9 Commonwealth Avenue

9 Commonwealth Avenue

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

In 1860, the Greenleafs had lived in Jamaica Plain.

They continued to live at 9 Commonwealth until November of 1870, but had moved to 28 Newbury Street by 1872.

In November of  1870, the Greenleafs sold 9 Commonwealth to Otis Norcross, a dealer in crockery and former Mayor of Boston, and his wife, Lucy (Lane) Norcross.

He died in September of 1882.  Lucy Norcross continued to live at 9 Commonwealth with her unmarried son, Grenville Howland Norcross, an attorney in partnership with his brother, Otis Norcross, Jr.

Lucy Norcross died in February of 1916.

Grenville Norcross continued to live at 9 Commonwealth through about 1928. In 1929, he appears to have lived elsewhere and 9 Commonwealth was the temporary home of Mrs. Anna (Clapp) Frothingham, the widow of Paul Revere Frothingham.  She was the sister-in-law of Mary Shreve (Ames) Frothingham, widow of Louis Adams Frothingham, who purchased and moved to 7 Commonwealth at about that time.

By 1930, Mrs. Frothingham no longer was listed in the Blue Book at 9 Commonwealth and it was once again the home of Grenville Norcross.

He continued to live there until his death February of 1937.

In September of 1937, the Newbury Realty Company purchased 9 Commonwealth from Thomas Hovey Gage and Delano Wight, probably the trustees of Grenville Norcross's estate.

In October of 1937, they converted the house into a 13-unit apartment building, significantly remodeling both the interior and exterior, including lowering the front entrance to sidewalk level, adding two stories, and relocating the position of the floors.

The 1938 Bromley Atlas shows the Newbury Realty Company as the owner of this building.