Dorchester Historical Society

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1734

The following article was discovered by Andrew Saxe.
House of Ex-Mayor Fitzgerald Passing from Boston Scene

Boston Globe, April 26, 1939

“Can’t keep it empty,” Says John F. of Place Where Kennedy Courted Rose, and Notables Were Guests

The house at 39 Welles Av., Dorchester, from which a future ambassador to the Court of St. James took his bride, and in which Admiral Togo, Vice President Charles Warren Fairbanks of the United States and Sir Thomas Lipton, owner of the famous racing yachts named Shamrock, were entertained, is passing from the Boston scene.

For a quarter century it was the home of Boston’s ex-Mayor, John F. Fitzgerald, now chairman of the Boston Port Authority.  There his boys and girls grew up and went to school.  There Rose Fitzgerald had her coming-out party, a brilliant occasion; and there Rose lived when she married young Joseph F. Kennedy, the boy from East Boston who never stopped moving, from East Boston to Brookline to Bronxville, to Washington, to Florida; till his last move landed him in the American embassy at Prince’s Gate, London.

“But you can’t keep a house that is empty,” said John F.  “the children are all married, with homes of their own, and Mrs. Fitzgerald and I find it simpler and more central to stay at the Hotel Bellevue in Boston. 

House Damaged, Barn Burned

“For the past five years we have kept the house furnished and gone out there now and then as convenient to stay, but a house cannot be kept that way.  One time the barn burned down; other times damage was done to the windows and things in the house.

“The old place had served our need, given us many happy hours.  Now its time was done.  I retain the land, of course.  Later, perhaps, there will be plans for its use.  Can’t say yet.

“Like everything in Boston, the conditions are changing all the time.  A hundred years ago the section where that house stood was a country resort. Daniel Webster use to spend his Summer vacations out there!

Sir Thomas’ Advice

“I mind me now something Sir Thomas Lipton said to me, sitting on the veranda of the Wells Av. house.  My boys, Tom and Jack, were coming up the driveway.

“ ‘What’ll ye be doin’ with those bhoyes?’” John F. reproduced the old tea magnate’s brogue.

“ ‘School, maybe college,’ I told him,” Mr. Fitzgerald continued.

“ ‘No, no! Make mer-r-chants of them!’ he snapped.

“And Sir Thomas was right. Boston’s greatness was built up by the great merchants before the Civil War, whose ships sailed the seven seas, bringing home cargoes that heaped the wharves and raw products that kept the mills humming.  But when those great fortunes passed into trust estates, the generations that followed were handicapped in free enterprise.  Look at Atlantic Av. today!  Go out and see the market price on downtown Boston real estate.  Sir Thomas was right.  What we need today is merchants!”

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1733

Thinking of spring.

Postcard. Caption on front: Rose Arbor, Rose Garden, Franklin Park, Dorchester, Massachusetts  1082.  Postally unused.  On verso: American Art Post Card Co., Boston, Mass. ca. 1920s

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If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

The Architecture of the Railroad Suburb by Andrew Saxe

The arrival of the Old Colony line in 1845 transformed Dorchester from a town of farms and estates into a trove of intriguing Victorian residential architecture.  Boston’s best architects all executed commissions in Dorchester even as they built the Back Bay. Freed from the strictures of townhouse design, these architects created exuberant displays of their craft.  Sadly, nearly all of the grand mansions of Dorchester’s past have fallen, but happily, scores of these Victorian homes have survived and many have enjoyed loving restorations.

Mr. Saxe’s lecture gives historical context to the development of Dorchester, using the Society’s photos of “lost Dorchester” for guidance, but the bulk of lecture is dedicated to the history of extant houses featuring Mr. Saxe’s own, very recent photographs. This talk was given to great reception at the Somerset Club last year. Mr. Saxe has since deepened and expanded it.

The lecture should provide research and insight into the homes we pass every day and deepen our appreciation for this unique American town.

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1732

Advertisement from The Dorchester Book (1899) for J H Record, manufacturer of horse collars etc.

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1731

Old South Church, Dorchester 1848  (Second Church)

Source of description: Codman Square House Tour Booklet 1997

Codman Square’s earliest notable building is Second Church, a Federal-style meeting house originally built in 1806, with numerous later additions. 

Codman Square existed primarily as a crossroads in a farming district until 1805-6, when it became necessary to build a new church to relieve the overcrowding and theological differences within the first Church at Meeting House Hill.  Thus the Second Church, a pure example of neoclassicism, was built on the north corner of the square.  The first minister of the new church was Reverend John Codman, after whom the square was named.  Its bell was cast by Paul Revere and placed in the tower in 1816.  The tower clock was a gift from Walter Baker of the Baker chocolate factory in Lower Mills.  Early visitors to the church included Daniel Webster and John Adams, and today it is the oldest Congregational Meeting House in Boston still used as a church.

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1730

Yesterday’s mystery objects have been identified as removable teeth that are inserted into the ring of a large wooden gear.  Once inserted into the hole in the ring, a nail or wooden pin would keep each tooth in place.  If a tooth became damaged, it could be replaced easily.  Our best guess at this point is that the teeth are leftovers from the Clapp grist mill on the South Bay.  Although we know that the mill house burned in 1855, we don’t know if the mill was in operation in the years just prior to that.  But we do know that the Clapp Family barn was built about that time or a little earlier, so we can possibly make the assumption that gear teeth were stored in the barn either in anticipation of using them in the mill or as a remembrance of things past.

Since we have mentioned the barn, it seems like a good idea to show you the progress in the restoration of the Clapp Family barn at the Dorchester Historical Society.  A grant from the City of Boston through the Partners with Non-Profits program has helped the Society to replace foundation sills and other posts and beams in an effort to make the building structurally sound.

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1729

Today’s photo shows some wooden objects owned by the Dorchester Historical Society.  We would like to know what you think these objects might be.

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1728

Our illustration today is a painting “Waiting for Its Master” by Alexander Pope Jr. that was up for auction in January.

The following is from various internet sources:

Alexander Pope Jr. (1849-1924) was a renowned American sporting artist who specialized in animal and still life paintings. Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1849, he briefly studied sculpture with the prominent artist William Copley and essentially taught himself to paint. As a youth, Alexander Pope carved and sketched animals around his home in Massachusetts. In the 1860s, he worked for his family’s lumber business (at Neponset). Although primarily lauded as a painter, he continued producing sculptures well into the 1880s and later became a member of the famed art association the Copley Society of Boston.

In 1878 and 1882, he published two important portfolios of chromolithographs after his watercolors: Upland Game Birds and Water Fowl of the United States and Celebrated Dogs of America. In addition to his more conventional animal paintings, Pope was also known for his still-life compositions of dead animals hanging in the interior of wooden crates, which innovatively combined his avid interest in hunting and fishing with the trompe l’oeil style of painting. His works and those of the influential trompe l’oeil painter William Harnett (1848-1892) helped popularize the genre of still life in late nineteenth-century America.

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1727

Today we have a Baker Chocolate advertisement that appeals to history to sell its product.

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1726

 A couple of weeks ago, we had information about the Gushee dairy on Fuller Street.

 From Dan Jenkins:

Here is a photo of 104 Fuller, formerly 92 then 95, sent to me by the family historian, a cousin to the living grandchildren of Almond Shaw Gushee and Ida [Smith]— I am guessing pre1900.  I have suggested that the photo be enlarged professionally at Staples on photo paper the maybe the people could be identified.  It may have been taken about when Charles H. was born and the younger men are his older half-siblings.

To summarize what I have learned:

David and Henri Gashet, brothers, arrived at Taunton, mid 1600s.  A grandson married Hannah Staples, great-grandaughter of Myles Standish in 1741 and raised a large family.  The family removed to Appleton [McLain’s Mills], Knox , Maine  and established a large presence there at Gushee’s Corner. Many were Quakers and later converted to Baptists.  Almond Shaw Gushee was born at Appleton in1856, son of Jonathan Shaw Gushee.  He married Ida [Smith] at Union, Maine, in 1880, and they removed to Dorchester, where he established the Gushee Dairy.

They had 3 sons, Almond Elwood, Chester Ward, and William.  By 2nd wife Therese Louise Peters, he had Charles H. who attended Harvard as did son William.  Charles H. became a financial advisor and publisher.  William became a grocer.

So the cows were originally pastured at Fuller St. per photo the at some point, moved to 79 and 93 Hillside St., Milton where Almond E. had 11 acres of land , formerly part of the Samuel Russell  Estate.

I note in the 1899 map of Fuller St., that Samuel S. Russell owned a large parcel on the opposite side of the street from Almond Gushee—maybe a family connection that I am not aware of yet.  Almond Shaw Gushee deceased 1922.

At this point looks like after several subdivisions and re-numberings, Chester is left with house at 104 Fuller St., the bottling plant, and an area of vegetable garden and roadside stand.  The Depresssion put family fortunes on a decline.  Almond E. sold off  most of the Hillside farm to Mary Hogg now #93  leaving himself with #79 and 1 acre, having to rent pastureland for the cows.  Both properties now owned by the Whiteside family.

I hope to visit them and inspect the dairy barn which I think is still standing.   The Fuller Street bottling plant  was destroyed in an explosion  about 1941, and that ended the Gushee Milk Company.

Dave Gushee has revealed that his father Almond E. ended his days as a deliveryman for White Brothers Milk.  I may have even met him as a boy, as we got White Brothers Milk.  I knew both the late White brothers personally.  As a chef with Silent Chef Caterers we did a lot of family functions for them. 

Almond S. helped found the “The Gentlemens Driving Club of Dorchester” [available to read online] and was quite active in it.   I have not learned what became of Chester as yet.  Quite an interesting family, whose members are eligible for Mayflower, DAR, and Sar Societies.

Dan J.

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org