USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Brookline > Proceedings of the Brookline Historical Society at the annual meeting > Part 4
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Like the demise of an historical person, the old house, so long a landmark in that part of the town, has passed away. In writing this meager account of it, one's own feelings are like unto his who is called to write an obituary of a long and well known friend who has gone upon "that journey from whence no traveler returns."
THE CLARK HOUSE, WALNUT STREET.
Walnut street was first called "the Sherburne Road," and is the oldest road in Brookline, and one of the earlier roads in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was extended to Framing- ham, then the frontier of civilization, which was considered the bound of Colonial need in that direction, as it was deemed not likely that white people would ever go farther west into the wilderness to make a home. It was at first little if any better than an Indian trail, stretching its winding way from the abode of one settler to another with spaces of forest trees
THE CLARK HOUSE, WALNUT STREET
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between, out of which the traveler at any moment was liable to hear the growl of the wolf, or war-whoop of the savage.
And yet, in less than twenty years after William Blackstone had settled in Shawmut and called it Trimountain, Muddy River Hamlet had three highways through it, and the Sher- burne Road began to be called " the old road."
The land at the now village end of that road on the right as far as "Cat Alley," and on the left to what is now Cypress street, is said to have been "the great lott," granted to Thomas Leverett, which afterwards became the property of his son Governor John Leverett, governor of the Colony from 1671 to 1673, who used the land for pasturage of cattle. A part of that land later came into the possession of the Whites, who were once numerous in Brookline. John the immigrant was born in England, came to Watertown, and then to Brookline. Some of that name have gone back to the original spelling, ascertained from English records to have been Whyte.
The early settlers on the Sherburne Road began to build west of the present Cypress street, the history of the lower part being more modern. The old garrison house for the pro- tection of the town's early settlement, supposed to be near the center, was just behind the site of the old Clark house on the corner of Chestnut and Walnut streets.
The Clark house was built by Deacon Samuel Clark, son of Samuel, about 1715. He was a carpenter by trade and built the first church edifice in Brookline in 1714, and he was the first to be published in it after its completion. He was mar- ried the year after the church was built, and erected his house about that time, as it is known that it was standing a year or two later. Deacon Clark died in 1766, aged eighty- one years.
He had a son Samuel who preceded him to the grave, but left a son, Samuel 4th, who succeeded to the ownership of his grandfather's house and land. He, too, was a Deacon of the First Church, and he married Mary, daughter of Robert Sharp 4th of Brookline. He lived to be sixty-one years of age and died in 1814, leaving the homestead to his son Caleb.
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Caleb Clark was born in the old house October 21, 1789, married Nancy Murdock in 1817, and died March 7, 1849, aged fifty-nine years.
At his death the homestead went to his son Samuel, born July 8, 1819, and died September 15, 1898, aged seventy-nine years two months and seven days. He occupied the old house until he built the house in which he died, on a part of the homestead lot, a short distance from the old house.
His daughter Helen, married William S. Cutler of Brookline, and they set up housekeeping in the old house, where their first child was born, this making the sixth generation of the Clark family born within the walls of the old historic house.
When the Cutlers removed to their new house upon a part of the old homestead lot, Mrs. Macallister rented the old house, and she with her family occupied it for a dozen years or more, and until within a few years. After that it remained vacant, and being more or less out of repair, it was taken down in 1902.
'We are fortunate in being possessed of a photograph of the old house copied by permission from one owned by Mrs. Macallister, which will be a reminder of that interesting colonial mansion when the present generation, like the dwelling itself, shall have passed away.
THE ASPINWALL HOUSE ON ASPINWALL HILL.
This old house, with its associations dating from the early years of the last century, after occupation for nearly a . hundred years, a landmark in the town, was torn down in December, 1900, to make way for the erection of a more modern dwelling. The land upon which it stood and was surrounded originally consisted of forty acres purchased of Mr. Benjamin White in 1788, by Dr. William Aspinwall, who built the house in 1803. Dr. Aspinwall resided in the house until his death in 1823, at the age of eighty years. His body was buried in the Walnut Street cemetery.
The spot on which the honse was built commanded a fine view of Boston, the Charles River, towns and villages for miles around, and a beautiful part of Brookline in the fore-
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ground. It is said that when the house was built there were but six other houses in Brookline to be seen from its front.
Dr. Aspinwall was descended from Peter Aspinwall, the first of the name to settle in Brookline, who built the house in 1660 that stood, until 1891, on what is now known as Aspinwall avenue, opposite St. Paul's Episcopal Church. He was born in Brookline in 1743, was a graduate of Harvard College, and married a daughter of Captain Isaac Gardner of Brookline, the first man killed at the battle of Lexington. The Doctor, also, took part in that battle, and followed the retreating British to Charlestown, and then returned through · Cambridge to attend to the removal of the body of Captain Gardner to his late home in Brookline. Dr. Aspinwall was accounted to be a skillful physician with a large practice, and it is said that he frequently rode forty miles on horseback to visit patients. His son Augustus succeeded to the house and estate and continued, with a sister as housekeeper and companion, to occupy the house until his death in 1865, aged seventy-seven years seven months and thirteen days. He was a widower, whose wife died young, leaving no children, and he gave to his garden and greenhouse a tender care in
his relaxation from business, which made them famous for the cultivation of roses and other flowers and plants. His love for them amounted to almost a passion, and it seemed as if the affection which might otherwise have centered upon kindred and family found expression and occupation among the roses. He had many varieties, blooming successfully through the seasons, which he shared with his friends who could appre- ciate their rare beauty. His choice selection of vines and fruit trees was also an attraction of the garden and farm.
Thomas Aspinwall, a brother of Augustus, was a graduate of Harvard and was admitted to the bar, but the second war with England found him in the ranks of the defenders of his country. He was commissioned a Colonel and lost an arm in 1814 in the defense of Fort Erie.
In June, 1815, he was appointed United States Consul at London, a place he continued to hold for thirty-seven years until removed by President Pierce. The Colonel died in 1876, at the house of his brother on Hancock street, Boston.
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Colonel Aspinwall's son William, born in London during his father's consulship, a graduate of Harvard, a lawyer and man of affairs, was the next occupant of the old house on the hill. He will long be remembered for his activity in matters per- taining to the government, and improvements of the town. He had served the town as a Representative to the General Court, Town Clerk, Selectman, Assessor, Water Commis- sioner, Trustee of the Public Library, and on many com- mittees. He died October 25, 1892, aged seventy-three years eight months and nine days.
Since the death of William Aspinwall, the old house has been occupied by different parties, not connected with the family of its builder, until it was taken down, never more to be a landmark, or to be known and remembered by future generations.
THE THAYER-MILLER-FOXCROFT HOUSE, KENT STREET.
The village end of what is now Kent street in early days was a cart road across the Davis farm, from what is now Har- vard Square down to the marsh, where salt hay was cut. The Davis farm was a part of a large tract of land allotted to the Rev. John Cotton, the second minister in Boston. It included all the land between the two brooks, from Muddy River westward to the Blake estate. But so far as is known Rev. John Cotton only used the land for pasturage. He left it to his heirs Rowland and Thomas Cotton.
Deacon Thomas Cotton built a house upon the land be- tween Andem place and Kent street some two hundred and thirty or forty years ago, and afterwards sold it to Deacon Ebenezer Davis, who, with his heirs, occupied it until the beginning of 1800, when it was sold to Moses Andem and became known as the old Andem house. After Mr. Andem's death it was occupied by various parties, the last being Mr. Michael Driscoll, who took it down in 1879 for the purpose of erecting on its site the brick block owned by him and his brother James.
Between that old house and Perry's lane, now Aspinwall avenue, there was no house east of Harvard street until 1833
THE THAVER-MILLER-FOXCROFT HOUSE, KENT STREET
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when David R. Griggs, Esq., built and occupied the old man- sion house in the rear of the Brookline National Bank building. Harrison place was laid out by Mr. Griggs in 1840, and named in honor of Gen. William Henry Harrison, who was that year'elected to the presidency of the United States.
In 1837, when Harrison place was only a cart path, though laid out as an unnamed way that year, Mr. Luther Thayer built the house taken down in 1902, but died soon after, and it then passed into possession of Mr. Mellen, the father of Mrs. Charles H. Stearns, who occupied it for several years. After Mr. Mellen's occupancy, it became known as the Foxcroft . estate, and was occupied by the Philips family until three or four years ago, when it was sold to Mr. James C. Rooney, who took it down and erected upon its site a three-story brick apartment house.
Through the courtesy of Mr. Rooney, this Society, of which he is also a member, is in possession of a fine photograph of the old house.
In the past year your president has had photographs taken of a number of old Brookline houses, which he takes pleasure in presenting to the Society. It is to be hoped that his lead may be followed by other members of the Society, so that in future no Brookline house with a history worth preservation, shall be torn down and blotted from the map of the town, without the Society having a picture of it.
In the march of so-called improvement, many old houses have been sacrificed, and others must of necessity follow. It is our duty and privilege to preserve their outward semblance through photography, and to commemorate the historical events and incidents surrounding them by written papers, even if not published, to be safely kept in the archives of our Society.
The Society needs a permanent home in which to hold its meetings, display its pictures, collect a library and preserve whatever antiquities may be placed in its keeping. This it is hoped it may have at some future day. It already has a respectable number of books as a nucleus for a library.
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THE GODDARD HOUSE,
WARREN STREET, BROOKLINE, BUILT ABOUT 1730: ITS OWNERS AND OCCUPANTS.
Prepared by Miss Julia Goddard. Read at the meeting of the Society, April 23, 1902.
In accordance with the kind wish expressed by our Presi- dent, Mr. Candage, that I would prepare for the Brookline Historical Society some account of the aged house in which I am living, and which has now received four generations of our family within its walls, I have gladly done my best to draw up this paper, and desire also to acknowledge with sin- cere thanks the welcome aid vouchsafed me by the Secretary of our Society, Mr. Edward W. Baker, and by my neighbor, Mr. Charles White, both of whom have given me very kind assistance in my efforts to discover the history of the earliest possessor of the dwelling.
In the appendix to the address made by the venerated and Reverend John Pierce, D.D., on the occasion of the opening of the Town Hall of Brookline, on October 14th, 1745, it is set forth that the house of which we are speaking was built about the year 1732 by Nehemiah Davis, who was the son of Ebenezer Davis of Roxbury, and was born June 7th, 1707. At the early age of twenty-one he married Mary, daughter of Samuel Clark, but their life together was sadly short, as she died in 1736, leaving one young son, Samuel. In 1739, her husband married for his second wife Mary Payson, and this union remained unbroken till January 5th, 1785, when Nehemiah Davis died, in the house that he had built so early in his life, and where we may take it for granted that at least four of his five children were born.
I have searched the records of Boston and of Dedham very carefully, to discover in the first place how much land was owned by Nehemiah Davis, in connection with his home- stead in Brookline, together with the name of those from whom he bought it, and the dates at which he acquired his various parcels of territory, and I have felt much regret that
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I have been unable to find recorded no purchase made by him earlier than the last part of the year 1735, when he bought thirty-seven acres of land of Samuel White for " one thousand pounds," and six and one-half acres of John Seaver, Jr., for "two hundred and fifty-five pounds " ; yet Dr. Pierce's record sets the time of the building of the house in 1732, about, and we know that Dr. Pierce was famed for his accuracy, so it would seem as though there must have been some transaction of which I have not discovered the details, which possibly might never have been preserved by any system of records whatever, as was often the case at that time.
From 1735 onward, however, Nehemiah Davis continued to purchase land from various parties, especially from Elhanan Winchester and Joseph Winchester, until he finally owned ninety-seven and one-half acres, which would be considered as belonging to his home farm in Brookline, though half a dozen acres of this were salt-marsh, and so not near his dwelling.
The house when he built it consisted of four rooms of very moderate size, on the first floor, the largest of these being the kitchen, with three pleasant windows in it looking toward the west and northwest, and with a very large fireplace, which was still in existence, and in active use too, when I can first remember my surroundings, and stood by it to admire the beautiful blaze of the wood fire, wreathing itself around the hugh iron kettle hanging on the heavy crane, ere darting up the dark, wide chimney mouth, where it was lost to view, and where I thought it was such a pity it had to go. Upstairs the long, sloping roof eked out the number of sleeping-rooms to six, by adding two that were built over the wood-shed, partly for summer use, the other four being all supplied with generous fireplaces ; and the house was evidently intended to be very comfortable, with its arrangements for warming every one of the eight apartments, none of which had sloping roofs. No doubt the youthful wife of Mr. Davis felt rich and proud when she took possession of the new and pretty abode, which she must have fondly hoped, poor little soul, would be her happy home for many years.
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Very retired must this little house have been, since the road that we now call Cottage street, and which conducts to Jamaica Pond, was not in existence till 1763-4.
In 1761 it was voted in town meeting, that the Selectmen of that year " should be a committee to Lay and Stake out a road two Rods wide, from M. Nehemiah Davis' Gate to Rox- bury line"; and in 1764 it was, at another town meeting, voted "that ye way from Mr. Nehemiah Davis' Gate to Rox- bury Line as stak'd out by the Towns Committee for that Purpose, be Accepted and Recorded." Previous to that time, we must suppose that the way leading from our present Walnut street, then called Sherburne road, to the Davis Farm, could have been little more than a grass-grown lane, it having been laid out in 1700, by vote of the town of Boston, merely to reach the abode of Joseph Buckminster, whose house was situated midway between what was later the Davis Farm and Jamaica Pond. This "highway," so called, was crossed at intervals by two gates, one of which was to be maintained by the said Buckminster, and the other, which was at the northerly end, next Sherburne road, was to be maintained by Josiah Winchester, over whose land the new roadway was laid out.
That part of our present Warren street that passes the house built long ago by Mr. John Warren was then a little grass-grown track, called. "Woodward's Lane." I have no doubt it was an outgrowth of the roadway that was laid out to Mr. Buckminster's place, since in the earlier records of the town I can find no mention of its original laying out.
But Mr. Davis spent by no means all of his time on his quiet farm, for he was a man much in request in the town, when public needs were to be cared for, and to them he seemed to give unsparingly of his time and his effort, when called upon to do so. We find him serving' the town as Constable, or as Surveyor of Ways, or as an Auditor of Accounts, and he was on an innumerable number of com- mittees, in behalf of the schools and of the church, especially, and was one of those who were appointed to take charge of the Edward Devotion legacy to the town. Also he was one
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of a committe who were appointed to give instructions to the Representative of the town, as the trying days of the Revo- lution drew near, and in 1778 he was one of the three men appointed by the town to go to Dedham, and there to confer with the committees of other towns on the important subject of the form of government then lately offered to the people of the state, for their approbation or the reverse. In short, it would be quite impossible to enumerate all the services, whether of greater or lesser importance, that he did for the town, and he continued his career of usefulness till an ad- vanced age. Withal he also paid careful heed to his own personal affairs, and he was a constant purchaser of land ; and it is interesting to record that he became an owner, at one time, of the old Punch Bowl Tavern in the village of Brook- line, that well-known hostelry in the old days.
But at last the useful and excellent life of this good citizen came to its appointed end, and he died, as we have said, on January 5th, 1785, leaving behind him a carefully drawn up will in which he bequeathed to his widow the sum of Ten Pounds in good silver money, - equal to about seven hundred and fifty dollars in paper money, as the currency was at or near that time - and further declared that in lieu of her right of dower, "she should be comfortably and honorably sup- ported, in sickness and in health, in the mansion house where he then dwelt, by his daughters, Mercy Davis, and Louis Child ; and in case she was not thus comfortably and honor- ably supported, then she should have the right to take her dower out of his real estate, and to improve it for herself," while she remained his widow.
He also bequeathed to his grandson, Nehemiah Davis, the sum of fifty pounds for his support, "he being by act of God incapable of providing for himself," and he appointed Captain Joseph Williams of Roxbury as guardian of the person and estate of the said Nehemiah, and also further provided that if any of the fifty pounds were left at the time of his poor grandson's death, it should, under certain circum- stances, be given to his granddaughter, Elizabeth Davis, who would appear to have been his favorite grandchild, inasmuch
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as he also bequeathed to her a silver cup and saucer that, as he said, was her "grandmother Davises." This grandmother thus alluded to had been, of course, his beloved first wife, who had so early died.
To his daughter-in-law Sarah Davis, he gave the improve- ment of the house of his, in which she was then living, so long as she remained his son's widow, but no longer, and he also bequeathed to her-provisionally-a cow, but proceeded to add that if she or any one under her direction, should pro- duce a note of his, for about forty pounds, which he had given about twenty years before to his son Samuel, "and which ought to have been destroyed," then the cow should not be paid her, and moreover his grand-daughter, Elizabeth, should under these circumstances receive none of the possible residue remaining of the fifty pounds, at the death of his poor grandson, Nehemiah. He also bequeathed three or four other and smaller legacies, of no interest to recount, and then gave all the remainder of his estate, both real and personal, to be equally divided between his daughters, Mercy Davis and Louis Child.
As we subsequently find that none of his real estate in Brookline was claimed by his widow, we may feel sure that her daughters carefully provided for their good mother, and as we further find that in the year 1795 the town refused to give the personal estate of Nehemiah Davis, deceased, to Elizabeth Davis, we are led to the conclusion that probably Mrs. Sarah Davis never did produce that note of which her father-in-law spoke, and also that possibly there was some- thing left of the poor grandson's fifty pounds when he died. It is a pleasure to know that this feeble grandson was also remembered with another legacy from a lady, Miss Lothrop, the amount of which I do not know. Also I am happy to state that in 1796, the town reversed its decision concerning Nehemiah's estate, and did give it to Elizabeth Davis, who thus successfully inherited all that her good grandfather had had it at heart to leave her, which included also three pounds in silver, specially given her in his will.
The next eventful change which occurred in the history of the house took place on December 10, 1793, when for the
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sum of eighteen hundred and fifty pounds the Davis Farm in its entirety, which was held to include also nine acres of land situated in Newton, and therefore not mentioned in the tax records of Brookline, was sold to Hon. George Cabot, who, in 1791, had been chosen Senator of the United States from Massachusetts, and who assuredly bore the most distinguished national reputation of any one who has ever been the possessor of the old house, whose owners have indeed been few, considering its advanced age.
As the history of any house is to a great degree the history of its owners and inhabitants, we shall not stray from our subject in giving certain details as to the life and char- acter of Mr. Cabot, who certainly conferred a distinction upon the pretty cottage, with its charming surroundings of land, by his choice of it as a residence. Let us therefore carefully record that he was the son of Mr. Joseph Cabot, a prosperous merchant of Salem, Massachusetts, who had married Miss Elizabeth Higginson, a direct descendant in the fifth genera- tion of Francis Higginson, the first minister of the Massa- chusetts Bay Colony, a lady of high ability, and very noble character. Their son George was their seventh child, and four little brothers succeeded him in the family of children, who numbered eleven in all, of whom only two were daugh- ters, who must have been esteemed quite as little princesses in their own right, when ushered by a kind and smiling fate into such an overwhelming circle of brothers.
One of these little sisters eventually married Mr. Joseph Lee of Salem, and under his auspices her younger brother George sailed on his first voyages, Mr. Lee being the commander of one of the merchant vessels of that day, and accounted a very strict disciplinarian, not very markedly relaxing his rules even in favor of his young brother-in-law.
Early impressed by the display of unusual ability on the ' part of his son George, Mr. Joseph Cabot had departed from the usual course followed at that time of sending only the eldest son to college, and had sent thither this younger boy, who had, however, only completed two years of his college course when his father died. Being unwilling to remain a
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charge upon the paternal estate under these circumstances, he left college, where we may be sure that he was distinguish- ing himself, even as he had always done at school, and " true to the then custom of his native country and town," set out to seek his fortune on the sea, where he succeeded so well, that even before he was quite of age, he himself commanded a ship. Yet his love of study remained strong within him, and his many leisure hours were thus earnestly improved ; and this of course, together with his considerable practical abili- ties, made of him the distinguished man that he grew to be. In company with his brother-in-law, he soon became a most prosperous merchant, and having quitted his early career as captain of ships, he married in 1774 his double first cousin, Miss Elizabeth Higginson, and their union was long and happy. The country was then entering on the war of the Revolution, and many were the privateers dispatched from the shores of Essex County, "to prey on England's com- merce, a pursuit both profitable and patriotic, as the injury done to the enemy was very great and many of these vessels were owned by the Cabots and Lees," and met with good success, much to the credit and to the emolument of their owners. Mr. Cabot having thus become doubly well-known, both as a patriot and as a man of very much ability, it was quite a foregone conclusion that application should be made to him to enter the important arena of politics ; and this he consented to do, attending as delegate at many important State conventions, when governmental questions were under serious consideration, and becoming eventually a strong mem- ber of the Federalist party. In 1783, he became State Senator, to fill a vacancy unexpectedly occurring among the Essex County Senators, and finished out the term of office, declining, however, to be re-elected ; but later he consented, as we have already stated, to become United States Senator in 1791, and shortly proved himself a very able and active member of the Senate, upon whose ability and wise judgment great reliance was placed.
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