When we bought and renovated our c.1890's house, we were excited to discover the hidden history of our house and the families who lived in it before us. Things like the blue glass door knob on the front door that a couple who lived here in the 1950's brought back from their honeymoon in Italy as a present to the house. Things like the marble tile fireplace mantle that was walled over and covered with carpeting in a second floor bedroom. Things like the markings on the wall at the top of the basement stairs that records the growth of three children who lived here with their parents in the 1980's. There was also a tombstone in the basement.
The gentleman from whom we bought the house was nice enough to pass along the genealogical research had done on the family who originally built the house. The Taylor Family owned all the land for several blocks and built their home (The Taylor Mansion) on Broad Street. They had six children and our house was built behind the Taylor Mansion as a wedding present for Mary Cornelia Taylor. There is another house about a block north that looks very similar to our house and was built for one of the sons. But getting back to the tombstone. Edward Chinn Livingston was the maternal grandfather of Mary Cornelia Taylor. He was born in 1783 and was a Colonel during the War of 1812. As you can see, he lived to be 60 years old and died on November 13th.So how did his tombstone end up in our basement? The theory is that when the Taylors owned all the land in the area, there was probably a family cemetery somewhere close by. But when they started selling off their land, rather than move the cemetery, they just plucked up the tombstones (which I guess was not an unusual thing to do at the time) and maybe Mary Cornelia held onto this one for sentimental reasons.
When we bought the house, we had our closing on November 13th- the anniversary of Edward's death. Whenever we leave the house to go on a trip we always say as we're going out the door, "Keep an eye on the house while we're gone, Grandpa Livingston".
1 comment:
That is the coolest history. I just love visiting your home. Have you written all that cool stuff down. You should put together a fun little book that people can look at when they visit.
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