USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Weston > Weston, a Puritan town > Part 11
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At the death of John Mark Gourgas I in 1846, his house was sold to a Boston broker, John G. Ellis whose widow and children lived there for sixty-two years. In 1914 the estate fortunately came
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Weston: A Puritan Town
into the possession of William T. Farley, a Boston merchant, under whose wise judgement the house became again the perfect colonial.
The only changes in the property in recent years are in the gardens and in the growth of the shrubbery,-the mansion still holds the admiration of all who see it and who know the hospitality of the present owners.
Twelve or more interesting portraits, once on the walls of this mansion in the time of John Mark Gourgas I, then in the Concord home of his son, Francis Richard I, are once again in Weston with the latter's grandson, John Mark Gourgas IV, who returned to the town of his ancestors in 1949. His youngest child, John Mark V, was born in Weston and will carry on the Huguenot name of his forebears. In the Historical Rooms at the Jones House is the helmet worn by John Lewis Gourgas II during his military service in Europe and in America.
The Amos Hobbs House
There were many descendants of Ebenezer Hobbs, who was born in Boston in 1710, came to Weston in 1731, married Eunice Garfield of the Lancaster Road (North Avenue) and became the ancestor of the Hobbs family in the town. As the generations mar- ried, they usually settled in the North part of Weston along the Lancaster or North County Road, and on farms nearby, but Amos, grandson of Ebenezer, son of Nathan, born in 1774, broke the family custom. In 1799, he married winsome Sally Gould, whose home was near the center of town on the Boston Post Road.
The Gould farm, on the west, bordered the land given to the town in 1794, by Dr. Kendal, "to be used for school purposes." The farm house was taken down in the early 1900's, when Mr. George Blake built on or near the site, the stone mansion on the Post Road now the home of the Thralls.
For his bride, Amos Hobbs built the attractive and substantial house at 193 Boston Post Road. Nearly hidden from passing view by evergreen hedges and trees that date well back into the last century, this one hundred-sixty-year-old house has an old-time charm,-from the rear windows stretches a lovely view with up- lands and meadows to west and to north.
As the Gould family were members of the Baptist Society, Amos attended Church services and all Parish activities with his wife. He was a good farmer and a faithful citizen serving his town in many ways. Beginning in the year 1800 with the office of Field Driver, the position always allotted to young married men, he represented District Number I on the School Board (there were six members then) and served as Assessor and Selectman,
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Weston: A Puritan Town
often re-elected. His children are on the rolls of District School, Number I.
Edwin Hobbs, son of Amos and Sally, born in 1811, became a notable member of the Baptist Church. Not only was he Super- intendent of the Sunday School for forty years, but was Society Treasurer, Church Clerk, and was chosen Deacon in 1851, an office which he filled with distinction until 1875. Edwin married Maria Fiske of Waltham in 1835, carried on the farm, and became active and important in town affairs. According to the Records, he often held more than one office: in 1864, he was a member of the School Board, of the Board of Assessors, and one of three Fence Viewers. This last office became necessary, when there was any disagree- ment as to boundary lines; the early method of marking bounds by a tall white pine, a stake and heap of stones, a large apple tree well marked, or an oak stump, through the passing of years often became inadequate. Good Fence Viewers averted many a threat- ened law-suit!
Although George Edwin Hobbs, oldest son of Edwin and Maria, had business interests outside of Weston, he carried on the Hobbs custom of being a constant attendant at the Baptist Church, and of serving the town in several offices. Under the call of President Abraham Lincoln, August fourth, 1862, he joined the forty-fourth regiment of Massachusetts Infantry, and with the one hundred twenty-six men furnished by Weston, served his Country during the Civil War. George Edwin married the daughter of their neigh- bor, Mrs. Lucinda Ellis, and with two sons, the Hobbs family continued to live in the homestead, until it was sold in the early 1920's, to settle the estate.
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The John Derby House
The John Derby Homestead
Bearing right at the ancestral Derby house where Richard Comey lives now, the old Boston Post Road followed Crescent Street of today. This accounts for the fine old homesteads along the quiet by-street away from the constant traffic of the upper road, which was built between the years 1830, and 1850, when the Post Road from Marlborough to Watertown was being straight- ened and widened.
The earliest Town records do not carry the name of Derby until 1795, when John Derby of Boston and his brother General Samuel G. Derby of Salem, "bought several parcels of land in Weston." In 1798, John Derby was taxed for a dwelling and two outbuildings on the Post Road, together with one hundred eighteen acres of land,-the land lay largely in other parts of the town. The brothers acquired land even in East Sudbury, the present town of Wayland. In a deed to John Derby of Weston, dated 1799, describ- ing land near Pelham's Pond, is this agreement :- "Reserving liberty to Christopher Gore of Waltham to pass and repass on said meadow where it will least injure the same, for the purpose of carting off hay."
The Derby pew in the First Parish Church was in the name of John Derby, Esq., but General Samuel Derby rather than his brother, had active interests in the town. He bought the gambrel roofed mansion of Caleb B. Hall, that stood on the site of the present Case house, where Newton Street turns south from Wellesley Street. With the house went about one hundred forty acres of land, to which the General added in 1818, when he relieved the town of the Poorhouse property on Willow Lane. This was once a four-square building on land given to the town for the
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purpose by Josiah Smith, Esq. The house was built in 1764, and stood near the entrance to the present Country School. The Town Fathers were more than willing to receive two hundred thirty dollars for the property as the newly acquired Town Farm, the former Habbakuk Stearns estate on the road to Lincoln, had proved rather costly.
General Derby married Ann Archibald of Weston, a formal lady, who is said never to have been seen without a bonnet, even in her home. It is well known that the General enjoyed the real pleasures of life, and was fond of entertaining at dinner, often saying to his company, "Friends, everything on the table was grown on this farm." Perhaps the fish course was trout from Three Mile Brook, or Willow Lane Brook, which flowed through his farm.
General Derby for many years was an efficient Surveyor of Highways between 1818 and 1828, when the Records show much activity in road repair, as well as in building new highways. He was re-elected for several years as a member of the School Board for the East Center District.
Unfortunately, General Derby's affairs were found to be some- what involved when he died in 1843; the estate was sold in 1845 to Mr. Charles White, a wealthy merchant of Boston. He, in turn, in 1863, sold to a second Boston businessman, James B. Case, whose wife was a niece of Mrs. White. The Caleb Hall house was burned to the ground one night in April, 1876, before the family had come to Weston for the summer. The present Case house was built in 1889.
It was John Derby, Jr., born in Weston in 1800, who inherited the homestead on the Post Road. He married in 1826 a Weston girl, Martha Fiske, Patty in the Records. As Captain John Derby, he served with the Weston Independent Light Infantry, and in various town offices; he died in 1871, and his widow, Patty, lived for many years in the old home with her daughter, Ann Mary.
In 1865, Ann Mary had married Henry J. Jennison, also of Weston. Beginning with the office of Field Driver in the year of his marriage, Mr. Jennison's name is on the list of town officers
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The John Derby Homestead
year after year; in 1890, and for ten successive years, he was on the Board of Selectmen.
It was said that Ann Mary was the loveliest girl of her time in Weston. She was a devoted member of the First Parish Church, a considerate neighbor as well as a witty one, and an excellent mother to her only child, Elden, a good-looking, well-mannered boy who went to Weston Schools, graduated from High School in 1887, and then attended Business College in Boston. As Elden's interests were not in Weston, and as both parents died in 1915, the John Derby property was sold in 1926 to Royal G. Whiting, and some twenty years later to the present owner. This line of the Derby family is no longer in Weston.
Along the Forgotten Post Road
At the right on Crescent Street is a Colonial brick-end house, built in 1802, by Abraham Harrington, who owned many acres of land on both sides of the road. A wide front door with side-lights, many windows and four great chimneys make the exterior as striking as the interior is homelike. Here are a wide hall, opening into the garden at the farther end, large square rooms, ample fire- places with carved mantels, and broad windows that picture beauti- ful views over the farmlands.
The locality is both historic and romantic. An old Town way ran through the Harrington farm connecting the Post Road with the little more than ribbon-road which is now Church Street, and thence to the Lancaster Road, meeting at Hobbs Corner. This ancient road can still be traced: it crossed Three Mile Brook where the water came down in a foaming cascade to supply power for several mills and factories through many years; across the bridge and over a slight rise, on the right was the Peirce Tavern dating from 1750, possibly earlier. It was run by Benjamin Peirce and his son, Benjamin, Jr., until the 1770's when stage coaches were in- creasing in number on the Post Road, and the Peirce Tavern was too far from the line of travel. The cellar of this ancient hostelry is still to be seen.
At the end of a short lane on the left of the old road stands a well-preserved lean-to, probably built by David Sanderson, who came to Weston from Sudbury, ran a grist-mill on the water- course, and married a Weston girl, Nabby Jones, in 1743. How- ever, David was, "Dismiss'd to ye Chh at Nashawog, October 6, 1745," and so was, "Abigail Jones dismiss'd with her Husband D.S."
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The Gambrill House
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Along the Forgotten Post Road
Mr. Benjamin Peirce either bought or built a house on the site of the present Marsh home, and continued the tavern business on the Post Road, but after the death of Benjamin, Senior, the large farm with the buildings were sold to Reverend Samuel Kendal in 1785, for 490 pounds 3d. The Town Meeting of 1788-"Voted to Dis- continue the Town Road Leading from the Great Country Road Northerly through the lands Owned by Mr Benjamin Peirce late of Weston Deceased, it being the Request of Revd. Sam1. Kendal and Mr. Abraham Harrington."
About the middle of the last century, the Harrington estate was bought by Mr. David Perry of Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. The Perry family were of importance in the town, Mr. Perry because of his ability as a citizen and as a farmer, the sons in a business way, and the daughter as a lovely and unforgettable person both in her home and in the Parish. Hattie Perry was efficient in every way, and she was kindly, with a delightful and ready wit-she was New England at its best. The old road came into use as a beaten path- to her door. The story is told of one young man who was met by a friendly little black and white wood creature, and was obliged to return home after the encounter. This house was known as one of the most hospitable in the town.
A grandson of Mr. David Perry, another David, was one whose memory still holds in Weston; there are two granddaughters, Louise Perry Brotchie, a well-known resident, Marion Perry Kenney in Templeton, and several great-grandchildren, among them still a David Perry.
In 1918, the property came into the possession of a descendant of two early Weston families, the grandson of Reverend Edmund H. Sears, Francis B. Sears, Jr., whose mother was Elizabeth Spar- hawk; as a girl she lived in the house built by Dr. Samuel Kendal. The Sears heirs, a daughter, Rosamond, and a son, Edwin, are now in possession of the distinguished landmark.
At the left, from the old Post Road, on rising ground is the former Hagar house. Built by Mr. Joseph Hagar who came from Waltham to Weston in 1809, it descended to his son Jacob who was born in Waltham but went to Weston schools, married Sophia
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Weston: A Puritan Town
Cutter of Sudbury in 1821, and served in several town offices be- ginning with the usual one of Field Driver in 1822. Their daugh- ter, Caroline, married Dr. Charles J. Wood, and was the mother of General Leonard Wood of Spanish War fame. It was General Wood who recruited and was appointed Colonel of the Rough Riders, the first United States Volunteer Cavalry. He was Gov- ernor-General in Cuba from 1899 until 1902.
A son of Jacob Hagar, Horatio, inherited the estate, but as he left no direct descendants-his only son died at the age of nineteen -the property was sold by family heirs in 1940. The house is listed now as 251 Boston Post Road, but the fine front door still faces the Forgotten Post Road.
In 1830, Samuel F. H. Bingham came to Weston from Canter- bury, Connecticut, bought the mill rights of Three Mile Brook together with land on Crescent Street and built the interesting family house now the home of Howard Gambrill, Jr. Mr. Bingham established a factory that, like the Sibley Mills, became nationally known. Machinery was made for the manufacture of heavy woolen goods, and then Mr. Bingham invented the Bingham cheese and butter drill; this became so popular that he found difficulty in filling orders. A few years ago, Mr. Gambrill unearthed one of these drills, that is now on display at the Historical Rooms in the Jones House.
Where this useful watercourse flows under the bridge on the old town way, Samuel Shattuck, in 1854, built a chair factory. He restored and lived in the one hundred-year-old lean-to, that for old-timers has always been the Shattuck house. This factory also prospered. In 1875, Mr. Shattuck retired and the business was taken over by Oliver N. Kenney, grandfather of Elizabeth and William Oliver Kenney, whom we all know. Mr. Kenney and his sons manufactured school furniture to such an extent that Weston again became nationally important. Finally the production to meet the demand was so heavy that greater water-power was needed, and in 1917, the factories were moved to Baldwinsville, Massachu- setts.
At the west end of the Forgotten Road, and opposite the Henry
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Along the Forgotten Post Road
Bowen house, rises a high ledge, once a part of Dr. Kendal's farm. In the Town Records, 1794 :- "Voted that the thanks of the Town be returned to Revd. Mr. Samuel Kendal for his Liberality in giving the Town a Plot of Ground to erect a School House upon." In 1795, the Town erected the East Center School house, designated as District Number I. The six district school build- ings were all patterned on the same plan and they were sturdy and well built from lumber sawed in the several mills in the Town. When Weston adopted the Centralized School System in the 1890's, these historic landmarks were sold by the town, or reverted to the descendants of the original owners of the land on which they were placed. This valiant little "Schoolhouse on the Rock," was remodeled into an attractive residence, for many years the family home of Mr. Stanley Morton.
Return to the Boston Post Road
Ever since 1770, when Benjamin Peirce built his tavern on the Post Road, there has been a house on the sightly spot at the corner where the By-pass leaves the old road. Reverend Samuel Kendal, in 1785, bought the farm with the buildings, but had lived there only six years when, on a bitter cold February night, the house burned with everything a complete loss. Mr. Kendal himself, with aid from willing townsmen, on the same site built another house "of hand hewn timbers and hand made nails."
On the knoll behind the house, Dr. Kendal built a one-room study, with a beautiful view over his well-tilled farmlands. After his sudden death in 1814, his widow, Miranda, lived on in the family mansion with two daughters and three sons, until 1830. At the time of her death, only Abigail was left at home, the others having married and gone away from Weston. It was then that Abigail married Samuel Hobbs, great grandson of Ebenezer, "the old Squire." Samuel and his bride lived in the house built by his great uncle, Isaac, in 1758, and the Kendal place was sold to Mr. Alpheus Cutter, the man who, in 1834, demolished the historic Powder House, "for the bricks."
At this time, Dr. Kendal's study was bought by Captain Henry Hobbs, and moved to his property on the road that it now Church Street. In the early 1900's, this corner lot was taken in construct- ing the overpass at Weston station on the railroad, and the Cap- tain's house with the former study, were doomed. However, Charles Freeman, knowing the history of the buildings, moved
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Return to the Boston Post Road
them to his estate on Old Road, and there they are, today. House and study are now owned by Mrs. Eunice Sawyer.
In 1861, the Kendal estate became the property of Mr. George Sparhawk, of an old Boston family; it was he who furthered the landscaping that made the Sparhawk Place, the natural beauty of which was very great, one of the handsomest in Weston, and indeed along the Post Road. Mr. Sparhawk's daughter married a neighbor, Francis B. Sears, famous as a banker of Boston, and later they owned the estate and made it their summer home. One night in the winter of 1906, the mansion was destroyed by fire from an over-heated furnace, but the present house was built on the same foundation, with many features of the historic landmark.
Rounding the corner, the old stage route followed the present Boston Post Road, and crossed Three Mile Brook over a rustic bridge with a ribbon-road at the side leading through the brook, a natural drinking fountain for horses and other thirsty driven animals. Several of the town brooks had these wayside "refreshers," pleasant evidence of the "quality of mercy" of our ancestors.
This rustic bridge was at the end of a lovely valley known as the Peat Meadows, famous for miles around for the quality of the much-used fuel. The valley was noted also, for a cooling breeze on a summer's day, as well as for a wealth of violets, forget-me- nots, meadow-rue, peppermint and water-cress growing along the brook. The contour of the Peat Meadows, the course of Three Mile Brook, and the fragrant carpeting are all changed by the By-pass, but the breeze still holds.
On the left of the Post Road, beyond the bridge, and a second jutting ledge, is a large square house with a recessed door and glass side-panels, both obscured by a modern piazza. The land here, along the southerly side of the road was a part of Dr. Kendal's large farm, and the house, built in the early 1800's, later became the home for many years of Mrs. Thomas Marshall, Dr. Kendal's brilliant daughter, Sophia, who married the nephew and namesake of Colonel Thomas Marshall, the Revolutionary officer on Gen- eral Washington's staff.
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Weston: A Puritan Town
One year in the autumn, a hot-air furnace was installed in the house, one of the first in town and a source of pride as well as of an uneasy fear on the part of the women. In spite of a warm house, Mrs. Marshall fell ill with a severe bronchial cold. On a frosty morning, while the stage, which ran once a day from Sudbury to Stony Brook railroad station, was stopping at the Sears house diagonally across the road, a Wayland friend ran into the Marshall driveway, waving his arms and calling out, "How's Sophia? How's Sophia?" Two daughters and the maid with instant thought of the fiery furnace, were pouring water down the floor-registers, when the friend burst in to calm their fears that the house was on fire. Assured that Sophia was on the road to recovery, he regained his seat in the waiting stage, which ran on a time-schedule to accom- modate passengers.
A son, General James F. B. Marshall, gave important government service during the Civil War, and later became resident trustee and treasurer of Hampton Institute in Virginia, where his name is still a cherished memory. General Marshall, it is said, was a perfect counterpart of his maternal grandfather, Dr. Samuel Kendal,- tall and straight with a handsome figure and a commanding pres- ence.
When the Marshall heirs sold the property, it was bought by Mr. Horace S. Sears, and in 1913, the house was established as "the Lodge," for teachers of the town. For forty-two years it filled a great need and was a greatly enjoyed privilege, but changes in school conditions made the Lodge no longer a feasible project. Charles O. Richardson bought the estate, and the landmark is the home of his daughter Lucy Rand and her family.
Closely adjoining the former Marshall property, on the west, is the home of Dr. Fresenius Van Nuys, for forty years and more the kindly, genial, well-loved doctor in the Town. The friendly white house, built in 1824, has the air of the period. A rare elliptical stairway is a feature of the entrance hall which opens into pleasant rooms on either side. Beautiful wood-work is used throughout the house, in the wide doorways, and the large window casings; the
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Return to the Boston Post Road
windows that face west and south overlook the wide Peat Meadows.
Originally, the house stood on land directly across the road and faced south; from 1848 until 1864, it was the home of Dr. Otis Hunt, an earlier town physician. In 1867, the estate was bought by Reverend Edmund Hamilton Sears, beloved minister of the first Parish until his death in 1876. At the west of the house, an old- fashioned garden where Dr. Sears often sat, can still be traced by the lily-of-the-valley bed; the lilies through the years, have spread their beauty into the nearby field.
This was a friendly house, indeed; Dr. Sears was not only a dis- tinguished minister and author, he was also an interested citizen. He served as Library Trustee, and as a member of the School Board was a favorite of all pupils, who loved to have him visit their class-rooms. Until 1874, there was no Parish House, and Dr. Sears and his lovely wife made their home a social center, where young and old were always welcome. They found wise counsel as well as the entertainment of stirring conversation.
Only a few rods from the Sears home, at the right on the Post Road, surrounded by trees and well-trimmed shrubbery, is a stately white house with an interesting foreign touch. It was built about 1846, by Mr. David Lane of New York, an importer who had spent much time in France and was an admirer of French country houses. The rooms are quite elegant, high-studded with ornate fireplaces and mantel pieces, and long french windows. A winding stairway "leads down to the lofty hall," from which open reception room or parlor, library, music room, and dining-room with a large butler's pantry. Graceful iron balconies decorate the second story windows. Mr. Lane married Caroline Lamson, a Weston belle; their son, David Weston Lane, who was born in this house, will be long remembered for his faithful service as Town Assessor.
In the early 1870's, the estate was bought by Dr. Chandler Rob- bins, former pastor of the Second Church in Boston, and a devoted admirer of Dr. Sears. At first intending it for summer use, Dr. Robbins finally made it his year-round home, and was espe- cially friendly and helpful in the First Parish during the long
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Weston: A Puritan Town
illness of Dr. Sears. The property remained in the Robbins family for over forty years, and then was bought by Mr. Horace Sears. It is now the summer home of Mrs. Henry Endicott, grand- daughter of Dr. Sears, niece of Mr. Horace Sears.
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Josiah Smith Javer~
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Josiah Smith Tavern
The house that became famous over two hundred years ago as one of the most hospitable taverns along the Boston Post Road, is today a dignified and notable landmark as it calmly overlooks Weston Common. The original building was square, topped by a gambrel roof, the front door facing north, with four windows on either side; the taproom was on the northwest corner, with an entrance at the west.
Josiah, fourth child, third son of William Smith and Mary his wife, was born in Weston in 1722, when Reverend William Williams was pastor of the First Parish. Josiah "own'd the Cove- nant," in 1741 and joined the Church five months later, when he was nineteen. In 1744, he married Hepzibah Stearns of Lexington, generally called Hepsy, and in 1756, bought of Joseph Bigelow, Jr., for twenty-five pounds, "a piece of land on the Town Road." By 1757, Josiah had opened a tavern in his Post Road square house. So popular did the Inn become, that in 1763, he added a much larger kitchen overlooking the lovely peat meadows at the south, a taproom opening on the east side, where coaches and carriages stopped; a wide door gave entrance to a low-ceilinged hall with broad stairway, while at the right was a spacious reception room that had a door to the north; on the second floor, were several chambers and the long, high ballroom. A favorite custom of people from Boston and other towns was to drive out for supper, with dancing and cards in the evening. A Weston belle once wrote in her diary that she "danced until three o'clock in the morning."
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