guest blog by: Lillian Swift

A promising fourth quarter of 2011 was a great surprise for the Boston real estate market. Demand is strong in the greater Boston area, thanks in large part to the city’s relatively low unemployment rate of 5.7 percent. There are a number of forecasters in the housing market, who despite total year numbers that weren’t as promising as short term results, believe the Boston real estate market is primed for a stronger year than it has seen in quite a while.

Boston is one of five cities that real estate giant Trulia expects to be hotspots in 2012. The others include New York and Houston, just to name a few. Modest price increases are expected during the year as well as an uptick in new construction. Boston universities and research centers are expected to be a major driver of the rebound in both prices and demand. Educational and employment opportunities are both drawing people to the Boston area. Foreclosures are also expected to decrease a little in 2012 as banks finally get through the backlog of delinquencies.

Boston real estate market is getting stronger.

From November 2010 to November 2011, the vacancy rate for apartments in Boston fell from nearly five percent to 2.7 percent. The increased demand will lead inexorably to higher rents and rents are expected to rise by 10 to 15 percent this year. These increases will be especially noticeable in popular neighborhoods, such as Somerville, Beacon Hill and the Fenway. The higher demand for rental units could drive some in the market towards a home purchase in 2012.

While prices decreased by 2.6 percent year-over-over in the fourth quarter of 2011, they also increased by 9.9 percent compared to third quarter prices. The median sales prices for homes in the Boston metro area for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $560,260. The largest price increases during this quarter were seen in four-bedroom homes, which increased in price by an astounding 92.2 percent year-over-year. The average price for a two-bedroom home also increased and by a more-than-healthy 24.7 percent. One-bedroom homes lagged behind; prices “only” increased by 5.7 percent. Three-bedroom units were the one holdover; prices on these homes fell by 9.9 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter.

Prices are continuing their increase in the New Year. Thus far, prices have risen by 1.1 percent since the last week in December. They have also increased by 2.0 percent when compared to the same week in 2011. All of these signs point to a steadily strengthening real estate market in the Boston area during the winter of 2012. Given some positive trends towards the end of 2011, hopefully the Boston real estate market is primed for a full year of good trends in 2012.

Should Realtors ride bikes to work?

For years I have been daydreaming of how much I would enjoy riding my bike to appointments, showings, etc. My friends and family always say, “yeah why don’t you do that – it would be good for you”. I’m always thwarted when I consider my clients. After all, it’s really about what they think.  So rather than guess, vote. I’d love to read any comments you might have as well. Let’s put this question to bed for once and all! Click on the link below to take the poll please:

http://www.facebook.com/questions/10150580247987904/

And while you’re there, “Like” The Boston Home Team page. Thanks!

My daughter Vitoria and I decided to have an adventure as we often do. We spent far too long looking at Google Maps, scouring Boston Central and The Globe for something interesting to do on a recent sunny day. Then I remembered my friend and fellow Realtor, David Hannon at Prudential recently reminded me about The Mapparium at the Christian Science Mother Church near the Boston Symphony Hall on Massachusetts Ave. In the 17 plus years I have lived in Jamaica Plain, I have for some unexplained reason, never been there.

Christian Science Mother Church

If you haven’t had the pleasure, I would strongly recommend it. To be frank, it’s a little intimidating. I know the church well as it is quite imposing and impossible to miss as you traverse Mass Ave. I think the lack of adornment, grass, fences or much of anything until you reach the front door helps accentuate the sheer mass of the building.

Our goal was a huge globe in which you are allowed passage through the center! We excitedly marched up to the front door and a man with a beautiful smile and outstretched arm greeted us. He told us there was a service going on but we could take an elevator up and catch the end of it. I was worried he would think I was some wacko because I was wearing a green army jacket, fur-lined Elmer Fudd hat and carrying a huge camera. Frankly I was expecting two men in black suits, wearing wires to grab my arms and usher me out.

I was curious about the interior architecture so I said, “what the heck.” The elevator doors opened to a mezzanine and the sun poured in, was funneled down to nearly nothing as it was pinched through a few portals to the interior. As soon as you pass the first few pews the space opens up again to a breath-taking room. This would be about where the railing is above the columns in the picture to the right. A woman kindly, but with intent thrust a hymn book into my hands and motioned to an empty seat. I have to be honest, that I have heard better singing but that wasn’t why I was there.

I’ve been to churches, cathedrals and basilicas all over the world and this is my favorite. Not unadorned by any means but intentional. I must admit I was drawn to the powerful architecture. A stark contrast to the interior of the Trinity Episcopal Church on Copley Plaza for example. This was brilliant but focused. Dare I say “American” if there is such a thing?

As soon as there was a pause in the music we took our leave and sought out to find the Mapparium. You’ll find the giant globe more directly by entering the wing to the left of the church (standing in front facing it) where you are greeted by a reception desk. Tours head out every 15 minutes or so. Buy your ticket and head around the corner the lobby to meet your guide. I’m not sure if all the guides are lacking enthusiasm, but ours certainly was. No matter, show us the map young lady. A solid looking door opens and you are lead into the middle of the Mapparium. A long gangway bisects the globe apparently suspended by nothing but it’s attachment points at either end. A light and sound

The interior of the Mapparium at the Christian Science Mother Church

show commence impressing upon the viewer just how big (or small) our planet is. The experience is pleasantly disorienting. When the show is over in a few minutes, you are allowed to discuss whatever nonsense you like with your comrades to test out the “surround sound” qualities of the globe when standing directly in the center. Your voice comes back you with more vigor than it left I attest! The glass panels seemingly reverberate it back at your chest and you feel as if speaking has become an out of body experience. The whole experience was over far sooner than I’d hoped – but I’ll be back. Probably with the next out-of-town-visitors that I must entertain.

Just another wonderful treasure we have in Boston. I feel very lucky to be able to roll out of my front door, walk a couple blocks to the Forest Hills T and within 15 minutes from Jamaica Plain, all of Boston is at my finger tips. I would have gotten better pictures (sorry) but it was absolutely freezing! I couldn’t stay outdoors for more than a few minutes. The wind through this corridor is very strong and will push you right over.

I’d really like to go back to the church at some point when it is not in use. I really didn’t explore it at all for obvious reasons but it deserves it’s own trip. I did my best to read and listen to all of the material they had but to be honest, I’m still not really sure what Christian Science is all about. No, I did not see Tom Cruise, but yes, I was watching for him.

The Mother Church with the Boston skyline in the background

Reuse, Recycle, Reclaim - Starbucks finds a new home.

I happened to notice an article while surfing inexpensive ways to build my dream home and came across this little diddy. Apparently Starbucks is getting wiser on all fronts. The idea of re-purposing shipping containers has been around a long time – my favorite website for this type of design is www.fabprefab.com. They have a whole section devoted to shipping containers here. Be prepared to lose 2 hours of your life if you visit that website.

Anyway, Starbucks, great idea. Now how am I going to find a client who needs a Buyer’s Agent to build one of these fantastical dwellings in Jamaica Plain?

I’m very excited about the “open house” I’ll be attending tomorrow on New York City’s Lower East Side. Im a bit bummed they don’t allow photography but regardless I’m very excited about the opportunity to see how people lived during this era. Supposedly the Tenement Museum is basically a time capsule of the early 20th century home.

I’ll append to this post after my visit.

Hello, I am Jamey Lionette and I am one of the organizers of the Egleston square Farmer’s Market.  Be warned, I am asking you for money, not too much, $75 bucks.

What are we up to?  The Egleston Square Farmer Market will be from 4-7 on Thursdays in the Peace Garden (corner of School and Washington in Egleston) from July through November.  This is part of the ongoing effort to bring affordable, sustainable local food into the neighborhood.  Our farmer’s market will be in three languages, English, Somali, and Spanish in an effort to be inclusive and relevant to the various communities living in and around Egleston Square.  The market is, of course, open to all, but we are focusing most of our effort on the low-income residents in the area.  We are creating discount cards for low income residents which we plan to distribute through clinics, food pantries and other social organizations in the community who engage low-income residents.  These cards will bring a 25% discount (on top of any food-stamps benefits) off produce from the farms at the market.

The market will be comprised of Heaven’s Organic Farm (who drop off a CSA at Plaza Meat Market on Boylston and sell organic/local produce to Harry at the Plaza too.); City Growers Farm, a for-profit urban farm which takes over idle land in Roxbury, Mattapan and Dorchester, and hires area residents to farm the land; Singh’s Roti (Uphams’ Corner) will be showing up with his amazing West Indian sauces which include many locally grown ingredients (Hot peppers harvested in Roxbury); and a group of Somali women will be making fresh Somali bread.  Not only will the food be amazing, we feel this will make the market culturally relevant and embrace the rich diversity of the area.

We will be taking on two assistants to train them to run a farmer’s market In hopes that next year they can operate markets in other neighborhoods.  These assistants will also be bi-lingual in English and either Spanish or Somali, and we hope to provide job and skill training to these assistants which we hope will enable them to find full time employment.

And this Farmer’s Market is part of a larger concept of promoting Egleston Square as a destination for retail food on Thursday Nights.  We will have the Farmer’s Market in the Peace Garden, and promote Plaza Meat Market and Starfish. Plaza Meat Market gets their whole local hogs every Thursday, as well as local beef and dairy.  There is really no one in Boston doing what Harry is at the Plaza with local meat.  And Starfish is one of the few remaining fish mongers in the city, stop in and get fish whole, or custom cut for you.

Now for the money.  To accept food stamps and other food assistance programs (SNAP, EBT, WIC, Bounty Bucks) we must have a credit card processing machine, this will cost us about $800 a year .  MDAR (Mass. Dept. Of Agriculture) does have a grant for famer’s markets to offset these costs and for finances to promote the market in low-income neighborhoods where SNAP recipients live, but we were denied the grant money.  So we have no money to accept food stamps or promote the market.

I can handle the litany of city fees to run the market, but we need to raise money to pay a credit card processor, and to make posters and banners.  The farms are going to take on the rent and insurance, we cannot ask them for more money. The promotional materials will be in English, Spanish and Somali.  We have translators willing to work for free, but we must pay for the printing.

So I am asking you for $75.  We will happily accept more, and even take less if $75 is too much for you.  Be warned, even though we are technically a non-profit, we are not doing any paperwork for tax-write offs.  All you get for $75 is a Farmer’s Market in Egleston Square, and the Thursday night promotion of the Square.  Also, if we make a website we will be happy to give you (or your business) a sincere thank you and shout out on the website.  We would also be open to a title sponsor for any person or LOCAL business who wanted to cover most or all of the costs.  None of us who are organizing get paid for this either, we do this because we live in the neighborhood.

We have one other request.  We need to come up with a catchy name for the Thursday night promotion of the Market and amazing local butcher shop and fish monger in Egleston.  Please put your creative cap on and send us a name suggestion. The winner will get the honor of having named the Thursday night event in Egleston Square.

Please feel free to ask me any questions, and we appreciate any help at all,

Jamey Lionette

617 447 0950

lionettes@gmail.com

If you can donate to the Egles ton Square Farmer’s Market, please email me, and I will pass along donation info.

–

reblogged from somewhere, added my own pictures (except for the one of the old man himself).

Photos from my recent visit to the Walter Gropius House & The Architects Collaborative subdivision at Six Moons Hill:  

Walter Gropius, founder of the German design school known as the Bauhaus, was one of the most influential architects of the twentieth century. He designed the Gropius House as his family home when he came to Massachusetts to teach architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.

Walter Gropius

Modest in scale, the house was revolutionary in impact. It combined the traditional elements of New England architecture—wood, brick, and fieldstone—with innovative materials rarely used in domestic settings at that time, including glass block, acoustical plaster, chrome banisters, and the latest technology in fixtures.  In keeping with Bauhaus philosophy, every aspect of the house and its surrounding landscape was planned for maximum efficiency and simplicity of design. The house contains a significant collection of furniture designed by Marcel Breuer and fabricated in the Bauhaus workshops. With the family’s possessions still in place, the Gropius House has a sense of immediacy and intimacy.
***
Six Moon Hill is a residential community dwelling that was designed by The Architects’ Collaborative (TAC) and is located in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Originally conceived in 1947 to house the young architects of TAC, Six Moon Hill has now grown to 29 housing lots, the most recent of which was completed in 2004. To build the community, TAC established a nonprofit corporation and bought 20 acres (81,000 m2) on which to build. It took the name from the six antique Moon Motor Car automobiles the previous owner had stored on the property.

 

The first houses were designed and built in a modernistic way. The method of design was rectangular, flat-roofed, timber-sided homes, which was typical for residences designed by TAC. The houses are situated on a sloping hill lining a small road that forms a cul-de-sac.

 

The Big Dig House at Six Moon Hill

Six Moon Hill runs as a consensus-based, collective community in which each member family pays dues and is concerned with community issues. Among the original architects (and residents) were Benjamin C. Thompson, Norman C. Fletcher, Jean B. Fletcher, John C. Harkness, Sarah P. Harkness, Robert S. McMillan, Louis A. McMillen and Richard S. Morehouse. Other notable residents include Nobel chemist Konrad Bloch, Nobel physicist Samuel C.C. Ting, Dr. Thomas C. Chalmers (past president of the Mount Sinai Medical Center), Wallace E. Howell (New York City’s first official rainmaker), Robert Newman (co-founder of Bolt Beranek and Newman) and John C. Sheehan, the first chemist to synthesize penicillin.

 

The Ford House

Art historian Simon Schama lived on Moon Hill between 1981 and 1993 and described it as “a great place for kids and historians” in a 2010 interview with the Times of London.

Noise pollution is a nuisance as described by Wikipedia:

Under the common law, persons in possession of real property (land owners, lease holders etc.) are entitled to the quiet enjoyment of their lands. However this doesn’t include visitors or those who aren’t considered to have an interest in the land. If a neighbour interferes with that quiet enjoyment, either by creating smells, sounds, pollution or any other hazard that extends past the boundaries of the property, the affected party may make a claim in nuisance.

Legally, the term nuisance is traditionally used in three ways:

1. to describe an activity or condition that is harmful or annoying to others (e.g., indecent conduct, a rubbish heap or a smoking chimney)
2. to describe the harm caused by the before-mentioned activity or condition (e.g., loud noises or objectionable odors)
3. to describe a legal liability that arises from the combination of the two.^[2] However, the “interference” was not the result of a neighbor stealing land or trespassing on the land. Instead, it arose from activities taking place on another person’s land that affected the enjoyment of that land.^[3]

As a Jamaica Plain business owner I am always a bit cautious to vocalize my opinions on issues pertaining to the neighborhood. I am a very opinionated person so this isn’t the most cathartic scenario imaginable. I have lived in Jamaica Plain for well over 15 years, originally on Sheridan Street and now I own a two-family in the Brewery District which has been beset by the booming bass of powerful car stereos.

I suppose we all have our pet peeves – and living in the city requires compromise. It’s a trade off. In exchange for culture, excitement, varied culinary adventures, etc. you have to put up with queues, traffic, noise, less space and of course personalities. Sometimes the social contract gets tested and the balance gets upset. Conflict arises. Government must step in. Laws are made. Riddle me this though, here in Boston, the ordinances that control noise pollution are completely ignored.  No enforcement whatsoever.

Is this really necessary?

Traffic noise is just a fact of life when you live in the city. However, as the global population rises and population density becomes such that we are living in closer proximity to each other  - we will have to build a consensus as to what is socially acceptable.  I’ve been pretty annoyed by this behavior for a long time but until I did a bit of research for this post I wasn’t aware it was an international issue.  It appears to be an issue from Gainsville to Glasgow. Communities are taking action to stop the noise. The solutions vary but I think we can learn a lot from their experience. It seems that just fining the perpetrators is not sufficient. It doesn’t seem to dissuade the behavior. Some communities have employed more drastic measures that seem to be more effective ranging from counting the infraction as a moving violation and adding points to your license all the way to impounding the offending vehicle, a fine and storage fees.

In Gainsville, FL  ”currently, state law declares it a non-moving violation, punishable by a $30 fine plus court costs and fees if a vehicle’s stereo system is “plainly audible at a distance of 25 feet or more.”

Senate Bill 886 and House Bill 643 would further lower the boom on booming stereo violations. Under the versions of the bills originally filed, fines would increase: $60 for a first violation, $120 for the second in a period of 12 months and $180 for the third violation in a 12-month span. Each infraction would be considered a moving violation with points assessed on a driver’s license.

On Wednesday, the Senate Transportation Committee unanimously approved an amended version that would keep the first infraction a non-moving violation, as it currently is under state law, with a $30 fine and no points assessed on a driver’s license. For subsequent violations, the remainder of the bill stayed intact.” (from Gainsville.com  March 10th, 2011)

Check out this video about the laws in Sarasota, FL:

According to a 1999 U.S. Census report, Americans named noise as the number one problem in neighborhoods.

Of 102.8 million reporting households, 11.6 million (11.3%) stated that street or traffic noise was bothersome, and 4.5 million (4.4%) said it was so bad that they wanted to move. A U.S. Department of Justice report about the boom car problem recognizes the threat that they can “compel people to move out of neighborhoods they otherwise like and thereby depress property values.”

According to noiseoff.org, an organization devoted to fighting noise pollution of all types, “People who drive boom cars consider it their right to play music at any volume they please. They regard their car as an expression of themselves and the louder it is, the bolder the statement that they can make. Boomers are typically lower-middle class males in their teens and twenties with some disposable income. They assume that their car will attract women and improve their social standing among their peers.” Some studies indicate that the driving bass, which creates the “boom” that is so annoying to most people, might raise adrenalin levels and make these young drivers prone to violence.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 25 percent of vehicle accidents are caused by driver distraction. Drivers experience reduced reaction times when listening to loud music and adjusting the controls on their car stereo equipment. Another problem is that the pounding bass noise decreases drivers’ ability to hear pedestrians and other vehicles. That also includes emergency vehicles, such as police cars, ambulances and firetrucks.

The car audio industry seems to be celebrating and promoting this mentality through their marketing campaigns:

I’ve been joking a bit about making violators listen to Barry Manilow but that’s exactly what this judge is doing:

Mayor Menino has a “broken glass” policy. The theory is that neighbors should sweep up broken glass (presumably from vehicle larceny) as well as trash around their homes – giving the impression that the area is cared for and making it less likely that thieves and vandals will frequent the area. I believe the authorities should treat the Boom Cars with the same logic. If you send the message to these people that there is a grey area in the law it allows them to determine where that grey area begins and ends.  If the community complains enough and the police enforce the law it will be better for the whole neighborhood. In researching the issue as it has played out throughout the country I came across an article in which a city councilman voted the law down because he felt it singled out young minorities. My thought is that it’s going to single out whomever is playing loud music.

Organized efforts are making an impact. Noiseoff.org offers some suggestions on how to get action:
* Do not approach or attempt to reason with drivers boom cars. When possible, take down their license plate number and call the police.

* Talk to your neighbors and organize, chances are they are just as frustrated as you are. Most communities have some type of noise ordinance in place and you should know what they are and if they require strengthening. Lobby the city council or the community board in your area to increase police patrols and fines for offenders. I have already spoken to Matt O’Malley on the subject. Basically, nothing is going to happen unless you write city officials and complain. Send your complaints of noise pollution to the mayor’s office and to your councilman. Take 5 minutes and do something for your community.

* If you see a car audio shop opening up in your community, organize with your neighbors and stage a protest. Make picket signs and send a media alert to local newspaper and television news outlets so they can cover the event. (Oops, too late. Boston Electronics opened up despite not having a license to do so and despite opposition from the JPNC. Thanks BRA Board of Appeals. I live directly across from Boston Electronics. Their list of city ordinances and zoning codes are as long as my arm.)

* Make a point: file a civil suit against the offender. Noiseoff.org even offers a package in the form of a PDF file teaching you how to do it and sign the petition at Ban Boom Cars.

I’m really frustrated by the fact that a relatively small group of people are violating the rights of their neighbors. What is the difference between these booming stereos and public smoking for instance? I’ll tell you – when someone drives or walks by smoking I’m not effected by it. I’m not rattled out of bed nor do I have to rewind my movie so I can hear what was just said.

Now that it’s summer forgetaboutit. The need to have the windows open means I get to listen to the noise from boom cars at a level that is completely unacceptable. I’d really like to hear community comments about noise pollution as well as alternate viewpoints feel free to comment.

Bussey Woods Murders c.1865

With the proliferation of weapons in crowded American neighborhoods in our time, murders-even of innocent children-seem part of news reports all too often. Has our area ever seen anything so gruesome in the past? Since this column is a mirror of things past, violent crimes must be included in its impartial light.

Even without combing police reports, one double murder in Jamaica Plain during its seemingly bucolic days stands out chillingly. In the words of the 1865-66 West Roxbury Town Report, “The murders in the town in the month of June, which so shocked the community, have given us an unenviable notoriety.” The killings took place in what is now the Arboretum.

For those who despair about current news reports, the words of a local resident speaking in 1878 of the murders set a continuity, “Of the many dark deeds of blood which have disgraced this age few have been fraught with more harrowing details than the one enacted right here.”

Isabella and John Joyce were the children of a Lynn dressmaker recently widowed. On Monday, June 12, 1865, they left their aunt’s home in the South End with a picnic basket and carfare for a day in the famed Jamaica Plain countryside.

They called on their grandmother at Newland and West Concord Streets and, at 11 a.m., left her house (still standing in the South End) never to be seen again alive. Their announced destination was May’s Woods along the present Arborway. Night came, and the unescorted picnickers (an action not then considered dangerous) did not return. A vigorous search was immediately made but was fruitless due to all the June greenery. It was not until the next Sunday that the children were found accidentally by some hikers in the Bussey Woods.

A view of Bussey Brook in the Arnold Arboretum, taken in 1949 by Professor Karl Sax, who was the Arboretum’s Director at the time. Photograph from the Archives of the Arnold Arboretum. Used with permission from the website of the Institute for Cultural Landscape Studies of the Arnold Arboretum
©The President and Fellows of Harvard College.

The Bussey Woods were part of an old 400-acre farm on both sides of Bussey Street, given by Benjamin Bussey to Harvard College for the horticultural institute. After several gyrations, 120 acres of the farm and woods would become the Arnold Arboretum with the Bussey Institute (now the State Lab) on one side. Somehow the children had arrived at the far end of the South Street side of the present Arboretum and had sought higher ground for a good view and their picnic. But this was before the grounds were planted and groomed by the Arboretum after 1882.

Isabella, age 15, was found in the hollow of a rock atop a hill. She had been stabbed 28 times, and (by contemporary account) “the murderer attempted a deed upon the body of the little girl” despite her efforts to fend him of. Her brother, age 8, was found later a quarter mile away by Bussey Brook in a condition that sickened Civil War veterans who viewed the body. It was surmised that just before noon he had left his sister, fallen, and finally been attacked by his sister’s murderer.

The children were brought back to Lynn for burial. Much sorrow and many efforts to find the criminal were generated by the shocking event-just two months after the assassination of President Lincoln. Rewards were offered by all authorities. Seven suspects were interrogated but released. The many visitors to the girl’s murder site raised a memorial cairn. In the process, any further clues were obliterated, with forensics still in its infancy. For the protection of all, a police beat was established in the Bussey Woods.

In March 1866 the Boston Weekly Voice reported a possible break in the case. A man of violent disposition had been arrested in August 1865 for burglary. While being held for trial in Fitchburg, he plotted to murder his guard and to escape with others. Known as Scratch Gravel, he stated that any man who had done “the Roxbury job” would not hesitate to kill again. His bravado about the children’s murder revolted another prisoner, who foiled the escape by telling authorities about Gravel’s entire conversation.

Upon his removal to State Prison for the burglary conviction, officials there attempted to get Gravel to speak directly-but in vain. He was transferred to a light work detail in hopes that he might talk with a trusted prisoner-again in vain. Finally a detective of supposed Southern sympathy was placed in Gravel’s cell in February 1866. Gravel liked his cellmate, and soon they were hatching a plan for escape. Gravel referred to “the Roxbury children” but never confessed to their murders.

The oddly named prisoner turned out to be an adopted lad, born in Boston, who went to sea at age 15. He had entered the Confederate Army after being pardoned from the South Carolina State Prison. Then he joined the Union Naval Forces, deserting one ship after another. A man like him was seen at Taft’s hotel in Roslindale less than a mile from Bussey Woods. The knife taken from him at Fitchburg could have wounded the Joyce children.

An aerial view of Bussey Woods in early days of the Arnold Arboretum.Used with permission from the American Environmental Photographs Collection, [AEP Image Number, e.g., AEP-MIN73], Department of Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.

Yet, the Boston police were not convinced by the prison warden’s reports that Gravel was their man. All his information could have come entirely from newspaper reports. If no stronger evidence came forth, Scratch Gravel (alias Charles Aaron Dodge) would be proved more of a braggart fool who embellished the basic information in the newspapers for his own reasons. Thus rested the matter of Jamaica Plain ‘s most heinous and unsolved murder until it took another bizarre turn.

The details of our area’s “terrible atrocity and barbarity,” fueled “a feeling of unprecedented horror” in the words of a book about the murders, published in Boston in 1878, some 13 years after the barbarity. “In a section as civilized, a community so guarded, a population so abundant, in the marginal outline of a great city” how could it have ever happen, asked the book.

The book’s author was Henry Johnson Brent (1811-80), who had founded and edited the New York City magazine, Knickerbocker, widely enjoyed from 1833 through the Civil War. In June 1865 he happened to be staying with friends within a few hundred yards of the murders. He wrote his book “Was It A Ghost” to focus attention again on the twin murders that had gone unsolved for more than a decade despite a vigilant police chief.

Brent himself had immediately become a suspect in the case because a boy told police that he had often seen a man of Brent’s description in the Bussey Woods with a knife and gun. Fortunately, Brent was also an artist, whose palette knife and gun practice was known in the neighborhood. He was also acquainted with the police force. For lack of any solid evidence, yet another suspect in the murders was free to go.

By the end of June 1865 the search for the murderer had worn itself out. A week or so later, in a bizarre personal twist, Brent saw a male apparition on the far side of his host’s property between Bussey and Motley Woods. This meeting, described in his book’s Chapter 10, will appear in the next column. Brent truly felt that the event was something beyond his ability to reconcile by the usual rules of explanation and that it deserved publication.

He had gone down to meet his host returning from Boston via Forest Hills, only to learn later that he had returned home via Centre Street at 10 p.m. Brent revisited the site of the apparition at 9 p.m., within half an hour of the event, but nothing more was seen nor found. Initially the apparition was definitely connected by Brent with his host, but during this second visit, which included a walk to the rock where Isabella Joyce had been murdered, Brent suddenly connected it with the murders.

He went with his story to a perplexed police chief, who urged him to publish it. The chief’s reaction was whether Brent recognized the male ghost. Was it a witness to the murders of the children’s recently deceased father?

Over time, Brent felt that he did know the face, as he was familiar with the police evidence. He never named a suspect but published his book.

He brought his book out so much later after the case had grown cold once he knew what clues the police had and after much thought. He hoped to stir up a renewed investigation and to goad the murderer, if still alive, into remorse and confession. The ghost story is the centerpiece of his book-rightly so, given the title. Yet “this book would never have been written if that misty figure had not confronted me on that night.”

Many Jamaica Plain residents must have had theories about the murders. Brent, believing the murderer still alive, did not state his complete details. The change from May’s Woods (as announced by the children) to the more secluded Bussey Woods prompted a suspicion that the children were accompanied by someone they knew. The streetcar fare was found near the girl; someone had paid their fare. There was little screaming, as men were mowing in the area and heard nothing.

In his latest chapter Brent notes the results of séances-so popular at the time-reported in the spiritualistic press. He notes a letter said to have been written by the murdered girl and another by her father. A communication from the boy also circulated. Though unacquainted with spiritualism, Brent felt in a sense of fair play that he had to include them with his ghostly account. He felt very bad that he had not been in the Bussey Woods at noontime of June 12, 1865, doing some target practice or painting.

Brent names his host only as Dan. Lot maps of the period show only two properties surrounded by the Motley-Bussey tracts: the Skinners and the Weatherbees by Centre and Walter Streets. Dan must have been a son in one of these families, which owned “a house that looked out on Centre Street with the rear giving view of a meadow watered by a tiny rivulet and on up to the Bussey Woods.”

Our author ends wondering about the ghost, “So strange an occurrence does not happen without an intention. What that intention was, I for one, if only one, shall patiently wait to see.” Two years later Henry J. Brent died in New York City with the murders yet unsolved. The writer in the Boston Sunday Times in November 1878 was incorrect in his reading of the book in his statement that Brent felt the children were murdered by something supernatural.

This brutal event, like so many others, has passed into legend. In April 1936 Boston Herald artist Jack Frost ran a sketch of 644 South Street in Roslindale. In his explanatory paragraph in his “Fancy This” column he states that a boarder at the house murdered two children in the nearby woods, then barricaded himself in his room and killed himself in remorse. So goes the last twist in Jamaica Plain’s most heinous crime.

Sources: H.J. Brent, “Was it a ghost;” Appleton’s Encyclopedia of National Biography; “Boston Herald,” April 2, 1936; “Boston Sunday Times,” Nov. 24, 1878, Boston Weekly Voice, March 15, 1856; Boston Sun Times, November 24, 1878; West Roxbury Town Report 1865-66, pg. 14.

By Walter H. Marx. Reprinted with permission from the November 5 and November 19, 1993 Jamaica Plain Gazette. Copyright © Gazette Publications, Inc.

Arboretum Ghost Story

The following event took place on a moonlit night at 8:30 p.m. some three weeks after the brutal murders of the Joyce children on June 12, 1865, in the Bussey Woods (now part of the Arnold Arboretum). It is described by JP visitor, H.J. Brent, in a book he wrote in 1878 entitled “Was It a Ghost?” in chapter 10, here abridged for the reader.

Upon a still and clear night I went out of the cottage, and, taking two dogs with me, strolled down through the stable yard and past the garden, until I came to the brow of the hill that formed the apex of my friend’s grasslands. The brow of the hill was flat all about me and at the base ran off into a meadow, the opposite side of which was overlooked by the Bussey Woods.

From where I stood, several pines rose out of the even surface of the forest, marking (as with an uplifted hand spread out) the place where the girl’s murder had been done. On my left was Motley’s Woods, drawing up with its intense shadows close to the dividing wall. From the wall to where I stood all was clear and distinct, save where the shadows fell over the ground.

The wall and the wood on my left ran down to that corner at Bussey Creek, which was only a short distance (about 50 feet) from the spot where the boy had fallen. Some 250 yards away and close to the corner just mentioned was a clump of trees, and then straight before me without an intervening object, the dark wood gloomed over the rock of the girl’s death. My purpose was simply to take the cooling air from the winnowing trees.

It was the habit of my host, who did business in Boston, of leaving the train at Forest Hills Station at 9 o ‘clock as a general thing and keeping to South Street until he got to the bottom of the hill near to where the brook crosses the road. He would then enter the lowlands at the outskirts of Bussey Woods and thence follow the path and up the hillside covered by Motley’s Woods, keeping close to the wall until he reached the point of the wall near which I was standing, pass over it and be home.

Knowing that my host was irregular as to his hours of return home at night, I was not surprised when I saw a figure lean over the wall for an instant within about 20 feet of me, pause a moment, and then cross over to the side on which I was. Seeing that he stopped, I spoke aloud these words, “Hello, Dan, is that you?”

Though I could discover the figure and recognize its movements, there was too great a shade thrown over the wall to enable me to distinguish a face so familiar to me. To my appeal there was no reply, and then in an instant the impression came upon me that if it really was my friend, he was testing my nerves. Up to this moment I never had a thought apart from him.

While I stood perfectly motionless, waiting for some recognition of my appeal, the figure advanced slowly in a direct line from the wall, leaving the shadow, and stopped before me and not 20 feet away from me. I saw at once that it was somebody I had never seen before. When in the light without even a weed to obstruct my vision, as soon as he stopped, I called, “Speak or I will fire!”

It was at this period that I observed especially the behavior of the dogs. Up to this time they had been quiet, lying on the grass, but now they both got up, and I felt on each side of me the pressure of their bodies. They were evidently frightened, and I saw that they were looking with every symptom of terror at the figure that stood so near us without a motion.

The figure never once turned its head directly toward me but seemed to fix its look eastward over where the pine-trees broke the clear horizon on the murder-hill. This inert pose was preserved but for a moment, for as quick as the flash of gunpowder it wheeled as upon a pivot and, making one movement as of a man commencing to step out toward the wall, was gone!

To my vision it never crossed the space between where it had stood and the outline of the shade thrown by the trees upon the ground. One step after turning was all I saw, and then it vanished. What I saw I relate exactly as it happened. Can I describe this figure you will ask?

It looked like painted air. There was no elaborate appearance, indeed I could not make out the fashion of the garment. I was more occupied in the effort to recognize a human being in the figure that was before me. He looked dark grey from head to foot. Body he had, legs, arms, and a head, but the face I could not distinctly see, as he turned it from me.

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This story about murders and ghosts on and around the Bussey estate is the most interesting thing I’ve read about Jamaica Plain/Roslindale so far!