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Boston Evening Transcript, Wednesday September 28, 1927
Historic Mansion Preserved for All Time

Tuesday Club of Jamaica Plain Completes Three Years of Untiring Labor to Buy Loring-Greenough
House and Burns Mortgage on the Property

By invitation of the Loring-Greenough
House trustees, a notable group as-
sembled in the mansion at 12 South
street, Jamaica Plain, yesterday after-
noon, to celebrate an achievement of the
Tuesday Club, and organization of 400
women. Mrs. Thomas G. Rees, the presi-
dent, was in charge of the exercises. A
letter of regret was recevied from Gov-
ernor Fuller.
Mayor Nichols was among the guests
and a pituresque figure was John Green-
ough of New York city, a representative
of the family whose home this was for
six generations. His mother was mar-
ried there and lived sixty-four years be-
neath its roof. Mr. Greenough was
among the most generous contributors
to the fund for purchasing the property.
Mrs. Frederick Glazier Smith, General
Federation director for Massachusetts
and Mrs. Grace Morrison Poole, General
Federation secretary were among those
who congratulated the club on the cancel-
lation of the debt.
In three years this club has raised
$64,000 for this purpose. The largest
contribution was $5000 and the smallest
fifty cents, given by a wage-earning wo-
man who for years took a car at the
corner of the beautiful garden. The cere-
mont of burning the mortgage constitut-
ed the chief feature of the open house
program.
It was in July 1924, that the Jamaica
Plain Tuesday Club started on a venture
with a very definite end, the saving
of the only remaining historic man-
sion in that section of Boston. The
first year, led by Mrs. Albert W. Good-
now, found the plan well organized. Un-
der the guidance of Mrs. Thomas G.
Rees, the second year brought even
greater encouragement, and during the
third year, with Mrs. Rees still in the
presidency, the goal was reached.
The beginning of the season of 1924
found this club of women with a house,
whose purchase price was $53,000. In
September, local painters, decorators,
carpenters and other tradesmen assumed
responsibility for the renovation of cer-
tain parts of the house as their gift to
the good cause. Many and varied activi-
ties of the club members during the year
brought the mortgage down to $30,000.
With renewed vigor and courage the
members in 1925 repeated their efforts of
the previous year and again attacked the
problem of reducing the mortgage and the
indebtedness was reduced to $23,000.
Last January a "special gifts" commit-
tee with Mrs. Arthur N. Broughton, Mrs.
Gaspar G. Bacon and Mrs. Rees as joint
chairmen, was formed to carry through
a campaign to clear the remaining $20,000
of the mortgage. As originally planned
there were fifty on the committee, each
asked to raise $400, assisted by three
others of her own choosing. A few men
in the community gave valiant co-opera-
tion. A number of the committee fell by
the wayside but there were thirty-eight
whole held out to the end and with vary-
ing success did their best. Twenty-
two of these exceeded the quote assigned,
some of them many times over. The to-
tal expense of the drive was $127.75, a low
figure which indicates that numerous in-
cidental expenses were met by the indi-
vidual members of the committee.
Miss Elizabeth W. George, treasurer of
the club, managed the funds. Sixty-four
thousand dollars has passed through her
hands for the house in three years, which
represents the price paid for the property
and all running expenses which include
heat, light, taxes, insurance, interest,
and repairs. On Aug. 1 the cancelled
mortgage was returned to her.