To our home’s successors,

We’ve spent countless hours trying to research what we could on the history of this house. To save you from the work, here’s a download of what we’ve discovered so far. 

We were previously told the house was built in 1870- this was incorrect. After drafting this letter and reconfirming a few details- we’ve realized some of the history is juicier than we knew and we will break this down by each owner…

Kimball

The house was built sometime around 1854 by Alpheus P. Kimball(1819-1899) married to Susan P. Kimball (1828-1918). Alpheus P Kimball was a deputy sheriff whose father (Alpheus Kimball Sr.) was a prominent scythe maker in town. From what we can find so far- the land may have been purchased from George Davis on August 30, 1853 for $1000. (book 512, 394) This is difficult to confirm as there are no street names listed in the bounds, but context of the neighbor owner bounds suggest this is the correct transaction.

We know the house was completed sometime prior to May 26, 1854 from a Diary entry by Isaac Edson Woodward.

The 1860 Census actually lists Alpheus and Susan P Kimball residing at the Jail. This is still a curiosity for me. 

The Jail was newly opened in 1860 as a brand new establishment and a product of the Great Penal Reform Movement. 

The 1860 Census instructions state to list houses as uninhabitable. Unfortunately, streets and house numbers were not actually recorded on this census and it may be impossible to locate the correct address and who resided in the house during this time. We will continue to try and understand and uncover the history of this first decade. 

Alpheus (senior) started a scythe factory with John T. Farwell in 1830. John left the firm two years later and Kimball carried on in a new partnership in 1832 with Abel Simonds under J.T. Farwell & Co. This partnership dissolved and Abel continued the company, passing it onto his sons under Simonds Brothers and Company in 1864. One of these Sons, George F. Simonds(1842-1894), bought the house from Alpheus Kimball in 1869 for $8000 . (Worcester Registry book 791,234) 

Simonds

George Simonds(1842-1894) lived in the house with his wife, Mary (Dyke Hatch)(1840-?) and their children, Florence and Walter. The couple also had a stillborn child (Helen) in 1879.

1870 Census- additional inhabitants
Mary Meehan (15) – servant

1880 census-
Mary Meehan (25) – servant

1890 census-
only records we’ve found so far was George Simonds veterans census. As is widely the case in the US, the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire in the commerce building in 1921.

In 1894, George Simonds sold the house to Henry F. McGrath for $12k. The full sale of the house was completed in 1897. We assume this was with the death of Mary Simonds.

Part II we’ll share the turn of the century and modern discoveries.

Special thank you to my sister Whitney and my dad for their research contributions and loaning me access to their ancestry.com and newspapers.com memberships leading us down the rabbit hole. Another shout out to Fitchburg Historical Society (and their Facebook group) without which we would have never known our house was built prior to 1870.