David Carpenter House
424 W. Adrian St.
The Carpenters were all members of the Blissfield Anti-Slavery
Society. It is unknown which brother (Joel, David, Guy) was an operator
on the Underground Railroad, but it is a strong possibility that David's
house, built in 1851, was a station on the route. David's brother and
long-time antislavery champion, Joel, was elected to State Senate in
1858. His house, built in 1869, was located at 625 High St. in
Blissfield.
In 1838, the Blissfield Anti-Slavery
Society consisted of Henry Bliss (president), Guy Carpenter
(vice-president), Henrick WIlley (vice-president), William Bliss
(secretary), Willard Goff (treasurer), Jay Dana, John R. Knight, Hiram
W. Bliss, Cornelia N. Sackett, Jared Pratt, Betsy Pratt, Margaret Kedzie,
J.W. Woodruff, Margaret Giles, Gideon Briggs, Sarah W. Morse, L.G.
Porter, Hester A. Goff, Nathan Lovewell, Pamelia Knight, O.F. Worth,
Caroline Bliss, Salman Harrision Jr., Elizabeth Knight, Jane S. Giles,
B.H. Lewis, Lucinda Carpenter, Nathan Gibbs Jr., Elizabeth M. Kedzie,
Jason T. Kedzie, Mary Kedzie, J.J. Lane, Sarah Rhoades, Stephen Smith,
Sarah Converse, Leonard Randall, Mary A. Dana, J.F. Carpenter, Naomi
Goff, William Kedzie, Nancy Bliss, C.S. Johnson and John Harrison. The
officers constituted what was called a "Committee of Vigilance."
In Laura S. Haviland's autobiography, A
Woman's Life Work, she describes vigilance committees as groups of
activists who would help and even defend fugitive slaves coming into and
through the area.
The David Carpenter House has been known as
the Hathaway House Restaurant since 1961. The Hathaway House has been
designated a Michigan Historic Site and is also listed on the National
Register of Historic Places. Joel Carpenter's House is currently a
private residence.
The Michigan Historical Marker, erected in
1975, at the David Carpenter House states: The David Carpenter House
is an unusually large Greek Revival house and is Ssgnificant for its
association with one of Blissfield's earliest residents and business
owners. Built in approximately 1851 for merchant and land speculator
David Carpenter, the house has undergone some changes since
construction. The two wings were originally plain, single-story
structures and the interior has been significantly altered. Purchased in
the early 1900s by the Hathaway family, the house has been maintained by
the Weeber family since 1960 as the Hathaway House restaurant. The
Joel Carpenter house was listed on the State Register of historic sites
in 1982. |
