198 Adams Ave. (in the Victorian Village) Memphis, TN
Circa 1835. Simple Federal home
The Magevney House is located in the Victorian Village area. John M. Manning put up a simple home on the lot.
Two years later, in 1837, Eugene Magevney (1798-1875) bought the home. He was an Irish native who arrived in Memphis about 1833. He was a pioneer teacher and civic leader who died in the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1873-1875. Mageveny ran one of the first private schools and worked to establish the city’s public school system. He received real estate in compensation from cash-poor families for his teaching efforts. His home is important to the Catholic community in Memphis: in 1839, the first Catholic Mass was held there; in 1840, the first Catholic marriage officiated by a priest occurred there when he wed Mary E. Smyth Magevney (1807-1889); and in 1841, the first Catholic baptism was done there for their daughter. The Magevney family also helped to found St. Peter Catholic Church in 1840. In that year as well, Magevney retired from teaching and looked after his substantial real estate and investment holdings. The family enlarged the white clapboard home and made improvements over time.
Mary remained in the home until her death. Two daughters were in the Magevney family: the older daughter Mary became a Dominican nun with the name Sister Mary Agnes; the other Katherine (1842-1930) married first Lt. Col. John W. Dawson(1837-1872) and later Hugh A. Hamilton (1832-1887) and remained in Memphis. The Hamilton family had their own house and kept the Magevney homestead in good condition.
Memphis Heritage and other organizations note that the Magevney Home is the only structure remaining from the pioneer days of Memphis settlement.
One hundred years after the Catholic baptism happened, in 1941, Magevney descendents gave the home to the City of Memphis and it became a house museum. The Tennessee Supreme Court had to make a ruling on the estate because the Sacred Heart Convent of Galveston, TX was heir to Mary’s rights and Blanche Magevney Hamilton Karsch (1878-1961), the adopted daughter of Katherine, had her rights. Blanche was an orphan in New York City when Sister Mary Agnes took her in and brought her to Galveston. After Sister Mary died, Blanch went to Memphis and lived with and was adopted by Katherine and Hugh. The estate was finally settled in 1938, and Blanche, as sole owner then, opened the home as a museum with the Memphis Park Board operating it.
In 2005-09, it was closed to the public. The Pink Palace reopened it, and the Magevney House became part of the Pink Palace Family of Museums. NR 1973
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