2020 photograph: Ebenezer Heath’s home at 30 Heath Street, built in 1794 as a wedding gift from his father, John Heath
Three generations in the Heath family:
John Heath (1732-1804) and his wife Susanna (Craft) Heath were wealthy enslavers, owning large tracts of farmland in Brookline.[1] They enslaved at least three people--Primus,[2] Kate[3], and Dinah[4],—who labored on their farm and in their stately home.[5] Primus, Dinah and Kate are repeatedly mentioned over time in primary sources such as family letters and journal entries written by Susanna Crafts Heath, Elizabeth (Betsy) Heath and Nancy White.[6] Susanna (Craft) Heath’s parents and grandparents had also been enslavers.[7].
The Heath family lived and entertained in style. In 1790, when John Heath’s son Ebenezer was ready to marry, his father built him and his wife an elegant home seen below. A family journal describes two weeks of parties before the wedding, followed by a grand celebration at John and Susanna Heath’s home after the wedding.[8]
The Heath family lived and entertained in style. In 1790, when John Heath’s son Ebenezer was ready to marry, his father built him and his wife an elegant home seen below. A family journal describes two weeks of parties before the wedding, followed by a grand celebration at John and Susanna Heath’s home after the wedding.[8]
When John Heath died, Ebenezer inherited everything. When Ebenezer in turn died in 1845, he too passed his wealth on to his only son, Charles, who died in 1868.[9] The houses of these three Heath families were all built a stone’s throw from each other at the beginning of Heath Street on family land.
Charles Heath's home, built 1855
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Inheriting wealth from slaveryMuch more than monetary wealth was passed down from John Heath to his descendants. Heath also provided them with “social capital,” which gave them entrée into elite society, where they would make valuable financial and social connections for themselves and their children.
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A STREET FOLLOWED BY A SCHOOL NAMED FOR THE STREET
In 1841, the Town of Brookline chose “Heath” as the name for an existing road, stating that it “stretched from the Worcester turnpike or Boylston Street by Mr. Heath’s to the Newton line.”[10] In 1847, the Town’s school on that road changed its name from the “Middle District School” to the more specific “Middle District School on Heath Street”.[11] The Heath family was closely involved with the school. As a family descendant wrote in 1905: "For many successive seasons the teachers of these schools boarded in the Heath family; their companionship was prized, and the friendships formed were mutual and enduring.”[12]
A few decades later, the school shortened its name to the Heath School. |
Heath School, 2020
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Notes and Citations
[1] https://brooklinehistoricalsociety.org/archives/atlas/map1786.asp
[2] Two primary sources list Primus as enslaved to John Heath: First Parish Brookline Records and the Brookline Mass Vital Records Each Mass. town was required by law to keep a “Vital Record” of the baptisms, marriages and deaths.) At least one secondary source also confirms Primus’ and Heath’s relationship: H.F. Woods, Historical Sketches of Brookline Mass. Boston: Robert S. Davis & Co., 1874. p. 320.)
[3] Two primary sources list Primus as enslaved to John Heath: First Parish Brookline Records and the Brookline Mass Vital Records. Woods, op.cit., p. 320 offers confirmation as a secondary source.
[4] Brookline Mass Vital Records as well as Woods, op. cit., p. 221.
[5] Several secondary sources, including Woods., op.cit., mention both Ben Boston and and Cuff as enslaved by the Heaths. To date we have not located a primary source linking them to Heath.
[6] Heath Family Papers, MA Historical Society
[7] re Susanna’s father, Ebenezer Craft: First Church in Roxbury: Boston Landmarks Commission Report, 2023. https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/file/2023/02/122.87%20First%20Church%20Roxbury%20study%20report%20amended%20final.pdf Re her grandfather, Samuel White, Esq.: Brookline Mass Vital Records.
[8] Mrs. Thomas Doliber, Proceedings of the Brookline Historical Society, n.p., February 8, 1905. Mrs. Doliber was the daughter of Charles Heath.
[9] John Heath (1732-1804); his son Ebenezer (1765-1845); Ebenezer's son Charles (1801-1868). Both Ebenezer and Charles Heath’s homes are included in the National Register of Historic Houses. The Register describes Charles Heath as “a member of one of the town's wealthiest families of the 19th century”. John Heath’s home has been pulled down.
[10] Personal correspondence from Ken Liss, President of the Brookline Historical Society,11/3/2021.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Doliber, op.cit. n.p.
[2] Two primary sources list Primus as enslaved to John Heath: First Parish Brookline Records and the Brookline Mass Vital Records Each Mass. town was required by law to keep a “Vital Record” of the baptisms, marriages and deaths.) At least one secondary source also confirms Primus’ and Heath’s relationship: H.F. Woods, Historical Sketches of Brookline Mass. Boston: Robert S. Davis & Co., 1874. p. 320.)
[3] Two primary sources list Primus as enslaved to John Heath: First Parish Brookline Records and the Brookline Mass Vital Records. Woods, op.cit., p. 320 offers confirmation as a secondary source.
[4] Brookline Mass Vital Records as well as Woods, op. cit., p. 221.
[5] Several secondary sources, including Woods., op.cit., mention both Ben Boston and and Cuff as enslaved by the Heaths. To date we have not located a primary source linking them to Heath.
[6] Heath Family Papers, MA Historical Society
[7] re Susanna’s father, Ebenezer Craft: First Church in Roxbury: Boston Landmarks Commission Report, 2023. https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/file/2023/02/122.87%20First%20Church%20Roxbury%20study%20report%20amended%20final.pdf Re her grandfather, Samuel White, Esq.: Brookline Mass Vital Records.
[8] Mrs. Thomas Doliber, Proceedings of the Brookline Historical Society, n.p., February 8, 1905. Mrs. Doliber was the daughter of Charles Heath.
[9] John Heath (1732-1804); his son Ebenezer (1765-1845); Ebenezer's son Charles (1801-1868). Both Ebenezer and Charles Heath’s homes are included in the National Register of Historic Houses. The Register describes Charles Heath as “a member of one of the town's wealthiest families of the 19th century”. John Heath’s home has been pulled down.
[10] Personal correspondence from Ken Liss, President of the Brookline Historical Society,11/3/2021.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Doliber, op.cit. n.p.