24 July 1833

 This is why it is important to do deed research.

From Deed Record H, May 1832-Nov 1833, I read that brothers Peter N. and Benjamin Brushfield  put down roots in Madison, Indiana, in a fractional part of Section One. 

Finding a record of the deed is wonderful.

I’m happy with that date.

July 4, 1844

A good day for the Town of Fulton. It was the day of a survey, the earliest date I have found for  public mention of it as this being the survey description for the Town of Fulton (thus a good day for me and my research). This was authorized to be recorded on June 15, 1846, and then recorded on September 4th, 1846, as it became an addition to the City of Madison. The Town of Fulton is said to be east of Brushfield’s lot in the description…Brushfield’s being the eastern boundary line for the City of Madison.

 

**This information came courtesy of using the Jefferson County Historical Society’s  MP-0034 collection of the Early Subdivision Plat Maps for Jefferson County, which were the first recordings of plats as laid out for Madison, Indiana.  These plat maps are extraordinarily fragile. I wish someone would donate enough money to that organization to better preserve these maps. It isnecessary. I felt honored to be able to view and handle these precious records, and worried the whole time about causing them damage. I was careful.  I thought it was best to take photos rather than to ask for copies of anything…just like I did at the courthouse just prior to the fire there. One description was scanned though, because it made it easier to read, the description being from 1835, wherein the Brushfield property is mentioned as a marker for the Sheets Addition. Chickens and eggs.

the Death of Mr. Benjamin Brushfield

He was, according to the newspaper of the day,  ”one of our most worthy citizens”,  yet until I started looking for information on Mr. Brushfield and this neighborhood, would anyone have considered this man a notable in Madison, Indiana?

Today I came across the Death of Mr. Benjamin Brushfield on  microfilm of the Madison Daily Courier,October 8, 1885. Because the editor spoke so highly of Mr. Brushfield’s service to the “Christ Church in this city” (Christ Episcopal Church) and knowing there was not much information about him at the church, I figured they would want a copy of this, too. I’ll send them one, just for the record. I do have a different smaller death notice mention on the Brushfield-Cunningham House & Manufactory page, but I like this one better. It also mentioned he was a tallow chandler. The neighbors knew him as much more.

Mr. Brushfield is buried in Springdale Cemetery in Madison, Indiana. He and his wife share a large, tall, double-sided headstone in the center of the cemetery just below a famous sculpture, which is shown in this photo. The sculpture is called, Let There Be Light, by George Grey Barnard.

There is bronze version of the aforementioned statue  located at the grave site of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Wolfe Bernheim of Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest in Clermont, Kentucky.

1032 Park Avenue

 Building Description:

The one-and-a- half story, gabled-ell, wood-frame house’s deed was recorded from father to son in 1884 and the 1887 Bird’s Eye View map shows an illustration of the building on the property. I’m not yet sure exactly when it was built.

 

The building consists of a lower level that is only two rooms under the main axis of the structure. There are two small windows on the west side and an access door on the south side. All features are original to the structure. The shutters for the structure were unfortunately cut up and used for holding insulation in the floor joist cavities on the foundation walls. There is enough detail for future restoration of the shutters.

 

The upper floor is laid out with two rooms on the main axis and two rooms on the minor axis, as it was originally built. All the existing 6 over 6 windows are original as is the east side door. Four window openings have been replaced/modified over time. There are three remaining sash holders that appear to be patented in 1878. The front door has also been replaced some point in time although it appears to have been trimmed out inside with some of the original trim material.

 

The front room has pedimented lentils with molding profile over the windows and doors. The rest of the building has simple pedimented lentils. All the trim work is original to the structure and appears to have been grained originally along with the windows and doors. The front room and the bigger room of the ell have false mantles underneath the stove pipe holes of the chimneys. The larger room of the ell has been investigated for restoration. The room was only two coated plaster on lathe. The ceiling had a finish coat of plaster but the walls were only brown coated.

 

Fourteen layers of wallpaper were removed to expose the original wall paper. A manufacture and enough design was revealed to document the repeat of the main wall paper, border paper, and ceiling paper. Further reasearch is needed but with discussions with wall paper curators, the paper seems to date back to the 1880’s. The walls seemed to have had a red wash on the plaster as a temporary finish until the wall paper was installed. There was a secondary darker red stripe at the top of the wall that acted as a border, but varied in width around the room.

 

The studs seem to have been salvaged from an earlier structure. There is evidence of lathe being nailed up on interior sides of the studs that don’t line up with any walls that exist. The exterior still has its original clapboard, trim and barge board. Paint analysis has been done to determine the original colors of the building. The roof was originally wood shingle and has been restored to such material. The two chimneys are original to the structure, although the one on the ell was only a half chimney that had been removed to just below the roof line, it has since been restored. The porch was probably a later addition dating to the early 20^th century. Work has just begun on full investigation and restoration of this feature.

 

The Madison National Historic Landmark Inventory record, Final Site #1714, surveyed 9/25/2002, incorrectly lists the house as having an outbuilding, vinyl siding rubble stone house on lot, c. 1850, replaced windows and doors. The so-called “outbuilding” would be the property next door, at 1030&1/2.

 

 

SEE EXPANDED PAGE

1034 Park Avenue

The Benjamin Brushfield Candle Manufactory

The Richard Brushfield Broom Manufactory

 

This circa 1850 two-floor, commercial, brick building was built into the hillside on the south side of Park Avenue (previously known as Lawrenceburg Road), level with the then High Street-now E. First Street “alley”. The building was originally used for tallow chandling and later broom making. We are unsure of the layout as to how the building was used, specifically, but the lower level originally had a dirt floor.

There is evidence of two stencils on the inside of the south doors (B. Brushfield Lard Oil No. 1, Madison, IND) indicating at least the packaging of goods. Additional access is on the north side of the building through a double wooden door. Two windows are on the north face and 3 windows are on the upper floor of the south side of the building. There was evidence of a stairway on the north side that connected the upper and lower levels, but that stairway no longer exists.

 

Built with an open floor plan. The lower level is only 2/3 the length of the overall building and full width. The eastern third never seems to have had access, it has ground sloping that conforms with the hillside outside. There was a center hewn beam running east/west that was supported with two hewn posts to support the upper floor. Two windows flanked the the lower doors; one has been rebuilt using the remnants of the existing jamb as a model.

 

The upper floor was a clear span made possible by two primary trusses holding a purlen on either side to catch the half span of the rafter system. On the southern portion of the east wall there are three joist pockets measuring roughly 3” by 6” approximately 7′ off the floor, indicating a second level in the southeast corner of the building. No evidence of a western side of support has yet been discovered for this feature. The rafters show no sign of ever having a finished ceiling. The walls are three courses of brick thick up to the eave line of the roof, the gable ends are two brick thick. The walls have a combination of white paint and whitewash on brick. There is evidence that at some point a thin finished coat of plaster was covering the walls at some point in time.

 

There are stove pipe openings in three chimney cavities on the upper floor, two on the west side halfway up either rake and one on the east side coming out the peak of the roof. The east chimney protrudes into the space one extra brick course and was placed slightly north of the center, making the chimney angle slightly to come out in the center of the roof system. All chimneys had been removed above the roof line prior to 1996.

 

The original windows were removed in 1996 because of the condition and replaced with windows that came from 1030 Park Ave. The windows matched in configuration, profile and size. The door opening may have been roughly a foot farther west at one point. The limestone sill was off-center of the current door opening. The sill was moved to center of the door opening when the door jamb was restored. The bricks on either side of the jamb were relayed at this time, and no evidence of the them being reset was discovered, leaving a question as to whether the door opening was shifted or the sill was just laid in of center. The existing doors are probably a later replacement since they do not match the lower set of doors in beading profiles. The lower floor doors do match the basement doors of 1032 Park Ave. in their profile and construction technique.

 

In addition to the stencils found on the inside of the lower doors, an inscription is found on the lower door jamb, the initials W.B.might indicate Wilberforce Brushfield marking his initials, as the dates are consistent with his living on the property.

 

The current classification for the building (Final Site No. 1715) on the Madison National Historic Landmark Inventory (9/25/2002) states the building’s historic function is that of a domestic secondary structure, but the building has almost exclusively been used as a business since it was built. The building is currently functioning as a tinner’s manufactory, so the current function would also be business.  

 

This is the building which, by name and its physical existence, marks the eastern boundary of the city’s corporation limits.

 

Please see the Brushfield-Cunningham PAGE for more information.