Buckle up for some history, y’all!
The Lamb Family
That Old Pink House was built in 1862. The land was first owned by the Lamb family, specifically Miles Lamb and then his son, Phineas Lamb, beginning in the 1820s. Both were instrumental in the beginnings of Henry County, Indiana and are featured here in “History of Henry County,” which was published in 1884.
Miles Lamb was born in North Carolina, Feb. 5, 1801, son of John Lamb, a native of North Carolina, of Scotch descent, who died in 1830 at an advanced age. He was reared a farmer, and also in his young days worked at glove-making. About 1824 he came to Henry County, Ind., and entered 160 acres of land in the southeastern part of Harrison Township which he improved, and where he lived until his death, March 28th, 1874. He was one of the county’s most influential citizens. Honorable, honest, industrious, he won the esteem of all who knew him. Politically he was a Whig, and when the Free-Soil movement was agitated he was one of the first to adopt its principles. He was a strong anti-slavery man, and proclaimed his principles in the face of all opposition, being one of three in this precinct for a few years who adhered to the movement. He was married about 1825 to Rebecca Gray. They had two children- John, deceased, and Sarah, wife of E. H. Campbell. His wife died and he afterward married Nancy Modlin, who was born in North Carolina, Aug. 30, 1803, and died Jan. 29, 1864. They had a family of ten children- Phineas; Barnabas, deceased; Thomas E., of Kansas; Caleb, of Wayne County, Ind.; Rebecca, wife of W.S. Chamless; Anna, widow of Wright Sanders; Rachel, deceased; Erie; Ruth, wife of Larkin Chamless, of Wayne County, Ind.; and Nancy, wife of William Peper. Mr. and Mrs. Lamb were reared in the faith of the Society of Friends. They subsequently joined the Methodist Episcopal church, and later the Wesleyan Methodist church.
History of Henry County, Indiana
Here’s a link to his Find A Grave Profile.
Phineas Lamb was born in Henry County, Ind., Sept. 29, 1831, a son of Miles and Nancy (Modlin) Lamb. He was reared a farmer, and, with the exception of eight years that he worked at the carpenter’s trade, has always followed that vocation. He is residing on the old homestead, his farm containing 120 acres of choice land. He was married March 25, 1858, to Ann E. Reeves, daughter of Jacob and Eliza Reeves, who was born in Wayne County, Ind., Aug. 23, 1831. They have five children- Laura, Milton, William, Horace, and Hattie. Mr. and Mrs. Lamb are members of the Wesleyan Methodist church. Politically he is a Republican. He has served as Justice of the Peace of his township four years.
History of Henry County, Indiana
Here is his profile on WikiTree.
You can see mention of the Wesleyan Methodist church in their biographies, and rightfully so, as the church first began its class on this very land (before the house was built.)
Wesleyan Methodist — Duck Creek Wesleyan Methodist Church was organized in August, 1843, by Rev. Emsley Brookshire. The first members were: E. Brookshire, Miles and Sarah Lamb, Benoni Pressnal, Jane Pressnal, Preston Kennard and Sarah Lamb. The first officers were: Preston Kennard, Steward; Jeremiah Pressnal, Clerk; Miles Lamb, Class leader. The class first met at the house of Miles Lamb, and afterward at the Brookshire schoolhouse.
History of Henry County, Indiana
From what I can tell from the documents we’ve obtained, various members of the Lamb family owned the 120 acres of land and the house through the 1940s. Portions of the land were then sold off until the 2 acres containing the house remained. Descendants of the Lamb family owned the real estate until 1980, when my grandparents bought it, though they had been living in this house since the 1950s while purchasing it on contract.
The Wells Family
My grandparents moved to Henry County in the 1950s from Toledo, Ohio, although they were originally from Tennessee. First they lived inside the city of New Castle and then eventually moved to the family home in Harrison Twp. My grandpa was a factory worker, which was common in the midwest at the time. They could support a family on one person’s salary, and being a member of the UAW brought them many additional benefits such as health insurance and workers’ rights protections. My grandma also worked as a quality inspector in a dress factory.
They raised their 4 children in this house along with plenty of pet dogs and cats. The house was also home to my great-grandma Hettie and my great-aunt Ann (my grandpa’s mother and sister).
My grandma always had a big garden growing along with lots of beautiful flowers (when my grandpa didn’t run over them with his riding mower!) We spent many holidays here as a family and I know my mom, aunt, and uncles have so many memories and stories from their childhood, as do my cousins and I.
When they passed away, they were both buried in the Green Hills Memory Garden Cemetery, which is just one farm field over from the house.
Harry’s Find A Grave Profile
Violet’s Find A Grave Profile
And Now We Live Here
It’s a pretty long story as to how we ended up being the next occupants of this 1862 house: death, business failure, family wishes, etc. I won’t rehash it all here. I plan to go into greater detail on living in a generational house later in a blog post.
Since the 1950s, 5 generations of the Wells family have occupied this house!
The Project
The house has been through many changes through the years and I’d guess that it doesn’t look too much like its original design inside. We aren’t exactly certain which category this house falls into, but likely it is an offshoot of Queen Anne or Victorian house styles that were being built in rural areas in the 1860s.
This was never going to be a preservation project for us, and I think my grandparents would be okay with that. My grandma loved the south, so that’s been my inspiration from the start.
At this point in time, we can’t move to the beach, so we will be trying to bring bits of the beach home here to our house in Indiana.
This is a monster of a project and will likely take us YEARS to complete… maybe just in time to give it to our son so we can move to the beach.
We welcome you to our blog and invite you to follow along as we renovate this generational home and turn it into a pink southern house you’d see in Southern Living!
If you’d like to read more about the history of Henry County, Indiana, you can check out the book I’ve referenced right here on Google Books.
History of Henry County, Indiana: Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages, and Towns … Also a Condensed History of Indiana, Embracing Accounts of Pre-historic Races, Aborigines, Winnebago and Black Hawk Wars, and a Brief Review of Its Civil and Political History. United States, Inter-State Publishing Company, 1884.
