Hiram L. Dutton

The Duttons: Taken from Down The Ages With The Old Garrison House, Bedford, Massachusetts

Written by Lillian Dutton who was the last person to live in the house.

Hiram L. Dutton (1815-1901) of Westford, Mass was the next owner of the house, land, and barn (purchased from the estate of Oliver R. Abbot) and operated a farm here.  

On May 17, 1843, he purchased the estate of 37 acres on the east side of the road and 6 acres on the west, from the executor of the Oliver Abbot estate.  It was during his ownership in 1880, that the old barn was torn down and a larger one was built.  The lumber for it cut from the estate, carried to Clark’s Hill on the Shawsheen River to be sawed.

During Mr. Dutton’s ownership, a large elm tree was growing on the lawn in front of the house; a hurricane blew off the top leaving a stump of about 20 feet in height.  The stump stood for many years until it decayed and was removed.  Hiram Dutton lived here for 58 years until his death on March 15, 1901.  He raised a family of nine children.

In his will the house and land on the east side of the highway or North Road and barn on the west side with one half of the land was left to a grandson, Warren H. Dutton (1871-1953) George H. Dutton (1846- ?) son, who had 5 children.

To his daughter Ella F. Dutton was left the other half of land on the west side of North Road.  This latter half was purchased by Warren Dutton.  Later he sold all of his land on the west side, except three quarters of an acre on which stood the barn.

Note:

Lillian Dutton, Warren’s wife, lived in the house with their two daughters, Elinor and Olive, and became known for her herb mail order business, called Garrison House Gardens.  In 1972 Louise K. Brown, Bedford Town Historian rescued the house by purchasing it from the Duttons.  The following year, the Town of Bedford purchased the house and the land from Mrs. Brown.  more…