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INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 16 MIDDLE STREET
<br /> MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
<br /> 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
<br /> 0 2255
<br /> commercial centers were established to service the expanding population at various cross roads, including the intersection of
<br /> Spring Street and Marrett Road. Many of these crossroads included grocery stores and gas stations. Unfortunately, only one of
<br /> these new nodes—at Marrett Road and Waltham Street—merited documentation on the early 201h century Sanborn maps,
<br /> probably because of the large area of associated housing development that was adjacent to it.
<br /> In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this area was part of the extensive summer estate of William Harris Cary(1798-1861),
<br /> his wife Maria Hastings Cary (1801-1881), and their unofficially adopted daughter, Alice Butler Cary(1838-1918). William Cary
<br /> (1798-1861)was born in Boston and made a fortune importing fancy goods in New York City; his wife was born in Lexington.
<br /> The Cary family, including William's brother Isaac Harris Cary and his daughters, was a prominent benefactor to the town of
<br /> Lexington, giving the Cary Memorial Library and Cary Memorial Hall, donations to numerous charitable and religious
<br /> organizations, and an eponymous educational fund.
<br /> Alice Cary inherited a farm of more than 200 acres, with a house and ancillary buildings. After her death, the Cary Estate was
<br /> acquired by prolific Lexington developer Neil McIntosh, who divided it into a multitude of small house lots. 16 Middle Street may
<br /> have been constructed by 1922, when many houses already stood on the street, but the changed street numbering systems
<br /> require further investigation.
<br /> The first known occupants of 16 Middle Street, in 1935, were Ashley M. Vessey, a contractor and builder, and his wife Elizabeth
<br /> E. Historic records from 1918 through 1940 consistently show the Vesseys as residents of Winthrop; 16 Middle Street may have
<br /> been a summer home. Subsequent residents included James H. Clyde, a machinist, and his wife Elizabeth, who occupied the
<br /> house from at least 1945 through 1965. In 1965, they were accompanied here by John B. Clyde, a surveyor(and likely their
<br /> son), and Jeanetta Campbell, a secretary.
<br /> BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
<br /> Historic maps and atlases: Walling 1853; Beers 1875; Walker 1889; Stadly 1898; Walker 1906; Sanborn 1908, 1918, 1927,
<br /> 1935, 1935/1950.
<br /> Lexington Comprehensive Cultural Resources Survey, Period and Area Summaries.
<br /> http://historicsurveV.Iexingtonma.gov/index.htm Accessed Jul 23, 2015.
<br /> Lexington Directories: 1899, 1908-09, 1922, 1928, 1930, 1934, 1936.
<br /> Lexington List of Persons: 1935, 1945, 1955, 1965.
<br /> Massachusetts Historical Commission. "MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Lexington." 1980.
<br /> U.S. Census: 1920, 1930, 1940.
<br /> Winthrop directory: 1918.
<br /> Worthen, Edwin B. Tracing the Past in Lexington, Massachusetts. New York: Vantage Press, 1998.
<br /> Continuation sheet 2
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