On February 9, 1877, Dr. George Washington Varnum of Montgomery City, Missouri purchased thirteen acres of Oakley Farm that bordered the western City Limits of Cambridge. He paid Oakley Farm’s owner, Samuel L Byrn, $1749. Varnum, who did not have any obvious connection to Cambridge or the Eastern Shore, was the first Oakley Farm speculator to subdivide his land into home building lots. He built Varnum’s Alley, now renamed Choptank Avenue, along the eastern edge of his property. He also extended Locust Street along the southern edge of his property (naming it Locust Street Extended).
His first sale on 3/1/1878 was a large lot (125 ft x 250 ft) to John Davis who was a ship’s carpenter by trade. Davis paid $500 for the lot. Within a month Davis employed a contractor to begin building the house that today still stands at 801 Locust Street. Unfortunately, within 6 months Davis was forced to sell this and other property to pay off his debts. Within the following 2 years Varnum sold 2 more adjacent properties at $250 apiece. Homes were quickly built on each of these properties. All 3 homes (Davis (801), Henry Meekins (805), and James Ennis (807)) are still standing today. By 1886 James A Ennis, who was a carpenter and contractor, enlarged 807. And by 1911 it was enlarged into a 2-family dwelling.
After 4 years, Varnum had only managed to sell 13% of his Oakley property. So, it is not surprising that in 1881 he sold all of his remaining land to a new investors group, the Building and Loan Association of Cambridge, for $2000. This investors’ group was headed by local attorney Henry Lloyd (soon to be Maryland Governor) and Cambridge architect and building contractor J. Benjamin Brown (soon to be first Mayor of Cambridge). The Building and Loan Association of Cambridge were very successful selling a large number of building lots, but that is a story for another day.
The Varnums
In1775 the fifth generation of American Varnums were still living on their original farm along the Merrimack River in Dracut, MA. However, on April 19, 1775 Joseph Bradley Varnum, Dr. George Varnum’s grandfather, left his farm to lead a militia unit that fought at Lexington and Concord. The American Revolution had begun and Joseph began a lifetime of service to his country. Joseph eventually became Brigadier General Varnum, but more importantly by 1795 he was elected to the Fourth Session of the US House of Representatives. This was 5 years before the Federal government moved from Philadelphia to Washington. He served in the Congress for 22 years, first as a US Congressman and then as a US Senator. It is noteworthy that he served as Speaker of the House and later as President Pro Tempore of the Senate during his Congressional career.
Doctor Varnum’s father, Jacob, made his way to Washington, DC as a merchant, not a politician. However, in 1828 the family moved to Petersburg, VA where Jacob became a very successful merchant.
Dr. George Varnum grew up in Petersburg before attending the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. He graduated with a medical degree in 1845. After 5 years as a resident physician he returned to Petersburg and opened a medical practice. However, after the Civil War began, George left Petersburg to help the Union war effort. He received a commission as “surgeon, US Volunteers”. In 1863 George was assigned to the Ninth Division, Thirteenth Army Corps who were involved in laying siege to Vicksburg. However, within 6 months he caught malaria and had to resign his commission. He could not return home to the Confederate controlled Petersburg, so instead he established his medical practice in Montgomery City, Missouri.
After the War, George’s father moved to the District of Columbia. In 1868 Dr. Varnum, who was a widower, married again and continued to live in Missouri. When Jacob Varnum died in DC in 1874, Dr. George Varnum, his only heir, became executor of his estate. Jacob’s will made it clear that George should invest a portion of his inheritance from Jacob in real estate in order to provide tuition for his children’s college education. Jacob’s will further suggested that his son invest in new home mortgages. This seems to explain why in 1877 Dr. Varnum purchased farmland with the intent of subdividing it into building lots that he could sell.
What’s the Cambridge Connection?
Why did Varnum chose Cambridge for his investments? In fact, even though Dr. Varnum continued to maintain his residence in Missouri after purchasing the Cambridge property, both a daughter and son were born in Cambridge. The clue as to why he made an investment in Cambridge is revealed by his daughter’s birthname, Lottie Goldsborough Varnum. It suggests that he had met and become acquainted with at least one member of the Cambridge Goldsborough family. Was it during his time in Pennsylvania? Or maybe during the Civil War in Washington or Vicksburg? Or was it through Varnum’s grandfather who served in the US Senate with Robert Henry Goldsborough from Talbot County?
Doctor Varnum’s Epilogue
After selling his Cambridge investments, Dr. Varnum only stayed in Montgomery, MO for 3 more years. In 1884 he picked up his family of 6 and headed West. Many years later his son James Edgar would write an eyewitness account of his family’s 1884 move from Missouri. He wrote that his father fell prey to “hypnotic real estate literature” from California. In the 1880’s Southern California real estate developers were sending out marketing materials across the country as they tried to sell building lots. It was a developer in Lake Elsinore, California who was able to hook Dr, Varnum. In September of 1884, the Varnum family climbed aboard a train for a 10-day trip to their new home. They also brought with them 2 carpenters, a seamstress, a horse, and nine head of prize-winning Jersey cattle. And they also brought all the material required to erect a new house. The Varnums stayed in Lake Elsinore less than 10 years before moving first to San Diego and then to Los Angeles where he died in 1910.
Varnum’s Incredible Signature (Autograph) Collection
In 1906 a story appeared in the LA Evening Express newspaper. It was titled “Dr Varnum’s Interesting Collection of Autographs”. It was revealed that “One of the most valuable private collections of autographs in the US” belonged to Dr. George Varnum. The article goes on to list dozens of original autographs in the collection. For example, he had original signatures of 13 of the first 16 presidents including Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln. He had almost half the signers of the Declaration of Independence and many other autographs of famous 19th Century people . When his collection was sold in 1928 at a New York City auction, it brought in over $18,000. Today his William Henry Harrison autograph alone would fetch more than $100,000.