Built ca: 1845 by Abel Grover

A 2 family Greek Revival in the West End neighborhood

Abel Grover was a mason. He purchased the land for our subject, and # 82 Winter Street, from Abel Baker in July of 1845. The exact build date for #78 Winter isn’t clear. Some evidence, the 1846 city directory in particular, puts the date in 1845 or 46. This is corroborated to some extent by a story in the July 19, 1892 Portland Daily Press by Neal Dow in which he tells of speaking at the Exchange Building on the subject of temperance. In the article, Dow notes that he spoke of Abel Grover having built “2 nice houses in Winter Street, each of them having 2 tenements, one of which his family occupies and the three others bring him a “handsome months rent”. The Exchange Building burned in 1854 so this would have been prior to then. Even the current tax card, which I rarely trust, says 1845.
The 1846 city directory has Grover and a widow named Elizabeth Blake living at 58 Winter Street and a joiner named Nathaniel Ilsley living at #60 Winter Street. In 1850, the Grovers were at #58 Winter with one family living there and two families living at #60. The same holds true for 1856 although the tenants had changed. Given all of this, I suspect these 2 locations are now #s 78 & 82 Winter Street.

What Abel Grover built is a common side entrance Greek Revival of 2 stories. It measures a mere 19′ wide, 24′ counting the porch, on the street and is 55′ deep. A 5′ x 15′ gable projection, possibly containing a stairwell, is seen on the southeast side. The oriel on the street facade may be original but I am not convinced as it is a feature that was not common for the period or style. Likewise, the siding, being clapboards on first and shingles on the second, along with the tall windows on the street, are certainly not original. We can look at 80 Winter Street for a good feel of what our subject, exclusive of it’s open pediment, looked like.

The Grovers owned 78 Winter Street until 1858 when it was sold to a wholesale grocer named Weston Milliken. Milliken was a native of Minot where he was born in 1829. He married Martha Haskell of New Gloucester in 1854. They came to Portland in 1856 and settled on the North side of Winter Street prior to purchasing our subject in September of 1858. The Milliken family lived at 78 Winter Street until 1864 when he sold it to Henry Coolidge. Coolidge sold it to Jabez True in 1866.

The porch on 78 Winter Street is quite deep and welcoming. It may be original but I am inclined to think it was added later. Possibly when the bay was added at the front. It is very possible that it was during the True ownership that these changes were made.

Jabez True died in 1869. He had been a partner with Weston Milliken, along with Henry Jones, in the ‘Portland and Machias Steamboat Company’ which had been founded in 1865. He had been a grocer for many years under various partnerships including Abner Shaw and Thomas Frothingham. For years Jabez and his wife lived on India Street but a newspaper advertisement in June of 1866 placed him in Westbrook. The deed from Henry Coolidge, dated 10/19/1866, noted that True was a resident of Portland. After his death at the age of 71 in 1869, Mary and some of the children remained here until it was sold in 1872. The buyer was Sarah Soule.
Sarah Ellen Graffam had married Howard Soule, a flour merchant, in 1869. They had a daughter who died in infancy. In 1876, Lucretia Sewall purchased 78 Winter Street, Lucretia was the widow of Kiah Sewall and a descendant of the Quimby family of Stroudwater.

Kiah and Lucretia Sewall married in May of 1936. They had 10 children. Kiah was an attorney. The family lived in Mobile Alabama for many years but it would seem the Civil War brought them to Boston where Kiah died of consumption in May of 1865 at the age of 58. Lucretia and family moved back to Portland after his death. The 1874 city directory showed them living on Elem Street. The 1880 census found the Sewalls living here on Winter. Along with Lucretia, there were 2 daughters, Eunice & Ada, both teachers, a son Samuel, who worked as a clerk for HH Hay, nephew Merrill, a ship captain, and his wife Mary and a Canadian born servant named Amanda Gallop. In 1889, when Lucretia sold our subject to Aretas Shurtleff, she was living in Freehold New Jersey where she died in 1897.

The 1924 tax photo shows a different porch than we see today. That porch extended into the drive at least to the point of the enclosed section and was not covered by the roof. A closer look at the porch today indicates where the brick masonry has been changed and how the newer work is a bit slip-shod.

Aretas Shurtleff was born in Paris in 1824. He married Olive Dresser in Portland in 1846. Olive was born in Bath in 1824. The Shurtleffs lived across the street in a large Greek Revival double-house they built in 1849. This house was removed when Mercy Hospital was built. Our subject was sold in 1908.

Samuel Stevens was 81 when he bought 78 Winter Street in 1908. His born in Westbrook and grew up on Stevens Plain, now Stevens Avenue. Samuel and Sarah Knight were married in Dudley MA in 1852. Samuel, in 1851, had purchased the stock of George Silsbee’s daguerreotype studio on Middle Street.

Samuel Stevens name first appears in the 1856 city directory. That listing says he was on Commercial Street but does not give a place of residence or what his employment was. 1856 was also the year Sarah gave birth to the couple’s first child, Henry. For the 1860 census, he was noted as an flour dealer with his brother Augustus. Quite a change from photography. In 1865, Caroline was born to Samuel & Sarah. In 1868, he became the secretary for the Customs Collector for Portland, Israel Washburn. In 1870, he resigned that position to become the first conductor on the Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad and the family was living on Stevens Plain in Westbrook. 1880 found the family leaving on State Street just below Spring. At that time, Samuel was an agent for the Boston & Maine Railroad.

The limited windows, and that rectangular unit on the first floor, lead me to believe that another stair to the second floor was/is located on this wall.

Samuel Stevens died in 1910. Our subject passed to Caroline as Henry had died in 1904. Sarah Stevens died in 1916. Caroline Stevens worked as the society and music editor for the Portland Evening Express & Sunday Telegram and lived here until her death in 1948. Caroline’s will passed 78 Winter Street to Roxa Conant. That will gave Roxa’s address as 78 Winter Street. She was most likely Caroline’s tenant.

Roxanne/Roxa Mae Morse was born in Bridgewater Maine in 1892. She was a nurse who cared for Richard Conant after his return from WWI. Richard was born in Portland in 1888. They were married in 1919. The couple had 2 daughters and a son who died in infancy. The Conant family were wholesale grocers who operated on the Portland waterfront since the mid-1800s. Richard’s great grandfather was Alvah Conant who we briefly encountered on Pleasant Street. Richard died in 1950, soon after Roxa had inherited our subject. Roxa lived here until 1977 when it was sold by her estate a couple months after her death.

78 Winter Street is listed as a 2 family residence. The condition is good.

If you likes what you just read, please consider buying me a coffee.