The Abraham Bauserman Farm (aka the Larry Keller Farm)

Location: About two miles east of Maurertown, Virginia, on Route 600, then south one half mile

Built: circa 1828

Owners

The Bauserman families relate that this house was built by Abraham Bauserman in 1828 and was sold to Lawrence "Larry" Keller some time after 1860.

14 Mar 1866: Abraham Bauserman, deceased, assignment of dower to widow. Deed Book 7, page 412

1 Jan 1908: From Lawrence Keller's heirs: Mark Keller, D.A. Rickard and Annie, his wife, C.A. Saum and Nettie, his wife, A.M. Keller and Lillie, his wife, W.A. Bushong and Minnie, his wife, S.J. Shaver and Sidney, his wife, C.F. Hockman and Lizzie, his wife, and Edna Keller, sold to G. Harry Haun. Deed Book 68, page 354




Physical Description

Standing on a hill, this ell-shaped two and one half story house is built of chunked and daubed logs, then weatherboarded, lathed and plastered, and has a metal gabled roof. It has a cellar with a hard, packed dirt floor. There are three brick chimneys, two outside and one inside. The house has eighteen windows with four 14x27 panes and shutters with movable slats. The front porch has square posts without balusters, and square columns, while a two-story back porch has fancy balusters.

The nine interior rooms with eight foot ceilings are of very solid wood with overhead hand-hewn beams. The doors are six-panel, two cross type with common outside locks and hinges. The main oustide door has the initials "A.B. 1818" marked by nail heads driven one against the other. This is supposed to mean that Abraham Bauserman built this house in 1828.




Historical significance

This farm includes some broad, flat river bottoms where the soil has been eroded away many times. When plowing this field, rows of Indian skeletons have been found buried about ten feet apart, in rows ten feet apart. It is said that these bones can be plainly seen after heavy rains.

Source: Virginia W.P.A. Historical Inventory Project, 1937




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Created September 28 2001