History Mystery: Homes of Columbus

Earlier this month, I blogged about a quick trip to Columbus and the beautiful historic homes we did not have time to see.

Thanks to Mississippi Quilting friend Barb Jansz, my questions about the identity of the homes was referred to her brother, Bob Raymond, a French professor at Mississippi State University.

Here is the information provided by Bob:

Lindamood Home
"The Lindamood family bought the old Sherrod home built in 1847.

"Peter Lindamood is said to have caused the fire which destroyed the house.

"The Lindamoods owned a brick factory in Columbus and rebuilt a house on the site as it is today."

 Franklin Square
"Franklin Square is owned by Lilla Pratt Rosamond.

"Her family had a publishing business in NYC called Franklin Square, so her family named their house after it. The school next door is Franklin Academy, the first free public school in Mississippi."

The Fort House
"The Fort House was built by Elias Fort in the 1830s.

"His widow married a man named Sharp and then divorced him.

"She then added on to her home in the style that we call Columbus eclectic. It combines Greek, Gothic and Italianate features.

"There were 5 homes of this style in Columbus, only 3 remain. This style if found nowhere else in the US/world. The architect's name was O'Neal.

"The green house used to be Beard's Interiors but is now owned by the Baptist Church. It was covered in aluminum siding several years ago but retains it's 1870s woodwork."

Bob, I can't thank you enough for this information! I will be exploring further (with camera and hopefully NOT through the windshield) when we return to Columbus early in May!

I especially want to see more of the Columbus Eclectic style and photograph the remaining three rare examples.

Now, maybe you can help me with this History Mystery that evolved from that earlier blog post.

My cousin Nelda Chase Hamer sent this picture today of her mother and grandmother sitting in front of their home in Columbus, Mississippi.

Nelda does not know the street address of this home, nor does she know if it is still standing today.

This picture would have been taken around 1906 or 1907,

Nelda emailed, "I have no idea where the house is/was. I was told only "Columbus", but my mother identified it as the house where her family lived in the first decade of the 20th century. 

"My grandparents were Jonathan Anderson Medford (1869-1950) and Minnie Modena Conner Medford (1880-1933). 

"The first three children (shown in the photo) were Walter Mitchell Medford (1902-1971), Modena Geraldine Medford (1903-1982) and John Conner Medford (1905-1956). 

"Four additional children were born in that house - first a set of boy twins, Almoth James and Albert William, in 1907, then a set of girl wins, Mary Elizabeth and Mildred Louise, in 1910. The next four were born in Ripley then the final three in Corinth."

Anyone know anything about this house or the Medford family of Columbus?  If this house is still standing, I certainly want to get a photo of it to send to Nelda!

Comments

[Shelina]

I like using the city directories - since many of my family members moved from a year by year. Then you can see how long they lived at their location as well. The directories usually include the name, spouse, occupation, and address, and when there is one, a phone #.

[Lisa B. Cook]

The 1910 Census says it is 9th Street, want a copy of the Census page?

Medford and Turner Families living in the house!!!!

Lisa

[Diana]

I found people by asking at city hall and the county seat for school tax rolls.

[sue]

You might be able to find the information on the address from the census records.
They include address, names, occupations, etc.
My mom does genealogy and finds this type of thing often.
This type of mystery can be fun to delve into.