Research Agenda — Open Questions

This history is a work in progress, and some of its most interesting questions are still open. If you know something — a photograph, a family story, a record — the answers to any of these would be gratefully received.

1. Barn, shed, or garage? The old estate barn’s foundation still lies under the ivy behind the house. But the paper trail is tangled: the 1950 permit repairs a sill “in the shed”; the 1991 for-sale ad advertises an “antique & barn”; a 1992 permit demolishes a “garage”; and a 2016 permit moves a garage. How many outbuildings were there, and when did the barn actually come down?

2. The 1977 instrument. A recorded document from March 1977 sits in the Pittorino–Mandile years with its exact parties unconfirmed — probably the estate paperwork moving title to Angelina Mandile after Thomas Pittorino’s will was allowed in 1970, but the deed itself needs a careful read.

3. Nesson or Kramer? In the 1900 Hotel Longfellow trade, the Globe says the house went to hotel-owner Israel Nesson, yet the recorded deed conveys it to Jacob J. Kramer — who the Globe says received the Chicago parcels. Who was Kramer to Nesson, and why did Kramer sell to Jewett two years later for one dollar?

4. Maria Pittorino’s death date. Her probate file brackets it between October 28 and November 15, 1955; a death record or notice would fix it exactly.

5. The 1911 photograph. The photo used for Asa C. Jewett is labeled a “possible” likeness. A confirmed portrait — perhaps from Knights Templar records, or the Gethsemane Commandery — would settle it.

6. Un-scanned deeds. Several early conveyances in the chain of title still lack scans: Cousens → Pike (1854, 669:542), Pike → Wilkinson (1861, 863:165), and White → French (1898, recorded November 1900). All are retrievable from the Middlesex South Registry.

7. The house’s exact original location. The house stood “a few hundred feet to the west” before the move, but the 1874 atlas shows structures in more than one candidate spot. A precise before-and-after siting — perhaps from the 1895 subdivision plans — is still wanting.

8. Ezra Dudley’s ranch. Three contemporary sources put Dudley’s cattle operation in the Texas Panhandle, run with his son Edward — but where, exactly? Panhandle land and brand records of the 1880s might find the Dudley ranch.