People of PURCHASE STREET
The Weld Family:
267-273 Purchase Street in Boston was owned by a man named W. F. Weld. This was the building on the corner of Purchase Street and Federal Street and with 5 stories and 4,909 square feet, it was the largest portion of the building owned by one person. Mr. Weld was a very wealthy man, but in his old age, he needed to pass down his wealth and assets to the next generation. In The Daily Boston Globe in 1896, an entire section highlighted the Weld family and where F. Weld's wealth would be going. It was titled, "Women of Wealth" and it highlights his two grandchildren Mrs. Chas. F. Sprague, and Miss Isabel Perkins who had Mr. F Weld's fortune handed down to them. This fortune although, was not to be touched by the two of them until they arrived at 25 years of age. In 1912, we see the Purchase Street property change hands to a woman named Isabel Anderson. This was the same Miss Isabel Perkins, although she had married Larz Anderson, a man who owned a large estate in Brookline.
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were married in 1897, she was 23 at the time and was known for being one of the wealthiest women in the world due to the awaiting fortune. At this time Isabel's father, Commander George Hamilton Perkins had just died, leaving another estate in the Brookline hilltops. All of this property including the Purchase Street location and millions of dollars in automobile collections now belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, and the Automobiles were created into a museum in Brookline that are now open to the public to this day.
Rufus G. Norris
Mr. Rufus G. Norris was a business owner at 207 Purchase Street. Like everyone else who worked in this building, he did not live at 207 and had to commute every day to work. This segment of the building was owned by a woman named Mary B. Brown, but the business owner of all four floors of the building was Mr. Norris. He ran an oil and varnish company that was called Rufus G. Norris & Co. oils. This was one of the largest companies that was in the building, spreading their services all over Boston and making a huge impact on the paint, oil, varnish and allied trades of Boston. Mr. Norris was partners with a man E.C. Milliken in 1839 at 21 North Market Street, and has been mentioned at several other locations in Boston. Mr. Norris's residential address was at 40 Concord Square, meaning that was his commute every single day to work.
Norris & Co. oils provided lots of jobs for people at Purchase street, with many different opportunities. This man Frank W. Marden was a salesman at 207 Purchase street in the late 1800s when Mr. Norris was still running the company at the Purchase Street location.
Another worker at Norris & Co. oils was a man named Eunech S. Hodgdon who was an oil presser in the late 1800s at the Purchase Street location. This is one example of the types of jobs that were at Norris & Co. and oil presser was one of them.
Working at 207 Purchase street for Mr. Norris & Co. was a woman named Miss E. M. Cheney who was a bookkeeper. Another was a clerk named Frank W. Cheney who worked at 261 Purchase Street. Reference the "Business in the Building" tab to learn more about 261 Purchase Street and its financial struggles in the leather industry.