Odgers House
In 1915, Mary C. Odgers, Cornish miner’s widow, purchased this five-bedroom Craftsman style bungalow when it was new. After her husband died of miners’ consumption (lung disease) in 1902, Mary received $5,000 in life insurance. Her sons William and Garfield and daughter Ada attended Butte Business College and secured jobs in accounting and stenography. Their success allowed the family to leave working-class Centerville (their community since the 1880s) and move to Butte’s up-and-coming southwest side. William and Garfield supported their mother and other sister Katie by clerking for the Anaconda Company and Continental Oil. When Mary died in 1924, they sold the home to John and Louise Lousen, Slovenian immigrants with six children. John and his brother Charles operated a men’s clothing store, Lousen Bros., that served miners and businessmen alike. John also participated in the Slavonic Civic and Culture Club and the Slovene National Benefit Society. Four of the five Lousen sons served in World War II. After the war, John and Louise retired to California. Their eldest son Edward and his wife Noel resided in the home until their deaths in the 1990s.
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