Jessie's First Kids Circa 1930: Roy Hanthorn far right, standing above all the others and surrounded by his siblings. By Diana Vice   Roy Hanthorn became one of Jessie’s first kids.   A Daughter of the American Revolution, Jessie Levering Cary was known for her good works in the community, so to honor his late wife, Frank Cary donated $45,000 in 1929 to establish the Jessie Levering Cary Home to help underprivileged and abused kids. The facility has been operating since November 30, 1930, and the residents are lovingly referred to as “Jessie’s Kids.”   Franklin & Jessie Cary A photo captured an image of some of the home’s first residents in front of the building shortly after it was built.   Identified in the picture are Roy Hanthorn and his younger siblings, Zilda, Dorothy, Cleo, Bill, Ed, and Bob, who had been transferred to Cary Home from the St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum. Roy’s sad facial expression, an obvious sign that he was unhappy with his circu...

  Joe Egan, Jr. in front of Carmen's Grocery Store, Wabash Avenue in Lafayette, IN Joseph Egan, Jr.,was six years old when his father was tragically killed in a train accident in 1901.  The son of an Irish immigrant, he was forced to navigate life without a father for most of his life.  The loss of his father forced the Irish family into poverty.   Many unemployed workers found relief through a federal program, known as the Works Project Administration (WPA), during the Great Depression years.   Joseph Egan, Jr., found relief through this program and went to work building the golf course at Purdue University. While riding on the back of a truck in 1939, he lost his footing and fell, breaking his neck in the process.  Egan died six days later at St. Elizabeth Hospital, leaving a widow and three children.  One of those children was this writer's grandmother, Lorraine Egan Hanthorn.  She was twenty years old and a mother to two small child...