-- and the home was desolate.

More that two hundred and fifty years have passed since the first John
May, master of a vessel, came from Mayfield, in Sussex, England, and
became a resident of Jamaica Plain, and the ancestor of the many who bear
the name of May in this country. In 1650 the old house on May's Lane was
built by Mr. Bridge, and since 1771 it has been owned and occupied by the
direct descendents of John May. It has always been a typical New England
fruit farm, noted for the fine quality of its cherries, peaches, pears,
apples, and berries of various kinds. In the early days it covered many
acres, including the beautiful hill now occupied by the fine estates of
the Bowditch family and others, and the lowlands, extending north and
east to Pond and Eliot streets. During the siege of Boston, the house was
given up to soldiers for barracks. Captain Lemuel May was one of the
minute-men who responded to the reveille at the break of day on the 19th
of April, 1775, and fought valiantly for his country at Lexington and
concord. This house, of the seventeenth-century pattern, has maintained
its original features until very recently, carefully preserved from any
sign of neglect or decay. Possibly a hasty view of the interior of tee
old homestead will interest us. Entering by the front porch, we find the
small, square entry open through narrow doorways into low studded,
irregular shaped rooms, with overhead and corner beams and wainscoted
sides, triangular cupboards and dressers and convenient little shelves.
There are high wooden mantels adorned with specimens of antique china and
brasses over the large bricked fireplaces. In one room an iron crane with
kettles suspended on chains, swings over the fire-dogs piled with logs,
and on both sides hang quaint domestic utensils. The narrow stairway,
from he little entry, had a halfway landing to economize space, and leads
to cozy apartments above, all interesting for their antique furniture and
family relics.