To determine the age of The Old House, the following tools were used:
1) Evaluation of the architecture, the nails, doorknobs, hinges, locks, moldings, other building materials and hardware.
2) Review of official records in the County archives and local historical societies.
3) Review of Deeds for the house and town's property tax records.
4) Study of old Maps: mostly The Sanborn Fire Insurance maps accessible on the Internet.
5) Research into the City Directories and Society Directories about people and their trades.
6) Study of old Photographs of the house and people related to it.
7) Research on genealogical Internet sites like FamilySearch, peoplelegacy, and Findagrave.
8) Review of old West Stewartstown's Annual Reports available on the Internet.
9) History books and local newspaper.
10) Review of old local newspapers.
11) Research in the various US Census.
We came to the following conclusion: built between 1860 and 1870, during a period of fast expansion for the Town of West Stewartstown, this house with a “gabled front and wing type Greek Revival architecture”, was built using a hybrid timber and ballon framing combining braced 8 x 8 heavy-timber plate beams (8 x 8 sills, 8 x 8 cellar girts mortised into the sills with 3 x 6 joists notched into the sills) with 4x4 long studs and balloon-framed wall.1
The attached barn was likely built 10 to 20 years earlier based on the nails used (forged cut-nails instead on the more modern machine-cut-nails for the house). The 23 by 33 feet two story “english-style” barn structure, popular during the beginning of the 19th century, was used for carriage and horses, and withstood well many snowy winters. It was built using the same construction method as the house. Door entrances were modified over time to accommodate changing needs.
The house has two sections; both sections have an exposed foundation above grade which explains the longevity of the house. One section is built on a crawl space, while the main house has a full basement seen only in affluent houses of that era.
The production of machine-made nails, accompanied by the water-powered sawmills long studs made “balloon framing” the common method for building houses during that period. For the supporting walls, the 4 x 4 studs extend uninterrupted from the sill beams on the top of the foundation all the way to the roof (or wall plate), often 20 to 30 feet in length.2 Thick planks for the exterior sheathing nailed perpendicular to the exterior wall studs significantly strengthened the framing.3 A major contrast to the modern platform framing that uses shorter, standardized lumber 2"X4" for each story (modern 2x4 that are actually smaller diameter than the "true" dimensional lumber" (before 1900, a 2x4 truly measured 2 inches by 4 inches).
Prior to the 20th century, long and large lumber (primarily the slow growing, rot and decay resistant oak, hemlock and American chestnut in northern New Hampshire, specifically in the Connecticut River Valley) was abundant and construction methods utilized the advantage of such materials. Early settlers had access to large quantity of old-growth timber with denser, and stronger wood than modern sapwood (pine or fir tree). Before the blight fungus, which was accidentally introduced into the U.S. on Japanese chestnut trees imported at the end of the 1800s, decimated the chestnut forest, it was a dominant tree, providing strong, straight timber.
1Timber framing was gradually superseded by balloon framing beginning in the 1830s. Hybrid frame combining both method was common until mid 18th century. Balloon framing required very long studs and as tall trees were exhausted by the beginning of the 19th century, platform framing became the prevalent method to build houses. As for this house, the presence of a “gabled front and lateral wing” type of Greek Revival Architecture was very common in northern states.
2”Balloon" was originally intended to be a derogatory term implying a light weight structure that could be easily carried off in a breeze like a balloon.
3Solid blocking as well as insulation filling in the empty cavity were installed at specific locations reducing significantly the movement of air in the voids and preventing a fire from quickly spreading.
4Modern wire-nails (nails that are round in cross-section) appeared in North America in the 1860s .
Bennington doorknobs
Between 1820 and 1870, pressed glass knobs as well as porcelain were popular for molding doorknobs. This house has some antique Bennington doorknobs5, few white porcelain knobs, and mostly pressed glass doorknobs6; valuable objects manufactured to last, they have solid brass shanks and mounts.
The glass knobs are crystal clear and cut to 12 facets with the look of large diamonds. The knob heads are flat; through the clear glass you can see a design molded into the base of the knob in the shape of a flower with a crystalline appearance.
From the catalogue available OnLine : P. & F. Corbins's Illustrated Catalogue and Price List of Builders', Cabinet, and Miscellaneous Hardware : Including Locks, Latches, and Ornamental Bronze Goods: published in 1872. available OnLine: https://archive.org/details/pfcorbin-1872/page/n179/mode/2up.
Based on the door style, locks, latches, nails, doorknobs, and construction method, it appears that the earliest date for the construction of the house is likely around 1870. Based on the US Census, we know that the Hall's settled in the house between 1870 and 1880 confirming the assumptions discussed above.
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5By 1860, a new type of knobs were produced in Bennington, Vermont. A mineral was swirled with a brown clay mixture to create a unique pattern. It became the norm of the time in rural houses and in the service areas of wealthy homes. Around 1850s, Charles Hagar, a blacksmith immigrant from Germany, Started the Hager Company created hardware items for doors like hinges, rims for wheels, and knifes.
6Glass doorknobs date back to 1826, when the process for pressing molten glass into molds was invented. They were most favored by owners of Greek Revival homes.
References:
Historic Nails by George E. Bentley, Waterford, VA Reprinted from the Waterford Foundation Booklet of 1958.
The American DoorKnob, by Franklin Pierce Hall https://www.antiquehomesmagazine.com/reading-room/the-american-doorknob/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_(construction)#Balloon_framing
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/how-to-advice/balloon-framing.shtm
Lee H. Nelson, Illustrated Catalogue of American Hardware of the Russell and Erwin Manufacturing Company. Reprint of 1865 edition. (Washington, D.C.: The Association for Preservation Technology, 1980), pp. viii–vix.
P. & F. Corbins's Illustrated Catalogue and Price List of Builders', Cabinet, and Miscellaneous Hardware : Including Locks, Latches, and Ornamental Bronze Goods: published in 1872. available OnLine: https://archive.org/details/pfcorbin-1872/page/n179/mode/2up.
Russell & Erwin Mfg. Co. revised price and discounts of hardware and descriptions of new goods. By Russell & Erwin Mfg. Co.. Available on line: https://archive.org/details/russell-and-irwin-1877-307, page 51:
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THE TWO STORY ENGLISH STYLE BARN:
Interestingly, for this extremely stable high pitch gable roof, no ridge beam or collar tie are present, but only two central 20 feet long wood rafter-ties in the lower one-third of the roof and one large diameter tie-rod in the center of the barn fixed to the wall plate to prevent lateral spread of the walls and rafters. The 2 1/2’’ by 5” rafters, 32 inches on center, covered and held in place by large thick planks, lean on each other at the apex with a mitred butt joint and sit at the bottom with a seat cut (or birds-mouth cut) on the long 2” x 7” wall plate.
Like almost all “Old English Barn”1, it is about 23 by 33 feet with two opposed lateral side wall swinging doors (one of the hinged wagon door was shut down, but is still visible from the inside) as well as evidence of a previous hay hood along the second floor west-lateral side of the barn.
Of extreme interest in this two story large old barn is the absence on the first floor of any vertical central support (or post) giving a clear span on the first floor. Instead, the floor is supported by an ingenious use of a single longitudinal Howe truss (patented in 1840 by William Howe, and generally used for bridges) and another carefully positioned perpendicular single King truss, supporting a 5” X 8” semi-central load-bearing beam (or Bull Beam). The semi-central floor load-bearing beam3 support the floor joists, and itself is supported by this single Howe Truss consisting of three vertical iron chords and diagonals wood 4” x 4” posts. The vertical members of the trusses holding the load-bearing beam are 1'' iron rods fixed in place by square nuts over Ogee Washers above the trusses and underneath the horizontal load-bearing beam.
Trusses
Support for the Bull Beam: Picture of Ogee Washer for the Howe truss two lateral iron rods.
At the North end of the barn, also supporting the North end of the load-bearing beam, a king post is present, itself in tension with an iron rod (king rod) connecting the apex of the truss with the end of the load-bearing beam above the garage door (using a metal plate notched in place instead of an Ogee washer). It has been built with more recent wood and nails than the Howe truss. It was likely added in the early 1900s when the North-end garage door was added.
I have been researching this concept of floor and central load beam supported by a single Howe truss for some time, and I had never seen anything similar. But, it appears that using a Howe truss to support a ceiling from above is a common structural solution when you want to remove an internal load-bearing wall or fix a sagging ceiling without adding a visible beam in the room. In this setup, the Howe truss acts as a bridge across the span, and the ceiling is suspended from its bottom chord. In the Howe truss, the diagonal members are in compression (pushing against each other) and the vertical members, three 1'' steel rods, are in tension (pulling the supporting beam and the floor up).
Because the vertical posts are under tension, they are perfectly suited to "pull up" the weight of the floor (726 sq. ft. x 15 lbs/sq. ft.= 10,890 lbs = ''dead load'', which means 5,455 lbs per end (i.e. diagonal posts). This is the opposite of a Pratt truss, where the diagonals handle the tension.
It worked well for more than a century with an enduring straight bull beam without deflection and a level second floor.
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1In residential area, ”reflecting the period’s prosperity and dependence on horse-drawn carriages for transportation”, many stables for horses snd carriage are “converted English type barns which have been moved sideways into the connected building complex and now have an off-centered door in the gable end. This tradition was so strong that when new stables were constructed using balloon frame construction after 1860 they frequently maintained the earlier form and measurements of the old English barn.” “By the 1870s, advances in threshing equipment made the threshing floor orientation obsolete, so when New England barns appeared, many farmers converted their English barns to the new form by turning them and inserting new doors in the gable ends.”
2”The major change of this refinement period was the development of a continuously unified structure from house-to-barn, usually made of balloon frame construction, sometimes entirely new and sometimes engulfing previous buildings and sheds between house and barn.”
References:
King post bridge truss for short span ,1889, in Popular Science Monthly, Volume 38
https://www.tn.gov/tdot/structures-/historic-bridges/history-of-a-truss-bridge.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_post
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:PSM_V36_D482_King_post_bridge_truss_for_short_span.jpg
https://www.decks.com/how-to/articles/beam-span-chart-table
https://dcstructural.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/TFEC-4-2020-Design-Guide-for- Timber-Roof-Trusses.pdf
Hubka, Thomas C.. "Maine's Connected Farm Buildings, Part II." Maine History 18, 4 (1979): 217-245. Available on line: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mainehistoryjournal/ vol18/iss4/4
Garvin, James L. A Building History of Northern New England. University Press of New England, Hanover and London, 2001.
Halstead, Byron David. Barns and Outbuildings and How to Build Them. Originally published by Orange Judd Company, 1881. New York: The Lyons Press, 2000.
Noble, Allen G. and Richard K. Cleek. The Old Barn Book: A Field Guide to North American Barns and Other Farm Structures. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1995.
Rawson, Richard. Old Barn Plans. New York: Main Street Press, 1979.
Visser, Thomas Durant. Field Guide to New England Barns and Farm Buildings. University Press of New England, Hanover and London, 1997.
Design Guide for Timber Trusses, 2021:
https://www.carolinatimberworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Design-Guide-For-Timber-Trusses.pdf
Pictures: pictures from a glass negative: research and reproduction by Dennis Fuller, Chair of the Canaan Historical Society, Canaan, Vermont.
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3 8 feet on the east side of the barn and 15 feet on the west side is typical of old english barn, when the animals were keep on the warmer east side and hay on the coldest west side.
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