Henry Stivers

Henry Stivers was born in Middleport, Ohio and came to Osceola in 1865 entering as a law student in the office of H.L. Karr. He was admitted to the bar on his 21st birthday and practiced law for the ensuring 10 years.

In 1873, he married Lucy Goetchius of Ward Township.

A Clarke County pioneer businessman and lifetime friend of its people, Stivers assumed duties as vice president and superintendent of the Des Moines, Osceola and Southern Railroad, also serving as president of the Clarke County Bank.

Purchasing the Osceola Sentinel in 1885, he was for a number of years its owner and managing editor. He later established the Des Moines Leader newspaper and served with honor and distinction as mayor of Osceola and Clarke County attorney.

He was prominently associated with the business, social and lodge interests of Osceola.

The Stivers built the beautiful three-story house at 409 S. Main St. and lived in it until a few years before his death in 1917. Blueprints of the house discovered in the attic showed the house was designed and built around 1895 for the Stivers.

Ownership of the house passed into the hands of the Killmar family in the mid-1920s and remained in this family until the late 1970s when it was purchased by Jeff Wade.

In describing the house, Wade stated it had a solid marble fireplace and French doors. The house did not sag and had more wood in it than houses today. The walls were built using two-by-six inch boards instead of two-by-four inch boards. The house had 3,500 square feet on the first two floors, plus a third floor attic.

A family purchased the house from Wade, planning to have it moved to their lot in Warren County. Workers from the city of Osceola, utility, phone and cable companies assisted in moving wires to allow the house to pass.

The 38-feet tall, 92-ton house was moved more than 47 miles to its destination in Warren County starting at 6 a.m. May 30, 1996.

One of the photos showed the house being turned east on Highway 34 — the house having “looked” the other way for 101 years.

Another photo shows the house a half block east on Highway 34 where two boards with a groove in the middle of each field were placed on the highway.

The main north-south electric power line had not been disconnected disrupting service. The power line was carefully dropped down in the grooves on the boards, making a loud noise.

The house was then driven over the boards. Electric crews immediately put the power line back in place after the house moved past the boards.