Welcome to the farmhouse that is the middle of the city in Grand Rapids! I was asked to research the history of this house by its new owners - New City Neighbors. New City Neighbors is a non-profit organization that "through urban farming we're creating employment and empowering opportunities for youth, providing healthy food for our neighbors, and preparing a table where all are welcome to gather and form relationships with a nourishing meal."
New City Neighbors recently bought the "Farmhouse" at 1115 Leonard St NE in October 2020. The interior of the house was in tough shape but it sits on 1.2 acres of land so it was a perfect location to move their garden and operations to the property. The restoring of the house started shortly after it was bought but will continue for most of the spring/summer of 2021. New City Neighbors plans to bring farming back to this property similar to the original use from the 1860's.
I had the opportunity to tour the farmhouse in March 2020 and some of the photos are posted below. For more pictures, follow the blog on Facebook or Instagram.
General Facts:
City, State: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Neighborhood: on the border of Creston & Highland Park
Built: 1890
Size: 4 bedrooms/2 bathrooms; 2500 sq. ft & 1.2 acres; Also included: barn, shed, and a 2 car garage.
Exterior photos from October 2020 via www.redfin.com:
Interior photos from October 2020 via www.redfin.com:
Exterior photos from March 2021 during my tour of the house:
Interior photos of the house, barn, shed, and garage from March 2021 during my tour:
Unique finds during my tour in March of 2021:
By looking through historical land maps of Grand Rapids, I found the landowners of this specific land going back to 1860. However, the address of 1115 Leonard St didn't exist until 1920. According to property records, I do believe the house was built in 1890 and was located on the land. Until the 1920's, the property was located just on the outskirts of the city limit - hence the lack of house numbers. I do know the house and land had addresses of 1075 and 1185 Leonard through its history.
According to the land map of 1876, the land of 1115 Leonard St NE was once owned by a Foster Tucker. (Double lines are roads; Single lines are property borders)
Foster Tucker
Birth: November 11, 1810; Cherry Valley, Otsego County, New York
Death: October 20, 1889; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Parents: Caleb Tucker (born 1780; Strafford, Vermont - died 1828; Cherry Valley, New York) & Thirza Foster (born 1787; Dutchess, New York - died 1865; Grass Lake, MI);
Siblings: 9 - Roswell, AccDavis, Jacob, Norman, Adoniram, Caleb, Achsah, Ichabod, and Augustus
Foster's great grandfather immigrated from England in 1635 and settled in Weymouth, MA. Because of that, the Tucker family appear in many historical family genealogy books and local pioneers/settlers biographical books.
The following images are from the book: Gratiot County, Michigan. Historical, Biographical, Statistical by Willard Tucker, 1913.
In 1880, in addition the normal US Census, the US government also conducted a census survey of farms and agriculture. I was lucky enough to find this census record for Foster Tucker's farm in 1880. I summarized the data below in a bullet point format.
Foster Tucker is listed on line #1
Summary of Foster Tucker's farm at east Leonard St west of Fuller Ave:
(In order of the census record)
50 acres of tiled land (grass in rotation, pasture or meadow)
30 acres of woodland & forest
$8000 value of land, fences, and buildings
$200 value of farming implements & machinery
$300 value of live stock
$4 cost of fertilizer bought in 1879
$354 of paid wages for farm labor in 1879
70 weeks of hired labor in 1879
$450 value of all farm production sold & consumed in 1879
20 acres of mown grass
30 tons of hay harvested
3 horses owned
3 milk cows - on hand as of June 1880
2 other types of cows - on hand as of June 1880
As of November 1879:
3 calves born
1 cow sold
1 cow slaughtered
450 pounds of butter made on the farm
5 swine chickens
27 barnyard chickens
240 eggs produced
Entire year of 1879:
1 acre / 50 bushes of "Indian Corn"
4 acres / 120 bushes of oats
9 acres/ 280 bushes of wheat
1 acre / 60 bushes of Irish Potatoes
4 acres / 100 bearing trees / 200 bushels of Apple trees
$10 value of orchard products of all kind sold & consumed
20 cords of wood cut
$60 value of all forest products sold / consumed
Foster Tucker married Mary Ann Pomeroy sometime in the early 1830's. Foster and Mary Ann were actually first cousins. Foster's mother, Thriza, was sisters with Mary Ann's mother, Deborah.
Mary Ann Pomeroy
Birth: May 11 1809; Hamilton, Madison County, New York
Death: October 8, 1891; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Parents: John Pomeroy (born 1764; Somers, CT - died 1851; Lockport, New York) & Deborah Foster (born 1767; Lockport, New York - died 1851; Lockport, New York);
Siblings: 4 - Noah, Sarah, Orphia, and Austin
Mary Ann Pomeroy's family is listed in the book, "Foster Genealogy: Being The Record of the Posterity of Reginald Foster," that was written and published in 1899.
Foster Tucker and Mary Ann Pomeroy had five children (in order of birth):
Augustus Jacob Tucker
Birth: October 13, 1836; Grass Lake, Michigan
Death: June 6, 1920; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Spouse: Rachel Westlake (1839-1921)
Children: 0 children
Adelaide Maria Tucker
Birth: March 6, 1841; Grass Lake, Michigan
Death: August 6, 1919; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Spouse: Martin C. Herrick (1839-1910)
Children: Two step-children - Mariem Herrick and Herman Herrick
The land owned by Foster Tucker was divided out to Foster Tucker's children after his death. The portion of land of 1115 Leonard St NE was then owned by Adelaide and Martin Herrick - hence the naming of Herrick St (one block west of Fuller).
*More details about the Herrick family is addressed further down in the post.
Fannie Ann Tucker
Birth: June 3, 1845; Grass Lake, Michigan
Death: November 5, 1898; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Spouse: Sylvenus J. Knapp (1828-1913)
Children: Two - Foster P Knapp (1886-1887) & Josie Knapp (1888-1888)
Deborah Lavinia Tucker
Birth: January 31, 1847; Grass Lake, Michigan
Death: March 18, 1913; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Spouse: Never married
Children: No children
Norman Foster Tucker
Birth: February 25, 1850; Grass Lake, Michigan
Death: January 20, 1919; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Spouse: Jessie Watrous (1856-1935)
Children: No children
According to 1894 land map, all the land that once was owned by just Foster Tucker is now divided to his children. The area of the land where 1115 Leonard NE is was owned by Adeline and Martin Herrick. The land ownership remained the same in 1907 - even though the area around slowly developing and changing.
When Martin C. Herrick passed away in 1919, the land was then further sold and divided. The first street west of Fuller was named after him - Herrick St. In 1920 is when the Rosendall family moved there to continued its legacy.
Henry Rosendall (Van Rosendall; Rosendaal; Rosenthal)
Years Lived at 1115 Leonard St: 19 (1920-1939)
Birth: August 9, 1884; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Death: May 17, 1948; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Parents: Elias Rosendall (born 1859; Kloetinge, Goes Municipality, Zeeland, Netherlands - died 1930; Grand Rapids, MI) and Frances Van Sluys (born 1863; Netherlands - died 1912; Grand Rapids, MI); Elias immigrated to the US sometime between 1881-1883.
Siblings: 6 - four sisters; two brothers
Henry Rosendall married Cora VroeginDeWey on April 21, 1910 in Grand Rapids.
Cora VroeginDeWey (Dewey; Vroegindewejj)
Years Lived at 1115 Leonard St: 19 (1920-1939)
Birth: September 1887; Michigan
Death: May 13, 1958; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Parents: Adam or Aaron VroeginDeWey (born 1859; Middelharnis, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands - died 1911; Grand Rapids, MI) and Johanna Gideon (born 1862; Middelharnis, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands - died 1929; Grand Rapids, MI)
Siblings: 3 -probably more
Henry Rosendall's father, Elias and Elias' brother, Henry (Henry's uncle) started a feed company around 1895 called, Rosendall Bros. The feed store was located at 1136 Plainfield Ave NE. Then around 1916, Henry and his father, Elias, operated the feed store together and the name changed to Rosendall & Son. But then just a couple years later around 1918, Henry and his brother Edward operated the store and the name was changed back to Rosendall & Bros.
Henry and Cora had four sons:
Elias Rosendall
Years Lived at 1115 Leonard St: 19 (1920-1939)
Birth: October 25, 1910; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Death: August 15, 1932; East Grand Rapids, Michigan
Spouse: Never married
Children: 0 children
Elias Rosendall was a swimming instructor. During a class at Reed's Lake in East Grand Rapids in 1932, he dove into the water and hit his head into the bottom of the lake and broke his neck. He was hospitalized for a few days but later died in the hospital. Elias was only 21 years old.
Adam Rosendall (Later changed to Kent Adam Dewey)
Years Lived at 1115 Leonard St: 10 (1920-1930)
Birth: October 4, 1912; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Death: February 8, 1989; East Grand Rapids, Michigan
Spouse: Margaret Mc Gregor (July 1916-May 2002); Married December 24, 1939 in Giles, TN
Children: 3 daughters
After some deep researching through different sources and newspaper articles, I have concluded that Adam Rosendall changed his name to Kent Adam Dewey sometime after his high school graduation. His mom, Cora VroeginDeWey and her relatives and later descendants shorten their surname to just Dewey around the mid-1900's. I tried to find a newspaper article or something that would explain the reasoning but I couldn't find it. His high school graduation picture is extremely close in resemblance to the picture from his GR Press obituary and the obituaries of Henry, Cora, and his brothers all list Kent Dewey as a brother.
Adam (Kent Adam Dewey) Rosendall graduated from Vanderbilt University Medical School (while he met Margaret McGregor) and became a prominent physician and surgeon in Grand Rapids.
Theodore Henry Rosendall
Years Lived at 1115 Leonard St: 20 (1920-1940)
Birth: May 4, 1915; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Death: September 13, 2014; Middleville, Michigan
Spouse: Betty Robinson (June 1916-November 2012); Married March 2, 1940.
Children: 1 daughter
Henry Rosendall Jr.
Years Lived at 1115 Leonard St: 0
Birth: December 31, 1918; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Death: January 3, 1919; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Henry J. Rosendall Jr
Years Lived at 1115 Leonard St: 15 (1925-1940)
Birth: October 16, 1925; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Death: May 3, 2009; Safety Harbor, Pinellas County, Florida
Spouse: Nancy Heckert (January 1932-June 2016); Married July 3, 1952.
Children: 4 - two daughters and two sons
The next family to move into large farmhouse at 1115 Leonard St NE was the Rysdyk family - which also would be the last family to live there until it was sold to the New City Neighbors Organization.
Frank Rysdyk
Years Lived at 1115 Leonard St: 56 (1940-1996)
Birth: January 7, 1909; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Death: May 20, 1996; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Parents: Otto Rysdyk (born 1877; Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht Municipality, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands - died 1955; Grand Rapids, MI) and Gertie Uithol (born 1882; Aarlanderveen, Netherlands - died 1941; Grand Rapids, MI); Otto immigrated in 1903; Gertie immigrated in 1884.
Siblings: 4 - one brother and three sisters
Frank Rysdyk owned and operated Frank H. Rysdyk Heating Company many years.
Frank Rysdyk married Helen Hein on May 21, 1936 in Ada, Michigan.
Helen Emily Hein
Years Lived at 1115 Leonard St: 59 (1940-1999)
Birth: December 3, 1908; Greenville, Michigan
Death: January 2, 1999; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Parents: Edward Hein (born 1883; Michigan - died 1954; Grand Rapids, MI) & Mary Vandenberg (born 1887; Michigan - died 1965; Grand Rapids, MI)
Siblings: 4 - three brothers and one sister
Frank and Helen Rysdyk had three children:
Janice Marlene Rysdyk
Years Lived at 1115 Leonard St: 80 (1940-2020)
Birth: September 4, 1937; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Death: June 4, 2020; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Spouse: Never married
Children: No children
Roger Rysdyk
Years Lived at 1115 Leonard St: ≈18 (1942-1960)
Birth: April 1942; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Death: Living - San Diego, CA
Spouse: Joan Almina Munroe
Children: Two - one son, one daughter
Randy Lee Rysdyk
Years Lived at 1115 Leonard St: ≈ 49 (1957-2006)
Birth: June 23, 1957; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Spouse: Never married
Children: No children
