The Legend

of 

Juanita Waugh

white-county-history.org/waugh

The plan

• Life
• Family
• House
• Farm

Her Life

Juanita Kious Waugh

February 7, 1922 - February 6, 2010

Overview

• Parents: Lloyd Augustus "Sag" Waugh and Laura Blanche Kious
• Only child
• Began managing a huge farm at age 27
• Amassed a large fortune
• Noted eccentric
• Recognized philanthropist
  • 13th largest gift in the U.S. for 2010

Milestones

• Born at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lafayette
• Graduated from Park Tudor High School
• Attended Indiana University
  • Her father played football there
• Married, and divorced, cattleman Don Decker
• Died at home the day before her 88th birthday
  • Left $43 million to the Mayo Foundation
  • Left her farm to Saint Joseph's College

1943 Arbutus, Indiana University

Kappa Kappa Gamma

Snippet of marriage license

Family

Waugh

• Originally from Scotland
• Two ancestors fought in the Revolution
  • Joseph Sr. (1726-1819) and Joseph Jr. (1762-1850)
  • Joseph Jr. was Juanita's 4th great grandfather
• Line came through PA to Ross County, Ohio
• Milo Waugh (1904-1859) came to Montgomery County abt 1830
  • Land patent on "Potato Creek Prairie"
  • Married Elizabeth Kious (1811-1864)
  • Waugh's sister Mary (1808-1901) married Absolom Kious (1808-1867)

Kious

• Originally from Wirtenburg (Baden-Wurttemberg), Germany 

• Name originally spelled Kowes, pron. "KO vəs"

• Path: Virginia -> Ohio -> White Co. ca. 1844
• Adam (1777-1849) was progenitor of "our" line
  • He's a common ancestor of both of Juanita's parents
    • Quick Quiz!! How were they related?
• Adam's son Absolom Kious, first in White County ca. 1830s
  • Absolom and Mary Waugh were married in Ohio

Digging the lines . . 

James Milo Waugh (1859-1930)

• Brother of Lloyd's father John (Juanita's great uncle)
• Purchased Crawfordsville's Poston Paving Brick Co. 1908
• Sag Waugh worked there with him after college
• Endowed Waugh Hall at Wabash College

Originating in 1901 the Poston Paving Brick Company was a thriving industry in Crawfordsville. The manufacture of paving bricks in this plant changed its production to include face brick in 1904 and for a number of years face brick of high quality from the famous Crawfordsville shale had been its exclusive product. The company prided itself on the fact that more than fifty tones and gradations of rich, natural colors could be obtained with the Poston, Arcadian and Oriental bricks. With their use it was possible to simulate the appearance of practically every permanent building material, at the same time retaining the tapestry like color peculiar to those face brick. This plant employed sixty men, and about one fourth of its production was shipped to a Chicago market. The balance was being distributed over the entire country. In 1929 The Oriental was still being manufactured by the company and was the first textured brick ever manufactured in the United States.

Waugh Hall, Wabash College

(Named for James Milo Waugh)

John Hyde Kious (1803-1873)

• Adam's son, Brother of Milo Waugh's wife Elizabeth
• Juanita's great-grandfather
• Owned ~10,000 acres of land near Mt. Sterling, OH
• Came (with cattle) to White County in 1844
• Donated land for Hickory Ridge and Brookston schools
• Died in 1873; buried near Chalmers

Joseph Hyde Kious (1846-1918)

• Juanita's grandfather
• Graduated from the Battle Ground Academy
• President of Farmer's Bank of Brookston
• Executor of the estate of Orson Archibald
• Built the house on Prairie Street in 1888
• Biographical history 1899: "1500 acres of land"
• Platted Kiousville just north of Brookston in 1856

Hope Groves a granddaughter of Milam Kious, John's oldest son by his first wife Rebecca Ann Bowers, related to Donnis Widener that Harriet and their son Joseph H. Kious, obtained almost all of John's property by deceit and that John died almost penniless after Harriet kicked him out. This has not been confirmed by research.

Lloyd Augustus "Sag" Waugh (1885-1949)

• Worked for his uncle James at the brick factory
• Married L. Blanche Kious in 1912
• Came to Brookston ca. 1918
  • Took over father-in-law Joseph's farm
  • Moved into home on Prairie Street
• Grew the farm to its present size?
• Died in 1949

I always figured that Juanita must have possession of photos, letters, and documents that had been handed down

to her. In 1977, another distant cousin of mine visited Juanita's home. She had been forewarned that Juanita and her mother, who was still living at that time, were eccentric and would probably not talk to her. Unfortunately, that proved to be the case.

In 1989 I made a research trip to Brookston. I located Juanita's house and found her standing in the front yard. I introduced myself but she refused to talk to me. I never attempted to contact her again.

House

Dr. Medaris's railing

Dr. John Medaris (1814-1911)

• Early, prominent Brookston doctor
• Oldest Mason in Indiana when he passed away at 96
• Built elaborate house on Ripley St. (no picture yet!!)
• Waugh Family wound up with house
• Ornate railing was later installed on Kious house
• After Juanita's death it was moved to French House

The Farm

Some farm facts

• 7,764 acres total
• 6,865 tillable
• 32 wind turbines (so far)
• A conservation easement forbids development or use change
• (There are questions about how it got so big)

Text

Farm map from leasing document

The farm is a microcosm of American agriculture

• Originally dozens of smaller farms
• Originally farmed by tenants
  • Headquarters was Maderis house
• Operations centralized, cattle operation dropped
• Homesteads have mostly been razed - almost nothing left
• Now separated only into "tracts" for rental purposes

Waugh ran a tight ship

• She was a keen negotiator
• Farmers had to record their crop plans, contract
• Eventually it was all rented by a single farmer
• Currently it is rented as 7 separate parcels

The Saint Joe gift wasn't simple

• Waugh wanted to preserve it as farmland
• Friendship with Banet led to Saint Joe
• As an atheist, she didn't trust the Catholic Church
• She spent a lot of money on legal protections
  • Deed restrictions on sale, mortgaging, or developing
  • A conservation easement to a third party
  • Perpetual trustees

So what happened to Saint Joe?

• Armies of consultants, big spending, pricey bosses
• Sudden death began February 3, 2017
  • Some trustees left in the dark
  • Shut and sold everything in <6 months
  • Return to religious control
• Now there is a "Saint Joseph's College" in Indianapolis!
• The cloud of the big lawsuit

Conditions to keep the farm:

• Remain a charity under IRS 170(c), 2055(a), 2522(a) 
• May not sell or transfer (would include mortgaging)
• Abide restrictions on hiring farm manager
• If violated, farm goes to Mayo Clinic
• If Mayo's doesn't abide by terms, or refuses them, then trustees pick another charity

Precise deed verbiage