The Mansion HOME Oliver Family Year 1897

THE 125th ANNIVERSARY The year 2022 marks the 125th anniversary of when the Oliver family moved into their new home at 808 West Washington Street--Copshaholm, as they would later call it. CELEBRATE! To celebrate, The History Museum is having a year-long focus on the mansion through exhibit displays, programs, and special promotions. Visit our website as we explore the Oliver Mansion, remember the Oliver family, and recall the year 1897.

Curiosities of Copshaholm Upcoming Special 125 Copshaholm Events Copshaholm: A House and Its Peers
on West Washington March 31, 2022 | 7:00 p.m. Museum Live! Join Director of Marketing Marilyn Thompson as she talks with Patrick Albert who, as J.D. Oliver in the year 1897, discusses the Olivers’ new home at 808 West Washington Street. No reservations are needed and there is no charge. Click Here home Lecture- The History Museum Calendar of Events April 13, 2022 | 7:00 p.m. February 24, 2022 | 7:00 p.m.

THE OLIVER MANSION THE OLIVER FAMILY TAKE A TOUR
OF THE OLIVER MANSION THE YEAR 1897 Learn More... Discover more about the Oliver Mansion, the Oliver family, and the year they moved into their new home

The Mansion Copshaholm was built of granite fieldstones, most of which were hand-selected by J.D. Oliver’s father, James, from farms and fields in St. Joseph County, where they lived. The Mansion's Layout The 12,000 square-foot Oliver Mansion has 3 floors and 38 rooms. It is often said the children’s favorite room was the Den because they could often find their father there, working at his desk when he was not at the Oliver Chilled Plow Works. The Carriage House A Carriage House was on the grounds of Copshaholm, and it housed the family’s cars and stabled some of their horses.

J.D. Oliver &
Anna Gertrude Wells Married on December 10, 1884, J.D. and Anna Oliver were 46 and 34, respectively, when they moved into their 38-room mansion. They met when Anna came to South Bend to visit Grace Studebaker, a classmate at Madam de Silva’s Finishing School in New York. The Oliver Children J.D. and Anna Oliver had 4 children when they moved into Copshaholm in 1897: James II was 11, Gertrude was 8, Joseph Jr. was 4, and Catherine was only 9 months old. Joseph D. Oliver J.D. Oliver was treasurer of the Oliver Chilled Plow Works when the family moved into Copshaholm in 1897. Upon the death of his father, James, in 1908, J.D. became president of the company.

JANUARY 26, 1897 The temperature in South Bend was -11° Farenheit. MAY 18, 1897 Herbert Henry Dow founds Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan. MAY 26, 1897 "Dracula" written by Irish author Bram Stoker is published by Archibald Constable and Company in London. APRIL 27, 1897 U.S. Grant's tomb was completed and dedicated. APRIL 3, 1897 Composer Johannes Brahms died in Vienna, Austria. MAY 17, 1897 The first successful submarine is launched in the U.S. by its designer John Philip Holland. MARCH 4, 1897 President William McKinley sworn into office as the 25th President. JUNE 20, 1897 Britain's Queen Victoria begins her diamond jubilee. APRIL 24, 1897 Samuel Colgate, founder of the present Colgate-Palmolive Company dies. OCTOBER 31, 1897 An earthquake is felt in southern Michigan and northern Indiana. APRIL 24, 1897 The oldest married couple in the U.S. celebrated their 87th wedding anniversary. JANUARY 7, 1897 The first-ever death sentence was handed down by the St. Joseph County Circuit Court.

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