BY MATT LINDSEY
North Country This Week

PARISHVILLE – If you build it, they will come. In some cases, they may stay nearly a lifetime.

The historic Luke Brown house was home to Parishville’s first white settler and his family. It still stands today, two centuries later, as an impressive piece of North Country history.

In 2003 the Luke Brown house was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

“Architecturally, the Luke Brown house is significant as a substantial example of a Federal style resilience constructed of coursed rectangular blocks of red Potsdam sandstone,” a statement from the National Register of Historic Places said.

The home, built in 1823, is now owned by Gary Sr. and Jane Snell.

“The listing on the National Register was made possible because of the research and work done by John and Susan Omohundro and Bob and Ellen Burns,” Snell said.

Gary Sr. has reason to feel a connection to the home. He was born inside the residence in March of 1941. He was cared for as a baby inside the home. Years later he would own it himself.

Members of the Snell family have called the residence home for over 100 years. Gary’s grandfather rented the Luke Brown residence in 1911 and purchased the home in 1918. Gary Sr and his wife purchased the home in the mid-1980s.

Parishville was once inhabited by the Mohawk Indian Tribe. The state made a treaty with the Mohawk Indians on March 29, 1791, in which they surrendered the title to their lands. The lands were put up for sale according to an act of the legislature with the principal purchaser being Alexander Macomb. The land was eventually sold to David Parish Dec. 2, 1810.

Parishville’s first settler, Brown, built a log cabin after purchasing 347-acres of land from David Perish for $4 per acre.

Brown and other workers came from Springfield, Vermont to work on what would become State Highway 72. Parish offered him a substantial piece of land at a low price to settle and farm.

Brown began construction of the log cabin in late 1810 before traveling back to Vermont for the winter. He moved his wife Anna, and infant daughter Nancy back with him March 31, 1811. The family made the likely-frigid journey of more than 200-miles on an ox-pulled sled, which travels on average of two miles per hour.

After a decade living in the small 12X16 log cabin with his wife, and now five children, Brown began construction of the sandstone house that Snell Sr. lives in today.

The original log cabin no longer remains. However, Snell built a replica cabin in 2011 in an effort to honor the history of Parishville’s first home.

The Luke Brown house was built with sandstone quarried from Cox’s Mills, now known as Hannawa Falls. Reports indicate that Brown transported stone himself and was heavily involved in construction.

Walls inside the Federal-style home show a range of technique, suggesting it was local masons who developed the distinctive slab and binder style of stonework.

“Very few buildings of red Potsdam sandstone remain from the years before the flourishing of the slab and binder style,” the National Register of Historic Places said. “Of these, only the Luke Brown house retains intact, sound masonry, making it an especially important representation of early masonry styles and techniques.”

Brown’s house was completed in 1823, verified when Snell Sr. found “Built 1823” painted on a stone discovered under a mantle-piece of a small fireplace inside the home.

The house and over 450 acres of farmland was taken over by Luke and Anna’s youngest son, David King Brown, in 1848. Anna died in 1857 and Luke in 1861.

In 1868, David Brown sold the sandstone home and 165 acres to Lyman John Covey for $6,500. A large wooden addition was added to the home, as well as three large barns in 1870.

Four years later Covey sold the Luke Brown house and farm and 430 acres to George Everett for $16,300. Edward Everett would later purchase the land and home from his father George in 1889 for $12,000.

Seven years later the home and acreage was sold again, this time to Simeon Clark, who paid $19,000.

In 1911, the home would make its way into the Snell family, where it has remained since.

Milton C. Snell, grandfather of Gary Snell Sr., rented the Luke Brown house and farm from Clark. Milton would purchase the house and land for $15,000 in 1918 from Eva Clark, widow of Simeon Clark.

Gary’s parents, Milton B. Snell and Kathryn Snell moved into the home in 1939 and managed running the farm.

The widowed Milton C. Snell and other family members continued to reside there as well. Milton C. Snell died in 1940.

The home was then purchased by Milton B. Snell in 1942, from his brothers.

In 1955 a fire destroyed barns at the farm but the home remained untouched.

Milton B. Snell passed away in 1965.

The home changed hands again in 1975. Widow Kathryn Snell sold the home and two acres to Edward and Florence (Snell) McCarthy. The house was separated from the farmland.

Gary Sr. and his wife Jane acquired the home and two acres in April 1989 from the widowed Florence.

“I didn’t want it to leave the family,” Snell said. “I was born in this house.”

In the early 1940s births were split about 50/50 between hospitals and homes. Births moved from home into hospitals for those that could afford it, and those who would like medication during childbirth.

The Snell family renovated and restored the home from 1989-90.

Some of the sandstone has been covered up during renovations, but many areas of the home still pay homage to the past through the timeless sandstone work.

There are no official plans for the future of the home.

His hope is that one of his 15 grandchildren or a great-grandchild may someday own the Luke Brown house.

“My wish is that it will stay in the family,” he said.