Brookline Historical Society Edward Devotion House

On Harvard Street in the Town of Brookline there sits an old yellow house. Centuries ago, this was the home of Edward Devotion, an early man of distinction, who held the offices of fence viewer, constable, and tithing man. Today, this ancient house is a museum, home to the Brookline Historical Society, and the surrounding lands, once fields and pastures and orchards, are now populated by a rambling primary school, a park, and apartments.
«The House of Edward Devotion» sounds like a Gothic tale of New England horror but, sadly, it is not. To my knowledge, no great crime occurred at Devotion House, no one died badly there, and no unspeakable evil walks its halls; but I’m sure that on lazy June afternoons when our modern folk, clad in t-​shirts and shorts, sprawl on blankets spread across the lawn, sipping frozen drinks in plastic cups, they unknowingly meet with bemused looks and disapproving glares from the shades of men in tri-​corn hats and capes.