6 flora brief history by Nantucket Preservation Trust

6 Flora Street NANTUCKET

A House History

Detail of William Coffin map, 1834

A Brief History 6 Flora Street

52 Orange Street at the corner of Flora Street, circa 1890

s Nantucket entered the nineteenth century, a road simply referred to as a “highway” but known today as Orange Street, extended south from Main Street through the Fish Lots and into New Town, part of the Monomoy Shares. In 1817, Franklin Swain sold a plot of land on the east side of that highway to Shubael Brown, a mariner, for $221.00. Swain, the father of eight children, soon to welcome two more, had settled on a twentyseven acre farm in Polpis. The 1834 William Coffin map of Nantucket shows a dwelling and a smaller building in back of the main house on this land, so it is reasonable to conclude that Shubael Brown built the house at 52 Orange Street between 1817 and 1834. His wife, Avis Coleman Brown, bore six children, including one set of twins, between 1807 and 1820. One of the twins, Edward, died shortly after birth, but five of the six children lived to adulthood, growing up in the house their father had built and playing in the backyard. In 1872, the heirs of Shubael Brown Sr., sold the “real, personal and mixed estate of Shubael Brown, Senior” to his son Charles F. Brown (1816–88), for $300. In 1888, his heirs sold the property to Eliza H. Brown Hussey (1838–90), a granddaughter of Shubael Brown, the only child of her parents, Shubael Brown Jr. and Lucy S. Hallett. Married to Obed L. Hussey (1838–1903), she had three children—Frederick, Obed L. Hussey, Jr., and Elisa A. Hussey (1867–1933). After Eliza H. Hussey died in 1890, her husband married Emily Coffin; they continued to reside in the family homestead at 52 Orange Street.

Sanborn Insurance Company map, 1898

However, according to the will of Eliza, her three children had a continued reversionary interest in the property. In 1892, the children granted a life-right in the homestead to their stepmother, Emily C. Hussey. In 1903, Emily C. Hussey, widow of Obed L. Hussey, sold for one dollar the upper tenement of the house at 52 Orange Street to her stepchildren, Lizzie A. Jones, whose given name was Eliza H. Hussey, and Obed L. Hussey (Frederick died in 1902.) This was the first time a deed listed the property as being “bounded Northerly by Flora Street.” The Sanborn Maps of 1887, 1892, 1898, 1904, and 1909 depict the house at 52 Orange Street with a barn along the southern property line. However, the map of 1923/1949 no longer indicates a barn, but instead shows a house along the northern edge of the property, then known as Flora Street. This structure, now 6 Flora Street, is likely the same structure that appears on the earlier Sanborn Maps. In 1931, Lizzie A. Jones transferred the property to Frank M. Jones and Lizzie A. Jones, husband and wife, both of Stoughton, and in 1933 Lizzie A. Jones died of a cerebral hemorrhage. According to newspaper accounts, in 1937 the Board of Selectmen granted Frank M. Jones Jr. permission to erect a one-car garage at 52 Orange Street. Perhaps the family converted the structure at 6 Flora Street to a dwelling at this time. In 1939, Frank M. Jones granted to his son Meader and Edith Coffin Jones, his wife, the property at 6 Flora Street, “being a part of the premises conveyed to me by deed of Lizzie A. Jones.” He also reserved for himself a life estate in the granted premises, stating, “The consideration for this deed is love and affection.”

Frank M. Jones as a boy

Frank M. Jones (b. 1866), circa 1880s

Liberty Bakery owned by the Brockway family, 79 Orange Street

In 1946, Frank M. Jones Jr. and Edith C. Jones, husband and wife, of Nantucket sold the property to Roy F. Brockway and Avis J. Brockway, husband and wife, as joint tenants with the right of survivorship, the land with the dwelling house and all buildings thereon situated on Flora Street. Avis, a descendant of Shubael Brown, the original owner of the Orange Street house, was the daughter of Lizzie A. Jones. The Brockways owned and operated the Liberty Bakery at 79 Orange Street and 68 Orange Street, selling groceries, soda, ice cream, and fresh baked goods. After they sold it in 1948, they sold jams and jellies out of their home. By 1963, an advertisement in the Inquirer and Mirror stated they were in their twelfth year of business, having made 60,000 jars of spiced cranberry sauce, beach plum jelly, beach plum jam, and rosehip jelly. The Brockways set up a real estate trust for the benefit of their daughter, Judith M. Brockway, born in 1943, arranged so the Brockways could reside on the property during their lifetime or until Judith reached the age of twenty-one. In 1968, the Brockways deeded 6 Flora Street to their daughter, Judith M. Blackshaw, reserving a life estate. In 1976, Judith recorded the deed in her new name, September Avischild Steinolfson, reserving a life estate for her mother, Avis Jones Brockway.

Ads, 1958

The property changed owners in 1998 when Steinolfson sold it to John N. Fisher Jr. and his wife, Darcey D. Fisher, of Dover, Massachusetts. In 1999, they sold it to the 6 Flora Street Realty Trust for $450,000. By 2000, the ownership had been transferred once again to beneficiaries of a trustâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; Donald L. Propstra and Robert E. Lane, both of San Francisco, California; and in 2003 the property sold to Dean A. Knight of South Harwich, Massachusetts, for $780,000. Valerie and John Stauffer, the current owners, purchased the property in 2010. npt

Flora Street from Union Street. 1940s

6 FLORA STREET: OWNERS Franklin Swain (land only) Shubael Brown, Mariner (part of property at 52 Orange) Charles Brown Eliza H. Hussey, and later with husband Obed L. Hussey and various children Lizzie A. Jones (née Hussey), and later with husband Frank M. Jones Frank M. Jones, and Edith C. Jones Roy F. Brockway and Avis J. Brockway (6 Flora Street only) Judith M. Blackshaw (a.k.a. September A. Steinolfson) John N. Fisher, Jr. and Darcey D. Fisher 6 Flora Street Realty Trust Donald L. Propstra and Robert E. Lane Dean A. Knight Valerie and John Stauffer Prepared by Christine Harding

Nantucket Preservation Trust

November 2012

Historic images courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association

Pre-1817 1817–1872 1872–1888 1888–1911 1911–1939 1939–1946 1946–1968 1968–1998 1998–1999 1999–2000 2000–2003 2003–2010 2010–

Nantucket Preservation Trust Advocates, Educates, and Celebrates the Preservation of Nantucket’s Historic Architecture

his brief history is an important contribution to the island’s architectural record. Documentation is one of the ways the Nantucket Preservation Trust celebrates the more than 2,400 historic homes, farms, and workplaces that contributed to the island’s designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1966. By providing owners of historic houses, island residents, schoolchildren, and visitors a broad spectrum of programs and projects, we encourage the preservation of irreplaceable structures, architectural features, and cultural landscapes. Lectures, walking tours, house markers, special events, and publications—including the house histories and neighborhood histories—define our unique work on Nantucket. We hope you enjoy the history of this house, its past owners, and its place in Nantucket’s remarkable architectural heritage.

nantucket preservation trust Post Office Box 158 â&#x20AC;˘ Nantucket, Massachusetts www.nantucketpreservation.org