Nomination for Belcher-Rowe House

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

FHR-8-300(11-78) United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries - complete applicable sections 1. Name For HCRS use only receivedAR 3 1982 date enteredAPR 1 1982 historic Belcher-Rowe House Governor Johnathan Belcher Place and/or common 2. Location 26 Governor Belcher Lane street & number NA not for publication city, town Milton NA vicinity of congressional district 11th state Massachusetts 3.

Classification Category Ownership district - public X building(s) X private structure both site Public Acquisition object in process being considered code 025 county Norfolk code 021 Status X occupied - unoccupied _ work in progress Accessible X yes: restricted - yes: unrestricted _ no Present Use - agriculture _ commercial _ educational . entertainment - government industrial - military _ museum park X private residence religious _ scientific - transportation other: 4. Owner of Property name Emily O. Kenworthy and Roger A. Kentworthy 26 Governor Belcher Lane street & number Milton city, town NA vicinity of 5. Location of Legal Description Massachusetts 02186 state courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Norfolk County Registry of Deeds street & number 650 High Street Dedham city, town 6.

Representation in Existing Surveys Inventory of the Historic Assets title of the Commonwealth state Massachusetts has this property been determined elegible? yes no date 1977 _ federal X state _ county _ local depository for survey records Massachusetts Historical Commission city, town Boston state Massachusetts 02108 7. Description MILION: BELCHER-ROWE HOUSE Conditior excellent good fair .deteriorated Check one unaltered -altered Check one X original site unexposed Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Description of the property

The Belcher-Rowe House was built by Elizabeth Teale Belcher and Emilia Teale Belcher in 1776 and 1777. It is a "Federal-style, " awo-stury, clapboard house with twin interior chimneys. The north and south (long) facades are identical. Centered in each of these five bayed facades are a door and sidelights which are framed by flat pilasters crowned by an entablature with a "Greek Key" molding running below the thin cornice. Below the sidelights is a "Basket Weave" molding used al- so in the chair rail in the second floor hall. Windows contain 6/6 double hung sash. All of the windows have louvred shutters, except the sidelights where only the hardware remains. The east and west (short) facades are undecorated except for the "Greek Key" molding that runs completely around the main house below the soffit. The east facade is pierced by eight symmetrically grouped 6/6 windows.

On the first floor 6/6 windows flank the ell. At 90° from the west facade runs a single-story clapboard ell with gambrel roof and single-flued chimney. Its south facade has an entrance doorway with transom near the main house and four 12/12 windows. The north facade has two doorways: the west one original and the east one installed in 1957. There are four windows: two 12/12, one a six-paned hinged sash, one a small modern window added in 1957. The west facade with over-head garage door was built in 1957 when approximately twenty-five feet of the west end of the ell was removed to make way for Governor Belcher Lane. The louvred shutters were added in 1957 to replace single, window-wide, solid shutters. Except for the ell, the exterior remains essentially unaltered.

In the 19th century porticos were added at the north and south main doorways and a "deck" with balustrade ran the length of the south facade. These were removed in the late 1940's. The interior is typical of the "Federal" style. The central hall runs the entire width of the house. The entrance doorways are treated with pilasters and entablatures similar to those on the exterior. The hall retains its paneled wainscoting, cornices, and staircase. Opening from the hall were four squarish rooms. In the 1880's the north- east and southeast rooms were combined to form a "double parlor" and two soapstone mantles were installed in the central chimney. The northwest room, originally the kitchen, retains its cooking fireplace. In the 1880's china cabinets were installed and it served as a dining room.

The south- west room was made into a kitchen in 1956, but it retains its panelec fireplace wall with the fireplace surrounded by Delft "Biblical" tiles. FHR-8-300(11-78) United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form For HCRS use only received MAR date enterAPR 1 1982 Continuation sheet Item number 7 Page 1 The second floor hall has its original chair rail with "Basket Weave" motif. -At the north and south ends of the hall are two small rooms. Additionally, from the hall open four larger rooms. woodwork and mantel with a second set of Delft "Bibilical" tiles. The north- hatr tailn The northwest room retains its original east room has original chair rails and other woodwork, but was always without a fireplace. There are only three flues in the east chimney.

The most elaborate room is the southeast chamber. It retains its chair rails, cornices, and mantel. The mantel frames the fireplace with paneled pilasters and an entablature. These are decorated with molded composition ornaments which develop a general theme of fertility and plenty. Above the pilasters are vases of flowers. The main freize uses festoons of oak leaves and acorns with clusters. of grapes to flank the central panel which depicts a personifi- cation of Plenty with cornucopia and an attendant putto. by Samuel McIntire on mantels now in the White House (Washington, D.C.) and Since the work at Salem dates to 1796 and 180l, it appears that the southeast room was redecorated c. 1800, perhaps when in 1805 Jacob Rowe in- herited the Milton house. To the southwest are two rooms. One opens on the main hall.

The other has its own stairway to the northwest room (original kitchen) on the first floor. From a "homestead farm" of two-hundred acres in the eighteenth century, the grounds have been reduced to 23,000 square teet. All ot the outbulldings shown in the 1936 Historic American Buildings Survey (MASS 196) were destroyed, their foundations bulldozed, and the land extensively regraded during the building of a housing development in 1955-1958. In 1958 the street address was changed from 401 Adams Street to 26 Governor Belcher Lane. -For additional examples, see: Fiske Kimball, Mr. Samuel MeIntire, Carver. Salem: Essex Institute, 1940, pp. 47-48.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Significance MILTON: BELCHER-ROWE HOUSE Period Areas of SignificanceCheck and justify below - prehistoric -archeology-prehistoric community planning 1400-1499 archeology-historic conservation X 1500-1599 agriculture economics 1600-1699 X architecture education .1700-1799 art engineering - 1800-1899 commerce X exploration/settlement 1900 communications industry invention landscape architecture. law literature military music philosophy politics/government - religion science sculpture & social/ humanitarian theater .transportation _ other (specify) Specific dates 1776 and 1777 Builder

Statement of significance

/Architect Unknown Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) The Belcher-Rowe House possesses integrity of location, design, materials and workmanship and important associations with the development of Milton during the late eighteenth century. It stands on the old road linking Dorchester and Braintree on the site of a house built in the early This fine local example of the Federal style was constructed in 1776-1777 by Elizabeth Teale Belcher and Mary Louisa Emilia Teale after the earlier house was destroyed by fire. In 1781, the property was sold to John Rowe, in whose family it remained until 1940. One Rowe descendent born in the house, Mary Phillips Webster, assembled and preserved documents concerning the Suffolk Resolves, headed musical instruction at the Perkins School for the Blind, and working for women's rights founded the Milton Womens' Club in 1898.

Thus the house meets criteria B & C of the NRHP. The first house on the site was constructed c. 1637 by John Holman. The foundation and stone steps of this house, which was enlarged in 1682, are still visible in the basement of the present house. In 1727 the Holman family sold the property to Governor Jonathan Belcher (1681-1757) who deeded it to his son, Andrew (1706-1771), and his second wife's daughter, Elizabeth Teale, one month before their marriage Ihe newiyweds lived in the old Holman house, joined by Governor Bel1704is widow, Mary Louisa Emilia Teale Belcher, following the Governor's death in 1757. In January of 1776 the old house burned. The Belcher women wished to re- forced to wait until after June of 1776. build immediately, but with the seige of Bosspite the tresbled timtere the Belchers elected to build a large dual-chimney, cental-hall residence.

It was a subsfantial departure from the central chimney, nine-room Holman house. Although it is by no means the earliest example of the "Federal" style in Massachusetts, it is the first in Milton and one of the earliest in the Milton-Braintree (Quincy) area. Of similar extant houses, the Colonel Josiah Quincy House in Quincy (HABS, MASS 2-42) pre-dates the Belcher-Rowe House by six years. During the next forty years, the style was frequently employed. Among these later residences is the 1801 Dr. Amos Holbrook House (203 Adams Street, Milton). Even as late as 1820, the Dudley House (260 Canton Avenue, Milton) followed the style. Her mother having died, Elizabeth Teale Belcher decided to return to British territory and in 1781 sold the property to the Boston merchant, John Rowe (1715-1787). In 1805 Jacob Rowe (d. 1814) inherited the house, and it remained with his descendants until 1940.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

Major Bibliographical References Allen, Carrie Sprague. "The Holman-Belcher-Rowe House." Unpublished typewritten manuscript, 1940. Milton Room, Milton Public Library Batinski, Michael Clement. "Jonathan Belcher of Massachusetts, 1682-1741." . Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Northwestern University, 1970. 10. Geographical Data ITM NOT VERIFIEN Acreage of nominated property 23,000 Sq. Feet ACRENGL NOT Quadrangle name Boston South Quadrangle scale: 1:24000 UMT References 19 Lone 13/309610 Easting L46810| 3190 Northing B LILL Easting LILLL LALL Northing LULL E Zone DLL F HL1 Verbal boundary description and justification S621277 -17 Please refer to the bourdaries deliniated on the attached assessor's map. List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state N4 code state NA code 11.

Form Prepared By county code county code name/title Candace Jenkins, Registration Director with Richard Kenworthy organization Massachusetts Historical Commission date January 1981 street & number 294 Washington Street telephone (617) 727-8470 city or town - Boston state Massachusetts 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: - national local As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89 665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set forthby the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. State Historic Preservation Officer signature

Llesluski title Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission For HCRS use only I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register deloua Entered in the trng Keeper of the National Regist? Notionel Reglater date 2/17/82 date 4/1/82 Attest: Chief of Registration date GPO 938 835 FHR-8-300 (11-78) United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form For HCRS use only received MAR 3 1982 date entere APR 1 1982 Continuation sheet Item number 8 Page 1 Jacob's granddaughter, Mary Phillips Webster (1858-1950), was born in the second floor northeast bedroom. In her ninety-two years she dedicated herself to a variety of fields. As a student of local history she wrote a number of papers.

Most important was her article on the Suffolk Resolves and her effort to collect and preserve material concerning this document. Her professional interests were in the field of music. A pioneer musicolo- gist, she wrote and lectured on the history of the piano and edited an analysis of J.S. Bach's choral music. She headed musical instruction at the. Perkins Schoolfor the Blind. In 1886 she wrote a students' text on harmony. Pursuing her humanitarian and social interests, for a time in the 1920's she edited the periodical, International Affairs, Ior the National Council tor the Prevention of War. A champion of woman's rights, she founded the Milton Woman's Club in 1898. She was an early and active member of the League of Women Voters. 1.See Suffolk Probate Court, 70-224. Form No. 10-300a (Rev.

10-74) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY RECEIVEDMAR DATE ENTERED 3 1982 APR 1 1982 CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 9 PAGE / Belcher, Jonathan. The Letterbooks of, 1723-54. Boston, Massachusetts Historical Society. Carroll, Thomas P. "A Pacific Temper: The Character of a Second-Generation New England Town." Unpublished Master of Arts thesis, University of Missouri, 1977. Garland, Edna K. "Notes on Early Milton and its O1d Houses." Unpublished type- written manuscript, 1954. Milton Room, Milton Public Library. Hamilton, Edward Pierce. . A History of Milton. Milton: Historical Society, 1957. Historic American Buildings Survey- Historic Buildings of Massachusetts. New York: - Scribner, 1976. Ketchum, Ottilie. Milton Days and Ways. N.pl.: Privately printed, 1978.

Pratt, Dorothy and Richard. A Guide to tarly American Homes: North. New York: McGraw-Hi11, 1956. Price, Ezekiel. The Papers of, 1754-85. Boston, Massachusetts Historical Society. Richmond, Helen T. "A Brief Account of the Early Days of the House and Garden of the Milton Historical Society." Unpublished typewritten manuscript, [c. 1945/. Teele,Albert K. The History of Milton, Mass. 1640 to 1887. Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, 1887. Tiffany, Nina Moore and Susan I. Lesley (eds.) Letters of James Murray, Loyalist. Boston: Gregg Press, 1972. Town of Milton. Milton Town Records 1662-1729. Milton: Privately printed, 1930. Webotar, y Philltps, The Dvolution of the Planoforte. Booton Chiokerine, Exercises on Scales and Chords. Boston: Ditson, 1886. (ed.). Bach Chorales. Ann Arbor: Edwards Bros.,1942. (comp.).International Affairs. Vol. I. Washington, 1924. and Charles R. Morris.

The Story of the Suffolk Resolves. Milton: - Milton Historical Commission, 1973. SdN NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION / RETURN SHEET Property: Belcher-Rowe House State, County:_MA , Federal Agency: United States Department of the interior National Park Service ly #82002748 Working No.- 3/3/82-592 Fed. Reg. Date: 2.1.83 Date Due:_ 41-827 7-82 Action: ACCEPT- 4/1/87 resubmission Entered in the - RETURN. nomination by person or local government National Register - REJECT. owner objection photos ! appeal maps 4 Substantive Review: -sample - request - appeal - NR decision Reviewer's comments: Recom. /Criteria - Reviewer - Discipline- Date - see continuation sheet -Nomination returned for: - technical corrections cited below .substantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2. Location -3. Classification Catogory Dunership X adelic Acoputattion 4.

Owner of Property Btatus Becessibie Prosent Use 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys has this property been determined eligible? 7. Description Conditier .excellent good tair deteriorated _ ruins Chock ene Check one unaitered original site altered moved darte _ unexposed bcoribo the procont and erteinal (Il knoum) ptiyeieal aposrenco summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection pos - no 8. Significance Perted pecifie dates anoss of Stontficenos Chack and hadtly tator bellder/Arebitoe grept summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance the to resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Aoreage of nominated property Quedrangle neme.

UNT References Verbel beundary descriptien and jstificatien 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evalusted significance of this property within the state is: nations! _ state local Aate Historic Preservetien Officer signature 13. Other Maps Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to _ Signed. Date_ Phone: 202 272-3504 Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet Belcher-Rowe House Milton Norfolk County Massachusetts Photo Credit: Richard G. Kenworthy Negatives Filed: Milton Public Library Identification: South Elevation Date: 1979 MAR 3 1982 MILTON HISTORICAL COMMISSION Town of Milton Massachusetts Commission Authorized Town Meeting 1973 Dr. Robert J. Fallon Mary E. Palardy Edward S. Shatz Eileen F.

Chamberlain secretan 75 Otis Stree1 Correspondence should be addressed to the Secretary Researcher Chairman Joseph C. Burley Chairman 5 Hutchinson Street William J. Loughran Researcher 375 Adams Street Jaruary 22, 1982 REC./ED JAN %5 1382 MASS. HIST. COMM. Ms. Patricia L. Weslowski Executive Director Massachusetts Historical Conmission 294 Washington St. Boston, Mass. 02108 Dear Ms. Weslowski: Replying to your letter of Dec. 23, 1981, the Milton Historical Conmission heartily endorses nomination of the Belcher-Rowe House for National Register listing. Both principals of the compound name hold prominent places in early Massachusetts Bay history. The house itselt has intrinsic historic value. The Belcher-Rowe House was one of 90 properties included with the Milton inventory taken between 1977 and 1980. A Form B survey report is on file with your office.

Form #41 While our inventory was in progress, the Milton Commission regarded the Belcher-Rowe House as one of several properties having potential eligibility for National Register listing. We are happy to endorse the independent effort of the Kenworthy owners to accomplish this end. As we are sure that the property's historical significance has been meticulously documented by the Kenworthys, we believe there is no purpose in presenting factual material here. Some of the material presented in the Kenworthy's application may have originated from, or been reinforced by, the Nilton Commission's survey report. The Milton Commission is of the opinion that certain other inventoried properties merit consideration for National Register listing. We expect to be in touch with you about these in the near future. RECEIVED MAR 3 1982 NATIONAL REGISTER 8 Yours very truly, oxplic. Burlar oseph C.

Burley, Chairman) Milton Historical Commissior Donations are tax deductible contributions to the Town of Milton Name ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES STATE MASSACHUSETTS Date Entered APRIL 1, 1982 Location Felton, Nathaniel, Houses Peabody Essex County Belcher-Rowe House Milton Norfolk County Mills, Davis, House Needham Norfolk County Old South Union Church Weymouth Norfolk County Notified Honorable Edward M. Kennedy Honorable Paul E. Isongas Honorable Nicholas Mavroules Honorable Brian J. Donnelly Honorable John Joseph Moakley Honorable Gerry E. Studds Mid-Atlantic Regional Office, NPS North Atlantic Regional Office, NPS State Historic Preservation Officer Mrs. Patricia L. Weslowski Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission 294 Washington Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 For further information, please call the National Register at (202) 272-3504