12 Marlborough Street

12 Marlborough Street

12 Marlborough Street was built ca. 1863 as the home of Samuel Torrey Morse and his wife, Harriet Jackson (Lee) Morse.  He is shown as the owner on the 1874 Hopkins map and on the 1883 and 1888 Bromley maps.

Samuel Morse was a shipping merchant in the firm of Gray and Morse.  He had retired from business in 1862.

They appear to have been living elsewhere in 1880 and 12 Marlborough was temporarily the home of W. R. Dupee.  By 1882, however, the Morses were once again living there.

Samuel Morse died in November of 1890.  Harriet Morse continued to live at 12 Marlborough.  She also maintained a summer home in Beverly Farms.  On July 11, 1910, the barn burned and the house was damaged.  Mrs. Morse, who was an invalid by that time, was carried out of the house by the firemen.

By 1910, and probably before, Mrs. Morse had been joined at 12 Marlborough by her unmarried daughter, Frances Rollins Morse, and Miss Margaret E. Allen.

Harriet Morse died in 1911.  Miss Morse and Miss Allen continued to live at 12 Marlborough.  Frances Morse is shown as the owner on the 1917 and 1928 Bromley map.

In 1923, they were joined by Frances Morse's second cousin, Miss Marian Cabot Jackson, and Miss Jackson's niece, Miss Amy Folsom.  They had both lived at 88 Marlborough in 1922.  They continued to live at 12 Marlborough with Frances Morse and Margaret Allen in 1924, but no longer were listed there in the 1927 Blue Book (Marian Jackson had moved to 462 Beacon Street to live with her brother and sister-in-law, Charles and Frances (Appleton) Jackson).

Frances Morse died in 1928.  Margaret Allen continued to live at 12 Marlborough in 1929.  The house was not listed in the 1930 Blue Book.

By July 1930, 12 Marlborough had been acquired by dry goods merchant William Whitman, Jr., and his wife, Ruth (Loring) Whitman.  They previously had lived at 17 Commonwealth Avenue.  They also maintained a summer home in Simsbury, Connecticut.

The Whitmans remodeled the house, including replacing the rear bay window with a new, two-story bay extending across rear, supported by an extension of the party wall with 14 Marlborough.  The remodeling was designed by architect Charles G. Loring, Ruth (Loring) Whitman's brother.

The Whitmans continued to live at 12 Marlborough in 1937, and probably later. Ruth L. Whitman is shown as the owner on the 1938 Bromley map.

The Whitman family continued to own the house in 1958.  On April 16, 1958, William Whitman filed for permission to convert the house from a single-family dwelling into a single-family dwelling and clubhouse for the Junior League.  He subsequently abandoned the application.

In February of 1959, the Joseph Vincent Realty Corporation converted 12 Marlborough from a single-family dwelling into eight apartments.