Nomination for Stone, Joseph, House

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

NPS Form 10-900 (3-82) MB No. 1024-001 (p. 10-31-8 United States Department of the Interior National Park 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 NPS use only received DEC date entered 5 1985 JAN S 1986 historic Joseph Stone House (preferred) and or common 2. Location Potter Acres street & number 35 Stone Street n/a not for publication city, town Auburn state Massachusetts 3.

Classification Category Ownership district - public X building(s) X private structure both site Public Acquisition object in process N/A being considered code n/a vicinity of 025 county Worcester code 027 Status X occupied unoccupied work in progress Accessible - yes: restricted yes: unrestricted no Present Use agriculture commercial educational entertainment government industrial military museum -park Xprivate residence religious scientific transportation other: 4. Owner of Property name George and Elizabeth Furst street & number 35 Stone Street city, town Auburn N/A vicinity of 5. Location of Legal Description courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Worcester District Registry of Deeds state Massachusetts street & number Main Street city, town Worcester 6.

Representation in Existing Surveys Inventory ihe Historic Assets of the title Commonwealth of Massachusettshas this property been determined eligible? #101 state Massachusetts yes X no date April 1981 federal state county local depository for survey records city, town Massachusetts Historical Commission 80 Boylston Street, Boston state . Massachusetts 7. Description Joseph Sione House, Auburn, Massachusetts Condition excellent x good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one unaltered altered 1790,1886,1946 Check one X original site -moved date Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Description of the property

The Joseph Stone Farm is set back about 100 feet from Stone Street in the southern part of Auburn, Massachusetts. The house sits on the crest of a flat-topped 1ow terrace, on a five-acre lot. The land within 100 feet of the house is level and supports substantial tree growth. The lot's eastern boundary is marked by a steep drop off, with a 50-foot change in elevation. The southern and southeastern parts of the lot gradually drop off into Stone Brook Valley, about 60 feet below the house site. The western boundary is about 25 feet from Stone Brook, which flows 200 feet below the edge of the property line. The house is a five-bay, 1 1/2-story cottage with a central entrance. A large chimney is set on the ridge of the steep-pitched gable roof. The house was built in 1729 as a three-bay half house with side entrance and end chimney; the two southern bays were added in 1790.

A seven-bay ell extends to the west at a right angle to the main block. Believed originally to have been a leanto, added in 1790, the ell was altered in 1886and enlarged in 1946. The house rests on a fieldstone foundation, and has a below-grade basement. The basement extends completely under the house, with the exception of the central infeteny fndend the nouse" chimney area, which is underlain by a 15 by 20 foot unexcavated stone-walled area. The building's exterior fabric at present is cedar shingles applied in a scallop pattern, ca. 1873, and is now painted. Asbestos shingles cover the roof. The main elevation, which faces east (at a right angle to the present roadway), is dominated by the simply enframed center doorway; the door itself, which includes a fanlight, is a Colonial Revival-style 20th century alteration.

The four flanking bays of 6/6windows are asymmetrically placed, reflecting their different construction dates. The southern portion of the main block is significantly larger than the building's earliest portion. The main block's northern elevation contains two 6/6 windows located toward the northeastern corner of the building. (A third bay, which would have balanced the fenestration, may have been removed in 1790.) The gable holds a single 2/2 window. On the southern elevation, three bays on the ground story consist of: a long 9/6 window at the rear corner (a 1981 replacement of an century window); a secondary entry, simply enframed and topped by a shallow hood; and a 6/6 window similar to those on the main facade. Again, a 2/2 attic window is tucked high up into the gable peak.

Continued NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Joseph Stone House, Auburn, Item number Massachusetts OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 Far NPS use anty received date enterad 7 Page was converted toa kitelleved to have been formed from a 1790 leanto addition, bath, and glass-enclosed sunporch in 1886. only a single bay deep. In 1946, a six-bay-deep, single-story saltbox-style addition was extended from Together the 1886 and 1946 ene ariginal ell; it now contains an apartment.. cover all but a single southwestern bay of the 18th century block. The house retains some of its original interior features, including raised panel doors, mantelpieces, and wainscoting.

The enclosed staircase in the northwestern corner of the 1729 portion of the building was added in 1790. The lot also includes an 18th century shed, the one-story remains of a late 18th/early 19th century barn that was partially destroyed in the hurricane of 1938, and a summerhouse, children's playhouse, and two garages added ca. 1945 and considered noncontributing. ARCHAEOLOGY While no prehistoric sites are currently recorded on the property, it is highly likely that sites are present. One site (19-WR-265) has been recorded in close proximity. The terraces and knolls overlooking the adjacent wetlands and tributaries of Stone Brook would have been attractive for prehistoric and given the large lot size and limited amount of disturbance, sites are likely to have survived.

Any remaining sites would be signi ficant since the patterns of prehistoric occupation in Auburn are poorly documented. There is potential for occupation-related features (trashpits, privies, ano wells) around the house. Archaeological testing and examination may provide the means for documenting the major building and alteration episodes of the may have been compromised hore eoestrieit in re srvert aer ur nr ne omr ing the alr ote contrg. any surviving historic archaeological resources would be significant in documenting and defining the social, cultural, and economic patterns of this house's occupants over nearly two and a half centuries.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Significance Joseph Stone House, Auburn, Massachusetts Period prehistoric 1400-1499 1500-1599 1600-1699 -1700-1799 1800-1899 1900- Areas of SignificanceCheck and justify below archeology-prehistoric community planning X archeology-historic conservation agriculture X economics architecture education art engineering commerce exploration/settlement communications industry invention landscape architecture law literature military X music philosophy politics government Specific dates 1729, 1790 Statement of Significance

Statement of significance

(in one paragraph) Builder Architect Unknown The Joseph Stone House, Auburn, retains integrity of location, design, setting, intact colonial-period cottage whose present form reflects two stages of 18th 1729, and is believed to be the oldest surviving residence in Auburn. The building was enlarged in 1790 by a leanto, altered in 1886 and enlarged again in 1946. Among the building's many owners was Joseph Stone, who owned the nouse from 1/85 to 1826, and was a prolific composer of psalmody (the choral setting of sacred texts). The Stone House thus fulfils Criteria B and C of the National Register of Historic Places on the local level. CETEE Auburn was incorporated as the town of Ward in 1778 (renamed Auburn in 1837), and little information exists on its earliest settlement by Europeans.

The first white settled arrived in the 1720s and included a man named Lord who is believed to have built the nominated property on a 52-acre plot ca. 1729. In the late 17th century, the area was the site of the native American village known as Pakachoag (its center was located two miles from the nominated property), and local history has it that the Stone House sits by an early trail that led from the Nipmuck village at Pakachoag Hill to the earliest Auburn Tils bel ver is unsuostant ated, Mid 18th century Auburn was sparsely settled, a peripheral agricultural area with Woodstock Road, leading from Woodstock, Connecticut, to Worcester, as one of the few roadways through the town. On the eve of the Revolutionary War, the house may have been owned by a Tory, Theophilus Lilly, who left his family for Boston in April 1775 and, eventually, Nova Scotia, where he later died.

In 1785, during dispossession of Loyalist property, Joseph Stone, the town clerk for Ward, took legal possession of the property from Lilly's wife, who ten years later tried but failed to repossess the property through the Worcester court system. The legal battle over the property was apparently a fierce one. Stone was responsible for enlarging the three-bay half house to its present five-bay, central entry configuration in Stone's 1794 map of Ward is one of the few extant early surveys of the religion science sculpture social/ humanitarian theater transportation other (specify) Stone (1754-1837) is best known as one of most prolific American-born composer in the tradition of psalmody, the setting of psalms to music. Psalmody was a musical form whose roots were in New England. It was usually written solely for local consumption.

Stone wrote music in this idiom--one whose contra- Entane by i8io, a thoagn il, in iuences spra s ouarmaral popu o-78g 1i Nenhtis Continued 9.

The rest of the file

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

Major Bibliographical References (See attached sheet) 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property 5 acres Quadrangle name Worcester South UT M References * Lu19l L20 d221d Zone Easting 416/714 01110 Northing CL E Quadrangle scale 1:25,000 G LJ Ll Ld LliLu Easting Northing DLLLLILLL LILILLL FLU LLILL HLU LLILIL tomn of Auburneand includes sive acres of property occupies parcel 31 on Map 57 of the see attached assessors and sketch maps. The property is also described in the Worcester Registry of Deeds, Plan Bk. 113, plan 69. List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state N/A code county code state code county code 11. Form Prepared By Betsy Friedberg, Preservation Planner, Massachusetts Historical Commission, with name/title George Furst, President, Auburn Historical Society.

organization Massachusetts Historical Commission date October 1985 street & number 80 Boylston Street telephone 617-727-8470 Boston city or town state Massachusetts 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national - state _ 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 accordingto thecriteria and procedures set forthby the National Park Service.

Valuue A Talmage State Historic Preservation Officer signature Executive Director title State Historic Preservation Officer For NPS use only I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register ubres3 Eatered In tha akeeper of the National Register *ational Reelster date || 25,85 date 19-86 Attest: Chief of Registration date U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1983 0 - 419-311 NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Massachusetts Joseph Stone House, Auburn, Item number OMB NO.1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 For NPS use only received dale entered Page BSEEAT and, as shaped note singing, remains popular in the Southern Appalachians to this day. By 1836, Stone had composed over 2,000 songs.

Forty-five of his works were printed in The Columbian Harmony, a tunebook that he compiled with fuguing tune, "Grafton," the liveliest examples of the genre, and enjoyed much popularity in its day, enre teond was one of Stone's influence on music literature as a composer has not been greatly felt but the unusually precise documentation with which he accompanied his compositions has made his work a valuable resource for musicologists. By 1865, the house had come into the possession of James Alger, an engineer who traveled daily six miles to his job in Worcester, where he worked as an engineer for the Boston and Albany Railroad. In order to reach his job, Alger nad to travel to Worcester on the Providence and Worcester Railroad, which ran through Auburn and whose tracks passed close by the Stone Farm.

When he retired in 1895 at the age of 71, Alger was one of the oldest engineers of the B a A Railroad. He had begun his railroad career in 1845, working on the railroad in West Needham (now Wellesley). He was given his first passenger engine in 1852, and took over the Boston/Worcester run in 1864. It was during these years that he gained a reputation for always having his trains run on time and for never having a serious accident. Alger's status as a commuter was unusual in Auburn; for most of the 19th century, the town remained an agricul tural community, supporting a few small industries. The arrival of an Auburn junction for the B & A Railroad in 1885 and the 1900 opening of electric streetcar service to Worcester would drastically alter this situation, making Auburn a major Worcester suburb, which it remains today. Several changes of ownership occurred in the 20th century.

Owners in the 1940s--Richard Potter, Director of the Worcester Natural History Museum, and his wife--built several substantial outbuildings on the property. NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Joseph Stone House, Auburnitem number MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES 9 Auburn history Pierce, Map of Auburn, 1850. Beers Atlas of Worcester County, 1870. "Auburn, the Town that had no beginning." Worcester Sunday Telegram, June 20, 1937. A History of the Town of Auburn, Works Progress Administration - Writers Project, 1937. Auburn Library. Auburn News Extra Belding, John and Meredith, "Furst's Stone St. house bursts with history" Oc tober 27, 1982, Joseph C. Stone Morin, Ruth, "Joseph Stone 1758-1837" , Auburn Public Library, 1976.

Joseph Stone, Survey of Auburn, 1794, State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts. Stone, Joseph and Abraham Wood, The Columbian Harmony, 1793. Stone, Joseph, Manuscript Music and Poetry, 1830, Auburn Public Library. Resources of American Music History (University of Illinois Press, 1981) under University of California at Los Angeles, Special Collections Department, A-1713 University Research Library: "Joseph C. Stone (1/58-1837, Boston poet and musician), 3 boxes of holograph music mss, as cited in William Salloch (antiquarian bookdealer), catalogue 237 (Oct. 1966), item 18" James M. Alger Alger, Sarah, Unpublished Diaries, December 23, 1869 to November 4, 1870, January 1, 1985 to February 6, 1896. Worcester January 3, 1897, "Veteran Among Railroad Men. Worcester Sunday Telegram, July 11, 1897, "Veteran of Throttle". OMB No. 1024-001 Exp.

10-31-84 For NPS use only received date entered 1 Page THOMPSON-LISTON ASSOCIATES. INC. C'uriE Engeneers. Lureé drerregers WORCESTER MAS CHUSETTS TAPE SURVEY 436 wame George FursT LOCATION 35 Stone St. Auburn, Miass. THIS TAPE SURVEY WAS NOT MADE FROM AN INSTRUMENT APPROXIMATE AND FOR NO EEPRERONTATIONS AS TO ITS Aucu. !HE MARE OR MIPEO BY THE CANS No CIRCUN SIANCES IS THIS TAFE SURVEY TD BE USED FOR THE LOCATION OE FENCES, WALLS, HEJGES, ETC, Joseph Stone House 35 Stone Street Auburn, MA 58 SCALE 1100 Sept.18,197° 157,46 Lower TUSTTU upper Fidd 00000000 100) Ished ,800 537.46° CARRIATO U fON GA0u- kal Sereeu hovse BARN 8E childrens house MONHEALTH 31 ANDREW BARRY LISTON No.

28976 Prc: Garage gATe 94,60 figure 2 to01:103007.65 Stone 3 toe wo Street 118.90 86000028 VASO Form - 17 "R" June 1984 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET Stone, Joseph, House Worcester County MASSACHUSETTS -resubmission - nomination by person or local government - owner objection -appeal Substantive Review: -sample Reviewer's comments: -request Working No._ DEC/51985 Fed. Reg. Date: 2/3/81 Date Due: _ 13/56 - 1/19/8 Action:_ACCÉPT. /=9-8 Entered in the -RETURN National Register _REJECT- Federal Agency: -appeal -NR decision 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 Category Ownership Public Acquisition 4. Owner of Property 5.

Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? 7. Description Lyes -no Condition -excellent -good Dfair -deteriorated Druins unexposed Check one -unaltered Daltered Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance - summary paragraph - completeness - clarity alterations/integrity dates - boundary selection Status Accessible Present Use Check one Doriginal site -moved date 8. Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Builder/Architect Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) L summary paragraph - completeness - clarity Japplicable criteria -justification of areas checked J relating significance to the resource context - relationship of integrity to significance Ljustification of exception -other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10.

Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name UTM References Verbal boundary description and justification 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national _state local State Historic Preservation Officer signature title date 13. Other -Maps LJ Photographs -Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Signed-. - Date Phone: GPO 918-450 Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet The Joseph Stone House 35 Stone Street Auburn. MA George Furat, Auburn Historical George Furst Photc File Spotemble a6, on facing east Camera direction NWW Photograph No.1 Society The Joseph Stone House 35 Stone Street Auburn, MA John Belding September 4,1983 John Beldings File North Side Elevation Camera direction SSW Photograph No.

2 BF 2 Stratham Road Lexington, Massachusetts 02173 29 October 1985 Valerie A. Talmage Executive Director Massachusetts Historical Commission 80 Boylston Street Boston, Massachusetts 02116 Dear Ms. Talmage: At the request of George Furst, I am writing in support of his application for the nomination of the Joseph Stone Farm, 35 Stone Street, Auburn, to the National Register. Quite apart from the Stone house's intrinsic merits as an exceptionally interesting example of early American architecture, with the various stages of its expansion and alteration through the years clearly visible and the entire structure in a remarkably fine state of preservation and careful restoration, this property is highly unusual and important for the succession of creative and influential individuals who have lived there. Perhaps the most significant of these is Joseph Stone himself.

As a scholar specializing in the sacred choral music of early America--my dissertation is a collective biography of the c. 300 individuals identified as composers or compilers in the pages of sacred tunebooks printed in this country before 1811--I feel qualified to state that on the basis of my the paedo research, Joseph Stone was not only one of the most gifted composers active on these shores during this period, but easily the most prolific. In addition to the 66 compositions by Stone known to have been printed--including the 45 he included in his and Abraham Wood's Columbian Harmony, published in 1793-- there are many hundreds, possibly thousands, of unpublished pieces in a remarkable group of manuscripts he left us, most of which are presently housed in the library of the University of California at Los Angeles.

To date, scholars have been largely unaware of this treasure trove of early American music, or have given it only the most cursory of glances. My own work with these materials, though brief, convinces me that there is quality in Stone's output to match--probably to surpass--his quantity. The quality of Stone's music aside, however, it seems to me that among the many arguments for the Stone Farm's inclusion in the National Register, surely one of the most compelling is that this house was home to the most prolific American composer of the eighteenth century, and that it still bears several marks of Stone's tenancy--for example, in the clay-backed closet which Stone himself fashioned, and which is an excellent example of its kind. I urge you to give Furst's application the careful consideration it deserves. Best wishes, Vym looke Nym/Cooke BF John H.

Belding Meredith Weiss-Belding ED ARCHAEOLOGICAL E HISTORICAL CONSULTING 216 Brigham #i11 Road - North Grafton, Mass. 01536 1925 617/ 839-6220 MASS. HIST. COMM. 9 November 1985 Valerie Talmage State Archaeologist Massachusetts Historical Commission 80 Boylston Street Boston, Massachusetts 02116 Dear Ms. Talmage; This letter is in reference to the property at 35 Stone Street, Auburn, Massachusetts, which will be the subject of a hearing concerning a National Register nomination on Wednesday, 13 November 1985. As historical consultants hired by the Town of Auburn in 1980, we did research on the property and became acquainted with the owners, George and Betty Furst.

It is our opinion that this property warrants nomination to the National Register for the following reasons: 1] HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE FOR AUBURN: The earliest portion of the house was first constructed in 1729 by a "Frenchman" named Lord. This is the oldest known standing structure in Auburn. By Revolutionary times, it had been owned by a Tory, Theophilus Lilly who was forced to flee the town on April 18, 1775. Stone then took the house and land during the widespread dispossession of abandoned Loyalist property that occurred after 1776. 2] ASSOCIATION WITH SIGNIFICANT HISTORICAL FIGURES: Joseph Stone held a number of town offices in Auburn, but is best known as a composer of hymns and his collection of early American music. During the later half of the 1800's, the house was owned by James and Sarah Alger.

A well-respected local citizen, Alger was, for many years, an engineer on the Boston and Albany railroad, and aided many a local boy in obtaining employment on the line. A comprehensive diary was kept by Mrs. Alger which documented their years in the house. Later, the property was purchased by Lucius Warren Briggs, a renowned local architect who designed a number of municipal and commercial buildings. 3] ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE FOR AUBURN: This house is representative of the original housing stock of Auburn (half-Cape and Cape). The 18th century section of the house is well restored. Most other houses built during this time period have been either dramatically altered (for example, 36 Merriam Street,708 Oxford Street) or destroyed (for example, 430 South Street). Further, the site itself has excellent integrity, reflecting the landscape and features common in the 18th century.

It is for these reasons that we strongly support the property's nomination to the register. Thank you for your time and attention. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. incerety Dls Meredesh We Meredith Weiss-Belding s Beldine