The William Lawrence House is a historic house in Bellefontaine,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

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. Located along Main Street (

U.S. Route 68 U.S. Route 68 (US 68) is a United States highway that runs for from northwest Ohio to Western Kentucky. The highway's western terminus is at US 62 in Reidland, Kentucky. Its present northern terminus is at Interstate 75 in Findlay, Ohio, though ...

) north of the city's downtown, it is historically significant as the home of William Lawrence, a prominent

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

during the late nineteenth century.

Structure

The house is a square two- story structure, measuring approximately on each side, and topped with a

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

; its brick walls rest on a stone foundation with a basement. At the time of construction, the house included multiple

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

s, but with one exception these have all been removed. Other changes since the time of construction have included the replacement of multiple doors and the addition of a wing in the rear and a small stone porch on the southern side. With the exception of the removal of shutters from the windows, the Main Street front of the house differs little from its state when built. Inside, many original features remain, including walnut panelling and two

cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

fireplaces. The most prominent original feature is the

spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

, which climbs from the first floor to a skylight above the second floor. Lawrence's original

dining room A dining room is a room (architecture), room for eating, consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically ...

and kitchen were damaged by a fire; soon after new owners purchased the house in 1947, the rooms were completely reworked and converted into a storage room for the rear wing.

Home of a politician

Construction

The Lawrence House was built circa 1860 in a modified version of the Italianate style.O'Connor, Mark S. ''Ohio Historic Inventory Nomination: Law Offices of MacGillivray, O'Connor & Thorpe''. Ohio Historical Society, 1979-01-29. While the exact date of construction is unknown, its

terminus ante quem ''Terminus post quem'' ("limit after which", sometimes abbreviated to TPQ) and ''terminus ante quem'' ("limit before which", abbreviated to TAQ) specify the known limits of dating for events or items.. A ''terminus post quem'' is the earliest da ...

is 1861: in this year, a member of the Lawrence family

incised Incision may refer to: * Cutting, the separation of an object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force * A type of open wound caused by a clean, sharp-edged object such as a knife, razor, or glass splinter ...

initials and the date into a windowsill.O'Connor, Mark S. ''National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: William Lawrence House''.

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

, 1979-02-05.

Life of Lawrence

Born in Mount Pleasant in eastern Ohio in 1819, Lawrence was trained as a lawyer and moved to Logan County in 1841, where he lived for most of the rest of his life. During his years in Bellefontaine, he served in various county offices, was elected to both houses of the

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...

, served six terms in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, and was appointed to the office of

First Comptroller of the Treasury The Comptroller of the Treasury was an official of the United States Department of the Treasury from 1789 to 1817. According to section III of the Act of Congress establishing the Treasury Department, it is the comptroller's duty to :''superintend ...

. Lawrence was known professionally as an expert on land law; he was the primary lawyer on behalf of

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farmers who won nearly of land in a prominent lawsuit against railroad companies. As a leading member of Logan County society, he served on the

board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

Geneva College Geneva College is a private Christian college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880, where it continues to educate a student body of about 1400 traditional undergra ...

in Northwood from 1851 to 1854. In his private life, he was deeply interested in agriculture; after his death, his estate included multiple farms. Lawrence purchased from P.S. Powell a lot at the intersection of Main Street and High Avenue in Bellefontaine in 1852; here he built his house approximately eight years later. He owned the property until 1897, when he conveyed it to his family; however, he continued to live there until his death two years later.

After Lawrence

Lawrence's widow Caroline sold the house to a Dr. W.W. Hamer in 1901; in it, Hamer operated Bellefontaine's first

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

. Later owners included a family who lived in the house, the Howard Kerr

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

Post, and B.O. Beatty, the owner of a car dealership. After owning the house for only a short while, Beatty sold it to the recently founded Calvary

Baptist Church Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

, which quickly began to remodel the property. Two years of renovation included the addition of the rear wing, which was used as a sanctuary, and the removal of the kitchen and dining room that had been burned while the house was used by the American Legion; the rest of the house was used as offices and

Sunday School A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

classrooms. Members of the church first worshipped at the property on March 6, 1949. After growing membership forced Calvary Baptist to build a new house of worship in 1972, the house remained vacant until it was bought by a

partnership A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments o ...

of lawyers. The law office remains in the house today; the rear addition has been converted into offices that are used by other businesses.Sign visible in this picture. In 1979, the William Lawrence House was 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 ...

. While its high degree of preservation was seen as significant, the house was added to the Register primarily for its association with Lawrence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, William, House Bellefontaine, Ohio Houses completed in 1860 Former houses in Ohio Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Italianate architecture in Ohio Houses in Logan County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Logan County, Ohio Office buildings in Ohio U.S. Route 68 1860 establishments in Ohio Bellefontaine, Ohio