Copshaholm, one of Indiana’s grandest mansions, was home for 73 years to
Susan Catherine Oliver, who lived in the 38-room house from the age of 9
months until her death at 74 in 1970.
Her paternal grandfather was James Oliver, a canny Scottish immigrant who
in 1857 patented the “chilled” plow, a manufacturing miracle that cooled the
farm implement during production, resulting in strong, smooth, durable
cast-iron blades that cost less than steel; this, plus other inventions, real
estate ventures and genuine horse trading, made James a millionaire many times
over. Her maternal grandfather, David Akin Wells, was an Easterner whose
wealth stemmed from railroads and the manufacture of gloves.
Called Catherine throughout her life, she was the youngest child of Joseph
Doty (J.D.) Oliver and Anna Gertrude Wells, a shy young woman a dozen years
his junior. J.D. had joined his father’s firm as bookkeeper in 1867 when he
was 16; a year later he was promoted to treasurer.
After his 1884 marriage and two-month California honeymoon, he and his
bride returned to South Bend to occupy Apartment No. 1 of the Oliver Block,
nine dwellings with common walls, where their children were born — James II
in November 1885, Gertrude in October 1888, Joseph Doty Jr. in January 1892
and baby Catherine in March 1896.
J.D. fancied owning a detached residence that would reflect his wealth and
consequent social status, and in typical businesslike fashion inspected
Eastern mansions, found several to his liking and hired New York architect
Charles Alonzo Rich to design one similar to those he and Anna admired.
Never one to sit on the sidelines, his energetic father leaped into the
search for granite fieldstone that would form the exterior of the Romanesque
Queen Anne-style house and nearby stables, charging through the countryside
with his horse and buggy to inspect possibilities, and ordering crews to dig
and transport his selections to the building site.
The contract for the mostly oak, hand-carved interior woodwork was awarded
to a Milwaukee firm, and Hugo Huber, a Frenchman, replaced the original
interior decorator, whose overblown taste had offended the plodding,
practical, very private J.D.
The Olivers moved into their elegant house on New Year’s Day 1897. Almost
two years in the building, it was piped for gas, wired for electricity, had a
central vacuuming system, burglar alarms and an intercom. J.D.’s parents,
sister and brother-in-law lived within shouting distance.
Catherine was left home, though hardly alone, when her parents and siblings
headed for Europe in 1899, a trip that brought additional furnishings to the
big place on Washington Street. Family portraits and fine antiques inherited
by Anna Oliver also graced the place, which was called Copshaholm in honor of
J.D.’s father, born in a modest stone cottage in the village of Copshawholm,
Scotland. For whatever reason, the “w” was dropped from the name forever.
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Seeking absolute perfection, J.D. and Anna soon began fiddling and
tinkering with their 12,000-square-foot fortress. They converted a rear
terrace to a music room featuring six curved, leaded-glass windows and
wall-mounted electric lights. An alcove above it overlooked the entrance hall,
made spacious when walls of a small reception room were removed.
Stables were converted to garages, and adjoining property to the west was
acquired for the addition of a formal, Italianate sunken garden designed by
Alice Neale. Marble lavatories were replaced during the 1920s. About 1930, a
rustic teahouse gave way to a more formal one.
Catherine’s eldest brother, James II, and his bride lived at Copshaholm
briefly while awaiting renovation of their own house. Sister Gertrude found a
suitable suitor in Charles Frederick (Fred) Cunningham, married, and
eventually moved into the house once owned by Josephine Oliver Ford, her
father’s sister. After Joe Jr.’s wife, Ellinor, died at 21 of injuries
suffered when she was thrown by her horse, he moved to a small apartment on
the third floor of Copshaholm, where he lived until his death in 1972.
Catherine had a suitor who shared her passion for golf, but because her
father disapproved, she stopped seeing him. J.D.’s judgment proved faulty;
popular Charles (Chick) Evans, Jr. went on to win every amateur golf title
available and is well remembered for establishing the Evans Scholars
Foundation, which provides college scholarships for worthy caddies. He married
in 1928.
Daddy’s little girl stayed single. She partied, shopped for expensive
gowns, traveled extensively and entertained lavishly. With her father’s death
in 1933, and her mother’s in 1937, Catherine Oliver ruled the roost and turned
her attention to revitalizing the 40-year-old dwelling with the help of her
sister.
With the exception of her father’s den, she had woodwork stripped of its
original dark stain, a project that took two years. No longer in vogue,
ornate, dark wallpaper was replaced with paint in pastel colors. Much of the
heavy Victorian furniture gave way to contemporary designs, but photos of rich
and famous family friends remained.
She re-did her bedroom for overnight guests and moved into her parents’
quarters, where she put her bed on a platform and installed a hot pink and
gold silk canopy above it. She spent five years in Chicago’s Presbyterian-St.
Luke’s Hospital recuperating from a broken hip, then moved back to Copshaholm,
where she died in 1970.
J.D. Oliver’s three grandchildren, eventual heirs to the property, donated
it to the Northern Indiana Historical Society, which now operates it as a
museum.
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Copshaholm, 808 W. Washington St., South Bend, is open Tuesday through
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.(closed
mid-January to mid-February and the holidays of New Year’s Day, Easter,
Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve Day and
Christmas). Time to tour: 1 1/2 hours. Admission: $8, $6.50 seniors, $4 ages
6-17/college. Accessibility: Exterior stairs leading to entrance, three
flooors accessed by stairs only — not wheelchair accessible. Miles from
downtown Chicago: 93. Phone: 219-235-9664.