Snapshots of History by Mike Avitt

By Editor | April 1, 2026 |

This week’s photo comes courtesy of Nancy Thompson and shows the house at 206 S. Lincoln St. in Mount Ayr, but I’m not certain of the year. Writing at the base of the picture says, “Frelands (Freelands) 1929-1932.” Montgomery Edward “Ned” Freeland moved to 501 W. Madison in 1924. M. E. had a twin brother, J. N. “Nat” Freeland, but I have him living in Nevada, Iowa during the 1920s. Another brother, Frank, lived in Athelstan at this time, so I don’t know why this is referred to as the Freeland House.
I posted this picture on Facebook and learned Howard Todd had lived here. He was a former Ringgold County Sheriff. This house was also home to Gary and Margaret Bickers for a few decades. Margaret had a business here called, The Sun Shoppe, which included a tanning salon. This house is currently unoccupied and for sale. Let’s look at some other Mount Ayr house histories.
In September 1923, Carl Jackson started work on his new house, 24 feet x 40 feet. I think this was 104 E. Monroe. The location was given as “across the street from A. D. Neptune.”
M.E. Freeland moved into his new house at 501 West Madison in 1924. This street was also State Highway No. 3 at the time. G. Dale Herrington lived here when I was a kid.
I lived at 406 W. Madison from 1972 to 1975. I was told Clyde Lesan lived here once. I did find a 1946 article about Clyde Lesan buying the lot to the east of his house from the Mrs. H. M. Miller estate. Clyde’s widow lived at 404 W. Madison in the early seventies, so this sounds right.
My friend Barbara Klein lives at 500 W. Madison St., as did her grandparents, Brady and Aileene (Downie) Beaman, and Barbara’s parents, Gene and Jacqueline (Beaman) Klein. The Beamans moved here in 1975 after having spent 15 years in Fullerton, Calif.
I believe this house was built around 1903. A February 26, 1903 Ringgold Record newspaper article says Dr. J. I. Tomy expects to build a new house on the same street (Madison) as Frank Sheldon. Mr. Sheldon had the house at 405 W. Madison built in 1903. Tomy’s claim to fame was not as a dentist, but as the highly respected director of the Mount Ayr (city) Band.
Dr. M. F. Hannelly bought the house at 500 W. Madison in 1907 and died in the house in 1922. Dr. Hannelly also brings a bit of history to Mount Ayr’s table. He and his partner, Dr. F. C. Smith, had the building at 107-109 E. Madison built in 1907. This is the one-story brick building to the west of Lefty’s Club Tavern.
As I said, F. E. Sheldon built the house at 405 W. Madison in 1903 and 10 years later established Sheldon Heights. Highland Addition (Dunning Avenue) was developed in 1918 and E. S. Downie built the house at 219 Dunning Ave. about 1920. Downie had purchased the old Mount Ayr Opera House in 1919, dismantled it, and used the lumber to build the house at 219 Dunning.
Everal Sumner Downie passed in 1948 and his widow sold the house to Harmon Hollen in 1950. Mrs. E. S. Downie then bought the lot north of her daughter’s house and planned to build a house, but I didn’t find it in the newspapers. I believe Floyd and Aileene Beaman lived at 303 S. Taylor at the time. John and Ruth Faust lived at 303 South Taylor was I was a kid.
I’ve been told there is a website that shows the past owners of certain lots and I should probably put more effort into finding others ways of learning when houses were built. My way works to a degree, but is very time-consuming. I should also make a list of all the addresses I’ve lived at in Mount Ayr. One of the houses I lived in is still standing, but vacant and does not look repairable.

Posted in Snapshot of History by Mike Avitt