I have spent most of my history time in the last several weeks wrapping up a book about the long-lost village of St. Marie. My research unexpectedly led me to Abram Hall and another of Princeton’s 19th century historic houses.
The house led me to an error in the Wisconsin Historical Society property and inventory list and an application for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
Abram Hall was born in 1819 in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, not far from the Mount Tom Range. He married Pamela Burrows in 1843 and they started a family that grew to include 10 children.
I and other local historians would like to theorize Hall named our Mount Tom four miles from Princeton, but we cannot say that with certainty.
The Halls arrived in Wisconsin in 1848 and purchased land in Pleasant Valley Township near a bend in the Fox River and the future site of State Centre. The sale was finalized in October 1849.
“Arriving at Milwaukee, he purchased a yoke of oxen – horses being a luxury at that time – and brought his family to the Town of St. Marie, then in the county of Marquette, locating at a point on the Fox River known as Sturgeon Lodge some five miles north of this place, his nearest and only neighbors being a band of Indians who frequented his home more often than was pleasant or profitable for him,” the Princeton Republic reported in August 1911 following a birthday party at Hall’s house on Fulton Street in Princeton when he turned 92.
“He followed farming and cattle raising, the river marshes affording an abundance of pasturage and hay,” the newspaper said. “During the winter season, he spent much of his time trapping, which had its sport as well as its profit.”
He listed his occupation as mason in the 1850 census.
Princeton Republic, Nov. 10, 1868 – “John Shipley informed us that a new steamboat, the T.W. Blake, set fire by a spark from its chimney to its stack-yard near the mouth of White River, destroying some fifteen tons of hay for him and eight tons for Abram Hall.”
Hall continued to buy parcels of land, including property at the foot of Mount Tom, and moved closer to Princeton so the growing family of boys could attend a larger school. His primary farm in 1875 covered much of the former Hamilton village site. The house sat north of the curve at the north end of Fulton Street.
“He disposed of his farm down river and bought one near to town,” the Republic reported, “but near the river as before, for he loved boating and water sports.”
The Hall family also seemed to enjoy traveling. Abram returned to the New England hills for a visit in September 1872. His three oldest sons, Newell, George, and Henry, in October set off for Arkansas. They planned to make the journey entirely by water and left in a skiff.
Abram checked out California in 1874.
“Mr. Abram Hall arrived home from California last Monday evening, having been absent only about six weeks,” the Republic reported in May. “In that short time Mr. Hall thinks he saw enough of California life to satisfy him. Says he likes the country on this side of the mountains better than the other side. He visited the gold fields at Marysville and panned out a little gold to bring home as a keepsake, visited an underground quartz shaft, somewhat farther underground than he liked to be, interviewed the hundreds of Chinese in every little town he visited, and came back satisfied to live in Princeton.”
Hall paid Perry and Marietta Hodge $175 for Lots 1, 2, 3, and 4 in Block 5 of the “unrecorded plat” of Princeton east of Fulton Street, between Harvard and Wisconsin streets, in October 1875 (Deeds, Volume 36, Page 459).
In 1882, when he turned 63, Hall and his wife left the farm and built the brick house at 302 South Fulton Street in Princeton (across from Kwik Trip in 2024).
“Abram Hall has most of the material on the ground for his new house on his lot in the southeastern part of the village,” the Princeton Republic reported in March. “The house is to be one of the best in town, to be galvanized with brick, and first-class generally.”
He built another house at 316 South Fulton Street two years later.
Green Lake County Democrat, April 17, 1884 – “Abram Hall is building a new house south of his residence on Fulton Street and when finished will make a pleasant home for someone.”
UPDATED MARCH 20, 2024: Abram Hall did not build the house that stands at 316 South Fulton Street today. The wood-frame house that he built, which became the John and Lucy Zodrow home, was replaced by this brick house in 1937-1938. (Thank you to Mary Faltz, daughter of Norbert Zodrow, for the new information. I also found a couple of clips about the house.)
Princeton Republic, June 3, 1937 – “The John Zodrow house has been moved from its foundation to a site to the south, and a new house will be erected. The family will live in the old house until the new one is completed.”
Princeton Times-Republic, March 30, 1939 – “Lester Frederick has purchased the old Zodrow house and is moving it to a new foundation on the lot south of the Klawitter house at Main and Fulton.”
Back to Abram Hall …
“Mr. Hall has been long and favorably known here for many years; truly a pioneer in every sense of the word,” the Princeton Republic reported in 1911.
Hall passed away in August 1916. He was 97. He was buried in the Princeton City Cemetery.
The error
I was surprised to learn that the Abram house at 302 South Fulton was called the Kies House in the Wisconsin Historical Society property inventory, which incorrectly listed its construction date as “the 1870s and possibly earlier.”
I examined the WHS case file earlier today and found the error occurred twenty years ago this month! After the property owner sought to have the house considered for the National Register of Historic Places, a survey was completed by a representative of Archaeological Consulting and Services Inc., out of Verona, which subcontracted with KL Engineering Inc. of Fitchburg.
The surveyor (last name Johnson; I don’t know first name) provided a brief, mostly close-to-accurate history of Princeton before focusing on the house. The age of the house was less important to the survey than its Italianate, or Italian Villa, style architecture, popular in the later 19th century.
The house’s “significance resides in its architectural qualities, making it eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places,” reported the surveyor, who signed his report on March 10, 2004.
“The Kies home, with the exception of the absence of a tower, is a fine example of the Italianate style,” he reported.
Other examples of the architectural style can be found in buildings in the Princeton Downtown Historical District and the St. John the Baptist Catholic Church rectory at 1211 West Main Street, which was built in 1879.
Fortunately, the house was not added to the national register with the incorrect construction date, and – even more fortunately – no one shelled out $200 to place another incorrect plaque on the City of Princeton Historical Walking Tour.
I am surprised the surveyor made such an elementary error.
We can trace the Lot 2 sales from Nelson Parsons to Margaret Foster on Dec. 26, 1850 (Deeds, Volume G, Page 413), from Foster to John Doro on Nov. 4, 1852 (35-167), from Hannah Doro to Peter W. Jackson and Frank J. Merrill on Dec. 20, 1873 (36-9), from Merrill to Perry Hodge on Jan. 30, 1875 (36-282), and from Hodge to Abram Hall on Oct. 2, 1875 (36-459) for $175. After Hall passed, his heirs (William and Charlotte Hall, John and Tillie Hall) sold to Elisha Hall on Dec. 1, 1916 (68-335) for $3600. Elisha Hall sold to William Hall on March 10, 1917 (68-336).
The increase in property value indicates Abram Hall built the house on the lot. The newspaper clip, which the surveyor missed, confirms the date.
With assistance from Renee Thiem-Korth, county register of deeds, and Pam Weber, her chief deputy, I forwarded a screen shot of the tract book index and copies of the deeds, along with the newspaper clips and recent photos, to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Leah Penzkover, coordinator of the Architecture and History Inventory, sent the following response two day later: “Thank you for this excellent research. I have added Abram Hall’s name to the historic name field and added circa 1882 as the date of construction.”
Another victory for historical accuracy!
Thank you for reading and caring about local history.
If you spot any errors, please let me know.
Good stuff again. I will look for the St. Marie book!