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The house at 316 South Main Street beneath mature trees, pictured in a historic photograph captioned “Residence of G. Gage.” Earlier newspaper accounts credit Washington Walker with building the home in the 1850s.
A House With More Than One Name
An old house can collect several names over its lifetime. The brick residence at 316 South Main Street is one of those houses.
Photographs and local accounts connect it with the Gage and Higgins families. Earlier newspaper histories identify Washington Walker as the man who built it. Together, those records reveal a home whose story reaches back to Sandwich’s beginnings and continues through the generations who lived there.
The familiar names are part of that history. Understanding how they fit together helps us tell the house’s story more clearly.
Washington Walker Builds a Home
Washington Walker was an early farmer, grain businessman, and village leader who helped secure railroad service for the developing community.
After traveling to California during the gold rush, he returned to Illinois and built the substantial brick home on South Main Street.
The surviving accounts differ slightly on its construction date. Walker’s 1899 obituary stated that the Gage residence on Main Street had been built by him forty three years earlier, suggesting approximately 1856. A 1932 local history placed construction in 1857 or 1858, while a 1970 article gave 1857.
Taken together, these accounts place the home’s beginnings in the mid to late 1850s. The 1932 history adds that masons were brought from New York State to build it.
A Wedding in the Walker Home
The house became the setting for a Walker family wedding.
A local history published in 1932 recalled that Catherine Walker married M. V. Eames in the home. Eames’s obituary supplies the date: February 24, 1867.
Her husband, Mott V. Eames, was a Civil War veteran who had served in Company H of the 105th Illinois Infantry. He suffered a severe wound during the Atlanta campaign and returned to Sandwich after the war. His obituary describes a long career with Sandwich Manufacturing Company, including work as superintendent.
The two newspaper accounts connect a specific family occasion with the house. They do not establish the complete ownership history, but they give us a glimpse of the home during its Walker years.
The Gage Connection
An early photograph shows the house beneath tall trees, with the printed caption “Residence of G. Gage.”
Charles Gilbert Gage is also associated with the home. His obituary, published in 1914, identifies him as a Sandwich native and businessman who had been a partner in Gage & McKindley. He married Josephine Brady in 1885, and they had a son, John Raymond Gage.
The Gage association helps explain why the building has long been called the Gage house. It also calls for care with names.
Almon Gage’s home was a separate property at Main and Church Streets, the intersection of Main Street and present day Route 34. The 1876 Voters and Tax Payers of DeKalb County, Illinois explicitly places his residence at that corner. Newspaper accounts credit Washington Walker with building the brick house farther south at 316 South Main Street.
A later walking tour pamphlet identifies 316 South Main as the “Almon Gage Home” and associates it with the first town meeting. Evidence establishing the pamphlet’s Almon Gage and town meeting claims has not yet been located
The Higgins Family and Thousands of Tulips
By September 1932, a newspaper history identified Joseph Higgins as the owner of Walker’s former home. A 1970 article later named Misses Mardelle and LaVonne Higgins as its owners.
One brief newspaper notice adds an especially colorful chapter.
In its May 20, 1937, issue, the Sandwich Free Press looked back at news from May 14, 1931. Among those items was a report that Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Higgins had planted 50,000 tulip bulbs at their South Main Street home.
The flowers were in full bloom, and the newspaper encouraged people to go and see the display.
The notice gives us more than another family name. It lets us picture a spring when the grounds themselves were a local attraction.
The brick home at 316 South Main Street, associated over the years with Washington Walker and the Gage and Higgins families. Its long history includes a family wedding, a celebrated tulip display, and an inscription preserved inside. Photograph digitally edited to remove temporary construction equipment. Courtesy of Austin Childers
A Name Hidden Inside
The house still had a piece of its earlier story tucked away inside.
While installing blocking in the home, Austin Childers discovered writing on a wooden joist: “W. Walker” and “Sandwich.” Historic Sandwich shared the discovery in December 2024.
The inscription is a striking physical connection with the name found in the newspaper accounts. Exactly when and under what circumstances it was written remains uncertain, but its survival adds something personal to the history of the building.
A name left inside the house: “W. Walker” and “Sandwich,” written on a wooden joist at 316 South Main Street. Austin Childers discovered the inscription while working in the home. Photograph courtesy of Austin Childers, with thanks for his help researching Washington Walker and the history of the house.
Keeping the Story With the House
The brick walls have outlasted the people whose names became attached to them. Newspaper histories, a wedding date, an old photograph, and a few words on a joist help bring those people back into view.
There is more to learn, particularly about when the property passed between owners. What we have already found gives this South Main home a story worth preserving, and a firmer place for Washington Walker in its beginnings.
Facts at a Glance
- Location: 316 South Main Street, Sandwich, Illinois.
- Construction: Approximately 1856–1858, according to newspaper accounts.
- Credited with building the home: Washington Walker.
- Family wedding: Catherine J. Walker and Mott V. Eames married February 24, 1867; a later history places their wedding in the house.
- Later associations: The Gilbert Gage and Joseph Higgins families.
- Garden history: A 1931 newspaper item reported 50,000 tulip bulbs at the Higgins home.
- Rediscovered inscription: “W. Walker” and “Sandwich,” found on a joist by Austin Childers.
Continue the Story
Washington Walker: A Pioneer Who Helped Build Sandwich
Meet the early settler whose life included California’s goldfields, the grain business, railroad advocacy, and village leadership.
The House on Third Street
Explore another FineSandwich home and the lives connected with it.
The Kleinsmid Mansion
Continue exploring Sandwich’s historic residences with the story of the Kleinsmid Mansion.
More History Awaits
The story continues every day.
Follow Historic Sandwich, Illinois on Facebook for additional photographs, new discoveries, and everyday glimpses into our town’s past.
Research & Sources
- Sandwich Free Press, February 23, 1899, “Death Calls Many,” Washington Walker obituary.
- Sandwich Argus, August 13, 1909, “Bugle Call Sounded,” Mott V. Eames obituary; records his marriage to Catherine J. Walker on February 24, 1867.
- Sandwich Argus, September 16, 1914, Charles Gilbert Gage obituary.
- Sandwich Free Press, September 15, 1932, page 5, “Do You Know?” Account of Walker’s home, its construction, Catherine’s wedding, and Joseph Higgins’s ownership.
- Sandwich Free Press, May 20, 1937, page 3, “A Glimpse of the Past,” reprinting the Higgins tulip notice under May 14, 1931.
- Sandwich Free Press, August 5, 1970, page 2, “The Old Houses of Sandwich, Part Two,” by J. T. Nelson.
- Historic photograph captioned “Residence of G. Gage.”
- Historic Sandwich, Illinois, Facebook post by Shawn Rogers, December 12, 2024; photograph and discovery information courtesy of Austin Childers.
Research note: The construction dates vary among the newspaper accounts. Exact dates of ownership transfers remain under investigation. The walking-tour booklet’s identification of the property as Almon Gage’s home and the first town-meeting site remains unverified.