Gary, What a wonderful story! We would never have read it or known about the Millerites without our sharing on this list. Thank you! Anna Bertram abertram@heartoftn.net phone 615-765-535 ----- Original Message ----- From: Gary06074@aol.com To: TNWASHIN-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 9:50 PM Subject: Re: [TNWASHIN-L] Genealogy of a House Betty Jane, I found several different ways to document my house. Besides the obvious with deeds, another great way is with descendants, older neighbors and books. I bought my house knowing that it was on the National Register with a date of 1843 but many parts of it puzzled me. I read the application prepared by a historian for nomination to the National Register. This person had stated in the application that they did not understand why a 19th century kitchen would have a bee hive oven with a 18th century door. There was no question that the style of the house was Greek Revival yet it puzzled me why the back was more primitive and had lower ceilings, a different type of plaster that was rougher with horse hair showing, the insulation in the walls was rags, old bricks, clothing and just plain garbage. I located descendants of the original family and they were thrilled to share a lot with me. They said they had an old trunk full of papers of the family that might interest me. I found an old letter where an ancestor talked about the day that the family moved up the hill to their new house in 1798 (the location where my house sits now) and that she had carried her little brother, Harvey. Yet Harvey was the one who built my house in 1843. An older woman who lives up the road from me, shared that her family lived in my house in the 1930s and she had some papers that came from the attic. I found in them a manuscript from the mid 1800s written by a girl born in my house. She stated that it was her father, Harvey, that built the front of my house in 1843. She said they had torn the front of their older house down and lived in their kitchen and the rooms above while the new front was being built. Bingo. I now knew the back of my house was built in 1798 and how it came about that the back was older than the front. I found a book talking about the Millerites and how they believed the world was coming to an end in 1843. They sold all their worldly possessions and went up to the hills in white robes to wait for their savior. They stated how silly it was for a man named Harvey to be building a new house in that year. It was my Harvey! (I'm glad he didn't listen). Yet, it doesn't end as there is much more documentation that I have found over the years. Just when I think it has ended something else comes along. My house has an old attached carriage shed/barn with a summer kitchen under it. Last year after much debate, I replaced the floor as it was about ready to collapse. I had the contractor save all the old wide boards. I was washing them all one day before I was going to store them. While cleaning one, I noticed something written and after dusting it the best I could, I finally made out the name of Harvey with his last name and a date of 1858. The writing had been on the back side of the board facing the basement but I had never noticed it before. It must have been the year he built the addition. Gary