Old Houses Under $50K History Tuesday – The Mrs. I.L. Crego House

History Tuesday at Old Houses Under $50K is for informational purposes only. The beautiful old homes were built for less than $50,000 back in the day, are usually not for sale, but if they were, they would certainly cost way more than $50K. Today we feature the Mrs. I.L. Crego House.

 

Charlotte Crego

Ira Lyons Crego was born in Onondaga Co. in 1824. His father, Stephen, was one of the first settlers of Onondaga County, New York, and was a successful farmer.  In 1849 Ira L. married Charlotte Bowman (1829-1909), daughter of John Bowman, who was one of the first settlers of Van Buren, New York. The couple had two sons: Allan B. and Burton I, and a daughter Matilda who died in 1863 at the age of four. Her gravestone, pictured below, has the words, “We miss our Tilda,” on the back of the stone.

Ira Lyons Crego followed in his father’s footsteps as a farmer,  but he never saw this house, the fruits of his labor. Sadly, however, Ira died in 1865, aged 40 years, leaving his wife, Charlotte, and children to carry his many plans to completion, which, with uncanny business ability, they were able to do.  Ira’s obituary states that his death was not only a loss to his family, but to all who knew him. Apparently, Charlotte was the brains of the family, as within five years after Ira’s death, she had this house designed and built by Archimedes Russell, an architect surprisingly adept at a variety of styles.

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Archimedes Russell

Archimedes Russell (1840-1915) was an American architect most active in the Syracuse, New York area.

Born in Andover, Massachusetts, Russell trained under local architect Horatio Nelson White. From 1873-1881, Russell served as a professor of architecture at the prestigious Syracuse University. f

In the course of his career he designed over 850 commercial and civic buildings in the central New York region, and at least 16 are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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