Sarah Alexander Cunningham Helps Me Solve A Mystery

Do you remember Sarah Alexander Cunningham?  I wrote about her  before, but she only figured very briefly in a LawtonFest post.  No matter if you don’t remember.  We’re all going to be best friends forever very soon.

Step back into time to the 1970’s.  I know for a fact that the time frame is before 1976, because that’s when Sarah Alexander Cunningham died.  She lived a few doors down from Sugar’s grandmother on Taylor Street in Savannah.

Sarah Alexander Cunningham asked Sugar’s grandmother for Sugar to call on her, so he did.  He did not know who she was, but he did his duty, and she presented him with two candlesticks.  He supposes today that she told him the story of the candlesticks and why she wanted him to have them, but he wasn’t listening.  Bad Sugar.

So now we fast forward into time, and Sugar still has the candlesticks but no story.  We set out to try to figure out who Sarah Alexander Cunningham was, and, folks, you will begin to understand the importance of who she was and how she helped me solve a mystery from beyond the grave.

I reviewed my LawtonFest, Part 5 post, and saw that Sarah Alexander Cunningham’s mother was Nora.  That’s Nora Lawton, y’all.  And from our excursion to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Wilson Library to view the A. R. Lawton Family Papers in the Southern Historical Collection, we had learned that Nora’s parents were Alexander Robert and Sarah Alexander Lawton.  And Alexander Robert Lawton and Sugar’s great-grandfather William Seabrook Lawton were *BROTHERS*, and their father was Alexander James Lawton.  Perhaps you’ve noticed there are lots of “Alexanders” in this family set-up, both as a first name and last name.

*****

There’s a weird phenomenon on my blog.  Everyone wants to know more about Corinne Elliott Lawton.  She has a magnificent marker in Bonaventure Cemetery, and, in an effort to learn more about her, I found her obituary, which is really not an obituary at all, but a funeral invitation.

Really, every day I get hits on the blog from folks just like you using the search term, “Corinne Elliott Lawton”.  Lots of times “Corinne” or “Elliott” is misspelled, but they still find me.  As of today, my all-time most popular post is about Corinne, and it has 1,706 views.  The 2nd most popular post has 890 views.  That’s almost half of number one.

Why are they looking for Corinne?

Because there is a popular cemetery tour, and her story is one of the highlights of the tour.  Her story says that she committed suicide by drowning in the river just beyond where she is buried.  There are other accounts on the internet of similar tone, and the embellishments are bizarre.

That her family was forcing her to marry someone she didn’t love.

That she loved someone beneath her station.

That she drowned herself on her wedding day, wearing her wedding gown.

OK, y’all.  Please stop.  Because these stories are not true.  Sarah Alexander Cunningham led me to the real story.

*****

We went to a Lawton family reunion a few weeks ago.  There were some serious researchers there.  I asked several, “Have you ever heard of Corinne Elliott Lawton?”  They all looked blank, and shook their heads.  No one had heard of her, and this is a big, widespread family reunion.  The reason that no one in the family association seems to know of her is because her father, A. R. Lawton left South Carolina and moved to Savannah, and his descendants don’t attend the family reunions.

*****

Sarah Alexander Cunningham, 1887-1976.  She donated her collection of family letters, photos, diaries, etc. to the Georgia Historical Society.

Did I say diaries?  Did I say that her mother was Nora Lawton Cunningham, Corinne’s sister?  Did I say that Nora, Corinne, Louise, and Alexander Jr.’s mother was Sarah Alexander Lawton, and did I say that she kept diaries?

*****

A trip to the Georgia Historical Society yesterday led me to the diaries.  You are allowed to take photos with a digital camera without flash, which I did.  You are not allowed to publish the images on the internet, so I won’t.  I signed a piece of paper that said I wouldn’t.  I did, however, transcribe the diary pages that referred to Corinne’s illness and subsequent death.  The following is from the Sarah Alexander Cunningham collection of family papers, MS 194, Box 2, Diary 1876-1884.

(Page 67)

January, 1877

Monday 8^th.  This is the list

of the people that have called

for business at this door this morn-

ing, before half past twelve.

1.  A woman to ask for ivy for Mr. (?)

R. Cohen’s office.

2.  Mr. Ludden to fix the piano.

3.  Mr. Locke to fix the clock.

4.  Mrs. Cooper came to know if I am

ready for her to sew.

5.  Miss Lavender came about sewing.

6.  Mrs. Floyd came about sewing.

7.  A colored woman to ask for money

to help a very ill woman.

8.  The Doctor to see Nora.

9.  The washerwoman.

10.  Claude Sullivan’s baby to be

admired.

Mrs. Maner called before din-

ner – then Mr. Wade came to dinner.

Before we left the table, Cliff came –

the first time she has been out for

more than two weeks.  Then came Mrs.

Goodwin, Mrs.  Loullard (?), Lucy Hull,

Allie Law, & George & Hattie Hull

and so till tea time – & Wallace.

(Page 68)

We left home last summer

Aug. 17.  On the 11^th I had been

taken sick, with an attack wh.  I

now think was a light form of the

epidemic wh. afterwards prevailed.

I had chill, fever, headache & pains

all over.  I treated myself with the

“9 tumblers” (of water, hot & cold alter-

nating) (?) bath of opiate.  I was

up in four days – but weak & feeble

till I left & for some time after.

The fearful epidemic broke an

(?) upon us.  A.R.L. was here

at this time – having returned after

locating us at New Holland.  He

left Aug. 31. & I met him in Atlanta.

Our family spent a month at N.

Holland & went Sept. 21 to Clarksville –

stayed there a month – then went to

Atlanta.  I returned alone to Savh

Nov. 2.  A.R.L. came the next day

from Columbus – David (?), Corinne & Nora

returned, N. from Athens & C. from

Augusta where they have been making

visits.  Lulu went to Screven Co. & only

came home Dec 15.

(Page 69)

I found the house all unprepared

on my return & had a month of toil

to have everything properly cleansed

& fumigated & put in living order.

Nora has had rheumatism, all

this time & been often confined to her

bed & of late has suffered much.

Corinne is just up after 10 days of

sickness from cold.  We have had six

weeks of severe weather.

Al came home the day before

Christmas, bringing Jim Hamilton.

Jim was here a week, & all the time

it poured rain.  Al left Jan. 2.

(Page 70)

Jan. 11.  These are the visitors

we have had today.

Dr. Thomas, Dr. Houston, Mary

Ella Hull, Allie Law, dear Auntie,

Sister Lou, Hattie & Cliff before dinner.

By the time we finished dinner,

Gulie Lawton came, then Belle Maples, Aggie Stod-

dard, Sallie Mills, & Annie Wash.

To tea – Cliff & Geo. Hull.  After tea

Mr. Ryals.

Yesterday we had Bessie Austin,

Mary Stoddard, Lucy Elliott, Bessie,

Mrs. Wilder, Lizzie Harriss, Mary Ella,

Eva Mills, Allie Law, Sallie C,

Hattie Hull.  After tea Capt.

Farley & Mr. Goles (?) (who has just come

to study in the office)

(Page 71)

Friday

Jan. 12^th.  Ther. 50^o.  weather fair &

warm.  & oppressive in the sun.

The sick ones half sick.  Nora

still in bed, but no pain.

Allie Law, Sallie C., Mary Ella,

Dr. Houston (to drive (?) Corinne), Mrs.

Warfield, Habersham Clay, Mrs.

Green, Annie, Mollie & Minnie,

Page Wilder, Edward Stoddard, Walton

Charlton, Liss (?) Gilmer.

Walton stayed late & I walked

home with her.  Corinne seemed so

tired.

In the evening of Sat. 13, Corinne

went to bed, promising Lulu & me

that she would keep her bed till she

was well.  How that promise was

to be fulfilled, who could have tho’t?

Her sickness seemed so light.

On Sunday I sent for Dr. Houston.

After church many of the family

came in – some to inquire after the

sick ones, some to see Florie Lawton

who arrived Thursday.  Among the

visitors was Wallace Cumming – his

(Page 72)

last visit to us!  Corinne felt

very weak & begged me not to have

her see any visitors – as she could

not talk.  Yet very little seemed

the matter.

All that week she was in bed

& had light fever at times.

Thursday night her aunt Lou

Gilmer stayed & slept in her room,

Lulu being sick.

Friday evening she was very bright

but had a restless night.  I watched

beside her much of the night.

Saturday night I stayed with her.

Then came the days of darkness

which I cannot record.  Their story

is kept by Him who has said:

“Precious in the sight of the Lord

is the death of his saints.”

Wednesday morning, Jan. 24,

at 7:40 A. M. she drew her last

breath.

(Page 73)

Wallace Cumming died.

Tuesday, Feb 6, at 5:20 A. M.

At the break of day, we answered

the doorbell & found George Hull

with his message – “it is all over”.

*****

The previous year in 1876 there was a severe outbreak of yellow fever.  Many Savannahians sojourned to the upcountry to escape the mosquitoes which carried the disease.  It was reported that each outbreak of the fever ended in the fall when the mosquitoes died.  Corinne died in January 1877.  Shouldn’t the mosquitoes have been dead in January?

Sugar and I are here to tell you that we have mosquitoes year-round in this part of the country.  The diary shows the temperatures and the weather.  Warm, wet weather = mosquitoes.

Corinne died at home, in bed, with her family around her.

*****

Thanks to Sarah Alexander Cunningham, we have our answer.  Finally.

Good night, and sleep well, sweet Corinne.

(Many thanks to Joanna Catron at the Gari Melchers Home and Studio who commented on the blog that the stories are untrue and need to be corrected, which caused me to continue to look for the real story.  Joanna is a Lawton scholar, and already had the truth.  For anyone not in the know, Corinne Elliott Lawton’s namesake niece Corinne Mackall married Gari Melchers.)

(Edited 4/23/2014:  I’ve heard from a new reader, Corinne Lawton Jordan, who was named for her grandmother, Corinne Lawton born in 1879, who was in turn named for her cousin, Corinne Elliott Lawton, who died from illness, not tragedy or scandal.)

Breezing Through Georgetown

So, the Sugar and YoursTruly head into Georgetown.  We’re finally headed truly homeward.  This little getaway began on a Monday morning, and we were home by Wednesday evening.  Yet it has taken me over three months to finish blogging about this trip.

It’s all the dadgum letters.  I’ve transcribed them as best I could from my photographs, and I’m sure that I’ve missed some stuff, so if you spot errors, please tell me in the comments.  Did you know that all comments go to my inbox?  And there’s also an alert button that lights up on the blog page when I get new activity.  I’m telling you, I don’t miss a trick.  On the blog.  I don’t miss a trick on the blog.

In the midst of all the transcribing of the letters, I’m still taking photos, and I have a boatload of good stories to talk about.  We have Easter, and Mother’s Day, the Lawton Fam Reunion, and Kittens!  I haz kittuns!

(Clearing throat.)  Back to Georgetown.  We are looking for a rice museum.  Sugar got it into his pretty little head that there must be a rice museum in Georgetown, since it was a center of rice cultivation.  So, rice museum, or whatever museum-ish sort of activity that we can find.  It will probably involve dead people.

This will do nicely.

Old Colonial
Banking House
~~~
Est. 1735

And the Winyah Lodge. (A big shoutout to Reader Sharon who is researching Lodges.)

ONLY
COLONIAL BANKING HOUSE
IN AMERICA.
BUILT IN 1735 WITH
MATERIALS BROUGHT FROM
ENGLAND.
ERECTED BY
THE GEORGETOWN CHAPTER D. A. R.

The nice museum people directed us to a Screven Cemetery, which could be found by walking through a parking lot literally into someone’s back yard.  (The museum had rice for sale, and Sugar scooped up a bag of Carolina Gold.)

 

SCREVEN CEMETERY

HERE ARE BURIED WILLIAM SCREVEN (1629-1713) AND OTHER MEMBERS

OF HIS FAMILY.  A NATIVE OF ENGLAND, HE MIGRATED TO KITTERY, ME, AND

WAS PERSECUTED BY NEW ENGLAND AUTHORITIES FOR NON-CONFORMITY.

HE AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE KITTERY CHURCH CAME TO S.C. BY 1698.

THEY SETTLED IN CHARLESTON AND BECAME THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

IN THE SOUTH.  HE WAS THE FIRST BAPTIST PREACHER IN THE SOUTH.  HIS

SON, ELISHA, WAS A FOUNDER OF GEORGETOWN.

ERECTED BY S.C. BAPTIST HISTORICAL SOCIETY

1974

Whew!  That was a lot of blogging for such a short trip!  I’m glad to be home!  Maybe I’ll transcribe these historical markers.

Maybe not.

Welcome to the Lord Ashley Site!

I interrupt the Lawton and Basinger series to introduce you to a new blog! I love puzzles, and archaeology, and dirt, so what’s not to love about the Lord Ashley site? And y’all know he’s probably related to Sugar….

The Lord Ashley Site

Our next archaeological field season is just around the corner (and this blog is a way for YOU to be a part of it as it is happening!  Join this blog by clicking on “Follow blog via e-mail” (to the right, below) and entering your email address.  Each time there is a new entry, you will receive an email message that will link you to the blog to find out new information and see any photos.  The Lord Ashley site presents us with an incredible opportunity to learn about the early colonial history of our state – we hope you will explore it with us….

As background…..

As part of Historic Charleston Foundation’s initiative to expand the Ashley River National Register District, a team of local archaeologists and HCF staff conducted archaeological testing and limited excavation in 2009 on a privately owned property along the upper reaches of the Ashley…

View original post 365 more words

Old Smithville Burying Ground, Southport, North Carolina

The sign at the entrance of the cemetery.

Old Smithville Burying Ground

These grounds confirmed as a burying site in 1792 during

the original town lay out by first appointed  Commissioners:

Benjamin Smith, chairman, William Espyfor, Robert Howe,

Joshua Potts, and Charles Gause; Esquires.  The (?)

stone is dated 1804; however, earlier burials ?)

possibly dating to the construction (?).

 

There he is. Benjamin Smith. Before it was called Southport, it was called, why, Smithville, of course.

Southport has been the scene of several movies, most recently “Safe Haven”.

We were told that the Old Smithville Burying Grounds were featured in several of the movies, and it was reported that the cemetery would be in a Stephen King movie.

We walked around a bit, and I snapped quite a few photos, which will not be all transcribed for you.  I keep promising to transcribe all the documents, headstones, and historical markers on this here blog, and yet.  I. Do. Not. Do. It.  Time, it waits for no blogger.

But here are the snaps anyway…

Benjamin Smith’s memorial.

Now photos of the resting slab taken in segments.

Here’s Robert Howe.  I don’t know who he is right now, since he doesn’t fit into Sugar’s family that I know of, but his memorial is inside the fenced enclosure, so here he is.

Some snowdrops had popped up to say hello.

The shot above is taken outside the fence near the sign.

I can see why this cemetery is used in the movies.  It’s very picturesque with many old-fashioned markers, and with the right lighting and mood music, it would be very scary.

Now, leaving Southport, and on to Georgetown!

Southport, North Carolina

Southport was once home to some of Sugar’s relatives.  I forget which ones, but I can probably sort it out in a bit.

We stayed at a B&B, Lois Janes, that looked out toward the barrier islands.  We arrived at dusk, so all these shots were taken the following morning.  Our room, also named for Lois Jane, was upstairs with a view of the waterfront, and the upstairs hallway opened out onto a balcony.  It was divine.

The last photo above was taken from the back corner of the B&B right before we left.  When we had arrived the night before, we were unloading the magical transport machine (da blue van), and we saw stray cats outside.  Imagine that.

Breakfast was prepared by a chef!  Can you imagine if I ran a B&B and was responsible for preparing the morning meal?  It would most likely be toast and perhaps some warmed-over spaghetti.

We went on a search for a cemetery which was easily found, and there we found…

More dead relatives.  The Smith folks, to be exact.

This trip is far from over.

Onward to Southport

We finished up at the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and headed in the general direction southward.

Now, do we go on to Georgetown for the night, then homeward, or do we detour to Southport?  And really?  Why would we want to go to Southport?

Relatives.  Dead ones.

Y’all already know where we ended up…

In Search Of Lawtons & Basingers: Another Version of the Dade Massacre. From the Springfield Republican.

(This is the last item in the William Starr Basinger Family Papers from the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  This particular newspaper article is undated and unidentified.  It is in this file because Jane Susan Starr Basinger’s brother-in-law was killed in what was referred to as the Dade Massacre.)

Another Version of the Dade Massacre.

From the Springfield Republican.

                A negro has been discovered in Jackson-

ville, Fla., who tells a curious and interesting

story.  His name is Louis Fatio, and he claims

to be the only survivor of the massacre of

Major Dade and his soldiers by the Indians

in the Seminole war.  The Dade expedition

was on its way to reinforce Fort King near

the Everglades, when on December 28, 1835

it was ambushed by the Seminoles, under Os-

ceola, at a point between what was then Fort

Brooke and is now Tampa and Fort King,

or the present Ocala.  One white man, a pri-

vate soldier named Clarke, escaped though bad-

ly wounded, and made his way back to Fort

Brooke, whence General Gaines sent a de-

tachment to bury the dead, of whom there

were 106, officers and privates.  Until now

Clarke’s account of the battle is the only

one we have had, and he represented it to

have been an ambush into which Dade was led

by the treachery of this same Louis Fatio,

who was guide and interpreter to Maj. Dade.

Now appears Fatio, after all these years,

and tells for the first time what he says is

the true story of the fight.  He says there

was no ambush and no cover for one where the

fight took place.  Major Dade was careless,

refused to believe that the Seminoles were

hostile, and pushed into their country without

sending scouts in advance.  The attack was

made while the troops were passing through

an open pine woods, about noon, and the first

man to fall was Major Dade.  The whites

were many times outnumbered, but fought to

the last.  The whole battle lasted but a little

while, and when it was ended the Indians ran

over the field and killed the wounded.  Fatio

was taken prisoner and lived for years with

his captors; when they were transferred to

Arkansas he went with them.  Now he comes

back to Florida to tell the story of the massa-

cre and ask for acquital (sic) from the charge of

treachery which has rested on him for al-

most sixty years.

*****

So that’s the end of this day spent in the Wilson Library, photographing segments of the A. R. Lawton Basinger Family Papers and the entire file of the William Starr Basinger Family Papers.

There were some letters in the A. R. Lawton Family Papers that were so personal that Sugar asked me not to blog about them.  I’ll just say that they were matters between family members, like from a parent to a grown child.  I thought that it was an interesting snapshot, because I know of this family, and the grown child became a person of distinction, and he’s long since deceased.

But this is Sugar’s extended family, not mine.  And that’s the end.

In Search Of Lawtons & Basingers: The Obituary of William Starr, January 27, 1858

JANUARY 27, 1858.

WEDNESDAY MORNING, JAN. 27^TH

THEIR LIFE’S JOURNEY ENDED.  Today

again we have the sad duty of noting the de-

cease of two more of our citizens – men esteem-

ed in life, and now that “their eyes are dim and

their cheeks are wan,” their goodness of heart

will be cherished among the friends they have

left behind them.

Yesterday one of our oldest citizens, Mr. Wm

Starr, sunk to that sleep which knows no wak-

ing, in the 93^rd year of his age.  He was a man

highly esteem for his gentle and courteous

manner and strict integrity.  Mr. Starr was a

native of Wilmington, Del., but has been a re-

sident of Savannah for the last 60 years.  He

was appointed inspector in the Custom House

in 1829, which office he held up to his death .

We believe that at the time of his death Mr.

Starr was the oldest resident in Chatham

County.

We are also grieved to notice the decease in

prime of manhood, of Dr. Francis H. Demere,

health physician of this port, which occurred

yesterday.  He was a gentleman esteemed by

all who knew him, in the social or professional

circles, and one of those men of integrity

whom a community grieve to lose.

*****

This obituary was almost the last thing in the William Starr Basinger Family Papers.  William Starr Basinger’s mother was Jane Starr Basinger, the recipient of most of the letters in the file, and it appears that everything in the file was her personal collection.

William Starr, the subject of the obituary, was Jane Starr Basinger’s father.

The Girl Who Would Be 84

And now, a moment…

Kate Shrewsday

Tonight, a birthday post.

I have always loved acting.  I had a clever drama teacher, who had a talent for casting. She just knew, not when you’d be good at playing someone, but when you were someone.

The uncanniest piece of casting that teacher ever made was to cast me as Anne Frank.

Even today, I look a little like she might, had she not died. But back then, I was the spitting image of the young girl who has had such a profound effect on history. One night, the theatre packed with parents and onlookers, I read her letters to them. And all of a sudden the world went away and I was there, up in the tiny little space in the building beside the canal in Amsterdam.

And in those moments,  I realised that the most momentous thing about Anne was not her writing style, though it was…

View original post 369 more words

In Search Of Lawtons & Basingers: William Starr Basinger’s Contract For A House, 1872

Savannah, Georgia

Chatham County

 

This agreement entered

into this twenty-sixth day of March

in the year of our Lord, One Thousand

eight hundred and seventy-two, between

W. S. Basinger of the first part, and

Grimball & Chaplin of the second part,

all of the city of Savannah.  State

and County aforesaid.  Wherewith –

That the said Grimball and

Chaplin agree to build a brick house

for the said W. S. Basinger on west

half of Lot No 62 Brown Ward of the

following dimensions, viz, Twenty-six

feet front, by thirty-eight feet deep,

with a back wing, seventeen feet

wide by twenty-nine feet nine inches

long ( or whatever the half lot will

allow.) and to be built two stories

above basement, the main body

of building to go up three stories

above basement.  The thickness of

walls will be as follows:  all outside

walls in the main body of building

in Basement and first story, one

and one half brick thick; front,

(?) and side walls next to hall,

one and one half brick thick to top of

third or last story.  Walls in Basement

story of wing, one and one half brick

thick, balance of walls one brick

thick, the front to be faced with –

Savannah River Brick.  The balance

of walls to be faced with Gray Brick,

and all inside of walls to be built

of (Hard Brown?).  The height of stories

will be, for Basement eight feet, first

story eleven feet six inches, second

story ten feet six inches, third story

ten feet.  Frieze, two feet.  all to be between

floors and ceilings.  All windows on

front above basement to have orna-

mental Iron sills and lintels, front

door to have Iron lintel and brown

stone sill.  Also a brown stone (?)

(?) on front, and brown stone

lintels to front windows on Basement.

All other windows and doors, to have

brick sills and sashes.  There will also

be built, a Brick Stoop on front

with (?), hand rails, (?)

(?) and ballusters to lead to front

door.  There will also be erected on

the rear of the Lot, a brick house

for Coal, Wood, and Water Closets

Thirty feet long by six feet wide,

divided into two parts, with two

Water Closets in each front, and also

room for Coal and Wood.  This build-

ing to be one story high, and covered

with tin.

There will be eight windows (?)

(?).  twelve by twelve glass, (?)

lights, (?) frames.  Six windows

in parlor (?) story, twelve by twenty glass

(?) lights, also one (?)

in each story of (?), (including

basement.) opening on alley.  Ten windows

in second story, twelve by eighteen

glass, twelve lights, and ten windows

in third or last story, twelve by

sixteen glass, twelve lights.  All the

windows above basement to have (?)

frames, and to be hung with (?)

and pulleys, and to have suitable

fastenings and (?).  Blinds

in (?).  All doors in basement

(?) those opening in front room

to be (?).  All other doors hinges

and the (?) to be of suitable size

and thickness to (?)

size of rooms.  The sliding doors

between parlours to be in form of an

(?) sash, with figured glass (?)

also the doors leading from back parlor

to living room to have figured glass

bevels to correspond with sliding door.

All doors above basement to have good

(?) locks, and porcelain knobs.  doors

in basement to have (?) locks and

mineral knobs.  Front door to have

an extra fine front door lock, with

singlet key attachments.  The size of

(joist?) will be as follows, for basement

two by six inches, first, second, and

third floors, two and a half by (two?)

inches, ceiling joist two and a half

by eight inches.  all to be placed

two feet from center.  (?) for (?)

(?) to be alternate, two by four and

three by four inches, placed one foot

from center.  Floors for three (?)

stories to  be (?) and one (?)

(?) flooring tongue and grooved.

(?) nailed.  floors for basement to

be (?) straight (?) flooring.

also a rough floor to be laid on

ceiling joist of last story.  The roof to

be pitched (?) and (?) from

main body of house and to (?)

two feet and to have a Galvanized

Iron Cornice, (?) Brackets, and

(?) to front and rear.

The roof of (?) to project six inches such

to have a hanging gutter.  The castings (casings?) in

basement to be four inches wide back

mouldings in front room.  Casings

in parlor story to be eight inches wide

rabbeted with heavy back mouldings

and plinth-blocks.  Casings in cham-

ber story to be seven inches wide with

suitable lock mouldings.  Base in parlor

story to have suitable base mouldings

to (?) with mouldings or

casings.  Base in chamber stories to have

a (?) lead.  All outside walls to be

furred for plastering, also all (?)

(?) above basement to be furred.

There will also be a (?) leading to

roof (?) with heavy glass to light

(?) below.  There will be a flight of

steps leading from yard to drawing room

also one leading from hall of basement

to hall of principle story.  The main flight

of stairs will lead from hall of parlor

story to hall of last story and will

be furnished with black (?) hand

rail.  (?)

ballusters.  The rooms and closets to

be divided as marked on plans.

The roof to be covered with best

quality I C tin and to have all (?)

of gutters conducted to carry of water from

the roof.  The flashing in basement story

will be one coat and white washed, except

the front room, which will be two coat

(?), hand finished.  Plastering in front

and back parlour, hall, and dining room

will be these coat (?), hand finishes

with cornices and (?) of suit-

able finish to (?) with balance

of work.  Plastering in chambers, closets,

pantry, and bath-room to be two

coat work (worth), hand finished.

All the wood work and tin to (?)

these coats of paint, all the inside

work above basement to be grained

of any color than may be desired.

All the balance of painting to be plain.

(?) to be placed in all the (?)

with suitable openings for (?)

There will also be (?), one copper

bath tub, and shower for hot and

cold water with silver plated cocks.

One last water closet, with silver plated

cup and bowl l (?).  Also one stop cock in

bath room.  One thirty gallon copper

boiler, and iron sink in kitchen with

hot and cold water.  Also one hydrant

in yard.  The bath room to be (?)

with (?), and to

be fitted (?).

(?).  And it is further agreed

that all (mantels?), grates, bells, speaking

tubes, and ranges or stoves is to be first

in by or at the (?) of said W. S.

Basinger.  In consideration of the

faithful professionals of the above (?)

the said W. S. Basinger agrees to pay

to be said Grimball & Chaplin, this

sum of nine thousand, eight hundred

and fifty-six dollars ($9856.00).  Payments

to be made as follows, when the basement

story is up, one thousand five hundred

dollars.  When the first story is up, one

thousand five hundred dollars.  When

the second story is up, one thousand

dollars.  When the third story is up,

one thousand dollars.  When the

roof is (?), one thousand dollars.

When the floors are laid, one thousand

dollars.  When the work is ready for

the plasterers, one thousand dollars.

When the plastering is finished

one thousand dollars, and the

balance of eight hundred and

fifty-six dollars when the work

is completed.

It is further agreed

that each (?)

(?)

…. the said Grimball and Chaplin

agree to simple cast the outside of

the above building in lieu of (?)

bricks and smooth joints.  Also to

(?) to all the (?)

in basement story.

Grimball & Chaplin

W. S. Basinger