William Henry Sayward, 1845-1934
Image of William H. Sayward from The Boston Globe, February 17, 1921
Image of 69 Monadnock Street from Google Street View 2011
William Henry Sayward and his wife, Caroline Augusta (nee Barnard), both descended from old New England families. William’s father, also named William H. Sayward, lived at the corner of Columbia Road and Bird Street, in the Greek Revival house where the Floyd A. Williams Funeral Home is now located. Caroline’s father was Dr. Charles Francis Barnard, a surgeon and graduate of Harvard College.
For more than 50 years, William Sayward was the secretary and treasurer of the Master Builders Association, which was founded in 1885. He organized the Society of Masters and Craftsmen in 1912, and remained an active member. In 1883, he served in the Massachusetts State Legislature, representing the 20th Suffolk District. According to the Sayward Family History on Ancestry.com, while he was serving as a legislator, “he took an active part in the debates on Women’s Suffrage and actively opposed the measure.” He was considered an expert on the relationship between management and labor, and was active at the national level in advocating for policies that allowed for arbitration in order to avoid strikes.
Sayward’s building projects include the house at 245 Commonwealth in the Back Bay for shipping merchant Nathaniel Henry Emmons, Jr., designed by William Whitney Lewis, which was built in the years 1877-1878. He had already built the building at 29 Fairfield Street in 1876-1877, also designed by Lewis.
The 1900 census lists William, 55; Caroline, 53; their three children: William, Jr„ 28, a physician; Perceval, 19; and Margaret, 14, both students. Also living with the family was Caroline’s mother, Margaret C. Barnard, 73, and three live-in servants — Kate C. Murphy, 37; Margaret E. McGlincy, 29; and Margaret Bowen, 26.
Their home was located at what is now numbered 69 Monadnock Street.