Eddie Abercrombie was working at the North American Rockwell Plant in East Columbus when he read an advertisement in the Ohio Sentinel, a newspaper serving Columbus’ Black Community in the late 1950s. A Dayton real estate agent, Mr. Hillman, was offering home sites in Union County for one thousand dollars.
He says that he and his wife, Mary, were the first to buy, two of the eight lots that were offered along U.S. Route 33, a mile and a half northwest of Hall’s Corner (U.S. 33 and OH. Rt. 161). The deal was settle in 1958 and The Frazier’s had to harvest a corn crop before he could begin to dig his basement that fall.
Eddie practiced laying concrete block by building a garage at his family's first home on East Star Avenue. When he dug the hole for the basement, the site filled with water; no one was aware that there was an underground river running beneath the farm field. He got pumps from the Hilliard Norwich Township Fire Department to help drain the waters, but didn’t completely clear some remaining waters. While back filling dirt into the basement, sections of the wall collapsed and had to be reconstructed.
Finally, with the basement competed, the team from Lincoln Homes, Monnessen, Pennsylvania, came to deliver his building package and erect the walls of the shell. Eddie was one of several Frazier owners, Joe Turner and Tommy Crump, who purchased their building packages from Lincoln Homes. He said that the financing of 4-6% was included in the materials contract.
Eddie said the other owners had contractors finish their homes, but he spent three years and $10,000.00 laboring to finish his home, after work and on the weekends. He and Mary raised their daughters, Tonya and LaToya in their new home, before Mary’s untimely passing in 1972 . He is remarried to Bessie and they are in good health and still enjoying the home that Eddie started building fifty years ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment