History of the Winslow Marston House
In Hyannis Port, Barnstable, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Architectural Significance:

This home is an example of a Georgian full Cape. The windows are dropping down from the roof's edge, which is indicative of the Georgian-Cape styling. The front door has a transom with five lights. It has double-hung 6/6 windows with shutters on the front and double-hung 2/2 windows on the sides. The house has two original chimneys with four working fireplaces plus a newer chimney in the rear. Two dormers have been added in the back roof. The exterior front is white painted clapboard made from white oak and chestnut. There is a fieldstone wall bordering the road in front of the house.

The parlor is wainscoted. The borning room has been converted to a bathroom. In the keeping room the fireplace has a delicately hand carved mantle. The original wide pine floor boards are still present. Under the Kitchen and accessed through a trap door is an 10' diameter 6'deep root cellar constructed of small carved English brick. 11 original interior doors and hardware still remain. A set of steep stairs run from the keeping room to the attic, a common feature in Cape homes. Upstairs there are two original rooms and a large storage room, which has been remodeled into a bedroom.

Directly behind the residence stands a barn built in the Greek Revival style. The barn is a full two story structure measuring 20' x 20'. Its hand pegged, braced, pit sawed, pine beam structure is noteworthy of the barn's construction. The wide pine planked floor is fastened with hand wrought iron nails. Under the first floor is an 8' diameter 6'deep root cellar constructed of small carved English brick. In the SW corner of the first floor is a set of narrow steep stairs leading to the second floor. There is a ladder leading up to a loft. There is an antique copper goose weathervane on the roof.

Historical Significance:

| 1786............| 1826.....................| 1887..................| 1946...| 1959...........2009

| J. Bassett. | Marstons.............| Smiths.............| Wend.| Shermans............

| 40yrs..........| 61 years...............| 59 years..........| 13yrs..| 49 years................

   The Town of Barnstable Historical Commission* indicates that in 1786 Winslow Marston was the builder and the first resident of the old house at 70 Marston Avenue. This is unsupported by Census, Family or Probate records. Stephen Davis's argument that Joseph Bassett was the builder and first resident is supported by Census, early maps and family history. Both the Historic Commission and Davis agree that the house was built in 1786.

*Snowden, Laurie P., recorder. Barnstable Historical Commission, "Form B - Building, area B, Form no. 38, Winston Marston House". Boston: Massachusetts Historical Commission, June, 1981.

Map of Hyannis Port originally published in 1880. The Marston House has been hilighted. Click to enlarge.

Joseph Bassett, builder/owner: 1786 - 1826

Joseph Bassett probably built the house at #70 Marston Ave. at the time of his marriage in 1786.

    He was born on April 21, 1763 in Hyannis. He enlisted in the Continental Army as a soldier and served during 1775-1777 in the capacity of waiter to his father Lt. Daniel Bassett.

On April 20, 1786 Joseph Bassett, age 23, registered to marry Zerviah (Sophie) Bearce also age 23, born about 1762/63 in Barnstable. Cached She was 3/16 Wampanoag/Narragansett Indian, from both parents. Six months later, on Oct. 14, 1786 their first child, Zenas Doane Bassett was born, most likely at 70 Marston Ave. By 1801, They had nine more children, in birth order: Hannah C. Bassett, Sophia Bassett, Delia Bassett and 6 others unknown, all born in Hyannis. Zerviah Bearse Bassett died in 1805 at age 42, 4 years after the birth of her last child.

     Joseph Bassett served on the Petit Jury in Barnstable on Oct. 12, 1807.

     In 1808, at age 45, Joseph Bassett remarried to Nancy Hawes of Yarmouth, age 27, b: 1781, . Marriage license was issued in Barnstable on Feb 15, 1808. They had 14 children, including Nancy, b: Oct 19, 1808; Gerry Grey, b: July 17, 1810; Joseph, b: Feb. 1, 1812; Octavia, b: May 10, 1813; Louisa, b: Dec. 10, 1814; Cordelia, b: June 5, 1816; Joanna, b:Jan. 20, 1818; Julia, b:July 8, 1819; Laura Othelia, b: July 6, 1822; Darius, b:Dec 6, 1822; and David Porter, b: Oct. 25, 1825, all born in Hyannis.

     Joseph Bassett served on the Grand Jury in Barnstable on the 4^th Tuesday of October, 1809. He was chosen as Fence Viewer and Highway Surveyor at Town Meeting on March 12, 1812 and sworn in on March 22, 1812. In March 1813, he was sworn to another term as Highway Surveyor and also took the oath required of a Wood Corder. He was voted again to be Wood Corder in 1814.

    On Saturday March 18, 1815 he noted in his diary: "Peace concluded between Great Britain and the United States; upon same terms as the war commenced; so much for the "Pumpkin heads at the helm" and for "Sailors rights and fair trade", Hope they are now satisfied."

     In 1826 it is likely that Joseph Bassett sold his house at #70 Marston Ave. and moved nearby to Sea Street . At this point in his life, at 63 years old, he was too old for active farming. His surviving children were grown and prospering, especially Zenus who at age 40 was at the peak of his career, a ship owner, merchant and town leader.

It seems only natural that Joseph and his wife Nancy Hawes Bassett would choose to retire to a house near their son and close to downtown Hyannis. It also seems likely that Capt Zenus Bassett knew of the rising young Captain Zenus Marston and may have facilitated the sale of his family home to Capt. Marston soon before Marston's marriage in the autumn of 1826 to Mary Scudder, a member of a prominent local maritime and business family.

In 1840 Joseph Bassett's home was on Sea St. The 1856 map shows J. Bassett , near the top, on the West side of Sea St. across the street from L. Bearse, just north of  J. Coffin. His prosperous oldest son Capt. Zenus Doane Bassett lived on prime pastureland nearby to the northwest at the head of Stewarts Creek.
   He died on July 7, 1855 at age 93⁽³⁰⁾, The natural father of 24  children. He was one of the last surviving Revolutionary pensioners in Barnstable. His widow, Nancy Hawes Bassett, died October 15, 1856 – age 75. They are buried in Hyannis at the Baptist Church Cemetery.

Captain Zenas Marston: owner: 1826 - 1885

Captain Zenas Marston and his Wife Mary Scudder Marston

Captain Zenas Marston, born June 28, 1802, was the oldest of seven children of Clement Marston Jr. He was married Oct. 26, 1826 to Mary Scudder, born Sept. 3,1803., daughter of Isaiah Scudder and Lydia Isham See: Scudder

Photos courtesy of special collection, Sturgis Library, Barnstable

Zenas Marston was a Master Deep Water Mariner who operated large schooners carrying bulk cargoes up and down the East Coast. He was a meticulous man who according to a niece had a clean shirt and shaved every day during his voyages. On long trips, he would take enough shirts for a year, all handmade by his wife. He was Treasurer of the Barnstable Fraternal lodge A. F. and M. E. (Masons) for 25 Years. His next-door neighbor to the west, Daniel Bassett, a gentleman, was Master of the Lodge in 1852.

He was listed in the 1830 Barnstable Census as 20-30 years old living with a woman, surely Mary, adjacent to his father Clement and other family in Marstons Mills. All three of their children died in infancy. They are buried in Hyannis at the Oak Grove Cemetery opposite the Sea Street Market. Their 2-foot high white marble stone reads:

The Little Ones

· infant Son died May 5, 1828 aged 8 days

· Sarah died Dec. 29, 1829 aged 5 mo’s.

· Charlotte died July 21, 1833 aged 2 yr. & 2m’s.

Mary probably wanted to live in Hyannis Port to be close to her many Scudder family members and childhood friends there and incidentally away from his many family members in Marstons Mills, especially considering that her husband was often away at sea. When they moved is still unknown, though the Hyannis burial location of their children may indicate a move soon after their marriage in 1826. Perhaps they were only visiting Marstons Mills on the date of the census enumeration.

In the 1850 Census, Zenus was listed #534 as a 48-year-old sailor with a $1,000. estate, living with 47 year old wife Mary S. and, strangely, a 1 year old girl, Sarah B. He was listed after Daniel and Sarah Bassett #533 and before David Hinckley #535 a 73 year old farmer, Prince L. Bassett #536 a 28 year old sailor and Nathaniel Bassett #537, a 56 year old sailor.

As Zenus and Mary's 3 children all died in infancy they may have been looking after Sarah Bassett Coleman (1849-1908), the daughter of Mary Bearse (1826-1884) and Hemen J. Coleman, Sr., a sailor (1815-1909). Mary Bearse was the adopted daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Linnell) Bassett who lived at their house next door with them and her husband Hemen .

On the 1856 Town of Barnstable Map by H. E. Walling, The homes of D. l. Bassett, Z. Marston on the North and an unlabeled home and N. Bassett (22 Nob Hill Rd.) on the south are shown in that order from west to east in Hyannis Port, on an unnamed street now Marston Ave., . The unlabeled home near the present location of 99 Marston ave. may have been that of Prince L. Bassett b. 1822, who appears only in the 1850 Census.

Hyannis Port 1856 Zoom Out

The 1870 Census lists Zenus as a 67-year-old seaman with $1,500 real estate and $5,000 personal estate. 65-year-old Mary was listed as keeping house. Mary died March 23,1878. The 1880 Census of Hyannisport lists Zenus Marston as a 77 year old widowed retired mariner living alone. He is listed between Sarah Bassett age 76 and John G. and Prudence (Bassett) Lumbert, ages 53 and 49.

Zenas died Dec. __, 1885 at age 83. Zenus and Mary are buried in Hyannis at the Oak Grove Cemetery, above the three Baxter/Hallett crypts on the hill just south of the small marshy hollow, just in front of their children. Their three-foot granite stone reads simply:

• Mary Scudder Marston 1804-1878

Zenus willed all his vessels property and real estate to his youngest Brother Russell.   Zenus Marston's will dated January 27,1883   From Barnstable County Wills and Probate, 1886, Vol. 3, p. 143, Case 9035, Zenus Marston. note: find and check: Barnstable and Yarmouth Sea Captains and Ship Owners, Leavitt Sprague, Privately  printed, 1913

Capt. Russell Marston, owner: 1885 - 1887

Capt. Russell Marston inherited the 4-acre homestead from his oldest brother Capt. Zenas Marston but probably never actually lived there. Russell Marston was born in 1816 in Boston, the youngest of seven children of Clement Marston.

Capt. Russell went to sea at the age of nine as a cabin boy and cook earning $3.00/mo. In 1842 he married Sara Crosby and lived in the front part of the home of his brother in-law, Hilman Crosby, where their son Howard was born in 1846. By this time, he was Captain and owner of the coastal schooner "Outvie".

At the age of thirty one, in 1847, he sold his ship, turned his back on the sea and started the famous Marston's Restaurants, Well known for good food in Boston. The first restaurant was a ten-stool shack on Commercial Wharf, where the specialty was Cape Cod Clam Chowder. In 1949 Russell expanded his business to 13 Brattle St. , serving regular diners and again expanded in 1854 to a large establishment at 25 - 27 Brattle St. In 1859 he built a prominent Victorian style residence across the street from Hilman Crosby on extensive lands of what is now 454 Main Street, Centerville. By 1882, he had another restaurant on 17 Hanover St. A third restaurant on Summer St. also served alcoholic beverages but was not successful.

Russell Marston was an avowed abolitionist who on at least one occasion assisted a runaway slave to freedom. He befriended abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, who had a summer home in nearby Wianno. His restaurants were the only ones in the city to welcome blacks at that time.

Russell was highly successful and well established in Centerville by the time he inherited his brother Zenus's modest home and small farm in 1885 and certainly did not need it as a place to live.

His son, Howard Marston, second generation in the restaurant family, with partners Woodbury and Wing, added The Mercantile Dining Room at 4 N. Market St, Boston to the Marston Family Restaurant chain. Apparently another restaurant was added because, in 1912 The Centerville Club of Boston held its annual meeting in the Marstons Restaurant on Devonshire Street. The Barnstable Patriot reported a bountiful collation was served. These restaurants grew to serve 10,000 meals daily. Dinnerware, menus and business cards from the Marstons Restaurants are on display in the alcove of the Mary Lincoln House, in Centerville, site of the Centerville Historical Society Museum.

Eight 8-inch International Silver Co. silver soldered bread plates engraved "Marston's" were recently acquired by Marcus Sherman from an estate sale in Hyannis Port. Six of them are on display in the Kitchen at 70 Marston Ave. These old plates, earlier purchased from the Fernbrook Estate in Centerville, are thought to have been originally used in Marston's Restaurants. Their engraving matches the Marstons silver on display with other Marston memorabilia at the Centerville Historic Society Museum. Two of the Marston's plates were donated by Marcus to the museum in 2004.

Howard Marston built a beautiful 14 acre Estate called "Fernbrook" at 481-495 Main st. in 1881, across the street from Russell’s house. Herbert Kalmus later bought this estate and summered in there. An MIT graduate and 1912 inventor of Technicolor, Kalmus hosted stars of the movies and politics, including Walt Disney, John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Cardinal Spellman of Boston was a frequent guest and a room at Fernbrook is named for him. The beautiful gardens of Fernwood were designed for Kalmus by Frederick Law Olmsted, the progressive founder of American landscape architecture.

A prominent citizen, Kalmus donated Dunbar’s Point, a large projection of beach land in Hyannis Harbor, now called Kalmus Beach, to the Town of Barnstable and the 7 1/2 acre hilltop behind Fernbrook, where Our Lady of Victory Church presides, to the Catholic Church.

Russell Kelly Marston, son of Howard, and his wife Elizabeth Kilpatrick Marston (1906 -2004) operated the Log Cabin Gift Shop in Centerville, where they built and sold furniture and ran a charter boat service on their sloop, the Hobo.

More detailed information on Russell and Howard Marston is in: THREE CENTURIES OF CENTERVILLE SCENES. VIGNETTES OF A CAPE COD VILLAGE. by Charles F. Herberger, PhD. available from the Centerville Historical Society

More information is available on all the Marston Family. Also, there is a Marston Family Genealogy Forum.

The Smith Family, owners: 1887 - 1946

The 1880 Hyannisport Census Lists Prince B. Smith, a 20 year old farm laborer, the fifth of ten children of John Smith, a farmer, and his wife Emily. Prince's older brothers, Herbert A. age 23 and Francis E. age 21, were also farm laborers. They had one older and four younger sisters. They lived nearby and it is likely that the Smiths worked the Marston land before and after Zenus Marston's death in 1885.

In 1887, at age 27, Prince B. Smith purchased the property from Russell Marston. Deed text

Also in 1887 Prince Smith was married to Alice M. age 20.

Soon after Prince Smith bought the property, he planted the two large European Linden trees now shading the front of the house. Prince operated a thriving vegetable farm for many years, supplying local markets with cartloads of fresh produce. He also used to sell ice and milk. The 1910 Census of Marston St. lists Prince B. age 50 truck farmer, living with his wife Alice M. age 43 mother of 5 children four surviving, daughter Janice B. age 17 and son John B. age 10. Prince and Alice were later divorced.

in 1925, Alice sold the property to her son John B. Smith and his wife Marion G. Smith. Gradually the property was subdivided and the farm fields sold for construction of new homes.

Ernest P. Wendemuth, 1946 - 1959

In 1946, the Smiths sold the remaining .43 acres of property surrounding the house and barn to Ernest P. Wendemuth of Stuart, Florida (ERNEST WENDEMUTH b. 02 June 1889, d. March 27 or 28, 1979. (Golden Gate, Stuart county, Florida 33494), ss#061-09-75490) who used it as his families' summer residence. Perhaps he is the husband of Lillian E. Wendemuth, 1904 - 1991, who is buried at St. Marys Memorial Garden in Stuart Florida.

Frank M. Sherman III, 1959 - 1987

In 1959 Ernest sold the property to Frank Morton Sherman III, a carpenter and his wife Bonnie Bandy Sherman, an executive secretary. They moved from South Yarmouth with their four young children; Marcus Morton, Sarah, Peter Barrows and Paul Gifford. The Shermans are direct descendants of several Mayflower Passengers and first English settlers of Dartmouth, Ma.

Frank made several improvements to the house including installation of new oil fired furnace with forced hot water baseboard heat in every room of the house, construction of two large dormers in the attic and conversion of the attic to a large bedroom, new asphalt shingle roof, new cedar shingle exterior, redecorating of all rooms, upgraded electric wiring, replumbing the bathroom, installation of new septic system, installation of storm windows throughout the house, construction of a greenhouse off the laundry room in the rear of the house and installation of insulation, electric heat and benches for a workshop on the first floor of the barn.

The children spent many happy years playing and growing up on the old Marston homestead, then moved away to college and their own lives. Bonnie died in 1982 from a stroke suffered while she and Frank were planting potatoes in the garden behind the barn. Frank remarried in 1984 to Tibby Gould and moved away to her house off Gosnold St. Frank died in 1997.

Marcus M. Sherman, 1987 - present



 Marcus and Judith Taylor Hannegan were married in 1976 and had three fine children. Kelly Taylor was born 1978 in Worcester, Ma.,  Anne Gifford and Nicholas Morton were born in Bangkok, Thailand in 1981 and 1983 respectively, while their father was employed there working on rural development projects. In 1985 the young Sherman family returned to the U.S.A. and moved into the old Marston home. In 1985 Marcus purchased the home from his father to raise his family and made several improvements to the house.

In 1987, Marcus established a new business, Catboat Rides Inc., taking tourists for sailboat rides. (See Article) In 1999 he and Judith were divorced and she moved off-Cape.

By 2002 the Sherman children had all left home for college and Marcus established the Marston Family Bed & Breakfast. A new era in the History of the Winslow Marston House had begun. In 2005 Marcus Married Lynette Furtado and they both now serve as innkeepers of the B&B.


 

revised 01/03/2007