NAWSA SUBJECT FILE Stone, Ellen A. College of Lib Art page 206 1949 - 1950 The Ellen A Stone Scholarship Fund A fund in excess of 25000 from the estate of Ellen A Stone, the income of which is to be used to provide scholarship for women in the College of Liberal Art [*THE ALICE STONE BLACKWELL FUND COMMITTEE 21 Ashmont Street, Melrose 76, Massachusetts 15 Trustees Mrs. ADA COMSTOCK NOTESTEIN Mrs. MAUD WOOD PARK Mrs. EDNA LAMPREY STANTIAL*] Miss Child's list, page 4. Copy of list in Miss Child's handwriting, written after inventory was made on Feb. 8th Mrs. D'Entremont - Those of my clothes, shoes, etc. she may choose. The water color paInting by S.L. Gerry, of one of the Franconia Lakes. Virginia Lyke: Green crackle Chinese Boudoir Lamp and shade. 50 Francis St. Laura Pearl - English color print - two young women walking on a breezy day by an Irish Lake. Send suitcase and dressing case to Ruth C. Coburn 322 S. Willard St. Burlington, Vt. Italian Pottery Boudoir Lamp - Mrs. Stantial "Mr. John S. McKenney, 75 Federal St. The following articles are to be given in the codicil of my will. Notes for codicil 1. $100 bequests American Indian Fund To Mrs. Geo. Finck: Whatever furniture I brought over from 226B Washington St. If she can make use of it. 2 wooden chairs - oaken 1 Chiffonier - oaken, brass handles ---- 1 old fashion - 1840 spool style For (Chair with upholstered back and seat Mrs, (Music cabinet Stantial (Radio and records 21 Ashmont St. Melrose 1 tip table (painted top, 110 yrs. old. - given in March to Mrs. Keyes in Winchester 2 boudoir lamps - (designated elsewhere) Mrs. Stantial - 1 large gray blanket August 6, 1945 My dear President Marsh: Mrs. Ellen A. Stone was not related to me, but I was responsible for her money being used to found a scholarship for women in B.U.C.L.A. Mrs. Stone wanted to leave her money to help get woman suffrage; but the courts had declared that woman suffrage was not "a legal charity." So she had her will drawn very carefully, to avoid that difficulty. The will did not mention woman suffrage. It provided that the money might be used to help get juster laws for women, or to promote higher education for women in Massachusetts, or for some other good objects. She appointed a large board of trustees, which included many prominent men and women. It also included three inconspicuous young women, of whom I was one. The money was not to become available until Mrs. Stone's daughter died. The daughter lived to an advanced age. When she passed away, I was the sole survivor of the original board of trustees. I had long regretted that all the large scholarships at B.U.C.L.A. are for men only. I thought Mrs. Stone would have liked to have her money used to found a scholarship for women. Under the terms of the will, I was able to secure the appointment as trustees, of Mrs. De Normandie and Judge Barron, who approved of the plan about a scholarship. It took some little time to wind up the settlement of the estate, but all is now done, and B.U. has the money. I was only sorry the amount is not larger. I remain very cordially yours, Alice Stone Blackwell. BOSTON UNIVERSITY 688 BOYLSTON STREET BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT August 1, 1945 Miss Alice Stone Blackwell 1010 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, Massachusetts My dear Miss Blackwell: Boston University has received net proceeds in the amount of $28,619.81 from the Ellen A. Stone Estate. This is to be set up as a permanent fund, the income to be used for scholarships in the College of Liberal Arts. Knowing that you have had a part in this, I am writing this note to thank you, and to express the hope that you will convey our thanks to the other Trustees of the Estate, for this splendid assistance. The Fund will be sacredly guarded, and the income through all the future will be used as designated. This means that many women students down through the years will have reason to remember with gratitude the name of Ellen A. Stone. With kind regards, I am Sincerely yours, Daniel L. Marsh, President CARTER & BLOOD __________________ ALBERT P. CARTER CHARLES W. BLOOD TELEPHONE LAFAYETTE 5300 BARRISTERS HALL 25 PEMBERTON SQUARE BOSTON July 5, 1945. Estate of Ellen A. Stone To Carter & Blood, Dr. ------ To professional services in connection with Trust under Item Seventh of the will of Ellen A. Stone, including appointment of Trustees in 1934, collection of assets from New England Trust Company, sale of real estate located at 669 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, without intervention of a broker, correspondence with Treasurer of Boston University, Petition for instructions in the Probate court for distribution of the fund, numerous conferences with officers of the New England Trust Company, drawing two Probate Accounts, and attending to their allowance $750.00 - Disbursements - To cash-entry fees 9.00 " " - Certified copies, sundries 4.00 " " - U.S. Revenue Stamps on sale of real estate 6.05 " " - Recording deed from New England Trust CO. 2.60 " " - Filing Trustees' Accounts 6.00 ------- $777.65 Credit - disbursements paid 27.65 ------- $750.00 Received payment B:C Carter & Blood 7/26/45 Thank you. CARTER & BLOOD __________________ ALBERT P. CARTER CHARLES W. BLOOD TELEPHONE LAFAYETTE 5300 BARRISTERS HALL 25 PEMBERTON SQUARE BOSTON March 15, 1944 Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dear Miss Blackwell: I have yours of the thirteenth with reference to the Ellen A. Stone will. I took the matter up for you in 1938 and at that time you were the sole survivor of the original trustees. The provisions of the will were that if the number of the trustees ever dropped to three, the remaining trustees could nominate additional trustees to bring the number up to five. You nominated Maud Wood Park, Jennie Loitman Barron, Alice W. deNormandie, and John T. Blackwell. Mrs. Park later declined to serve which left the other three as co-trustees with you. The last account filed by the New England Trust Company, as trustee, during Miss Stone's lifetime, showed a balance of over $27,000, deposited in savings banks. Under the will, $2,000 now goes to the Town of Lexington for certain purposes and the balance come to you and your co-trustees under the original trusts in the will. The trust is for the purpose of improving the condition of women generally. I will get a copy of the will and I am also writing the New England Trust Company. Very truly yours, Charles W. Blood B:C CARTER & BLOOD ALBERT P CARTER CHARLES W BLOOD TELEPHONE LAFAYETTE 5300 BARRISTERS HALL 25 PEMBERTON SQUARE BOSTON June 10, 1944. Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dear Miss Blackwell: In addition to the invested funds in the Estate of Ellan A. Stone, I find there is a house in East Lexington where Miss Stone lived. It is an old house, perhaps two hundred years old, situated on 669 Massachusetts Avenue. I understand it is in a good state of preservation. On the other hand, It has no modern conveniences whatsoever. It has no bath room, no plumbing, no gas or electricity. The City water comes in to a faucet in the cellar, which is the only water supply in the house. It has no central heating plant, the only heat being a kitchen range and a stove in the front room. As it is located in about the center of a 75,000 foot lot, it would not be possible to sell the house and leave another lot for sale. The house has eight rooms, which is too large for the neighborhood. It would be unlikely that anyone who would be interested in buying an old house and spending the necessary money to fix it up as a modern residence, would care to buy a house in that part of the Town. On the other hand, at the present time there is a considerable shortage of living space in that district and we might find someone who might take it at the present time, in spite of its lack of conveniences. I have had a number of inquiries but have not quoted any price. The real estate officer Miss Alice Stone Blackwell -2- of the New England Trust Company, which has been the Trustee during Miss Stone's lifetime, suggested that it might be worth five to six thousand dollars. Mr. Sidney Wrightington, who is the Town Counsel of Lexington and is thoroughly familiar with the Town, thinks that if I could get five thousand dollars, I would be doing very well and also thinks that it would be worth more now than it would be later. My own feeling is that we should sell it,if possible, as soon as possible. An unoccupied building runs down very fast and often suffers considerable damage at the hands of hoodlums. Furthermore, there is the expense of carrying it. I think it is generally considered that real estate which produces no income eats itself up at the rate of ten per cent a year. I am sending copies of this letter to Mrs. DeNormandie and Mrs. Barron, since any action to be taken must be by agreement of you three trustees. Very truly yours, Charles W. Blood B:C CARTER & BLOOD ALBERT P CARTER CHARLES W. BLOOD TELEPHONE LAFAYETTE 5300 BARRISTERS HALL 25 PEMBERTON SQUARE BOSTON September 20, 1934. Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, Chilmark, Massachusetts. Dear Miss Blackwell: We have looked up the account in the Estate of Ellen A. Stone. Miss Stone is apparently still alive and the account shows securities amounting to about $27,000.00 mostly in Savings Banks. Very truly yours, Charles W. Blood B:C C. W. Blood 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Mass. March 26, 1938. Dear Mrs. Park: The enclosed explains itself. I did not know that Mr. Blood was going to put in the name of John Blackwell as your agent. You can just as well appoint some one else if you would rather. I am always most affectionately and gratefully yours, Alice Stone Blackwell. 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Mass. March 26, 1938 To Mrs. Maud Wood Park, Mrs. Robert L. DeNormandie, Judge Jennie Loitman Barron, John T. Blackwell. Mr. Charles Winthrop Blood writes me as follows: Dear Miss Blackwell: You will be glad to know that the Court today allowed the Petition for Appointment of Trust-ees under the will of Ellen A. Stone. The property in the trust amounted, according to last accounts, to about $25, 000. In view of the fact that for the present you and your co-trustees will have nothing to do with the money, the Court said that at this time bonds of $1, 000 would be suf-ficient. Under the terms of the will you are exempt from giving any surety on your bond and I have drawn it accordingly. The other trustees must give bonds with sureties, but the Court will not require a surety company bond or be particularly fussy about the sureties, but there must be two sureties on each bond. I have drawn the bonds accordingly, leaving blank the names of the sureties. If you know two individuals that will go on all of the bonds, that would be the simplest thing, as it would save the trustees the bother of each hunting up two sureties. Please let me know how you want this handled. Mrs. Park, as a resident of Maine, will have to appoint someone in Massachusetts as her agent for the purpose of accepting service on any suits that may be brought against the accepting service on any suits that may be brought against the trustees. This does not give the agent any other powers and is a formality required in all cases where a non-resident is appointed in a fiduciary capacity by the Probate Court. I am, therefore, enclosing the Bond to be signed by you and the Appointment of Agent to be signed by Mrs. Park. All the Bonds must be filed inside of thirty days, Very truly yours, Charles W. Blood Miss Blackwell adds: Dear Co-trustees: Can any of you think of two persons who might probably be willing to become bondsmen for all four of you? There would not be the slightest risk in it. I am yours always gratefully, Alice Stone Blackwell Carter & Blood Albert P. Carter Charles W. Blood Telephone Lafayette 5300 Barristers Hall 25 Pemberton Square Boston April 1, 1938 Mrs. Maud Wood Park, The Eastland, Portland, Maine. Estate Ellen A. Stone Dear Mrs. Park: Miss Blackwell tells me that you would prefer to have Mrs. Barron appointed as your agent instead of John Blackwell. I enclose a new appointment so drawn. It really makes no difference who is named, as the agent has no power whatsoever. Very truly yours, Charles W. Blood B:C Enclosure. Carter & Blood Albert P. Carter Charles W. Blood Telephone Lafayette 5300 Barristers Hall 25 Pemberton Square Boston April 21, 1938 Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Mass. Dear Miss Blackwell: What luck are you having with the probate bonds in the Ellen A Stone Estate? If we do not file them pretty soon, we are likely to lose the appointments. Very truly yours, Charles W. Blood B:C C. W. Blood Carter & Blood Albert P. Carter Charles W. Blood Telephone Lafayette 5300 Barristers Hall 25 Pemberton Square Boston March 8, 1944 Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dear Miss Blackwell: I saw in the paper yesterday a notice of the death of Miss Ellen A. Stone of Lexington. You will remember that some years ago I had you and some others appointed trustees under the will of an Ellen A. Stone, whose estate was subject to a life interest in her daughter, whose name was also Ellen A. Stone. I wonder if the lady who recently died is the daughter. In that case, I suppose the trust becomes operative and we should do something about it at once. Very truly yours, Charles W. Blood B:C Carter & Blood Albert P. Carter Charles W. Blood Telephone Lafayette 5300 Barristers Hall 25 Pemberton Square Boston March 24, 1938 Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Mass. Dear Miss Blackwell: You will be glad to know that the Court today allowed the Petition for Appointment of Trustees under the will of Ellen A. Stone. The property in the trust amounted, according to last accounts, to about $25,000. In view of the fact that for the present you and your co-trustees will have nothing to do with the money, the Court said that at this time bonds of $1,000 would be sufficient. Under the terms of the will you are exempt from giving any surety on your bond and I have drawn it accordingly. The other trustees must give bonds with sureties, but the court will not require a surety company bond or be particularly fussy about the sureties, but there must be two sureties on each bond. I have drawn the bonds accordingly, leaving blank the names of the sureties. If you know two individuals that will go on all of the bonds, that would be the simplest thing, as it would save the trustees the bother of each hunting up two sureties. Please let me know how you want this handled. Mrs. Park, as a resident of Maine, will have to appoint someone in Massachusetts as her agent for the purpose of accepting service on any suits that may be brought against the trustees. This does not give the agent any other powers and is a formality required in all cases where a non-resident is appointed in a fiduciary capacity by the Probate Count. I am, therefore, enclosing the Bond to be signed by you and the Appointment of Agent to be signed by Mrs. Park. All the bonds must be filed inside of thirty days. Very truly yours, Charles W. Blood B:C Enclosures. P.S. Please note that your bond must be signed on front and back where I have placed your initials. CARTER & BLOOD ALBERT P. CARTER CHARLES W. BLOOD TELEPHONE LAFAYETTE 5300 BARRISTERS HALL 25 PEMBERTON SQUARE BOSTON February 8, 1938. Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Mass. Dear Miss Blackwell: I have yours of the eighth and am returning the tax return on which I have taken your oath. I assume that you are going to follow up the Ellen Stone matter and get someone in place of Mr. Garrison. Very truly yours, Charles W. Blood B:C Enclosure. 1010 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass., Jan. 28, 1938 Dear Mrs. Maude Wood Park, Mrs. J. Malcolm Forbes, Mr. William Lloyd Garrison and Judge Jennie Loitman Barron; - Many years ago Mrs. Ellen A. Stone left her estate in trust to her daughter for her life. At her death it was to go to a large Board of trustees made up of active and distinguished suffragists. A few younger women, such as Eva Channing and I were included. Mrs. Stone's wish was to have the money used for woman suffrage; but, as the Courts had decided that woman suffrage was not a legal charity, the will had been very carefully drawn so as to be legal. It mentioned several good objects for which the money might be applied including the correction of laws unjust to women, and "the superior education of women". Probably Mrs. Stone also had it in mind that the trust might not come into effect until after woman suffrage had been granted. Her daughter, Miss Ellen A. Stone, was entirely in sympathy with her mother's wishes and was very friendly to me. The will provided that when the trustees were reduced to three in number they might appoint additional trustees. When Eva Channing and I were the only survivors, we tried to have this done; but the Court held, very properly, that we were not yet trustees and should not be so while the daughter lived, and so of course we could not appoint any others. Lately Miss Ellen A. Stone's health has become such that it is necessary to appoint a conservator over her and the estate, and she has resigned as trustee. I am now the sole survivor of the trustees originally named. I plan to petition the Probate Judge of Middlesex County to appoint me and you four to be trustees of the estate after the daughter's death. If this request is granted it would give me the advantage of now naming the other trustees. Otherwise, if I do not survive the daughter I understand that the District Attorney would appoint trustees; and they might be persons who would not really -2- be in sympathy with the objects desired by Mrs. Stone. I forgot to say that in view of Miss Stone's condition it was proposed to appoint the New England Trust Co. or some other bank as trustee of the estate. A notice of this was sent to me as one of the persons named in the will. My lawyer, Mr. Charles Winthrop Blood, writes me: I have taken up with the Count the matter of the appointment of yourself and others whom you might name as Trustees under the Seventh Item of the above will. Although it is unusual to grant such a Petition before the Trust comes into effect, the circumstances are so peculiar that the Court is inclined to grant this Petition. Will you, therefore, please secure the consent of the four persons whom you have named to serve as Trustees. I assume that they will have to give bonds with sureties, although you are personally exempt under the terms of the will. I think very likely that the Court would approve a comparatively small bond for the present but I did not want to complicate the situation by discussing that at the present time. As soon as you secure the consent of the Trustees, I will complete the Petition and send it to you for your signature. Please let me know whether you would be willing to serve. I hope you will. As I recall it the estate amounts to $25,000 or $30,000, of which we, or you, would become trustees upon the daughter's death. I remain, Very sincerely yours, Alice Stone Blackwell The Eastland The Congress Square Portland, Me. Jan. 29, 1938 Dear Miss Blackwell, Ever since the note about your eyes came, I have been wanting to write to you: but somehow I couldn't find words to tell you how sorry I am and how much I admire your courage in the face of a difficult situation. In reply to your second note, (the circular letter of January 28th) let me say that I shall be willing to sure as a trustee of the Ellen A. Stone Estate if I am appointed To-morrow I will send you two more photographs of the cast in the first production of "Lucy Stone". But please don't think that you will need to write me about them unless they fail to reach you. I don't want to put the slightest strain upon your eyes and y'r no doubt Mrs. Boyer's will be taxed enough when she has decipher the abominable handwriting of mine. Gratefully and affectionately yours, Maud Wood Park [*Maud Wood Park*] CARTER & BLOOD ALBERT P. CARTER CHARLES W. BLOOD TELEPHONE LAFAYETTE 5300 BARRISTERS HALL 25 PEMBERTON SQUARE BOSTON January 26, 1938. Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, 1010 Massachusetts Cambridge, Mass. Estate of Ellen A. Stone Dear Miss Blackwell: I have taken up with the Court the matter of the appointment of yourself and others whom you might name as Trustees under the Seventh Item of the above will. Although it is unusual to grant such a Petition before the Trust comes into effect, the circum-stances are so peculiar that the Court is inclined to grant this petition. Will you, therefore, please secure the consent of the four persons whom you have named to serve as Trustees. I assume that they will have to give bonds with sureties, although you are personally exempt under the terms of the will. I think very likely that the Court would approve a comparatively small bond for the present but I did not want to complicate the situa-tion by discussing that at the present time. Will you also let me know Mrs. Forbes' own name. You gave it as Mrs. J. Malcolm Forbes. As soon as you secure the consent of the Trustees, I will complete the Petition and send it to you for your signature. Very truly yours, Charles W. Blood B:C CARTER & BLOOD ALBERT P. CARTER CHARLES W. BLOOD TELEPHONE LAFAYETTE 5300 BARRISTERS HALL 25 PEMBERTON SQUARE BOSTON January 15, 1938. Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Estate of Ellan A. Stone Dear Miss Blackwell: I find that Miss Ellen A. Stone is still living but her health has become such that it has been necessary to have a conservator appointed over her property. She has also re-signed as Trustee under the sixth item of the will which, you will remember, set up a trust for her life and it is to this that the New England Trust Company has filed a Petition for its appointment. The legacy to you and others as Trustees does not come into effect until after the death of Miss Stone. I see no reason, therefore, why we should oppose this Petition of the New England Trust Company. The fact that you are the sole survivor of the Trustees named in item seven does present a problem in view of the fact that under item ten there is a provision that if the number of Trustees is ever reduced to three the survivors may add to that number by petitioning the Probate Court to appoint new Trustees of their own nomination. You have never been appointed Trustee because so long as Miss Stone lived there was no property for you to handle. Under the circum-stances, however, it seems to me that it is worth considering whether you should not file a Petition asking that you and four other persons, whom you would name, should be appointed Trustee under item seven. I realise that the Court may not grant such a Petition. A.S.B. -2- January 15, 1938. If something of this sort is not done and you should die before Miss Stone, the Attorney General's Office would doubtless intervene to see that other Trustees were appointed or that the money should be disposed of in some way in accordance with the spirit of [Miss]Mrs. Stone's will. Very truly yours, Charles W. Blood B:C C. W. Blood Miss Fiske " Henry " Forbes J.L. Barron W.L. Garrison Emma Fall Schofield COPY The last will and testament of Ellen A. Stone of Lexington in Middlesex County and Commonwealth of Massachusetts widow, hereby revoking all wills by me heretofore made 1st I direct all my just debts and funeral expenses to be paid. 2nd I further direct my executor if I do not do it myself - or my daughter to expend a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars for a granite monument in the burial lot having on it the names of Abner Stone his wife and children with dates of birth etc. 3rd I give to the Town of Lexington if I do not do it in my lifetime, an half acre of land in East Lexington to be used as a site for a public reading room and library purposes, the land to be selected by my daughter, or in case of her death without making the selection the selection to be made by the Trustees named in the 6th article. 4th I give and bequeath to John R. Richards of St. Louis Missouri one thousand dollars, to my sister Abrigail R.Lothrop (sic) one hundred dollars, to my sister Julia A.Barrett, four hundred dollars, also to my two nephews S. Fuller Lothrop, and George L. Lothrop and to Medora Robbins Crosby, John Barrett and Sarah Holbrook Lothrop one hundred dollars each and to Caira Langdon Nicholas two hundred dollars for her separate use, and to Andrew C. Davison, one hundred dollars and to Wm. F. Chase one hundred dollars, Eli M. Robbins ten dollars. 5th I give and bequeath to my daughter Ellen A. Stone Junior all the residue and remainder of my personal property of every description to her sole use and disposal forever. 6th I give and bequeath all the Real Estate I may leave to my daughter Ellen A. Stone Junior and George A. Dary of Boston to hold to them and the heirs and assigns of the survivor of them forever -but upon trust that they shall take care of the property including a reasonable charge for their services shall paythe net income as it accrues to said Ellen A. Stone Junior, during her natural life, and on the death of said Ellen A. Stone Junior shall pay and convey the whole of the trust funds remaining in the hands of the surviving trustee or acting trustees to such child or children of said Ellen A. Stone Junior, and the issue of any deceased child, or children taking their parents share by representation and if said Ellen A. Stone Junior die leaving no issue surviving her then I direct the surviving trustee or trustees to pay and convey the said trust funds however invested in the following manner. 7th After all the before named payments and charges are paid, to pay ten thousand dollars to Lucy Stone, Ednah D.Cheney, Wm. I. Bowditch, Eva Channing, Henry B.Blackwell, Alice Stone Blackwell, all of Boston, Thomas Wentworth Higginson of Cambridge, Samuel E Sewall of Melrose and Mrs. Harriet M. Pitman of Somerville, to hold to the above named Lucy Stone and others above named after her the survivor and survivors of them, his or her executors, administrators and assigns bur in trust to use the said sum at their discretion for improving the condition of women in the United States and especially in Massachusetts, both by promoting superior education and changes of laws so as to remove the unjust inequalities of their sex, and for this Copy - page 2. Ellen A. Stone purpose they may keep any part of said sum invested as a fund using the income for the said purposes, but with full power at all times to use the principal as well as the income for such purposes. 8th And I further direct my trustees or acting trustee[s] under the 6th article of this will to pay to the Town of Lexington the sum of Two thousand dollars to be safely invested by the Treasurer of the Town in the bonds or debts of the United States or any of the New England States or any city of Town of Massachusetts bearing interest and to pay the interest as it accrues to the School Committee who are to employ it in aiding needy and deserving young women of Lexington in getting a good school education. 9th If any of the trust funds given under said forgoing articles remain after these payments, I direct them to be paid and conveyed to the Trustees to whom ten thousand dollars are given. 10th And I further direct that whenever the survivor of Lucy Stone and her associate trustees shall find their number reduced to three they may add to their number by petitioning the Judge of Probate to appoint new trustees of their own nomination to make five in all. 11th And I hereby authorize and empower the said Trustees or trustee for the time being named in the 6th Article from time to time at their discretion to sell and convey in fee simple free from all trusts herein declared any parcel or parcels or the whole of the real estate held at any time in trust under this will the purchaser not being held to see to the application of the purchase money, and to invest on the trust declared in said sixth article all sums received from such sales and other trust funds which may come into the hands of such trustees from time to time. 12th Lastly I appoint Samuel E. Sewell of Melrose executor of this my last will and direct that he be not required to give any surety on his bond to the judge of Probate and in case of his death or not acting, I appoint George A.Dary executor instead and direct that he be not required to give any surety to his bond to the Judge of Probate. I also direct that the trustees before named be not required to give any sureties on their bonds to the Judge of Probate. In Witness Whereof I the said Ellen A. Stone have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty sixth day of July in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-eight Signed sealed published anddeclared by the said ELLEN A. STONE (Seal) Ellen A. Stone as and for her last will and testament in the presence of us who in her presence and the presence of each other at her request have hereunto set our names as witnesses Eight words interlined on third page before signing. Edward A.W. Hammett - Belmont Herman Gregg, Waltham Frederick H. White, Melrose. (192) [G. L., c. 195, ? 8; c. 201, ? 49; c. 203, ? 15.] COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. Middlesex, ss. PROBATE COURT. KNOW ALL MEN, That I, Maud Wood Park of Portland in the State of Maine appointed by said Court trustee, of the will of Ellen A. Stone late of Lexington in said County of Middlesex, deceased, under and in compliance with the provisions of the General Laws of said Commonwealth, do hereby appoint John T. Blackwell of Cambridge in the County of Middlesex, and Commonwealth aforesaid, as my agent, and I do hereby stipulate and agree that the service of any legal process against me as such trustee, or against me in my individual capacity in any action founded upon or arising out of my acts or omissions as such trustee, if made on said agent, shall be of the same legal effect as if made on me personally within said Commonwealth. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty-fourth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and thirty-eight. Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of ______________________________ MWP I hereby accept the above appointment. _______________________________ J.T.B. (Address) 4 Riedesel Avenue, Cambridge. No. 28949 Ellen A. Stone APPOINTMENT OF AGENT Filed 193 (46) [G. L., c. 205, § 1.] KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, That we, Maud Wood Park of Portland in the County of Cumberland and State of Maine as principal, and of in the County of and of in the County of as sureties, and all within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, are holden and stand firmly bound and obliged unto JOHN C. LEGGAT, Esquire, First Judge of the Probate Court in and for the County of Middlesex, in the full and just sum of one thousand (1000) dollars, to be paid to said Judge and his successors in said office; to the true payment whereof we bind ourselves and each of us, our and each of our heirs, executors and administrators, jointly and severally by these presents. Sealed with our seals, and dated the twenty-fourth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and thirty-eight. The condition of this obligation is such, that if the above-bounden Maud Wood Park trustee of certain estate given in trust for the benefit of certain charitable purposes under the will of Ellen A. Stone late of Lexington in said County of Middlesex, deceased, testate, shall:- First, make and return to said Probate Court, at such time as it may order, a true inventory of all the real and personal estate belonging to her as such trustee, which at the time of the making of such inventory shall have come to her possession or knowledge; Second, manage and dispose of all such estate, and faithfully discharge her trust in relation thereto, according to law and to the will of said testatrix; Third, render upon oath, at least once a year, until her trust is fulfilled, unless she is excused therefrom in any year by said Court, a true account of the property in her hands, and of the management and disposition thereof, and also render such account at such other times as said Court may order; Fourth, at the expiration of her trust, settle her account in said Court, and pay over and deliver all the estate remaining in her hands, or due from her on such settlement, to the person or persons entitled thereto; Then this obligation to be void, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue. Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of Middlesex, ss. I93 . Examined and approved. Judge of Probate Court. (Fill out the certificate on the other side.) 1000—2-37 No.28949 Ellen A. Stone Trustee's Bond. With Sureties. For Benefit of [blank] Approved [blank] 193[blank]. Rec. Book [blank] Page [blank] I, Maud Wood Park the within-named trustee, declare that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the within-named estate does not exceed in value the following-mentioned sums, viz.: Real Estate, $ None Personal Estate, $ [SIGN] _____________________________ [*MWP*] The sureties on the within bond are, in my opinion, sufficient. _____________________________________ Attorney at Law. Excerpt from the remarks of Mrs. Everett O. Fisk, May 11, 1950 when the portrait of Alice Stone Blackwell was presented to the Boston University Women's Council and hung in the Louisa Holman Fisk House. . . . . . . . . ."Recently Miss Blackwell presented a fund of $28,000 to our beloved Boston University, for scholarships for women in the College of Liberal Arts, not in her own name or that of her family, but in honor of Mrs. Ellen A. Stone who had bequeathed the original residue of her estate - approximately $15,000, to Lucy Stone, and other trustees 'to be used at their discretion for improving the condition of women in the United States and especially in Massachusetts, both by promoting superior education and changes of laws so as to remove the unjust inequalities of their sex,' and etc. After the death of Miss Stone, the daughter, in the late 1940's, the balance of the trust fund was turned over to Miss Blackwell as the remaining trustee. Judge Barron, one of our famous young graduates was one of the new trustees appointed to serve with Miss Blackwell, and upon her good advice, we are the beneficiaries of this fund for scholarships." Copy. Memorandum to Mr. E. Ray Speare, from Mrs. Guy W. Stantial In the new year book just received by Miss Blackwell, I notice on page 206 (1949-1950 edition) the statement concerning the Ellen A. Stone Scholarship Fund, as follows: A Fund in excess of $28,000 from the estate of Ellen A Stone, the income of which is to be used for to provide scholarships for women in the College of Liberal Arts. As I told you yesterday when we met, the original fund was left to Lucy Stone, (mother of Miss Blackwell), and to other trustees, including Miss Blackwell, "to be used at their discretion for improving the condition of women in the United States and especially in Massachusetts, both by promoting superior education and changes of laws so as to remove the unjust inequalities of their sex". The trust fund was paid to Miss Blackwell in recent years, following the death of the daughter Ellen A. Stone. Approval was given to Miss Blackwell to appoint succeeding trustees, and upon the advice of Judge Jennie Loitman Barron, Miss Blackwell proposed that the entire amount be turned over to Boston University College of Liberal Arts for Scholarships. My hope was that some recognition might be expressed by Boston University for the part Miss Blackwell played in this transaction. The terms of the will were lenient, allowing Miss Blackwell "to distribute the income for said purposes, but with full power at all times to use the principal as well" As you can well imagine, many organizations and institutions were anxious to share in the benefits of the fund. (signed) Edna Lamprey Stantial Copy. Memorandum to Mr. E. Ray Speare, from Mrs. guy W. Stantial May 1, (1950) [*year not on original letter*] In the new year book just received by Miss Blackwell, I notice on page 206 (1949-1950 edietion) the statement concerning the Ellen A. Stone Scholarship Fund, as follows: A fund in excess of $28,000 from the estate of Ellen A. Stone, the income of which is to be used [for] to provide scholarships for women in the College of Liberal Arts. As I told you yesterday when we met, the original fund was left to Lucy Stone, (mother of Miss Blackwell), and to other trustees, including Miss Blackwell, "to be used at their discretion for improving the condition of women in the United States and especially in Massachusetts, both by promoting superior education and changes of laws so as to remove the unjust inequalities of their sex". The trust fund was paid to Miss Blackwell in recent years, following the death of the daughter,Ellen A. Stone. Approval was given to Miss Blackwell to appoint succeeding trustees, and upon the advice of Judge Jennie Loitman Barron, Miss Blackwell proposed that the entire amount be turned over to Boston University College of Liberal Arts for Scholarships. My hope was that some recognition might be expressed by Boston University for the part Miss Blackwell played in this transaction. The terms of the will were lenient, allowing Miss Blackwell "to distribute the income for said purposes, but with full power at all times to use the principal as well". . . . . As you can well imagine, many organizations and institutions were anxious to share in the benefits of the fund. (signed) Edna Lamprey Stantial Dear Dr. Marsh: A good many of Alice Blackwell's dear friends were somewhat shocked when they read the listing of the Ellen A. Stone Fellowship in the 1950 Boston University Catalogue. You will remember that I wrote to you soon after I knew Miss Blackwell had authorized the transfer of the residue of the Ellen A. Stone estate to Boston University. I wanted you to be sure to know how the money happened to go to Boston University. We all hope you will have a correction made in the next issue of the [quarterly] Boston University catalogue so that while the name of the fellowship remains as Miss Blackwell wished it, some mention may be included which will show that the gift was actually that of Alice Stone Blackwell. I have a copy of the old will somewhere in the collection of papers and when I get to the bottom of the safe I shall have a copy made and sent to the Treasurer's office. I was at the first meeting when Miss Blackwell decided that she wanted the money to go to Boston University College of Liberal Arts for scholarships for women students, when the passing of Ellen a Stone, Jr. would make possible the payment of the legacy to Miss Blackwell. When Miss Blackwell was first notified of the bequest the sum was supposed to mount to about $15,000 but the long illness of Ellen allowed the fund to build up to the $28,000 plus which Boston University received in the summer of 1945. Nov. 15 - 1890 p. 364 Mrs. Ellen A. Stone, died at East Lexington, Mass. on the 28th ult., age seventy-three years. Mrs. Stone was an abolitionist when it was most unpopular, and, in connection with her family, did much to aid that cause. She believed very earnestly in the equal rights of women. She felt keenly the injustice which taxes women and denies them representation. It was largely through her instrumentality that the Cary Library and a reading-room were established in East Lexington. Mrs. Stone was a warm friend of temperance. She was a shrewd, active, business-woman during her middle life, and even later. She was something of an antiquarian. She carefully garnered in her home much that was very ancient and fraught to the lover of antiquity with untold charms. But her chief interest was for woman. She hailed with joy the signs of the times which pointed to the final emancipation of women, and she regarded the higher education as one of the stepping-stones. Her maiden name was Ellen A. Robbins. She was born in Lexington, Mar. 21, 1817, the daughter of Eli and Hannah (Simonds) Robbins, and was a granddaughter of Joshua Simonds of Revolutionary fame. On Dec. 8, 1853, she married Abner Stone, and was left a widow in 1872, with two daughters, Ellen and Mary, and large estates in land.....In 1884 she lost her beloved youngest daughter Mary. In 1887 her health became delicate, and Oct 28, 1890, she died of pneumonia. ...Woman's cause was so near her heart that she bequeathed all her own private property to it in her will....She felt that new fields were open to women and that the new century, especially, would bring new duties. She was gratified when her daughter, entered Boston University Law School in 1889.... L. S. Extract from the will of Ellen A. Stone. 6th. I give and bequeath all the Real Estate I may leave to my daughter Ellen A. Stone Junior and George A. Dary of Boston, to hold to them and the heirs and assigns of the survivor of them forever - but upon trust that they shall take care of the same, keep the buildings safely insured against fire, pay the taxes, make repairs, collect rents, keeping the income safely invested and after deducting all expense and charge of taking care of the property including a reasonable charge for their services shall pay the net income as it accrues to said Ellen A. Stone Junior, during her natural life, and on the death of said Ellen A. Stone Junior, shall pay and convey the whole of the trust funds remaining in the hands of the surviving trustee or acting trustees to such child or children of said Ellen A. Stone Junior, and the issue of any deceased child or children of hers, who may survive her, her children taking equal shares and the issue of any deceased child or children taking their parents share by representation, and if said Ellen A. Stone Junior, die leaving no issue surviving her, then I direct the surviving trustees to pay and convey the said trust funds however invested in the following manner. 7th. After all the before named payments and charges are paid, to pay ten thousand dollars to Lucy Stone, Ednah D. Cheney, Wm. J. Bowditch, Eva Channing, Henry B. Blackwell, Alice Stone Blackwell, all of Boston, Thomas Wentworth Higginson of Cambridge, Samuel E Sewall of Melrose and Harriet M. Pitman of Somerville, to hold to the above named Lucy Stone and others above named after her, the survivor and survivors of them, his or her executors, administrators and assigns but in trust to use the said sum at their discretion for improving the condition of women in the United States and especially in Massachusetts, both by promoting superior education and changes of laws so as to remove the unjust inequalities of their sex, and for this purpose they may keep any part of said sum invested as a fund, using the income for said purposes, but with full power at all times to use the principal as well as the income for such purposes. 8th. And I further direct my trustees or acting trustees under the 6th article of this will, to pay to the Town of Lexington the sum of Two thousand dollars, to be safely invested by the Treasurer of the Town in the bonds or debts, of the United States, or any of the New England States, or any city or town of Massachusetts, bearing interest, and to pay the interest as it accrues to the school committee, who are to employ it in aiding needy and deserving young women of Lexington, in getting a good school education. 9th. If any of the trust funds given under said foregoing articles remain after these payments, I direct them to be paid and conveyed to the trustees to whom ten thousand dollars are given. 10th. And I further direct that whenever the survivor of Lucy Stone and her associate trustees shall find their number reduced to three, they may add to their number by petitioning the Judge of Probate to appoint new trustees of their own nomination to make five in all. Dear Mrs. Stone, I send you copy of Mrs. Stone's will as far as it relates to the trust referred to in your letter of the 2d inst. The real estate referred to was appraised at $23,167, but would probably not bring that sum if sold. Miss Stone is unmarried. Yours truly Geo. A. Dary Aug. 8, 1882. Geo A Dary Boston with copy of Stone will Rec Aug 9/92 181. ELLEN M. STONE. When Ellen M. Stone, a native of Roxbury and a graduate of the Chelsea High School, resigned her duties as associate editor of the Boston Congregationalist to become a foreign missionary, little did her host of friends think that she was approaching an experience which would cause her name and fame to be known throughout the civilized world. On September 4, 1901, Miss Stone with a party of religious workers while on a journey overland through the Macedonian mountains from Bauske to Salonica, was captured by a desperate band of brigands, who with brutal force and under threat of death, tore her and Mrs. Tsilka a young married Bulgarian woman, away from the rest of the party and carried them into the almost inaccessible crags of the highest mountains. With not the slightest hint from the silent but murderous looking bandits, who travelled day and night further away from civilization and many times forced the women to dismount from the horses and struggle up steep mountain trails, as to why they were being made captives they became resigned to the horrifying thoughts that cold blooded murder awaited them although it could not be understood why they should be taken so far away for such a deed. it was not until after many nights of exhausting travel deep into the most desolate country imaginable that the weakened, nerve- racked women were literally plunged into a filthy hut, built in a rocky dungeon and there, surrounded by the scraggy bearded and unclean brigands, were told by the brutal leader that they had been stolen away for money and that they should be held until the ransom had been paid. "If it is not paid", shouted the "Bad Man," "there will be a bullet for each of you. We want $110,000. We want it within 20 days. We are not men to be trifled with and unless it is forthcoming you will be killed." The two women, frightened, but resigned to the worst for they felt that no such sum could be raised for their release, were forced to write letters to persons of influence who might be able to meet the brigand's terms. Profound secrecy prevailed and throughout the days and nights the half starved women were closely guarded by powerful highwaymen, who fairly glistened with arms and cartridges. For weeks and weeks, steadily making their way through the almost impenetrable trails at night and remaining secreted in caves and abandoned shepherd hut during the the daytime, these women, accustomed to the modest luxuries of life, were now obliged to submit to the humiliating horror of having but one suit of wearing apparel, the one they wore when captured; of eating the vilest of food and with no possible chance of procuring enough water to bathe themselves not to speak of enough to drink. How welcome death would have been to either of these women is convincingly gathered from a statement by Miss Stone when she wrote: "Once when I unwisely presumed to wander too far by myself, an unwary step sent me headlong over the edge of the bank, I struck on the side of my face, and continuing to fall after striking, scratched ugly ridges into my face from the edge of my hair to below the cheek bone. Here again was an instance showing how gladly we would have welcomed death from a natural cause, to free us. 182 Because of the failure of the messenger to faithfully carry out his mission in delivering the first letter stating the terms of the brigands, a second communication was sent. As this one brought no satisfactory results, the leader of the brigands ordered the women to write a third. With a fiery look in his eyes and menacingly pointing his huge pistol, he declared he would wait ten days longer for the money and if it were not forthcoming he would proceed immediately to the operation of taking the women's lives. This was nearly two months from the day they were captured and indeed the darkest days during the whole captivity, for the missionaries had little hope that the unrelenting brigands would ever receive such a sum. Through some secret channel the highwaymen had found that a movement was on foot to collect the required sum and it was due to this information that the lives of the women were spared. On the day after Thanksgiving, the leader decided that an even more remote spot must be found the secrete his captives and the next night started forth, traveling night after night through piercing winds and bitter cold, ascending to the great altitude to huts which had just been built from freshly hewn trees by men who had been sent ahead. It was only after indescribable suffering from the cold which caused the women to fervently pray for death that the heartless brigands finally relented to their pleadings and brought rough cloth thread and needles from which the women under painful difficulty with frozen fingers, made garments which would withstand the frigidness of this mountain climate. But the cautious brigands were ever fearful of detection and the slightest feeling that they might be found by the army of government troops who were scouring the country for them, caused the order to break camps and start out again on night after night hiking, always secreting themselves during the daytime, when no noise or fire of anykind was allowed. On one of these nights was enacted a tragedy on an attempt on the part of another band of highwaymen, who had arrived at the same place a little before to take the women captives from the brigand band that held them and secure for themselves the ransom. As the darkness settled over the newly established camp, if it could be called such, there was a sudden sound of musketry. Mrs. Tsilka was aroused from a deep sleep, horror-stricken by the sudden alarm. The Boston woman was on watch that night, for it must be explained that in the six months of their captivity one woman always kept watch while the other dozed off. Miss Stone, who had been sitting there in absolute darkness, almost numb from the cold which blew in from the cracks in the shack, had observed whisperings among the guards and movements that assured her that something unusual was being prepared for. The first attack was resisted but the seriousness of the assault was such that the two trembling captives were thrust into an inner compartment a sort of closet in the hut, where they crouched all night while the firing kept up. So bitter was the struggle between the two bands of robbers that in the early dawn the two women were hurriedly led from their closet through a rocky passage and were about to mount horses when a bullet came so close that the guards 183. dragged the women back to the shelter. Later a villager approached the brigands' stronghold, proposing terms of treaty. The guards stationed in craigs above the women, suspicious of treachery, fired and the man fell dead. In the harrowing moment the women decided that if worse came to worse they would take their death at the hands of the guard stationed over them rather than fall into the hands of those unknown highwaymen attackers. The second attempt to escape with the women while the fight was going on was more successful, although the captives were obliged to pick their way up over a hazardous, rocky trail to the brow of the mountain, the two women pushed and prodded to such an extent that they fell from exhaustion. Horses were finally brought to the new concealment place and once again the brigands were off to a new place of safety in the mountains. Nearly four months in this indescribable horror had passed during which time these two unfortunate women had heard but once from the outside world, a letter being received in some mysterious manner from a student. During these terrifying weeks, the women were constantly under guard. In the shacks which afforded the crudest kinf of shelter, with boarded up windows, they were kept in utter darkness during the daytime, not allowed to speak above a whisper, lest some wandering stranger might see or hear and thus spread the news of the captives whereabouts. On January 4, 1902, just four months after the women were made captives, the long awaited and much dreaded event took place when amid that filth and numbing cold, with only a floor as a bed for a suffering, death welcoming woman, a baby was born to Mrs. Tsilka. With a true mother's love, the agony and suffering was increased through the fears that her baby would be murdered by the soulless brigands, who declared that there was no place in such a party for a crying infant. Through the pleadings of Miss Stone, the heart of the ugly chief was softened and it was decided that the life of the baby would be spared. Under the greatest difficulties the weak and suffering mother and her infant, who was wrapped up like a bundle, with any pieces of cloth they could find, were packed onto the back of a horse and moved here and there to new places of safety as soon as the pursuing government troops came nearer. In fact the advent of this baby, who was named Elenchie after Miss Stone, was indeed a new experience to the brigands, for the chief, who, as the days wore on, took a really fatherly interest in the little one, declared that no band of brigands ever had a baby born among them before. Thereafter the captives were treated kindlier by their guards and every effort was made to protect the new arrival from cold and sickness. During these weeks and months of untold suffering and discouragement and kept in ignorance of what progress was being made for their release, a committee of men including Dr. J. H. House of Salonica, The Rev. W. W. Peet, treasurer of missions to Turkey and Charles M. Dickinson, counsel-general at Constantinople were working towards raising a ransom fund which would be satisfactory to the brigands. 184. The pursuit by the Sultan's soldiers made it difficult to pay the ransom because the highwaymen were most insistent and determined that they should receive this money without being captured. It was also demanded by those in charge of raising the ransom, that absolute proof that Miss Stone and Mrs. Tsilka were both living must be given before the money was delivered. The sum of nearly $75,000 was ready to be handed over to the brigands when the necessary proofs demanded were forthcoming. Though the captives knew the money had been paid, they were being rushed to some new hiding place each night and only after weeks of such torture did one of the brigands explain that they were doing their best to deliver them up, but the pursuit by soldiers, was so persistent that on five or six occasion they were close to capture. It was on the foggy night February 22, 1902, that the brigands filed into the captives hut on a lonely hillside and sat down. One of them told the women in a nervous, rapid manner that they should be freed that night. He explained that they were each to be given one pound of Turkish and a few pieces of bread to subsist on in the long ride. Only two horses were provided for the night's journey, so Miss Stone and Mrs. Tsilka were obliged to take turns carrying baby Elenchie. The whole band of brigands started with them, a guard in front and behind with scouts deploying either side. At a place where the path began to descend steeply the band of brigands save two guards had dropped behind and disappeared. At daybreak after traveling all night, the two guards and the released women descended the last of the foothills and crossed the last of the mountain streams to a low plain. The brigands dismounted the near exhausted women under a pear tree, told them to sit there until daylight and with the parting words, "You can get some passerby to help you carry the saddlebags and your pillows into the village," disappeared into the hills. It was the little village of Strumitz in Macedonia where the women, who had been held captives for nearly six months, experienced their first few moments of freedom and through whose inhabitants, who long had known the story of their capture, were made comfortable and aided in every way to continue their journey to Salonica, the headquarters of the missionary society with which the women captives were connected. The story of their release spread like wildfire throughout the world. Indignation against the government of Turkey was aroused in all nations. Quietly, Miss Stone, after a month in Salonica, bade farewell to her captive companion, Mrs. Tsilka and baby Elenchie, and came to her home in the United States. Although closely identified with missionary work for years after that and ever in demand for lectures on her experiences as a foreign missionary during which she many times was obliged to relate her experiences as a captive among Turkish brigands, she retired and lived quietly in Chelsea, Mass., where she died Dec. 1927, at the age of 81 years. The Boston Daily Globe--Tuesday, April 30, 1946 $500 for House--$3300 to Move It HOUSE MOVED AFTER 226 YEARS--Lexington eight-room house, built in 1720, rolls down Massachusetts av. at start of six-day journey to its new site near Monroe Tavern. An eight-room, salt-box house was rolled at noon yesterday from the foundations dug for it 55 years before the revolution at 669 Massachusetts av., Lexington. It was the beginning of a six-day trek a mile and a half down the center of the avenue to its new site nearly opposite Monroe Tavern. The 1720 house is believed to have been one of the stations on the Underground Railway before the Civil War. Occupied until her death at 90 two years ago by Ellen Stone, and by her family for a century longer, it is much the same today as it was when Paul Revere rode past it to warn the country- side that the Redcoats were coming. It has the original butterfly H and L hinges, wide board floors, and eight fireplaces, including a Dutch oven in the kitchen. It never has had a furnace, a bathroom or gas, and until two years ago, just before the death of the owner, oil lamps and candles were the only lighting. Then electricity was installed. The new owner, Helen Potter, a Boston insurance woman, of 414 Waltham st., Newton, plans to restore it, fill it with the furniture of the period when it was built, and add a furnace and bathroom, before she occupies it. The 33x37 house which weighs between 70 and 90 tons is being moved by P.F. Goodwin and Sons of Marblehead, with blocks and rollers. Telephone and electric light wires in the way are cut as the house proceeds and are repaired by a crew that follows along with the procession. But the great tree limbs along the avenue can't be cut. They must be lifted to let the house under it. "You can't cut trees for convenience in this part of the country," Goodwin senior said, as he directed the protection of elm branches with their swelling buds. "No, there's nothing special about this job. We move'em every day. Last week we moved the Witch house and the Bowditch House and the Bowditch [?] in Salem!" Permits had to be obtained from the Selectmen before the house could be moved. But this was one that Lexington officials were eager to grant. When Anthony R. Cataldo, a truck farmer, bought the house and its 74,000 feet of land two years ago, he thought that he and his wife and his young son, now 4 1/2, would live in it. But, he said yesterday, architects told him that it would be too hard a job to modernize it as he wished. "I think I have 35 or 40 years to live and we'd like to be comfortable," he said. So he decided to tear it down and build a modern brick colonial in its place, complete with plumbing and furnace, gas and electricity. But everybody in Lexington, or nearly everybody, is history conscious and the town didn't want a house that had been in one family for more than a century and a half, destroyed. Cataldo put it up for sale and Miss Potter saw it and fell in love with it and bought it for $500. (It's costing her $3300 to move it.) Miss Stone who lived in the old house with a maid and housekeeper at the time of her death was the last of her direct line and the heirs were distant relatives who had no interest in keeping it. She was born in it Oct. 7, 1854 and was the first woman in the country to serve on a school committee, E.B. Worthen, Lexington historian, recalls. Her great grandfather, Stephen Robbins, born in 1758, bought the house at the time of his marriage to Abigail Winship in 1779. He father was Abner Stone, who married the daughter of Eli Robbins. Both families were staunch abolitionists and the town has always believed that the house was one of the stations through which escaped slaves passed before the Civil War. The Robbins Library in Arlington was given to the town by this same Robbins family. Cataldo who has a garden market in the 125 year old brick store, adjoining the site of the perigrinating house, feels a little sorry about letting it go. He is the son of Jerry Cataldo, and is a first generation American. "I used to pass Miss Stone's house and the old store every day on the way to the Adams School, just beyond," he says--"I used to swipe chestnuts from the old lady, but I never thought then I'd be owning her house." The Boston Daily Globe--Tuesday, April 30, 1946 At AD Club Luncheon--Left to right, Paul Swaffield, Ad Club president; Connie Stackpole, luncheon chairman, and Jay Benton, president Boston Mutual Life Insurance Company. Ad Club Told Women Will Help Rebuild Present Cities With the aid of women's viewpoints, better cities are foreseen, with practically all of the present buildings being torn down and replaced "within 50 to 100 years." This was predicted this afternoon by Jay R. Benton, president of the Boston Mutual Insurance Company and chairman of the Greater Boston Development committee, at the weekly luncheon meeting of the Boston Advertising Club in the Hotel Statler. City the growing influence of "the woman's point of view," he said: "We are approaching a way of life in which man and woman are partners, not only in the home and in social circles, but also in all the activities of the city. "I think our cities were built originally too much for men, and from the man's point of view, and I am convinced that the job can be done better next time if equal weight is given to the viewpoints of women and men. I say 'next time' because within 50 to 100 years every existing building in our cities [line cut off] sit improvements, Greater Boston is at a disadvantage in competing with other cities and industrial regions, said the speaker, warning that "we must therefore strive the harder to catch up." Stressing the necessity for speedy action on improvements in street and highway transportation, he cited that "traffic is conservatively estimated to increase 50 percent within the next 20 years" and warned that New England's badly needed express highways should be open to trucks as an "economic necessity." In the 1946 program of immediate objectives, the Greater Boston Development Committee is stressing a four-point program, he said, for relieving the worst of the traffic congestion in the heart of the Boston region. The four points are off-street parking facilities, a new vehicular tunnel to East Boston, express highway connections in East Boston and a central artery in Boston. Mr. Benton also emphasized the need to "set aside many large flat areas for the needs of [?] Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.