Medina Village

Is this the location of the old cheese factory on the left?  or is it on Mill St. looking north to the main four corners?

Spring 2020 Medina Federated Church, main section built 1846 as a Baptist Church during the days of Reverend Lauren Hotchkiss.

2020 Medina Federated Church now with large gymnasium and attached hall for events.  It has a very large and active congregation

Old Bothwell Hwy. looking north toward Lake Hudson (In the past it was the road to Big Bear and Little Bear Lakes, Haley Rd. and Tomer Rd.) Once the "Old Town Road" between Hudson and Medina Twps. was about 1/4 mile beyond the hill.  The landscape was rolling all the way to Tomer.

Colvin House with Mrs. Chas. Colvin, the former Nellie Ely (daughter of Dr. Ely who lived corner of Warner and Main).  Colvin house was destroyed in the 1929 cyclone and replaced by Mero house.  Mrs. Colvin was a WW1 Gold Star Mother because her son Delancey Colvin died in France.  I believe she traveled there once to visit his grave.  He is one of the namesakes of the Hudson American Legion Hannan-Colvin Post, along with Dennis Hannan.  This house was built in the 1850's by Dr. Carlos Hampton.

This house was the childhood home of Medina historian Annis Darr--the family lived in the small portion until her father Ruben Cooley bought the old Gardner house that sat adjacent to the east side of the Baptist Church--for fifty dollars.  He had it moved here and converted the two homes into a larger house for his family.

Old schoolyard site.

One of the oldest houses in the village, believed to be the home of a young Mr. Ludden, the first Miller for Medina Milling Company in the village.  I'm pretty sure he was married to a daughter of Baxter Lyon, and the old census records show Mrs. Ludden and some young children on their own later on.  Given the danger involved in the occupation, he may have met an early demise and his burial place is not certainly known.  This house must be built of very strong timber such as walnut, to survive so long as over 180 years.  Many prominent persons of the past have lived at this residence.  Dr. Hamilton used to live directly across the street, in the foreground of this photo.  A reader reports that most of these old buildings were framed from white oak and that accounts for their longevity.

Joyce and I called this Strobeck house as Mr. Strobeck the woodworker used to live here for a time.  It was probably built by Lauren Hotchkiss as he owned it once in the 1840's, and perhaps it was built in stages.  It was only torn down this past year of 2020 after a fire.  I retrieved a pretty smooth stone from the rubble that was probably a part of a cobblestone foundation.  Many others lived here, including Hudson Post Gazette publisher Ed Potter.

This looks like the grave of Mr. Mumford, Civil War veteran.  (see Photographs page, City Fathers picture)  He lived a little east of the Baptist Church on same side of street, before the blacksmith shop.

Beautiful Medina Cemetery

At the head of Mill Street looking south.  Harrington/Gambell house is on left while home of Charlie Brown, proprietor of White Store (before Aldrich McLouth) on right.  The Old White Store has been replaced by a white house, though part of the foundation can still be seen in the front yard.  Joyce said the White Store was still in existence in 1939, so my Grandpa and Dad would have seen it.

Charles "Charlie" Brown, proprietor of the Old White Store after Allen Daniels, from the mid-1850's to around 1881.  He lived behind it on Mill Street and his house is still there.  Mr. Brown married a widow, the mother of Ed Farnsworth, whose family owned a farm to the west of the village.  Ed later lived in a house across Eagle St. that no longer exists, the one with the decorative spindle work described by Joyce Longo to me.  I believe Ed was a US Sharpshooter in the Civil War, and after that did jewelry and watch repairs at the store.  Mr. Brown held many positions of prominence in the county--from Portrait and Biographical Records of Lenawee County, Volume 2--Medina Twp. Postmaster 24 1/2 years, Medina Twp. Clerk 14 years, County Superintendent of the Poor 3 years, Notary Public 32 years, and he was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1874, serving for 2 years  Charlie was followed at the White Store in 1881 by Aldrich McLouth, who remained at that location until his son-in-law Abner Griffith took over in 1906.  But McLouth's lived on Main Street at the NE corner of Bothwell and Main.  Charles Brown remained in the village after retirement.  Charlie's first wife was buried back in Cayuga County NY, and his second wife was Elizabeth, widow of C. G. Farnsworth and mother of Elizabeth and Edward.

Civil War veteran Thomas Hemenway and wife Almira with their one and only daughter.  They lived in various locations, but this one is believed to be the home built by Dr. Increase Hamilton when he first moved to the village.  The house that was 'stolen' from Canandaigua was reportedly so wrecked from the trip that the doctor built a new one at NW corner of Main. and Finch St.  When he left Medina, Dr. Brown lived at this house until he built the Red Brick House in 1853.  Today these lots are the site of a newer home.  The Shadbolt family is related to Mrs. Hemenway, and Joyce once showed me a scrapbook kept by her that included GAR ribbons belonging to Thomas.  They lived for a time in Canandaigua, and his obit says he is buried there, while there is a stone for her in Medina.  I find it hard to believe that his obit is correct.  UPDATE-- I see in the Gravestone Records of Lenawee for Canandaigua Cemetery that Almira's parents, the Newarks, are there--so I am changing my mind and now think Thos.' obit is correct.  Almira died last by 30 years, in 1949, and apparently wanted to be in Medina, pretty much her lifelong home. Joyce told me she got this photo scan from the archives of Medina Federated Church.

This is the old Mann/Stone farm south of Medina village and it is still owned by descendants of the Stones--by the Potters.  The Alvah Stones who lived here were related to the Charles Stones at Tiffin Mills area; I believe they were not directly descended, rather they were some sort of cousins.  

This is Bean Creek off the village bridge south of the old main four corners.  I took this in the winter around a year ago. It is interesting that all the clearing of the pioneers has given way to nature again and the forest is returning to old Bean Creek.  What would they say if they could see this now?  This is looking to the east where the Mills once were located. 

Medina and Vicinity Photos

 

"Strobeck House" SE corner of Bothwell and Eagle St.,

now demolished after a fire.

Old Charles Stone house on Medina Rd. at Tiffin Mills (Pegtown).  In the late 20th century this was the farm home of the large Graves family.

Joyce and I always called this "Sutton House," as one of the Suttons from south of the village moved into town and lived here once; but it was also the home to many others through the years.  Perhaps the longest residents were the family of Elisha Coats, pioneer whose business was tailoring for the community; he and his wife appear to also have boarded Oak Grove Academy students (for example see 1870 census).  Directly to the west of this house was Ernie Palmer's blacksmith shop (operated by the Rice family in earlier years).

The old Oak Grove Academy building, later Medina Grange Hall, and now a residence--built in 1853.  If there are any original trees still here, then they are now around 167 years old.

"Strobeck House" again.

To the west of the Church where several houses used to stand.  The earliest house probably built by Ebenezer Daniels of the famous Allen Daniels mercantile, in around 1840.  It was a carpenter gothic style, probably with ornate trim that did not survive into the 1960's when it was demolished.  There is a photo of it at the top of  Page 2 of Joyce's large "Foldable Map" scan, shown under the page/tab "MAPS"  Joyce's grandmother McVay used to live there, and earlier a Robinson family, so that she called it Robinson-McVay House.

Cropped scan of the rare post card photo of the Medina Village mills.  Joyce considered this her luckiest find on Ebay, not something she ever expected to see.  I handled it once and the back was printed with the name of the photographer, Perley Lord.  The young Mr. Lord was of the family from south Dover Twp., working at photography in Hudson in the early 1900's.  The image was sepia toned and fading fast.  After Joyce's death I was unable to locate the rare postcard, so we are lucky to have this scan she gave me.  If you look at the 1893 Lenawee Atlas you can see the service road to the left; if you look at the 1864 map you will see the Grist, Saw and Carding mills in a row south of the main four on Mill St.

According to Imogene Bennett, all three mills were still going strong in the 1880's.

Charles, Nellie and one of their children on the drive behind their barn, probably 1880's.  Joyce traveled to Bay City to meet descendants of the Colvin family to obtain scans of these great photos.

Charles Brown house, later home of his step-son Ed Farnsworth.  At an earlier time this was the home of Alexander Blake, often listed as "furnace man" on the tax rolls.  Mr. Blake has a memorial stone in the cemetery and may have built the house.  His business place was an earlier, smaller building at the Red Brick Store site.

This house was built by George Washington Moore's son, George, for his wife Effie Lawrence and their family.  It sits across the road from where he grew up on Medina Rd. near Tiffin Mills.

This house is located behind the Red Brick Store lot, and was home to the Gambell family; and at an earlier time (and perhaps built by) Clark Harrington, Sr., husband of Samantha and father of Eudora Harrington McLouth and Almond Harrington, and perhaps a Martha at a very early date; there were probably other children of this family. This is a very old home still in use and in very good condition.

This looks to be a very old house in excellent condition and it's located on Main St. in Canandaigua.  I am sorry that I have not studied the village in as much detail as Medina, but it looks to be a similar layout to the Harrington House shown directly above.

This is a clipping from a scrapbook at Lenawee Historical Society Museum in Adrian.  The article said this is the Tew family in their new automobile and they were photographed sitting in front of the Colvin place where they came to show the car to Mr. Isaac Colvin.  In the background is the large horse barn along Eagle St., at that time belonging to the Fikes.  It was located at the junction of Finch St.

Strobeck House yet again--I always felt this house was doomed and sadly I was right.  I guess that's why I liked to take pictures of it so much.

This house still exists and now appears inhabited; it is on Lawrence Rd. near Haley, and during my childhood was the home of Lawrence Lamb.  I was shocked to learn that Mr. Lamb was actually a son of Sylvetus Lamb, son of original pioneer of Rollin named Roswell Lamb.  Sylvetus was the youngest son of Roswell, being born to the second and younger wife; likewise, Lawrence was the absolute youngest child of Sylvetus, possibly 20 years younger than his oldest sibling.  It just seemed incredible to me that a grandson of an original pioneer would be alive in my lifetime, but it is true!  At an early time (see the 1857 map under the MAPS tab/page that shows the outline of a larger house) this place was owned and possibly built by Medina village miller Lawrence McCarty.  Mr. McCarty also owned a place in the village on the 1857 map, showing his name on the original Dr. Hamilton house that was moved from Canandaigua--oldest house in the village.  I believe Mr. McCarty passed away in 1861, and of course I wonder if it wasn't a work-related accident.  HIs parents are also buried in Medina cemetery and lived to the north in the Hughes/Tomer vicinity.  According to the 1857 village map, Lawrence McCarty was not just a miller, but an owner of the Medina Village Grist Mill, along with an Allen, probably Ebenezer.  This country house was built in the Italianate style that was popular from the 1840's on past the Civil War era.  

This is the Darr family who lived on the "Old Town Road," W 1/2 of SW Qtr. of Sec. 36, Hudson Twp.  Samuel Burnett and wife had one child, daughter Sarah (1855-1929), who married Nelson Darr.  The Burnett's owned a fancier house (I forgot to scan that photo yet) on their farm, and apparently built this simpler place (or perhaps this was their first residence, is more likely) on the same farm where Sarah and Nelson Darr and family lived.  Their children are in the photo along with a daughter who married into the Moyer family.  The ages of the small children and the style of this photo enabled us to date this photo at 1898.  We believe this photo was taken the same day as the school children's group photo and the old city father's photo, along with the photo of Grandpa Brazee working his saw horse in his yard--that was Oct. 20, 1898.  It would be really great if any other photos taken that day would surface!