F.W. Caulkins

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Franklin Wellington Caulkins
Franklin W. Caulkins.jpg
Born(1855-04-28)April 28, 1855
DiedJanuary 9, 1940(1940-01-09) (aged 84)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationArchitect

Franklin Wellington Caulkins was a prominent architect in Buffalo, New York. [1] [2]

Contents

Caulkins was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to Dr. Russell Caulkins and Jane Whitbeck and later moved with his family to Toledo, Ohio, where he studied architecture from 1865 to 1870. From that time until he went to work at the Buffalo office of Milton Beebe in 1875 he worked at the architectural offices of Charles Coots in Rochester, New York, and then at the offices of A.C. Bruce in Knoxville, Tennessee, before returning to Rochester to work briefly for Coots. [3] He established himself as an architect and superintendent in room 8 of the Townsend Block, located at the corner of Main and Swan Streets in Buffalo, in April 1879 [4] [5] and relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1882 to 1885, during which time was a partner (separately) with John L. Telford [6] and O.P. Dennis. [7] Caulkins returned to Buffalo in 1885, and moved his office into the Chapin Building, where he remained until 1903.
In 1878 Caulklins married Jennie Louise Van Slyke (1858–1904) of Rochester, New York, [5] with whom he had a son and a daughter. [8] He moved to Missouri in 1903, became a widower in 1904 and then married Gertrude B. Smith (1880-1938), with whom he had two more sons and another daughter before they were divorced. [9] From 1905 he worked in Missouri, Texas and Louisiana until his retirement in 1930. After retiring he lived at the National Elks Home in Bedford, Virginia. He died in Bedford in 1940. [5]
In 1886 he became a founding member of the Buffalo Society of Architects, which was incorporated as the Buffalo chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1890. [10] Between 1876 and 1881 Louise Blanchard Bethune, one of few female professional architects at the time, worked in his office and for Richard A. Waite. [11]

Designs

Selected Projects
2011-09-05 Kamman Wiki.jpg
The Kamman Building, 755 Seneca Street, Buffalo, NY, 1878. Extant
The White Building Erie Street Entrance 1896.png
The White Building, 1881. Main and Erie Streets. A contemporary account noted of the fireproof building that "... in details of comfort and elegance it cannot be surpassed." [12] Demolished
Old State Capitol 1883.png
The North Dakota territorial (later state) capitol building as designed by Caulkins with John L. Telford [13] in 1883 during his time in Minneapolis. Destroyed by fire December 28, 1930
Buffalo Bicycle Club House 132 College St. L.A.W. Reporter December 16, 1887 p.336.png
The Buffalo Bicycle Club House, 132 College St., Buffalo, NY, 1887. Extant [14]
Jane Chinn Hospital 1910.png
The Jane Chinn Hospital, Webb City, Missouri, 1910. Extant but altered.

Other projects included a remodel of the Linwood Avenue house on the southeast corner of Linwood and West Ferry; design of the building at 410 Delaware Ave. (demolished in 1966); 430 Delaware Avenue building for Thomas Ramsdell; building at 85 Genesee Street (demolished); State National Bank at 8 Webster Street in North Tonawanda; and the 1888 Maple Street Baptist Mission Church (demolished early 1980s).; [5] Brick house for W.C. Francis; [18] O.P. Rainsdell (sp?) double brick with brownstone trimming house on Delaware Street; [18] *J.M. Richmond House near Ellicott and Seneca Streets [18]

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References

  1. Lost Genesee Block: The Caulkins Building February 21, 2011 by Thomas_Dooney In City, Buffalo Rising
  2. 1 2 "Western New York Heritage Magazine". Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2013-10-24.
  3. The Elstner Publishing Company (1887). The Industries of Buffalo, a résumé of the Merchantile and Manufacturing Progress of the Queen City on the Lake together with a Condensed Summary of Her Material Development and History, etc. Buffalo: The Courier Press. p. 100.
  4. Howells, W.H. and A.F. Marthens (1880). Commerce, Resources & Manufactures of Buffalo and Environs - A Descriptive Statistical and Historical Review - Industry, Development, Enterprise. Buffalo: Cosack and Company. p. 109.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Franklin Wellington Caulkins, Architect," by John H. Conlin in Spring 2007 issue of Western New York Heritage
  6. Davison's Minneapolis City Directory, 1883-1884. Buffalo: C. Wright Davison, Publisher. 1883. p. 165.
  7. Minneapolis City Directory for 1884-1885 Comprising a Complete list of the Citizens of the City of Minneapolis and their Places of Business, etc. Buffalo: C. Wright Davison, Publisher. 1884. p. 170.
  8. "Enumeration of the Individuals Living in the First Election District of the Twenty-second District of Buffalo in the County of Erie, N.Y. on Feb. 16, 1892", United States census,1892;Buffalo, New York; line 13-16. Retrieved on November 11, 2017.
  9. Texas Department of Health - Bureau of Vital Statistics - Standard Certificate of Death - Registrar's No. 461183354
  10. "Chapter Notes - Buffalo Chapter". American Institute of Architects Quarterly Bulletin. IX (2): 113–15. July 1908.
  11. We the Women: Career Firsts of Nineteenth-century America Madeleine B. Stern - 1994
  12. The Times, Buffalo (1896). A History of the City of Buffalo and Niagara Falls, Including a Concise Account of the Aboriginal Inhabitants of this Region, etc. Buffalo: The Times, Buffalo. pp. 117–118.
  13. "The Capitol Building". The Chicago Daily Tribune: 3. July 6, 1883.
  14. "The Buffalo Club House". The L.A.W. Bulletin: 336. December 9, 1887.
  15. "Construction Watch: Kamman Building Restoration". 5 February 2010.
  16. Banham, Reyner and Francis R. Kowsky (1996). Buffalo Architecture: A Guide. Cambridge: The MIT Press. p. 63. ISBN   026252063X.
  17. "Title Guarantee Building".
  18. 1 2 3 4 "American Architect and Building News". 1881.
  19. Prospect Avenue Baptist Church Buffalo, NY Waymarking.com
  20. Livingston, Joel Thomas (1912). A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people. Chicago, New York, San Francisco: Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 560–61.

Further reading