Edward Augustus Russell was the brother of the Middletown merchant Samuel Russell. Edward A. Russell served as mayor of Middletown and a state representative. His Greek Revival-style house was built on High Street in Middletown in 1841-1842, next to his brother’s home of 1828. Like the Samuel Russell House, Edward’s house may have been designed by the important architect Ithiel Town. Significant alterations were made when a third floor was added in 1930.
A house on High Street in Middletown was constructed in 1837-8 in the Greek Revival style to serve as home for Wilbur Fisk the first president of Wesleyan University. It served as a house for Wesleyan’s presidents until 1904 and then as the Dean’s House until 1967. It is currently the Center for the Americas, housing the departments of American Studies and Latin American Studies.
The Colonial Revival home of Thomas MacDonough Russell, built in 1901-1902, is located on High Street in Middletown. Russell was a descendant of Samuel Russell, whose famous 1828 Greek Revival House is across the street. The Thomas MacDonough Russell House currently houses Wesleyan University‘s Center for African American Studies.
Built around 1752, on Washington Street in Middletown by Jeremiah Wetmore, on property that had once been part of the 1670 land grant to Rev. Samuel Stow, the town’s first minister. The house was purchased by Jehosaphat Starr in 1756, who enlarged the original central chimney home with an addition to the east elevation. This was done to accommodate his large family, which eventually grew to 14. Starr, a Major during the Revolutionary War, was married to Sarah Stow, who was a great-grand niece of Rev. Samuel Stow. The house remained in the family until 1851.
Built in 1810 on Main Street in Middletown for the merchant Samuel Mather, the Federal-style General Mansfield House was later home to Mather’s daughter Louisa and her husband, General Joseph K. F. Mansfield. At the start of the Civil War, Mansfield was in charge of the defense of Washington, D.C. On September 17, 1862, he was killed at the Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg) in Maryland, haven just taken command two days before of the XII Corps of the Army of the Potomac. A monument and a mortuary cannon are dedicated to him on the battlefield of Antietam. There is also a monument in Middletown’s Indian Hill Cemetery, where he is buried. His house was later occupied by his descendants. Slated for demolition in the 1950s, it was saved by the Middlesex County Historical Society and now serves as the Society’s headquarters and museum.
Across High Street from the Russell House in Middletown is the brownstone Gothic Revival style Duane Barnes House, which was possibly designed either by Barnes himself or by A.J. Davis. Today, the house is owned by Wesleyan University and serves as the Davidson Health Center.
Built between 1828 and 1830, on High Street in Middletown, the Samuel Russell House is regarded as “one of the premier examples of Greek Revival architecture in the Northeast.” It was constructed for Samuel Wadsworth Russell, who was an important figure in the early nineteenth century China trade. Russell commissioned the well-known architect, Ithiel Town, a proponent of the Greek Revival, to design the house. The construction of the house was supervised by the builder-architect, David Hoadley. With the Russell House, Town created one of the first homes in America to feature a Greek temple design, utilizing correct Greek proportions and six Corinthian columns on the facade. Its design would prove influential in the creation of other Greek Revival houses. It also set a high standard of elegance for Middletown’s High Street, which Charles Dickens is supposed to have called the most beautiful street in America. The house was given to Wesleyan University by Thomas Macdonough Russell, Jr in 1937.
