21 Hancock Road

The first residents of this house were Elizabeth Shapleigh (1876-????), her father James (1842-1930), and adopted son Douglas. James Shapleigh was a Brookline native. He had been listed as a dry goods merchant in the 1920 Census and a sugar broker in 1910. He died soon after the family moved to Hancock Road.

Douglas H. Shapleigh was shown in the 1920 Census as Douglas Hebburn, six-years old, a ward of the Shapleighs. By 1930, he had been adopted. The 1930 U.S. Census shows the residents as: James H. Shapleigh, 88; Elizabeth A. Shapleigh, 54; Douglas H. Shapleigh, 17 (adopted son); and Clara M. Morris, 51, servant, born Irish Free State. The house was valued at $20,500.

The Shapleighs were listed at this address in the Street List from 1930 through 1936.

They were succeeded by Israel (1888-1975) and Matilda Wald (c1894-1970) who moved here from Roxbury. Both were born in Masachusetts of parents who had immigrated from Russia. Israel Wald was in the wholesale meat business and was at one time president of the New England Meat Wholesalers’ Association. The Walds had a son, Stanley, who was 12 yeard old when they moved to Hancock Road.

The Wald family was listed in the Street List from 1937 until the late 1970s.