109-111 Commonwealth Avenue

109-111 Commonwealth Avenue

109 Commonwealth and 111 Commonwealth were built ca. 1872 for real estate investor and broker Henry Whitwell.  He is shown as the owner of both 109 and 111 Commonwealth on the 1874 Hopkins Atlas.

109 Commonwealth
By 1877, 109 Commonwealth was the home of General Casper Crowninshield and his wife, Elizabeth Copley (Greene) Crowninshield.  Elizabeth Crowninshield is shown as the owner on the 1883 Bromley map.

Caspar Crowninshield served in the Civil War from 1861, rising to the rank of Colonel.  He served with Sheridan through all the campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley and in the Appomattox campaign, and was present at Lee's surrender.  On May 20, 1865, he was brevetted Brigadier General and was mustered out of service on June 20, 1865.

Elizabeth Crowninshield died sometime between 1883 and 1888.

Caspar Crowninshield continued to live at 109 Commonwealth, joined in about 1893 by his  son-in-law and daughter, landscape architect David Hill Coolidge, Jr. and Harriet Sears (Crowninshield) Coolidge.  In 1892, they had lived in an apartment at 411 Marlborough Street .

Caspar Crowninshield died in January of 1897.  After his death, David and Harriet Coolidge moved across the street to 114 Commonwealth Avenue to live with his parents, David and Isabella (Shurtleff) Coolidge.

109 Commonwealth was not listed in the 1898 and 1899 Blue Books.

By 1900, it was the home of chemical manufacturer Samuel Cabot, III, and his wife, Helen (Nichols) Cabot.  He was the founder and owner of Cabot Stains, manufacturers of wood-preserving shingle stains, disinfectants, and building insulation materials.

At the time of the 1900 US Census, the Cabots were living on Canton Avenue in Milton, probably their summer home.

Samuel Cabot died in November of 1906.  Helen N. Cabot continued to live at 109 Commonwealth and is shown as the owner on the 1908 and 1917 Bromley maps. Her daughter, Elizabeth, lived with her until her marriage in December of 1908 to Dr. Henry Lyman, after which they moved to 36 Commonwealth Avenue .  Dr. Lyman was a physician and biological research chemist at Harvard Medical School.

By 1910, Helen Cabot had been joined at 109 Commonwealth by her son and daughter-in-law, Samuel Cabot, IV (called Samuel Cabot, Jr.) and Nancy (Graves) Cabot, who had been married in October of 1909.  Samuel Cabot, Jr., succeeded his father as the owner and chief executive of Cabot Stains. Samuel and Nancy Cabot continued to live with her until about 1915, but no longer were listed there in the 1917 Blue Book.

Helen Cabot continued to live at 109 Commonwealth in 1917, but no longer was listed there in the 1920 US Census.  She died sometime between 1917 and 1928, when the house is shown as owned by Helen N. Cabot's Heirs on the Bromley map, and probably between 1917 and 1920.

By 1920, 109 Commonwealth had become the home of her son-in-law and daughter, Henry and Elizabeth Lyman, who had been living at 36 Commonwealth Avenue. They also maintained a summer home in Ponkapoag, Massachusetts.
           
Henry Lyman probably died in 1933 or 1934.  Elizabeth Lyman continued to live there in 1937, and probably later.  She is shown as the owner on the 1938 Bromley map.

By 1940, 109 Commonwealth was owned by the Cavendish Club of Boston (formerly the Town Bridge Club of Boston), which applied for (and received) permission to change the house's legal occupancy from a residence to a club building with one residence.

In 1954, 109 Commonwealth was owned by David A. Finn, who converted from a private club into an apartment building with sixteen units.  It remained an apartment house throughout the 1950s, subsequently owned by George V. Buehler.

111 Commonwealth
Henry Whitwell, who had built both 109 Commonwealth and 111 Commonwealth, lived at 111 Commonwealth with his brother (and business partner), Samuel Horatio Whitwell, and their sister, Sophia Louisa Whitwell.  They previously had lived at 167 Beacon Street.  All three were unmarried.

During the winter of 1879-1880, and possibly somewhat before, they were joined at 111 Commonwealth by their brother, real estate broker and investor Frederick Augustus Whitwell, and his wife, Mary Crowninshield (Silsbee) Whitwell.  In 1877, they had lived at 239 Beacon Street.   By the time of the 1880 US Census, taken in June, they had moved to 237 Beacon Street to live with Mary Whitwell's parents, Nathaniel and Marianne Silsbee.
           
Henry, Samuel, and Sophia Whitwell continued to live at 111 Commonwealth for the rest of their lives: Henry Whitwell died in December of 1887, Sophia Whitwell died in March of 1903, and Samuel Horatio Whitwell died in March of 1904. In August of 1904, the Estate of Henry Whitwell sold 111 Commonwealth to Anna Kneeland (Haggerty) Shaw, the widow of Civil War hero Col. Robert Gould Shaw, who was killed leading his troops in battle at Fort Wagner, South Carolina.

In March of 1905, she sold the house to her sister, Clémence (Haggerty) Crafts, the wife of professor and MIT President James Mason Crafts.  Although she had sold the house, Anna Shaw continued to live at 111 Commonwealth until her death in March of 1907.

After Anna Shaw's death, 111 Commonwealth became James and Clémence Crafts' home.   They previously had lived at 59 Marlborough Street.  Clémence H. Crafts is shown as the owner of 111 Commonwealth on the 1908 Bromley map.

Clémence Crafts died in February of 1912.  James Crafts continued to live at 111 Commonwealth in 1913, but had purchased and moved to 19 Commonwealth Avenue by 1915.

111 Commonwealth was not listed in the 1915 Blue Book.

By 1917, it was the home of Ellen Constance (Sampson) Sampson, widow of dry goods merchant Oscar Hallet Sampson, and their unmarried daughter, Gertrude.  In 1915, they had lived at 193 Marlborough Street. 

Before moving to 111 Commonwealth, the Sampsons had it significantly remodeled by architect and interior designer Ogden Codman, Jr.  It may have been at this time that the front door was lowered to street level.

Charles E. Sampson, Ellen Sampson's son, is shown as the owner of 111 Commonwealth on the 1917 and 1928 Bromley maps. Ellen Sampson probably died between 1924 and 1926.
           
Gertrude Sampson continued to live at 111 Commonwealth and, by 1927, her brother, Charles, a wool merchant, was living with her (they are erroneously shown as a married couple in the 1930 US Census).  They continued to live there in 1937, and probably later.  Charles Sampson continued to be shown as the owner on the 1938 Bromley map.

By 1939, 111 Commonwealth had been acquired by W. Randolph Taylor and was converted into a lodging house.  It remained combination apartment and lodging (“guest”) house in throughout the 1950s, subsequently owned by Richard W. Langenbach and then Patricia Ann Langenbach.

109-111 Commonwealth
In 1962, Robert Leventhal acquired 109 Commonwealth from George Buehler and 111 Commonwealth from Patricia Ann Langenbach.  The buildings continued to be operated as separate apartment buildings, subsequently owned by Norman B. Leventhal and then by Howard Levin, trustee of the Cavedish Trust, who purchased them in June of 1972.

In October of 1986, TGF-1 Associates purchased 109-111 Commonwealth from Howard Levin.  At the same time, TGF-1 Associates also purchased 31-33 Commonwealth, also from Howard Levin (as trustee of two other trusts).

In December of 1986, TGF-1 Associates transferred all four properties to Edgard Puente and David Boersner, Trustees of the Boston Commonwealth Trust, who entered into a mortgage with the First American Bank for Savings secured by all four properties.  In August of 1987, they combined 109-111 Commonwealth and remodeled the combined building into seven residential units.  At the same time, they combined 31-33 Commonwealth and remodeled them into twelve apartments and two offices. 

In January of 1989, First American Bank for Savings foreclosed on the mortgages on 109-111 Commonwealth and on 31-33 Commonwealth.