Always useful…early chronology of Esperanza, before it was Esperanza.

c.1795-1800: the first property deed to mention a house on the site of Esperanza.  The first deed is 1800, but the interior evidence in the house suggests it was built in preceding decade….or the lumber was cut then….

1802-1832: the house (then just the center section built in a typical New England vernacular style) is owned by the Reverend Amasa Jerome, pastor of the Town Hill Church.

1832-1849: owned by Rev. Jerome’s widow, it may have been rented out as a farm during this time.

1849-1859: owned by Rufus Rood, during this time there is mention of a fire causing severe damage and then immediate rebuilding.  It was probably at this time that the core of the southern extension was added.  Remains in use as a farm.

1859-1872: owned by Frederick Lyman.  Continues to be used as a farm.  However, farming in New Hartford (at least on the hills) had collapsed completely by this time: the Town Hill Church and over a dozen houses on the hill were vacant or abandoned by 1870.

1872: bought by Julie Palmer Smith, who had purchased the adjacent property the year before.  The other property had, in her opinion, a better house…but it burnt to the ground in late 1871.  It was cheaper and easier to buy the Lyman property as it meant that they could, as planned, spend the summer of 1872 in New Hartford.