Harriet Nevins
Harriet Francoeur Nevins[note 1] (née Blackburn; 1841 – November 14, 1929) was an American philanthropist and animal welfare advocate born in Roxbury, Massachusetts.
[citation needed] Unfortunately none of their children survived to adulthood, but the couple did act as a guardian to a boy named Hiram Appleman, who later became a minister and adopted a young girl;[2] Elise Nevins would later marry William Finley Morgan of Boston[3] and go on to author books of a religious nature.
Shortly afterward Harriet moved to the family farm in Methuen, which sister-in-law, Julia Du Gay, had left after her husband Henry Nevin's death in 1892.
[2] Mrs. Nevins spent the next thirty years socially active and involved with many organizations, donating to worthy causes such as the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,[6] the Boston Children's Mission[7] and the International Association of Rebekah Assemblies (female branch of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows).
On November 14, 1929, at 88 Harriet died quietly at her home in Methuen, Massachusetts, after a lengthy illness, the last twelve months almost entirely at her estate.
It is said her death was hastened by that of her beloved chauffeur John G Kilmurray who was struck by a drunk driver on Christmas eve of 1928 while delivering Mrs. Nevins' Yuletide remembrances.
[8] In her will, Mrs. Nevins left money to all her favorite organizations, including the Animal League of Boston, the Red Acre Farm of Stow, and the Ladies Union Charitable Society which operated the Lawrence General Hospital.
[9] Long active with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in 1916 Mrs. Nevins commissioned and donated a specially designed motorized horse ambulance.
The original building was razed in 1999 and the historical collection moved to the basement of the Masonic Lodge for storage until a more permanent facility can be located.
The red brick building, which features a neo-classical façade with whitewashed columns, is still owned by the Town of Walpole and is used for a variety of activities throughout the year including children's theater productions.
