7 Commonwealth Avenue

7 Commonwealth Avenue

7 Commonwealth Avenue was built ca. 1861, designed to form a symmetrical composition with 9 Commonwealth, built at the same time.  7 Commonwealth was built as the home of Samuel Johnson, Jr., and his wife, Mary (Stoddard) Johnson, and 9 Commonwealth was built as the home of Richard C. Greenleaf and his wife, Mary (Whitney) Greenleaf.  Samuel Johnson and Richard Greenleaf were partners in the dry goods firm of C. F. Hovey & Co.

In 1860, the Johnsons had lived at 24 Pemberton Square.

Mary Johnson died in February of 1891.  Samuel Johnson continued to live at 7 Commonwealth, joined in about 1898 by his sister, Mrs. Mary (Johnson) Phelps, the widow of Rev. Austin Phelps.

Samuel Johnson died in August of 1899 in Nahant.

By 1900, 7 Commonwealth was the home of the Johnsons' son, Wolcott Howe Johnson, and his wife, Fanny (Betts) Johnson.  In 1899, they had lived at 217 Beacon Street.

Wolcott Johnson was a dry goods merchant in his father's firm.

Wolcott Johnson died in January of 1912.  Fanny Johnson continued to live at 7 Commonwealth in 1915.

William Endicott, Jr., et al, Trustees, are shown as the owners on the 1917 and 1928 Bromley maps.

The house was not listed in the 1917 Blue Book, and by 1922 it had become the home of Sullivan Warren Sturgis, a teacher in Groton, and his wife Edith (Barnes) Sturgis.  In 1920, they had lived at 336 Beacon Street (their principal residence was in Groton).

By 1923, Fanny Johnson was once again living at 7 Commonwealth, joined by her daughter, Rosamond Johnson (who continued to be listed in the 1924 Blue Book, but no longer was listed there in 1927).

Fanny Johnson continued to live at 7 Commonwealth in 1928.

By 1929, it was the home of Mrs. Mary Shreve (Ames) Frothingham, the widow of former Lt. Governor and Congressman Louis Adams Frothingham (who had died in August of 1928).  In July of 1929, she received permission to remove a section of the rear basement wall and build a one-story addition, seven feet by 14 feet, for use by her servants.

Mary Frothingham also maintained a summer home in North Easton, where her family had founded the Ames Shovel Company.

The 1938 Bromley Atlas shows Mary Frothingham as the owner of this house.

She continued to live at 7 Commonwealth in 1937, and probably until her death in 1955.

By 1956, 7 Commonwealth was owned by Fred Arata.  In May of that year, he converted the house from a single-family dwelling into a 12-unit apartment building.