nursed and housed. We visited the home of Mrs. Wilson, a semi-confluent case still in great danger. Her husband had been nursed by Mr. W. B. Kitchen of the Senior class of the Medical College of Indiana, until he died and the nurse helped to bury him as he had done for four other victims—all were buried in corrosive sublimate sheets ten hours after death. Mr. Kitchen then nursed the woman a week till a female nurse could be procured and his kindness and efficiency endeared him to the Health Board and people.

Another confluent case was a niece of Senator Newby’s just across from the Wilson house, where she had contracted the disease when going over to “find out” how he was getting along,” as the Wilson case was not early reported to the health officers. This girl of 12 years is in a dangerous condition—confluent on the face, arms and neck.
Just such cases had proved very deceptive; they seemed to be doing well, and were taking abundant nutriment but developed sepsis, heart failure and death in a few hours.
Such was the epidemic of smallpox in Knightstown from June 2 to July 20, when it was thoroughly under control, 99 percent of the citizens having been vaccinated within that time. The last patient to take the disease was Dr 0. F. Fleenor, who was in the papular stage the day of our visit. He had been vaccinated he thought to the limit of safety, but had ”no take” for many years.

There were 16 confluent cases with 12 deaths. Some were badly pitted. No children died; comparatively few were affected. The dead were Jesse Swain, 24; Henry White, 24; Homer Roberts, 25; S. M. Steele; T. 0. Wilson, 36; John Davis; I. P. Stoner; H. P. Risley, 50, and his son, Risley, 21; Mrs. Dovey; Mrs. Rosa Brosius; Mrs. Florea; Geo. Cratt, a veteran soldier whose disease was regarded by some as purpura hemorrhagia, but by others as virulent smallpox, some of his household had smallpox after his death.

The general agreement is that most of the infection was from a single walking case which met many people in the streets and stores, as the cases broke out about the same time in separated portions of the town.

The disease has been handled in a manner which does credit to the Health Board, and the citizens—that is, those who remained, as over one-third of the people, it is estimated, left the town on the first outbreak.
The town was quarantined by outlying towns, -Charlottesville, Rushville and others - uselessly, with a show of guns and barricades. But there was no restriction on the railroad; people could go in and out on the Pennsylvania RR at their will, but no one cared to visit the town and the hegira was early completed.

The epidemic teaches that Indiana is not safe from smallpox; that there are yet many unvaccinated communities; that the virulent Eastern or Texan type may infest any part of Indiana; that quarantine is inefficient, expensive and useless, and that our only safety as a State is in enforced vaccination of school children, and the constantly urged and freely given vaccination and revaccination by every town and county health board in the State, of all adults.
Finally, in any epidemic of the severe type, when the entire or nearly entire community has been vaccinated, the people should rise as one man against those who refuse vaccination, as they are a menace to the health and welfare of the community at large and may properly be put under the police power of the State as common nuisances.

So the epidemic was surely pretty bad. My sister told me that once, years ago, she met an old man that remembered the citizens of Knightstown bringing their feather beds to the town square to be burnt. They thought this would help prevent the spread of the disease.

I found this article in a K-town Banner of Oct, 1969 about a fire in the old house. It gives a snippet of history of the house. So now, we at least know who had the house built and when.
The text of the article follows:

Knightstown firemen responded to a call Tuesday when the house southeast of Knightstown, better known as the “Pest House” caught fire. The house has been sold to E. W. Hauser of Indianapolis and workmen are in the process of remodeling the old house. Workers reported they had built a fire in one of the fireplaces on the second floor where they were working. The ceiling beams in a third floor room caught fire and caused heavy smoke but firemen were able to extinguish the blaze and save the structure with only minor damage. Spiceland Fire Department aided the local firemen at the scene.
Charles Dayton Morgan, a prominent Knightstown lawyer and his wife, Alvira Woods Morgan built the 16 room house in 1867, Due to Alvira’s poor health, the family occupied the house for only 12 or 14 years, after which they returned to Knightstown to live in the brick house at the northwest corner of Adams and Brown Streets, where Charles spent the remainder of his life.
The 16-room, high ceiling house on the hill stood vacant for many years, and was purchased by the town around the turn of the century (1902) for use as an isolation hospital, or “Pest House”, during the smallpox epidemic of that time.
Several families occupied the house thereafter, but it was sold in the spring of 1969 to Jack Tweedy and Dick Leakey who planned to develop the surrounding acreage. They had considered the possibility of razing the old house but sold it to Mr. Hauser of Indianapolis who is restoring the home.

You can read more about Charles Morgan in the write up about the house at 238 East Brown.

The “Pest” House all boarded up in the 50s before restoration.
You can imagine it really was a pretty creepy place on a dark October night….!!!

5 West Pine Street

The J. Lee Furgason House at 5 W. Pine Street

James L. Ferguson (or Furgason), a lawyer, Mr. Fergason was born in Ind. in Aug. 1839. On June 14, 1865 in Henry Co. he married Mary F. Welborn. She was born in Ind. about 1846. They are the parents of one child, Florence Leona who was born in June 1868. She is still living in the home of her parents along with her husband Lewis A. Bell. Mr. Bell, a hardware merchant, was born in Ind. in Dec. 1859.

The 1911 K-town phone book has a listing for Mrs. J. Lee Furgason at that address as well as a listing for L.A. Bell at the same place. L.A. Bell is listed as living there until 1926. His occupation was listed as “hardware merchant” so maybe he was related to Harvey Bell of 25 S. Adams and Bell’s Hall fame.

Here’s a view of the house (on left) when it had a wonderful front porch. Probably in the 1880s…

Leonard Land was listed as living at 5 West Pine in 1930 and was there until 1959 (according to the phone books). I don’t know who lived there after the Land’s.
My sister, Amelia, found the obit for Mr. Land in the Banner of August 4th, 1960. It gives the following info: Leonard Land age 78 died at his home 7-29-1960. He was President K-town Board of Trustees and served 10 years. Came from Madison IN and lived here 40 years. He retired in 1953 as merchandising mgr. Schuffamn’s Furniture Store, New Castle. Earlier he was traveling rep. for highly recognized home furnishing firms, 27 years. Methodist Church Board, K-town Chamber of Commerce, 50-year Mason + York Rite. He had one daughter, Sally Land Smith.