Ellen Griggs Saxe was the daughter of a prominent town citizen, Deacon Thomas Griggs. Widowed and living in Troy, NY at the time of his death, in 1886, she moved back to Brookline into the family house at 519 Washington Street which she had inherited. Family members assembled here are, from left to right:

• John Walter Saxe (standing), 1863-1929, non-identical twin of James Alfred Saxe. The twins both graduated from Harvard College in 1888 and Harvard Law in 1892, and went into business together in Boston as Saxe and Saxe.
• William Arthur Saxe (seated): 1857-1917. He was struck and killed by an automobile in Baltimore where he was secretary/treasurer of a concrete company.
• Mary Ellen Saxe (standing), 1865-1903. She never married and died of pneumonia at the age of 37.
• Ellen Griggs Saxe (seated), 1824-1904
• ames Alfred Saxe, 1863-1948, non-identical twin of John Walter Saxe. The twins both graduated from Harvard College in 1888 and Harvard Law in 1892, and went into business together in Boston as Saxe and Saxe.
• Edward Thomas Saxe, 1860-1924, partially visible. Lived for years on Aspinwall Ave.

[Source: Saxe Family Collection]

The woman in the doorway is most likely Ellen Griggs Saxe, daughter of prominent town citizen Deacon Thomas Griggs. Widowed and living in Troy, NY at the time of his death, in 1886, she moved back to Brookline into this house which she had inherited. The sons inherited the Griggs land, a large part of which comprises today’s Grigg’s Park situated directly behind the house. The house is no longer standing.

In the carriage are her son, James Alfred Saxe, and his wife, Mary Wick. The newly-married couple is about to head off to a year-long European honeymoon. They returned in May, 1893 and moved to a house on Edgehill Rd.
[Source: Saxe Family Collection]

Standing on Beacon St., Carlton St. going north to the right; just offscreen to the right is the house of John Ruggles. This is a school house that was built around the time of the widening of Beacon St. in 1851. There is no evidence that it was ever a public school. There is a record of its use as a private school in 1871 by M. Fannie Welbasky. Welbasky (1841-1922) periodically operated “Miss Welbasky’s Home School for Girls” at various locations in Brookline until 1889. She had an interesting history. Her father was a recent immigrant from Russian and her mother, coincidentally named Susan Ruggles Plympton, was from an established early-European-settler family. Her mother apparently separated from her father shortly after their marriage. Her daughter never married and mother and daughter lived together, mostly in Brookline, until the mother’s death in 1885.

The school building was likely removed for the 1887 widening of Beacon St.

From the 1887 photo series taken just before the widening of Beacon St.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

He owned a bookbinding firm and a publishing company, served as state representative from Brookline for five years, was a director of the Brookline National Bank, and was a director of the Brookline Friendly Society.

In 1896, he married Gertrude Steese. The wedding was held in the house of her parents at 105 Gardner Rd. and was considered to be a major event on the social calendar. The couple lived at several nearby locations until the death of Gertrude’s father, in 1902, when they moved in with her mother at the Gardner Road house. They continued to live at 105 Gardner Rd. unit his imprisonment in 1927.

He was an ally of Louis Brandeis, later the first Jewish justice of the United Supreme Court, in several policy battles and was a vigorous defender of Brandeis when the latter faced opposition to his appointment to the high court. Oddly, just four years after Brandeis’ accession to the court, White’s company published the first American edition of the anti-Semitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It is unclear what role White had in its publication; he worked in military intelligence during the First World War and may have been exposed to anti-Bolshevik, anti-Jewish propaganda. He later ran into financial difficulties and served two-and-a-half years in prison for larceny for securing bank loans based on false statements.

The home of the family of Edward Steese, a physician turned wool merchant, and later the home of the family of his daughter, Gertrude Steese, and her husband, Norman Hill White. This photograph was found in her 1896 wedding book.

The Whites lived in the house until 1927 when Norman White was imprisoned for larceny. It was torn down circa 1935.

“The almshouse was constructed in 1883 on Newton Street, near the Putterham School. The almshouse provided Brookline poor with shelter, food, and work, and produced and sold items such as wood, potatoes, and hay. The almshouse was converted to an infirmary in 1931. On the site of the almshouse, the Town built various hospitals including the first hospital in 1894, later named the Contagious Disease Hospital. In 1901, a complex of six buildings were constructed to house patients with diptheria and scarlet fever. In 1916, a new tuberculosis hospital was opened. All of the hospitals and the old almshouse were demolished in 1954.” [source: brooklinema.gov]

Item Number: 900-1; Job #900, Boston Parks through 950, Boston, MA (plans)
[Source: Olmsted]

Item Number: 900-1; Job #900, Boston Parks through 950, Boston, MA (plans)
[Source: Olmsted]

At about today's 446 Harvard St. between Thorndike and Coolidge Sts.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Viewed from Longwood Ave. The driveway entrance is located to the left rear at the apex of Harvard St. and Longwood Ave. No longer standing.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

This house, which is still standing, was built as part of the 1843-1844 development of the Linden St. area. It was the “cottage” of William Ingersoll Bowditch until 1867 when he moved to a larger house at 225 Tappan St.

From the report of the Massachusetts Historical Commission:
“Before the Civil War, he was a firm believer in abolition, becoming active in both Brookline and Boston efforts. He belonged to the Boston Vigilance Committee. Bowditch, along with Edward Atkinson and Edward Philbrick, participated actively in the fight against slavery. Besides trying to sway public opinion through meetings and lectures, Bowditch used his house for sheltering fugitive slaves. In 1849-1850, a South Carolina couple arrived in Boston on their way to freedom. They spoke at the Brookline Town Hall and stayed at #9 Toxteth. From there they went to other residences in town. At another time, Bowditch drove a slave from the brig Cameo from Boston to Concord and returned home in time for breakfast. Perhaps the most illustrious guest during this period was John Brown's son. The young man was hidden here after his father's execution for his involvement in the Harper's Ferry raid.“
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

Construction materials can be seen by the car in front of the newly-built third building of the Devotion School which is still standing.
[Source: Historic New England]

Looking northwest at the rear of the Prescott St. house of Amos Lawrence viewed from the location of present-day Carlton St. The house was later turned ninety degrees counter clockwise and moved a small distance to its present location at 135 Ivy St., now the home of the president of Boston University.
[Source: Historic New England]

The house was built in 1851 on Prescott St. by Amos Lawrence. After his death in 1886, ownership of the house was assumed by his daughter, Hettie Cunningham. By 1899, Euston St. had been opened as a public way along with an extension of Carlton St. northward from Ivy St. to Mountfort St. This created a new block suitable for development and the Cunninghams divided the block into a 2 x 3 matrix of individual lots. The house is being is being turned ninety degrees counter clockwise and moved a small distance from the center of the block to the pair of lots at the corner of Carlton and Ivy where the house is at its present location of 135 Ivy St., now the home of the president of Boston University.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Looking southeast at the original location of the house on Prescott St. Ivy St. is to the right and a faint image of the tower of the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour on the corner of Carlton and Monmouth can be glimpsed in the distance on the right. The house was built in 1851 by Amos Lawrence and, in the summer of 1899, turned ninety degrees counter clockwise and moved a small distance to its present location at 135 Ivy St. where it is now the home of the president of Boston University.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

On the left is a small outbuilding, not seen in older photos or viewed on atlases of the time, whose purpose and origin have not yet determined. Directly behind it, the rear corner of the newly-built Combination Engine fire house on Devotion St. can be glimpsed. To the right of the fire house is the carriage barn of 60 Babcock St. and the long fence going behind the properties on Babcock St. On the far right is the 1892 Devotion School building.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

The barn of the Edward Devotion house has been demolished in preparation for the construction of the new wing of the Devotion School. On the extreme left, the corner of 20 Stedman St., constructed in 1898, is barely visible next to the tree. There is a small outbuilding just to the left of the Devotion house, not seen in older photos or viewed on atlases of the time. Its purpose and origin have not yet determined. The rear of the newly-built Combination Engine fire house on Devotion St. can be seen along with a small section of its tower. To the right is the carriage barn of 60 Babcock St. and the long fence going behind the properties on Babcock St.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Built in 1840, still standing.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Standing on the White property looking south at Tappan St.

From the 1887 photo series taken just before the widening of Beacon St.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]