Shelby settler lived in a small house

Posted 4 November 2013 at 12:00 am

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

SHELBY – In this picture taken in 1889, we see the log cabin built by Alexander Coon in 1811. He was the first settler in the town of Shelby.

The woman in the photo is identified as Betsy Boyce Benson. These first homes in our region were usually about 16 feet square, consisting of one room and perhaps a loft.

By the end of the 19th Century most of these early dwellings had been removed and replaced with much better housing.