99 Day Street – The James A. Hartshorn House

This house Italianate style with stick style elements was built by merchant, James A. Hartshorn around 1881. Originally this house lot was part of Tyler Thayer house lot. Thayer’s lot was encircled by Day, Bullard, Vernon and Maple Streets. In 1881, Hartshorn married Thayer’s daughter, Alla Cora Thayer (1856-1935). It was probably for this reason Thayer sold this corner of his lot to Hartshorn in 1883. Although it is not known who the builder was of this house, chances are it was one of the last houses Thayer built. It is not known when the barn/carriage house was built, but it is believed it was sometime after the house.

          Elements of the Hartshorn Italianate/Stick Style house:

• Italianate bay windows
  • Stick Style gable trim
  • Side hall layout
  • Attached gazebo
  • Stick Style mix of single and clapboard

James Albert Hartshorn was born in 1856 in Walpole to George Hartshorn and Elizabeth Payson. Initially, he went into the provisions business with his uncle Warren Hartshorn in Walpole. In 1880, he bought out the butcher routes in East Walpole and Canton from Hartshorne Bros., which enhanced his ability to acquire goods for his store and allowed him to sell his provisions from house to house.  Then in 1881, he opened a provisions store, “The Hartshorn Market” in Norwood, on Washington Street, which in 1931 celebrated 50 years of operation. Hartshorn also was an important player in Norwood, serving the town in many capacities. He was on the Board of Trade, he was president of the Norwood Business Association, he was a member of the Norwood Republican Committee, he was town auditor, and in the state legislature he sat on the Roads and Bridges Committee. He and his wife were the parents of three children, Helen, Maude and George. When Hartshorn died in 1927, his son George took over the business. George built the home next door to his father’s house at 107 Day Street. That property was in the family until the 1970s. Maude P. Hartshorn was the last family member to live in #99 Day, it would have been sold off sometime after she died in 1945. Her only heir would have been her brother’s son James Hartshorn.

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