Monday, August 10, 2026

ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: STEPHENSON RIFE ATTORNEYS

Floyd Eck’s fifth-grade term report card from the 1926-27 school year includes monthly grades. His teacher was Louis Keeling. The report card is from Larry Rardin Eck’s collection. To learn more about this piece or others in the Grover Museum collection, contact archive@grovercenter.org.

by DONNA DENNISON

One of the favorite programs at the Genealogy and History Department of the Shelby County Public Library is the presentation of “The Famous, Infamous and Unknown.” In each of these programs we introduce everyone to one Famous, one Infamous and one Unknown person from Shelby County. Last Tuesday evening, I enjoyed telling everyone about the following three Shelby County personalities. The following is the third and final installment.

I was first introduced to Doc Newhouse when a woman came into the library and handed me four old, dusty journals. She had almost thrown them away but thought she would ask me if I wanted them first.

Little did I know that lady was handing me patient journals for the first female doctor in Shelby County.

Margaret Maisoll was born Feb. 26, 1905, in Indianapolis. She said she was born in a blizzard, and the doctor couldn’t leave her house for two days after her birth.

Her grandparents immigrated from Germany and opened a dry-cleaning business, and her father continued the business, adding tailoring services as well. From her home on Capitol Avenue, she watched them build St. Vincent Hospital and dreamed of working there.

When it opened its doors, she would go down and visit with the nurses, following them around and “getting in the way.” She loved it when someone she knew was in the hospital because the nurses would let her help take care of them, bringing them food and things to drink and delivering flowers.

While I was researching Dr. Newhouse, I found that she was interviewed later in life, and I was able to obtain a copy of that interview. From her interview, I got the impression that she grew up knowing she could do anything she wanted to do.

Her family owned one of the first cars in Indianapolis. Her mother was the first woman in Indianapolis to learn to drive a car. She was taught to drive by Ray Harroun. If you don’t recognize the name, he won the first Indianapolis 500.

At age 17, Margaret was bored with school, so she quit during her senior year. Times were hard, and she knew she needed to work, so she went to Indiana Business College. She worked odd jobs to pay for that schooling.

Her boss at an auto accessory shop told her to go back to high school. He knew she would be someone special.

She went back to Shortridge High School. She would ride the trolley to school each morning, attend school until 3 p.m., work until 7 p.m. and then go to business college until 10 p.m. each night. Because she had quit school the first time, she was 20 years old when she graduated from high school.

In February of her senior year, she was with her sister when her sister went into labor. When the doctor came and delivered the baby, Margaret helped the doctor and asked a thousand questions.

He told her she should go to medical school to be a nurse, but she wanted to be a doctor. He said there was a need for female doctors in the science departments, but she could never work as a family doctor.

She enrolled at IU in premed classes that fall. Tuition was $35 a semester. She worked in professors’ offices, typing up classes and reports to earn the money. She also typed up class notes and sold them to other students who didn’t want to take notes.

There were six women and 95 men in the classes. Only three of the women would finish and become doctors. Margaret said she was an OK student. She never crammed for exams. She either knew it or she didn’t.

After graduating in the class of 1932, she had to do a two-year residency. Because she was a woman, the only hospital that would let her practice was in Missouri.

While doing her residency, she returned to Indiana to visit her parents, who were at their summer cabin in Freeport. Margaret had spent many summers there, and her family and friends would walk to Morristown on Saturday nights to attend events.

She made many friends, including Mary Patton, whose father was a doctor in Morristown. She always loved her time in Freeport and Morristown.

When she came back this time, she went to visit Dr. Patton. He was now an elderly doctor who had been practicing in Morristown for years. He was thinking of retiring soon and encouraged Margaret to open her own practice in Morristown.

She rented a small building for $8 a month and soon had a thriving business. She had to hire a young woman to help her in the office. The people of Morristown didn’t seem to mind that she was a woman doctor.

Longtime Shelbyville doctor Dr. McFadden gave her some advice when she started. He told her, “Now, when you are going into a farmer’s home around here, they do not know all our medical terms. Forget what you learned in college and speak their language.”

Dr. Newhouse replied, “And that’s what I’ve done. I’ve become a hick.”

She also started eating lunch every day at the Blue Bird Restaurant with the owner of the Morristown Hardware store, Paul Newhouse. They were married in 1939. In 1942, their son, James, was born, and in 1944, their daughter, Mary Ann, came along.

Dr. Inlow of Shelbyville, who was in the same class with her at IU, delivered her children. Soon her husband was running the hardware store and serving as a state senator as well.

Margaret closed up her practice to be a full-time mom, but she said, “I never really quit. My kitchen became my office.”

Margaret practiced from her kitchen, kept learning and kept her medical license up to date for the next 20 years.

In 1962, Paul died of a heart attack at the Shelbyville Masonic Hall. Margaret was there and tried to save him but couldn’t.

With her son grown and married and her daughter in college, she decided to go back to work. She went to Major Hospital and asked if there was anything she could do. They put her in charge of the new physical therapy department.

She ran that department for the next eight years before retiring. At her retirement party, she was asked if she would consider doing OB-GYN exams for a new program called Planned Parenthood. She agreed.

That turned into doing exams in Shelbyville and in Hancock and Rush counties. She continued those until she “no longer wanted to drive on wintry roads in Shelby County.” She was 82 when she gave that up.

In an interview at age 89, Doc Newhouse said, “I still give flu shots every fall to the whole town. People even come in from Knightstown to get their shots from me. They say I give the best shots. I also hold clinic every Sunday morning after church. I can still give B-12 shots and penicillin shots, and I still write prescriptions for the folks here in town.”

Margaret died Nov. 17, 1999, at age 94.

At the library, I have the transcript of her interview and those four dusty journals. When I opened them again to start this program research, I found a note inside I hadn’t noticed before: “Donated to SCPL by Mary Ann Newhouse.”

She never mentioned to me that she was Dr. Newhouse’s daughter.

The journals are now on display in the Indiana Room.

ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: FULL CANOPY REAL ESTATE

• The Addison Township Advisory Board will hold a special meeting Tuesday, Aug. 11, 5 p.m., at 210 Columbia Ave. The agenda includes a resolution to decrease a fund account in the 2026 budget and updates from Township Trustee James E. Garrett Jr. The YouTube link is here.

• Knights of Columbus Sacred Heart Council 822 is sponsoring a Catholic Teenagers Essay Contest for Catholic youth ages 13-18. This year’s theme asks students to consider how Catholic teenagers can maintain an authentic prayer life and protect their spiritual and mental health amid social media and constant digital distractions. Essays are due Sept. 20 and should be 750 words for ages 13-15 and 1,250 words for ages 16-18. Winners will receive Walmart gift cards of $150 for first place, $100 for second and $50 for third. Entries should be submitted as a Word document or PDF to mdanielscmh@gmail.com; AI tools are prohibited in writing contest entries.

• HOOSIER NEWS: The 2026 Indiana State Fair features nearly 50 new food and drink creations, including the S’Mork, hot Cheeto fried Oreos, corn dog beer and the Big Dill grilled cheese. New attractions include a VHS revival exhibit, a narrated train ride, a wiffle ball field, a youth mullet contest, revamped circus performances, tortoise feeding and calf cuddling. More than 850,000 people are expected to attend the 15-day fair, which also includes upgrades to entrance gates and the free stage area.

Support The Addison Times

• The Addison Times is pleased to offer free milestone announcements. Forms are available here: Engagement Announcement, Wedding Announcement and Anniversary Announcement.

Michael and Krista (Root) Bowlby celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary today. The couple were married Aug. 10, 1985, at Spencer Christian Church. They have three children: Amanda “Mandy” Ferguson and her husband, Daniel, who have two children, Henry and John; Amy Cerri and her husband, Steven, who have two children, Eleanor and James; and Michael Bowlby and his wife, Briana, who have a daughter, Clara. “God has blessed us through our years together and our children. We are very thankful for his love and care,” the couple said.

ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: MAJOR HEALTH PARTNERS

Local headlines reported on or around this date in Shelby County history. Selections are curated by The Addison Times from Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department materials. | edited by HANNAH BAKER | compiled by MYRON RAWLINGS

2016: Grover Museum Director Alex Krach prepared a new photography and visual arts exhibit in the museum’s basement at 52 W. Broadway St. The exhibit was to include a section devoted to the Strand Theatre, featuring a large Peerless Magnarc C projector dating to the 1940s, along with historic photographs of Shelbyville and Shelby County, early cameras and other items. Krach planned to display some of the photographs hanging from clotheslines, recreating the way freshly developed prints once would have been hung to dry, and hoped to make rotating photography exhibits part of the museum, The Addison Times/Saturday Shelby reported.

2006: Shelbyville High School athletic director and girls basketball coach Harry Larrabee was selected for induction into the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolf Hall of Fame. Larrabee, who grew up in Shelbyville, served two stints at UAA from 1979-1986 and 1991-2000, coaching the men’s basketball team to 167 victories, three conference titles and three NCAA Division II tournament appearances while also helping develop the Great Alaska Shootout into a major college basketball event.

1996: The Bears of Blue River Festival planned to return to its original themes in 1996, with organizers emphasizing downtown Shelbyville and the history of local author Charles Major. The festival, which had begun 17 years earlier as a celebration of the downtown area, was to feature more varied entertainment, including Ronnie Prophet, 1950s and ’60s band Sh-Boom, pianist Jason D. Williams and country performers Connie Smith and Paulette Carlson & Highway 101. Local performers also were scheduled throughout the festival. Organizers said they planned to highlight Major’s accomplishments and his 1901 novel, The Bears of Blue River.

1986: The W.S. Major Hospital Board of Directors honored longtime board member and former Shelbyville resident Lowell Glen Rudicel following his death at age 79. Rudicel served on the hospital board from about 1963 to 1980, including 11 years as treasurer.

The Denim Mill, located downtown, announced a “Quitting Business” sale.

1976: Lloyd Thurston, Shelbyville, won first place in an Old Time Fiddlers Contest held in Rushville. Thurston was accompanied by his wife, Hazel, on the guitar.

Drag racer Don Siebert realized a longtime dream by competing at the Grand National Molson event in Montreal, where he qualified in a field that included some of the sport’s top drivers. Siebert, who had been racing for about 13 years, built his own car and engine with help from his team and had recently been named the United Drag Racing Association’s Rookie of the Year in the 1974 Hot Rod Magazine circuit.

1966: The Todd-Bennett Little League baseball team won both the tournament and league championships that summer. The team was honored with a trip to Victory Field to watch the Indianapolis Indians play the Tulsa Oilers. Team members were Jon Alexander, Jim Cherry, Robert McNew, Dave Hill, Mike McNew, batboy Tedd Sexton, Bill Roberts, Jim Smith, Ron Melzer, Rickey Heck, Randy Worland, Jim Schofner, Todd Childers, Kim Keafer, Terry Shadley, Kurt Lockridge, Jack Horner, John Kimbrell and Bill McNeely. The coaches were Steve Cherry, Dan Ivie and Bob Keafer.

1956: Lowell Armstrong received first place in the 4-H beef showmanship category at the fair.

1946: Bill Richeson won the boys’ singles championship in the annual city tennis tournament, defeating Hal Eckstein in straight sets. In men’s singles action, Chris Fischer upset seeded player Bob Handley, while Walter Page defeated another seeded player, Fred Kendall. Joe Aldridge defeated Bob Patterson, and Morris Bruner beat Bob Clapp, while Bill Brock defeated Bob Stites.

1936: Squirrel hunting season opened in Shelby County and was scheduled to run through Oct. 10. Hunters were limited to two squirrels per day and could possess no more than two at one time.

1926: Work began on paving Vine Street, with the Davis Construction Co. of Tipton starting excavation near Broadway. The company planned to pave the street with concrete and complete the project before Aug. 31, the opening day of the Shelby County Fair. After the Chautauqua season ended, crews planned to dig up the entire length of Vine Street, grade it and prepare it for concrete.

ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: Freeman Family Funeral Homes & Crematory

Mark Paul Wischmeyer, 69, of Westfield, formerly of Shelbyville, passed away on Saturday, August 8, 2026, at his home. He was born on September 22, 1956, in Shelbyville, the son of John “Jack” and Patsy (Skillman) Wischmeyer. On September 24, 1976, he married his wife of nearly 50 years, Apryl Rose Crisp, and she survives. In addition to Apryl, Mark is survived by his son, Ryan Dale Wischmeyer and wife, Qingqing, of Westfield; brother, Warren Wischmeyer and wife, Theresa, of Shelbyville; grandson, Brock Wischmeyer; several nieces and nephews; and a lot of wonderful friends, including “best friends” Tim and Tina Jonas of Shelbyville.
Mark was preceded in death by his parents; son, Jason Paul Wischmeyer; and sister, Melody Wischmeyer.

In 1974, Mark graduated from Triton Central High School. He continued his education by earning a bachelor’s degree in business from Indiana Wesleyan in 2005. He was a member of Mount Pisgah Baptist Church. Mark retired from KT Corporation now Triumph, as a Quality Control Inspector, in 2005, with over 25 years of service. He enjoyed dancing, Indianapolis Colts football and taking trips to Las Vegas. Mark also enjoyed building things at his home.

Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at Freeman Family Funeral Homes and Crematory, 819 S. Harrison St. in Shelbyville. Memorial contributions may be made to Paradigm Hospice, 8904 Bash St. B, Indianapolis, Indiana 46256 or Indiana Parkinsons Foundation, 14350 Mundy Drive, Suite 800 #181, Noblesville, Indiana 46060. Online condolences may be shared with Mark’s family at www.freemanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.