William Tower, a successful merchant and banker, was born in Petersham as one of 11 children. He was a representative on the Massachusetts General Court and a member of the Governor’s Council; additionally, he served as Chief Marshall for the 1875 Centennial Celebration attended by over 100,000 people on Lexington Green and was on the first board of trustees of the Lexington Savings Bank. Tower moved to Lexington in the 1850s and constructed a large Victorian mansion overlooking Massachusetts Avenue in 1873. By the time of his death in 1904, the estate comprised 127 acres with a barn, stable, tea house, windmill and two cottages on the property.
William McGregor Paxton (1869-1941) was born in Baltimore, but moved to Boston with his family in the 1870s. He studied at Cowles Art School and the École des Beaux Arts, where he was taught by the painter Jéan-Leon Gérôme. He became an important member of the Boston School and was known for his highly polished work, characterized by an attention to detail and knowledge of the human form. Although many of his compositions depict idealized interior scenes with young women, Paxton is best known as a portraitist, including images of Grover Cleveland and Calvin Coolidge. Paxton’s work has been collected by many major museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The frame was sculpted by Charles E. Prendergast of New York (1868-1948).