The well-curb, with its long sweep and old oaken bucket, brings memories, to some of us, of refreshing droughts of pure water, and of delicious cream and butter rolls, which the moss-covered stone shelves far down the well held securely from possible taint. Back of the house ran the babbling brook and emptied into "the ditch," which was often broad and deep enough to merit a more comely name, and was the favorite resort of the young in winter for skating and sledding. But this ancestral home, with all its charms, had passed from view, like man others, leaving but cherished memories.
Captain Charles Brewer, whose fine estate on Pond Street was originally a part of the May form, was a lineal descendant of Captain John May, on his mother's side. He was born in Boston in 1804, and received his education there, but early developed baa fondness for the sea, and for several years was a successful ship-master in the Pacific and East India trade. In 1836 he established a shipping business in Honolulu, and in 1846 returned with his family to this country, and became a resident of Jamaica Plain. Soon after he erected the commodious mansion in the midst of highly cultivated grounds, which was his home during the remainder of his life.
Mr. Edward Bridge was one of the earliest settlers of the town, and it is believed that he built the house, which has recently been taken down by the Park Commission, near the corner of Centre and May Streets. The date 1710 was found cut into one of the old timbers, which is still preserved.
Mr. Abijah Seaverns, grandfather of our townsman, resided here with his family for many years. The original Seaverns homestead, owned by Mr. Joel Seaverns, the ancestor of the family, was upon a farm of some fifty-five acres, now included in Forest Hills cemetery. In this old house, during the later years of Mrs. Abijah Seaverns' life, a small band of the Baptist faith met frequently for religious meetings, and in 1840 took steps to form a church. Soon after they began to worship in the Village Hall, and in 1842 the public services of their recognition were held in the Unitarian Church, in which Rev. Mr. Gray then ministered. On October 4, 1843, the new house of worship was dedicated, and on the same day Dr. John O. Choules, an Englishman, was installed as pastor. The little church stood on elevated ground on the east side of Centre Street near Star Lane. On September 26, 1856, the church was destroyed by fire, with its furniture, library, and records. For two years the congregation used the Unitarian house of worship one half of the Sabbath, and the Mather (now Central) Church for evening meetings, accepting the very king invitations which came from both societies while the fire was still burning. In August 1859, the present house of worship on the corner of Centre and Myrtle streets was dedicated.
Following May Street to Pond Street, we come to the beautiful estate now owned by Mr. Edward Rice, and formerly by Mr. John J. Low, and here ready fancy rears again the vanished walls of a stately mansion, three stories in height, first occupied by another of the Tory gentry, Sir Francis Barnard, the royal governor of Massachusetts from 1760 to 1769, — the period of our greatest historic interest. The beautiful sloping lawn, shaded with lofty English elms, gave a charming setting to the house, while broad acres highly cultivated, filled with choice fruit trees, plants, and shrubs, including orange, lemon, fig, cork, and cinnamon trees, and other rare exotics, added grandeur and beauty to the landscape. One can easily call back the old-time scenes within this mansion, of stately official pomp, of social gayety, of dinners and balls, where the brocade and stain and lace, in towering head-gear, and ample panniers; and where the cavaliers rivaled the ladies in their powered wigs, gorgeous velvet coats and stain waistcoats, ruffled shirt-fronts, small breeches and silken hose. We catch a glimpse of them as they troop through the broad hall (fifty-four feet long and twenty feet wide), and the wainscoted tapestried rooms, on the stately minuet or the livelier contra-dances, and possibly recognize the forms and faces of Adams, Hancock, Otis, Warren, and Quincy. Governor Barnard was an Englishman, a graduate of Oxford, a man of erudition and large wealth. He had remarkable conversational powers, and so tenacious a memory that he boasted he could repeat all of Shakespeare's plays. He was a zealous advocate of the claims of the Crown, and through professing to sympathize with the men associated with him in their resistance to unjust taxation, and other coercive measures to the royal government, he secretly worked against them, and used his influence to have the British regiments sent to Boston, and thus initiated the war. After holding his high office for nearly ten years, he was recalled to England, in response to a petition from the House of Representatives that "he might be forever removed from the Government of the Province." As he departed from Boston the bells were rung, cannon fired from the wharves, and the Liberty Tree hung gaily with flags; so great was to joy of the people to be rid of him. Lady Bernard did not leave Jamaica Plain until a year later — in 1770. Sir William Pepperell was the next resident of this house for about three years. He was a graduate of Harvard, and, in 1776, became a member of the Council, and was avowedly in sympathy with the royal cause. During the siege this house was also occupied by the patriotic troops, and later used as a hospital. The soldiers who died here were buried on the hill in the rear of the house. This property was confiscated in 1779 by the State, and purchased by Mr. Martin Brimmer, a Boston merchant, who died here in 1804. Captain John Prince next owned it, and took down the old house, a part of which had stood one hundred and forty years, and erected a very attractive mansion which has recently given place to the one now occupied by Mr. Rice. Mr. Prince opened the street, which bears his name through his estate to Perkins Street, and it has since been the seat of several beautiful residences.
The summer home of Francis Parkman, LL.D., on Prince Street, deserves more than passing notice, no only because of his great prominence as an historian and writer an scientific horticulture, but for the remarkable beauty of the grounds lying along the chores of the lake and covered with luxuriant and rare shrubs, trees, and plants, many of them models of symmetry and loveliness. One cannot but regret that this homestead had not been preserved in its completeness, as a memorial of this distinguished man.
The old Jonas Chickering estate adjoining Mr. Parkman's, with its lovely water-front, its unique Gothic buildings, its vine-covered lodge, and its deer-park, was, in our early days, one of the most charming of our country seats.
Pinebank, the home of the Perkins family for nearly a century, with its broad, winding avenue, beneath noble pine and larches, its stately mansion its many rich landscape features, claims admiration for its grandeur and nobility.
Returning to South Street, we find that in early days different branches of the Weld family owned and lived upon estates in this portion of our village. The largest and most important of these was the estate which was given to Captain Joseph Weld by the province, about the year 1660, in consideration of services rendered. It was bequeathed by him to his son, John, and was the home of seven generations of that family, until about the beginning of this century (1806), when it became the property of Mr. Benjamin Bussey. During the Revolutionary War, Weld's Hill was selected by Washington as a rallying point for the patriot army to fall back upon in case of disaster, as it protected the road to Dedham, the depot of army supplies. Mr. Bussey, after a few years, erected the fine mansion, still standing, and resided here until his death, in 1842. The late Mr. Thomas Motley, brother of the historian, was the husband of one of Mr. Bussey's granddaughters, and occupied the house with his family until his decease. This magnificent estate of three hundred acres was bequeathed to Harvard University for the establishment of a seminary "for instruction in practical agriculture, useful and ornamental gardening, botany, and such other branches of natural science as may tend to promote a knowledge of practical agriculture and the various arts subservient thereto and connected therewith." The Bussey Institute was built in 1871, and the beautiful Arboretum, embracing one hundred and sixty acres, has been in the process of development since that time. During Mr. Bussey's; life, and for years after, the public enjoyed the freedom of these charming grounds. There were lovely wood paths, carefully kept, in all directions. Here was a rustic bridge spanning the jocund brook; there a willow-bordered pond, the home of gold and silver fish. This path wound back and forth to then summit of Hemlock Mountain, where was an arbor with seats for resting surrounded by majestic trees, and where lovely vistas of the distant hills and nearer valley could be enjoyed, On the gray rocks yonder were nature's moss-clad seats, where one listened to the endless whispering of the leaves, the prattle of the happy brook below, and the ever-changing songs of birds.
"Up springs, at every step, to claim a tear,
Some little friendship formed in childhood here;
And not the lightest leaf but trembling teems,
With golden visions and romantic dreams."