Insights from the Carnahan House Newsleter.
- Catherine Purcell
- Jul 8
- 3 min read
Read along for the history on this Gothic Revival House. With steep-pitched gable popular from 1840-1880, this house was first seen on City Records in 1920, though built in 1893.
It was built for the Carnahan family, who occupied it through two generations and 50 years. William Carnahan was the Vice Treasurer for the Illinois Transit System and Western Railways & Light Company, created by W.B. McKinley. The house can be seen on a Sanborn map of the city as early as 1924. It was passed on to William and Belle’s daughter Nellie and her brother Gus. Because they did not have children, it was rented out to a few individuals before the Ochs family took care of this house in 1985.
William Carnahan began his professional life as a bookkeeper in Champaign. He and Anna Belle Piatt married in 1904 in Nebraska. 1880 Census - Bookkeeper at 307 Clark, 1900 Census in Nebraska working as a “Capitalist”. In 1910 they returned to the Midwest. William had been the treasurer of the Western Railways & Light Company. This company was part of W.B. McKinley’s Illinois Traction Company.
Belle was the daughter of John and Eliza Piatt, granddaughter of James Andrew Piatt, one of the founders and first settlers of Piatt county.
Eleanor was William and Belle’s oldest daughter and never married. She stayed by her mother’s side throughout her life. She was briefly a hat maker in 1910, a saleslady at a retail store in 1920 and caretaker of her mother. She might have been one of the ladies pictured in the above advertisement for the store. She passed away in 1966.
Gus was born in Nebraska and the second youngest. He served in World War 1 and returned home to work for his father’s previous company, in 1920. He married Mary Jane Barlett sometime around 1924. He had two children. In the 1940 census he was listed as widowed, however, Mary Jane was still living with their children in California, also listed as widowed. In 1940, it was illegal to divorce without fault, so often couples had to list each other as widowed and one needed to relocate to a different state in order to separate without stigma. No contact could be made between the family after this. In 1950 he was recorded as divorced. Gus passed away in 1971.
Because Nellie did not have any children and Gus did not claim any, the house then went into the hands of a few renters from then onward.
This home and it's story has really lodged itself into my brain since having researched it. The idea that a couple who knew that being together forever was not ideal for them or their children but couldn't separate legally was not too far in the past. Before 1969, couples had to prove adultry or a crime to get divorced. If this was not the case, and the couple didn't want to go to the lengths of hiring someone to stage one of the above actions, then they had to seperate by never having contact again.
I can't imagine the struggle that Gus and Mary experienced, proving they weren't right for each other. This would have required Gus to have no contact at all with his children after relocating to his hometown. This difficult truth shaped the lives of families like Gus and Mary’s, where personal well-being and familial bonds were compromised by outdated legal constraints.
The story of this home is a powerful reminder of how much societal norms and legal systems can shape the course of personal lives. Their experience offers a sobering glimpse into the not-so-distant past—and a deeper appreciation for the freedoms many now take for granted.
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