1915 HOUSE RESTORATION
Between 1907-1913 the house remained vacant and in 1913 it was purchased by the Melrose Historical·Society. The Melrose Historical Society began to restore the house in 1914. A complete restoration took place at this time and was finished in 1915.
Before the 1915 Restoration
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After the 1915 Restoration
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Rearview of the house, circa 1915
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Textile Project
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In 2015 The Upham Family Society Textile Committee began an intensive program to document and improve the care and preservation of our textile collection. With the financial assistance of a generous donor and the guidance of a textile conservator and textile historian, we were able to inventory, catalogue and research our collection of approximately 150 objects and to store these fragile items in museum quality archival boxes. This process has allowed us to identify and document our most historically significant textiles, to prioritize their preservation, and to consider ways in which they can be integrated into exhibits and educational materials. |
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While many of the textiles in the UFS collection arrived with little or no accompanying information, some items came with notes about their provenance and significance to the house adding greatly to their importance and usefulness.
One especially interesting and poignant item is a small hand-sewn Infant’s chemise (acc. #66) made for Charlotte Allen (1837-1920) by her Mother, Lucy Shattuck Allen (1816-1907), in 1837. An inscription on a pale blue envelope (now in the Upham House archives) that accompanied the chemise states that it was “Made by Mrs. Lucy Shattuck Allen in 1837 for her 1st child / grandmother of B.C.U.” Charlotte was the first of nine children born to Lucy and Lewis Allen (1809-1863) who were married on April 5, 1836. B.C.U. is presumably Betsy Content Upham (1876-after 1941) who was the daughter of Caroline Louisa Allen (1847-1935, Charlotte’s younger sister.
Charlotte’s father, Lewis, grew up on the family farm in Oakham, Massachusetts, which had been settled by his father, Washington Allen (c. 1776- c.1863). Lewis purchased 125 additional acres of land in Oakham where he continued to farm and where he served as town selectman and was a successful and respected member of the community. This infant’s chemise was made by the newly married Lucy Allen when she was 21 years old. Made of fine lawn fabric, the sections of the garment have been hand-sewn with tiny stitches, piped seams, and fine lace edging. The garment is notable for its excellent condition suggesting that it was a treasured heirloom. Lucy went on to bear eight more children, only half of whom survived to adulthood. Charlotte Allen, the infant for whom the chemise was made, married James H. Ware (c. 1828-1857) in 1855. Ware was a plough manufacturer who died of congestion of the lungs just two years after their marriage, leaving Charlotte with two young children. According to the U.S. Census for 1860, Charlotte was living in Oakham with her daughter, Josephine M. Ware (1856- ), age 3, and son, James H. Ware, (1857-1887) age 2, along with two members of the extended Ware family. Her total personal estate was valued at $1500. We hear of Charlotte again in 1908, at the age of 71, when she married 78 year-old Albert S. Conant. Charlotte died March 8, 1920 in Grafton, MA, and was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Leicester (Worcester) close to her birth place of Barre, MA. |
The circumstances through which the chemise came to the Upham house involve Caroline Louisa Allen, Charlotte’s younger sister. Caroline Louisa married John Jesse Upham (1836-1910) of North Brookfield in 1870 and it is through this marriage to an Upham that the shirt arrived at the Upham house.
Betsy Content Upham, mentioned above, was the maternal granddaughter of Lucy Allen as stated on the blue envelope. The U. S. Census for 1930 reveals that Caroline Louisa Upham was 82 years old and living with her daughter, Betsy C. Upham, age 53, “interior decorator,“ in Holden, Worcester, Mass. Betsy Upham had probably inherited the treasured heirloom from her mother Caroline, sometime after her aunt, Charlotte’s, death in 1920. 
Notes:
1. The Upham Society collection includes a photograph of sisters Charlotte and Elizabeth Allen, c. 1855 (acc. #P14). 2. A fragment from a Sea Island cotton curtain (acc. #68) is in the Upham House textile collection. The label that accompanied the curtain reads: “a piece of sea-island cotton curtain used in the best room on the farm of Washington Allen in Oakham, Mass. about 1850. Lucy Shattuck Allen was the maternal grandmother of Betsy Content Upham.” Sea-Island cotton was a long, fine quality highly prized fiber produced in the tidewater areas of Georgia and South Carolina. 3. According to a label attached to 12 damask napkins and a tablecloth (acc. #Winsor 151), the items were “Given to Lucy Shattuck when she bought her wedding cutlery/1835/Mrs. Lewis Allen.” 4. A label that accompanies a coverlet (acc. #Winsor 152) states: “hand woven coverlet fragment from house of Mrs. Mary Brewer Ranger/Hagerstown, Maryland/ who was the aunt of John Jesse Upham/woven 1830. Given by Betsey Upham.” Betsey Upham may have been the donor of all of the material in the collection that is associated with the Allen-Upham family. |
barn RECONSTRUCTION |
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