Named Entity Results
Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 18.

a few others scattered here and there, a willow or two, and a big dilapidated barn opposite the Brooks farmhouse, were the only objects to break the monotony of the scene. This plain was then called the Smith estate, and along the street for most of the way was also walled. After passing Grove street there were entrances in the walls, and cellar holes and remains of foundations could be seen, where the Smith residence and barns had been burned a few years before. Next was the house of John Duane the florist, that had been built four years, and farther on his greenhouses. This house still remains, and with some additions is now the parochial residence of St. Raphael's Church. Beyond the greenhouse was a hedge of dogwood, and here the stone wall ended and a wooden picket fence, painted a dull yellow, enclosed the open space in front of the substantial building that bore across its front this legend, Mystic Hall Seminary, in gilded iron capitals. In this building Ellis Pitcher

Harriet W. Brown. Harriet Wilson (Joyce) Brown, widow of John Brown, and daughter of Seth and Harriet (Daniels) Joyce, was born in Medford, Mass., October 29, 1826, of which city she was a life-long resident. She was a member of the Medford Historical Society, and a constant attendant at its meetings as long as her health permitted. She was secretary for many years of the Female Union Temperance Society, an organization formed in 1845, and which held regular meetings for fifty years. Brown, widow of John Brown, and daughter of Seth and Harriet (Daniels) Joyce, was born in Medford, Mass., October 29, 1826, of which city she was a life-long resident. She was a member of the Medford Historical Society, and a constant attendant at its meetings as long as her health permitted. She was secretary for many years of the Female Union Temperance Society, an organization formed in 1845, and which held regular meetings for fifty years. She assisted in forming the first Medford High School Association, and was one of the committee that arranged the program for its first annual meeting. She was a member of the First Baptist Church and was an earnest worker in its interests. She died in Medford, after a long and useful life, on December 19, 1914. J. H. H. High street in 1870. A son and daughter of old Medford have furnished the register reminiscences of old Ship and Salem streets, two of the five that lead from Medford

Cambridge road to Woburn. Fifty years before, Mr. Brooks' father had begun Medford's park system by setting trees and fencing the Delta at Grove street. The stone walls beyond extended to a long line of spruces that bordered the railway. At the right hand from Wear bridge lay a broad open plain that sloped gradually to the river, and beyond its center was a large house of cruciform shape and flat roof surmounted by a two-storied cupola, with roofs also flat. This was the home of George F. Spaulding, and his land was enclosed by a fence of not fifty-seven, but many varieties. A few sizable elms were before it, and these, with a few others scattered here and there, a willow or two, and a big dilapidated barn opposite the Brooks farmhouse, were the only objects to break the monotony of the scene. This plain was then called the Smith estate, and along the street for most of the way was also walled. After passing Grove street there were entrances in the walls, and cellar holes and

nite arch, built fifty years before, over the canal. This was of Concord granite, of marked contrast to the somber walls that bordered the highway. Elms that once bordered the canal banks and shaded the streets later gave the place the name of Elms Farm. Beyond this, among great oaks, and some pines as well as elms, was the mansion house, the home of Edward Brooks and his son Francis, but this was approached from Grove street, the ancient Cambridge road to Woburn. Fifty years before, Mr. Brooks' father had begun Medford's park system by setting trees and fencing the Delta at Grove street. The stone walls beyond extended to a long line of spruces that bordered the railway. At the right hand from Wear bridge lay a broad open plain that sloped gradually to the river, and beyond its center was a large house of cruciform shape and flat roof surmounted by a two-storied cupola, with roofs also flat. This was the home of George F. Spaulding, and his land was enclosed by a fence of no

the distance, and after looking the old houses over, resumed his walk. Passing Hastings lane his attention was fixed on the ledge of rock that jutted out toward the road, on which was a wooden structure that proved to be the cupola of the first Brooks schoolhouse, which had just been changed into a dwelling and is still used as such. Below this ledge was the entrance drive to the great square house of Edmund Hastings, with the broad green meadow before it, and the house and greenhouses of Mr. Bean bordering the brook. The pedestrian was on the left hand, for there was a sidewalk. Leaving Woburn street he noticed a cellar hole, partially filled, and with sumac and butternut trees in and around it; and next a not too modern dwelling, succeeded by one occupied by a Mr. Gibson, and which he afterward learned was the site of Medford's first meeting-house in 1693. Then came a lane leading to another house further back, and next a new house in process of building. Just here the sidewal