Contents:

• President's Address
• Report of the Treasurer
• Report of the Nominating Committee
• Extracts From The Diary of Benjamin Goddard of Brookline, 1812-1821
• Officers and Committees
• List of Members

The tenth annual meeting of the Brookline Historical Society was held in the Edward Devotion House, Brookline, Mass., on Wednesday, January 18, 1911, at 8 p. m., in accordance with a notice mailed to every member. President. Charles H. Stearns was in the chair.

The records of the last annual and monthly meetings were read and the President then delivered his annual address.



Members of the Brookline Historical Society and Friends: -

In beginning this, my second annual greeting as your President, and the tenth year in the life of this Society, I desire to thank those members whom I could always count upon to be present at our meetings. The interest of those who attend regularly is unflagging, and makes up for the comparatively small attendance. The change in the place of our meetings has increased somewhat the numbers; whether from the novelty of the surroundings or otherwise time will tell. Yet, friends, I would not begin this paper in a pessimistic vein. I know how difficult it is to get a large attendance at meetings in Brookline where there are so many and diverse attractions, and I trust that the gatherings in this venerable and time-honored place may prove the wisdom of our removal from our former comfortable quarters in the Town Hall. We certainly are greatly indebted to the Grand Army Post for their most courteous invitation to occupy their rooms, and we may again find it advantageous to occasionally have our meetings there. It behooves us to do all we can to make our meetings interesting and profitable.

The following have been the papers presented during the past year, 1910:-

The membership of the Society January 1, 1910, was 165; that of January 1, 1911, is 167. Five new members have been admitted, and there have been no resignations. Three members have died during the year, viz.: Mrs. Ada Ripley (Heath) Doliber, the wife of Thomas Doliber of Goddard avenue, who died January 3, 1910, aged 54 years, 7 months. Mr. Lewis Wight, died January 12, aged 77 years, 5 months. Mr. Francis Adams White, died January 13, aged 85 years, 8 months.

Mrs. Doliber was the daughter of Charles Henry Heath, whose father was Charles Heath, and whose grandfather was Ebeneezer Heath, who lived in the house still standing on Heath, near Boylston street, now occupied by the Misses Dana. The Heath family has been very prominent in Brookline affairs, and as those who were present at our last meeting will remember, was frequently mentioned by Mr. Goddard in the social gatherings at his house. Mrs. Doliber's mother was Lucy Ripley, who lived on Walnut street, in the house now occupied by Edwin N. Crosby. Mrs. Doliber some years ago wrote a paper for one of the D. A. R.'s about the Heath family, which was afterwards read at one of our meetings.

Mr. Lewis Wight has been a resident of Brookline for a number of years, living in a fine house on Rawson road. He had been in the fur business but had retired. He had not been an active member of our Society.

Mr. White, the father of our Secretary, was born in the town of Boylston, Mass., the youngest of ten children. His grandfather, Aaron White, was a native of Brookline, though removing to Roxbury about 1769, and settling on what has since been known as Mount Pleasant. It is interesting to know that this large family of children all lived to well past middle life, the average age attained being over eighty-four years. Mr. Francis White lived in Roxbury in early life and was engaged with his brother Isaac in the leather business. In 1858 he bought of Nathaniel Goddard the place on Warren street, Brookline, where he passed the remainder of his life. The name of White has always been identified with the life of Brookline, three of that name being on the petition to the General Court for incorporation as a town.

During the past year the decennial United States census has been taken, and the population of Brookline as of 1910 is 27,792, an increase during the ten years of 7,851.

At the same time we must remember that mere numbers do not add to the real growth of a town. A majority of the increase are residents of apartment houses, who do not always add to its real wealth or strength. We must not make a sweeping denunciation of such residents, for many, no doubt, are most desirable citizens, but a majority come to these apartments simply to sleep and have but little to do with the affairs of the town. The total number of polls (males of twenty years and over) as taken by the assessors April, 1910, was 7,486, while the registered voters were about 4,800.

The new Public Library, which was mentioned as in process of erection in last year's address, was finished during the past summer. The old building which had been moved to one corner of the lot, was pulled down, the grounds have been graded, and the new building was dedicated on the afternoon of November 17, with a most impressive service. The building is simple in its style, but dignified, and grows in beauty and stateliness the better one is acquainted with it.

The streets in and around Coolidge Corner have been paved with granite blocks, with cement grout, another evidence that the town, or the northern part of it, at least, is fast losing its suburban character, and is becoming but an adjunct of a great city.

A new trust company has recently been opened in that locality.

Among the deaths of prominent citizens during the year, mention should be made of Manning Seamans, who was born in the town. For many years he was associated with his father in the grocery business, and since Mr. James Seamans' retirement, Manning has carried it on in his own name. He will be greatly missed from Harvard Square.

As I have said, our Society has recently held its meetings in this (so-called) Devotion House. As the status of this house and the occupancy of it may not be familiar to all our members, I will briefly state it. The house itself and the lot on which it stands is owned by the town, which bought about seven acres of land twenty years ago for school and other purposes. Two large brick buildings to accommodate the Devotion Grammar and Primary Schools were built on the Harvard street front, and an engine house on the Devotion street side. The land on Stedman street is used as a playground. For several years after the town had acquired the land, and before the schoolhouses had been completed, the large barn on the lot was used by the street department, and the house was occupied by laborers. After the schools were opened the School Committee recommended the tearing down of the old house, which had become very much out of repair, but a strong opposition arose, so strong that when an article in the town warrant asking for an appropriation to put the house in good condition was brought up in town meeting, it was carried by a large majority.

Quite a sum was spent in repairs, and for a year or more it remained vacant. Then some patriotic citizens, including the members of this Society and the ladies of the D. A. R. and the D. R., pledged money sufficient to care for the building for three years, and the town, or its Selectmen, granted an association known as the Devotion House Association, leave to occupy it for that length of time. The house has been opened and used as a museum of antiques and relics and open to the public twice a week, at a charge of admission of ten cents. This Society is the largest contributor to this fund, and as this is the third year of this arrangement, it has been suggested that the Brookline Historical Society take the charge of the building at the end of the term, provided the town allows the continuation of the present arrangement. It would be well for the Executive Committee to take this into consideration.

Two different papers have been read before this Society concerning the Devotion family - one by Mrs. Thomas Griggs, giving a history of the family, and one by Mr. Edward W. Baker, giving an account of the Devotion fund which was left by Edward Devotion for education in the town. It may be interesting to say something about the more modem occupation of the house and farm by the late George Babcock, who owned and tilled it for many years; and what I may say will be largely from my own recollections of the place. The original Devotion farm extended on the north to Charles River and joined the Sewall farm on the east. The laying out of the mill dam and its branch to Brighton, now Commonwealth avenue, cut the farm in two, and a syndicate of Boston merchants, among whom David Sears was one, thinking that this new approach to Boston would greatly advance the value of lands adjacent to it, bought large tracts in what was then Brookline, including this farm. Some of the Sears land is still held in the family; also the large tract on the north of Commonwealth avenue, now occupied by a golf club, is still owned by the descendants of Ebeneezer Francis, another of this syndicate.

Mr. Babcock probably hired his farm of these gentlemen when he first came to Brookline, between 1830 and 1840. He subsequently bought it or a part of it, seventy-three and a half acres, according to the tax list of 1850, bounded by Harvard street and Brighton, now Commonwealth avenue. The Harvard street frontage extended from about one hundred feet east of Babcock street, to the land now owned by the Ayer family. The Brighton avenue frontage was not so extensive, but the farm embraced all of the streets which have subsequently been built on this large tract. It was a most beautiful piece of land, diversified by hill and dale. It also included a large growth of woods. Babcock's woods, Babcock's hill, Babcock's meadow, were household words to the boys of the decade from 1850 to 1860. A farm road meandered the entire length of the farm from Harvard street to Brighton avenue, crossing brooks on rustic bridges and again running through high banks of land. The hill, now almost entirely gone, rose quite abruptly from near the northerly line of Harvard street, leaving a narrow strip of land between the hill and the road, which was used by Mr. Babcock for his early peas. It was a sunny, protected spot, and it was one of his ambitions to take in the first peas to Boston market and to have it recorded in the Boston Post, for Mr. Babcock was a good democrat, and a faithful reader of that paper. It used to be a by-word among the farmers in the vicinity, perhaps prompted by jealousy, that Mr. Babcock used to go out on some mild February day with his men and make holes through the frost with a crowbar, to put in his seed peas, in order to ensure an early crop. Another of his ambitions was to take the first prize at the Norfolk County Cattle Show for his yoke of steers, and he had a fine wooden yoke, which he used expressly for taking them to and from Dedham on the day of the fair, the yoke reposing for the rest of the year in his parlor.

This farm with its groves and pond has been the inspiration for many a pencil sketch and painting. There were broad ditches, which made capital places for skating in the winter time, and in summer the woods made an attractive spot for picnics. The house itself had a large lean-to in the rear, which was taken away when the town repaired the premises. There were also a large barn and numerous sheds and outbuildings. Miss Woods in her history of Brookline speaks of the beautiful elms shading the house. Several of these were taken down when the schoolhouses were built, and an enormous rock maple which stood just at the gateway, had to be sacrificed when Harvard street was widened. The present maples that are growing so finely on either side of the house were planted after the town had acquired the land. Mr. Babcock was a quiet, retiring man, but eccentric and of the old school. He always wore a stovepipe hat winter or summer, on his market wagon or in the field, oftentimes with the nap almost entirely worn off. He had an overcoat, called in those days a surtout, which he wore for best for forty years, and he boasted that it had been in and out of fashion four times in those years. Although he worked hard, he had not the faculty of laying up money, and the story goes that when one of his hired men, who had lived with him for over twenty years, wanted to visit his old home in Ireland, Mr. Babcock had to mortgage his farm to pay the man his accumulated wages. He died in 1867, and the same year a large part of the farm extending from Harvard street to Brighton avenue, on the easterly side, amounting to forty-three acres, was sold to Henry Blaney who lived on Park street, where the Methodist Church now stands. Mr. Blaney had for some time tried to induce Mr. Babcock to sell him this land, but in vain, for he was very loth to part with his farm, although he was so impecunious; but one day a mutual friend, who had been sent for that purpose, induced him to consent to the sale, and after the land had been surveyed and the preliminaries arranged a day was set for the signing of the deed at Mr. Bowditch's office in Boston. But Mr. Babcock had had time to repent of his agreement to sell, and on the day set he harnessed up his horse into his old market wagon and drove away early into the country, not returning until nightfall. Whether he did finally sign the deed or whether the transfer was made after his death, I am not sure, but doubtless the excitement hastened his death.

Mr. Blaney laid out this large tract and built the present Babcock street and set out the fine row of maples on either side. He also built three or four houses as an inducement for people to buy house lots, but the time had not come for this and his venture was not a profitable one, as we all know. Babcock street and the streets that run into it are now well built up. Another large tract west of the house, called the pasture lot and including the pond and part of the hill, was sold soon after to James M. Beals of the aforesaid Boston Post. After Mr. Beals' death it was again sold to Benjamin B. Newhall, who graded the land, carting the gravel from the hill to fill up the pond, and built Beals and Stedman streets. He began to build on and near Harvard street, but died in the midst of the work. This tract was thirteen acres in extent, and is now mostly built over. Quite a quantity of land still remained in the family, the rest of the hill and the valley beyond, also that immediately surrounding the house. The former was sold to several Brookline gentlemen, Mr. John Gibbs acting as their agent, and at his death Mr. James Seamans taking the office. An immense quantity of gravel was sold from the hill, and the land was afterwards sold to David H. McKay, who laid out Naples road, Fuller; Coolidge and Thorndike streets, and built a number of houses. He, too, died while still in his enterprise, and the land has been sold to various parties. Mrs. Babcock survived her husband many years. There were no children born to the couple, and her nephew, Nahum Smith of Weston, inherited what was left of the farm, and he it was who sold six and three-quarters acres to the town in 1891. The price paid for this lot was S61,()()(). And so has passed the Devotion-Babcock farm, like so many of the farms of the town. In this case the very topography of the land has changed, and there has been a literal fulfillment of Scripture, in that "the valleys have been exalted and the hills laid low: the crooked (cart paths) have been made straight and the rough places plain."








Benjamin Goddard was known in the days of his strength as one of the most influential and active members of the community ..... to whose good offices and pure example, to whose steadfast perseverance in every known duty and loyal fidelity to every worthy cause and work, this town, then united in a single parish, owed much of its character and prosperity. Intellectually, Mr. Goddard was distinguished by strong native sense and clear judgment, discerning at once the practical bearing of every question, and not easily imposed upon by novelty or pretense.. Of his moral character truth was the prominent and prevailing trait. A man of strict justice and incorruptible integrity. True to every social obligation, and thoroughly conscientious to all the minutiae of life, he was also a wise and faithful steward of the goods



His father was John Goddard who responded to the Lexington alarm and was later Wagon Master General to the army of General Washington until after the siege of Boston. His mother was Hannah Goddard (born Sever), whose name honors one of the Brookline chapters of the D. A. R.

A sketch of John and Hannah Goddard by Rev. Wm. H. Lyon at one time read before the Brookline Historical Society and since printed is well worth reading more than once.

"Summer street," where Benjamin and Mrs. G. dined, was the house of his brother Nathaniel, and it was where he visited most frequently. The relation between the brothers was affectionate and intimate, and the families were together as often as possible. The house stood at the southwest comer of Summer and Kingston streets on land purchased in 1802. The house was built in 1807, and Nathaniel lived in it for nearly forty years. It was three stories in height, of light-colored Philadelphia brick, and stood on a high bank about 12 to 15 feet back from Summer street and with a grass plot in front.



The Goddard family originated in America in 1666, when William, a merchant of the Grocer's company, came to Boston, the year of the great plague. Later, Joseph, the second son of William, settled in Watertown and then in Brookline on what is now Goddard avenue. That property descended from father to son until John and Hannah Goddard lived there and reared their family. In 1785 or thereabouts, John transferred that homestead to his son Joseph and removed to the Deacon Gardner estate, which he purchased, and on a part of which his son Benjamin built his house in 1810-1811.



The old Gardner house, purchased by John Goddard, stood on the curve of the old Sherborn road where it came down from the meeting house to skirt the meadow which later became the site of the present Boylston street reservoir in 1845.

When the Worcester Turnpike was built in 1806 it followed a straight line from the house and store of Thomas White opposite Punch Bowl Tavern, (now Guild's Comer), directly over Walley's Hill till it struck the old road in front of John Goddard's estate. From there to Acker's Comer the old road was absorbed into the Turnpike, but at the last named point the new and the old roads parted company, the Turnpike continuing by compass over the hill to Richard's Tavern and beyond to Newton and other towns to Worcester, and thence to New York. Living on the Turnpike, with all the stage travel passing to and fro between Boston and Worcester and beyond --- a member of a large family, prominent in the church and personally popular in the community, fond of young company, with no children in his own family but making a home for those of others, his household was seldom without guests or visitors, regular or transient, and the neighbors and friends passing by usually stopped for a few minutes' chat. All such, however, were given a place in the journal if their call gave the least warrant for mentioning the fact.

It would be interesting to quote from this diary at length, but extracts only must suffice at this time and these extracts will be from the diary for the years 1812 to 1820.

What shall be the extracts from this journal of one hundred years ago written here in Brookline with the old-fashioned goose-quill, before the days of steel pens, of automobiles, steam trains and trolley cars; when the telephone and telegraph were undreamed of and the communication by mail was by stage coach or courier; when there were no electric lights, no gas lights, no kerosene lamps even, and the candle gave brilliant illumination for all functions; when the wood lot was the source of fuel supply for the great fireplaces, the brick ovens, or the Rumford heater in those days before steam heat and janitor service, before the furnace and the chore-man? It was not until 1818 that the journalist got up the subscription to pay for the stoves in the meeting house, and it was a year later when Mr. Stone, the handy mechanic, made a fireboard for his mother's chamber. The next year a sheet iron stop was fitted in room of the chimney board previously put in. Those were the days when the farmer in Brookline carried his grain to the mill, and when the saw-mill, which was at the outlet of Saw Mill Brook Valley, furnished timber and lumber for local consumption. Shall the journalist tell you when he reads "Locke on Christianity," or shall I quote his comments on "Scottish Chiefs," "Paul and Virginia," "Boswell's Johnson," "Elizabeth the Exile of Siberia," "History of the Egyptians," or "Walter Scott's Waterloo"?

Do you want to know his criticisms of the President's Messages, the mysteries of sausage making, how the young singers performed for the first time in the meeting house, or all about that cold Tuesday when the vinegar froze in the parlor closet, and the bay was frozen to Long Island?

It might interest you to know that his nieces rode out from Boston "gallanted" by their equestrian teacher, that Brother Nathaniel came in his chaise usually, but sometimes in the stage, and that it was no uncommon thing for the young people to walk, or perhaps "take the Old Mare."

Would you go to the dentist's with Mrs. G. a visit she bore with bravery and fortitude? Would you call at Brother Joseph's the day when he fell from a tree and broke a rib, for which he was let blood? Would you recommend blistering Johnson for the rheumatism, or would you prefer to sit with Benjamin himself for a number of days when he had a lame foot and read many chapters in the Book of Job for consolation?

Would you like to read the full and explicit directions to his hired man about the care of cattle and horses, so that they should be well fed but not wastefully, remembering that this hired man had been engaged for $13 per month, he to attend meeting and furnish his own spirit, or would you rather spend an evening in an easy social way that always affords the most enjoyment?

Do you want to know the value of his real estate in Boston, of how much it cost to cut, cure and house salt hay from the marsh, of the shipment of five hundred barrels of flour by the "Ariadne" to Southern Europe, or are you more interested to know when the first asparagus went to market?

Some might be interested to attend the inauguration of the venerable and excellent Governor Strong. Others would prefer to attend the political conventions at Faneuil Hall. A few would accompany him to the cellar where he bottled porter and caught cold, while the young ladies would do now as they did then, go to the commencement exercises at Cambridge on purpose to be gallanted home by the young men.

You would perhaps like to hear about various wedding festivities and you would all sympathize when "self and Mrs. G." go here and there "a girl hunting" after having discharged Betsy Wilkins and there was no kitchen help for several weeks.

You would enjoy the evening when the schoolmaster called or that other evening when they talked politics and sang, accompanied by the piano (1812).

You would perhaps notice the coincidence that company was not wanted in hay time, and that the bedrooms were not offered to undesirable visitors, and it would certainly amuse you. to learn that in 1813 a newly married couple, according to a recent custom, went on a journey to avoid the speech of people.

In those days he paid his taxes to Constable Bradley, and after a town election the Selectmen, some of the principal other officers, Mr. Pierce, Mr. Heath and the journalist, usually had supper or took tea at the home of some one of the parties mentioned.

On November 29, 1814, there was an earthquake, and on February 7, 1815, which was Shrove Tuesday, they ate pancakes and baked beans.

Shall he tell you about the evening when they had no company but their own family, "who were tranquil and apparently happy," or that other evening when they had a ball and the company left before eleven o'clock "all tolerable well"?

You might like to know when Louisa made her debut at the singing school or about that other occasion when the young singers in the choir were promoted to seats in the meeting house.

On September 3, 1818, "Joseph Goddard came at nine o'clock. He walked from Boston. Stayed the night. He brought the information that the famous Sea Serpent was caught."

The diarist went to the Brighton Cattle Show and was a judge at the ploughing contest, he attended the Ecclesiastical Council at Dedham, and took preserved roses to Mr. Woodward's to be distilled.

One stormy night "Old Borealis roared most horrible"; another night "Old Borealis played briskly on his harp."

On January 20, 1818, he tells about the subscription for the shares of the Roxbury Mill Corporation for the building of the mill dam from Beacon street to Sewall's point with branch road to Punch Bowl Village, and two years later (July 14, 1820) he "rode over the new road from Brighton and visited the works of the Mill Dam Corporation." He read the "Vicar of Wakefield" in February, 1819, and his comment is, "Poor fellow, he had a life of trial." The girls had a company of their friends in Brookline and they all danced a little with homespun musick."

On January 23, 1819, "Read trial of the pirates for Murder of Capt, Mate & Supercargo of Schooner Platsburg."

On February 18, 1819, "William gone to see the Pirates (Williams, Peterson, Rog and Frederick) hanged - their execution was upon Boston Neck back of the burying ground. Mr. Heath, one of the spectators informed that the concourse of people was immense, he should think nearly or quite forty thousand persons."

In March, 1820, he notes that "Missouri is admitted as a State without restricting slavery." In December he notes, "Mrs. G. with George Goddard to Boston to pass a few days in search of happiness. Self at home enjoying it."

In 1818 (March 31) he prepared the things at the "Old House" for an auction, which took place the day following and then he attended to the delivering of the things sold at the auction.

He inscribes a very touching obituary in memory of the Old Mare. On the same day he goes to Sherborn and "buys apple trees to be transplanted for the benefit of the next generation."

On November 30, 1820, he dined at Captain Holland's, "where attended the distinguished guest President Adams at 85 years of age," and on March 20, 1821, he says: "This day completes the fifty-fifth anniversary of my pilgrimage. This memo. is made in order to keep pace with time."

At a time of sorrow, and when many visitors are mentioned, he says, "on the whole much more company than was desirable, but their visits were friendly intended. To reflect requires retirement."

Everything of any importance is noted, from the number of bushels of barley per acre to the disproving of the superstition that the pork of swine slaughtered on the decrease of the moon is not so good as if otherwise. Fruit trees were "washed with brine to kill insects" and the doctor prescribed "moderate medicine" in a case of illness. A "Nahant party" was postponed on account of bad weather, but on a certain Sabbath "the attendance at the meeting house was small, many having gone to the marsh to save hay from expected high tides, it being a work of necessity and mercy." He served on the grand jury, subscribed to the Peace Society and Cambridge Theological Institute, was glad that election came but twice a year, and in all ways was a most satisfactory journalist.

A considerable portion of his journal for the early months of the year 1812 is devoted to the very decided opinions he held in regard to the non-advisability of hostilities with England. He had been and continued to be interested with his Brother Nathaniel in commercial ventures and the merchants of Boston did not want war.

It would be interesting to read all of his chronicles on this topic, but a few will very well illustrate the manner in which he expresses to his confidential friend - his journal- his very positive convictions.














































Mr. Goddard was not a man of war, nor was he skilled in the arts and architecture. Rather he was a man of peace, experienced in trade and versed in the secrets and mysteries of agriculture. He was fond of literature and was a lover of nature in all her moods and seasons. He was one who found enjoyment in the tilling of the soil and contentment in the fruits thereof, whose desire was to deserve the respect and esteem of his neighbors and whose greatest pleasures were found in the loving family circle of his own home.



Some evenings the family entertained company or in tum visited the neighbors or friends. Other evenings the family were by themselves. No matter what the entertainment, it was duly chronicled in some such way as the following examples:-



















Benjamin Goddard lived his boyhood on the homestead farm on Goddard avenue. His brother Nathaniel, who was a year younger, and in later life became one of the leading merchants of Boston, wrote a narrative of his early life for the benefit of his grandchildren, and a short extract from that narrative gives much of interest.



To those interested in the manners and customs, the life, the thoughts and the activities of a prominent Brookline family in the first quarter of the last century, the diary of Benjamin Goddard is a treasure house of information. He does not limit his observations to local events, but he reads the papers, he is identified with the business interests of Boston, he comments on politics, religion and the domestic arts. It is to be hoped that this diary may some time be edited and printed in full, but for the present a few extracts will show the range of his observations and the care with which he records them.