Rosecrans House: Home of Civil War General, William Starke The
sturdy thick-walled stone house on Lehman Road was built high on
the hilltop in 1850 and its rear windows overlook the river. The
stone used to build its three stories is believed to have been
quarried from a nearby spot on Glenway Avenue. A tunnel running
through the backyard and a sub-basement indicate that it was
probably used as a station for the Underground Railroad,
preceding the Civil War. During the war years it was
headquarters for General William Starke Rosecrans (1819-1898),
with Colonel Joseph Burke in command. W. S. Rosecrans (1819
-1898) was born in Delaware County, Ohio. His father was Dutch,
and his mother traced back her descent to Timothy Hopkins, one
of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. In Henry
Howe’s Historical Collections of Ohio in Two Volumes, published
in 1907, it was noted that “while other boys were at play, [the
general and his brother, who later became a bishop] were noted
for their studious habits.” W. S