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    House historian luck

    Mark Belloni

    Updated: Feb 7

    Tax records, deeds, maps, and photographs are all sources readily available to house historians. Sometimes, however, historians are fortunate to find sources that are both unusual and incredibly valuable.


    One such source is part of the collection at the Hendricks County Historical Museum: a watercolor painting titled A Quiet Village. Allegedly painted by Reverend William E. Hinshaw around 1895, the painting depicts the small village of Belleville, Indiana.


    A watercolor painting from approximately 1895 depicting a bird's-eye view of a small town. The town consists of a grid of streets lined with trees, houses, and various buildings. Surrounding the town are fields, orchards, and open pastures with livestock. A church with a steeple and a larger building, possibly a courthouse or school, stand out among the structures. A smokestack is visible near a factory-like building in the foreground, adding an industrial element to the scene.
    Watercolor painting of Belleville, Indiana, c. 1895. Allegedly painted by the Reverend William E. Hinshaw while incarcerated at the Hendricks County Jail for the murder of his wife. Courtesy of the Hendricks County Historical Museum.

    How did this painting come about? At 1:00 a.m. on January 10, 1895, William Hinshaw was found outside his home in Belleville with razor blade slashes and two bullet wounds. On the back porch lay his wife, Thurza Oyler Hinshaw, dead from a bullet wound to her head. Hinshaw claimed that burglars had broken in, murdered his wife, and fled after struggling with him. However, his story quickly unraveled during the initial investigation, and a grand jury eventually indicted him for the murder of his wife. His trial began on September 4, 1895, and ended on October 2, when the jury returned a guilty verdict after only two hours of deliberation.


    The trial created deep divisions in Hendricks County, with one side passionately believing in Hinshaw’s innocence and the other in his guilt. During his incarceration, Hinshaw was held in the county jail, where his supporters ensured that he remained as comfortable as possible. He received daily visitors, rarely went without a home-cooked meal, and furnished his cell in a way that allowed him to stay occupied and relatively at ease while imprisoned. One way he passed the time was by painting.


    In 1992, descendants of the Craven family donated A Quiet Village to the Hendricks County Historical Museum. Hinshaw had originally gifted the painting to Dr. Asa Strong and his wife, Emmeline Craven Strong, both staunch supporters during his trial. The watercolor is impressive in its detail and offers invaluable insights into 19th-century Belleville. There is good reason to believe that the painting is a relatively accurate portrayal of Belleville at the close of the 19th century. Historic photographs of several structures depicted in the painting (including the site of the murder itself!) demonstrate that Hinshaw took great care to be accurate, particularly regarding the shapes of houses and the organization of outbuildings, fences, and gardens.

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