Photo by Virginia Lawrence-Hope, 2012

12

(Photo by Virginia Lawrence-Hope, 2012)

Michler’s Grocery (117-19 North Third Street, formerly Stiltskins Coffee House – Map Reference 2 – now the Third Street Cafe).

3-story brick building in “Italianate/Victorian” style,[1] with middle oriel window on second floor.[2]

This property is part of original town Lot No.54, as surveyed by William Parsons when Easton was founded in 1752.[3] That Lot was originally purchased from the Penn Family by Henry Deringer[4] (also sometimes spelled “Dehringer” and “Derringer”), a gun maker. His son (also named Henry Deringer, born in Easton in 1786) later invented the popular model of small pistol[5] known generically as the “derringer” [note the double “r” spelling when referring generically to such guns made by other manufacturers such as Remington]. One of these pistols was used by John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.[6]

In 1799, Deringer sold his property to Samuel Sitgreaves,[7] an Easton lawyer, politician and financier who had erected his “Spring Garden” mansion at the corner with Spring Garden Street in 1793.[8] Sitgreaves built a frame building on this property (next to his mansion) for his law offices in the 1790s.[9] Sitgreaves ultimately acquired the entire “Square”, all the way from Spring Garden Street to Bushkill Street.[10]

Sitgreaves died in 1827.[11] His estate sold the entire Square to brewer John G. Marbacher for $6,500.[12] Marbacher divided up the Square, and proceeded to sell it off in separate pieces. The “Spring Garden” mansion itself (now used as a hotel),[13] together with a large piece of property measuring 130’ on Spring Garden Street by 150’ on Pomfret (now 3rd) Street, was sold in 1832 to John Ross.[14] The modern Hulsizer House property was contained within the northern part of the parcel sold by Marbacher to John Ross.[15]

John Ross was “one of the leading lawyers of that day, and afterwards became a member of Congress, a Judge of the District Court, and also of the Supreme Court of [Pennsylvania].”[16] He was also appointed as Easton’s second Postmaster by President John Adams on 1 Oct. 1797. During the nine months that he held that office, some authorities indicate that Ross located the Post Office in the northern part of his property in Centre Square, in the Old Post Office Building.[17] The old Sitgreaves Mansion at the corner of Spring Garden and Pomfret Streets was operated as a school and a hotel.[18] After John Ross’s death, this corner property was divided in 1835 and 1837 among his three children; the Spring Garden Hotel property was part of the share obtained by his son, William Ross.[19] In 1836 it was put into a trust largely benefiting William Ross’s wife, Ruth Ann Ross.[20] In 1846, William and Ruth Ann Ross having been divorced, the property (presumably as a source of rental income) was given to a different trustee together with a sum of money to provide funds for the maintenance of Ruth Ann and her children.[21]

In 1850, Ruth Ann Ross and her trustee sold the property to Charles Rodenbough for $9,000.[22] On the same day, Rodenbough (also spelled Rodenbach) gave back a mortgage on the property to Mrs. Ross and her trustee, securing four payments of $2,000 each ($8,000 total, plus interest) over eight and a half years. The first of these $2,000 payments was to be made on or before 1 April 1853.[23] Charles Rodenbough was a wholesale grocer from Phillipsburg[24] who, in 1830, “entered into the coal, iron and lumber business” at Phillipsburg and Easton.[25] He became the first named partner in “Rodenbough, Stewart, and Co.”, with John Stewart and John Green and four others.[26] That firm built a mill that “was one of the earliest large-scale factories to be built in the Abbott Street Industrial Park” of South Easton,[27] along the Lehigh Navigation canal.[28]

On 1 April 1853 – the same day that Rodenbough was to make the first payment on the mortgage (see above) – a northern strip of the property was sold to Aaron S. Dech for $1,050. The strip sold to Dech continued to be subject to the mortgage on the entire property. No special mention was made of any building on that northern strip in Dech’s deed,[29] although the strip was subsequently identified as the location of Samuel Sitgreaves’s frame law office lying North of the mansion itself.[30] In December of that year, Dech obtained a release of the mortgage against his strip of property,[31] although it remained in place against the corner parcel retained by Rodenbough until 1873, when the last installment was finally made in full.[32] In the following year (1854), the Rodenbough Family closed the school in the mansion house that they retained, and made it their private residence.[33]

Aaron Dech held the property for five years, selling it in 1858 to Joseph Haas. With all responsibility for Rodenbough’s mortgage obligation removed from the property, the sale price increased to $4,500.[34] In 1865, Joseph Haas resold the property to Jacob D. Seipel for $3,300.[35] [36] Three years later (in 1868), Seipel spent $225 to purchase the private alley that separated his property from the Rodenboughs to the South.[37] Seipel apparently made his home in the upper portion of the building,[38] while by 1873 he rented the ground floor to become the grocery store of Jacob Sandt, then numbered 37 North 3rd Street under the numbering scheme in effect at that time.[39] When the modern street numbering scheme was inaugurated in 1874, Jacob M. Sandt grocery was assigned the address of 117 North 3rd Street, while No.119 was assigned to the residence of J.D. “Seiple” (note the Anglicized spelling change).[40]

Shortly after the address changed, Seipel sold the property (on 9 January 1874) for $7,000 to William H. Kunsman.[41] This is a large increase in the price of the property from Seipel’s 1865 purchase price of $3,300 (plus the $225 he spent for the alley), and may indicate that Seipel had built (or improved) the building on the property at some point since his purchase at the end of the Civil War (see above). This may indicate that Seipel was the one who constructed the present brick building. After he sold the property to Kunsman, Seipel remained in residence for a time,[42] although Jacob Sandt’s grocery moved down the street (to 135 North 3rd Street).[43] The new owner, William H. Kunsman, was a dry goods merchant operating a store in downtown Easton, which had been located at various locations culminating in the Kunsman Building with the modern address of 436-38 Northampton Street.[44] In 1862, Kunsman’s store had adopted a Civil War marketing theme: “War or no War William H. Kunsman Is selling the cheapest Dry goods in Easton”. At that time, he advertised many clothing items, including “Hoop Skirts”.[45] Kunsman continued in business in the Kunsman Building until his death in 1893.[46]

Kunsman held the building on North 3rd Street until 1887, when he sold it to George and Rush Field for $5,625.[47] The two Fields were brothers and doctors, sons of Dr. C.C. Field who had built the Field Building on Northampton Street.[48] B. Rush Field became Mayor of Easton in 1893-96, and again from 1899-1902.[49] He was also President of City Council from 1890-93.[50] He was also a founder of the Easton Medical Society in 1890, and the President of the Northampton Medical Society in 1911.[51] In addition, he was the first Captain of the Easton City Guards when they were formed in 1898, and being gradually promoted to Lt. Col. of the 13th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment (in which the Guards were a Company) by the time the Easton Armory was dedicated in 1907.[52] Dr. Field was also an expert on William Shakespeare. He was the author of various publications, including “Medical Thoughts of Shakespeare” (published in 1884), and was a Vice President and honorary Librarian of the Shakespeare Society in New York City.[53]

At about the time the Field brothers purchased the building, the commercial space was rented to grocer James P. Michler (Sr.).[54] The Field brothers sold ownership of the building for an even $6,000 to Green R. Hulsizer in 1893.[55] Green Hulsizer’s father, Peter S. Hulsizer (then age 71),[56] was an Easton constable who promptly took up residence at No.119,[57] apparently over Michler’s grocery. Peter Hulsizer had “spearheaded” the collection of funds in 1887 to build an iron and granite fountain to replace the Courthouse in Centre Square. He was given the honor of drinking the first glass of water from the fountain when it was turned on in August of that year.[58] Peter Hulsizer later (in approximately 1998) moved to Philadelphia, and died there in 1906.[59]

The grocer, James P. Michler (Sr.), became the resident upstairs by 1896.[60] He had been born in 1840, and came to Easton with his parents in 1859. He started in business as an employee of the firm of Cornell & Michler, where his brother, A. Keller Michler, was a partner.[61] In October of 1861, at the start of the Civil War, Michler enlisted in the 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry, and in January 1862 was transferred to the 12th Pennsylvania Cavalry.[62] The 12th was engaged in the fighting mostly in and around the Shenandoah Valley.[63] He was promoted to Sergeant, and at one point was captured by Confederate forces but was later exchanged. He was discharged from the Pennsylvania cavalry in January of 1865.[64] Upon his return to Easton, he resumed his the grocery business,[65] working in the mid-1880s for the firm of Michler, Hare & Co.[66] After opening his own grocery at 117 North 3rd Street, he became “one of the leading grocers of the city.”[67]

In 1901, Green Hulsizer sold legal ownership of the property for $7,000 to Harriet B. Michler, the wife of his tenant, grocer James P. Michler. The deed made a first explicit reference to a brick building on the property,[68] which may be an indication that Hulsizer had built or extensively remodeled the structure during his tenure, perhaps in preparation for the occupation by Michler. In 1907, Mrs. Michler died in the residence (with an address of 119 North 3rd Street),[69] leaving her son, James P. Michler (Jr.), as her only heir.[70] The younger James Michler worked as a clerk in his father’s grocery story, and both father and son continued in residence in the building.[71] A 1912 description of the building stated that it was made of brick, identified it as James P. Michler’s residence and store, also specifically identified it as the site of Samuel Sitgreaves’s former frame law office.[72] James P. Michler (Sr.) died in 1912,[73] leaving his son, James P. Michler (Jr.) to conduct the store.[74] In addition to his pursuit of the grocery business, the younger Michler had served in the army briefly as a private in the Spanish-American War, beginning in 1898, with the 1st Company of the Easton City Guard. During that War, he was promoted to Sergeant. Perhaps of greater importance, while serving in the military, young Michler had given a highly successful performance as “the rapid fire comedian” in a unit amateur minstrel show. This led, after his return to Easton, to his participation in a number of amateur minstrel shows as a civilian.[75] In 1913, he used two back-to-back transactions to vest title to the North 3rd Street building in his wife, Lucy E. Michler.[76]

In 1916 Mrs. Michler sold the property, with its brick building, for $12,500 to Ella A. Smith.[77] She was the wife of lawyer Calvin F. Smith.[78] However, Michler initially continued to occupy both the residence and the commercial space of the building. The Smiths moved into the residence in approximately 1918,[79] and the Michler grocery was discontinued at about that time as well.[80]

·  After a brief stint as an inspector for Ingersoll Rand, James P. Michler moved his family to California in 1920.[81]

The Smiths sold ownership of the building in 1919 for $22,400 to Laura S. Heisler.[82] Three quick sales in the 1924-25 period left the property owned by David Meyerson,[83] who held the property through the Great Depression until it was seized by the Sheriff in 1946.[84]

The property was sold six times between 1946 and 1994, at values that increased from $24,600 in 1946 to $119,500 in 1994.[85] In 1997, the City of Easton awarded a $3,000 façade grant for the building.[86] In approximately 2002 Stiltskins Bed & Breakfast became the tenant at the 117 North 3rd Street address,[87] which in June 2007 won the “Golden Broom” award for maintaining a clean storefront.[88] In 2009, the Stiltskins format was altered to become the Third Street Café, which nevertheless still offered lattes and cappuccino, as well as pastry.[89] Under new ownership in 2010, the Third Street Café began to place more emphasis on gourmet sandwiches and soups than its predecessor.[90]

-  Richard F. Hope

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

[2] Building pictured in Richard F. Hope, Easton PA: A History 95 (AuthorHouse 2006)(top photo).

[3] Compare A.D. Chidsey, The Penn Patents in the Forks of the Delaware Map 2 (Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society, 1937) with Northampton County Tax Records map, www.ncpub.org.

The original town lots in this block each had a 60’ frontage on North 3rd Street. The first two lots (Nos.58 and 56) – plus a little more – are included in the Y.M.C.A. property at 109 North 3rd Street, which contains slightly more than 120’ of frontage. See Deed, Bruce F. (Judith) MacGregor to Judith MacGregor, 2000-1-145809 (20 June 2000)(former Y.M.C.A. property described as occupying the NW corner of 3rd and Spring Garden Streets, with 125’ of frontage on North 3rd Street and 108’ of frontage on Spring Garden Street); see also Northampton County Tax Records map, www.ncpub.org (appears to show a property measurement of slightly over 128’).