Gould Mansion of Owosso

The distinctive appearance of the Gould museum house in Owosso reflects the quintessential life of its maker, pioneer Amos Gould. Built in 1859, it evolved from Gould’s first frame house and would remain home to the Gould family for years. The house was originally constructed as an Italian Villa and later remodeled in 1873 in the Second Empire style. Records at the Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, clearly document Gould’s history.

The Gould family traveled from New York to Owosso without stopping to rest at friends’ homes along the way. His friend J.A. Emmons later chided him for not visiting in Henning, New York, to rest his family, reminding him, “Not all your friends have turned against you in your time of trial and adversity.” On July 11, 1843, Amos had purchased a 4/5-acre plot at the northwest corner of Washington and Oliver Streets. His brother Daniel, an Owosso resident and carpenter, built a frame home at the north end of the property for Amos and his extended family. The four-bay, hip-roof house was ready when the weary pioneers arrived in 1848.

• The Gould museum house in Owosso was built in 1859 and reflects the life of pioneer Amos Gould
• Originally an Italian Villa, it was remodeled in 1873 in the Second Empire style
• Gould moved to Owosso in 1843 after financial troubles in New York
• Despite being a promising attorney and former clerk to William Henry Seward, Gould found himself in debt
• Gould’s brother Daniel built the family’s first frame house on land purchased at Washington and Oliver Streets

Gould would add “luster” to the family name as a result of his business dealings in Owosso and throughout Michigan where he invested. In time he would serve as County Prosecuting Attorney, Mayor of Owosso, Supervisor of Owosso Township, Justice of the Peace and Michigan Senator. He would run unsuccessfully for the office of Attorney General of Michigan. He founded a bank, D. Gould and Company, to channel funds for the Amboy, Lansing and Traverse Bay Railroad Company, the forerunner of a company he anticipated would extend trackage from Ohio through Mackinaw and then across the Upper Peninsula to Wisconsin. His railroad plans did not succeed. His bank did. In 1865 he changed its name to the First National Bank of Owosso which has now merged with Old Kent.

In addition, Amos tried other money-making ventures. In order to improve transportation, prior to the coming of the railroad in 1854, Amos dredged the Shiawassee River for a steam boat, the Water Witch. He owned extensive timber lands in both upper and lower Michigan. Gould operated farms near Owosso, bought property in Shiawassee County at the annual tax sales, and specialized in legal work for railroads. Gould also organized the Owosso Woolen Manufacturing Company in 1867.

In keeping with the Goulds’ new status the Italian Villa was built just south of the frame house in 1859. It is the core structure of the house that is there yet today. Amos’ new home was called the mansion and so many people came to admire it he dubbed the main parlor the Owosso room. He thought everyone from the village had been there. In addition to building a home more appropriate to his status, Amos had something else in mind. Louise Gould was still grieving for her son Stafford who died of consumption in 1856. Amos thought a new home would distract and keep her busy and make her happy.

The Goulds’ Villa was built in an abbreviated L shape with a low pitched hip roof, large multiple scrolled brackets and projecting eaves. Modillion brackets supported the second story balcony on the facade facing Oliver Street. The balcony and the porch below had matching iron balusters. The windows were grouped, except on the second story of the tower and main bedroom. The double hung 1/1 and 2/2 windows had segmental or semi-circular arches. The paired windows located in the rooms with the balcony and porch had walk-out french doors. The house had three one-story bay windows, one in the large parlor, one in the dining room and another in the sitting room. Early photographs show a structure which may well have been a porte-cochere on the north side of the house in the present driveway. (Exhibit C)

Myrtle and Lily of the Valley, a quince bush, several trees and an iron settee are all that remain of the original yardscape. Photographs show the paint peeling on this house and if it was not built of painted cut stone then it had to have been built of wood or wood covered with stucco because whatever the substance, if it is not stone, it was scored to look like stone.

• Amos Gould held numerous public offices including Mayor of Owosso and Michigan Senator
• His business ventures included a successful bank (later First National Bank of Owosso), timber lands, and the Owosso Woolen Manufacturing Company
• In 1859, he built an Italian Villa-style home reflecting his elevated social status
• The home was partly built to distract his wife Louise from grieving their son Stafford
• The villa featured distinctive architectural elements including scrolled brackets, iron balusters, and three bay windows

Invoices for the purchases to build this 1859 house were saved by Amos and are now in the Gould collection at Central Michigan University. Interestingly enough, the bulk of the materials came from Detroit. The receipts and orders show that one week after an order was mailed the goods arrived at the Owosso freight depot. The framing lumber came from a company whose name is written in illegible long hand. It appears to be Sizine and Black and an address is not given. Also purchased from this company was a walnut pinnacle, straight window sash, brackets, circle windows, flooring, ceiling pine, fancy doors, molding, and window frames. Young, Barclay and Company built sixty-four arched light sash, four cellar sash, the arched doors for both entrances and rabbeted jams. Teffts & Company, 44 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, supplied the bathing tub at $10.00, the enameled fireplace grates and fixtures, and also lumber and brick.

The Parston wood furnace also came from Teffts and cost $115.00. Gould ordered the same kind of registers that his neighbor Thomas D. Dewey had, but they were out of stock and others were substituted. Joseph Barthel supplied the clear glass and the painted glass in the side lights.

The marble for the three fireplaces came from the Isle of Capri. It was cut by the Chicago Marble Company and sold by G(eorge) F. Mehling, 106 Henry Street, Detroit. The mantels and hearth stones cost a total of $108.00. The stone for the fireplace sides was twenty cents a foot. The company charged $1.00 for three days labor on the stone and the freight for the five boxes cost was $2.40.

Henry Gould, nephew of Amos, did the finish work on the interior wood. Michigan Paint Company, 38 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, from whom most of the pigments, paint and varnish were purchased, sent a representative to show Henry how to grain. At the same time, October 1859, Amos Gould made an unusual, at least for Amos, purchase. Supplies for beer were purchased from John Gute, Owosso, at the cost of $13.50. Perhaps Henry was going to use stale beer for graining.

Local men were hired to do the work. Isaac Holton, his journeymen and laborers set 125 perch of stone, laid 17,162 bricks, built two chimneys, set the grates, worked on the cellar walls and completed two coats of common and one coat of finish plaster. The lath board was held in place with hand made nails that had irregular shaped heads and were almost half an inch wide. (Exhibit D) After the plaster was on George Kingsland built the front and side stairways for $60.00. George Collier wallpapered and Timothy Brown was painter. S.N. Harr was hired to paint the iron balcony balusters and he “stoned” the house.

The 1859 Birds eye map of Shiawassee County lists Owosso’s carpenters and joiners as Charles Collamer, R(ussel) G. Young, Hiram L. Lewis, W.M. Case, I(saac) M(iner) Chipman, P.H. Bassett, Henry Gould, E. Goodburn, J.H. Young and Ezra Mathewson. The Gould papers do not include the house plans, payment, or any reference to a general contractor. According to tradition Mathewson was the builder of the Gould house. Mathewson came from Smithsfield, New York to capitalize on Owosso’s building boom which followed the coming of the railroad.

The Goulds purchased their new furniture in Owosso and at Nall and Dunchells, 356 Woodward Avenue, Detroit where the parlor carpet was also selected. The furnace was set in mid-October. Four months after construction began the house was finished and warm.

While this house was being built the 1843 frame house was “fixed up”. It would continue to be used by the family as a kitchen, dining room, and servants quarters. Cooking, canning, processing of meat and laundry were relegated to the old house. The house was used for bathing, storage and caring for the ill. Brackets and wide eaves were added to the house for an Italianate look, making it more compatible to the new house. (Exhibit F)

The frame house was placed on skids and slid down the alley to 115 West King Street on a snowy, icy, winter day in 1906. Four of the original window openings are still in place on the second floor of the west side of the house. The house has narrow clapboard and sits on a cut stone foundation. The porch was added after the house was moved and extends the length of the west facade. Today the house is used as a residential rental. (Exhibit G)

The lot on which the frame house was originally built is covered with grass. It has not been possible to check for a footprint to determine if there were additional wings or a lean-to. This hip roof house was an appropriate style to the 1843 times, but new to Owosso where only gable-end houses were being built.

As soon as Amos’ house was completed his brother and business partner, Ebenezer, built a similar style home two blocks away on Oliver Street. (Exhibit H) Many homes in the Italianate style were soon constructed throughout the county. Balloon framing, the availability of local brick, saw mills with machines capable of providing brackets, circles, scrolls, and other decorative wood, and finally, local laborers who had worked on the Amos Gould house and had access to pattern books which simplified the construction, were factors in the successful construction of this new style by “everyman”.

• Invoices show most materials for Gould’s 1859 house came from Detroit suppliers
• Marble for the three fireplaces was imported from the Isle of Capri
• Henry Gould, Amos’s nephew, completed the interior woodwork with guidance from Detroit specialists
• Local craftsmen performed the construction, with Isaac Holton’s team laying over 17,000 bricks
• The original 1843 frame house was renovated with Italianate features and continued to serve as kitchen, dining room, and servants’ quarters
• In 1906, the frame house was relocated to 115 West King Street where it still stands today
• The Italianate style pioneered by the Goulds quickly spread throughout the county

Fifteen years later Amos decided to make a few changes and cover the house with brick to end the constant peeling of paint. He extended the three one-story bay windows to the roof. (Exhibit I) Gould removed the top of the tower and placed it on the roof as a cupola. (Exhibit J) Gould enclosed the hip roof with a mansard style roof with straight sides and covered it with a patterned slate roof. Four elaborate dormers were placed on the mansards. (Exhibit K) Paired semi-circular arched windows were placed in the new sections of the bays with single windows on each side. All the new windows were double hung and had stone sills. The bays were made of ornate wood with circles placed between each floor and topped with victorian gingerbread cresting. (Exhibit L) A new porch was constructed on the Oliver Street facade (Exhibit M) and a duplicate was built at the entrance facing Washington Street, which had not been covered on the 1859 house. (Exhibit N) The porches had a balconet with balusters. The cupola was given a mansard roof which covered the original porthole dormers. The finial and widow’s walk were removed. Then the Goulds bought their first lawnmower at a cost of $20.00.

Men were hired to bring in the bricks in June, unfortunately the records do not indicate where the bricks came from. The lack of a freight bill in this collection, which abounds in them, suggests that the brick may have been manufactured locally.

While digging for the Owosso coal mine in 1854, the fire clay that was located with the coal was tested in Marquette. It was found that when a 3/1 ratio of carbonate of lime and iron were added to the clay and then fired to 2165 degrees fahrenheit a creme colored brick resulted. The Gould house bricks are crudely made and are not stamped with a manufacturer’s name. While red brick is more common in the Owosso area, beige brick could also have been made here.

The brick patterns and methods of laying add to the beauty of this home. Bricks were extended from the exterior wall to form a frame around each window. A keystone tops each window and center the brick hoodmold, which ends in a bracket. An apron of spaced corbelled brackets is located under the wide eaves. The house was bricked in the stretcher bond pattern.

From the records it is also known that tin was used to make the arches for the new windows. Rogers and Brothers, number 5, Bank Block (Amos’ Bank Block), Washington Street supplied the four dormer ventilators, the roofing, nails, copper, black paint and gutters for $1,141.11. Luther Comstock oversaw the construction and the Boermans, William S., Neil and Nathan were hired to do the carpentry. Thomas, Nathan, Martin and George Ayers, Bill Anse and Charles Cavanaugh also worked on the remodeling.

Frederick Gould, son of Amos, bought the house from his widowed mother, Louise, in 1893. Fred immediately bought a billiard table and then decided to have a party. But first he would spruce up the house. A new partition was put in the cellar and then the walls were cleaned and plastered and the entire basement was scrubbed. The billiard table was put together in the room under the main parlor, where it still is moulding. The sub-dining room, hallways, sitting room and bathroom were wallpapered. The large dining room was painted with two coats of paint and wallpapered above the wainscoting. It was then given a new varnished floor. The floors throughout the house were refinished and varnished. The kitchen and pantry had new windows, doors and cupboard. The new chimney was built in the kitchen and the kitchen and dining room doors were grained. Intermittently, the plumber came to work. Fred Gould recorded only the last names of the men who worked on the house for him: Malisky, Borden, Brayman, Smith who did the graining, and Griffith who cleaned up the “old house”.

Fred, who was an officer in Owosso’s National Guard, marched his troops up Washington Street after a drill at the Armory and into his “sitting rooms” for the grandest party ever held in the home of this conservative family.

According to Fred’s diaries the house rested, with the coming of electricity in 1912 and the telephone 1914 being the only changes.

Fred Gould lived very much in the shadow of his father. His brother Staffy died at the age of twelve and brother Lawrence died four years after the great party, at the age of thirty-five. Fred looked after the farm and was a licensed surveyor. Following his father’s death, Fred spent years managing that estate which had land holdings in excess of a quarter of a million dollars.

In all the changes to the house, the barn remained basically the same. The Gould’s always pastured their cows at E. Barnes’ farm and this building was used for the horses and buggies. There are still three stalls with grain boxes and hay racks. The grain and hay were stored upstairs and came down through a chute. At the time of Fred’s party the barn cupola was repaired and new stairs were built. N. Smith brought four of the interior doors that were replaced in the house out to the barn and hung them on the front facade. (Exhibit O) This gable-end barn had a lot of storage room upstairs. Through the years moldings, boards, doors, windows and all sorts of other scraps, as well as furniture, books, memorabilia, tools, clothing, and all the teaching artifacts that teachers save forever, found their way to the barn and most are still there.

• Around 1874, Amos Gould undertook major renovations, covering the house with brick to solve paint-peeling issues
• The original Italianate design was transformed into the fashionable Second Empire style with a mansard roof and elaborate dormers
• Bay windows were extended to the roofline, and matching porches were added to both street-facing entrances
• The bricks were likely manufactured locally, possibly using fire clay discovered during Owosso coal mine excavations
• Frederick Gould purchased the house from his mother in 1893 and made additional interior renovations
• Fred celebrated with what was described as the “grandest party” ever held in the conservative family’s home
• The Gould barn has remained largely unchanged and still contains a collection of family artifacts

Fred’s son Fletcher and spinster daughter Philena inherited the house at the time of their father’s death. While Fletcher’s decision to sell the house to Standard Oil Company for construction of a gas station may have been a good choice for the Depression times, Lena was horrified. Instead she took the house as part of her inheritance and vowed she would not leave it to a Gould. Since Lena’s salary from teaching could not support the house, she converted the upstairs into two apartments. Lena used her grandfather’s study as her bedroom, closing the main entry hallway door and adding two closets. The rest of the first floor retained its original usage.

Lena died in 1947. Much to the dismay of her brother and sisters, she left the house to her long-time confidant and significant-other, Harry Atkinson. The Goulds tried unsuccessfully to break the will.

Harry’s wife Pauline started a ceramic studio in the mansion. The Atkinsons did not make any changes to the house and only expended their energy to fill in a sunken area between the house and the barn. Pauline Atkinson said, and local tradition contends, that this was a tunnel from the house to the barn for use of run away slaves on the Underground Railway. However, the barn does not have a basement for an underground tunnel to enter nor slaves to hide in. The Goulds’ were most aristocratic in selecting their visitors and the Gould records do not contain an incident of philanthropy by Amos or Louise Gould.

Following the death of her husband Mrs. Atkinson sold the house in 1979 to the Owosso Historical Commission. The $74,000 mortgage was burned in October 1990.

The two apartments are still in use as rentals. They were cleaned, painted, wallpapered and new carpeting was installed. The stairway which George Kingsland built and Henry Gould varnished in 1859 was stripped and sealed by volunteers. The hallway has been wallpapered in a pattern unlike that chosen by the conservative Goulds. The original gas light fixture, now electric, hangs in the Washington Street entry, which is used by renters. (Exhibit P).

The barn has a new roof and coat of paint and its cupola has been repaired. The house has had roof repairs and the exterior trim has been painted. The Oliver Street porch has new oak steps. Plexiglass storm windows have been placed over all the windows. The red pine floor in the main parlor has been sanded and sealed. The interior shutters, made in Owosso by the Woodards, have been stripped and painted off-white. This color was also used to paint the woodwork (which had already been painted by Lena) in the kitchen, dining room and main parlor. The 1859 faux marble fireplace sports a coat of tan paint to match the dining room paper, which dates to Lena Mary’s occupancy. (Exhibit Q) The doorway to Amos’ study from the Oliver Street entry has been reopened and the doorway from the Washington Street entry to his study has been closed.

Amos’ library has had the plaster removed from the ceiling exposing a medallion and the 1859 stenciled ceiling. (Exhibit S) The north wall of this room has been stripped to its studs, showing an 1859 doorway and a later archway. (Exhibit T) The sitting room with the bay window has not been touched since the house was purchased by the commission.

The pantry and kitchen have a new coat of paint, refrigerator and stove. This was done to appease the ladies who serve tea during the annual Owosso Home Tour.

The money for the repairs and maintenance of the house and barn has been raised by caretaker George Hoody, Owosso entrepreneur and Historical Commission appointed caretaker of the Gould house.

In 1983, the Owosso Home Tour committee became quite vocal in their concern that the Gould House was never open to the public. Eventually the Commission gave permission for the house to become a part of the annual event. This was followed with an intense cleaning of the barn, basement, first floor and the yard by volunteers. The County Historical Society donated everything that was needed to make the house look like an old victorian home. A torn sketch of Amos was found in the barn and cleaned, repaired and placed in a donated frame. (Exhibit U) It now hangs over the mantle in the main parlor. All the papers, books, records, deeds, ledgers and photographs that were found strewn about the barn were cleaned, processed and placed in archival boxes and stored in the cupboards of the house. (Exhibit V) A Gould chair that was lying broken in a heap was repaired and covered without charge by a local decorator. These items are still in the house, although most are in storage in the back room as the restoration continues.

Museums, houses, old buildings and artifacts have more meaning when related records, photographs, diaries, letters, receipts and memorabilia are preserved with them and as part of them.

The one hundred year history of this house can be understood in terms of its development because these records were saved.

The Gould papers are a gold mine of other information. The researcher can learn what kinds of books, magazines and newspapers were read, where the family vacationed, of Mrs. Gould’s concern because Amos was living in a public hotel in Lansing with Governor Andrew Parsons while the legislature was in session, what dentists charged and the kinds of food they purchased. The papers tell of socials at the old log school, skating and swimming parties at the river, and sleigh rides. It can be determined who was sewing the clothes, milking the cow and cleaning this house. Without the preservation of paper goods this house would not have such a complete history.

• After Fred Gould’s death, his daughter Philena (Lena) took ownership of the house to prevent its sale to Standard Oil for a gas station
• Lena converted the upstairs into apartments for income and left the house to Harry Atkinson rather than family members when she died in 1947
• The Owosso Historical Commission purchased the property in 1979 and paid off the mortgage by 1990
• Restoration work has included repairs to both house and barn, while maintaining the upstairs apartments as rental units
• In 1983, the house was opened to the public as part of the annual Owosso Home Tour
• The extensive collection of Gould family papers provides invaluable historical context about both the house and daily life in 19th century Owosso
• These preserved documents demonstrate how architectural history gains significance when accompanied by original records and memorabilia

Importance of Gould Papers for Dating

• The Gould papers help solve dating problems for the first house through Daniel’s letter about construction
• Property deeds show Amos bought the land on July 11, 1843, while still a resident of Cayuga County, New York
• Dr. Samuel Pattison sold the property to Amos on that date
• Interestingly, Pattison didn’t legally purchase the property from David D. Fish until August 17, 1843
• Pattison made $700 on the transaction, while Fish doubled his 1842 investment
• Without these papers, historians might incorrectly assume Pattison built the house

Restoration Plans and Current Status

• Historic preservation must emphasize saving records and encourage paper document preservation
• George Hoddy’s 1991 restoration plan includes painting, wallpapering, and replastering in multiple rooms
• Additional work planned: repairing the bay window foundation, reconstructing the widow’s walk and balconets
• All windows are scheduled for replacement
• Two 9 x 12 rag rugs will be purchased for the main parlor, which will also be wallpapered
• The Historical Commission plans to borrow $25,000 against future rent for restoration
• The Owosso Historical Commission and George Hoddy deserve credit for saving this significant house
• While the mortgage has been paid off and necessary work accomplished, some “inappropriate restoration” has occurred
• The barn and basement have been cleaned and storage organized
• All work has been funded through rental income and donations of time and money