A LOT of House History

I have a new hero and her name is Megan Duvall and she is the Historic Preservation Officer for the City/County of Spokane. She was referred to me by my long-time hero, Kirstin Davis, who sits two desks away at City Hall.

There have been more serendipitous moments like this than I can count since I bought this house, but this one is certainly one of the most fruitful so far. Megan dumped (and I use that term in the most positive, grateful and impressed tone I know) a TON of historic documents relating to my house and the people who have lived there.

Guess what, guys?!?!? I AM THE FOURTH OWNER. Seriously. Do the math. She’s 120 years old. And has only had three owners before me. It’s astounding. And it makes my charge to bring this old house back to life even more important now.

Cliff’s Notes Version: Built by Schermerhorn. Lived in by Ford. Then Riordan. Now Caro.

Here’s the important stuff, for all you history buffs. And again, a HUGE thanks to Megan Duvall for this amazing content.

1899 – H. Louis and Helen Schermerhorn (original warranty deed – all hand-written!)
But…it is a pdf and I will have to figure out how to load it here.

1910 Federal Census – Louis Schermerhorn and his wife Helen B. were living at 1306 N. Summit Blvd. Louis was 40 and Helen, 39 – they had been married for 17 years by 1910. He was born in Illinois; his dad was from Michigan and his mother from Vermont. Helen was born Wisconsin; and both her father and mother were from Germany. Louis lists his profession as a manufacturers agent for a wholesale grocery. Helen doesn’t work. No children.

So, this is weird – in the 1920 census, Louis is married to “Mary” – what happened to Helen? I assumed that perhaps she had passed away, divorce seemed unlikely…but then I caught a glimpse of her name in Ancestry in the 1930 and 1940 censuses. She was an “inmate” at Eastern State Hospital – in 1930, she describes herself as divorced, but in 1940, says she is married. Her name never changes from Schermerhorn. She died at Alderwood Manor in Spokane on June 20, 1960 – 82 years old and most possibly institutionalized and alone for the majority of her life.

A little more about H L Schermerhorn, he was a Shriner. Here is a newspaper article from December of 1895:

And…we got lucky!! Here is the newspaper article from March 24, 1899 all about building YOUR house – complete with a bit of a description of the interior, as well as naming the architects (White, Huber and Strack)! I can see where they may have called Webb “Sharp” in 1899, so this is definitely about the house at 1306:

Well, looks like H. L. had a problem or two with the Humane Society! Spokesman Review, January 31, 1907 & January 30, 1907:

Here he is from the July 11, 1908 Spokane Chronicle:

Looks like they let his drivers off the next day.

May 28, 1912 – I’m assuming we are still talking about Helen here:

September 22, 1916, Mr and Mrs Shermerhorn were closing up their “summer home” and coming back to the city”

Interesting – looks like the Schermerhorns “fostered” a boy from Deer Park for his schooling in Spokane (1919 article – and see attached article from April 1919 with photos of Cummings and Schermerhorn):

August 17, 1926 – here’s the announcement of the marriage of Mrs. Charles Jasper and Louis:

So, Emily was only 19 when she married Charles Jasper….who was 40! They divorced in 1923 – here is the announcement from April 23, 1923:

And the juicy details! (April 20, 1923):

In the 1930 Census, Louis (57) and Emily (43) Schermerhorn are living at 521 E 25^th with Emily’s son, Karl Jasper (13). Emily was from Pennsylvania. The Schermerhorns and Jaspers must have been good friends.

From an ad in July of 1935 (it does show that “Louie” was pretty well known around town!):

Here was a story and photo from the paper when he retired, October 5, 1946:

July 29, 1949:

Emily died January of 1986:

Interesting – I found an article from 1914 that mentions that Mr. Jasper was spending time with Mr. Schermerhorn at the lake – so they must have been long time friends before they married later in life:

NEXT OWNER:

1922 – 1952 – James A Ford (it gets a little confusing on the deeds – JA Ford took out a permit in 1922, so he was obviously living there, but the deed is dated 1925. I’ve seen this several times, but it does confuse the issue!) – James dies in October of 1952 and his widow, Mary was still listed as living in the house at 1306.

Here is James Ford in 1927:

Here he is again in 1938 speaking to a Chamber of Commerce group:

October 1, 1952:

His obituary:

Here’s James and Mary’s 1902 marriage certificate:

Interestingly enough, in the 1940 census, James and Mary lived at 1306…with their daughter and her husband (his profession was salesman at a department store):

NEXT OWNER:

1958, 1980 – G Riordan – while I see a permit pulled in 1958, I don’t see a Riordan listed at this address in 1959. I actually found him in the 1960 City Directory at 1306 N Summit – but it’s Jerome Riodan – who shows up later too. In 1960, he was a “pressman” at the Spokesman.

Looks like Jerome was born in January of 1919. He married Beverly Gabel on February 8^th of 1950:

He registered for the draft in 1942 – looks like he did serve in WWII:

Both Riordans just died recently.

Information from Building Permits

Information we can discern from the building permits:

In 1899, a building permit was received for a connection to the City’s water main:

In 1939, there was some kind of rather extensive alteration of the property. $1000 at the time would have meant a large project.

This is all a lot to process, I know. I am going to leave this here, for now, without further comment. I know there is still research to be done, and because Spokane is such a wonderful big-small-town, I know I will continue to learn more about the fascinating people who lived at 1306 and made her the grand lady she remains to this day.

For now, I am left with but one question: Shall I return the master bedroom to it’s former glory of “turkey red wall finishes with black lace drapings”???