Thu 22 Jul 2010
The Joseph Burnett House (1850)
Posted by Daniel under Houses, Second Empire, Southborough
[2] Comments
Joseph Burnett (1820-1894) was born in Southborough and studied chemistry in Worcester. In 1837, he moved to Boston, working for, and eventually partnering (in 1845) with, Theodore Metcalf. They had a chemist shop on Tremont Row (now Tremont Street). A woman’s request for vanilla in 1847 led him to develop a premium vanilla extract, which previously had to be imported from France. He eventually established his own business as a manufacturing chemist, Joseph Burnett and Company. Back in Southborough, Burnett purchased land and established the Deerfoot Farms Company, originally a dairy farm, which later also became known for its sausages. Burnett also established an estate, off Main Street in Southborough, where he built a stone mansion. Here he lived with his wife, Josephine Cutter Burnett, and twelve children. Constructed in 1849-1850, the house was updated in 1860. The house was sold out of the family in 1947.
Great series on Southborough buildings. Thanks for featuring the town I love.
It might interest you to know the Burnett mansion is going up for auction on August 17. The house and it’s four acres were most recently assessed at nearly $1.7M. The lot is big enough that it could be subdivided into two additional residential lots. I for one hope that never happens!
You can read more here:
http://www.mysouthborough.com/2010/07/27/garfield-house-going-up-for-auction/
Great idea to inform about these buildings and people like Burnett!
I’ll add about the Joseph Burnett house: It’s been knwn more recently as the Garfield House because that family bought it in the 1840s (without looking at my notes for exact date) and the last occupant was Elinor Garfield who, as I mentioned before, I had a chance to interview about family memories before she died. There are more details in my Villager column of last week, including the relationship to the president and the historic significance of the outbuildings. See it at the library or even buy it! Beyond that, you can e-mail me and I’ll send you a copy of the column. Write music1@charter.net.
Donna