Boland Family Collection

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: SC019-BOLA

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains biographical information about Tobias Boland and his son, Thomas Bernard Fitzpatrick (T.B.F.) Boland in the form of newspaper articles and a short biography of Tobias Boland. There are also two small contract books dating from the 1860s and containing illegible names and numbers. Additionally, there are Boland family photographs. These photographs are in various formats and date from the 1860’s to 1880’s. Some of the photos are identified.

Finally, the collection holds a large contract book dating from the 1860s and 1870s. It contains a catalogue of people who hired Boland along with an account of payment and the date of the job. Also, the information includes whether the individual paid with cash or credit. There are approximately 140 written pages that describe the various construction projects Boland had contracted. There are loose items in the volume.

Dates

Creation: 1861-1879

Creator

Boland, Tobias, 1805-1886 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions

Conditions Governing Use

Materials believed to be under copyright or other restrictions are available for limited noncommercial, educational and personal use only, or for fair use as defined by United States copyright law and with proper citation. Please note that the College of the Holy Cross may not hold the rights to all items in this collection. Users assume responsibility for identifying all copyright holders and for determining whether permission is needed to make any use of the content. For permission under rights held by the College, please contact archives@holycross.edu.

Biographical Note

Tobias Boland was born in Tipperary County, Ireland in 1805 and immigrated to America in 1825, becoming a citizen in 1837. He was a contractor for the Blackstone Canal, the Boston and Worcester Railroad, and the Worcester and Western Railroad. Boland hired Irish immigrants from New York and Boston to perform construction work in the Worcester area.

Boland bought land near Franklin Street and improved it by draining the swamp. He constructed Temple and Winter Streets and built houses in that area. He renovated a small house and his first wife, Eleanor McCauley, helped set up a Catholic school on the premises called the St. James Seminary School. In 1843 he contracted to build the first building of what is now the College of the Holy Cross. He donated generously to the College throughout his life.

After his wife died in 1841, Boland married Eleanor Fitzpatrick, sister of Bishop John Bernard Fitzpatrick, the third bishop of Boston. Boland had four children with his first wife and six children from his second wife. He died on September 3, 1886 in Charlestown, MA.