C.J. Spenceley
At the corner of Columbus Avenue and West Walnut Park sits a handsome yellow brick building which has a “flatiron” shape. At the end of the building, above the shop door there is a plaque that reads ‘C.J. Spenceley Block 1888’. It leads the passerby to ask “just who was C.J. Spenceley?”
Christopher Jackson Spenceley was born in Wicasset, Maine on August 16, 1840. He went to school in his hometown, then came to Boston at the age of 17. In Boston, he learned to be a carpenter and by 1863 had started his own business. He became engaged in the building and selling of structures in the South End and Roxbury. So that is where the building in question comes in.
But there is much more to the life of C. J. Spenceley. He served three consecutive terms on the Boston Common Council (the precursor of the Boston City Council) in 1875, 1876 and 1877. He represented Ward 19 on the BCC. He also served a Trustee for the Boston City Hospital (now known as Boston Medical Center) for several years.
In 1880 he was one of the founders of the Golden Rule Alliance, a fraternal beneficial association. He acted as the General Manager and Secretary of the group for many years. The Alliance’s offices were located downtown on Tremont Street.
Mr. Spenceley was an active member at the Tremont Temple Baptist Church. At the Tremont Temple he originated two initiatives: the “Tremont Temple Service of Song” (held Sunday afternoons) and a Young Men’s Bible Class. The latter he started in 1885 with 12 participants and by 1896 it had over 400 members. It was the largest such program in New England. Likewise, the musical service was exceedingly popular - so much so that the doors often had to be closed with hundreds of people who could not fit into the church left outside.
Christopher was married to Rebecca Staples (from Truro, Nova Scotia) on August 16, 1863 and they had three children. Joseph Winfred, Fred and Mineola. They made their home at 367 Walnut Ave, just a few blocks from the C.J. Spenceley Block.
He died on August 12, 1903 and is buried at Fox Hill Cemetery in Billerica.
By Gretchen Grozier, April 2020
Bibliography
Google Street View
Men of Progress: One Thousand Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Leaders in Business and Professional Life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, compiled under the supervision of Richard Herndon and edited by Edwin M. Bacon, New England Magazine, 1896
Death notice in the Boston Herald, 8/13/1903 (thanks to the reference department at the Boston Public Library who retrieved this for me during the closing for the pandemic).