110340021
1870
Luman A. Shurtleff, early settler of Harrisville, owned this property. His son, Noah L. Shurtleff, acquired the property and built an adobe home in the late 1870s. It became the home of David and Annie Louise Josephine Holtgren Crowther in 1882, and it is where they finished raising their family.
Old Adobe Home, No Longer Exists
When David died in 1918, the home remained in the Crowther family, and was rented for a while. It was the first home Nephi G. and Ada Taylor rented when they married in 1922. Nephi described it as a “two room adobe house with lean-to on the back, small but cozy and comfortable. The walls were two feet thick which made it cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Ada made dainty curtains of dotted Swiss for the windows. Nephi and Ada painted and papered the walls throughout the house.” They lived there for two years.
The little adobe house stood vacant for some time. The property bordered Lorin W. Crowther’s property. In the 1950s, Lorin acquired the property from his Aunt Sarah which included where the home was located as well as additional property. In 1957, he removed the adobe home, cleared the ground, and raised alfalfa.
1981
In 1981, Chad W. (Lorin’s son) and Kristine Bowen Crowther bought the lot where the adobe home once stood and built a bi-level home, frame vinyl construction. Chad and Kris raised their family here – near his father, some of his siblings and their families, and other relatives. He obtained additional property in the back of this home and built a large garage and shop accessory building. Chad built a tree house in the large black walnut tree and hung a tire swing from a high branch.
Chad and Kris moved to Plain City in 2003 and sold the home to Mike and April Worley.
The Worleys sold the home in 2008. The next owners made an addition to the back of the home in 2020, and extended decking to incorporate part of the old black walnut tree into a new little tree house.
Photos courtesy of Eleanor Crowther Painter via FamilySearch
“David Crother worked on the railroad and was in this picture. He was 23 years old. It has been said he was standing on the same rail as Stanford.” (caption of photo from FamilySearch)