Picture courtesy of James Kuntz

Picture courtesy of James Kuntz

Built by William Watson, the first settler on Pittsfield and a prominent Whig member. Watson sold the house to Milton Hay, who studied law under Lincoln in Springfield, and practiced law in Pittsfield as the local partner of Edward D. Baker. As a close friend of Lincoln and a fellow Whig Party member they participated in several court cases in Pike County. Milton's nephew John Hay, who would become Lincoln's private secretary, spent much of his boyhood in this home as he attended the John D. Thompson Academy in Pittsfield. John later served as U. S. Secretary of State under Presidents Hayes, McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt. He was the author of the Pike Co. Ballads. After Milton Hays moved back to Springfield following his wife's death in the late 1850's, Watson bought the house back from him. His daughter and her husband lived and raised their children here. Their son Oliver Barrett became one of the world's foremost collectors of Lincoln memorabilia.

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