“When you get into a tight
place and it seems that you can’t go on, hold on — for that’s just the
place and the time that the tide will turn.”
– Harriet Beecher Stowe
Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012
The House of Aingell – Circa l938 - 8″ x 10″ Watercolor & Ink
This is the home of Rita Bradley. She commissioned me to paint this
and she gave me some wonderful history on it. After I painted it, my
husband gave me some more insight. His dad, Fred Parker, who grew up in
Eufaula, always thought this was the most beautiful home in Eufaula.
It is wonderful. The grounds are so well kept and lush that it was hard
to get an angle that showed this much of the house. Off behind that
tree is another building, a garage with an apartment over it.
Here is some of the history I got from Rita Bradley:
“It was built in l938 and was home to The Aingell Family. They
owned a Drug Store on Main Street and Mrs. Aingell was the Granddaughter
of a well known Native American, George Washington Grayson (Chief For
The Confederacy).
Beth, many elderly folks from Eufaula have pointed out to me: The
circle of rocks in the front yard. They mean something–I just don’t
know what! They have been there from the beginning of property being a
Home and secondly The Flagpole (which should be taken down, but not by
Me)! I was told, before moving in, that the Aingell’s had on son that
was killed in The Invasion of Normandy. To celebrate his life and in
remembrance of him, the flagpole was erected and shall stand until a
higher being takes it out and or down. I was also told that the old iron
railing was from a Historic Building in Eufaula. Just saying. Newsy
Notes coming Your Way! Well, it has been there since l938 too. I am told
a Jewish businessman rented it for many years from The Aingell Family.”
It was an honor to paint this home and I am really enjoying all I am
learning about Eufaula, as I paint all these buildings. I have only
lived here for 20 years and Eufaula emerged as a town in 1872. The
building my sign shop is in is somewhere around 100 years old. I have
never really known exactly, as I lease the building. I have been in it
for 15 of my 20 years in business.
About Harriet Beecher Stowe
American author Harriet Beecher Stowe is known for her novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin,
a rallying cry for the abolitionist movement. When she met Abe Lincoln
in 1862, he said, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that
started this great war!” She was born in Connecticut in 1811. Her
brother, Henry Ward Beecher, became a renowned minister. After an
unusually thorough education for a woman of the time, she began her
career when she won a magazine prize contest. She died in 1896.
