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The Magnet and the Iron: John Brown and George L. Stearns The Stories Behind the Busts

Mary E. Stearns Will Excerpt, 1901

Date:
1901
Exhibit Description:
Excerpts from the handwritten will of Mary E. Stearns, who died in December 1901. The excepts itemize a number of specific objects in her house that she would like to be donated to Tufts College after her sons are finished with them. The text reads, "Also to hold for the use and enjoyment of the said Henry during his life the following described articles of personal property situated in the house where I now reside namely: my tall "grandfather's clock" on the front stairway, the "highboy," the cabinet, the tripod table, the old English mirror, all the old-fashioned chairs which belonged to my deceased husband, the bust of John Brown, the bust of George L. Stearns, the bust of Beethoven, the bust of Emerson, the bust of Clytie, the Venus of Milo, and the several paintings painted by my old friend Christopher P. Cranch, excepting only the one hereinbefore given to Lenora Cranch Scott, said articles all to be kept, preserved and used by him during his life in the house where I now live and not elsewhere."
Attribution:
Stearns, Mary E.
Exhibit Tags:
Mary E. StearnsFrank P. StearnsTufts UniversityGeorge L. StearnsMiddlesex Probate and Family CourtdocumentsStearns EstateHenry L. Stearns