In this article from William Wilkinson’s scrapbook “One Hundred Great and Near-Great Events, Person and Places in Rochester History” (1947) he writes about a historic house here in Rochester.

The Hervey Ely House (Believe it or not)

This stately old mansion on a knoll at the corner of Livingston Park and Troup Street was built after 1834 for Hervey Ely, one of the notable leaders in early Rochester. The house was later owned successively by William Kidd, Aristarchus Champion, Jonathan Watson, and Dr. Howard Osgood. It is now the home of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The plan consists of a central two story building embellished with a portico of four Doric columns across the front. There are subordinated one-story wings at right angles to the axis of the two-story building. This type of plan, developed by the Greek Revival architects, always makes an excellent composition because the one-story wings give scale and gradually lead up to the two-story central mass with its great portico and pediment. S. P. Hasting was the architect. He was a faithful follower of classic ideals.

Hervey Ely and his brother built on of the first mills on the One-hundred Acre Tract. He was 22 years old when he arrived in Rochester in 1814. He was known as a “very spruce young man,” owing to the careful attention he gave to his personal appearance.

Hervey Elly House. Photo by RocPX. Dated 2012. Photo from Wilipedia.