FROM THE ARCHIVES

(By Stephen Kelley from the People’s Defender 1984)

It is another forgotten landmark of Old Adams. Sitting forlornly in the narrow valley, it is now slowly crumbling into ruins. The big brick house, long abandoned, holds within its thick walls a century and a half of the history of old Zane’s Trace.

It was constructed in 1834, sandwiched between the banks of Big Three Mile Creek and the base of the hill on which is located the old Elrod Cemetery. Unfortunately, the house was built almost on the level of the creek and has irreparably suffered from numerous inundations of the scenic stream. The front of the brick home is situated less than twenty feet from the creek back and faces across to the now non-existent community of Evertonville, also known as Nauvoo.

Evertonville, the focus of last week’s column, was founded over a decade after the old brick home was erected. The hamlet’s proprietor was John Everton, a native of Maine, who vainly struggled to find his calling in life. After seeing his hopes dashed for Evertonville becoming a prospering little city, he began teaching school. Failing at that, he attempted other professions, including that of a book salesman. Drifting from one occupation to another, Everton never archived the success and fame for which he longed. And now, even his namesake village is nothing more than a memory.

The big brickhouse was built for William Wilson Haymer and his wife, Ruth Ousler. William had been born in Maryland whereas Ruth was a native of the Bluegrass State. The Haymers (who later changed the spelling of their last name to Hamer) apparently moved to Huntington Township in Brown County in the 1820’s. In the fall of 1833, they purchased a tract of seven acres in Sprigg Township, Adams County on Big Three Mile Creek and the Zanesville-Maysville Turnpike (Zane’s Trace) and began construction on their brick home. Shortly before moving into Adams County, The Haymers’ daughter Margaret married James Brookover, a prosperous Brown County farmer.

Little can be learned of the Haymers. However, close examination of their brick home provides a few clues as to their purpose in settling on old Zane’s Trace. The front of the home is very typically the architecture of an “I” House. Three bays wide with the main entrance to one side, this particular folk housing form is labeled as a half-house since classic “I” houses are normally five bays wide with a centralized entrance.

Unlike most “I” houses, the Haymer home has a large extension on the rear that was constructed at the same time as the front of the house. This extension stretches back to the base of the hill where the ruins of a cellar house can be seen. Along the north side of this extension is a fairly well preserved two-story porch that faces up the creek and would have given a favorable view of the old turnpike.

We will tell you more about his forgotten landmark next week.