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FORM B BUILDING
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Photograph
View from
Locus Map (north at top)
Source: Mass GIS Oliver Parcel Viewer.
Recorded by: Kathryn Grover & Neil Larson
Organization: Brewster Historical Commission
Date (month / year): December 2018
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
86-0-0 Harwich D BRE.221
Town/City: Brewster
Place:(neighborhood or village):
South Brewster
Address:891 Long Pond Road
Historic Name: Nathaniel & Lydia Myrick House
Uses:Present: single-family residence
Original: single-family residence
Date of Construction: ca. 1842
Source:deeds, historic atlases
Style/Form: Federal / end house
Architect/Builder: unknown
Exterior Material:
Foundation: stone
Wall/Trim: wood clapboards (front) & wood shingles /
wood
Roof:asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
ranch house/camp building, ca. 1970
stables/camp building, ca. 1940
Major Alterations (with dates):
rear wing fenestration altered, 1973
attached barn destroyed by fire, mid-20th century
Condition:good
Moved: no yes Date:
Acreage:1.38
Setting: The house is situated in a dense residential area
characterized by summer cottages and retirement homes
built in the mid-20th century.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 891 LONG POND ROAD
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
D BRE.221
Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
The Nathaniel and Lydia Myrick House, built ca. 1841, is a story-and-a-half wood frame end house with trim associated with the
Federal Period, which would have been an unusually late expression of that era’s design taste in the 1840s. The existing MHC B
Form states that a previous owner had been told that the house was built in 1827-29, which would be a more appropriate time
frame for the design, but no documentation has yet been found to substantiate this statement.
The front façade is framed by narrow corner boards; the raking roof edge carries a molded cornice with short returns at the base.
An off-center doorway is flanked by sidelights and narrow pilasters panelized with the addition of thin moldings on the outside
edges and surmounted by a tall frieze and projecting cornice. Six-over-six windows, two on the first story north of the entrance
and two evenly spaced in the upper story, are framed by simple board trim without edge moldings. The side walls each contain
two widely spaced windows similar to those on the front. A central chimney indicates the presence of front and back rooms on
the north side of the plan and a third room behind the entry. The placement of a window at the front of the south wall raises a
question as to the location of stairs on the interior. A narrow one-story wing is attached to the rear and projects past the
northeast corner of the house; a door is located on the front of the projection. Based on the existing MHC B Form, the
fenestration in this section has been altered, and a barn once connected to the rear of the wing was destroyed by fire in the
1970s.
The house is sited in the northwest corner of a narrow, deep parcel, tight on the street and north lot lines; it is screened by thick
foliage on both elevations. A yard occupies the area south of the house. A driveway enters at the southwest corner and runs
along the south line to the rear of the property, where two late 20th-century buildings are located that were initially associated
with a commercial stable and later a children’s camp. One building is residential in function; the other originated as a stable.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE:
In September 1841 Brewster farmer Nathaniel Myrick acquired a 5.5-acre tract for $55 from Enoch E. Crosby, a parcel Crosby
had bought from John Doane of Orleans seven years earlier but had apparently not developed. The lack of historic maps before
1858 make it difficult to determine whether the house now numbered 891 Long Pond Road was built on this tract or on a 26-acre
tract that already had a house and outbuildings and that Myrick bought from Anna C. Rogers in November 1843. George and
Sarah Copeland of Brewster Center had sold the 26 acres without buildings to Samuel Small of Chatham in 1841, and when
Small sold it to Rogers less than a year later a house and outbuildings stood upon it.1 The description of abutters in the Rogers
deed suggests strongly that it was the larger tract on which the 891 Long Pond Road house stands.
Born in 1810, Nathaniel Myrick was the son of Benjamin and Eunice Mayo Myrick of Brewster. In 1832 he married Lydia Foster,
the daughter of John and Catherine Foster of this general locality, and the 1840 census clearly places him in this neighborhood,
between Simeon Small at 788 Long Pond Road and Lincoln Foster, Myrick’s brother-in-law, who probably then lived in a house
just south of Small’s. In 1850 the census lists Myrick as a trader with $1182 in real property and living with his wife Lydia, their
daughters Lydia and Laura, Myrick’s widowed mother Eunice, and a boarding laborer. In 1855 Myrick lost both his wife and his
daughter Lydia to consumption.2 The 1858 Barnstable County map attaches Nathaniel Myrick’s name to this 891 Long Pond
Road house, and in 1860 he was living there with his daughter Laura and his mother, then 82 years old. Censuses list him as a
trader or merchant, and the 1858 map shows his store just north of the house.3
1 Enoch E. Crosby to Nathaniel Myrick, 13 September 1841, BCD 29:44 (see John Doane, Orleans, to Enoch E. Crosby, 7 January 1834, BCD
13:143); Anna C. Rogers to Nathaniel Myrick, 11 November 1843, BCD 33:18 (see Samuel Small, Chatham, to Anna C. Rogers, 23 July 1842,
BCD 29:419, and George and Sarah B. Copeland to Samuel Small, Chatham, 11 September 1841, BCD 29:45),
2 The 1850 census lists
3 According to the MHC Form B for this property (which lists the address as 897 Long Pond Road), the school once stood near the gate of the
family cemetery mentioned in deeds and was later moved to the Lawrence Doyle homestead to the northwest on Long Pond Road.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 891 LONG POND ROAD
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
D BRE.221
Eunice Mayo Myrick died in 1863, and in 1864 Laura A. Myrick married the Wellfleet native and mariner Rowland Paine. By
1870 Nathaniel Myrick was living alone in the Long Pond Road house and described in the census as a farmer. In 1879 Myrick
wrote a will that left all of his property to Betsey A. Kelley “to the exclusion of all my heirs at law, if any I have,” and the 1880
census lists a 70-year-old Myrick living in the house with Kelley, her husband Daniel, a fisherman born in Nova Scotia, Betsey
Kelley’s daughter Flora B. Maker from her first marriage, and her granddaughter Cora M. Young.
Born in Dennis in 1842, Betsey Kelley was the daughter of Eliphalet and Amy Cash Hamblin and married Samuel Maker of
Brewster in 1839. The couple had eight children—Samuel Francis, Betsey M., Rhoda A., Emma W., Martha A., Alphonso H.,
Addie J., and Flora B.—between 1842 and 1865. In January 1864 Samuel Maker enlisted in Company A of the 58th
Massachusetts Infantry, which was sent to Virginia; he died in the Battle of the Wilderness between 6 and 10 May 1864 and was
either buried on the battlefield or in an unknown location. His widow Betsey then had four minor children, and in November 1864
she married Daniel Kelley, an immigrant fisherman from Arichat, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.4 In 1865 Daniel and Betsey Kelley
are listed in this neighborhood with children Emma, Martha, Alphonso, Addie, and Flora as well as married daughter Rhoda
Cahoon (married to Harwich mariner Nathaniel A. Cahoon since 1864) and two children with the Cahoon surname. By 1870
Daniel and Betsey Kelley shared a house in this neighborhood with her sons Samuel F. and Alphonso, both mariners, and
daughters Abby and Flora.
Nathaniel Myrick died in 1886 at the age of 76, and his will directed the house be passed to Daniel and Betsey Kelley. The 1900
census lists him as a day laborer, and the couple lived in the house with daughter Flora, who worked as a housekeeper.
In November 1904 Daniel Kelley died in Brewster, and his widow Betsey died six months later. The 1910 map of Brewster
attaches the name “F. B. Kelley” to the house, meaning to indicate Betsey’s youngest child Flora B. Maker. Strangely, the 1910
census also lists her as Flora B. Kelley, living at 891 Long Pond Road and working as a housekeeper; she had the income of a
boarder, stationery engineer Frank D. Moore. On 30 July 1913, Flora Maker wrote a will that permitted Moore to remain in her
house for two years after she died, “said house being the one formerly owned by Nathaniel Myrick and occupied by me.” And
she left all her estate to her niece Cora M. Young for her use forever, “she to occupy the house at her pleasure after my death.”
Flora B. Maker died two days later, on 1 August 1913.
Born in 1866, Cora M. Young was the daughter of Flora Maker’s older sister Martha (1851-72) and her husband, Chatham
mariner Richard Young. By 1930 the federal census lists her on Long Pond Road, no doubt at number 891. She died in 1937,
and in late December of that year the administrator of her estate sold the property to Benjamin Crooker of Melrose.5 According
to one local history, he and his wife Florence came to Brewster in 1923 to run the stable at Sea Pines Personality School for
Girls. Crooker was a riding master in Melrose from at least 1926, as was his stepfather Myron Kimball; in 1930 Crooker is listed
in Kimball’s household as a married riding instructor, while his wife appears to have been in Brewster teaching at Sea Pines
School. The Crookers are said to have left Sea Pines in 1940 and to have begun their own stable on this property in that year,
though they had acquired it from Young’s administrator three years earlier.6 Crooker’s 1942 draft registration card states that he
was then employed by “Brewster Ryding School” and lived on Long Pond Road.
In October 1958 the Crookers sold 891 Long Pond Road and its 30-acre tract to Ralph G. and Anna Powers Rowe of Needham.7
The Rowes used the stable as part of a children’s camp they ran on the property until 1978. In 1995 the Rowes sold the property
to Myles B. Corey, who sold it five years later to Naomi M. Turner and David H. Veach of Chatham, who placed the property in
trust in 2012.8
4 Betsey Kelley applied for a widow’s pension in October 1864 to support her minor children; the pension record states that she “alleged re-
married November 29th 1864. Town record shows marriage of Daniel Kelley and Betsey A Maker as alleged,” and Daniel Kelley submitted an
affidavit in support of the claim.
5 Eva M. Phillips, administrator estate Cora Young, to Benjamin Crooker, Melrose, 22 December 1937, BCD 535:47. See also Cora H. Young,
affidavit, 19 May 1930, BCD 473:280, which outlines her descent from Betsey Kelley.
6 Theresa C. Ellis, MHC building form BRE.221, 1980.
7 Benjamin and Florence M. Crooker to Ralph G. and Anna Powers Rowe, Needham, 14 October 1958, BCD 1019:213.
8 Commonwealth of Massachusetts Land Court in re: Ralph G. Rowe et ux, Needham, petition 35595, 8 March 1973, Certificate of Title 57955
Document 171728-1; Ralph G. Rowe, Braintree, and Betsey Rowe Wistrich, Escondito CA, to Myles B. Corey, Orleans, 17 August 1995,
Certificate of Title 138020; Miles B. Corey, 891 Long Pond Road, to Naomi M. Turner and David H. Veach, Chatham, 10 May 2000, Certificate
of Title 157595; David H. Veach and Naomi M. Turner to Naomi M. Turner and David H. Veach, trustees Turner-Weach Nominee Trust, 7
November 2012, Certificate of Title 189655. The 891 Long Pond Road property is Lot 2 on “Subdivision Plan of Land in Brewster,” 15
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 891 LONG POND ROAD
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 3
D BRE.221
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
American Ancestors.org. Massachusetts vital, tax, and probate records.
Ancestry.com. Federal and state censuses, vital records, historic maps, and “Valuation List of the Town of Brewster 1890.”
Barnstable Patriot Digital Newspaper Archive. Sturgis Library website,
http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Sturgis/default.aspx#panel=home.
Brewster Assessors’ Records, Brewster Town Clerk Archives and 1926 Town Report.
Deyo, Simeon L. History of Barnstable County, Mass. New York: H. W. Blake Co., 1890.
Freeman, Frederick. The History of Cape Cod: The Annals of Barnstable County. Boston: George C. Rand and Avery, 1858-62.
Otis, Amos. Genealogical Notes on Barnstable Families. 2 vols. Barnstable, MA: Patriot Press, 1888.
Sears, Henry J. Brewster Ship Masters. Yarmouthport, MA: C. W. Swift, 1906.
Simpkins, John. “Topographical Description of Brewster.” Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society 10 (1809): 72-79.
MAPS
Walling. Henry Francis. Map of the Counties of Barnstable, Dukes & Nantucket, Massachusetts. Boston: 1858.
Atlas of Barnstable County, Massachusetts. Boston: George H. Walker & Co., 1880.
Atlas of Barnstable County Massachusetts. Boston: Walker Lithograph & Publishing Co., 1910.
PHOTOGRAPHS (credit Neil Larson, 2018)
View of north wall looking east. Detail of entrance.
December 1995, Land Court Plan 35595-C. See also “Plan of Land in Brewster,” March 1964, Land Court Plan 35595-A and “Subdivision Plan
of Land in Brewster,” 30 March 1995, Land Court Plan 35595-B.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 891 LONG POND ROAD
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 4
D BRE.221
View of ranch house, ca. 1970. Photo from Town of Brewster Assessor’s Database, 2018.
Aerial view of property showing ca. 1821 house on left, ca. 1970 ranch house/camp building in center, an ca. 1940 stables/camp
building on right. Source: www.google.com/maps.