Grady-Odenkirk House

Grady-Odenkirk House
Alternative names	Grady House, Odenkirk House
General information
Address	172 E. Bowman St.
Town or city	Wooster, Ohio
Country	USA
Completed	1881

Also Known As Building Name

• Grady House
• Odenkirk House

Comprehensive History

Israel and Sophronia (Milbourn) Grady moved to Wooster and secured forty and a half acres of "wild and barren land" upon which they built this large house in 1881. According to a 1946 Daily Record article by Elisabeth Quinby, the Grady house "had around seven or eight huge rooms on each floor. And the cellar was a fabulous labyrinth of storage rooms". The property also included a large fish pond complete with a summerhouse on the island in the middle of the pond.

Daughter Huldah Grady, who married Isaac H. Odenkirk, inherited the property and sold it to the Wooster Board of Trade in 1910. The Board of Trade "divided the property into lots, selling it through teams made up of members of the Board of Trade. The house was left on the property, and was the grand prize when the drawing for lots was made in the City Opera House". The house was won by Wesley H. Zaugg, Pearl Zaugg (Miller), and Flora, Minnie, and Cary Grossenbaugh "on an original investment of $257 for a lot."

After that, the house changed hands several times. In 1919, Wesley Zaugg sold the house to George W. Spangler. In 1926, Spangler sold the house to Brada Carmony. In 1927, Carmony sold it to Ira S. and Cora Crile. After Crile's death there were "a number of suits to quiet title, and eventually Emma Carmony, executrix of the estate of Brada Carmony, became the owner". In 1930, Emma Carmony sold the house to Glenn W. Way, who turned the big house into four apartments. In 1946, Walter Saunders acquired the property with intent to modernize the apartments.