No. 5185 Painting of the Jonathan Davis Harrod House on the face of a brick from the house.
Edward A. Huebener, a former Board member of the Dorchester Historical Society, was a collector of materials relating to Dorchester history including a very large collection of graphic materials, including prints and photographs, now owned by the Society. His very own contribution to this group of materials was the idea of taking a brick from a house that had been demolished and asking a local illustrator to paint a picture of the house upon the brick. The painted bricks may be viewed at the Dorchester Historical Society.
No. 22069 The Jonathan Davis Harrod House is at the very top of the map on Washington Street, just above Four Corners. Detail is from 1858 map of Norfolk County by Walling.
This house, which stood at about 316-322 Washington Street, Dorchester Four Corners, was built before 1760 and was the home of Jonathan Davis and later of his widow, who died in 1790. Jonathan Davis, Jr., sold the house and farm (16 acres) in 1792 to James Bowdoin, whose 36 acres “with buildings” abutted south and east. In 1819 Jonathan Harrod from Sturbridge occupied the house, adding the left third in 1828. The house was standing long after the Civil War.
No. 3196 The pencil sketch of the house belowof was made about 1860 by a cousin of Mrs. Catherine (Harrod) Farnum. This sketch was probably used as the model for the painting on the face of the brick that came from the house. The brick with its painting is in the Edward A. Huebener brick collection owned by the Dorchester Historical Society.