Steagall
The Johnson County Public Library Historical Room, located at the Franklin Branch of the Johnson County Public Library, contains a curated collection of documents, maps, atlases, directories and other material you can use to research the history of homes in the county.
In the library’s latest episode of our podcast, Back Stories, Elyssa Everling from the Trafalgar Branch and David Pfeiffer from the Johnson County Museum of History, discovered a connection between America’s first serial killer, H.H. Holmes and Franklin, Indiana.
Georgiana Yoke met Holmes in Chicago in 1891. The Edinburgh and Franklin native was the only wife of H.H. Holmes to survive being married to him. Georgiana’s mother, Mary Yoke, is thought to have lived in a home near Franklin College.
After learning about this connection, Pam Caito, a genealogy researcher in the library’s Historical Room, researched the Yoke’s residence with the Library’s public resources. First, she used the Library’s copy of the Atlas of Johnson County to locate Mary Yoke. Yoke is listed on one of the plots on State Street.
While searching library’s archive of digitized local newspapers, Caito found several articles about the Yoke’s home. In Aug. 1895, an Indianapolis News reporter described the Yoke’s house as “a one-story cottage,” “a well-kept little place…the rear of which fronts the railroad” and “where Holmes used to be a frequent visitor.”
Through maps, phone directories and newspapers, all available in the library’s Historical Room, Pam deduced Mrs. Yoke lived at 230 S. State Street, it is unclear if she owned the home. More newspaper articles reveal different owners filtered through the house in the mid-1900s. By the 1990s, the house was one of several torn down to make room for Franklin College’s expansion.
Books and print materials in the library’s Historical Room and digital resources accessible are available to guide your research. Staff is available to help you get started on your quest. All you need is your Library card. Your home has most likely never been visited by a serial killer but, you can find out more about the history of your home in the library’s Historical Room.
To learn more about H.H. Holmes, check out “The Devil and the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America” by Eric Larson. Or listen to the library’s Back Stories podcast available on your favorite podcast service.
