The Clapp Family and Dorchester

Transcription

Clapp Family Landholdings
1
The Clapp Family and Dorchester
A Report on the History of the Clapp Family Lands in Northern
Dorchester and the Evidence for the Ways the Land Was Used
or Might Have Been Used as a Basis for Landscape Improvements
of the Property Now Owned by the Dorchester Historical Society
Compiled by Earl Taylor
2007
2
Introduction
1
Structures Known to Have Existed on the Dorchester Historical Society Property
4
Lemuel Clap House including HABS info and National Register Nomination
8
William Clap House including National Register Nomination
19
Other Clapp Buildings along Willow Court
28
Other Clapp Buildings along Boston Street
32
The Clap Family in Dorchester
38
General Descriptions of Dorchester
57
Conclusion
75
Other Farms in Dorchester
Appendix A
Other Approaches to Landscape
Appendix B
Road Development, Military Use, Drainage Lines, etc.
Appendix C
Other Horticulturists in Dorchester
Appendix D
Text from Orcutt’s Good Old Dorchester and from Wilder
Appendix E
Bibliography
Sources
3
The Rev. Samuel J. Barrows made the following comment. “We have noticed the fluctuation in the
Dorchester boundary. While the soul of the town was never diminished, there was from time to time an
atrophy of the body. A slice was lost here and a slice there, until the original territory was very much
diminished.”1 This same description may be applied to the landholdings of the Clapp family.2 The
Dorchester Historical Society property comprising approximately three-quarters of an acre is the vestige
of large landholdings of the Clapp family in the area just to the north of the
Plan of the
property belonging
to the Dorchester
Historical Society
used for a permit
application in
1972.
original town
center. Roger
Clap, one of the
first English
settlers, arrived
in the ship
Mary and John
in 1630 and
settled near the
intersection of
Boston Street
and Willow
Court (partly
renamed
Enterprise Street). A prominent citizen of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, Roger became Captain of the
Castle, the fort on Castle Island. His published Memoirs is a document that is used by historians to gain
some knowledge of life in the early years of the colony.
Roger and his brother Edward and cousins Thomas and Nicholas farmed the land that stretched from the
South Bay across Boston Street. As later generations came along, some descendants lived on subdivided
portions of this land, some moved to other parts of Dorchester, and some moved to other areas of the
country. Due to imprecise deed references and the fact that the Clapps sometimes acquired land through
1
Barrows, Rev. Samuel J. “Dorchester in the Last Hundred Years.” In The Memorial History of Boston, 1630-1880, vol. 3,
edited by Justin Winsor. Boston: Ticknor and Company, 1880-1881. For a discussion of the changing coastline in the South
Bay as well as on the Dorchester Bay side of Dorchester, see Seasholes.
2
The spelling of the name Clap changed to Clapp about 1800, but the change was not uniformly accepted. An attempt is made
to use the spelling used by each person who is the subject of the following comments.
4
purchase and marriage (sometimes to other Clapps) and consolidated their holdings, it is not possible to
document every parcel. In general it seems that the land acquired by the Dorchester Historical Society
in1946 was owned by the descendants of Nicholas Clap, Roger’s cousin (but note that Roger’s
granddaughter Hannah married Nicholas’ grandson Ebenezer, so the land may have come originally from
Roger). Extended family including others who married into the Claps, especially the Blakes and
Humphreys, owned land in the neighborhood, making a considerable bloc of territory in north Dorchester.
The Clapp family seems always to have had the status of upper middle class. They have been called
yeomen. In colonial Massachusetts the very top merchants and doctors, lawyers and clergy were
distinguished from the rest of society by their education, the possession of fine clothes, wigs, lace hats
and their ability to avoid working with their hands in an age of manual labor.3 The Clapp family seems to
have belonged to the class just below the very top. The term yeoman implied that the recipient possessed
the personal competence, wisdom, even virtue to accumulate property sufficient to free him from
dependence on the will of others. But this class was not afraid to get its hands dirty. Farming was the
traditional yeoman’s occupation.
In addition to farming, the Clapps operated a grist mill on a pond fed by a creek and the tides of the South
Bay, and they owned and operated tanning enterprises as well. In the early 19th century, William Clapp’s
fortune, made in tanning, allowed him to make a transition from processing leather to importing it and
from general farming to specialized horticulture. His sons were valuable partners in this new family
business.
The extended Clapp family occupied a significant piece of Dorchester territory, improving it for
subsistence farming, tanning, commercial farming including the wholesale production of fruits and
vegetables, horticultural experimentation, flower production under glass, dairy farming and, finally,
improving it by subdivision into residential and commercial lots.
The small size of the property now owned by the Dorchester Historical Society and the lack of
documentation on the land-use history of this small parcel might benefit from comparative examples of
approaches to landscaping in Dorchester.
This report looks first at the parcel of land owned by the Dorchester Historical Society and the structures
that were erected on it. Then the report examines the appearance of Willow Court and of Boston Street to
see how the Clapp family may have used its properties generally. The story of the Clapp family through
the generations may shed light on the uses the family made of the properties under its control and on the
chronological sequence of those uses over the centuries. In the period of first settlement in the 1630s the
Clapp family were general farmers with fields and orchards who established a grist mill on the South Bay.
In the 18th century the family expanded into the business of tanning, and in the 19th into leather importing
and as well as horticulture as a business.
General views of Dorchester are supplied to place the property in a larger context. The Appendices
provide more background on other parts of Dorchester and other approaches to landscaping in
Dorchester.
3
The extended Clapp family is representative of a large middle class in contrast to other families over the centuries that
represented the elite upper class. See Appendix B.
5
Structures Known to Have Existed on the The Dorchester Historical Property
The main
square
block of the
William
Clapp
House
(headquarters) was built in 1806.
The ell at the rear of the William Clapp House was added in the late 1830s.
The concrete library vault and patio were added to the William Clapp House in 1947.
The Lemuel Clap House (Clap House) was moved to the property in 1957.
The addition to the Lemuel Clap House was new in this building permit plan from 1972.
The barn and shed are probably early 19th century. Jim Cooke remembers seeing a date 1843 carved into
a beam in the barn.
The carriage house (garage on plan above) may have been built between 1884 and 1889.
The shed at the driveway disappeared between 1874 and 1884.
The ell to the right side of the barn disappeared some time after 1933.
6
1874 map
The building located where the carriage house is now may be a
smaller building (a privy?). Note the ell on the barn to right and
the shed next to the driveway and street. This shed may be seen in
the ca. 1870 photo.
1884 map
If the maps can be relied on, the outbuilding behind the house has
disappeared and so has the shed next to the driveway.
1889 map
The carriage house seems to be in place. The shed at the
driveway is gone.
7
1898 map
1904 map
1910 map
1918 map
8
1933 map
9
Lemuel Clap House
The Dorchester Historical Society acquired the property at 169-195 Boston Street including both houses
and their land from Frank Lemuel Clapp in 1946. The land acquired seems to have been the land fronting
on Boston Street and going west to include the properties owned in the map below by James Clapp and
Heirs of Martha Clapp. Due to the march of progress, the City of Boston needed land for a business
street, and the Lemuel Clap House stood in the way of widening Willow Court to create Enterprise Street.
The Society sold most of the frontage on Willow Court and moved the historic house in 1957 to its
present location just to the left of the William Clapp House.
Scan from 1904 Bromley atlas. The Lemuel Clap House is the one owned by James H. Clapp in the center of the illustration.
The William Clapp House is the one owned by James H. Clapp facing Boston Street.
Captain Lemuel Clap and his son William Clapp, who lived in the historic houses now maintained by the
Dorchester Historical Society, were descended from Nicholas Clap who married his cousin Sarah,
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Roger’s sister.4 Most of the family used only one “p” in their last name until William’s generation when
they started using two. Part of the Lemuel Clap House, which, since 1957, shares the same lot as the
William Clap House, is said to date to 1665 but architectural historian Elizabeth Amadon and others think
this house was essentially rebuilt in 1765. This house, like the Ebenezer Clap House has been called the
Roger Clap House, but if some portion of the house once belonged to Roger, it is unidentifiable now.
Colonel Samuel Pierce, whose family sometimes worked in construction, recorded in his diary for
September 2, 1765, “I fell from Lemuel Clap’s house and hurt me some, but not very much. I fell about
16 foot.”5 Lemuel Clap was a tanner by trade, and his house was located about 300 feet down Enterprise
Street (formerly Willow Court) on the right as you proceed from Boston Street; his tanyard was located
across the street on the left side of Willow Court. Lemuel also served as a Captain during the
Revolutionary War, and in the early part of the war some of his men were stationed in the house.
The Lemuel Clap House in its current location.
The Lemuel Clap House is a two-story, wood frame, gambrel-roof building. The plan is that of an L. The
main block is a five-bay, single-pile dwelling and the left rear ell is three bays wide by one bay deep. A
one-story, gable-roof service addition forms a continuation of the ell. The building contains two brick
chimneys, one situated in the right rear of the main block, the other located in the center of the ell. The
roof trim of the SE and SW elevations is a boxed cornice and decorated frieze. This house’s SE, SW, and
NE elevations are covered with clapboard, while the remaining elevations are covered with wood
shingles. The center entry exhibits a six-paneled door which is surmounted by a simple pediment with
pilasters while the eight-paneled central door of the SW elevation has a simple pediment. Four early
twelve over twelve pane windows are still intact. The building stands on a poured concrete foundation
with full basement, having been moved approximately 200 feet southeast of its original location in 1957.6
4
Clap, Roger. Memoirs of Roger Clap. 1630. Collections of the Dorchester Antiquarian and Historical Society. Number one.
Boston, 1844.
5
Orcutt, William Dana. Good old Dorchester. A Narrative History of the town, 1630-1893. Cambridge, 1893.
6
Taken from text in National Register Nomination, which see below.
The Lemuel Clap House in its original location in a photograph of about 1870. No. 1298
Lemuel Clap House in the early 20th century.
11
12
The house seems to be still in its
original location, ready to be moved.
Behind the Clapp barn prior to the
move.
13
Cow barn behind Lemuel Clap House in
prior location.
Path to the east of the Lemuel Clap
House probably leading in the direction
of Boston Street.
The Lemuel Clapp property in a stereo view from 1869. Willow Court seems to run behind the stone wall.
The Lemuel Clap House after the move. No. 2027
14
15
References and Designations
The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) cataloged the Lemuel Clap House at the Roger Clap
House. We now know that if pieces of the Roger Clap House are contained within the Lemuel Clap
House, it is nearly impossible to detect them. It has been argued that the house was built about 1710 by
the Ward family and later altered by Lemuel Clap.
Harry Gulesian made detailed architectural drawings of the house, and these are available in a bound
book in the Lemuel Clap House.
16
National Register Form
Roger Clap House
Report prepared 1974.
[Note: this reproduction of the information in the National Register Nomination Form may have
typographical errors; therefore for technical matters the reader may want to consult a copy of the original,
which is available at the Boston Landmarks Commission or the Dorchester Historical Society.]
The “Roger” Clap House and William Clapp House (with two out-buildings), situated at the northern
corner of Boston and Enterprise Streets, stand on a rectangular plot of land approximately 266 feet along
Boston Street and 144 feet along Enterprise Street.
(1) The “Roger” Clap House is a two-storey, wood-frame, gambrel-roof building. The plan is that of an
L. The main part of the building facing SE (to Boston Street) is five bays wide by one bay deep and the
left rear ell facing SW (to Enterprise Street) is three bays wide by one bay deep. A one-storey, gable-roof
service addition forms a continuation of the ell. The building contains two brick chimneys, one situated
17
at the right rear of the main part of the building, the other located in the center of the ell. The roof is
asphalt shingle. The roof trim of the SE and SW elevations is a boxed cornice and decorated frieze. The
raking trim consists of a fascia board. The remainder of the roof is a projecting eave with no trim. There
are full wooden gutters and downspouts (added sometime after 1935).
The SE and SW elevations and the NE elevation of the main part of the building are covered with
clapboard while the remaining elevations are covered with wood shingles (the shingles replacing earlier
clapboard sometime after 1935). The windows, with the exception of a six-pane fixed window in the NE
attic, are sash type. Three of the earlier twelve over twelve pane arrangements remain in the center and
right second storey of the SE elevation and one in the first floor NW elevation of the ell. The remaining
windows have six over six pane arrangement with the exception of an earlier eight over eight pane sash in
the NW attic. The lower storey of the SE and SW elevations has sloped-hood lintels and decorated
lugsills. The upper storey has decorated lintels and slipsills. The six-paneled (the tow top panels are
glazed) central door of the SE elevation has a simple pediment with pilasters while the eight-paneled
central door (the two top panels are again glazed) of the SW elevation has a simple pediment.
The building stands on a poured concrete foundation (full basement) having been moved approximately
200 feet south of its original location in 1957.
(2) The William Clapp House is a two-storey, hip-roof building. It has a square plan facing SE (to
Boston Street), five bays wide by five bays deep with a later rear two-story, gable-roof, wood-frame,
wing and leanto. The main building contains four brick corner chimneys and central gable dormers on
the SE and NW elevations. The wing contains a right rear brick chimney. The roof of the main building
is slate while that of the wing is asphalt shingle. The roof trim of the main building consists of a boxed
cornice and frieze with full wood gutters and metal downspouts. The roof trim of the wing is plain with
the exception of wood gutters.
The SW and NW elevations of the main building are common bond brick. The SE and NE elevations and
all elevations of the rear wing are clapboard. The windows of the main building are sash type with a six
over six pane arrangement. Those of the SE and NE elevations have moulded trim and slipsills while
those of the SW and NW elevations have moulded trim and recessed brick slipsills. The SE main
entrance is dominated by an open porch and vestibule with double doors containing large translucent
upper panels. The SW elevation has central recessed single door and fan light facing a large concrete
terrace. The building stands on a stone block foundation( full basement).
(3 & 4) There are two outbuildings connected with the William Clapp House: A large one-storey, gableroof, wood-frame, rectangular barn with a left side wing and a smaller two-level shed roof structure. An
early privy is contained in this shed building.
Statement of Significance
(1) The “Roger” Clap and William Clapp Houses are illustrative of the mid-18th and early-19th century
architecture in Dorchester.
18
The oldest portions of the “Roger” Clap House, traditionally held to be the 17th home of this prominent
townsman, probably date from the first quarter of the 18th century. [and therefore the house could not
have belonged to Roger]. The Colonial style building that now stands was essentially constructed in 1765
for Captain Lemuel Clapp (a descendent of Roger’s cousin) by Samuel Pierce. Lemuel Clapp was a
tanner by trade: his tanyard was located on the opposite corner of Willow court. Lemuel also served as a
Captain during the Revolutionary War, and in the early part of the War some of his men were quartered in
this house. In 1819 with the death of Lemuel, two unmarried daughters continued to live in the house. In
1872 the last surviving daughter died and the house fell to tenancy until it was acquried by the Dorchester
Historical Society in 1946. In 1957 due to property taxes, the building was moved from its original
foundations to its present site. Harry Gulesian (the architect who executed the HABS drawings of the
house in 1935) was contracted to supervise and provide plans for the relocation. The contracts specified
that as much of the existing fabric as possible be saved including chimneys and chimney foundations.
End of National Register Form for Lemuel Clap House.
19
The William Clapp House
The William Clapp House at 195 Boston Street was built in 1806. Only two years earlier, Dorchester
Avenue, located one block to the east, had been cut through this area as a turnpike or toll road linking
Dorchester Lower Mills with Boston. The house provides physical evidence of a tanner and gentleman
farmer's Federal mansion house estate. By the time William built this house in 1806, the Clapps had been
farming in Dorchester’s “little neck” for almost 200 years. An extended family compound evolved, with
the new mansion house and old Willow Court at its center.
The William Clapp House is a typical two-story four-over-four Federal-style mansion house with a hip
roof. It has a square plan facing SE to Boston Street, five bays wide by five bays deep with a later rear
two-story, gable roof, wood frame, wing and lean-to. The main building contains four brick corner
chimneys and central gable dormers on the SE and NW elevations. The SW and NW elevations of the
main building are common bond brick. The SE and NE elevations and all elevations of the rear wing are
clapboard. The windows of the main block are sash type with six over six arrangement. Those of the SE
and NE elevations have moulded trim and slipsills. The main entrance consists of an open porch and
vestibule with double doors containing large translucent upper panels. The SW elevation has a central
recessed single door and fanlight facing a large concrete terrace. The building stands on a stone block
foundation. Additionally, a large one-story, gable roof, wood frame, rectangular barn and a late 19thcentury/early 20th-century carriage house are located on this property.7
In 1806 William Clapp was just turning thirty years old. The son of Capt. Lemuel Clap, William had
built up the family business into the largest tannery in Dorchester. The prosperous young man was about
to embark on a new phase of his life. William had just become engaged to Elizabeth Humphreys, the
7
Text taken from National Register Nomination Form, which see below.
20
daughter of James Humphreys, a respected Deacon of the first Parish Church. The marriage joined two
of Dorchester’s oldest families.
William Clapp, aged 79 years and Elizabeth, aged 75 years
Upon the betrothal, William began to build a new home on land deeded to him by his father Lemuel. He
engaged Samuel Everett, a talented housewright, to design the building. Everett incorporated the
prevailing neoclassical or Adamesque style inspired by English buildings. Boston was in the forefront of
the new style, and both William and his builder would have been well-acquainted with its principles. In
fact, the style had been almost single-handedly promoted in American by Boston architect Charles
Bulfinch, who had designed the Massachusetts State House and all of Boston’s Federal-era public
buildings. Builders across the nation emulated the style, making Bulfinch the major influence on
architectural taste in the young republic.
Elevations and plan of the William Clapp House
21
First-floor plan of the William Clapp House
The Clapp House was built using bricks from the brickyard in South Boston that was operated by
William’s brother Roger. The east and north sides of the house were sheathed in clapboard, and painted,
as was the fashion. Although often called a farmhouse, the Clapp House is essentially a large freestanding city home, emulating the fine brick homes that were being built along Washington Street in the
South End and on Beacon Hill at this time. The symmetrical arrangement of windows, the hipped roof,
and the siting on a small rise are all typical of high-style Federal homes. While William’s house is more
modest in scale, he did incorporate as many of the stylish Neoclassical elements as he could afford.
These include the double parlor arrangement, dentil molding and comb-molding details in the south
parlor, and the fanlight and sidelights of the front door. The original columned portico was replaced by
the present Italianate entryway in the 1870s.
William and Elizabeth were married in the best parlor on December 15, 1806. The house remained in the
possession of the Clapp family for four generations until 1946, when it became the property of the
Dorchester Historical Society. Frank Clapp stayed on in the house as the caretaker until his death in the
1950s.
22
The William Clapp House about 1870. No. 833
The 1874 map shows the pathway to the left
visible to the left of the house in the phogoraph
above.
William Clapp House with trees in full leaf. In Huebener collection, so probably from
early 20th century. No. 2481
HABS photo of the William Clapp House from approximately 1937. No. 1472
23
HABS photo of the William Clapp House from approximately 1937. No. 1473
William Clapp House with concrete library addition, so approximately 1950. No. 2063.
24
William Clapp House from about 1950. Note that there is no willow tree growing
in the yard to the left. No. 2061
William Clapp House about 1950. No. 2059
25
26
National Register Form
William Clapp House
Report prepared 1974.
[Note: this reproduction of the information in the National Register Nomination Form may have
typographical errors; therefore for technical matters the reader may want to consult a copy of the original,
which is available at the Boston Landmarks Commission or the Dorchester Historical Society.]
The “Roger” Clap House and William Clapp House (with two out-buildings), situated at the northern
corner of Boston and Enterprise Streets, stand on a rectangular plot of land approximately 266 feet along
Boston Street and 144 feet along Enterprise Street.
(2) The William Clapp House is a two-storey, hip-roof building. It has a square plan facing SE (to
Boston Street), five bays wide by five bays deep with a later rear two-story, gable-roof, wood-frame,
wing and leanto. The main building contains four brick corner chimneys and central gable dormers on
the SE and NW elevations. The wing contains a right rear brick chimney. The roof of the main building
is slate while that of the wing is asphalt shingle. The roof trim of the main building consists of a boxed
cornice and frieze with full wood gutters and metal downspouts. The roof trim of the wing is plain with
the exception of wood gutters.
The SW and NW elevations of the main building are common bond brick. The SE and NE elevations and
all elevations of the rear wing are clapboard. The windows of the main building are sash type with a six
over six pane arrangement. Those of the SE and NE elevations have moulded trim and slipsills while
those of the SW and NW elevations have moulded trim and recessed brick slipsills. The SE main
entrance is dominated by an open porch and vestibule with double doors containing large translucent
upper panels. The SW elevation has central recessed single door and fan light facing a large concrete
terrace. The building stands on a stone block foundation( full basement).
(3 & 4) There are two outbuildings connected with the William Clapp House: A large one-storey, gableroof, wood-frame, rectangular barn with a left side wing and a smaller two-level shed roof structure. An
early privy is contained in this shed building.
Statement of Significance
(1) The “Roger” Clap and William Clapp Houses are illustrative of the mid-18th and early-19th century
architecture in Dorchester.
The oldest portions of the “Roger” Clap House, traditionally held to be the 17th home of this prominent
townsman, probably date from the first quarter of the 18th century. [and therefore the house could not
have belonged to Roger]. The Colonial style building that now stands was essentially constructed in 1765
for Captain Lemuel Clapp (a descendent of Roger’s cousin) by Samuel Pierce. Lemuel Clapp was a
27
tanner by trade: his tanyard was located on the opposite corner of Willow court. Lemuel also served as a
Captain during the Revolutionary War, and in the early part of the War some of his men were quartered in
this house. In 1819 with the death of Lemuel, two unmarried daughters continued to live in the house. In
1872 the last surviving daughter died and the house fell to tenancy until it was acquried by the Dorchester
Historical Society in 1946. In 1957 due to property taxes, the building was moved from its original
foundations to its present site. Harry Gulesian (the architect who executed the HABS drawings of the
house in 1935) was contracted to supervise and provide plans for the relocation. The contracts specified
that as much of the existing fabric as possible be saved including chimneys and chimney foundations.
(2) William Clapp (son of Captain Lemuel) followed in the business of his father and operated the
tanyard, in later years devoting his attention to the surrounding farm. His Federal style house was built in
1806 by the housewright, Samuel Everett. Most of the original interior of the main building exists. The
Greek Revival rear wing and bracketed Italianate open porch and vestibule are later additions. Three sons
of William Clapp (Thaddeus, Lemuel, and Frederick) continued to operate the farm and were successful
in developing many varieties of pears. The most notable was Clapp’s Favorite, developed in 1849 and
marketed by 1860, a variety which remains in wide commercial use. The house continued to be occupied
by the descendants of William Clapp until it was acquired the Dorchester Historical Society in 1946.
In 1870 with the annexation of Dorchester to the city of Boston, the character of the area radically
changed. Much of the farmland was sold over the years for house lots. The complex presently lies in the
middle of a densely-populated, mixed-use urban area.
End of National Register Form for William Clapp House
28
Other Clapp Buildings along Willow Court
Other buildings that were erected along Willow Court may provide some clues into the ways the Clapp
family lands were used.
Ebenezer Clap House
Scan from 1874 Hopkins atlas showing Boston Street and Willow
Court. The property owned by James T. Howe was the location
of the Ebenezer Clap House.
The caption to an illustration of the Ebenezer Clapp House in the Memorial History of Boston is simply:
“House on Willow Court.” A footnote says
This house was raised May 15, 1750. It was built by Ebenezer Clapp (father
Of Colonel Ebenezer Clapp). During the early part of the Revolutionary
struggle, soldiers are said to have been quartered in it. The house is now
[1880 or 1881] occupied by James T. Howe.8
Sometimes called the Roger Clap House, this building could not have belonged to him since Roger Clap
died in 1691.
8
Barrows, Rev. Samuel J. “Dorchester in the Provincial Period.” in Memorial History of Boston, v. 2, 1881.
Photograph owned by the Dorchester Historical Society of the Ebenezer Clap House and
outbuilding. The barn at the very right seems to be the barn for the Lemuel Clap House. No. 2029
Modern view of the Ebenezer Clap property.
29
The neighborhood along Willow Court beyond the Ebenezer Clap House, late 19th century.
No. 7152
Modern view of Willow Court
30
31
The Clapp family lands that lie to the west of the Dorchester Historical Society property are today part of
an urban landscape that has been zoned to allow commercial, industrial and retail development. Although
these modern businesses and buildings are packed together very closely, they may be considered the
modern equivalent of the Clapp family’s earlier grist mill, tanneries, horticultural production,
greenhouses and dairying activities. The former Clapp family property could contain intact subterranean
sites associated with these earlier activities and could contribute significant information to the
archeological record of this otherwise unprepossessing landscape.
Other Clapp Buildings along Boston Street
The 1874 atlas shows some of the Clapp family lands along with others related to the Clapps, including Humphrey.
32
33
The Thaddeus Clapp house (William’s son) stood at the southeast corner of Boston and Mt. Vernon
Streets until World War II.
Photograph owned by the Dorchester Historical Society of the Thaddeus Clapp House.
Notice the fence posts – similar in design to the fence at the William Clapp House.
No. 2042
Photograph of Boston Street showing the Thaddeus Clapp House at the very right.
The first church building of St. Margaret’s Roman Catholic Church in the center of
the photograph was built on former Clapp land. The William Clapp House and the
property of the Dorchester Historical Society is on the left. No. 2415
34
The Clapp lands wrapped around a parcel of land at the corner of Boston Street and Pond Street (now
Columbia Road) owned in 1874 by Richardson. In the 19th century William Clapp’s brother Richard built
a house on the Pond Street frontage.
One-half of a stereopticon card view of the Richard Clapp House.
No. 2041
The Clapp lands on the same side of Boston Street to the north of the Dorchester Historical property were
developed in the later 19th century into greenhouses.
Illustration from stationery of the E.B. Clapp florist shop and
greenhouses.
35
In the 1933 atlas the Lemuel Clapp House is owned by William. The William Clapp House and the greenhouses to the north
are owned by Frederick.
Scan of photograph in the collection of the Dorchester Historical Society showing greenhouses and Clifford Blake Clapp, Fred G. Clapp, Chalmers S. Clapp and Prescott J. Clapp.
The man with the bowler is Edward Blake Clapp who built 175 Boston St. He was a florist
in town. No. 5303.
175 Boston Street on the right and the florist shop. No. 5304
36
37
Greenhouses in distance. No. 5306
38
The Clap Family in Dorchester
The town of Dorchester was settled in the first wave of the Great Migration by immigrants who sailed in
the ship Mary and John from Plymouth, England, in the spring of 1630. Explorers and fishermen from
England’s West Country had sailed to the waters off the northern coast of America since the early 15th
century. With inspiration drawn from Rev. John White’s progressive Puritan showpiece town of
Dorchester in Dorset, England, the new Dorchester was conceived and carefully structured to function as
a New World utopia. The first settlers to emigrate demonstrated their commitment to this experimental
society by organizing The First Church in Plymouth, England, March 20, 1630, on the eve before their
embarkation.
Scan of map England and Wales. Chicago: The Geographical Publishing Co., ca. 1900
Boston Street, one of the oldest thoroughfares in Dorchester, has historic resources that span a
considerable sweep of time, representing a diverse collection of housing types - both in terms of form and
style. Boston Street was part of a system of roads that dated back to the mid-17th century. It was
originally known as “the Causeway” or the “way to the Great Neck” (originally part of Dorchester, now
South Boston, also called the Cow Pasture). It was called the Causeway because its route passed over the
marshland of Little Neck, an area bounded by South Cove on the west and Old Harbor (Pleasure Bay) on
the east. It may well have been a native American thoroughfare. Boston Street was linked with
Columbia Street, now Columbia Road, which in turn, was connected with Stoughton and Hancock
Streets. Enterprise Street, which extends northwestward from Boston Street alongside the Dorchester
Historical Society property, is a new name for a long stretch of an early street called Willow Court which
led to the Clapp family's grist mill and the marsh land associated with South Cove (South Bay).
39
Boston Street is the nearly straight north-south road crossing the marsh from Dorchester
proper to Dorchester Neck (now South Boston). Scan from Nancy S. Seasholes. Gaining
Ground: A History of Landmaking in Boston. (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2003). Map
of Boston and Environs, 1777 by Pelham. The black rectangle at bottom center indicates
approximately the area of influence of the Clapp family and extended family.
This area has significant historical associations with the Clapp family who were tanners and gentlemen
farmers and spinster descendants in this area from 1630 to the mid-20th century. Two historic house
museums operated by the Dorchester Historical Society provide a physical link with this prominent
family: The William Clapp House at #195 with its entrance on Boston Street and The Lemuel Clap House
at #199 Boston Street to the south of the William Clapp House, with a side entrance on Willow Court
(now Enterprise Street.
40
Map shows Dorchester, Dorchester Neck (South Boston), and Castle Island. Copied from the internet.
Map published by P. Phillips, Bridge Street, Black Friars, London, on Sept. 18, 1806. Appeared in
Marshall's Life of Washington.
The Clapp/Clapp Family: Early Settlers
Roger Clap, born in England in 1609, came to Dorchester on the Mary and John in 1630 and subsequently
married Johanna Ford in 1633. They lived in the area near Boston Street until he became Captain of the
Castle (later Fort William on Castle Island) in Boston Harbor in 1665. His Memoirs describe the
settlement of Dorchester in 1630, the construction of the fort, and religious matters.
Castle William with Dorchester Neck (now South
Boston) behind. Published in Letters of a Loyalist
Lady by Anne Hulton. Cambridge, 1927.
41
Roger was chosen to be a Dorchester town Selectman in 1637 when he was 28 years old, and he was reelected fourteen times. Additionally he was selected many times as Deputy from Dorchester to the
General Court of Massachusetts Bay. In 1644, at the first regular organization of the military of the
colony, he became the Lieutenant of the Dorchester company along with Humphrey Atherton as Captain
and Hopestill Foster as Ensign. He later became Captain of the company and then Captain of the Castle,
succeeding Capt. Richard Davenport, who was killed by lightning in July of 1665. He resigned in 1686,
principally on account of the political troubles resulting under the administration of Sir Edmund Andros.
Apppointed as Governor of New England by James II after James came to the throne in 1685, Andros
enacted laws and levied taxes without approval of a legislature, and he took from the local town meeting
its power of taxation; he sent innocent men to jail and curbed the liberty of the press. He attacked titles to
the land, pronouncing many of them void. Only the overthrow of King James II in favor of William and
Mary in 1689 changed the conditions in New England. By then Roger was comfortably retired in Boston,
and he spent the last years of his life there, dying in 1691.
1. Original location of Blake House. 2. Former location of Clap tide mill.
3. William Clapp House and the Lemuel Clap House on Willow Court in
its original location. 4. Blake House in its current location.
Nicholas Clap arrived from Dorset, England, in 1633. He followed his cousin Roger, who had come with
the original Dorchester settlers in 1630. Like most early settlers, Nicholas was granted parcels of land
scattered all over the district. Each parcel filled a different agricultural need. The communal cow pasture
was located on “Dorchester Neck” (now South Boston). Meadow lots on the south marsh (today’s South
Bay Mall) provided marsh hay to feed live stock and reeds for thatch. The family also had timber lots in
Stoughton (then part of Dorchester) and South Boston.
42
The Clapps’ colonial enterprises were strung along Willow Court. The court (now partially Enterprise
Street) was named for five massive willow trees that lined the road. The street was nestled between the
“causeway road to the little neck” (now Boston Street to Andrew Square) and another road that skirted
the swampy marshes of the south bay. The Clapps’ gristmill was at the water’s edge, while the tanning
yard, operated by Nicholas’s descendants, Lemuel and his son William, anchored the upper end of the
road near Boston Street. Captain Lemuel Clap’s House (William’s boyhood home) lay between the two.
Extended families both worked together and lived together, forming an extensive support system.
William built his mansion adjacent to his business and near his father’s home. More house lots were laid
out on the estate as William Clapp’s sons and then grandchildren matured and married.
In 1840 Frederick Clapp built a large Greek Revival style house several rods down Boston Street from his
father’s mansion. William’s old Federal mansion descended to his son Lemuel, and then to Lemuel’s son
William Channing Clapp. William Channing Clapp ensconced his family at nearby 8 Mayhew Street
(formerly Clapp Place) from 1873-1885. In 1874 Edward Blake Clapp (Frederick’s son) built a small
house at 175 Boston Street, between his grandfather’s mansion and his father’s house.
Through mid-century, the district remained sparsely populated with many of the scattered houses
occupied by extended family. Gradually real estate development pressure in Dorchester became too
great. In the 1880s William’s grandchildren sold the extensive orchards across Boston Street for
residential development. When the new streets were laid out, they were given the names of pears once
cultivated on the famous farm: Mayhew, Harvest, Bellflower and Dorset among them. It was the end of
an era.
The Clap Tide Mill
Early Clap family members owned and operated a tidal gristmill that was located near the end of a creek
almost at the edge of the South Cove, approximately where the Super Stop & Shop building is today in
the South Bay Shopping Center. In the colonial period the mill had a dam that connected Clapp’s Point at
the mill to Black Point on the Roxbury side of the South Cove or South Bay, creating a mill pond that
covered about an acre of land. The dam was made of sawn wood planks driven into the mud of the
marshland with earth piled up against the wooden wall. Pieces were recovered when the South Bay was
last dredged for navigation improvement before 1910. Probably on the west end of the dam was a low
end, called a spillway. In the middle, there would have been a pair of large swinging wooden tide gates,
and the Clap’s Mill stood on the east end. The mill would have been powered by an undershot
waterwheel, connected to hand hewn wood shafts and wooden gears.
43
View from William Clapp House attic window. The South Bay shopping mall is indicated by the arrow. In the foreground,
the Verizon building is nearest. The Aggregate Industries building is next, then the shopping mall. No. 8736
The pond was fed by Mill Creek as well as by the tide. When the tide had reached its full, the gates were
closed to trap the water to be used to run the wheel when the tide ebbed. The spillway let out excess
water if the creek was especially active. The chief reason that the NStar plant now on the original site of
the Blake property is skewed at an odd angle to Massachusetts Avenue is because the southwest side runs
close to the original line of Mill Creek. All of the land on Massachusetts Avenue now owned by NStar
was once waterfront next to the Creek and the South Cove.
44
Scan of original plan of division owned by Dorchester Historical Society showing Blake property 1748.
The northern part of the town at the South Bay felt the effect of the tides. The South Bay, which is now
filled, in was then connected to the ocean by a passage between Boston and Calf Pasture (now South
Boston). Some of the Claps were among the first to arrive in Dorchester as passengers in the Mary and
John, and they acquired land in the north part of the town fronting on the South Bay. They owned the
tide mill known as Clap’s Mill. It stood nearly northeast of the house formerly owned and occupied by
the late Preserved Baker, not far from the bend of Mill Brook Creek or Mill Brook, which separates
Roxbury and Dorchester. It is mentioned in the Clapp Memorial, the family genealogy, that the mill was
built for them by a Mr. Bate. This was probably James Bate or Bates, a millwright who arrived in
Dorchester in 1635. He lived from 1582 until his death in Dorchester in 1655.
Edward Clapp, Roger’s brother, owned half of the mill. Following his death in January 1664, Edward’s
sons Nehemiah and Ezra each acquired one quarter of the tide mill. The estate inventory describes it as a
tidal mill. Half the mill was then valued at 50 pounds. Ezra moved to Milton where he had received
other lands from his father and built a mill for grinding corn on the Milton side of the Neponset River.
He may have sold his quarter of the South Bay mill back to the family since it does not seem to appear in
his will. Nehemiah stayed in Dorchester and died at age 38. In his will, probated in 1684, he left his
quarter of the mill to his son Edward, who is described as a shiftless character who had a good estate left
him, which he disposed of before he removed to Sudbury about 1722.
45
Elizabeth Clap, daughter of Edward married James Blake in 1651, and they moved to the house now
known as the Blake House or Blake-Clap House. The inventory of James’ estate includes a significant
entry for mealbags, presumably from the Clap mill.
Roger Clap in his will written in November of 1690 mentions the tide-mill although it is not conclusive
that he owned a portion of the mill. He says: My son Hopstill shall have that part of the home lot that is
below the fence, and all the medow at the end of the home lot, and at the tide mill, and at the end of
cornelias lot, as fare as the salt creek, but not over the creek.
Nicholas Clap, cousin to Edward and Roger, owned a quarter of the mill. It is unclear how the mill’s
ownership passed down, but Nicholas’ grandson Jonathan, son of Nicholas’s eldest son Nathaniel, was an
enterprising man and owned much real estate. He was proprietor of three fourths of the grist mill called
Clap’s Mill which stood as described before and not far from where in 1889 the New York & New
England Railroad reached the upland after crossing the waters of the South Bay. The mill was rebuilt by
Johathan Clap and Humphrey Atherton in 1712. Humphrey Atherton who was a descendant of an early
settler, Major General Humphrey Atherton, seems to have owned one quarter of the mill. According to
the articles of agreement for rebuilding it, Joseph Parsons, of Northampton, was to build a corn or grist
mill at a place called Clap’s Mill where the former mill stood, for which he was to have 50 pounds, the
mill to be finished by Sept. 12, 1712. Jonathan’s estate included an entry for three quarters of a grist mill
and the meadow belonging thereto valued at 80 pounds, when he died in Jan. 1723/4, but due to the
young age of two of his sons, his estate seems not to have been settled until 1746. The mill probably
operated into the 19th century.
There seems to be no further recorded mention of the mill other than reference to fragments found during
the excavation of the South Bay. A newspaper article from 1910 mentions the existence of a dike built to
keep the tide from a meadow above the dike. For the operation of the mill, a dam was built running
nearly parallel to the existing structure some 250 or 300 feet, crossing mill brook a little down stream.
200 years previously, the spring tide would have been high enough to cover all the marshes and two
peninsulas of upland would be seen projecting into the watery areas, one on the Roxbury side and the
other on the Dorchester side of the brook. The hill of the peninsula was later taken down to the level of
Willow Court. The mill dam would have been constructed of “sheet piling” – that is planks set edge to
edge and driven endwise in the marsh, against which earth was filled. Above the dam, the waters of each
inflowing tide were held and with the steady accretions of Mill Brook, a mill pond was created that
extended south to Cottage Street and westward as far as the borders of the Governor Eustis estate in
Roxbury. The mill house remained on the premises until July 4, 1855, when it was destroyed by fire
while the rest of Dorchester celebrated the 225th anniversary of the settlement of the town. Later during
the excavation of the South Bay, pieces of old planks, which had been used in the construction of the
dam, were taken out.
There is a millstone right in front of the main entrance door of the Lemuel Clap House that supposedly
came from the Baker’s Chocolate mill or at least from one of the mills at the Neponset River. Another
smaller millstone appears in the corner of the yard near the intersection of Boston Street and the side
street, Enterprise Street that used to be part of Willow Court. Although we have no provenance for this
stone, it may very well have come from the Clap Mill.
46
Dorchester in the Revolution
In the 17th century, Dorchester residents used what is now South Boston as a cow pasture. Boston Street
was the only means of entrance and exit, and the cows could be left on the peninsula with only a
youngster to guard the causeway. In 1775 Dorchester citizens, fearful of an attack from the British who
commanded Castle Island and occupied Boston proper, built a fortification across Boston Street to protect
against British invasion. The cow pasture became something of a no-man’s land. The redoubt, made of
wood and dirt, crossed Boston Street at the point where Harvest and Boston Streets intersect. Even today
there is a drop-off in the back-yards of houses on the north side of Mt. Vernon and and the south side of
Harvest Streets with the high side to the south, providing a natural base for a fortification against forces
that might come from the north. Colonel Samuel Pierce, another Dorchester son, made an entry in his
diary for June 26, 1775: “This day our People began to entrench below Capt. Clap’s, near the great
Casway.” The illustration on the next page shows the location of the fortification across the Clapp
properties.
The Lemuel Clap House was used to house patriot officers and soldiers in the Revolution. Washington’s
army followed Boston Street on March 4, 1776, to fortify Dorchester Heights on the Cow Pasture
peninsula in a single night. Pierce recorded in his diary for March 4th: “Our people went on to Dorchester
Neck and built two forts in the same night, and there was 380 teems and about 5000 men—the most work
don that ever was don in one night in New England.” A train of three hundred and sixty teams of horses
or “mostly yoked oxen,” was gathered from all the towns and villages around, together with teamsters,
hostlers, farriers, and ox-drivers. Barns and sheds were assigned, and hay, oats, and fodder was furnished.
The required loads were apportioned off for each team. Schedules were worked out for the timing and
number of trips that would be necessary: all in all, a tremendous undertaking in military organization and
logistics, yet particularly suited to the ways and means of the enterprising villagers round about. We can
picture the dark spectacle of lumbering oxen plodding by, dragging their overloaded carts and vans with
creaking wagon wheels that rumbled over the rutted, half-frozen roadway. Around them, we would see a
shadowy press of soldiers, indistinctly silhouetted in the moonlight, or with their taut faces lit up by
lanterns as they passed the house door. Over their shoulders they would be carrying shovels, pick-axes,
47
Plan showing modern streets and the location of the Revolutionary
Redoubt crossing Boston Street. Compiled in 1907 from Pelham's
Map 1777 and from survey by Mather Withington. The Clapp lands
and the streets are shown as they existed in 1874. No. 6714
crow-bars, or other tools in addition to their muskets. Overhead we would trace the fiery missiles crisscrossing the sky, while the framework of the house itself would shudder with the crash of cannon, and
shake at the bursting of shells. All in all, it would present a drama never to be forgotten, of a new nation
surging forward in the night to meet its destiny.
Lemuel died in 1819 and two unmarried daughters continued to live in the house. In 1872, the last of
Lemuel’s daughters, Miss Catherine Clap died at the age of 90; title passed to her nephews Frederick and
Lemuel, and the house was occupied by Captain Lemuel’s great-granddaughter Rebecca (granddaughter
of his son Richard) and her husband, William Blake Trask, in the late 19th century. The Dorchester
Historical Society acquired the property at 195 Boston Street including both houses and their land from
Frank Lemuel Clapp in 1946. Due to the march of progress, the City of Boston needed land for a
business street, and the Lemuel Clap House stood in the way of widening Willow Court to create
Enterprise Street. The Society sold most of the frontage on Willow Court and moved the historic house in
1957 or 1958 to its present location just to the left of the William Clapp House.
48
Tanning, the Family Business
William Clapp, like generations of Clapps before him, was a tanner by trade. As a prosperous tradesman,
William was a respected member of the community. He took an active interest in church, social, and
civic affairs.
Tanning, the process of making animal hides into leather, emerged as a major industry in the old town
and provided a handful of Dorchester families, especially the Clapps and the Humphreys, with a very
comfortable living. William Clapp not only produced a range of leathers at the large yard, he also
extended the family business to include importing fine Moroccan leather on a modest scale. William’s
three sons learned the trade at his side.
Why was tanning so profitable? Leather was an important material in the colonial period and long into
the 19th century. It was used for shoes, saddles, boots, harnesses, clothing, bellows, trunks, and many
other useful items. Tanning was a physically demanding and lengthy process, making leather a relatively
expensive commodity. Willow Court, located on the South Bay marsh and fed by several creeks, was
ideally suited for a tannery.
The creeks provided the large quantities of fresh water needed to wash and soak the hides. Any noxious
animal waste was washed away by the tide. The large population of nearby Boston increased demand for
meat products, ensuring both a steady supply of hides and a ready market for leather goods. The Clapps
sold their leather to trunk makers, harness makers, shoemakers, glove makers, and other craftsmen.
With his business secure, William Clapp began to take a more active role in town affairs. He served as
town selectman, on the school board, on the highway committee, and other town posts. He also served
one term as a representative to the Great and General Court of Massachusetts (the state house of
representatives). William Clapp was an active member of the Dorchester militia for most of his life.
Like his father, he rose to the rank of Captain. The colonial militia had played a vital role in protecting
the town. Lemuel Clap’s Company served at Dorchester Heights during the British evacuation of Boston
in the Revolution. However, by the 1820s, participation in a local militia was largely a social outlet.
Membership in such companies helped establish social and business contacts. William’s duties seemed to
be mostly arranging for music for the musters, organizing the drills, and arranging for the copious
refreshments which followed.
Nineteenth Century Social Changes
William Clapp was born in 1779 and Elizabeth in 1783. The Federal-era generation of which they were a
part had been raised to aspire to economic prosperity and social mobility. While skilled tradesmen such
as William Clapp were proud to be part of the prosperous class of “mechanics,” they hoped for more for
their sons. With hard work and the right connections, young men could expect to rise quickly in society
in the Federal era. Upwardly-mobile families like the Clapps educated their sons to be part of a growing
professional class and prepared their daughters to be the wives of such young men.
The Clapp House was spacious, but it quickly filled to overflowing. Elizabeth bore nine children between
1808 and 1821. Two died in infancy, but seven lived at least into their teens. It was common to lose
children to childhood diseases or accidents, and Elizabeth must have felt extremely lucky to have the
49
majority of her children remain healthy. Sadly, the three youngest – Rebecca, aged 21; James, aged 19;
and Alexander, aged 17 – died within four days of each other when typhoid swept through Dorchester in
1838. It was a devastating blow to the family.
Lemuel Clapp, aged 43 years and Charlotte T. Clapp aged 40 years
About this time, young Lemuel, who was engaged to be married, supervised the addition of a new kitchen
and servant wing onto the rear of the house, partly in response to the family’s plans to expand their
agricultural business. Lemuel and his bride Charlotte Tuttle moved into the mansion house in 1840. As
his siblings married and moved out, Lemuel remained to raise his family and care for his aging parents.
Frederick and his new wife Martha Blake built next door.
In the 1830s Dorchester was still a small town of about 2,000 families. William’s adult children
socialized within a small circle of extended family and old Dorchester families. The children sometimes
attended lectures and musical program and were occasionally taken into Boston for special events. Much
of their social and political life revolved around the church. While the Clapps were nominally
Congregationalists, as members of the First Parish they practiced the popular “new religion”
(Unitarianism). Perhaps influenced by their liberal pastors, the Clapps supported a number of progressive
causes. They were especially ardent abolitionists, aligning themselves with the “Garrisonians,” the most
extreme branch of the anti-slavery activists in New England.
At mid-century, Dorchester was a mix of old farms and burgeoning suburban neighborhoods. William’s
grandchildren took on the trappings of middle-class Victorian householders, and most married into local
families. They went to tea or drank lemonade on open porches as their children played on grassy lawns in
the shadow of the old manse.
50
Agricultural Pursuits
William Clapp and his sons were involved in the hybridization of apples and pears--the lands north of the
Clapp House were cultivated as a fruit orchard as early as 1810. Around 1839 William and his sons
embarked on a program to turn the farmstead into a modern agricultural business. While the main focus
was on their orchards, part of the plan included expanding dairy production.
Before the Civil War, the most important dairy product was butter, not milk. New England cream was
unmatched for its superior butterfat content, and the region’s butter and cheeses were highly prized. In
1806, when newlyweds William and Elizabeth set up housekeeping, they probably kept three or four milk
cows to meet the needs of their household. The dairy herd was later expanded as a result of the planning
process at the end of the 1830s. The construction of the addition at the rear of the house may have been a
result of this planning process as well.
Butter and cheese were processed in the basement of the “new wing.” After the milking was done, hired
dairymaids separated the butter from the raw cream using an efficient paddle churn. The butter was
salted, put up in wooden tubs, and stored in an insulated tin-lined cooler until it was sent to market.
Cheese was aged in the same cellar room.
The dairy remained a small local operation, but not so the orchard business. The Clapps were among a
number of farmers in Dorchester and Roxbury experimenting with improved varieties of vegetables and
fruits.9 From Frederick’s diary of 1847-51, we know that the family cultivated potatoes, beets, beans,
rutabagas, and corn. These were well-established staple crops and not particularly innovative. The real
interest of the brothers was in cultivating new varieties of fruit trees, especially pears. They also grew
plums, strawberries, currants, and many other types of berries. They became very successful, even
shipping plants to Europe. During the early 19th century, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society was
supported by the local gentry of Dorchester and other Boston-area towns. William Clapp and his sons,
Lemuel, Frederick and Thaddeus, all joined the new society and submitted their fruits for the annual
9
The closest horticultural experimenter was John Richardson who occupied the house at Edward Everett Square where
Edward Everett was born. His property was nearly surrounded by Clapp family lands.
For a discussion of horticultural and agricultural pursuits see the Appendix with excerpts from Good Old Dorchester by
Orcutt and from “The Horticulture of Boston and Vicinity” by Marshall Pinckney Wilder as published in the Memorial History
of Boston.
51
Clapp’s Favorite pear
Frederick Clapp pear
award ceremony. The creation of the “Clapp's Favorite Pear” in 1840 was a local marvel that proved
profitable for the Clapps. The Clapp's Favorite Pear was the hybridization of the Flemish Beauty Pear
and the Bartlett Pear. The fact that it was an early ripening pear made the fruit available in mid to late
August, at a time when fruits were thought to have medicinal qualities and relatively short periods of
shelf life.10 Several of the streets in the St Margaret's / Boston Street area were named for pears grown on
the Clapp estate, including Mount Vernon, Harvest, and Dorset Streets.
Each of William Clapp’s sons contributed to the success of the fruit business. Thaddeus, who had studied
at Harvard College, was the scientist. He experimented with many hybrids, published his findings in
scientific farming journals, and earned a reputation in horticultural circles. According to family tradition,
Lemuel had the honor of planting the first Clapp’s Favorite Pear seed. He seems to have been the
manager of the business, setting wages, hiring workers, and keeping accounts. Frederick was the real
farmer of the team. He could be found haying, planting crops, improving root cellars, and tending
animals. He even cultivated a peach orchard. However, New England farms declined after the Civil
10
Clapp pears are mentioned in the Pears of New York. William Clapp is credited for the Clap Favorite (or Clap’s Favorite,
Clapp’s Favorite or Clapp’s Liebling); Lemuel is credited for the Frederick Clapp; Thaddeus is credited for the Sarah; F & L
Clapp are credited with the Newhall and the Nicholas pears.
52
War, and the business declined. By 1884, Frederick’s son Edward Blake Clapp, a florist, had transformed
the farm into a local nursery complex focusing on green-house cultivated flowers, while his cousin
William Channing Clapp maintained a small dairy.
Neighborhood Development
Mt. Vernon Street was developed c. 1870 over part of the Clapp orchard and was a harbinger of more
intensive street construction. The setting out of Mt. Vernon Street coincided with the annexation of
Dorchester to Boston, an event that triggered Dorchester-wide housing development, only to be curtailed
by the Financial Panic of 1873. Mt. Vernon Street has an important collection of early 1870s Italianate /
Mansard residences. Harvest Street, like St. Margaret Street and Mayhew Street to the south, was cut
through the former Clapp orchards during the 1890s and is lined with a diverse collection of Queen Anne,
Colonial Revival, and three-decker housing.
Mayhew Street is an important repository for simple, minimally ornamented Late Federal / Greek Revival
dwellings. Set out as a cul-de-sac named Clapp Place as early as 1830, Mayhew Street's north side is built
up with wooden 1830s and ‘40s dwellings, which are characterized by distinctive, horizontally massed
structural components consisting of a main block and one or two lateral wings.
Martha Ann Kingman Clapp and William Channing Clapp
This street provides a fascinating opportunity to study a suburban subdivision that pre-dates the
introduction of the railroad to Dorchester by more than a decade. Clapp Place seems to have been
developed as a compound for the family and friends of the William Clapps. Its early residents were
engaged primarily in agricultural pursuits. The first house on the street was probably the William
Channing Clapp House at 8 Mayhew Street. Mayhew Street, a.k.a. Clapp Place, evidently started out as a
driveway leading to the William Channing Clapp farm house, which remained under Clapp ownership
until at least the early 1900s. By 1850, nine houses bordered this dirt-covered country lane.
53
Detail from 1874 Hopkins atlas of Clapp Place, now Mayhew Street.
31 Mayhew Street is an Italianate house owned by A.H. Clapp during the late 19th century; 32 Mayhew
Street, a sparely ornamented Greek Revival house was owned by Alfred H. Clapp and his heirs until the
early 20th century; 38 Mayhew Street was occupied by Frederick Weiss who married Mary Clapp,
daughter of Richard and granddaughter of Lemuel, from the 1860s until at least the turn-of-the century;
and 42 Mayhew was owned from at least the 1850s until the early 1900s by William Blake Trask. His
family operated the Trask Pottery Co. at Commercial Point and he married Mary’s sister Rebecca. A
carpenter by trade, he may have been involved as a builder in the development of Mt. Vernon Street
c.1870. He was for many years active in the New England Historical Genealogical Society and the
Dorchester Historical Society. During the early 1900s, he lived in the Capt. Lemuel Clap House, the
early 18th century house that is part of the Dorchester Historical Society property.
221/223 Boston Street is another survivor from the mid-nineteenth century. By 1894, Martha Clapp,
widow of Frederick and daughter-in-law of William Clapp, the tanner who built 195 Boston Street in
1806, lived in this double Greek Revival house.
54
The Dorchester Historical Society acquired the Clap/Clapp houses in the 1940s from Frank Lemuel
Clapp, whose wife had died earlier. Frank was a loyal supporter of the Dorchester Historical Society and
remained as caretaker until his death in the 1950s.
Frank Lemuel Clapp and Ruth Elizabeth Browne Clapp
The Nicholas Clapp family male members who stayed in Dorchester
55
56
57
General Descriptions of Dorchester
Dorchester, like many landscapes that have made the transition to urban development, has undergone a
transformation from rugged terrain to a flatter, more regular topography. Some areas in the United
States, like Manhattan Island, made the transition through an orderly plan. Others, including
Dorchester, changed mostly through efforts by individuals unrelated to an overall vision. Hills were
flattened; ponds were filled; and marshy areas were drained as people needed the land for the next use.
The most prominent natural features today include the many hills (Savin, Jones, Meeting House, Popes,
Ashmont, Codman, and Mt. Bowdoin), the Neponset River and the coastline.
From The Atlantic Neptune. (London.) (1775.) This view, originally one of three on a single
sheet from The Atlantic Nepune, was drawn by William Pierrie in September, 1775. No. 7407
The coastline is the feature most changed with the making of land at Columbia Point, in the coves and
inlets, and especially in the South Bay. The South Bay, now mostly covered in concrete and asphalt,
has as its only visible reminder a shopping plaza by that name. Commuters traveling from the south
into Boston in the morning and going in the reverse direction in the evening do not realize that they are
crossing what was in the early years of the colony a strait of water separating two peninsulas – Boston
and Dorchester’s Cow Pasture or Dorchester Neck.
The South Bay at the bottom of the illustration shows development at the
right hand side (south)along the property that the Clapps might have owned.
The viewer is looking from west to east. No. 3699
This view from 1871 shows the South Bay, the body of water at the top
center of the illustration. The Clapp family properties would have been
along the stream that looks like a tail leading into the South Bay. The
peninsula of South Boston was Dorchester’s original Cow Pasture. The
viewer is looking from the east toward the west. No. 4906.
58
59
The extent of the South Bay is evident in this 1991 map due to the lack of road development in the area that was originally
water. The white expanse in the center of this map detail represents approximately the extent of the South Bay.
60
From Seventeenth Century Survey of Dorchester by
Zurawski.
Nancy Seasholes in her book Gaining Ground
shows a background of modern streets with the
1630 shore line of the South as the solid black
line and the 1845 shore line after dredging as the
dotted line. The red rectangle represents
approximately the Clapp lands. No. 5490
61
The South Bay shore line in 1845. The Clapp lands would have
been at the bottom.
The South Bay, which is the natural feature most closely related to the use of the Clapp lands, was
originally a large inland bay surrounded by marshes. It provided the tidal power for the operation of a
grist mill and the access for water-borne vessels to transport the flour from the mill, the leather goods
from the Clapp tannery and the fruits from the Clapp family orchards.
62
Scan of detail from Wood's Map of Massachusetts 1633
map published in: Chronicles of The First Planters of
The Colony of Massachusetts Bay, from 1623 to 1636.
By Alexander Young. Boston: Charles C. Little and
James Brown, 1846. No. 3573
Wood, in 1633, in his New England's Prospect, describes Dorchester as “the greatest town in New
England, well wooded and watered; very good arable grounds and hay-ground; fair cornfields and
pleasant gardens, with kitchen gardens, In this plantation is a great many cattle, as kine, goats, and
swine. This plantation hath a reasonable harbor for ships, but here is no alewife river, which is a great
inconvenience. The inhabitants of this town were the first that set upon the trade of fishing in the Bay,
who received so much fruit of their labors that they encouraged others to the same undertakings.”
63
Approximation of Dorchester’s largest territory after a grant of land in the late 1630s. No. 7134
Johnson seems to have been struck by the form of the town, and thus mentions it in his WonderWorking Providence, published in 1654 (probably referring to the shape of the original town without
the additional lands granted in the late 1630s. The original town would have included what is now
South Boston and Milton:
”The form of this town is almost like a serpent, turning her head to the northward, over against
Tompson's [sic] Island and the Castle; her body and wings, being chiefly built on, are filled somewhat
thick of houses, only that one of her wings is clipped, her tail being of such a large extent that she can
hardly draw it after her. Her houses for dwellings are about one hundred and forty, orchards and
gardens full of fruit-trees, plenty of corn-land, although much of it hath been long in tillage, yet hath it
ordinarily good crops. The number of trees are near upon 1,500. Cows and other cattle of that kind
about 450.”
The description that Josselyn made in his second voyage to New England, from 1663 to 1671, confirms
that of the other writers:
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”Six miles beyond Braintree lieth Dorchester, a frontire town pleasantly seated, and of large extent into
the main land, well watered with two small rivers, her body and wings filled somewhat thick with
houses to the number of two hundred and more, beautified with fair orchards and gardens, having also
plenty of corn-land and store of cattle counted the greatest town heretofore in New England, but now
gives way to Boston. It hath a harbor to the north for ships.”
Detail from Foster’s map of New England, 1677.
65
Thomas Pond map of 1691.
In his journal, Some Cursory Remarks Made by James Birket in His Vogage to North America 17501751, Birket describes his stay with Henry Vassels in Boston. His entry for September 10, 1750,
follows: “Henry Vassels & Self went in his chace to Dorchester to dine with Col. Robt Oliver being 9
Miles. Returned in the evening; this is a very pleasant country town and stands about 4 miles from
Boston, here the land seems to exceed any that I have seen in this country, & their orchards seem to be
of the best fruit trees and are very large which enables them to make abundance of cyder ...”
Extract from “Chronological and Topographical Account of Dorchester” by Thaddeus Mason Harris,
published in Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 9 (1804), p. 147-199.
66
… Dorchester is situated south of Boston, at the distance of four miles and an half, measuring from the
centre of each town. It is bounded on the west by Roxbury and Dedham, on the south by Milton and
Quincy, and on the east and north by Boston harbour. It was originally very extensive, comprehending
the whole of the territory now contained in Milton, Stoughton, Sharon, Canton, and Foxborough. It was
then about thirty-five miles in length, and in some places from six to eight in width. At present it contains
about 8400 acres; and considered separately from its peninsulas, islands, and that part of it known by the
appellation of the “the farms,” its greatest length from north-east to south-west is about six miles, and its
breadth from north-west to south-east three miles and an half. …
The surface of the ground, being agreeably diversified into hill and dale, gives a great variety of soil and
prospect. Several of the hills afford extensive views of the harbour and islands on the east, and of the
neighbouring towns and country in other directions; and offer, on their fertile sides or airy summits, very
eligible sites for building, unequalled, perhaps in the Commonwealth.
In the north-easterly extremity of the town, called “Dorchester neck,” are those celebrated heights on
which forts were erected during the late war with Great-Britain. These are so near to Boston and to
Castle William, (now called Fort Independence) as completely to command both that town and harbour.
Most of the cliffs of rock in the town are formed of what are called pudding stones. These consist of
concretions of small rounded pebbles, often highly polished, mixed with interstices either of consolidated
sand or petrified clay. The former kind, when exposed to the air frequently crumbles, and the sand and
pebbles separate. This is observable of cliffs farthest from the sea shore, at the distance of four or five
miles; and I have observed none more remote. The latter kind is very compact, and never separated but
with force, for the purpose of building walls, &c. In both the pebbles entirely resembles those found on
the beech, where they are founded by continual friction during the rushing in and receding of the tide. …
Peninsulas
One of these is known by the name of “Dorchester point.” It lies in an irregular form, and contains about
600 acres. Its north-east extremity approaches within half a mile of Fort Independence, and its north-west
is about the same distance from the south part of Boston, with which to connect it by bridge or dam
would be easy; and a plan is in agitation for that purpose. …
67
1831 Edmund Baker map of Dorchester in a reproduction. No. 6379
The following is from Hayward's Gazetteer of 1839.
“The soil of Dorchester is rocky, but very fertile and under a high state of cultivation. It is exceedingly
productive, particularly of vegetables, fruits and flowers. Its surface is greatly variegated, presenting a
continual succession of picturesque and delightful views of the country, city, and sea. Its hill-tops and
valleys are decked with farm houses and tasteful villas, and nowhere can be found the union of town
and country enjoyments more complete.”
In 1839 Hayward describes Dorchester:
This ancient and respectable town lies on Dorchester bay, in Boston harbor, 5 miles S. From Boston,
and 7 N.E. From Dedham. Population, 1837, 4,564. It was first settled by a party of Puritans from
England. These pilgrims landed from the ship Mary and John at Nantasket, on the 11th of June, 1630,
and on the 17th day of that month they located themselves at the Indian Mattapan, and called it
Dorchester, in honor of their pious and learned friend, the Rev. John White, of Dorchester, 120 miles
W. From London. The town was incorporated on the 7th of September following, and included most of
the territory of the town of Milton, Canton, Stoughton, Sharon, and that part of Boston, on which stand
"Dorchester Heights," memorable for their sudden conversion into a fortress, for the protection of
Boston harbor, by order of Washington, on the night of March 4, 1776. These lands were obtained from
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the Indians by purchase, not by combat. The present limits of the town are about 6 by 3 1-2 miles. …
The soil of Dorchester is rocky, but very fertile and under a high state of cultivation. It is exceedingly
productive, particularly of vegetables, fruits and flowers. Its surface is greatly variegated, presenting a
continual succession of picturesque and delightful views of the country, city, and sea. Its hill-tops and
valleys are decked with farm houses and tasteful villas, and nowhere can be found the union of town
and country enjoyments more complete. The beautiful Neponset washes the whole of the southern
border of the town, and besides its navigable privileges, affords it a large and valuable water power.
The first water mill in America was erected in this town, in 1633; and here, about the same time, the
cod fishery, the boast of New England, was first commenced. There are now 4 vessels employed in the
whale, and 16 in the cod and other fisheries. Total tonnage, 2,210 tons. Capital invested, $190,000.
Product, in one year, $138,349. The manufactures of Dorchester consist of cotton goods, boots, shoes,
hats, paper, cabinet ware, block tin, tin ware, leather, wearing apparel, soap, candles, chocolate, and
playing cards; the aggregate amount of which, in one year, was
$457,400.
Barber in his Historical Collections published in 1839 says:
Dorchester is agreeably diversified by hills and valleys, and the soil is generally rich and highly
cultivated. Its fertile hills present beautiful building sites, commanding a fine prospect of the islands
and waters at the head of Massachusetts Bay. The roads in this township are numerous and crooked,
but mostly level and kept in good repair. Many fine country-houses and substantial farm-houses are
thickly arranged on their sides. Perhaps ‘no section of our country, of its size, is better cultivated, and
no where is the union of wealth with rural felicity more complete.’… ”
This view is approximately from the corner of Hancock and Howe Streets. From Barber's
Massachusetts Historical Collections, 1839.
Some general views of Dorchester follow:
Savin Hill encampment of New England Guards, 1819. No. 3950
69
Savin Hill from Meeting House Hill, 1830. No. 170.
Commercial Point by Hollingsworth, ca. 1840
70
Meeting House Hill, 1847. No. 3955
1858 map of Dorchester from Walling’s map of Norfolk County. No. 7169
71
72
Dorchester from Mt. Bowdoin 1850. Painting at First Parish Church: Dorchester from Mount Bowdoin 1850 by H. Knecht
(sp.?). Painting once belonged to the Fifield family. Shows St. Mary's Church (1847) and First Parish (1816). No. 6977
Savin Hill Railroad Bridge, published in Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, 1855. No. 438
Savin Hill painting by Edmund Mitchell Bannister ca. 1856-1857.
73
No. 4417
View toward Boston from Mount Bowdoin. Wood engraving published in Picturesque America by William Cullen Bryant.
New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1872-74. No. 7129
Aerial view from western Dorchester toward the coast showing modern development. Ca. 1940.
No. 3554
74
75
Conclusion:
The fact that the Clapps maintained their lands as working farms does not mean that we have no
landscape traditions to work from. While we may not have a history of manicured plantings designed to
achieve a visual effect, there are elements of the farming landscape that may provide a starting point for
thinking about the 21st–century appearance of the Dorchester Historical Society.
Some of the features that seem appropriate to the property are:
Use of stone and other natural materials
Use of wooden fences and natural borders of plant materials native to New
known to have been grown in Dorchester
England or
Use of natural paths
Fruit trees reminiscent of an orchard
Wooden buildings: Although the William Clapp House is made of brick, the
largest part of
its exterior is covered with clapboards. The use of wooden structures is apparent, and the visual
appearance of the structures is all wooden.
76
Other farms in Dorchester
Some pictures of other farms in Dorchester that might have been similar to the Clapp family lands may be
help put the Dorchester Historical Society property in context.
Capen Farm near Codman Square. No. 2018
View south from the Codman estate. No. 2064
Fowler Clark Farm, Mattapan in 21st century. No. 2577
Conness House, Mattapan. No. 2093
77
2 Fremont Street, Mattapan, Stern family. No. 2515
78
79
Other Approaches to Landscape
Sometimes it is helpful to define what something is by describing what it is not.
The Clapp family properties were not estates belonging to the very rich. Although the 17th-century
colonists brought many traditions from the Old World to the New, much has been made of the movement
in America toward an egalitarian society. Nonetheless, there seems always to have been an elite upper
class, many of whom maintained estates with manicured grounds in park-like settings. There is no
historical documentation that the Clapps belonged to this elite or that they cared for the appearance of
their landscapes.
From the beginning of the town’s European settlement in 1630 through the last Clapp ownership of the
parcel now owned by the Dorchester Historical Society, the Clapps seem to have used the land for
agricultural and commercial purposes. Even in the 19th century when published discussions of landscape
became more common, the Clapps do not seem to have accepted the new approaches to suburban
landscape design that helped to shape the appearance of other areas in Dorchester like Ashmont and
Wellesley Park. The use of suburban design intended to appeal to a new class of residents had no effect
on the settled families of the town.
William Stoughton, who in the seventeenth century maintained an estate of vast acreage at the
intersection of Pleasant Street and Savin Hill Avenue, became Chief Justice and acting Governor.
Lieutenant-Governor Andrew Oliver built a house on Washington Street in 1737 that later was the
residence of Walter Baker. James Bowdoin, son of Governor Bowdoin and one of the elite, owned an
estate known as Mount Bowdoin, where he grew apples and pears, but this estate was only a small portion
of his landholdings, not his primary residence, and may have been more similar in appearance to the
Clapp family holdings. Marshall Pinckney Wilder, whose grounds and greenhouses furnished all the
plantings for the opening of the Boston Public Garden in 1839, owned an estate near the intersection of
Columbia Road and Washington Street earlier owned by the family of Governor Sumner. Hannah Clapp,
born in 1759, did “marry up” into the Gardner family who maintained a large estate, and her grandson
became Governor, but the Clapp family was at the next rung of social hierarchy, and they engaged in
farming and horticulture as family businesses, not hobbies.
The Clapp’s seem not to have been interested in painterly landscapes or the picturesque.
Painting of Hawthorne, the estate of Marshall Pinckney Wilder, No. 5191
Governor Gardner mansion on Hancock Street. No. 2550
80
81
Summer home of F. Gleason, the publisher and proprietor of the Companion. Published in Gleason's Pictorial Drawing Room
Companion, 1851. No. 828
82
Summer home of F. Gleason, the publisher and proprietor of the Companion. Published in Gleason's Pictorial Drawing Room
Companion, 1851. No. 829
Ward-Macondray-King House on Adams Street from a painting. No. 2360
83
The Clapps seem not to have taken an interest in the plantings of suburban grounds or expansive lawns,
like owners of other houses built from the mid-18th century to the late 19th century.
Walter Baker Mansion, built in 1737 by Andrew Oliver. No. 1950
Liversidge estate, River Street. No. 3537
The former estate of the Whitten family. No. 228
Pope estate, in late 19th century photograph. PopeHouse0001
84
Torrey House on Melville. No. 5336
Torrey House on Melville Avenue. No. 5340
85
86
Road Development and other effects
The two streets that border the Dorchester Historical Society property, Boston Street and Willow Court
(now mostly renamed Enterprise Street), seem to have been in place from the early years of recorded
settlement and the use of the roads themselves seem to have had only one effect on the DHS property. In
the 1950s, the city of Boston implemented a street widening of Willow Court, endangering the Lemuel
Clap House. The Dorchester Historical Society decided to move the Lemuel Clap House to its current
location and to transfer the land to the west of the DHS property, now owned by Verizon, to the Emma
Reed Fund trustees.
Dorchester Avenue began as Dorchester Turnpike in 1804 but any effects of that development would
have been external to the Clapp Family lands. Massachusetts Avenue began as East Chester Park and
was extended to Everett Everett Square in 1878. This again would have been external to the parcel that
the Dorchester Historical Society now owns.
The use of horse-drawn vehicles, the coming and going of trolley cars and the general increase in traffic
along Boston Street has not directly affected the appearance of the landscaping or the use of the property.
Military Uses
Although the Lemuel Clap House was used to house patriotic soldiers in the Revolution, there is no
evidence of a military use of the Dorchester Historical Society property to which the house was moved.
Archeological digs may unearth evidence of the presence of revolutionary troops. Washington’s forces
passed by this location in 1776 on their way to Dorchester Height, both in the creation of the fortifications
there as well as in the manning of the fortification.
Extraction
There is no evidence that any minerals, sand, gravel, etc. were ever taken from the property now owned
by the Dorchester Historical Society.
Sewer Drains and Other Utilities
The sewer drain for the William Clapp House leaves the building from the furnace room in the north side
of the basement level, goint out to the driveway and turning to run under the driveway to the street. See
the blue line in the illustration.
87
Garden Beds
Although there are some existing garden beds, there is no indication that the plantings are related to
earlier periods in the history of the property. There is no evidence of a planting plan from earlier years.
The beds could easily be from the period after the acquisition of the property by the Dorchester Historical
Society, created solely by an individual, perhaps a caretaker.
88
Other Horticulturists in Dorchester
The horticultural experimenter closest to the Clapp Family was John Richardson who lived in the house
where Edward Everett was born at the corner of Boston Street and Pond Street (Columbia Road). Built
by Robert Oliver in 1745, the house came into the possession of John Richardson after the Olivers,
Vassalls, Everetts and others lived there. His property was nearly surrounded by Clapp family lands.
The 1874 map shows the Richardson parcels at the left. The island of land between Cottage and Pond Street at the left later
became Richardson Park.
The following excerpt is from History of the Oliver, Vassall and Royall Houses in Dorchester, Cambridge
and Medford by Robert Tracy Jackson. Boston: Reprinted from The Genealogical Magazine, 1907, p. 7.
“It is an interesting coincidence that one of the choice seedling peonies raised by Mr. John Richardson,
more than a hundred years later on these grounds, is named Samuel Henshaw, in honor of the gentleman,
the present Curator of the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, who is the great-grandson of
Samuel Henshaw [who was part of a committee that sold the property after it was confiscated from the
loyalist John Vassall at the close of the Revolution]. The garden which is said to have been laid out by
Thomas Oliver, was famous when in Mr. Richardson’s possession for the many rare and choice flowers
produced in it especially peonies. Richardson’s seedling peonies ranking with the very best productions
89
of their kind in the world. These are described in … the Transactions of the Massachusetts Horticultural
Society.”
Photograph published in “John Richardson: His House and Garden.” By Robert Tracy Jackson. Reprinted from Transactions of
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for the year 1904.
One of Richardson’s specialties was the hybridization of peonies.
90
Richardson’s Samuel Henshaw peony
91
Source material:
1. Orcutt. Good Old Dorchester
2. Wilder. Horticulture of Boston
[The following is from Orcutt, William Dana. Good Old Dorchester. A Narrative History of the Town,
1630-1893. Cambridge, 1893. p. 49-51.]
Good Old Dorchester has long been famous for the interest it has taken in horticulture. For the first
twenty years of the existence of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Dorchester and Roxbury
furnished all its presidents and treasurers. The first settlers of the town brought with them a love of
horticulture, and early laid out gardens and orchards. Several of the older present residents of Dorchester
have boasted the possession of pear-trees which have formed a direct link between the past and to-day. A
glance at the estates of the present century which have become more or less famous brings to our
attention those of the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, the Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris, William, Thaddeus,
Frederick, and Lemuel Clapp, Ebenezer T. Andrews (the partner of Isaiah Thomas), Samuel Downer,
Cheever Newhall, Zebedee Cook, Elijah Vose, William Oliver, John Richardson, and William R. Austin.
Many of the choice fruits which are now in cultivation have gone forth from Dorchester, many of them
bearing the names of Dorchester horticulturalists, - namely, the Downer cherry; the Andrews, Frederick
Clapp, Harris, Clapp's Favorite, and other seedling pears; the Dorchester blackberry, the President Wilder
strawberry, and the Diana grape, which was raised just over the Dorchester line, in Milton, by Mrs. Diana
Crehore. This grape became prominent in 1843, being the first seedling American grape at the exhibitions
of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society which was deemed worthy of notice. The Clapp's Favorite
pear, mentioned above, was greatly desired by the Massachusetts Agricultural Club, who wished to name
it after the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, and to disseminate it for general cultivation. They offered Mr. Clapp
one thousand dollars for the control of it, hut the offer was declined.
Dorchester's greatest debt of gratitude for its prominence in the horticultural world is due to the Hon.
Marshall P. Wilder. His estate, on which his experimental grounds were laid out, was formerly owned by
Governor Increase Sumner. At his death, in 1799, the estate passed into the hands of his son, General
William H. Sumner, who was one of the founders of the Horticultural Society, and from whom it finally
passed into Mr. Wilder's possession. On these experimental grounds there were produced, during the last
fifty years of Mr. Wilder's life, under his personal supervision, more than twelve hundred varieties of
fruits; and from thence there were exhibited, on one occasion, four hundred and four distinct varieties of
the pear. Here the Camellias Wilderi, and the Mrs. Abby Wilder were originated by the art of
hybridization, the latter of which received a special prize of fifty dollars. The Mrs. Julia Wilder, the
Jennie Wilder, and other camellias were also raised in great perfection; while from Mr. Wilder's estate
went to the Boston Public Garden, on its foundation in 1839, the entire collection of green-house and
garden plants.
The Rev. Dr. Harris was a great lover of fine fruit, and said on one occasion to Mr. Wilder: "Your
exhibition of pears is grand; but there is one variety that I miss, - the Bon Chretian (the Good Christian). I
shall bring some forth from my garden to-morrow."
92
Zebedee Cook, who served as the second president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, some sixty
years ago, had a large garden opposite the Andrews estate, on the east side of the then turnpike road,
where he grew, with great success, several kinds of foreign grapes, apricots, peaches, and pears. Among
the grapes there was a white variety named Horatio, after Mr. Horatio Sprague, consul at Gibraltar, from
whom Mr. Cook received it. This grape is now popularly known among famous varieties as the Nice
grape.
Cheever Newhall was the first treasurer of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and a distinguished
cultivator. On his estates he had extensive orchards which embraced a large number of varieties,
especially of the pear, which he cultivated with great success up to the time of his death, in 1880. Mr.
Newhall's place was once the residence of Thomas Motley, father of the historian, John Lothrop Motley,
and of his brother, Thomas Motley, the president of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture,
who were here born. A coincidence in regard to John Lothrop Motley is that he was born, as here stated,
in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and died in Dorchester, England.
Elijah Vose, the third president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, was the possessor of a fine
orchard, in which he grew several fruits to great perfection. His greatest success was in producing the
Duchesse d' Angouleme pear.
William Oliver, vice-president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, grew pears and other fruits
which attracted attention for their excellence. His estate became afterwards the residence of Ex-Governor
Henry J. Gardner.
An old garden in Dorchester which deserves attention is that which is supposed to have been laid out first
by Governor Oliver in colonial times. It is connected with the house in which Edward Everett was born,
and is better known to the people of later Dorchester from the number of choice fruits and flowers which
have been produced there from seed by the diligence and skill of John Richardson.
William R. Austin, at one time treasurer of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, had a pear orchard
which became celebrated for the size and beauty of its fruits, produced by pruning the trees into the shape
of a wine-glass.
The following excerpt is from “The Horticulture of Boston and Vicinity.” By Marshall Pinckney
Wilder. Published in the Memorial History of Boston.
In Dorchester were the gardens and orchards of some of the first settlers, and some of the old pear-trees
planted by them have survived to the present time. Of those in the present century, which have been more
or less noted, we may mention the estates of the Rev. Dr. Thaddeus Mason Harris, William Clapp,
Ebenezer T. Andrews (the partner of Isaiah Thomas), Samuel Downer, Cheever Newhall, Zebedee Cook,
Elijah Vose, William Oliver, John Richardson, William R. Austin. From other gardens have gone forth
many of the choice fruits which are now in cultivation, such as 'the Downer cherry, the Andrews,
Frederick Clapp, Harris, Clapp's Favorite, and other seedling pears, and we hope the last named may
endure even longer than the marble on which its form is engraved in Forest Hills Cemetery; and to these
we might add the Dorchester blackberry, the President Wilder strawberry, and just over the borders of
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Dorchester, in Milton, the Diana grape, raised by Mrs. Diana Crehore. This was brought to notice in
1843, being the first seedling American grape at the exhibition of the Massachusetts Horticultural
Society, which was deemed worthy of notice.
Zebedee Cook, the second president of the Masschusetts Historical Society, some fifty years since had a
large garden opposite the Andrews estate, on the east side of the ten turnpike-road, where he successfully
grew several kinds of foreign grapes, apricots, peaches, and pears. Among the grapes was a white variety
named Horatio, after Mr. Horatio Sprague, Consul at Gibraltar, from whom he received it, -- known now
as the Nice grape.
Mr. Newhall was a distinguished cultivator, and the first treasurer of the Massachusetts Horticultural
Society. His orchards were extensive, embracing a large number of varieties, especially of the pear, which
he cultivated with success until about three years since, when he died at the age of ninety.
Samuel Downer, one of the founders of the Horticultural Society, had a large orchard, which still remains
in good order, and until recently was under the intelligent care of his son, the late Samuel Downer, Jr. He
was an early, enterprising, and useful member, and took a deep interest in pomology until his death at
eighty years of age. He was especially interested in the origin and character of native fruits, and, as he
used to say, he loved to be “mousing” after new varieties, especially such as were of native origin.
Elijah Vose, the third president of the Horticultural Society, had a fine plantation of fruits, and he grew
some to great perfection, -- especially the Duchesse d' Angouleme pear, which sometimes, for
extraordinary specimens, commanded from seventy-five cents to a dollar each.
William Oliver, Vice-president of the Horticultural Society, had a good orchard of pears and other fruits
on an estate which, after his death, became the residence of ex-Governor Henry J. Gardner.
Another very old garden in Dorchester, of which our valued citizen Mr. John Richardson has been the
occupant and owner for a long course of years, deserves a record. The house was the birthplace of
Edward Everett, and is understood to have been built in colonial times by Governor Oliver, who is
supposed to have laid out the garden, which is now interesting for its old trees and antique appearance,
but more especially for the number of choice fruits and flowers, many of which have been produced from
seed by the hands of its skilful proprietor.
The pear orchard of the late William R. Austin, Treasurer of the Horticultural Society, was, and is still,
famous for the size and beauty of its fruit, produced by pruning his trees into the shape of a wineglass.
And here, in Dorchester, if I may be permitted to allude to it, are the experimental grounds of the writer,
formerly the estate of Governor Increase Sumner, which at the time of his death, 1799, passed into the
hands of his son, General William H. Sumner, one of the founders of the Horticultural Society, and
finally came to its present owner. On these experimental grounds have been produced, under the personal
inspection of its present proprietor, within the last fifty years, more than twelve hundred varieties of
fruits; and from thence there were exhibited, on one occasion, four hundred and four distinct varieties of
the pear. Here was originated, by the art of hybridization, the Camellias Wilderi and the Mrs. Abby
Wilder, which received, more than thirty years ago, a special prize of fifty dollars; also the Mrs. Julia
Wilder, the Jennie Wilder, and other camellias of great perfection: and from this place went to the Boston
94
Public Garden, on its foundation in 1839, the entire collection of greenhouse and garden plants, as already
mentioned.
95
Sources:
Barber, John Warner. Historical collections, being a general collection of interesting facts, traditions,
biographical sketches, anecdotes, &c., relating to the history and antiquities of every town in
Massachusetts ... Worcester 1839.
Barrows, Rev. Samuel J. see Memorial History of Boston.
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genealogy.
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by Goff’s Company, Historic Preservation & Design for the Dorchester Historical Society.
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96
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II, no. 1.
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97
“The Horticulture of Boston and Vicinity” by Marshall P. Wilder, p.
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Maps
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Walling, Henry F. Map of Norfolk County, Massachusetts. With insets of Dorchester villages. See
www.davidrumsey.com

The Clapp Family and Dorchester

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