William Lawrence House (Bellefontaine, Ohio)

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William Lawrence House

William Lawrence House, Bellefontaine, southeastern angle.jpg

Front and side of the Lawrence House
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Location 325 N. Main St., Bellefontaine, Ohio
Coordinates 40°21′55″N83°45′35″W / 40.36528°N 83.75972°W / 40.36528; -83.75972 Coordinates: 40°21′55″N83°45′35″W / 40.36528°N 83.75972°W / 40.36528; -83.75972
Area 0.6 acres (0.24 ha)
Built 1860
Architectural style Italianate
NRHP reference # 79001884 [1]
Added to NRHP August 24, 1979

The William Lawrence House is a historic house in Bellefontaine, Ohio, United States. Located along Main Street (U.S. Route 68) north of the city's downtown, it is historically significant as the home of William Lawrence, a prominent U.S. Representative during the late nineteenth century.

Bellefontaine, Ohio City in Ohio, United States

Bellefontaine is a city in and the county seat of Logan County, Ohio, United States, located 48 miles northwest of Columbus. The population was 13,370 at the 2010 Census. It is the principal city of the Bellefontaine, OH Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Logan County. The highest point in Ohio, Campbell Hill, is within the city limits.

Ohio State of the United States of America

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Of the fifty states, it is the 34th largest by area, the seventh most populous, and the tenth most densely populated. The state's capital and largest city is Columbus.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

Contents

Structure

The house is a square two-story structure, measuring approximately 50 feet (15 m) on each side, and topped with a hip roof; [2] :2 its brick walls rest on a stone foundation with a basement. [3] At the time of construction, the house included multiple chimneys, but with one exception these have all been removed. Other changes since the time of construction have included the replacement of multiple doors and the addition of a wing in the rear and a small stone porch on the southern side. With the exception of the removal of shutters from the windows, the Main Street front of the house differs little from its state when built. Inside, many original features remain, including walnut panelling and two cherry fireplaces. The most prominent original feature is the spiral staircase, which climbs from the first floor to a skylight above the second floor. Lawrence's original dining room and kitchen were damaged by a fire; soon after new owners purchased the house in 1947, the rooms were completely reworked and converted into a storage room for the rear wing. [2] :2

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.

Hip roof type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls

A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus a hipped roof house has no gables or other vertical sides to the roof.

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.

Home of a politician

Construction

The Lawrence House was built circa 1860 in a modified version of the Italianate style. [3] While the exact date of construction is unknown, its terminus ante quem is 1861: in this year, a member of the Lawrence family incised initials and the date into a windowsill. [2] :2

Italianate architecture 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture

The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture.

<i>Terminus post quem</i>

Terminus post quem and terminus ante quem specify the known limits of dating for events. A terminus post quem is the earliest time the event may have happened, and a terminus ante quem is the latest. An event may well have both a terminus post quem and a terminus ante quem, in which case the limits of the possible range of dates are known at both ends, but many events have just one or the other. Similarly, terminus ad quem is the latest possible date of a non-punctual event, while terminus a quo is the earliest. The concepts are similar to those of upper and lower bounds in mathematics.

Cutting partial or complete separation of a body or system into two or more parts

Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force.

Life of Lawrence

Born in Mount Pleasant in eastern Ohio in 1819, Lawrence was trained as a lawyer and moved to Logan County in 1841, where he lived for most of the rest of his life. During his years in Bellefontaine, he served in various county offices, was elected to both houses of the Ohio General Assembly, served six terms in the United States House of Representatives, and was appointed to the office of First Comptroller of the Treasury. [4] Lawrence was known professionally as an expert on land law; he was the primary lawyer on behalf of Great Plains farmers who won nearly 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha) of land in a prominent lawsuit against railroad companies. As a leading member of Logan County society, he served on the board of trustees of Geneva College in Northwood from 1851 to 1854. [5] In his private life, he was deeply interested in agriculture; after his death, his estate included multiple farms. [2] :4

Mount Pleasant, Ohio Village in Ohio, United States

Mount Pleasant is a village in Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. The population was 478 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV–OH Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Ohio General Assembly state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio

The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.

United States House of Representatives lower house of the United States Congress

The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they compose the legislature of the United States.

Lawrence purchased from P.S. Powell a lot at the intersection of Main Street and High Avenue in Bellefontaine in 1852; here he built his house approximately eight years later. He owned the property until 1897, when he conveyed it to his family; however, he continued to live there until his death two years later. [2] :5

In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts and completion.

After Lawrence

Lawrence's widow Caroline sold the house to a Dr. W.W. Hamer in 1901; in it, Hamer operated Bellefontaine's first hospital. [6] Later owners included a family who lived in the house, [2] :5 the Howard Kerr American Legion Post, and B.O. Beatty, the owner of a car dealership. After owning the house for only a short while, Beatty sold it to the recently founded Calvary Baptist Church, which quickly began to remodel the property. [7] Two years of renovation included the addition of the rear wing, which was used as a sanctuary, and the removal of the kitchen and dining room that had been burned while the house was used by the American Legion; the rest of the house was used as offices and Sunday School classrooms. Members of the church first worshipped at the property on March 6, 1949. [8]

Hospital health care institution

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized medical and nursing staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergency department to treat urgent health problems ranging from fire and accident victims to a sudden illness. A district hospital typically is the major health care facility in its region, with a large number of beds for intensive care and additional beds for patients who need long-term care. Specialized hospitals include trauma centers, rehabilitation hospitals, children's hospitals, seniors' (geriatric) hospitals, and hospitals for dealing with specific medical needs such as psychiatric treatment and certain disease categories. Specialized hospitals can help reduce health care costs compared to general hospitals. Hospitals are classified as general, specialty, or government depending on the sources of income received.

American Legion U.S. war veterans organization

The American Legion is a U.S. war veterans' organization headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is made up of state, U.S. territory, and overseas departments, and these are in turn made up of local posts. The legislative body of The American Legion is a national convention, held annually. The organization was founded on March 15, 1919, at the American Club near Place de la Concorde in Paris, France, by members of the American Expeditionary Forces, and it was chartered on September 16, 1919, by the U.S. Congress.

Car dealership business which sells, buys, and trades new and/or used cars, trucks, SUVs, and vans

A car dealership or vehicle local distribution is a business that sells new or used cars at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. It employs automobile salespeople to sell their automotive vehicles. It may also provide maintenance services for cars, and employ automotive technicians to stock and sell spare automobile parts and process warranty claims.

After growing membership forced Calvary Baptist to build a new house of worship in 1972, the house remained vacant until it was bought by a partnership of lawyers. [9] The law office remains in the house today; the rear addition has been converted into offices that are used by other businesses. [2] :5 [10]

In 1979, the William Lawrence House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [1] While its high degree of preservation was seen as significant, the house was added to the Register primarily for its association with Lawrence. [2] :5

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References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 O'Connor, Mark S. National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: William Lawrence House. National Park Service, 1979-02-05.
  3. 1 2 O'Connor, Mark S. Ohio Historic Inventory Nomination: Law Offices of MacGillivray, O'Connor & Thorpe. Ohio Historical Society, 1979-01-29.
  4. ↑ LAWRENCE, William, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed 2010-02-27.
  5. ↑ Glasgow, William Melancthon. The Geneva Book. Philadelphia: Westbrook, 1908, 180.
  6. ↑ "Dr. W.W. Hamer has Bought the Lawrence Home". Weekly Examiner , 1901-09-13.
  7. ↑ "Former Home of Legion Post to Become Church: Calvary Baptist Congregation Buys North Main Street Property from B.O. Beatty". Daily Examiner , 1947-08-16, p. 1
  8. ↑ "Calvary Baptist Congregation Will Dedicate New Structure at Services March 6", Daily Examiner , 1949-02-18.
  9. ↑ "Lawrence Residence Listed on Historical Register", The Bellefontaine Daily Examiner , 1979-12-06.
  10. ↑ Sign visible in this picture.
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