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Ann Arbor Yesterdays ~ From Peacocks To Elks

Ann Arbor Yesterdays ~ From Peacocks To Elks image
Parent Issue
Day
11
Month
July
Year
1960
Copyright
Copyright Protected
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
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ONE OF CITY’S FIRST HOMES: The Elks Club at 338 S. Main St. is actually one of Ann Arbor’s oldest homes. It was built before 1840 by William S. Maynard who had much to do with early Ann Arbor. Lela Duff talks about the structure in her article today.

Ann Arbor Yesterdays

From Peacocks To Elks

By Lela Duff

You may have wondered when hurrying along S. Main St. why the Elks didn’t tear down that old wooden building attached to their fine new brick addition. The answer must be, of course, that the Elks are gentlemen of sentiment and that they really cherish this remnant of elegance from Ann Arbor’s early period. They also probably wish to honor the builder, William S. Maynard, who had as much to do as any one person with the direction of the development of the community during its first 40 years.

Three additions to the village and city bear his name: He was one of the five donors of a campus to lure the University to Ann Arbor, and a prime mover in the establishment of a county fair. He was several times mayor as well as an alderman and a member of the school board in the years when the village had recently become a city.

Coming first as a young man with his wellborn parents and their large family, he helped build a log cabin on Mallet’s Creek only a few months after the arrival of Allen and Rumsey. One of his sisters was not long in drawing the attention of John Allen’s younger brother, James, and the two families became relatives in March, 1826. (I suspect the courting was started at that 4th of July celebration I told you about last week.)

Young William, however, had hurried back to New York State to do some courting of his own and to try his hand at business. In 1827 he returned to Ann Arbor with his wife, the former Julia Guiteau. With his father and brothers he opened a general store which soon became a lucrative enterprise.

By 1840 he had built one of Ann Arbor’s most beautiful homes—the one we are looking at today. Even more spectacular than the residence itself were the grounds, which took up over half of the long block from William St. to Liberty St. and extended down the slope across a little creek to Second, now Ashley St. Laid out by a professional landscape designer, they show, in an old steel engraving, a formal balance to match the lines of the house, with summer house and handsome lamp post answering each other at the ends. A delicate white picket fence surrounds the property. Along Main St. is a sturdy hitching rail for the accommodation of the carriages of the guests at the frequent receptions given in this center of hospitality.

An ornamental greenhouse stretched out to the south in which grapes ripened early, and one can guess at the matching perfection of stables and carriage house, for this gentleman was a connoisseur of fine horses. Imagine too, the supercoops that would shelter the exotic fowls he enjoyed raising: pheasants, guinea fowl, and above all, peacocks! Many an urchin would remember peering through the fence to see them spread their gorgeous tails.

The big square white house itself was originally only a story and a half in height with a cupola, but in 1859 it was raised to its present two and a ' half stories and the “widow’s walk” railing was added, the corners of which were until recently capped with delicate posts shaped like Greek urns. The ornamental brackets and medallions under the wide eaves have been carefully preserved. The large windows we see today have their original small panes, though the shutters were sacrificed some time before the Elks look over in 1908. Soon after that date the wider porch was substituted for the narrow one with daintily ornate pillars.

The front entrance is unchanged except for the door itself, and beyond the vestibule one sees the same long central hall with its heavy Victorian staircase at the back. The necessities of a men’s club, of course, have left little else of the interior as it was in the Maynards' day. In the basement, however, one may still see the heavy beams that were hewed a century and a quarter ago.

It was recently my privilege to call on William S. Maynard’s only living granddaughter, Mrs. Bernard H. Glenn of Fowlerville. Her house is full of beautiful furnishings that once graced this Ann Arbor mansion: Empire tables and chairs, long gilt-framed mirrors, oil portraits, silver lea-sets, rare china, books autographed by writers who were guests in the house, many choice objects that were gifts of President Tappan—the list leaves one breathless.

It was in 1888 at the death of W. S. Maynard's second wife, that the house passed out of family hands and for 20 years, until the Elks purchased it, it was used as a rooming-hotel. Many a stranger, spending a night in Ann Arbor, must breathed in a hint of its former splendor.