Page 3 - Biography of Lizzie Cronin

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Lizzie was born in 1863, the 3 year of America’s Civil War; a year in which
President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation; a year of which the Bat-
tle of Gettysburg and many other well known Civil War battles took place. It was
the year in which the flushing toilet and the four-wheel roller skate was invented.
Locally, it was the year that the Waltham Free Press began publication; a year
when cotton mills and the famous Waltham Watch Factory provided employment
opportunities for most residents. In the City of Newton, Boston College was
founded and in Amherst, UMass was founded as the Massachusetts Agricultural
College.

Still standing today—the boarding house at 26 Stearns St., where Lizzie

grew up before moving to 18 Stearns Street.

In 1877 at the age of 16, Lizzie attended and later graduated from
Waltham High School. She was a popular student and her “Autograph” book which
was started that year displayed many of the feelings her friends had toward her.
Nora E. Kelly wrote on January 28,
1878: “To Lizzie, Long may you live,

Happy may you be, When you get
married, Come and see me.” It was
ironic that Lizzie did not live a long
life and never married, however,
from all indications, she lived a
happy life. On December 27, 1877,
Susie L. Brady penned: “Not like
the rose, shall our friendship
wither, But like the evergreen live forever.”

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