KINSMAN Darrow home due for honor

Clarence Darrow lived in Kinsman from age 7 to age 21.
By REBECCA SLOAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
KINSMAN -- Eleanor Brown is proud of Kinsman's history and even prouder to live in one of her hometown's most historical homes, the Kinsman octagon house, better known as the boyhood home of famous lawyer Clarence Darrow.
So it's no surprise that Brown is thrilled that her home will receive a commemorative plaque from the Ohio Historical Society and Western Reserve Bicentennial Commission at 1 p.m. Saturday.
"This plaque is the greatest thing to happen to Kinsman in relation to its history. It's been a long time coming," Brown said.
Area judges, lawyers, Trumbull County commissioners, Kinsman trustees, local historians and members of the Ohio Bicentennial Commission are planning to attend the event, which is open to the public and will conclude at 4 p.m.
To make the afternoon merrier, Brown will open her home for tours and serve refreshments.
"I love history and I like sharing my home with people who love history. I try to make it warm and welcome," she said.
Persevered: Brown credits the long-awaited plaque to the perseverance of Heather McNally Milko of the bicentennial commission and Trumbull County Commissioner Michael O'Brien.
"I had nothing to do with getting the plaque," Brown said. "All I had to do was accept it. They pushed to see that it happened and that this house got the recognition it deserves."
Although the octagon house is already on the National Register of Historic Places, a plaque was never donated to make its status complete.
"I had a sign in the front yard, but nothing official was ever put up. I'm not sure why," Brown said.
The plaque will be erected in the home's front yard and will include a brief history of Darrow's life, including his time in Kinsman and his rise to fame as a lawyer who "championed the powerless and opposed the death penalty."
Darrow lived in Kinsman from ages 7-21 and died in Chicago in 1938. His most prominent case was the famous "monkey trial," which challenged a Tennessee law making the teaching of the theory of evolution in public schools a crime.
Darrow's father bought the circa-1854 octagon house in 1864, and Brown has retained some of the home's original furnishings, including a small table and two chairs used by the Darrows.
Knowledgeable: Brown has also collected plenty of Darrow memorabilia and can answer just about any question relating to the late lawyer's life.
"When Darrow lived here in Kinsman, he was not well-liked. His family was well-educated in a town of farmers and they were agnostics in a town of believers. When I first bought this house in 1975, some of Kinsman's older generation still had a distaste for Clarence Darrow. One gentleman who came for a visit said he didn't like Darrow, and when I asked him why, he replied, 'Because my father didn't like him.'"
But whether people agreed with what Darrow stood for, Brown said many have visited the octagon house over the years and marveled as much over its unique architecture as its famous former inhabitant.
About the shape: Brown said visitors to her home are always surprised that its rooms are not odd-shaped and triangular.
"Building a house in the shape of an octagon is actually one of the best ways to make use of space," Brown said. "People are always so surprised when they walk through the house and see that it has square, nice-sized rooms."
The home does have many small, triangular closets and cubbyholes.
Brown is happy to schedule personal tours of her home and welcomes calls at (330) 876-3935. For more information about Saturday's event, call the Trumbull County commissioners at (330) 675-2451.