College Hill Commoner by Barry Owens

2 Reader lauds last

month’s article on Lindbergh, offers an elaboration.

4 College Hill cook

restores vintage diner in Midtown.

6 Good lines, great

lawns: A preview of the College Hill Garden & Architectural Tour.

THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER Vol. 6 No. 6

COLLEGE HILL

• CROWN HEIGHTS • UPTOWN • SLEEPY HOLLOW

JUNE 2011

‘THE CHATEAU ON THE HILL’ A look back at a College Hill mansion built for a mayor and later home to the city’s first Catholic Bishop. PAGE 8

The Ben W. Aldrich mansion as it appeared following its completion in 1888 at Douglas and Roosevelt on the site of today’s Blessed Sacrament Church. Though built for Aldrich, a former mayor, it became home to the city’s first Catholic Bishop, The Rev. John Hennessy (inset).

PHOTOS: WICHITA PUBLIC LIBRARY

LETTERS

THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ JUNE 2011

THE GET AWAY A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

D To remember its friend Charles Lindbergh, the city of Wichita commissioned a bas relief illustration of the pilot in flight. The work was created for the city’s second Municipal Airport, today’s Kansas Aviation Museum. The airport and the art was designed by L.W. Clapp.

READER LAUDS LINDBERGH STORY, OFFERS AN ELABORATION

TO THE EDITOR:

I look forward to the Commoner each month and I don’t even live in College Hill. I have lived in Historic Midtown for almost 30 years. It is the wonderful essays highlighting Wichita history that interest me. In the most recent edition, Jeff A. Roth does an excellent job explaining Wichita’s connection to Charles Lindbergh. I would like to elaborate on the role of one person mentioned in the article. That person, a Midtown pioneer, is L.W. Clapp. The article correctly identifies Clapp as President of the Park Board at the time and that the city commissioned a bas relief illustration of the Spirit of St. Louis to be installed at the Municipal Airport,

today’s Kansas Aviation Museum. Clapp himself designed and supervised the construction of this unique piece of art. In addition to his role as artist, Clapp designed the layout of the airport in its entirety. In her well-researched book, Prairie Runways, Susan Thompson writes, “[O]n July 1, Col. Charles Lindbergh, accompanied by his new bride, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, flew into Wichita. . . . While in Wichita, he met with Clapp and reiterated his blessing of the proposed Administration Building and the configuration of the airport.” (page 49).

isneyland seems a nice family vacation destination, in theory. But our kids wouldn’t recognize Mickey Mouse. They barely know from Snoopy, either, or Bugs Bunny or Tom and Jerry or seemingly any of the characters mom and dad used to spend their Saturday mornings with (Huckleberry Hound, anyone?). So a trip with the kids to a theme park is out this year. Truthfully, so is a trip to the tropics, the coast, any sort of gorge or canyon or other natural feature that would require more than a few hours travel time, or heaven forbid, airline tickets. We hear that El Dorado is nice this time of year. Perhaps some dewey morning soon we’ll load them up and hit the turnpike. On the way back maybe we’ll stop for a treat at the Dairy Queen in Augusta. I think we have a coupon. Mind you, it’s not that we’re cheap or even especially broke. We could book passage (in steerage, anyway) to a port city for a week of sightseeing and buttery foods if we wanted to. But we don’t. In fact, the whole notion of packing up the family and taking the show on the road seems like the opposite of down time. We left bus schedules, trains, tourists and tiny rooms behind in New York and we haven’t looked back. Let’s face it, compared to our former Brooklyn walk up, our rundown old house on Holyoke is a mansion. The car in the driveway an impossible luxury. Private laundry facilities in the basement, a dream. The five minute commute to work is so effortless that one hardly minds going to the office at all. Vacation? Vacation from what? Living here is easy. Leaving here is work.

DAN FITZGERALD BARRY OWENS EDITOR

WRITE THE EDITOR:

We welcome your letters. No subject is out of bounds, so long as it is local. Letters should not exceed 300 words and june be edited for clarity and length.

E-MAIL US: editor@collegehillcommoner.com WRITE US: 337 N. Holyoke, Wichita, KS, 67208 CALL US: 689-8474 ADVERTISE: jessica@collegehillcommoner.com, or 689-8474 THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER

We can’t make this stuff up.

VOLUME 6 ISSUE 6 JUNE 2011

PUBLISHER

J ESSICA F REY O WENS

EDITOR

B ARRY

OWENS

CONTRIBUTORS

JEFF ROTH, J OE S TUMPE

Call us with your story ideas: 689-8474

THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER

Published monthly by The College Hill Commoner 337 N. Holyoke Wichita, K.S. 67208 316-689-8474 editor@collegehillcommoner.com www.collegehillcommoner.com

THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ JUNE 2011

Plan to attend the Quarterly CHNA Members Meeting

Tuesday – June 21 7-8:30pm: East Heights United Methodist Church MEETING TOPICS A. Executive Officer comments B. Committee Chairmen & comments (as applicable) C. Other business & comments D. Guest introduction & discussion 1. Mayflower Clinic status 2. District II and Counicl Member Pete Meisner E. Bylaw re-write status F. Neighborhood considerations 1. Barking dogs 2. Trash fund 3. Art 4. Suggestions G. For the Good of CHNA — Open Mic Be an informed and active Member of CHNA. The neighborhood association needs you and your participation. Renew your CHNA Membership for 2011 ... or join for the first time. Contact Vicki Jacob at 612-8283 or email jacob260@cox.net for more information.

COLLEGEHILLNEIGHBORHOOD.COM

THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ JUNE 2011

College Hill Resident Restores Vintage Diner By Joe Stumpe Richard Jack tried to get his kicks on historic Route 66. When that didn’t work out, the College HIll resident found an alternative on U.S. Highway 81, better known as Broadway as it slices through central Wichita. Jack, who’d been looking for a restaurant opportunity for some time, opened Lil’ Joe’s Diner in the old Dyne-Quik at 1202 N. Broadway in April. “I like history,” he said. “I wanted a motel and diner on Route 66, but I couldn’t find one I could afford or one I wanted.” In the Dyne-Quik, he found a building with its own history. The pre-fab structure was one of more than 2,000 turned out by Valentine Industries in Wichita after World War II. Shipped around the country, the diners were “best described as small boxes,” according to a history of them on the Kansas Historical Society website. “Definitely not fancy and not even particularly attractive.” Instead, they were designed to be easy to move, assemble and operate. Most held only 8 to 10 seats along one counter. Another Valentine Diner in Wichita now houses Sport Burger, at 134 N. Hillside on the edge of College Hill. “If you were good at it — if you served good food at a fair price and kept your customers happy — you could make a successful business of a Valentine,” the website states.

Richard Jack and Kris McAllister. Jack, a College Hilll resident, is the owner of Lil’ Joe’s Diner, a retro lunch counter in the old Dyne-Quick, a vintage Valentine Diner on Broadway. PHOTOS: JOE STUMPE

That pretty much sums on Jack’s approach, although the Dyne-Quik on north Broadway is a larger Valentine model with booths as well as a counter. Jack does the cooking, girlfriend Kris McAllister bakes homemade desserts, and ex-son-in-law Jordan Roby fills in as needed. The Dyne-Quik building has had only three owners. It was built in two pieces in 1958 — Nos. 2418 and 2419, according to metal plate on the walls — assembled on site and opened the next year. A neighbor “said he was sitting on the corner

when they put this in,” Jack said. For a while it was open 24 hours a day, a haven for shift workers and college kids attracted by the distinctive red and blue lighted Dyne-Quik sign out front. Jack is leasing the building from the current owner, who did some renovations and then let it sit vacant for three years after running into issues with the city inspection process. Jack (himself a former building inspector for the city) spent six weeks readying the place for re-opening. Today the retro stainless steel fixtures and formica tabletops gleam like new.

Jack is using much of the same menu as the previous operator -- from pancakes and eggs to burgers and fries — along with daily specials such as meatloaf, roast beef sandwiches and sloppy joes. Lil’ Joe’s is open 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekends. Jack, who once ran a restaurant near Manhattan, said the business is “tougher than I remember. But I’m also a lot older than I remember.” The Dyne-Quik building poses a few unique challenges. Jack winces as he recalls a workman’s unsuccessful attempt to re-paint and light the sign out front. Then there’s the neighborhood, known for its high volume of foot traffic along a busy stretch of old hotels, convenience stores and fast-food joints. “There definitely are some colorful people, but so far, no problems,” Jack said. Attracting new customers is a challenge. Those that do give it a try usually love the nostalgic feel of settling into a booth or counter chair and enjoying madeto-order food. Jack says he reopened the Dyne-Quik for the same reason he lives in College HIll: “I like old things.” As for the name, it comes from his son, a first-grader at College Hill elementary. “He comes in all the time and he’ll let you know that it” is named for him, Jack said.

THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ JUNE 2011

125 S. CRESTWAY OWNERS: TOM & JILL DOCKING ARCHITECTURE: Built in 1923, the twostory Tudor Revival style home is one of the largest of its type in the neighborhood. GARDEN: Beautiful natural landscape is combined with four gardens, each of them named and themed in memory of the homeowner’s parents.

141 S. CRESTWAY OWNERS: ROBERT & DAWN CHISHOLM ARCHITECTURE: Dutch Colonial Revival style, built in 1925. Features prominent entryway and screened porch. GARDEN: Several beds in the backyard, which also features a veranda and stone hearth and one special garden that is maintained entirely by 10-year-old Katie.

319 N. BELMONT OWNER: SUE PEARCE ARCHITECTURE: A rare Ranch style home in College Hill, built in 1960. GARDEN: Sculptural pieces are highlights of the garden. Among the pieces are a dinosaur, industrial sized flower pots created from jigs, and a working neon sculpture in the backyard.

345 N. BELMONT OWNERS: DR. ALEX & PAMELA AMMAR ARCHITECTURE: Henry Lassen first made this Neo Georgian Revival mansion his home. GARDEN:The gardens have been cultivated for more than 100 years and include several old growth trees, including a pair of century old Catalpa trees that shade the pond.

3501 E. ENGLISH OWNERS: SHAWN & KAREN LEWIS ARCHITECTURE: Craftsman Bungalow built in 1923. A pristine example of the style, which is prevalent in the neighborhood. GARDEN: Small but diverse garden promises a little something for everyone, including several raised beds, an above ground pond and abundant shade.

255 N. ROOSEVELT - ALLEN-LAMBE HOUSE ARCHITECTURE: Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1915. GARDEN: The home was built to integrate with the landscape. The living and dining rooms wrap around a sunken garden and courtyard which features a rectangular pond.

Six Homes Included in Garden and Architectural Tour The annual College Hill Garden & Architectural Tour is set for June 11, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The tour features six homes and gardens including the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Allen-Lambe House. The annual tour of local gardens — now in its 10th year — is a fundraiser for the College Hill Neighborhood Association. But it draws the curious from all over the city. “I think people discover homes with personality in College Hill. There is a real diversity of landscapes

and architecture here,” said Kathleen Snyder, who along with fellow College Hill resident Judy Webber, helped to organize the tour and select the homes. Ticket buyers will receive a program that offers details about the gardens and the history and architecture of each of the homes. Tickets are $5 and available at Watermark Books this month or at any of the homes on the day of the tour. Rain date is June 12.

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THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ JUNE 2011

HISTORY

THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ JUNE 2011

The Chateau on the Hill City’s first Catholic Bishop, John J. Hennessy, and his College Hill home BY JEFF A . ROTH en W. Aldrich came to Wichita in its first decade and prospered in operating a number of drug stores during the “Boom” years of the 1880s. After completing a term as Wichita’s eighth mayor he engaged architect C.W. Kellogg to build a magnificent red brick mansion for him on the hill east of town at Moser and Douglas Avenue. The “Chateau on the Hill” as it became to be known would soon house an even more distinguished owner, Wichita’s first Catholic Bishop, the Right Reverend John J. Hennessy. The bishop, while revered by most, did not have an entirely faithful flock. There was one critic in particular, an irascible Irish farmer from south of town by the name of Florence Driscoll. “Big Flurry,” as he was commonly

The Rev. John Hennessy, the city’s first Catholic Bishop. WICHITA PUBLIC LIBRARY

called, was immortalized in a series of books written in the late 1940s by his son Charles “Charlie bye” Driscoll. In Big Flurry’s voice we hear a less-thanapproving assessment of the Right Reverend on the hill. Wichita in the 1880s was still “missionary work” in the eyes of the Catholic Church. But as the city grew to a regional center with a population approaching 20,000, including 800 of the Catholic faith, Rome saw fit to carve a Wichita Diocese out of the existing Leavenworth Diocese. To find a shepherd for the prairie flock Rome looked to St. John’s Parish in St. Louis, Missouri, to an energetic builder of churches, schools and a convent for Ursuline nuns, the 41 year old Reverend John J. Hennessy, born of County Cork, Ireland. Young Hennessy’s zeal for spreading the faith

was lionized in a published anecdote about the building of the Iron Mountain railroad in southeastern Missouri. Early in his career Hennessy had served as parish priest of Iron Mountain (later Ironton), Missouri. It was said the young priest would ride a hand car to the end of the line in order to administer sacraments to the railroad workers and say Mass at an outdoor altar he would set up. When he arrived in Wichita in 1888 the newly consecrated bishop found a bankrupt economy where the bust of the real estate craze in town and failed crops in the country had ruined many a persons’ fortunes. He nonetheless embarked on an ambitious program of building and expanding parishes CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ JUNE 2011

HISTORY

POSTCARDS: FROM THE AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

Left: A postcard of an artist’s concept of the original St. Mary’s cathedral design. Arguably excessive, it was scaled back and captured in a more simple and solid design. Above right: A postcard depicting the completed St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. With its stately Romanesque design, it has served the Catholic Diocese since its completion and dedication in 1912.

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throughout the state. In his 32 years of service Bishop Hennessy laid more cornerstones for more religious buildings than any other cleric in Kansas. Local institutions that bear his mark include the churches of St. Anthony’s and St. Joseph’s, Newman University (then St. John’s Academy), the Chapel at St. Francis Hospital, Mount St. Mary’s Convent on the hill, Mt. Carmel Academy (nonextant), and St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, although the latter caused the bishop fits during its construction. Progress on the cathedral was halted at the level of its Oklahoma red granite foundation when it became obvious that its original architect had underestimated the cost of his elaborate design. A second architect scaled back some of the plan’s grandiosity and rendered the less fussy Romanesque design that stands clad in Bedford, Indiana stone today. The bishop’s 20 year residency on College Hill began in 1901 with his acquisition of the three storied Aldrich Mansion. He also acquired the land lying immediately to the east from the nearby Wichita Children’s Home. The purchased lot sloped deeply to the south and for a time the bishop fancied a small pond with landscaping at that location. The red brick mansion trimmed in

white stone had a stately reception hall finished in old English oak. It was decorated with statuary, paintings and rich rugs. Its dining room was considered one of the most beautiful in the state, the walls being covered in Vatican red faux Cordovan leather. In the corner, an imported French china cabinet made of mahogany and plate glass was filled with rare porcelain curiosities. Spanish tapestries and paintings brought from Italy gave further color to the mansion’s interiors. The third floor library was painted sage grey-green, its bookshelves filled with books in many languages, ponderous tomes of theology and philosophy. A long procession of great men, prelates, statesmen, diplomats, businessmen and professionals were his guests at the 20 room mansion. Also residing at the mansion was his housekeeper, his handyman, and a long-time lodger, an authoress by trade. Ol’ Flurry Driscoll, however, would not be a’ calling on His Lordship, the Right Reverend John Joseph, by the Grace of God and the Favor of the Holy Apostolic See. Farmer Driscoll, also born of County Cork, preceding the bishop by only 10 years, farmed a black soil and partly sandy 166 acres with his wife and young family southeast of today’s 47th and Hydraulic. In a 2011 reprint of

Charles B. Driscoll’s 1943 book Kansas Irish, the author, Flurry’s youngest son recalls his father’s dislike of Hennessy’s “airs” and “pretensions” especially as perceived by the old Irishman when attending High Mass. Most of all Flurry loathed the vesting and divesting of the bishop during his processional and recessional movements at the beginning and the end of the holy ceremony. Charles’s mother Ellen pleaded with her husband, “Will you go to church tomorrow?” In his thick Irish brogue Flurry responded, “I will nat.” “Tell me, what keeps you away from the church?” With a bellowing voice he proclaimed: “I’ll go there no more! Too God-damned much dhressing and undhressing!” In Charles’s second book, Country Jake (1946), also about life on the Driscoll farm, Charles recalled a similar response by his father to his mother’s pleas, “When Jazus puts him back on a handcar, I’ll go to Mass.” In Charles’s unfinished and unpublished manuscript titled East and West of Wichita he relates a final conversation concerning his father’s disrespect for the bishop. Flurry had actually bought 20 acres of ground from Bishop Hennessy in order to set up a produce farm. It was located adjacent to the Mt. Carmel Academy, no longer

extant but today the site of the Mt. Carmel Village Apartments. Ever clothes-conscious, and sarcastic, Flurry surmised about his payment for the land, “I suppose he needs the money to buy some new dhresses for himself, allay, or maybe a new shift for Miss Bugg that he calls his ward, God save us all!” Miss Bugg was one Lelia Hardin Bugg, the bishop’s life long companion and lodger. Hers is a story of prelate love, ultimately unrequited. Lelia was a bright and gifted girl destined to become a talented writer. Her short literary biography tells of her being given up by her grandmother to a parish priest in Ironton, Missouri, John Hennessy, to be reared and educated under his direction. In addition to normal parish activities, the young Reverend Hennessy had a girl in her teen years to care for, calling her his ward. With the help of the Usuline sisters, his charge received a superior education at their convent. She was, in fact, the first to complete the curriculum of Ursuline Academy and had the distinction of becoming its first graduate, graduating in 1881. Gifted at piano, harp and writing, she spent another year with the CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

HISTORY

THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ JUNE 2011

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Ursulines at their convent in Dallas, Texas. But the cloistered life eventually gave way to her return to her mentor, soon to be the Bishop of Wichita. In Wichita she capably published on matters of the Catholic faith, the correct use of English, manners and social mores for women; a Catholic Emily Post as it were. In 1892, as a 23 year old, she submitted a letter to the Editor of the Wichita Daily Eagle, correcting a perceived error on the history of the Catholic Church in England, perhaps speaking at the bishop’s behest. In one book, People of Our Parish (1900) she criticized Irish wakes: “Although the house is crowded, no rosary gets said.” In her book of advice The Correct Thing for Catholics (1891) she commented in the Rosary section, “…remember that a muff in winter enables a lady to say her rosary without observation.” Miss Lelia Hardin Bugg wrote novels, plays and articles for magazines. Her novel, Orchids (1894), about New York society life, earned her critics’ praise: “This young writer is gifted with a frank, magnetic personality, brilliant conversational abilities, and enough Irish blood to insure Celtic wit.” Her talents were worthy of being brought to the attention of the Holy Father in Rome. To that end she

As time went by the woman’s status at the Chateau raised more eyebrows than just cranky old Flurry Driscoll’s. accompanied Bishop Hennessy on a pilgrimage to Rome, giving Pope Leo XIII a copy of her works. They continued their trip through Europe on a book tour for Miss Bugg. As time went by the woman’s status at the Chateau raised more eyebrows than just cranky old Flurry Driscoll’s. One literary critic quietly noted that, “She is still the ward of Bishop Hennessey” (at age 28). For her bishop she dutifully served as his private secretary, librarian, practical nurse and managing housekeeper, and did so for 30 years until his death at the chateau at Douglas and Roosevelt. At 9 p.m. on July 12, 1920, Miss Bugg discovered the bishop’s head slumped to his chest from an apparent stroke; he died at 2:45 a.m. that night at St.

Francis Hospital. The bishop died a moderately well-to-do man. Although he technically held title to all the property of the Wichita Diocese, as is the PHOTO CREDIT practice in the Lelia Hardin Bugg Catholic Church, those properties (pages and pages of churches, schools, convents and orphanages) were bequeathed to his peer bishops in St. Louis and Denver who held them in trust and, in turn, deeded them back to the next bishop of Wichita once his appointment had become official. John Hennessy’s personally acquired wealth, primarily stocks, bonds and gold coin, was likewise turned over to the Diocese “to be applied for church purposes.” Now 57 years old, Miss Lelia Hardin Bugg was shocked to learn that after 30 years of service, the bishop left her nary a cent. With the aid of attorneys she sued the Right Reverend’s estate for $25,000. Whatever she considered her status to be, her claim did seek half the value of the bishop’s personal estate. She alleged the two had an agreement,

not committed to writing, to compensate her for her services following his death. Prosecution of her claim was continued through the court system for the next year and a half, when, without elaboration the matter was dismissed. The indelicate matter was over, the probate file closed. The large red brick home trimmed in stone further served as the next bishop’s residence until 1940 when that honor was transferred to the “Henry Lassen” home at 345 N. Belmont. The Sisters of St. Joseph were the stately mansion’s final tenants until space for a new Catholic church was needed at the corner. The furnishings and fixtures were salvaged and sold to help pay for the new church’s construction. The old chateau was razed in the fall of 1949. Going by the name Lelia Hardin, the child prodigy writer lived out her years to publish a few more writings including a play curiously titled “Manor-born.” But Lelia Hardin otherwise faded from the pages of Wichita and College Hill history And Flurry Driscoll? He is nearby, interred on the other side of the Kellogg Expressway in Calvary Cemetery, about 200 yards, as the crow flies, from his bishop.

THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ JUNE 2011

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