WILSON-SCHAVEY
226 West Scott Street

1892 Queen Anne
Home Tour 2004

The graceful Queen Anne style home at the corner of West Scott and Adams Streets has been a neighborhood landmark since it was built in 1892.  It is in the oldest part of the town of Grand Ledge, as it was first platted in 1854.  There used to be another landmark on this block, according to a history of the Grand Ledge schools that was published in the 1907 school annual:  “...By 1875 the number of pupils had become so large that another building was necessary, and the Presbyterian chapel, standing where Dr. Wilson’s residence now stands, was rented...”  In fact, the 1881 sketch map of Grand Ledge shows that building standing near where the current house now stands. 

The United States government granted the patent for this land to Zina Lloyd and Nelson Burchard on May 1, 1839—part of 159 acre parcel that now comprises part of Grand Ledge.  Lloyd and Burchard could be called land speculators —investors in property who did not develop it for their own personal use, but sold it at a later date for a profit. 

The first transaction of interest to us in the history of this house is the transfer of Warranty Deed from Alexander J. and Caroline E. Haggart to Walter E. Wilson in April 1892.  Alexander Haggart owned much of the property on this block.  For over fifty years he lived in the house that still stands on the corner of West Jefferson and Adams.  He was   an interesting man in his own right.  His full name was John Alexander Haggart and he was born in Willoughby Ohio on July 6, 1835.  He married his wife, Caroline E. Davison in Ohio on December 12, 1861.  A.J., as he was known, and Caroline came to Grand Ledge in April 1868.  He was a businessman with a wagon maker and blacksmith.  In 1892 he built the three-story building at the corner of E. River and S. Bridge Street known as the I.O.O.F. building.  A.J.  and Caroline Haggart had four children:  Olive, Georgia, Charles and Herbert.  In April 1892 Mr. Haggart deeded the land where the house now stands to his son-in-law, Walter E. Wilson.  This was the same month that he announced his intention to build the I.O.O.F. hall, so it seems likely he sold the land to raise cash for the construction project. 

Walter Wilson was born in Birmingham, Michigan on May 12, 1859.  He came to Grand Ledge in 1884 and bought Truman Johnson’s drug business in August 1885.  His store was called Wilson’s Prescription Drug Store, and it was on Bridge Street. His particular interest was in preparing prescriptions and he was able to double his business in that line in his first year in business.  He carried many other items of stock as well: medicines and medical supplies, toiletries, perfumes, wines, liquors (for medicinal use, of course!), artist supplies, and cigars.  His business prospered, and in June 1886 he moved to a larger store and better location. Olive Haggart Wilson was born in December 1868 and grew up in Grand Ledge just down the street from where she later lived with her husband.   Olive and Walter were married at the Haggart home on W. Jefferson on November 10, 1886.   The wedding announcement in the newspaper gives us a delightful glimpse of the wedding festivities:  “...At the close of the festivities, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson repaired to the pleasant and cozy rooms that had been fitted up for their occupancy in the Berry block, where they were shortly after serenaded by the Ladies’ Coronet Band.  Mr. Wilson is one of our most progressive and public spirited young businessmen, and although a resident of this place but little more than a year has won many fine friends, and in choosing a helpmate he  has selected one of Grand Ledge’s fairest and best...”  

Working in the medical field captured Mr. Wilson’s heart, and in 1890 the young couple left Grand Ledge and he entered Detroit College of Medicine to become a physician.  He and Olive returned to Grand Ledge after his studies were completed and he opened up his medical practice.  It was then that he bought the land from his father-in-law and built the lovely home where he and Olive spent the rest of their lives.  The Grand Ledge Independent, which closely monitored everything going on around town, made note of the event: (GLI  May 27, 1892, p5 c1): “Dr. W. E. Wilson has the foundation laid for a new residence on Scott Street, near the old chapel.”  And the following spring, The Grand Ledge Independent (GLI May 5, 1893 p5 c1) announced that Dr. W. E. Wilson was improving his residence by grading the lot and laying the walks. He and Olive had no children but they were surrounded by family—The Haggarts lived on the corner of Jefferson until Caroline Haggart died in 1909, and sometime after that, A.J. moved in with his daughter and son-in-law.  According to the 1910 U.S. Census, Olive and Walter shared their home with one other person, their 16-year-old niece, Madeleine Haggart.  Dr. Wilson was U. S. Post Master from 1908 to 1913, Vice President of Grand Ledge Clay Product Company, and was a member of various civic groups.  The Grand Ledge Independent often mentioned the comings and goings of the family:  (GLI Sept. 20, 1901 p5 c3): “Dr. and Mrs. W. E. Wilson attended the funeral of (Pres.) William McKinley at Canton yesterday.”  Dr.Wilson owned other properties around town, including the lot to the east of his home, facing on Scott Street.  He built the two homes that stand there, at 216 and 220 Scott, in 1899.  Those houses were built as rental properties.  He also bought, sold and rented homes around town over the years. 

This home can best be described as an Aesthetic Queen Anne. Influenced by the English Aesthetic Movement, homes such as this one rejected “fussy” elements like gingerbread found on many contemporary homes. The Aesthetic Movement liked pleasing shapes and natural forms. Famed designer William Morris was a follower of this Movement. This home features decoration with shapes and broad colors. Originally the home featured a different shade of paint on each story. Nature was brought into the home in the woodwork, not using traditional bullseyes in the wood trim, sunflowers, wheat and other forms were used instead.

Around 1910, the home had a renovation.  A full second-story was added over the dining room/ kitchen wing. The former half-story attic space was enlarged to contain two bedrooms. The door to the bathroom upstairs was moved to the right three feet to allow for the installation of a tub. The dining room window looking toward Jefferson Street was expanded into a three-part window. Two narrow windows on each side, with a leaded glass window across the top. The space in between was left for the dining room sideboard as was common during this time. The beautiful wrap-around porch was added during this period.  It is interesting to note that this porch is not on what is technically the front of the house, but faces Jefferson and Adams Streets, both very fashionable addresses at the turn of the century. Many homes along Jefferson Street had these broad wraparound porches added during this era. The addition over the dining room also partially covered what must once have been a key feature of the home. The tower roof over the two story bay window was visually reduced to a half tower roof, not the large tower it was when new.

Walter Wilson’s health began to fail and during the last six months of his life he gradually became confined to his bed.  He passed away in February 1916 at the age of 56 years.  Olive Wilson and her father stayed on in the house. Olive died on July 23, 1921. 

Olive’s sister Georgia Haggart inherited the house.  Georgia was a single woman who never married and lived in Lansing.  She did not choose to live in the house; a niece, Madeleine Schavey (daughter of Charles Haggart; granddaughter of A. J. Haggart), and her husband, Earl, moved into the house and took care of Madeleine’s grandfather, A. J. Haggart.  He died in the home in March 1924.  Madeleine was born on March 1, 1894 in Bay City, Michigan.  She graduated from Grand Ledge High School in 1913 and married Earl Schavey on December 18, 1920.  Their only child, Sally, was born in 1926.  Although she was born in California, her parents returned to Michigan when she was very young, and this house where she grew up is the only house she remembers. 

The Schavey family played an important role in the business life of this community. William Schavey and his sons, Archie, Clayton, Leon, and Earl, were long-time businessmen in Grand Ledge.  In 1890, the Schavey family settled on a farm in Wacousta.  William Schavey spent his early manhood on the farm and managed two farms besides his other business interests.  He served two terms as sheriff of Clinton County.  After a brief time in Lansing, he came back to Grand Ledge in 1913 and bought an implement business on the north side of town. Clayton and Leon Schavey ran the Mulliken branch of the Schavey and Sons implement business.  Archie Schavey operated the Grand Ledge branch of the business, which was established in 1913 on North Bridge Street, at the corner of Main Street.  In 1917, the Schavey Garage was built on East Jefferson, just west of the present-day library.  Earl Schavey worked in the family business for a time before he went to work as a tool and die maker during World War II at Olofson Corporation. 

Sally Schavey Brunette remembers her mother doing sewing during the Depression years to supplement the family income.  The small bedroom that used to be on the first floor (now a bath) served double-duty as a playroom for Sally and a sewing room for Madeleine.  Her mother made most of Sally’s clothes too, and she remembers many beautiful outfits her mother sewed for her. She also remembers the family dinners when the Schavey clan gathered at Grandfather William Schavey’s home. Sally lived in the house until she married at the age of 21.     

Madeleine Schavey inherited the house when her aunt Georgia Haggart passed away on August 11, 1947 at the age of 81 years.  Madeleine and Earl Schavey lived in the house for the rest of their lives.  Madeleine died on June 14, 1968. She left the house to her daughter, Sally Brunette, but Earl continued to live in the house.  He died in February 1982. 

The house was sold out of the Wilson-Schavey family in 1982 when Fred and Patricia (Haueter) Williams bought it. Fred J. Williams was born in 1951 in Detroit. He is the son of Fred and Florence Williams. They lived in Lincoln Park Michigan. Fred came to Grand Ledge as a high school special education teacher in the mid-1970s. It was at this job that he met Pat Haueter, a special education teacher at Wacousta. Born in 1953 with her twin brother Mike, she is the daughter of Victor J and Beverly Haueter of Grand Ledge. Pat and Fred were married July 26, 1980. As an interesting note, The Island Art Fair was always held the last weekend of July until 1980. Pat and Fred happen to reserve the Island for their wedding early in the year so the Art Fair had to move one week later to the first weekend of August. The Art Fair has continued to be held on this date.

By 1982, the elegant old home was showing its age and it needed a lot of updating and repair work. New plumbing and electrical service was needed.  Fred Williams remembers one of the problems they ran into.  The old coal furnace was replaced with a new forced air system.  The new system was turned on and blew two inches of coal dust through the house, resulting in a $900 dry cleaning bill!  Fred and Pat Williams had to redo the kitchen which had remained unchanged from the 1920’s and contained no kitchen countertops at all. There was only a very old stove with a broken latch that has been replaced by a door lock, a sink hanging from the wall, and the built in pantry cupboard.  Pat's grandmother Alice Hershoren helped strip the paint from the tall cupboard in the kitchen. Then they put glass in its doors. They installed new sink, countertops, cupboards and appliances.  They removed a small toilet that had been installed in a tiny closet in the downstiars bedroom which could only be used if you left the door open. They worked on the only bathroom upstairs. With the help of freinds they removed the cracked plaster and redrywalled the walls and ceiling. It is intersting that while doing this bathroom repair they had to temporarily take down two large mirrors. It was then they noticed that the mirrors were marked on the back as being made at the Grand Ledge Chair Company. The home's exterior pealing green paint was given a freash paint in blue, cream and burgandy.  They roofed the house and carriage house and rebuilt the chimney. The old back porch had been enclosed, but was in very poor shape, so this was removed and a deck was built in its place. The yard was landscaped.  The old garage still looked like the carriage house it once was, with the cement pad for the buggy and stall for the horse.  Fred and Pat were able to purchase the dining room suite from the Schavey family , the chairs being made at the Grand Ledge Chair Company, and were pleased to be able to keep that with the house.  The Williams loved the old home and enjoyed raising their young twin boys there until the opportunity arose to purchase Pat’s childhood home from her parents (at 317 Jackson Street), and they made the decision to sell their home in 1992.

Larry and Joan Fenton bought the Williams’s house.  Joan was principal at Greenwood School in Grand Ledge.  Larry was a builder.  Together they took on the task of continuing the renovation and restoration project begun by Fred and Pat Williams.   They built closets in the Master bedroom—the old closet in the room was very small.  They converted the small first-floor bedroom into a bathroom and made the large closet on the second floor into a half bathroom.  They added a shower to the Master bathroom.  They stripped and re-papered the walls in the house, but were delighted that the woodwork on the main floor had never been painted, and that the original pocket door was still in place. The wood floors were sanded and refinished.  They did a lot of mechanical things like wiring and plumbing, but they also enjoyed decorating the home.  They remodeled the kitchen and removed the old cook stove chimney that was still in the corner of the room.  The old carriage house in the yard was quaint, but they converted it into a more modern facility by replacing the sliding door with a standard garage door.  One particularly delightful touch is the papered ceiling in the middle room which is currently being used at the dining room.  Joan and Larry admired the wallpaper on the ceiling in a bed and breakfast they visited in San Francisco.  They found out the name of the company, Bradbury & Bradbury, and bought the paper from them.  They are a well-known company mentioned on This Old House.  Scaffolding was set up in the room, and with Bob Porter consulting, the pattern was pieced together out of 11 separate wallpaper designs. They also repainted the exterior of the house in a three-color scheme that was quite eye-catching.

Larry and Joan Fenton sold the house to the present owners, Dave and Elizabeth Myers, in 2001 when they moved to Harbor Springs, Michigan.  They loved the old home and took many fond memories with them.  Joan remembers that they had 11 grandchildren born during their years there.  They had 3 granddaughters born in one year, and the little girls loved the big wrap-around porch where they could play dolls and hold tea parties rain or shine, and the Fentons and their grandchildren cherish the years they spent in that home and in the town of Grand Ledge.     

Dave and Elizabeth Myers share with the Fentons their delight in gathering their family in the graceful old home. They moved in on July 14, 2001.  They moved their dining room from the back room adjoining the kitchen to the center room to take advantage of the large windows that brighten the room on a sunny day.  They have left some of the décor put in by the Fentons, the lovely lace curtains at the windows, the wallpaper, but they have added their own touches too.  The home is filled with family photos and mementos of special times and travels and special things they have acquired along life’s way.

Although the house has been updated to meet the needs of today’s families, we still enjoy catching glimpses of the past that remain in this lovely Queen Anne home—the beautiful woodwork with the pressed flower corner pieces; the ceiling medallions; the curved shape of the house itself, the pocket door—this home was built with skill and pride by the craftsmen of those long-ago days at the turn of the century, and these details have been carefully maintained by the various owners of this home over the years.