Travel Back in Time: Suffolk Resolves House

With Massachusetts having such a rich historical past, it’s easy to name the main events of the American Revolution and overlook the smaller, integral actions taken by those brave colonists back in the 1700s for independence. One such event is the writing and signing of the Suffolk Resolves, an important document in American history and an event that took place in Milton more than 200 years ago.

The , located at 1370 Canton Ave. in Milton, commemorates the signing of this document and serves as the headquarters of the Milton Historical Society. The building also houses significant artifacts from Milton’s 400-year history.

Live-in caretaker Steve Kluskens and his wife Sheila Frazier focus on upkeep and preservation of the house and its possessions. They also give tours throughout the year, highlighting the important ties Milton has with American colonial history. The couple has previous caretaking experience, living in the , another historic Milton landmark, from 1997 to 2004.

Kluskens and Frazier have been the caretakers and curators of the Suffolk Resolves House since September 1, 2010 and have enthusiastically taken on the job.

Kluskens explained the history of the Suffolk Resolves document, noting that “how we teach history changes over time…but many would say that the Suffolk Resolves House is the birthplace of American liberty…and with good reason."

A quick history lesson will teach that the Intolerable Acts, issued in 1774 by Parliament, were Britain’s response to anarchist behavior in the colonies such as the Boston Tea Party of 1773 and ordered the housing of royal soldiers in colonists’ homes and the closing of Boston’s seaport.

The Suffolk Resolves were a response by the members of Suffolk County (the county that Milton was in at the time) to the Intolerable Acts that was written by Dr. Joseph Warren and signed in the parlor room of the house of merchant Daniel Vose in Milton on September 9, 1774.

Seventy delegates signed the document, including Dr. Benjamin Church, Daniel Vose, William Taylor and Oliver Wendell. Of the nineteen resolutions made in the document, the colonists vowed to boycott British products, drill and prepare an army of militia and fund a network of riders to alert towns of impending British threats. The draft was delivered by the famous dispatcher Paul Revere and submitted to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia on September 16, 1774. It was endorsed the next day, setting the stage for the Battle of Lexington and Concord seven months later in April 1775.

When asked where the document is now, Kluskens answered that “It went to Philadelphia. It was printed not long after; in the Society's archives we have a 1774 copy of it printed after the Continental Congress adopted it. However, the whereabouts of the original document signed by the delegates is not known."

With such an essential piece of American history happening in this house, it seemed natural to preserve it. The original location of the house, Kluskens explains, was in “Milton Village close to Lower Mills, near where the Citizens Bank is today."

After housing merchant shops, plumbers, law offices and even a food mart throughout the 1800s, the house fell into disrepair.

It was donated to the Milton Historical Society in 1950, moved to its Canton Avenue address and restored by two society members, Dr. James and Hannah Ayer, under the architectural direction of William Morris Hunt III. After restoring the house, the Ayers willed the property back to the society in 1963.

Kluskens is well versed in the artifacts of the houses, all of which are either donated by Milton residents or were the past possessions of Milton residents. He enjoys giving tours of the house and although he does not live his everyday life like the colonists who once inhabited the space, he feels a sense of connection to the items of the past.

Giving the example of the wooden floors on the second story of the house, Kluskens said, “This floor is old…it was here hundreds of years before I was, and yet it will be around a lot longer than me. I’m just one in a long time of caretakers…it’s a continual reminder of how short each span of life is."

The best description of the house is that it is “not a museum, but a place to experience and connect with history,” commented Kluskens. It makes going back in time easy because it’s history come to life, literally.

Buzz around the historical site has led to more media coverage and events. The house will be featured on an episode of History Detectives on PBS September 6 at 8 p.m.

The last tour date of the summer is Sunday, August 14^th at 1 p.m. and there will an open house as celebration of former governor Thomas Hutchinson’s birthday on September 11, 2011.

For more information on the Suffolk Resolves House, go to www.miltonhistoricalsociety.org