The Chapin Mansion is a beautiful Victorian house in the Queen Anne Style. Most Niles residents think of the mansion as our old City Hall, which, along with the carriage house, has recently become the Niles History Center.

However, when I think of the Chapin Mansion, my thoughts are of my great-grandmother, Gertrude Brown Smith, and Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister.

Since I was a child, I was told that when my great-grandmother was young and before she married, she attended a ball on the third floor of the Chapin Mansion. According to my family the guest of honor was Jennie Jerome Churchill, mother of Winston Churchill. They said she was here visiting her relatives at Sabine Farm.

Jeanette “Jennie” Jerome was the daughter of Leonard Jerome. Leonard was an attorney and a New York City financier and speculator. At the time, he was known as the “King of Wall Street.” Leonard was the uncle of George H. Jerome, but there was only a two-year age difference and they were as close as brothers. George also became an attorney, but he moved from New York to Michigan to practice law.

In 1864, George Jerome purchased property on Third Street in Niles and named it Sabine Farm. He created the state’s first fish hatchery there, known as Jerome Lake.

According to Niles historian Donna Ochenryder, “There are no photos, but there is a historic drawing which shows the house, lake and hatchery.”

George eventually became Michigan’s first fishery superintendent.

At age 20, Jennie Jerome met Lord Randolph Churchill in Europe and was engaged to him three days after they met. She is said to be the first American to be embraced by British Royalty and European Society. After Lord Randolph died at 45, Lady Churchill married two more times. Her second marriage ended in divorce, but her third marriage lasted until her death.

Both her second and third husbands were the same age or younger than her son Winston. Jennie was considered one of the most beautiful women of the time, and she must have been one of the most interesting.

I cannot find anything to corroborate my family’s oral history. There is no record of Jennie Churchill visiting Niles. Based on my great-grandmother’s age, if there was a reception, it must have been held between 1885 and 1894. Jennie Churchill would have been between the ages of 35 and 44, and Winston would have been between 11 and 20 years old.

We cannot base history on family lore, but I believe that Winston Churchill’s mother was once a guest in the Chapin Mansion.

 

Jeanne Watson is a sixth generation Niles resident who wants to see the downtown strong once again. Jeanne has volunteered her time with the Niles Main Street/DDA for nearly 15 years. She can be reached at jeanne0503@comcast.net.