Haviland House

WS Haviland HouseThe W. S. Haviland was started in 1861 and finished after the War. Dates from the journals of W. S. Haviland help to prove the dates of the construction.

Important Dates in the house’s history.

April 14th, 1860 – Contracted with Hall and Company of Covington for the caps and sills for my windows and doors. Some of the bill was to be paid for in Copper Whiskey at $1.50 per gallon.

May 1860 – 3X8’s, 4X6’s 4X12’s to be delivered to the depot at Cynthiana

December 15th, 1860 – Received of W. S. Haviland Forty-eight & 50/100 dollars in full for a lot of free stone caps and sills for windows and doors which furnished him. Hall and Company

January 23, 1861 – paid bill at JW Pecks – $600

January 29, 1861 – to bill at Webster – $145

February 1, 1861 – 3 Dz Window pulleys, nails, screws, brads

February 9th, 1861 – J. B. Colwell agrees to work from February 9th to the last day of October 1861 at $1.150 per day and takes one Bay mare in part pay at $125.00. Said mare is to remain on my farm until she is paid for in work at $1.50 per day. The $60 dollars charged is to come out of his first work. The window frames taken by the job at $4 a piece and he is to furnish all the material to make same.

March 13, 1861 – Finished window frames this morning

March 29, 1861 – Received fortynine and one half dollars payment in full for cutting caps plints and door sill. – George Bancroft

April 22, 1861 – Commences laying Brick. – Joseph Brooks

May 4, 1861 – J. B Colwell time by 5 days.

May 23, 1861 – Received fifteen and 95/100 dollars in full for five caps and five sills free stone. Hall and Company

June 28, 1861 – By laying up 190,000 brick into the dwelling house, $380. The above to include to be finished the (…) of arches and hearths. Stop puddock holes. To 1/2 time 29 days for assorting brick, $17.60.

November 1st, 1861 – Received of W. S. Haviland Three hundred and Thirty dollars as payment in full for work on his house up to this date, November 1, 1861. – J. B. Colwell

May 30th, 1862 – Harrison County, Kentucky. Received of W. S. Haviland One hundred and five dollars in full for carpenters work up to the date. J. B. Colwell

June 19, 1869 – This is from the contract between W. S. Haviland and  J. M. Dill (can’t really read it). He was to finish and make ready for the painters the two halls in the front part of the house. Also, the stair way in the south part was to consist of parts from the Greenlee and Ransom catalog. Also, 6 doors with locks were to be cased. It appears to be upgrades to the house.

As I’ve learned, the house was started in 1860. I don’t have a journal that covers any dates later than the 1869 letter. Family stories say that he had to wait until after the War to finish.

Oh, the cabin that used to be at the back of the house could not have been “slave cabins” as most people have heard. The house and cabin were not finished until after the war. Slavery had ended. Nelson Robinson and his family lived there until they moved to town.