From comac1103 (via
Flickr.com):
"This is an amazing shot, I love it!"
Thanks to Hope M. of
Perceptionphotography.biz for the great
research she has done on this house. She writes: 'James Ward House, info
obtained from Evans Mills Library pertaining to stone house on Rt 26 which at
the time of its construction was called the Evans Mills-Leraysville Road.
The Georgian house was built by James Ward in 1829. His father, Thomas
Ward came from England in 1802 as part of a surveying party. Thomas became
one of the 1st settlers of the Town of Leray. At the first town meeting he
was elected clerk, he served as school commissioner in 1813. He served as a
corporal in the War of 1812 and later as a justice of the peace and operated a
general store. James Ward was a real estate broker and money lender with a large
accumulated wealth. He and his wife Lovina (nee Barber) had several children ,
one of whom Buel F. Ward occupied the property upon his fathers relocation to
Carthage in 1863. In 1870 the house and farm of about 220 acres was sold by
James and Lovina Ward to Joseph V and Almira Bichel, who seven years later in
1877 sold it to Roxee A. Ward, wife of Buel Ward. The property remained in the
possession of The Wards until 1910, when it was sold to Peter D. and Della J.
Helmer. The Helmers retained it for 25 years and sold to Edward and Dorothy
Buskirk in 1935. My information lists Ernest Welser as obtaining the property
from the Buskirks, listed as the (Current) owner, I am unsure of the date of the
story so there may be a large gap in years to the present day.'From CWorrel
(via
Flickr.com): "Nice shot. Cool location!"Arthur W.
writes about this home adjacent to Fort Drum on what use to be the Evans
Mills LeRaysville Rd: "My Grandfather purchased this property in 1945. A
close investigation of this home would reveal these are actually 2 homes,
the frame portion having been moved from across the road when the US
acquired the land." 
Anonymous writes that someone lives in this house now.
Amanda writes "My family owns and resides in this house. We have owned it
since 2006 but did not officially move in until September of 2008. We are
currently renovating, slowly but surely. Watch the house change..."
On
4/3/13 Laura writes "That is great! Love to read that such a beautiful home is
being restored. You should consider a home improvement blog to show all of your
renovations!"
Anonymous
writes "I believe this is the backside of the house. It is located on the left
side as you drive from Stone Mills to Lafargeville." According to an
e-mail from 'Eric' the house belonged the Bretsch family when he was young, and
the family had a huge dairy barn to the right of the house (see photos of ruins
below). From JuneNY (via
Flickr.com):
"Very nice picture!" David S. writes "The windmill was
dismantled in 2008 and will be restored." 
I inquired of the historian Bonnie Schafer about this
building, she writes: "The house was called the William Martin Mansion at one
time. John Lafarge transferred a little over 217 acres to William and Sophronia
Martin on June 7 1830. The stone house was quarried from nearby native
limestone, had 11 rooms, 2 large hallways and fireplaces. Mr Martin was
supervisor of town of Orleans. On
5/25/13 Gunther S. writes "I have salvaged the building material and used it in
the reconstruction of a farm house in Clayton."
A person
previously wrote: "The one across from the farm has an underground tunnel
to the big high house across the road, next
to the barn. It was part of the underground railroad.
The cellar has collapsed onto the tunnel." 
Eric,
who lived there as a kid, writes: "The original mansion had 40 (one article
says 42 - M.) rooms. The wing
we lived in had only a few rooms. I visited the house in the 1970's when it was
still standing but empty. The ceilings were 13 feet high and the windows were
long, almost to the floor, and the walls were 4 feet thick. One could sit in the
window seats. The windows were framed in wood and there were shutters inside."
Paul P. says that the decision was made to tear down the
mansion for safety reasons as there was evidence of trespassers, here are some
photos that he sent:
To see the spring house for this farm go to
page 3 and to see some more pics from this farm go
to page 18. More info about this barn and old pictures
of the intact structure at these
Nan Dixon pages: barn,
barn1,
barn2,
barn3, &
barn4.
<Click
here> for the page with all the Anthony Farm/Cooke Road Pictures and info on one
page.
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OABONNY. All Rights Reserved. Site first online on July
28, 2004 
