|
Stephenson Mansion
|
|
| Location: | University Avenue in Irvington, Indiana |
|---|---|
| Architectural style: | Colonial Revival |
| NRHP Reference#: | 82001857 |
| Added to NRHP: | 1982[1] |
The Stephenson Mansion (also known as Graham-Stephenson Home) is perhaps the home with the most interesting history in Irvington, Indiana.
The home was listed on The National Register of Historic Places as the William H. H. Graham House in 1982.[1][2]
The home was built in 1889 for William H. H. Graham, who was associated with the Benjamin Harrison administration. It also served as a sorority home for Kappa Kappa Gamma students at Butler University in 1923.[3]
D. C. Stephenson acquired the home in 1923 and remodeled it to resemble a Civil War-era plantation home.[3]
D.C. Stephenson was the Grand Dragon (state leader) of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana and 22 other northern states. There were an estimated 400,000 members of the Indiana Klan in 1925. D.C. Stephenson was a powerful political man who considered a run for governor of Indiana in 1924, as a Republican.[3]
In 1925, Stephenson was convicted for the abduction and murder of Madge Oberholtzer, an Irvington resident. Stephenson reportedly raped her aboard a train to Hammond, Indiana, in April 1925. Oberholtzer poisoned herself with bichloride of mercury tablets in Hammond. The tablets, when diluted in water made a powerful disinfectant. Taken as pills, they are corrosive, causing death. Instead of taking her for medical help, Stephenson took her to the mansions' carriage house overnight, while he plotted his next move. He took her home the following morning. She died a month later. Stephenson was later convicted of second degree murder because he did not seek medical help for Madge.[3]
The conviction of Stephenson resulted in the deconstruction of the Klan in Indiana. In 1928, Stephenson created a stir when he released papers showing that politicians had promised to let Stephenson influence the government in exchange for Klan backing. Indianapolis Mayor Duvall went to jail, and Governor Jackson escaped prosecution, because the statute of limitations had run out. The Indianapolis Times won a Pulitzer Prize in 1928 for investigating the Klan and Stephenson. The Stephenson Mansion has since been the scene of other deaths and murders. The home is interesting to people who believe in haunted houses.[3]