Brookline Historical Society
Mamie Williams 1882 Gem Tintype Album

Eleanor Hardy, 1882
1869 - 1953; married, Oct 2, 1890, Dennis Miller Bunker; married, 1893, Charles Adams Platt; parents: Alpheus Holmes Hardy and Mary Caroline Sumner; lived on Walnut St. by Cypress St.

Her father was a merchant involved in the India trade via a business he took over from his father. In 1889, at a reception, Eleanor met Dennis Miller Bunker, a rising star and ultimately major figure in American painting. They married in October, 1890 and moved to New York City where he would be teaching. During a Christmas visit to her family back in Boston that year he got meningitis and died. He painted a portrait of Eleanor that hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1893, she married Charles Platt, a close friend of her husband whose wife had also died. Platt was an artist, landscape designer, and architect. Among his works were the gardens at the Larz and Isabel Anderson estate and the Brandegee estate, both in Brookline, and the Freer Gallery of Art building in Washington.

A friend of the Platts, the muralist Henry O. Walker, used Eleanor as the model for the mural "Wisdom of the Law" in the appellate court building in Madison Square in New York (1898-99). In 1968, her son Geoffrey, as the first chairman of the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission, was in the courthouse facing a challenge to the preservation law when he looked around (reported the New York Times) "to find a very familiar face staring at him from the courtroom wall. He said ‘My God, there was mother, and I knew everything would be all right.’ " In 2000, the courthouse building was restored by the architectural firm Platt Byard Dovell White led by Geoffrey’s nephew, Eleanor’s grandson, Charles Platt.

Eleanor Hardy was a friend and high school class mate of Lucy Littell, who also appears in Mamie Williams’ album. Eleanor's son married the daughter of Lucy's brother, Phillip
Caroline FitzGerald, 1882 [inscription illegible, "Carry Fitzgerald", identity speculative]
1871 – 1952; married, 1899, Charles Augustus Van Rensselaer; parents: Desmond FitzGerald, Elizabeth Parker Clarke; lived at 410 Washington St. by Cypress

Her sister, Harriot, is also featured in this album. She moved to Manhattan after her wedding. Her father, Desmond FitzGerald, was a well-known hydraulic engineer who became Superintendent of the Metropolitan Water Works and worked at the pumping station in Chestnut Hill. He was a noted art collector and, in 1913, built a private museum next to his house for his collection of works by artists like Monet, Renoir, and Degas. The building is now the Church of Christ.
Harriot FitzGerald, 1882 [inscription illegible, "Holly Fitzgerald", identity speculative]
1872 - ; married 1897, Robert Jones Clark; parents: Desmond FitzGerald, Elizabeth Parker Clarke; lived at 410 Washington St. by Cypress

Her sister, Caroline, is also featured in this album. Her marriage was reported in the New York Times. The ceremony was held in St. Paul’s Church and was performed by Rev. Leonard K. Storrs. The couple later lived in Dedham. Her father, Desmond FitzGerald, was a well-known hydraulic engineer who became Superintendent of the Metropolitan Water Works and worked at the pumping station in Chestnut Hill. He was a noted art collector and, in 1913, built a private museum next to his house for his collection of works by artists like Monet, Renoir, and Degas. The building is now the Church of Christ. She moved to Manhattan after her wedding.
Isabelle ("Bella") Lee, 1882
1869 - 1954; married, 1895, George Saltonstall Mumford; parents: George Cabot Lee, Caroline Watts Haskell; lived on Essex Rd. in Chestnut Hill, Newton

Her next-door neighbors and cousins were the Saltonstalls. Richard Saltonstall was the Harvard classmate of future president Teddy Roosevelt's. Her older sister, Alice Hathaway Lee, was introduced to Roosevelt when she was 17 and he 19. After what was described as a tumultuous courtship, they were married on October 27, 1880 - Roosevelt's 22nd birthday - in the First Parish Church in Brookline. Alice Roosevelt died a little over three years later, on February 14, 1884 from Bright's Disease and complications from childbirth. Roosevelt was devastated and was said to rarely speak about Alice thereafter.
Katherine Dana, 1882
1873 - 1950; married, 1897, William Howard White; parents: Henry Fuller Dana, Mary Heath Howe; lived on Warren St. by Clyde St.

Katherine was the last of four children and was born 10 years after the previous child. Her father died when she was one year old and is buried in the Walnut St. Cemetery. The family lived with her maternal grandmother on a large estate on Warren St. by Clyde St. Her husband was a VP of Brookline Savings Bank and a member of the Brookline school committee. Her son, Robert, was a famed pioneering psychologist who taught for years at Harvard. Her older sisters, Grace and Mary are also featured in our tintype collection.
Mary H. Dana, 1882
1859 - 1926; never married; parents: Henry Fuller Dana, Mary Heath Howe; lived on Warren St. by Clyde St.

Her father died when she was nine years old and is buried in the Walnut St. Cemetery. The family lived with her maternal grandmother on a large estate on Warren St. by Clyde St. Her younger sisters, Katherine and Mary are also featured in our tintype collection.
Moses Williams Jr., 1882
1869 - ; married, 1905, Anne Whiteside; parents: Moses Williams and Martha C. Fininley; lived on Walnut Place.

The father of the Williams children was president of State Street Trust Company and a state legislator. Their mother was a frequent visitor to Isabella Stuart Gardner. Siblings Hugh, Moses Jr., Constance, and Mary all appear in this album and are direct descendants of Edward Devotion.
Mary Eleanor ("Mamie") Williams, 1882
1870 - ; never married; parents: Moses Williams and Martha C. Fininley; lived on Walnut Place.

She was interested in women’s education and was an active supporter of Simmons College for many decades. The father of the Williams children was president of State Street Trust Company and a state legislator. Their mother was a frequent visitor to Isabella Stuart Gardner. Siblings Hugh, Moses Jr., Constance, and Mary all appear in this album and are direct descendants of Edward Devotion.
Hugh Williams, 1882
1872 - ; never married; parents: Moses Williams and Martha C. Fininley; lived on Walnut Place.

He was a surgeon who moved to Beacon St. in Boston. Siblings Hugh, Moses Jr., Constance, and Mary all appear in this album and are direct descendants of Edward Devotion.
Constance Martha Williams, 1882
1877 - ; married, 1905, Joseph Warrn ; parents: Moses Williams and Martha C. Fininley; lived on Walnut Place.

She graduated from Bryn Mawr in 1901 and attended the Boston Art School for two years thereafter. She was an author of short stories and had two novels published: in 1917, The Phoenix ("The story of a Boston girl’s life and love affairs set against a brilliant backdrop of American society") and, in 1920, Pearls astray: a romantic episode of the last democracy. Her husband became a law professor at Harvard. Siblings Hugh, Moses Jr., Constance, and Mary all appear in this album and are direct descendants of Edward Devotion.
Alice Maud Russell Sturgis, 1882
1868 - 1964; married, 1924, William Haynes-Smith; parents: John Hubbard Sturgis and Frances Ann Codman; lived on Boylston by the reservoir, later moved to Summit Ave.

Born in England. Her father was a prominent architect whose firm Sturgis and Brigham designed the original building of the Museum of Fine Arts in Copley Square and many other Massachusetts buildings. In 1924, Maud, as she was known, married William Haynes-Smith in Manchester-by-the-Sea where her family had a home. Haynes-Smith was born in 1871 in British Guiana where his father was a colonial official. Haynes-Smith was the long-time partner of the writer Howard Sturgis, the younger brother of Maud’s father. The two men lived together until Sturgis' death in 1920 at an estate called Queen’s Acre near London where they "frequently and happily entertained a wide circle of friends, among them [Henry] James and Edith Wharton, " according to the New York Review of Books. Maud and her husband were both in their 50s when they married. They made frequent and often lengthy visits to Boston from their estate in England. Maud moved back to Boston permanently after the death of her husband in 1937. She died at the age of 95 in 1964. Her funeral was held in the Church of the Advent in Beacon Hill, designed by her father.
Edith Seabury Allen, 1882
1867 – 1943; married, 1895 John Prentiss (1861 - ). married, 1901, Humphrey Turner Nichols (1875 - 1948); parents: Samuel Seabury Allen and Hannah Doane Wells; had lived at 126 Monmouth St. but had moved to Boston by 1882.

Her father was in the marine insurance business. married, 1895 John Prentiss (1861-1897); married, 1901, Humphrey Turner Nichols (1875 - 1948); Her first husband, an attorney, died of pneumonia in 1897. Her second husband was a writer for the New York Commercial Advertiser and later a publicist for a textile waterproofing company. Early in their marriage they spent two years in Europe where their two children were born. They later lived briefly in New York and then in Boston with a summer home in York, Maine.
Bertha Williams Thomas, 1882
1869 - ; parents: Edward Isaiah Thomas, Henrietta Williams Briggs; married, 1894, Edward Mauran Beals; lived on Harvard Ave. near Park St.

The couple later lived at 167 Walnut St.
Helen Maud Bennett, 1882
1868 - ; parents: married, 1892, Charles Franklin Richardson; Stephen Dexter Bennett and Helen Frances Howe; lived at 305 Walnut St, near Cypress;

Three of the four bridesmaids (Elise Bennett, Eliza Post, Mary Williams) listed in this announcement for their wedding appear in Mary Williams’ and Ethel Standwood’s tintype photo albums.
Eliza Chapman Post, 1882
1867 - 1919; never married; parents: Jotham William Post, Eliza D Chapman; grew up on Walnut St. opposite Irving; later lived at 12 Upland with her aunt

Her father was a physician who died "at sea" in 1877 when she was ten.
Richard Harding Weld, 1882
1867 - 1920; married, 1919, Bertha Rinaldo Eldridge; parents: Richard Harding Weld and Laura Townsend Winsor; lived on his father's farm on Weld St. in West Roxbury

The Weld name is quite prominent in the history of Massachusetts. In the 1600s, the original immigrant, Joseph Weld, was granted a large tract of land, in what is now West Roxbury, in appreciation for his pivotal work in a war with the Pequot Indians. The land extended into Brookline along South St. and remained in the family for over 250 years. The grandfather of Richard and his cousin Bernard Weld began the family Manila hemp import business. It was carried on, in partnership, by their respective fathers and then by the cousins themselves. After the death of his father Richard lived with his mother at 109 Beacon St., Boston before getting married, in 1919, to Bertha Rinaldo Eldridge. He died in July 1920 at their summer home in Harwichport.
Alfred Winsor Weld, 1882
1869 - 1956; married, 1893, Theresa Davis; parents: Richard Harding Weld and Laura Townsend Winsor; lived on his father's farm on Weld St. in West Roxbury

Known as "Winsor", he graduated from Harvard in 1891 and was an investment broker associated for many years with the firm Paine, Webber, Jackson and Curtis. At the end of World War I he served as a major with the American Red Cross in Greece, leading relief efforts for tens of thousands of refugees in the Aegean Islands. He was decorated for this work by the Greek government. Winsor was the president of the Boston Skating Club in Allston and a founder and first president of the U.S. Figure Skating Association. His daughter, Theresa Weld Blanchard, was a figure skating champion who competed in both individual and pairs skating in three Olympics, winning an individual bronze medal in 1920. She was also the longtime editor of Skating magazine, originally published out of her home in Brookline. Both Winsor and Theresa were among the first class of inductees into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame. After the death of his father he lived with his mother at 109 Beacon St., Boston before getting married, in 1919, to Bertha Rinaldo Eldridge. He died in July 1920 at their summer home in Harwichport. May Margaret Winsor, featured in the Ethel Stanwood tintype album, is his first cousin, daughter of his mother’s brother, Alfred Winsor. (See his older brother Richard’s photo for more information on the family).
Bernard Coffin Weld, 1882
1868 - ; married, 1895, Mabel Stephenson; parents: Aaron Davis Weld, Ann Warren Coffin;

The Weld name is quite prominent in the history of Massachusetts. In the 1600s, the original immigrant, Joseph Weld, was granted a large tract of land, in what is now West Roxbury, in appreciation for his pivotal work in a war with the Pequot Indians. The land extended into Brookline along South St. and remained in the family for over 250 years. The grandfather of Bernard and his cousin Richard Weld began the family Manila hemp import business. It was carried on, in partnership, by their respective fathers and then by the cousins themselves.
L. or F. Weld, 1882 [unidentified]
E. Tudor, 1882 [unidentified]
Likely one of the sisters, Emma or Euphemia Tudor
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