Edward S. Barrows House

Edward S. Barrows House
Location 224 E. 6th St.
Davenport, Iowa
Coordinates 41°31′33″N 90°34′17″W / 41.52583°N 90.57139°W / 41.52583; -90.57139Coordinates: 41°31′33″N 90°34′17″W / 41.52583°N 90.57139°W / 41.52583; -90.57139
Built c. 1850
Architectural style Greek Revival
NRHP Reference # 76000807[1]
Added to NRHP November 21, 1976

The Edward S. Barrows House (sic) is located just north of downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976.[1] The description of the man who built and occupied the home is not correct; his name was Dr. Egbert Storr Barrows (see below).

Architecture

Greek Revival was the first style of architecture to have an impact in Davenport. Dr. Egbert Storr Barrows (1799-1892) was one of the few people in the city's early years who was able to afford the style on a large scale.[2] The side gabled house features a large porch across the front. It is topped by a triangular pediment that is held up by Doric columns. The long rectangular windows on the first floor are decorated with simple, molded cornices. A simple cornice is also found at the roofline.

The property is also known as the Capital Apartments.[1]

The Original Owner

The following obituary describes Dr. Egbert Storr Barrows, the man who originally built and occupied the home at 224 E. 6th St. in Davenport, Iowa.

Another Old Settler Gone

Dr. E. S. Barrows, in His Ninety-Third Year, is no More With Us

Another old settler has passed away, and one who for a great many years was a marked individual in this locality with which he had been identified since he became a citizen of Rockingham in 1836, soon afterwards removing to Davenport which was his home till death. Dr. Egbert Storrs Barrows died yesterday afternoon, March 8, at 2 o'clock, at his long time residence in this city. He would have been 93 years old on the 26 of this month, and might have lived years longer, with his vigorous health and remarkable vitality, but for an unfortunate accident. Last Friday week he fell while walking in his own house, and the result was the fracture of a bone in his left hip. From that hour he was almost incapable of any movement whatever without assistance. As a physician he realized that at his age there was no prospect of ever being able to get on his feet again. Yet his death came sudden and unexpectedly to those who had so tenderly cared for him.

Dr. Barrows was born at Middlebury, Vermont, March 26, 1799, one of a large family of children of whom he was the sole survivor. He was a man of remarkable size and strength, and when only 18 years old was six feet high and weighed 180 pounds. At 25 he weighed 225 pounds, and in the 50 years following never varied five pounds from this weight. He left home early and studied medicine at Frankfort, Ky. He was a surgeon in the U. S. army during the Florida or Seminole war. July 6th, 1836, he left St. Augustine for Iowa, then just opened for settlement, and located at Rockingham, as a physician. On the trip he met a young lady, sister of Col. John H. Sullivan, of Rockingham, and daughter of Judge Sullivan of Zanesville, O., and soon after they were married at Columbus, O. Mrs. Barrows died at Marietta, Ga., only last year, and was buried here April 9th.

The old settlers yet living have many kindly remembrances of Dr. Barrows. He was big in heart as in frame, rough and peculiar in his ways, yet a gentleman in every refinement of feeling, honesty, truthfulness and integrity. Since the close of the war, during which he was examining surgeon here, he had retired from practice with a sufficiency to spend his remaining years in comfort. He leaves two daughters, Mrs. Add. H. Sanders, of this city, and Mrs. F. L. Freyer, of Marietta Ga.

The time of the funeral cannot yet be announced. The doctor has long had his own and wife's monument erected at Oakdale and on it are inscribed these words: "All who sleep here still exist as material constituents of the universe. Hope may, but belief should not transcend experience."[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-11-03.
  2. ↑ Svendsen, Marls A., Bowers, Martha H (1982). Davenport where the Mississippi runs west: A Survey of Davenport History & Architecture. Davenport, Iowa: City of Davenport. p. 2-1.
  3. ↑ The Davenport Tribune, Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday, March 9, 1892
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