Lucius Parrish Home 236 Vernon Street Farmington, Illinois [Photo caption] This historic home of Betty Davis once concealed runaway slaves. This National Folk style home was built in the mid 1800s and finds its influence in the Greek Re- vival style. This front-gabled home with stepped wing was a typical style of the Midwest prior to the Civil War. The bricks came from Farmington's early brick yard and this was one of the earlier brick homes in Farmington. Phineas and Welthy Chapman came to Farming- ton at an early date, bringing a large amount of gold with them. Chapman acquired this property in 1841, along with neighboring land. The entire par- cel was later known as the Chapman-Reed Addition to Farmington. This home, located next to the A. W. Richards home, also featured in this book, was then passed to Chapman's daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, Lucius Parrish, in 1850. Another of Chapman's son-in-laws, Asa D. Reed, built Farm- ington's first brick homes and is thought to have been the builder of this home. He also built the first six brick stores downtown on the south side of East Fort Street, called "The Reed Block", which begins at the comer of Fort & Main and extends eastward. The exterior of this home has undergone few changes through the years. The red brick home boasts 16 inch thick outside walls and sits on native oak floor joists and walnut sills. The wall thickness and window style are all that remains original in- side this home, as various owners have changed the interior to fill their needs. Lucius Parrish was born in 1813 and married Chapman's daughter, Elizabeth, in 1836. This young couple arrived in Farmington in 1840 and their home was built circa 1850. A year following Elizabeth's death in 1866, Lucius married Mrs. Martha Brown, but she only lived until 1880. He then married Mrs. Julia Tyier in 1881 and moved into her home on the corner of Wall and Court Streets. For twenty years Lucius owned a woolen mill be- hind this house and used both this home and his mill to conceal runaway slaves during the Underground Railroad movement through Farmington. Nellie (Lord) Holliday, who later lived here, often spoke of a squeaky old wooden door on the south side of the basement in this home. It opened into a secret tun- nel, leading into a deep ravine at the edge of the for- est behind their property. Here the runaways could "disappear" into the hands of other abolitionists, who would whisk them away to a different Under- ground Station nearby. The Parrish family worked hand-in-glove with Phineas Chapman, Luther Birge, Nehemiah Wycoff (who is featured in this book as once owning the A. W. Richards Home) and others of Farmington. Rilla Lane remembered playing in this basement when she was a little girl and how frightened she and her playmates were of this myste- rious old door many years after its use had ended. Eventually it was removed and the tunnel was closed. The deep ravine has by now been filled and thus the evidences of the past have been swept away, except for this historic old home. The Parrish family were charter members of the Congregational Church in Farmington, with Lucius starting the first Sunday School and being the first Superintendent. This home stayed in the family until 1903, when for the next 45 years it passed through numerous owners until, in 1948, it was purchased by one of Farmington's high school teachers. Miss Marianne Clinch. Many remember her fondly as she was a wonderful person and a most capable teacher. In 1966, Charles and Betty Davis became its owners and they raised their son. Chuck, here. Charles and Betty both worked for Farmington schools and cared for the buildings as lovingly as they cared for this home on Vernon Street. Charles, affectionately called "Charlie" by young and old throughout Farmington, was a Volunteer Fireman here for many years. He helped save many Farm- ington homes from being destroyed during those years. Charlie passed away two years ago and now Betty retains the ownership of this wonderful his- toric home of Farmington. The original old barn still remains standing a few feet from this home. Note the six-paned windows in the house, which were typical of many homes built in the early 1800s. Much of the glass itself is original and slightly wavey to look through. This style home began to disappear after the Civil War. Farmington is fortunate to feature the Lucius Parrish Home - its rich history and its pre-Civil War style.