Difference between revisions of "Brown, Burton & Davis, Architects"

Revision as of 14:11, 7 May 2025

Principals:

William Raper Brown (1846-1918)[a]

Matthew Henry Burton (1869-1947)[b]

David D. Davis (c. 1866-c. 1925)[c]

Brown, Burton & Davis was a busy but short-lived architectural partnership based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The partners had numerous commissions between 1899 and 1901, designing large churches from Pennsylvania to Kansas. Saint Paul Methodist Episcopal (now United Methodist) Church in downtown Lincoln is their single known Nebraska project.[1][2]

Lineage of Principals' Associations

1889-1896: Crapsey & Brown, architects, Cincinnati.[][aa]

1898: Burton & Davis, architects, Cincinnati.

1899-1901: Brown, Burton & Davis (BBD), architects, Cincinnati.[1][e]

1902-1907: Brown & Davis, architects, Cincinnati.

Other Associations

1900-1901: employed Michael Heister, architect, residing in Bellevue, Kentucky.[d]

1900-1901: Lincoln architect A. W. Woods supervised construction of St. Paul M. E. Church, Lincoln.[2]

St. Paul M. E. Church, 1900.(Michael Heister)

Known Nebraska Work

Saint Paul Methodist Episcopal (now United Methodist) Church (1900-1901), South 12th & M Streets, Lincoln, Nebraska.[1][2][e]

Similar Church Projects

Brown, Burton & Davis designed approximately a dozen churches during their brief partnership, located in at least six states. Several followed designs similar to St. Paul Methodist in Lincoln.

Central M. E. Church (1899), Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.[17]

St. Paul's Methodist Church (1900), southwest corner of Ashland Blvd & Harrison St., Chicago, Illinois.[18]

Dwight M. E. Church (1901), West Mazon Street, Dwight, Illinois.[19]

A Chicago paper noted in November of 1901 that "Plans for several new churches have just been completed by W. R. Brown." These included Chicago's Salem Evangelical Church at Lincoln St. and Washburne Ave., Illinois churches in Weaton (Gary Memorial Congregational) and First Presbyterian in Mattoon, and First Baptist in Charleston, West Virginia.[20]

First Baptist Church (1902), Topeka, Kansas.[21]

Notes

a. William Raper Brown (1846-1918) served in an Ohio regiment in the Civil War. He studied architecture at the University of Indiana and then at Cornell University from 1871-1874.[3][4] William was listed as an architect in Dayton, Kentucky in the 1880 census, with his wife Flora P. (nee Copeland) and young son and daughter. While his residence remained Dayton, Kentucky, he was listed as an architect in the Cincinnati city directories as early as 1885. With Cincinnati architect Charles C. Crapsey, Brown was invited to submit a competition design for the Hamilton County (Ohio) courthouse in 1885. They did not win that commission, but a few years later Crapsey & Brown entered into a productive partnership, designing numerous churches and other projects in Ohio and Kentucky from 1889-1896.[25][26][29]. Brown continued to specialize in church design as Brown, Burton & Davis (BBD)from 1899-1901. The announcement in a Lincoln newspaper of the selection of BBD's design for Lincoln's St. Paul M. E. Church noted that building committee members John E. Miller and H. K Burnett "recently made a trip east to see a church constructed on the same plans" and that "One reason that weighed heavily in favor of selecting the plans offered by Messrs. Brown, Burton & Davis was that they are special church architects" and that "they now have in process of construction twenty-three church buildings in...the United States." Specific mention was made of their churches in Wabash, Indiana; Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; and Louisville, Kentucky.[1]then from 1902-1907 in partnership with David Davis as Brown & Davis. In the early 20th century Brown also practiced from Chicago (1903), then relocated to Ridgefield Park, New Jersey (by 1915), then Auburn, New York (1916-7), before his death in New York City in 1918.[5-7]

b. Matthew Henry Burton, a Cincinnati native (1869-1947) and son of Rebecca (nee Cloon) Josiah and Burton, was remembered as a "Suburban Home Builder" and "architect who did much to make Cincinnati suburbs better and more beautiful places in which to live."[8] Cincinnati city directories list an early partnership of Burton and David Davis (1898) before they joined forces with W. R. Brown in 1899. Burton exited the partnership in 1901.[9] He married Mildred Campbell in 1905 and continued a lengthy architectural practice in Cincinnati.[10][27]

c. Welsh-born David D. Davis (c.1866-c.1927) emigrated to the U.S. as an infant in 1867 and was naturalized in 1870.[11] He was practicing architecture in Cincinnati by 1898, first in partnership with Matthew Burton, then for a few years with Brown, Burton & Davis. He and Brown remained listed in the Cincinnati directories as Brown & Davis through 1907. In 1923, a Cincinnati newspaper mentioned that Davis had joined with Alex. W. Stewart as Davis & Stewart, "specializing in bank buildings and interior equipment." That firm was listed in 1923 and 1924, after which no mention of David D. Davis, architect, has been found.[12][28]

d. "M. Heister" signed the rendering of 1900 for St. Paul M. E. Church in Lincoln. Michael Heister was listed in Cincinnati directories as a draftsman in 1899 and as architect with the Brown, Burton & Davis partnership in 1900 and 1901. His talent as a draftsman was recognized in 1900 when his drawings were among those chosen from Cincinnati for display at a "National Exhibition at Philadelphia." The next year a newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina described Heister as "the well known designer and water colorist" who was hired by architect Frank Milburn towards "Making Improvements in His Office" which would "now have the highest salaried draftsman in the south." Heister was further described as "a graduate of Cincinnati Art school, Boston School of Technology and the Bozart institute, Paris." Heister was born in Bellevue, Kentucky in 1870, married Stella Willeke of Cincinnati in 1903, and died in Washington, D. C. in 1948. He practiced three decades in Washington as Milburn & Heister Co., designing "many outstanding buildings" including the Labor Department building, Roger Smith Hotel, and Lansbourgh & Bro. department store. He was also a founder and first president of Washington's Cosmopolitan Club.[13-16]

e. St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church in Lincoln as built in 1900-1901 closely followed the Brown, Burton & Davis rendering, but within a decade the tower had been truncated, removing the spire above the belfry level, reducing the building's height from 120 feet to 80 feet (per 1903 and 1928 Sanborn Map Co. atlases). The church had been substantially completed by late 1901, but a set of "McKinley Memorial chimes" was not installed and dedicated until mid-1902, after a successful public subscription of $5,000. (The maker of the ten bells, Liberty Bell Company of Troy, N.Y., was credited with donating the final $1,000 of the bells' value.) The largest bell is cast with an inscription "Presented by the citizens of Lincoln and vicinity in memory of our beloved president, William McKinley, March, 1902."[22] The remodeling of the tower was necessitated by yearly damage to the church interior from seepage originating with ice that would build up behind ornamental work of the steeple.[23][24]

References

1. "New Church Edifice. St. Paul Methodist Official Board Takes Action...Experienced Church Builders Are Employed," (Lincoln) Nebraska State Journal (February 10, 1900), 1 (with perspective sketch).

2. "A Worthy New Building. Present Home of St. Paul's Congregation. One of Largest in the West," (Lincoln) Nebraska State Journal (November 18, 1901), 3 (with sketch of floor plan).

3. Cornell Alumni Directory, XIII:12 (Cornell University: Ithaca, NY, 1922), 41.

4. Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current, s.v. "William R. Brown" in Xenia, Ohio, [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

5. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census," s.v. "William R. Brown" [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

6. Ancestry.com. New Jersey, U.S., State Census, 1915, s.v. "William R. Brown," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017.

7. Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current, s.v. "William R. Brown," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

8. "Matthew H. Burton Expires; Cincinnati Architect Noted as Suburban Home Builder," Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer (January 20, 1947), 12. SEE also "Matthew H. Burton" (obituary), Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer (January 22, 1947), 23.

9. "It will be news..." (announcement that Burton had "...severed his connection with the firm of Brown, Burton & Davis, architects..."), Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer (October 9, 1901), 5.

10. Ancestry.com. Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, s.v. "Matthew Henry Burton," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

11. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census, s.v. "David Davis" (b. in Wales), [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

12. "Alex. W. Stewart has resigned...," Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer (January 21, 1923), 60.

13. "Architect Michael Heister...has been appointed...," Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer (November 24, 1900), 15.

14. "A Color Artist. Architect Milburn Making Improvements in his Office," The State (Columbia, South Carolina) (July 21, 1901), 16.

15. "The marriage of Mr. Michael Heister, of this city...," Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer (August 30, 1903), 10.

16. "Michael Heister Dies; Architect Designed Many Buildings Here," Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) (March 21, 1948), 13.

17. "Proposed New Central M. E. Church," Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) Times (June 6, 1899), 7 (illustrated with perspective rendering).

18. "Two Congregations Unite," The Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois) (June 11, 1900), 12 (Illustrated with perspective rendering).

19. "The Exercises of Laying The Corner Stone of the New Methodist Church, At Dwight, Ill.," Dwight (Illinois) Star and Herald (August 17, 1901), 8 (with well-rendered perspective).

20. "Plans for several new churches...," The Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois) (November 12, 1901), 9; illustrated in same newspaper (November 17, 1901), 28.

21. "W. R. Brown is preparing plans for a new church...at Topeka, Kan...." The Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois) (July 18, 1902), 10.

22. "Dedicate McKinley Chimes," Omaha (Nebraska) Bee (June 2, 1902), 2.

23. "Remodeling Church Belfry--Faulty Construction Cause of Change at St. Paul's. Water allowed to seep through into Auditorium, Damaging Plaster of Ceiling," (Lincoln) Nebraska State Journal (April 7, 1912), 6.

24. City of Lincoln Building Permit #4417, issued April 4, 1912, $1,000 estimated cost to "Remodel tower."

25. "Charles C. Crapsey" in Design LAB: Learn + Build (formerly known as Architectural Foundation of Cincinnati), database on Cincinnati architects accessed May 6, 2025 at https://www.designlearnandbuild.org/azarchitect-c/#CCrapsey

26. "William Brown" in Design LAB: Learn + Build (formerly known as Architectural Foundation of Cincinnati), database on Cincinnati architects accessed May 6, 2025 at https://www.designlearnandbuild.org/azarchitect-b/#WilliamBrown

27. "Matthew H. Burton" in Design LAB: Learn + Build (formerly known as Architectural Foundation of Cincinnati), database on Cincinnati architects accessed May 6, 2025 at https://www.designlearnandbuild.org/azarchitect-b

28. "David Davis" in Design LAB: Learn + Build (formerly known as Architectural Foundation of Cincinnati), database on Cincinnati architects accessed May 6, 2025 at https://www.designlearnandbuild.org/azarchitect-d/#DDavis

29. "The Proposed New Court-House," Cincinnati (Ohio) Inquirer (March 13, 1885), 7.

Page Citation

E. F. Zimmer & D. Murphy, “Brown, Burton & Davis, Architects,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, May 6, 2025. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, June 3, 2025.

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