9 Summit Street

1892 In 1892, the Lawrence heirs sold Lots No. 70 and 71 of the Lawrence Estates to Herbert M. Gragg (MLR 2158/533). Lot No. 70 is the lot on which No. 9 Summit Street was built. Gragg was a house builder, and responsible for building many houses in the area, including those at 6 Summit Street and 60, 63-65, and 67 Lawrence Street.

1893 Gragg took out a mortgage with the Waltham Cooperative Bank, in January 1893, for $1000, based on Lots No. 70 and 71 (MLR2173/502). In the deed, it specified “with buildings”. Then, in June 1893, Gregg sold the lot for No. 9 Summit Street to William S. Graham (MLR 2206/489). Graham was listed in the 1894 annual listing of voters as living at this address, but at a different address the previous year. He owned a painting and paper-hanging company in Waltham. Therefore, the house at 9 Summit Street was probably built by Herbert M. Gragg around 1893, and first lived in by William and Jessie Graham. From voting records, William Graham appears to have died shortly after 1900, but Jessie Graham may have continued to live here until 1909.

1909 In 1909, Byron B. Johnson, Waltham’s former – and first – mayor, acting as administrator for the estate of Jessie Graham, sold the house to Norman J. Rose (MLR 3482/248 and 4265/593). Rose was living at 188 Hammond Street at the time, and continued to live there, using the house at 9 Summit as rental property.

1919 Norman Rose sold the house to Caroline G. True in 1919 (MLR 4264/65). Caroline’s husband was LaRoy G. True (sometimes spelled Leroy), and he was listed in the voting record as living here and working for the gas company into the 1950s. Caroline True appears to have died in 1948 or 1949, and the Ture’s son William, and his wife Natalie, moved into the house with LaRoy.

1949 In 1949, LaRoy Ture, as executor for Caroline’s estate, deeded the house to William G. True (MLR 7430/427). William and Natalie lived here for a few more years.

1953 William G. True sold the house to William D. and Elizabeth Rhodes in 1953, who were listed here in the voting record from 1954 until 1967 (MLR 8088/582). William D. Rhodes was the president of Citizens National Bank during this time, and the Rhodes son, William, Jr, who was in the US Navy, lived in the rear of the house.

1967 In 1967, the Rhodes sold the house to Richard E. and Mary R. Maloney (MLR 11325/685). Richard Maloney was listed as a parts manufacturer in the 1970 city directory, and the Maloneys continued to live here into the 1990s.