Embedded Files
Morton S. Isaacson 4/17/23
Map of northeast part of Oldham Grant of 1634 drawn by Edmund L. Sanderson in 1923 (in the collection of the Waltham Historical Society). The red line is the northern boundary of the grant. South Street (Gale's Lane) is shown as existing in the early 1700s at the far left, and Harvard Street (Brown's Lane) is shown as existing in the early 1700s in the center. The dashed lines correspond to the modern street grid as drawn by Sanderson.
Early Land Development of the Charles-Felton Streets Area
For this historical review of the land development of the Charles-Felton Streets area of Waltham, the area has been defined as bordering on Moody Street on the east, South Street on the west, Main Street on the north, and the Charles River down to the Prospect Street bridge and then west over to South Street on the south. The area encompasses the northern half of the John Oldham Grant of 1634 (see map below) and other land grants around today's Waltham Common and Main Street from 1636. It also includes land along the south side of Main and Weston Streets, which were part of the Boston Post Road system, and was the primary route for the transport of cattle and produce to Boston from farms west and northwest of the city during colonial times. Consequently, many homes, shops, and taverns were established along it. Prior to European settlement, Main and Weston Streets had formed part of a primary native American trail going west from Massachusetts Bay.
In 1634, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony granted a 500 acre farm along the north side of the Charles River between Stony Brook (Weston line) and the Waltham Plain (near Moody Street) to John Oldham. This area had first been explored by John Winthrop and the Puritan settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1631. This was the first large land grant in colonial Watertown (Waltham was then part of colonial Watertown, founded 1630). Oldham had come to Plymouth in 1623. However, after having disagreements with Plymouth's Pilgrim leadership, he was banished in 1624, became a fur trader, but was then reconciled with the Plymouth settlers by 1628. In that year he acted as custodian of Thomas Morton (of Merry-Mount fame) when Morton was forcibly returned to England. In England, Oldham obtained from John Gorges a land grant for an area encompassing most of today's Charlestown, Cambridge, and Somerville. In any event, Oldham became a freeman of the town of Watertown in 1631, and became active in town government (Nelson, p. 38). The 500 acre farm grant in Waltham may have been in compensation for giving up the older grant from Gorges (Sanderson, p. 16). Watertown did not recognize the 500 acre grant until 1647, at which time it was laid out by town surveyors (Sanderson, p. 16). In the meantime, Oldham had been killed by native Americans while on a trading expedition near Block Island, in 1636. This incident triggered the Pequot War of 1637, the first military action between the New England settlers and the native tribes.
After Oldham's death, the farm was transferred to Matthew Craddock of London, to whom Oldham was indebted. It then passed to Thomas Mayhew, and finally to Richard Dummer, in 1659 (Sanderson, p. 16, also deed MLR book 2, page 275). The Oldham Grant was often referred to as "Mr. Dummer's Farm". In the later 1600s, the Oldham Grant/Dummer Farm was split between Richard Gale and Robert Harrington, with Gale buying the northern and eastern half and Harrington the southern and western half. As time went by, some of the Gale and Harrington descendents also acquired lots along the Great Road (Main and Weston Streets) in the area.
Beginning in 1636, and continuing into the 1640s, the inhabitants of Watertown gave to themselves, as private property, grants of land in the town consisting of most of its open space. Whereas other early Massachusetts Bay colonial towns kept much of the land as common land, in Watertown (and thus Waltham), most of the land was in private hands by the 1640s. The land covered by this survey, which was not included in the Oldham Grant (and even some that was included in the Oldham Grant, because the inhabitants of Watertown ignored that grant for many years - Sanderson, p. 16), was part of the Beaver Brook Plowlands grants of 1638. These grants radiated away from the "Path to Sudbury" or "County Road" or "Great Road" or "Great Country Road" (today's Main Street and Weston Street – Rt. 20). Since there was a great deal of buying and selling of these grants early on, it is not possible, in most cases, to trace ownership back to the original grants. However, by the early 1700s, ownership of the land appears to have been well established.
Prior to the mid-1800s, most of the land in the area was held as large lots, with few, if any, small house lots, except along Main Street. The following survey of land ownership is organized on the basis of these large land parcels as owned in the early 1800s. These are shown below on the Index Map to Land Ownership in the Charles-Felton Area in the Early 1800s. The map is followed by a detailed history for each parcel from early colonial times until the parcels were subdivided for individual house lots, mostly in the middle and late 1800s.
For the subsequent histories of existing individual houses within the areas covered by this document, including their original owners and construction dates, see the separate document: Historical Survey of Individual Houses in the Charles-Felton Area.
References:
Deeds: In the rest of this document, deeds will be cited as Massachusetts (Middlesex Registry of Deeds) Land Records – MLR book/page.
Nelson, Charles A., Waltham Past and Present: And Its Industries, Moses King, Cambridge (MA), 1882.
Sanderson, Edmund L., Waltham as a Precinct of Watertown, and as a Town: 1830-1884, Waltham, Waltham Historical Society, Inc., 1936.
Waltham Common – Waltham Historical Society Publication No. 3, Waltham Historical Society, Waltham, MA, 1926
Index map to land ownership in the Charles-Felton area in the early 1800s (Waltham GIS)
Area 1:
Abraham Peirce/Boston Manufacturing Company Land (1818)
Major subdivisions of the land owned by the Boston Manufacturing Company in 1818: (1) BMC to Horatio Adams (1844); (2) BMC to Joseph Corey (1845); (3) Individual house lots sold by BMC (1820s-1840s). (Base map source: Waltham GIS)
1636 The Mixer family owned land in today's Waltham between Main Street and the river, including today's Waltham Common and somewhat west of it, since the original Beaver Brook Plowlands land grants of 1636 (WHS Pub. 3, 1926; Nelson, p. 53).
1725 In 1725, Isaac Mixer bequeathed much of his land to his cousin, Isaac Peirce (or Pierce), whom he had raised (WHS Pub. 3, 1926).
1760 Isaac Pierce sold his son, Abraham Pierce, a number of his lots, in 1760 (MLR 57/421). One of these lots was where the common is, today, and a second lot was farther west along Main Street (and stretching down to the river), separated from the first lot by land belonging to Samuel Mansfield. Mansfield had acquired his lot from Jonathon Livermore, who had owned it in the 1600s.
1762 In 1762, Mansfield took out a mortgage with Samuel Winthrop of Boston, based on four lots in Waltham, including the one sandwiched by Pierce land (MLR 59/466). Evidently, Mansfield's mortgage was foreclosed, and the land went to Winthrop (MLR 60/306).
1765 Winthrop sold the lot to Abraham Pierce, in 1765, thus connecting Pierce's two existing lots along Main Street, and going down to the river (MLR 65/128). The combined Peirce lots probably stretched from Moody Street west to just west of today's Grant Street north of today's Charles Street, and west from Moody Street to just east of today's Williams Street south of today's Charles Street. The southwestern part of this lot appears to have originally been part of the Oldham Grant (Sanderson's map of the Oldham Grant) and, subsequently, Gale land, but its transference to Pierce's holdings has yet to be traced. Captain Abraham Pierce, later, fought in the Revolutionary War, and was a wealthy and well respected member of the community. In 1818, the Boston Manufacturing Company acquired the Pierce lot west of Moody Street.
1818 In 1818, David Townsend, as guardian of Abraham Pierce, spendthrift – and the son of the Abraham Pierce who had fought in the Revolutionary War, sold two lots to Patrick Tracey Jackson (MLR 226/82 and 85). Jackson had helped Francis Cabot Lowell, his brother-in-law, establish the Boston Manufacturing Company (BMC), in 1813; and, also in 1813, had bought the land, south of today's common, where the BMC's mill was established, the following year. In 1818, Jackson was the agent running the BMC mills in Waltham. Later in 1818, Jackson transferred title for the Pierce lots to the BMC (MLR 227/204). The lot on the west of Moody Street consisted of 33 acres, going west from Moody Street to the land of Jonas Clark, Thomas Hurd, and Jacob Gale (to about where Grant Street is, today see map below), and from today's Main Street south to the River. According to Sanderson, the southwest portion of this lot could have originally been part of the Oldham Grant of 1634, and, thus, may have come to Samuel Mansfield and Abraham Pierce, Sr., indirectly, from the Gale family (see MLR 22/54 and 31/471). In the 1820s and 1830s the BMC sold off house lots along the south side of Main Street. The lots measured 18 rods (297 feet) south from Main Street. It appears, from the 1841 tax map, that, except for the house lots right along Main Street, the BMC's lot west of Moody Street stood undeveloped into the 1840s.
In the 1840s, the BMC started to sell off its land to the west of Moody Street, south of the house lots along Main Street. In 1843-1844, the Fitchburg Railroad had come through Waltham (see MLR 453/151), and this appears to have been the initiator of major development in this area. Not only did the BMC mill expand, requiring more employees, but other industries, such as coal and lumber yards, and metal foundries, were established along Felton Street. It appears that the BMC laid out the eastern portions of Charles and Felton Streets in the early 1840s, along with Mechanic Street, since these streets were mentioned in the deeds from the BMC for lots in the area, at that time.
1844 The BMC sold a significant amount of its land west of Moody Street to Horatio Adams, in 1844 (MLR 453/224). The lot stretched about 1520 feet west from Moody Street, to the lot line between today's Nos. 111 and 115 Felton Street (see map, below). This was the western end of the old Pierce lot, with land of Joseph Hoar on the west. The lot line can still be seen from the lot lines on current maps, along the back yards east of Williams Street. Its southern boundary was the Fitchburg Railroad (which had been built in 1843), and its northern boundary was Felton Street, at the eastern end. However, about 600 feet west of Moody Street (approximately between Nos. 45 and 49-51 Felton Street) a culvert crossed the road (there is a man hole cover on the street there, today), which carried a stream in a ditch to the Charles River. The ditch followed the route of an old stream that started between today's Charles and Felton Streets, about where Harvard Street is, and flowed east to empty into the river near Moody Street. The stream was shown on Sanderson's maps of colonial Waltham, and the ditch was shown on the 1875 – 1900 maps of Waltham. Earlier maps showed some ponds in the area of today's Harvard Street, south of Charles Street, so the stream may have come from the ponds and wet meadows around them; and the ditch may have been dug to drain the ponds and meadows. Many of the deeds for this area refer to it as "meadow land". The ditch crossed today's Harvard Street about where Duddy Avenue enters it, which appears to be a low point along Harvard Street. The ditch formed the northern boudary of the lot Adams bought from the BMC, at the lot's western end. The route of the ditch can still be seen on today's map of parcel boundaries, and is referred to in the deeds for lots along it. Horatio Adams was the most eminent physician in Waltham, at the time, and also involved in the management of the BMC.
1845 In 1845, the BMC sold a large chunk of its remaining lot to Joseph Corey for $2,000 (MLR 478/8). The lot started 12 rods (about 200 feet) west of Mechanic Street, which already existed, and stretched all the way west to the boundary with the land belonging to Joseph Hoar. It was bounded by Horatio Adam's lot, on the south, and by the house lots along Main Street, on the north. In terms of today's lots, its eastern end was the boundary between No. 27-29 and No. 39 Felton Street; its western end was the boudary between 17 Fountain Street and 12 Williams Street (recall it was north of the ditch, which was the northern boundary of Adam's lot, at the western end); its southern boundary followed Felton Street to about the boundary line between No. 45 and 49-51, at which point it veered north following the path of the old ditch ending at the boundary line between No. 17 Fountain Street and 111 Felton Street; and its northern boundary was approximately 66 feet (4 rods) north of Charles Street, about at the boundary between No. 67-71 Charles Street and 22 Daniels Court. In the deed, the house lots along Main Street to the north of the subject lot, going west from the lot owned by John Mayo on the corner of Moody Street, were William Goodnough, Howe, Daniels heirs, Bemis, Daniels, Joseph Corey, and Mrs. Garfield, before reaching the land of the heirs of Joseph Hoar. These house lots are consistent with ones shown on the 1841, 1854, and 1856 maps.
Area 2:
Joseph Hoar's Land (a) from Jonas Clark (1822), (b) from Lois Gale (1829)
Major subdivisions of the land owned by Joseph Hoar in 1829: (1) Several smaller lots sold by the heirs of Joseph Hoar (1840s-1860s); (2) Samuel Hoar, 2nd, to William Blaisdell (1854); (3) Lorenza Hoar, 2nd, to George Miller (1847) to Leonard P. Smith (1851)
1797 At some time before 1797, the northwest corner of Pierce's lot on Main Street appears to have been acquired by a Captain Thayer (Nelson, p. 88), who then sold it to William(s) Cushing, who then sold it to Nathan Upham, in 1797 (MLR 126/156). It then went to Jonas Clark, in 1801 (MLR MLR 140/100).
1822 In 1822, Jonas Clark sold his lot on Main Street to Joseph Hoar (MLR 312/395). The lot, which Hoar bought in 1822, included the house lots on either side of today's Grant Street, down to today's Charles Street.
Although this Joseph Hoar appears to have had a son named Samuel, he appears not to have been the direct ancestor of Sherman Hoar, the famous lawyer and U.S. representative (whose father was Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar and grandfather was Judge Samuel Hoar, both of Concord), but the two families may have been closely related, since they both had close ties to both Waltham and Concord, MA. At one time there were three different Samuel Hoars living in Concord (1850 census), and a Joseph Rockwood Hoar appears to have been born in Waltham in 1846 to Joseph A. Hoar and Charlotte Jewell Hoar. The 1840 census listed both Joseph hoar (age 50-60) and Joseph A. Hoar (age 20-30), as heads of separate households in Waltham, apparently on Main Street next to each other. Furthermore, the 1865 census listed Lorenza Hoar (age 67), Lorenza Hoar (age 41), and Charlotte D. Hoar (age 22) all living together in Waltham near John Daniels (today's Daniels Court). So, this was probably on Main Street where the 1841 and 1854 maps showed the Widow Hoar's house. Therefore, Lorenza (age 67) was probably Joseph (Sr.) Hoar's widow. Their daughter, Lorenza Hoar (age 41), had two brothers, Joseph Washington Hoar and Samuel Hoar. Joseph Hoar, Sr., died in 1841, and his two sons appear to have moved out of Waltham, Samuel to Concord, although retaining ownership of some of the family property.
1829 In addition to the approximately two-acre house lot on Main Street, Joseph Hoar bought 15 acres of meadowland from Lois Gale, widow of Jacob Gale, in 1829 (MLR 310/431). The lot was referred to as the "river meadow". Based on boundaries given in the deed, the size of the lot, and Sanderson's map of the Dummer Farm, the lot probably stretched from the river up to the house lots on the north side of Charles Street, and from the house lots on the east of Williams Street west to Fern Street - south of Felton Street, but only west to Harvard Street - north of Felton Street. This lot probably connected to the southwest corner of Hoar's Main Street lot at the location of today's Charles Street. In the deeds, Hoar was referred to as a "victualler" living in Waltham. However, in his death listing in 1841, he was listed as a butcher. Therefore, he may have raised cattle on the "River Meadow".
Joseph Hoar's children eventually sold off individual house lots along Grant and Charles Streets, but the "River Meadow" land south of Charles Street was sold off in two large chunks.
1847 In 1847, Lorenza Hoar, the daughter of Joseph Hoar, Sr., sold George Miller the part of the "River Meadow" bounded by today's Felton Street, Harvard Street, the Fitchburg Railroad, and Fern Street (MLR 517/56). Miller then quickly sold the land to John Galbraith (517/57), who mortgaged it back to Miller (MLR 517/58), who assigned the mortgage to Robert Farley (MLR 523/61), all in the same year.
1851 The mortgage must have been foreclosed, because, in 1851, Farley sold the lot to Leonard P. Smith (MLR 613/592).
1854 In 1854, Samuel Hoar 2nd, of Concord, and his wife, Sarah, sold seven acres of the "River Meadow" lot to William A. Blaisdell (MLR 687/353). The land stretched from Charles Street, on the north, south to the Fitchburg Railroad tracks (having been built in 1843-44), and from Joseph Corey's land on the east to Nathaniel Brown's and Leonard Smith's lands on the west. It appears that Blaisdell then had a subdivision plan drawn up for this lot by G.W. Butterfield in the same year. It is possible that Williams Street was laid out at this time, and named for William Blaisdell. Harvard Street, south from Charles Street, also appears to have been laid out at this time (see MLR 724/253). It is not clear who Samuel Hoar 2nd was. He may have been the son of the Samuel Hoar, who was the son of Joseph Hoar, who had bought this land from the Gale family, but that needs more research.
Area 3:
Brown & Gale/Wellington Land
on Main Street (1801)
Area 4:
Amos Brown, Jr.,/Nathaniel Brown Land
on Main Street (1797)
1661 Richard Dummer sold to Richard Gale, in 1661, the north (and east) half of the Oldham farm, of about 250 acres (MLR 2/275). Over the next century and a half, many members of the Gale family lived and farmed along South Street, which existed before the end of the 1600s (Sanderson, p. 22) and was referred to as "Gales Lane" in early town records (Lane, p. 18). One of the Gale houses was built by a Jacob Gale (fifth generation descendent of Richard's according to Sanderson, p. 101) in 1798 on Main Street across from the beginning of South Street, and sold to Nathaniel P. Banks in 1855. Banks was Waltham's most famous mid-nineteenth century citizen: a governor of Massachusetts, congressman, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Civil War general. Banks lived in this house the rest of his life, and the Gale-Banks House is still standing at 935 Main Street.
Another Gale house, probably built by Samuel Gale (fourth generation descendent of Richard's) prior to 1793, was bought by Jacob Farwell in 1831 (MLR 302/259), and is still standing as No. 117 South Street (Nelson, p. 93, Lane, p. 19, and 1798 Direct Tax list).
1671 Richard Gale's house probably stood near the northwest corner of today's Harvard and Charles Streets (Sanderson, p. 100). The house was probably built prior to 1671 and demolished around 1750. It is probable that the northern part of today's Harvard Street was in existence at this time. It was shown on Sanderson's 1935 map of what Waltham looked like in 1738, and his map of the Oldham Grant. The original route of the street appears to have gone down today's Harvard Street to Charles Street and then along today's Brown's Avenue.
1684 Jorimiah Dummer sold to Robert Harrington, in 1684, the south (and west) half of the Oldham Grant, of about 250 acres (MLR 9/171). Over the next two centuries, members of the Harrington family would farm the area. In addition to this land, which was located along the southern part of today's South Street, a 42-acre lot along the south side of today's Main Street, between Harvard Street and South Street, was bought by John Harrington, Robert's son, starting as early as 1678 (Sanderson, p. 104, and MLR 7/19, 8/35, and 9/439). In 1733 and 1734, John Harrington sold the 42-acre lot on Main Street to his son, Josiah (MLR 38/458 and 459); and, in 1754, Josiah Harrington sold the 42-acre lot to his cousin, Daniel Harrington (MLR 53/35).
1742 In 1742, Joshua Gale, Richard Gale's great grandson, sold 55 acres near the corner of today's Harvard and Charles Streets (including his father John's homestead) to Isaac Brown (MLR 45/94). Although the lot was probably accessed from Main Street by a lane along the route of today's Harvard Street, the lot, itself, did not connect directly to Main Street. A few years later, in 1744/5 (New Years was marked at the end of March in those days), Isaac Brown bought a five-acre lot from Josiah Harrington, which connected his 55-acre lot with Main Street (MLR 55/404). This land-link to Main Street was probably located along the east side of today's Prospect Street (from later deeds and Sanderson), about in the middle of the 42-acre lot originally bought by Josiah Harrington from his father. According to Sanderson, p. 91, Isaac Brown, who was a tailor, had a new house built for himself on Main Street (near the corner of today's Prospect Street) about 1750, and that this "new house" of Isaac Brown's later became the "Green Tavern".
Isaac Brown was the great grandson of Abraham Browne, one of the original settlers of Watertown (Sanderson – also see Historic New England's Abraham Browne House in Watertown). Isaac's father, Deacon William Brown, had settled in North Waltham, off Old Forest Street, before 1725; and William's son, Ebenezer, continued to live in that area. Throughout the 1700s and into the mid-1800s much of the land in North Waltham, west of Forest Street, as well as south of Main Street in the Harvard Street area, was owned by members of the Brown family. In fact, today's Harvard Street was referred to as Brown's Lane in deeds of the period.
Southeast Corner of Main and Harvard Streets (Index Map Area 3)
1769 In 1769, Samuel Winthrop, of Boston, sold William Hagar, of Waltham, an eight-acre lot on the eastern corner of Main and Harvard Streets (MLR 71/281). This lot appears to have been one of the many that were mortgaged to Winthrop by Samuel Mansfield in 1762, and subsequently lost when the mortgage was foreclosed (MLR 60/306). William Hagar died in 1782, and his widow, Mary Child, married Abner Sanderson in the same year.
1794 By 1794, William Hagar's estate must have been settled on his widow, Mary, since in that year, she and Abner Sanderson, her second husband, sold the several lots that were part of it to Amos Brown, Jr. (MLR 117/6). Amos Brown, Jr., was Abner Sanderson's nephew (on Amos's mother's side), and Isaac Brown's great nephew (on Amos's father's side). One of these lots was the one on the eastern corner of Main and Harvard Streets, now stated as consisting of five acres. There seem to have been a great many mortgage deeds back and forth over this transaction (MLR 117/162 and 164), ending with Brown mortgaging the lots to Alpheus Gale, in 1796 (MLR 122/233). According to the direct tax list of 1798, Amos Brown, Jr. owned a house on the southeast corner of Main and Harvard Streets.
1801 In 1801, Amos Brown, Jr., and Alpheus Gale sold three of the lots acquired from William Hagar's estate to William Wellington, Jr. (MLR 141/501). Included in these three lots were the one on the southeastern corner of Main and Harvard Streets, a triangular lot of about three acres sandwiched between today's Harvard Street and Brown's Avenue, and a 36¼-acre lot just south of land owned by Zachariah Weston and north of land owned by Bezalel Flagg. William Wellington, Jr., was the son of William Benjamin Wellington, who was the builder of the Wellington House on Trapelo Road.
1804 William Wellington, Jr., sold a two-acre lot on the southeast corner of Main and Harvard Streets to Eliphalet Hastings, Jr., in 1804 (MLR 155/461). The lot measured about 150 feet along Main Street and down the east side of Harvard Street to the lots along the north side of Charles Street. In 1806, Wellington sold Hastings an additional three-quarter acre lot to the east of, and adjacent to, his lot along Main Street (MLR 171/20). Eliphalet Hastings, Jr. was a blacksmith, and his wife was Anna Harrington.
Southwest Corner of Main and Harvard Streets (Index Map Area 4)
1791 In 1791, Amos Harrington, Daniel Harrington's son, sold a 9-acre lot on the southwest corner of Main and Harvard Streets to Penuel Park, a baker (MLR 112/153). This had been part of the 42-acre lot originally assembled by John Harrington, starting in 1678. Park then built and operated a bakehouse on the corner (see Sanderson's map of the Oldham Grant). From measuring areas on a modern map, the lot appears to have stretched from Main Street south to the house lots now along Charles Street, and from Harvard Street west to the house lots along Prospect Street.
1796 Penuel Park sold his lot on the southwest corner of Main and Harvard Streets, then noted as consisting of 10 acres, to Amos Brown, Jr., in 1796 (MLR 122/237).
1797 In 1797, Amos Brown, Jr., sold the lot on the southwest corner of Main and Harvard Streets to his brother, Nathanial Brown (MLR 125/374). And, Nathaniel Brown was listed at this location in the 1798 direct tax list.
1843 In 1843, Nathaniel Brown sold the lot, now listed as 8 acres, to his son, John Brown (MLR 423/472, see also MLR 408/458).
Area 5:
Brown & Gale/Wellington Land on Brown's Avenue (1801)
1794 The triangular-shaped lot sandwiched between today's Brown's Avenue and Harvard Street, from Charles Street south to Felton Street, was one of the lots included in William Hagar's estate, which Mary (Hagar's widow) and Abner Sanderson sold to Amos Brown, Jr., in 1794 (MLR 117/6). How it came into Hagar's possession before his death in 1782 is yet to be determined. Amos Brown, Jr., mortgaged the lots to Alpheus Gale in 1796 (MLR 122/233).
1801 In 1801, Brown and Gale sold three of the lots from Hagar's estate to William Wellington, Jr. (MLR 141/501). Included was this triangularly shaped lot of about three acres.
1807 William Wellington, Jr., sold the three-acre triangular lot to Eliphalet Hastings, Jr., in 1807 (MLR 177/60).
1863 In 1863, George Hastings, Mary Jane and Leonard P. Smith, Lydia Green, and Mary Robbins sold the triangularly shaped lot (now noted as having 2½ acres) to Alison P. Penniman (MLR 915/163).
The family relationships and land ownership are not completely clear. George Hastings appears to have been Eliphalet Hasting, Jr.'s son by his third marriage, to Miriam Temple. However, deed MLR 915/163 said the land had been the dower estate of Miriam Brown, and a deed for a neighboring property noted that the lot was "occupied by the widow of Nathaniel Brown" (MLR 613/592). Nathaniel Brown was Amos Brown Jr.'s brother, and, according to FamilySearch, one of his wives was Miriam Hastings, but this does not appear to be well substantiated. To confuse the picture even more, according to the maps that Sanderson drew, there is some indication that the lot might have been considered as part of the Green Tavern lands at times. However, given the contrary deed evidence from 1794 on, this appears unlikely. On the other hand, it is possible that there was some financial arrangement that is yet to be found, such as a mortgage with Leonard P. Smith, who owned the land on the other side of Brown's Avenue at the time, and who was the son of Leonard Smith, who had owned the Green Tavern.
Major subdivisions of "Green Tavern" land owned by Zachariah Weston in 1779: (1) Joy heirs to Gale (1840s) to Sally Gale (1852) to Bond (1857); (2) Fisk and Smith to Miller to Hobbs (1846) to Farley (1847) to Beecher (1848); (3) Fisk and Smith to Miller to Hobbs (1846) to Fiske (1848) to Miller (1854); (4) Fisk and Smith to Miller to Hobbs (1846) to Fiske (1848) to Miller (1854); (5) Fisk and Smith to Miller to Hobbs (1846) to Fiske (1848) to Parmenter (1855); (6) Fisk and Smith to Miller to Hobbs (1846) to Fiske (1848) to Parmenter (1848).
Area 6:
Green Tavern Lands (a) from Fiske (1778), (b) from Gleason (1779)
1766 Isaac Brown died in 1759, and his widow, who had remarried and moved out of town, sold his "new house" on Main Street (southeast corner of Today's Main and Prospect Streets) to Abijah Fisk (sometimes spelled "Fiske"), in 1766 (Sanderson, p. 91, and MLR 66/44). This purchase consisted of 50 acres of land on both sides of Main Street.
1778 In 1778, the heirs of Abijah Fisk divided up the land among themselves, with Abijah Fisk, 2nd, acquiring the 15 acres of land, which lay on the south side of Main Street (MLR 79/285). This, apparently, included the neck of land along the eastern side of today's Prospect Street, south from Main Street (along with Isaac Brown's "new house" on Main Street), and then stretched east with Amos Harrington's land on the north and east, and William Hagar's land on the south and east. It was bordered on the west, near Main Street, by land belonging to John Gleason. Abijah Fisk, 2nd, immediately sold the land to Zachariah Weston (MLR 79/38), who ran the "Green Tavern" in Isaac Brown's old "new house" on Main Street (named that because of the color the house was painted). It is possible that the use of Isaac Brown's old "new house" as a tavern began with Abijah Fisk about 1766 (Sanderson, p. 60). According to Nelson, p. 89, as well as FamilySearch, Zachariah Weston was a son-in-law of Abijah Fisk.
1779 Weston augmented his holdings the following year, in 1779, with the purchase of about 20 acres of land on the west side of today's Prospect Street from John Gleason (MLR 82/446), who had bought the land only three years before from Daniel Harrington (MLR 78/182). According to Sanderson, p. 60, Harrington, Gleason, and Weston were all owners of taverns in the area at one time or another. This land had been part of the 42-acre lot Josiah Harrington had bought from his father in 1733 and 1734 (MLR 38/458 and 459). The land owned by Weston appears to have stretched from east of today's Prospect Street west to South Street along Main Street, and south to between today's Vernon and Charles Streets, on the west side of Prospect Street, and east from Prospect Street to Brown's Avenue and south from just north of Charles Street to Felton Street, east of Prospect Street.
1806 In 1806, Zachariah Weston sold the Green Tavern and all of its lands to Isaac Miles and Tilley Houghton (MLR 164/248), and Houghton appears to have quickly sold his part to Miles (MLR 164/250). The land was estimated at 40 acres at the time. The southeastern boundary was given as a "bridal way", with William Wellington owning the land to the south and east. It seems probable that the "bridal way" was today's Brown's Avenue.
1811 In 1811, Isaac Miles sold the tavern and all its land (40 acres) to Levi Joy (MLR 193/530).
1812 Levi Joy must have died soon after the 1811 purchase, since, in 1812, Isaac Miles, acting as the administrator of the estate of Levi Joy, sold a major part of the lands with the tavern to John Miller Russell (MLR 199/137). Based on dimensions given in the deed, along with those given in later deeds, it appears that the eastern bound on Main Street was about 200 feet east of today's Prospect Street, with the western bound about 313 feet west of this. Prospect Street did not yet exist. The eastern and southern bounds appear to have been the same as in the deed to Isaac Miles.
1813 The following year, Russell bought an additional 6 plus acres of land from Miles, as the administrator of Joy's estate, to the west of his 1812 purchase. This extended Russell's land an additional approximately 315 feet west along Main Street (MLR 205/360). Previously, the same year, Miles had sold the same land to Nathaniel Brown (MLR 201/474), but that sale must have fallen through. In the deed to Brown, the nearby tavern was said to be run by someone named "Wells", but in the deed to Russell, the tavern was said to be run by Leonard Smith. Therefore, it appears that Leonard Smith started keeping the Green Tavern in 1813, although he did not own it at the time. Leonard Smith was the son of David Smith, who had married Martha Green, a grand daughter of Ebenezer Brown, and had been involved in tavern keeping along Main Street in this area since 1779 (Sanderson, p. 61).
1840 In 1840, John Miller Russell sold the Green Tavern lands (noted as 25 acres at this time) to Leonard Smith and Luke Fiske (MLR 393/226). The tavern was said to have been "formerly occupied by Leonard Smith". Smith had bought the land for the Prospect House tavern and inn, and built it, the year before, in 1839, across Main Street from the Green Tavern. The Prospect House was later, in the early 1900s, rotated onto Hammond Street, where it still stands as No. 11 Hammond Street. Thus, Smith never owned the Green Tavern while he was keeping tavern there. Also, Russell never lived in the area. He was referred to as living in Boston and Cambridge in the deeds. The western bound was stated as "Joy's heirs", the southern bound as Leonard Smith, and the southeastern bound as a "proprietor's way" (probably the old "bridal way", today's Brown's Avenue). It is possible that Russell Street, which runs through the old Green Tavern land, was named after John Miller Russell.
1846 In 1846, Nahum Hardy, acting as the executor of the will of Luke Fiske, and Leonard Smith sold the 25 acres of old Green Tavern land to George Miller (MLR 490/163 and 164). The western bound was now given as the heirs of Jacob Gale.
Although a deed could not be found, it appears that the part of the original Green Tavern land, located along Main Street between the western side of the land sold to Russell and South Street (owned by Zachariah Weston, in 1779, and sold to Levi Joy in 1811), may have been retained by the Joy estate until sold to the Gale family some time in the 1840s (see MLR 393/266). This 10 acre lot was later, in 1852, sold to Sarah M. (Sally) Gale (MLR 631/519), and then by her to Timothy D. Bond, in 1857 (MLR 774/308).
Later in 1846, George Miller sold the 25 acres of former Green Tavern land to Samuel M. Hobbs (MLR 490/166). Hobbs then took out a mortgage for the land with Miller in three deeds (MLR 490/118, 119, and 147). It appears that the mortgages were assigned to Augustus H. Fiske, and subsequently foreclosed, with Fiske taking possession in 1848 (see MLR 517/261, and MLR 527/26-30, but unreadable).
1847 In 1847, Samuel Hobbs sold the approximately 10-acre part of the Green Tavern lands west of today's Prospect Street and east of the land sold to Sally Gale (about 350 feet west along Main Street from Prospect Street) to Robert Farley (MLR 523/210).
1848 In 1848, Robert Farley sold the lot west of Prospect Street to Laban L. Beecher (MLR 528/354 and 355). In the deeds, Prospect Street was described as a new street 50 feet wide.
Also in 1848, it appears that Fiske foreclosed on the lands mortgaged to him by Hobbs (see margin note on MLR 490/118).
1854 In 1854, Augustus H. Fiske sold George Miller a strip of land containing the house lots on the north side of Charles Street between Harvard Street and Prospect Street (MLR 689/80). The western boundary was given as the Town Farm (later close to the alignment of Prospect Street). This was part of the Green Tavern land sold to Hobbs and mortgaged to Fiske.
Also in 1854, Augustus H. Fiske assigned the mortgage for the part of Hobbs' land to the east of Prospect Street, between Main Street and just north of Charles Street, to George Miller (MLR 687/1). In the deed, Prospect Street is referred to as "a new street called Railroad Street". George Miller than subdivided the "L" shaped lot south down the east side of Prospect Street and east along the north side of Charles Street for house lots according to a plan drawn up by Arad Moore on July 15, 1854, and recorded in Plan Book 6.
1855 In 1855, Augustus H. Fiske sold the strip of land containing the house lots south of Charles Street between the Town Farm on the west (near Prospect Street) and Brown's Avenue on the east to Jonas W. Parmenter (MLR 712/36).
1858 In 1858, the southernmost part of the Green Tavern land was set off to Jonas W. Parmenter from an execution against Caleb Hayden (Book of Executions 23, page 311, see MLR 887/256).
Major subdivision of Smith family land in 1851: (1) Part of land from Brown and Gale to William Wellington (1801) to Leonard Smith (1817); (2a&b) Lorenza Hoar to Miller (1847) to Leonard P. Smith (1851); (2b) Individual house lots sold by Smith family; (1&2a) Mary Jane Smith to Otis E. Hunt (1870).
Area 7:
Brown & Gale/Wellington/Smith Lands (1801/1817)
1794 This area was probably part of the lands acquired from the William Hagar estate by Amos Brown, Jr. (MLR 117/6), in 1794, and mortgaged to Alpheus Gale (Richard's great-great-great grandson) in 1796 (MLR 122/233).
1801 In 1801, Brown and Gale sold a large, 36-acre, lot to William Wellington, Jr. (MLR 141/501). The bounds were given as Zachariah Weston on the north, Bezalel Flagg on the south, and Jacob and Alpheus Gale on the other sides.
1806 In 1806, William Wellington, Jr., took out a mortgage on a 23 acre lot with David Wellington of Lexington (MLR 171/21). The bounds were given as Isaac Miles on the north, Bezalel Flagg on the south and Gales on the other sides. Since Weston had sold the Green Tavern lands to Isaac Miles that year, it seems likely that this was part of the lot Wellington bought in 1801. David Wellington was William Wellington, Jr.'s brother.
1817 Although all the links have not yet been identified, it appears that this same lot (now estimated at 22 acres) was sold by Marshall Wellington to Leonard Smith, in 1817 (MLR 224/449). The bounds were given as John Russell on the north and Jacob or Alpheus Gale on the other sides. Since Russell had obtained the Green Tavern lands in 1812, this is consistent with this being the same lot. In addition, it was stated that there was a "private way" that came down from Main Street at the northeast corner of the lot, which was probably the "bridal way" and "proprietors' way" of former deeds (i.e. today's Brown's Avenue). Marshall Wellington was another brother of William Wellington, Jr.
1849 In 1849, Nancy Smith, Leonard Smith's widow, sold a 14 acre lot to their son, Leonard P. Smith (MLR 566/516). The bounds were given as Leonard Smith and Luke Fisk on the north, the Town Farm on the west, the Fitchburg Railroad on the south, and land that Lorenza Hoar had recently sold to George Miller on the east. Since Russell had sold the Green Tavern land to Smith and Fisk in 1840, the railroad had come through in 1843, the Town Farm had been established on former Gale land in 1828, and Lorenza Hoar had sold George Miller the adjacent land in 1847 (MLR 517/56), this is all consistent with this being the part of the same lot.
1851 In 1851, Leonard P. Smith acquired the land to the east, which had been sold by Lorenza Hoar to George Miller in 1847 (MLR 517/56). It was part of the land acquired by Joseph Hoar in 1829 from Lois Gale, and was bounded by today's Felton Street, Harvard Street, the Fitchburg Railroad, and Fern Street. Miller had quickly sold the land to John Galbraith (517/57), who mortgaged it back to Miller (MLR 517/58), who assigned the mortgage to Robert Farley (MLR 523/61), all in the same year. The mortgage must have been foreclosed, because, in 1851, Farley sold the lot to Leonard P. Smith (MLR 613/592). The lot measured a bit over two and a quarter acres, and was bounded by Samuel Hoar's land on the east, the Fitchburg Railroad on the south, Smith's land on the west and northwest, and the land occupied by the widow of Nathaniel Brown on the north (probably the triangular lot between today's Browns Avenue and Harvard Street). The deeds also specified that the right was given to pass over Brown's Lane to the property, and that Brown's lane left Main Street by Nathanial Brown's house.
1870 In 1870, Mary Jane Smith, Leonard P. Smith's widow, sold most of the combined lot to Otis E. Hunt (MLR 1119/350). The house lots on the west side of today's Harvard Street by the railroad tracks had been sold off previously, so the lot sold to Hunt ended, on the east, along the back yard line between Fern and Harvard Streets. The western boundary was along the Town Farm. Dimensions were given in the deed, and they match very closely to the boundaries shown on the 1874, 1875, and 1886 maps for the lots being developed by William A. Pratt; by Charles H. Bill and Charles R. Bill, who got the land from Pratt, who got the land from Hunt; as well as by Hunt, himself; as well as some land acquired by Pratt directly from the Town Farm (see MLR 1134/582, 1163/103, 1178/378, 1182/550, 1188/406, 1203/31, and 1327/564). Individual house lots were then sold off by the Bills, by Pratt, or by Hunt, himself. It should be noted, in reading the old maps, that Prospect Street, along with its bridge over the river, was originally planned to meet with Cherry Street on the east side of the river, but later moved to meet with Maple Street.
Subdivision of Town Farm lands of 1828: (1 & 2) Town of Waltham to Daniel French (1854); (2) Daniel French back to Town of Waltham (1859); (2 & 3) Individual lots sold by City of Waltham (late 1800s and early 1900s).
Area 8:
Town Farm (1828)
1825 At the beginning of the 1800s the land, which would later become the Town Farm, had belonged to Alpheus Gale (Richard Gale's great-great-great grandson), but was sold at auction, in 1825, after Gale died intestate, to Uriah Hagar (MLR 269/338). Hagar took out a mortgage on the property at the time with Theodore Lyman (MLR 272/412).
1828 In 1828, the mortgage Hagar had with Lyman was foreclosed, and the land was sold at auction to Nathaniel Stearns (MLR 285/311). Stearns then promptly sold the property to the town for a Town Farm (MLR 285/313).
The farm consisted of about 100 acres, and was bounded on the north by a line about half way between Vernon and Charles Streets. Its western boundary followed down South Street to the western boundary of today's Temple Beth Israel Cemetery, then south through the middle of Mt. Feake Cemetery to the top of Quinobequin Cove on the river, and then southeast along the coves edge. Its eastern boundary roughly followed down Prospect Street to the River, except for a jog to the west roughly between today's Bedford an Sharon Streets, and then southwest along the eastern, river edge of Mt. Feake Cemetery. The town farm functioned as a combination of homeless shelter, nursing home, and mental hospital, primarily for the community's paupers.
1854 In 1854, the Town of Waltham, sold the northernmost part of the Town Farm to Daniel French (MLR 695/129 and 130). The land was bordered by today's Bedford Street on the south and the old Green Tavern land on the north (today's Prospect Street Avenue and its continuation line to South Street, past the end of Charles Street Avenue). French subdivided the northern half of this land for house lots, but resold the southern half back to the town.
1859 Daniel French sold the southern half of the land the town had sold him from the Town Farm, in 1854, back to the town, in 1859 (MLR 829/149). This lot consisted of about nine acres, and stretched between Bedford Street on the south and Charles Street on the north, and from about Prospect Street to South Street.
It appears that the town (and later, city) sold off individual house lots along Bedford, Dartmouth, Highland, and Curtis Streets in the late 1800s and early 1900s (see, for example, No. 45 Highland Street, built in 1890 by William A. Pratt, MLR 1983/429 and 430 (1890), and MLR 2026/499 (1891)).
Historical Survey of Individual Houses in the Charles-Felton Streets Area
Morton S. Isaacson 4/18/2023
Introduction
For an earlier history or this land, tracing its ownership back to colonial times, see the report: Early Land Development of the Charles-Felton Streets Area. In the inventory, below, entries are arranged alphabetically by street and then numerically by house number.
In the rest of this document, deeds will be cited as Massachusetts (Middlesex Registry of Deeds) Land Records – (MLR book/page).
Contact inquiries@walthamhistoricalsociety.org to get more information on the project
Browns Avenue.pdfBrown's Avenue
Charles Street.pdfCharles Street
Daniels Court.pdfDaniels Court
Felton Street.pdfFelton Street
Floyd Street.pdfFloyd Street
Grant Street.pdfGrant Street
Harvard Street.pdfHarvard Street
Highland Street.pdfHighland Street
Mechanic Street.pdfMechanic Street
Noonan Street.pdfMunroe Street
Munroe Avenue.pdfNoonan Street
South Street.pdfSouth Street
Sun Street.pdfSun Street
Williams Street.pdfWilliams Street
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