Marshall Homestead

Marshall Homestead - Lot 14, Reed's Point

Original Grant:

Jedediah Nash - July 14th 1784

Deed Transfers:

Jedediah Nash to William Puddington - 1801

William Puddington to Caleb Wetmore - 1807

Caleb Wetmore to Munson and Ralph Travis - 1810

Munson and Ralph Travis to John Gidney - 1814

John Gidney to Peter Hume - 1819

Peter Hume to William Black - 1822

William Black to John Walker - 1836

John Walker to James. E Waddell - 1841

James. E. Waddell to Eliza Waddell - 1899

Eliza Waddell to Clarinda Marshall - 1906

Outbuildings:

Behind the house sits a small milk house which has been converted into a storage shed. To the north of the house sits a woodshed, built before 1880, with a loft that was once converted into an office for a traveling salesman.

History and Style:

This home was built in the 1880’s on the spot where an older house once stood. It was built in segments, room by room, while the family lived on the 2nd floor of their woodshed. The first room to be built was the present living room on the north end of the house. It was separated into two rooms at one time. The smaller of the two was where the family’s matriarch, Eliza (Bean) Waddell, lived, and it acted as her apartment. The last room to be built was the south end parlour. It was built circa 1905 according to Ida (Marshall) Coffey, who grew up in the home.

The house that preceded the present dwelling was the homestead of John and Eliza Waddell. It was burned when Eliza walked to the store in Clifton and left her four girls at home alone. They played with matches and burned the house down. The family leased the land until 1899 when they bought 50 acres from James E. Waddell.

The house is built on the central hallway theme and maintains symmetry and a sense of planned design even though it expanded over a period of twenty years. Fairly unique to the Peninsula is the projecting two-story dormer. The interior trim work, which was made at the Waddell factory, is highly decorative both upstairs and down. Corner blocks are used throughout instead of mitered trim and the parlour contains a decorative plaster ceiling medallion. The kitchen ceiling is covered in wainscoting in lieu of the usual plaster.