19 Commonwealth Avenue

19 Commonwealth Avenue

19 Commonwealth Avenue was built ca. 1867 as the home of Thomas Coffin Amory, an attorney, poet, and author of works on history and genealogy.

He was unmarried and his two unmarried sisters, Rebecca and Isabella Amory, lived with him.

Isabella Amory died in January of 1888, and Thomas Amory died in August of 1889.

Rebecca Amory continued to live at 19 Commonwealth until her death in November of 1894.

By 1897, it was the home of eye and ear specialist Dr. Henry Lyman Shaw and his wife Annie (Whipple) Shaw.  He is shown as the owner on the 1908 Bromley map.

The Shaws continued to live there until his death in April of 1911.

The house was not listed in the 1913 Blue Book.

In 1914, it was purchased by professor and MIT President James Mason Crafts.  He previously had lived at 111 Commonwealth with his wife, Clémence (Haggerty ) Crafts, who had died in February of 1912.

In October of 1914, he received permission to lower the front entrance of 19 Commonwealth from the first floor to the ground level.

James Crafts continued to live there until his death in June of 1917.

By 1920, it was the home of cotton broker Theodore Frothingham, Jr., and his wife, Eleanor F. (Fabyan) Frothingham.  By mid-1922, they had purchased and moved to 269 Beacon Street.

By September of 1922, 19 Commonwealth was the home of Dr. George Jackson Hill, a physician, and his wife, Lucy Freeman (Winslow) Hill.  They previously had lived at 103 Beacon Street.  Lucy W. Hill is shown as the owner of 19 Commonwealth on the 1928 Bromley map.

After buying the house. the Hills received permission to extend the elevator to the fourth and fifth floors and to add a penthouse on the roof.

The Hills also maintained a summer home in South Orleans.

They continued to live at 19 Commonwealth in 1937, and probably later.  Lucy Hill continued to be shown as the owner on the 1938 Bromley map.

By 1943, it was owned by Arnold and Edith Vogl.  In July of 1943, they applied for a permit to convert the house from a single-family dwelling to a single-family dwelling and lodging house.  They subsequently abandoned the permit, but probably maintained a lodging house there nevertheless.

In November of 1952, the Vogls applied for (and apparently received) permission to construct a brick one-car garage at the rear, 11 feet 6 inches wide by 20 feet long.  It appears that it never was constructed or, if it was, it was subsequently removed.

The house changed hands several times, and in May of 1978 it was purchased by Malcolm E. and Angeline B. Dudley, Trustees of the Lions Mark Trust.