Remember Jamaica Plain?

Colonial Megabucks!

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:13:00 +0000

Boston Evening Post July 20, 1761.

These are to inform the Publick

That the managers of the Roxbury lottery are now rolling the sixth class in order to draw the same on Wednesday the Fifth Day of August next; at which time they propose the Drawing said Class shall commence at the School House near Jamaica Plain in Roxbury; and such Persons as are desirous of being present at Drawing may give their Attendance at Time and Place accordingly. --- And as there are but few tickets remaining in the Managers Hands, those persons that incline to be Adventurers must buy speedily or they may be excluded. Tickets may be had of

Green & Russell in Boston

Roxbury, July 17, 1761.

Ward's Pond

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:53:00 +0000

Ward's Pond, Summer 2008 (click on photos to see larger images).

Ward’s Pond sits on the border of Jamaica Plain and Brookline, just north of Jamaica Pond and within Olmsted Park, one of the long links in Boston’s Emerald Necklace of parks. None of the surviving local histories or memoirs of Jamaica Plain we rely on mentions Ward’s Pond or its namesake. Perhaps the fame of Jamaica Pond overshadowed its much smaller neighbor, but as is so often the case in local history, once we start digging we unearth fascinating new stories.

First map showing Ward's Pond name - 1859.

J.Ward appears on 1852 map.

Ward’s Pond sits near the head of the Muddy River, so called, although the river was never more than a stream. It is now within a park along the Brookline Boston border, but for over 250 years was in private hands. The first map to show the name Ward’s Pond was published in 1859. The same map shows no Wards living near the pond, but two Wards are shown along Muddy River to the north. J.O. Ward is shown just south of today’s Riverway on the Brookline side, and H.S. Ward is to the east at the corner of what we now call Huntington and South Huntington avenues. An 1852 map shows a J. Ward living along Muddy River in the same area as well. With these initials go to by, we can begin to connect this Ward family to the pond that memorializes their name.

John Ward the first was born in 1626 in London and emigrated to this country. His son and grandson, Edward and Samuel the first, were born in Newton. John the second, son of Samuel, was born in 1748 in Natick, and in 1771 married Roxbury girl Martha Shed. In 1788, John – now a blacksmith – bought 44 acres of land along Muddy river from his brother-in-law James Shed. The deed gives us little to locate the precise boundaries of the lot, but it was bounded by the town line, and by land of Peleg Heath, which puts it somewhere between Muddy River and the Heath street/South Huntington avenue area. The deed also specifies that the sale is exclusive of the old mill, which may have been the old colonial grist mill that still, at that time, drew off Jamaica Pond water near Ward’s Pond to drive its wheel.

Portrait of John Ward. (Courtesy of Dean S. Bird)

Through 1805, John Ward would continue to buy land in the area from the Shed family. There are no mentions of a pond, but property boundaries on the Road to Worcester and the Road from Watertown tell us that he was buying land on the road where today’s Huntington avenue and Brookline’s Boylston street meet – we would also call it Route 9. This was the very edge of Roxbury, and directly adjacent to the old Brookline settlement of Punch Bowl, now known as Brookline Village. We can imagine that land near the village of Punch Bowl and along the busy road from Boston to the west would have made a good location for a blacksmith shop. In 1804 and 1805, John again enters the records, taking payment from the Boston Aqueduct Corporation for allowing them to lay pipe over his land. This would be the route that Jamaica Pond water would follow on its way to satisfy a thirsty Boston.

John and Martha Ward had eight children, Of those, only two daughters and one son are recorded as having survived to adulthood. Samuel, who would inherit the property, was born in September of 1772. Unlike his father, Samuel became a farmer. Samuel appears in an 1818 newspaper article reporting on a Brighton cattle show. In a plowing match on a fine October day, a yoke of oxen owned by Samuel Ward of Roxbury was awarded second prize. The story notes that farmer Ward’s team pulled the famous plow made by Jeffe Warren of Dedham. Roxbury farmers were leaders in the agricultural improvement movement of the time, so it should be no surprise that a Roxbury man was using the latest in plow technology. We also find Samuel Ward’s farming prowess cited in a history of Boston published in 1881. It states there that “The farm of Samuel Ward now belonging to the Brookline Land Company, was famous fifty years ago for its Roxbury Russet apples, often producing a thousand barrels a year; and also for cherries, of which he sent to market forty to fifty bushels daily in the season, and occasionally he dispatched a four-ox team to Providence with seventy-five bushels.”

Samuel Ward had married Joanna Bird in 1799. Joanna bore 14(!) children, few of whom are recorded to have survived to adulthood. Already mentioned are Henry Shed (H.S.) Ward and James Otis (J.O.) Ward, whose initialed names appear on the 1859 map discussed above. Henry actually died in New Hampshire at 37 in 1844. His share of the old estate would pass to his brother James, who survived him by 11 years.

James Otis Ward.

The life of James O. Ward takes us away from Jamaica Plain, but is worth remembering. As told by Dean S.Bird, a descendent on both the Ward and Bird side of the family, James Ward traveled to New York to sell the produce of his father’s farm. Remaining in New York, he became a successful businessman. After first running his own chandlery business, supplying ship owners and seaman with all their various needs, he then purchased his own ships and became a trader between New York and the West Indies. His son, James Edward Ward, founded the Ward Line, one of the largest steamship lines of its era.

Ward property plan, 1845.

When James O. Ward died in February of 1855, flags in New York harbor flew at half mast. In March of 1860, the executor of his estate sold 80 acres of land along Muddy River for $83,000 to the Brookline Land Company. The property plan shown here was drawn in 1845, and shows the Ward Farm at the time. Most of the estate at that time was in Brookline, but the name Ward’s Pond is recorded for the first time, and the pond itself sits inside the town of Roxbury. To the north, the farm extends to today’s Riverway at Brookline Village.

So now we know: the Wards lived on the old Roxbury/Brookline border, more Roxbury than Jamaica Plain residents. They did once own the land surrounding the eponymous pond, and left their name to one of Jamaica Plain’s small jewels on Boston’s Emerald Necklace.

Special thanks go out to Dean S. Bird for his many contributions to this article: family genealogy, stories, and portraits. The portrait of Samuel Ward shown here has been passed down through the Ward and Bird families, and is owned today by Dean.

Sources:

Massachusetts Spy, October 28, 1818. Brighton Cattle Show article.

The Memorial History of Boston; including Suffolk County, Massachusetts 1630-1880. Vol. 4. Samuel Ward farming citation.

Suffolk County Registry of Deeds:

162:16 – 1/8/1788. James Shed, 44 acres to John Ward.

Norfolk County Registry of Deeds:

22:61 – 7/27/1804; 22:196 – 1/7/1805. John Ward, rights to lay pipe to Boston Aqueduct Corporation.

285:1 – 3/1/1860. Estate of James O. Ward, 80 acres to John Wetherbee Jr., broker, for Brookline Land Company.

Jamaica Plain Historical Society Tour - Stony Brook

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:56:00 +0000

Abt Hall - Jamaica Plain Neighborhood House.

I'll be leading this week's Saturday tour of the Stony Brook neighborhood. We'll start at the Stony Brook Orange Line T station and work our way down to Green street. I'll be talking about the changes in the district, from the time that wolves prowled the forest through the coming of the railroad and the settlement of German immigrants in the area. We'll visit James Michael Curley's church and the old Haffenreffer brewery complex - now the home to Sam Adams beer.

Tour starts at 11:00 AM, weather permitting, and is free. Come by and say hello.

Moses Day - the Man and the Street

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:45:00 +0000

Moses Day house at Cross and Heath streets (underlined in red). (H.F. Walling 1859).

Moses Day house, on Day street near Heath street. (Bromley, 1884.)

Sewell & Day Cordage Co. Between Parker street and Huntington avenue. (Bromley, 1884)

Jamaica Plain's Day street runs north from Centre street at Hyde Square towards Heath street. It originally connected with Heath street, but now stops where Minden street connects a block short of Heath street. Day, Centre and Heath streets all date far back into Jamaica Plain history, and all may originate to the 1662 Roxbury laying out of streets that gives us the earliest recorded street date. In 1825, another common date for street acceptance in Roxbury, the road between Centre and Heath streets was given the name Cross street (as shown on the 1859 map above).

So how did Cross street become Day street? The answer comes from the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds. In May of 1848, Benjamin Sewall and Moses Day, partners in Sewall and Day Cortage Company, purchased 8 acres of land from Joseph P. Shaw, then of New Orleans. In time, Day would buy part of the lot, with his house already built upon it, from his partner Sewall. In April of 1868, Cross street was renamed Day street, in honor of one of Roxbury's leading businessmen - along with owning the ropeworks, Day bought and sold land in Roxbury.

The second map above, from 1884, shows the Day house, then owned by his heirs, on a much smaller lot. The bottom map, from the same year, shows the Sewall and Day Cordage Company, between Parker street and Huntington avenue. Note the long, narrow building along Parker street. That was the rope walk, a traditional part of every rope factory. The longer the rope walk, the longer was the rope that could be made in one piece. Rope walks appear in Roxbury maps from the early/mid-19th Century. They were a fire hazard because of all the dry hemp and hot tar they contained, and the smell of tar made them unattractive as well. The newly filled land that makes up today's Fenway district was just the place to put a rope walk. Note that the 1884 map shows Sewall and Day owning land across Huntington avenue as well. That land would become the Museum of Fine Arts property soon after.

Sewall and Day opened their ropeworks in 1835. Day himself is noted for having modified the spinning jenny to assemble rope yarns in 1841. At a time when Boston ships carried a large share of American sea-going freight, rope-making would have been a critical industry for the area, and any improvement in manufacture would have given advantage to Boston's overseas traders.

Resources: American Heritage.com - Ropemaking
Norfolk County Registry of Deeds:

180:101 - 5/10/1848 Joseph P. Shaw to Benjamin Sewall and Moses Day
310:198 - 12/2/1862 Benjamin Sewall to Moses Day (part of same lot).

How Creighton Street Got Its Name

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:23:00 +0000

Creighton street development plan - 1859.

Bromley Atlas, 1884.

Creighton st. 1895 (David Rumsey Collection).

As a follow-up to an earlier street name post, I've done some digging and added Hyde Square's Creighton street to the list of known street name origins. As so often happens in local history, I came about the source of Creighton street's name in a roundabout way. I was investigating the Blessed Sacrament Church property, which once was the site of the Withington Tavern. Phineas Withington sold the tavern and 3 acres of land to Phillip Wentworth for $6000 in 1805. The second map above, dated 1884, shows Elizabeth Wentworth still in posession of the property. It was Elizabeth who led me to the Creightons.

Addendum (9/29/09) In browsing the History of the First Church in Roxbury, I learned that after Phineas Withington sold his inn to Phillip Wentworth, he opened another inn on Naushon Island during the War of 1812.

The property plan at the top of the entry shows the Halsey Homestead Sites in 1859, with Creighton street in place - if only in the imagination of a surveyor. Notice the difference between the property plan and the 1884 map. On the 1859 plan, there were house lots laid out on either side of Creighton street. Twenty-five years later, Elizabeth Wentworth owned all the land on the east side of Creighton street. In fact, a deed search shows that Elizabeth purchased lots 22-27 in December of 1859, the same year the plan was drawn.

But what of the Creighton name? Elizabeth purchased the six house lots from Thomas Lloyd Halsey Creighton. In one bold stroke, we connect the Halsey name to Creighton - it's not often that it's that clear cut. Thomas Creighton was a Halsey, and his antecedent, Thomas Halsey, had owned the same land when Withington sold his tavern to Phillip Wentworth in 1805.

Unfortunately, Thomas Halsey's presence in Roxbury at the turn of the 19th Century has so far eluded my grasp. Thomas Lloyd Halsey was born in either Boston or Newburyport Massachusetts (depending on sources) in 1750, and died at Providence, Rhode Island in 1838, at 88 years old. Thomas had seven children, including another Thomas, who served as Consul to Buenos Aires during the early 1800s, and Harriet, who married Commodore John Orde Creighton, USN. They had six children, including Admiral Johnston Blakeley Creighton and Thomas Lloyd Halsey Creighton, whom we've already met. Various deeds list all six Creighton siblings as owner of the old Halsey estate.

That leaves me with two mysteries: how did the Halsey's get from Roxbury to Providence, where Harriet, mother of Thomas Lloyd Halsey Creighton, was born and died? And how did the children of Harriet - rather than Harriet's siblings - end up owning the property?

Unfortunately, I've been unable to nail down Thomas Halsey himself. A Thomas Halsey arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 1630s, but he moved on to New York, settling on Long Island. Online sources all point to that earlier Thomas Halsey, and leave us wondering where our Thomas came from, and how his family ended up in Providence.

As a bonus to our Creighton exploration, I can tell you that Commodore Creighton served in the Mediterranean, where his notorious temper involved him in multiple cases of abuse of seamen and near-mutinies. If Creighton street was named for the man, and not for the family, then it carries an interesting origin indeed. Beatings, whippings, petitions to Congress and charges brought against the man bring us back to a time when naval service - and sea-going life in general - was closer to slavery than our modern ideas of military service. An online search for John Orde Creighton will tell the tale for those interested.

You never know where you'll end up when you start digging into the most prosaic of local history topics.

Sources:

Thomas Lloyd Halsey genealogy
Thomas Lloyd Halsey papers
History of the First Church in Roxbury

Norfolk County Registry of Deeds:

23:85 - 6/11/1805: Phineas Withington to Phillip Wentworth.
283:82 - 12/30/1859: T.L.H. Creighton to Elizabeth Wentworth.

Jamaica Plain's Little Ireland

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:30:00 +0000

Plan of the south portion of the Greenough estate - August, 1850.

Keyes street extension - east of the railroad tracks.

Five generations of Greenough inhabited Jamaica Plain, between 1783 and 1924. The original 50 acre estate stayed in the family until the third generation of Greenoughs began developing the estate and selling off property. I'm focusing here on the south-most portion of the property, which was developed by the eldest sibling, David S. Greenough the third. The plan above shows Carolina avenue, Starr street (later Call street), Lee street and Keyes street. Keyes street later became McBride street (discussed here), and it's Keyes street that we'll be looking at today.

The name Keyes comes from John Keyes, who purchased the south-most end of the Joshua Loring property at the same time as the Greenoughs aquired the larger, northern portion. The Keyes property ran from the edge of this plan - the McBride/Boynton street back yard border - south towards Forest Hills, and probably included today's Boynton, Hall, Rosemary, Spalding and Anson streets. Keyes was a tanner, and ran a tannery somewhere on the site.

While this and other plans of the Greenough property show house lots with frontage of 90 feet and more, the lots of Keyes street were mostly a uniform 50 feet wide. Before the 1840s and the development of Green street, Jamaica Plain was dotted with estates of an acre and larger, so Keyes street was clearly aimed at a different market than the Boston businessmen who had settled into the Jamaica Pond area. In fact, as the list of buyers below shows, Keyes street was laid out to provide homes for the Irish laborers who had flooded into Jamaica Plain in the immediately preceding years. These small lots for the Irish immigrants were put on the far edge of the Greenough property, away from Centre street, Jamaica Pond and the northern part of the Greenough estate, which would be sold off in much larger lots to wealthier buyers.

The second plan shows Keyes street extension, on the Washington street side of the railroad tracks. This was the location of the Jamaica Plain Gas Company, which provided the fuel for the gas lamps of the community until bought out by Boston Gas at the end of the 1800s. They actually produced gas on the site from coal, as I've discussed here. At least one lot on this plan appears on the list below, so I've added this plan for completeness.

Going down the list of buyers below, the first thing that jumps out at me is that most of them appear to have already lived in the town of West Roxbury (which existed from 1851-1874). Most of those probably lived in Jamaica Plain, rather than the less populous Roslindale or today's West Roxbury district. So if the Irish just arrived in Jamaica Plain in the 1840s, and this was one of the first developments of housing for lower income workers, then where had they been living before they bought these lots? My guess is that many of the listed laborers probably lived in on the existing Yankee estates as live-in handymen. The 1850 Census lists many such Irish in Jamaica Plain, women as servants and men as laborers. They may also have lived and worked on the farms that still operated of the outskirts of the community, such as those near today's Morton street and Franklin Park. There are house builders, carpenters and masons among the buyers, a blacksmith and a plasterer. Edward Ward, the plasterer, got his lot by virtue of his wife Mary, who purchased the land in her own right, free and clear of her husband's interference. You'll often see the generalization that women had no legal independence during this era, but deeds such as this one show otherwise.

With the Gas company at one end of Keyes street and the horse car barns soon to come to South street (1858). Keyes street was well situated to serve as the new Irish district of Jamaica Plain. Over time, the neighborhood would extend north to Carolina avenue and south to new streets along South street. It's no accident that the first Catholic church in Jamaica Plain was built a block from Keyes street and next door to the horse-car barns and the jobs they provided. Where the Irish went, the church followed.

August, 1850 - Peter Dolan, Roxbury - Lot 9.

September 1851 - Daniel Sweet, Roxbury, Housewright - Lot 60.

October 1852 - Michael Dunlavy, West Roxbury, Laborer - Lot 6.

October 1852 - Patrick Condray, West Roxbury, Laborer - Lot 7.

January 1853 - William O. Farrell, housewright - Lot 11.

May 1853 - John D. Neif, Blacksmith - Lots 1 & 2.

June 1853 - Michael Harney, West Roxbury, Laborer - Lot 5.

October 1853 - John Mahar - Lot 3.

October 1853 - Patrick Fahy, Yeoman - Lot 12.

October 1853 - Edward Dolan, West Roxbury - Lot 4.

March 1855 - Michael Mulry, West Roxbury - Lot 22.

November 1856 - Lawrence Kelly, West Roxbury, Laborer - Lot 6.

December 1856 - Thomas Byrne, West Roxbury, Stone layer - Lot 13.

June 1857 - Patrick Comerford, West Roxbury, Carpenter - Lot 17.

July 1857 - Mary Ward, wife of Edward, of West Roxbury, Plasterer - Lot 16. ("Sole and separate use and free from the interference and control of her husband.")

August 1857 - Patrick Lawler, West Roxbury, Laborer - Lot 15.

August 1857 - Henry and Elizabeth McDonald - *** Lots 1,2,3.

February 1858 - Thomas Harney, West Roxbury - Lot 18.

July 1858 - Martin Seaver, West Roxbury - Lot 20.

May 1859 - Richard Corcoran, West Roxbury - Lots 58 & 59.

May 1859 - JP Gas Co. - *** Lot 4 plus a passageway.

May 1859 - Peter Dolan, West Roxbury - Lot 1.

May 1861 - James Gatlety, West Roxbury, Laborer - Lots 41 & 42.

February 1862 - James Dolan, West Roxbury, Laborer - Lot 57.

May 1863 - Henry Land, Weymouth, Merchant - Lots 44 & 45.

July 1863 - Patrick Gavin, West Roxbury, Laborer - Lot 46.

October 1866 - Thomas Cunningham, West Roxbury, Laborer - Lot 47.

October 1866 - Michael Shanahan, West Roxbury. Laborer - Lot 45.

December 1867 - Patrick Condray, West Roxbury, Laborer - Lot 54.

March 1868 - Roddy Doyle, West Roxbury, Laborer - Lot 53.

December 1869 - James Gately, West Roxbury, Laborer - Lot 43.

September 1870 - John and Patrick Devine, West Roxbury, Laborers - Lot 51.

October, 1870 - Michael Donnely, West Roxbury, Laborer - Lot 54.

September 1872 - John Corbett, West Roxbury, Laborer - Lot 53.

Source: Norfolk County Registry of Deeds.

Jamaica Plain Historical Society Tour - Sumner Hill

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:49:00 +0000

This week's tour features Sumner Hill. We start at the Loring-Greenough house and walk up Greenough avenue to the home of General William H. Sumner, who built the first house in this part of the old Greenough estate. This tour features some great architecture plus the fascinating people who lived there. We have an industrialist, a suffragist and the mother of a Confederate hero.

Tour starts at 11:00 AM at the Loring-Greenough house, weather permitting, and it's free, as always. And as an added bonus, I'll be leading this tour, so come by and say hello.

For more info, go here.

Who is that street named after?

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:16:00 +0000

I did my best to list the people that streets are named after. As you approach the end of the 19th Century, it gets harder to figure out who the streets are named for - I'm guessing that most of them were not long-time residents. Thus, no Sheridan, no Hall, no Dunster or Dane streets. No doubt I've missed some easy ones. Unfortunately, no one kept records of who named the streets, or how the names were chosen.

Achorn circle - Edgar Achorn, lawyer, lived along South st.

Amory st - Amory estate.

Ballard st - Ballard family owned land along South st.

Beethoven st - German composer.

Bismark st - German politician.

Boylston st - Nicholas Ward Boylston, owned land from Centre street back to the railroad tracks.

Brewer st - Sarah Brewer lived in the house at the corner of Brewer and Thomas streets.

Brown terrace - land owned by A.S. Brown, businessman.

Burroughs st - William Burroughs laid out road.

Bussey st - Benjamin Bussey - owner of the Arboretum land during early 1800s.

Call st - John M. Call had an estate near Green street train station.

Child st - probably Abner Child - owned land across South street - sold the land for St Thomas' church.

Eliot st - John Eliot, Apostle to the Indians, gave the land on either side for the Eliot School.

Goldsmith place - Benjamin Goldsmith owned a house along Centre st and a slaughterhouse set
back from the road.

Goldsmith st - Benjamin Goldsmith owned a farm along Centre street where the Arborway and the Arboretum are now.

Goodrich rd - Samuel Goodrich, pen name Peter Parley, lived across Centre st.

Greenough ave - D.S. Greenough developed the street from his family's estate.

Hagar st - Daniel Hagar was principal of the Eliot school during the mid-1800s, lived in the area.

Harris ave - Luther Harris, doctor.

Heath st - Heath family, including General Heath, Revolutionary war.

Holbrook st - Amos Holbrook had a house and farm along Centre st beside the Unitarian church.

Hopkins Road - named in 1926 for Sabina Hopkins McCourt, mother of Francis M. McCourt (1886-1956) who purchased and developed the street and surrounding lots (added from comments).

John A. Andrews - Mass. Civil War Governor

Lamartine st - French poet, friend of Samuel Goodrich, whose estate was part of Lamartine street.

Louder's lane - Louder family.

Marlou terrace. - A portmanteau name from Marie and Louis Mahn, owners of the land later subdivided into the street.

May st - May family - John May, settled the land in the 1600s.

McBride st - deceased WW I soldier

Meehan st - Patrick Meehan, builder, developer owned land.

Mozart st - Austrian [German] composer. Commenter Eeka points out that Mozart was Austrian. The Germans of Jamaica Plain may have seen him as one of their own.

Newsome park - George Newsome bought estate, moved the old house and developed the street.

Parley ave - Author Samuel Goodrich had estate on site.

Parley vale - Same as above.

Paul Gore st - Gore family owned land along Centre street at site of road.

Perkins st - James Perkins purchased Pinebank land in early 1800s along Connecticut road,
named Perkins street in 1825.

Peter Parley rd - Pseudonym of author Samuel Goodrich - built a house here, but never lived in it.

Prince st - Capt.John Prince bought the old Governor Bernard estate along Jamaica Pond, developed the road between Pond and Perkins streets.

School st - land surrounding School st between Stony brook and Walnut avenue was donated to the Roxbury public school - later Roxbury Latin - by Daniel Bell.

Seaverns ave - Luther Seaverns owned land the fronted on Centre street where Seaverns ave. is now.

Starr lane - Daniel Starr, blacksmith, had a shop set back from Centre street here during the early 1800s. Starr lane was probably a right-of-way to get to his property. His wife actually bought the land in her own right.

Thomas st - Hugh Thomas and wife donated land to the Eliot School.

Walter st - Rev Walter, first pastor of 2nd Roxbury parish.

Warren sq - land formerly owned by Dr John Warren.

Weld avenue - Weld family owned Arboretum land until 1802, and much of Forest Hills after that.

Weld Hill st - Weld family.

Wyman st - Wyman family owned land here.

J.P. Historical Society Tour - Monument Square

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:01:00 +0000

Come along this Saturday, July 11, for a tour of the Monument district of Jamaica Plain. The Soldier's Monument, the Unitarian Church, Eliot Hall and the Eliot School are all featured, plus some great examples of Victorian houses and stories of fascinating former residents.

The tour starts at the Loring-Greenough house at 12 South st. at 11:00 AM, weather permitting, and it's free as always.

Tour web page.

Mrs Walker's School

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:36:00 +0000

Among the community histories recorded at the Jamaica Plain Historical Society web site is the Reminiscenses of Jamaica Plain, 1845-1875, by Miss Ellen Morse. In it is a passing mention of a Mrs. Walker's school house on Centre street. I've posted entries about some private schools (Stephen Minot, Mrs. McKeige, Mrs. Cranch) but others have been on hold for want of information. While doing a general search for new Jamaica Plain stories, I recently came upon the advertisement above. Not only are we given an address that is in accord with that described by Miss Morse in her memoir, but we also get Mrs. Walker's home address.

That home address, Elm and Walker streets, brings in another thread. I had noticed in the past that on the 1874 map below, a Mrs. Walker lived on the corner of Elm and what we now call Sedgwick street (see below). Directly opposite are a house and an empty lot owned by a G. Walker. The 1873 West Roxbury Directory tells us that Mrs. Mary A. Walker was the widow of Mr. James P. Walker, and Gideon Walker was a carpenter with a business at the Jamaica Plain train depot at Green street. There seems to be no family connection between Mary and Gideon, so we are left wondering whether the street was named for her or him. By 1881, Sedgwick street was extended to John A. Andrew street and Walker street was no more.

G.M. Hopkins, 1874 (JP Historical Society).

For more information about Mrs. Walker, we go to the 1880 census (available at FamilySearch.org). Mary Walker was born in Massachusetts in 1832 of English-born parents. Unfortunately, the online archive says of her husband only that he was born in New Hampshire. Their oldest child, a son, was born in Ohio, followed by two girls, born in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The household in 1880 also included Mary's sister, Martha A. Matthews, and a Miss Hattie F. Seager, both teachers, presumably at Mrs. Walker's school. Also in the house were housekeeper Martha H. Stevens of Maine and servent Katherine Kelley from Ireland.

Regarding the school itself, I'll quote from Miss Morse's reminiscense, which starts at the Unitarian Church at Centre and Eliot streets: " Beyond the Parsonage was the fine house occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Curtis. Then came the house of Mr. Moses Williams, which is no doubt remembered by some of these present.Then came the Hallett House, which was originally a very pretty two-story house. Later with an additional story it was Mrs. Walker's schoolhouse. I associate it as being occupied for some years by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Horton and their handsome daughters and sons. " There may be some confusion as to the exact location of the school-house, but I suspect that it was at the location shown below. In fact, the Moses Williams house preceeded the Curtis house, so we can't rely entirely on memories when sorting these things out.

Edit: I've done some digging at the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds that should clarify the location of the school house. Miss Morse tells us that the school was in the Hallet house, which later housed the Horton family. No Hortons owned property on Centre street during those years, so they must have been renting. The map below shows a house on the corner of Centre and Orchard streets owned by a George Cox.

Mr. Cox was a builder, and in 1869 he bought a lot of land from Dr. Benjamin F. Wing and his wife Adelaide. The land had come to Adelaide from her father, George Hallett. He also bought land from Joseph W. Balch, who had inherited it from his late wife Maria, also a Hallett daughter.

In 1832, George Hallett of Boston had purchased from a Mr. Samuel Billings 10 acres of land between "the Great Road" (Centre street) and "the road to Newton" (Pond street, or today's Jamaicaway). Just five years earlier, Billings had obtained the land from Ellen Gibbs, daughter of Crowell Hatch. Hatch, a sea captain and ship owner, had purchased it in turn from Timothy Penny of Jamaica - the island, not the Plain - in 1799.

So we've traced Mrs. Walker's school house back through it's owners to 1799. Timothy Penny listed the island of Jamaica as his address when he sold the land, so he must have returned there after having spent time in Jamaica Plain. Crowell Hatch is deserving his own entry here, and one will come in time. I know nothing of George Hallett, but while he owned the property, he must have rented the house to the Hortons, who are mentioned by Miss Morse above and show up on the 1859 map below.

Centre and Orchard sts, 1874.

1859 - Centre street runs right to left.

And finally, we can see the old house disappearing in the twentieth century.

1905 - the house still present, but new lots are planned in its place.

1924 - the house is gone, replaced by two brick apartment buildings.

So the forgotten Mrs. Walker and her private school took us back to the turn of the 19th century. What was once a ten acre estate became much of Orchard, Aldworth and Dane streets and Dunster road. The house was one of three that lined Centre street throughout much of the 19th century between today's Soldier's Monument and the Arborway, and sadly all three were sacrificed to squeeze in as many residents as could fit into 20th century Jamaica Plain.

As an added bonus, I picked up another nugget while examining deeds for this entry. The Penny-Hatch deed of 1799 puts the north boundry of the estate on "the road to New Town," that being the road to Newton, or Pond street, also our Jamaicaway. The Boston street atlas lists the origin of Pond street as 1825, but notes that it may have been a public highway previously. Now we know that the public had access to Jamiaca Pond by way of Pond street by at least 1799 and probably earlier. We might speculate - in fact I will - that Governor Bernard's estate of decades earlier may have sat on the same road. So you never know what you'll find when you dig into the details of local history. Mrs. Walker got me back to Timothy Penny of Jamaica, and perhaps to a Royal Governor as well.

Norfolk Count Registry of Deeds:

379:198 5/21/1869 B.F & A. Wing to George D. Cox

382:78 7/22/1869 J. W. Balch to George D. Cox

97:98 8/13/1832 S. Billings to George Hallett.

83:291 11/23/1827 E.M. Gibbs to Samuel Billings

11:40 8/23/1799 T. Penny to Crowell Hatch.

JP Historical Society Tour - Woodbourne

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:31:00 +0000

The former St. Andrew the Apostle Church.

Come out this Saturday, June 20, at 11:00 AM (weather permitting) for the Jamaica Plain Historical Society's Woodbourne tour. Running south of Walk Hill street, the Woodbourne area was home to wealthy lawyers and businessmen in the 1800s. The family estates gave way to residental development, including an experimental housing project built by the Boston Dwelling House Company.

The tour starts in front of the former St. Andrew's church on Walk Hill street. And as usual, the price is right (free!).

J.P. Historical Society Tour - Green Street

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:23:00 +0000

The Jamaica Club house - formerly at Green and Rockview sts.

Come out this Saturday, June 13, at 11:00 AM (weather permitting) for the Jamaica Plain Historical Society's Green street tour. Green st was laid out in the 1830s, soon after the railroad was built, and the combination of the two could be said to have set off the development of modern Jamaica Plain. Learn about blacksmiths and harnessmakers, schools and factories. Green st. was the home to a trailblazing professional woman and a world-class manufacturer.

For an extra added bonus, I'll be leading this tour (and it's free!), so come out and say hello. The tour starts at the corner of Centre and Green sts.

JP Historical Society tour page.

JP Historical Society Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:19:00 +0000

House on Alveston st., Sumner Hill.

This Saturday, May 16 will be the first of three Sumner Hill tours through the season. The tour begins at 11:00 AM, weather permitting, and starts at the Loring-Greenough house at Centre and South streets. The tour combines architectural gems with historical context, and tells the stories of a variety of fascinating past residents.

Tour info.

Susan W. Fitzgerald

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Mon, 11 May 2009 04:01:00 +0000

Susan Walker Fitzgerald was born in 1871 in Cambridge, Massachusetts to well to do parents. She attended Bryn Mawr college, graduating in 1893. After time working at Bryn Mawr and Barnard College, she married Richard Y. Fitzgerald, an attorney. His family's business interests took them west, where Susan and daughter Rebecca left San Francisco just four days before the great earthquake. An illness suffered by Richard returned them east, and after a time Susan took a paying job supervising Pauline Agassiz Shaw's social work in Boston. In 1911, they moved to Greenough avenue, Jamaica Plain.

Susan was active in the suffrage movement, serving as an officer in various local and national organizations. From 1911-1915 she wrote a column three times a week in the Boston Evening Traveller. After a failed campaign for the Boston School Board, she won election to State Representative from Jamaica Plain, being the first woman Democrat to serve in the Legislature (Sylvia Donaldson was elected the same year as a Republican). After a single term, she left politics but remained active in public life.

Boston Daily Globe December 3, 1922

TELLS WHAT WOMEN LEARN IN POLITICS

Susan W. Fitzgerald Talks on Place in Public Life

Representative-Elect Speaks Before Twentieth Century Club

Susan W. Fitzgerald of Jamaica Plain, one of the first two women to be elected to the State Legislature, representing the 22nd Suffolk District, spoke at the Twentieth Century Club yesterday afternoon on was (sic) "The Function of Women in Public Life."

Mrs Fitzgerald said that women were in political offices really to learn, as well as to serve. She emphasized the point that she wished people to regard her as representing the district as whole, and not as simply a women representing women in a district. On the other hand, she said, her interest should be that of the entire community rather than personal or sectional interests.

she said she believed women in office had really more to learn than to give, and that politics was a great school in which women might learn in a great many ways to be good sports, to take work as it comes, to seek no favors, no deference, no advantages - in short to be treated as man to man.

She spoke of the personal interest people had taken in women's work in politics, and said that in her own case that interest had strengthened a personal bond between her and her neighbors as nothing had done in the past. This bond she said was a basis for the right kind of political activity.

She stated that men voters had shown an interest in the candidacy of women for public office, and that this was a proof of the trust in woman's ability to represent people capably.

A question period followed. Samuel Hubbard presided. Dr. E.A.Winship gave a short talk on his travels in Dakota.

Source: Susan Walker Fitzgerald Papers

Church and State

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Fri, 08 May 2009 03:16:00 +0000

J.G. Hales, 1819 (BPL)

Ward Nicholas Boylston was the son of Loyalist Benjamin Hallowell. After the Revolution and the seizure of the family homestead by the new government, Ward Nicholas, having taken his maternal uncle's name, returned to Roxbury and won back the property in a lawsuit. The house and property were on Centre street, near the corner of what became Boylston street. Read more about The Hallowells and Mr. Boylston here.

Massachusetts was the last state to go through disestablishment - the legal separation of church from state - and that did not happen until 1833. In 1802, residents were still required by law to attend and support their local church. In this case, Mr. Boylston had to get an act of the Legislature to allow him to leave the First Roxbury parish in Roxbury proper and join the Third parish at Centre and South street. Since the parishioners supported the meeting house financially, any movement among parishes could harm the fiscal health of the church, and as such was of concern to the state. In this case, Mr. Boylston got his wish. Perhaps coincidentally, when the Town of West Roxbury was cut from greater Roxbury in 1851, Mr. Boylston's land would sit just inside the northern border of the new town.

Columbian Minerva September 14, 1802.

LAWS

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

In the year of our LORD one thousand eight hundred and two.

An act to set off Ward Nicholas Boylston, of Roxbury, and his estate on Jamaica Plain, from the first to the third precinct or parish in Roxbury.

Section I

Be it enacted by the Senate & House of Representatives, in General Court assembled and by the authority of the same, That Ward Nicholas Boylston, of Roxbury in the county of Norfolk, with his estate there consisting of a Dwelling-House, and nine acres of land more or less, be, and hereby is set off from the first and annexed to the third parish in Roxbury on Jamaica Plain. Provided the said Boylston shall pay his proportion of parish charges due from his to said first parish prior to the date of this act.

June 21, 1802.

By the Govenor approved..

A Postal History of Jamaica Plain

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:01:00 +0000

I've already posted two entries on the Jamaica Plain post office - here's a history that adds much to the story.

Jamaica Plain News April 29, 1899

JAMAICA PLAIN POST OFFICE.

The Local Historian Traces Its Existence from 1829 to 1899 With Relative Facts that Bear on the Progress of Jamaica Plain.

The history of our local post office is a coincidence in the growth of Jamaica Plain. It bears weight in evidence of what our own district has been and assumes a position in indicating what Jamaica Plain is.

A search into the records of the Boston postal department show that in the beginning of the second quarter of the century Jamaica Plain formed a community too modest in point of numbers to justify a post-office. However, four years later this order of things was changed.

Whether by this time the place had received an impulse towards growth or the voice of these few inhabitants had been heard at headquarters, true it is, that in January, 1829, Mr Joshua Seaver was appointed post-master with the full authority of the office. Mr. Seaver was a merchant of the village, and the distinction that fell to him would imply an enterprise on his part and an esteem on the part of his fellow townsmen, two qualifications that his grandsons, of the firm of R. Seaver & Sons on Centre street, bear today.

On the site occupied by the present store of this latter firm, Mr.Joshua Seaver conducted the duties of his office with the honorarium, for propriety permits no other name, of twelve dollars per annum. In 1833, Mr.Seaver was succeeded by his son, Robert Seaver, himself later accepting the office in Roxbury which he held from 1845-49.

The records read at this time, not without uncertainty in the matter of date, that Andrew Jackson, on a visit to Boston during his presidency, called at the Jamaica Plain post-office. One is left in doubt as a result of this absence of specification on the chronicler's part whether Joshua the father or his son Robert had the honor of receiving the nation's chief executive.

The present store, of the firm that we have alluded to, being built at this time, Mr. Robert Seaver set apart a corner in the building for the purposes of the government. Evidently Mr. Robert Seaver and his office agreed, for we find him holding it 16 years, with an interval of six years, from '49 to '55, when Mr. Jacob P. George assumed the duties and temporarily removed the department to a building on the site now occupied by W.F. Fallon's fish market.

During this time the emoluments of office were keeping pace with the growth in sales of stamps. In 1839 the amount was $151.68 and in 1849 the incumbent drew, during his first year's term, the salary of $215.68.

The share of receipts received by the government for the year 1849 was $320.94.

Not until 1870 did Jamaica Plain rise in dignity from a fourth class postal division to a third class, with receipts of over $1000 per annum. Ten years later it assumed its present status of second class which demands an annual income exceeding $8000.

Upon the reappointment of Mr.Robert Seaver in 1855, the salary had risen to $452.79, and in 1859 to $495.44, with a net reserve to the government of $474.29. Here observe that the postmaster was more fortunate than the government and this became frequently the case in fourth-class postoffices now that the salary was based on the cancellation of stamps and not on their sale. Yet, in face of the advantage to the postmaster that this new order of things there have frequently been found unscrupulous enough to avail of the opportunity to increase their income by surreptitiously passing city mail through their own particular department.

With no evidence to indicate that Mr. Robert Seaver had a successor during the period covered from 1855 to 1863, we are safe in assuming that he enjoyed another eight years of postmastership in spite of his democratic principles in opposing the Lincoln administration of the last three years of this period. But by this time a change of functionary, evidently anticipated by the friends of the government, was incumbent if the principle be maintained, to the victor belong the spoils, for we find the office in 1863 passing into the hands of Dr.Marcus T.Robinson.

Coupled with his professional duties the doctor for a short time only, however, handled the mail constructing for the purpose a primitive building on Centre street, now occupied by the Dillingham Express Company. With the death of Mr. Robinson, his widow took charge, and in 1873, when Mr. Silas Poole was appointed to the postmastership, was still discharging the duties.

During the three latter years of Mrs.Robinson's term the receipts of the office exceeded $1900 annually. This now made the department a third-class office and a gift at the disposal of the President. The salary attached thereto was $1000, a comfortable income for the good widow.

As we look back it seems, as far as permanency of location is concerned, that our post office of those days fared no better than the tent of the Arab.

With the installation of Mrs. Poole came another change of locality, the government this time taking up its quarters at 725 Centre street, in the store now rented by the Messers. Libbey Bros. Two years later this growing factor in the industrial life of the community was about to assert its importance and secure a recognition it had for some time been entitled to. In 1875 the Jamaica Plain post office became a branch of the Boston general office and the advantages connected with the step were soon felt in the district. Mr. Silas Poole became Superintendent Silas Poole and a more central locality for the postoffice was a question that was started.

The following year when Superintendent Poole handed his office over to Superintendent Wilson H. Fuller, Woolsey Block became the favored location. From here, occupying one half of a store of which Mr. A Haxton occupied the other half, the office was transferred to the stores 7 and 9 Call street. Though out of the way as far as the public was concerned, and inconvenient to the officials themselves, the location on Call street served for a few years.

In April, 1887, Mr. John Lewis, who now holds the office, was appointed superintendent, and in March, 1897, Mr. M.C. Coin was appointed acting superintendent, having been transferred from Cambridge. Mr. Coin called the attention of the general office to the defects of the locality, and as a result, in October, 1897, the office was replaced to Woolsey Block, where it now stands.

On the same date the demand of the district for better service was met in the establishment of sub-station 25 at 672 Centre street, in the store of what was until recently, the New York Dry Goods store. Forest Hills was the next to be acknowledged in this respect, and in November of the same year a sub-station 28 was opened at W.H. Blake's drug store. In September 1898, Boylston station had to be considered, and as a result sub-station 38 was located at J.L. Locke's drug store, 158 Paul Gore street. The last to be established was sub-station 3(?) in the drug store of L.O. Wallace, 380 Centre street, being placed there January of this year.

The Jamaica Plain post office has kept pace with the advance of Jamaica Plain. From one officer drawing a salary of one dollar a month has it grown to a staff of twenty-five officials with a pay roll of over $1800 for the same period, ranking today as one of the best equipped suburban branches of the Boston General Office.

The staff comprises six clerks (including superintendent) eighteen carriers and a messenger boy.

From consolidation with the Boston office came the box delivery and the first carriers appointed were Mr.J.R. Dickson of 12 Harris Avenue and Mr.J.E. Page of 2 Alveston Street, who are still active in their offices.

The district covered by the delivery includes an area of some five miles, extending from Hoggs Bridge, Roxbury to Walk Hill Street, Forest Hills, and from Franklin Park to Brookline. By uniting her postal interests with those of Boston, Jamaiaca Plain gained ten years of the advantages of the free delivery. So indispensable is the system to the comfort of the community that the extension in this department should not escape notice. At the present time we find that sixteen of the routes have four deliveries daily and two each have but one less.

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A final paragraph discusses contemporary revenue numbers - not particularly interesting to us.

It's Tour Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:43:00 +0000

This coming Saturday, May 9th begins the 2009 tour season for the Jamaica Plain Historical Society. This year's series begins with the Monument Square walk and adds a new Jamaica Pond tour, for a total of seven different walks, all repeated three times through the season. I'm scheduled to lead three tours later this year, and I'll make note of each when the time comes. So come out, bring a friend and learn the secrets that surround you when you walk the streets of Jamaica Plain.

JPHS tour schedule.

Stephen Minot Weld - Schoolmaster

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Sat, 02 May 2009 04:01:00 +0000

Weld School - Centre and South streets, 1859 (BPL).

The Weld School - Centre and South streets (1874 map, JPHS).

This entry is less a biography than an excuse to use some information I found in the 1850 census records. Schoolmaster Weld deserves a more thorough treatment, and when I have the time I'll give it to him.

Stephen Minot Weld was the son of William Gordon Weld and Hannah Minot. The first Weld to live in Jamaica Plain was Joseph, who was granted a large lot of land in the vicinity of today's Arnold Arboretum for his service in the Pequot War during the late 1630s. Welds continued to live on the homestead until the early 1800s, and stayed in the area for another 100 years.

While William Gordon Weld and his son William Fletcher were both wealthy shipowners and traders, son Stephen Minot Weld (1806-1867) chose to open a preparatory school in Jamaica Plain. There were few public high schools at the time, so the sons of the well-to-do in Greater Boston were sent to boarding schools to prepare for Harvard College. The Weld school was one of the most successful in the area, and attracted students from remarkably diverse sources.

The 1850 census gives us a window into the schoolhouse and its inhabitants. Weld and his wife, Sarah, had three daughters and one son, aged 2-10. There were 4 domestics (women), three from Ireland and one Massachusetts native. The record also lists 4 laborers (men). The students, aged 10-17, came from many different states and countries:

Massachusetts: 6
Maine: 1
New York: 2
Maryland: 1
Tennessee: 1
Louisiana: 3
California: 3

Cuba: 4
Yucatan: 1
Mexico: 1
Spain: 1

Which tells us that the former village of Jamaica Plain was, by 1850, fully connected to the outside world. Other 1850 census records for the community list many Irish domestics, so while there were few places for Irish to set up homes in Jamaica Plain at the time, they were fully integrated into the workforce, living within the households of Yankee residents. How Stephen M. Weld attracted students from such a wide geographic area is not yet known. Perhaps it was just the proximity to Harvard that encouraged fathers to send their sons to Jamaica Plain. The school of Charles Greene at Centre and Pond streets also had Cuban students. Perhaps trade connections between Boton ship owners and captains and their far-away trading partners made Boston the popular place to send one's sons. We certainly know that the first Spanish-speaking residents of Jamaica Plain didn't arrive in the 1970s.

The Norfolk Blanket Cleansing Company

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:01:00 +0000

A century ago, the Jamaica Plain News published a series of articles proclaiming the virtues of a series of local businesses. It's not clear to me whether the companies had to pay for the priviledge of being so praised, or whether it was the boosterism of the publisher at work. In any case, this article informs us that one Jamaica Plain business of the time was a national leader in its field.

Jamaica Plain News November 18, 1905

A New Enterprise.

The important transfer of real estate on Brookside avenue, near Green street, which occurred recently, whereby the J.B.Shaw factory, situated on a lot of land containing sixteen thousand square feet, became the property of the Norfolk Blanket Cleansing Company, develops an interesting addition to the industries of Jamaica Plain. There are about ten thousand square feet of floor space available in the main building of two stories, and a thorough renovation of the interior, with the installation of a sixty-horsepower engine and boiler, places a first-class factory on the list. The engine and boiler house will be an addition, situated at the northwest corner of the building. Another contemplated improvement is a large stable.

The rear land follow the line of old Stony Brook, the centre of the brook marking the line. This gives ample yard room and space for future improvements. The Norfolk Blanket Cleansing Company will install in a part of the new factory its blanket cleansing and bedding department, leaving the carpet cleansing department in the old building on Call street. Increased business makes this move a necessity, it being a somewhat remarkable fact that the largest business of this nature in America is conducted in Jamaica Plain, and by this company, and it will interest many to learn that from San Francisco to Jekyll Island off the coast of Florida, blankets are forwarded here for treatment. Add to that fact that steamship lines and parlor-car companies have everything cleansed at frequent intervals, and that this concern handles the cream of this trade, with a constantly growing local business, and it can readily be seen that more room is needed.

The balance of the space in the new factory is to be fitted up as a first-class laundry establishment, with the latest improved machinery and methods and with power and water furnished by the new owners, to a suitable tenant, or if that is not available, the Norfolk Blanket Cleansing Company will add the above feature to its regular business, and under the management of the same progressive gentleman, who for a quarter of a century was engaged in the manufacture of blankets, and as a consequence is peculiarly adapted to the business of cleansing them, there is no doubt that the new venture will prove successful.

Enterprises of this nature should be encouraged and the district is indebted to this company for its consideration in making such an important investment here, thus adding to to the commercial importance of the district, the wage earning capacity of its inhabitants, and the trade of its merchants.

Gas Lamps In Jamaica Plain

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:50:00 +0000

There was a web site that hosted photos of the gas lamps of Jamaica Plain, but it seems to be down, so I've put up my set of pictures. I've got a sneaking suspicion that I'm forgetting one, but I can't figure where it would be. If you know, please give me a shout.

I've already written about the use of gas in Jamaica Plain, including Perkins Got Gas and Jamaica Plain Gets Gas (I need to be more creative about my titles). The Jamaica Plain Gas Company began producing gas from coal at the site of today's English High School in the 1850s. Only the lamp at the corner of Burroughs street and the Jamaicaway sits on a public sidewalk - the rest are on private ways or private property. Let's hope the current owners take good care of them and pass them on to posterity as they found them.

Parley avenue.

Regent circle - off Burroughs street.

Allandale street (pair).

Union avenue - in a back yard.

Meehan place - off Green street.

Ballard way - off St Joseph street.

Burroughs street and the Jamaicaway.

38-40 Burroughs street - set back from the road.

Note: Thanks to the ubiquitous commenter Anonymous, I can add two more:

Spring Park Avenue, in front of 19R and 21A Spring Park Ave.

Paul Gore Terrace.

Two New (Old) JP Gas Lamps

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:11:00 +0000

I found these two gas lamps in Jamaica Plain recently, and finally stopped to take some pictures today. Do you know where they are? Leave a comment if you do.

**********************************************************************************

I left this up over the weekend and didn't get any answers, so here's the answer:

This pair of lamps sit at a driveway entrance along Allandale street. The property is used by the Boston Police for housing and training horses and dogs, and borders Allandale Farm.

Silbert Billouin - Jamaica Plain Success Story

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 02:47:00 +0000

Mr. Sil Billouin Jr.

Sil and young daughter Angelique.

Father and daughter.

On February 13th, I posted a story about Silbert "Tink" Billouin Jr., who was voted President of my brother's Mary E. Curley graduating class. Through the magic of the Internet, I've heard from Silbert's daughter Angelique, who has been kind enough to continue the story where I left off.

After getting out of high school, I came along. My mother was 18, he was 19. He followed his dads foot steps in sales and was a top achiever in everything he did. He was commissioned sales so he made a good living and was able to send me to private school, beaver country day school, Newman prep school and Emerson college. We lived at 9 Sheridan and then moved to 41 Sheridan street in jp. When his dad died, I moved in with his mom (my grandmother ) next door and lived with her for most of my teenage years.

They packed up and moved to Navarre Florida in 1989. Him, my mom and my brother Max. Max was then 9 years old. I stayed in Boston and tried to make it on my own. A year later I moved in with them in Fla. The rest of his years were pretty significant. He started out working for Cellular One in cell phone sales. He moved his way up in the company and eventually opened his own retail store, Tri County Cellular where he sold cell phones and pagers, He was best known for his involvement with the local area optimist club and the Navarre Youth Sports Association. He was a big part of the lives of the youth in the area. When they got to Florida, he no longer went by "Tink". His professional name was "Sil" or as the kids called him "Mr Sil".

I always remember him being happy and positive no matter what. When asked how he was doing he would always reply that he was "filled and thrilled with divine power, energy and enthusiasm".

In 1998 he was diagnosed with colon cancer and battled it for 3 years. At some time in those 3 years he decided he wanted to be a motivational speaker. He never got to do a presentation, however he did get to talk at my Avon sales meeting about his life experiences and successes in sales and marketing.

When told he had 4-8 weeks to live, he got on a mad dash to get everything in order. He created his final will, and his own program for his funeral service. Hi passed away 2 days after thanksgiving 2001. The local community merchants had signs on there marques saying "we will miss you sil" My mother, Joyce Billouin and brother Max still reside in Navarre Florida.

All of the Billouins except for 2 cousins moved from Jamaica Plain to Florida. Our family was a prominent part of Jamaica Plain and I did not even realize it until reading your blog. I was always told that as a child, but was too young to understand.

General William Heath

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:06:00 +0000

Memorial to General William Heath, Forest Hills cemetery.

While driving around the west edge of Forest Hills cemetery, I came upon this monument to Roxbury's (and Jamaica Plain's) own General William Heath. It's difficult to see from the photo, but the monolith is a large one, standing taller than a man. At that size, it's quite dramatic, but unfortunately it is not particulary well located. It stands along the outer road, facing out and away from the rest of the cemetery, seen properly only by cars driving by.

The Heaths were among the first settlers of Roxbury, and farmed the land between Parker Hill (and Heath street) and today's Centre street, between Hyde and Jackson squares. General Heath was actice in the militia, and served under Washington during the war. He died in 1815, which makes me wonder where he was originally buried. Forest Hills was not opened until 1848, so if he is interred at the site of this monument, he must have been moved from elsewhere.

I left the photo full size: click on it to read the plaque.

The Boits of Jamaica Plain and Paris, France

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 05:01:00 +0000

The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, by John Singer Sargent (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). Click to enlarge.

Above, we have one of the treasures of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. John Singer Sargent painted the four daughters of Edward D. Boit in Paris in 1882. The girls didn't live in Jamaica Plain, but their father did. Before I knew of this painting, I knew minimal details of the Boits' connection to Jamaica Plain, but the remarkable family portrait above begs attention. To tell the story, I'll go back in time, start at the beginning, and return to the girls and the painting later.

The first Boit to come to America was John, born in England in 1733 and arriving in Boston between 1755 and 1760. John Boit became a merchant, dealing in East and West Indian goods, and becoming one of Boston's leading citizens. John Boit's oldest daughter was Hannah, born in 1765. Hannah married Crowell Hatch, whose name will come up in another entry.

After a second marriage, John Boit had more children, including a son John in 1774. At sixteen, this importer's son went to sea aboard a ship owned by Crowell Hatch. The Columbia was to sail around the Horn to the Northwest coast, trade for furs, and sail on to China. He came home after four years, only to return to sea as captain of many voyages.

The second John Boit married Eleanor Jones of Newport Rhode Island in 1799, and had seven children, including five daughters and two sons. Caroline, the second child, was born in Newport and moved to Boston at an early age with the family. In time, she would move to Jamaica Plain, where she lived out her life as a widow. Daughter Harriet and her husband moved to Jamaica Plain as well, living on Centre street near Boylston street. Of particular interest to us will be Edward Darley Boit, the fifth child and second son.

Edward D. Boit was born in 1813, and spent some of his childhood living on Eliot street in Jamaica Plain. His parents bought 2 1/4 acres of land on the east side of Eliot street, just North of today's Brewer street. By this time, John Boit had retired to the merchant life, and he would die in 1829.

The following story comes from the Chronicles of the Boit Family:

"as a little boy, he (Edward D.Boit) learned to navigate Jamaica Pond on a big log, with a soap box atop of it, and with a long pole to drive it. It was his canoe and he an Indian in search of adventures that never failed him. Woods were all about the pond in those days, with only one open place on each side of it in Brookline and Jamaica Plain, where the road for a rod or two ran down into the water, giving horses a chance to drink. He was always as careful as possible to avoid these openings for fear of being seen, but one day as he was poling by the spot where the road touched the pond in Jamaica Plain, the family doctor drove down to water his horse and recognized him on his log. When he reached home that night he got a sound drubbing."

In time, Edward was sent to Charles Greene's school at Centre and Pond streets. Later, he attended Boston Latin school and Harvard College. After a trip to India as supercargo on a ship, he studied law, passed the bar, and in 1839, married Jane Parkinson Hubbard. In time, they had four children: Edward "Ned" Darley, Robert, Jeanie and John.

In 1847, the family bought a house on a 7 acre lot at the corner of Curtis and Scarborough streets (later Forest Hills and Morton streets. See the property marked with the red star on the later map at right). They called their estate Ingleside, and remained there until 1853. The property was later among those annexed for the West Roxbury Park (later Franklin Park), and sat approximately where the Forest Hills entrance to Franklin Park was placed.

After a short time in Boston, in 1854 the family returned to Jamaica Plain, this time moving to Eliot street (photo).Edward Boit left the practice of law, becoming a businessman. The house on Eliot street was sold in 1859, and the family moved again, this time to Glen road. In time the Boits moved south to Georgia, where Edward entered the cotton business. By 1874, the firm followed cotton prices into collapse, and Edward Darley Boit was ruined. Edward and wife Jane would spend their final years living in Newport, Rhode Island, with the support of their son, Edward Jr. Both died in 1890.

Finally, we get to Edward Jr., the Edward Darley Boit of the Sargent painting. He was born in 1840. He would have been seven years old when his parents bought their first home in Jamaica Plain. The next mention I find of him is his graduation from Harvard in 1863. The story has left Jamaica Plain here, and moves us - finally - towards the famous painting that attracted my attention in the first place. A year after graduating from Harvard, Edward married Mary Louisa Cushing, daughter of John Perkins Cushing. Cushing was nephew of the Perkins brothers, James (who built Pinebank at Jamaica Pond) and Thomas. While in business in the China trade with his uncles, Cushing became an extremely wealthy man, later building Belmont, the estate that was so large it gave the Massachusetts town its name. It is said that once when the town tax collectors came to see him, he asked what the total of the years' tax requirement for the town would be, and wrote a check for the full amount.

Edward did enter the bar, but did not practice for long, if it all. He and Mary Louisa, known as Iza, travelled to Europe, and spent much of the rest of their married lives there. During stays in Italy and France, Edward took painting lessons and became a painter. While travelling between Rome, Paris and Boston, the Boits had four daughters: Florence, 1868, Jane, 1870, Mary Louisa, 1874, and Julia, 1878. Edward Darley Boit is now considered more an art patron than an artist. It was his association with John Singer Sargent, who painted both his daughters and his wife, that keeps his name alive for posterity. The Boits met Sargent at a Paris art exhibit, and commissioned him to paint a portrait of their daughters. The painting now sits in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, together with the same two oversize vases that are seen in the painting.

I am not an art critic, nor even particularly interested in painting as an art, but this work is a treasure of the MFA collection for a reason. If it is a portrait, it is a strange one. It seems like a psychological study, but of the group rather than of the girls as individuals. I think the word unsettling is appropriate for the effect it gives.

The story of the four girls is well known - at least as far as it is known. None of these four wealthy girls ever married, and the two oldest are described as hovering somewhere between eccentric and emotionally or mentally disturbed. As a final note on Edward: three years after the death of his wife in 1894, he remarried. Did the constant travelling of their childhood and the loss of their mother affect the psyche of the girls? Or does their extraordinary portrait make us imagine things about them that were only on the canvas?

While the famous Boit daughters never lived in Jamaica Plain, their families did, in multiple homes over multiple generations. From sea captain to lawyer and businessman to future expatriot artist and patron, the Boits certainly deserve mention when exploring Jamaica Plain's notable residents. The famous painting, a jewel of the Museum of Fine Art's collection, just makes the story all the more interesting.

There is much more to the story of the Boit family. Here is a start for online information:

Chronicles of the Boit Family - download the PDF version to read.

Museum of Fine Arts

Edward Darley Boit

The Harvard Graduates' Magazine

The Washington Historical Quarterly - John Boit's log of his voyage on the ship Columbia. When men were men.

Norfolk Registry of Deeds:

68:45 - 9/30/1822 David Greenough to John Boit, Eliot st.

155:26,27,28,29 - Boit heirs to Anson Dexter, Eliot st.

174:85 - 7/9/1847 John Parkinson to Edward D. Boit, Walnut ave. and Scarboro st.

179:137 - 4/11/1848 G. Winthrop Coffin to Edward D. Boit, Glen rd.

232:6 - 12/6/1854 Elisha James to Edward D. Boit, Eliot st.

255:24 - 5/1/1857 Edward D. Boit to George T. Curtis, Walnut ave and Scarboro st.

276:211 - 5/19/1859 Edward D. Boit to Anne L. Balch, Eliot st.

Shadows Of The Past

noreply@blogger.com (Not Whitey Bulger) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:16:00 +0000

West side of Washington street, just south of Green street.

Any photo that shows trees with green leaves is appreciated right about now. These two pictures show a brick building on Washington street just south of Green Street - towards Forest Hills. The old paint job - and the bricked-in arched entrance - tell us that the building was once a garage/repair shop. As automobiles became more common on the streets, a need was created for parking garages and repair shops. Here and there, we find these kind of clues about a building's past, but only if we look for them.