From 1967 through 1972 my family lived in a home that was known locally as the Boynton House, 45 years later my curiosity got the best of me, again, and I decided to research the history of a home. Conventional wisdom was that, since it was known as the “Boynton House”, Boynton must have built it and it was thought to have been built around 1900.
Research began with land records rather than traditional genealogy. The State of Maine is a gold mine and I was able to go back to the 1880’s when Isaac Strong bought a piece of land from Sarah Eastman and D. Augustus Richards.
Sadly, Isaac died in 1888 and his wife Eugenia soon after in 1892. Their estate records confirm they left behind an elegant Victorian home, which in turn makes likely that the home was built in the 1880s rather than 1900.
Elkanah and Jennie Boynton began renting the property after Eugenia’s death in 1892. They purchased the estate in 1894 for $2400.00. Over the years the house was home to several families, but given their Forty-three-year residency, it’s no wonder the house became known as “the Boynton House”
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