BOSTON AND VICINITY. 59 



a healthful condition." "The peculiar thing," says 

 Col. Theodore Lyman, his grandson, "is that my 

 grandfather, son of a poor country clergyman in Old 

 York, and compelled to work hard from boyhood, 

 should have had the tastes of a refined man of leisure 

 in a matter of landscape gardening. Considering the 

 immense difficulty of doing such a thing in those days, 

 there is nobody near Boston now who is doing as much 

 as he did." 1 



Charlestown, in the early part of this century, was 

 distinguished for its good gardens and fine fruits. 

 Here was a part of the estate of Nathan Tufts, who had 

 a fine fruit garden, now occupied by the Rev. Dr. Lam- 

 bert, Rector of St. John's Church. Another fine resi- 

 dence was that of Eben Breed, now the site of Mount 

 Vernon street, with garden, greenhouse and a small 

 orchard. Among the finest places on the peninsula 

 about the year 1800, was that of the Hon. Samuel Dexter, 

 which afterwards passed to Matthew Bridge, and H. 

 Davidson, and is now owned by Rhodes Lockwood, who 

 occupies a part of it. It had a fine garden of fruit and 

 ornamental trees, grape vines, and a greenhouse. On 

 this estate are now the handsome grounds of the Hon. 

 T. T. Sawyer and the Hon. Edward Lawrence. The 

 father of the Hon. George Washington Warren had a 

 large garden of fruit trees and plants. John Hurd, 

 and William Hurd had good gardens. Mr. James 

 Hunnewell had a fine estate, now occupied by his son, 

 our esteemed citizen, James F. Hunnewell. This estate 

 still retains its former size, with many of the original 

 trees and plants. Mr. James Hunnewell was an enter- 

 prising and intelligent merchant; and visited the Sand- 

 wich Islands three times during his life, spending several 



1 Letters of George W. Lyman .and Col. Theodore Lyman. 



