OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List Issue 32 *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 01 : Issue 32 -------------------------------- From: "Ralph W. Cokonougher" Subject: Early stone houses-Part 3 of 3: 1796 on, Ross Co. Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2001 03:03:37 -0000 Part 3 of 3. I grant the USGenWeb/OHGenWeb/OH-Footsteps Archives and the Ohio History Network permission to store permanently for free viewing access the following copyrighted booklet "VERNACULAR STONE STRUCTURES IN SOUTHWESTERN ROSS COUNTY, OHIO". All other rights, including distribution rights, reproduction rights, and re-presentation rights are reserved by the copyright owner. Ralph W. Cokonougher, copyright owner. VERNACULAR STONE STRUCTURES IN SOUTHWESTERN ROSS COUNTY, OHIO By Ralph W. Cokonougher Copyright Ralph W. Cokonougher 1978. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Published in New Holland, Ohio. ********************************************* time with brick. The right chimney is inset and may reflect the mixing of cultures that took place in the early state of Ohio. The house is made of stone believed to have been quarried from the same place as for the house in Thrifton, leading one to speculate that they may have been built at the same time. One thing that should be noted about stone construction in southwestern Ross County is the type of walls that were built when rubble work was used. Walls were really of three vertical columns. One layer of rocks was mortared together one on top of another like bricks, only slanted inward. On the other side another layer was started and slanted toward the first so that each layer supported the weight of the other. In any space between these two was placed small rocks without mortar. Such walls were from two and a half to four feet in width. Walls built like this were strong, sturdy, and lasting, and allowed the use of a temporary rather than permanent mortar in construction. It also prevented the damp, perspiring walls common to most stone structures. Old farmers say that wheat straw, in the time before much machinery came into use, was tied onto a wagon in the same manner. This seems to indicate that stone houses of the rubble work type are a natural folk development and not the result of high style ideas.22 There are many stone service and commercial structures left in southwestern Ross County. One of the most Page 14. ************************** Famous was National House in Bainbridge. It was built around 1811 for use as a tavern-hotel by a man named Turner, for Joseph Rockhold. National House's chief claim to fame was the fact that many famous people stayed there, including Henry Clay, Lewis Cass, and Robert Lewis. The big event of the 19th century in Bainbridge was when Jenny Lind sang in the Grand Ballroom of National House.23 For a while National House was used as a rest home, but today it is a private residence. The building can't conveniently be fit into any particular type, but both Southern and Gothic influence can be seen in the construction. In the back of National House stand the stone stables where the horses and coaches of travelers were housed. This rectangular gable roofed building is used today as a garage. Stone for the National House was obtained from a hillside to the south of Bainbridge overlooking the village. This land was later to become Higgin's Quarry, so named for Peter Higgins, an English immigrant who operated the quarry from 1842 to 1899. Some of the best Waverly sandstone known was quarried in Higgin's Quarry and shipped as far away as New York.24 Also located in Bainbridge is a square-faced structure that is somewhat like the old traditional form used in general stores. It is called Benner Block. Constructed in 1898, it was the location of the locally famous "Yellow Dog Saloon." Stone for it appears to be of the same type Page 15. ************************* quarried in Higgin's Quarry and probably was obtained from there. In 1902, the people of Bainbridge built a new Methodist church of stone. They had had several in the past but all had burned down, including one other of stone. This church was the last stone building to be built in Bainbridge. In Bourneville, during the mid-nineteenth century, some people were taking advantage of the town's saloon and having quite a rowdy time. The members of the town's three churches decided that it needed a jail, and so one was built from stone. It had only one room and was gable roofed, but had bars on the window just like a real jail is supposed to have. Not much more is known about it, except for a local legend about its first use. It seems that two men (now unknown but not forgotten) built the jail for the town and were extremely proud of their work. The night it was finished they drew their pay and went out on the town to celebrate. Unfortunately for them, they celebrated a little too much and ended up not only the builders of the jail but also its first customers. They spent the rest of the night in their new jail. In 1842, in South Salem, a building was constructed of stone for use as a school. Its limestone came from Paint Creek at Greenfield, and was put up in rubble form. In the same year, it was opened under James Fullerton, Page 16. ************************** and since then has been the home of an elementary school, a high school, and a college level academy. Today it is owned by the Greenfield Exempted School District and is falling into ruin. The Old Stone Academy, as it is popularly known, is an example of a Classical Four-over-Four, a Pennsylvania house form. It has four rooms on each of two floors, five windows on the second floor façade, a staircase in a central hallway, and two gable end chimneys. Such characteristics made it perfect for a schoolhouse. One stone smokehouse is located on Alexander Hollow Road and was built in 1910, relatively recently. A few hundred yards down the road from the smokehouse is an above-ground cellar that is made entirely of stone. It is separated from the owner's house, and is painted white. No date is available for it. On Blain Highway about one mile south of state route 50, there is a stone storage building. No information is available on it, but by comparison with the other works thus far mentioned, it appears to date from the last of the 19th century. Page 17. ***************************** CHAPTER FOUR CONCLUSION Stone has been used in construction since ancient times. Colonists in the Mid-Atlantic states, mostly Pennsylvania and Virginia, continued this tradition and carried it with them into southwestern Ross County. Most of the structures that survive are still in use despite their early 19th century construction, and exist mainly because they were extremely well constructed and well maintained. The existence of so many stone structures shows that wood was not the only readily available building material. Stone was cheap and easily obtained, but resulted in high labor and high transportation costs when used. Stone structures were built by skilled craftsmen for people who had money to divert from their land into a house. A large stone house meant prestige and status in the community. A stone house was permanent. It was something a person could leave to the generations after him. Virginia I houses, Pennsylvania I houses, and English cottages were the stone houses made in the area. The majority of stone Virginia I houses supports the fact that southwestern Ross County was settled mostly by Southerners with a sprinkling of Pennsylvanians. Service structures such as hotel-taverns, saloons, churches, jails, smokehouses, and cellars also Page 18. ************************ were built from stone. Sandstone and rubble work were used in the majority of cases. Page 19. ************************ FOOTNOTES. 1. Andrew J. Downing, "The Architecture of Country Homes" (New York, 1968), p. 142. 2. Dorothea Moholy-Nagy, "Native Genius In Anonymous Architecture (New York, 1957), p. 178. 3. Harold D. Eberlein, "The Architecture of Colonial America" (Boston, 1915), p.22. 4. Henry Glassie, "Pattern in the Material Folk Culture of the Eastern United States" (Philadelphia, 1968), p. 48. 5. Ethel F. and Thomas T. Robinson, "Houses in America" (New York, 1936), p. 66. 6. Ethel F. and Thomas T. Robinson, "Houses in America" (New York, 1936), p. 185. 7. Harold D. Eberlein, "The Architecture of Colonial America" (Boston, 1915), p. 24. 8. Lyall Addleson, "Materials for Building" (London, 1972), p. 140. 9. Ibid., p. 102. 10. Harold D. Eberlein, "The Architecture of Colonial America" (Boston, 1915), p. 243. 11. Lyall Addleson, "Materials For Building" (London, 1972), p. 141. 12. National Research Council, "Modern Masonry: Natural Stone and Clay Products........." (Washington, 1956), p. 129. 13. Andrew J. Downing, "The Architecture of Country Homes" (New York, 1968), p. 66. 14. Andrew Kardos and Richard Pillsbury, "A Field Guide to the Folk Architecture of the Northeastern United States" (Dartmouth, 1973), p. 79. 15. Ibid., p. 53. 16. Ibid., p. 79. 17. "Chillicothe Gazette", (Oct. 14, 1971), p. 7. 18. "Chillicothe Gazette", (Oct. 16, 1969), p. 4. 19. Isaac J. Findley and Rufus Putnam, "Pioneer Record and Reminiscences of the Early Settlers and Settlement of Ross County, Ohio" (Cincinnati, 1871), p. 76. 20. These dates are inscribed on a stone in the house, according to the present owner (in 1973.) 21. This is not first hand information. Mr. McCutcheon obtained this information from the resident before him. Mr. McCutcheon claims that, although he has owned some long ladders, he has never owned a ladder long enough to get to the top of the chimney to check the date himself. 22. Only one high style stone house was found in the research area. It was built between 1802 and 1805 for Nathaniel Reeves, a Revolutionary War veteran, according to the "Chillicothe Gazette, (Oct. 16, 1969), p. 4. The house was designed by Latrobe, the French architect who designed Adena, the home of Ohio's first governor. Reeve's house shows Southern influence and retains the original ironwork around the porch. Glass for the windows was imported from Bristol, England, and was hauled over the mountains in wagons. The house later served as a tavern on Zane's Trace. It is about one mile east of Bainbridge between Bainbridge and Seips Mound State Park. Stone for the house was obtained in Bainbridge, probably from the Benner Quarry area. 23. "Chillicothe Gazette", (Oct. 16, 1969), p.4. 24. "Greenfield Daily Times", (Oct. 14, 1970), p. 26. Pages 20 to 22. *********************** BIBLIOGRAPHY Addleson, Lyall. "Materials For Building". London: Iliffe, 1972. 'The Benner Block.' "Greenfield Daily Times. Oct. 1968 (souvenir edition), p. 21. 'Buildings Reveal Community History.' "Chillicothe Gazette", Oct. 16, 1969, p.4, col. 1. Downing, Andrew J. "The Architecture of Country Homes." New York: DaCapa Press, 1968. Eberlein, Harold D. "The Architecture of Colonial America." Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1915. Findley, Isaac, and Rufus Putnam. "Pioneer Record and Reminiscences of the Early Settlers and Settlement of Ross County, Ohio." Cincinnati: R. Clarke and Co., 1871. Gay, Charles Merrick. "Materials and Methods of Architectural Construction." New York: Wiley, 1958. Glassie, Henry. "Pattern in the Material Folk Culture of the Eastern United States." Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1968. 'Higgins Quarry Yesteryear.' "Greenfield Daily Times", Oct. 14, 1970, p. 26. 'Historians Pay Tribute to Pioneers.' "Greenfield Daily Times," Oct. 14, 1970, p. 9. 'Historic Walking Tours Added.' "Chillicothe Gazette." Oct. 14, 1971, pp. 5-7. Horsman, Reginald. "The Frontier in the Formative Years 1783-1815." New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1970. Johnson, John Butler. "Johnson's Materials For Construction." New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1939. Kardos, Andrew, and Richard Pillsbury. "A Field Guide to the Folk Architecture of the Northeastern United States." Dartmouth: Geography Publications at Dartmouth, 1973. Kniffen, F. "Folk Housing: Key to Diffusion." Association of American Geographers Annals, 55 (Dec. 1965), 549-577. Major, Howard. "The Domestic Architecture of the Early American Republic." Philadelphia: J.B. Lippencott Co., 1926. 'Methodism Founded Early in Bainbridge Community.' "Greenfield Daily Times," Oct. 1968 (souvenir edition), p. 7. Moholy-Nagy, Dorothea M.P.A.S. "Native Genius in Anonymous Architecture." New York: Horizon Press, 1957. National Research Council. "Modern Masonry: Natural Stone and Clay Products ........." Washington: Building Research Institute, 1956. Newcomb, Rexford. "Architectural of the Old Northwest Territory." Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1950. 'Reeve's Crossing Farm Monument in Local History.' "Greenfield Daily Times." Oct. 1968 (souvenir edition), p.3. Robinson, Ethel F., and Thomas P. "Houses in America." New York: Viking Press, 1936. U.S. Dept. of Interior. "The Historic American Buildings Survey." Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1936. 'Village Settled in 1795 by Colonel Nathaniel Massie.' "Greenfield Daily Times", Supplement to 1972 Fall Festival of leaves, p. 8. Pages 23 to 25. ****************************************** Pages 26 & 27 contain a map of southwestern Ross County, Ohio and a legend showing the location of each vernacular stone structure. The map cannot be reproduced in this text-only digital format. Pages 26 & 27. ****************************************** Pages 28 to 36 contain photographs of the vernacular stone structures discovered in southwestern Ross County, Ohio. The photographs cannot be reproduced here in this text-only digital format. Pages 28 to 36. ****************************************** _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Ralph W. Cokonougher" Subject: Obit: Scott Hester, 1995, Franklin Co. Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2001 03:06:42 -0000 >From the Thursday, 2 November 1995, Columbus, Ohio “Dispatch”: “HESTER. Scott Hester, age 72, passed away on Wednesday, November 1, 1995 at Regency Manor Nursing Home. Former employee for City of Columbus Sanitation Department, U.S. W.W.II Army veteran. Preceded in death by parents Emmaline and Andrew Hester. Survived by nieces, Barbara Hester, LaVonna Kincaid, Eunice Clancy and many other nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends of Columbus and Chattanooga, Tenn. Memorial Service Friday 1:30 p.m. at the chapel of the Wayne T. Lee Funeral Service, 1370 E. main St. Internment Eastlawn Cemetery.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V01 Issue #32 ******************************************