History of
5 Summit Street (1889-1892)
MSI 7/9/20
1889 In 1889, the Lawrence heirs sold Lot No. 69 in the Lawrence Estates to Herbert M. Gragg (MLR 1937/406 and 1954/456). This is the lot on which No. 5 Summit Street was built. Gragg was a local carpenter and house builder, responsible for building a number of houses in the area, including those at 60 and 67 Lawrence Street and 6 Summit Street. He lived at 67 Lawrence Street from about 1893 to 1900, but was listed in the city directory at 34 Lawrence Street in 1893 and 24 Gardner Street in 1890.
1892 Gragg sold the lot for 5 Summit Street to Mary F. Wright in 1892 (MLR 2257/78), and James H. Wright was listed in the 1893 city directory as a mason living at 5 Summit Street. Therefore, it is probable that the house at No. 5 Summit Street was built by Herbert Gragg sometime between 1889 and 1892 and first lived in by the Wrights. James Wright was quite old when he bought the house (listed as retired and 80 years old in the 1896 annual listing), and must have died around 1896, since he does not appear in the voting record after that year.
1918 In 1918, Mary F. Bryant ("formerly Mary F. Wright") sold the house to Elroy A. and Ada S. Burditt (MLR 4220/97). Fred A. Bryant first showed up in the annual listing at 5 Summit Street by 1902, so Mary probably married Fred around that time, and they lived there until about 1916. Fred Bryant was listed as an insurance agent. Elroy Burditt was listed in the 1920 annual listing as being a saw fitter.
1925 In 1925, Nella E. Ward, executrix of the will of Elroy Burditt, sold the house to Ralph W. and Lila E. Donaldson (MLR 4884/45). Ralph Donaldson was listed as the county veterinarian in the 1929 city directory; however, the Donaldsons only stayed here a short time.
1929 The Donaldsons sold the house to Mary A. Bamforth in 1929 (MLR 5342/183). Her husband, George W. Bamforth, was listed as working at the watch factory in the 1929 through 1935 annual listings of voters.
1939 In 1939, George A. Bamforth, guardian of George W. Bamforth, "an insane person", and Mary Bamforth sold the house to George L. and Alice K. Judge (MLR 6353/241). However, it looks like the Judges did not live there, but rented it out to the Bamforths, who continued to live there into the mid-1940s. According to the 1944 annual listing, one Bamforth son was in the army and another was in the navy.
1944 The Judges sold the house in 1944 to Alfred A. and Helen S. Fuller (MLR 6802/451). According to the 1945 annual listing, Alfred was a teacher, and living with them was their daughter, Constance (from 1940 census), and her husband, Robert Campbell, who was in the navy. In the 1947 annual listing, Robert is listed as a hair stylist.
1951 In 1951, Helen S. Fuller and Constance F. Campbell sold the house to Howard M. and Mary A. Bancroft (MLR 7846/28). Previously, in 1949, Helen Fuller had sold the house to herself and Constance (MLR 7394/370). Howard Bancroft was a letter carrier, and died in 1959.
1962 Mary Bancroft sold the house to Adrian and Estelle Provencher (MLR 10167/101) in 1962, and the house is still in the Provencher family.