Given House
| Given House | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Address | 517 N. Market Street |
| Town or city | Wooster |
| Country | USA |
| Construction started | 1830 |
| Owner | Wayne County Community Foundation |
Comprehensive History
In 1813, Joseph Larwill received a patent deed from President Madison, a document granted him a parcel of land in Wooster that included the quarter section encompassing this property. The deed for this parcel went into the hands of Isaac Shinneman. The house was built in 1830, and in 1854 the house was purchased by William Given, a Holmes County prosecuting attorney and Wooster Common Pleas judge. Given formed a volunteer regiment during the Civil War and distinguished himself at the Battle of Decatur, earning a promotion to brigadier general. He died in 1866, and a year later his widow sold the structure to Martha Frost.
The Frosts did extensive remodeling, even to the extent of making the staircase eastbound instead of westbound, and they built an addition to the house as well.[1] They later sold the house to the McSweeney family, and it was Rex McSweeney who eventually sold the house to the Rufener Agency. Somewhere in this time period the house had been converted to apartments, but when the Kauffman, Eberhart, Cicconetti & Kennedy Law Firm bought the property, they renovated it for office space and returned it as close as possible to the original design. Some of the details from the renovation were highlighted in the 1978 AAUW House Tour.[2]
Timeline
- 1830: House built
- 1854: House bought by Gen. William Given
- 1867: House bought by Martha Frost
- 1976?-1986: Location of Kauffman, Eberhart, Cicconetti & Kennedy Law Firm (Kennedy Cicconetti Knowlton)
- ???-present: Location of Wayne County Community Foundation
Owners
Historical documents
Newspaper articles
"Attorney-Quartet Brings History to Life," Daily Record, Dec. 7, 1976, p.15.
Notes
Photographs
Wayne County Community Foundation (Given House)