TUSCARAWAS COUNTY OHIO - HISTORY REVEALED IN HOUSE RAZING ... *************************************************************************** OHGENWEB NOTICE: All distribution rights to this electronic data are reserved by the submitter. Reproduction or re-presentation of copyrighted material will require the permission of the copyright owner. *************************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Amy AmyeA@aol.com July 11, 1998 *************************************************************************** Subject: Tombstone found while house is being demolitioned ... Hi all ... found this article while looking up an obit. for a fellow list member ... thought I'd share this article with the group! (contains several surnames, not to mention the strange tombstone discovery) ---------- The Times Reporter Dover-New Philadelphia, OH Thurs., 11/23/1972. HISTORY REVEALED IN HOUSE RAZING ... by: Joe Mizer The house at 305 W. High ave., New Philadelphia, known to some as the Browne House, and to others as the Parr House, is gone. The foot-thick brick walls which withstood the test of time, have yielded to modern demolition equipment. Built of handmade brick, the house was rugged, yet beautiful. It contained large chandeliers, oriental rugs, five fireplaces, a carved wood staircase and fancy leaf carvings in plaster of paris. From top to bottom, the house reflected a craftsmanship found in few homes of today. "It would cost $175,000 to build a home of similar quality today, if you could find the craftsman to do the job -- one who took pride in his work." said Tom Larkin, the contractor who dismantled the property. THE HOUSE WAS owned in more recent times by Kate Emerson Scott, wife of John Scanlin Scott, who transferred the property to the First Methodist Church on Sept. 15, 1948 by will. The will contained the expressed intention, (that said premises be established as a home for aged persons, as a memorial to my mother, Clara R. Browne) Trustees of the First Methodist Church, however, transferred the property to the First Church of Christ (now known as the First Christian church) on Sept. 26, 1951. The house's occupants were the Norman C. Parr family from 1948 to Oct. 4, 1972. According to Mrs. Peggy Fiedler, Parr's daughter, the home contained an original bathroom on the third floor. She said servants used to carry bath water up and down the three flights of stairs. A LARGE LIVING ROOM was located on the first floor, as well as a music room, diningroom, small livingroom, kitchen, pantry and later a lavatory. There was a fireplace in each of the livingrooms. The second floor contained three bedrooms with a fireplace in each, a large dressing room, maid's quarters at the rear, and later a bathroom. The third floor had a ballroom, studio room, large room, the original bath and another small room. There was a back stairway, as well as the main winding staircase. DURING THE DEMOLITION a tombstone bearing the inscription, "Elizabeth, wife of Liberty Miller, died Sept. 28, 1846, aged 45 yrs., 4 ms., 18 days." was found built into one of the second story fireplaces. The inscription was on the underside of the marble slab. Richard Geib of the Linn-Hart Geib Funeral Home had purchased the stone for a fireplace and was anaware that it was a tombstone until it was removed. He said he belives the stone could have been the top cover of a mausoleum and was cut down to fit the fireplace. Another discovery was a sheeting board from the roof which contained the handwritten name of Henry Frutenbaugh, New Philadelphia, and dated Nov. 17, --85. History records on the house, are at best, fuzzy and incomplete. As one older resident said, "It has always been there." AVAILABLE RECORDS show that Seth Dorsey, a charter member of the First Church of Christ, donated a lot on W. High st., in 1844 on which a small brick building was erected. In 1897, the congregation decided to tear down the old remodeled church and erect the present structure which was dedicated Feb. 5, 1899. Lot 217, minus 66 feet off the north end, and lot 218 minus the part conveyed by Seth Dorsey and his wife to the Disciples Church on June 9, 1857, was transferred by Edward and Nan Rosemond to Clara Hummell on Feb. 25, 1873. Clara Hummell was born Feb. 25, 1852, a daughter of Edward and Nancy Rosemond. She was married to Emerson Hummell, one of the five sons of Jacob and Elizabeth Emerson Hummell of York Township. Emerson and Clara had a daughter, Kate, also known as Kit, on Dec. 29, 1873. EMERSON HUMMELL died Feb. 13, 1879, leaving his wife and 5-year-old daughter, Kit. He was associated with an older brother, Frederick, in the merchandising business. Mrs. Hummell then married William Courtney Browne on Nov. 8, 1881. Browne was born on a farm in Belmont County about 1829 and lived in Middletown in Guernsey County. He came to New Philadelphia in 1880 to go into the banking business. Clara Rosemond Hummell was Browne's third wife. His first wife, was a Margaret Rosemond of Fairview, whom he married in 1852. She died four years later. LOTS 217 AND 218 were transferred to the Rosemonds by James and E.J. English and Levi and May A. Crooks in 1869. The English portion of the property was transferred from the Lewis Kraus estate on March 31, 1851. Excavation of a cornerstone, which hopefully would have provided data on the builder, the house, and the date, added nothing to the history according to Larkin. Older residents of the community believe the house was built by Emerson Hummell. Mrs. Margaret Vale, 89, a cousin of Hummell's said she thinks it was built about 1870. Others believe the house was constructed in 1847, near the time the original church was built, and some accept the 1885 date on the roofing board. If the home had been built in 1847 or in 1885, Emerson Hummell could not have been the builder. He was born in 1846 and died in 1879. If 1870 were the building date, how did the stone inscribed 1846 get into the fireplace? ---- ==== Maggie_Ohio Mailing List ====