John, It is after mid-night and at my age it is difficult to think straight. The name Rejoice Newton (spelling) pops up in his deeding the cemetery land in Tatnuck (Newton Square) over to Bishop Fenwick. I have a copy of the deed. Speaking of fantasies...I have written a paper about the day that the first barge or lake boat arrived in Worcester and I have Tobey and his wife attending the ceremony. (half truth and part fiction) It is not very good but I hope to improve upon it when I have time. I will add to it and write more later. I wonder if you could find out if Tobey did build the house at 42 Green St, in Worcester. Also, the location of his burial should be easy to obtain by going to the obits on the day after he died. I noticed that the Worc. Library has a new Web site and perhaps it will be easier to research items now that they are in the new building. I will write more later. Tom Dear Tom, Newton was an attorney as was Lincoln. I wonder how much land was being traded with lawyers, or bankers, as the agents. There is the oft told tale of how the Temple St. property came to be in the hands of a Catholic, for a Church no less, only after an attempt to purchase land for that purpose was thwarted by an inquisitive Yankee. If William wasn't a Lincoln his name would have been mud for what he did to the town. What we need to look at is the purchases of these lands by Newton to see what the agents cut is. They could have been buying land to sell to anyone with the money or it could be that they were 'holding the note' in the role of lenders (privately or as agents for a bank) . My understanding of the monetary system during the Federal period is not perfect, but I have picked-up a few things during my few years at the museum. Good luck with your story. The latest incarnation of the story I want to tell is in the form of a play. Not a word written yet, but the research is fun. As for the house at 42 Green St.; you could do a search on the property at the courthouse. You might find it easier to start with a map that lists the property owners names over the parcel. The copy of the 'Boland buys from Geo. Denny et al. deed registration describes all that land southward along Green St. Does the mansion fit in that parcel? Was it already there? If yes and no, I guess you could work forward instead of back. Look for sales of property by Boland until you find when he sold that particular piece of land. If there is a house on it than it will be mentioned in the deed registration. Have you seen his will? His death certificate? His obit? The last two would say where they dumped the body. Write soon, John John I did visit the Reg. of Deeds last month and obtained book and page numbers of many of Boland' s transfers but the copy of the deeds are on microfiche. I am unable to work the rolls on the machines but will go back there soon and get help. When I was in banking we would obtain the date that Worcester's houses were built by phoning the water department to see when the water was connected. I did this and found that 42 Green St, had the water installed in 1877 (Boland was still alive at that time). I did further reseach and found that two doctors occupied the property. I knew the last doctor (Dr. Hollaran) but have been unable to tie in Boland with ownership of the house, yet time and again I read about the "Mansion" at the corner of Green and Temple streets built by Boland. Then, I find property owned by Boland listed on Jefferson St. I have what looks like a Mass card that lists Tobey as having lived at 11 Jefferson St. Written on the card is the following "Tobias Boland, I knew him well...a grand old man." The other writing on the card is difficult to read.Amen I will keep writing. Tom Dear Tom, The reels of film are very easy to use at the courthouse. I was under the impression that Boland built a house for himself and moved another building forward on the lot. This, I thought, was a lot earlier than 1877. The building could have been standing long before it got water. I went by the building today. Something old is under all that aluminum. Is that the building you mean? I would have expected Boland's mansion would have been set back from the road. Where is Jefferson St.? What year was a Tobias Boland living there? Wasn't his son was it? Anyway, we must start from a known owner of the lot, and work backwards, or forwards. One more thing... What is the story of the paper Dr. Powers tore up? J John I used the term "tore apart" meaning that he picked Fr. McGrail's paper apart. He referred to the late Fr. McGrail as a poor historian in referring to a railroad bridge over Green Street when it was not actually there at that time. But you of course referred to McGrail's piece as illusory "fantasy." He did not tear up the paper. Tom. Letter to the Editor: Your story pertaining to Monahan & Co. Ltd. Jewelers (12/26/01) was indeed interesting reading. I point out the date of 1815 in which it is reported that Jeremiah Monahan opened his first jewelry store in Worcerster, MA. Although this is perhaps a correct date, it is interesting that history buffs, such myself, always refer to the year 1826 when Tobias "Tobey" Boland and the first Irish entered Worcester with 500 workers to construct the Blackstone Canal. It seems remarkable that the Monahan family could have bucked the prejudice that prevailed in Worcester at that time against the Irish and during that same period of time open a jewelery store. I do hope that your current coverage of that period does not fall into the category of "revisionist" history reporting. Thomas [Name] Dear Tom, Careful historians are careful to qualify their "1st's" statement with "of any great number" or first Irish (or Catholic) "community." The first Scotch-Irish attempt to settle in Worcester was tolerated, until they tried to build a meetinghouse. Though they did not consider themselves "Irish," they were not the right kind of Protestant, so one night some citizens of Worcester dismantled the offending structure. Nativist sentiments certainly prevailed for a long time before the Know-nothings swept to power in the early 1850s, however, individuals (especially skilled craftsmen) posed little threat to most Yankees prior to the 1820s. I imagine more than a few would have viewed a Catholic as a curiosity, surprised they didn't have horns. In fact I have heard of native Americans (as the Yankee population referred to themselves) traveling to Worcester to see the papist celebrate Christmas Mass. Granted this was in the late 1830s, at a time when many ambivalent Yankees had grown concerned with the problems associated with immigration. Real, united, hatred would come with Irish workers taking textile mill jobs from the farmer's daughters, and the sheer numbers of them by 1850. The people of Worcester County, prior to 1820, were aware of the presence of Catholics in America through newspapers, but they didn't know how bad it was going to get. So, was it a misprint? Were they non-Catholics or living as ones? Were they the exception? I don't know. "I do hope that your current coverage of that period does not fall into the category of 'revisionist' history reporting." I didn't read the story. Did they fail to mention that Worcester was populated with bigots at the time? I hope it didn't distract from the story. Keep those grudges alive, John John Vic Stevens is the retired naval officer of "Old Ironsides" and is also a history buff. He visits the Cape and knows the Monahan Brothers who claim that their great grandfather opened the jewelry store in Worcester in 1815. Vic has made sort of a big thing out of this and asked me to write the letter to the Cape Cod Times (which I did) Jake Powers, 5 years ago, wrote a long rebuttal to Vic about the newspaper article that appeared at that time. The recent article caused Vic to go at it again and thus the letter to the editor. As you explained, they very well could have taken over an Yankee jewelry shop at that time. Page D9 of the Sunday Telegram has an interesting article by nature writer Roger Leo. He also brings out the fact that the Blackstone River "proper" begins at Mill Brook and Middle River rather than Salisbury Pond. I will have to send him an invitation to the unvailing on the 30th. Tom