Ols-Thomas Wedding

We have already seen a photo of Evalene (however you spell it) Ols; if it was taken after April 26, 1922, she was already Mrs. Dewey Thomas:

Miss Evalene M. Ols, second eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Crist Ols, who reside southeast of Hobart, and Dewey Thomas, of Brems, Ind., were united in marriage at Crown Point, Ind., on Wednesday, April 26. Immediately following the ceremony they left for the groom's home, where he is engaged in farming, and where for the present they intend to reside.

The young couple have many friends in their respective communities who wish for them a happy and prosperous life together.

At first I thought "Brems, Ind." was a misprint. I had never heard of such a town. You can still find it on Google maps, these days, but you'll need a magnifying glass.*

I wonder if Dewey was any kin to Auvergne Thomas Fleck — both being from Starke County families — but then Thomas is not such an unusual surname.

Dewey was born in 1899 into a large farming family in Starke County. By 1920 the family had moved to LaPorte County. Perhaps after 1920 Dewey went back to Starke County to farm on his own account. But by 1930 he and Evalene (and their three children, as well as Evalene's brother, Ervin) were living in Merrillville, and Dewey worked in a sheet mill.

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Back near Ainsworth, at the former Deep River schoolhouse, now the property of Edward and Tillie Niksch, dances were becoming a regular thing. An ad for a dance on Saturday, May 13, promised good music, admission 50 cents. The ad for the next dance assured the public that "everyone who attended the last dance there … had a good time."

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*You'll need a magnifying glass for Ainsworth, too.


Sources:
♦ 1900 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ 1930 Census.
♦ "Local and Personal," Hobart News 4 May 1922; 19 May 1922.
♦ "Thomas-Ols." Hobart News 4 May 1922.

The Former Deep River Schoolhouse

Anytime you want to see the former Deep River schoolhouse, you can just drive to the intersection of Randolph and E. 73rd and look at the northwest corner … but I also have a couple of photos from the dim and misty past in which a camera aimed at people inadvertently took in part of the former schoolhouse, in which those people were partying.


(Click on images to enlarge)
Images courtesy of Eldon Harms.

Left to right, we have Anna Harms, Henry Harms, Sr., unknown, and Don Niksch. The photo is undated; but Don looks about 12 years old here, which would bring us to about 1928, and that's consistent with the fashions.

They are standing on the front steps of the old schoolhouse.

The next photo shows a bit more of the building.



These people are not identified, although we can recognize, at the far right, Anna Harms, and next to her, Henry Harms, Sr. The lady seated in the rocking chair with the flowers in her lap appears to be the guest of honor; I wish I knew who she was. We have no date on this, but judging by the women's fashions, my rough guess would be circa 1925.

You can clearly see the curved brackets supporting the roof over the entrance, which were also a feature of the old Ainsworth schoolhouse. Both schoolhouses also had those metal screens over the windows.

Schoolhouses Sold

Both of the old frame schoolhouses were bought by their neighbors.


(Click on images to enlarge)
"Local and Personal." Hobart News 8 Dec. 1921.

Edward Niksch farmed a parcel of land that embraced the northwest corner of Randolph and E. 73rd, where the Deep River schoolhouse stood (and still stands).

Sometime between 1891 and 1908, Helmuth (aka Michael) Foreman had bought the farmland that included the site of the old Ainsworth school. The school building was torn down sometime in the 1970s and I don't know exactly where it stood, but I've marked its approximate location with a green x on this excerpt from the 1926 Plat Book:




The guests throwing the surprise party for Annie Rossow (mentioned in the "Local and Personal" column above the item about the school building sales) went to the Rossow farm at County Line Road and 700 N.

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And here's what Charles and Amelia Goldman were advertising at the Ainsworth general store.


Hobart News 8 Dec. 1921.