Difference between revisions of "William H. Willcox (1832-1929), Architect"

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William H. Willcox designed a trio of significant buildings in Lincoln, Nebraska between 1879 and 1885, while practicing in Chicago, Illinois and Saint Paul, Minnesota. Those were just two stops on a career in architecture that extended more than a half century and across the breadth of the U.S. Willcox was born in England in 1832, immigrated to New York State with his family as a child, and married Henrietta Malloy (or Mallory) around 1854.[1][2][28][a] They were living in Brooklyn, New York at the time of the 1855 New York State census and he was already listed as an architect. He served in the 95th New York Infantry in the Civil War as a topographical engineer.[3][4] The family lived in Brooklyn until 1870, but relocated to Chicago soon after, presumably for the opportunity posed by the rebuilding efforts necessitated by the Great Chicago Fire of October 8-10, 1871.[6][27][e] Willcox was residing in Chicago when he designed the second Nebraska State Capitol.[5][6][27] In the early 1880s he married Mary Prescott and moved to Minnesota, settling in Saint Paul for a productive partnership with Clarence H. Johnston through 1889. Then he successively relocated to and practiced in Seattle, Washington; Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. He died in a Veterans Home in Yountville, California on February 1, 1929. [7][8][9][17][a]

This page is a contribution to the publication, Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. See the format and contents page for more information on the compilation and page organization.

Second Nebraska State Capitol, 1879 (Nebraska State Historical Society)

Nebraska Directory Listings

Willcox does not appear to have ever been listed in a Nebraska directory as a resident or architect, instead he resided in Illinois and Minnesota at the time of his known Nebraska commissions.

Educational & Professional Associations

1854-1861: architect, Brooklyn, New York.[1][28][29][32]

1861-1863: topographical engineer, U. S. Army.[4]

1863-1870: architect, Brooklyn and New York City, New York.[29]

1872: architect with Burling & Adler, Chicago, Illinois.[27][e]

1873-1874: architect, Chicago, Illinois.[27][e]

1875-1877: architect and partner with Willcox & Miller, Chicago, Illinois.[27][e]

1878-1882: architect, Chicago, Illinois.[6][27][e]

1882-1885: architect, Saint Paul, Minnesota.[20]

1885-1889: architect and partner, Willcox & Johnston, Saint Paul, Minnesota.[7][20][21][22]

1889: architect, Saint Paul, Minnesota.[20]

1890-1892: architect and partner with William E. Boone, Seattle, Washington.[17][20][23]

1896-1898: architect, Los Angeles, California.[45]

1899-1904: architect, San Francisco, California.[23][34][39][k]

1905-1910s: architect, Alameda County, California.

by 1920: retired in Alameda, California.

Other Associations

1860-1867: project in Brooklyn, New York, with Gameliel King, architect, Brooklyn and New York City.[29][30][31][47]

1886-8: project in Hanford, California, with John Haggerty, architect.[46]

1900-1903: multiple projects in and around San Francisco, California, with John M. Curtis, architect, San Francisco.[i][j][k]

Buildings & Projects

1854-1870, Brooklyn

Willcox and his family resided in Brooklyn through this period, although he was listed among architects in the New York City directories. His most significant known project of these years, the Kings County Savings Bank in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, was undertaken jointly with Gameliel King (1795-1875), a New York City architect best known for multi-story cast-iron buildings.[[#References{47]]] Based on currently available information, describing them as partners throughout this period may overstate their association.[[#References|[29][30][31][f]

Design for "Rural Home No. 3" (1854), published in John Bullock, The American Cottage Builder, 1854.[32][g]

Design for "Suburban Octagonal Cottage" (1854), published in John Bullock, The American Cottage Builder, 1854.[32][g]

Kings County Savings Bank (1860-1867), 135 Broadway, Brooklyn, New York City, New York.[30][31][f]

1861-1863, topographical engineer, U. S. Army

Willcox served in the 95th Regiment of the New York State Infantry in the Civil War, attaining the rank of Captain. He produced at least two topographical maps which were published after the major battles of Antietam and Gettysburg. See Publications below. [4]

1872-1882, Chicago, Illinois

Second Nebraska State Capitol (1879-1888), 15th & J, Lincoln, Nebraska.[5][10][11][24][26][33][b][d]

Congregational Church (1880-1882), Winona, Minnesota.[13][14][c]

1882-1889, Saint Paul, Minnesota

St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church (1883-1885), Lincoln, Nebraska.[14][15]

University of Nebraska Chemistry Laboratory (1885), 12th & R Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[25]

1890-1892, Seattle, Washington

1896-1898, Los Angeles, California

Kings County Courthouse (1896-1898), Hanford, California.[46]

1899-1904, San Francisco, California

Gibbs Building of St. Luke's Hospital (1900), Valencia & 27th Street, San Francisco, California.[36][37][i]

Carnegie Library (1902), 2264 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda, California.[38][40][j]

Gymnasium for St. Ignatius College (1903), San Francisco, California.[34]

1905-1910s, Alameda, California

Project for "Dream Hotel" for Murphy H. Durst (1911), Oakland, California.[35]

Undated

First Presbyterian Church (n.d.), Clinton, Iowa. [16]

Episcopal Church (n.d.), Emmetsburg, Iowa. [16]

State Journal Building (n.d.), Lincoln, Nebraska. [16]

State Reform School (n.d.), Kearney, Nebraska. [16]

Publications

William H. Willcox, "Map of the battlefield of Antietam," lithograph, (Philadelphia: P. S. Duval & Son, 1862). Online at Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3844s.cw0252000 Accessed March 3, 2017.

William H. Willcox, "Map of the battle of Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 2nd & 3rd, 1863, showing line of battle on P.M. of 2nd," lithograph, (1863). Online at Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item/99466787/ Accessed March 3, 2017.

William H. Willcox, Hints to Those Who Propose to Build--Also a Description of Improved Plans for the Construction of Churches. (Saint Paul, Minnesota: Pioneer Press, 1884).

Notes

a. Willcox's date and place of birth were reported inconsistently in various censuses and other primary sources. Most frequently, he was listed as born in England, but occasionally New York was noted instead. The record of his birth family in the 1850 census identifies his parents as Samuel and Mana and gives William's age as 15. William, the parents, and one younger sibling (age) were all born in England, and four more siblings were born in New York (between 1838 and 1846). Also in the household were 24 year old Henrietta Malloy and her sons Henry and Edward (7 and 3, respectively).[1] The 1855 New York State census lists William (age 23) as an architect residing in Brooklyn, married to Henrietta (age 24), and her two children Henry (11) and Edward (8) Mallory. The family had lived in Brooklyn less than a year, perhaps indicating William and Henrietta married c. 1854.[28] The 1920 Census noted his age as 87 and his year of immigration as 1834.[12]

b. The cornerstone of the second Nebraska State Capitol was retained upon demolition of the building, and installed at the northeast corner of the current (third) State Capitol, alongside a new cornerstone. The old stone identifies William H. Willcox as "Architect & Superintendent" and provides a date of 1884--the commencement of the central portion of the building. The Chicago Daily Tribune noted with a dateline "Lincoln, Neb., Aug. 27 [1879] "that the plans submitted by Mr. Wilcox, of Chicago, for the new State-House have been adopted..." The Tribune describes that "The Wilcox plan provides for a building the extreme length of which is 290 feet; extreme breadth, 130 feet; the hight [sic] of cornice from water-table, 66 feet; hight [sic] of roof, 86 feet; of dome, 200 feet." Some modern sources misidentify the architect as B. H. Wilcox.[5][10][11]

c. The Saint Paul Globe advertisement of 1886 for the partnership of Willcox and Johnston lists twenty of "our recent buildings." The list clearly includes Willcox projects preceding the partnership, such as "State House, Lincoln, Neb." and "M. E. Church, Lincoln, Neb." "Congregational Church, Winona" is another example thereof.[9]

d. Luebke's succinct description of the Willcox Capitol in A Harmony of the Arts: The Nebraska State Capitol opines: “Not an ugly building like its predecessor, this capitol was reasonably attractive, given the haphazard character of its evolution. In terms of its architectural style, it may be judged at best as competent. Designed by another Chicago architect, B. H. Wilcox [sic], it was another unimaginative manifestation of the neoclassical style patterned on the national capitol with its dominating dome.”[26]

e. In the Chicago city directories, Willcox was first listed in 1872 with Burling, Adler & Co. The entry for that firm reads "Burling, Adler & Co., (E. Burling, D. Adler and W. H. Willcox), architects, 167 and 169 Madison." While his name was not in the firm's title, the listing implies he was a partner. Edward J. Burling (1819-1892) was long-established in Chicago's architectural community and was about a dozen years older than Willcox. Dankmar Adler (1844-1900) was about a dozen years younger than Willcox and had just started the firm with Edward Burling early in 1871, a few months before the Great Chicago Fire of October 1871 devastated the city. The rebuilding effort attracted numerous architects. Willcox was listed as a sole practitioner in 1873 and 1874 directories, then as a partner with Charles C. Miller in 1875 and 1876, and as a sole practitioner again in 1877 and 1878. Chicago directories of the 1870-1881 period have not been consulted; Willcox does not appear in the 1882 edition.[27]

f. Kings County Savings Bank, designated a NYC Landmark since 1966 and listed on the National Register in 1980, is a well-preserved three-story French Second Empire building of Dorchester sandstone. Banks occupied the building for over a century. Since 1996, Williamsburg Art and Historical Center has occupied the building. The design is credited to "William H. Wilcox [sic] of Brooklyn, in partnership with prominent New York architect Gamaliel King, working as King & Wilcox [sic]."[30][31]

g. Bullock's book of 1854 refers includes a perspective of "Rural Home No. 3" (between pages 263 and 264) which is described (on pages 219-223) as "a beautiful design by Mr. W. H. Willcox, a young Architect of much promise." Willcox is also afforded four pages of description in "the artist's own words..." which extend beyond mere description of the design to render advice on landscaping the house site "with winding or curved paths, neatly bordered with various flowers, blending their gaudy colors harmoniously together..." The 22-year-old resident of Brooklyn concludes: "Were our country residences more generally decked with simplicity and taste, we imagine that the number of our young men who wander from the patrimonial estate, and precipitate themselves into the dissipated and vitiated follies of a city life, would be very materially lessened." [32]

h. Citing "Oakland Edition of Bulletin," Western Architect and Engineer reported in 1919 that "Mr. William H. Wilcox [sic], 88-year-old architect, who drew the plan in 1911 of the famous "Dream Hotel" for Mr. Murray H. Durst, today won his suit for payment for those plans...awarded Wilcox [sic] $23,425, approximately 1 per cent. of the cost of the projected hotel, $2,500,000. The money must be paid by the Durst estate. The hotel was to be ten stories high, with an airplane landing on the roof and a subway railroad terminal in the basement. The site announced was an entire block...The defense in the suit argued that Durst had permitted Wilcox [sic] to draw the elaborate plans just to humor the aged architect, and with no idea that the hotel would ever be built. But the court holds that the scheme was a serious one in the minds of the exploiters."[35]

i. The San Francisco Chronicle reported in 1900 that "Ground was broken this week for the initial building for the new St. Luke's Hospital. The contract for the work ran $1000 under the estimates of Curtiss & Willcox, the architects."[36] In December 1900, the Chronicle provided an illustration of the hospital and noted that the hospital "When completed...will constitute group of pavilions and other buildings, the first of which is already under roof. All of the group are to be constructed of pressed red brick. They will cost $225,000, and were designed by John M. Curtis and William A. [sic] Willcox.[37]

j. Oakland Tribune of January 13, 1902 reported that the plans of "Wm. H. Willcox and John M. Curtis, architects, of San Francisco" were chosen for a new Carnegie Library in Alameda. "The first prize gives drawings of a handsome building one-story height, to be built of either light pressed brick or stone....In all probability, the architects who secured the first prize will supervise the work, as Mr. Willcox, one of the firm, has had extensive experience in that line." $750 was awarded; $30,000 named as the budget limit. The building was constructed in brick on a high basement of stone.[38][40]

k. Willcox was listed as an architect in San Francisco city directories from 1899-1904. He was not listed in the editions of 1898 or 1905 and he was never listed with a partnership or firm, although newspaper sources record several projects with John M. Curtis and refer to the firm of "Curtis & Willcox." In the 1901 San Francisco city directory, the offices of Curtis and Willcox were listed as 124 Kearny and 126 Kearny, respectively. Clearly they were associates and occasional collaborators, but they may not have practiced as an on-going partnership. John Morrison Curtis was born Sept. 7, 1852 in Missouri and died Sept. 6, 1917 in San Francisco. He was interred with family members in Lexington, Kentucky. A long-time resident of San Francisco, Curtis was credited by San Francisco Call of December 19, 1897 with the design of the San Francisco City Hall and numerous county courthouses including those of Placer, Humboldt, Glenn, Mendocino, Fresno and Sonoma County, as well as the Kohler & Frohling winery in San Francisco.[34][36][37][38][39][41][42] No one architect should bear the full credit or blame for the ambitious "Old" City Hall complex that was constructed over a period of more than two decades stretching from the early 1870s well into the 1890s, but Curtis was architect in charge of construction for a few years, beginning in 1883.[43] Also in 1883, Sonoma County accepted plans of "Curtis & Bennett of this city [San Francisco]" for a courthouse in Santa Rosa.[44]

References

1. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. S. V. “Samuel Wilcox.” Accessed February 18, 2017.

2. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. S.V. “William H. Wilcox” with “Henrietta Wilcox.” Accessed February 18, 2017.

3. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. S.V. “William H. Wilcox.” Accessed February 18, 2017.

4. Francis Bernard Heitman,Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903, 1039. Online: http://books.google.com/books?id=iIUiAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA56#v=onepage&q&f=false Accessed May 21st, 2013.

5. "Nebraska Notes. Description of the New State-House Soon to Be Put Up," Chicago Daily Tribune (August 29, 1879), 3.

6. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. S. V. “William H. Wilcox,” with “Henrietta Wilcox.”

7. Announcement of partnership of Willcox & Johnston, Saint Paul Daily Globe (December 10, 1885), 8.

8. Ancestry.com. California, Death Index, 1905-1939 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Age 96, date of death Feb. 1, 1929.

9. Burial at Veterans Memorial Grove Cemetery, Yountville, Napa County, California, USA “Findagrave” http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Willcox&GSfn=William&GSmn=H.&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=7522206&df=all& Accessed February 18, 2017.

10. Oliver, Richard. Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (American Monograph Series, ed. Robert A. M. Stern). New York: The Architectural History Foundation, and Cambridge & London: The M.I.T. Press, 1983, 184.

11. Pollak, Oliver B., Nebraska Courthouses: Contention, Compromise, and Community. (Images of America Series) Chicago: Arcadia Publishing, 2002, 11.

12. 1920 U.S Census, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. S.V. "Will H. Willcox" with "Mary P. Willcox."

13. Alan K. Lathrop, Churches of Minnesota: an Illustrated Guide, (University of Minnesota Press, 2003), 228-229.

14. "Willcox & Johnston, Architects," advertisement in Saint Paul Globe (January 10, 1886), 2.

15. A. B. Hayes & Sam D. Cox, History of the City of Lincoln, (Lincoln: State Journal Company, 1889), 248-249, 251.

16. William H. Willcox, Hints to Those Who Propose to Build, (St. Paul, Minnesota: The Pioneer Press Publishing Company, 1884).

17. “Willcox, William H.” in Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994), 354.

18. Minnesota Missionary vol. 1 (August 1881).

19. Minnesota Missionary vol. 5 (June 1882).

20. Saint Paul (Minnesota) city directories, 1883-1891. Willcox is listed in solo practice in 1883-1885, with Clarence H. Johnston 1886-1889, solo in 1890, and "removed to Tacoma, Wash." in 1891.

21. ”Architects’ Biographies: William H. Willcox (1832-1929),” in Alan K. Lathrop, Churches of Minnesota: an Illustrated Guide, University of Minnesota Press, 2003, 306.

22. Jeffrey A. Hess and Paul Clifford Larson, St. Paul’s Architecture: A History, U of Minnesota Press, 2006, 57-60 and subsequent footnotes. Online: (http://books.google.com/books?id=XJpU3PKUiG8C&dq=willcox%2Bsaint+Paul%2Barchitect&source=gbs_navlinks_s Accessed January 27th, 2013.

23. Pacific Coast Architectural Database: “William H. Willcox (Architect)”, http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/person/2497/ Accessed February 19, 2017.

24. "History of Nebraska's Capitols," Nebraska State Capitol, http://Capitol.org/building/history/nebraska-capitols Accessed January 27th, 2013.

25. Kay Logan-Peters, "Chemistry Laboratory (Old)," UNL Historic Buildings, http://historicbuildings.unl.edu/building.php?b=45 Accessed February 27, 2017.

26. Frederick C. Luebke, “The Capitals and Capitols of Nebraska,” in A Harmony of the Arts: The Nebraska State Capitol, Lincoln & London: University of Nebraska Press, 1990, 10.

27. Chicago (Illinois) city directories, 1871-1878, 1882.

28. Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1855 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. S.V. "Wm H Wilcox" with "Henrietta V. Wilcox."

29. New York City directories, 1857, 1868, 1870. Listings for Willcox, architect, residing in Brooklyn.

30. "Kings County Savings Bank," Landmarks Preservation Commission (now New York City Landmarks Commission), March 15, 1966. http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/KINGS-CO-BANK.pdf Accessed March 1, 2017.

31. "Kings County Savings Bank" in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_County_Savings_Bank Accessed March 1, 2017.

32. John Bullock, The American Cottage Builder: a series of designs, plans, and specifications, from $200 to $20,000, for homes for the people. (New York: Stringer & Townsend, 1854), 219-223 and 239-244, with illustrations interleaved between 264-265 (Rural Home No. 3) and 316-317 (Suburban Octagon). On-line at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008634222 Accessed March 1, 2017.

33. A. E. Sheldon, Semi-Centennial History of Nebraska: Historical Sketch (Lincoln: Lemon Publishing, 1904), 114, 116, 117.

34. "Ground Broken for New Gymnasium," San Francisco Chronicle (February 3, 1903), 9.

35. "Dream Hotel," The Architect and Engineer of California (Western Architect and Engineer) (June 1919), LVII:3, 110.

36. In "General Notes," San Francisco Chronicle (August 4, 1900), 7; "Bishop Nichols Lays Hospital Cornerstone. Handsome, Modern Brick Buildings to Replace St. Luke's Wooden Structures," (September 20, 1900), 5.

37. "Reality Linked with Business Prosperity," San Francisco Chronicle (December 30, 1900), 8.

38. "Fine Building for Alameda. Library Trustees Award the Prize to San Francisco Firm." Oakland (California) Tribune (January 13, 1902), 2.

39. San Francisco (California) city directories, 1881, 1898-1905, 1917, 1930.

40. "Alameda Free Library" in National Register of Historic Places in Alameda County. http://noehill.com/alameda/nat1982002152.asp Accessed March 2, 2017.

41. "Architect J. M. Curtis" in San Francisco Call (December 19, 1897).

42. Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Accessed February 2, 2017.

43. Regarding John M. Curtis and San Francisco's "New City Hall," see San Francisco Chronicle: "The New City Hall. The Larkin-Street Wing to Be Completed" (October 9, 1883), 8; "The Larkin-Street Wing. The Architect and Contractor at Odds on Gas-Fixtures." (July 29, 1884), 8; "New City Hall. A Contractor's Claim. A Meeting of the Commission Held Yesterday." (April 28, 1887), 5, involving contract dispute from 1884 involving 'J. M. Curtis, the architect emyloyed [sic] at that time by the city..."

44. "Sonoma's New Courthouse. Plans for a Fine Structure at Santa Rosa." San Francisco Chronicle (September 1, 1883), 3.

45. City Directories, Los Angeles, California, 1895-1897. W. H. Willcox was listed among architect in 1896 and 1897.

46. Pacific Coast Architectural database, "Superior Court of California, County of Kings, Courthouse, Hanford, CA" http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/7626/ and "John Haggerty, Architect" http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/person/3673/ Accessed March 2, 2017.

47. "Gameliel King" in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamaliel_King Accessed March 3, 2017.

Page Citation

E. F. Zimmer and D. Murphy, “William H. Willcox (1832-1929), Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, March 3, 2017. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, April 19, 2024.

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