14 Elm Street

2006

In 1850, George Davis married the daughter of Chauncey Metcalf who owned the house and lot at 61 Second Street. A few years later, when the village opened Elm Street, he deeded them the back part of his lot which faced the new street. They built a house here where they lived for several years. George Davis taught languages at the high school and devoted his leisure time to the study of law. He was admitted to the Bar and was elected District Attorney in 1862 and 1865 but resigned early in his second term to accept a position in St. Louis. In 1866, their house was sold to Orlando and Jane Howard. Orlando Howard had a grocery business on Main Street. In 1869, it was purchased from the Howards by Patience Goheen and in 1876 she sold it to James Magee.

He moved to Massachusetts and in 1882 the house became the property of Revilio and Nancy Bigelow. Mrs. Bigelow’s first husband, who died in 1856, was James Haynes by whom she had two children. One was James C. G. Haynes who married Harriet Rorbach (grandparents of Mrs. Thomas Adams). In 1860, Nancy married Revilo Bigelow and they were the parents of three daughters. After Mr. Bigelow’s death, about 1896, Mrs. Bigelow transferred title of the house to her daughters, Vara, Alfreda and Finette and lived here with them until her death in 1902. In 1909, the daughters sold the house to Floyd Griffin. That same year, he built a barn on the property. Around 1920, the house became the property of the Fletcher family and remained in their hands until 1968 when it was purchased by John and Gertrude Black. The front porch is an addition to the original but any other changes or alterations are unrecorded.