On this site was the home of Richard Elson, co-founder of the village of Magnolia. As a young man he built flat boats, loaded them with merchandise to sell, and traveled down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. He did this seven times and walked the 1000 miles back to Magnolia. He wrote to his mother telling of the poor treatment of some of the people of the South. He was extremely critical of the owning of slaves and provided a safe house for their escape through Ohio.