Artists - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Phil Coons, a long-time genealogy buddy, recently donated his father’s portrait done by Lee Detchon to the Carnegie Museum, one of our local artists.  He is shown here with Toni Ridgway-Woodall, local assistant in Reference/Local History as well as working in the Gallery downstairs and doing art on the 2nd floor. Our great Dellie Craig, genealogy specialist took the photo for posterity. Now, I’m a firm believer a person needs to be involved with others of the trade and Lee was quite active as early as 1917, in the Art League Club of Crawfordsville, thus he performed a bell and piano duet with his sister, Esther, for the League’s 20th anniversary in 1917.  Later, he was involved in the Indiana Artists Club, elected to the board of directors in 1945 continuing in that position for awhile.  In 1949, he ran against a gal for president and won.   Born (13 July 1900) and raised in Crawfordsville, he passed here just shy of his 94th birthday.  Lee also went to Wabash College (a Beta) and lived at 313 E. Wabash.  He was active in a travelling glee club directed by Frank Cowles.  Lee wasn’t a big man, but packed his 5’6”, 140# frame into a great deal of energy.  Irwin “Lee” Detchon was baptized into the United Methodist Church on the last day of 1912 and remained a member his whole life.  He was the son of Irwin and Annie Lee Detchon.  Irwin was a physician following his own father, Elliott who was a pioneer doctor here.  They were also manufacturers of medicines in the area; he was a Wabash grad, 1878 a Delta Tau Delta. Lee was 47 years old when he married Mary Hannah Peterson on May 12th.  She was a Darlington gal. Lee didn’t start out in art but went to Miami in 1925 where he established an advertising agency but delving into his art work, as well. His advertising firm did well, and he went on to NY for the same.  Fifteen years after beginning his businesses, he returned to our fair city to study his love under nationally renowned Fritz Schlemmer (obit 4 July 1904 Lafayette Journal and Courier).  Detchon mainly worked with oil and watercolors, his art having been displayed in the NY Historical Museum, Smithsonial Galleries and many other places.  His paintings were donated to Wabash and are on a rotating display in the Detchon Center (made possible by a very large donation on the 70th anniversary of Lee’s graduation).  

One of the very early artists in the county was T.C. Steele who was born in nearby Owen County Sept 22, 1847 and came with his family to Waveland where his father did blacksmithing and other work.  However, his father died a few years afterward.  Gma’ and Gpa’ lived across the street but mother was busy with the other children, TC kind of on his own.  However, he was very young when he became known in Indiana and Eastern Illinois, and so, he inquired of the respectfully known Waveland Academy if he could teach there while he received his education there.  Well-done Theodore Clements Steele!  He went on to study in Chicago, Indianapolis, Munich and spent many years in Brown County, much of his work including the Brown County harvests as well as spending time back in MoCo to do scenes (Pine Hills, Yountsville, Troutmans and Meharry’s Grove - Weekly Journal 15 April 1893).  

Fritz (Ferdinand Louis) Schlemmer was also born and raised in Crawfordsville (son of Otto and Louise Miller Schlemmer) and also attended Wabash College.  Handsome, athletic, smart, artistic and outgoing, Fritz was involved in the “Paris Players” group, along with three other Crawfordsvillians, Harold Heaton, Earl Russell and Fern Doubleday and gave great performances in the Chautauqua era.  According to Wikipedia, their performance, Man Outside was “screaming funny and the most enjoyed program in this year’s Chautauqua.” Fritz was said to be a master of lighting effects and had great painting talents which also enhanced their production.  He was a member of the Indiana National Guard and was listed on his WWI Draft card (born Sept 16, 1891) as being tall, of medium build, with brown hair and dark brown eyes.  Likely due to his five years in the Guards, he was commissioned first lieutenant (89th Infantry) and served as “Divisional Camouflage Officer during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive” during WWI.  Afterwards, he studied in Paris, then spending winters in Florida, he did societal portraits.  He also studied at the Cape Cod School of Art. Now, that’s seeing the world, a great back drop of knowledge.  In 1939, he served as Artist in Residence, at Wabash.  He had 19 pieces accepted into the Hoosier Salon but sadly died young on March 12, 1947 of Addison’s Disease. In a Miami Herald 28 April 1960 article, he was featured beginning with “Feminine hearts fluttered rather easily right after the end of WWI, particularly at the sight of a man in a soldier suit.”  The author went on to feature Fritz who “had everything the gals go for – dark, wavy hair, a cleft chin, a first lieutenant’s uniform completed with shiny leather boots, a powerful figure of a man, tall with broad shoulders.”  He could be seen all over Fort Lauderdale, painting away the beauty of the city.  Oddly, he destroyed much of his own work, thinking it was unsatisfactory.  The Floridian light was hard to present on canvas.  It was the Indiana landscapes that won him fame, not Florida’s.  Fritz was also a great swimmer and gave lessons to kids who worshipped him.  Of course, some of the takers were young females.  Fritz was not a lady’s man per se, however.  He married briefly to an actress and with the end of the marriage he went back home to Indiana where he then married Beatrice Deane.  They would have one daughter, Beverly. Fritz left his mark on Crawfordsville, giving lessons to many wonderful artists such as Lee Detchon mentioned above; Peg Shearer; Helen Collar; Elizabeth Dodds; the Domroeses; Carol Klinger; Yvonne Kendall and Leland Patton a commercial artist who created the logo for the Indianapolis Power & Light Company.  Any of you remember the murals at the old hospital?  Thank Fritz (Crawfordsville: Athens of Indiana p 107).

When folks think of Lew Wallace, their thoughts center around Lew, the writer of Ben Hur and other works or Lew, the Civil War soldier.  Perhaps Lew as the lawyer but few think of Lew as an Artist.  He was indeed with several paintings and even some sculptures.  Besides that, he played the violin!

Theodora Larsh Chase, was born and raised in Crawfordsville, daughter of John M. Larsh and Elizabeth French.  Her work was intricate, having been a miniature portrait painter who had a studio in the tower of Carnegie Hall in NY City.  After graduating from CHS, she went to Indianapolis (attending John Herron Art Institute) where she spent a half-dozen or so years focusing on her art.  She spent the next few years in Chicago (Chicago Art Academy) with her parents, her father a contractor there, but it was in NY where she really became well-known, especially after studying under Mme. LaFage in London. Theodora’s goal was to always “better my best.”  She painted miniatures of many impressive socialites of the Big Apple.  She had a 50-50 marriage (almost unheard of at the time) with Francis D. Chase, a NY hotel magnet and they were quite happy. She was close to his daughter, Ilka Chase, who became an actress, radio hostess and writer but they had no children.  Listed in many artistic sources and winning many prizes she was quite a gal for C’ville to call its own. (Montgomery County INGenWeb page)  

More current artists rank many and know I’ll forget some but in my mind quickly appears Dave Gerard and his wonderful cartoons; Jene Burns who sketched local history, especially our Sugar Creek area; Jerry Smith whose back road art work is amazing and his coastal pieces intriguing; John Oilar, pen and ink detailer; Alice Harpel, with a specialty of acrylics; Terry Jackson, head of the Lafayette Jeff Art Department for years and a winning artist with many subjects; Rob O’Dell, Sears catalog illustrator, barn painter and much more.  Then, there’s one of my all-time favorite Crawfordsvillian artists, Chuck Clore.  His writing is humorous, entertaining and his stunning artwork always compliments his articles in the Montgomery Memories, a publication of The Paper of Montgomery County.

This is likely just a touch of our multitude of local artists, most you have heard of, some perhaps not, but hope you enjoyed reading about them!   ---kbz