Historic Bay City home where Susan B. Anthony stayed the night featured in national magazine

BAY CITY, MI Bay City is filled with historic homes, but there are a few that stand out from the rest.

Patricia Drury's 132-year-old Victorian-era home, 813 N. Sheridan St., just off Center Avenue, isfeatured in the December edition of "Old House Journal," a national magazine that focuses on the restoration of historic homes. The 10-page spread highlights the home's manyantique pieces, as well as itsrich history, including a story about the timeSusan B. Anthony stayed the night there in the early 1900s.

"It's a great honor being in the magazine," said Drury, 85. "It's very unusual that any home like this in Bay City gets this type of recognition. What's so unique about this home is that it's so unchanged. There is almost no alteration to these rooms. It's filled with history."

After purchasing the home for $36,000 in 1982, Drury started researching its history.

Aretired history teacher who taught at Bay City Junior College and later Delta College, Drury said her research of the house introduced her to John Wesley Knaggs and his wife May Stocking Knaggs. The couple built the home in 1882. Through her research, Drury came across portraits of the couple, which hang on the wall in her living room today.

John Wesley Knaggs was a Civil War veteran who lost his arm in battle. He would go on to open an insurance business in Bay City.

His wife May Stocking Knaggs, who was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 2002, was a well-known leader in the women's suffrage movement. Described as a "logical and convincing speaker" by the Detroit Free Press, she believed that men and women should be viewed as equals in responsibility and opportunity to vote.

She heavily campaigned for Susan B. Anthony, who actually stayed overnight in the house during one of her trips to Michigan. The room Anthony slept in now has her initials etched into the corners of the door frame. It also features a $4,000 antique bed.

"It's probably one of the greatest pieces of history that is a part of this house," Drury said on Anthony's stop in Bay City.

Drury learned much of the house's history through a memoir written by Helen MacLennan Rambow, the granddaughter of John and May Knaggs.

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Historic Bay City home where Susan B. Anthony stayed the night featured in national magazine