Nehemiah Royce House

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Nehemiah Royce House
Nehemiah Royce House front spring 2016.png
Nehemiah Royce House
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Location538 N. Main St.
Wallingford, Connecticut
Coordinates 41°27′59″N72°48′48″W / 41.46639°N 72.81333°W / 41.46639; -72.81333
Built1672
Architect Richard Henry Dana Jr.; J. Frederick Kelly
Architectural styleColonial
NRHP reference No. 98000966 [1]
Added to NRHPAugust 24, 1998

The Nehemiah Royce House, also known as the Washington Elm House, is a historic home located at 538 North Main Street in Wallingford, Connecticut. The saltbox house was constructed in 1672. George Washington visited the house twice, first in 1775 while on his way to take command of the Continental Army in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and again in 1789 when he gave an address to the townspeople in front of the house near the Elm.

Contents

Biography of Nehemiah Royce

Nehemiah Royce was christened on May 30, 1637 (actual birth date unconfirmed), in New London County, Connecticut, the son of Robert Royce (c.1606 – 1676) and Mary Sims.

On November 20, 1660, he married Hannah Morgan (1642–1677). They had nine children together.

Royce, a carpenter, joiner and blacksmith by trade, was one of Wallingford's original 38 proprietors authorized by the Connecticut General Assembly in 1667 to purchase land from the Quinnipiac nation. On May 12, 1670, Wallingford was incorporated and about 126 people settled in the town. On May 11, 1693, Royce was elected deputy representing Wallingford to the Court of the Connecticut Colony. [2]

He died on November 1, 1706, in New Haven, Connecticut and is buried in Center Street Cemetery, Wallingford, Connecticut [3]

Descendants

Nehemiah Royce's descendants number in the thousands today. Some of his notable descendants include:

Nehemiah Royce House spring 2016 Nehemiah Royce House rear spring 2016.png
Nehemiah Royce House spring 2016

House

The Royce house is an example of American colonial saltbox architectural style. [11] The Royce family occupied the house for over 200 years. The house was moved to its current location in 1924.

The prominent figures associated with the 1930s-1940s rehabilitation of the Royce House is an impressive roster of leaders in the historic preservation movement in New England. The list includes Richard Henry Dana, William Sumner Appleton, Elmer Keith, J. Frederick Kelly, George Dudley Seymour, and Bertram Little. [12] For a time it was a museum and then was used as a residence by Choate Rosemary Hall, until the school donated the house to the Wallingford Historic Preservation Trust in 1999. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

See also

Notes

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Colonial Connecticut Records 1636–1776
  3. Nehemiah Royce at Find A Grave
  4. "Memorials of Connecticut Judges and Attorneys, Jonathan Brace". Connecticut State Library. February 8, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  5. McGilligan, Patrick. Clint: The Life And Legend; New York: St. Martin's Press, 2002; pp. 13.
  6. 1 2 Roberts, Gary Boyd (December 6, 2002). "The New England Ancestry of Clint Eastwood" . Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  7. 1 2 3 Reitwiesner, William Addams (2007). "Ancestry of George W. Bush" . Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  8. Jones, 16
  9. Jones, 19
  10. Jones, 20
  11. Connecticut: A Guide to Its Roads, Lore and People Federal Writers Project, US History Publishers, 1973.
  12. David F. Ransom and John F. A. Herzan (October 1997). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Nehemiah Royce House". National Park Service. and Accompanying seven photos, exterior and interior, from 1996

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