Persis Andrews' House

Persis Andrews was a prominent landowner in the Nashua River Valley area. She owned land in Clinton as well as Boylston, including a 30-acre plot with her house and barns on it.¹ Like many people who were displaced by the reservoir, Persis Andrews’ family had lived in the area for multiple generations. Her father passed down the house that he had built to her; the same house in which she had resided since she was 6 years old.²
Being forced to move and watch your family home be destroyed was an emotional blow to Persis as it was to many others.

“It seems hard to me. I don't like to think about it, but I suppose I shall have to do the same as the rest. When I go down into the cellar and see the big stores in the wall, which father rolled into place with his own hands, it makes me feel sad to think that the house will be destroyed.”³

¹Carrie Crane, n.d. “The Taking of Sawyer’s Mills,” 3.

²Bruce Filgate, Boylston Historical Series, no. 1-14 (Boylston: The Boylston Historical Society, 2012).

³Ibid

Persis Andrew's First Barn

Persis Andrew's Second Barn

Persis Andrews lost all of her property when the reservoir was created in the late nineteenth century. In 1898, Persis received a settlement of $3,750 for all of her land and buildings which is equivalent to over $110,000 today.¹

¹Carrie Crane, n.d. “The Taking of Sawyer’s Mills,” 3.