Davis Duplex (26-28 North Third Street)

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(Photo by Richard F. Hope)

Davis Duplex (26-28 North Third Street)

Short 3-story brick duplex with an “Italianate” bracketed cornice at roof, and projecting (though straight) window pediments on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Picture window on ground floor, and dual entrances atop a stoop with steps. Notwithstanding the cornice, the basic building has been identified as being built in the “Greek Revival” style c.1811.[1]

The property is located on the northern part of original town Lot No. 142, as surveyed by William Parsons when Easton was established in 1752.[2] That Lot was formally sold by the Penn Family to John Rees in 1789.[3] Actually, John Rees had become a major property owner in the area. He started in 1775 by purchasing original town Lot No.143 (in the middle of the block, along Pomfret Street) in 1775.[4] In 1776 Rees formally acquired Lot No.141 (on the other side – 55 feet of frontage beginning at the corner with the alley now known as Church Street).[5] In the underlying survey, Rees had agreed to build a “stone dwelling house” on that property.[6] John Rees also informally occupied the intervening Lot No.142,[7] only finally purchasing formal title to it in 1789.[8]

John Rees was a “Taylor” by trade.[9] John Rees sold Lot No.143 to his son Jacob in 1805.[10] After John’s death, his remaining real estate (i.e. Lot Nos.141 and 142) was broken up (“partitioned”) by Orphan’s Court, to be split up among his three children, at proceedings on 25 April 1807. “Part No.2” was located in the middle of John Rees’s two remaining Lots, occupying the largest share Rees’s remaining property (frontage of 41 feet and 3 inches), with the stone house on it (apparently his former residence, and presumably the house built for the survey). It was accordingly given the largest valuation by far of the three “Parts”. John Rees’s only son, Jacob, accepted this “Part No.2” as a portion of his inheritance at the valuation assigned (with obligations to settle up with his sisters accordingly). Jacob’s sisters, Christina (wife of John Carey) and Elizabeth (wife of Jacob Ludwig), accepted smaller, unimproved parcels on either side. In particular, Part No.3 was accepted by an assignee of Elizabeth and Jacob Ludwig, as a portion of her inheritance, valued at £250.[11]

The Ludwigs sold their inheritance right in John Rees’s property to Abraham Horn, who had appeared in the April 1807 Orphan’s Court proceeding as the Ludwigs’ assignee. In fact, Horn’s purchase deed was not dated until June of that year, when he paid £500 for the property (double the valuation price).[12] At the end of 1807, Horn resold the property to Jacob Arndt for $900.[13] Arndt was the son of French and Indian War Major Jacob Arndt, Sr., and the brother of John Arndt, a Captain in Washington’s Army in the Revolutionary War.[14] Two years later (in 1809), Arndt resold the property for only $800 to Rev. Christian Endress.[15] At about that time, Arndt wasliquidating some of his property holdings in order to buy land at the corner with Centre Square, on which he built a brick residence. Arndt’s new Centre Square residencelater became the original building for “Chippy” White’s famous hotel, and is now incorporated into the Hotel Huntington.[16]

In 1811, Rev. Endress sold the property to “House Carpenter” Moses Davis,[17] who in that year erected a “Brick House” on it with a party wall at the northern end.[18] After Moses Davis died in 1834, this property was partitioned into two pieces by the Orphan’s Court, for distribution to two different heirs. A curious easement was made for an alleyway along the South side of what is now No.26, that then turns North behind the property to service No.28.[19] The only apparent reason for such a Baker’s Alley across the rear of No.26 to service No.28, would be if Davis’s “Brick House” covered both properties and blocked the ability to construct a separate service entrance for No.28 – supporting the conclusion that Davis’s “Brick House” on No.28 was, indeed, the present Duplex including the portion also on No.26.[20] As a result of the 1834 partition proceedings, No.26 was awarded to daughter Eliza Davis (married to Rev. Henry S. Miller),[21] while No.28 went to son William Davis.[22]

• In the early 1870s, No.28 (then numbered 16 North Third Street under the old numbering scheme) was occupied by Josiah Davis. No.26 was apparently a rental, occupied by Mrs. Martin Fisher in the 1870s,[23] and by Mrs. George Field in 1881.[24]

In 1875, Mary F. (Hulick) Titus, a daughter of the Hulick Family living next door,[25] purchased No.28.[26] In 1912, she reunited the Davis Duplexproperty by purchased No.26 from photographer William O. Bixler and his wife Grace Simon Bixler,[27] who were residents at the Simon Mansion and the adjacent “Ward House” before their divorce.[28] William Bixler had received the property as handed down through the Bixler family from Sophia Bixler, the family Matriarch who had kept one branch of the family jewelry business going after the death of founder (and Revolutionary War veteran) Christian Bixler III.[29]

Mary F. (Hulick) Titus died on 2 March 1923.[30] One of the units in the Davis Duplex continued as the home of a sister-in-law, Mrs. Mary E. Hulick, the widow of Winfield Scott Hulick.[31] The other unit – the one immediately adjacent to the Hulick Mansion – became for many years the medical office and residence of physician Dr. Clifton C. Daigle.[32] In 1945, Mrs. Titus’s estate trustees separated the Davis Duplex property again, and sold the half at 26 North 3rd Street to Dr. Daigle’s wife.[33] The other half was sold to dentist Harry Sassaman and his wife,[34] who established his medical office there.[35] The two halves remain under separate ownership to the present day.[36]

[1]City of Easton, Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form, Attachment: Building Description Survey Area 1 Zone D (City Council Resolution approved 12 May 1982).

[2]The 55’ frontage of the original town Lots along North 3rd Street, starting with Lot No.141 at Church Street, suggests that 20 North 3rd Street (with a 33.26 frontage) and 22 North Third Street (with a 36.33’ frontage) occupy original town Lot No.141, plus almost a dozen feet of Lot No.142. The modern Davis Duplex property occupies 40½ feet of frontage on North 3rd Street – 22.75’ for 26 North 3rdStreet, and 17.75’ of frontage for 28 North 3rd Street. That means that the Davis Duplex’s combined 40½feet of frontage, when added to this dozen feet overlapping (above), falls a little short of occupying the full 55’ of frontage included in original town Lot No.142.

[3]Deed, John Penn the Younger and John Penn the Elder to John Rees, A3 416 (20 Nov. 1789)(sale price £37 14s. 4d.); A.D. Chidsey, Jr., The Penn Patents in the Forks of the Delaware Plan of Easton, Map 2 (Vol. II of Publications of the Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society 1937); compare with Northampton County Tax Records map, Accord, Deed, Abraham (Susannah) Horn to Jacob Arndt, C3 357 (1 Dec. 1807)(recital that Orphan’s Court on 25 April 1807 confirmed assignment to Abraham Horn by Jacob and Elizabeth Ludwig from the Estate of John Reese).

[4]Deed, John (Mary) Wagle, et al., to John Rees, B1 251 (9 Jan. 1765)(Lot No.143).

[5]Patent, Penn Family to John Reese, Patent Book AA9 234 (17 Apr. 1776), indexed online at see Northampton County Warrant No. R97 issued to John Reese, Patent Book AA9 234 (16 Apr. 1776, returned 17 Apr. 1776), indexed online for Northampton County Warrants p.146, Warrant No.97, at This patent was uncovered by John L. Holdos in 2010.

[6]Survey Book C176 86 (11 Apr. 1776, returned 17 Apr. 1776 by Lewis Gordon).

[7]Charles de Krafft, Map of Easton Original Town Lots (from the collection of Luigi “Lou” Ferone (“Mr. Easton”) auctioned 27 Feb. 2010, said to have been used by the Penn clerks for notations to keep track of the town lots c.1779-1801)(Lot No.142).

[8]Deed, John Penn the Younger and John Penn the Elder to John Rees, A3 416 (20 Nov. 1789); see entry for the Davis Duplex at 26-28 North 3rd Street.

[9]E.g., Estate of John Rees, 8 Orphan’s Court Record 58 (25 Apr. 1807).

[10]Deed, John Rees to Jacob Rees, A3 418 (24 Oct. 1805); see also Deed, Mary Reese (Executrix of Will of Jacob Reese) and Charles Reese (Trustee) to Samuel Drake, G11 133 (25 Mar. 1867)(regarding stone house on Lot No.143, now listed in part as 32 North Third Street, recitals include lengthy account of court proceedings to clear title and search for a missing heir of the Reese estate); see separate entry for Hohl House at 32 North Third Street.

[11]Estate of John Rees, 8 Orphan’s Court Record 58 (25 Apr. 1807).

[12]Deed, Jacob (Elizabeth) Ludwig to Abraham Horn, C3 234 (29 June 1807)(sale price £500 for Elizabeth Rees Ludwig’s real estate inherited from her father’s estate); see Deed, Abraham (Susannah) Horn to Jacob Arndt, C3 357 (1 Dec. 1807)(recital that Orphan’s Court on 25 April 1807 confirmed assignment to Abraham Horn by Jacob and Elizabeth Ludwig from the Estate of John Reese).

[13]Deed, Abraham (Susannah) Horn to Jacob Arndt, C3 357 (1 Dec. 1807).

[14]See James Wright, History of Forks Township Northampton County, Pennsylvania 24 (1991). For additional history of John Arndt, see separate entry for Easton National Bank Building at 316 Northampton Street.

[15]Deed, Jacob (Elizabeth) Arndt to Christian Endress, E3 61 (15 May 1809).

[16]See, e.g., Deed, John (Margaret) Herster and Peter Miller to Jacob Arndt, D3 232 (7 Nov. 1808)(Original Town Lots 82 and 83); Rev. Uzal W. Condit, The History of Easton, Penn’a 164-65 (George W. West 1885 / 1889); separate entry for Hotel Huntington at 5 North Third Street; cf. William J. Heller, Historic Easton from the Window of a Trolley-Car 143 (Express Printing Co. and Harmony Press, 1911, reprinted 1984).

[17]See Deed, Rev. Christian (Margaret) Endress to Moses Davis, F3 408 (2 Jan. 1811).

Moses Davis acquired a number of other properties in Easton, including Original Town Lot No. 86 (later the Chidsey Residence, now occupied in part by Jack’s Market at 220-24 Northampton Street); and part of Original Town Lot No.73 (now occupied by the vehicle passageway next to American Printing at 201-03 Northampton Street). Deed, Jacob (Mary) Nunnemaker to Moses Davis, D2 513 (16 Apr. 1795)(Davis a “House Carpenter”; sale price £210 for Lot No. 86 – dimensions 55’ X 220’ -- including a “Tenement and Lot of Ground”); Deed, John and Richard Penn (by Attorney) to Moses Davis, C3 35 (17 July 1806)(Davis a “Carpenter”; sale price £ 10 of Pennsylvania money “in Specie”; part of Lot No.73 bounded on East by the rest of Lot 73).

[18]See Agreement, Jacob Reese (Sr.) and Moses Davis, F3 409 (27 Mar. 1811)(agreement that “Whereas the aforesaid Moses Davis is about to erect a Brick House”, he would be allowed to build a party wall on the North border of the property that extended a short way into the Reese lot). See City of Easton, Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form, Attachment: Building Description Survey Area 1 Zone D (City Council Resolution approved 12 May 1982)(built c.1811). See also Northampton County tax records, entry for 28 North Third Street, which lists the building style as a “1/2 Double” with the “Year Built” as 1811. The separate entry for 26 North Third Street only has the default “1900” date for “Year Built”, and (as a commercial building instead of a residence) does not record a building style.

[19]12 Orphan’s Court Record 139, 157-59 (13 Sept. and 21 Nov. 1834). In the partition, Lot No.2 was the northern portion next to the “Rees” [Reese] property (now the Hohl Mansion at No.32), while Lot No.3 was the southern portion next to the Bidleman [Beidleman] property (now the Hulick Mansion at No.22-24). See also separate entries for each of these properties. Lot No. 1 in the Moses Davis partition was a separate property at the SW corner of Ferry and Pomfret (now Third) Streets.

[20]The Federal style architecture of the house is also consistent with this conclusion.

[21]See Deed, Rev. Henry S. (Eliza D.) Miller to Sophia Bixler, e15 311 (16 Feb. 1877)(recitals).

[22]See Deed, William (Sophia) Davis to Benjamin Franklin Davis, E6 176 (30 March 1839)(recitals).

[23]Article, “The New Numbers”, Easton Daily Free Press, Monday, 24 Nov. 1873, p.3; Jeremiah H. Lant, The Northampton County Directory for 1873 64 (1873)(alphabetical listing); see D.G. Beers, Atlas of Northampton County Pennsylvania, Plan of Easton (A. Pomeroy & Co. 1874)(M. Davis).

[24]J.H. Lant & Son, Easton etc. Directory 1881-2 (1881)(alphabetical listing).

[25]See separate entry for the Hulick Mansion at 22-24 North Third Street, and sources cited therein.

[26]Deed, William Davis, Trustee of Estate of Benjamin Franklin Davis, to Mary F. Titus, C20 589 (8 Dec. 1875)(sale price $6,300); see Deed, Benjamin Franklin Davis to Charles Davis (in trust), A9 500 (9 Mar. 1855)(sale price $5 to Charles Davis, a “Counselor at Law” from Reading, PA, including the Ferry Street property); Deed, William (Sophia) Davis to Benjamin Franklin Davis, E6 176 (30 Mar. 1839)(showing William Davis as an Attorney at Law in Stroudsburg, and Benjamin Franklin Davis as a carpenter).

[27]Deed, William O. (Grace S.) Bixler to Mary F. Titus, D40 105 (30 April 1912)(sale price $15,000).

[28]See Third Street Alliance, The Herman Simon Mansion; Historic Easton, Inc., Holiday Preservation Tour of Historic Easton unnumbered p.6 (9 Dec. 1978); see generally separate entry for Simon Mansion at 41 North Third Street.

[29]See Deed, Emma E. Bixler (for self and as Executor for the Estate of J. Elwood Bixler and Edith Bixler, her parents) to William O. Bixler (her brother), C31 50 (3 Dec. 1901)(sale price $1; reciting that J. Elwood Bixler had inherited the property when (a) his mother Sophia Bixler had died leaving it to her two sons, and (b) Elwood’s brother Charles, the other heir, had died); Deed, Rev. Henry S. (Eliza D.) Miller to Sophia Bixler, E15 311 (16 Feb. 1877)(sale price $6,000); see generally separate entry for Bixler-Nightengale Building at 315-21 Northampton Street.

[30]See Deed, Charles Vinal Hulick, et al. (Trustees for Estate of Mary F. Titus), to Clifton C. (Amelia R.) Daigle, E76 124 (9 Mar. 1945)(recital that Mary Titus died 2 March 1923); Deed, Charles Vinal Hulick, et al. (Trustees for Estate of Mary F. Titus), and heirs, to Harry M. (Pauline) Sassaman, A76 335 (9 Mar. 1945)(Mary F. Titus died 2 Mar. 1923; will at 24 W.B. 277).

[31]SeeWest’s Easton Pa. and Phillipsburg, N.J. Directory 310, 716 (R.L. Polk & Co. of Philadelphia 1930)(residence of Mary E. Hulick, widow of W.S. Hulick, and Mrs. Amanda E. Carhart, at 26 North 3rd Street); 1930 Census, Series T626, Roll 2087, p.12B; Polk’s Easton and Phillipsburg City Directory 1937-38 262, 732 (R.L. Polk & Co., Inc. 1937)(Mrs. Mary E. Hulick at 28 North 3rd Street).

[32]Polk’s Easton and Phillipsburg City Directory 1937-38 124, 732 (R.L. Polk & Co., Inc. 1937); Polk’s Easton and Phillipsburg City Directory 1951 661 (R.L. Polk & Co., Inc. 1951).

[33]Deed, Charles Vinal Hulick, et al. (Trustees for Estate of Mary F. Titus), to Clifton C. (Amelia R.) Daigle, E76 124 (9 Mar. 1945).

[34]Deed, Charles Vinal Hulick, et al. (Trustees for Estate of Mary F. Titus), and heirs, to Harry M. (Pauline) Sassaman, A76 335 (9 Mar. 1945).

[35]Polk’s Easton and Phillipsburg City Directory 1951 661 (R.L. Polk & Co., Inc. 1951); cf. Polk’s Easton and Phillipsburg City Directory 1961 Street & Avenue Guide 5 (R.L. Polk & Co., Inc. 1961)(offices for dentists Robert K. Sassaman and James H. Greeley; residential apartment for Harry Sassaman).

[36]Regarding No.26: Deed, Estate of Amelia R. Daigle to Morris C. (Elizabeth F.) Hill, H94 634 (26 Jan. 1956)(Amelia Daigle died 13 Dec. 1954); Deed, Elizabeth F. Hill (widow) to Robert W. (Katherine B.) Moore, 118 488 (21 Jan. 1960); Polk’s Easton and Phillipsburg City Directory 1961 Street & Avenue Guide 5 (R.L. Polk & Co., Inc. 1961)(26 North 3rd Street occupied by real estate and insurance agent W.L. Moore & Son, and apartments); Deed, Robert W. (Katherine B.) Moore to Katherine B. Moore, 741-000477 (8 Jan. 1989)(sale price $1 plus other consideration); Deed, Katharine B. Moore to Bernard (Margaret A.) Anderson, ; Deed, Bernard (Margaret A.) Anderson to Charles W. (Armen S.) Elliott, 2005-1-270320. See Northampton County Tax Records,

Regarding No.28: Deed, Harry M. (Pauline K.) Sassaman to Robert K. (Helen C.) Sassaman, 305 431 (21 Sept. 1967)(Tract No.1 = 28 North Third Street; Tract No.2 = 41-43-45 North Bank St.); Deed, Robert K. (Helen C.) Sassaman to Gilbert (Maria) Aguiles and Christine Jozowski, 2005-1-008664 (7 Jan. 2005)(both tracts).