researching old homesteads of marlborough - history camp 2015

Researching the Old Homesteads of Marlborough, Massachusetts

Site history and visual comparison between current view

and Ellen Carpenter’s paintings

By Marlborough Historical Society Trustee Chandra Lothian

Presented at History Camp, March 28th 2015

1 Chandra Lothian - History Camp 3-28-25

“…And when Marlborough's children and grandchildren, and great great great grandchildren would entertain their visitors from far away, let them show history. Let them show where the old Homesteads were builded, even tho' the originals are now no more…”A

Project Background

• There were 124 paintings of Marlborough homes and places, done between 1875 and 1908. – 99 homesteads

– 5 public buildings and 3 street scenes

– 7 landscapes and 2 gravesites

– 3 portraits

– 5 out of town sites

• Ellen Maria Carpenter (1830-1908) Killingly CT, Lowell Institute in Boston, travelled to Europe, and lived in Marlborough off and on

• Ella Bigelow (1849-1917) Wife of Lambert, author of Historical Reminiscences of Early Times in Marlborough, a major source for this project.

• Marlborough Public Library reprinted the 1910 painting catalog for the 1976 Bicentennial Exhibition and 1976 survey – 109 currently displayed

– 14 destroyed by fire

– 1 recently found in storage and not yet displayed


Project Methodology

• Visual survey using paintings, old maps and Bigelow’s book

• Confirmed identifications of sites using Marlboro GIS, MACRIS, USGS, and files from the Marlborough Historical Society

• Photographs from the same angle and distance - as precisely as possible

• Substitutes for lost paintings: 7 reproductions, 7 old photographs

• Researched history of each site

• Created storyboards for each painting

• Included detailed references and bibliography


Results

• I suspect that Carpenter ‘edited’ the backgrounds as she painted to exclude other houses

• Located the subject of all 124 paintings, including those abroad

• Took comparative photographs of each site

• History of each site: date built and by whom, early family, architectural changes over the years including date lost.

• Identified three homestead paintings in the library with no reference number

• Updated the 1976 survey of the 99 homesteads (had found 59)

– 52 still standing today

– 5 more that were present in 1976 but not found

– 11 more lost since then for total of 47 lost


Library Info • Images of the homestead paintings have been reproduced here courtesy of the

Marlborough Public Library Board of Trustees.

• DISCLAIMER: The Marlborough Public Library is the sole owner of the “Old Homestead of Marlborough” watercolor collection and prohibits the copying or displaying of the collection in any other form than presented in the Commemorative Booklet without the expressed consent and approval of the Board of Trustees of the Marlborough Public Library.

• I used their watercolor collection booklet for reference frequently; it has copies of all but one of the paintings that weren’t destroyed in the fire. It is available for $15 from the library front desk, and colored prints of the individual paintings are available for $25 each. All proceeds will benefit the Marlborough Public Library Foundation.

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Chandra Lothian - History Camp 3-28-25

#1 Old Marlborough, England

• Wiltshire county, between Bristol and London, north of Salisbury

• Why are we Marlborough? (old Marlborough rebuilt and William Barnes)

• Comparative view

• Cardinal Wolsey and St. Peter’s parish church

• The Sun Inn (15th century, 1751-2012, now)


Courtesy of the Marlborough Public Library Board of Trustees

Google image

1.1 Bigelow Google image


#4 Bonney Hayden or Ward Homestead

• Architecture and edits 1660s - 1896

• William Ward’s garrison and Artemus Ward

• Bonney Hayden and Daniel Hayden



4.3

#6 The House of Deacon Phelps (Alden)

• Painting lost

• House history 1819 to today

• Reverend Seth Alden from the west church

• Deacon Stephen Phelps, taxpayer


6.1 Bigelow

#9 Williams Tavern Most Historical Place in Town

• Lt Abraham Williams - oldest operating tavern and the Indian attack

• George Washington 1775 and 1789

• Silas Gates and transition to brick and 3 story

• Historical marker and lost landmark 1947



9.3

Marker: “The first tavern was erected on this site by Lieutenant Abraham Williams in 1665. Destroyed by Indians in 1676, it was promptly rebuilt and managed by the Williams family until 1829. Here the early circuit courts convened, stage coaches changed horses, and historic personages tarried.”

#11 Homestead of Ephraim Brigham

• Nathan Brigham’s farm 1675

• Gleasons at turn of century, lost by 1930s

• Locating the house on 1835 and 1875 maps and old aerial



Modern house behind trees


#13 Samuel or Addington Brigham Homestead

• Samuel Brigham through Addington to 20th century

• Early garrison house

• Google view and recent loss



Inventory form photo

#17 The Lewis Ames Homestead

• Joseph Brigham marriage to Comfort Bigelow in 1728

• Locating the house - family mill stream, stone walls and 1875 map

o Ames house at bare spot in the field

o Square house 1938 aerial built in 1927 - replacement for the Morse house from the 1875 map

o The Latham house (B. Brigham) is the only old house left of the cluster.



17.3

17.1

17.4

#21 House of the Royalist Henry Barnes

• Henry Barnes in 1763, local Tory merchant

• February 1775 spies from Gage

• 1908 central fire station




#31 All that is left of Ollerton or Baguley Hall

• Greater Manchester, Cheshire, England

• Bigelow connection confirmed in 1970s

• William de Baguley 1350

• Baguley Hall uniqueness

• Ollerton in Nottinghamshire


Courtesy of the Marlborough Public Library Board of Trustees http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baguley_Hall

http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-241910-ollerton-hall-ollerton-and-boughton-nott/photos

#32 John Bigelow and Mary Warren dancing at their wedding

• First marriage recorded in Watertown, on October 30, 1642

• Costumes, musket, and dancing

• John Bigelow (Baguley), blacksmith

• Mary Warren (Warin) daughter of John Warren, on Arabella 1630



#33 Homestead of John Bigelow, the Indian Captive

• Farm Road near Cook Lane, part of ‘Alcocke’s Farm’

• House changes 1695 to today, saltbox, chimney and barn

• John Bigelow captivity during Queen Anne’s war and release



#35 Daniel Newton or Dadmun Homestead

• Broadmeadow Road

• William Newton and Martin Dadmun history to Catherine Pierce

• House changes 1680 to 1816-30 to 1930s revival



#37 The King's Highway

• Boston Post Road 1673 as mail route

• Stage road: 2 weeks Boston to NY in 1772

• George Washington and Henry Knox

• Rerouted as Route 20 in early 20th century



Old Main St

• Painting unnumbered

• House history 1781 to 1985

• Ephraim Barber, brass clock maker



#41 House of Lieutenant Ephraim Barber

41.2 Bigelow

#56 Caleb Brigham House

• Elm Street near Spring

• Caleb Brigham music teacher

• House changes 1800 to 1970s to today



56.1 Bigelow

56.3

#58 Sligo, Ireland

• Sligo Ireland

• Off Holywell Rd, SW Lough Gill

• Why Sligo

“Sweeping around a wide bay, the land draws nearer again, the far away blue darkening to purple and then to green and brown. The sky is cut by the outlines of the Leitrim and Sligo hills, a row of rounded peaks against the blue, growing paler and more translucent in the southern distance.” 58.1



58.1 Bigelow

58.2 Google

#62 House of Lambert or Edward L Bigelow

• Ella Bigelow, author

• House changes 1830s to 1961

• Odd Fellows, fancy balls and hide and seek

“There is a sadness that always comes to one upon seeing a fine old homestead falling to decay but still sadder it is to see the blinds closed, the doors barred and the house empty. The old walls mutely appeal to our sympathy in suggestions of the Past and the very trees seem to whisper of souls who have lived here, and loved here and then passed into eternity. Happily the knocker still sounds on the above old house…”



62.2

#77 The Samuel Warren Homestead

• Warren generations

• Alms House 1875 – 1920s

• House changes 1750 to mid 20th


Courtesy of the Marlborough Public Library

Board of Trustees

#83 The Samuel Howe Farm (not Charles Howe)

• Samuel Howe

• Warren Howe greenhouses, teacher Annie Howe

• Painting misidentified

• House changes 1800 to today, 20th century porch and barn



#84 Francis Weeks

• Painting skewed in original and Bigelow reproduction

• John Weeks and sons Solomon and Francis

• House built 1820, high shouldered 1.5 or 2 story house with 3 or 4 bays

• Location mystery? o1835 map, near the Witt place and Goodale St.

o1875 owned by Wetherbee and Goodale St. had moved.

o1960 aerial photo rubble so the house found in 1976 was 1705 John Weeks farm

25


#84 The Francis Weeks Homestead


Not ->

#85 The Goodale Homestead

• 1702 Deacons John and David Goodale

• Time Stone Farm, Lucy and Esther Goodale

• Mrs. Greenwood’s 1925 restoration



#93 Farm of Elmer Howe, or Homestead of Joseph II Howe

• Joseph Howe II - 1733 saltbox, expanded 1830s

• William and Elmer Howe - Fairview Farm

• Ann Estabrooke



#100 The William Stetson House, with the Big Trees

• William Stetson 1840

• Elm trees and the old photo



#123 The Drury House

• Unnumbered and unidentified

• Timothy Drury, land baron…

• Oil paintings by?



Resources for Old Homesteads of Marlborough (Ellen Carpenter Paintings)

These are my most frequently used references. For full bibliography, see the Historical Society’s website…

• Reminiscences: Historical Reminiscences of The Early Times in Marlborough Massachusetts and Prominent Events from 1860 to 1910, Ella A. Bigelow, Times Publishing Company, Printers, 1910

• History of Marlborough: History of the Town of Marlborough, Middlesex Country, Massachusetts from its First Settlement in 1657 to 1861, with a Brief Sketch of the Town of Northborough, Charles Hudson, Press of T.B. Marvin & Son, Boston, 1862

• Form A and Form B: documents from the Massachusetts Historical Commission that reference specific buildings; they are linked on the Marlborough Historical Society website, and on Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS) http://mhc-macris.net/towns.aspx Form B is an inventory for individual buildings, Form A covers areas of town. MRB is Marlborough, NBO is Northborough

• Marlborough GIS: http://gis.marlborough-ma.gov/fl/MarlboroughMA , lot maps and aerial photos from 1960, 2000 and 2011

• Assessor's database: http://gis.vgsi.com/marlboroughma/Default.aspx is a database with all addresses in town, which I used to narrow down the destruction date of old houses, or the construction date of their replacements.

• Library Brochure: April 12-17, 1976 Bicentennial Exhibition; Exhibition of Water Colors; Old Homesteads of Marlborough painted by The Late Ellen M. Carpenter of Boston Fred B Estabrook Co., Inc., reprinted by SD Visual Images, Marlborough, undated but printed 2002 or after

• 1803 Map: Map of the Town of Marlborough, taken by direction of said town Oct 24th 1803 by Silas Holman Surveyor

• 1835 Map: A Plan of Marlborough, Middlesex County, Mass, Surveyed by Wm. H Wood, under the direction of the Selectmen agreeably to a Resolve of the General Court passed at the Winter Session of 1829-30, published in 1935, Pendleton’s Lithography, London

• 1875 Downtown Map: Marlborough, Town of Marlborough, F.W. Beers County Atlas of Middlesex Massachusetts. Published by J.B. Beers and Co. 36 Vesey Street New York, NY in 1875

• 1875 Map: Marlborough, F.W. Beers County Atlas of Middlesex Massachusetts. Published by J.B. Beers and Co. 36 Vesey Street New York, NY in 1875

• 1938-1939 USGS : US Geological Survey Aerial Photos over Marlborough MA, 12/15/1938 and 1/13/1939


http://mhc-macris.net/towns.aspx



http://gis.marlborough-ma.gov/fl/MarlboroughMA



Resources for Old Homesteads of Marlborough -- MACRIS

Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS) http://mhc-macris.net/towns.aspx

Form A and Form B: documents from the Massachusetts Historical Commission that reference specific buildings; Form B is an inventory for individual buildings, Form A covers areas of town. MRB is Marlborough, NBO is Northborough etc.






Resources for Old Homesteads of Marlborough – Marlborough GIS

Marlborough GIS: http://gis.marlborough-ma.gov/fl/MarlboroughMA lot maps and aerial photos from 1960, 2000 and 2011





Resources for Old Homesteads of Marlborough – Assessor’s Database

Marlborough Assessor’s Database: http://gis.vgsi.com/marlboroughma/Search.aspx

• Doesn’t seem to be as accurate as MACRIS in some cases but useful for dates on background buildings and if I got stuck


http://gis.vgsi.com/marlboroughma/Search.aspx

http://gis.vgsi.com/marlboroughma/Search.aspx

Resources for Old Homesteads of Marlborough – Government files

Resources from local groups and local and state government:

• Town historical societies, historical commissions

• Town offices: current ownership deeds, rarely mention house, just land ‘and any buildings included thereon’

• County Registries (Boston/Worcester/Cambridge/Lowell/Dedham etc.): deeds back to the founding of the counties, in some cases county engineering records (if county engineering was abolished) i.e. road layouts, RR taking … http://www.masslandrecords.com/

• Mass State Archives: foundation/colonial documents, legislative records, Mass Historical Commission, works projects, non-textual materials (maps, photos, etc) http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arccol/colidx.htm

Land Records State Archives


http://www.masslandrecords.com/





http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arccol/colidx.htm

http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arccol/colidx.htm

Resources for Old Homesteads of Marlborough – Library Brochure

Cover: April 12-17, 1976 Bicentennial Exhibition; Exhibition of Water Colors; Old Homesteads of Marlborough painted by The Late Ellen M. Carpenter of Boston Fred B Estabrook Co., Inc., reprinted by SD Visual Images, Marlborough, undated but printed 2002 or after

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About the Author

• Chandra Lothian is on the Board of Trustees of the Marlborough Historical Society. When she has time at the society, she’s an archivist, researcher, and now public speaker on local architectural history and volunteers where ever she’s needed. She is passionate about the history of place, particularly in reference to old houses.

• In her normal work life, she’s a manager at McKesson Corporation, one of the largest healthcare companies in the country, where she’s worked for more than 18 years. It was called InterQual, Inc. over in Bronx Park on Rte 20 when she started, and was later acquired. Her departments interpret and research contractual data in order to get product to customers. She is responsible for the accuracy of a great quantity of detail!

• Chandra works hard to balance her family and work lives with satisfying her drive to capture the physical markers of our past while they are still available. She has two children, in elementary and middle school, and her husband is a professional land surveyor. Chandra credits him with pointing her to research resources and maps! She’s always loved history, art, photography, and old houses and this project blends all of them!


researching old homesteads of marlborough - history camp 2015

Education

paintings of marlborough

old homesteads of marlborough

lost paintings

homestead paintings

chandra lothian history

individual paintings

massachusetts site history

ellen carpenters paintings