No. 3741 21 Harley Street, circa 1890. Photograph given to the Dorchester Historical Society in 1923 by architect Edwin J. Lewis, Jr. Photograph taken by Wm F. Clark, 338 Washington St., Boston. House of Mrs. Aug. Nickerson
Date of construction: by 1889
The house appears in the 1889 atlas.
Architect: Edwin J. Lewis, Jr. per Shand-Tucci
This house may have been owned as a rental property. By 1893 the Nickerson family had moved to Harley Street, but the Augustus Nickerson was back on Alban Street in the 1896 Boston Directory. The 1910 Census shows them on Harley Street. It appears that they rented Alban Street out when they moved to Harley Street, but when Augustus went into business for himself in 1896, the family moved back to 60 Alban Street and rented 21 Harley Street until 1910, when they seem to have sold 60 Alban.
The following is from Ashmont by Douglass Shand-Tucci, p. 79
… Lewis, who also designed the two houses next door: 21 and 17 Harley. Both are early houses, and 21, which dates from 1887, may be Lewis’s first design. Very simple (it cost only $3,000 to build), it is a Shingle Stye bungalow of considerable charm, unaltered except for its glassed-in front porch. Notice the gentle and almost imperceptible swelling out of the shingled skin over the windows.
The following is from: Codman Square House Tour Booklet 1997
Built in 1887, 21 Harley Street is reportedly Edwin J. Lewis’s first design. Many an architect might wish to claim such a creditable maiden effort. Although modest in size, it is dramatic in its massing, somewhat resembling an old New England saltbox house turned back to front. Indeed, the sweep of the front roof addresses the passer-by in a most friendly fashion, suitable to a suburban cottage. The house is equally unassuming in its subtle detail. Note how the wall shingles gently swell above each of the multi-paned Queen Anne windows and how the insert attic windows offset the sheerness of the third floor gables.
Owners from atlases:
21 Harley Street
1884 no house on lot
1889 Nellie S. Nickerson
1894 Nellie S. Nickerson
1898 Nellie S. Nickerson
1904 Nellie S. Nickerson
1910 Nellie S. Nickerson
1918 Alice M. Stiff
1933 Mary V. Beede
Deed
April 14, 1887 from George D Welles to Nellis Sophia Nickerson, wife of Augustus Nickerson, 1767.177
Parcel of land
Census 1900
at 60 Alban Street
Augustus Nickerson, 39, auditor
Nellie Nickerson, 40
Mary P. Nickerson, 12
Howard T. Nickerson, 9
Eva M. Downs, 39, boarder, school techer
Christina Macmurray, 35, servant or maybe Macrucry
Census 1910
at 21 Harley Street
Augustus Nickerson, 49, public accountant
Nellie S. Nickerson, 49
Mary P. Nickerson, 22
Howard T. Nickerson, 19
Mary P. Chisolm, 29, servant
Boston Directory
1884, 1885, 1886 Augustus Nickerson, clerk, 114 State, h. Alban, Dor.
1887 Augustus Nickerson, treas. Boston & Savannah S. S. Co. Savannah pier, h. Alban, Dor
1888, 1889, 1890 Augustus Nickerson, (Nickerson & Glidden), 48 South, h. Alban
1891, 1892 Augustus Nickerson, (Nickerson & Glidden), 48 South, h. 60 Alban
1893 Augustus Nickerson, (Nickerson & Glidden), 48 South, h. Harley
1894, 1895 Augustus Nickerson (Nickerson & Glidden), 2 High., h. Harley
1896 Augustus Nickerson, accountant, 4 P. O. sq. rm. 14
and Augustus Nickerson, h. 60 Alban
1897, 1898 Augustus Nickerson, accontant, 4 P. O. sq. rm. 14,, h. 60 Algan
1899, 1900 Augustus Nickerson, accountant, 31 State, rm 606, h. 60 Alban
Dorchester Blue Books
1896 at 60 Alban Street Mr. & Mrs. Augustus Nickerson
no entry for 21 Harley Street
1898 at 21 Harley Street Mr. & Mrs. H. C. Mildram
at 60 Alban Street Mr. & Mrs. Augustus Nickerson
1900 at 21 Harley Street Mr. & Mrs. Owen Keenan and the Misses Keenan
at 60 Alban Street Mr. & Mrs. Augustus Nickerson
1902 at 21 Harley Street Mr. & Mrs. Emery B. Sweetser
at 60 Alban Street Mr. & Mrs. Augustus Nickerson
1904 at 21 Harley Street Mr. & Mrs. Elmer F. Hooper
at 60 Alban Street Mr. & Mrs. Augustus Nickerson
1906 at 21 Harley Street Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Came
at 60 Alban Street Mr. & Mrs. Augustus Nickerson
1908 at 21 Harley Street Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Camd
at 60 Alban Street Mr. & Mrs. Augustus Nickerson
1910 at 21 Harley Street at Mr. & Mrs. Augustus Nickerson
at 60 Alban Street Mr. & Mrs. Jeremiah Burke
1913 at 21 Harley Street Mr. & Mrs. H. T. Stiff
at 60 Alban Street Mr. & Mrs. Jeremiah Burke
1915 at 21 Harley Street Mr. & Mrs. H. T. Stiff
at 60 Alban Street Mr. & Mrs. Jeremiah Burke
The following is from: Bacon, Edward Monroe. The Book of Boston: Fifty Years’ Recollections of the New England Metropolis. (Boston, 1916).
Augustus Nickerson, C. P. A.
Augustus Nickerson, Certified Public Accountant, who has a large clientele among commercial concerns, was born in Boston, July 30, 180 He graduated from English High School in 1877, and after a post-graduate course he entered the employ Thomas Dana & Co, wholesale grocers, subsequently becoming associated with F. Nickerson & Co., sailing an steamship owners and general merchants, and treasurer of the Boston & Savannah Steamship Co., until 1886. Mr. Nickerson began practice as a public accountant in 1893. He is member of the Certified Public Accountants of Massachusetts and the American Society of Public Accountants, and has for two years served on the Examining Board for Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Nickerson is descended from William Nickerson, who located in Chatham in 1630, and elder Brewster, who came over in the “Mayflower.” He holds membership in the Society Mayflower Descendants. His offices are at 60 Congress Street.