House video tour courtesy of the Griswold High School Communications Class

Photo Tour: 

East entrance into the basement. This is the same entrance Freedom Seekers would have taken to come into the secret room & safety. 

Much of the basement is original to the House. (not the furnishings) Limestone walls & hard packed dirt floor. We assume Mrs. Hitchcock would have had herbs drying, clothing hanging to dry, food cooking, etc down here much of the time, especially in the winter months. 

This huge stone fireplace is orginal to the House. It would have provided warmth all the way to the upstairs rooms, as well as used for cooking. 

The entrance to the secret room is directly across from the outside entrance, so Freedom Seekers could go right in. We assume that there was some sort of cabinet or shelving built into this door frame that pulled out, or had a secret door to this back room. Revered Hitchcock was never fined or imprisoned for aiding runaway slaves, so we know that he was never found out to have built this secret room. 

Drying herbs & primitive tools from the era can be seen in the basement. 

The secret room. Tree trunk column, limestone walls, dirt floor. Very meager accomodations. We do not know what, if any, furnishings were in this secret room. We assume Freedom Seekers did not stay any longer than needed. Maybe long enough for some sleep, or a hot meal. 

The secret room. We've given this room a bed, chair, & desk. This may have not had any furnishings for freedom seekers at the time 

Original tree trunk columns in the basement still show the saw marks from the primitive hand saws that we have hanging in place in the basement. 

The south side of the House would have been the main entry during the time that the Hitchcock's lived here. 

Bedroom furnishings upstairs are of the era, not of the Hitchcock family. 

Immediatly inside the front door you can go upstairs to the bedrooms, turn right to the dining room or left to the parlor, or proceed down the hallway to the back kitchen. 

Upstairs landing looking south 

While this dress has seen better days, it does depict clothing of the era & is displayed in an upstairs bedroom. 

Upstairs bedroom furnished with items of the era. (Remember they wouldn't have had indoor plumbing?!) 

China cabinet in kitchen/family dining room. 

Standing just inside the formal dining room. Photos of the Hitchcock's are on the wall above the bench. 
Almost all of the flooring is orginal. 

Looking into the House from the north entrance. We are standing in the family dining room looking into the formal dining room & hallway leading to the stairs. Closed door leads to the basement. 

This quilt is on display in our 'classroom' upstairs. Many historians believe the Freedom Seekers may have relied on maps hidden within quilts to navigate areas. 

Upstairs 'classroom' is used as an educational space when classes tour. 

There is only one small bedroom downstairs, just off the family dining room. It most likely would have been used for elderly relatives staying, or for sick children so that Mrs Hitchcock could attend to them easier. 

Upstairs bedroom features a rope 'mattress'. Remember the saying "Sleep Tight"? Rope mattresses fell out of favor in the mid-1800's with the invention of spring mattresses. A 'bed key' or 'wrench' were needed each night to tighten the rope. 

Bedroom furnishings & headwear  of the era can be seen in the upstairs bedroom with the rope bed. 

Family dining room/kitchen. The smaller room on the other side would have been a pantry. 
The braided rug was handmade & donated by Lewis resident, Elsie Bode, who was 93 years old at the time she made the rug - cutting, braiding, & sewing the scraps of old clothing together.  

A candlestick in place in our southwest upper 'classroom'. This window is directly above the basement entrance. As 'conductors' brought Freedom Seekers up the hill from the river, they could have seen a candle in this window for many miles at night  - giving them assurance that it was safe to come up to the House & enter into the basement secret room. 

Closer view of the rope mattress

Entering the House from the north door into the family dining room. 

Parlor with furnishings of the era

Upper room looking east

Upper southwest bedroom. 

Upstairs southwest bedroom features a unique bed that has a side that can fold down. 

Pantry off family dining 

Carpenter's trunk in the pantry belonged to Jacob Stevens who most likely had a part in building the House. 

The House underwent a massive reconstruction project in the fall of 2023. Mark Markuson III Construction did the work. The south side of the House was starting to sag & we noticed the doorway started to pull from the wall. It was determined that the limestone basement walls were basically crumbling. So, the south basment walls were brought to the light of day on the outside & restored where needed. That involved having the House on supports for a time while the basement was exposed. Waterproofing was also done. 
Due to the National Historic Landmark status, all work done to the House must maintain its historical accuracy. So care was taken by the construction team to mark & number & catalog all the sandstone pieces of the above House. So that, in theory, any sandstone removed could go back to its orginal position. That theory worked! We are fortunate though, if needed, we do have sandstone on site that can be cut. We were also able to secure the exact limestone we needed to rebuild the basement walls as they were orginally built. The limestone was brought to the site & cut onsite by the crew. 
Spring of 2024 will see us inside repainting or repapering the south rooms that had to have walls rebuilt. Our hope is that by May 1, 2024 visitors will not even know that any work was done! 