George Albert Smith (1862-1952) died at age 91, one year after he announced his vision for The Jason Russell House. The son of Reverend Samuel Smith and Maria Edes Smith, George Smith lived nearly his entire life in the home where he was born at 41 Academy Street. Samuel and Maria had three sons and a daughter, with George being the next to youngest child.
Elizabeth Abbot Smith, however, was not finished. She wanted a museum to complement the April 19 historic site, and she wished it be built in honor of her father, George Abbot Smith, her grandfather, Reverend Samuel Abbot Smith( 1829-1865) and his grandfather, Reverend Abiel Abbot ( 1765-1859) of Peterborough, New Hampshire.
The Smith Museum is named in honor of three generations of Smiths: George A. Smith, Reverend Samuel Abbot Smith, and Reverend Abiel Abbot. The funds for the museum building itself were donated by Elizabeth Abbot Smith, George A. Smith’s daughter, who inherited her father’s fortune and realized his vision for his beloved Jason Russell House.
William H. Pattee, son of Jesse P. Pattee, followed his father’s flour-dusted footsteps into the bakery business as well as embracing his passion for fraternal organizations, serving as Master of the Hiram Lodge, 1862-1865. William H. Pattee was the namesake of an illustrious English ancestor, Sir William Pattee, who was a noted physician –having as … Continue reading The Big Town of West Cambridge
Jesse Peaslee Pattee (1804-1863) was both a Master of the Hiram Lodge and it’s landlord, for Hiram Lodge met in Menotomy Hall, the second story of Mr. Pattee’s own bake shop A large room, fifteen by forty feet with an oval ceiling, Menotomy Hall was a fitting home for the lodge’s fifty members—especially in winter … Continue reading Worshipful Master and Grand Baker, Jesse P. Pattee
Purchased in 1851, for about $300, it was the first engine built by Howard & Davis, later a Boston clock firm, and remains the pride and joy of the Arlington Fire Department, winning pumping contest after pumping contest. Its purchase was the occasion for a parade –the Eureka may have been to more parades in … Continue reading The Eureka Triumphs!
In 1906, Menotomy Hall was demolished to make room for Arlington’s grand new Town Hall, realized in 1913. The humble Menotomy Hall housed much Arlington history with its ground floor bakery churning out bread and rolls for nearly one-hundred years while its upper story helped raise congregation after congregation for area churches. The large meeting … Continue reading Menotomy Hall and The Eureka
In 1868 in newly minted Arlington, Massachusetts—the vote to change the name of the town from “West Cambridge” to “Arlington” had just occurred—the high school graduated 13 students, 7 people died from consumption, 107 dog licenses were issued, Nathan Robbins was the richest man in town, and the age of the oldest person to be … Continue reading Admit the Bearer
Benjamin Locke, 1738-1791, served as Menotomy’s Minute Men Captain during the Lexington Alarm. After both Paul Revere and William Dawes rode past his house at the Foot of the Rocks, on present day Appleton Street in Arlington, MA., Captain Locke and his lieutenant Solomon Bowman mustered their troops in the early morning of April 19 … Continue reading Benjamin Locke: Menotomy Minute Man
In the fall of 1774, Sam Adams and his boys courted Massachusetts ministers casting them as colonial spinmeisters of the Patriot Message. Black-frocked and white-wigged Massachusetts clergy roared their response from pulpit after pulpit treating their parishioners as so many political focus groups. Once Samuel Cooke found his metaphorical horse, he rode it Sunday after … Continue reading “Characters of Blood”: Reverend Samuel Cooke