114 South Broadway Street
Early deed records show that the land on which this house now stands was owned first by the Zane family. John A. Armstrong apparently purchased a large area of land in the area on April 4, 1868 for $4000 and then subdivided it into building lots. 114 S. Broadway, at the corner of Broadway and Ohio Streets, carries Armstrong’s name in the legal description of the property: J.A. Armstrong Addition, S. ½ Lot 6. [Changes in street numbers around 1908 seem to identify the address before that year as being 68 South Broadway.]
Armstrong sold the lot to Henry Knapp for $500 on October 10, 1868. Knapp’s listing in the City Directory indicates that he was the Assistant Secretary of the German Fire Insurance Company and resided at 80 Maryland Street. There is no evidence that he lived at 114 South Broadway.
The property was later owned by widower John H. Stallman (c. 1824 – 28 Jun 1878), who was associated with the J.H. Stallman & Co., a company located at 27 12th Street and identified as “merchant tailors and gents’ furnishing goods.” The sale price on March 11, 1876 was $1000. This modest sale price suggests that the house had not been built on the property when he purchased it. Stallman’s death record in 1878 shows that he was living at 68 South Broadway, and his obituary states that his funeral was held at his “residence, corner of Broadway and Ohio Streets.” Thus, it appears that the house was built between March 1876 and June 1878 and that the street number at that time was 68.
Miss Jennie Stallman (probably a daughter of John H. Stallman) is listed at the 68 S. Broadway address in the 1880-81 City Directory. She married tailor Robert L. Prall in 1881 and died at age 35 in 1884.
Walter R. Rinehart (1855-1915) and his wife Martha purchased the property for $8000 on April 1, 1891 from Harry Stallman, son of the late John H. Stallman. Rinehart was affiliated with Rinehart & Tatum and the German Fire Insurance Company. His death record and obituary (age 57) show that he was also in the real estate business. Rinehart was “among the most intense students of this community,” according to his obituary. He was not a man who took an active part in civic affairs, nor was he one who was what is termed a ‘public man,’ but he was among the most widely known of this community.” City Directories up until 1896 show that he lived at 949 Main Street, and his obituary shows his residence as the Gertrude Apartments, suggesting that others lived at the South Broadway house. Rinehart sold the property on March 5, 1898 to Edward A. Dufrene. The sale price was $4200.
Edward A. Dufrene, Jr. (1863-1907) was a “prominent bookkeeper” at the Bell foundry and other business establishments. His obituary also shows that he was a real estate agent and that he died at age 44 of pulmonary tuberculosis. Dufrene’s wife, Elizabeth “Lizzie” was the daughter of John P. and Matilda Menger Truschel. [She lived to age 81 and resided at 2 Bae Mar at the time of her death. That home is now the location of the Woodsdale branch of Chase Bank.]
City Directories from 1901 to 1904-5 show Edward A. Dufrene as “boarding” at 68 S. Broadway, with his French-immigrant parents Mary/Marie and Edward Dufrene, Sr. (c. 1818-1903). The first listing of Edward (Jr.) at 114 S. Broadway is in the 1907-9 City Directory. Widow Elizabeth Dufrene and her son J. Edward (an electrician) appear at that address in the 1911-12 Directory. Dufrene’s obituary mentions “several” children.
Also in the 1911-12 City Directory is a listing for Mrs. Mary E. Bell, widow of James, and her brother, Thomas Halpin, at 115 S. Broadway (probably across the street from 114). Halpin was the proprietor of the White Front Café, a saloon located at 1226 Market Street, and the president of the Wheeling Liquor Company. The final City Directory listing for him indicates that he was at that time a printer at the Wheeling Register. Halpin and Mrs. Bell are shown at 114 S. Broadway as early as the 1921-1922 City Directory. Presumably they rented the property from the Dufrene family. Thomas Halpin and Mary Bell died within months of each other – Thomas on April 26, 1929 and his sister Mary on September 4, 1929 – while still residing at 114 S. Broadway.
The property was apparently rented out in subsequent years, with the following residents and business listed in City Directories:
1932: Larue D. (motorman) and Myrtle Pott (stenographer)
1934: Eugene McCully/McCulley (driver)
1936: Ruth and Grace McCully
1940: Grace McCulley, Island Furniture[1]
1941-42: Island Furniture, Howard (Singer Furniture Company) and Sarah Singer
1945: Earl C. (engineer) and Elsie M. Milhorn
1949-50: Clyde F. McConnell (mechanic)
Irene Dufrene, daughter of Edward A. and Elizabeth Dufrene, sold the property in 1951 to George A. and Phoebe L. Wright. George Wright was listed as a toll collector for the State Road Commission, Bridge Division and later as “Wright Sales Company, printers.” The Wrights appear in City Directories as residents of the property until they sold it in 1959 to Burton S. and W.M. Fenimore. Mr. Fenimore worked for C&P Telephone and is listed at 114 S. Broadway until 1986. From 1987 to 1991, the residents listed were Michael E. Flaherty, a mail carrier, and his wife Lee Anne. There is no listing for the Fenimores during that time period.
The next owner of record was WV Housing Development, beginning in 1991. Current owner Martin Pirhalla purchased the property a year later and began extensive renovations. He and his wife Barbara live at the address as of this writing.
Prepared by Jeanne Finstein
Friends of Wheeling
May 9, 2012
Sources:
Obituaries, death records, and Wheeling City Directories
[1] Legend has it that the McCully sisters were ‘ladies of the evening,’ that their brother was their ‘business manager,’ and that the furniture business was merely a cover for their more lucrative pursuits. Only one Ohio County death record could be found for these three siblings - Ruth McCully (age 81) died in 1901 of old age. Her occupation was listed as ‘domestic.’
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