Old photo, white border, circa 1910s – 1920s. Beverly, Massachusetts.

Price:  $10.00

On the back is written,  “This is the Front of her house.”  And by a relative, most likely from a younger generation,  “cousin Mildred Simpsons Home Beverly, Mass.”

Well, we hope this lovely home is still standing, as we couldn’t find it still in existence from satellite photos, that is if cousin Mildred was the Miss Mildred Simpson born January 1, 1905 in Beverly, Massachusetts to Howard Simpson and Christina (Devine) Simpson. Mildred married Donald Benjamin Livingston in 1929. One thing for sure, this Mildred had moved a lot as she was growing up. One would have to check the microfilm with the Library of Congress or maybe local or Boston libraries for all the city directories from 1905 to 1929, but the ones online (with the addition of census records and the WWI Draft Reg) show eight different addresses in that span of time, with most of the directories being missing, so probably more moves than eight….not that that’s a bad thing, all the moving around, that is – just wondering what it had been like for her. Maybe exciting, or maybe sad sometimes, or a little of both.

The house itself, now I’m not really sure what style it’s in:  a little like Craftsman but not –  what with those porch supports (not that I’m an expert). But it’s a two-story with hipped roof (though the photo cuts off much of it) and shingle siding. And note the stairway jutting out from the back of the house, so there must have been a deck or back porch.

Sources:  Original data: Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. (Ancestry.com).

Original data: Department of Public Health, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. Massachusetts Vital Records Index to Marriages [1916–1970]. Volumes 76–166, 192– 207. Facsimile edition. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. (Ancestry.com).

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts City Directories.