54 Maple Street – The Elbridge Shumway House

Elbridge Shumway bought this property with the house there on in 1860 from Joseph Day and George B. Talbot. This Greek Revival house seems to be one of the spec houses built by Talbot around 1859.

          Elements of the Shumway Greek Revival Style house:

• “S” shaped plan
  • brackets under eaves
  • pedimented window casings
  • Side Hall entry with sidelites
  • Gable roof
  • Two stories
  • Still has stable
  • Compare with #49 Maple

Elbridge Eugene Shumway was born 1832 in Dover, son of John Shumway and Abigail Wight. Elbridge was a carpenter and worked for the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Car Shops. He and his family lived in this house for almost 50 years. Shumway married in November of 1859 to Amanda F Wales (1834-1909) in Cumberland, RI. She was the daughter of Jonathan Wales and Maria. Elbridge and Amanda had five children, George (1860-1960), Sarah Elizabeth (1861-1943), Marcia May (1864-1945), Mary Eudora (1869-1887), and George Eugene (1871-1892).  Death notice for Elbridge in 1906 and for Amanda in 1909 note they were still living at 54 Maple Street. They are buried in Highland Cemetery.

From 1910 to 1930 the home is occupied by Walter H & Sarah E. (Shumway) Metcalf. Walter Henry Metcalf was born 1861 in South Dedham, and was the son of George Metcalf and Lydia Boyden. He married in January of 1886 to Sarah Elizabeth Shumway in Norwood. They became the parents of two children, Ethel May (1889-???) and Walter Winthrop (1892-1894). Walter worked as a machinist. He died in 1931 and Sarah died in 1943. They are buried in the family plot at Highland Cemetery.

The next owner of the house was Arthur & Ethel (Metcalf) Spear. Sarah E. (Shumway) Metcalf became the owner of the property in 1911, and she sold the home to her daughter in 1931.  Arthur Randolf Spear was born 1887 in Franklin to George Spear and Emma Vaugn. He worked as a pressman at a printing office. He married in June 1909 to Ethel May Metcalf in Norwood. Arthur and Ethel had one son, Ralph Howard (1913-1976). In 1959, Ethel sold the property to her son Ralph.

Ralph Howard Spear and his wife Vivian became the next owners of the property. Ralph and Vivian Helene Hansen married in 1939, and they had two children Ralph, Jr (b. 1953) and Sally (1942). Ralph Sr. in 1976 and in 1990 Vivian sold the house to her children, with Sally selling her share to her brother in 2011. By 2020, Ralph and his wife Nancy had retired to South Carolina, and they sold the house to Kelly S. Mullen. Mullen sold the house the following year. This house remained in the same family for over 160 years!

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