Wednesday, May 13, 2015

The Ranslow Smith House in Henderson, N.Y. -- Post 359 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

I'm posting old family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they won't be wordless posts like others do - I simply am incapable of having a wordless post.

Here are some of the most precious (to me) images from my Seaver/Carringer family collection:






This is the house that Ranslow Smith built in 1839 in Henderson, Jefferson County, New York as it stood in May 2004 when I visited the location and did research in the Watertown and South Adams libraries in Jefferson County.  

A newspaper article in the Watertown (NY) Daily Times, titled "Old Houses in the North Country," number 516, describes the Ranslow Smith house in Henderson town:  "The house, built of native limestone, is claimed to have been built in 1839 upon a tract of 177.18 acres and there is a deed of 126.56 acres in the same are from Isaac and Anne Bronson of New York City to Ranslow Smith.  The name 'R. Smith' is carved into the lintel over the door.  The house has five large rooms on the main floor and three bedrooms on the second floor.  There was a kitchen fireplace and Dutch baking oven in the basement."

Ranslow Smith (1805-1873) is the adoptive father of my second great-grandfather, Devier J. Lamphear Smith (1839-1894).  

I wish that I had been brave enough to go knock on the door and ask if this was the Ranslow Smith house and ask to see the lintel with the engraving on it.  I didn't - I was in a hurry, but I did take the few minutes to stop, get out and take these photographs.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/05/the-ranslow-smith-house-in-henderson-ny.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver


Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

1 comment:

Connections Abound said...

How incredible to see a familiar place. I lived in Watertown for 35 years and taught at Sackets for 30. Definitely a landmark.