Preserving the Legacy of a Historic House

With the Fourth of July holiday just around the corner, it is time for the Fechts to kick into high gear planning for the annual holiday parade brunch and viewing. One of our house’s greatest assets is its location on Northville’s July 4th parade route. OK, so we are at the tail end of the route (which means festivities at the Fechts aren’t over until the last police car rounds the corner on Fairbrook), but we are still ON the route.

I would like to say that planning for the event entails shopping for brunch ingredients and putting up patriotic decorations. If it were only that simple. Prepping for the Fourth involves tackling an endless list of house projects . . . painting the porch, washing the windows, liberating the dining room table . . . just for starters. This year I am determined to remove the 20-year old wallpaper from the kitchen and give the room a fresh coat of paint.

It does not seem possible that we have owned our house for 25 years. That the house has stood on South Wing Street for more than 130 years is even more extraordinary. Like many “old house” owners, we tend to see ourselves as caretakers, maintaining the house until the next owners come along.

Likewise, we also have a love-hate relationship with our “historic home.” Its uniqueness (there is not another one like it), historic character, quaint charm, craftsmanship and downtown location are the upside.

The lack of storage space (my kingdom for a closet that fits more than three hangers and a pair of shoes!), creepy, creepy Michigan basement, and windows that can only be opened by incurring severe bodily injury, are a few of the minor annoyances.

In other words, old house ownership is not for sissies. Living a 21st century existence in a 19th century home requires fortitude, patience and an appreciation for historical character that often trumps modern convenience.

One of the best features of our house is its history. During interior demolition (it is amazing what one whack of a wall with a crowbar can lead to), we uncovered items that offered clues to the home’s original owners ­­— calling cards, tintypes, a postmarked envelope from the Register of Deeds, sewing notions and a perfectly preserved copy of an 1878 Masonic newspaper wrapped around a 2x4 in an upstairs room. We also discovered hand-painted wallpaper covering the studs in the upstairs walls. We assume the upstairs walls were lathed and plastered after the family moved in, and the wallpaper was put up to make the upstairs rooms more attractive until the walls could be erected.

We also found an assortment of hand blown whiskey bottles tucked into nooks and crannies. Having spent months hip-deep in lath and plaster as we undertook the interior demolition, we more than understood the builder’s need for “spirited” refreshment.

Through the assortment of artifacts found in the walls as well as a little research we traced the home’s origins to Charles ‘Eugene’ Clarkson, the oldest of eight children of Northville pioneer David Clarkson and his wife, Sarah.  Much has been written about David Clarkson, who traveled with Capt. William Dunlap’s party to the Michigan territory from upstate New York in 1831. Only 14 years old when he left New York, David Clarkson would eventually become one of Northville’s most respected citizens. He was a member of the school board and the New School Presbyterian Church. He also wrote a series of pioneer sketches for The Northville Record from 1874-1878, shedding light on the earliest days of the community.

Eugene Clarkson’s history — he was known by Eugene — was a bit more elusive. Fortunately, that history was fleshed out by Clarkson’s descendents who generously shared his story and other information about the family. Among those who filled in the gaps was Troy Schmidt of California.

What we know of Eugene Clarkson is that he was born on December 21, 1844 at the family home on Wing Street. He enlisted on November 29, 1861 at the age of 16 in Co. G of the 14th Michigan Infantry Volunteers. His unit was mustered February 13, 1862 at Ypsilanti and soon joined Grant’s army at Pittsburgh Landing, Tennessee. The 14th participated in the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi, and later formed a part of General Buell’s army.

Eugene contracted malaria while camped at Camp Big Springs in Mississippi in July 1862. He was twice hospitalized for malaria and liver disease that year. He was honorably discharged as a Sergeant in January 1865.

He eventually returned to Northville after the war and opened a wallpaper and painting business downtown. This might explain the wallpaper on the unfinished upstairs of his house on Wing Street.

On June 12, 1872, Eugene married Eveline (Eva) Manning Nash at the home of the bride’s father. The Rev. James Dubuar officiated at the double wedding of Eugene and Eva and the bride’s sister, Miss Frank Nash to Edward S. Hastings. According to an article in the June 22, 1872 Northville Record, “A short time after the ceremony, which took place in the early part of the evening, the happy couples enjoyed some very fine music from the Northville Cornet Band.”

It appears that Eugene purchased two lots on Wing Street from his father, David Clarkson, in 1878. The house construction likely began shortly after he obtained the land. Eugene and Eva went on to have five children — four girls and a boy.

Eugene was in ill health most of his adult life due to the malaria he contracted during the war. He was treated for chronic hepatitis and frequently was confined to bed due to chills and fever. He died at his Wing Street home on December 13, 1919 at the age of 74. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery on Cady Street. His wife, Eva, died in 1946 at the age of 91.

Much of the Clarkson family left Northville during the last century. We know of no descendants that remain in the community. The house changed hands multiple times. Among its occupants was longtime Northville resident Ruth Angell, who lived in our house as a young girl with her widowed mother and siblings.

As we complete a quarter of a century as caretakers of Eugene Clarkson’s house, we are mindful of its extraordinary history and the many families that came before us to make it a home. It is not lost on us that Eugene Clarkson is buried in the cemetery only a stone’s throw from the house he built on land owned by his father, one of Northville’s earliest pioneers.

We intended for the South Wing Street house to be a starter home. After a complete interior renovation, two additions and two children, it now looks like it will be our “ender” home.

It is a legacy we will happily continue — as long as we can sit on the porch and watch the parade pass by.