19 Carruth Street

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No. 20273 19 Carruth Street, photograph March 31, 2020.

 

Date of construction: 1886-1887       mentioned in published material, but no cited reference

Architect:  not known, Shand-Tucci says possibly John Fox

This house appears in the 1889 atlas and was apparently built as a house to be sold or to be rented.  John and Mary Phillips lived on Alban Street.  They sold 19 Carruth to Charlotte Redfern in October of 1890.

The following is from: Ashmont: An Historical Guide to Peabody Square, Caruth’s Hill, and Ashmont Hill and the Architecture of Edwin J. Lewis, Jr. and John A. Fox. By Paul Douglass Shand-Tucci.  Dorchester, Dorchester Historical Society, 1991. p. 62

… 19 Carruth, the Shapleigh-Burleigh House.  Built for John and Mary Phillips ca. 1886-87, this house takes its name from the two most prominent families to live here: the John Shapleighs (he was head of Cedar Grove Cemetery) and the Frederick Burleighs.  A real estate agent with offices both intown and at the Argyle, who sold ad resold nearly all these houses in his lifetime, Burleigh was the first of his family to live here and the first of three generations of the family to be lay leaders at All Saints’.  Architecturally, the house, probably the second oldest on the street, reflects the mid-1880s fashion for picturesque, romantic cottages — and its charms are all the more valued today because this house has been liberated from its artificial siding as part of a complete and thorough restoration, the best alternative of all.  Note the varying kinds of ornamental shingling here–square cut and staggered, with or without an intervening straight-cut course, wavy (high up in the gables), and scalloped (on the front-door hood).  Observe, too, the picturesque front dormer — all evidence that this house may have been designed by John Fox.

The following is the Area Form from for Carruth Street/Peabody Square prepared as part of 1994 Survey of Dorchester, Boston Landmarks Commission..

Attributed to John A. Fox by Douglas Shand Tucci, 19 Carruth Street was built ca. 1886-87 for John and Mary Phillips.  During the 1890s, it was owned by Charlotte H. Redfern. Early 20th-century owners included John Shapleigh, head of Cedar Grove Cemetery and Frederick Burleigh, a real estate agent active in the sale of Carruth’s Hill’s houses and for many years active as a lay leader at All Saints’.

Street history:

entry for Carruth Street in

A Record of the Streets, Alleys, Places, Etc., in the City of Boston. (Boston, 1910).

Carruth Street, Dor., 1869; from 239 Ashmont Street to 412 Codman Street [now Gallivan Boulevard]; laid out, Aug. 12, 1869.  Plan in Boston Engineering Department L976.

Owners’ names from atlases

1884 Plate J

            vacant lot owned among others by Robt Murray, lot size 7699 sq ft

1889 Plate 25

            M. W. Phillips, lot size 7825 sq ft

1894 Plate 28

            Charlotte H. Redfern

1898 Plate 28

            Charlotte H. Redfern

1904 Plate 28

            John F. Shapleigh

1910 Plate 28

            John F. Shapleigh

1918 Plate 28

            Fred W. Burleigh

1933 Plate 28

            F. W. and L. A. Burleigh

Boston Directory

1889, 1890 John G. Phillips, treasurer Church Cleansing Co. 169 Tremont, h. Alban

1891    Edward C. Redfern, 435 Washington, bds. 19 Carruth

1892    Edward C. Redfern, bds. 19 Carruth

1893    Edward C. Redfern, bds. 19 Carruth

1894    Edward C. Redfern, bds. 19 Carruth

1895    Edward C. Redfern, bds. 19 Carruth

1896    Edward C. Redfern, bds. 19 Carruth

1897    Edward C. Redfern, bds. 19 Carruth

1898    Edward C. Redfern, bds. 19 Carruth

1899    no entry for Edward Redfern; Shapleigh lives on Malvern

1900    John F. Shapleigh, supt. Cedar Grove cemetery, h. 20 Malvern

residents from Blue Books

1894    Miss Lucy R. Cook

            Francis Allen

            Edward C. Redfern

1896    Mr. & Mr. Charles S. Kendall

            Miss Lucy R. Cook

            Edward C. Redfern

1898    Miss Lucy R. Cook

            Edward C. Redfern

1900    no entry for 19 Carruth

1902    Mr. & Mrs. John F. Shapleigh

            The Misses Shapleigh

1904    Mr. & Mrs. John F. Shapleigh

            The Misses Shapleigh

1906    Mr. & Mrs. John F. Shapleigh

1908    Mr. & Mrs. John F. Shapleigh

1910    Mr. & Mrs. John F. Shapleigh

1913    Mr. & Mrs. John F. Shapleigh

1915    Mr. & Mrs. Fred W. Burleigh

Boston Residents Lists aged 20 and older as of April 1st

entries for [address]

Note that if there is no previous address, the list indicates the person lived at this address the year before

Census 1900         20 Malvern Street

            John F. Shapleigh, 60, b. Maine, Supt Cemetery

            Persis, 57, b. Maine

            Gertrude, 25, b. Maine

            Mabel, 23, b. Maine, saleswoman dry goods

Census 1910 19 Carruth Street

          John F. Shapleigh, 71, b. Maine, Superintendent of a cemetery

          Persis Shapleigh, 71, b. Maine

          Mabel E Shapleigh, daughter, 34, b. NH, saleslady in a jewelry store

Census 1920  19 Carruth Street

          Fred W. Burleigh, 48, b. Mass., real estate bus 

          Lida A. Burleigh, 47, b. Mass.

          Frederick H. Burleigh, 13, b. Mass.

          Philllip W. Burleigh, 10, b. Mass.

          Hortense Burleigh, 8, b. Mass.

          Pearl Addamson, servant, 19, b. Mass.

Census 1930       19 Carruth Street

         Fred W. Burleigh, 58, b Mass., real estate agent

         Lida Burleigh, 57, b. Mass.

         Frederick Burliegh, 23, b. Mass.

         Phillip Burleigh, 20, b. Mass.

         Hortense Burleigh, 18, b. Mass.

deeds

May 31, 1882 from Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank to Mary W. Phillips, wife of John G. Phillips 1562.212 lot 105  plan 1097.266

parcel of land

Oct. 16, 1890 John G. Phillips & ux.  to Charlotte H. Redfern  Book 1962 Page 177 Dorch. Carruth St Lot 105 pl. 1097.266          purchased with a $5,000 mortgage  Book 1962, p. 178

index screen 448

parcel with the buildings thereon

Skills

Posted on

April 6, 2020