Clyde, Thomas and Isabella Moore, House

The Clyde House is an unusual example of an upright and double wing Greek Revival house. It is significant because it is a subtype found predominately in the northeastern states, and most likely brought to Canton Township by settlers from New York State. A 1999 reconnaissance survey of Canton Township found only two other upright and double wing houses extant. The asymmetrical house has Greek Revival features such as Doric columns and return cornices. The house that currently stands on the property was moved there from the William Hauk farm at 48565 Cherry Hill Road (across the road and slightly west) in 1925. The history of the Greek Revival house before it was moved gives insight into both the family and community events. The property consisted of approximately thirty-nine acres, located in the W 1/2 of the E 1/2 of the SW 1/4 of section 18. Hugh R Clyde purchased the original land in 1827. Hugh and Eliza Huston Clyde, were among the first Canton settlers in the 1820s. Eliza's parents and siblings followed her to Canton and were important in the settlement of the area. Hugh Clyde bought 240 acres in Sections 18 and 19. In this area Ridge and Cherry Hill Roads intersected to become the heart of the hamlet. After the deaths of Hugh R. Clyde in 1831, and his wife Eliza Huston Clyde in 1838, the property went to their son, Thomas. The house was probably built by Thomas Clyde c.1845 as the taxes jumped from $3.14 in 1844 to $8.02 in 1845. In the 1850 population census Thomas and his brother, Hugh, are living with their grandmother, Mary Huston, who is shown paying taxes (sometimes jointly with Thomas) on this property until 1857. According to Cornerstones, Thomas Clyde married Isabella Moore on August 22, 1850. In 1858 the house was occupied by Thomas Clyde's cousin, John Huston II, and his new bride, Betsy. John Huston II was the fourth child of Benjamin and Hulda Huston. He married Louisa Andrews in 1853; she died in 1855. He then married Betsey Ann Mott (daughter of Canton pioneers Adam and Betsey Mott) in 1857 and they had two children, Louise Mary (1858) and Jason (1860) (Cornerstones, p.272). The property where the house stood at 48565 Cherry Hill and the contiguous forty acres were apparently used for farming. The 1870 and 1880 Agricultural Census indicates that general farming was done. In addition to raising horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, they grew wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, and hay and in 1870 produced 400 pounds of butter. Like his father, Benjamin, John Huston II was active in the community. He was township treasurer in 1859 and 1870, constable in 1860-63, justice of the peace in 1865, 1873, 1881, and 1889, poor director in 1869, township supervisor 1873-77, and township clerk in 1886. Jason Huston and Louise Huston Kimmel took possession of the property in 1907 after their father's death, then sold it to Frank Newton in 1919. In 1924 it was sold to Jennie and William Hauk who lived there until their new brick home was built. The house was then sold to William West and moved to 50325 Cherry Hill Road. According to Cornerstones, the West family were well known members of the Cherry Hill community. Richard and Jane West came to America in 1850 from the county of Cork, Ireland. They first settled in Superior Township, Michigan, then moved to property on Michigan Avenue and Beck Road in Canton Township. Their children were Debbie, Joseph, Elizabeth, Mary, Jane, William, Jerome, and Anna. William Henry West moved to Cherry Hill in 1901 (his father, Richard, died that year). He was married to Louisa Beatrice Cook of Ely, England. They were the parents of Alfred, Ellen, Elton, Arthur, Jerome, Wilbert, Earl, Luetta, Stanley, and Joseph. William H. West owned 50325 Cherry Hill, but lived at 50395 Cherry Hill Road (now razed) and 50475 Cherry Hill Road. William operated a post office and general store located on Cherry Hill Road just east of Ridge Road. In 1917 he purchased the Cherry Hill Inn on the corner of Cherry Hill and Ridge Roads. All the children helped their father at the store, but it would be Jerome, known as 'Jake,' who would take over the business. After William West's death in 1934, his wife, Louisa, retained ownership of 50325 Cherry Hill Road until her death in 1950. Subsequent owners were Pearl P. Kissler, Dalton and Evylen Avey, Charles A. Houk, William and Lynn Meyers, and Shannon Causley. Mr. and Mrs. Shannon Causley and their five children currently occupy the house. The Clyde house is one of a number of early and mid-nineteenth century house forms from the northeastern United States brought to southeast Michigan by the early generation of settlers from the east that came to the area after the opening of the Erie Canal in 1925. Canton Township, whose earliest white settlement was almost exclusively of Yankees from New England and upstate New York, was particularly rich in Greek Revival houses exemplifying a broad variety of forms characteristic of the Northeast. The Thomas and Isabella Moore Clyde house is an unusual example of the upright and double wing house because of its asymmetry.

The Thomas Clyde House is a one-and-one-half story, c.1845 upright and double-wing Greek Revival building whose facade is atypical in its asymmetry. While the front wall of the east wing of the north-facing building is recessed back from the central upright's facade the depth of a porch that fronts it, the front wall of the west wing, which has no porch, is aligned with the upright's front wall. The house's corners display 'antae' supporting a classical entablature with low architrave and higher frieze. The classical raking cornices display returns. Victorian porches that front the upright and east wing display thick chamfered edge square-plan posts with pierced-work brackets framing the openings between the posts and a single bracket in the porch cornice directly above each post. The house's walls are clapboarded (except for flush horizontal boarding on the upright's facade behind the porch) and pierced by two front entrances, a central one in the upright and another in the east wing, and by square-head six-over-six windows. The house retains its original ramped door and window surrounds with 'earred' trim. It has an asphalt shingle roof. Brick chimneys are found on the upright and the west wing. The house stands on a rock-face concrete block foundation. The first floor contains two bedrooms, living room, laundry, kitchen, hall and enclosed stairs. The hall is central to the house and opens to the living room, bedroom, and laundry room. Simple woodwork is seen throughout the downstairs. The basement is a 'Michigan' basement with dirt floor. A concrete block one-story addition is attached to the rear elevation (construction date unknown). The kitchen has recently been remodeled and the front porch renovated in 1997 (saving the original columns, door and window surrounds, and brackets under the eaves). The house sits on a small lot in the hamlet of Cherry Hill near a few old residences and across the road from the school. The landscaping includes floral foundation plantings and a few young trees on the western property line. There is a modern detached two-car garage in back of the house. The Clyde house is an attractive reminder of the settlement pattern that developed in the hamlet.