The house at 4 West Simsbury Road in Canon was built c. 1760 or 1770 (the latter date is indicated by a sign on the house) by David Adams, Jr. (1740-1834). For many years, the house, located along a stagecoach line, was used as a tavern operated by Gen. Ezra Adams (1751-1836), who built a house nearby. He was also a leather-worker, making boots, saddles and harnesses. Ezra and George Adams ran a store in a small building connected to the main house. This building also served as a post office after George’s brother, Oliver Adams, was appointed postmaster in 1842. The building was removed in 1906 and the mail was moved to the main house, which had two front doors at the time. The last postmaster was Mary Vining Adams (wife of Henry H. Adams), who ran the post office from 1923 to 1937. For many years, the role of postmaster was shared back and forth with members of the Weed family (in 1826, Dr. Benjamin Weed became the first first postmaster in North Canton).
The property was later owned by Louis Diehms, who used the house as an antiques shop. In 1953, Mary and Whitney Jennison purchased the house, which they restored. They discovered evidence that the house once had a gambrel roof. On November 8, 1962, the restored house was one of five old houses in Canton opened to the public as part of a house tour to benefit a landscaping project at the Cherry Brook Elementary School. An article announcing the tour and focusing on the Jennison House appeared in the Hartford Courant on Sunday, October 28, 1962.
