“The practical difficulty which had been found in this matter of securing means to care for such as the Virginia Wood made it evident that the Trustees of Public Reservations could not acquire and care for the Middlesex Fells.  By vote of the Standing Committee, passed November 20, 1891, a conference of persons having charge of the park matters in Boston and neighboring cities and towns was therefore held in Boston, December 10th of the same year, with General Francis A. Walker in the chair, and Charles Eliot secretary.  A committee was then appointed, consisting of the chairman, secretary and Messrs. …Horace E. Ware, who presented to the legislature a petition and secured the passage of chapter 342 of the Acts of 1892, under which Ho. Charles Francis Adams, chairman, Philip A. Chase and the writer were appointed preliminary Metropolitan Park Commission to consider the advisability of laying out ample open spaces for the use of the public in the vicinity of Boston.”

Reference Data:

The New England Magazine, Vol. 18, 1898, pages 718-9