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The Ticknor-Campbell House was originally the home of Dr. Benajah Ticknor, a surgeon with the United States Navy and an avid diarist. A native from Connecticut, he spent early adulthood in Ohio’s Western Reserve practicing medicine. There he also met and married his wife, Getia Bostwick, a school teacher. The quickly developing Michigan Territory offered affordable property which prompted Ticknor to settle here. His brother, Heman, a farmer in Pittstown, New York, also interested in this area, brought his family to Washtenaw county in 1835.
Acting on his brother’s behalf, Heman purchased 183 acres in Pittsfield Township that included a small frame house, barn and orchard for $1,500. Heman, his wife Eliza, father-in-law, and their six children crowded into primitive quarters until the cobblestone house was completed in 1844.
In addition to becoming a political leader in Washtenaw County, Heman oversaw a successful farmstead which produced cereal grains, corn, hay, livestock, wool, butter, cheese and honey, valued at $10,000 by 1850.
The two Ticknor families lived together for short periods of time between Banajah’s assignments at the Boston naval hospital and voyages to the Orient. Retiring in 1854, Benajah, Getia, and two adopted daughters lived on the farm until his death in 1858. The surgeon’s extensive classical and medical library was given to the University of Michigan. His seven volume journal is housed in Yale University’s Sterling Library.
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