417 W WALNUT ST

417 W WALNUT ST

Iowa

Dodgeville

1855

1984

house

Two Story Cube

Brick

No

THIS TWO-STORY HOUSE FEATURES A SQUARE PLAN CONFIGURATION, A BRICK EXTERIOR AND A HIP ROOF. PAIRED BRACKETS APPEAR ALONG THE EAVE-LINE. STONE LINTELS AND SILLS DISTINGUISH THE WINDOWS. THE FRONT ENTRANCE IS MARKED BY A BROKEN PEDIMENTED DOOR SURROUND. THIS RESIDENCE WAS BUILT IN 1855 (SEE BIB. REF. A) AND HAS HAD ADDITIONS MADE TO IT SUBSEQUENTLY. KNOWN HISTORICALLY AS THE COLONEL THOMAS STEPHENS HOUSE, IT IS PRESENTLY CONSIDERED TO BE IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: COLONEL THOMAS STEPHENS (1815-1873) WAS BORN IN ENGLAND AND AS A YOUNG MAN WAS SELECTED TO JOIN THE QUEEN'S LIFE GUARDS. WHILE A MEMBER OF THIS DISTINGUISHED UNIT, STEPHENS BECAME AN EXCELLENT SWORDSMAN. IN 1840 THE ENGLISHMAN IMMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES AND SETTLED IN PENNSYLVANIA WHERE HE PERFORMED SWORD EXHIBITIONS AND TAUGHT FENCING. HE ALSO TAUGHT IN NEW YORK STATE BEFORE HEADING WEST IN 1845 TO THE GALENA (ILLINOIS) LEAD MINES. STEPHENS NEXT DESTINATION WAS THE LAKE SUPERIOR COPPER MINING DISTRICT WHERE HE SPENT TWO YEARS AS AN AGENT FOR THE NORTH AMERICAN COPPER MINE. IN 1847 HE MOVED TO DODGEVILLE AND OPENED THE WESTERN HOTEL (310 N. MAIN STREET, 44/32), WHICH HE OPERATED, EXCEPT FOR THE PERIOD 1851-52 WHEN HE WAS IN CALIFORNIA, UNTIL 1854. THREE YEARS LATER THE DODGEVILLE RESIDENT WAS COMMISSIONED INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE WISCONSIN STATE MILITIA, "A POST FOR WHICH HE WAS ADMIRABLY QUALIFIED, BY REASON OF HIS PREVIOUS SOLDIERLY TRAINING AND MILITARY EXPERIENCE." AT THE OUTBREAK OF THE CIVIL WAR, STEPHENS' MILITARY BACKGROUND WAS AGAIN USEFUL AS HE AND C.C. WASHBURNE RECRUITED AND ORGANIZED THE 2ND WISCONSIN CALVARY. STEPHENS HIMSELF WAS COMMISSIONED LIEUTENANT COLONEL OF THE UNIT. FOLLOWING THE WAR (1869), STEPHENS VISITED ENGLAND HOPING TO RECOVER HIS HEALTH. HE RETURNED AFTER A LONG STAY AND DIED IN DODGEVILLE IN 1873. (SEE BIB. REF. B).

A. UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT COMPILED BY MR. AND MRS. KEN FOX, NO DATE. IOWA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. B. COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF THE COUNTIES OF ROCK, GREEN, GRANT, IOWA AND LAFAYETTE, WISCONSIN (CHICAGO: J.H. BEERS & CO., 1901), PP. 376-378.

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