Witnessing History

Witnesses from a time when our country was young, and they have watched with us as time has passed, and stood with us in good times and bad. Bearing Witness for the generations to come.

OLD is an elastic word – nonspecific, relative, and very much in the eye of the beholder. My kids think I’m old; third-graders think I’m positively ancient. (I think I’m 28). But what does OLD really mean? It means that something has endured as useful. That it has stood the test of time. And that is has seen events that we can only read about.

Take 1776, the year that America declared independence. An OLD house that was standing in 1776 no doubt saw militia march by its door. It housed people who debated and discussed the dread step of independence, and who may have laid their lives and everything they possessed on the line for this goal. OR a tree – it also saw marchers passing by. It may have shaded them on their march, or shaded their debates. And if standing today, it also saw the Civil War, the World Wars, the Depression – every event, national and local, major and minor – from then to now. So an old house or an old tree is not just a curiosity – it is a time-traveler, and a participant. A rare and precious reminder of what we have been through together, all those many years.

There is actually a term for this (among historians, anyway) – a Witness. A Witness House. Or a  Witness Tree.

So, as we celebrate 250 years of American independence – what in Needham still remains from the Revolution?  What are the physical objects we can still see that witnessed this momentous event?

Witness Houses

There are 13 houses remaining in Needham that were built before 1783, the year the Revolutionary War ended. Many are listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), as an acknowledgment of their historic importance and the quality of their architectural preservation. The notes below are very brief snapshots:

• The Lt. Robert Fuller, Jr. House (1707, 3 Burrill Lane. NRHP) – This is the oldest standing house in Needham, the small brown saltbox on the corner of Forest Street and Burrill Lane. This is one of two First Period houses in Needham, a designation for houses built before 1720, the first century of English settlement. Much more information about this house can be found HERE. 
• Kingsbury-Whitaker House (1710/1840, 53 Glendoon Road. NRHP) – Although it now has the appearance of a mid-19th century colonial, the original part of the Kingsbury-Whitaker House was built in 1710 by Timothy Kingsbury, probably at the time of his marriage. It is said that the first baby born after Needham’s incorporation in 1711 was born in this house. Kingsbury was a Deacon in the First Parish, a Representative in General Court, Town Clerk, and Assessor. The house was originally a small saltbox, facing west toward Nehoiden Street. In 1839, Edgar Whitaker bought the house and built it out into its present form, incorporating the older structure as the eastern half of the house and reorienting the front toward the south, facing Great Plain Avenue. Whitaker was a local merchant, and also a promoter of the railroad into Needham and a member of the Governor’s Council. In the 1860s, he moved to Washington DC to work for the US Treasury, and became acquainted with Abraham Lincoln while visiting the Civil War wounded in hospitals. The Kingsbury-Whitaker House (also known as the Glendoon House) was the home of the Needham Historical Society from 1949 until we moved to the Newman campus in 2006.
• The Samuel Wilson House (1718, 75 Wilson Lane) – This is the other First Period house. We actually know very little about Samuel Wilson. He moved to Needham from Dedham when he married, and built his house on land between the Charles River and South Street. He and his wife Elizabeth had eight children. Wilson was one of the twenty signers of the First Parish Covenant in 1720, and kept school on and off in the 1720s.
• The Rev. Jonathan Townsend House (1720, 980 Central Avenue. NRHP) – Jonathan Townsend was the town’s first minister, called to the First Parish in 1720. He was at that time, a new graduate of Harvard and newly-married to Mary Sugars of Boston. The house, and an enslaved man named Homer, were wedding gifts from Mary’s father. Townsend served the parish for 42 years as Minister, sharing the governing power (as the rule in those days) with the Selectmen.  But this house was more than just a passive witness – in 1773 or 74, the town hid its precious supply of gunpowder in the Minister’s house to avoid confiscation by the British. On the morning of April 19, 1775, the East Militia company gathered at the house to load up before heading off to Lexington.
• The James Smith House (c.1727, 706 Great Plain Avenue. NRHP) – James Smith came to Boston from Ireland in 1718, and moved to Needham sometime before 1726. The house was probably built around the time of his arrival.  He served the town in various minor offices. James Smith’s son, Robert Smith, was a Captain of the East Needham militia company, and fought at Arlington in 1775, and served throughout the Revolutionary War. Capt. Robert also served the town as Selectman, and Town Clerk, among other offices.
• Captain Robert Fuller House (1735, 46 Burrill Lane) – Captain Robert Fuller (father of Lt. Robert Fuller, Jr.) was one of Needham’s earliest settlers and a signer of the Petition that separated Needham from Dedham. He built his first house in 1707 at the top of the hill (now Burrill Lane). In 1735 he moved that house to the bottom of the lane and gave it to his son (now 3 Burrill Lane, see above) and built himself a new and larger house atop the hill. Capt. Robert served Needham as a Selectman, Town Clerk, and Treasurer.

• Mann-Blackman House (1738, 91 Fairfield Street) – Another active witness, as the militias from Dedham and the towns marching with them stopped at the house on April 19, 1775 for refreshment and directions on their way to Lexington. The house originally faced Greendale Avenue, which was the main road between Dedham and Newton. Nathaniel Mann was a son-in-law of Rev. Jonathan Townsend. The house was originally a large two-story saltbox, though it has had considerable alteration over the years. The current front façade on Fairfield Street was originally the rear of the house.
• Tolman-Gay House (1743, 1196 Central Avenue. NRHP) – The house was built by Nathaniel Tolman Jr at the time of his marriage. Nathaniel’s son John fought at the Battle of Menotomy on April 19, 1775. He was seriously wounded (shot in the chest) in the battle, but recovered and joined the Continental Army for the duration of the War. He also served Needham in a number of minor offices. John inherited the house from his father, and lived in it until about 1804, when he moved to Vermont. At the time of his move, he sold the property to Jonathan Gay. Gay also served in the militia, and was later a Selectman, Town Clerk, Treasurer, and Assessor. Sadly, recent renovations of this house have modernized the exterior, removing most of its historic character.
• Amos Fuller House (1754, 220 Nehoiden Street. NRHP) – This house is easily recognized by the large red barn with the sign ‘Hearthstone Farm.’ The barn, probably built in 1830s, is the oldest standing barn in Needham. The house itself was built in 1754 on the site occupied by an even older house belonging to Amos Fuller’s father, Thomas. Amos Fuller served the town as Selectman and Representative in General Court. The property was acquired in 1922 by James McCracken, and a part of it alongside Rosemary Lake was set aside for the Needham Girl Scouts, and named Camp Malcolm in honor of McCracken’s young son, who died as a child.
• John Bird House (1755, 94 Beaufort Street) – John Bird’s father, Benjamin Bird of Dorchester, is the man for whom Bird’s Hill is named. Benjamin acquired around 255 acres of land in Needham, encompassing all of Bird’s Hill and a great deal of land surrounding it. Benjamin, however, never came to Needham. After his death in 1757, the Needham land was inherited by his son John. A few years before that, John had built a house on the western slope of Bird’s Hill for his new bride, Mary Lyon of Needham. John Bird fought with the Needham militia in the French and Indian War (30 years old) and again for the duration of the Revolutionary War (50+). He also served the town in several minor town offices.

• Haws-Newell House (1756, 1794 Great Plain Avenue) – Joseph Haws built his house in 1756 along the main road between the eastern and western parts of Needham (now Great Plain Avenue), but he hardly had time to live in it, since he died that same year at the age of 92. The house was inherited by his son, Josiah. Josiah is principally notable for having given the land for the Town Pound, where errant livestock were kept until they were reclaimed and the fines paid. The pound was nearby the house lot. In 1773, the property was purchased by Josiah Newell. Newell was a Justice of the Peace, and also served on the committee to assure that soldiers fighting in the Revolutionary War (and their families) had the necessary supplies and equipment. He also served the town as Selectman, but declined to also serve as Assessor. The most notable feature of the house was its doorway, a rare example of an asymmetrical “coffin-door” (probably circa 1833), in which one leaf was wide and the other narrow. The house (as well as the land of the town pound) now belong to Olin College. The house saw substantial renovations, which unfortunately included the removal of the coffin door.
• Joshua Lewis House (1776, 178 South Street. NRHP) – This is arguably the most significant historic house in Needham. It was built in 1776 by Joshua Lewis of Roxbury at the time of his marriage to Mary Lyon of Needham on land given them by her father. In the 19th century, the house was famously the home and nursery of Denys Zirngiebel, Needham’s “Pansy King,” and later of his grandson, the artist NC Wyeth. The full story of this important house can be found HERE. 
• Jonathan Kingsbury House (1779, 3 Rosemary Street) – Jonathan Kingsbury was a weaver.  He served with the East Company of the Needham militia at Lexington in 1775, and also at Dorchester Heights and Boston in 1776 and 1778. At the time of his marriage to Jemima Skinner, he was sharing a house with his uncle and several other relatives, but as his family began to grow (they would have at least ten children) he needed more room and built a house for himself in 1779. This is the oldest standing house in Needham Heights, and was recently designated as Needham’s first Local Historic District, which protects it from demolition and inappropriate alteration.

Witness Trees

As scarce as Witness Houses are in Needham, Witness Trees are even scarcer. Oaks can live for several centuries – the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest died this year after at least 800 (and maybe as many as 1200!) years. But most trees do not live that long, so the few that do are especially precious. I know of two white oaks still standing that can count as Witness Trees. One is on Great Plain Avenue near the intersection of Douglas Road. This huge gnarled tree is at least 300 years old, based on its circumference (there’s a formula for that). It is as old as Needham itself (if not slightly older!) and grew up along what was then the main route into the Mother Town of Dedham. The second is the large oak tree in the courtyard of the Newman School, estimated to be about 250 years old. Slightly younger than the Great Plain oak, this tree would have been a sapling (maybe even a seedling) at the start of the Revolutionary War. I also recall a huge oak in the hollow behind the Kingsbury-Whitaker house on Glendoon Road in the days when that house was the Historical Society headquarters, but I never measured it.

Several others are now gone – there was a huge (huge!) oak on Fisher Street, right on the edge of the road; it died in 2007 and had to be taken down by the town when it started dropping its large branches into the road. That tree was at least 400 years old. The famous Greenwood Oak on Nehoiden Street was about 250+ when it died in 1908. The old maps tell us about the Station Tree and the Marked Tree – there are no estimates of their size or age, but huge trees were commonly used as boundary markers, as these two were.

So thirteen houses and two trees – not a lot left to show for the last 315 years. All the more reason to treasure and protect them. They are not just OLD. They are witnesses from a time when our country was young, and they have watched with us as time has passed, stood by us in good times and bad as reminders – of the enduring usefulness of well-crafted structures, of the optimism and courage of those who lived in them, and of the ideals that we try to hold (even when we fail). Bearing Witness for the generations to come.