OHIO HISTORIC INVENTORYOhio Historic Preservation Office 567 E. Hudson St.Columbus, OH 43211614/298-2000

RPR Number:

LOR-1953-211. No.

Lorain2. County

4. Present Name(s)

5. Historic or Other Name(s) Biggs-Clifton House

LOR

-1953-21

40 King6. Specific Address or Location

09000861120276a. Lot, Section or VMD Number

Oberlin7. City or Village

9. U.T.M. Reference Quadrangle Name: Oberlin17 398881 4571452Zone Easting Northing

10. Classification: Building11. On National Register? NO

13. Part of Established Hist. Dist? NO15. Other Designation (NR or Local)

16. Thematic Associations:

17. Date(s) or Period 17b. Alteration Date(s)190818. Style Class and Design

18a. Style of Addition or Elements(s)

19. Architect or Engineer

19a. Design Sources

20. Contractor or Builder

21. Building Type or PlanAmerican foursquare22. Original Use, if apparent

24. Ownership Private25. Owner's Name & Address, if known

26. Property Acreage27. Other Surveys

28. No. of StoriesTwo and a half story29. Basement? Yes30. Foundation MaterialStone bearing31. Wall ConstructionBalloon/western/platform frame

32. Roof Type

Roof MaterialPyramidal

Slate33. No. of Bays 334. Exterior Wall Material(s)

Aluminum or vinyl siding

35. Plan Shape

36. Changes associated with 17/17b Dates:

37. Window Type(s)8 over 1

38. Building Dimensions

39. Endangered? NOBy What?

40. Chimney PlacementLateral Exterior41. Distance from & Frontage on Road

42. Further Description of Important Interior and Exterior Features (Continued on Reverse if Necessary)

46. Prepared By: Patricia :dedroceR etaD .84:noitazinagrO .74

40 King

Lorain2. C

ounty4. Present or H

istoric Nam

e(s)6. Specific A

ddress or Location

4Side Bays

23. Present UseSingle Dwelling

6 over 1

World War IGovernmental AdministrationCollege

Element Queen Anne

Single Dwelling

Original/Most significant construct

39' x 48'

17.

17b.

43. History and Significance (Continue on Reverse if necessary)

44. Description of Environment and Outbuildings (See #52)

45. Sources of Information

6002/50/21retneC egatireH nilrebOMurphy

35' approx.

This American Foursquare has Queen Anne elements, most notably in its full front porch. The porch has Tuscan columns and turnedbalusters, with a metal rail leading up to the porch at the cement steps. Between the stone bases of the porch, a wood 'balustrade' runs below the porch. The door is located at the center of the main facade (east elevation). The door appears to be original; it is wood with a large window. A modern screen door obscures the door. Left of the door, an 8/1 window is flanked by narrower, 6/1 windows. To the right of the door there is a 12/1 window. In all of the windows (at both the first and second stories), the upper sashes are significantly smaller than the lower sashes, creating square lights in the upper sashes. The second story windows are 8/1 at the far left and right. At the center of the window, there is a pair of smaller, 6-light (not double hung) windows. The roof features a pyramidal dormer, which has a pair of hopper windows, with mullions dividing the windows into nine square lights. The south elevation includes an exterior chimney near the right, and a window with shutters is right of the chimney at the second story. Trees continued...

On October 7, 1908, the Oberlin News reported that 'Joseph T. Biggs has moved from 160 South Main street, and with his family is living in his new home, No. 40 King street.' The home seems to have been new not only to the Biggs family, but newly constructed, as its firstappearance in the city directory also occurs in 1908. Joseph Biggs worked as a carpenter and contractor. He and his wife Elizabeth had seven children: Harvey L., Alice Verne (OHS 1903), Hazel Frances (OHS 1906), Stella Irene (OHS 1911), Virgil Alonzo (OHS 1912), Esther Margaret (OHS 1915), and Edith (OHS 1918). All but Harvey appear to have been living with their parents when the family moved to 40 King street in 1908. During the 1910s this house was the setting of two weddings. Alice married Walter V. Hewlett, a teacher continued...

A two-car, two door detached garage has a small, arched window in its gable. This house is located on a residential street that receives little traffic.

O-High Alumni, Internet, http://www.oberlin-high.org, Accessed July 2006.; City Directories, O.H.I.O Resource Center.; Holsworth, Pat, Oberlin Pioneer Database.; Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.; Gordon, Stephen C., 'How to Complete the Ohio Historic Inventory,' OhioHistorical Society, Columbus. 1992.; McAlester, Virginia and Lee. 'A Field Guide to American Houses.' Alfred K. Knopf Inc. New York. 2000.; 'Alumni Register: Graduates and Former Students, Teaching and Administrative Staff, continued...

Good/Fair51. Condition of Property:

49. PIR Reviewer: 50. PIR Review Date:

53. Affiliated Inventory NumbersHistoric (OHI)

Archaeological (OAI)

Square

52. Historic Outbuildings & Dependencies

Date

GarageStructure Type

Associated Activity

LOR-1953-211. No.

Lorain2. County

4. Present Name(s)

5. Historic or Other Name(s) Biggs-Clifton HouseLO

R-1953

-2154. Farmstead Plan :

Report Associated With Project:

NADB #:

8. Site Plan with North Arrow

Bilateral symmetry

Symmetry:

OtherOrientation:

FlushDoor Position:

Single centeredDoor Selection:

LOR-1953-211. No.

Lorain2. County

4. Present Name(s) Mathews House5. Historic or Other Name(s) Biggs-Clifton House

LOR

-1953-21

42. Further Description of Important Interior and Exterior Features (Con't) obscure this elevation, so the window types cannot be identified. Left of the chimney, at the first and second stories, windows with shutters can be made out. A modern porch at the rear of the house is enclosed with lattice. The north elevation has pair of 1/1 windows at the first story, to the far left. Near the center of the first story, a window has been altered through the addition of glass blocks. Right of center, and to the far right, there are 1/1 windows. A porch at the rear has square posts with chamfered corners, and has been enclosed by lattice (this porch is a different style from the portion of a rear porch that can be seen from the south elevation; the north elevation porch appears to be historic). At the second story, 1/1 windows are located at the left and right. At the center, there is another glass block window. In the roof, a pyramidal dormer has a mullioned hopper window.

of piano and harmony from Cleveland, in 1916. The next year, Stella wedded James Wendell Shaw of Monroe, Mich., a graduate of theCollege of Mechanical Engineering at Ann Arbor. The Oberlin News stated that 'Mr. and Mrs. Shaw will make their home there [at 40 King street] for the present.' It is unclear how long the Shaws resided with Stella's family. Possibly her son, Phillip, was born here in 1919. Hazel attended Oberlin College, gaining her bachelor's degree in 1912 and her master's in 1916. She went on to teach English at East High School in Cleveland. Virgil Biggs graduated from Oberlin College in 1917 and served in the Oberlin Ambulance Unit in Italy in World War I. By 1920 Harvey had returned to live with the family, working as a carpenter. Stella and her husband had moved out, but Virgil (working as an ad solicitor), Esther, and Edith (working as a stenographer) all still resided with their parents in 1920. In the early 1920s Edith married John Mour. The Biggs family lived here through 1922, when an obituary for Joseph Biggs appears in the Oberlin News. He died 'at his home, 40 King street,' 'after an illness of two years.' Upon his death Joseph Biggs' Masonic Lodge printed a 'Resolution of Respect' in the Oberlin News, honoring him as 'a worthy member,' 'a respected citizen,' and 'a devoted husband and father.' Possibly it was around this time that the remaining members of the Biggs family left this house. By 1927, Shirley Clifton, his wife Ella and daughter Beulah resided here. That year Shirley, who by then was retired, was elected to fill a vacancy on the Oberlin village council. He served on the council until 1929, when ill health forced him to resign despite a 'very good' record. The Cliftons' daughter, Beulah, a 1916 graduate of OHS, was employed at Elyria Savings and Trust. City directories indicate that Shirley died sometime between 1935 and 1937, when the house is listed only in Ella's name. By 1948, Ella was renting out a portion of the house to her daughter Ruth and her husband Hubert Ashley, who became the outright owners by 1956. Hubert worked as a state bank examiner. He also served as treasurer at First Church for a time. Ruth attended the OC academy, Conservatory, and College between 1913 and 1916. Before her marriage in 1918, Ruth taught at the Prospect school for several years. She and Hubert had one daughter, Janet, who graduated from OHS in 1940. She attended OC and the Conservatory between 1939 and 1941. By 1942 Janet had married Benson L. Tucker. The Ashleys occupied this house until at least 1961, when the city directory lists Hubert as retired. By 1970, the Ashleys had departed and the Neufeld family had taken up residence here. Eldo Neufeld worked as the conservatory librarian at Oberlin. He and his wife Grace had at least two children.

43. History and Significance (Con't)

44. Description of Environment and Outbuildings (Con't)

(1833-1960).' Oberlin College, 1961.; Lorain County Court House, Auditor Property Record, Internet, http://www.loraincounty.com/auditor/index.shtml, Accessed 2006.; 'Local Notes and News,' Oberlin News, 7 October 1908, p. 5, c. 3.; 'Cleveland Teacher Wins Oberlin Girl As Bride,' Oberlin News, 2 February 1916, p. 1, c. 3.; 'Shaw-Biggs,' Oberlin News, 27 June 1917, p. 1, c. 4.; 'Death Takes Joseph Biggs,' Oberlin News, 21 December 1922, p. 1, c. 3.; 'Resolutions Of Respect,' Oberlin News, 4 January 1923, p. 2, c. 7.; 'Clifton Chosen For Council,' Oberlin News, 21 January 1926, p. 1, c. 2.; 'Clifton Resigns,' Oberlin News, 4 December 1929, p. 1, c. 2.; 'Popular Teacher Weds At Her Home In Avon,' 28 August 1918, p. 1, c. 7.; Untitled article, Oberlin News, 13 August 1919, p. 3, c. 3.; Oberlin Online, Internet, http://www.oberlin.edu, Accessed July 2006.;

45. Sources (Con't)