90 NATURAL HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF GROTON, MASS. 



Signor Blitz, then the property of Elijah Whiton, there was neither 

 tree nor building. About the year 1836, the entire square, including 

 the ground where the railway station stands, was sold at auction. It 

 was bought by Dr. Bancroft, senior. The price was $125 or $135 

 per acre, and it was called the Lewis lot. 



There was not a tree between the entrance to Mr. Geo. D. Brig- 

 ham's place, then the property of his father, and the shop on the 

 northerly side of the Dix building, then a store kept by Benj. P. Dix. 

 The property was owned by Jonathan Loring, whose house stood near 

 where the high school building now stands. His workshop, then 

 unused, stood near to Bruce's drug store and a few feet to the south. 

 Mr. Loring and his wife were not friendly to trees. 



Turning to the north end of the street, I cannot recall the fact of 

 the existence of a single tree north of the brook between those near 

 the house of Mrs. Geo. Blood and the trees near the junction of 

 Court Street and Main Street. The house of Dr. Amos Bancroft 

 stood on what is now my lawn, and somewhere near the centre. In 

 front and within the street limits, after the alteration of the line, there 

 was a large horse-chestnut tree, and also an elm of very considerable 

 size. The elm was cut down December 2, 1859, and the horse- 

 chestnut was removed into the yard of Mr. Charles Bancroft some- 

 what later, when the grade of the sidewalk was lowered. 



The trees about my house have been set since 1850. It is my 

 impression that the trees in the yard in front of the house of Mrs. 

 Eliel Shumway were set before 1830, and by Mr. Luther Lawrence, 

 who built the house. 



In the year 1835 tne trees m tae grounds of the estate of Dr. 

 Samuel A. Green had then been recently set by his father, Dr. Joshua 

 Green. As to the tree now standing in the south-west corner of the 

 lot and near the brick store, I have a distinct recollection of a state- 

 ment which I received from Dr. Joshua Green, viz., that he brought 

 that tree to his home in his chaise. At about the same time the two 

 trees that stood in front of the Henry Woods house were set. In 

 1 84 1 they were so small that I dug around them in the hope of pro- 

 moting their growth. The fire which destroyed the house, on July 8. 

 1892, was a serious injury to the trees ; and since then they have 

 been cut down. 



The next trees were the elms in the yard of the Boynton place, now 

 owned by Mr. Charles Gerrish. The trees in the street are of later 

 origin. The next tree is the elm near the well in the corner of the 

 lawn of Mr. Bigelow, then the property of Mr. John Peabody. 



