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Annals of Elm Bank: The Cheney Estate |
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About 175 years ago the greater part of this estate was owned
by Thomas Fuller and Thomas Fuller, Jr. who were weavers
of Dedham. The deed reads, "On the 18th of April 1732,
the fourth year of the reign of George II, Thomas Fuller,
a weaver of Dedham, sold to Hezikiah Fuller, husbandman, for
L131 lawful money, a tract of land containing 40 acres and
32 pales, part meadow and part upland situated in Dedham, near
Natick upon a plain commonly called Natick Plain."
This land was originally granted to Jonathan and John Fairbanks. The same day April 18, 1732 this Hezikiah Fuller bought of Thomas Fuller, Jr., adjoining land 20 1/2 acres and 10 pales for 69 L. This estate with some additional was owned and held by Hezikiah Fuller of Dedham until May 20, 1740, when he sold it to one John Jones, Jr., husbandman of Weston for the sum of L591. There were said to be only three white families in the village at that time. The farm as conveyed to John Jones, Jr. as "A tract of land lying on a neck of the Charles River in the northerly part of Needham, near Natick, containing 72 acres 24 rods as per records." John Jones is said to have built the first house and been the first settler on this estate. It remained in the Jones family for 64 years. The residence was a spacious 2 1/2 story building of the older style and finely placed on a gentle swell of land across the Charles River on Natick Plain. Esquire Jones was an influential citizen, Justice of the Peace, under Royal and also under Republican rule, a Colonel in the Militia, Conservative in his politics about the Revolutionary period. He was the Proprietor's Clerk and an excellent surveyor, his plans of surveys at Mount Desert, Maine in 1762 were presented to the Maine Historical Society by his grandson, Elijah Perry, Esq. of South Natick. Mr. Jones was for many years a Deacon in Parson Lothrop's (Badger) church. He married for his first wife Hannah Morse in 1742. His second wife was Tabithia Battelle. He frequently taught school. He kept a chaise which was considered a sign of rank in those days. He was the grandfather of the Hon. Amos Perry of Providence, Rhode Island who was at one time American Consul at Tunis. He died in 1801 at the age of 84. John Jones, Jr., the eldest son, took command of a Company in "ye service of ye United American States" on April 19, 1775. While serving in his Company at Crown Point (New York State) he was taken ill with small pox and died July 4, 1776, the day the Colonies signed the Declaration of Independence. He left a widow and four children at Princeton. The honor of naming the town of Dover was left to the Chairman of the Committee, John Jones, Sr., described by Mrs. H. B. Stowe as a man who lived in handsome style, performed no manual labor and was one of the three personages that constituted our, "House of Lords" in the days of Old Town Folks. He kept a very interesting diary which was given to the Providence Historical Society. Following are some excerpts:
On May 3, 1804 Adam Jones, son of John Jones, Jr., together with his wife Rebecca sold to Capt. Israel Loring from Hingham two parcels of land in Natick and Dover of about 20 acres for $865.00. Also, on the same date, the homestead consisting now of 102 acres in the District of Dedham and Dover. sold for $3000.00. This same deed included land, meadows etc. Capt. Loring was noted for his eccentric remarks. At one time a company of indignant citizens told Capt. Loring they would pull down his house if he continued to carry provisions to the British when they were quartered in Boston. Loring retained possession of this place until 1832 when he deeded it to Martin Broad who was at that time in the slaughtering business, having his herd yards between the barns and the spring. The place then contained 102 acres. In 1835 Mr. Broad purchased 25 acres from James Durant. During the next 35 years the estate was subject to a multitude of minor changes. A large number of names indicate purchases of small tracts, and holders of sections of the estate. There are over 43 names. There were 12 different adjacent owners before Mr. Broad, among them Eleazer Goulding. Mr. Martin Broad carried on an extensive real estate business until he was driven to insolvency through the failure of many parties to make payments and the dishonesty of others for whom he had signed "to give them a start in life", as he expressed it. It was a severe blow to the old gentleman. He later spent many a day and evening on the Charles, with some glad little boy for a companion, trying to lure the finny nations from the waters. When the Broad family first came here from Portland, Maine they boarded for some time with the grandparents, the Luther Wares, who then lived here. In those days a street passed through the estate called, "School Street." Mr. Broad's early life was very successful and he gave employment to quite a force of men for a long term of years. His social standing was high and his house noted for its lavish hospitality. His daughter Elizabeth married Mr. Luther Kingsbury. The family moved to South Natick village and Mr. Broad bought the "Shepard House" on Eliot Street. By 1870 the Elm Bank homestead had increased to 147 acres. It was purchased by the Hon. Theodore Otis, one of the early mayors of Roxbury. He had large greenhouses built and other improvements made on the place. Mr. Otis lived there but a short time and never became very closely identified with the interests of the village. At an auction in 1874, sometime after his death, the estate was sold to Benjamin P. Cheney, Esquire of Boston for the sum of $10,000. This marked an era of decided changes. In 1907 the estate of 230 acres and known as "Elm Bank" is noted among beautiful and exclusive county seats in Massachusetts. It is interesting to notice the wanderings of this estate among the County records. In early times Dedham was an exceedingly large township and included part of the present South Natick. While the Apostle Eliot was at work here with the Indians, an exchange was made, by which part of Dedham was transferred to Natick and in exchange Dedham took a portion of Deerfield. Later, in 1711, the township of Needham was set off from Dedham and incorporated as a separate town. The B. P. Cheney place was included in the portion which was set off from the Township of Needham, all still remaining in Suffolk County. In 1784, the Fourth District , or Springfield Parish was set off at the District of Dover and the estate was then included in the Dover District of Suffolk County. In 1793, registration of Norfolk County commenced in Dedham, so the estate was found in Norfolk County in the District of Dover. In 1836, the District of Dover was incorporated as a town so the estate at present rests in peace in the Town of Dover in Norfolk County. Before his death he became the owner of the old Pelitiah Morse estate, known as the Gannett Place, situated on Eliot Street and remodeled the house. The old barn was burned by an incendiary. (this must refer to Mr. Broad) School Street formerly extended through the Cheney Estate. It was laid out in 1804 and some changes afterward suggested by John Jones were accepted by the Town of Dover. In 1880 the street was discontinued at the request of Mr. Cheney, who agreed to maintain it at his own expense. Mr. Cheney received the degree of M. A. from Dartmouth College. He entered the employ of the stage company,(The Adams Express) plying an express between Peterboro and East Harrisville, New Hampshire, as a poor boy, but so faithful did he prove that his advancement was constant, and when later an interest in the company was for sale, Mr. Whitcomb French, a staunch friend helped him to the required funds. This kindness Mr. Cheney never forgot, and in Mr. French's last years, he was remembered with a substantial check each month. It was reported he owned also a large farm on the Northern Pacific railroad in after years. (This must refer to Mr. Cheney) He purchased the fine country seat of 147 acres on the Charles River near South Natick from the Hon. Theodore Otis and made extensive alterations so the "Elm Bank" estate became famous throughout the country. Mr. Cheney died in 1895 and is buried in Mt. Auburn Cemetery. The house, a quaint, substantial 2 1/2 story building having a leanto on the Needham side, had stood a century or more; near it beneath one of the great elms was formerly a deep brick well with well sweep and old oaken bucket of "ye early days." Both house and well were abandoned and a new and more commodious dwelling with every modern comfort built in 1876. The old greenhouses underwent the same transformation. After his death, his younger son Charles died in the West leaving a widow. Three of the other children married and the mother and youngest daughter eventually made their home in Peterboro, New Hampshire. In 1897 an item in the newspaper says that Mrs. B. P. Cheney is building a steel bridge across the Charles River at a cost of $30,000.00. Elm Bank became the property of the eldest daughter, Alice Steele Cheney Baltzell. Before Mr. Cheney's death plans for the enlargement of several rooms, especially the library, and other alterations were to be made. Not wishing to mutilate the fine old elms it was decided to take down the old building and erect a new fire-proof house, some distance away and to lay out Italian gardens. The laying of the cornerstone took place August 12, 1907 in commemoration of Mr. Cheney's birthday.
Benjamin P. Cheney married Elizabeth Stickney Clapp
of Dorchester, June 6, 1865.
Ida P. Morse 1907 Alice S. Cheney Baltzell died in 1938 and the estate was left to her nephew Arthur Davis of Dover, with the restriction that if he did not want the property it should be offered to Wellesley College. If the College did not want it it was to go to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Since all three parties declined the property it was offered to Dartmouth College, where Mr. Cheney had taken his degree, for $40,000.00. They in turn sold acerage along Dover Road and the remaining 180 acres to the Stigmatine Fathers of Waltham in 1940. For more information on this property see the Anderson-Nichols Report for the MWRA - Framingham Relief Sewer Project.
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