Matthew Sullivan

Matthew Sullivan was born May 7, 1868, in Boston to Daniel Sullivan and Mary (Deasy) Sullivan. He was educated in the Boston public schools, and as a young man worked in the office of architect Edmund M. Wheelwright. Sullivan then lived for several years in St. Louis, working for Eames & Young.[1] In 1891, Sullivan returned to Boston and joined the office of the City Architect, then under Wheelwright's leadership. By 1893, he was Assistant City Architect under Wheelwright.[2] In 1895, when the office of City Architect was abolished, Sullivan became head of the architect's division of the school-house department, which replaced some of the duties of the old office. In 1898, Sullivan resigned to form a partnership with architects Charles Donagh Maginnis and Timothy Walsh.[3] This firm, Maginnis, Walsh & Sullivan, became very successful. Sullivan was involved in the design of several of Maginnis, Walsh & Sullivan's influential early works, which included the churches of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge and St. Catherine of Genoa in Somerville.

The partnership was dissolved effective December 31, 1907. It was succeeded on January 1, 1908, by the partnership of Maginnis & Walsh and of the private practice of Sullivan.[4] Both would maintain their offices at 100 Boylston Street.[5] As a private practitioner Sullivan continued to focus on projects for the Catholic church. His work included parish churches and schools as well as larger projects like Harkins Hall, the main building of Providence College. Sullivan practiced architecture in Boston until his death in 1938.[1]

Sullivan frequently utilized the services of woodcarver Johannes Kirchmayer of Irving & Casson in his designs.

Sullivan was married to Kathrine Louise Lally, and they had four children:[1] Mary Sullivan (1899-1985),[6] Katharine Sullivan (1901-1976),[7] Matthew Sullivan Jr. (1901-1984)[8] and James C. Sullivan (1909-1996).[9][1] Sullivan served terms on the Canton School Committee and the Canton Planning Board. He was a member of several fraternal and professional organizations,[1] including the American Institute of Architects, which he joined in 1907.[10] Kathrine Sullivan was involved in anti-suffragist activism in Massachusetts[11] and later was a trustee of Westborough State Hospital.[12]

The Sullivan family moved to Canton around 1899, after the formation of Maginnis, Walsh & Sullivan.[1] In 1906, Sullivan designed and built a large suburban house on upper Washington Street north of the town center in what was then a relatively undeveloped part of the town. Sullivan's house was designed in the Arts and Crafts style and was structurally unique. It was built using a structural system of specially designed terra cotta blocks which offered protection from fire as well as insulation.[13] Located at 1973 Washington Street, the house was sold out of the family and demolished in the 1980s.[14] The property is now the location of a small residential development called Sullivan Way.

Matthew Sullivan died unexpectedly in his Boston office on August 11, 1938.[1] His wife died August 23, 1947, in Canton.[12]

Both Sullivan and his wife were parishioners of the church of St. John the Evangelist in Canton.[1] They and their children were buried in the parish cemetery.

Hayman, Robert W. (1995). Catholicism in Rhode Island and the Diocese of Providence Volume Two, Providence: Diocese of Providence. Library of Congress Number: 94-69200 page 410, 419, 445, 586–587, 598, 592