Skip to content

The Chesaning Argonaut

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • Downloads
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • Downloads
Facebook Camera-retro

Homes of Chesaning II: The Griswold House

Previously, we discovered that there are several homes on the east side of Chesaning which appear to be survivors from a much earlier time period, their presence having been recorded on a map of the village which dates from 1877.

There is one more home that may also belong on this list, but will require a more thorough examination. There are a couple of reasons for this.

The first is that this address has a connection to one of the most important figures in the town’s history.

The second is that while this home might be one of the oldest surviving structures in Chesaning, it might also not even be old enough to predate the twentieth century.

108 Commercial Street

108.commercial.

John Barker Griswold was born in New Hampshire on February 3, 1809 to parents Asahel Griswold (1768-1846) and Prudence Bliss (1773-1850).

He is said to have left home at the age of ten, and went on to become a sawyer in the lumber industry. He eventually migrated to Rochester, New York, where he was married to Eliza Ann Jackson (1813-1894) on February 22, 1832.

Late in the winter of 1836, the territorial government of Michigan granted local land-owners permission to dam the river at the recently established settlement of Owosso.

An agreement was reached between these landowners and the Rochester based firm of Daniel Ball & Co. to construct both the dam and a new sawmill.  Daniel Ball (1808-1872) arrived in Owosso later that same year accompanied by a group of workmen, one of whom was John Griswold.

Griswold remained in Owosso after the job was completed, and worked on several other local construction projects.  He helped to build the first sawmills in both Chesaning and St. Charles.

He was hired on as a foreman by the Owosso and Saginaw Navigation Company, which was established in March, 1837 to improve river traffic between the two points.  He traveled the Shiawassee River clearing obstacles, building tow-paths, and making other improvements.

This led to him starting his own operation using flat boats to carry cargo and passengers up and down the river between Owosso and Saginaw.

The Wreck at Parshallburg
The 1837 wreck at Parshallburg.

Once the community of Northhampton (i.e. Chesaning) was established in 1842, Gris-wold played an important role in its initial development.

He delivered much needed supplies, and became the primary means by which mail from the outside reached the settlement. His name also appears frequently in the recollections of the earliest pioneers, as the person who transported them to their new home in the wilderness.

Thanks to his efforts, Chesaning began to grow into a proper village, and in 1848 he decided to move his family from Owosso and settle here permanently.

Griswold continued to operate his boat service for a few more years, but as river traffic became less important as the roads began to improve, so he started running stagecoaches, instead. He seems to have eventually left the transport business entirely (possibly due to competition from the newly arrived railroad) and opened a general store.

In 1872, he left the general goods business and became the partner of Joseph Austin (1829-1886), the proprietor of the town’s oldest hardware store. They ran the store together for many years, until Joseph left for Colorado sometime around 1879, and Griswold became the sole owner.

He was forced to close the store in 1884 due to failing health, and he passed away a few years later, on September 24, 1886.

Few persons have had as much of an impact on local history as John Griswold, and his presence in the area even predates the founding of Chesaning by several years.

Which brings us to the house at 108 Commercial Street, which stands at the same location where John Griswold built his new home after bringing his family to Chesaning, all the way back in 1848.

Local historian Mark Ireland seems to have been of the opinion that the current residence is the same one that once served as the Griswold family home.

It was of the same basic cottage structure; has been added to, and remodeled by different owners but still stands, an attractive small home on the East side of the river.

Place of the Big Rock, Mark Ireland, pg. 61.

This would make it one of the oldest surviving structure in Chesaning, built just six years after the town was established.  Or at least, it would be… if it really is the home of John Griswold.

The current home has a listed construction date of 1880, although as previously mention-ed this is probably because 1880 was the first year that this information started being reliably recorded, and the actual date can be much earlier.

If we compare the home’s outline on two different maps, one from 1877 and the other from 1893, it certainly appears they belong to same structure.

1877
1893

However, if we compare the map from 1893 to a later one from 1900, it seems to show a structure with slightly altered dimensions.

1893
1900

It appears as if the easternmost section was removed, while the main building was cut in half in half and the entire rear portion of the home demolished, changing the front of the home from a rectangle into a square.

There are enough structural differences to at least raise the possibility that this might be an entirely new structure, but Mark Ireland was probably correct and the differences are merely due to the home having been remodeled, even though it was done in a very unusual manner.

The location of the front portion of the home relative to the street and other nearby structures is consistent across the different maps, as are the dimensions of the front wall and corners.

The home has undergone further alteration over the years, although the front “square” of the home appears to have been retained.

I suspect that much of John Griswold’s original home was destroyed when it underwent renovation sometime during the 1890s, although part of the original 1848 structure still survives.

Facebook
Twitter
PrevPreviousHomes of Chesaning I: East Village Survivors
NextHomes of Chesaning III: The Frederick Miller HouseNext

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Archives
Categories
Recent Posts
  • Chesaning in the News (1874-1877)
  • Chesaning in the News (1871-1873)
  • Chesaning in the News (1859-1870)
  • Marvil Secord (1801-1886)
  • Chesaning Township (1877)
Recent Comments
  • Randy Neumeyer on Chesaning Township (1877)
  • Carol Otte on Chesaning Township (1877)
  • Jason Argo on The Chesaning Argus, November 14, 1877
  • Logan fulk on The Chesaning Argus, November 14, 1877
  • Karin Smith on Chesaning Township (1877)

The Chesaning Argonaut

Facebook Camera-retro