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First Log House Historic Marker
| Historic Site #: | 07-002 (Exists) Type: B2,L | Town: | Marion | ||
| Site Name: | First Log House Historic Marker | GPS Coordinates: | 43.1411528, -77.1931306 | ||
| Address: | 3713 S. Main St. | ||||
| Description: | |||||
Home of the Henry Lovell family erected in 1795. Marker erected by Marion members of the Colonel William Prescott Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution on July 4, 1934. | |||||
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| Lovell Historic Marker | Lovell House in 2018 |
| Historic narrative: | |||||
From the D.A.R. dedication pamphlet of the marker July 4, 1934 as written by Medora Westfall "The tablet on Palmyra St, in front of the double house now owned by C. Cattieu, marks the site of the first home in Marion, a log cabin, built by Henry Lovell. Henry Lovell probably came from Rhode Island or Massachusetts, as did most of the early settlers. He was accompanied by his wife, though early historians did not consider that fact worthy of mention. He probably procured the title to the land now occupied to the south and west of portions of Marion from the land office at Geneva. Erase from your mind, if possible, the present well-paved street, lined with pleasant homes, and picture in its place a dense forest, through which ran a stream, much larger than the present creek, and you will ahve an idea of the site which Henry Lovell chose for his home. Listen to the sound of his axe as he fells the trees, making a clearing, and procuring logs for his cabin. The house was built of logs on which the bark was left. The floor was of dirt. In it was built a Dutch fireplace and a log chimney. Around it bears roamed and the howl of the wolf could be heard all night. Deer were very abundant in the forest and history says Lovell was a skillful hunter and killed thirty deer in one day. Evidently the family did not lack dfor food. In this rude cabin was born the first white child in the town. The infant died in a few weeks and the tiny form was laid beneath a giant maple on a knoll behind the cabin. David Powell and wife, who also came to this locality in 1795, assisted in the burial of the baby. Little Betsy Lovell, a second daughter, was the second child born in the town. As the mother went about her work, caring for her child and cooking for her family in a large kettle hung on a crane in the fireplace, or baking Indian loaf under coals drawn out on the hearth, inquisitive deer thrust their noses through the window openings. A watch had to be kept that the children, when a little older, did not stray into the forest, to be snatched by a bear, as was often the fate of the settler's pigs. Just how long the Lovell's lived in Marion is unknown. We are told they went west in the early days. The present house on the site of the log cabin is over 100 years old." | |||||