1873–1958 — Born 4 March 1873, Washington, D.C.; died 6 December 1958 at Tewksbury (research compilation, citing FamilySearch). Not yet checked.
Co-owner with her husband Charles Brooks Stevens, 1925–1944 — “et ux” on the 1936 atlas — and, by descent, a granddaughter of General Benjamin F. Butler.[sources]
Attributed profile. Drawn mainly from a research compilation (2025) and secondary sources that we have not yet checked against the originals. Treat the detail as leads, not settled fact; the “Research leads” section says what needs confirming.
The deeds name her only in the formula “et ux” — and his wife. Who she was is the surprise: if the compilation’s identification holds, the woman who co-owned the house through its apartment years was a granddaughter of Benjamin Butler, Lowell’s most famous (and most argued-over) son, and a daughter of Adelbert Ames, the Union general who governed Mississippi during Reconstruction. Her parents married at St Anne’s, Lowell, in 1870 and lived in the city from 1876; the family is buried in the Hildreth cemetery here.
Whether Edith ever lived at 236 Fairmount Street is doubtful: the Stevenses are “of Tewksbury” in both deeds, and the directories put them there. The house was an investment. But her name on the title connects it, for nineteen years, to one of the great political families of nineteenth-century America. That connection is attributed here, not yet documented, until a marriage record or the Ames family papers confirm it.
"Bonney L. Dunbar, wife of Philip R. Dunbar, of Newton" conveys the property to Charles Brooks and Edith Ames Stevens of Tewksbury. Stevens was a textile manufacturer; whether the family ever lived here is not established.[sources]
DocumentedClara Bonney (Lilley) DunbarCharles Brooks Stevens
The 1931 city directory lists three households at 236 Fairmount Street — a company president, a purchasing agent and a third family — and later directories four to six. The owner, Charles Brooks Stevens, lived in Tewksbury. The 1981 survey’s "mid-20th century" conversion was in fact complete by 1931.[sources]
DocumentedCharles Brooks Stevens
What is uncertain: When the division began — under Stevens after 1925, or earlier — is not known.
The deed to Grace L. Murphy of Lowell describes two portions of "Lot 2" on a new plan — the first recorded division of the original estate. The 1946 directory lists Thomas J. Murphy, salesman, and Grace at 236 Fairmount: owners who lived in the house. They mortgaged it in 1949.[sources]
DocumentedGrace L. Murphy
Clues gathered from the research compilation and from secondary sources. Published so that others can follow them; none has yet been confirmed against an original record.
This page is a working record, not a finished one. If you are a descendant, a collector, a local historian or an archivist and you hold anything connected to Edith Ames Stevens — a photograph, a letter, a diary, an object, a family story, a document we have misread — we would like to hear from you. We publish nothing without permission, credit every contribution, and correct the page when the evidence says we should.
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