Welcome to 1060 Third Street Northwest in Grand Rapids, Michigan! The previous post I shared, 38 Grove, held the title of the oldest house I had ever researched until I came across this gem! Unlike most houses featured on this blog, this particular home had not one, but two previous addresses. Its rich history goes beyond its years, as it holds the cherished memories of only two families who resided here from 1874 to 1953.
Come along as we explore the background of this remarkable home and briefly tell the stories behind its walls!
General Facts about 38 Grove Street:
Year Built: approx. 1874
City, State: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Neighborhood: West Grand
Size: Upper/Lower Apartments; Over 2,200 sq. feet total
Style: Farmhouse? Traditional? / 2 Apartments Rental
# of Families from 1874- 1953: 2 (Fuller & Walejewski)
Original Addresses: 414 Third (1874-1894) and 450 Third (1894-1912)
According to the above Appraisal Details from the amazing Grand Rapids Archive & Research Center, the house was turned into a duplex by 1970. One the first floor, there were 5 rooms and the second floor were 4 rooms. From this record, it also listed the year built in 1880...but as it is common, that built year on certain records is always later than the actual date.
Historic Maps of 1060 Third St NW
The above maps are the official historic Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. According to these maps, the house was platted (lot 18) by 1876 and definitely built by 1895. The house was 1.5 stories high with a shed turned auto garage in the back. For more information on Sanborn Maps - please check out this website from the Library of Congress.
The home at 1060 Third St is lot # 18 on W.M. Barker Subdivision. William M. Barker was born in 1814 in Massachusetts and moved to Grand Rapids with his father and siblings. He owned a large farm and a large house on the corner of Bridge and Barker Streets - hence the street name.
George Barker passed away in 1895 and his land was sold off into parcels for housing developments. Most likely before 1895, he owned much more of that surrounding land and then sold parcels throughout the years.
Family # 1: Jesse & Martha Fuller (1874-1895) &
Jesse & Eleanor Fuller (1897-1929)
According to an account on Ancestry.com, the house at 1060 Third Street was constructed by Jesse Fuller, a house contractor. The story suggests that he built the house at the age of 21, placing its construction years between 1866 and 1867. However, based on various census records and city directories, I have reason to think otherwise. The earliest documented record of the house dates back to 1874, leading me to believe that it was actually built around 1872-1873. Regardless of the exact year, it is truly fascinating to discover the identity of the house's builder and learn that he resided there with his family for over 60 years. Adding to the intrigue, an Ancestry.com user even shared a photograph of the Fuller family on the porch of the house in 1914. This discovery is undeniably remarkable and fills me with great excitement to share it with others.
Jesse Smith Fuller
Born: March 9, 1845; Walker, Michigan
Died: January 19, 1929; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Father: Suel (b. 1814; New York - d. 1889; Michigan)
Mother: Mary Smith (b. 1820; Canada - d. 1885; Michigan)
Years Lived @ 1060 Third Street NW: 55 Years; 1874 - 1929
Jesse Fuller, the third child and eldest son of Suel and Mary Fuller, was born in 1845 in Walker Township, Michigan. The Fuller family, who were farmers, resided in then rural Walker Township, situated near the city of Grand Rapids. In the 1860 Census, it was noted that at the age of 16, Jesse was employed on the family farm and did not receive formal education after grade school. The Fullers possessed a considerable amount of land, with their farm located near the intersection of 3 Mile Road and Fruit Ridge Ave. The Kinney Family, who were their neighbors, were the namesake of Kinney Ave.
In October 1865, Jesse Fuller married Martha Marvin.
Martha Ann Marvin
Born: May 8, 1848; Oakland County, Michigan
Died: July 15, 1895; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Father: Stiles (b. 1825; New York - d. 1903; Michigan)
Mother: Martha Marlatt (b. 1828; Michigan - d. 1848; Michigan)
Years Lived @ 1060 Third Street NW: 21 Years; 1874 - 1895
Martha Marvin was born in 1848 in Oakland County, Michigan - the only child of Stiles and Martha. Tragically, Martha's mother (also named Martha), who was 20 years old, died giving birth to her daughter and in her honor the daughter was named after her mother.
In 1852, four years after the loss of his first wife, young Martha's father, Stiles, decided to marry again. This time, he married Almeda Marlatt, who happened to be this late wife's younger sister. Following their marriage, the Marvin family relocated to the west side of Michigan to Ottawa County and settled on a farm just one mile north of Berlin Township. Interestingly, their new farm was located only a few miles away from Jesse Fuller's family farm in Walker. Stiles and his second wife, Almeda, went on to have 8 children together. Sadly, Almeda passed away in 1888. Stiles, on the other hand, remarried two more times before his own passing in 1903.
As mentioned before, Jesse Fuller and Martha Marvin were married in October of 1865. Historical records of their marriage wasn't easily found online but would assumed they were married on one of their family's farms in Berlin or Walker Townships.
Jesse and Martha had 6 children from 1867 - 1884 - 5 girls and 1 boy. Jesse Fuller built the house at 1060 Third Street and they moved in by 1874 so all of the children lived in that home at one point in their life - some longer than others.
Jesse and Martha's Children:
Almeda (1867 - 1932) [named after Martha's step-mother]
Rose (1871 - 1944)
Clara (1873 - 1958)
Elizabeth (1875 - 1962)
Ora (1879 - 1892)
Warren (1884 - 1962)
As noted previously in the introduction, this home at 1060 Third Street had two previous addresses before it was 1060. From the time it was built in 1874 it was 414 Third Street; then in 1895 it was changed to 450 Third Street; and finally in 1912 it was changed to what it is today - 1060 Third Street.
The image above is the first of many census records of 1060 [414] 3rd Street. At this time, the Fullers had lived in this house for about four years. Jesse was 35 years old and worked as a carpenter (house contractor) and Martha was 32 years old and 'keeping house'. Their children that lived in the home were: Almeda (13 years old), Rosa (9 years old), Clara (6 years old), Elizabeth (4 years old), and Ora (6 months). [The youngest child, Warren, would be born in 1884.]
*There is no record of the 1890 Censuses. All of those census records for the entire country were destroyed in a fire in 1921 in Washington D.C.
In 1886, the eldest Fuller daughter, Almeda, married George Merriman. The next year, the second eldest, Rose, married Joseph Bailey. Almeda and Rose lived at the family home on 3rd Street for about 11-12 years respectively.
Tragedy struck the Fuller family when the youngest daughter, Ora, passed away in 1892. She was only 12 years old. However, historical documents or newspaper articles about her death don't seem to appear easily online. So no further information is known about her death.
Three years later, in July of 1895, another tragedy - wife to Jesse and mother to the five living children, Martha Fuller passed away due to tuberculosis. Martha was 48 years old.
Just two years later in 1897, Jesse Fuller married Eleanor Johnstone. Eleanor was born in 1857 (12 years younger than Jesse) in Yonkers, New York. Her mother was from New York and her father immigrated from Scotland. Eleanor was one of five children. It seems as if all her siblings remained in New York so I would be curious to know how Eleanor, from Yonkers, and Jesse, from Grand Rapids, met in the late 1890's.
In 1899, the fourth eldest daughter of Jesse and the late Martha Fuller, Elizabeth, married a prominent physician and surgeon from Kansas - Dr. Corbin Judd.
Elizabeth and her husband took a trip overseas to the South Sea Islands and applied for a U.S. Passport in 1919. The image below is from their application.
From the 1900 US Census record, the Fuller household is quite different than their last census record from 1880. The household consisted of:
Jesse Fuller; He was 55 years old and still worked as a "house carpenter".
Eleanor Fuller; Wife of Jesse; 48 years old, been married to Jesse for three years and had no children.
Clara Fuller; Daughter to Jesse and step-daughter to Eleanor. She was 26 years old and worked as public school teacher.
Warren Fuller; son to Jesse and step-son to Eleanor. He was 15 years old and was a high school student.
Clara Fuller, the third child of Jesse and the late Martha (and step-daughter to Eleanor) lived at the home at 1060 Third Street for about 31 years. She worked as a public school teacher at Jefferson School. She married a house contractor from Palo Alto, California where she lived the remaining 53 years of her life.
And finally, sometime between 1905 - 1910, the youngest child of Jesse and the late Martha Fuller (step-son to Eleanor), Warren, moved from Grand Rapids to Portland, Oregon. He married Alvena Horn in 1910 also in Portland.
After 36 years, in 1910, all of the Fuller children had moved out of 1060 3rd Street and Jesse and Eleanor were officially 'empty nesters'. From the 1910 Census, Jesse was still working as a house contractor at 65 years old.
From the POV of the next census in 1920, nothing significantly changed in the household. Jesse and Eleanor were still living at 1060 3rd Street and they were 74 and 67 years old respectively.
The end of the Fuller family era at 1060 3rd Street officially came to an end in January 1929. Jesse passed away on January 13, 1929 after ten days at Butterworth Hospital due to gangrene in the left foot and the right heel.
After the passing of Jesse, his widow, Eleanor, moved back to Yonkers, New York almost immediately and lived with her nephew. Eleanor lived only another 2 years and she passed in January of 1931.
The home at 1060 Third Street remained vacant from the end of 1929 until 1932. The eldest daughter, Almeda, attempted to rent the house in 1931 but eventually sold the house the next year.
It is absolutely remarkable that the original family of 1060 3rd Street was not only the actual builder of the home but that the same family lived there for about 55 years! If only those walls could talk - the stories it would share! There were many changes to society and many interior improvements/inventions to a home from the time it was built in 1874 until 1929 and one could wish all those changes could be documented!
Additional Documents & Newspaper Articles of the Fuller family at 1060 Third Street:
Family # 2: Frank and Mary Waliewski
The home at 1060 Third Street was very fortunate to have another long tenure family move in shortly after the Fuller Family. Frank and Mary Waliewski (Walejewski) and their nine children bought the home in 1932 and at least Frank and Mary still lived there in 1953 - 20+ years!
I will briefly share the story of Frank and Mary but omit details about their nine children. The children have all passed away as of the year 2000, but out of respect for their own children, who many are still living, I'd prefer to keep the details to historical records of the house itself.
Franciszek "Frank" Walijewski
Born: June 14, 1875; Poland
Died: April 18, 1963; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Father: Franciszek (b. 1831; Poland - d. 1889; Poland)
Mother: Magdalene Kaczan (b. 1838; Poland - d. 1912; Poland)
Years Lived @ 1060 Third Street NW: 21+ Years; 1932 - 1953 (exact year unknown)
Frank Walijewski was born in 1875 in the northeastern region of Poland. At 25 years old in 1900, he immigrated to the USA via Philadelphia. He moved to Chicago in 1907 and by the next year he had moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
During his time in Philadelphia he met Maryanna Szydlo and they were married in 1906 in Philadelphia.
Maryanna Szydlo
Born: December 28, 1884; Poland
Died: March 19, 1971; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Father: Unknown
Mother: Unknown
Years Lived @ 1060 Third Street NW: 21+ Years; 1932 - 1953 (exact year unknown)
Similar to her husband, Mary immigrated from a south eastern region of Poland in 1902 via Philadelphia. Information about her parents or siblings were not easily found online through historical websites.
In addition to, information about the life of the Walijewski family before they moved to Grand Rapids also isn't easily found online through historical websites.
In 1930, two years before they moved into 1060 3rd Street, the family owned a house at 713 2nd St NW. That house and all of the other houses on that part of 2nd Street have been raised to build the 1-96 Highway. The household consisted of Frank, Mary, and 8 of their children between the ages of 4 through 20 years old.
According to the 1940 Census, the household at 1060 3rd Street consisted of Frank & Mary and 5 of their children. Frank and Mary owned the home (vs. renting) and the home value was $2,500 [approx. $47,000 in 2024 currency]. Frank was 64 years old and had retired from his career as a 'machinist'. Mary was 54 years old and the five children ages ranged from 13 - 26.
Ten years later on the 1950 Census, Frank and Mary and now only one of their children were living at home - the youngest Frank Jr. Frank Sr was 75 years old, and Mary was 65 years old.
Frank and Mary continued to live on 3rd Street for at least a few more years after 1950. But in 1963 when Frank passed way, they had already moved to Harlan Ave NE. Mary lived another 8 years after Frank - she died in March of 1971.
Additional Documents & Newspaper Articles of the Walijewski family at 1060 Third Street:
The history behind 1060 Third Street Northwest in Grand Rapids, Michigan is truly unique. It's amazing to discover a house that was constructed in the 1870s and is still proudly standing today. What's even more remarkable is that the builder of this home was its first owner and resided there for over 55 years. Following them, another family called it their home for more than 25 years!
If only these walls could talk!