Gore Place preserves a historic landscape and an agricultural tradition.
On this page, learn more about:
What was Gore Place before the Gores arrived?
What is a gentleman farmer?
What was it like working on the Farm in the 19th century?
Who were the Farm's laborers at Gore Place?
Before the Gores
The fifty acres at Gore Place were inhabited long before the Gores built their mansion in 1806.
The first humans arrived in present-day New England about 11,000 years ago. Glaciers had just retreated and a boreal forest of spruce, pine, and hemlock was emerging, while megafauna, like mammoths, roamed the hilly landscape. New England’s first inhabitants were hunter-gatherers, and like their progeny for thousands of years they lived nomadically: their location and diet changed with the seasons, and their population remained relatively small. Charcoal and pollen sediments suggest these early humans made extensive use of fire to shape their environment and improve its capacity to produce food, which they did sustainably for thousands of years. Then, about 1,000 years ago, horticulture emerged.
Though it didn’t completely replace hunting and gathering, horticulture laid the groundwork for a more stationary way of life. Growing crops like corn, beans, and squash and storing them for winter increased food supply, which in turn led to higher populations. In fact, by the time Europeans arrived in North America, the population of tribes practicing horticulture—mostly living in southern New England—was nearly ten times higher than the foraging tribes farther north. Southern New England was hardly a wilderness by this point, as a growing population and its adoption of horticulture had turned the landscape into a “shifting mosaic.” Whether through controlled burning, clearing, or horticulture, indigenous peoples made an imposing wilderness more tame and hospitable. Nowhere was this more evident than along rivers and coasts, where fish were abundant, and sandy, well-drained soils provided good crop yields.
The earliest English settlements were also along rivers and coasts. These lightly-wooded and sometimes cleared areas were far easier to work than dense woods, and colonists were able to transform their environment to suit their style of agriculture rather quickly. Called “mixed husbandry” or “mixed farming,” English agriculture was an integrated style of animal and crop raising that used manure, crop rotation, and nitrogen-fixing crops like timothy and clover to maintain soil health. It required a great deal of open space, and with it came a range of new crops, grasses, and animals. Before long these species and the humans that brought them could be found across Massachusetts, which over time looked more and more like a “new” England.
Gore Place experienced this environmental transformation from its very beginning. When Watertown was first settled by the English in 1630, Gore Place was part of a plot given to one of the town’s founders, the Reverend George Phillips, and while what he specifically did on this land is lost to history, we can piece together a picture based on the early development of other colonial towns: a significant portion of the forest was left alone or used as woodlot, while the rest of the land was cleared for pasture and cultivation. In towns around New England, the space dedicated to open space would only grow over time, and by the end of the colonial period—when the Gores purchased the property—the landscape had become “a world of fields and fences.” As William Cronon writes in Changes in the Land, English colonists “were responsible for a host of changes in the New England landscape: the seemingly endless miles of fences, the silenced voices of vanished wolves, the system of country roads, and the new fields filled with clover, grass, and buttercups.” Within this pastoral landscape, which we preserve today, the Gores built their country estate.
The Gore Years (1804-1834)
“The grounds [of Gore place] are not improved merely to gratify personal feelings, or attract observation and receive applause; but they are devoted to the raising of every variety of horticulture, grass, corn, wheat, barley, &c:—and while this variety itself delights the eye of the beholder, it makes him feel, that utility is the main design of the exertions there displayed…” —Reverend Ezra Ripley, 1815.
Christopher Gore was among the wealthiest and most-respected men in Boston by the turn of the nineteenth century. With a thriving law practice and a growing fortune from speculation and investments, Gore had entered politics and public life in the late 1780s, and in 1796—after seven years as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts—he was appointed by President Washington to serve as a diplomat in Great Britain. He and his wife Rebecca spent the next eight years in Europe, where they found inspiration for their country estate.
As members of Boston’s high society, the Gores were inspired by the British aristocracy and their “gentleman’s farms.” Christopher, who recently helped found the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture (MSPA) in 1792, was delighted to visit several of these estates with his friend and fellow diplomat Rufus King, where the two were impressed with the beautiful, productive, and scientific farms run by their British counterparts. Gore visited prominent agriculturalists like Thomas Coke and Robert Bakewell, and even attended two world-renowned sheep shearing events where he became acquainted with other agricultural improvers. Though kept busy by politics and law, Gore’s interest in agriculture, agricultural improvement, and gentleman farming was piqued during this period. When he and Rebecca returned to Waltham in 1804 they began working on an estate modeled after those they had seen in Europe, complete with a mansion, gardens, greenhouses, and hundreds of acres of pasture and cultivated fields.
Thanks to a number of sources including Gore’s letters, archaeological surveys, and a journal kept by the Gores’ long-time farm manager Jacob Farwell, we begin to understand the inner workings of this impressive farm and what it was like to live and work here.
Learn more about the archaeological surveys at Gore Place here.
“My Farm at Waltham”
Gentleman Farmer and Agricultural Improver
Christopher Gore took pride in being a gentleman farmer. So what exactly did this title entail? More than just farm owners, gentleman farmers like Gore were wealthy land holders whose farms were distinguished by their size, design, and beauty. In the fashion of their counterparts in Great Britain, gentleman farmers in New England prioritized aesthetics, and while they raised many of the same crops and animals as local farmers, their farms were symbols of status and wealth, and not intended to provide a subsistence or turn a profit. The Gores’ farm, however, was an uncommon exception: it was not only beautiful and carefully designed, but meant to be productive, profitable, and even a sort of laboratory for experimentation and agricultural improvement. As the Reverend Ezra Ripley put it in 1815, “the grounds [of Gore Place] are not improved merely to gratify personal feelings, or attract observation and receive applause; but they are devoted to the raising of every variety of horticulture, grass, corn, wheat, barley… and while this variety itself delights the eye of the beholder, it makes him feel, that utility is the main design of the exertions there displayed…”
Even before his trip to Great Britain, agricultural improvement was an important cause for Christopher Gore. In 1792 he had helped found the MSPA, which was composed of wealthy men and gentlemen farmers who “felt an obligation as educated men to dispense information and promote experimentation for the good of all farmers in the state,” as Helen R. Pinckney wrote. Though at first the organization and others like it had little effect on yeoman farmers throughout the state—and were generally viewed with skepticism—over time their efforts proved to be widely beneficial. With their members’ wealth and close ties to agriculturalists overseas, societies like the MSPA were able to make great strides in stock breeding and horticulture, and helped introduce new crops, machinery, and methods to New England farmers both rich and poor.
More than just a founding member and trustee of the MSPA, Gore played a role in the research and experimentation that made the organization influential. Described as an “active, tasteful, improving agriculturalist” by the Reverend F.W.P. Greenwood, Gore had a large, artificially-heated greenhouse in which the full-time British gardener he employed propagated plants, experimented with different soils and compost, and grew exotic fruits like lemons, pineapples, and figs. Rebecca Gore was also interested in horticulture, and was recognized by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1879 for her “early contributions” to the organization. Like Christopher, she studied the sciences and used her wealth and resources to encourage progress in the field.
The Gores’ farm was a state-of-the-art operation. While gentleman farmers like Christopher did not work their own fields or push their own plow, as owner and overseer of they remained deeply involved in other ways. Christopher hired a farm manager and teams of workers each growing season, and not only ran the business side of the farm, but remained an avid reader of “improver” literature—the latest news on agricultural innovation—and made sure his farm used the best methods, animal breeds, and tools. In addition to standard techniques like manuring and crop rotation, farm manager Jacob Farwell noted using different composts, planting soil-enhancing crops like turnips and legumes, and spreading lime (calcium oxide) to offset soil acidity. The Gore estate was also renowned for its animals, which Gore relied on to make his farm profitable. His cattle herd was most valuable, but he also raised pigs and sheep, including the Leicester Longwool—which are still raised on the farm today.
Learn more about Jacob Farwell and work on the Gores’ farm below.
Work on the Farm
Jacob Farwell and His Journal
Born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Jacob Farwell and his brother Isaac began working for the Gores around 1810 at age 16. Jacob eventually became Gore’s farm manager. Isaac seems to have served in a similar capacity, perhaps as an estate manager.
In our collection, we have a journal kept by Jacob for the years 1820 to 1826. The book served two purposes. In one direction, it’s a diary of activities for each day. Flip it over, and it’s an account of income and payouts for the farm.
Here are Jacob’s entries for one week in October 1824 on the diary side:
- Oct 18 (Monday) To Boston after manure with one team, getting sand, digging potatoes in the 40 acre lot, thrashing beans and husking corn in the evening.
- 19 To the Point after lumber and digging potatoes in the 40 acre lot.
- 20 Went to Brighton Cattle Show, helping Barnes and digging potatoes in the 40 acre lot.
- 21 Killed a calf. Sawing wood at the shed, carting leaves, carting potato vines from the plain into the hogyard, digging potatoes in the 40 acre lot, and husking in the evening.
- 22 To Boston after manure with one team, digging potatoes and cutting up the corn in the
- 40 acre lot, and husking in the evening.
- 23 To Boston after manure with one team, picking winter apples, and carting potato vines to the hogyard.
- 24 Sabbath (Sunday)
Jacob and Isaac served in the army during the War of 1812. Upon discharge, Jacob received a bounty of 160 acres of land, approximately where Brandeis University now stands.
After Christopher Gore died, Jacob continued to manage the farm until Rebecca’s death in 1834. In 1836, Jacob Farwell purchased a property known as the Central House in Waltham and renovated it into “one of the most commodious hotels in the vicinity,” according to the Waltham Sentinel. He died in Waltham in 1866. The Central House property was passed on to the Buttrick Estate, and later became the site of the Waltham Public Library.
Farm Laborers
There are eighty-seven individuals recorded in the journal who worked on the farm. Farwell’s entries give us few details. They are simply records of payments made or brief descriptions of tasks performed.
According to the journal, most workers were hired for only a few months (In 1825, Farwell notes, “Thomas Blake began April 18 at $11 — [per month] for 7 months.”) For many of these workers, the term of their employment was seasonal—spring to summer, or summer to fall. For example, in 1822, David Barnard worked April 5 through July 29. In May of that year, Farwell noted, “David Barnard began to watch the walks.” With more than a mile of paths, Barnard may have spent a good amount of his time tending to this element of the landscape.
Along with the seasonal workers, Farwell paid a few, mostly women, by the week. These were short-term hires, usually lasting a few weeks. For example, in 1821, Lydia Butlers worked from March 21 to April 14, and again from June 25 to August 18.
Farwell hired a few people for only one or two days of labor. On September 24, 1825, Farwell paid Oliver Farnsworth for one day of work, and one duck. Farnsworth had also worked from late March through late August of that year.
Often, the work was quite specialized. Farwell paid most monthly hires between $6 and $12 per month. But, In 1824, Farwell paid T. Farr the handsome sum of $16 for “16 days at haying.”
Not all of Farwell’s references to workers are related to paid labor. He notes payments for other services, including coopering barrels, laying stone walls, hauling ice, and weaving. Wolcott (sic) (probably Jonas Walcott) seems to have served as a handyman. Farwell records helping Walcott fix a pump, repair a fence, and mend a gate.
The great majority of the eighty-seven workers named in Farwell’s journals worked only a season or two.
