The Mansions of Bay Path University

Longmeadow is filled with numerous majestic historic homes. The tales of many of these homes are well known. Other homes have fascinating histories that could become forgotten. Two such magnificent homes are the Page/Wallace (Deepwood) and Robinson Estates. These two homes are located on the Bay Path University campus.

The property where Bay Path University is currently located was originally part of the Ethan C. Ely property. His ancestor Jonathan Ely settled in the precinct of Longmeadow in 1694. The Ely estate had remained in the family since 1758. Ethan and his father built a brick home with stone trimming in 1856. He was listed in the town directory as a farmer. The natural beauty of the property was carefully preserved and filled with a variety of trees and thus referred to as “Ely’s grove”.

Ethan C. Ely

Ely’s Grove early 1900's

Ethan Ely's Home 1908

Ethan C. Ely died in 1906. He had no direct heirs as his wife had died 40 years previously and his two children died early in life. The property was eventually sold to J. B. Burbank, a neighbor and real estate entrepreneur. The property was then sold to George Hendee (owner of Indian Motocycle) upon his retirement. He did stake out land to build an estate as indicated on the 1912 Longmeadow map.

Mr. Hendee never built this home and instead built a palatial estate in Suffield, CT. The property was then sold to Frank Page and his estate was built at 588 Longmeadow Street.

Mr. Page was the wealthy owner and founder of the National Equipment Company in Springfield.

Mr. Page

Page's home was completed in 1917. The Georgian Colonial at the time was one of the largest and most expensive homes in Longmeadow. The estate included a home for his chauffeur and gardener.

Frank Page sold the home to Douglas V Wallace in 1927. The estate became known as Deepwood. Mr. Wallace was a member of the Wallace family who owned and operated Forbes and Wallace department stores. The store chain existed in the area from 1874-1976.

Mr. Wallace unfortunately died at 44 years old in 1930. His wife, Mary Wallace, who lived to 106 years of age, retained ownership. Her father, John C. Robinson, purchased an adjacent property. Mr. Robinson was a wealthy realty company executive who donated the land in Agawam that eventually became Robinson State Park. His daughter Mary resided with him at the mansion built at 544 Longmeadow Street. It would also become part of the Bay Path campus. Deepwoods at 588 Longmeadow St. was sold to W. J. Quinn Company in 1940 for real estate development. There was a plan to build 15 homes on the site.

Robinson mansion, adjacent to Wallace estate. Today part of Bay Path campus. Due to World War II these plans never came to fruition. The National Youth Administration (NYA) leased the home in 1942 to serve as a residence and center for women working in the defense industry during World War II.

Deepwoods was sold to Thomas Carr in 1945. Mr. Carr had purchased Bay Path Institute in 1944 and moved the school from Springfield to the eighteen-acre estate in 1945. The Robinson Estate was purchased by Bay Path in 1947 with money donated by George Empsall (Mr Carr’s brother-in-law) to be used as a dormitory.

Today Deepwoods Hall at Bay Path University

is the main administrative building.

The Robinson mansion is presently Empsall Hall which houses the admissions offices

Contributed by Leonard Shaker, Longmeadow Historical Society Board Member

Originally published February 17, 2022

This week the Longmeadow Historical Society Wishes to Thank Bay Path University for its support of History Notes.

A Walk Through the Old Emerson Place

Cooley-Emerson House at 476 Longmeadow Street

image courtesy raveis.com

It’s not every day you get a complete basement-to-attic tour of one of the beautiful 18th-century homes that make Longmeadow Street so special. But today was such a day.

Image courtesy Emerson Collection, Longmeadow Historical Society

You may have noticed the For Sale sign outside of 476 Longmeadow Street these past few weeks, right at the intersection of Bliss Road, Emerson Road, and Longmeadow Street. The house, known as the Cooley-Emerson house, was built c. 1760 for Josiah Cooley (1716-1778) and his family. It is possible to trace the house ownership from its original owner to his son, also named Josiah Cooley (1749-1824), who seemingly walked out the door of that house the day he enlisted as a minuteman in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He, in turn, passed the house to his daughter, Lucy (1789-1869) and husband, Luther Colton, and they to their son, Josiah Cooley Colton (1825-1895). In 1872 it sold to an Emerson, thus beginning its next phase of life.

Josiah Cooley's Will, 1772

Stipulating that House and Land Pass to his Wife & Son

from the Collection of the Longmeadow Historical Society

The Emerson name probably sounds familiar, especially as it relates to the famous, and often used “Emerson photos” that help us tell so many stories and learn so many details about life in Longmeadow c.1910-1920. It is at 476 Longmeadow Street where a widowed and aging Paesiello Emerson moved in with his much younger half-siblings, Henry and Annie Emerson, to spend his retirement years. The hundreds of images taken by Paesiello Emerson offer an extraordinary glimpse into life in Longmeadow, and occasionally inside some of its houses.

His own home and the corner on which he lived are among the most photographed places in town. Today, a few Longmeadow Historical Society Board members had the chance to walk through the home and we came prepared, eager to see if we could match up particular images with the places within the house they were taken. It was exciting to be in a house that has stood watching over Longmeadow Street since before the Revolutionary War. There are enough original 12-over-12 windows with original glass remaining, as well as other architectural details such as doors, hand-forged latches, fireplace hearths, and wood floors to allow the imagination to wander back to 18th-century Longmeadow.

Dr. Al McKee, of the Longmeadow Historical Society,

examines an original stone hearth

That same hearth as seen c. 1915

Image courtesy Emerson Collection, Longmeadow Historical Society

Annie Emerson and her brother, Henry, lived in the home until their deaths in the 1940s. Annie was a particularly devoted Longmeadow historian, and her notebooks and papers are still valuable resources for us today. Surely, she could feel the history all around her within the old house where she researched and wrote.

The realtor is running an Open House this Saturday, May 6, from 11-1. Stop by and take a walk through this extraordinary treasure. As they say, bring your imagination. Perhaps you will be the next steward of an important piece of Longmeadow history.

For more information, visit https://www.raveis.com/raveis/73085277/476-longmeadow-st-longmeadow-ma-01106

-Contributed by Melissa M. Cybulski, Longmeadow Historical Society

Tales of Discovery II: Obed and Mary (Newell) Montague

Like I've said before, we love tales of discovery, and re-discovery. This is a tale of Mary Newell Montague and her husband Obed Montague. When we purchased our antique Longmeadow home, we took breaks from renovation projects to do research on the previous owners of the house. Searches through the old deeds in the Hampden County Registry of Deeds in Springfield revealed that the house dated to about 1801, and originally belonged to Hermon Newell, a local gravestone carver.

So by 1994, five years after purchasing the house, we had amassed a bit of information on the Newell family who had lived in the house until the 1850's. So, the discovery. At the time, we subscribed to a monthly antiques newspaper called the Maine Antique Digest, or MAD for short. This publication, with many sections covering antique shows, auctions and stories of interest to antique collectors, often went largely unread because of the overwhelming number of pages--I could barely look at photos and captions before the next issue arrived! Luckily, my husband was more thorough, and occasionally would get through the entire issue. In April of 1994, he spied an auction that was to take place in Maryland. In the auction ad was a tiny photo of two portraits--a gentleman and a lady--with a tantalizing caption; "Pair of portraits Obed and Mary (Newell) Montague of South Hadley, Mass, oil on canvas, circa 1830-40." Eureka! We knew who they were--Mary, also known as Polly--was Hermon Newell's daughter! Born in 1804, she married the handsome Obed Montague of South Hadley.

What to do? We couldn't drive to Maryland -- two small children, jobs, etc., made that impossible. This was before the days of internet auctions, and our option was to leave a "left bid," which essentially meant we had to pick a maximum price and trust the auctioneer to bid on our behalf! Yikes! But we prevailed, and some weeks later the portraits arrived in sturdy crates. After an evaluation and cleaning by a local expert, they were hung back in the house where Mary was born. Some further sleuthing revealed that she and Obed were married in 1832, and she died just four years later, about a month after giving birth to her namesake, Mary. Obed remarried, and he lived to the ripe old age of 82. We think the paintings went with young Mary when she relocated to Pennsylvania.

Now we have internet bidding, eBay and Google to find items to bring back home. The Historical Society has found a number of things that started out life in Longmeadow and traveled far afield. A few years ago we found a sampler made by a girl in Westhampton, MA at an auction in New Hampshire. A few emails later, and we were able to notify the Historical Society in Westhampton and the sampler is back home. The paintings will eventually have a new home at the Storrs House Museum.

Keep your eyes open! You never know what you'll find!

Contributed by Betsy McKee, Longmeadow Historical Society Board Member.