The Quaker Farmhouse at 34 George Street

    The age worn  farmhouse at the lower end of George Street adjacent to Muddy Brook has reflected the
    changes in the relevance of agriculture in Mendon's economy and society since its construction in the early
    1830's. Once part of a robust Quaker Village of hard working farmers, 34 George Street and the people who
    have lived there have echoed the changes in Mendon's reliance of making a living by farming.  The village
    was a few hundred yards south of the Mendon center. It included George and Gaskill Streets and the upper
    part of Providence Road. It was inhabited by Gaskills, Aldriches, and Southwicks.

    The Quaker neighborhood was part of Mendon's earliest history. George Aldrich, one of the town's founders,
    settled here in the 1660's. His grandson, Moses Aldrich, was born here in 1690. He became a preacher and
    did missionary work throughout the colonies. In 1729, a Friends Meeting House was built at the Quaker
    Cemetery on George Street. There were twenty-six Quakers listed as living here in 1757. The village grew in
    an agricultural way of life, but it was the settlement of a new family that had a significant impact on the
    neighborhood. Nahum and Sally (Southwick) Gaskill built a new farmhouse at 16 Providence Road. They
    raised twelve children who left a positive impact on the village and town.

    John Southwick Gaskill and Harriet (Staples) Gaskill built, or possibly inherited, a low key New England  
    farmhouse nestled in the verdant pasture next to the brook at 34 George Street. They were hard working
    farmers and productive citizens. John served as selectman, overseer of the poor, representative to the
    General Court, and  road commissioner. Besides being skillful farmers, all the Gaskill siblings were involved
    in public service. They were highly regarded and well thought of in the Mendon community.

    Julia Gaskill, daughter of John and Harriett, married Alexander Viets Pond, and they continued successful
    farming at 34 George Street. They had three children who grew up on the farm: Arthur, Clara, and Anna  
    Pond. They never married, and as they grew older, and inherited the farm, they became well aware of the
    challenges of adapting to change. By the 1950's, the Pond family farm had declined to just a few cows and
    chickens, an aging house, and the realization that they had become elderly with no family heirs to maintain
    the farm.

    Elaine Holt, whose family lived on George Street near the Pond family in the 1950's, has pleasant
    recollections of the house and the people. She and her husband, Dan Malloy, are historians who live in
    Hopedale. She gave a vivid account of life at the Pond farmhouse from her childhood memories..
    Elaine described the kitchen as having an old soapstone sink with no faucet, just a hand pump. There were
    open shelves, and on the bottom shelf, a wooden bucket was kept. She recalled asking for a drink of water
    and being handed the bucket and a dipper. She said that the water was wonderful!

    The living room had a player piano with several piano rolls being stored on shelves of a corner cabinet. The
    dining room area had a rocking chair and a new refrigerator. Elaine thought that it was unusual that the new
    appliance was not used to refrigerate food, but to make ice cubes for the ice box. It was evident that Anna,
    Clara, and Arthur were reluctant to let go of ways of the past.

    The farmhouse at 34 George Street is a reminder of a thriving agricultural, Quaker neighborhood of the
    1830's. Since that time period, many changes have taken place. The last Quaker service was conducted in
    1841. The Friends Meeting House was dismantled in 1850, and the wood was sold to Israel Plummer of
    Northbridge for his train depot. The occupation of farming in Mendon gradually declined as the real estate
    market focused on farmland. The elderly Pond family passed on. Their farm was left to their very kind and
    helpful neighbor, Norman Cox, who had been their farmhand. Though change has taken place all around it,
    the age worn, weather beaten farmhouse has remained in a time period of the past. It is a symbol of a way of
    life long ago, when farming was the essence of Mendon's culture.
    Mendon Historical Society  --  June 26, 2016

                                                             
More on the house at the Preservation Mendon site   


                                                                                              
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