343-345-347 Beacon were built on a parcel of land originally purchased from the Boston Water Power Company on February 16, 1863, by Daniel Davies, Jarvis Dwight Braman, and Grenville Temple Winthrop Braman (Suffolk Co. Deed Registry, Book 826, p. 86). It was one of four parcels purchased by Daniel Davies and his partners at the same time. These parcels were at the west end of the block between Exeter and Fairfield, on the south side of Beacon, the north and south side of Marlborough, and the north side of Commonwealth.

Detail from plan by J. F. Fuller, showing land purchased by Daniel Davies et al (Suffolk Co. Deed Registry, Book 826, p. 87; 25Feb1863)

The blocks between Exeter and Fairfield are 600 feet in length. The boundary between the lands owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on the east and the lands owned by the Boston Water Power Company on the west was located at a point about 505 feet west of Exeter. The land purchased by Daniel Davies and his partners included all of the Boston Water Power Company’s land between the boundary on the east and Fairfield on the west (shown on the plan as Lots A, B, C, and D, east of “6^th Street”).

In its deed conveying the land, the Boston Water Power Company stated that the distance from the boundary to Fairfield was 95.57 feet. In its deeds for the parcels to the east, the Commonwealth calculated the distance from Exeter to the boundary as being 504.8 feet, leaving 95.20 feet to Fairfield, a discrepancy of 0.37 feet (4½ inches).

Plan of 347 Beacon by Alexander Wadsworth, Suffolk Co. Deed Registry, Book 1630, p. 31 (18Mar1884)

The deeds conveying the land for 343-345 Beacon indicated the northern and southern boundaries as being 48 feet, and the deeds conveying the land for 347 Beacon indicated the northern and southern boundaries as 47.57 feet. These were consistent with the Boston Water Power Company’s calculations.

The March 18, 1864, deed conveying 347 Beacon from John H. Dix to James W. Converse (Book 1630, p. 31) also stated that the northern and southern boundaries were 47.57 feet. However, it was accompanied by a survey prepared by Alexander Wadsworth indicating that the total square footage of the lot, measured from the center of the party wall with 345 Beacon, was 5,292 square feet, equivalent to northern and southern boundaries of 47.25 feet, or approximately 0.32 feet less than stated in the deed. This substantially accounts for the difference between the original deeds from the Boston Water Power Company and the Commonwealth.

Subsequent deeds for 347 Beacon continued to indicate both the total square footage of 5,292 sf and the north-south boundaries of 47.57 feet, without reconciling the difference.