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This chapter part of section on Watertown Homes
Former Cole Home
1855
Watertown
Daily Times, 06 12 1976
Architecture
of the home at 802 North Fourth Street, remains today as it did when John W Cole had the house built in the 1850's
[1854-1855], with walls four bricks thick, 11 foot curved ceilings, its heavy
nearly three inch oak front door still swinging on its original hinges. John Cole was born in Vermont in 1814, came
to Watertown in 1837. He made many trips
to Watertown from Milwaukee with ox teams carrying provisions. In 1854 he built a block of stores on Main
and Second streets. [J. C. Penney store was in the Cole block]
The
Cole home of timber frame construction, red cedar shingles and white Wisconsin
pine interior, had its carpets all woven in New York to fit the floors. Mrs. Cole [Elizabeth/ Eliza], an artist, designed landscaped gardens to surround the
home. Elizabeth was apparently a bit
feisty; she would ride down Main Street on a white charger. Later the Coles sold this home and built
another at 910 Clyman Street.
The
second floor ballroom, now a five room apartment, was used for entertaining,
dancing and lectures.
Subsequent
owners who also occupied the home after the Coles were the Joseph Salicks, the
Ulrich Habheggers, the junior Ferdinand Hartwigs, Ray Franz, and for the past 30 years, Mr. and
Mrs. Jerome Schultz.
Joseph
Salick used to row his boat down the Rock River every
morning to near his Main Street store.
Mrs. Sam Luchsinger, a Salick
granddaughter, relates her grandmother used to tell of the gala balls they had
on the second floor. Mrs. Habhegger, when she lived there, kept a Swiss cow bell in
the cherry orchards with a cord to the pantry window so she could keep the
birds from the makings of cherry pies.
Mrs. Hartwig was a Habhegger daughter.
The
present owner [1976], Jerome Schultz, put in hardwood floors and replaced many
worn parts of outside window trim, arches and scrollwork. Mrs. Schultz pointed
out vases and other outside ornamentation made of iron. These too were redone
and re-secured to the house. A large center hall has a stairs with cherry
handrail to the upper story. There is much elaborate ornamentation on ceilings,
in both central and corner designs. Watertown Daily Times, 06
12 1976
1856
05 01 Luther A. Cole has commenced building a
new brick dwelling on his finely located lot on Fourth Street. The dimensions of this residence will be
fifty by forty-four feet, and three stories high. When completed it will rank amongst the most
elegant and tasteful structures in the county.
It will be an ornament to our city and a credit to the liberality of its
enterprising owner, who, we hope, will long live to enjoy the fruits of his
well-directed industry. WD
A Beautiful Home & Beautiful Garden
A Glimpse of 150 Year ago
1860 Watertown Democrat, 06 07 1860
A Beautiful House
A
friend has prepared for the Democrat the following sketch, and as we are assured
its publication will not trespass on the domestic privacy we hold to be sacred,
we cheerfully give it a place in our columns, hoping others will take a hint or
two from some of its suggestions and “go and do likewise:”
It has
been our fortune thus far through life to struggle with its stern realities, to
the almost entire neglect of the beautiful and ornamental in Nature and Art,
for which we have a kind of crude, instinctive taste. We cherish a strong love for artistic
excellence in the cultivation of trees, shrubbery and flowers, that adorn the
well planned yard and garden—where the beautiful shade trees and sweet odor of
the flowers conspire to render home endearing and delightful. We have often envied the wealth of some
people who use it only for the sordid gratification of selfish ambition, that
we might be able to gratify our fancy in adorning “Our Home,” where we could
recline at twilight hour and be fanned by the gentle breeze, laden with the
rich fragrance of a thousand flowers, to listen to the music of the birds, the
hum of the bees, and lulled to rest after the toils of the day in the
contemplation of all the delightful associations which cluster around and
render the “Home” happy.
We had
the pleasure a few days since of spending an hour in viewing the premises and
residence of one or our oldest and much esteemed citizens, J. W. Cole,
Esq. On entering we were kindly and
cordially welcomed to view the internal arrangements of the splendid brick edifice
erected about two years since, and as we passed from one spacious and elegantly
furnished room to another, our admiration was heightened by the excellent taste
manifested by Mrs. Cole in the arrangement of everything that seems to give a
sort of welcome and easy air to chairs, sofas, tables, pictures, carpets,
etc.
It
would be useless to attempt an adequate description of the house inside, but
one room on the upper floor which we were shown contains various specimens of
her handy work, in the shape of pictures, paintings, shell and crotchet work,
and a great variety of ornaments, which renders Mrs. C. entitled to be enrolled
on the list of artists.
The
walls are literally covered with specimens of her own making, evincing a
refined and cultivated taste for the beautiful, and would richly repay any one
for the trouble to visit them.
Everything about the house seems arranged with a view of combining
taste, convenience and economy, and her efforts in that direction, in our
estimation, have been crowned with success.
One
the south side of the house projects a large octagon window that receives the
concentrated rays of the sun upon a large variety of plants and flowers,
arranged in little urns and boxes upon the shelves of a cone erected for that
purpose, filling the room with their delightful fragrance.
On
entering the yard and garden we were struck with the mathematical skill
displayed in the different curves, angles, circles, parallelograms, etc.,
observed in laying out the grounds, the whole forming a perfect system of
inequalities and irregularities. The
almost endless variety—numbering many hundreds—of trees, plants, flowers,
shrubbery, etc., have all been planted within the last three years and exhibit
the care and great labor bestowed in their cultivation and growth during so
short a period.
We are
informed that the entire planning of the house and grounds have been under the
direction and supervision of Mrs. Cole, and the whole is a monument of her
intelligence, skill and perseverance. We could wish her better health and long life
to enjoy the fruit of her labors thus far in making her home delightful and
happy.
____________________________________________________
Later,
the Cole family, who owned a great amount of land in Watertown, occupied a fine
house on Clyman Street (now no. 910) surrounded by vast acres of property.
At the
death of the son, Oscar, $86,000 from the Cole estate was turned over to the
city of Watertown. Of this amount the Public Library was to receive half. $38,000 was put into the library addition,
the balance, $5,000 was invested. The
interest is used for children's books and a suitable book plate has been provided.
At the
time of the dedication of the John W. Cole Memorial addition in May 1930, all
the flowers which had been presented in his honor were taken to Oak Hill
Cemetery and placed on the Cole lot.
One
record stated that Mr. Cole sold the North Fourth Street house to a Mr.
Stately, who in turn sold it to Mr. Joseph Salick. It has been impossible, so far, to verify
this.
For
many years Mr. Joseph Salick had a jewelry store on
Main Street next to the bridge. He used
to row from the North Fourth Street house on the Rock River to his store.
Mrs. Habhegger had trouble with the birds in the cherry
trees. To keep them away a Swiss cow
bell was hung in the tree, and a cord was passed through the pantry
window. When Mrs. Habhegger
went into the pantry she would pull the cord and scare the birds away.
One of
the children used to pick dandelions, at one cent per peach basket, and she
gathered horse chestnuts under the tree on the south lawn. Even now the horse chestnut tree is a thing
of beauty when in full bloom with its candle-like blossoms, and a green base of
leaves.
There
was a large meadow, a fine spring, two garden houses, and shrubbery north and
west of the house. Many picnics were
held in the meadow. In the winter there
was coasting, toward Rook River. There
was a high board fence on the north in the early days. The knot holes afforded amusement to the
children who loved to "peek."
Bittersweet was planted around the south porch. Along the north side were beds of wild
flowers: violets, Jack-in-the pulpits, trilliums, gentians, and maiden hair
ferns. Under the west bedroom fragrant
plants were planted, especially jasmine.
Near
the south porch there were many lilies of the valley, and at the rear of the
house a double row of cherry trees. One
of the most beautiful trees on the front lawn was an acacia, with its lacy
white blossoms. On the side lawn at the
south is a molted mass of iron that came from the great Chicago fire in 1871.
Mr.
Ulrich Habhegger's daughter, Elizabeth, married
Ferdinand Hartwig, They lived in the
home after the death of her parents. The
house is owned at the present time by Mr. Ray Franz and his mother.
In
closing I should like to read this quotation:
"A home stands apart from the stone and beams, slate and mortar
that shelter it. It has an immortality
which distinguishes it from temporal things.
Like a stone it is marked by the human beings who possess it."
--Florence
C Hays / DJCGS R-728-H33
1860s
SECOND COLE HOME, 910 Clyman Street
1876
08 24 The editor of the Jefferson
Banner, speaking of a visit paid to Gen. Luther A. Cole of this city,
touches it up in the following terse manner:
"We were pleased
to spend a couple of hours at the residence of Luther A. Cole in Watertown,
about two weeks since. It being too late
in the day to observe the nicely laid out and handsome grounds that surrounded
his residence, we were shown into a repository of natural curiosities, where we
spent an hour very profitably. The
shelves contained a large collection of specimens of petrified wood, mineral
specimens, etc., etc., gathered from our western states and territories by Mrs.
Cole and her son, while making an overland trip to the Pacific coast a few
years since, besides some very valuable and interesting specimens from other
parts of the country, and, in fact, from many foreign countries. The repository contains the largest and best
collection of any private repository we have ever seen. It is owned exclusively by Mr. Cole's son,
who has every article labeled and in its place." WD
___________________________________________________________
The History of
Jefferson County, Wisconsin, 1879,
gives the following short biography.
John W. Cole was the
third son of Ebenezer Cole. He was born
December 28, 1814, in Charleston, Vermont.
Until the age of 22, he worked upon the farm of his parents, and with
his father at his trade of carpenter and joiner.
In the fall of 1836, he
started West, and first came to Milwaukee, where he remained until Jan. 1837,
cutting timber on the Milwaukee River, when he moved to Watertown, making the
trip with ox-teams, carrying flour (worth $20.00 a bbl) and pork ($40.00 a
bbl).
His brother Luther and
five others lived four years in a cabin which they built and called it the
"bachelor’s distress." Having
dissolved partnership with his brother, Mr. Cole built a store on the north
corner of Second and Main streets, and carried on a general merchandise
business for about 15 years, part of this time being also engaged in the
manufacture of saleratus and potash.
In 1854 he built the
block of stores on the southeast corner of Second and Main streets. In 1855 he held the office of Mayor of
Watertown, and was also Supervisor of Jefferson County.
John W. Cole married
Eliza C. Fisk, daughter of James L. and Laura Fisk, of the state of New York,
Nov. 19, 1844. They had three children,
Oscar A., and two deceased, one named Johnnie, the other dying in infancy.
Mrs. Cole was born Oct.
11, 1820. She came to Watertown as a
bride accompanying her husband here from the East. She was one of the grand ladies of the city's
early days and an expert horsewoman who rode each morning on her favorite
mount, garbed in complete riding habit.
Mr. Cole kept fine
horses and was interested in the race track.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Cole
are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.
Mr. Cole died Feb.17,
1894.
Mrs. Cole died Dec.12,
1898.
In addition to the two
graves of Mr. and Mrs. Cole there is recorded the names of Oscar A. Cole and
Martha C. Cole. There are no dates.
Mr. Cole, with his
brother, Luther, opened the first store in Watertown in what is now Main
Street, a small red building occupying the site of the present Bittner and Tetzlaff building.
Main Street was then little more than a cow path.
A funny thing about
that early store was that the Cole brothers locked up during the day while they
worked on a farm they owned in the northern part of Watertown, coming down only
by special appointment to supply the needs of the customer. However, the store was open each night and
that's when the biggest business was done.
They handled everything from feed to household supplies.
A son of John W. Cole,
Oscar Cole, became one of the first owners of Tivoli Island. At this time it was called Concordia
Island. It belonged to Mr. Jesse Decoy,
a friend of Mr. Cole’s. Mr. Decoy said that
if his friend ever had a son he would deed the island property to the boy. He kept his promise. Mrs. Cole said that "before the baby was
24 hours old she had the deed to this island, the beauties and loveliness of
which we so much admire."
John W. Cole built the
house that now stands at 802 N. Fourth Street in the 1850's. The original estate on the north extended to
the Gardiner home. The homes of Mrs. J. P. Roffeis and Ben
R. Krueger on the north now occupy part of the property. On the west it extended to the house occupied
by Arthur Kohls, 320 Green Street.
The house is a timber
frame construction, oak one to one and a half inches thick. The outside brackets are handmade. The shingles were red cedar. The walls are four bricks thick. The interior woodwork is White Wisconsin
pine, the trim is grained. Around the
windows it is ten inches wide. The
baseboards are eleven inches high, and the ceilings on the second floor are 10
feet 10 inches.
The upper floor of the
house at the present time has five rooms. The living room, northeast; the
dining room, north; the kitchen, north; a bedroom, southwest and one
southeast. The living room, dining room
and kitchen used to be the ballroom, with a platform for the musicians at the
west. The southwest bedroom was the
reception room, and the southeast bedroom the check room. When the Salick
family occupied the house the ballroom was used as two bedrooms.
The lower floor had two
living rooms, a dining room, four bedrooms, a kitchen and summer kitchen, and a
large pantry.
___________________________________________________________
Mrs. J. B. Murphy in a
letter to me March 20, 1939, says: "my parents were intimate friends of
Mrs. Cole for many years. In those early
days there were very few fine residences.
As a small child I went with my parents when they visited the beautiful
home.
"Mrs. Cole was a
woman of fine taste; while her husband was indifferent to those things that
give delight to feminine tastes, he never opposed her in any way. Mrs. Cole was fond of flowers. She had a beautiful garden stocked with
choicest plants.
"The architecture
of the house was never changed and is a model of good taste. The furniture and interior decorations were
purchased in New York. The carpets were
woven to fit the floors. The interior
was spacious. The second floor had a large room especially fitted for
entertainments, dancing, concerts, lectures, and even spiritualistic séances. As a child I was taught by my good mother
never to handle things in other homes without their permission. This won for me certain privileges. I might amuse myself by watching the goldfish
in the aquarium, or looking at myself in the high gold-framed mirrors. The Ruesch sisters
have one of these mirrors, purchased when the Cole family disposed of their
home and its contents.
"One incident of
my visits to the home as a small child is indelibly stamped on my memory. Oscar, their only child, was a young
lad. His mother made him pop some corn,
which he did, and brought it in from the kitchen in a large milk pan and
presented it to me. I have never
forgotten the feeling of humiliation that was mine when my mother told me it
was not all mine!!
"I am eager to see
the interior of the old house. I never
pass it without rejoicing that its exterior, at least, has never been changed.
I shall want to visit the house while you are domiciled there."
Signed
Emma Murphy / DJCGS R-728-H33
1937
1953
Cross-References:
Home
built by Christian Schmutzler; Watertown brick
used in construction
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin