Boston: 175 Commonwealth is located on the north side of
Commonwealth, between Dartmouth and Exeter, with 173 Commonwealth to the east
and 177 Commonwealth to the west. 175
Commonwealth was designed by Peabody and Stearns, architects, and built in 1881
by Woodbury & Leighton, builders, as the home of banker and trustee Charles
Merriam and his wife, Helen (Jaques) Merriam. Helen Merriam died in 1904.
Charles Merriam continued to live at 175 Commonwealth until his death in 1906.
By 1908, it was the home of Stephen Long Bartlett and his wife, Florence
(Ricker) Bartlett. Florence Bartlett died in March of 1937 and Stephen
Bartlett died in October of 1937.
By 1940, 175 Commonwealth was owned by
Rev. Eleanor Mel. In
December of 1940, she transferred the property to the Church of Jesus Christ.
Thereafter, she operated the property as the Boston
Home of Truth[founded in 1919], with herself as pastor.
The Boston Home of Truth was a New Thought Movement congregation following the teachings of Annie Rix Militz.
In June of 1952, the church filed for (and subsequently
received) permission to construct fire balconies connecting to 173
Commonwealth. It appears likely that, at
about this time, it began using 175 Commonwealth for lodgings as well as for
offices.
In September of 1954, it filed for (and subsequently
received) permission legalize the occupancy as church offices and lodgings.
In November of 1957, the church acquired 177
Commonwealth, and in September of 1959, it applied for (and subsequently
received) permission to cut doors between the two properties. The use of 177 Commonwealth was shown as a
“church reading room.”
Both properties were operated as the Boston
Home of Truth until the early 1960s. Eleanor Mel died in July of 1964. By late 1964, the church had sold 177 Commonwealth. It continued to operate at 175 Commonwealth
as the Church of Jesus Christ in 1965, and as the Unity of Boston Church in
1967. By 1967, the offices of the
Protestant Guild for the Blind also were located at 175 Commonwealth.
By 1970, the church had ceased operations at 175
Commonwealth but continued to own the property. The Protestant Guild for the
Blind continued to maintain its offices there until the mid-1970s.
This has been one of those Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious blogs. It tells me Miss Mel died in 1964 it was during WWII that Ervin Seale was referring to when he talked about her at Unity. When she was born and when he saw her preach maybe I'll find out someday.
This has been one of those Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious blogs. It tells me Miss Mel died in 1964 it was during WWII that Ervin Seale was referring to when he talked about her at Unity. When she was born and when he saw her preach maybe I'll find out someday.
The Boston Home of Truth was founded in 1919. The building was acquired in 1920 or 1921. It incorporated in 1923 under the laws of Massachusetts as a religious corporation and this same year Eleanor Mel was ordained.Activities carried out were wholly religious in origin. On week days courses of instruction were given in the application of the teachings of Jesus Christ to the activities of every day life.
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