Most 140-year-old houses have interesting histories. Unfortunately, most of those histories have been lost.

NICKNAMED the “bony lady,” this Suttons Bay farmhouse’s has a history told by documents dating back to the 1860’s.

Not so with a farmhouse overlooking Suttons Bay.

When Roger and Cathy Colburn two years ago decided to purchase what was known as the “Smith Family Farmhouse,” they wanted to know as much of the history of the house as possible.

And Martha Phillips provided it in a 20-page manuscript.

As it turned out, the farmhouse had a history intertwined with that of Suttons Bay and some of the area’s earliest and best-known families.

While most of the house has changed through expansions and revisions, the core of it, at least, it is still the old Smith farmhome.

Located about two miles east of the village on South Shore Drive, the house once had a large dock in front of it. Wooden ships would tie up there to load cordwood, lumber and potatoes from surrounding farms.

From there, cargoes typically wound up in Milwaukee or Chicago.

Perhaps the Suttons Bay-built schooner, William Nelson, called there. If not, similar other vessels doubtless did.

The original house has been added on to, remodeled, and remodeled again. It has changed hands several times. Although it cannot be determined with absolute certainty, the house is believed to have been built in 1867.

The property was originally owned by Lorenzo Quackenbush of Northport, who sold it to Philip Knack of Milwaukee in 1868.

“The quit claim deed was signed in Suttonsburg, which at the time belonged to Bingham Township, by Justice of the Peace H.C. Sutton, an original settler after whom the town was named,” Phillips wrote.

A U.S. patent, signed for President Ulysses S. Grant in November 1969, reads in part:
“There has been deposited a Certificate of the Register of the Land Office at Traverse City, Michigan, whereby it appears that pursuant to the Act of Congress approved in May, 1862 to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain, Lorenzo D. Quackenbush has duly consummated in conformity to law for the lots numbered one and two of section thirty-four in Township thirty north of Range eleven west in the District of lands subject to sale at Traverse City, Michigan, containing one hundred and eighteen acres and fifty-eight hundredths of an acre according to the Official Plat of the survey of the said Land retained at the General Land Office by the Surveyor General.”

On Nov. 30, 1880, Knack and his wife, Caroline, sold the property to Henry Smith for $2,000.

Henry Smith was less than two years old when he came to this country from Germany with his parents in 1846. His wife, the former Louisa F. Platt, also came to this country with her parents, but she was much older — 16 at the time. Both families settled in Wisconsin, which was a favorite destination for German immigrants.

Henry Smith may sound as simple and American as “John Doe,” but he was born Heinrich Friedrich Cristoph Ludwig Schmidt. On the same date he acquired the property, Smith, who was involved in the mercantile and shipping business, dissolved a partnership he had with Knack.

Part of the legal paperwork is as follows:

“First: On and after this thirtieth day of November A.D. 1880 the firm of Phillip Knack and Henry Smith, and the firm of George Steimel, Jr., Henry Smith and Philip Knack is dissolved.

“Fourth: Henry Smith gives the firm of Steimel and Knack the privilege of loading and unloading vessels free of charge of dockage over his share on the dock, half owned by him in Section 34 Town 30 North of Range 11 West without any malicious hindrance.”

It appears that Lars Bahle (who established the present store of the same name in the village) had a hand in helping Smith, who was also involved with other Suttons Bay businessmen, according to Phillips.

“It is claimed that Henry worked with John Deuster – they operated a dock, store and cheese factory across from the farmhouse,” she wrote, noting that Deuster’s Saloon was built in 1888 and Deuster also built the Park Hotel two years later. It appears that Henry Smith had some involvement with both projects.

Deuster was a regular advertiser in the Enterprise and the Park Hotel was advertised, too. In recent decades, his tavern was well known as Eddie’s Village Inn. The restaurant is still called the Village Inn, with tavern side of the business named the Lucky Duck.

Business transactions took place, on what seems an ongoing basis, between Henry Smith and the Deusters that involved the farmhouse property. An early business partnership may have been dissolved, but the history of the two families is intertwined.

Henry and Louisa Smith had eight children, seven of whom inherited a farm of his own.

“Henry’s legacy was far-reaching, and much of the rolling agricultural land existing today on Stony Point was once his,” Phillips wrote, adding he died a wealthy man, leaving assets of nearly $13,000 in 1916.

Louisa Smith continued to live in the home with part of the family until her death in 1930. Prior to that, in 1924, ownership of the house went to John Send Jr., who had married one of the Smiths. Two years later, however, ownership was transferred to Louisa Smith for “one dollar and other valuable consideration.”

Lacking documents, exactly what happened following Louisa Smith’s death appears unclear, but Harold E. Gronseth bought the house, which had been foreclosed on in 1937 for $5,100. The sale included nearly 149 acres and about a quarter-mile of shoreline on Suttons Bay.

Decades later, the extensive property would be separated from the farmhome.

Gronseth suffered a severe stroke in 1945 and never fully recovered. His son, Harold Jr., however, not only maintained the home but began a major renovation, which included the setting off of an apartment.

There were a series of tenants in the apartment, including Glen and Joy Arai (1955-63). Arai was a widely known Suttons Bay architect. The house later gravitated to a cousin, Coleman Gronseth, and remained in the Gronseth family until it was purchased in 1983 by Gary Miller, who ran the Nautique antique store in Lake Leelanau.

Finally, the home was purchased by Edward and Jacqueline Russell of Gladwin in November 1991. The couple, and their daughter, Micheline Padella, loved the home and did extensive refurbishing.

Following Ed’s death, however, maintaining the sprawling structure, which the Russells named “The Bony Lady,” was too much for Jackie, and the home was once again put up for sale and purchased by the Coburns, who wanted the house’s history. They certainly got it.

The details are multitudinous, such as the wainscoting put in by Harold Gronseth, Jr. that was cut from local cherry trees that grew in his uncle’s orchard. The 140 years of history continue to live on in the form of the Suttons Bay landmark.