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The following bit of history about The Olds House, also known as The Hartford
House, is from The Paw Paw River
Times & People - Volume 1, by Roy (Bud) M. Davis,
published in 1990.
"During my lifetime, the biggest and best known hotel in Hartford has always
been called the Hartford House. Now, it is the only one still standing
of what was once a grand total of at least six places offering shelter to
the weary traveler and a home away from home.
In the beginning it was named The Olds House, because
(naturally) it was built by a man named Edwin R. Olds. His father
(Orson*) was
a brother to Ferdino Olds, known as Hartford's first white settler. In fact,
Edwin is said to have married one of Ferdino's daughters named Harriet.
The fact that the couple were first cousins was not so unusual on the
frontier, and the middle of the 19th century Hartford was on the frontier.
The couple first settled south of town just off the Keeler
Road and north of the old Jay Johnson place, now owned by Bob and Delores
Kling. There, Edwin built a log cabin for his bride in which they
lived for some time, then built a frame house across the road.
When they sold out and moved into Hartford, their house was
moved across the road and finally became a tenant house on the Jay Johnson
farm. During this time, Edwin set out 26 acres of apple trees, making
it the largest orchard in the township.
Thrifty farming must have come naturally to Edwin, because
he and Harriet did very well. They moved into town in 1869 and
had built for them a three-story brick hotel which they named The
Olds House. It stood on the west side of town between the business
district and the railroad depot.
My father told me, in later years after it had been renamed, that the dining
room became very famous. The pinnacle of Epicurean delights in those
days evidently was to have a beef steak fried in butter. My dad said
the hotel hired a man in a livery rig to meet all passenger trains to
provide free transportation to Hartford's premier hostelry.
As passengers alighted from the train, he would wait nearby,
crying out in a loud voice, "Butter on
your beef steak at the Hartford House!"
Another landmark was to come opposite the hotel in 1896,
when Horace Olney purchased two acres and gave it to the village for a park.
He asked that it be named Ely Park in honor of his mother, whose maiden name
was Ely.
 By 1910, the Hartford House (now so-named) was owned by William C. Hilliard
(shown on the business advertisement as
Hibbard), who was well-known in local parts. In March of
that year, evidently tiring of the hotel business, Hilliard leased the place
to Joe Cowie and Willis G. Eply, both of Kalamazoo.
In the early morning hours of January 4, 1911, the hotel porter was asleep
in a third-story room. Directly below him in the storeroom a fire of
mysterious origin started. It burned through the floor above,
awakening the porter, who sounded the alarm.
At first, the blaze was contained by throwing pails of water
upon it, but then it went out of control. A general alarm was sounded
and the hotel patrons awakened. The place was almost full of guest,
and they were thrown into a state of confusion by the cries of alarm.
A traveling man, who was sleeping in a room on the second
story directly at the head of the stairs, become so excited in his haste to
escape that he was unable to unlock the door. Kicking out one panel,
he scrambled through the opening, only partly clad, and rushed to the
street. Other guest departed the building clad only in a portion of
their garments and carrying the rest in their arms rushed to the office
below to finish dressing.
The house filled with smoke and there was some damage to
carpeting on the second floor before the flames could be contained.
There was no immediate danger to life for limb, but the guests' general
excitement was understandable.
By July 14 of that same year, the hotel had been refurbished
by Frank Stowell, who finished painting and papering, so the business could
resume full operation.
By May of 1915, Charles Giddings, who now owned The Hartford
House, sold the business to Roy Hinckley, a well-known Hartfordite.
Roy was born in the area in 1875, had owned several businesses around town,
and had been a village constable. His wife, Nina, was the daughter of
Ansel Reynolds, one of Hartford's earliest businessmen. Reynolds first
owned a small store just East of the present Amoco station on East
Main. He also build the Reynolds block, which contained the town hall.
Part of that building is still standing on the corner of Main and North
Center.
Roy was born on a farm between Paw Paw and Decatur in 1875.
Just before the turn of the century, he came to Hartford and purchased a
livery stable. Later, he erected a modern livery barn on South Maple
Street, adjoining the South Main Street alley, and did a good business there
until the advent of the automobile changed things. His was the last
livery barn to operate in Hartford, and before it closed he added a taxi to
the equipment.
For some time, he also operated the cigar store and billiard
hall at Main and Maple streets, in addition to his livery business.
Soon after coming to Hartford, he had married Nina Reynolds Hewitt.
By 1918, Roy Hinckley had taken down the old livery stable
just west of the hotel, and a modern garage would be built there. It
was to become a sales and services garage, owned by Ken Ament for years, and
is still used as a body shop.
After Roy and Nina bought The Hartford House, they not only
maintained but increased the popularity of the hotel. Roy modernized
the 3-story brick structure and made it a popular stopping place on old U.S.
12 for travelers from all over Michigan and nearby states. Its dining
room attracted patrons from many towns and cities.
When I was a small child, I can remember our family eating an occasional
Sunday dinner at the Hinckley's, in a formal dining room
with tasteful greenery. The tables were set with linen cloths and
napkins, silverware gleaming and bouquets on each table. Every dinner
started with a bowl of their famous chicken soup. It was a place for
small children to mind the manners, so my sister Wilma and I did. And
while hotels in other villages passed one by one, The Hartford House, under
Roy's skillful management continued to thrive.
On the weekend following the 4th of July, 1939, Roy and Nina
Hinckley decided to visit some friends in Grand Rapids for the weekend.
They started joyfully north on that Friday afternoon about 4:00 p.m.
All went well until they were about two miles west of
Allendale just outside of Grand Rapids. A car approached them
westbound and passed. Just behind that car was another driven by
Chester Grassmid of Zeeland. The car in front of him obscured his
view, and he slowed to turn left onto a country road. He did so right
in front of the Hinckley's car.
Roy Hinckley swung his car to the shoulder to avoid an
accident, but failed to get clear. The two automobiles collided, and
as the Hinckley car rolled over at least three times, Roy was thrown out and
crushed. Rescuers lifted the car off from his body, but it was too
late. Death had been instantaneous. Mrs. Hinckley was still in
the car with severe injuries and shock. She was taken to a hospital in
Grand Rapids, while Zuver and Calvin were called from Hartford. They
came to get the body of her husband.
Now comes the odd and somewhat unusual part of this tragic
story. When Nina Hinckley was told that her husband was dead, she
insisted that the funeral wait until she could get home again.
So Zuver & Calvin placed Roy's body in a sealed,
glass-topped casket. By the time I had my driver's license and was
delivering floral pieces regularly for my folks' greenhouse business. I
remember bringing a load of flowers into the back room of Zuver
Calvin's for another funeral, and there was Roy Hinckley in his glass-topped
coffin. And he looked pretty good.
Mrs. Hinckley finally recovered enough so the funeral could
be scheduled for July 23rd. That lady had a tremendous amount of
courage. She just didn't want her husband to be buried without her
being there. She came in an ambulance from Butterworth Hospital in
Grand Rapids, and attendants carried her to the services on a hospital cot.
Mr. Hinckley's funeral was held in Ely Park on that Sunday
afternoon, right across from The Hartford House. Maple trees stood
sentinel for the services and the green lawn was covered with people.
I didn't go, being a kid, but a newspaper account mentioned
"Five hundred
friends and neighbors gathered about the flag-draped casket."
I don't
know whether the glass top and Roy Hinckley could be seen or not.
The Reverend John Balfour of Imlay City, friend of the
deceased, officiated. Grace Gearing an Jessie Martin sang two
selections, with Letha Combes at the piano. When the funeral
procession went to Maple Hill Cemetery, Nina Hinckley was taken along by
ambulance. Military services were conducted by the Spanish War veterans, of
which group Mr. Hinckley was a member.
Thus closed a life, and almost an era. War clouds were
looming over Europe, and Nina Hinckley faced the task of putting her life
together and going on with the business of running Hartford's premier hotel.
The Hartford House remains on the spot
today. In the 1970s, it was renovated by Larry Ravitz and turned into an apartment
house. The huge front porch was rebuilt, and at that time, the
building provided rooms for weary persons to lay their heads in sweet
repose. I wonder if those tenants know the history that lives there
with them.
The following is a letter from Neta Kabel Wigent that starts on page 66 of
Bud's book, Paw Paw River Days and
Nights (a different publication than
above), published in 1993. This will be a treat for the many
Hartford people employed at The Hartford House through the years....Thank you Neta and Bud!
"I started working
at the Hartford House in September of 1921, and worked there summers
1922-23-24. When I started looking for work, I went to the telephone
office. They paid seven dollars a week. I went to the Hartford
House, and they paid seven dollars a week, plus room and board. The
Hinckleys gave us a large bedroom on the main floor, and I remember we often
had late snacks there...cheese or chocolate candy from Olds Brothers'
Grocers. They were yummy! A few cracker crumbs in bed did not
bother us, but one time we went to sleep with a few chocolates left in the
bag at the head of the bed. They spilled out, and were we a mess!
Shortly after I
went to work there, in September of 1921, Mr. and Mrs. Hinckley left for
Hawaii to visit her son who was an official in the government. They
were gone for several months. A man from Battle Creek came to manage
the hotel while they were gone.
The Hinckleys were
very good to their help and made us feel like members of their family.
They said we could use their upstairs suite to entertain our guest and I
remember their record player which we really enjoyed.
My work was to
take care of the plants and parakeets that were near the back windows in the
dining room.
The milk was
delivered early every morning by a man who had a mail route. (I'll bet
it was Sherwood Penwell). He would pour the milk into large flat pans
which would sit all day. Then we would skim off the cream to use in the
dining room. We also had the butter delivered in large crocks by a
farmer. We used wooden molds to make the very fancy patties which we
put in a large bowl of chipped ice and served on tiny butter plates.
The ice was from an ice house back of the hotel and had been cut from the
lakes in previous winter.
I will always
remember the chairs that were in front of the hotel during the summer where
people could stop to chat.
Our customers were
mostly people from Chicago, a few traveling salesmen, and on Sundays we
served many of the Hartford business families. At the time of the
Hartford Fair, the hotel would be full. I remember always attending
the fair since I was eight years old. During the fair, dances were
held every night in a hall on Main Street. I never missed and had some
really good times there.
There were no
electric dish washers then, and the waitresses did the glasses and silver.
They had to be done perfectly. We did not wear uniforms, but must
always be neat. I learned a lot there that helped me later when we had
a family and times were rough.
I was a waitress
for thirty three years, and I have the Hinckleys to thank for my early
training."
The above history about The Olds House, also known as The
Hartford House, comes from The Paw Paw
River Times & People,
by Roy M. Davis, published in
1993. The dining room photo is from Bud's collection of
historic photos.
* Orson Olds was the father to Edwin R. Olds, according
to page 10 of the
History of
Hartford
by Charles A. Spaulding.
Click here to read other information about the Olds
family and the Olds Hotel - Hartford House in the
History of
Hartford
by Charles A. Spaulding.
Update: 4-9-2004
The Hartford Hotel was burned today, leaving only a brick shell of the
structure.
View original photos of the fire that destroyed an
important historical building of Hartford Michigan.
Photo postcard above of the Hartford House postmarked 1909
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