Friends of Wheeling Tour - 739 Main Street, CJ Rawling House

Friends of Wheeling toured 739 Main Street on May 4, 2024. House has been sold and being prepared for an estate sale (Jeanette Coleman).

This house, known locally as the C.J. Rawling House, was built around 1880. It is a “contributing” structure in the North Wheeling Historic District, with its description in the National Register nomination stating, “The Italianate hoods of the windows and doors are identical to those on [the neighboring] 735-37 [Main], except in this house, the original entrance doors remain. The beautifully proportional cornice is more Greek Revival than Italianate. The house has been well maintained and exhibits considerable original fabric.”

In 1877, Civil War veteran Charles J. Rawling purchased the property from Joseph Seybold for $5000 and later built the home that still stands today. Rawling (1830-1911) was the son of English immigrants, arriving in this country when he was a young child. He was educated at Linsly and then held a variety of jobs prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. He entered the service as a private in the First (West) Virginia Infantry, serving the Union at the front until wounded in the battle of Winchester. He then entered the quartermaster's department, and at the latter period of the war, he represented that department at Martinsburg, supplying Sheridan's army with supplies. The heroic deeds of his regiment have been preserved for posterity by him in his book entitled the History of the First Virginia Regiment Infantry, 1861 to 1865.

Following the war, Rawling returned to Wheeling and entered the drug business under the company name of C.J. Rawling & Co. He married Maria Donnelly (1834-1915) in 1866; their son, Charles Quincy Rawling, was born in 1869. Later, C.J. Rawling was appointed postmaster of Wheeling, a position that he held for 12 years. During that time, the letter carrier system was adopted in Wheeling. Other accomplishments included being president of the Wheeling Hinge company and president of the Fire and Marine Insurance company. The 1900 census shows the couple’s son living with them at 739 Main Street; a domestic servant is also listed in the home. Son Charles Quincy Rawling taught chemistry at Linsly before his untimely death at age 32.

Charles (C.J.) Rawling died in 1911 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery. His widow remained in their home until her death four years later.

Archibald A. Taylor purchased the property in early 1916 for $6350 . Taylor (1872-1957) served as the YMCA Secretary in France during World War I and later worked as an insurance agent along with his brother H. Mendel Taylor in the firm Taylor and Taylor, 1300 Market Street. His passport application from 1918, with photo, indicates that he was well-traveled, having visited Europe in 1902 and Cuba in 1914 before heading for England and France in 1918.

Upon his death in 1957, bachelor Archibald Taylor left the property to his nieces, his sister Emma’s daughters, Hazel Dunn Gilliam and Marie Dunn. Following their deaths (1959 and 1980), the property was left to Farrell D. and Grace Moore. Farrell Moore had been an employee of Taylor and Taylor. After he died in 1984, his widow sold the property to Robert L. Martin for $57,500 .

Four years later, in 1988, Martin sold the property to G. Martin Mulrooney. Robert E. and Jeanette Coleman purchased the property in the fall of 1990 and remained in the home until their deaths in 1996 and 2017. Their sons Stephen R. and Charles E. Coleman then inherited the property and are the current owners.