A Martin’s Pond Mystery…Solved!
In 2015, a local family donated a small photo album to the Society. At first, we knew very little about the petite sepia photographs that had been carefully glued to its thick black paper pages. Only a few of the photos were labeled, noting that they had been taken in the summer of 1927 at Martin’s Pond, in Melrose, and on Weymouth Beach.
Keen to learn more about the mysterious photo album, the Society turned to our friend Lori Lynes, whose research skills and knowledge of Martin’s Pond are second-to-none. Lori asked herself: what was the couple’s connection to the pond? A few photo labels—Ethel McLellan, Aunt Florie, and “The Florence”—gave her clues to follow. She soon discovered a wealth of information about the young people in the photos—Harold and Theadis Washburn (pictured below)—and their relatives, the McLellans, who owned a summer home in North Reading. This is their story.
Harold and Theadis
Born in Brockton in the summer of 1895, Harold was the fourth of five children. His father Edward was a wheeler-dealer who—in 1899—declared bankruptcy after making some bad business deals. The following year, he started over and began selling firewood and later ice cream as well (see below). By 1910, Harold’s father Edward’s career seemed to be back on track. That year, he expanded into the ice business, renaming his operation the Washburn Ice Company.
Maud Margaret Edith Burchard—who adopted the name Theadis as child—was born in Malden in 1895. Her parents Joseph (a stonemason) and Minnie had emigrated to Boston from Prince Edward Island with their parents. By 1901, the Burchards had moved to Brockton, eventually settling into a home on Crescent Street—right around the corner from the house into which Edward Washburn would move with his family in 1909.
Sweethearts Harold & Theadis (1913)
This meant that Harold and Theadis lived right around the corner from each other as teenagers. Within a few years, they would be dating. Both left school at 15 to find work—Harold at a department store and Theadis making shoes. They soon married—on Christmas 1915—and moved into their own home down the street from Harold’s parents. Around the same time, Harold joined the family ice business—a bustling operation consisting of seven ice houses along Beaver Brook in Brockton, near an area still known as Washburn Meadow.
Yet Edward Washburn saw his business collapse for the second time in 1917 when a catastrophic fire—likely the work of arsonists—destroyed his buildings, ruined two of his trucks, and melted 3,000 tons of ice. Edward once again declared bankruptcy, though he managed to keep his business. He gradually rebuilt it despite further setbacks, including a 1920 windstorm and 1922 flood that resulted in more damaging financial losses. And although Harold continued to work with his father, two of his brothers had started their own ice businesses that competed with their father’s.
A Dramatic Twist
Matters came to a head in 1924, when Edward’s employees sued him for non-payment of wages. Edward testified that his business was struggling and the cost of caring for his disabled daughter Anna made it difficult for him to meet payroll.
That September, Edward Washburn left home one afternoon and did not return. It took several days for his wife to report him missing. She feared he had committed suicide because the business was not doing well. Police and neighbors began searching ponds and the nearby woods.
A few weeks later, Harold’s father turned up hundreds of miles away in a Salvation Army hostel in New York City. The story of his disappearance—and subsequent reappearance—made headlines throughout the United States. Grabbing the spotlight, Edward gave press interviews, claiming his wife and all of his children (except for Harold) made his life miserable. He told reporters that he was made to eat at a table by himself and that if he said he didn’t like the food, he got it again for the next meal. He complained that his home was filled with "discord, stinging words, and contemptuous laughter. Edward’s wife also gave interviews, defending herself, criticizing her husband for leaving her to care for their disabled daughter, and claiming that he fled because his business was failing.
By leaving Brockton, Edward Washburn had also walked away from his business and property. Accounts of what happened to it differ—some reports suggest he transferred it all to Harold while others indicate he set up some sort of trust so that his family would be able to live off the income it generated. Regardless, his assets soon dwindled. Shortly after suffering another arson incident, the Washburn Ice Company folded in 1926. Edward continued to live in Brooklyn until 1927, when he died of carbon monoxide poisoning—passing away alone in his bedsit, still estranged from his family.
A 1928 photo of the Salvation Army Memorial Hotel in The Bowery where Edward Washburn reappeared.
Escaping to Martin’s Pond
1927 was also the year that Harold and Theadis spent their summer at Martin’s Pond in North Reading. Taking pictures of happy times spent on and around the pond, they were both recovering from the death of a parent (Theadis’ mother had also passed away that year) and the collapse of the Washburn family business.
Now in their early thirties, Harold and Theadis had come to spend time at the summer home of her aunt and uncle: Florence and Jacob and McLellan. Their house was located in an area known as the Eames Park Pond neighborhood. At that time, there were different named areas around Martin’s Pond. Eames Park was approximately from Dairy Queen to about the park. Holt’s Grove was on the northeast side. Inglenook was down Burroughs Road and Lakeside Boulevard. Arrow Village was from Comeau Road and around Old Andover Road. Green Pines was the back southwest corner of the pond.
Florence was Theadis’s mother’s sister—she had married Jacob McLellan (who, like Florence, had emigrated from Canada) in 1894. Over the next twenty-five years, the McLellans started a family and moved often, relocating from Malden to Dracut, back to Malden, then to Lawrence, Somerville, and Melrose.
Jacob and Florence defied the Pond stereotype (Boston-area working class). Jacob McLellan was a white-collar professional: an engineer that oversaw the construction of buildings. He must have spent large amounts of time away from his family, overseeing buildings in New York City, Ontario, and Finland, among other places.
A 1918 map of Martin’s Pond. The major north-south road visible is modern day Route 28.
Possessing more disposable income than most, Jacob bought two lots on Leclair Street (a few lots in from the southeast side of Martin’s Pond) in the fall of 1915. Two years later, he purchased the lot on the east side of his land before going on to buy seven more lots in 1918. By 1920, the McLellans had two houses and a barn—worth $3,100 (equal to $50,000 in 2025 dollars)—on their land.
Jacob’s buying spree mirrored a broader trend. Between 1910 and 1920, the number of houses in North Reading almost doubled (from 330 to 653). And like North Reading residential footprint, Jacob’s property holdings continued to grow over the following decade. He bought eight more lots in 1920, ones that were not adjacent to land he already owned but rather sat along what is now Route 28. Jacob went on to purchase another lot in 1921 and then eight more in 1929. By that time he owned a total of three acres of land, two houses, as well as other smaller structures worth $4,500 ($85,000 in 2025 dollars).
A diagram (above) and modern satellite image (below) of the lots Jacob McLellan owned on Leclair and Voke streets in North Reading.
Flashback to the Summer of 1927
In the early days, Martin’s Pond residents had a tradition of naming their cottages. On the east side of the pond there were some creative names like Wantacum Inn and Do-Drop-Inn. Camps Honey Bee and Swastika (known then as an Asian symbol for good luck) were located along the water. Others included Oak Lodge, Railroad, Kamp Kill Kare, Recreation, Gridiron, Rock Cottage and The Crest. Jacob McLellan followed suit, naming his cottage “The Florence” after his wife (see below).
1927 was a time when most homes were summer cottages. There were only a handful of full time residents, one being The Arrow Man and his Scottish wife Bessie. They lived on the West side at Wigwam Camp. He was running Martin’s Pond Real Estate. The oldest homes on the pond were located on the water along what is now Batchelder Avenue. The electric trolley ran down Main Street (Route 28) and there was a stop at Batchelder Ave.
The McLellans had a large garden next to their house (see Theadis pictured in the garden below). And while they couldn’t run to Stop & Shop for their food, there were stores in the neighborhood. McIntire’s Store was close to where the boat launch is today. The Boulevard Store was near the corner of Burroughs Road and Lakeside Boulevard.
Before the advent of power boats, the pond must have teemed with wildlife, especially turtles, otters, mink, muskrat, and beavers. The birdwatching must have been amazing as well, with great blue heron, ducks, egrets and various song birds in abundance. Turtle Island and the edges of the pond must have had many birds’ nests. If Harold and Theadis looked closely at the water in the pond, they would have seen that it was stained brown from the tannins in the oak leaves from trees that lined the pond. In the late 1880s, Malden was considering Martin’s Pond as their water source, but ultimately rejected it because of the tannins.
There were many places to go around the pond. Harold and Theadis may have paddled to McIntire’s Store for an ice cream. Sandy Beach (photographed below c. 1920) and the Sandy Beach Spa were east of the bridge. Next to Sandy Beach was the Pine Tree Inn, a multi-family house today. Rocky Beach was on the west side at the end of Poplar Terrace. The Martin’s Pond Social Club—a dance hall—sat roughly midway down Lakeside Boulevard.
Looking at the east side of the pond from their canoe, Harold and Theadis (photographed below) would have seen the Ice House. Men used hand tools and horses each winter to cut blocks of ice from the pond. The blocks were covered in sawdust to keep them from melting. The McLellans likely purchased ice there during the summer months.
The summer of 1927 saw a big brouhaha happen near Martin’s Pond when a dentist who lived at the corner of what is now Chester Road and Main Street had his property surveyed. The surveyor told him that his property extended into the street. The dentist promptly built a fence, planted four trees and placed boulders in the street. After talking to the police and their lawyers, a group of neighbors returned the street to its original configuration, leaving the remnants in the man’s yard. Chief Croswell was on hand to watch the doings, as was the unhappy owner.
The dentist’s comical display was not the only excitement that happened that summer. On July 4th 1927, Harold and Theadis likely participated in the festivities around the Pond. The day began with a midnight dance at the Martin’s Pond Social Club where locals twirled to music from a five-piece band. During the day there were games for the kids—a 50 yard race, potato sack races, three-legged races and wheelbarrow races.
Adults competed in games too—there were horseshoe competitions, tug of war contest, a ‘fat man’ race, broad jump, and an ‘around the block’ race. For the ladies, there was also a ‘nail driving’ and ‘tonic drinking’ contest. The crowd favorite was a pie eating contest with categories for all. At night, fireworks illuminated the Pond. Residents that had a car may have stopped by the Temple Filling Station at the corner of Main Street and Emerson Road on their way home.
Although Martin’s Pond locals loved their fireworks, they also worried about fires. People around the pond cooked on open camp fires. The cottages were heated with wood and coal. The cottages were wooden. One spark could set the woods or a house afire, especially on a windy day. The nearest fire department was three miles away in Reading over mostly unpaved roads. Even if they responded quickly, their fire fighting equipment was unsophisticated. In August 1927, one such fire started at a cottage in the Holts Grove neighborhood. Water was pumped from the pond onto the fire, which destroyed the interior of the home but fortunately did not spread to neighboring cottages or the nearby store.
Early September 1927 marked the end of the summer season. Martin’s Pond celebrated with a party for children and a community dinner. Residents packed the Martin’s Pond Social Club to see the annual Minstrel Show consisting of song, dance, skits, recitations, and comedy performed by residents. Two performers—Elizabeth Mansergh and Flossie Barker—were retired vaudeville performers who had toured the United States and Europe as the Langweed Sisters. Flossie sang Sing, Kate, Sing and Elizabeth sang Buggy Ride. The two former stars also teamed up to perform a sketch called Old Bill Bailey.
How the Story Ends
After enjoying their halcyonic holiday on Martin’s Pond, Harold and Theadis returned home to Brockton. Harold took a job at Brockton Public Market—a local grocery store—where he worked until he retired in the early 1950s. The couple continued to live on Quincy St in Brockton. Both Harold (89) and Theadis (91) lived to a ripe old age. They never had children.
Theadis’ aunt and uncle continued to holiday on Martin’s Pond until they passed away (Jacob in 1936 and Florence in 1943). Their daughter Ethel—Theadis’ cousin—inherited the sizeable McLellan property and continued to summer on the pond. A series of photos from 1931 tell us that Harold and Theadis traveled up from Brockton to visit Ethel and relive some of their happy memories from the summer of 1927.
Over time, Ethel offloaded some of the lots her father had accumulated, selling one in 1951 and two in 1955. In 1957, Ethel’s Leclair Street home was completely destroyed in a fire that may have been set. She was not home at the time and it is unclear whether she rebuilt the structure, whose smoking remains were photographed by the North Reading Transcript. Ethel died in 1970 (aged 75) having never married or had children. She left the remaining McLellan lots to her niece and nephew, who sold them in 1977 and 1980. After more than six decades, the McLellans’ connection to Martin’s Pond ended.
Postscript
Thanks to Lori’s extraordinary research, the Society is able to share the wonderful story behind a cryptic set of holiday snaps taken almost a century ago. Given what we now know about the lives of the people in the photographs, we can see that North Reading—and the beauty of Martin’s Pond—provided them with a welcome escape from family drama and work stress.
The story of Harold and Theadis is timely reminder that every photo of old North Reading has a story to tell. The Society hopes that—in 2025—you’ll look in your boxes or drawers for some of those photos and allow us to borrow and digitize them. Help us preserve local history one photo at a time! If you have a photo or other piece of local history to share, contact us at: info@nreadinghistory.org / 978-664-1066.
