The house at 704 South Lafayette Street is like the gift that keeps on giving. When I wrote a series on the stately house currently being restored, I was fortunate that there was ample documentation on the William Lipe family. The home and carriage house, built in 1884, was the only dwelling on the 700 block of south Lafayette, known as the Lipe Subdivision. William Lipe owned a grocery store on the west side of the square for some 20 years and was quite active in Macomb government. He and his wife Harriet had three daughters - Louise, Addie and Ruth. William Lipe died at age 51 and his funeral was held in the house. His wife and daughters continued to live there for some time.
Enter Frank Smoot in 2026, the house whisperer from Wisconsin. On a whim he drove down to a place called Macomb to look at the city’s handful of Lustron houses, a type of kit-house sold in the 1950s as a precursor to pre-fab homes. The Lustron adventure didn’t pan out, but a realtor had the foresight to tell Frank about another house. A house in a great neighborhood that needed much work, but that could possibly be bought at a good price.
Smoot, who has extensive experience in museum startups and house renovations, liked the house and decided to purchase it. He has been at 704 South Lafayette since the Spring, breathing life into the 142 year-old dwelling. He is in the process of applying for the home to be acknowledged as a historic home of Macomb, the house he saved from a possible demolition, and bought for a song.
It was after the first part of the series I wrote that families who had called 704 South Lafayette home started to surface from as far away as Nevada and California. The James Boblak family owned the Lafayette Street home from the late 1970s until just recently, when they sold the property to Smoot, ownership that spanned over 50 years. Kenny Boblak, the youngest of the Boblak children, related that they loved the house and especially the large, welcoming front porch. Boblak said their family used the porch extensively, almost like it was another room in the large two-story home.
Prior to the Boblak’s purchasing the house, Western Illinois University music professor George Townsend and his wife Joyce owned the home. They purchased the house in 1963 and sold it to the Boblaks in the late 1970s. The Townsends paid $16,000 for the house. Daughter Kathy Townsend (Karr) recalls the house filled with music and friends and laughter, and that they were allowed as kids to jump out of the second floor window of the carriage house into a large pile of hay or straw.
Now, yet another name has surfaced tied to 704 South Lafayette. For 20 years, from 1924-1948, John G. Patton and his wife Hazel owned the home. Like the Lipes, the Pattons also had three daughters, Esther, Dorothy and Virginia, and were grandparents to five grandchildren.
John Patton was born May 22, 1883. Before moving to Macomb he was a deputy circuit clerk in Douglas County and later owned a title and abstract office in Pittsfield. He established the Patton Abstract Company in Macomb and operated it until the early 1930s. Later he engaged in the Patton Real Estate and Insurance business. He retired from the insurance business but carried on the real estate business until his death.
John Patton was a member of the First Baptist Church of Macomb for nearly 50 years. He was a member of the Macomb Masonic Lodge, the Quincy Consistory, Macomb Rotary and served on the Macomb City School Board.
Patton participated in the development of Compton Park and sponsored the development of Patton Subdivision. His most notable act of generosity was donating the original acreage of Patton Park to the park district of Macomb.
Macomb Park District director Blake Severs was able to furnish park board meeting minutes from July 5, 1958. With regards to John and Hazel Patton, the minutes state: “Mr. and Mrs. John Patton were present for part of the meeting to discuss a gift of 8.7 acres of land in the southwest part of the City of Macomb which they propose to present as a gift to the Macomb Park District if certain stipulations and restrictions concerning it can be agreed on. Mr. Leighty and Mrs. Sargent were asked to represent the Macomb Park District in a meeting with Mr. Keith Scott, attorney, and Mr. Patton to discuss the agreement.”
The park board meeting minutes of July 12, 1958 (a special meeting) read as follows: “Mr. Leighty was asked to read the agreement he had prepared as a result of the meeting with Mr. Patton, Mrs. Sargent, and Mr. Leighty. This agreement was between John G. and Hazel B. Patton as First Parties and the Macomb Park District as Second Party. It concerned the land in the southwest part of the City of Macomb which Mr. Patton was giving to the Macomb Park District provided the agreement as read by Mr. Leighty was approved.”
The minutes continue:
“Now, therefore, be it resolved that the proposed gift of said John G. Patton and Hazel B. Patton, as outlined in said agreement, be, and it hereby is accepted by this Board, and the President, attested by the Secretary, is hereby authorized and directed to execute said agreement in duplicate, one copy to be retained by each of the parties, and to accept a deed to said property, and Secretary is further authorized and directed to record said deed in the Recorder’s office of McDonough County, Illinois and to file a copy of this resolution in the office of the County Clerk.”
While the stipulations and restrictions were not listed in the minutes, a later paragraph stated that a group would meet with Mr. Clarence Hammond of Peoria to discuss improvements to Patton Park.
The Pattons were commended for their ‘fine public spirit’ in making the gift and that in honor thereof said tract was to be hereafter known as “Patton Park.” And as Paul Harvey used to say, now you know the rest of the story.
Patton Park today has grown to 35 acres with walking paths, pavilions, outdoor fitness equipment, ball diamonds, a fishing pond and the Dave and Jackie Thompson Dog Park, and is widely used by residents of Macomb and surrounding towns.
And the house at 704 South Lafayette continues to amaze us with its repertoire of prominent families that once called it home.
Frank Smoot is currently scraping the house in preparation for painting. Keep in mind that Smoot is working alone and this is a quite large structure. The paint he will use will be “gypsum” in color, a near white shade that is believed to be the original color of the house in 1884. The trim will be a dark red with a brownish tone called “sawmill,” also believed to be close to historically accurate.
Frank has been working much of the time on replacing and grounding wiring. The house had been updated since the knob-and-tube days, but did not have the proper grounding.
The kitchen countertops are being replaced and a built-in oven removed. The interior walls of the house will be painted soon also.
This writer cannot wait to see the 1884 William Lipe House freshly painted as it might have been when William, Harriet, Louise, Addie and Ruth lived there. It has been a fascinating story to write and I have a feeling that 704 South Lafayette has more stories to tell.
Credits: Allen Nemec, Mcdonough County Genealogical Society Frank Smoot Blake Severs / Macomb Park District Macomb Journal
