The Early History and Federalization of the Codman House

R. CURTISCHAPIN

he story of Codman House begins with the Russell family of Charles- T town, Massachusetts, whose des- tinies both directly and indirectly have helped define the form and character of the building as we know it today. The present study traces the history of its ownership and architectural evolution from the time of original construction by the Russells shortly before 1741until the opening years of the nineteenth century. A period of some sixty-two years or more saw the immediate control of this important property move from the hands of the Russellsto the hands of John Codman, a wealthy merchant of Boston, allied to the Russells by marriage. Codman commissioned the enlargement of the Russell Mansion during a two-year period which began in March 1797 and FIG. 13. CHAMBERS RUSSELL (1713-1767), ended in the Spring of 1799,and by which a BY JOSEPHBLACKBURN (ca. 1760).(Cour- Georgian mansion was transformed into a tesy of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, photographby J. David Bohl.) Federal-style country seat. The founder of the Russell family for- tunes was Charles Chambers, a native of appears to have been the favored grand- Lincolnshire, England, described vari- child, and at thirty years of age became his ously as mariner and gentleman following grandfather’s residual legatee. This residue his arrival in the New World in 1688. included several hundred acres of land in Chambersrose to prominence by becoming that part of Concord which is now a member of the Council of the Province Lincoln.z and a Judgeof the Court of Common Pleas. Chambers Russell (fig. 13) was presum- Although a resident of Charlestown, he ably raised in Charlestown and was purchasedlarge tracts of land in Dunstable, graduated from Harvard College in the Weston, Sudbury, and in Concord, the lat- class of 1731. He was probably resident in ter purchases beginning in 1708.’ Concord by the late 1730swhen, on 21 Feb- Judge Chambers left a substantial estate at his death in 1743. The executors of his The originaltext, entitled “The Federalization will were Daniel Russell, husband of his of theCodman House,” was submittedin partial only child, Rebecca, and his grandson, fulfillfnent of the requirementsfor the degree of Master of Arts from Goddard College in 1973by Chambers Russell, their second son. Mr. Chapin, then resident overseer of the Cod- Under the terms of the will, Chambers man House. Forthcoming publication of the en- Russell, born 4 July 1713in Charlestown, tire thesis is anticipated. The Early History of the Codman House 25

ruary 1738,the inhabitants were asked “To lateral, Chambers Russell pledged the Lin- see if the Town wiU grant to Mr. Chambers coln land, house, and buildings described Russell Liberty to build a pew in the meet- as “Chambers Russell’s mansion House ing house . . . .“’ The first reference to and aU Edifices out housesBarns & Build- what is now the Codman House occurs in ings thereto belonging and two other DweU- the Concord Town Records on 2 March ing Houses on said Land and the Barns and 1741. The inhabitants on that date were Buildings to them belonging . . . .” Cham- asked “To see if the town will Discontinue bers Russell’s “large Farm,” as it is called, the way turning out of Sudbury Road a contained six hundred eighty-one acres, Little south of Billings Dam, so along by one hundred and nine rods.6 Mr. Chambers Russell home till it come Russell then sailed for England. Shortly against a heap of stonesin a valley near the after his arrival he died on 24 November house that was Joseph Daneys . . . .“4 1766, and was interred in Bunhill Fields, Prior to the death of Charles Chambers, where dissenters were buried in the a town way had been laid out running eighteenth century. His inventory, taken in through his Concord property. In 1740 the 1767, lists way was rerouted at Chambers Russell’s The Mansion house f400 request and in his presence.s In 1741Con- The Out dwelling house, Hog cord voted to discontinue the earlier way. house, Wood house, dairy, &c 100 These references, taken in conjunction The Great Barn 40 with mention in 1741of Chambers Russell’s The Granery 13:06:08 The Chaise house 13:06:08 “home” and the character of the architec- The cyder mill & house 20 tural detail, would suggestthat before, and The hen house 1 probably shortly before 1741, Chambers The Farm House & Barn over Russell had built the core of the present next to Parkes 140 A small house by the rocks 40 house on his grandfather’s Concord property which would soon be conveyed to him Chambers Russell’s real property in Lin- by will. coln was valued in excessoff 3,850. There Chambers Russell followed in his grand- were in addition sixty-two head of cattle, father’s footsteps, becoming a Judge of land in Sudbury, a farm in Charlestown, a Common Pleas and Vice Admiralty in 1747 library of over one hundred books, and six and, in 1752, a commissioned Judge of the slaves.’ Superior Court of Judicature. In 1754Judge The John Hammock mortgage, as we Russell, together with a group of Concord shall see, was to be important legally and residents, petitioned the General Court politically. Since Chambers Russell had no and succeededin having the southern sec- children he apparently bequeathed the es- tion of Concord and parts adjacent incor- tate to his nephew, Dr. Charles Russell, son porated into a separate town called Lin- of his brother Jameswho was named as one coln, traditionally so named for Charles of his executors.* The Doctor was born in Chambers’s native Lincolnshire, England. Charlestown in 1738, graduated from Har- The house and lands of Chambers Russell vard College in 1757, and studied medicine were in the newly-created town. abroad. He received his degree from the The Judge’s wife, Mary Wheelwright University of Aberdeen in 1765. Returning Russell, died childless in 1762. The to Massachusetts,he settled on the Lincoln widower remained in his Lincoln home, estate the year following his uncle’s death, and on 30 August 1766, contracted a mort- and on 2 November 1767, married Eliza- gage with John Hammock, a Boston beth Vassal1of Cambridge. The births of merchant, for f 1000lawful money. As col- 26 Old- Time New England

house apparently remained unoccupied until Chambers Russell’s brother and executor, James Russell, father of the Tory Dr. Charles, moved into it. Concurrently, on 10 December 1777, Captain Elnathan Jones was appointed agent of and required to produce an inventory for the Lincoln estate, vacated when Charles Russell ‘fled from said Town to the British Troops for Protection. . . .“9 Captain Jones, although not related to the Russells at the time of his court appoint- ment, was to become allied to the family when his nephew, John Codman III, married Margaret, the sister of Dr. Russell. Further, the document designating Captain Jones as agent listed as co-bondsmen one Samuel Henley, married to Dr. Russell’s sister Katherine, and Thomas Russell, who FIG. 14. JAMES RUSSELL (17151798), BY was his brother. JOSEPH BADGER (ca. 1755).(Courtesy of the It is not clear whether JamesRussell (fig. Colby College Museumof Art.) 14), the father of Margaret, Katherine, and Thomas, was already living on the property three daughters are recorded in Lincoln: when the required inventory of the estate Penelope in 1769, Elizabeth in 1771, and was submitted to the Court in March 1778. Catherine in 1772. His account books reveal that he paid The American Revolution destroyed the “One Years rent of the Farm from May 1778 world of Dr. Charles Russell. His known to May 1779as @agreement w’h Cap’ Jones Tory views probably made him unpopular f100.” An entry in yet another account in Lincoln. When the War broke out, he book indicates that James Russell con- fled to British-occupied Boston with his tinued renting the farm until April 1783. wife and young daughters. There, accord- The total rental paid for the five years was ing to tradition, he joined his wife’s par- two hundred pounds,lOand throughout this ents, the Vassalls, whose confiscated period of the Revolution James Russell property in Cambridge was to become paid county, state, and local taxes on the General George Washington’s military property. headquarters, now the Longfellow House. During what must have been a time of On or before Evacuation Day, 17 March personal anguish, James Russell’s affec- 1776, following the Battle of Dorchester tion for his son in Antigua nevertheless Heights, Dr. Russell and his wife Elizabeth, remained strong. On 26 January 1780, he together with their three children, joined wrote from Boston: the flight of the Vassallsto their plantation in Antigua, British West Indies. Dear Charles it is sometime since we heard from you Upon leaving Lincoln, Dr. Russell is said by the Last act’-’ we heard of your recov- to have exchanged residences with the ery wh gave us Great Pleasureand I Pray Boston merchant, Henderson Inches, and God to preserve you and your Family in Health and hope we shall have an oppor- indeed, the baptism of a daughter of Mr. tunity of meeting togather as I think the Inches in 1775 is on record in Lincoln. Prayers of every Good man must be to When the Inches returned to Boston, the have Peace the uncertainty of Letters The Early History of the Codman House 27

Coming to Hand prevents my being Par- Chambers Russell’s estate the mortgage ticular I have wrote you Several Let- which had been contracted with John ters wchhope you have ret . . . it allways gives me pleasure to Hear of your kind- Hammock of Boston on 30 August 1766, ness to Prisoners Our Family in Gen- and on which annual interest payments of eral are Pretty Well and all Join wfh me in f60 had sc~pulously been made between Love to you your Wife & Children wth 1767 and 1773 to Hammock and later an Complements to Mrs. Vassal. . . .I1 assignee named Joshua Richardson. In Any possible reunion was prevented when 1774, however, James Russell suddenly Dr. Charles Russell fell mortally ill in May stoppedmaking payments.15It was an un- of 1780 and died in Antigua. nerving year in the Boston area. The Bos- Dr. Russell had executed a will which ton Tea Party had taken place. The port of was filed in New England and in which he Boston was closed. General Gage, with directed simply that everything he owned new quartering acts and troop reinforce- be left to his wife, Elizabeth Vassal1Rus- ments, was in control. Boston and the sur- se1l.*2The appraisalof the estate, following rounding countryside were under martial the Russells’ flight into Boston, had been law. Russell’s motives in discontinuing the taken on 12 March 1778, and listed: mortgagepayments are not recorded. Cer- tain it is that Dr. Charles Russell sub- The Mantion House with the sequently fled to Antigua; the Lincoln es- front yard f600.0.0 tate was eyed for confiscation in 1777;and The Farm House 80.0.0 The Pothecary Shop 30.0.0 James Russell became a tenant and began The great Barn with paying its taxes the following year. With the the Shed adjoining 100.0.0 spectreof confiscation before him, Russell The Corn Ho&e or-Granary 15.0.0 apparently came to view the mortgage as The Shav House & Stable 12.0.0 Likewise the Mill House 150.0” useful in proving that a loyal American, JoshuaRichardson, had a large lien against The total extent of the real property was the estate. This lien prevented sale of the about 440 acres. Dr. Russell had apparently property by the newly-formed govern- managed to take all the more valuable fur- ment. If JamesRussell had paid the interest niture, clothes, and silver, leaving behind throughout the War, Tory Dr. Charles Rus- less important furnishings, together with sell would have had clear title. the livestock, farming equipment, kitchen On 3 September 1783, the final peace utensils, and apothecary supplies. treaties between the former colonies and To whatever degree the patriotic mem- Great Britain were signed, and within the bers of the Russell family conspiredto keep week Joshua Richardson received in one the Lincoln property in their own hands, it lump sum the principal of one thousand is clear that they hit upon the perfect legal pounds, plus ten years and some odd days maneuver, which readily emergesfrom the of annual interest at f 60 a year.16Payment records when we find the rents credited in full was made by Chambers Russell II, and the purchaseof equipment for the farm son of James Russell and brother of Dr. together with repairs to the buildings Charles. James Russell thus succeededin charged to the “Estate of Chambers Rus- preserving the Lincoln property for his sell Esq, deceased.“14 With the seeming brother’s namesake. complicity of Captain Jones, executor Chambers Russell II, merchant, was James Russell effectively disavowed that born in Charlestown in 1755,and appearsin his Loyalist son, Dr. Charles Russell, had Lincoln as early as 1787. On April second owned the property from 1766 to 1776. of that year he received nine votes at town To bolster this claim, James Russell meeting for the post of Lincoln Town chose to interpret as a serious lien upon Councillor. He lost, but this proved to be a 28 Old- Time New England

Chambers Russell II had charged Cod- man and Dexter with the responsibility of executing the terms of the will, including the payment of legacies and annuities to several heirs. Charles Russell Codman, son of executor John Codman, would become residuary legatee upon the death of his grandfather, James Russell. It was not intended that John Codman receive any ben- efits, but simply that he act as co-executor for his late brother-in-law. His obligations were to serve the interests of the intended beneficiaries-some of whom were his own children. John Codman’s administration of the estate of Chambers Russell II began in April of 1790. The first entry indicates that he purchased locks and glass for the Lincoln FIG. 15. JOHN CODMAN III (17%1803), BY property, presumably for repairs and JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY (ca. 1800).(Pri- safety.i9 In March 1791William Bond began vate collection, photograph by J. David Bohl.) shipping building supplies to the farm to build a barn on the property, presumably with the consent of Samuel Dexter, Jr. momentary political setback. He was Supplies were received from April through elected Moderator at the 14 May 1788town November of 1791. In February of 1792 meeting. On 1 April 1789, following in the Codman paid Bond E45 for construction of footsteps of his uncle and namesake, the barn, with an additional f 18allowed for Chambers Russell, he was elected to repre- extra work. William Bond was also paid sent Lincoln at the General Court.i7 f130.12.8 that month for “Sundry days Chambers Russell II died without wife or work on the Mansion House and other direct heirs in Charleston, South Carolina, buildings & for Sundry articles Supplied in 1790, naming his brother-in-law, John tp him.“20 Codman III (fig. 15)and Samuel Dexter, Jr., No work was performed on the Lincoln executors of his estate.‘* Beginning with property during 1793. This was the year in the death of Chambers Russell II in 1790 which the estate paid a large amount in and through the period of transformation of legacies which created a serious deficit. It the Russell Mansion in 1797-1798until his would seem that the logical thing for Cod- own death in 1803, John Codman’s formal man to have done as executor would have relationship to the property was that of been to sell the Lincoln farm with its im- co-executor of the estate of his late provements. The money obtained from its brother-in-law. Codman’s detailed ac- sale could have then provided funds to sup- counts as executor and other family papers port the annuities required under the terms provide a picture of the nature and devel- of Chambers Russell II’s will and its opment of his intentions and plans for the codicils. Lincoln property at a time when the finan- John Codman took no such course of cial conditions of Chambers Russell II’s action. In July of 1794, Isaac Goodenough estate clearly indicated that the Lincoln was installed as farm manager. Goode- property ought to have been sold, as urged nough’s accounts indicate that thirty dif- by Samuel Dexter, Jr., co-executor. ferent people were hired at various times The Early History of the Codman House 29

between 24 July and 31 December of 1794. Dexter, Jr., that Chambers Russell II’s f116.10.10 were expended on the farm’s estate was in serious financial trouble. operations during this five-month period, Dexter had written to Codman from clearly a serious venture for John Cod- Charlestown in December 1797 suggesting man.*’ Isaac Goodenough maintained the Lincoln property be sold. He had en- sheepand cattle in pasturesin Lincoln and dorsed various property improvements, he Princeton, Massachusetts,and in Temple, wrote, as he felt that they were a security New Hampshire. Income was produced against the “loss to the [Russell] Estate through the sale of apple cider, livestock, from delay,” and realized that the Russell and timber. Financially, the venture only family would not be happy at the thought of broke even in the next three years, and selling the property. However, he enclosed beginning in November 1795,John Codman a copy of an advertisement for sale of the began to meet extensive financial obliga- farm which he directed Codman to place tions dictated by Chambers Russell II’s will immediate1y.23 out of his own personal resources. Codman’s reply to Dexter’s letter is the John Codman’s decision to enlarge the only direct statement found in which he Russell Mansion was not that of an recorded his thoughts about the Russell executor attempting to improve the sale will and its codicils and the estate’s sorry value of the house and thereby improve the financial state. Codman emphasized that financial condition of the estate. The rea- Chambers Russell II’s sisters, Sarah and son was seemingly personal ambition and Mary, would be made very unhappy by the family pride. Control over the Russell sale of the Lincoln property, and this fact Mansion, however tenuous, provided an had prevented him from selling it. He also unequaled opportunity worthy of any risk statedthat he would want to be reimbursed involved. In addition to owning an elegant for all the improvements he had made per- townhouse, John Codman would possessa sonally should the estate be sold. He wrote country seat complete with a mansion further that in assuring the property for house in the latest mode, and a working “one of my sons of the Russell connec- farm. Codman’s efforts commenced in the tion” he would make proper disposition of spring of 1794, when he began operation of his own estate “as will securethis object & the farm. Extensive alterations occurred . . . [thus] effectually discharge the on the Mansion from 1797to 1799. His am- executors of the will of Mr Chambers bition, fully realized, is reflected in Mrs. RusseU.“24 Christopher Gore’s comment in 1800 that The most enlightening aspect of John the Lincoln estate “is the handsomest Codman’s letter is that he wished the estate place in America. . . .“** to remain in the family. This suggeststhat Nearly all legacies required by Cham- the motive behind the extensive architec- bers Russell II’s wiU and its codicils had tural changes was not so much a hedge to been paid by February 1798, although this secure the property against a loss due to caused a permanent deficit in the Russell delay in selling it as Dexter assumed had estate accounts. From November 1795 been the case for previous improvements, until his administrative accounts end in but to create a country seat for his family 1801,John Codman personally paid all the and heirs. annuities which Chambers Russell II had At his death in 1803 John Codman be- established. By August of 1798he had also queathed the “large farm and estate in Lin- invested over $15,000 of his own money in coln” together with additional land he had the Lincoln property. purchased, the livestock and farming uten- However, John Codman was not the sils and “the furniture Liquors books and legal owner, and it was clear to Samuel moveables in said house in Lincoln” to his 30 Old- Time New England

son, Charles Russell Codman, the original The third story of the main section of the residual legatee of Chambers Russell II, house was also an addition, as proven by subject to the express condition “that he the existence of rafter feet mortises in the release my estate & and [sic] the Executors second-storyend girts of what had been the of his said Uncle from all claims & demands Russell mansion. Structural evidence indi- whatsoever touching his said Uncles will cates further that the original house had a and Estate, that he also give bond with pitched roof running east to west, removed good security to pay and satisfy any when the third story was added to the legaciesor annuities that are or may be due enlarged, square house. John Codman’s from his said Uncles estate, so that my Federal-period additions included the land- estate be wholly dischargedfrom aU claims ing in the front entry, bisected in an east concerning said Uncles Will and Estate.“2s and west direction by an arch. This arch coincides with the junction of the Georgian Russell Mansion and the Federal additions, and a projecting discrepancy in the plane of In order to understand John Codman’s the west wall is caused by differing room extensive changesto the Russell Mansion, sizes, varying wall thicknesses, and fram- it is necessary to define the dimensions of ing problems at this point where the new the house built by the first Chambers Rus- work was grafted onto the old. Elsewhere seU shortly before 1741.The original struc- the incorporation of the older structure into ture was at least fifty-six years old when a newer one was so skillfully accomplished the work of transformation began in 1797. that the exterior of the Codman House At that time, the estate consisted of 360 offers not the slightest clue that it was not acres. The Russell Mansion itself, appar- built all at the same time. ently L-shaped, comprised a ground floor Over one hundred bills in the Codman with three large rooms, two parlors at the family papers relate to the alteration of the front and a kitchen wing to the right. The Russell Mansion. These bills reveal that ceilings in both stories were twelve feet there were at least thirty-five workmen on high-a scale which hardly conforms to the the job using over sixty categories of usual farmhouse of the period. supplies during the major part of the build- Elements of the Russell Mansion exist ing campaign, which began in March 1797 within the walls of the Codman House to- and extended through early August 1798. day, including, importantly, the paneled The final touches continued to be applied fireplace wall in the front right-hand parlor to the mansion, now called the “Codman (fig. 16), and brick waU fill and original House,” through May 1799. clapboardswalled up between the front and Housewrights, bricklayers, stone ma- rear left-hand chambers. This is definitive sons, painters, plasterers, glaziers, and evidence that the north wall of the front local yeomen worked at the site, while in left-hand chamber was once an exterior Boston, wood-carvers and turners and wall of the Russell Mansion, and that John stonecutters made wooden trim, columns Codman’s “Hall” and chamber above are and column capitals, hearthstones and additions to the earlier structure. The clap- steps, which, when finished, were carted boards have feathered ends and measure to Lincoln and installed by the other roughly six inches in width with four inches workmen. exposed to the weather. They appear to Thirty of the thirty-five workmen at the have been painted white at one time, al- construction site worked in crews and the though particles of yellow pigment can be other five worked independently. Charles identified through analysis. Clement’s carpentry crew was, by far, the FIG. 16. FIREPLACE WALL, SOUTHEAST PARLOR, CODMAN HOUSE (ca. 1741). (Photograph by J.N. Pearlman.)

W CI 32 Old- Time New England

most complex. Its nineteen members rep- the construction site to supervisethe work. resentedfive levels of skill. They were both His eldest son, Charles Clement, emerges Lincoln yeomen and professional Boston as the leader of the carpentry crew. AU the housewrights. Some men possessedhighly members submitted their bills to him and he technical knowledge and others performed was among those most at the site. simple manual labor. Very little is known of Charles’s profes- Thomas Hunstable’s stone masonry and sional life. He was thirty years old in 1797, bricklaying crew was probably comprised and was listed in the Boston directories for totally of men from the Lincoln area, and, the first time as a housewright on South in contrast to Clement’s crew, did not work Street in 1803. Presumably he received his the full length of the major building period. training in the trade from his father. It is They began their work in April 1797 unlikely that he was capable of undertaking and completed it five months later in the plan for the enlargements, which leads September 1797. us to ask whether another man, an ar- Robert Cutting’s paint crew was also chitect, could have designed the Federal- locally obtained. Robert Cutting and his style changes to the Russell Mansion. A “boy,” William Curtis, were from East master hand is apparent in its transfonna- Sudbury, the town adjacent to Lincoln on tion. Greater skills than those of a car- the south. There were three other crew penter or housewright could be argued. members. As with Clement’s carpentry Speculation leads to the conclusion that it crew, Cutting’s crew worked throughout was perhaps Charles Bulfinch who de- the major part of the building effort from signed Codman’s additions. June 1797 through July 1798. In Boston of the 1790sit is virtually cer- Without exception, all five of the men tain that John Codman was fully aware of who worked as independent workmen on Charles Bulfinch’s capabilities. The Cod- the site were highly skilled. The painter, man papers reveal that John Codman had Daniel Rea, the bricklayer and plasterer, various relationships with at least twenty- Benjamin Richardson, Jr., the house- three Bostonians who had Bulfinch- wright, Thomas Clement, and the glazier designed houses, or had sponsored and plumber, Norton Brailsford, had all Bulfinch-designed projects, including worked for John Codman prior to the en- JosephBarrell, JosephCoolidge, Sr., Elias largement of the Russell Mansion. The Hasket Derby, John Joy, Henry Knox, well-known ornamental plasterer, Daniel Harrison Gray Otis, and James Swan. In Raynerd, apparently performed his ser- addition, at least five skilled artisans had vices for Codman for the first and only worked both for John Codman and Charles time. Bulfinch within a span of a few years. Thomas Clement, the Boston house- Among these artisans were John and Sim- wright, had worked on so many of John eon Skillin and Daniel Raynerd. The SkiI- Codman’s projects prior to the Russell lins had carved columns, medallions, and Mansion that he might almost be called molded decorations for Bulfinch’s Boston Codman’s “company carpenter.” How- Theater, as weU as the Corinthian capitals ever, his contributions to the enlargement for the MassachusettsState House. Their of the mansion, as they are documented by association with John Codman began as the biis, appear to have been limited to the early as 1790when they carved a “Dragon construction of doors and windows, the Knee” for one of his ships, and continued purchase of wood for the “carpentry at least through 16 December 1797 when crew,” and the construction of the coach they billed him for “Ionick” capitals for house addition. There is little evidence to columns and pilasters (presumably for the indicate that he was much in evidence at portico of the Russell Mansion).26 The Early History of the Codman House 33

Daniel Raynerd was Bulfinch’s “princi- The alterations commenced in March pal ornamental plasterer.“*’ It is clear from 1797 when the first members of Charles the documents that he performed some Clement’s carpentry crew began carting work on the house during the late 1790’s, building supplies to the construction site. and well-identified fragments salvaged The period extending through August 1798 from the dining room by the family at the has been designatedthe “major campaign” time its trim was altered by Sturgis in the inasmuch as most of the construction was mid-nineteenth century are certainly in the done during thoseeighteen months. Finish- character and style of Raynerd, including ing touches were still being applied in lion’s head motifs, a popular Raynerd 1799-a lock on the wine cellar in January, device (fig. 17). and gravel, probably for the walks, carted Importantly, the Codman papers reveal a to Lincoln in February. Codman’s gardener documented exchange of credit between arrived at the estate in May. The overall the merchant and the Boston architect. The duration of the conversion of the Russell entry appears on one of three account Mansion to the Codman House was sheets headed “Notes Receivable” which twenty-six months.29 show payments of loans made by Codman to others over the years 1791 to 1796. Charles Bulfinch was apparently repaying John Codman for a line of previously extended credit in the amount of $300. In effect, John Codman apparently paid a debt for Bulfinch who then owed the money to Codman and no longer to the third party. This sum was returned to John Codman on 13 October 1795, by Charles Bulfinch.28 If John Codman had decided to alter the Russell Mansion as early as 1795,it is possible that Charles Bulfinch was commissioned to draw a fashionable and elegant plan for its transformation and was paid three hundred dollars, not in cash, but by cancellation of a debt. On the other hand, there is little evidence that Bulfinch was involved in any of John Codman’s building ventures during the 179Os,and no evidence that he had a hand in the design of John Codman’s new Boston town house, whose construction was under way at the time of Codman’s death in May of 1803. If, however, the attribution of the present Codman House is correct, this structure, though altered later in the FIG. 17. PILASTER FROM DINING ROOM, nineteenth century, then becomes the only CODMAN HOUSE (1797-1798).Detail of pilas- remaining example of a Bulfinch-designed ter with plaster decoration, removed in 1862. wooden house, and the only remaining (SPNEA, photographby J. David Bohl.) example of a Bulfinch-designed country seat. 34 Old- Time New England

Digging the cellars for the additions to Chimney and fireplace construction the Russell Mansion preceded other work proceeded simultaneously. Five pairs of on the site. Isaac Goodenough’s charge of jambstones and mantelpieces were ready $34 for “diging a seller,” dated 15 June by 6 September 1797. Either Hunstable’s 1797, is assumed to have been for cellars crew installed them before they stopped underneath the future “Hall” and the work the following week, or else the kitchen ell. Concord bricklayer Thomas bricklayer, Benjamin Richardson, Jr., put Hunstable began work with his assistant, them in later in the fall. Another mantel- Amoriah Shattuck, in May 1797. He hued piece and three stone hearths were ready two assistants as weU for the first two by 2 November 1797,and Richardson must months of his work in May and June 1797. have been responsiblefor their installation. Bricks began arriving at the Lincoln con- The exterior of the Codman House was struction site in May 1797and their arrival completed, exclusive of decoration, by continued through August 1797when more mid-December 1797. This is indicated by bricks were received than during any other the pattern of workdays of Charles Cle- month of construction. Hunstable’s crew ment’s carpentry crew, of Thomas Hunsta- abruptly stopped work after the second ble’s stone masonry and bricklaying crew, week of September 1797. and of Benjamin Richardson, Jr., brick- Their work had peaked in coincidence layer and plasterer. Thomas Clement’s with that of Charles Clement’s crew. The doors and windows for the main house and one construction project in which both kitchen eU, including outside doors, were carpentry and bricklaying crews would all finished by August 1797. Norton have been jointly interested was the build- Brailsford’s bill for setting glass extends ing and noggingof the exterior walls of the from 28 July 1797 to 7 February 1798, with additions. As Clement’s crew constructed heavy activity early in that period, and in- these walls, Hunstable’s masonry crew fol- deed, Daniel Rea had primed most of the lowed and nogged them. In order to keep windows by August 10. up with Clement’s crew, Hunstable had Robert Cutting’s paint crew did not hired two additional laborers. begin work until the tag end of June 1797, Initial work on the frame itself in the and continued through the end of the year spring and summer of 1797 must have in- on an average of about fifteen days per cluded taking off the roof of the two-story month. Their heaviest use of raw oil was Russell House, taking out windows, and between June and September 1797. Other removing some walls and doors. The major supplies used by the paint crew in 1797 framing of the Codman House additions were limited to putty, white lead, lamp would have occurred in the summer and fall black, and Spanish brown. Blue pigment of 1797, including the “Hall” and its appeared in the final week of December chamber, the third floor and roof, two- 1797. Interior painting may have started story kitchen ell, and application of ex- then, or early in 1798 when the crew’s terior sheathing so that clapboards and workdays dramatically increased over the shingles could have been put up to protect preceding three months, and at which time the housethrough the winter. Bills for these Rea billed for “Cleaning & Mending Paint” two items ‘were submitted late in June. in the older, unaltered “Front Parlour.” Windows and outside doors would neces- Construction of the north half of the front sarily have been installed as well. After the staircasefrom the first floor to the second- major framing and sheathing of the house floor landing must have been completed by were completed, carpenters could con- September 1797, when Daniel Rea billed tinue work on the floors, interior partitions Codman for painting the “Walls of Great and doors, and the staircase. Entry, green 80 Y.*~” and “two Flights of The Early History of the Codman House 35

FIG. 18. MANTELPIECE. “HALL” OR DRAWING ROOM, CODMAN HOUSE (1797-1798). (SPNEA, photographby J. David Bohl.)

Stairs & two of Banisters,” a somewhat January 1798. The “2 Collums for Chim- confusing entry, for John Howe and Son ney,” believed to be those of the “Hall” did not bill for the stairposts or balusters mantelpiece, were not ready until 12 June until 18 December 1797.Nor were the stair- 1798 (fig. 18). posts for the backstairs in the kitchen ell Benjamin Richardson, Jr., also con- ready until 19 January 1798. tinued working through the winter, al- After mid-December 1797 there were though his workdays per month dropped never more than five men in Charles Cle- off radically in December 1797and did not ment’s carpentry crew working at one rise substantially until April 1798 when time. Supplies available to those men dur- there were large shipments of lime, hair, ing the winter months, after the mansion and bricks. It is assumed that during the was enclosed and at least partially heated, intervening months he continued the plas- included lath, clearboard, and plank. These tering he had begun earlier in the fall, to- winter months would have been spent con- gether with work on the chimneys and structingfloors, making door cases,install- fireplaces. Daniel Raynerd’s first visit to ing interior doors, preparing walls and ceil- Lincoln occurred in July 1798, at which ings for plastering, and making moldings, time the ornamental plasterwork in the din- paneling and wainscoting to be applied at ing room may have been executed. Or this once or later on. The beaded trim destined work may have been delayed until the time perhapsfor the dado molding of the “Hall” of Raynerd’s secondvisit in May 1799when was billed by John Howe and Son in his labor and that of an assistantwere billed 36 Old- Time New England

touches in late June and early July 1798. Similarly, stone stepswere not cut by John Homer and Son until June 1798. The existing stone plinths at the basesof the exterior pilasters decorating the faceted bay at the west end of the house were also not ready until June. Cutting’s paint crew put in three times as many workdays in June 1798as during any other month, and their use of oil and lead more than doubled over any previous month. All of the spruce yellow was deliv- ered the first week of June, and it is tempt- ing to suggest that this was the original exterior color of the Codman House, as indeed the Codman family always believed (see Emmet, this issue). The large number of workdays in June reflects warm weather, making the exterior painting possible. Exterior window blinds had apparently been completed in advance, for Daniel Rea billed for the priming in August 1797of twenty-eight pair of large “Shades” and sixteen pair “Smaller” for the “Main House.” The total cost to John Codman of the FIG. 19. PORTICO, CODMAN HOUSE transformation of the Russell Mansion was (1797-1798).Detail of ionic capital carved by John and Simeon Skillin. (SPNEA, photograph a little over $9,000.00. Labor represented by J. David Bohl.) 57 percent of the overah cost, and materials 43 percent. The greatest expense was for to Codman, together with supplies which the personnel of Charles Clement’s carpen- included mineral green and Prussian blue try crew. The breakdown by categories pigments, indigo, “Paris Whiting,” and shows that carpentry accounted for 60 per- glue. cent of the total cost; stone masonry, The porticos at the north and south ends bricklaying, and plastering followed at less of the “Great Entry” were not added ap- than half that percentage,23 percent, while parently until the spring of 1798 (fig. 19). painting represented another 13.5 percent, While the “Ionick” capitals and pilaster and glass-settingand plumbing the remain- caps carved by the Skillins for the front ing 3.5 percent. portico were completed by 16 December The Russell Mansion did not stand alone, 1797, and the single column turned by John but was the center of a number of farm Howe and Son was ready in January 1798, buildings. It was the country squire’s house the other two portico columns were not presiding over an operating farm known in ready until 12 June 1798.The single column Lincoln as the “Russell Farm.” As early as was destined for the north portico where 1767, as we have seen, the property com- the west wall of the kitchen ell would have prised the mansion house, an “Out dwel- eliminated the need for a pair. ling house,” hog house, wood house, dairy, ’ ’ The porticos and other exterior decora- “Great Barn,” granary, chaise house, tions, such as cornerboards and modillion “cyder mill & house,” hen house, “Farm cornice, were probably installed as final House 8z Barn over next to Parkes,” and a The Early History of the Codman House 37

“small house by the rocks.“30 Ten years dining room woodwork; and, of course, later, Captain Elnathan Jones’s inventory those earlier portions of the Russell Man- of the “Russell Farm” fails to mention sion which John Codman left untouched, some of the earlier outbuildings. The including the first-floor southeast room “Farm House,” however, together with with its superb Georgian paneling (fig. 16). the granary, chaise house, and “Mill The front staircase was doubled in size House” were intact, while the “Great towards the north, the southern half having Barn” had a shedadjoining, and there were been the front staircase for the Russell in addition a stable and a “Pothecary Mansion. The newer, Federal-period stair- Shop.“ 31 John Codman added to the inven- case meets the Russell staircaseon the first tory of buildings on the “Russell Farm” in landing, where a resultant wall and molding 1791-1792when he commissioned William discrepancy is maskedby an arch. The new Bond to build a new barn. Codman may stair addition proceeds up to the second also have built a new stable at about the floor, and then up to a second landing, same time. midway between the second and third The wealthy Boston merchant’s creation floors of the mansion. Finally, two flights of a country seat in Lincoln, nearly twenty ascendnorth and south from this mid-floor miles west of the port city, was not a matter landing to the third floor. They repeat the of imposing civilized elegance on rampant pattern of the stair flights ascending from rustic wilderness. John Codman’s trans- the first landing directly below them. formation of the Russell Mansion, and pos- The appearance of the exterior in 1800 sibly also of associatedoutbuildings, was in has been conjectured by the architect, the nature of improvement upon elegance Ogden Codman, Jr., in a series of eleva- already at least fifty-six years in existence. tions of the house, and these elevations are Samuel Dexter, Jr., co-executor with Cod- representative, with few exceptions, of man of Chambers Russell II’s will, wrote in what can be determined from the docu- his advertisement for this “Valuable Coun- ments (figs. 20-23). The architect, for try Seat” that “the elegance of the situa- example, showsan archedfanlight over the tion is so well known that on that subject kitchen ell side door, presumably the single nothing need be said.“s2 Codman’s work “Arch Sash for the door” which Thomas on the Russell Mansion involved additions Clement made and billed to John Codman to the earlier structure which more than in August 1797.33It seemsmore reasonable doubled its size. These changes were ac- to suppose, however, that the arched fan- complished in such a skillful manner that light was placed over the north or entry hardly any interior, and no exterior, evi- door into the central hallway, while the dence has been found which showsthat the kitchen ell doorway was finished instead Codman House was not all built at one with a plain transom which had five lights time, according to one plan. measuring nine by twelve inches each. There have been many later changes in Further, Thomas Clement’s bill for the the fabric of the house as subsequent arti- front door case, dated only very generally cles in this issue will testify. In an effort to to the year 1797, specified “sides window visualize the building as it emerged freshly frames & Sashes, 6 lights each. . . .“34 from the hands of John Codman’s laborers Ogden Codman, Jr.‘s elevation shows only we have the existing work of 1797-1798 four panes of glassin each of the side lights. where it has survived in the present house, These had been altered, however, probably for example in the first floor, northwest by John Hubbard Sturgis in the 186Os,and room or “Hall,” and in the simpler third- Codman was apparently unaware of Cle- story rooms; elements removed by the fam- ment’s bill. ily during later renovations and saved, in- No bills for quoins or cornerboards have cluding fragments of the Federal-period been found among the building accounts. 38 Old- Time New England

FIG. 20. SOUTH ELEVATION OF “THE GRANGE,” CONJECTURAL DRAWING BY OGDEN CODMAN, JR. (ca. 1900).(SPNEA, Codman Collection of Architectural Drawings.)

FIG. 21. EAST ELEVATION OF “THE GRANGE,” CONJECTURAL DRAWING BY OGDEN CODMAN, JR. (ca. 1900).(SPNEA, Codman Collection of Architectural Drawings.) The Early History of the Codman House 39

FIG. 22. NORTH ELEVATION OF “THE GRANGE,” CONJECTURAL DRAWING BY OGDEN CODMAN, JR. (ca. 1900).(SPNEA, Codman Collection of Architectural Drawings.)

FIG. 23. WEST ELEVATION OF ” THE GRANGE,” CONJECTURAL DRAWING BY OGDEN CODMAN, JR. (ca. 1900).(SPNEA, Codman Collection of Architectural Drawings.) 40 Old- Time New England

Carpentry bills for some of John Codman’s a Grandpianowith extra Keys 68.5 - other buildings do include chargesfor these Set Strings Tuning fork & hammer I5 - items, and Ogden Codman, Jr.‘s inclusion . . . of comerboards on the mansion in his Packing Case 1.10 - drawing is not an unreasonable supposi- New Music [no charge13’ tion. The quoins were presumably the work of Sturgis. The modillion cornice sur- The “[back] Parlour,” or present dining rounding the top of the house is original, room, featured not one, but three dining although again, there is no bill specifically tables, a large one valued at eight dollars mentioning it. and two smaller ones valued together at The fenestration of the mansion-in 1800 seven dollars. There were eleven chairs. In was similar to its fenestration today. Gen- contrast to the “Hall,” the dining room’s erally, it called for the placement of floor was covered with a carpet instead of Thomas Clement’s thirty-one window straw matting, and only a looking glass frames for twelve-light sashon the first two hung on its walls. The closet in this room, stories of the main house, his nineteen appropriately enough, contained table- windows for six-light sash on the third ware-china, glass, and silver. story, his four windows of eighteen-light The “Southwest Room” was not lacking sash in the faceted west end of the north- in taste, for it had three paintings decorat- west room or “Hall,” and his nine win- ing its walls. This front parlor functioned dows with twenty-four light sashin the two also apparently as a game room in John stories of the kitchen ell. The two attic Codman’s time as it was furnished in addi- dormer windows were probably put in the tion to one large dining table with a card north roof hip, where they are today.3s table and a backgammon board. Its closet Ogden Codman, Jr’s elevations accurately held a dozen wine glasses, ten decanters, depict this fenestration scheme. and a tea set. The inventory of John Codman’s estate The “Southeast Room” with its paneling in 1803provides a detailed visual glimpse of of the Russell period, was decorated quite the house as furnished following its trans- elegantly. Four paintings hung upon its formation (see Appendix).36 The most walls and a carpet covered the floor. There elaborately furnished rooms were the was a “sofa with covering” and eight “Hall,” the bed chamber above it, and the chairs in this room, together with “2 “Southeast Room” (figs. 24-25). The french pieces of furniture with marble “Hall,” now the drawing room, still con- tops” and two “Spy Glasses.” tains numerous paintings, chairs, and On the secondfloor, the “Hall” chamber flower vases as it did over a century and a contained the best bed and furnishings, to- half ago. Likewise, the floor is still covered gether with a carpet. Aside from the with straw matting though the original mat- kitchen chamber the rest had straw carting has been replaced at least once during pets. AU the second story chambers, in- the interim. The Federal-period room pos- cluding the kitchen chamber, had a com- sessedsomething missing from the present plete bed with its furniture, a “Toilet table” room-a pianoforte, perhaps the same in- or a bureau or a “Wash Stand” with “Wash strument which the London firm of bowl & Pitcher” and chairs. The chamber Longman and Broderip shippedto Codman over the “back Parlour” had as many as “8 on 1 March 1798. Cane chairs.” The Early History of the Codman House 41 42 Old- Time New England The Early History of the Codman House 43

John Codman must have felt that he had substantially improved upon the elegance of the “Russell Farm” by his Federal’iza- tion of the mansion house. He took obvious pride in Mrs. Christopher Gore’s comment in 1800that she felt Lincoln was “the handsomest place in America,” but his mind continued to dwell upon embellishments. He wrote his wife on 18 July 1800 from London, “Mrs. Gore and myself have planning improvements at Lincoln . . . . I like her plan that the foreyard should be thrown down into a lawn that carriages may drive to the front door. The House should be hid from sight from the road by trees, and the Barn from the House.“39 If John Codman had any additional plans or grand designs for the Codman House, they went with him to the grave in May of 1803. -0 generations of RusseUshad controlled the destiny of the Lincoln estate, FJG. 26. THIRD-FLOOR PLAN OF “THE and four generations of Codmans have seen GRANGE,” BY OGDEN CODMAN, JR. (ca. its further growth and development. Both 1900).(SPNEA, CodmanCollection of Architec- RusseUs and Codmans would have dis- tural Drawings.) agreed with Henry David Thoreau in his While three of the four third-story bed- Walden essay: rooms (fig. 26) had straw carpets, they Grow wild according to thy nature, like were furnished on the whole much less ex- these sedgesand brakes, which will never pensively than were the bedrooms below. become English hay. Let the thunder The bed sets were less costly and rumble; what ifit threaten to ruin farmers’ supplemented by fewer chairs, tables, and crops?that is not its errand to thee. Take shelter under the cloud, while they flee to bureaus. carts and sheds. Let not to get a living be The only furnishings in the Codman thy trade, but thy sport. Enjoy the land, House kitchen in 1803, aside from cooking but own it not.40 utensils, were two chairs and a pine table. Besides being a man of fashion, living in The Codmans, however, would have luxurious accommodations, and setting a been delighted with Thoreau’s reference to fine table, John Codman rode in style. In the property in 1854 as “the Codman March of 1798 he purchaseda chariot cost- Place,“ 41 at a moment in time when neither ing f 1500, and for the year 1 October family owned or controlled its destiny in- 1798, to 30 September 1799, Codman paid asmuch as it had passed from Codman forty-seven dollars in vehicle taxes on his hands in 1807.42After fifty-five years it was two “Chariots,” one “Phaeton,” one to return to the hands of Ogden Codman, “Coa[c]hee,” one “Chaise w* top,” and a Sr., in the fall of 1862, and while its later “Ch&“38 This was a collection of car- architectural history which follows and its riages far beyond the aspirations of the future as an SPNEA house museum are but average hard-working merchant who had part of a preservation continuum, it will little time for worldly or fashionable remain first and last a monument to the concerns. codman family. 44 Old- Time New England

APPENDIX

John Codman III’s Probate Inventory of Personal Effects, 1803.

Inventory and Appraisementof the Real and PersonalEstate of John Codman Esq. late of Boston in the County of Suffolk deceased, that he died seized and possessedin the Counties of Middlesex and Worcester. as exhibited to the Subscribersby Stephen Codman Esq. Executor of the last will and Testamentof said Deceased. taken and appraisedby us the 4th day of June AD. 1803.in the following manner to wit. . . .

Household Furniture to wit in the Hall.

1 Sofa and Covering $15. 7 Flower Pots .30 [$I 45. 8 Chairs 20. 13 Paintings 100 120. 1 Piano forte stool and cricket and Music book 150. 1 Straw carpet 20.

In the Parlour 11 Chairs 7. Looking Glass. 5 12. 1 large dining table 8. 2 Small do. 7 15. I pair of Handirons 6. Shovel and tongs .3 9. 1 carpet 4.

Furniture in the Southwest Room 5 Green chairs. 5. two looking Glasses 30 35. I large dining table 8. one Card do. 5 13. 1 pair of Brass Andirons 4. three Paintings .20 24. 1 Back-Gammon board 1. 1 hearth brush .50 I .50

Closet in Southwest Room 1 tea set of China 7. a blue pitcher .25 7.25 I dozen of wine glasses. .50. 1 tea Urn. 2 2.50 6 large and four small decanters 5. 1 pair of Water bottles 1.50

Closet under the best Stair case. 1 Table set of Liverpool ware 15. 1 large tea Canister .I. 1 Sugar&nippers. .50 1.50 4 Glass Salts $ .75

Closet in the back Parlour 2!4 doz of green edged large Plates 1. 15 small do. .50 three butter Tureans .50 1. I large Turean 1. 4 dishes .75 1.75 1 Soap dish .20 Eleven Tumblers 50 70 9 Bowls. .37 Six patty Pans .13. 2 tea Pots .33 .83 I Water Bottle .17. One Pitcher 5. Set of Casters .70 .92 4 Salts .25 2 Cream Pots. 15 40 9 tea cups and Saucers. 75. 2 breakfast bowls. 50 1.25 4 large and six small silver Spoons 10. 2 blancmangeMoulds .50 6 Covers .50 1.

Furniture in the SoutheastRoom to wit 8 Chairs 20. one sofa with covering 20 40 2 french peices of furniture with marble tops 20 4 Paints 70. one Carpet. 15 85. 2 Spy Glasses 3. The Early History of the Codman House 45

Chamber over Hall 2nd Story 12 Bureaus $8. I Table 50 $8.50 1 Easy Chair 2. 2 Chairs 3. 5. 1 looking Glass 5. 1 pair shovel & Tongs .75 p’ dogs 75 1.25 1carpet2 2. 1 Bed with all its furniture 70

chamber over the back Parlour 2n.d Story 1 Bed with all its furniture $60 1 Toilet table 2.50. Green and White D? 2 4.50 Wash bowl and Pitcher. 50. Looking Glass.20 20.50 8 Cane chairs.16. 1 paint 10. a night table $4 30. 1 straw carpet 12 12.

Southwest Chamber 2”d Story 1 Bed and all its furniture 35 5 Chairs 8. 1 looking Glass. 5 13 1 Wash Stand 1.50. Wash bowl & Pitcher. 50 2. 1 Bureau 3. 1 paint 10. Straw Carpet. IO 23. 1 Suit of Bed Curtains 10.

South east Chamber Znp Story 1 Bed with all its furniture $60. 5 Chairs 8. night Table 4. one toilet D? 2.50 14.50 1 Pine do 1.50. a large looking Glass.20 21.50 1 Dressing Glass. 2. Straw Carpet 10. Wash bowl & c 50 12.50

Chamber over kitchen 2nd Story 1 Bed and its furniture 16 16. 1 Bureau 3. two pine tables. 1. four chairs 6 10 1 Small looking Glass 1.

Chamber over the Hall 3rd Story I Small bed and Furniture 5. 2 Chairs 2. one Straw carpet 5 7. 3 rolls of straw carpeting 3.

Chamber over the back Parlour 3rd Story 1 Bed and furniture 6 1 looking glass. 1.

Southwest Chamber 3rd Story 1 Bed and all its furniture 25 3 Chairs 6. 1 looking Glass. 2 8. 1 Painted Table. 1.50. 1 Straw carpet 4.50 6. 2 Small Pieces of Straw carpeting 2.

South east Chamber 3rd Story 1 Bed with its furniture 16. 5 Chairs 6. I painted Table. 1.50 7.50 1 painted Bureau 2. I Straw carpet 5 7. 1 Small bed in the Garret 3.

Household Furniture in the Kitchen 2 Chairs and 1 pine settle 5 tin pans 3.50. 1 copper fish kettle 5 $50 2 Pine tables .50. two iron Pots 2 2.50 46 Old- Time New England

2 Small iron kettles. I .33 Spider. 50 1.83 4 Stew Pans.2. three coffee Pots. 75 2.75 1 Pestle and Morter 50. Spit 1. Warming pan. 1 2.50 1 pair of Bellows 50. Shovel and tongs. 1 1.50 1 dripping pan .50. Iron fender 33 .83 1 pair of flat irons. 1. Toaster. 50 1.50 1 Smoke Jack.5. tin dipper 25 5.25 1 tin grater and dredging box.24. rolling Pin 12 .36 2 Skimmers .25 pair of brass Candlesticks. 1 1.25 3 tin do. .17 .17 *Suffolk County Probate Records, Boston, Mass., 101:498-504.

NOTES

I. Middlesex County Heeds, East Cambridge, 22. Ibid., John Codman to Catherine A. Cod- Mass. See 14:492, 16405, 21:258, 25:183, man (typescript), 18 July 1800, box 118. 34:489, 36:20, 37~492,38:317. 23. Ibid., Samuel Dexter, Jr. to John Codman 2. Middlesex County Probate Records, East (typescript), 8 December 1797, box 118. Cambridge, Mass., 28~277. 24. Ibid., John Codman to Samuel Dexter. Jr. 3. Concord [Massachusetts] Town Records, (typescript), 29 December 1797, box 118. vol. 3, part 1, p. 113a. 25. Suffolk County Probate Records, Boston, 4. Ibid., vol. 3, part 2, p. 220b. Mass., 101:334. 5. Ibid., vol. 1, part 3, p. 401b. 26. CFMC, bii, Johnand Simeon Skiliin to John 6. Middlesex Co. Heeds, 66:237. Codman, 9 December 1790,box 10; folder 127; bill, Johnand Simeon Skillin to John Codman, 16 7. Middlesex Co. Probate Records, docket December 1797, box 12, folder 148. number 19591. 27. Harold Kirker, The Architectureof Charles 8. The will is unaccountablymissing from the Bulfinch (Cambridge, Massachusetts:Harvard docket at Middlesex Co. Probate Court and the University Press, 1%9), p. 220. bound volume which should include a contem- porary court copy of the will cannotbe locatedat 28. CFMC. John Codman, “Notes Receiva- the Registry. ble,” 7 July 1796, box 6, folder 75. 9. Middlesex Co. Probate Records, docket 29. All succeeding bills and accounts for the number 19593and 58:151. work of rebuildingwill be found in CFMC, box 7, 10. Codman Family Manuscripts Collection folders 81,85,86,88; box 9, folder 103;box 11, folders 146. 147; box 12. folders 148, 150, 158, (hereafter referred to as CFMC), James Russell account book, p. 2, box 1, folder 6; James Rus- 159. sell account book, box 1. folder 9. 30. Middlesex Co. Probate Records, docket number 19591. 11. CFMC, JamesRussell to Charles Russell,26 January 1780, box 1, folder 1. 31. Ibid., 58:151. 12. Middlesex Co. Probate Records, docket 32. CFMC, Samuel Dexter, Jr. to John Codman number 19594. (typescript), 8 December 1797, box 118. 13. Ibid., 58:151. 33. Ibid., bill, Thomas Clement to John Cod- man, August 1797, box 7, folder 85. 14. Ibid., 60:251; CFMC, James Russell account book, p. 1, box 1, folder 6. 34. Ibid. 15. Middlesex Co. Probate Records, 60~251. 35. Ibid. 16. Middlesex Co. Heeds, 86:553. 36. Suffolk Co. Probate Records, 101:498. 37. CFMC, bill, Longman & Broderip to John 17. Lincoln Town Records, Lincoln Public Li- Codman, 1 March 1798, box 17, folder 224. brary, Lincoln, Mass. (typescript), pp. 200,215, 220. 38. Ibid., bill, Isaac Codman, Collector of the Revenue, to John Codman, 26 November 1798, 18. Middlesex Co. Probate Records, 73:314. box 12, folder 151. 19. CFMC, John Codman’s accountsof Cham- 39. Ibid., John Codman to Catherine A. Cod- bers Russell’s estate, April 1790,box 19, folder man (typescript), 18 July 1800, box 118. 267. 40. Brooks Atkinson, ed., Walden and Other 20. Ibid., 15 February 1792. Writingsof Henry David Thoreau (New York: 21. CFMC, bills, Isaac Goodenough to John Random House, 1950),p. 187. Codman, 24 July 1794through 2 February 1795, 41. Ibid., p. 233. box 9, folder 102. 42. Middlesex Co. Heeds, 175:65.