Effie May Johnston Schoen Morgan

Effie was a Gold Star Mother. In 1930, she toured the cemeteries in Europe from World War I, where her son Karl died. He has a cenotaph in Crown Hill to remember him, but his grave is in France. Photo credit: Indiana State Library Collection

Effie May Johnston Schoen Morgan
(20 Feb 1873 – 17 Nov 1960)

Effie married John Schoen (buried in Crown Hill) in 1890, but just 10 years later, he passed, leaving Effie alone to raise her three sons. She married a second time in 1916 to William Morgan, a bank president and farmer, and moved to Brooklyn, Indiana (Morgan County). Effie took the last names of both of her husbands and became Effie Schoen Morgan.

The circumstances of Effie Schoen Morgan’s home-building business are unknown, but she returned to Indianapolis about the time her sister Martha was building her first house in 1925. Effie’s earliest known house at 208 Buckingham dates from 1926. An Indianapolis Star advertisement says that Effie designed and built it.

Eventually her sons, Joseph and Robert, and grandson Robert, Jr. joined her business with both Roberts serving as architects. While a family business, Effie was the driving force and was predominantly featured in advertisements. Schoen Morgan Company continued to prosper and built stately houses along Meridian Street, Washington Boulevard, and the greater Meridian Kessler area.

Effie Schoen Morgan died November 17, 1960.

Burial Location: Section 47, Lot 67 GPS (39.8227197, -86.1645665)