94 Cottage Street – The Orrin A. Boyden House

Orrin A Boyden bought this empty house lot of 13,000 sq ft on the corner of Cottage and Nichols from Tyler Thayer in 1872. He had his Italianate style house built about 1878. When he took out a mortgage from William C. Fisher, it is described the same as it was in 1872, but now it mentions a “New Dwelling house” on the property. In 1909, Cynthia (Schufelt) Rhoads paid the mortgage to William C. Fisher and became the new owner of the property. In 1890 and 1897 Norwood business directories note that Mrs. Orrin A. Boyden was living at this house. In 1910, John B. Rhoads was renting this property, but in 1913 his mother sold it to him. In 1936, John’s widow and his children had the property divided in half, selling lot B to Edith N. Langlois and keeping lot A. The house appears to have remained in the Rhoads family up to 1995.

            Elements of the Boyden Italianate Style house:

• “L” shaped plan
  • Cottage scale Italianate
  • Lintel caps
  • 2 ½ stories
  • Gable roof
  • Brick Foundation      
  • Bay window
  • 2/2 double hung windows
  • Evokes look of earlier homes
  • Built within four years of #100 Cottage
  • Gazebo not original, but railing is replica

Orrin A Boyden was born 1837 in Wrentham to Elisha S. Boyden and Mary Ann Wallis. Orrin worked many different jobs over the years. Starting as a labor and carpenter. He landed a job in the Brass Foundry in South Dedham by 1870, it was here he most likely learned the trade of engineer. This took him to Woonsocket were he met and married Miranda Ball (1835-190?). They became the parents of Frederick Alonzo Boyden (1875-aft 1950). He never married.

John Bernard Rhoads was born 1871 in South Dedham, son of Warren Ellis Rhoads and Cynthia A. Schufelt. He married abt 1903 to Mary Elizabeth McCloskey (1882-1958) in Norwood. John and Mary had two children, Helen Elizabeth (1906-1997) and Paul Atchison (1910-1988). Bernard bought this property from his mother in 1913, but he had been living in it since 1910 He was a painter and a brick mason. After the death of John, Mary remarried to George Banister. She lived in the house until her death in 1958. Her son Paul and his wife, Emma Bell, were the next family to live in 94 Cottage Street.

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