Greetings readers! My name is Francis Gallagher and I am the new Town of Wilson Historian. I would like to thank all of the people involved in the selection process for hiring me for this very interesting and rewarding position. I look forward to hearing from anyone that has a question or story to tell with regards to Wilson’s history. You can email me at gall1958@hotmail.com or call 716-751-9650 with you questions and any historical tidbits about Wilson. Stories with a local historical theme are especially welcome. We are always looking for material to put in the newsletter. To get things started, I thought I would tell a little bit about myself and how I came to call Wilson home.
Linda, my wife and I along with Maia, our daughter had lived at our last house in Cambria for 21 years. It was a two story hip roofed wood frame farm house built in 1920 on Townline Road. It was a beautiful home but we were ready for a new challenge. We had made as many improvements and upgrades as we could think of during the time we had lived there. So we started to casually look at real estate ads of properties that met our needs. Did I mention that we have two large donkeys? Owning a large animal or two quickly whittles down your options. We would drive by those homes that piqued our interest and also attend open houses. We had just about given up on the idea of finding the right property when our luck changed. In 2008, we discovered a beautiful cobblestone home on Maple Road in Wilson, about seven miles from where we currently live. We put in a purchase offer and it was accepted. That was in April. By the end of June, we were the latest owners of the James M. Morse cobblestone home located at 2773 Maple Road.
Needless to say, the last three years have been filled with much work. The house was in great condition for its age (circa 1840) but there were still important issues with regard to a large wooden barn that needed to be addressed. For starters, the barn was sagging on one corner and needed a new roof. We ended up reinforcing the sagging corner with a massive amount of concrete. As for the roof, we wanted to go with something that would be architecturally correct for the period. For this we chose 5v crimp galvanized aluminum. Indirectly this work was what led to getting our property listed on the State and National Register.
I contacted the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. A few years ago, the state was awarding grants for historic barn preservation. I was hoping this might still be the case. There was also the possibility of tax credits for certain types of work that had been done. None of this panned out for various reasons but Dan McEneny at the preservation office asked me about our property. I described it and sent him some pictures. He was very interested, liked the house and barn and encouraged us to apply for State Register status. With his guidance we filled out the necessary paperwork. Part of the application involved writing one or two pages on why the property deserved to be listed. In our case, it was because of the unique cobblestone building style along with the well preserved Greek revival and Federalist style architecture. The large stone barn which also dates to the 1840s was also a consideration. This all began in October of 2009. By August of 2010 we were informed that our home was listed on the national Register of Historic Places. Below is an excerpt from the The National Register application written by Dan McEneny from the New York State Preservation Office.
Constructed c. 1840 to c.1845, the farmhouse is an excellent example of the middle-era of cobblestone masonry construction, which lasted from c. 1835 to c. 1845. The house is complemented by two field stone barns from this early period, one of which has been enlarged with a gambrel roofed frame addition. The house faces west and is a roughly L-shaped building consisting of a two-story, three-bay-wide cobblestone main block to the south of the property, a one and half story, four- bay-wide cobblestone side block extending across north from the main block, and a one and a half story rear cobblestone kitchen block off of the side block extending to the east at the north of the house. All stone trim and structural details are from Lockport, NY, 10 miles to the southeast. While predominately Greek in form and detailing, the house includes gothic drip or label moulds above the windows of the main block’s façade and southern exposure, suggesting the house may have been constructed during two very closely dated building periods between c.1840 and c. 1845.
As for the original builder, James M. Morse, this is what we were able to find out. As quoted from The 1879 History of Niagara County:
James M. Morse was born in New York City, January 17th, 1817. He was the youngest of a family of eleven children. His father was a native of England, and came to New York when a young man, where he was employed in cabinet-making. Soon after the birth of his youngest son he went upon a voyage for his health and was lost at sea. In 1819 Mr. Morse’s mother removed with her family to Washington county, N.Y., and from there to Oneida in 1824, where they remained eleven years, after which they went to Orleans county. His mother subsequently went to Batavia, where she dies in 1837, aged 54 years. In 1840 Mr. Morse came to Wilson, purchased 50 acres on lot 69, Slash road, and began making for himself a permanent home. To this he subsequently added 50 acres more. On May 11th, 1848, he married Sarah Lucor of Rushville, Yates County, N.Y. The early life of Mr. Morse was one of hardships, privation and cruelty. Having been bound to labor beyond his strength and suffer much unkind treatment, but hope and courage never failed him. His release at last came, he grew to be his own master, and by patient industry and economy has gained a fine home and a splendid competence in a pleasant and productive locality.
This was just a partial sample of what information went into the application. There is much more but one can get a feeling for what they are looking for. If you have any questions about possibly listing your own property or want more information, you can contact http://nysparks.state.ny.us/ or call them at 518-237-8643. You can also call me.
In closing, there is one common misconception that I should clear up and that is the issue of renovations and changes to a property on such a list. The Preservation Office naturally would like to see properties preserved in their original state. However, that is not always possible. If our house was preserved in its original state, we would not have indoor plumbing, electricity etc. One good example is window replacement. If you were to replace windows, they would prefer that you use something as close to the original wood windows as possible. The owner is not required to do this but any tax credits or grants for such work would not apply. So, in the end, the decision is left up to the owner.
Wilson, NY History 