94

William York Peters

William was the son of Edward Dyer and Jane Almira (Gould). Prior to

enrolment at Harvard, he had attended the J. P. Hopkinson private school. After

graduation he studied architecture for two years with the Boston firm of Sturgis

and Brigham. He then spent time in Paris and San Francisco before settling into

his own practice at 6 Beacon Street, Boston. In January, 1898, he formed a

partnership with Arthur Wallace using the name Peters & Rice. He retired in

1904 with winters in Florida and a number of trips to Europe. He summered on

Cape Cod

‟

s Buzzards Bay.

Peters married Amey Dexter Sharpe of Providence, Rhode Island on April 25,

1893. Daughter Amey was born January 17, 1895 and daughter Jane on June 30,

1896. A son William York, Jr. was born April 20, 1899.

Peters was a member of the Porcellian Club and designed their building at what

is now 1320 Massachusetts Avenue and currently occupied by J. August

Company offering Harvard decorated sportswear and gift items. Peters designed

a highly refined Georgian Revival building in buff Chicago brick with four floors

of club rooms above the ground floor. The Porcellian is considered the most

prestigious of Harvard

‟

s undergraduate organizations, and Peters gave the club

an elegant presence on Massachusetts Avenue directly opposite the Yard

‟

s

Porcellian Gate.

Note: I thank the Cambridge Historical Society, the Harvard Alumni Association and Max

Roesler for information on Peters. The Alumni Association gives Peter

‟

s daughter Amey

‟

s birth

year as 1895, yet William wrote to Charles in 1894 that she was born on January 17.

Charles Franklin Sprague

Charles Franklin Sprague was the son of Seth E. Sprague and Harriet Boardman

Lawrence. He attended Boston schools and the Phillips Exeter Academy before

enrolling at Harvard in 1875. He studied at Harvard Law School in 1891 and 1893

and became a member of the Suffolk Bar. After that he embarked on an

illustrious political career: He was member of the Boston Common Council in

1889 and 1890; member of the State house of representatives in 1891 and 1892;

served as chairman of the board of park commissioners of the city of Boston in

1893 and 1894; served in the State senate in 1895 and 1896; elected as a

Republican to the Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1897 - March 3,

1901). He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1900