The Grouts and the Heards of the Grout-Heard House
Do you ever wonder why the Wayland Historical Society House Museum is called the Grout-Heard House? Is that one person’s name or two last names and if the latter, how are they connected? The answer is two last names and yes, they are connected. Generally when you see a hyphenated name for an historic house it means two families were prominent in the history of the property. In its first iteration, the house was the Grout House – built by Jonathan Grout.  In 1787 the house was purchased by local blacksmith, Silas Grout. It was Silas’ daughter, Jerusha Grout who married Newell Heard in 1822, making the house home to Grouts and Heards. If you visit the Grout-Heard House Museum you can begin to see how the house evolved to accommodate two families – the Grouts and the Heards. This graphic family tree will help to sort out these questions.