302 Marlborough is located on the south side of Marlborough, between Fairfield and Gloucester, with 300 Marlborough to the east and 304 Marlborough to the west.

302 Marlborough was designed by architect Frederic H. Moore and built in 1878 by Daniel W. Beckler, builder, and Michael Nolan, mason, one of five contiguous houses (302-304-306-308-310 Marlborough) built for speculative sale.

Daniel Beckler is shown as the owner on the original building permit application for all five houses, dated January 2, 1878. It appears that he built the houses under an agreement with the Metropolitan Railroad Company, operators of a horse car system in Boston, which owned the land at the time he filed the permit application. The Company had purchased the land in 1871: two 24 foot wide lots on February 16, 1871, from Franklin Evans, and two 24 foot wide lots on April 5, 1871, from Solomon H. Howe. Daniel Beckler built five houses on the land, each on a 19.2 foot lot. The land originally was part of one of several parcels purchased from the Boston Water Power Company on January 29, 1866, by a real estate investment trust formed by John Templeman Coolidge, Franklin Evans, and Charles Henry Parker.

Click here for an index to the deeds for 302 Marlborough, and click here for further information about the land between the south side of Marlborough and Alley 427, from Fairfield to Gloucester.

After acquiring the land in 1871, the Metropolitan Railroad constructed a stable and horse car building on it, in apparent violation of the deed restrictions which provided that only private stables could be built on the land. In 1874, Charles W. Seabury, owner of the nearest house to the west, at 322 Marlborough, brought suit to require removal of the stables (Seabury v. Metropolitan Railroad Company; 115 Mass. 53). The case was dismissed on demurrer (the court concluded that Charles Seabury had not shown a basis entitling him to enforce the deed restrictions). By the time of the decision, however, the company had already made plans to relocate the stables. At its January 14, 1874, annual meeting, the management reported that “arrangements have been made for the lease for a short term of a tract of land at the junction of Marlborough and Parker streets, to which the car-house and stable on Marlborough will be removed as soon as the spring opens, and the land owned there by the corporation can then be sold” (as reported in the Boston Daily Advertiser on January 15, 1874). By mid-1874, the company had moved the stables and car-house to the leased land (located about where 390–396 Marlborough later would be built). According to an October 31, 1900, Boston Globe article about Timothy C. Taylor, a car starter who had worked with the street railway from 1871, the buildings were “carried bodily on rollers to the corner of Parker and Marlboro sts.”

In 1878, while 302-310 Marlborough were being built, the Metropolitan Railroad Company apparently entered into an agreement to sell the land to Harvey Jewell, one of the company’s directors, and he is shown as the owner (and Daniel Beckler as the former owner) on the final building inspection report dated December 23, 1878. The Metropolitan Railroad Company conveyed the land to Harvey Jewell on April 9, 1879.

Daniel Beckler had built four contiguous houses across the street (309-311-313-315 Marlborough) in 1877, also on land owned by Harvey Jewell.

Daniel Beckler was a builder and lumber dealer. In about 1874, he became the proprietor of Beacon Park, a trotting park and race track in Allston, and by 1875 he also owned a stable in Hancock Square in Charlestown. He and his wife, Julia A. (Judkins) Beckler, lived in South Boston in 1874 but moved soon thereafter to Winter Hill in Somerville. They also owned a home in Northfield, New Hampshire, where he raised thoroughbred horses.

Harvey Jewell held the five houses at 302-310 Marlborough as rental property. He was a lawyer and former state legislator, who had served as Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1868 through 1872. He and his wife, Susan A. (Bradley) Jewell, lived at 204 Beacon.

By the 1879-1880 winter season, 302 Marlborough was the home of retired Rear Admiral Charles Steedman and his wife, Sarah (Bishop) Steedman.

Rear Admiral Steedman had commanded the Boston Navy Yard from 1869 to 1872 and the South Pacific Squadron from October of 1872 to September of 1873, when he retired. Charles and Sarah Steedman had lived at 13 Hereford from about 1873 until about 1877, when Charles Steedman made an extended trip to Egypt and the Holy Land. While he was away, Sarah Steedman and their daughter, Rosa, probably lived with one of the Steedmans’ married daughters.

The Steedmans continued to live at 302 Marlborough during the 1880-1881 season, but moved thereafter to Washington DC.

During the 1881-1882 winter season, 302 Marlborough was the home of William Latham Candler and his wife, Fannie Vaughan (Chandler) Candler.  They had lived in Brookline in 1880.  William Candler was treasurer and manager of the Aspinwall Land Company. He had served as a colonel in the Civil War, on the staff of General Joseph Hooker. By 1883, the Candlers were living in Brookline once again.

Harvey Jewell died in December of 1881, and between 1882 and 1884, his estate sold the five houses at 302-310 Marlborough to individual buyers.

On July 20, 1882, 302 Marlborough was purchased from Harvey Jewell’s estate by Julia E. Hilliard and her sister, Sarah Miriam (called Miriam) Hilliard.  They lived at 116 Mt. Vernon with their mother, Elizabeth T. (Newhall) Hilliard, the widow of William Hilliard.  The Hilliard sisters and their mother were teachers and operated a school for girls in their home.

After acquiring 302 Marlborough, Miriam Hilliard opened a school for girls under twelve there. They also rented rooms to lodgers. Julia Hilliard continued to operate their primary and preparatory school at 116 Mt. Vernon, and they both continued to live there with their mother.

Elizabeth (Newhall) Hilliard died in April of 1886.  Julia and Miriam Hilliard continued to live at 116 Mt. Vernon and operate their schools both there and at 302 Marlborough.

Among the lodgers at 302 Marlborough in 1886 and 1887, 302 Marlborough was Miss Lucy Wheelock, who taught the kindergarten class at Chauncy Hall School in Copley Square. She previously had lived at 91 Newbury. By 1888, she had moved to 26 St. James.

Lucy Wheelock was a pioneer in the kindergarten movement. In 1888 she began teaching training classes for kindergarten teachers at Chauncy Hall and then, in the mid-1890s, opened a kindergarten and training school at 284 Dartmouth. She later moved the school to The Riverway. It subsequently expanded its course offerings, changing its name to Wheelock School in 1930.  She remained the school’s director until her retirement in 1939, after which the school incorporated as Wheelock College.

During the 1885-1886 and 1886-1887 winter seasons, 302 Marlborough also was the home of Miss Laliah Burpee Pingree and her sister, Miss Delia Lydia Pingree.  By the next season, they had moved to the Hotel Cluny at 543 (233) Boylston. Like Lucy Wheelock, Laliah Pingree was a leader in the development of Boston’s kindergartens, including supervising the system of free kindergartens developed by Pauline (Agassiz) Shaw and serving as a member of the Boston School Committee from 1889 through 1894.

By the 1887-1888 winter season, Julia and Miriam Hilliard had moved to 302 Marlborough and consolidated their two schools there. They also continued to accept lodgers.

Among the lodgers in 1889 were Matthew Lewis P. Hurd and his wife, Wilhelmina (Williamine) Emma (Brown) Hurd. They previously had lived at 235 West Newton, and had moved to Stoneham by 1890. He was cashier for the Boston office of the Cunard Steamship Company. On January 28, 1890, he disappeared from his office, and the possibility of either foul play or embezzlement and flight were raised in the press. He returned to his home in Stoneham on February 16, 1890, and explained that ill health combined with fear of discovery of unintentional errors in his accounts had caused his absence.

The Hilliard sisters ceased to operate their school in about 1889, and by 1890 they had moved to 111 Pinckney.  The next year, they moved back to 116 Mt. Vernon. They continued to own 302 Marlborough and lease it to others.

By the 1889-1890 winter season, 302 Marlborough was the home of Charles Whipple Smith, a real estate and insurance broker, and his wife, Harriet Elizabeth (Farnsworth) Smith.  They previously had lived at 34 Gloucester.  They continued to live at 302 Marlborough during the 1891-1892 season, but moved thereafter to 270 Newbury.

By the 1892-1893 winter season, 302 Marlborough was the home of Dr. George Hamlin Washburn, a physician specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, and his wife, Anna Marilla (Hoyt) Washburn.  They previously had lived at 313 Marlborough.

By the 1894-1895 season, they had been joined by George Washburn’s grandmother, Elizabeth (Homes) Washburn, the widow of Philander Washburn, and George Washburn’s aunt, Elizabeth Homes (Washburn) Brainard, the former wife of Charles Rollin Brainard, an Episcopal minister and later a lawyer and author.  Elizabeth Brainard was an artist.

They all continued to live there during the 1894-1895 season, but moved thereafter to 311 Marlborough.

302 Marlborough was not listed in the 1896 Blue Book.

By the 1896-1897 winter season, 302 Marlborough was the home of Arthur Dehon Hill and his wife Henrietta Post (McLean) Hill.  They had married in 1895 and then lived at 19 Marlborough with his parents, Adams Sherman Hill and Caroline Inches (Dehon) Hill.

Arthur Dehon Hill was a lawyer and strong defender of civil liberties. He was Suffolk County District Attorney in 1909-1910, a professor at Harvard Law School in 1915-1917, and Boston Corporate Counsel  in 1919-1922. Later in the 1920s, represented Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti after their appellate counsel, William G. Thompson, retired.

In about 1898, his parents joined them at 302 Marlborough.  Adams Hill was a professor of rhetoric at Harvard.  Formerly a journalist, he was one of the founders of the Independent News Room, a competitor of the Associated Press during the Civil War. Adams and Caroline Hill had lived in an apartment at 9 Massachusetts Avenue the previous year, and by 1899 had moved to 190 Commonwealth.

Arthur and Henrietta Hill continued to live at 302 Marlborough during the 1900-1901 season, but moved thereafter to 83 Mt. Vernon.

302 Marlborough was not listed in the 1902 and 1903 Blue Books.

On May 5, 1903, 302 Marlborough was offered for sale at public auction. The successful bidder probably was Serafina (Loring) Lincoln, the widow of attorney Arthur Lincoln, who took title to the property on May 12, 1903, from Julia and Miriam Hilliard. Serafina Lincoln and her daughter, Serita Lincoln, made it their home. They previously had lived at 13 Gloucester (where Arthur Lincoln died in December of 1902).

Soon after acquiring 302 Marlborough, Mrs. Lincoln and her daughter traveled abroad (they sailed from Boston on the SS Commonwealth on August 27, 1903) and 302 Marlborough was leased by others for several years.

During the 1903-1904 winter season, it was the home of James A. Jones and his wife, Mary E. (Brown) Jones.  He was general manager of the West Indies Department of the United Fruit Company.  By 1905, they were living in Swampscott.

By the 1904-1905 winter season, it was the home of Miss Fanny Young. By the next season, she had moved to 454 Beacon.

302 Marlborough was not listed in the 1906 Blue Book.

By the 1906-1907 winter season, Serafina Lincoln and Serita Lincoln had resumed living at 302 Marlborough.

In April of 1910 (at the time of the 1910 US Census), they were living in Washington DC and 302 Marlborough was the home of William Brewster, a trustee and manager of trust estates. He traveled frequently and maintained homes in Newport and in Ryde on the Isle of Wight. He previously had maintained his Boston home at 131 Beacon.

By the 1910-1911 winter season, Serafina and Serita Lincoln were living at 302 Marlborough once again.  In October of 1911, Serita Lincoln married Matthew Bartlett, a banker and broker. After their marriage, they lived in Brookline and then, by the 1917-1918 winter season, at 356 Beacon. They also maintained home in Beverly Farms.

Serafina Lincoln continued to live at 302 Marlborough during the 1913-1914 season, but moved thereafter to The Abbotsford at 186 Commonwealth. On February 13, 1922, she transferred 302 Marlborough to her daughter.

302 Marlborough was not listed in the Blue Books from 1917 through 1934, and it appears that it was leased by William Brewster as his Boston home. He listed it as his residence in the 1917 City Directory, showed it as his mailing address on passport applications in May of 1920 and April of 1921, and listed it as his residence in his entry in the 1921 report for his Harvard Class of 1881. The Boston Lists of Residents during most years in the 1920s and early 1930s indicate that the only permanent residents were a cook and a maid.

William Brewster died in November of 1933.

On June 26, 1934, 302 Marlborough was acquired from Serita Bartlett by the Massachusetts Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).  In July of 1934, it applied for (and subsequently received) permission to convert the property from a single-family dwelling into “offices and dwelling.” The Massachusetts WCTU dedicated 302 Marlborough as its new headquarters on October 17, 1934.  It previously had been located at 541 Massachusetts Avenue.

302 Massachusetts served as the offices of the Massachusetts WCTU and as a residence.  Among the first residents were the organization’s treasurer, Miss Maud Elizabeth Fisk, and Mrs. Carrie A. (Stearns) Gates, the widow of Forrest D. Gates.  Both had previously lived at the WCTU’s headquarters at 541 Massachusetts Avenue. They continued to live at 302 Marlborough until their deaths, Miss Fisk in January of 1953 and Mrs. Gates in January of 1956.

By 1953, the property was considered by the Building Department as a lodging house and dormitory, and was cited for failing to have adequate egress from all rooms.

The Massachusetts WCTU continued to be located at 302 Marlborough until the early 1980s.

On December 12, 1983, 302 Marlborough was purchased from the WCTU by Knight Radio, Inc.

On June 22, 1993, 302 Marlborough was purchased from Knight Radio, Inc., by Peter S. Voss and his wife, Pamela L. Voss. In November of 1993, they applied for (and subsequently received) permission to convert the property from offices and dwelling units into a single-family dwelling.

On August 19, 2003, 302 Marlborough was purchased from Peter and Pamela Voss by Dr. Elie Edmond Rebeiz,  Otolaryngologist-in-Chief at Tufts Medical Center, and his wife, Dr. Liliane K. Yacoub, an anatomic pathologist.

Elie Rebeiz died in March of 2021.

On November 3, 2023, Liliane Yacoub Rebeiz transferred 302 Marlborough to Eleanor M. Uddo, trustee of the LJL Trust.

On November 21, 2023, 302 Marlborough was purchased from the LJL Trust by Bruce McCarthy and Chad Thomas Smith.

302 Marlborough was assessed as a single-family dwelling in 2023.