Behind these Walls - A Home's History A series exploring the early stories behind our historic homes.

Lois and Lefty, a Love Story: 1503 Harbert

Sometime in the year of 1913, a well respected businessman and owner of a "wood ware company", Louis P. Canmann, bought the newly built home at 1503 Harbert for his wife Rosina (Rose) and their daughter, Marguerite. Louis would die in 1923 at the age of 53, leaving the home to his wife and daughter. Marguerite married a man named Thomas Shea and the couple would remain in the home with Rose. The Shea's would go on to have three daughters, raising them all with Rose's help at 1503 Harbert. The three girls certainly all had their talents, but the middle girl, Lois, was becoming known locally for her love of dancing, singing and acting. In high-school, Lois fell for a young man named Gene Bearden, who was also very talented, but his pursuits were more athletic as he was becoming a phenom on the baseball field. While the two were certainly an item, their individual pursuits for fame and glory (one in the theater and the other on the 's mound) tore the young couple apart. According to a Jan. 2020 article in "Only in Arkansas" magazine, "Lois Shea was a society girl who played piano, danced and performed in stage productions for the Memphis in-crowd. Although they became some version of high school sweethearts, Lois and Lefty, as she called Gene, were from two different worlds. When Gene graduated, he had several offers to play college football and baseball, but the school part of college was not his thing. He enrolled in a baseball summer school in Greenbrier, Arkansas. Lois moved west to become a Hollywood star."

During WWII, Gene felt compelled to enlist in the armed services and in 1943 was injured when a torpedo struck the USS Helena, shattering his knee. Hearing this news from mutual friends, Lois left Hollywood to help nurse her old flame, and she never returned. Gene went on to heal from his injury and pitched in the 1948 for the . Lois and Gene married and raised a son and daughter, living out most of their years in Helena, Arkansas.

Around the time that Lois and Gene were in Cleveland, the house at 1503 Harbert became a rental property and was leased by Robert D. Newton and his wife Ora Belle. Robert worked for Grapette Bottling Company. Grapette was a grape fizzy drink made in Camden, Arkansas. Those bottles are now collectors' items.

Harold and Betty Coopwood Morrison bought the home in 1955 from the Canmann family and lived there until they sold it to Michael J Porter in 1978. Bruce and Jane Williams bought the home in 1990.

Current owners, Robbie Johnson-Weinberg and Michael Weinberg are the husband and wife team behind midtown's Eclectic-Eye.