Elias Kumler House

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Elias Kumler House

Elias Kumler House.jpg

Front of the house
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Location 120 S. Main St., Oxford, Ohio
Coordinates 39°30′31″N84°44′34″W / 39.50861°N 84.74278°W / 39.50861; -84.74278 Coordinates: 39°30′31″N84°44′34″W / 39.50861°N 84.74278°W / 39.50861; -84.74278
Area Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built 1856 (1856)
Architectural style Gothic Revival
NRHP reference # 80002948 [1]
Added to NRHP January 3, 1980

The Elias Kumler House is a historic residence in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Constructed in the 1850s, it was originally the home of Elias Kumler, who held large influence at multiple educational institutions in Oxford. The house has been continuously used for residential purposes, and it has been named a historic site.

Oxford, Ohio City in Ohio, United States

Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern portion of the state approximately 28 mi (46 km) NW of Cincinnati. It lies in Oxford Township, originally called the College Township. The population was 21,371 at the 2010 census. This college town was founded as a home for Miami University. In 2014, Oxford was rated by Forbes as the "Best College Town" in the United States, based on a high percentage of students per capita and part-time jobs, and a low occurrence of brain-drain.

Historic site official location where pieces of political, military or social history have been preserved

Historic site or Heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been recognized with the official national historic site status. A historic site may be any building, landscape, site or structure that is of local, regional, or national significance.

Contents

History

Born in 1830 and named Jeremiah Prophet Elias Kumler in full, [2] the house's first owner spent parts of his early life farming and working as a merchant, but he later became the first banker in Oxford. By the 1850s, Kumler had become wealthy enough to engage in philanthropy, donating money in 1856 toward the construction of the Junction Railway between Hamilton, Ohio and Connersville, Indiana. [3] He also served Oxford's two women's colleges and a Cincinnati seminary, sitting on the board of trustees for the Western College for Women from 1871 to 1898, [2] acting as a trustee for the Oxford Female Institute, giving funds to found the endowment for the Lane Theological Seminary, [3] providing money to rescue Western when it was nearly bankrupt, [4] and financing the Female Institute. [3]

Philanthropy means the love of humanity. A conventional modern definition is "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life", which combines an original humanistic tradition with a social scientific aspect developed in the 20th century. The definition also serves to contrast philanthropy with business endeavors, which are private initiatives for private good, e.g., focusing on material gain, and with government endeavors, which are public initiatives for public good, e.g., focusing on provision of public services. A person who practices philanthropy is called a philanthropist.

The Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railroad was established in 1915 as a reorganization of the Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railway, which in turn had been created in 1902 as a merger of the Indiana, Decatur and Western Railway (ID&W) and the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Indianapolis Railroad (CH&I). Predecessors of the ID&W include the Indianapolis, Decatur and Western Railway (1888-1894), the Indianapolis & Wabash Railway (1887-1888), the Indianapolis, Decatur and Springfield Railway (1875-1887), and the Indiana and Illinois Central Railway (1853-1875).

Hamilton, Ohio City in Ohio, United States

Hamilton is a city in and the county seat of Butler County, Ohio, United States, in the state's southwestern corner, located 20 miles north of Cincinnati. The population was 62,447 at the 2010 census. The city is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. Hamilton has three designated National Historic Districts: Dayton Lane, German Village, and Rossville.

The present house was constructed in 1856, and Kumler owned it until selling it to Cincinnati shipping magnate Ebenezer Lane in 1868. Lane owned it for twenty years until selling it to local businessman Frank Cone. The house was Cone's home into the 1920s, but it later became privately owned rental housing for Miami University students. No longer home to its owners, the house deteriorated to the point that Oxford's city government condemned it as a danger to public safety. However, it was purchased and sold by a man more interested in repair than destruction; he restored the house to structural integrity and sold it in 1979. [3]

Ebenezer Lane American judge

Ebenezer Lane was a lawyer from the U.S. State of Ohio who served on the Ohio Supreme Court 1830 to 1845. From 1840 until his retirement, he was Chief Justice.

Miami University Public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States

Miami University is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. The university was founded in 1809, although classes were not held until 1824. Miami University is the second-oldest university in Ohio and the 10th oldest public university in the United States. Miami also has regional campuses in Hamilton, Middletown and West Chester, as well as the Dolibois European Center in Differdange, Luxembourg. The Carnegie Foundation classifies Miami University as a research university with a high research activity. It is affiliated with the University System of Ohio.

In economics, an absentee landlord is a person who owns and rents out a profit-earning property, but does not live within the property's local economic region. The term "absentee ownership" was popularised by economist Thorstein Veblen's 1923 book of the same name, Absentee Ownership.

Architecture

Built of brick with elements of wood and sandstone, [5] and resting on a foundation of ashlar, [6] the house is one-and-a-half stories tall with a steep gabled roof. [5] The gables are placed symmetrically, with one on each of the four sides, and the corners of the roof rise from each corner. [7] Some of the gable peaks and roof corners are ornamented by finials, while the eaves are highlighted by large bargeboards. Stone lintels surround many of the windows, and the house is entered primarily through an off-center trabeated door recessed into the facade. [6] These elements combine to form a high-quality example of the Gothic Revival style of architecture; although less significant than some Gothic Revival houses elsewhere in the state, [7] it is Oxford's leading house of the style. [6]

Foundation (engineering) lowest and supporting layer of a structure

In engineering, a foundation is the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads from the structure to the ground. Foundations are generally considered either shallow or deep. Foundation engineering is the application of soil mechanics and rock mechanics in the design of foundation elements of structures.

Ashlar Finely dressed stone and associated masonry

Ashlar is finely dressed stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared or the structure built of it. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally cuboid, mentioned by Vitruvius as opus isodomum, or less frequently trapezoidal. Precisely cut "on all faces adjacent to those of other stones", ashlar is capable of very thin joints between blocks, and the visible face of the stone may be quarry-faced or feature a variety of treatments: tooled, smoothly polished or rendered with another material for decorative effect.

Storey level part of a building that could be used by people

A storey or story is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people. The plurals are "storeys" and "stories", respectively.

Historic site

The Kumler House appeared in a book of old Oxford houses, [6] published in 1975, [8] and in early 1977 it was recorded by the Ohio Historic Inventory, a historic preservation program of the Ohio Historical Society. The survey deemed its condition to be excellent, both inside and out, and it was considered eligible for addition to the National Register of Historic Places. [6] In January 1980, the house was added to the National Register because of its architecture, [1] for it was more elaborate than all other Gothic Revival buildings in Oxford. [7] It is one of eleven National Register-listed locations citywide. [1]

Historic preservation preservation of items of historical significance

Historic preservation (US), heritage preservation or heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavour that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. This term refers specifically to the preservation of the built environment, and not to preservation of, for example, primeval forests or wilderness.

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 Williams, Judy. Ohio Historic Inventory Nomination: Kumler Chapel . Ohio Historical Society, 2008-07-30.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Blount, Jim. An Index to Butler County Place Names: Kumler House via Lane Public Library, 2005-06-25. Accessed 2014-01-01.
  4. ↑ Photographs of Trustees, Miami University Libraries, 2010. Accessed 2014-01-01.
  5. 1 2 Kumler, Elias, House, Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2014-01-01.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Curry, Lucy. Ohio Historic Inventory Nomination: The Elias Kumler House . Ohio Historical Society, 1977-03-07.
  7. 1 2 3 Owen, Lorrie K., ed. Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 96.
  8. ↑ Old Oxford Houses and the People Who Lived in Them, WorldCat, n.d. Accessed 2014-01-01.
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