Connecticut western news., 1873-03-14
Burning of the Presidents Missouri
 Farmhouse

The St. Louis Repu6lioasa says <--. The country residence of President Grant, on his farm on the Grayois road, was destroyed by fire recently. It was a commodious brick house, two stories in height, and was known as Wish ton-Wish." It commenced burning at noon yesterday, and was in ruins at four
 As more than ordinary interest at taches to 1t on account of the elevated position of the owner, and thefaot that the President anticipated eventually to retire to it, we enter into some details regarding it.
 The farm is one of eight hundred acres, ten milessfrom the court house, on the Qravois road in the county, and is fine tract of land, through which Gravois Creek passes, watering it very we'll portion of it is heavily tim bered, and about one-third is in a high state of cultivation. There were two residences upon it, and this one was upon the summit of the hill. It com manded an excellent view of Carondelet, the Illinois bluffs and the. country about the Insane Asylum. It was in the sSouthwestern part of the tract and about half mile from the other build ing. Itswas erected by Mr. Lewis Dent in l840 or 1S49, and was built of what is known as ''stock 7 brick. The ground between it and the Gravois road was finely set with shrubbery, cedars, birch, and various kinds of shade trees.
 The house had double .piazzas or porches, and was designed with an ''L. :" There were on the ground floor of the main building 9 large parlor, 8. wide hall, and sitting room. On the same floor in the 's l. was the dining room j; and the kitchen was in the basement sof the same part of the building. There were three chambers in the second storys The place had been sfancifully finished, and there was 8 good deal of elegance about it. Mrs. Grant occupied it dur ing part of the war, and at the time of the first election of her.husband. Upon removal to the White House, 8 Mir. Edwards was, placed in the building as tenant. to take care of it, but during the last two years MT. Peter Simms has been in charge of it, he, with his family, occupying three rooms. The furniture in these Belonging to the President was packed up and placed in other parts of the building. The parlor was always kept in order as a reception room for the visitors who called there in summer to see the house. . fsaa4 r-5-.,.ss.i .it %-.a
 The building cost MT. Dent $4 4,0O0 :; there was about &, 900 worth of furni- ture belonging to the President, and a quantity belonging to MT. Simms in it. A few valuable articles had been ~re- moved to Washing A1' s+a-s- >& s'>~ a' As stated before the fire commenced at noon. It is. supposed that.it origi- mated from the !, kitchen fire, as it has not been customary to heat the parlor. It gained considerable headway, there being no special appliances to extinguish it, and, as there was quite breeze, the flames were too powerful for the simple means at hand. There Is eistern near it, and energetic efforts were made with buckets to subdue the fire, but without effect. The. roof fell in, and the fire kept burning until 4 o'clock, when the building was thoroughly gutted. The length of time which ensued before the residence was destroyed; enabled the parties at the scene to remove 8 large portion of the furniture. The loss would pro obably be about $5, 800, and it is stated there was no insurahce.
 There was no alarm given to the fire department of the city. If one had been sounded from the box at the-Insane Asylum, itwould have been responded to, and two engines sent out, sthot1gI they might have been of no use, owing to the distance of the farm. t 2.'' F
 The other residence which was no burned was considered more valuable than the brick one. It is frame one much larger, and was built by Mr. Wn l.. Long, father of Hon. John F. Long in 1914. It was greatly improved il 1918 by MT. Thomas Hunt, and wa' then considered magnificent country residence. It was still further improved by MT. Frederick Dent, father-in-law O the President, in 1923, and has alwayl l been kept in excellent condition.