The Pink House: The Legendary Residence of Edwin Bradford Hall and His Succeeding Generations in Wellsville, New York

The history of The Pink House is unique because it is one of the few Victorian-era residences to remain in the possession of the same family for four generations. Victorian residences are 19th century fantasies created as monuments to their original owner's financial success and their personal tastes and interests. Each residence is an exuberant expression of achieving the American financial dream, the love of family and faith, and the opportunity to explore avocations during an era in United States History when the country was rapidly becoming an urban and industrial nation. Economic success enabled Americans to cast off the simple and austere architecture of houses that were two rooms over two. Multi-storied residences, many with towers and multiple wings, permitted larger and more rooms with specialized functions. The interiors celebrated the latest in technological innovation in plumbing, lighting, and heating. The decorative arts were given full expression in the beautifully carved woodwork that celebrated the varieties of local hard and soft woods and the skills of local immigrant artisans. Victorian homes were dedicated to more than the customary cooking, eating, and sleeping functions. Victorian homes permitted family members to experience beauty and comfort while developing their own talents and skills. But, it was not only the exterior and interior that Victorian houses celebrated. These residences celebrated the landscaped grounds and decorative gardens, which enhanced the beauty of the architecture in their midst. Landscaped grounds with fountains and ornamentals were gathering places for family and friends to celebrate birthdays, christenings, weddings, funerals, and the seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter. Victorians were social. Both the gardens and grounds along with the residential interiors brought family and friends frequently together to appreciate special moments.
The Pink House has always been a private residence. It has never been open to the public. Therefore, this may be the reason for the many unexplained stories that surfaced over 150 years about the home built by Edwin Bradford Hall. Mr. Hall and his descendants remained very private people in both the celebration of life and the sadness of grief over death. Mrs. Fannie Hall Carpenter, the daughter of Edwin B. Hall, lived a more secluded life after the death of her husband, John Milton Carpenter, in 1926 until her own death in 1958. As a result, the house retreated more from the realm of social interaction. Mrs. Carpenter's daughter, Florence Carpenter Woelfel, lived permanently in Columbus, Ohio returning to Wellsville for a few months each year. It was not until the retirement of Dr. Julian Woelfel in 1989, Edwin B. Hall's great-grandson, that The Pink House once again came back to life and was reintegrated into the Wellsville community under Julian's and Marcile's stewardship.
On behalf of Dr. Julian and Marcile Woelfel I invite you to The Pink House. This is a ghost free tour. The Pink House never had ghosts. Mary Frances Farnum never haunted The Pink House because it never existed during her short life time. The death of two-year old Beatrice Carpenter was a private family tragedy. As you page through the story of The Pink House enjoy the travel back in time to Wellsville's early days. Rediscover the accomplishments of Edwin Bradford Hall as a successful druggist, a gifted amateur fossil collector, and talented architect. Rediscover the roles played by Antoinette Farnum Hall, her daughter Fannie Hall Carpenter, and Mrs. Hall's sister, Louise Farnum Brown, in the establishment of Wellsville's David A. Howe Public Library. My only regret is that Dr. Julian Woelfel died unexpectedly on September 2, 2017 and could not be with us to celebrate the publication of The Pink House but he remains with us in spirit.

Arts & Photography

Woelfel, Julian B.

Woelfel, Marcile B

Paquette, William A.

Photography & Video

New Dominion Press

Suffolk: A Pictorial History

History

Hobbs, Kermit

Americas

The Donning Company/Publishers

Fields of Learning thoroughly explains the rich history of one-room schoolhouses, and their metamorphosis through time. Their history has merit standing alone, but Fields of Learning also completes their history using 14 illustrations and over 180 pictures. You will be transported back in time as you learn about the early foundations of American education.
One-room schools were a product of a patriotic agricultural America, which believed that education enriched one religiously, promoted economic opportunity and social mobility while anchoring communities around the school. Rural schools promoted education to extend the virtues and democratic values of the United States to each new generation. Allegany County, New York's commitment to education began with the establishment of the first elementary school in 1802, the first private high schools in 1848, and the first university in 1836. Rural schools in Allegany County were usually built on less productive farmland and in town near the business property of the person who donated the land.
One-room schools architectural styles included: vernacular: a one-room log cabin, folk vernacular structures resembling agricultural outbuildings with a single entrance and two or three windows on each side, mass vernacular buildings, which could pass for churches or town halls, architect designed buildings with recognized architectural features and a variety of building materials, and monumental, a multi-storied structure with multiple rooms on each of two floors. One-room schools measured 28 by 40 feet with a height of 15 feet. Their length was believed based on the range of the human voice.
The year 1910 in the history of Allegany County, New York offers the most detailed understanding of the cost and value for one-room schools. Enrollments, state aid, average attendance, assessed valuation, expenditures, cost/person, and tax rates were recorded and analyzed. The early 20th Century data provides detailed information on the curricula for each grade level from grade one to grade eight. Documentation provides insight into what expectations were for both teachers and pupils as the educational experiment progressed from year to year. As the United States became less agricultural and more industrial, the demand for high school education increased. Allegany County rose to the challenge establishing seventeen high schools. New York State involvement established norms for teacher training, curricula, and educational programs, which one-room schools could no longer meet. Education in 20th Century Allegany County became one of educational consolidation with one-room schools becoming a memory and consolidated schools encompassing grades kindergarten to twelve the norm. Consolidation gradually removed schools for any grade level from the majority of Allegany County's twenty-nine townships. In 2019, there are only twelve school districts in the entire County. The closing of schools eventually led to the collapse of many County villages and hamlets illustrating how education was closely entwined with community and how one could not survive without the other.

Fields of Learning: A Retrospect on One-room Schools in Allegany County, New York

Architecture

Abel Root, Sr. and His Descendants of Bolivar, New York, and the Allied Families of Barber, Crandall, Evans, Garthwait, Holly, Hulbert, Jewett, Kellogg, Pire, Richardson, Wilcox, and Withey, is a four-hundred-year genealogical narrative that began in Badby, England.Thomas Roote (later Root) migrated to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1637, seeking economic opportunities no longer available to him and his family in England. The search for farmland for ever-larger families led successive Root generations to relocate to Hebron, Connecticut (1705), Unadilla, New York (1774), and eventually to Bolivar, New York (1824). For the next two hundred years, Bolivar remained the home port for the Root family as the local economy transitioned from farming to industrialization with the oil boom of the 1880s and the 1920s. When an economic opportunity in Bolivar declined, Root family members migrated to Michigan, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and California to either continue employment in the oil industry or to launch new careers.The Root family was no different than other American families in seeking the American Dream to achieve social mobility, educational opportunities, and increased financial security. The Root family history is typical of immigrant families who came to America, starting with the settlement at Jamestown in 1607.

Abel Root, Sr. of Bolivar, New York and His Descendants

The history of The Pink House is unique because it is one of the few Victorian-era residences to remain in the possession of the same family for four generations. Victorian residences are 19th century fantasies created as monuments to their original owner's financial success and their personal tastes and interests. Each residence is an exuberant expression of achieving the American financial dream, the love of family and faith, and the opportunity to explore avocations during an era in United States History when the country was rapidly becoming an urban and industrial nation. Economic success enabled Americans to cast off the simple and austere architecture of houses that were two rooms over two. Multi-storied residences, many with towers and multiple wings, permitted larger and more rooms with specialized functions. The interiors celebrated the latest in technological innovation in plumbing, lighting, and heating. The decorative arts were given full expression in the beautifully carved woodwork that celebrated the varieties of local hard and soft woods and the skills of local immigrant artisans. Victorian homes were dedicated to more than the customary cooking, eating, and sleeping functions. Victorian homes permitted family members to experience beauty and comfort while developing their own talents and skills. But, it was not only the exterior and interior that Victorian houses celebrated. These residences celebrated the landscaped grounds and decorative gardens, which enhanced the beauty of the architecture in their midst. Landscaped grounds with fountains and ornamentals were gathering places for family and friends to celebrate birthdays, christenings, weddings, funerals, and the seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter. Victorians were social. Both the gardens and grounds along with the residential interiors brought family and friends frequently together to appreciate special moments. 
The Pink House has always been a private residence. It has never been open to the public. Therefore, this may be the reason for the many unexplained stories that surfaced over 150 years about the home built by Edwin Bradford Hall. Mr. Hall and his descendants remained very private people in both the celebration of life and the sadness of grief over death. Mrs. Fannie Hall Carpenter, the daughter of Edwin B. Hall, lived a more secluded life after the death of her husband, John Milton Carpenter, in 1926 until her own death in 1958. As a result, the house retreated more from the realm of social interaction. Mrs. Carpenter's daughter, Florence Carpenter Woelfel, lived permanently in Columbus, Ohio returning to Wellsville for a few months each year. It was not until the retirement of Dr. Julian Woelfel in 1989, Edwin B. Hall's great-grandson, that The Pink House once again came back to life and was reintegrated into the Wellsville community under Julian's and Marcile's stewardship. 
On behalf of Dr. Julian and Marcile Woelfel I invite you to The Pink House. This is a ghost free tour. The Pink House never had ghosts. Mary Frances Farnum never haunted The Pink House because it never existed during her short life time. The death of two-year old Beatrice Carpenter was a private family tragedy. As you page through the story of The Pink House enjoy the travel back in time to Wellsville's early days. Rediscover the accomplishments of Edwin Bradford Hall as a successful druggist, a gifted amateur fossil collector, and talented architect. Rediscover the roles played by Antoinette Farnum Hall, her daughter Fannie Hall Carpenter, and Mrs. Hall's sister, Louise Farnum Brown, in the establishment of Wellsville's David A. Howe Public Library. My only regret is that Dr. Julian Woelfel died unexpectedly on September 2, 2017 and could not be with us to celebrate the publication of The Pink House but he remains with us in spirit.

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