Legacy Version

1005 Elm Avenue

Terrace Park, Ohio Building Survey

Click here to see photos Click here to see deed index
No: 1005  Street: Elm Name: Senator John Smith House
Family: Lindell Plaque: 2008 Owner Info: Y
Built: circa 1800 Sec: 28 Sub: Thomas R. Biggs Est. Lot: Parcels 1 & 5???
Architect: unknown Cont/Build: unknown but perhaps John Smith
#Owners: 5F Original Use: Residential Current Use: Residence and Farm
CHANGES As Built: N Add To: Y Sub From: N Replace: N
Covered log cabin now inside house.   1920s - East wing (including plumbing) added. Traces of old cabin visible under living room in basement.  Kitchen well filled in under kitchen; cistern and hand dug well have been abandoned.  1935 - Ross restoration before (Times Star article 8/24/35 p. 3).  (1938 front column porch added???) Village Views, February 1981, also refers to an addition made by Fritz Huber and Hume Corwin around 1936.  2005 - permit for Lindell to extend kitchen & add 2nd floor bedroom/bath.  Jim Nordloh, architect.  Mike Nordloh, contractor.  
Current Owner: Carl "Hap" & Ann Lindell (son Pax lives there) Date Fr: 1985 Date To: 
Original Owner: Elder John Smith - from Cheniah Covalt from Symmes-1795 (Smith moved to Louisiana and died there) Date Fr: 1809 Date To: 1811
Owner 1: Zacheus Biggs Date Fr 1: 1811 Date To 1: 
Owner 2: Thomas R. Biggs  Date Fr 2:  Date To 2: 1882
Owner 3: Joseph W. Foster (from Biggs estate) Date Fr 3: 1882 Date To 3: 1882
Owner 4: Leaf - Michael, Henry Leaf Date Fr 4: 1882 Date To 4: 1916
Owner 5: Laura Leaf (inherited from her father, Michael) Date Fr 5: 1916 Date To 5: 1935
Owner 6: Judge Simon & Maude Ross (see 300 Rugby) Date Fr 6: 1935 Date To 6: 1937
Owner 7: Carl H. & Frances Lindell Date Fr 7: 1937 Date To 7: 1985
Owner 8:  Date Fr 8:  Date To 8: 
Owner 9:  Date Fr 9:  Date To 9: 
Owner 10:  Date Fr 10:  Date To 10: 
1975 Owner:  Carl H. Lindell. Elm Ave 8.24 AC, Pt lot 20 Thomas Biggs Est.
Description:  The original Smith House was a log structure that forms the nucleus of this structure.  It had four rooms and a second floor.  The exterior has been radically altered, but the interior with its low ceilings, wide planked floor boards and hand blown glass panes, still retains some of its original integrity.  This house is located on a large tract of land in a fairly rural area in the Village of Terrace Park Ohio Historic Inventory - 2/19/1976) Now - 2 story, siding over original log structure, gable roof.
Story 1:  This land originally came from Covalt, Twn 5, Fr. R. 2
Story 2: The Reverend John Smith was one of the earliest settlers of Columbia township.  He organized the first church in the Miami Purchase in 1790.  He was a member of the first constitutional convention which organized the State and at the first General assembly of the State of Ohio held in 1803.  He and Thomas Worthington were the first senators of Ohio.  Smith was senator from 1803-1808. (Ohio Historic Inventory  - 2/19/1976) 
  John Smith was a merchant/farmer, Baptist minister and one of the first US Senators from Ohio. Aaron Burr visited here on his trek westward.  Both were charged with conspiracy.  Burr's dream of a western empire started in Ohio.  See TPHS house file.
       There's a great deal more material on John Smith in the TP Historical Society archives including articles written by Ellis Rawnsley and Esther H. M. Power.  
     Lindells may still have material Mel used for his article in Village Views (From conversations between Mel Aicholz & Esther Power.  May & Sept 1991
Story 3: T. R. Biggs was probably born in this house.  He married twice and "repaired to Round Bottom Farm" in 1854.
Story 4: In 1881 20 acres containing the Smith-Lindell house came on the market to be sold at auction as Lot #20 of the Thomas R. Biggs estate.  It was bought by Joseph Foster of Clermont County with a successful bid of $2,000. 2/3 of its appraised value.  In 1882 he sold it to Michael Leaf for $3,240.  (Foster to Leaf deed)
Story 5:      The 20 acres that Michael Leaf bought in 1882, containing the Smith/Lindell House, has now been divided with 11.77 acres staying with the original house (1005 Elm Avenue) and 8.23 acres going with Hap Lindell's home (1001 Elm Avenue). (information from Esther H. M. Power)
    
(see Leaf Family Deeds for Albert Elmer Leaf) Albert Elmer Leaf was born 27 October 1854 and died 7 July 1923, aged 68 years, buried in Section 15 of Greenlawn Cemetery, Milford OH.  Laura A. Leaf was born 5 March  1858 and died 12 January 1893, aged  34 years, buried in Section 3 of Greenlawn Cemetery, Milford OH, C. T. Johnson Funeral Home.  (Isaac "Ike" A. Leaf, a later descendant, died 18 June 2008)
Story 6: Miller scrapbooks - Dec 23, 1965 (Christmas interior of home) & June 12, 1951, Post & Times Star articles by Polly Cramer.  Also see article in Village Views (Feb 1981) for addition by Fritz Huber & Hume Corwin c. 1936.
Story 7: Judge Ross's law books remain on a book case in this house.  He was a Judge in the Court of Appeals.  Mrs. Simon Ross is the sister of Ruth Neely France, 435 Elm (according to the minutes of the TP Woman's Club, May 21, 1928).
Story 8: Carl Lindell, an attorney, was Mayor of Terrace Park 1944-51 and 1964-71  He served 6 terms in all, 4 of 2 years each and 2 of 4 years  (see Lindell Memorial Grove by Log Cabin (710 Elm).  He was Vice President of Cincinnati Gas & Electric.  He died in 1978, aged 73 years. 
Story 9:      Frances Lindell - president TP Garden Club 1953-55
     Frances Laura Lindell was born 17 February 1903 and died 27 February 1993, aged 90 years. 
Story 10: This house is on the 17 October 2010 TP Historical Society House Tour, "The White House Tour".  "Abby and Pax Lindell, 1005 Elm Avenue.  The Senator John Smith house was built in 1800 and has as rich a history as any home in the Cincinnati area.  Although the original house was a log structure that has long since been covered with another exterior, the interior still bears the low ceilings, wide planked floor boards and hand-blown glass panes of another era.  This property was once home to one of the earliest settlers of Columbia Township, yet boasts of being occupied by only five families in its long history.  Guests may also tour the stables and grounds." 
1939 Map: (map does not go that far down Elm)
1942 Map: Lindell
1951/3 Map: Carl H. Lindell
1959-88 Directories: Carl H. & Frances Lindell
1990-91 Direct: Lindell & Graumlich/Grosse
1992-97 Directories: Grosse   
1998-99 Direct: Richard A. III & Jenny Grosse 
2000-12 Directories: Pax & Abby Lindell/Foggy Creek Farm