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The Cushway Home—Saginaw County's Oldest Home

  Delta College students tour the Cushway Home as part of their study of local history. Saginaw historian,Tom Mudd, provided history of the home, from the original owner in1844, a blacksmith, to the present custodians and renovators, the Saginaw Historical Society.
   
Delta College students and Tom Mudd pose for group photos in dining room and parlor of Cushway Home.  

 

History of the Cushway Home
by
Tom Mudd

Benjamin and Adelaide Cushway

 Benjamin (1810-1881) and Adelaide (1812-1877) Cushway (formerly Cauchois) were prominent settlers in the Saginaw Valley. Both were descended from early French-Canadian families of Detroit. Between 1827 and 1834, Benjamin apprenticed with Harvey Williams of Detroit, a notable blacksmith and one of Michigan's first. Harvey Williams built the first two sawmills along the Saginaw River in 1834 and 1837. Benjamin and Adelaide were married in 1833. In 1834, three years before Michigan achieved statehood, Territorial Governor Lewis Cass appointed Benjamin official blacksmith to the Chippewa (Ojibwa) Indians at the Saginaw Indian Agency. Cushway served in that capacity until 1866 and was highly popular with the Indians due to his standing up for them and for his ability to tell stories in their own languages. In 1844 the Cushways built their home on the site of what was once Fort Saginaw. From 1837 to 1844, the Cushways were serving the Indians at Lower Saginaw (Bay City) at what is today called Salzberg, their log cabin just to the west of the Lafayette Street Bridge.
 
The Cushway House

 
The oldest surviving residence in Saginaw County was erected by two of its notable pioneer settlers. In 1844 Benjamin and Adelaide Cushway built their home at what is today the southeast corner of Court and Hamilton streets on Old Saginaw City. The home was built on the highest ground along the river for many miles and was for hundreds of years a revered site for native Americans who often gathered there for festivals. The Cushways had fifteen children, only five of which survived to adulthood. Benjamin sold the home and lots to Harry Miller for $10,000 in 1867 so that Miller and Braley could build a bank building on the site, a brick building which still stands today and soon will be opening as a restaurant called Jakes. The home was moved to Harry Miller's subdivision at the corner of S. Fayette and Perry streets in 1867. It was moved to its present site in the City of Saginaw's Rust Park in 2001. The broken pediment at the roofline, the entrance with classical pilasters that flank the door and support the entablature above, and the simple exterior are hallmarks of the Greek Revival style of architecture, fashionable in the United States from about 1800 to 1870. While built by Americans of French-Canadian descent, the Cushway House was subsequently owned by the Vogts and Nacaratos, families of German and Italian ancestry--a testimony to the diverse ethnic makeup of the Saginaw Valley.

 
 
The written and visual works in Mid-Michigan Remembers-Stories about Us were chosen on the basis of their quality, diversity, community interest and appeal. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the College. This space is provided as a service by Delta College.