The New England magazine . i- REDISCOVERING AN OLD HOUSE 187 vate house needed much putting up andtearing down of partitions, and the oldhouse must have been quite overhauledwhen, in 1790, Joel Spalding, the first, tookpossession and started it on a new lease oflife. In 1819 Capt. Jonathan Spalding, ason of Joel Spalding, brought a bride to thehome, which was destined soon to becomea part of the city already striving for recog-nition. In 1826 this section of Chelmsfordwas set off as a part of Lowell, and gradu-ally the quiet surroundings changed as the many years. A distinguished Free Mason,fo
The New England magazine . i- REDISCOVERING AN OLD HOUSE 187 vate house needed much putting up andtearing down of partitions, and the oldhouse must have been quite overhauledwhen, in 1790, Joel Spalding, the first, tookpossession and started it on a new lease oflife. In 1819 Capt. Jonathan Spalding, ason of Joel Spalding, brought a bride to thehome, which was destined soon to becomea part of the city already striving for recog-nition. In 1826 this section of Chelmsfordwas set off as a part of Lowell, and gradu-ally the quiet surroundings changed as the many years. A distinguished Free Mason,for a long time a practising physician inLowell, his death touched most deeply alarge circle of friends and patients. Leftalone, the sister drew more closely into theseclusion of her home, the house seeming toguard all the more jealously the lonelinessand grief of this the last survivor of thefamily. On her way home from Jamaica,she died suddenly and left the house atlast to face a dubious future, if not entiredissolution. I. ill! The Spalding Memorial Room busy life of the city crept nearer. As theyears went on, this family circle grew smallerand more reserved, and like many an oldNew England homestead, as the familygrew less and less so the old house grewmore and more aloof from the world, until,with closed blinds and chilling exterior, itconcealed all traces of life within, just asthe high board fence concealed the wealthof beauty and fragrance in its roses, lilies-of-the-valley, and other flowers which grewso luxuriantly in the garden. Dr. Joel Spald-ing, son of Captain Jonathan, and grandsonof Joel, the first, lived here with his sister But helping hands came to the rescue,and the house, after more than one hun-dred years since Joel Spaldings purchasein 1790, now starts out in a new role. Itstands to-day as a memento of the Wamesitgrant; as a link between the present and theold tavern days, its fireplaces, buried somany years under laths and plaster, oncemore sending out the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidnewenglandma, bookyear1887
