YE OLE HISTORIC HOUSE

(photo credit: JGK Photography)

We've made some inside progress here at the Swirly Gazette, otherwise known as the McCracken-Mize House. However, we've definitely learned that historic home living is not for the feeble-hearted, no siree. Just ask my aching L1 and L2 vertebrae. We still love it though, this is our home for life. So we have some fun history info we're excited to share with you.

The first thing you notice when you walk up to our door is a shiny little historic plaque. Naturally we were curious about what was written in the National Registry about the house. Turns out that our neighborhood is on the registry, but not our house. That's okay by us. This saves us a whole lot of restricted design headaches. We do want to return our home to its former glory; perhaps even more so than has been ever done in the past; but this leaves us room to add a touch of our whimsical design leanings.

So I took a trip down to the Register of Deeds office and found a great employee who taught us how to navigate the records. It was so cool to find the old deeds to our house and such. Then I uncovered a surprise! There was a mistake in the records stated on the original file - it listed the wrong name for the original owner/builder of the house. Most of the promo about it, which includes blog posts, articles, even on its original website, gives credit to the owner who was listed in the National Registry. That name was George McCracken, who was listed as a dentist who built the home. Now although George was a local prominent businessman and plumber who owned several properties in the area, it was actually his brother, James, who was the dentist and the original owner and builder of our house. After a few additional trips to the local library, we also uncovered a few more interesting facts as well that tell a tale of both love and tragedy...with a touch of feminism. Part one of that story starts here:

• Feminist fact #1: It was two women, the Geer sisters, that sold the land in 1899 to James McCracken so he could build his home. The Geer Sisters. I love that name, it sounds like a bebop group, or two chicks you just didn't want to mess with back in the day. Here's the deed of that sale:
  
  
  

• Feminist fact #2: The house itself must have been custom-built for James' mother-in-law, Sarah Jane, and she was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star (the freemasons y'all!). The colors in our Italian Rose stained glass windows reflect the different colors of that organization. He never intended to live here permanently. James McCracken and his wife's family only lived here together temporarily while he waited for their own home to be built right next door. We found a census in 1900 that lists James McCracken as head of the household and lists all eleven people that were living in our home at the time. (Thank you Ancestry.com)

• Feminist fact #3: In 1901, James officially sold the house to his mother-in-law Sarah Jane Hall. Deeded it to her directly so she owned it outright. This part is important: he did not deed it to his father-in-law, who was only in his 50s at the time of the deed and according the the 1900 census was alive and kicking in the house. He deeded it to his wife, his MOTHER-IN-LAW. That was quite unusual given the times for a woman to be deeded a property when her husband was still present. Mystery alert. Here is a copy of that deed: 
  

My husband and I have our own soap opera ideas that we've come up with over glasses of wine, but that's for another post. It's one of the many curious facts about our beloved home. Yet with all of that, Mrs. Sarah Jane Hall is not on the historic plaque, even though she owned the house for 11 years and played such an integral role in what it is admired for today. I think she should get credit, because she had a special connection that we still enjoy today. I often think of how it must have felt for her to live there considering what would happen soon after she was deeded the land...but that story is for the next post. Right now we need to work on the rotted fascia so we can replace these gutters. ;)

Next Post: "Life happens when you are busy making other plans." - John Lennon