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WABAN
Gc 974.402 W11m 1354393
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01105 4316
1
WABAN -EARLY DAYS
WILLIAM CHAMBERLAIN STRONG
WABAN'
EARLY DAYS
1681 - 1918
J. B. Mac Intipe
JE LIBREY
WABAN, MASSACHUSETTS 1944
Edited by JANE BACON MACINTIRE
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HIS TISEVE .
Copyright, 1944, by MISS ISABEL LAWRENCE STRONG First Printing - December, 1944
Published and Printed by THE MODERN PRESS NEWTON CENTRE MASSACHUSETTS
1354393
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER WILLIAM CHAMBERLAIN STRONG BY ISABEL LAWRENCE STRONG
INU. 7727 AO. 2119
Goodspeed 6.00 4-6-66
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM C. STRONG
FOREWORD
In the fall of the year 1875 my father, William C. Strong, brought his family to the new farm he had purchased in a section of Newton claimed by Auburndale. I can remember how lovely the woods in their brilliant coloring seemed to me as we drove down Beacon Street. And the farm, too, seemed enchanting to us. I do not remember its compliment of animals then, but in time there were horses, cows, the lowly pig, hens, ducks, pigeons, of course, and equally of course the collie, "Bruce," with his enemies the cats.
Besides the fodder raised for the animals, the farm was intended as an adjunct to my father's nursery on Nonantum Hill, Brighton, where he grew conifers, especially the blue spruce which he had brought from the Rocky Mountains.
My especial interest was in the ducks. I used to convoy them from their morning swim in the pond just back of the
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present library building, to their afternoon dip in the one be- hind the "Blaney" house built in later years. For some reason the latter pond was chosen for their nests and great was my rejoicing when upon my morning visit I found a new brood. Equally great was my sorrow when I saw a duckling disappear, drawn down by a snapping turtle. The skunks, too, played havoc with the young ducks and not many survived the hazards of their first summer. Does Waban still have skunks and turtles, I wonder?
In those early years, I could not understand why our cook did not care for my duck eggs and I was more than indignant when the ducks themselves were served for Sunday dinner. Time passed, new families came, the ponds were filled in, the railroad was built and Waban was named. There was once a brakeman who because some found the name unusual used to call out, "Waaban, Warban, Woban, Wuban - take your choice."
The following history is dedicated to the memory of my father, William Chamberlain Strong. He chose Waban for his home on account of its natural beauty and he did much to enhance its attractiveness by laying out suitable streets and planting trees and flowers. How he would rejoice in the beau- tiful homes and gardens which now lend it increased charm!
No more fitting memorial to one who devoted so much loving thought to the development of Waban could be devised than this review of seventy years of Waban history.
I am indebted to Mrs. Alan MacIntire for graciously de- voting so much of her time and talents to the collecting and arranging of the material for this book, and to the others who have so suitably covered special subjects.
ISABEL LAWRENCE STRONG
Waban, Massachusetts May 15, 1944
vii
WILLIAM CHAMBERLAIN STRONG
SEWARD W. JONES
When I moved to Newton Highlands in 1886, I met Mr. Strong who was at that time a deacon in the Newton Highlands Congregational Church.
The Circuit Railroad had been completed not long before and I understood that Mr. Strong was influential in getting the Boston & Albany Railroad Company to extend the line from Newton Highlands to Riverside, and he was looked upon as the founder of Waban as well as giving it its name.
Shortly after the grade crossing was eliminated, he erected the first brick building in Waban on the west side of Beacon Street adjoining the Boston & Albany Railroad. The building consisted of three stores and three apartments. He then built Windsor Road, Moffat Road and other streets on which he erected a number of houses. He was also a member of the syndicate that purchased the Poor Farm on Beacon Street from the City of Newton and had much to do in the laying out of streets. He gave the lot of land on which the Episcopal Church now stands, and also a lot for a Union Church on Collins Road; the church later acquired the lot between that and Beacon Street.
Mr. Strong, being very much interested in agriculture, induced Messrs. Rane and Hall to start a Market Garden on thirteen acres of rich meadow land which he owned, and he supplied most of the capital, taking bonds in payment. He also gave Messrs. Rane and Hall a ten-year option on the land and the Market Garden has been continuously successful.
Mr. Strong was a man very highly respected and for whom I had great admiration.
viii
A WORD from the EDITOR
"Don't look back-it is folly to look back," we are told, but in spite of this doubtless sensible advice, there still seems a value in the perspective of the past, a value in the contrast of the past as weighed against the present-and the future. We see our progress, or lack of it, laugh at ourselves and with each other, recall spots now erased from our landscape and remember old friends. We get a picture of Waban as a whole from the beginning. Admittedly a certain sadness in this look- ing back, but amusement, amazement and pleasure, too.
To those who will observe that we have paid scant at- tention to the later years and none at all to the present, we rise to state that, as the title indicates, the early years have our close scrutiny; the later years will be dealt with, we expect, some fifty years hence when someone (to whom we leave our greetings-and sympathy) will pick up the threads as we lay them down and continue to weave the story of our little village.
We do not doubt that valuable sources of data have been overlooked; that in spite of our care inaccuracies will rear their ugly heads, and people who would have been gold mines of information have been slighted, but we can only protest that we have tried! For all errors and omissions we beg to be forgiven.
To all those who have given so lavishly of their time, support and assistance, we grope for words to properly ex- press our appreciation; those hard-working and loyal con- tributors and those who kindly took the time to search out and contribute photographs. There is also a list of others, not mentioned in the text in most cases, who gave special help in various ways. To them also goes my deepest gratitude.
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First, my "right-hand men" - among them those who addressed the postal cards - Miss Stone, Miss Cleaves, Miss Monks, Miss Dresser, Mrs. Hodgins, Mrs. Hunt and Anne MacIntire (the latter very much my right-hand man). Then John and Thomas Mulligan were absolutely invaluable. Dr. McGee deserves my particular thanks for her devoted assistance and kindness. Mr. Ferris, Mr. Blaney, Mr. Stetson, Ellsbree Locke and Mr. Arthur Strong all aided me greatly with advice and encouragement.
Mr. Frank Grant, the City Clerk, Mr. Sidney Holden, and others at the City Hall, assisted me eagerly; Miss Mildred Frost, Miss Emily Piser and others of the staff of the Newton Library, besides Dr. McGee, were of great help, particularly Miss Frost. Mrs. McMullin of the Waban Library and aides assisted me also. The rectors of our three churches were very kind; also Mr. Willard Woodward, Mr. and Mrs. J. Earle Parker, Hon. Edwin O. Childs, Miss Edith Childs, now of Florida; Mr. and Mrs. Maynard contributed special pho- tography; Mr. Harry Hanson, president of the Middlesex and Boston, was extremely kind; Mr. Herbert Lane, Mr. Chester Childs, now of Pennsylvania, Mrs. Patrick Cotter, Mrs. Ben Hunt, Miss Mary Hyde (daughter of J. F. C. Hyde, Newton's first Mayor), Mr. Louis Arnold, Connie Mehigan; William Saville was very helpful and Esmond Rice, the Misses Dono- van of Auburndale, and Dorothy Rice Ryan now of Connecti- cut. Mr. LeRoy Phillips helped me greatly, as did Anna Webster Savary now of New Jersey. Others were Mrs. James Warren of Framingham, Mr. Maynard Hutchinson of West Newton, Mrs. Frederick Woodward, Nat Seaver, Jo Reeves, Mr. A. Howard Frost, Mrs. Wellington Rindge, Mr. Ashley Day, Mrs. Albert Parker, Mr. Harold Hoyt of Auburndale, the Misses Cassidy of Newton Center, Roger Bacon of Needham, Mrs. Arthur Comer of New London, Miss Elizabeth
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Bartlett of Newton Center, Mr. Donald Angier, Jo Gleason and Mr. Harry Walker. I hope that no one is left out.
Mr. Anthony Simone, the printer, has my gratitude for his interested and patient co-operation, his suggestions, attention to detail and general helpfulness. He was a grand person to work with, tireless and accommodating. And I must mention my amazed, often amused, but always tolerant husband and young ones, who made a vast contribution of patience in spite of frequent hoots. (I found that the best way to handle them was to feed them abundantly and tell them that dust was artistic!)
But the place of honor, of course, goes to Miss Strong. All through the summer she received an endless stream of registered mail at Deer Isle, Maine. She suggested, advised and was tireless and wonderful.
Without the vision and benevolence of Miss Isabel Law- rence Strong, this book would never have been written. With- out the co-operation of the contributors it could not have been written. It has been to us all both a pleasure and an honor to do this for Miss Strong. Our debt to her is great. "My father loved Waban," she said as we joined hands to commence this labor of love, "this would have pleased him so much. This is what he would have chosen as a memorial."
And now we give you Waban - Early Days.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD vi
WILLIAM CHAMBERLAIN STRONG Seward W. Jones viii
A WORD FROM THE EDITOR ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS xii
LAWRENCE WATSON STRONG XV
HISTORY AND TRADITION OF WABAN Lawrence W. Strong 1
WABAN IN THE EIGHTIES Lawrence W. Strong 17
THE GEOLOGY OF WABAN Arthur M. Southwick 25
WABAN, THE WIND Arthur. M. Southwick 28
THE TOPOGRAPHY OF WABAN Rhodes A. Garrison 43
EARLY HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRYSIDE
53
DEACON JOHN STAPLES, THE FIRST SCHOOLMASTER OF NEWTON 56
DAVID M. KINMONTH Charles C. Blaney
60
THE WOODWARD HOMESTEAD 61
THE BETHUEL-ALLEN HOUSE
67
BOYHOOD MEMORIES OF WABAN
.Dr. Edwin P. Seaver, Jr. 72
THE DRESSER FARM
Eleanor Dresser and Maola Dresser Hodgins 79
THE WYMAN FARM 85
COLONEL EDWARD WYMAN Charles C. Blaney 88
DR. MORRILL WYMAN Charles C. Blaney 90
THE COLLINS-GOULD FAMILIES Gardner S. Gould 92
THE ELIOT OAK Cora S. Cobb 98
THE PLAINS Ellsbree D. Locke 100
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE LOCKE FAMILY Mrs. John D. Coward 103
THE LAMPLIGHTERS 106
THE POOR FARM 107
THE MOTHERS' REST
Louella B. Gates 109
REMINISCENCES OF MOFFATT HILL Arthur B. Harlow 112
REMINISCENCES Ellen L. Brewer 119
NOTES ON MOFFATT HII.L Chester H. Childs 119
xii
TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued
EARLY HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRYSIDE
RECOLLECTIONS
Frederic A. Frost 120
MOFFATT HILL AND THE HERMIT
From King's Handbook of Newton 121
JOSEPH L. MOFFATT
Charles C. Blaney 121
THE PEST HOUSE
122
THE RAYMOND-COTTER HOUSE
124
THE PINE FARM
125
THE TRIANGLE
Joseph Reeves 127
THE COTTAGE HOSPITAL 128
WABAN IN 1866
129
WABAN - A VILLAGE
THE RAILROAD Ellsbree D. Locke 131
WABAN IN 1889 From King's Handbook of Newton 137
RANDOM MEMORIES, 1891 Margaret D. Stone 140
THE SQUARE
WABAN SQUARE Winthrop G. Rhodes 144
REMINISCENCES OF THE CONANT FAMILY
Della Conant Stanley 151
THE WABAN POST OFFICE
John and Thomas Mulligan 160
HISTORY OF THE WABAN LIBRARY .. Dr. Fanny M. McGee 165
SCHOOLS
THE FIVE WABAN SCHOOLS Margaret D. Stone 169
CHILDHOOD MEMORIES Pauline Stone Hill 181
CHURCHES
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Dr. Fanny M. McGee 184
THE UNION CHURCH
J. Earle Parker and Edward R. Chapin 190
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH Helen. H. Forté 197
EARLY FIRE PROTECTION Fire Chief John L. Keating 198
EARLY POLICE PROTECTION Sergeant Philip Purcell 201
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TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued
WABAN - A VILLAGE
TRANSPORTATION
THE RAILROAD Ellsbree D. Locke 131
VEHICLES 204
TROLLEY CAR DAYS 212
THE FIRST OCEAN RACE OF CRUISING POWER BOATS
Cyrus Y. Ferris 215
AVIATION
272
CLUBS AND COMMUNITY DOINGS
HISTORY OF THE IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY
Newton C. Burnett 218
THE WABAN WOMAN'S CLUB Helen S. Andrews 230
THE BEACON CLUB
Herbert O. Stetson 240
THE TENNIS CLUB
245
WABAN MINSTREL SHOWS
249
THE C.C.C. CLUB 254
PET STOCK SHOWS Lewis H. Bacon, Jr.
255
THE NEIGHBORHOOD CLUB Donald M. Hill 257
THE PINE RIDGE ROADERS Herbert R. Lane 260
A BASEBALL GAME 261
MISCELLANEOUS
THE DEER PARK 263
GYPSIES 264
WABAN WARBLER 265
YOUNG DAYS IN OLD WABAN .... Jane Bacon MacIntire 268
WAR
MEN FROM THIS COUNTRYSIDE IN THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION 274
WAR WORK IN WABAN 275
NEWTON CONSTABULARY Rhodes A. Garrison 277
ROSTER OF WORLD WAR I 284
FIRST LIEUTENANT ALBERT EDGAR ANGIER
285
FIRST LIEUTENANT DAVID ENDICOTT PUTNAM 290
ISABEL LAWRENCE STRONG 293
GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 294
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LAWRENCE WATSON STRONG
My brother, Lawrence, spent the first forty years of his life in Waban and indeed was its physician for a short time before going to New York as Pathologist for the Woman's Hospital. His usefulness there was cut short by an attack of rheumotoid arthritis from which he never recovered. His Spartan courage, his never failing cheerfulness and humor during his long illness was a constant wonderment and in- spiration to his many friends. About twelve years ago he was asked to write a short history of Waban for the Im- provement Society. The paper which follows is that history which has served together with the "Recollections" as the nucleus from which this volume has grown. Dr. Strong died in Winter Park, Florida, February 4th, 1943.
-I. L. S.
William Chamberlain Strong was born on August 18, 1824, at Hardwick, Vermont. He was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1842. During his college days he debated as to whether he would become a minister or a lawyer, but upon his graduation he entered the law office of Daniel Webster. Through him he met Joseph Breck. He bought Mr. Breck's nursery and married his daughter. Mr. Strong died on May 14, 1913, aged eighty-nine years.
XV
DR. LAWRENCE WATSON STRONG
HISTORY and TRADITION of WABAN
LAWRENCE WATSON STRONG
Very likely the residents of Waban today think of that portion of Newton as an entirely new village. And so it is, but like many a city of antiquity it has risen on the ruins of an earlier civilization which was not without its glory.
I am going to draw a picture from memory and hearsay of these early times, without attempting to verify my facts by consulting authorities. Authorities would not be amusing, nor, indeed, possible for me, but I believe this account to be a fairly accurate one.
First, let me record how Waban comes by its name. My father, William Chamberlain Strong, was very active in securing the right-of-way for the Boston and Albany Railroad at the time the Newton Circuit Road was built. The location of a station here marked a potential village, and a name was required. My father had previously lived on Nonantum Hill in Brighton, where Waban, the Chief of the Indian tribe Nonantum, had his wigwam, and where Eliot, the Apostle to the Indians, preached. A memorial marks this spot today. So the name "Waban" for the new village easily suggested itself to my father. I am told Waban, or Wabanoki, means "east" in the Indian tongue. The spelling of the name cannot be held to coincide with its pronunciation. I believe the pronunciation is correct and the correct spelling would be either Wauban or more probably Waughban. The error is older than the town.
My own recollections of Waban begin with 1875. It was then that my father bought a vacant farm in the section of Newton now Waban, and moved there with his family. Per-
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WABAN - EARLY DAYS
haps it may be interesting to know what Waban looked like one hundred years after the American Revolution, and not long after the Civil War. Changes then were less in a generation than today in a year, so we may suppose that this description would be applicable to the locality over several decades, at least.
Four rather large farms formed then a rough square with a common meeting point at the junction of the present Beacon and Woodward Streets. These were, southwest, the Collins farm; northwest, the Newton City or Poor Farm; southeast, the Wyman farm; and northeast, the Moffatt farm which my father purchased. These four farms form the heart of the present Waban. Two other farms to the eastward must be included, separated by Woodward Street, the northern later purchased by E. P. Seaver, and the southern by Joseph Bacon.
The Moffatt farm comprised Moffatt Hill and the sur- rounding land bounded by Beacon and Chestnut Streets from the present Church of the Good Shepherd to Moffatt Road. I believe Moffatt Hill to be the correct name for Waban's only hill, though a more picturesque name, "Flagstaff Hill," was in equal vogue at that time. Presumably there was a flagstaff at some time on this conspicuous hill, though I have never heard any account of it. It would be very interesting to find some reference to it. Perhaps it was the site of a Liberty Pole, or perhaps during the Civil War some patriot flaunted his colors there. Surely at the time it was a beacon in a wilderness, for even in my recollection there was no house within half a mile. Some time in the 80's the United States Coast Survey erected a tripod beacon on the crest, and used this point for triangulation. I think I was told that the crest of the hill was due west from the State House.
To the westward, just beyond the crest of the hill, and just where Windsor Road now ends, were two old cellars, and on the southern slope of the hill still stood two old abandoned
THE STRONG HOUSE
Courtesy of Rev. Stanley W. Ellis
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WABAN - EARLY DAYS
cottages one formerly used as a pest house by the City Farm. This little group of four houses had its outlet to the west, enter- ing Washington Street, Auburndale, near the present Woodland Golf Club House.
So here was a tiny hamlet, long, long since vanished with- out a trace. At the time of its foundation the site would seem even less familiar to a Wabanite of today, for there were two considerable ponds between the hillside and the present rail- road, where the golf links are now. I said that this hamlet was connected with Auburndale, and not with the present Waban Village. In my youth all Waban was a part of Auburndale, Ward 4.
Our entire farm of one hundred acres was enclosed by a stone wall, and on half of this, that is, the length of Beacon and Chestnut Streets, the stones were carefully faced. Inside the stone wall, at a distance of ten or twelve feet, was a picket fence for the hill portion of the farm, the idea being to make a deer park out of the hill with a driveway encircling it. One thing that mystifies me in regard to this deer park, with its fence and wall undeniably existent, is that even a half-grown faun would skip it as lightly as a feather. Perhaps, however, the theory was that the deer would use the park as a sanctuary, and the fence was not to keep them in but to keep dogs and other intruders out. It amuses me to recall that years later Mr. Day of West Newton had the same idea of a deer park for this region, and that he bought the back land along the north base of Moffatt Hill and enclosed it with a wire fence. I doubt if he knew that he was repeating history. At any rate, the deer repeated by vaulting his higher fence. In practical form this deer park became a cow pasture, and there was a square milking paddock under a big oak just where the Saville and Brown houses join today.
The farmhouse which we came to occupy is the present rectory of the Church of the Good Shepherd, and has changed
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HISTORY AND TRADITION OF WABAN
very little with the years. The front of the house cannot be very old, probably about the time of the Civil War, but it was rebuilt from an older structure as its sills and floor beams clearly show from the cellar, and the present kitchen was part of the original structure. I suppose the tiny eaves window close to the floor of the upper story of the kitchen (if still there) gives a hint of great age. I was told by a member of the Crafts family (Newton Highlands) that this farm was the original grant of land to John Staples, first schoolmaster of Newton, for a lot from which to cut wood, and that John Eliot, the Indian's Apostle, married Staples to his wife, Mary Crafts, from this very house.
I was also told by George Collins, Mrs. Gould's brother, that he remembered when cord wood, in its full four foot lengths, was carried into that kitchen for the winter fires. The team was backed up to the door, and a load carried in at one time. The little windows under the eaves were only a foot high and were close to the floor. The sloping roof over the kitchen left room for a tiny chamber where I used to sleep. It was out of such windows that the early settlers, lying prone on the floor, defended their homes against Indian attacks.
For the eighteen seventies and for that remote situation, the house made some pretentions of elegance, with its French doors, its Italian marble mantelpieces, and particularly for its large oval dining room, panelled in oak. The ceiling of that room was higher than that of the rest of the house, and pro- jected into the second story, so that the "best room" over it was also somewhat grander than the rest of the house with a higher ceiling and arches at the sides.
All this new splendor was quite evidently grafted onto an originally simple farmhouse. The stairs in my time were in the front hall, running up from the back of the hall so that the landing was over the front door. This made a sloping niche facing the front door, and here was located the "register,"
MRS. WILLIAM C. STRONG
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HISTORY AND TRADITION OF WABAN
blessed isle of refuge from the nipping cold. In the winter time the large oak dining room was abandoned, and the cozy sitting room at the left of the front door was used instead.
In the kitchen cellar was originally a large brick cistern into which water was pumped (by hand) from a well located at the left of the drive in front of the house. The big, brass-bound force pump over the kitchen sink required the exertions of a sturdy man to fill the tank in the "best room" attic. Back of the kitchen extended a series of wash rooms, preserve room, and woodshed, making a very complete "plant," as we would say today, for household economics.
The story of our farm before we came is very vague to me. I only know that it was the country estate of some gentle- man who evidently had expended a considerable amount on it, and then abandoned it, traditionally on account of ill health.
At the entrance were two large wooden gates flanked, I remember, by large smoke trees. In the dooryard stood, as
GARDEN VIEW, REAR OF STRONG HOUSE (Now Neighborhood Club tennis courts )
Courtesy of Rev. Stanley W. Ellis
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WABAN - EARLY DAYS
stands today, a beautiful elm, and I was told by Robert Turner, my father's foreman then, that he dug that tree from "the lower part of the farm" (the present market garden) and him- self planted it there, where it spreads its graceful branches wide over the house and yard.
Behind the elm was a large graveled yard in front of the big barn, brooding over the site of the present Windsor Road. This big barn (now demolished) was moved to a new site and became the Windsor Hall School for Girls, the first house from Beacon Street on Windsor Road. The building originally had a cupola, itself no mean structure, in which the wheeling pigeons reared their young. Sordid fact must admit their end in sundry pies undeniably delicious. This three-storied barn was to our childish eyes enormous, and the jump from the upper beams into the haymow brought one's stomach into one's mouth in a most satisfying way. Likewise the swing, hung midway in
THE ELM
Courtesy of Rev. Stanley W. Ellis
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HISTORY AND TRADITION OF WABAN
the long aisle, was a sure fire nauseant. A big door on a track closed either end of the barn, and an earthen ramp at the back door permitted two-horse teams of hay to enter, unload, and leave.
To the left of the barn door was a tool house, next a work- man's cottage, while at right angles on the right was a large, fine carriage house with a hard pine floor and slate roof. This carriage house was the "barn" of Windsor Hall, demolished some years ago. The farm road ran from the graveled yard in front of the barn around the carriage house, and on the oppo- site side of this road was the kitchen yard with several large black heart cherry trees, and just at the kitchen door a nice red cherry tree in which we children largely lived at the proper season.
On the eastern side of our house was quite an elaborate formal garden with paths and a well. I remember syringa bushes and lilies of the valley. It was here that my sister planted the beans she had rubbed on my warty hands. Miracu- lously one morning my warts were gone, and "Margie," tip- toeing across the dewy garden, found that the beans were sprouted! (We had an Irish nurse! My middle name is Watson and I always supposed it was because I had "warts on" my hands.)
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