Oviatt House
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The Oviatt farmhouse was built in 1836 by Mason Oviatt.
The lumber for the house was milled on site by Mason and his brother Erastus in a sawmill they had constructed three years earlier on the nearby creek.
Mason and Fanny Oviatt raised eleven children in this house. Mason died in 1850. Fanny never re-married, but ran the farm and raised the children on her own.
In 1853, the title for the house and the farm passed from Mason Oviatt's estate into Fanny's possession. A year later, she signed the title over to Mason's brother Uri who owned the adjacent land. But taxes continued to be paid under Mason's name until 1870. It's not clear why Fanny signed the house over to her brother in law. Other women at the time bought and held property in their own right.
There is no further record of the land changing hands until 1919, when Raymond and Mamie Oviatt sold the farm to Jim Kirby. Raymond was the son of Miles Oviatt, oldest surviving son of Mason and Fanny. Jennie Farwell Oviatt, daughter of Miles and Permilla Oviatt, shared the stories that her grandmother told her about life in the old house with local writer/historian Eunice Merton
When Kirby built a new house, the old Oviatt place became the caretaker’s residence. When the Cleveland Girl Scouts bought the Kirby estate, the Oviatt farmhouse continued as the Camp Manager’s House.
Oviatt House, Inc was formed in 2021 to restore the structure and preserve its history for coming generations
Sources:
Medina County Recorder’s Office for title transfers prior to 1840
Summit County Recorder’s Office for title transfers records after 1840
Ohio Historical Society for tax records prior to 1840
University of Akron Special Collections Department for tax records after 1840
Eunice Merton, Richfield writer & historian, who collected Oviatt family stores from Jennie Farwell Oviatt and published them in her Brecksvilel News column "Between Nursery Rows"
Dr. Al Lee, archaeologist
Leah & Lynn Krulik, genealogists and Oviatt descendants
Ray Oviatt, Senior – grandson of Raymond and Mamie
Richfield Historical Society photo archives by Mark Mitchell
The lumber for the house was milled on site by Mason and his brother Erastus in a sawmill they had constructed three years earlier on the nearby creek.
Mason and Fanny Oviatt raised eleven children in this house. Mason died in 1850. Fanny never re-married, but ran the farm and raised the children on her own.
In 1853, the title for the house and the farm passed from Mason Oviatt's estate into Fanny's possession. A year later, she signed the title over to Mason's brother Uri who owned the adjacent land. But taxes continued to be paid under Mason's name until 1870. It's not clear why Fanny signed the house over to her brother in law. Other women at the time bought and held property in their own right.
There is no further record of the land changing hands until 1919, when Raymond and Mamie Oviatt sold the farm to Jim Kirby. Raymond was the son of Miles Oviatt, oldest surviving son of Mason and Fanny. Jennie Farwell Oviatt, daughter of Miles and Permilla Oviatt, shared the stories that her grandmother told her about life in the old house with local writer/historian Eunice Merton
When Kirby built a new house, the old Oviatt place became the caretaker’s residence. When the Cleveland Girl Scouts bought the Kirby estate, the Oviatt farmhouse continued as the Camp Manager’s House.
Oviatt House, Inc was formed in 2021 to restore the structure and preserve its history for coming generations
Sources:
Medina County Recorder’s Office for title transfers prior to 1840
Summit County Recorder’s Office for title transfers records after 1840
Ohio Historical Society for tax records prior to 1840
University of Akron Special Collections Department for tax records after 1840
Eunice Merton, Richfield writer & historian, who collected Oviatt family stores from Jennie Farwell Oviatt and published them in her Brecksvilel News column "Between Nursery Rows"
Dr. Al Lee, archaeologist
Leah & Lynn Krulik, genealogists and Oviatt descendants
Ray Oviatt, Senior – grandson of Raymond and Mamie
Richfield Historical Society photo archives by Mark Mitchell
The Oviatt farmhouse (photo courtesy Richfield Historical Society
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Raymond and Marie Oviatt (photo courtesy Richfield Historical Society)
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Why the Oviatt Farmhouse is historically significant
The Oviatt Farm house is one of the oldest buildings in Richfield. But more important than its age is its connection to Richfield's- and America's - story. The involvement of Eunice Merton adds an important cultural connection.
The Oviatt story shows courage especially in the ties between people of different races (Native Americans, escaping slaves).
The Oviatt story also shows the persistence and importance of family.
Why the Oviatt Farmhouse is historically significant
The Oviatt Farm house is one of the oldest buildings in Richfield. But more important than its age is its connection to Richfield's- and America's - story. The involvement of Eunice Merton adds an important cultural connection.
- Family ties. The house was built by members of the Oviatt family. The Oviatts were pioneers; being some of the first settlers in the Western Reserve. They had an unusually close relationship with the native tribes in the area. Direct descendants are numerous and some are still in the area. Heman Oviatt / Mason & Fanny Oviatt
- The first Oviatt structure on the property was a sawmill ( 1834), most likely built in preparation for constructing the house . This shows the type of self-sufficiency needed for the time. Mason Oviatt continued to run the sawmill for paying customers ( journal of Nathaniel Oviatt shows record of transaction with Mason)
- Mason & Fanny Oviatt were known to have assisted John Brown’s family when the latter lived in Richfield. Mason was involved in the underground railroad
- Mason Oviatt participated in the California gold rush
- Fanny Oviatt was a woman of strong spirit who, before her marriage in 1831, defended her right to keep the money she earned. After she was widowed, she raised her children and ran the farm by herself.
- The farm was passed down to her grandson – who lived there with his family until they sold to Mr. Kirby.
- The Oviatt stories were published by Richfield writer & nationally known folklorist, Eunice Merton.
- In Kirby’s time, the house was occupied by handyman/ farmers. The last of these, Henry Heiser, became part of the Richfield community.
- Henry Heiser was also the first camp manager for the Cleveland Girl Scouts.
- The house was continually occupied by families of managers until the ODNR declared that the position of the dam immediately upstream represented a danger to the house.
The Oviatt story shows courage especially in the ties between people of different races (Native Americans, escaping slaves).
The Oviatt story also shows the persistence and importance of family.