The Langs-Wagar House
The Langs-Wager House is a fine example of a four-square house with balloon frame construction. Four-square because the rooms have similar dimensions for height, width, and depth, and that the plan is divided into four squares. And balloon frame because the studs in the wood frame run continuously from the ground to the second floor. Charles Langs bought lot 20 and the north half of lot 21 in 1874 for $300, and built his house there. When he died in 1893, he left the house to his wife Esther. She died April 28, 1911. Charles was born in Seneca County, NY, the son of George and Anna Maria (Straus) Langs. The Vreeland family, so influential in settling the area to become Flat Rock, came from this same area. During the Civil War, Charles and his brother Enoch enlisted in Company G of the 24th Infantry. Both were injured at Gettysburg and placed in the Veterans Reserve Corp. Upon returning to Flat Rock, Charles married Esthern Thorn and they had one child, Susie, who graduated from Flat Rock High School in 1886. On October 17, 1912 Albert Wager bought the house then located on Detroit St. (Telegraph Rd.) for $925 from Mrs. Susie Langs Perry, the daughter of Charles and Esther Langs. Born in Grafton, N.Y. on June 27th, 1845, the family moved to Michigan in 1854. Wagar too served in the Civil War, joining Company D, Fourth Infantry, of the Michigan Volunteers in 1864. Upon returning from the war, he recalled being received as follows: "Upon arrival home from his Civil War days, his father, Henry, would not allow him to enter the family home, dispatching him to a shed for a bath and clean clothes, to avoid infection of the home by "Greybacks" (lice}. A real welcome home!"After returning to Flat Rock, he went into the saw-mill business for a few years and then purchased a steam thresher which made him very successful. In 1873 he married Mille Burns who died in childbirth in 1875, leaving one child who died that same year. The Wagar’s lived in a fine house on the corner of Erie (now Gibraltar) and Division St. that was demolished to make way for the High School that was built in 1926. In 1878 Albert Wagar he married Louisa Knight. There were four children born of this marriage: Eddie, Fred, Harley and Henry. Eddie and Fred were twins, but Eddie died at birth, in 1879, and Fred died of consumption when he was seventeen. Louisa died in 1887. Albert married Betsey Bennett in 1891. Mr. Wagar was very active in community affairs. In 1876 he was elected town treasurer, a job he kept for twenty years. He was supervisor of the Town many times, a member of the Flat Rock School Board for 40 years, Secretary of the Masonic Lodge for 30 years and a director of the Rockwood State Bank. In 1923, when the Village of F1at Rock charter was adopted, he was the first President of the Village. Source: Winifred Oestrike Hamilton, Historian Back to Home Page. |
The Langs-Wagar House
