USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Sutton > History of the town of Sutton, Massachusetts, from 1876 to 1950, Volume II > Part 23
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"In the kitchen, the southeast room, we find beside the fireplace a brick oven, and just beyond, an opening, revealing a secret staircase, which winds up around the chimney to the floors above. A corner cupboard also adorns this old room. On the second floor are four large sleeping rooms and one room, without win- dows but with four doors, where the closed meetings of the Masonic Order were regularly held. In the attic we are impressed with the sturdy build of this whole structure with its massive beams and uprights and the well-built chimneys.
"Returning to the first floor, we pass through the south door at the end of the front hall, into the dining room and then on to the room, which has served as a kitchen for all the later years. We find a fireplace in each room and in the kitchen a brick oven and a large set-kettle, used for heating water. Over this kettle the different parts of the beautiful mahogany pulpit in the First Congrega- tional Church were steamed and fashioned. The ell is of different architecture and not finely wrought as the main part of the house.
"Another interesting feature of this old inn is the sturdy build of the cellar walls and the brick piers, arched together to support the central areas. A flagging covers the floor with great flat stones and proper conduits for draining to the east where the hill carries off the water.
"From a vantage point across the lawn, we can admire the approach to this old hostelry with its distinctive roof and pleasing exterior. This type of colonial architecture with roof in two sections relieves the effect of austerity, which it would have had with a continuous line.
"Mr. LeBaron was aware of this note of hospitality, and like so many other features of his genius in the creation of this fine old dwelling, it will stand as a challenge to those who seek the beautiful in colonial architecture in Sutton."
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HOMES of SUTTON
The cottage, a part of the Charles Putman property, which in 1876 was rented by Obed P. Johnson, has had many tenants. Among these were Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gleason and daughter, Mrs. Cassandra Adams, who taught in the Center school, and her daughter, Ronelda Adams. Mrs. Adeline Gleason was the daughter of the Newell Shermans and died in 1918, leaving a son Robert, a sister, Mrs. Henry Brigham, and a brother, Hiram J. Sherman. Mr. Gleason, Mrs. Adams and Ronelda moved to California where Mrs. Adams still resides.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Ward and son Albion (1902) also lived here as did Mrs. Minnie Slocom and brother William Howard, and Marius Hovey, for a number of years. More recently the house was occupied by Mr. Chute, principal of the High School, Mrs. Chute and daughter Alison, and the Charles Gravelins. The present occupants are Mr. and Mrs. Norman Shaw and children, Robert and Joan. Mr. Shaw has been Auditor for the Town of Sutton for ten years.
The house on this street, next to the cottage, is that built and owned by Charles H. Gravelin. He lives here with his wife (Martha Coggswell) and daughters, Charlene, Marcia and Nancy. The land was purchased from Charles W. Putnam.
The large frame "tenement house," as described in the first history, has been owned and rented through the years by the following: Mr. and Mrs. Gardner Hall and Arthur Hall, Benjamin C. Marsh, John S. Davis and family, Mr. Bryant, a streetcar conductor, the Flanagan family, Mr. and Mrs. George Fletcher and daughter Ruth. It was finally sold to Edwin Walton, who moved here with his family from a house near the Purgatory Reservation. They made extensive repairs and lived here until a fire completely destroyed the house, Feb. 26, 1914. J. Elmer Bancroft had purchased the land from Emily Howard, July 16, 1900. In 1907, he transferred it to his wife, Bertha, and May 19, 1914 bought the orchard from Edwin and Jennie Walton.
Nelson R. and Elsie (Anderson) Gerber bought a tract of land from Arthur B. and Clyde Putnam on April 5, 1941 and built a small four-room house in the same year. This was located on the southwest corner of the tract on Boston Road, the location of the Flanagan house that burned. This house was sold on July 12, 1951 to Edward and Louise Grundstrom.
In 1951, Nelson R. and Elsie Gerber built a six-room house for themselves on Boston Road, near Burbank Road, the house lot being a portion of the Arthur Putnam land. The Gerbers have one daughter, Mildred Theresa Gerber. Mr. Gerber is employed at W. W. Windle Co.
Other plots of the Arthur Putnam land were purchased by Nelson Gerber, Sr., William and Jane (Lamoureaux) Furlong and Raymond and Mildred (Aldrich) Hutchinson.
The house, below on the hill, occupied by N. G. King's workmen and finally owned by Emory Howard of Millbury, was torn down by Vernon S. Johnson in the early 1900's for lumber. It is said some of the Malhoits were born here.
In 1876, George King, son of Nathaniel, owned the home on the "great road," at the foot of what is known to us as Hovey Hill. Mrs. King was Mary Howard. There were two children: Emily, the daughter, died when in the primary school; the son, Howard, who died a few years ago, was at the head of King Realty Co. of Worcester.
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The property was sold by Mrs. Hastings, George King's sister, to George Emory Putnam about 1900. Mr. Putnam was born in what used to be the last house in Sutton-now in Grafton-Jan. 9, 1842. He married Mary Elizabeth Coombs, who was born in Providence, R. I. in 1860. There were four children; Charles, born on Pidgeon Hill, Cora, in the Hathaway District, Albert on Putnam Hill and Phoebe Idella at this home. Charles married Bertha Needham of Brookline and lived at Marble Village. He married for his second wife, Marian Smith of Webster, and lived in Wilkinsonville until his death in 1951. David and Mary, children by his first wife, lived here with their grandmother after their mother's death. Cora married a Mr. Mellor, who died in Worcester. For her second husband she married John Cronin; they lived in Worcester. She is now receptionist at Cushing Hospital in Framingham. Albert married Edna Johnson of Millbury. They had two children, Martha Johnson and Harry Ells- worth. At the death of his mother, Harry, seven weeks old, was adopted by his aunt Cora and is now known as Ellsworth Putnam Mellor. Martha, when five years old, contracted scarlet fever from a playmate across the street in the Harmon family and died in 1922. Mrs. Harmon had died of the same disease a few months earlier. Albert married for his second wife, Florence Barber, and lives in Millbury. Phoebe married George Lamoureaux.
George E. Putnam enlisted from the Town of Sutton in the Second Mass. Regiment Heavy Artillery and was the last living Civil War Veteran in Sutton. Mr. Putnam said, "I was in many skirmishes, but the hardest battle, I was in, was fought at Kingston, N. C. I was three days and four nights without food and when we received rations, each soldier was given a pound of salt pork, which we ate without stopping to cook it, we were so hungry. It tasted good too." Mr. Putnam died April 10, 1926. Mrs. Putnam enjoyed travel and gardening. She died Oct. 31, 1943. The old brick mill was moved by Mr. Putnam to its present location and used as a barn.
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Hunt, Jr. bought the property from the Putnam heirs in. 1944 and moved here from Worcester with four children, Carole, Patricia, Joyce and Robert William. Another son Rodney Mckenzie was born November 29, 1951. Mr. Hunt is a blacksmith by trade and is employed by the Whitinsville Spinning Ring Co.
There are no traces of the house which stood in an adjoining lot, but it lived in the memory of a brave father, Mr. Morse, who for years made his annual pilgrimage to the stream which ran beside it. As he sat there with tears in his eyes, he would tell Mr. Putnam how his little boy was drowned in that brook.
East of the Hunt property, in the hollow at the foot of Hovel Hill, is the home of Nelson Gerber, Sr. In 1945, Mr. Gerber, who had sold his "Breezy Hill" farm at Eight Lots to Paul Libbey, bought a small store from the Herbert Ray property and moved it to a site on the two acres of land, which he had purchased from his son Nelson R., and adding as much more to the building to form the present house. The son was living at the time at his bungalow on Hovey Hill. The Gerbers have another son Charles F., who was in service in World War II as Sergeant in the Air Cadet Corps at Porto Rico and at Jamaica. In 1945, he married Viola Stevens of Worcester. When he was discharged from service, he entered Worcester Poyltechnic Institute and received his degree from
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there in electrical engineering. Since then he has been employed as designer at Langley Field; very recently he has taken a position in Oceanography at New London, doing research work for underwater sound. They have two children; Donald, born 1949 and Sue Ellen, born 1951.
Across the street is the story and a half house, on the north shore of Clark's Pond, now owned by William H. Clarkson. Mr. Clarkson was born in Worcester, May 10, 1896, and Mrs. Marion S. Clarkson was born in Windham, Maine, Aug. 20, 1906. They have one son Norton H. The house stands on land, pur- chased from Marius M. and Ellen D. Hovey by Emma F. Brown, June 28, 1900. The acre, more or less, east of the house was bought by Alfred A. Brown from George Putnam, April 12, 1900. It was for the purpose of building a home that Mr. and Mrs. Brown of Rhode Island purchased this land, and in 1906 the house was completed. They had a daughter Lilla.
HOME OF WILLIAM H. CLARKSON
Until April 1, 1918, when Mr. Brown died, the Browns made their home here. Mrs. Brown kept the place, however, until October 5, 1931 when it was purchased by the Clarksons. It had been rented by the Harmon family. Mrs. Brown died in Worcester Nov. 16, 1936. William Clarkson, who is an elec- trician by trade, served in the United States Navy from 1920 to 1922 and learned his trade at the U.S. Government Training School, Hampton Roads, Virginia.
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Norton H. Clarkson, born November 22, 1928, married Jaqueline Auger on November 20, 1948 and took up residence in a house-trailer on a lot, west of the family home. They have a son Wilfred William, born Feb. 12, 1950. Norton was in the service from Oct. 1946 to March 1, 1948, eleven months in Germany. The Clarksons purchased a home on Uxbridge Road and moved there in 1951.
In 1943, George Putnam Lamoureaux purchased three acres of land from the George Putnam estate on Hutchinson hill, near Clark's Pond, and built a house there. Mr. Lamoureaux married in 1939 Mildred Brewster, daughter of the former Maud Hendrickson, who had lived with the Alfred Putnams some years before. Their daughter Gloria Jean was born in 1940. Mr. Lamoureaux is employed at Leland Gifford Co.
The Sherman barn, north of the Brick Block, was originally a livery stable. Between 1876 and the early '80's a man from Upton operated a blacksmith and woodworking shop in this building. He was followed by Daniel Dudley, also a blacksmith, who worked here with George Rich, a wheelwright. About 1893, the property was bought by Hollis Sherman, his son Milton taking over the black- smith shop.
Daniel Dudley moved out and leased from M. M. Hovey a portion of the adjoining land and built half of the present blacksmith shop. He continued his work here for two or three years, selling to Milton Sherman. The latter built on an addition to the shop and also a building for lumber storage. In 1951 Milton Sherman deeded the property to his nephew, Lewis Patch Sherman, the present owner.
"The first house north of the brick store" owned by Rev. H. A. Tracy was purchased from the Tracy estate by M. M. Hovey and sold to Mrs. Milton Ellis Crossman from Millbury in 1886. She lived here until her death on Nov. 30, 1894.
Mrs. Crossman had two children. A son, Frederick Morse Crossman, pur- chased a livery business in Chicago in 1870 and owned it for twenty-five years when he bought a large stock farm in Arlington Heights, Cooks' County, Illinois. He married Ella Kelley of Brookfield, Massachusetts in 1870. She died Mar. 16, 1900. They had two children, both born in Chicago, Illinois: Ella Annie, born Jan. 15, 1873, married Harley S. Alverson in Chicago Jan. 24, 1913; Frederick Kelley, never married and died Nov. 4, 1918.
The daughter, Julia Ann Crossman, born Jan. 9, 1848, married Jacob Emerson Holbrooke June 20, 1872. Mr. Holbrooke was born Mar. 18, 1841 in West Boylston and died May 4, 1916. He served in Company D, 25th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry 1861-1863; promoted 1863-1864 as First Lieutenant in the 4th Independent Battalion, Ohio Cavalry. It is interesting to know that at one time he traveled through the South as a machinist, setting up cotton machines.
Mr. Holbrooke served as Clerk of the First Congregational Church. While Cemetery Commissioner he was instrumental in having the row of trees set out facing the road in Howard Cemetery and purchasing iron gates for the entrance.
Mr. and Mrs. Holbrooke had one son, Milton Levi, born Mar. 3, 1887, mar- ried June 22, 1914 to Lucy G. Glynn (Ruth, to us), born Nov. 5, 1895 in
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HOMES of SUTTON
Shetland Isle, Scotland,-daughter of Hannah Winspear and James Glynn. Mr. and Mrs. Milton Holbrooke were the first couple to be married by Rev. Herbert E. Lombard in the newly constructed Tatnuck Church, which had been dedicated only the day before. To this union were born two daughters: Lucy Hunton, born April 23, 1915, died Dec. 20, 1918 in the influenza epidemic; June Emerson, born June 27, 1916, christened at her grandfather's funeral. June is a dietitian while her father is a machinist by trade.
HOME OF MILTON L. HOLBROOKE
Mrs. J. Emerson Holbrooke lived here in the center with her son and his family where she died in May 1940.
The barn was moved here from West Sutton as noted on p. 207 of the first History and used as a Livery Stable. Many a horse and buggy went in and out of the yard. In 1933 Mr. Holbrooke had the barn cut in half and the roof dropped seven feet.
Lester Neale and Linda Neale, twins, Carol Orell and Doris Jones, enjoy the hospitality of the Holbrooke home.
Adjoining the Milton Holbrooke property on Singletary Avenue is the home of Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Monroe. In 1876 the place was owned by Mrs. George Rich, who lived there with her son, George Rich, her daughter, Mrs. Martha Ann Marsh, and granddaughter, Jennie Marsh.
George Rich, a woodworker by trade, in 1879 built a workshop on the end of the house. In the early 80's, an artesian well, one of the first in the neighbor-
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hood, was dug by H. M. Thompson, using steam power. George Rich inherited the property at the death of his mother Jan. 23, 1900.
Jennie Marsh was married Oct. 31, 1900 to Dr. Louis Birmingham, a Sutton physician, who had his office in the Milton Holbrook house. Soon after their marriage they moved to the Boston suburbs and later lived in California with their three children.
George Rich died in 1904 leaving the property to his brother, John S. Rich of Millbury, who rented it to Henry C. Batcheller for a few years. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe, the next tenants, lived here until 1917, at which time they bought the Nason place, across the street, and Joseph Nason and housekeeper, Mrs. Boutelle, moved over here. At Mr. Rich's death in 1922, his daughter, Mrs. Sadie Rich King, became the owner. The spruce tree, which she planted in 1922, still stands in front of the house.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Ward and son Albian lived here a few years; Albian built a garage in 1926. Charles Gravelin and wife followed as tenants from 1933 until the autumn of 1937. Mrs. Rosamond King Lynch, at the death of her mother, Sadie King, in 1936, inherited the property. After some repairs in 1937, having a bathroom with shower built in and an oil furnace installed, she came as a bride to live in the old home. In 1938 she moved to Uxbridge and Alfred Beaton and his wife, Barbara Batcheller Beaton, lived here until they bought the Gilbert place in 1940. Mr. Pollard, principal of the High School, and Mrs. Pollard were here for a year.
In 1941 Clifford Monroe and wife bought the place from Mrs. Rosamond Lynch and moved in. They had one son, Barry, a year old at the time; a daugh- ter, Sandra, was born in 1944. Mr.Monroe improved the grounds considerably, making a fine back lawn. Several improvements have been made, including the addition of two dormers, a cement terrace and combination storm windows; the kitchen also was remodeled. More improvements are planned for 1952.
The house across the street, the property of Miss Louise Ray, was owned by Captain Luther Little in 1876. Mr. Little was Captain of a whaling vessel for many years and was on the high seas from the age of 21 until his retirement, just before coming to Sutton. As a whaler he went around the world every three years.
Captain Little took an active interest in the affairs of the Town and in 1884 was one of the five citizens to give his bond for the erection of the Town Hall.
In 1884 with William E. Cole, a carpenter of the old school, he directed operations for raising the new bell to the belfry of the First Congregational Church. A representative from the Manufacturing Co. in Pennsylvania came to supervise the work. He found the whaler an expert rigger, quite equal to the occasion.
At this time Captain Little showed his love and interest for youth by stretching across the Common a rope, so that the children of the nearby school could help in raising the bell and also have a story to tell for future generations. Among those, who as children pulled on that rope, are two of the present History Com- mittee; a third stood near watching, "wondering how in the world the 1500-1b. weight could ever be hoisted to that belfry."
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HOMES of SUTTON
Another instance of Mr. Little's engineering skill was the building of a dike in front of his property to prevent the water in the highway from running onto his land and down through the orchard behind his house. The water, draining quite an area, not his own, was causing increasing damage to his trees and property.
Appeals to the Town Fathers went unheeded. Then, with the advice of counsel, he built the barrier; neighbors followed suit. This dam proved most effective. The highway was flooded with several inches of water and much incon- venience suffered. One day a town official, irked by the condition of the road, threatened to go home and get a shovel and break open the dike. "And if you do," spoke the Captain, "you better stop and bring along the hearse," (housed below the Center cemetery ) "for you'll need it."
After months of argument, the Town's counsel appealed to the Captain's lawyer to end the dispute, since a private citizen should not bear the heavy expense incurred. "If Mr. Little's money gives out," replied the lawyer, "I shall be inclined to offer my own, since I have become so interested in the case."
At last the Town ordered a ditch constructed on the boundary between the Little and Holbrook estates. This later was built on Holbrook land, not, how- ever, to its benefit.
Captain Little was a skillful skater, enjoying the sport. A Sutton boy, watch- ing the heavy-set man, no longer young, cutting fancy figures on the ice at Singletary, asked how, living on a ship, he ever learned to skate. "What else was one to do, when frozen up in the Arctic six months at a time?"
Mr. and Mrs. Little had one daughter, Mrs. Hattie Little Davis. Captain Little was drowned in Singletary September 16, 1893. It was thought he had a heart attack and fell from his boat. Mrs. Little died June 3, 1895.
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert L. Ray purchased the place in June 1893. They had four daughters: Maude Lincoln, born Nov. 14, 1890, married Harold Mac- Laren; Flora Eliza, born Nov. 14, 1890, married Clarence King; Alice Rice, born Feb. 7, 1902, married E. Wesley Marble; Louise Mae, born Mar. 26, 1906.
Mr. Ray's mother, Mrs. Eliza Ray, lived in a tenement upstairs. She died here Nov. 14, 1912. The tenement has since had many occupants. During the Little's ownership, Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Sibley lived in the apartment for many years and celebrated here their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
Mr. and Mrs. Ray made their home here until 1939 when they built a bunga- low on Carter Road and went there to live. They rented their home here.
At the time of his daughter Flora's marriage to Clarence King of Webster, Mr. Ray built her a bungalow at the north of his home. Since her death, Dec. 1, 1931, this has been rented and is now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. David Whitney and their children, Karen, Hunter and Laura. Among the former tenants were Robert Morris, who was principal of the Sutton High School, Mrs. Morris and their children, Katherine and a son Richard, born in 1944.
South of the house, Mr. Ray built a small store where ice cream, tonics and candy were dispensed. The building was sold to Nelson Gerber. In the rear is another cottage which was rented to Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Roy and daughter,
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HISTORY of SUTTON
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440000
THE LOUISE RAY HOUSE
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HOMES of SUTTON
Katherine Cordell. It is now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Currier who live here with their daughter Beverly.
Mr. Herbert Lincoln Ray was born, always lived and died in Sutton. He represented Worcester County (formerly eighth Worcester district) in Massa- chusetts House of Representatives-represented Worcester County (7th Wor. Dist. ) in the Constitutional Convention of Massachusetts. He was Treasurer of the Town and Collector of Taxes for 10 years.
He was a member of the Grange P. of H. # 109 for fifty years. He was Post- master of Sutton 12 years; appointed by the State as a member of the Purgatory Reservation Commission, a position he held until his death.
Mrs. Ray took an active part in all local affairs and in community organiza- tions. She served as regent of the General Rufus Putnam Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and was presented with a 60-year pin for membership in the Sutton Grange. She died in 1951 and Mr. Ray in 1941.
North of the David Whitneys' bungalow is the home of Mrs. Alice T. Lowe. The house was built in 1857 by Joseph H. Nason. It was sold to George Miller, who occupied it for only two years, then sold it back to Mr. Nason. He was married to Mary T. Fuller, adopted daughter of Deacon Sumner B. King. Their only son, Edward Sumner Nason, died in 1882 at the age of twenty-six.
Mr. Nason was a shoemaker by trade. When that industry was taken over by larger concerns, he went into the Butterick Paper Pattern business in Worcester and later became its owner.
In the blizzard of 1888, Mr. Nason was at his business office in Worcester. He saw the intensity of the storm and took the 4 o'clock train for Millbury. The train was stalled near the bridge over the Blackstone River, north of the Millbury Station, stuck in the deep snow, so he left the train to walk home. He reached the flats by Singletary Lake where he took to the tops of the stone walls until he reached the Loren Howard home. From there he crawled on his hands and knees and reached his house in the evening. Mr. Henry C. Batcheller said, "It was such a strain on him, he never fully recovered."
Mr. Nason was Janitor of the Center Schools for many years and was loved and respected by all the children. He died in 1922 at the age of eighty-eight.
In August 1917, Mr. Nason sold his home to Charles E. and Alice T. Lowe. They had no children. Mr. Lowe was employed by the Rice Dobby Chain Co. in Millbury, and operated a Fire Insurance Agency. For many years he held the office of Town Clerk. He died May 7, 1943. The following August, Harold P. and Harriet B. Gibson with their two children, Lenice Merritt and Ronald Batcheller Gibson, came from Millbury to make their home with Mrs. Lowe and are the present occupants. Mrs. Lowe and Mrs. Gibson are third cousins. Mr. Gibson is employed as a dispatcher for the New England Electric System in Millbury.
The property opposite Mrs. Lowe's is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Shaw, who reside there with their children, Peter Colin, born Aug. 12, 1938, Linda Jane, born June 3, 1940 and Holland Elliott, Feb. 3, 1951.
The house was built by Loren Howard and sold to Adams Dodge in 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Dodge lived here with a young daughter. The little girl died suddenly, and it was thought her illness was caused by her drinking milk after feasting on cherries from a tree in the garden. From that time on, even to the
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HISTORY of SUTTON
THE ANNE HOFSTRA APARTMENTS
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HOMES of SUTTON
second and third generation, the community's children were never allowed to forget the fatal consequences arising from cherries and milk.
Mr. and Mrs. Dodge sold to Lovell W. Putnam and moved to Maine. Mr. and Mrs. Putnam lived here a number of years in the 1880s. They had three daughters, Mabel, married and living in Missouri, Alice in Holden and Ruth, Mrs. Reuben Moore of Holden. Lovell married Miss Mabel Moore for his second wife and they lived in Holden where he died.
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