As you can see the W.S. Hill house located at 423 Washington St. has undergone radical renovations. Originally it was designed as a Folk Victorian house. This style was popular from about 1870-1910 and features Victorian details primarily on the porch and cornice line. On the Hill House note the front gable roof with the side wing and the square porch posts with beveled corners and brackets.
This house was the home of William S. Hill, who was a well known businessman in Ogdensburg. Born in 1840 he was the son of Edward and Eliza Hill. He began work in the bakery business at the age of 14 and continued doing so until his death in 1912. He married Jane Thrall of Gouverneur in 1865. Eventually he built a brick building located on Ford St. near City Hall to house his bakery, which was well known for its wedding cakes and the ice cream parlor on the second floor. Mr. Hill was a Mason and a long-time member of St. John’s Episcopal Church.
Jane Thrall Hill was a member of the Swe-Kat-Si DAR. She was born in 1842 in Gouverneur, NY daughter of Manson Thrall and Lydia Goodwin. She was a descendant of Sgt. Joseph Goodwin who served in the Connecticut Militia in 1776. Mrs. Hill lived in the house until she died in 1918 and is buried in the Ogdensburg Cemetery. Her sister Esther Thrall and her husband, Civil War veteran, Major Joseph Osborn also lived there. After Mrs. Osborn died in 1927 the house was sold to Hermon Donavin for $7,000.
After that the house was converted to apartments until 1936 when Charles Cantwell and his wife Helen Dubrule moved into the home. A native of Malone and World War I veteran, Cantwell came to Ogdensburg as a newspaper reporter for the Watertown Standard. Eventually he became the managing editor of the Ogdensburg Journal holding that position for 19 years. His most memorable stories were about Baron Von Werra, an escaped German prisoner who crossed the St. Lawrence River ending up in Ogdensburg in January 1941. These articles were picked up by the Associated Press and printed worldwide. He died in Herkimer, NY in 1986.
Helen Dubrule Cantwell was born in Ogdensburg on November 20, 1901 the daughter of Capt. Eugene Dubrule and Catherine Rogers both of Ogdensburg. She married Charles Cantwell in 1925, was a graduate of the Potsdam Normal School and was a teacher for many years. Mrs. Cantwell also was a reporter at a time when very few women were and helped her husband manage 7 newspapers in Ohio. Mrs. Cantwell was President of the American Legion Auxiliary and was very active in her community. She died in Herkimer in 1977.
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