2245 5th Ave – Yard of the Month (September 2020)
The winner of Yard of the Month for September 2020 is Kathryn Fowler McCarthy of 2245 5th Ave. Her late husband Francis purchased the home in 2012 from Patti Randle, and they shared the home after they married in 2015, until his lamentably early death in July 2019. The red brick Craftsman-style home, with cement wrap-around porch, was built c. 1926 for $3700 by Texas pioneer and trail blazer James Ridgely Lilly, a retired rancher and widower, for his newly married daughter. Sitting on the corner of Carlock and 5th, the home’s lot has several old-growth trees, including pecan, oak, and soap trees. The large front window allows a glimpse of the McCarthy’s collection of artworks hanging in the front room, and a Christmas, of a large well-lit pine tree. The two brick columns flanking the entrance have a decorative “V” pattern near the top, reminiscent of the herringbone brick pattern used as infill in Tudor timber-framed buildings in England. Sconces on either side of the door feature delicate tear-drop opalescent shades in a feathered pattern. The lights illuminate Craftsman rocking chairs, an iron patio set, a raised fire pit, wrought-iron French bakers shelves filled with pottery, and signs reassuring visitors: “there will be no working during drinking hours,” and “what happens on the porch stays on the porch.”
James Ridgely Lilly (1856-1933), son of Confederate Army Officer, Edwin Lilly, was originally from Baltimore, Maryland. Lilly’s obituary depicts a rugged, adventurous man who explored the Wild West before settling down to raise a family in Lost Valley, Texas (Fort Worth Star Telegram, 1933). He claimed to be the first man to put up a barbed wire fence in Jack County, and to have been 1 of only two men inhabiting King County in 1881. James’ mother, Anna Josephine Lilly, had died during the Civil War at age 42; his brothers, who were 12 and 15 years older, moved to Kentucky immediately following the dissolution of the Confederacy. Edwin Lilly and son James, who was 10 at the time, moved to Indianola, in Calhoun County, Texas around 1867. Edwin married Clara Raymond Burbank, a teen from Louisiana, in 1868 and in July 1869 they had another son, called Wharton (1870 US census). A daughter, Estella Josephine Lilly, was born in 1874; when Edwin died in 1882, Clara and Stella moved to New York City (1890 US census). Stepson James roamed from South Dakota to Nebraska, Oklahoma to Arkansas, driving cattle and putting up fencing, before settling in Jack County, TX in 1882. James Lilly married Alice Casey (1860-1904) in Jacksboro on Nov. 20th, 1883. The couple had 6 children, but the rigors of ranching life proved inhospitable to Alice, who died at 44, and 4 of their six children, as only 2 lived to adulthood: Ridgely Casey (1884-1930), Harry (1885-1887), Willie (1886-1901), Katie (1887-1904), Maggie (1892-93) and Alice Margaret (1894-1967). Ridgely Lilly married Eva Knect of Metairie and moved to Louisiana. By the mid-1920’s, James was looking to retire in the big city of Fort Worth, with his only surviving daughter, who had recently married Richard Morgan (1884-1956), a railroad auditor from Jacksboro (1930 Census).
(l) Baltimore native and Indianola manufacturer Edwin Frost Lilly, CPT, 1829-1882, father of James Lilly. Photo Archived at Ancestry.com. (r) James Ridgely Lilly, Lost Valley cattleman, who built 2245 5th Ave as a residence for his daughter Alice and her family c. 1926. Photo credit: Fort Worth Star Telegram, 1933.
Initially, Alice Lilly Morgan lived in the 18’ x 20’ garage apartment behind 2245 5th with her husband, while the 1575 square foot house was being completed. Soon after moving into the house, they had two daughters, Josephine Alice (1927-2011) and Katherine Bain (1929-2015), and Alice’s dad, James, moved in with them, where he remained until his death in 1933. Both Morgan daughters attended UT-Austin, where Katherine joined the Alpha Phi sorority, got a degree in nursing, and married Mechanical Engineer Joseph Griffith of Waco in 1958. Josephine was a member of the Honor Roll, the Pierian Literary Society, the Fort Worth Club, and a founding member of UT’s Society of Women Architects and Engineers in 1945 (Cactus Yearbook,1946): perhaps growing up in this beautiful brick Craftsman home influenced her love of architecture and caused her to pursue this career. From 1950-53, Josephine pursued graduate work in architecture and restoration in Paris and Brussels, before returning home when her father became ill in 1954. In June 1954, Josephine married Thomas Hunt Armistead (1923-2011) at the Hemphill Presbyterian Church, wearing the Belgian laces and silks she had bought as a graduate student living in Brussels. Armistead, originally from Memphis, TN was an Army Sargent, pilot and combat medic who earned a bronze star at the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, he used the GI bill to get additional pilot training, and become a flight instructor, crop duster, and plane mechanic. He moved to Fort Worth in 1951 and was employed as a private pilot on the vast Burnett family ranch known as the Four Sixes (Star Telegram). As a ranch worker and adventurer, Armistead no doubt shared some life experiences with Josephine’s late grandfather, the intrepid and unforgettable James Lilly, with whom she had lived until age 7. The Armisteads had one son, Henry Hunt, in 1956.
Josephine Alice Morgan, who grew up at 2245 5th Ave., which was built for her mom by her grandfather, James Ridgely Lilly. The photo depicts the Society of Women Architects and Engineers at UT-Austin. Josephine, a founding member in 1945, is in the front row, second from right. Photo credit, the Cactus Yearbook, 1946.
Josephine Alice Morgan’s bridal portrait, 1954. The bride is wearing fabrics she bought in Belgium while studying architecture. Photo published in Fort Worth Star Telegram, June 1954.
Katherine Griffith and Josephine Armistead inherited 2245 5th St. from their mom 1967 but chose to sell it, as they already had family homes in Fort Worth. It was later a rental property owned by various non-residents from Cleburne and Crowley TX for a few years, until painter and CPA Patti Randle restored it in 2010.
Given its gracious architecture, and long-standing connection with architects, pilots and Armed service officers in the Lilly, Morgan and Armistead families, it is fitting that the home was eventually purchased by Francis McCarthy (1954-2019), a Massachusetts native and the son of a Navy pilot, whose company Westmark Construction was known for historic renewal projects including the Max Mehl building on Magnolia and the Fort Worth National Bank building on Hemphill (Fort Worth Star Telegram, July 24, 2019). When Fran first bought the home, the main yard feature was a prickly pear cactus currently covered in pink fruits (opuntia littoralis) in the front bed. Taking their cue from this drought-loving plant, the McCarthys built a bed around it using additional desert natives like yucca. One prized addition is a century plant (agave americana), which, despite the name, actually lives just 10-30 years. The agave has outgrown the space, Kathryn reports, but has left behind “babies, grandbabies, and great grandbabies” to fill multiple pots dotted around the graciously extensive porch. Potted alongside the younger agave are portulaca and oxalis. On the Carlock side of the house, beds skirting the home showcase yellow lantana, Nandina shrubs, angel trumpets, potted herbs, and monkey grass, as well as various decorative planters, including one of a nearly life-size male bust.
Though she mainly sticks to perennials, Kathryn does like to fill some pots on the porch with pansies every fall for a spot of cheerful color. Kathryn’s favorite plant in the yard is a Japanese maple tucked in a shady spot that Fran gave her for her birthday several years ago. The only ‘disaster’ plant was a tree they had cut down 3-4 years ago whose stump was not thoroughly ground before a new bed was installed over it. Kathryn says, “I’ve tried to dig down and find the stump after years of chasing the shoots around the yard… Moral of the story: never let someone cut down a tree who doesn’t know what they’re doing!” The lawn is cared for by a local company, and Kathryn says that installing the sprinkler system was “the best investment they ever made.”
Our thanks for her beautiful yard, and a $25 gift certificate to Ephemera, go to Kathryn Fowler McCarthy.
Works Cited
Cactus Yearbook. UT Austin Student Publications, 1946. Archived at https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu.
“Francis McCarthy.” Obituary. Fort Worth Star Telegram. July 29, 2019. Print.
“James Ridgely Lilly.” Obituary. Fort Worth Star Telegram. Sept 29, 1933. Print.
“Josephine Morgan marries Thomas Hunt Armistead.” Wedding announcement. Fort Worth Star Telegram. June 24, 1954. Print.
“Thomas Hunt Armistead.” Obituary. Fort Worth Star Telegram. Sept. 23, 2011. Print.
United States. Census. 1870, 1890, 1920, 1930, 1940. Print.
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