Friends of Wheeling Tour - 1464 Stoolfire Road, Twin Springs Farm

Friends of Wheeling toured Twin Springs Farm (1464 Stoolfire Road) on August 28, 2024.

Tracing the history of this property is a challenge, given the lack of resources such as city maps and directories. However, it is believed that the house was built around 1821. Deed records show that Joseph Alexander purchased the property in the spring of 1822 from James and Elizabeth McCoy for $2,400. Nearly nine years later, Joseph and Margaret Alexander sold it in 1831 to Humphrey Boone for $4,400. The large increase in sale price might be an indication that the house was built during the time the Alexanders owned it. Boone immediately sold the property to James Pairson/Peirson/Pearson. Each of those transactions mention the land size as 341 acres.

Nothing else was found on the earliest owners. However, the 1860 Ohio County Census lists James Pairson (age 26), Valley Grove farmer, along with his wife Mary J. (25) and their daughter Laura V. (9 months). Perhaps this James was a son of the James Pairson who purchased the property in 1831. This younger James Pairson/Pearson (1834-1913) fought for the Union during the Civil War, in Company D of the 12th (West) Virginia Infantry. The original James Pairson transferred the property in 1844 to John Pairson, perhaps another son.

In the spring of 1880, Samuel and Jane Reed acquired the property from the heirs of John Pairson. David S. Reed, Sr., along with his brothers John and Joseph, became the owners of several pieces of property in 1886, 1890, and 1891, including the property that had been owned by his father Samuel - the parcel that came from the heirs on John Pairson. The property remained in the Reed family through several generations. David Scott Reed, Sr. was born in 1852, the son of Samuel and Jane Wallace Reed. His occupation was listed as farmer, Valley Grove. A year prior to his death in 1929 (at nearly 77 years of age), he filed a will, which read, in part, that he was “residing about two miles south of Valley Grove, on the Valley Grove and Middle Creek Road.” He left his wife “Daisy V. Reed exclusive use of that part of the dwelling house occupied at the time of my death, by me and my said wife, as a residence, including the joint use of the bathroom, for and during her natural life, said house being owned jointly by me and my son David S. Reed, Jr., … and one-half interest in and to the oil and gas underlying the property… the other half to my son, David S. Reed, Jr., and annual annuity of $200 in quarterly installments of $50 each…”

In 1950, the widow Daisy Reed transferred the property to her son, David S. Reed, Jr. (1893-1977). His 1916 Penn State yearbook entry shows his picture, along with his academic accomplishments and future goal.

David S. Reed, Jr,’s World War I draft registration described him as of medium height and build, with black hair and brown eyes. He served in the U.S. Army from October 1917 until December 1918, rising to the rank of Corporal. Following his death, his widow, Dora Reed, applied for a veteran’s headstone for his place of rest in the West Alexander Cemetery. His registration for the World War II draft described him as 5’8” tall, 170 pounds, with blue eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion. An added note indicates “long scars on the top of left arm and underneath.” According to the 1940 Census David Reed, Jr., worked 76 hours on his farm the week prior to the census being taken. And, according to the 1950 Census, he worked 92 hours a week on the farm.

David S. Reed, Jr.’s grandson Page David Hunt (1942-2014) and his wife Jane became owners of the property in 1980. In 1986, Daniel J. and Robin Anne Golaski purchased the property for $79,000, thus ending the Reed family ownership, which had lasted more than 100 years.


Lisa Hrutkay and Tom Fledderus purchased the property (at that time, 13.5 acres) from the Golaskis in late 2001 and began extensive rehabilitation efforts that have lasted since then.