The Governor Charles Croswell House is a building located at 228 North Broad Street in the city of

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin language, Latin given name Adrianus (given name), Adrianus or Hadrianus (disambiguation), Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria (river), Adria from the Venetic language, Venetic and ...

Lenawee County, Michigan Lenawee County ( ') is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 99,423. The county seat is Adrian, Michigan, Adrian. The county was created in 1822, from terri ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It was designated as a

Michigan State Historic Site The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office is one of 59 state historic preservation offices established according to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 that plays a role in implementing federal historic preservation policy in the ...

on February 19, 1958 and later listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on March 16, 1972. It is located very close to but is not part of the Downtown Adrian Commercial Historic District.

Description and history

Charles Croswell was born in 1825 in New York. He was orphaned at an early age, and went to live with his uncle, carpenter Daniel Hicks. Hicks, with young Croswell, moved from New York to Adrian in 1831. Hicks constructed this house some time in the 1840s. Croswell purchased the house from the Hicks family after Daniel died in 1847. Croswell himself moved into the house in the early 1850s soon after his marriage to Lucy Eddy. Croswell formed a law partnership and started his involvement in local and state politics, serving as deputy county clerk, register of deeds, and taking part in the formation of the Republican Party. He later served two terms in the state legislature, and served as the

Governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of state, head of government, and chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the stat ...

from 1877 to 1881. Lucy Eddy Croswell died in 1868, and Charles Croswell remarried in 1880 to Elizabeth Musgrave. Charles Croswell died in 1886, and Elizabeth lived in the house for two or three years until her own remarriage to lumber baron Thomas Merrill. In 1925, Croswell's widow, Elizabeth Merrill, restored the house, and donated it to the Lucy Wolcott Barnum Chapter of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

as a memorial to Charles Croswell. Today, the chapter continues to maintain ownership of the house, which now serves as a museum.

Description

The Croswell House is a one-and-a-half-story

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

structure, constructed of red-painted brick with white trim. A single story wing is located to one side, and a single-story extension is located at the rear. Two square-pillared verandas extend across the fronts of the main section and the wing. Each shelters an entryway, the one located in the main section which opens into a hallway, and the one located in the side wing leading into the dining room. The windows are six over six sliding sash with plain trim.

References

External links

Home of Charles Miller Croswell
- Lucy Wolcott Barnum Chapter of the

{{National Register of Historic Places listings in Lenawee County, Michigan Houses completed in the 19th century Buildings and structures in Adrian, Michigan Museums in Lenawee County, Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites in Lenawee County Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Greek Revival houses in Michigan Houses in Lenawee County, Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Lenawee County, Michigan