| Additional Information: | PROMINENTLY SITED ON THE RIDGE OVERLOOKING POTOSI, THE MASSEY HOUSE IS A LARGE, TWO STORY, BRICK STRUCTURE DISTINGUISHED BY PROMINENT STONE LITNELS, A MASSIVE GABLE ROOF, AND A MAIN ENTRANCE FRAMED BY SIDELIGHTS. THE RESIDENCE IS SIDE GABLED IN STYLE AND RECTANGULAR IN ITS PLAN CONFIGURATION. TUSCAN COLUMNS SUPPORT A FRONT PORCH AND A BALCONY. ALTHOUGH SUBSEQUENT ADDITIONS HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE ORIGINAL DESIGN OF THE DWELLING, THE CONDITION OF THE HOUSE IS EXCELLENT. ALSO LOCATED ON THE SITE IS A BARN, FOR WHICH NO INTENSIVE SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED.
HENRY MASSEY, THE INDIVIDUAL ASSOCIATED WITH THE BUILDING, OWNED IT FROM C. 1865 TO 1872. (SEE BIB. REF. B, C).
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
BORN IN NEW YORK IN 1809, HENRY . MASSEY ARRIVED IN POTOSI IN 1839. A YEAR LATER IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BENJAMIN WOODS, HE ESTABLISHED A MERCANTILE BUSINESS WHICH SOON AFTER BECAME PART OF S. L. LANGWORTHY AND CO., A SUCCESSFUL WHOLESALE AND RETAIL STORE. IN ADDITION TO THIS VENTURE, MASSEY WAS ALSO INVOLVED IN THE LAND BUSINESS (SOMETIMES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NELSON DEWEY), OWNING CONSIDERABLE PROPERTY IN BOTH THE POTOSI AND DUBUQUE AREAS. (SEE BIB. REF. B,C,E). IN 1861, THE NEW YORKER WAS ELECTED TO THE STATE ASSEMBLY - "A SURPRISE TO THE POEPLE OF POTOSI," ACCORDING TO ONE NEWS ARTICLE WHICH DESCRIBED MASSEY AS AN UNPOPULAR FIGURE. (SEE BIB. REF. B).
IN BUILDING THIS LARGE RESIDENCE OVERLOOKING POTOSI, MASSEY FIRST BOUGHT THE LAND (THE FORMER LORD HOMESTEAD) FROM W. G. CLISE, AND TWO BRICK STRUCTURES WHICH HE DISMANTLED AND MOVED TO THE BUILDING SITE, USING THE BRICK IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HIS HOME). (SEE BIB. REF. B). MASSEY DIED IN 1872, LEAVING HIS WIFE, FANNY, IN POSSESSION OF THE HOUSE AND SURROUNDING LAND.
ACCORDING TO THE MAPS AVAILABLE, H. L. MASSEY IS LISTED AS THE OWNER IN 1868; THE H. L. MASSEY ESTATE IN 1877; AND FANNY MASSEY IN 1895 AND 1918. (SEE BIB. REF. A, D). (NOTE: IN 1895 THE PROPERTY IS ALSO DESCRIBED AS THE "LYCUGUS HOME"). |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. 1868 GRANT COUNTY MAP.
B. GRANT COUNTY HERALD, 13 JULY 1921.
C. HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN (CHICAGO: WESTERN HISTORICAL CO., 1881), P. 942.
D. 1877 GRANT OCUNTY ATLAS; 1895 GRANT COUNTY PLAT BOOK; 1918 GRANT COUNTY PLAT BOOK.
E. CASTELLO HOLFORD, HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN, (LANCASTER; THE TELLER PRINT, 1900), P. 520. |
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