Queer Places:
156 Brattle Street, Boston, MA 02110
Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA

Mary Edgcumbe Blatchford (August 13, 1838 - July 13, 1931) was born in New York City on August 13, 1838, to New York lawyer Edgecombe Heath Blatchford (1811–1853) and Mary Ann Hubbard (1820–1864), who hailed from Boston. She grew up as part of a prominent family with deep New England connections, being a first cousin of Mabel Hubbard, who famously married Alexander Graham Bell. Her siblings included Jeannie Blatchford Scudder (1841–1872), Alice Windeath Blatchford (1843–1845), Grace Vernon Blatchford (1845–1861), and Caroline Hubbard Blatchford (1851–1896). As a youth, Mary was sent to Switzerland to pursue her education.

Following the death of her father in 1853, Mary and her mother relocated by 1860 to Craigie Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mary spent the remainder of her life in Cambridge, where she became deeply involved in intellectual, literary, and educational causes. Driven by a passion for education, she was drawn into the influential circle of social reformer Abby Williams May, who was a cousin of Louisa May Alcott and a pioneer in women's suffrage, education reform, and civic activism.

Blatchford was also an author of children's literature, publishing works such as The Story of Little Jane and Me (1898) and Polly and the Aunt (1906). For many years, she resided at 156 Brattle Street—located at the corner of Lowell and Brattle Streets—living with her sister Jeannie's widower, her brother-in-law Samuel H. Scudder, as recorded in the 1900 United States Census alongside household members Mattie Olmond and Nora Sexton. She officially purchased the 156 Brattle Street residence in 1903.

In 1889, a year after the death of her dear friend Abby Williams May, Blatchford commissioned an architect to design a memorial tribute. She submitted a formal request to the Cambridge City Committee on Water Supply and Drainage for permission to erect a granite structure at the prominent intersection of Craigie and Brattle Streets, in front of 27 Craigie Street. Constructed of two large granite blocks measuring nine feet by nine feet and two-and-a-half feet thick, the structure served primarily as a watering trough for horses with an accessory drinking fountain for humans. Encircled by the inscription "Abigail Williams May, born April 21, 1829, died Nov. 30, 1888" above two carved sprays of wheat, the monument was praised by local leaders and media, including The Cambridge Press and The Cambridge Chronicle, for its practical utility and ornamental value to man and beast. Because of its unique circular shape and central placement in a busy junction, the intersection became widely known as "Washtub Square."

By 1922, the city ceased using the structure as a water trough and planted flowers in its upper basin. However, with the rise of automobile traffic, the landmark came to be viewed as a traffic hazard. In January 1925, at the age of 87, Blatchford generously consented to the City Council's decision to demolish the memorial after 36 years of service, though the location retained its historic moniker long after.

Mary E. Blatchford outlived her friend Abby W. May by 43 years, passing away in Cambridge on July 13, 1931, at the age of 92. She was interred on July 14, 1931, in Lot #4260 on Myrtle Path at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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