1
100
4
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/28828/archive/files/9d23ba7ea15cc735d7afd2c6e156e499.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=QR7fQUp3-QEexJbe2ZvkKni4uOhNqBCSA-wO40uq2Gf6RiOoLX0ZJzDArV9VI1hboQxQg0YZolII-50A5OuoeTZXlUreCgBJijuSLgqdEdyDP-SJudcyboCG1CxH9PsGcxf1X7QHkjP7TrlnBkro0yfAMVIPEliTYQGLnTkOu2LbRrrF61EXaz5pKBvdv1FLMaJN-BJ1UV7IwceIfGFjg64r74GlYvpdA3h1aoSBF%7E5xVO1CjO0NQndBkEilnr3EU40NHojduJjnDFYbiXHqbV2BbsrnhoBwFi4C7t2q224YtHfUFTZHXBrhLNHE3GEkYC2-pAMLEmenXWzgpBKu8Q__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
9a39e9637cce1f49023a49b5852d5290
PDF Text
Text
11 Summer Street
Salem, Massachusetts 01970
Built 1762
by William Pynchon, Gentleman, and Catharine Sewall Pynchon
Researched and Written by David Moffat – March 2023
�Table of Contents
1. Early Colonial History: Hugh Peter, The Corwins, The Lindalls, and The Cheevers
c. 1630-1762
2. William Pynchon, Esq.
1762-1778
3. John Derby
1778-1794
4. Joseph Lee, Esq.
1794-1796
5. Jacob Crowninshield
1796-1800
6. James King, Esq.
1800-1831
7. Ephraim Emmerton and Family
1831-1889
8. Sarah F. Wardwell
1889-1923
9. Harriet E. Searle
1923
10. Rose L. Kaplan
1923-1946
11. Salem Realty Company and Other Corporations and Trusts
1946-1972
12. Jon-Heath Realty Trust
1972-Present
Appendix A: Chain of Title
Appendix B: Probate of William Pynchon
Appendix C: Excerpt of James King’s Probate
Appendix D: The Obituary of Ephraim Emmerton
Appendix E: The Obituary of James Arthur Emmerton
Appendix F: Abridgement of the Probate of John Norris
Appendix G: The Ships of James Charles King
�Introduction
Perhaps all writers of house histories should wish the inhabitants of their subjects to have
been illiterate and boring. That is not the case here. 11 Summer Street is without hyperbole, one
of the most important houses in the history of Salem, and has been unheralded since the
nineteenth century because it was broken apart into apartments and covered with a concrete
façade in the 1930s and 40s.
The central location of the property on Summer Street means that even before the house
was built, it passed through the ownership of prominent people, from Hugh Peter to the Corwins
to the Lindalls, before being owned for a glancingly short time by undersung patriot David
Cheever. Cheever adds to the triple whammy of this house for its significance to the
Revolutionary War period. Its builder, William Pynchon, and his wife, Catherine Sewall
Pynchon, both sions of wealthy and prominent families of famous names in colonial
Massachusetts, were Loyalists during that conflict, with ties familial and familiar with many
other prominent Loyalists, including Benjamin Lynde, Andrew Oliver, and Samuel Curwen.
Pynchon kept a diary from 1776 until 1789, to our great benefit recording in lucid prose the
developments of the war and occasionally his impressions of them along with the quotidian
reality of life as a wealthy person in late-eighteenth-century Salem. In 1778, Pynchon sold his
home to the patriot John Derby, another wealthy heir, and the man who brought news of
Lexington and Concord to England in a heroic feat at this nation’s start. It was allegedly Derby
who added the mansion’s third floor. Derby also funded the Columbia Rediviva expedition,
which in 1792, laid an American claim on the Columbia River in what is today Oregon.
In 1794, Derby sold the house to Joseph Lee, another Loyalist who lived in the HooperLee-Nichols mansion in Cambridge but who had Salem roots. Lee sold the house in 1796 to
Jacob Crowninshield, one of the wealthy Crowninshield brothers. That same year Crowninshield
brought the first elephant to the United States and later served as a Jeffersonian Republican in the
United States House of Representatives until his death in Congress in 1808.
In the late Federal Period, James King, a wealthy merchant and ship-owner lived here
with his family, including his son, John Glen King, who would become a prominent lawyer, and
James Charles King, captain of the Salem Light Infantry Company during the War of 1812. King
purchased the home from Crowninshield in 1800. Pynchon, Joseph Lee, and J.G. King were but
three of the Harvard men who called this house home- add to that James Arthur Emmerton and
Henry Wardwell, and then all those who did not live here but were connected to it in other ways.
Its clapboards should be painted crimson.
The house’s history is also defined by the legal profession in Massachusetts, from colony
(all the way back when William Pynchon apprenticed to his future father-in-law Mitchell Sewall
in the 1740s) to state (in the time of John Glen King or Henry Wardwell.) William Pynchon’s
inventory lists dozens of volumes of law books among his vast library.
Following the Kings, another merchant prince owned the home, Ephraim Emmerton,
himself the sire of a prominent family. A man who had traveled the world and devoted his life to
knowledge, whether it be furniture-making or horticulture. His sons succeeded in business and
the arts, and his granddaughter Caroline Emmerton founded The House of the Seven Gables, a
Salem house made famous by a Nathaniel Hawthorne novel inspired by the legacy of the
Pynchons– indeed, the fictional House of the Seven Gables is the Pyncheon House!
�After Ephraim’s death, his son, the doctor and antiquarian James Arthur Emmerton
owned the home. James had served as a surgeon during the Civil War, a conflict several of his
brothers fought in. Towards the end of his life, he turned his attention to Salem history and
genealogy.
Sarah F. Wardwell purchased the house in 1889. The nation built by the Revolution had
passed a century since the inauguration of George Washington and death of William Pynchon.
Her husband, Henry, was a lawyer and politician, who served as a justice on the Massachusetts
Superior Court from 1896 until 1898.
1923 was the fateful year for 11 Summer Street: It passed through the hands of Harriet
Searle, the wife of a newspaperman and local politician, before Rose L. Kaplan, a Jewish
immigrant from Poland transformed it into an apartment building in the late 20s and early 30s.
The Kaplans ran a toy store as their main source of income. 11 Summer Street in the 30s was
home to all sorts of interesting people like Maurice H. Shulman, a medical researcher and
important member of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, and Frederick Kavanaugh, a
professional golfer.
At the end of WWII, as demand for housing exploded in America, the building became
the property of the Salem Realty Company, followed over the next thirty years by a succession
of trusts and realty companies. For the past half century, it has been owned and operated by the
Jon-Heath Realty Trust.
What today makes up 11 Summer Street is Lot A of a 1986 property division. Lot B,
today a separate home, existed at least by 1851,and probably earlier as a barn. It was identified as
such in 1889, and by 1938 was used as a 6 car garage. It was called a garage in 1946 and 1959,
and became a single family dwelling in 1986. The structure once had two sheds extending to the
street, the foremost one can be seen in the photograph of the house from the Phillips Library, and
appears to be only a few feet tall.
In the 1600s, the property of Hugh Peter and the Corwins encompassed almost the whole
of the area between Summer, Norman, Essex, and Washington Streets, and until the 1890s 11
Summer Street stretched easterly to Crombie Street as well.
1. Early Colonial History: Hugh Peter, The Corwins, The Lindalls, and The Cheevers
Summer Street
The early references to Summer Street in deeds, as compiled by Sidney Perley in 1899,
show how inhabitants of Salem viewed its utility and route. Initially just called a highway in
1659, it then came to be known as “street to Southfields” (1699), then the “street leading to
Marblehead” (1711), “Street to the Almshouse” (1746), “Highway to the Mills” (1755), “Street
from Main Street to Workhouse” (1762), and “Street from Town Pump to Marblehead” (1791). It
finally gained the name of Summer Street in 1800, which it has kept ever since. 1 To that can be
added, from William Pyncheon’s deed to the land in 1762, “the high-way or Street leading to the
Mills and Marblehead.”
In the seventeenth century, the street marked the westerly barrier of the denser town
center and the larger parcels of pasturage that stretched across what is today the McIntire District
1
Perley, Sidney. “Part of Salem in 1700, No. 2” The Essex Antiquarian #3, 1899, p. 65.
�to the vicinity of what is today Jackson Street but which was then the “Great Pasture.” As a
central artery connecting the north and south routes into town, almost all through traffic on the
peninsula would have passed down Summer Street. The distinction between Summer Street and
North Street, both the same straightaway given different names on either side of Essex Street,
existed in the 1600s, with Weld’s Lane being the name of the section north of Essex Street. It
was named for abutter Daniel Weld, a physician. Before 1744, when the first North Bridge was
built, a ferry connected North Street to the North Fields. By 1851, landfill on southern
Washington Street, the construction of Lafayette and Union Street to the south and the arrival of
the railroad robbed Summer Street of its primacy. It did remain an important street, especially
with the filling in of the neighborhood to the west with houses in the late 1700s and first half of
the 1800s.
Hugh Peter, c. 1655-1665, from The National Portrait Gallery, London
Hugh Peter
The earliest European claimant to the land was Reverend Hugh Peter (1598-1660),
minister of the First Church, who used the plot as pasturage. Peter was baptized in Fowey,
Cornwall, and came to Salem in 1635. He returned to England in 1641 and remained there during
the English Civil War, in which he was active on the Parliamentarian side. Though he was only
in the colony for six years, he played a large part in its early history, helping to establish Harvard
College and voicing discontent with the religious practices of Anne Hutchinson. For his role in
the execution of Charles I, he himself was executed on October 16, 1660 after the Restoration of
�the monarchy. A little over a year before his grisly demise, Peter conveyed the land to Capt.
George Corwin through his agent and attorney on July 1, 1659.
The Corwins
Corwin’s oldest son, John, died in 1683, and then he himself followed in 1684. George’s
son, Jonathan, got the western half of the land, and the heirs of John got the eastern end.
Jonathan Corwin served as a judge during the Salem Witch Trials, and in the 1660s built the
house on the corner of Essex and North Street known today as the “Witch House.” John’s
widow, Margaret Corwin, received the northern part of the property, and the southern part with
an old house erected in the 1660s, went to her son, George. The younger Capt. George Corwin
acted as sheriff during the Salem Witch Trials and died in 1696.
The property of the elder Capt. George had been cut in three pieces, with the westerly
half remaining intact and the easterly half divided in two. Regarding the two eastern parcels on
what would become Washington street, the northern part was still owned by Margaret when she
died in 1691, and then went to her son, Samuel. Capt. Walter Price was living there in 1709,
when it was sold by several Corwin descendants to Joseph Flint. The southern part passed
through several owners before being purchased by Joshua Ward in 1781. Ward removed the old
house and built a brick mansion in 1784 or 1785, which still stands at 148 Washington Street. 2
Portrait of Capt. George Corwin, c. 1675, in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum, from
the Colonial Society of Massachusetts
Jonathan Corwin retained the western property until his death in 1718.
2
NRHP Nomination Form #78000481, “Joshua Ward House” Department of the Interior. 1976.
�In that year, his estate included the homestead plot, worth £600, two ten acre lots in the North
Field worth £200 together, and “the Pasture Land where the Tomb is” (where 11 Summer Street
would eventually be built) worth £200. 3
Probate inventory of Jonathan Corwin, taken 28 February, 1718-19.
Elizabeth and Mary Lindall
Corwin’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was born in 1678. She married the merchant James
Lindall in 1702, the son of Timothy Lindall.. 4
3
New England Historic Genealogical Society, Essex County Probate Records, Probate 6948 “Hon. Jonathan
Corwin, 1719” p. 2.
4
Perley, Sidney. The History of Salem, Massachusetts, Vol. 2, 1638-1670. Salem: Sidney Perley, 1926. p. 38.
�“Part of Salem in 1700, #2” Sidney Perley, 1899
�James Duncan Phillips’ Map of Salem in 1700, stitched together from the work of Sidney Perley
Timothy Lindall was born around 1642 in Duxbury and came to Salem around 1661. He
was a merchant and a prominent member of the Salem community, serving on juries and town
offices. His home was downtown on Essex Street. 5 He married Mary Veren, the granddaughter
of one of Salem’s largest landowners in the 1630s, Philip Veren. 6 When he died in 1699, he also
owned “an old tattered house at Winter Island.” 7
5
Perley (1926), pp. 298-299.
Perley (1924), pp. 303-304.
7
Perley (1924), p. 377.
6
�Timothy Lindall’s celebrated gravestone in Charter Street Cemetery, photographed in the 1890s
by Frank Cousins
James Lindall, Esq. was born in 1676 and lived until 1753, becoming a prominent
merchant. Elizabeth Corwin Lindall died in 1706. 8 After Elizabeth’s death, Lindall married Mary
Higginson Weld, the widow of Thomas Gardner and Dr. Edward Weld, in 1708. 9 She survived
him until at least 1760. James and Elizabeth had three children, two of whom lived to adulthood:
1. Elizabeth, b. 1703, married Edward Gray of Boston in 1739.
2. A son, born and died in 1704
3. Mary, b. 1705 10
In 1725, Mary Lindall, then a minor, petitioned the court that her father should be her
legal guardian in regard to the probate of her grandfather Timothy Lindall’s estate. 11 The lands
8
Perley (1926), p. 299.
Perley (1928), p. 56.
10
Perley (1926) p. 299.
11
Ibid., p. 14.
9
�of the estate were partitioned on November 3, 1732. 12 Mary and her sister Elizabeth discharged
their father of his duties after he fulfilled them in 1739. 13
Elizabeth Gray Cheever
Elizabeth Lindall, daughter of James and Elizabeth, married Edward Gray in 1739.
Within 15 years after Elizabeth’s marriage she and her husband had both died, leaving their
daughter Elizabeth an orphan. This meant that Mary Lindall and Elizabeth Gray were the only
living members of their family descended from the Corwins. 14
Petition of Mary Lindall, 13 Apr 1725
James Lindall, Esq. died May 10, 1753 at the age of 77 and his son James Lindall, Jr died
August 19, 1754 at age 44. 15 In the probate of James Lindall, Esq. was a payment of £3 13s. 2 ½
d. from William Pynchon, “on pr of Sterns debt.” 16 As of April 20, 1757, the estate owed
William Pynchon’s account £12 4s 3d. 17
In 1755, on one of several parcels they inherited, Mary Lindall and her niece, Elizabeth
Gray, built the house at 314 Essex Street which still stands today. 18
12
Ibid., p. 25.
NEHGS, Probate 6948, p. 19.
14
Dee, Sally, 1969.
15
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 3, Deaths, p. 404.
16
New England Historic Genealogical Society. Essex County Probate Records, Probate 17466, p. 8/
17
Ibid., p. 9.
18
Dee, Sally. “314 Essex Street, Salem, Massachusetts 01970” Historic Salem, Inc., 1969.
https://hsihousehistory.omeka.net/items/show/300
13
�The Mary Lindall House, from Historic Salem, Inc.
On September 6, 1760, Elizabeth Gray married David Cheever, a distiller of
Charlestown, as his second wife. 19
David Cheever
Cheever was a prominent citizen of Charlestown, born there in 1722, the grandson of
Rev. Thomas Cheever (Harvard Class of 1677) of Malden and Rumney Marsh. Rev. Thomas’s
father was the colonial schoolmaster Ezekiel Cheever, headmaster of the Boston Latin School
from 1670 to 1708, and his brother was Ezekiel Cheever, Jr., a clerk during the Salem Witch
Trials in 1692. 20 David Cheever served as a deacon in the First Church of Charlestown. 21
In 1755, David Cheever served as one of the jurors in the trial of Mark and Phillis,
enslaved people charged with poisoning their enslaver, Capt. John Codman. 22 The two were
convicted and executed in one of the most publicly brutal episodes in the history of American
slavery- Mark was hanged then drawn and gibbeted, while Phyllis was burned alive.
19
Charlestown Vital Records, Vol. 1, p. 498.
“Ezekiel Cheever,” Rutgers Database of Classical Scholars, https://dbcs.rutgers.edu/all-scholars/8603-cheeverezekiel
21
Bell, J.L. George Washington’s Headquarters and Home: A Historic Resource Study, National Park Service,
Department of the Interior, 2012. p, 177. https://www.nps.gov/long/learn/historyculture/upload/WashingtonHeadquarters-HRS.pdf
22
Goodell, Abner Cheney, Jr. The Trial and Execution of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt, John Codman.
Cambridge, MA: John Wilson & Son, 1883. p. 9.
20
�In March of 1775, Charlestown chose Cheever as their representative to the Provincial
Congress 23 Cheever served on the Committee of Supplies, placing him in charge of munitions. 24
Several letters and broadsides composed by him survive today. 25 In June of 1775, he was part of
the seven man committee who readied the Vassall-Craigie Longfellow House for Gen. George
Washington. 26
Broadside by David Cheever from 1775, From Nate D. Sanders Auctions
Elizabeth Gray Cheever and her husband, David Cheever, received the property which
would become 11 Summer Street from Mary Lindall on April 19, 1762, for the price of only
5s. 27 Mary Lindall lived in Charlestown from 1761 until 1767, and died unmarried in 1776. 28
23
Frothingham, Richard, Jr. The History of Charlestown, Massachusetts. Boston: Charles C. Little and James
Brown, 1845. p. 312.
24
Bell, J.L. “The person chose to carry on our military preparations.” 15 Apr 2012.
https://boston1775.blogspot.com/2012/04/person-chose-to-carry-on-our-military.html
25
http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-no2015123888/
George Washington’s Headquarters and Home: A Historic Resource Study, pp. 80-81.
27
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 110:124 “Mary Lindall to David Cheever et ux” 19 Apr 1762.
28
Perley (1926), p. 299.
26
�Elizabeth Cheever died in Dorchester in 1811, and David died in 1815. By that time, the
house on Essex Street passed into other ownership.
1629 Receipt for William Pynchon’s purchase of stock in the Massachusetts Bay Company, from
The Massachusetts Historical Society. One of only two such receipts that survive, the other is for
William Colburn.
2. William Pynchon, Esq. 1762-1778
William Pynchon was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1723, less than a century
after the town was founded by his great-great grandfather William Pynchon.
His Pynchon Ancestors
The first American Pynchon was born in 1590 in the rural village of Springfield just
outside of the city of Chelmsford in central Essex County, England. In the 1610s he married
Anna Andrews and they had four children. The youngest, John Pynchon was born in 1626 in
Springfield. In 1630, they emigrated to Boston, and founded the town of Roxbury that year.
Anna died of scurvy and Pynchon later married the widow Frances Smith. Most of the early
founders of Roxbury were from Essex and London, with a few from the West Country. 29
29
Drake, Francis Samuel. The Town of Roxbury: Its Memorable Persons and Places, Its History and Antiquities,
with Numerous Illustrations of Its Old Landmarks and Noted Personages. Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1908.
pp. 9-12.
�William Pynchon, from The City of Springfield
According to the antiquarian Francis Samuel Drake, it was the sixth town incorporated in
Massachusetts. 30 In late 1631, Rev. John Eliot of Hertfordshire arrived in town and the following
year established the First Church of Roxbury. Eliot would later gain fame as “the Apostle to the
Indians” for his efforts to Christianize the Native Americans of Massachusetts and he was a
prominent early settler of Massachusetts. In 1636, Pynchon and about a third of Roxbury
decamped from its rocky soil to more arable land on the Connecticut River in Western
Massachusetts, founding the town of Agawam. In 1637, George Moxon, originally of Yorkshire,
became the minister of the First Church. The new settlement was renamed in 1641 for Pynchon’s
birthplace and incorporated into Massachusetts Bay Colony that year. 31 A home for the
Pynchons and fort were erected on what is today Fort Street in Springfield. In the 1640s, John
Pynchon took notes of Moxon’s sermons which survive today in the Wood Museum of
Springfield History. 32
30
By my count it was the seventh or eighth, after Salem, Lynn, Charlestown, Boston, Dorchester, Watertown, and
perhaps Medford.
31
Ed. Moses King, King’s Handbook of Springfield, Massachusetts: A Series of Monographs Historical and
Descriptive, Springfield, MA: James D. Gill, 1885. pp.
32
“Pynchon, John. Notes on Sermons by George Moxon.” The Congregational Libary.
https://www.congregationallibrary.org/nehh/series2/PynchonJohn5127
�Speculative drawing of the Pynchon House in Springfield, from Moses King’s history of the
town.
A page of John Pynchon’s notes on George Moxon’s sermons in Springfield, c. 1640, from the
Congregational Library
�The Pynchons remained a prominent family in Springfield, with William’s son, Maj.
John Pynchon, serving as the representative for the town on the General Court in 1659, 1662,
1663, and 1693. John’s son, Joseph, served as representative in 1681 and 1682. In 1700, John
Pynchon III held the position, then John Pynchon in 1709, 1710, 1712, 1714, and 1723. William
Pynchon held it in 1724, 1725, 1730, 1731. William Pynchon, Jr. held it with his father in 1731
and alone in 1734 and 1735. 33
William Pynchon of Salem: Early Life
Salem’s William Pynchon was the son of William Pynchon, Sr. and Catherine Brewer,
the daughter of Rev. Daniel Brewer. The Rev. Brewer, Pynchon’s maternal grandfather, was
born in 1669 to parents from Roxbury, Massachusetts. He attended Harvard College and
graduated with the class of 1687. He was the minister of Springfield from 1694 until his death in
1733. 3435 His paternal grandfather, John Pynchon, was a prominent citizen of Springfield who
married Margaret Hubbard, the only daughter of the writer and Ipswich minister Rev. William
Hubbard. 36
William Pynchon, Jr. attended Harvard College 1739 to 1743 and in 1745 he moved to
Salem. Here he worked with fellow Harvard alumna Mitchell Sewall, clerk of the Superior Court
and register of deeds for Essex County.
Mitchell was more than 20 years Pynchon’s senior, having graduated Harvard in 1718
and 1721. He was the son of Maj. Stephen Sewall, a prolific clerk himself. Major Stephen acted
as clerk of the Court of Oyer and Terminer during the Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692, and later
served as clerk of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas, as a justice of the peace, and a registrar
of deeds for Essex County from 1683 to 1692. Stephen’s father, Rev. Henry Sewall, served as
minister in Newbury and as a representative to the General Court from that town in the 1660s.
Maj. Stephen’s older brother, Samuel, was a merchant who is well-known today for three things:
he was a judge during the Salem Witch Trials and later apologized (in 1697) for his involvement;
he kept a diary from 1674 until 1729, and in 1700 he wrote the first published criticism of
slavery in America, The Selling of Joseph. Mitchell’s name came from his mother Margaret
Mitchell Sewall’s maiden name.
In January of 1747, Scippio, a man enslaved by Mitchell Sewall, published his intention
to marry Violet, a woman enslaved by Capt. Samuel West. 37
Mitchell’s younger brother, Stephen, also attended Harvard. He graduated in 1721 and
served as Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1752 to 1760.
33
Burt, Henry M. The First Century of the History of Springfield: The Official Records from 1636 to 1736, with an
Historical Review and Biographical Mention of the Founders · Volume 1. Springfield, MA: Henry M. Burt, 1898.
pp. 37-39.
34
Sibley, John Langdon. “Daniel Brewer” Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University, in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Vol. III: 1678-1689. Cambridge: Charles William Sever, 1885. pp. 383-385.
35
Roberts, Oliver Ayer. “Isaac Morril (1638)”, History of the Military Company of Massachusetts, Now Called, the
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, Vol 1:1637-1888. Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son, 1895.
p. 73.
36
Oliver, The Diary of William Pynchon of Salem, p. v.
37
Salem Vital Records, Vol 2: Marriages, p. 523.
�The Stephen Sewall House, in Perley’s History of Salem, Massachusetts, Volume 3
The Sewall house was built in 1681 by Stephen Sewall on Essex Street and what is today
Sewall Street. It was owned by Samuel Sewall from 1725 until 1735, when he conveyed it to
Mitchel Sewall, who owned it at his death in 1748.In 1752, the house passed to the Lynde
family, who owned it until 1792, when Hon. Benjamin Lynde willed it to his daughter Mary
Lynde Oliver, wife of Andrew, and mother of Thomas Fitch Oliver. The house was later
inherited by William Pynchon’s grandchildren, who owned it from 1807 until 1815. 38
In March of 1752, Pynchon, “Gentn.” purchased a pew in the First Parish meetinghouse
in Salem from the estate of Stephen Sewall for £14 Lawful Money. The pew had been occupied
most recently by Mitchel Sewell, Esqr, deceased. It was the southwesternmost floor pew,
adjoining that of Major Hickes. 39
Catherine Sewall and William Pynchon’s Children
On June 30 1751, William Pynchon married Mitchell’s daughter, Catherine, in Salem. 40
They had five children:
1. Elizabeth, b. January 26, 1752.
2. Catherine, b. February 25, 1754.
3. Sarah, b. February 6, 1757.
4. William, b. July 24, 1759.
5. John, b. November 27, 1766. 41
The two older daughters married wealthy Salem merchants, Elizabeth to Timothy Orne, Esq.,
and Catherine to William Wetmore, Esq. Timothy Orne was born in 1750 to the merchant
38
Perley (1928), pp. 164-165.
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, Deed 97:289, “Samuel Sewall, Adm. to William Pyncheon” 12 Mar 1752.
40
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 2, Marriages, p. 234.
41
Oliver, p. ix.
39
�Timothy Orne and Rebecca Taylor of Lynn. The elder Orne lived in a Georgian mansion at 266
Essex Street built in 1761, before he died in 1767. 42 Timothy Orne, Jr. graduated from Harvard
in 1768 and entered into the merchant trade. 43 He moved to Danvers in 1779. He and Elizabeth
Pynchon Orne had three daughters:
1. Elizabeth, bp. May 24, 1778
2. Margaret, bp. May 24, 1778
3. Katherine Pynchon, bp. June 16, 1793, married Thomas Cushing of Newton, according to
Sidney Perley.
Timothy Orne died in 1790. His estate left 20 shillings to each of his daughters and the rest f his
estate to his widow. 44 Elizabeth was listed as his widow in 1814. 45
In 1803, writing of either Elizabeth or Margaret Orne, Rev. William Bentley wrote: “
Last evening departed this life Joseph Perkins, aet. 30, Attorney at Law. He was a native of
Chebaco, Ipswich, & graduated at Cambridge in 1794. He came into Salem in the study of Law
with W. Prescott, & married the granddaughter of W. Pynchon, of the Law. His wife who was an
Orne, died soon after marriage, as did the only child soon after birth. Mr. Perkins had actually
planned & prepared to undertake a voyage for his health. He died in his chair. He was not
deficient in talents, had he possessed the suavity of his g. father in Law he would have been able
to command better hopes in his profession.” 46
On December 6, 1808, Bentley wrote of the death of Col. Thomas Cushing: “son of the
late L. Gov. T. Cushing, who distinguished himself by his zeal & integrity during our
Revolution, & whom I well know. His Son had not in an eminent degree any of his father’s
patriotic virtues, but he was a man of the beau monde, facetious & inoffensive, without system in
his affairs as a merchant he spent his property. His last marriage was in Salem, to a Miss Orne,
g.d. of late W. Pynchon Esqr. The family was deceived into a belief of his wealth. To retrieve his
affairs he built a Villa at Orne’s Point, North Salem, & established a Brick kiln, but the pressure
of his affairs made the scheme abortive & he returned to Salem. A fever with derangement came
on from which he did not recover.” 47
In December 1818, Bentley made his final mention of the Pynchon family in his diary by
noting the day after Christmas: “Catherine S.P., wife of Elisha Mack, Esq., who died yesterday is
the last of Mr. Orne’s children by a daughter of Mr. Pynchon, an accomplished gentleman and
Councellor at Law from whom I experienced the greatest attentions & his son was under my care
at Cambridge. This young Lady was of delicate constitution & of a mind of the finest texture.” 48
Catherine’s husband, William Wetmore, was the son of Jeremiah Wetmore and Abigail
Butler, born 1749. 49 He graduated Harvard in the class of 1770, where he helped establish the
42
Perley (1924), p. 153.
Ward, 1842, p. 505.
44
Essex County Registry of Probate, Probate #20106, “Timothy Orne, Feb. 1, 1790”
45
Perley (1924), p. 154.
46
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of William Bentley, D.D., Pastor of the East Church, Salem, Massachusetts,
Vol. 3, January, 1803-December, 1810. p. 18.
47
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of William Bentley, Vol. 3, p. 400.
48
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of William Bentley, D.D., Pastor of the East Church, Salem, Massachusetts,
Vol. 4, January, 1811-December, 1819. p. 567.
49
Wetmore, William. “Extracts from the Interleaved Almanacs of William Wetmore of Salem, 1774-1778.” Essex
Institute Historical Collections, Vol. 43. Salem: Essex Institute, 1907.
43
�Washington Corps. 50 He practiced law in Salem and represented the city on the General Court in
1777. He and Catherine married in November 1776. His notes in his almanacs are an important
source on Revolutionary War history in Essex County, particularly his account of the naval battle
between the Hannah and the Nautilus.51 Wetmore recorded on April 28th, 1775, shortly after the
outbreak of the war, “Mrs. Pynchon, Mrs. Orne, Miss Katy, Sally, John, myself & Mr. Bean’s
family, set sail for Nantucket to avoid the continual Alarms to wch ye town is liable by being
upon ye sea coast and exposed to the K[ ]’s ships and the ignorance of a c[ ]y P.” 52 Catherine
died before 1782, when Wetmore married Sally Waldo and thereafter moved to Boston.
The youngest daughter, Sarah, married Rev. Thomas Fitch Oliver, son of the judge and
scientist Andrew Oliver, Jr. and grandson of Lieutenant Governor Andrew Oliver.
Sarah and Rev. Thomas Fitch Oliver had at least six children. At least four of the children
were baptized at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.
1. Thomas Fitch Oliver, bp. September 8, 1778, died young.
2. Thomas Fitch Oliver, bp. October 3, 1779, died young.
3. Mary Lynde Fitch Oliver, bp. February 25, 1782.
4. Thomas Fitch Oliver, bp. February 25, 1782.
5. Andrew Oliver, b. c. 1784
6. William Pynchon Fitch Oliver
Rev. Thomas Fitch Oliver died of consumption January 25, 1797. 53 Their son Andrew
died aged 18 on the passage from Baltimore to Havana in 1802. 54 Mary Lynde Fitch Story died
in 1805, shortly after her marriage to Hon. Joseph Story, a justice of the United State Supreme
Court. 55 Story subsequently married her cousin. Sarah Waldo Wetmore, the daughter of
Catherine’s widower William Wetmore.
In 1811, William Bentley recorded in his diary, “J.S. [Joseph Storey], the Speaker of the
House, has put his Father in Law [William] Wetmore on the bench for our District…We know
not what effect it will have but within doors we hear complaint. We encircle a Gouvernour with
persons unknown to him & unworthy of confidence & then he becomes responsible for the folly.
Mr. Wetmore had fallen into obscurity after the death of his Father in law Pynchon, & was most
unfriendly to our revolution. He is now brought into view to prove how men may be sacrificed to
private influence & not men only but the common cause of our Country. Thus between Fathers
in Law & Sons in law there is no love of the nation.” 56
“Young Mr.” William Pynchon Fitch Oliver was buried in 1807. 57
When Mary Lynde Oliver died in 1807, she left the home to Sarah and Rev. Thomas’
children, Sarah Pynchon Oliver and Elizabeth Digby Belcher Oliver. In 1816, they sold it to
cabinetmaker William Hook, who demolished the old house in 1830. 58
Sarah Pynchon Oliver died in 1832.
50
Hall, Benjamin Homer. A Collection of College Words and Customs. 1856.
Wetmore, 1907.
52
Wetmore, 1907. p. 106.
53
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 3: Deaths, p. 102.
54
Salem Vital Records, Vol 3:Deaths, p. 101.
55
Salem Vital Records, Vol 3:Deaths, p. 256.
56
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of William Bentley, D.D., Pastor of the East Church, Salem, Massachusetts,
Vol. 4, January, 1811-December, 1819. p. 58.
57
Ibid.
58
Perley (1928), p. 154.
51
�William married Martha Elkins on March 4, 1780. 59 Martha Elkins was married
secondly to Joseph Grafton, and the thirdly to George S. Johonnot (1756-1839), a Boston
merchant of Huguenot ancestry. Her sister married Thomas Saunders of Salem. 60
John never married due to his mental health issues.
William Pynchon’s Career
Of Pynchon’s legal career, the editor of his diary Fitch Edward Oliver wrote in 1890:
“He was distinguished, says Washburn, for his skill as a special pleader, and as a counsellor
united greeted subtlety with the utmost fairness and liberality. As an instructor in jurisprudence
he was remarkably successful, and, as schools of law were then unknown, he had many pupils
who owed their success largely to his teachings, among whom may be mentioned the Hon.
Jeremiah Smith, of New Hampshire, afterwards distinguished on the Bench and in the State. In
1774, on the death of Judge Ropes, he became a candidate for the vacant seat on the Bench of the
Superior Court of the Province, which was, however, filled by Judge William Browne, one of the
Justices of the Court of Common pleas.” 61 Pynchon’s legal account books and account books are
in the collection of the Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum. 62
In 1750, Pynchon was one of the founders of a long-lasting social club which met on
Monday evenings in various members houses, and the Pynchons were frequent hosts. Other
members of the group were Dr. Edward Augustus Holyoke, Rev. John Prince, Rev. Timothy
Barnard, Col. Benjamin Pickman, and Hon. Samuel Curwen. Salem historian James Duncan
Phillips noted that “many, and perhaps most, of its members were Tories” during the American
Revolution. 63
Speaking before the Essex Bar in 1885, William Northend summed up Pynchon’s career
thus:
“In this county the barristers before the revolution were, Daniel Farnham of
Newburyport, William Pyncheon of Salem, John Chipman of Marblehead, Nathaniel P. Sargent
of Haverhill and John Lowell of Newburyport…William Pyncheon was born in Springfield in
1725. He removed to Salem in 1745 and studied law with Judge Stephen Sewall. He remained in
Salem until his death, in March 1789, at the age of 64. He was an eminent lawyer, particularly
skilled in special pleading; a finished scholar and an accomplished gentleman.” 64
William Pynchon’s Property on Main Street
In February of 1753, Pynchon purchased a dwelling house and adjoining “garden spot”
on Main Street from Benjamin Gerrish, Esq. for £240. 6566
59
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 2: Marriages, p. 329.
Nichols, George. A Salem Shipmaster and Merchant: The Autobiography of George Nichols. Boston: The Four
Seas Company, 1921. p. 104.
61
Oliver, The Diary of William Pynchon of Salem, p. vi.
62
“William Pynchon Papers, 1746-1789” https://pem.as.atlas-sys.com/repositories/2/resources/203
63
Phillips, James Duncan. Salem and the Indies. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1947. p. 181.
64
Northend, William D. “Wiliam D. Northend’s Address before the Essex Bar” Essex Institute Historical
Collections, Vol. 22, 1885. p. 277. Google Books.
65
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, Deed 99:117 “Benjamin Gerrish to William Pyncheon” 13 Feb 1753.
60
�66
The property was described as: “All that Dwelling House in sd Salem with ye Land under & Yard adjoining &
belonging to the same now in the Occupation of the sd: Willm bounded as follows Viz beginning at ye southwest
corner thereof by the main Street at twenty Eight feet westward from the Land of John Becket now in the
Occupation of Joseph Gavet & from thence running Northerly in a Line parallel with ye West side of ye House
hereby granted as far as the Northwest Corner of the same where ye Land is thirty three feet in Wedth & from thence
in a Streight line running (between a great apple tree & ye Shed or Leanto adjoining to my Barne) Thirty one Feet &
Eight Inches to a Mark in ye South Side of my sd Barn at twenty four feet distance from the Northwest Corner of ye
Land in sd Gavels Occupation & from thence by the south side of my barn to ye sd Northwest corner of the Land in
ye Occupation of sd Gavet (Including all the Shed or Leanto aforesd & from thence southerly by ye Land in sd Gavets
Possession about Eighty two feet & an half to ye Street aforesd & thence Westerly by sd street to ye corner first
mentioned. Also all ye Garden spot in sd Salem belonging to or used with sd House & Land bounded as follows (Viz)
beginning at ye Southwest Corner of ye same & from thence running Easterly by ye Land in the Occupation of sd
Gavet twenty six feet & from thence Northerly by Lindalls Land (So called) in ye Possesion of John Nutting Ninety
two feet thence Westerly by my own Land as ye Fence there stands twenty three feet thence south-erly strait to ye
Northwest corner of my Barn & thence by ye side of my Barn to ye southwest Corner first mentioned with Liberty
for any person for or under ye sd Willm or his Heirs or assigns forever to pass & repass with or without a
wheelbarrow thro ye southeast corner of my barn to & from ye garden spot aforesaid & to enter in & toll & Improve
my Yard on ye West side of sd House as there shall be Occasion from time to time to alter & repair ye same hous &
for building & rebuilding on ye Land hereby granted. Also Liberty to Cart Dung thro my Yard to sd Garden while ye
Land on ye north of my Barn shall be improved as a Yard- together with ye Part of a Well ye fences shall & singular
ye appurtenances & Privileges to ye Premises belonging.”
Salem Deeds 99:117
�William Pynchon’s Land purchased on Essex Street, 1753
Nearly a decade later, with”the consent of [his] wife, Catherine,” Pynchon sold the lots
he purchased from Gerrish to the physician Ebenezer Putnam for £333 6s. 8d. Lawful Money. 67
Building 11 Summer Street
On April 15, 1762, William Pynchon purchased the lot of land which would become 11
Summer Street from David Cheever and Elizabeth Gray Cheever, for £200 Lawful Money. 68
The property was described as: “A piece of Land in said Salem lying on the high-way or Street
leading to the Mills and Marblehead bounded as follows Westerly four poles and a half on said
Street Southerly twenty five poles on Dampneys Land to the fence between his Land & the late
Colo Samuel Browne, Land Easterly partly on the same Land and partly on Bartons Land
Northerly on Higginsons Land Westerly Northwesterly & Northerly on Gardners Land to the
67
68
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 110:118 “William Pynchon to Ebenezer Putnam” 11 Mar 1762
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 110:132 “David Cheever to William Pynchon” 15 Apr 1762
�South East corner of his Garden then butting Northerly on Gardners Land and partly on Cabots
Lands to the Street aforesd.”
The deed contained a provision that if Samuel Curwen desired it he could have the four
poles of land at the southeast corner containing his great grandfather Jonathan Corwin’s tomb. 69
The property was long, bordering by land of Dampney, the late Col. Samuel Browne,
Barton, Gardner, and Cabot. The northern abutting properties, the lots running along Essex
Street, had already in the time of the Corwins been divided into smaller houselots. In 1700, they
were from west to east: Henry West, John Harvey, Stephen Sewall, Benjamin Marston, John
Higginson, Nathaniel Hathorne, Jeremiah Rogers, and John Hathorne. 70 John Hathorne, the
Witch Trials judge, purchased the whole area adjoining Corwin’s in 1675 and in 1699 divided it.
West, Harvey, Sewall, Marston, Higginson. and Nathaniel Hathorne (Col. John’s son) all
purchased their lots from Col. John Hathorne on May 18 or 19, 1699. Jeremiah Rogers, whose
lot was on the corner of what is today Essex and Washington Street, was the exception, having
purchased his lot in 1681 from Benjamin Felton, who had purchased it from Hugh Peter’s
attorney Charles Gott in 1659. The southern abutting property in 1700 was the property of
Elizabeth Tawley, widow of John Tawley. 71 Her daughter, Elizabeth Tawley, was born in 1680,
married the shipwright Samuel Ruck in 1699, and died in 1711. 72 In 1702, Stephen Sewall,
merchant, sold the abutting land to Henry West for £45. 73 In 1708, John Harvey, house
carpenter, sold the eastern half of his lot to John Cabot, shopkeeper, and the western half to John
Ward, currier, each for £25. 7475 Henry West died in 1703, passing his property to his son Samuel
West.
In 1782, Henry Rust, merchant, purchased what had been Jeremiah Rogers lot in 1700. 76
By 1780, the southern properties belonged to the widow Sarah Collins and Jonathan
Masefield, a blacksmith. The northern side was bordered by William and Francis Cabot, Abijah
Northey, Weld Gardner, John Prince, the Widow Barton, John Appleton, John Norris, Maj. John
Hathorne and Henry Rust. Easterly, the property was bordered by new lots established on
Corwin land belonging to William Gray, Widow Henfield, Capt. John Rust, Joseph Henfield,
Capt. William Marston, David A. Neal, Joseph Blaney, and Joshua Ward. 77
On April 18, Pynchon obtained for 5 shillings “the free use and Injoyment of ye Drain by
him made through my Land eastward of my now dwelling House in Salem with the
Appurtenents- also Liberty at all times making (at his own Costs) any needful Repairs and
Alterations thereof” from his northern abutter, the victualler John Dampney. 78
On April 27, 1762, Pynchon sold the western part of the property to its abutters, a piece
to Elizabeth Higginson, widow, for £74 13s. 4. Lawful Money, and a piece to Samuel Gardner
69
Ibid.
Perley, Sidney. “Part of Salem in 1700 #2” The Essex Antiquarian.
71
Perley (1928), p. 145.
72
Perley, Sidney (1926), p. 98.
73
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 16:2 “Stephen Sewall to Henry West” 13 Mar. 1702.”
74
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 19:221 “John Harvey to John Cabot” 5 Oct. 1708.”
75
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 19:222 “John Harvey to John Ward” 5 Oct. 1708.”
76
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 137:95 “David Britton to Henry Rust” 9 Jul. 1782”.
77
Phillips, James Duncan. Salem in the Eighteenth Century.
78
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 115:42 “William Pynchon to John Dampney” 18 Apr 1762
70
�Esq. for £45 6s. 8d. 7980 A parcel of the land had been set aside for Elizabeth Gray, the minor
daughter of the late Edward Gray, ropemaker of Boston, and Elizabeth, his widow, from the
estate of her father Jonathan Curwen, Esq., divided October 28, 1732. 81
William Pynchon’s Land purchased on Summer Street, 1762, marking also the two parcels sold
to abutters
Later Real Estate Sales
On July 6, 1769, Pynchon sold to Jonathan Masefield, blacksmith, and Elizabeth his wife
for five shillings Lawful Money:“My Mansion House with the Land it stands on y thereto
adjoining and the other buildings on the same Land in sd Salem the same Land butting southerly
on Normans Lane so called Westerly on Land of same Smith Northerly on Land of Joseph
Blaney Esqr and Easterly on my other House and Land now occupied by my sons Jonathan &
Amos and by Josiah Howard in part and partly on Land late of Samuel Ruck Deceased as the
fence and the House stand on this line with the Appurtences.” 82
After selling his home at 13 Summer Street to John Derby in 1778 (discussed later),
Pynchon sold two further messuages in Salem near School Street on the North River. Both were
to John Parker and his wife Lucy. In 1782, Parker was a yeoman, but by 1784, he was a trader of
Boston. The first, on August 30, 1782, was for 20 shillings:
79
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 111:152 “William Pynchon to Elizabeth Higginson” 26 Apr 1762
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 110:148. “William Pynchon to Samuel Gardner” 26 Apr 1762.
81
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Partition 102:90 “Partition between Mary Lindall and Elizabeth Gray” 11 Jul
1755/
82
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 129:216, “William Pynchon to Jonathan Masefield, 6 Jul 1769”
80
�“a messuage in said Salem containing about a quarter of an acre of land butting northerly
on the North River easterly on Rusts land, southerly on land of Hoopers heirs westerly on land of
Hoopers heirs with the dwelling houses, buildings, & appurtenances” 83
The second, on August 14, 1784, was for 10 shillings Lawful Money:
‘a Messuage in said Salem containing a dwelling house & the out houses & about forty
poles of land adjoining in said Salem & bounded Northerly on the North River Easterly on Rusts
land Southerly on Hoopers Heirs Westerly on Hoopers heirs with the Appurtences being the
house & land heretofore mortgaged to said Pyncheon and his heirs to their sole use…” 84
Pynchon also owned property in the South Fields of Salem, 85 Gloucester, 86 and
Beverly. 87
In 1771, the Massachusetts tax recorded that Pynchon owned one dwelling house, with an
annual worth of £15, that he owned no “servants,” and that he had one horse and one cow. 88
The Adams’ Visit, November 5, 1766
In 1766, John Adams was 31 years old. Born and raised in Braintree, he had graduated
from Harvard in 1755 and began teaching and practicing law in Worcester. When he married
Abigail Smith in 1764, he returned to Braintree. 89 The Stamp Act of 1765 incensed the colonists,
and in September of that year Adams wrote the “Braintree Instructions” to his town’s
representative on the General Court arguing that the act was an affront to the colonists’ liberty.
The Braintree Instructions were an early declaration of the colonists' rights in opposition to
England, along with the Virginia Resolves passed by the House of Burgesses in March. When
John Dickinson crafted the Declaration of Rights and Grievances in October at the Stamp Act
Congress, the Braintree Instructions served as a model. 90 Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in
March of 1766.
Adams kept a diary, which survives with gaps, from 1753 until 1804.91
Abigail Smith was born in Weymouth in 1744 and read English poetry such as
Shakespeare and Milton in spite of a lack of formal schooling. 92 In 1765, the couple’s first child
was born, Abigail “Nabby” Smith Adams. 93
In August of 1766, Adams came to Salem to visit his friend Richard Cranch, who had
introduced the couple. 94 Cranch was born in Devonshire, England in 1726, but came to Boston in
83
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 139:205. “William Pynchon to John Parker, 30 Aug 1782”
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 141:203. “William Pynchon to John Parker, 15 Aug 1784”
85
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deeds 91:56, 91:59
86
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, Deed 129:102
87
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 150:169.
88
“Tax record for PYNCHON, WILLIAM. Town of Salem, Essex County.”
https://legacy.sites.fas.harvard.edu/~hsb41/masstax/masstax.cgi?state=person&person=02281720&.submit=Submit
89
“John Adams” Massachusetts Historical Society. https://www.masshist.org/adams/john_adams
90
“History and Text of the Braintree Instructions” First Church Braintree.
http://www.firstchurchbraintree.com/the_braintree_instructions.htm
91
“Diaries of John Adams- Sorted by Date” Massachusetts Historical Society.
https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/browse/diaries_by_date.php
92
“Abigail Smith Adams” Massachusetts Historical Society. https://www.masshist.org/adams/abigail_adams
93
“Abigail Smith Adams” Adams Biographical Sketches.Massachusetts Historical Society
https://www.masshist.org/adams/biographies
84
�1746. In 1750, he moved to Braintree, and then to Weymouth. He married Abigail Adams’ sister,
Mary Smith, in November 1762. After struggling in business, the Cranches moved to Salem in
1766 and remained there only a year before moving to Boston.95 Then in 1769, they returned to
Braintree. 96
During that August, Adams notably paid a visit to the site of the hangings during the
Salem Witch Trials 74 years earlier. He wrote, “Returned and din'd at Cranch's -- after dinner
walked to Witchcraft Hill -- An Hill about 1/2 Mile from Cranches where the famous Persons
formerly executed for Witches were buried. Somebody within a few Years has planted a Number
of Locust Trees over the Graves, as a Memorial of that memorable Victory over the Prince of the
Power of the Air.” 97
John Adams and Abigail Adams painted by Benjamin Blyth in 1764, from The
Massachusetts Historical Society
John and Abigail returned to Salem on November 3, 1766 to visit the Cranches again.
Adams noted that “his House fronting the Wharffs, the Harbour, and Shipping, has a fine
Prospect before it.” 98 On November 4th and 5th, he attended court, seeing the Grand Jury sworn
in and seeing a Freedom Suit brought by an enslaved woman, “an Action of Trespass…for
94
“John Adams diary 13, 1 March - 31 December 1766, March 1767” Massachusetts Historical Society.
https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=D13
95
“John Adams to Richard Cranch, 29 June 1766.” National Archives.
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-01-02-0042
96
“Richard Cranch” https://www.librarything.com/profile/RichardCranch
97
Ibid.
98
Ibid.
�Damages, for restraining her of her Liberty.” He also watched a trial of a charge of assault and
battery by a mariner on the captain of his vessel.
On November 5th, Adams recorded his evening:
“Spent the Evening at Mr. Pynchons, with Farnham, Sewal, Sergeant, Coll. Saltonstall
&c., very agreably. Punch, Wine, bread and Cheese, Apples, Pipes and Tobacco. Popes and
Bonfires this Evening at Salem, and a Swarm of tumultuous People attending them.” 99
The bonfires and “Popes” were due to Pope-Night or “Pope’s Day,” a New England
holiday which evolved out of Guy Fawkes Day in England. Guy Fawkes Day consists of bonfires
and merrymaking to celebrate the thwarting of Guy Fawkes’ 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up
parliament. In New England, these celebrations took on an even-stronger anti-Catholic sentiment
and featured the burning of the Pope in effigy. The festivities as we know them were limited to
working class men. Andrew Oliver’s brother, Peter Oliver, who was Chief Justice of the
Massachusetts Superior Court, wrote in 1781 that New Englanders “Uniformly practiced the
exhibiting of a pageant on every 5th of November representing the Pope and Devil upon a
Stage.”
By the 1720s, these evenings had become violent, with various neighborhood groups
competing to burn the Pope in Boston, and in the 1770s transformed into a popular form of AntiBritish protest. 100
99
https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=D13
100
Cogliano, Francis D. “Deliverance from Luxury: Pope’s Day, Conflict and Consensus in
Colonial Boston, 1745-1765” Studies in Popular Culture, Vol. 15, No. 2 (1993), pp. 15-28
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23413956
�A 1768 Broadside of Pope-Night from Boston, from Wikimedia Commons
“Farnham” was Daniel Farnham of Newburyport, later a Loyalist, who graduated from
Harvard in 1739 and became a barrister of the Superior Court in 1762. 101
“Sewal” was likely Jonathan Sewall, who graduated from Harvard in 1748 and was also
later a Loyalist. He was a close personal friend of Adams. 102 Sewall had joined the Adamses in
101
“January 1766” Diary of John Adams, National Archives. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/0101-02-0010-0001#DJA01d391n2
102
“Spring 1759” Diary of John Adams, National Archives.
https://founders.archives.gov/?q=Sewal&s=1111311111&sa=&r=1&sr=#DJA01d223n3-ptr
�Salem on November 3rd. Sewall was the older brother of Mitchell Sewall and thus Catherine
Sewall Pynchon’s uncle.
“Sergeant” was Nathaniel Peaslee Sergeant of Methuen, mentioned by Adams earlier in
the day, who in 1775 would be named to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts along
with John Adams. In 1790, Sergeant would become the second Chief Justice under the state
constitution written by Adams.
“Col. Saltonstall” was Richard Saltonstall of Haverhill, born 1732, who had in 1763
become Sheriff of Essex County. Saltonstall was a Loyalist in the Revolution and supported the
Crown’s right to taxation during the Stamp Act Crisis. 103
The Adamses “oated” or breakfasted at the Martins on the 3rd and 6th, returning home by
8 PM on November 6th. 104
Excerpt from John Adam’s Diary recording his visit to the Pynchon house, November 5,
1766.
As tensions rose between the colonists and the British, Adams and many of his friends
who he dined with in Salem that night diverged politically. After representing the British soldiers
accused of murder in the Boston Massacre, Adams went on to be one of Massachusetts’
representatives to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1777. He would become one of the
major forces behind the American Revolution. In 1776 alone, he drafted the Declaration of
Independence as part of the Committee of Five, published the influential essay Thoughts on
Government, which argued for constitutionalism, and served as the chairman of the Board of
War and Ordnance. As the war continued he served as Commissioner to France and Ambassador
to the Dutch Republic, and in 1780 he wrote a constitution for Massachusetts. As the war ended,
in 1783, he was one of the negotiators of the Treaty of Paris. In 1785, he became American
Ambassador to Great Britain, and in 1789 he was elected the first Vice President of the United
States. In 1796, he defeated Thomas Jefferson in the first contested presidential election in
American history, serving as president from 1797 until 1801. His administration was about
further establishing the federal government while negotiating America’s place among the
international community and the rise of party politics. He lost the 1800 election to Jefferson and
largely retired from public life except for writing. When he died in 1826 at age 90, he was
longest-living president until the twenty-first century.
103
104
Harris, Gordon. “The Loyalists.” https://historicipswich.org/2018/12/09/the-conscience-of-a-loyalist-2/
Ibid.
�The Loyalists Draw A Line
In the wake of the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed four laws in 1774 which the
colonists came to call “The Intolerable Acts”: The Boston Port Act, which closed the town’s
port, the Massachusetts Government Act, which brought the colony directly under British
Control, the Administration of Justice Act, which allowed for colonial officials to be tried in
Great Britain rather than in the colony, and the Quartering Act, which allowed the government to
choose buildings to house soldiers.
General Thomas Gage, the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in North America, was
appointed military governor of Massachusetts to ensure that the acts would be carried out. He
replaced Thomas Hutchinson as governor on May 17, 1774. In June, General Gage dissolved the
General Court when he learned that the colony had been electing delegates (including John
Adams) to the First Continental Congress which was to convene in September. 105
A group of Loyalist lawyers wrote a letter to Gov. Hutchinson on May 30, saying that
they sympathized with his departure but hoped that his presence at court would allow for a quick
resolution to the conflict in Boston. Of Gage, they wrote, “but when, in the amiable character of
your successor, we view a fresh instance of the paternal goodness of our most gracious
sovereign.” Among the letter’s signers were William Pynchon, Jonathan Sewall, Samuel Sewall,
Samuel Fitch, and Daniel Oliver. 106
The same day, the Salem Committee of Safety wrote a letter which was later published in
the Essex Gazette, apologizing for siding with Governor Hutchinson and saying that they hoped
to repeal the Intolerable Acts, imploring “as it always has been and now is our wish to live in
harmony with our neighbors, and our serious determination is to promote to the utmost of our
power the liberty, the welfare, and happiness of our country…” The signers of this letter
included Pynchon, Ebenezer Putnam, Richard Derby, Jr., Francis Cabot, and Dr. Edward
Augustus Holyoke. 107
On June 11, a group of Loyalist merchants in Salem presented an address to Gage on his
visit to Salem, declaring “We are deeply sensible of his Majesty’s paternal care and affection to
this province, in the appointment of a person of your Excellency’s experience, wisdom, and
moderation, in these troublesome and difficult times,” and assuring “we will make it our constant
endeavors by peace, good order, and a regard for the laws, as far as in us lies, to render your
station and residence easy and happy.”
Among the 48 signatories were William Pynchon, his sons-in-law William Wetmore and
Timothy Orne, Samuel Curwen, William Vans, Ebenezer Putnam, Dr. Edward Augustus
Holyoke, Francis and William Cabot, Benjamin Lynde, and George Deblois. The neighborhood
105
Greene, Jack P. and J.R. Pole. A Companion to the American Revolution. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers,
2000. p. 202.
106
Stark, James H. The Loyalists of Massachusetts and The Other Side of the American Revolution. Boston: W.B.
Clarke Co. 1907. pp. 125-126.
107
Stark (1907), pp. 126-127.
�in which Pynchon lived had a number of other loyalists as well, including Weld Gardner,
Stephen Higginson, John Prince, Joseph Blaney, William Brown, P. Frye, and John Nutting. 108
The following year would bring increasing tensions, flaring up with the battle over the
canon in Salem in February in the event which would come to be called “Leslie’s Retreat” and
the outbreak of war in Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. This was followed by the
Siege of Boston, which lasted until March 17, 1776, a period which included the capture of Fort
Ticonderoga on May 10, Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, and the Fortification of Dorchester
Heights on March 4, 1776.
Edward Fitch Oliver notes a letter from Pynchon, written on April 16, 1775, detailing the
struggles of Loyalists in Revolutionary Massachusetts:
" Mr. Cabot, Dr. Putnam, Mr. Goodale, and many others talk of remov- ing, some of
them out of Salem, others out of the Province. The threats and insults of the rabble have been
insupportable to many. Col. Pick-man, Capt. Poynton, Mr. Paine, and several from other towns
are gone to England. Col. Browne's tenant, Vining, and Mr. Hooper's tenant, at Danvers, are
ordered by the committemen to depart with their stock and effects, and to leave the farms to lie
unimproved. None dares to build on Col. Browne's land where the fire was, viz : where
Mansfield's shop stood. The church windows and Col. Browne's have repeatedly been broken by
the rabble. People of property had been so often threatened and insulted that at length several
more proposed to leave the town of Salem. The merchants began to be alarmed at it, and at the
March meeting obtained a committee of 30 persons, some of them friends of the government, to
make inquiry and prosecute window breakers and other offenders. The committee exerted
themselves so far as to cause the windows to be mended by the offenders, and reduced the
bawling and other insults of the boys and rabble to sneering and hissing at people in the streets,
and other more secret abuses, as daubing and painting doors and windows, tarring houses, etc.,
etc. Soon after Dr. Warren's oration on the 5th of March, in the Old South meeting-house, one,
Dr. Bolton, a lame, droll body, at the instance of some of the army who were affronted at Dr.
Warren and party, pronounced a mock oration from Cordis' balcony, grossly reflecting on
Warren, Cooper, Hancock, and other Whiggs, and rendering them as ridiculous as he could. The
gentlemen of the army have established a Congress here for taking in hand the prinkers and other
abusive persons ; the Congress meets weekly ; the punishment will be tar and feathers, it is
supposed. The inhabitants here are more and more insulted by the soldiers, who in excuse say
that no other conduct can now secure themselves against the people ; many of them are daily
moving out of Boston to live in the country, some also from Charlestown and Roxbury. On the
other hand, all friends of the government are insulted in the coun-try : some have been seized,
yoked, and driven like cattle ; one or more hath been bound out to hard labour. One respectable^
householder, in particular, was bound and let out to several masters at different days, and was
sent or carried to meeting on Sundays as a criminal, and at length was forced to attend to a
sermon preached principally for him, as an enemy of his country, till, weary of insults, he
subscribed a confession prepared for him, and was gazetted.” 109
108
Ward, George Atkinson. Journal and Letters of the Late Samuel Curwen, Judge of Admiralty
An American Refugee in England, from 1775-1784, Comprising Remarks on the Prominent Men and Measures of
that Period : to which are Added, Biographical Notices of Many American Loyalists, and Other Eminent Persons
C. S. Francis & Company, 1842. pp. 431-432.
Pynchon, cf., pp. 42-43.
109
�The lines were drawn and the Loyalists of Boston found themselves in a definite minority
in Massachusetts. Historian Gordon S. Wood recently noted the numbers of Loyalists were
higher in the Middle Colonies while relatively low in Massachusetts and Virginia. 110
George Deblois, Sr., one of Pynchon’s friends and a signatory of several of the letters
mentioned above, arrived in Salem in 1761 as a merchant. The deposition regarding his property
claim after the war notes that he “always sided with Government of Great Britain on
Commencement of Troubles” and that he “made himself obnoxious” by signing the letters. 111
When Deblois departed for Halifax in 1775, he left his property in the care of William Pynchon.
There are numerous references to Deblois and his family in Pynchon’s diary. When Pynchon
died, his estate included a £300 debt to Deblois. Deblois’ wife, Ann Coffin Deblois, initially
stayed behind to watch after their small children. In 1778, the legislature moved to confiscate his
estate, but because Ann remained she was able to exercise her rights of dower to prevent a third
of their estate from being confiscated. 112 Deblois died in London in 1792. 113
Pynchon’s Diary, 1776-1789
William Pynchon kept a diary of his own during the Revolutionary War years, from Jan.
1, 1776 until about a week before his death in March of 1789. Today it is an essential source for
the history of Salem at that time. John Adams, Daniel Farnham, Nathaniel Peaslee Sargeant, and
Jonathan Sewall are mentioned frequently, as are other prominent lawyers, merchants, and
politicians such as Benjamin Lynde, Samuel Curwen, William Vans 114, John Turner III, Capt.
John Glover, and the Olivers. His concerns are primarily political, but much of his social and
daily life are incidentally recorded as well.
Of the evacuation of Boston, Pynchon wrote: “The troops at Boston embarked and went
down to Nantasket, and the American troops took possession of the town and the fortifications at
Bunker's Hill, where were found some wooden men and wooden guns and cannon, mounted,
pointed, etc., etc., in due order.” 115
On July 15th, William Wetmore and Mrs. Pynchon returned from Boston, where they had
been inoculated against smallpox by Dr. James Lloyd (1728-1810), and John and William
Pynchon set out to be inoculated as well. 116 Though it does not appear that their appointment is
110
Allison, Robert.“Episode 1: Gordon Wood,” Revolution 250 Podcast. 8 September 2020.
Salem Loyalists, The Essex Institute Historical Collections, Vol. 43, 1907.
112
Rieder, Katherine. “The Remainder of Our Effects We Must Leave Behind”: American Loyalists and the
Meaning of Things. Domestic Exchange and Regional Identity. The Colonial Society of Massachusetts.
113
Stark, 1907, pp. 444-445.
111
114
William Vans, Esq. married Mary Clark in 1761 and died on May 23, 1797. His executors
were Jonathan Carnes, mariner, Robert Peele, merchant, and Joseph Sprague, Esq. He died
possessed of the western half of a house in Essex Street, worth $1,000, a pew in Rev. Barnard’s
meeting house ($30), a small warehouse standing on Clark’s land ($10), and Common Rights in
three towns in Grafton County, New Hampshire. His eldest son was William Vans, Jr., born
1763, and his daughter, Rebecca, born 1764, married Jonathan Carnes in 1784. They also had
two daughters named Mary, one born in 1765, and Mary Clark, born in 1767. Mary died at age
36 in 1770. William Vans, Jr. lived until 1840.
115
116
Pynchon, p. 6.
Pynchon, p. 10.
�listed in Lloyd’s appointment book, which runs from 1758 to 1778. 117 This was in response to an
epidemic of smallpox which had been raging in Boston since 1775. The same day, he received a
copy of the Declaration of Independence. His reaction is a fine rhetorical defense of Loyalism,
invoking the career of Georg Heinrich von Görtz, a powerful German minister in the court of
Swedish King Charles XII, whose monetary policy was blamed for inflation and who was
executed for it in 1719:
“Query, the consequences of this measure. God's chosen people, though governed by
himself, desired a King of their own ; he gave them a King in his anger. We Americans, God 's
favorite people, desiring no King, have set ours aside ; but, wiser than the Israelites, who, having
nothing, did every man what was right in his own eyes, we have preferred many to one, and
subjected ourselves to . We have had our ages of gold and of silver, but, not contented, we
rejected both, and have lost them, and with them our copper and most of our brass and iron.
What then? Have we not Paper in plenty? Are we not wiser than the Israelites? Charles the 12th
of Sweden, a despot, wanted gold and silver, and his wants arose from his passion for war; he
took from his subjects all the silver they had, and in its stead returned them copper pieces,
ordering them to pass as silver dollars. It was Baron Gortz' invention which cost him his life after
the death of Charles. These pieces, as we are told, now pass for their real worth, which is less
than a Farthing. But our paper is an invention of our own. Are we not wiser than Baron Gortz or
his master?” 118
Four days later, he reported that the Declaration was read from the balcony of the Town
House in Boston and in the “afternoon the King's arms were taken down and broken to pieces in
King street, and carried off by the people.” 119
Over the fall and winter of 1776-1777, Pynchon notes the reports of the fighting around
New York and New Jersey, including an account of the Battle of Trenton (December 26, 1776).
In April of 1778, he noted that France and Spain had joined the war on the side of the
colonists. 120
The most famous incident 121 in Pynchon’s diary occurred on October 24, 1777, when
Pynchon returned form a trip to Boxford to find his windows broken “after the rejoicing for
victory over [the] army”, referring to the decisive victory the Continental Army over the British
at the Battle of Saratoga, which ended on October 7. Pynchon noted that his neighbors’ windows
were also smashed, and when he inquired “whom I was to thank for it…” he was told himself,
“for not being home.” Pynchon noted: “On observing that those who were at home fared no
better than the absent, I was answered that all Tories should be served alike; others said it was
only an accident, and the effect only of extravagant rejoicing, and must not be noticed while I
had any windows left. The last was a needless caution to me, so I contendly boarded up my
windows.” 122
On Christmas 1776, the windows of St. Peter’s Church had been broken, as Pynchon
reported in his diary. 123
117
Lloyd, James, 1728-1810. Ledger of James Lloyd, 1758-1776 (inclusive). B MS b142.1, Countway Library of
Medicine. Colonial North America at Harvard Library https://nrs.lib.harvard.edu/urn-3:hms.count:27018286
118
Pynchon, pp. 10-11.
119
Pynchon, p. 12.
120
Pynchon, p. 53.
121
Ward, 1842, p. 487.
122
Pynchon, pp. 41-42.
123
Pynchon, p. 21.
�Shortly after leaving 11 Summer Street, Pynchon read the newspaper notice of the death
of Rev. Andrew Eliot of the New North Church in Boston, a man of Loyalist sympathies, and
wrote: “But all wonder vanisheth on considering that the modern question as to character is not
whether the party be a person of honor, integrity, learning, piety, etc., but whether he be Whig or
Tory. Alas ! party spirit changeth the manners of men, altereth the very genius of a people ; as if
it would have the civilized turned into barbarians, and charity and benevo-lence kicked out of the
State.” 124
On the 31st of November, 1778, in his last entry before resuming May of 1780, Pynchon
noted how he read in the newspapers about the the dissension between brothers Arthur Lee,
Richard Lee, and Francis Lightfoot Lee of Virginia and Silas Deane of Connecticut, whom they
accused in the Second Continental Congress of financial misconduct while he was envoy to
France. He wrote, “May their disputes procure peace and reconciliation, if nothing else will.
Does not dis- appointed ambition often, too often, assume the guise and the looks of publick
spirit and of great patriotism? Let us bear this in mind when reading or hearing the disputes,
pretences, and promises of ambassadors, com- missioners, and agents.” 125
In 1778, Pynchon wrote of the rumors of emancipation for the enslaved people in
Massachusetts, a process begun by freedom suits like the one John Adams witnessed in Salem in
1766. Pynchon noted on February 14: “Dr. Whitaker from Boston, and [says] that the negroes
would soon be made free by the Gen'l Court.” Dr. Whitaker was Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Whitaker
(1708-1795), who in 1776 began the Tabernacle Church in Salem before he was dismissed in
1783.
The diary suggests that the Pynchons enslaved a man named Primus, first mentioned in
September of 1785, who is likely a different person than the better-known enslaved man Primus
owned by Benjamin Lynde. 126 Note this is after the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts in the
early 1780s, but many forms of labor like slavery in all but name continued for AfricanAmericans in Massachusetts into the early nineteenth-century. Primus seems to have served as a
valet or coachman. In the first mention of Primus, he “brings down a horse and chaise for John’s
tour to Providence” with Ebenezer Putnam. 127 On March 1, 1787, Pynchon writes: “A fine, warm
day. Primus sets out with F. Goodale in R. Daland's carriage sleigh, with 2 horses, to bring home
Moses and the Lieut. John Pynchon ; he meets them at Newhall's, and brings them home.” 128 On
May 17, 1788, Primus “brings willows for John.” 129
Later that month, Pynchon wrote of Negro Election Day, the first instance of Black
voting in America begun in Salem in 1740, which was accompanied by picnics, a parade, and
celebrations: 130 “All hands merry and gay, running up and down [the] streets. Clerk Osgood, J.
Grafton, and I walk to Danvers new bridge, and find the piers all put up, but no planks put down
; we return to election at Primus's flag, and take ale and pies, and see the dances.” and then “The
124
Pynchon, pp. 59-60.
Pynchon, pp. 61-62.
126
Pynchon, pp. 222, 271, 307, 308-309.
127
Pynchon, p. 222.
128
Pynchon, p. 271.
129
Pynchon, p. 307.
130
“First Black Self-Governing System Negro Election Day History.” Salem United.
https://www.salemunitedinc.org/about-me-text
125
�carousing, musick, etc., etc., go on with spirit in Northfield and in Southfield, at Danvers and
Marblehead. Titus and Primus and attendants are getting money apace.” 131
An unknown female servant, likely an enslaved woman, is also mention in March of
1783, when Pynchon writes: “I rose at 5 this morning and made the fires for the servant, who has
often made them for me; I felt gratitude, and she showed it.” 132
On May 3, 1780, just as resuming his diary, Pynchon wrote a letter to Samuel Curwen,
who was then in Bristol, England, which Curwen summarized for William Browne as “all our
friends are well and longing, but as almost without hope, for the good old times, as is the
common saying now, except among those, as he expresses it, whose enormous heaps have made
them easy and insolent, and to wish for a continuance of those confusions by which they grow
rich.” 133 On May 12, Charleston, South Carolina fell to the British, and remarkably, Pynchon
noted rumors of its fall the same day and the day after. The town had been besieged since March
29 and completely surrounded since April 13. Doubt persisted until at least June 14, when
Pynchon wrote of encountering more “rumors” about the fall of the city.
Of the Indigenous part in the war, Pynchon wrote in June of 1778: “Rumours that the
Indians at the westward are in motion, and that Philadelphia was evac-uated and burnt.” and
further in October of 1780: “News of Indians burning houses and doing much mis- chief at the
westward.” 134135
On October 26, he wrote of the inauguration of John Hancock as the first governor of an
independent Massachusetts. 136
In 1780 and 81, Pynchon made notes about privateers, such as the Fame, and about
merchant ships arriving in port from the West Indies. On March 18, Pynchon hears about a
“bloody” battle “southward,” a reference to the costly Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March
15 in North Carolina. 137
The British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis surrendered his army to the
Americans and the French at the end of the Siege of Yorktown on October 19, 1781. Four days
later, Pynchon heard rumors that a surrender was imminent and news arrived on the 25th. The
following day, Pynchon noted “Cannon, small arms, mortars, bells, and all kind of arms, sounds,
re- ports, clamours, noises, and rumours through the town make the diversions and employments
of this day;” as his fellow Salemites celebrated the apparent colonial victory. 138
As the Revolution’s violent period ended in the fall of 1781, more than six years after it
began, the gulf between Pynchon and his old acquaintance John Adams had grown vast. He
recorded on November 7: “See the newspapers for Adams' letter to Cushing 1 to encourage
whipping, hanging, etc., for Tories.” and five days later, “See Mr. Ad-ams' letter for hanging his
brother if a Tory; but the letter is denied.” 139
131
Pynchon, pp. 308-309.
Pynchon, p. 145.
133
Curwen, Samuel. In Ward, 1842, p. 254.
134
Pynchon, p. 54.
135
Pynchon, p. 77.
136
Pynchon, pp. 77-78.
137
Pynchon, p. 92.
138
Pynchon, p. 109.
139
Pynchon, pp. 110-111.
132
�Then, as if overnight, life for Pynchon seemed to return to normal, and the diary turns
more to everyday life than it had in the preceding years, with intermittent mentions of prisoners
returning and other scars of war.
On July 17, 1782, he attended the Commencement at Harvard, mocking Governor John
Hancock: “All eyes, addresses, all compliments, are directed toward thee, Handcocky, O rare
Handcocky!” Pynchon then turned his scorn on Adams, writing, “Not a word of thee, stout, first
mover, Adams, but all like new year's warm wishes, without meaning or belief…” and “What
could be said to Adams, who entered the pew as if going to steal a . . .”. 140
Regarding a letter from the new Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in North
America, Sir Guy Carleton to George Washington, apparently allowing for the independence of
North America as a prerequisite to peace, Pynchon despaired. He wrote, “G. Britain ! and canst
thou stoop to the laws of necessity only ? Why not propose this in 1776; millions of wealth, and
thousands of lives, and immense corruption would have been saved ! The ambitious is a little
man; the ambitious nation must stoop.” 141 This resounds as a statement still today, an anti-war
sentiment that sums up the tragedy of international conflict.
On September 1, two days before the official end of the war with the signing of the
Treaty of Paris, Pynchon wrote of plans to settle Nova Scotia: “The Club at my house, and we sit
by a brisk fire all the evening ; grand account of harbour of Port Roseway, and of the intents of
England to encourage [the] settlement of this and other parts of No. Scotia ; of [the] college, etc.,
to be built there and to be endowed.” 142 On October 31, he received a letter from his brother,
Joseph Pynchon, of the settlement at Port Roseway, the New England name for the port in
southwestern Nova Scotia where more than 5,000 American Loyalists arrived in 1783. His
brother reported “400 or 500 houses are already erected.” 143
The diary from 1783 to 1786 focuses primarily on Pynchon’s daily affairs in Salem as
politics receded to the background. As his friends grow older, the number of funerals he attends
and acts as a bearer for increase.
Samuel Curwen wrote him from London on July 26, 1783 with skepticism of the
independent colonies’ liberty: “I strongly suspect America will not find such a cordial and
unrestricted liberty from the European powers respecting commerce and the creation of a
powerful navy, as she fondly and delusively imagined.” 144
On May 8th of 1784, Pynchon wrote that Francis Cabot “condescends to offer me the
house where Mr. G. lived, for the present, until his son’s return.” The 15th, they went to put
canvas on the floor and set up a desk, then moved in on the 17th. The next day drama struck: “A
fire at midnight; the house saved.” Francis Cabot was of the second generation of American
Cabots, born in Salem in 1717 to John Cabot, who immigrated from Jersey and arrived in Salem
around 1700. 145 John prospered in business and purchased a lot of land on Essex Street in 1708.
In 1745, he married Mary Fitch of Ipswich in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was the
daughter of Rev. Jabez Fitch and Elizabeth Appleton Fitch. In 1770, he married as his second
140
Pynchon, p. 129.
Pynchon, pp. 131-132.
142
Pynchon, p. 160
143
Pynchon, p. 164.
144
Ward, 1842, p. 381.
145
Briggs, Lloyd Vernon. History and Genealogy of the Cabot Family, 1475-1927, Volume 1. Boston, Charles E.
Goodspeed & Co., 1927. pp.33-34, 41-49.
141
�wife, Elizabeth Clarke Winslow-Gardner, the daughter of William Clarke and Hannah Appleton
Clarke. Along with his younger brother, Joseph, Francis became one of the most propserous
merchants in Salem.
The remove to Cabot’s house was not a distant one, as it stood at the corner of Essex and
Summer Street, built in 1768, at what is now 299 Essex Street.
The Francis Cabot House, from Frank Cousins, from the Phillips Library. The Mary Lindall
House can be seen in the background.
On October 29, 1784, the Marquis de Lafayette visited Salem. Pynchon described the
celebrations and then the next day noted: “The employment of each circle, club, and tea- table in
Salem is in finding and proving and disputing as to neglects and affronts respecting the
entertainments and ball for the Marquis.” 146
Francis Cabot died in April of 1786, as Pynchon recorded in his diary. 147148
On August 18, 1786, R. Hooper, Esq. (probably Robert Hooper) visited Pynchon and
reported “a dismal account of the credit of the neigh-bouring States; all going together by the
146
Pynchon, p. 198.
Pynchon, pp. 235-236
148
Briggs, p. 49
147
�ears, poverty and distress are coming on, paper currency, party spirit, malice, mob's spite, and the
Devil ; another revolution; some adhere to France, some to Britain ; some curse the leaders, some
the Whigs, others Tories.” The remarks were prophetic, for later that month Shays’ Rebellion
began in western Massachusetts. Rebels, upset at state taxes, prevented the court from sitting at
Springfield, and Pynchon follows the developments in the struggle across the state with the
“insurgents” in his diary through the fall and winter of 1786-87. On the 6th of October, he wrote:
“We hear from Boston of the debates in General Court; some for vigorous measures and for
suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act; others for a redress of grievances, and for all mild,
soothing measures first. 149 The proposal for the suspension of Habeas Corpus was from Samuel
Adams, Lieutenant Governor. Boston merchant James Warren wrote to John Adams on October
22: "We are now in a state of Anarchy and Confusion bordering on Civil War." 150
Among Pynchon’s interest in the rebellion is a relative, Ensign Pynchon, who was an
officer in the state’s troops fighting the rebels. Perhaps this was Major William Pynchon (17401818), who was the last Pynchon to live in the old Pynchon house in Springfield. 151 James
Duncan Phillips writes that it was John Pynchon of Salem, who along with John Higginson led a
contingent of Salem recruits westward during the struggle. 152
On November 23, he notes “Orders to Salem militia from [the] Governor to be ready in
153
case.” In January of 1787, Pynchon records as the conflict became open warfare. The conflict
ended in March with the military defeat of the rebels and is seen by many historians as a
contributing factor to the decision in 1787 to replace the 1781 Articles of Confederation with a
national Constitution. In February of 1787, one of Pynchon’s closest friends, the shop owner
William Vans, visits and says he “is ready to give up his confidence in the public measures;
thinks that Congress can hardly be held together, and that our public affairs will be desperate
unless the Con- tinental Convention enlargeth the powers of Congress, [and] amend the
Confederation System, etc., etc., which are hardly to be expected.” Plans had already been laid in
Annapolis in September 1786 for a national Constitutional convention in 1787, and in May the
Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia. Pynchon does not write of the convention as it
unfolds, but focuses on local affairs, such as a town meeting on October 29, 1787, about building
a “bridge over Beverly ferry,” “the fullest meeting remembered in Salem.” 154 He mentions the
matter when it comes back to the state in October whether it will ratify the new Constitution, and
he mentions the question of its ratification several times until Massachusetts became the sixth
state to ratify the Constitution on February 6, 1788. Pynchon seems to have been in favor with
the measure, expressing that it was “good news” that Gen. Samuel Thompson’s “vehemence, 't is
said, being some-what abated.” Thompson, a patriot from Maine, wanted a provision providing a
property requirement for representatives and argued against the Constitution’s acceptance of
slavery. 155156 When the Constitution was ratified, Pynchon notes that all the bells of Boston rang.
149
Pynchon, p. 252.
Goldwyn, Adam J. “A New England Underworld: The Necropolitics and Necropoetics of Katabasis in the
Anarchiad (1786–87) and Mock Epics of the Early U.S. Republic” Brill’s Companion to the Classics in Early
America. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, 2021. p. 292.
151
“From Pinco to Pynchon” https://www.vheissu.net/bio/before.php
152
Phillips (1947), p.33.
153
Pynchon, p. 256.
154
Pynchon, p. 290.
155
“Debate in Massachusetts Ratifying Convention” The Founders’ Constitution, University of Chicago.
https://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a1_2_2s3.html
150
�Throughout that summer, Pynchon notes the “joyful” news as other states ratify the
document: Maryland in April, South Carolina in May, New Hampshire and Virginia in June, he
notes the gloomy news that Constitution may not be accepted in New York but does not note its
ratification in late July. Pynchon died before the final two states- North Carolina in November
1789 and Rhode Island in May in 1790- ratified the Constitution.
The final year of Pynchon’s life seems to have been a happy and social one, full of
breakfasts, teas, and dinners. On December 24, while dining in Danvers, he was invited by a
friend to accompany him on a visit to John Adams in Braintree. He never got the chance, as
William Pynchon died in March 1789, shortly before the Inauguration of George Washington as
the first president of the new United States of America. The Vital Records give his cause of
death as “synocha” or a continuous fever. 157
Pynchon’s last entry in his diary was on March 2, as the weather cleared following a
snowstorm in mid-February:
“A fine, moderate day. John goes to Marblehead on Otis’ affair, and remains all night.”
John Pynchon appended a note a the end of the diary:
“On the Saturday following the above Monday, my father was taken in the morning with
a most violent fever, supposed to be rheumatic; he continued ill until Saturday, the 14th;
he died on that day at 12 o’clock. He was, during his whole illness, attended by Drs.
Paine and Holyoke, and was the greater part of the time delirious. His memory I shall not
cease to cherish while my heart vibrates with a spark of life. His funeral was attended by
a very numerous and most respectable train of mourners and friends.”
In 1890, Pynchon’s diary was edited and published by Edward Fitch Oliver for the
Massachusetts Historical Society. Oliver (1819-1892) was Pynchon’s great-great grandson.
By profession he was a medical doctor, but in later years he became an antiquarian. As
his memoirist Rev. Edmund F. Slafter wrote, that Dr. Oliver was “interested in many subjects
lying beyond the limits of his profession. This was especially true of Massachusetts history, in
which his family, in direct as well as collateral lines, had borne an important and conspicuous
part.
In the last 15 years of his life, Oliver’s project became the rehabilitation of Massachusetts
Loyalists. First in 1880 he published the diaries of two ancestors, Benjamin Lynde Sr and Jr.
Then in 1884, he published the diary of Governor Thomas Hutchinson, looking to remove “the
stigma which had so unjustly been placed upon him,” (in Slafter’s words). He corrected
inaccuracies and gaps in Rev. William Hubbad’s General History of New England using a family
manuscript, and in 1890 published the Pynchon diary. When he died in 1894 he had manuscripts
of 14 memoirs of Oliver ancestors and other “Oliverana.” 158 Oliver had a brother named William
Pynchon Oliver (1822-1855).
156
John Craig Hammond, “We are to Be Reduced to the Level of Slaves:” Planters, Taxes, Aristocrats, and
Massachusetts Antifederalists, 1787-1788 Historical Journal of Massachusetts Volume 31, No. 2 (Summer 2003).
157
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 3: Deaths, p. 172.
158
Slafter, Rev. Edmund F. Memoirs of Fitch Edward Oliver, M.D.” Boston, Privately printed, 1894.
�The first page of Pynchon’s diary, as printed by Oliver in 1890.
The Estate of William Pynchon, 1789
William Bentley recorded a memory of William Pynchon in his diary at the time of his
death, March 14th, 1789: “Died. Wm Pynchon Esqr, Barrister at Law. He possessed an amiable
temper, sweet manners, & a pure & classical taste. His aversion from the Revolution prevented
him opportunities for advancing his fortune during the War, & the dissolute manners of his male
children served to involve the little property he had acquired before in his profession. He married
a Sewell. His eldest son died without issue. His youngest son is now in the profession of Law.
His daughters who are living are amiable women. One married the Revd T. F. Oliver, of
Marblehead, the other Mr. Tim: Orne of Salem. Another daughter, who married Wm Wetmore
Esqr, Barrister at Law, is dead & has left one child. ÆT. 64.” 159
Catherine was buried on November 14, 1803, according to the records of St. Peter’s
Church. 160 Bentley wrote in his diary: “Mrs. Catharine Pynchon who died last Saturday, was of
159
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of William Bentley, D.D. Vol. 1: April, 1784-December 1792. Gloucester,
MA: Peter Smith, 1962. p. 119.
160
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 3: Deaths, p. 172.
�the family of Sewall, & relict of late W. Pynchon, Attorney in temper, & excellent company. A
cloud rested upon her last days, but her friends did not forget her worth.” 161
The Hampshire County Property of William Pynchon, in his Probate, 1790
In spite of owning a good deal of property, William Pynchon died insolvent. In addition
to his large debt (£300) to George Deblois of Halifax, he also owed significant amounts of
money to Andrew Cabot, Gerrish Cabot, and Abigail Gerrish. Among his other creditors, often
for small sums, were J. Appleton, Francis Cabot, Richard Manning, William Hathorne, and Dr.
Edward Augustus Holyoke. 162
In West Springfield in 1790, three appraisers (Benjamin Day, Daniel White, and
Benjamin Ashley) returned a list of Pynchon’s property in Hampshire County. It consisted of
four parcels, one of 60 acres, one of 30, one of 17, and one of 15, all bordering on land of the
Elys near Northampton. Their value came to £400.
On the North Shore, his real estate is comparatively poor: pew #14 in the St. Peter’s
Church, half a piece of land in Danvers of about six acres, half a piece of land in Beverly of
about seven acres, and half a pew in the meeting house of Rev. Nathan Holt in Danvers, worth a
total of £13 16s. 0d. 163
161
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of William Bentley, D.D., Pastor of the East Church in Salem, Vol. 3:
January, 1803-December, 1810. p. 61.
162
Essex County Probate Records, Probate #2341, “William Pynchon, 17 July 1789.”
163
Ibid.
�Pynchon’s personal estate consisted of a good deal of furniture and other household
goods. His furniture was primarily mahogany and black walnut, with one table with a slab of
marble. His living space appears to be divided by usage into five rooms: a dining room, a
bedchamber with four bedsteads, a kitchen, and a study, based on the objects and the presence of
five mentions of fireplace accouterments.
The Sale of 11 Summer Street to John Derby, 1778
In February 1778, Pynchon sold the house to merchant John Derby for £3,000. The
witnesses were Pynchon’s son-in-law, Rev. Thomas Fitch Oliver, and John Dutch.
“a Messuage containing a Dwelling House Barn & out houses with a Garden & the land
adjoining to it which Garden & Land are Bounded Easterly on Gardners Land, northerly on land
of Francis Cabot Esquire, Westerly on the Street leading from the North River to the Burying
Place Southerly on Matthew Mansfield’s Land (it being part of a piece of land purchased by me
of David Cheever & Elizabeth his wife as of Record appears Lib:110 folo 132) together with the
privileges thereto belonging.” 164
Oliver writes in a footnote to the diaries: “The house in Summer Street from which Mr.
Pynchon now removed, and lately occupied by Dr. Emmerton, was built for him somewhere
about 1760, and sold in 1778 to Mr. John Derby, who, it appears by a letter from Mr. Pynchon,
dated August 3, 1784, added to it a story, with a flat roof and balustrade.” 165
On September 5th, 1778, Derby notified Pynchon “that he should this Fall move into this
house.” 166 Pynchon reported on November 14th: “Began to move my house furniture and goods
to Mr. Orne’s store, while Mr. White was moving his out of the house.” The next day, they “Put
up the beds, and so forth, and moved most of the furniture.” On the 16th, they “lodged at Mr.
Orne’s house, all but the maids,” and the following day, a Saturday, “The maids came there also,
but B. lodged at Mr. Derby’s house, to take care of it.” 167
William Pynchon wrote to Samuel Curwen on March 2, 1784, noting the Social Library,
an organization begun by wealthy merchants in 1760 to provide a circulating library and which
had been interrupted by the Revolution but resumed in the early 1780s. 168169 Along with
Pynchon, members of the Library included Benjamin Lynde, Andrew Oliver, Stephen
Higginson, William Browne, Superior Court judge Nathaniel Ropes, Rev. William McGilchrist,
Rev. Thomas Barnard, Col. Benjamin Pickman, Col. Peter Frye, and Thomas Robie. 170 Rev.
Barnard was the minister of Salem’s North Church, one of the descendants of the First Church of
Salem in that era, from 1772 until 1814.
Pynchon noted “Mr. E. Hasket Derby has lately imported a considerable library of
modern books, which proved to be very dear.” 171 On December 23, 1781, Pynchon mentioned
the library in his diary, writing “I return the library books save only a volume of plays, and I take
164
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, Deed 135:252 “William Pynchon, Esq. to John Derby, 2 February 1778.”
Pynchon, p. 58.
166
Pynchon, p. 56.
167
Pynchon, p. 58.
168
Ward, 1842, p. 18.
169
“Salem Athenaeum” https://salemathenaeum.net/about-us/history/
170
Ward, 1842, p. 18.
171
Ward, 1842, p. 401.
165
�out 3 volumes of Shakespeare.” 172 On May 15, Curwen noted in his diary that he and “Mr.
Bartlet” purchased plays for Mr. Pynchon” in London. 173
On July 25, 1785, Pynchon wrote: “The workmen are preparing to pull down the schoolhouse and the old town-house ; the library is removed to Capt. J. Derby's house.” 174 Presumably
he is talking about his former house. The townhouse was the second townhouse erected in
Salem, and stood in Townhouse Square between 1718 and 1774. 175
Fascinatingly, his inventory list his £49 collection of books, containing primarily law
books, but also religious works, poetry, history, and novels, with books in English, French, and
Latin. The law books include the Reports of Vaughan, Lucas, Wilson, Coke, Lutwych, Burrow,
and others, two volumes of the “Acts & Laws of the Province of Massachusetts,” two volumes of
“Equity Cases Abridged,’ the eight volume “Instructor Clericalis,” and Giles Jacob’s 1729 law
dictionary. Many of these books can be found listed in George Wilson’s 1777 The Reports of Sir
Edward Coke, Knt. 176
For non-legal books, there is a Bible “for Family use”, William Robertson’s three-volume
history of Charles V, Emperor of Germany, the first volume of which appeared in 1770,
Paradise Lost, 8 volumes of the Spectator, Tristram Shandy in two volumes and A Sentimental
Journey, both by Laurence Stern, Baron de Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws in three volumes,
André Dacier’s Horace in ten volumes, two volumes of Tissot on health, two volumes of
Mathew Prior’s Poems, two volumes of Thomas Hutchinson’s History of New England, British
Grammar, Mather’s “Apology,”, four volumes of the Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, 2
volumes of Johnson’s Dictionary’s, The Trials of 5 Persons for Piracy, Arithmetic.
Pynchon also had a collection of plays, sundry pamphlets, small books, newspapers,
copies of speeches of Parliament, and some personal papers. 177
172
Pynchon, p. 139.
Ward, 1842, p. 405.
174
Pycnhon, p. 217.
175
Historical Marker at 42° 31.281′ N, 70° 53.727′ W, on old Daniel Low Building, 231 Essex Street.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=85899
176
Wilson, George. The Reports of Sir Edward Coke, Knt. [1572-1617]
In English, in Thirteen Parts Complete; with References to All the Ancient and Modern Books of the Law · Volume
173
1. London: J. Rivington, 1777.
177
Probate of William Pynchon.
�Signatures of Catharine Pynchon, Nathaniel Goodale, and John Pynchon in William Pynchon’s
Probate, 1789
John Pynchon
The “dissolute manners'' of Pynchon’s sons was elaborated on further by Bentley on
April 6, 1791 following an incident with John Pynchon: “Last night after one o’clock a young
man, named John Pynchon, forcibly entered the House of Capt. B. West in our neighborhood, &
ran into the upper loft. The family alarmed by the noise, arose & followed him, & found in an
excessive fright imagining that he was pursued by soldiers. He had been in the water, &c. This
unfortunate youth, is a descendant from the antient & original Settler of N. England, Mr
Pynchon. His father from Springfield was a Lawyer of Salem, a Gentleman of accomplished
manners, but attached to the unpopular interest of G. Britain. This only son was educated with
great delicacy, his mother was a Sewall. He was offered to the University, while I was in office.
Excessive indulgence at last allured him to remove before he could receive a degree, & for
several years he was without any employment. His agreable manners recommended him to gay
company, & bad examples after the decease of his father, led him to intemperance. His father
endeavoured to introduce him to the practice of Law, & he became a sworn attorney. The
character of a dissolute youth prevented his successful practice in Salem, & tho’ raised to be
Adjutant of the Regiment, his friends could not overrule the public prejudice. He retired to
Vermont, but soon expended his interest, & gained no employ, & he is now among his friends,
reaping the fruits of an idle, intemperate, & dissolute life. He is at present in the condition of a
�delirious man, & purely by his vices. 178 The editor, Peter Smith, notes that Bentley was mistaken
and has forgotten John’s older brother William Pynchon.
In July of 1891, Bentley followed up when listing local cases of “transient deliriums”:
“There was a young Lawyer, Pynchon, but it was accounted for by a very irregular life, which he
has at present reformed.”
Several years later, Bentley reported that John Pyncheon intended to write a history of
Salem based on his father’s papers. 179 On November 5, 1802, Bentley wrote: “Not all the
moderation of the Register could save the republicans from insult in the Gazette. A poor drunken
fellow, John Pyncheon, son of a worthy man deceased, & lately a Captain in the peace
establishment, but now a worthless man, lately from jail, published a severe invective.” 180
3. John Derby (1778-1794)
John Derby was born on June 7, 1741 in Salem, the youngest son of Capt. Richard Derby,
Sr (Richard Derby II). 181
Capt. Richard Derby
Richard Derby II was born in September 1712 in Salem to Richard Derby I and Martha
Hescott Derby. 182 Martha was the daughter of soapboiler Stephen Haskett, who arrived in Salem
in 1664, Richard Derby I was the son of Roger Derby, who came to Salem in 1679. 183 Richard
Derby II began his career at sea and by 1736 he was captain of the ship Ranger, trading with
Spain, and in 1742, he captained the Volant, which he also partly owned, traveling to Barbados
and the French West Indies. He apparently retired to become a land-based merchant in 1757 and
owned several vessels during the French and Indian War. 184 The sea trade in Salem had begun
with the creation of the colony in the 1630s, with early settlers trading primarily with the West
Indies, England, and Spain. Prominent merchants in that period included William Hathorne,
Capt. George Corwin, Timothy Lindall, John Turner I, and Emmanuel Downing. The arrival of
Philip English from Jersey introduced Salem merchants to further continental markets, even with
the restrictive Navigation Acts of the 1660s designed to reduce colonial shipping outside the
empire. By the 1700s, Salem was a thriving port within the Atlantic Trade, and Richard Derby
distinguished himself in that era, along with William Browne, John Turner II, and others.
In 1759, Richard Derby II was the third wealthiest man in Salem, and in 1769, he had
risen to being the wealthiest. 185 Derby II translated that material wealth into political power, and
178
Ibid., p. 244.
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of William Bentley, D.D., Vol. 2, January 1793-December, 1802. Gloucester,
MA: Peter Smith, 1962. p. 131.
180
Ibid. p. 456.
181
Frayer, John.“The Man Twice Forgotten: Captain John Derby and the Quero” Pickled Fish and Salted
Provisions: Historical Musings from Salem Maritime NHS, Vol. II, No. 2 Feb. 2000.
182
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 1, Births, p.
183
Perley (1926), p. 321.
184
Wilson, James Grant and John Fiske. Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography, Vol. II: Crane-Grimshaw.
New York: Appleton & Company, 1887. pp. 146-147.
185
Morris, Richard J. “Redefining the Economic Elite in Salem, Massachusetts, 1759-1799: A Tale of Evolution,
Not Revolution” The New England Quarterly, Vol, 73, No. 4 (2000).
179
�served as a representative of the General Court in 1774 and 1776, and then in 1777 he was a
member of the governor’s council. Derby II married his first wife, Mary Hodges, in 1735. Mary
died in 1770 and Derby married Sarah Hersey of Hingham in 1771. 186 According to Sidney
Perley, Derby II and Mary had 12 children:
1. Richard, b. 1736
2. Elias Hasket, b. 1739
3. John, b. 1741
4. Mary
5. Ezekiel Hersey
6. Jonathan, b. 1771
7. Charles
8. Martha
9. Sarah
10. Lydia
11. Samuel
12. Elizabeth 187
John Derby’s older brother, Elias Hasket, did bookkeeping for his father’s firm from
1760 until the outbreak of the Revolution in 1775. Correspondence from John and Elizabeth
Derby from 1786 to 1801 is preserved at the Phillips Library in Salem. 188
John Derby married Hannah Clark. Hannah died on May 22, 1786. John then married
Elizabeth Cheever, widow of Nathaniel Pierce of Boston, Oct. 9, 1787. 189
In 1791, he married Sally Barton, the daughter of Samuel Barton and Margaret
Gardner. 190 Samuel Barton, Esq. died in 1772 of smallpox, and his widow Margaret died in
1803. 191
John and Sarah Barton Derby had three children.
1. John Barton, b. Nov. 13, 1792.
2. George, b. Aug 6, 1794.
3. Elias Hasket, b. Sept. 1, 1796.
John Barton Derby was baptized in the First Church of Salem. 192
Sarah Barton Derby died January 12, 1798, as Bentley recorded in his diary: “This
evening the Town was deprived of the amiable Wife of John Derby. She was Sarah Barton. To
an excellent temper she united a most charitable disposition & a very pleasing share of useful
information. In her person she was small, but well proportioned. Her eyesbright, but countenance
pale. Her features expressive of sympathy. She endeared herself to her Husband, relatives,
friends, & to the world, & she is a woman whom all lament. She has left three children & dies
young. 193
186
Perley (1928), p. 146.
Perley (1928), p. 146.
188
“B. John Derby (1741-1812) Papers, 1786-1801” Finding Aid, “Derby Family Papers, 1716-1925.”
“https://pem.as.atlas-sys.com/repositories/2/archival_objects/19488
189
Perley (1928), p. 146.
190
Salem Vital Records: Vol. 2: Marriages, p. 89.
191
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 3: Deaths, p. 74.
192
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 1: Births, p. 244.
193
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of Rev. William Bentley, D.D., Vol. 2, p. 253.
187
�In 1816, Elias H. Derby, aged 20, and Samuel B. Derby, aged 23, were crew on the ship
Palladium, bound for Calcutta. 194
George Derby died of hectic, at sea on August 18, 1818 at aged 24, while he was
supercargo of the brig Coromandel, under Capt. Daniel Bray, Jr. 195 The Coromandel had
departed on June 25, 1817 for the East Indies. 196
The Quero
It was John Derby who brought the news of Lexington and Concord to England197198
John Frayler, an historian at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site described Derby’s
journey like this:
“The members of the patriot Provincial Congress immediately recognized the propaganda
value of presenting the American views on the conflict to the British public, and the need
to do so as quickly as possible. Richard Derby, Jr., a member of the Provincial Congress,
offered the use of his fast, 62 ton schooner Quero to convey the news to London. He
agreed to outfit the vessel, and his younger brother, Captain John Derby, was to
command her. On April 26, Captain Derby was given a letter of instruction to validate his
"secret" mission to Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee, Agent for the House of
Representatives of the Massachusetts Bay. He was to deliver accounts of the battles
published in the April 21st and 25th editions of the Essex Gazette, along with copies of
sworn affidavits by participants in the encounters representing both sides. These
documents were to be immediately communicated to the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and
Common Council of London, and the accounts printed and made public throughout every
town in England. Derby left Salem on April 29. His orders called for him to proceed to
Ireland and then to London in secrecy. It has not been established beyond all doubt
exactly where Derby landed, but he traveled from Southampton to London, arriving on
May 28. The Isle of Wight is suggested as the probable location since it is mentioned in
his expense account, and the Customs officers at Southampton reported that Quero was
not there. Having accomplished his mission, Captain Derby left London on June 1. His
dispatches were viewed with skepticism and all of England waited anxiously for the
official reports. Finally, on June 9, Governor Gage's dispatches arrived aboard the royal
express packet Sukey. A vessel of 200 tons, Sukey left Boston four days before Quero
left Salem. The worst was confirmed; Massachusetts was in open rebellion. It seems that
Derby had made arrangements to rejoin his vessel at Falmouth following an overland
journey from London. Again, his accounts document his movements. He paid the
required Customs inspection and clearance fees at the port of Falmouth. A rumor
circulated that he was on his way to France and Spain to purchase ammunition. When
Quero arrived home on July 19, Captain Derby was not aboard. He earlier went ashore at
an undisclosed location, leaving William Carlton in command. Derby reported to General
194
Salem Crew Lists, 1799-1879, Mystic Seaport Museum.
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 3: Deaths, p. 204.
196
Salem Crew Lists, 1799-1879, Mystic Seaport Museum.
197
Ruppert, Bob. “A Fast Ship from Salem Carrying News of War,” The Journal of the American Revolution. 17
Apr 2015. https://allthingsliberty.com/2015/04/a-fast-ship-from-salem-carrying-news-of-war/
198
Frayer, John.“The Man Twice Forgotten: Captain John Derby and the Quero” Pickled Fish and Salted
Provisions: Historical Musings from Salem Maritime NHS, Vol. II, No. 2 Feb. 2000.
195
�Washington at Cambridge the day before Quero appeared at Salem. The expenses
submitted for the voyage came to 57 pounds, eight pence. Captain Derby took no pay for
his time spent while making the voyage. Captain John Derby continued to serve his
country during the Revolution. He is on record as part owner of the privateers Rover and
Oliver Cromwell, and Master of Patty and Astrea. As Captain Derby carried the words of
war across the Atlantic in 1775, he carried words of peace in 1783. The news of the
Treaty of Paris, announcing the cessation of hostilities between Britain and the United
States arrived at Salem on April 4, 1783 aboard Elias Hasket Derby's 20 gun ship Astrea,
John Derby, Master.” 199
Privateering and the Merchant Business
After the Revolution broke out, the Continental Congress sought to create a navy to
protect American merchant trade and stop British troop reinforcements. In September of 1775,
Washington commissioned Nicholson Broughton of Marblehead as captain of the Hannah, a
fishing schooner owned by John Glover of Marblehead. The ship was part of a fleet of 8
Massachusetts schooners engaged in the fight against British troop ships. 200 In October, the
building of two large naval vessels officially began the United States Navy. Richard Derby II
outfitted two armed ships for the state in 1776 and 1777 201
Elias Hasket Derby took to the privateering trade adeptly, eventually owning half the
privateers sent out from Salem, and in 1781 built Salem’s largest and most successful privateer,
The Grand Turk.
John Derby acted as a captain of several of his family’s privateer vessels. He captained
the privateer ship Patty, which he co-owned with his brother, Elias Hasket Derby. March 8, 1782
and in December, he was captain of the privateer Astrea, which he co-owned with his brother
Elias and William Colman. 202203
John Derby’s sister had married Dr. Joseph Prince, a Loyalist who moved to Halifax in
1775. 204
In 1783, as Loyalists left the colonies by the thousands, Derby went to London to gather
refugees who wanted to return. William Pynchon wrote to Samuel Curwen, saying “Capt. John
Derby will most willingly accommodate any of his countrymen who may wish to return with
him.” Curwen on February 14, wrote to Rev. Isaac Smith saying “Capt. Derby, in a large ship of
his brother’s, is now at Nantz [Nantes], to return in a month; which is encouraging to all not
under the ban of the states, and I am told their prejudices are surprisingly abated, and there seems
a disposition to forget past animosities and kindly receive all the fugitives.” 205
199
Frayler (2000)
“Sept. 2, 1775. Washington Commissions First Naval Officer” Mass Moments,
https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/washington-commissions-first-naval-officer.html
201
To George Washington from Richard Derby, Jr., 2 August 1776. National Archives.
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-05-02-0408
202
Lincoln, Charles Henry. Naval Records of the American Revolution, 1775-1788. Washington: Government
Printing Office, 1906. p. 411.
203
Lincoln (1906), p. 230.
204
Ward, 1842, p. 467.
205
Ward, 1842, p. 367.
200
�With Massachusetts no longer beholden to British trading restrictions, foreign trade
blossomed after 1783. The first destination was Russia and the Baltic, where goods like sail
cloth, lumber, and iron were essential for the shipbuilding industry.206 In 1783, Samuel Cabot of
Beverly sent his ship Commerce to St. Petersburg, Denmark, and Newfoundland, returning
October 1784. He sent another ship, the Sebastian, for St. Petersburg in 1784, but it never
returned to Salem. 207208 Both ships were privateers converted to commercial use. 209
The Light Horse, a seized British bark owned by Elias Hasket Derby and captained by
Nehemiah Buffington, traveled directly to St. Petersburg, sailing June 15, 1784 210 Derby wrote
to Buffington before he embarked that he should take on “about 100 tons of iron of mostly small
sizes suitable for shipbuilding, some Russia and ravensduck, soap and candles, some sheeting,
coarse linen diaper, and huckabuck, so as to allow sufficient to fill the ship with hemp.” 211
The following year, Derby sent his ship Grand Turk to the Cape of Good Hope and
212
China. In 1785, he operated the ship Astrea, the brigs Nancy, and Three Sisters in the West
Indies trade, and the brigs Nancy (on its second voyage that year), Hope, and Cato in the coastal
trade to New York and Charleston. The ship Astrea was previously used by Derby as a privateer
ship in 1782.213 For captains, Derby used former privateers such as Ichabod Nichols, Daniel
Saudners, and Daniel Hathorne.
By the late 1780s, many Derby ships were calling along the America coast, in Sweden, at
the Cape of Good Hope, and on Mauritius. In 1789, Derby sent the Astrea to Batavia,
In 1790, the ship Astrea, owned by Elias Hasket Derby, sailed from Canton to Salem, and
George Granville Putnam transcribed its manifest in 1925. It included among its cargo: “Two
chest Bohea tea, two half chests do., four quarter chests do., and 10 chests Hyson tea, for Elias
H. and John Derby.” 214 In that year, Elias Hasket Derby owned roughly 10% of the 125
American vessels engaged in foreign trade. He had a fleet of 13 vessels: 3 ships, 2 brigs, 5
schooners, and 3 sloops. Through the 1790s, Derby owned 25% of the tonnage involved in
foreign trade. 215
The Margaret, a ship owned by Derby and Benjamin Pickman, was engaged in the trade
in the East Indies, Mauritius, and Mocha before it was sold to John Crowninshield. In 1801, it
206
Morison (1921). pp. 154-155.
Ibid.
208
Phillips (1941).
209
Morison (1921). p. 154.
210
Phillips (1941). p. 686.
211
The United States and Russia (1980). pp. 213-215.
212
Hitchings, Frank A. and Stephen Ward Phillips. Ship Registers of the District of Salem and Beverly,
Massachusetts 1789-1900. Salem: Essex Institute, 1906. Print. p. 219.
213
Fairburn, William Armstrong. Merchant Sail, Center Lovell, ME: Fairburn Marine Educational Foundation, Inc.,
1945. p. 439.
214
Putnam, George Granville. Salem Vessels and Their Voyages: A History of the "Astrea", "Mindoro", "Sooloo",
"Panay", "Dragon", "Highlander", "Shirley", and "Formosa", with Some Account of Their Masters, and Other
Reminiscences of Salem Shipmasters. Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1925. p. 11.
215
Shell, Charles W. “Vessels, Voyages, Masters, and Ports of Call Associated with Elias Hasket Derby’s Trading
Operations and Derby Wharf, Salem, Massachusetts, June 1785 to August 1799. National Park Service, Department
of the Interior, April 1974. p. 10.
207
�became the fourth American ship to visit Japan after the director-general of the Dutch East India
Company commissioned it to carry goods there. 216217
John Derby was also the commander of the ship Rubicon in Boston. 218
The Columbia Expedition
Robert Haswell’s Logbook for the Columbia’s First Voyage, 1787-1789, from The
Massachusetts Historical Society
The merchants of the new nation also turned their attention towards the Pacific as a
source of sea otter furs to trade with China.. John Derby was the owner of the ship Columbia
216
Phillips, James Duncan. Salem and the Indies. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1947. pp. 225-226.
Phillips, James Duncan. “The Voyage of the Margaret in 1801: The First Salem Voyage to Japan” American
Antiquarian Society. https://www.americanantiquarian.org/proceedings/44807105.pdf
218
Perley (1928) p. 146.
217
�Rediviva, captained by Robert Gray (1755-c. 1806) on a fur-trading expedition of the Pacific
Northwest which came to be called “the Columbia Expedition.” Gray was originally from
Tiverton, Rhode Island, and likely captained privateer vessels during the Revolution. 219 On her
first journey, the Columbia was captained by John Kendrick, which Robert Gray mastered the
sloop Lady Washington, which accompanied it. The Columbia’s first journey occurred from
1787-1790. When the ship returned to Boston, it was the first American ship to circumnavigate
the globe. 220
On his second voyage, Gray discovered Grays Harbor, a bay on the coast of Washington,
on May 7, 1792. On May 11, he was the first non-indigenous person to sail onto the Columbia
River, one of the major waterways of the North American Pacific coast. 221 Gray described the
sighting of the river thus: “At eight a.m. being a little too windward of the entrance of the
Harbor, bore away, and run in east-north-east between the breakers, having from five to seven
fathoms of water. When we were over the bar, we found this to be a large river of fresh water, up
which we steered. At one p.m. came to with the small bower, in ten fathoms, black and white
sand. The entrance between the bars bore west-south-west distant ten miles; the north side of the
river a half mile distant from the ship; the south side of the same two and a half miles distance; a
village on the north side of the river west by north, distant three-quarters of a mile. Vast numbers
of natives came alongside; people employed in pumping the salt water out of our watercasks, in
order to fill with fresh, while the ship floated in. So ends.” 222
A planned third voyage to the Pacific coast was planned but foiled when French
privateers captured his ship during the Quasi-War with France (1798-1800) which plagued John
Adam’s presidential administration. Gray died in poverty in Charleston not long after. 223
219
Flora, Stephanie. “Captain Robert Gray” Oregon Pioneers.com. http://www.oregonpioneers.com/gray.htm
Massachusetts Historical Society.
221
“Columbia Rediviva”
222
Flora.
220
223
�The Columbia and the discovery of Oregon in Boston, The Place and the People, 1903, from
Wikimedia Commons
Along with his brothers Elias Hasket, Ezekiel Hershey, and Richard, John donated to the
Massachusetts Professorship of Natural History at Harvard. 224
John Derby died December 5, 1812. According to Perley, John Derby died “at sea on his
passage from Savannah to Batavia in November, 1818,” 225 but this was John Derby III. 226
The Real Estate Sales of John Derby
From 1784 until 1798, John Derby was grantor in 16 deeds in Salem. with the sales in the
1780s being pieces of his father’s estate. In 1784, he sold 2 ½ acres on the street leading from the
church to the training field. 227 In 1785, he sold a piece of land near Phippen’s Wharf, and in
1787, further pieces of land along the flats and the property of Joshua Phippen. 228229 In 1790, he
sold a piece to Phippen himself. 230 In 1793, he sold a piece of “English’s field” to Capt. Edward
224
Quincy, Josiah. The History of Harvard University, Vol. 2. Cambridge: John Owen, 1840. p. 542.
Perley (1928) p. 146.
226
Essex County Probate Records, Probate #7580, “John Derby 3d, 1819, Jan. 5”
227
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 137:227. “John Derby to Simon Forrester, 1784”
228
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 143:37. “John Derby to Joseph White, 1785”
229
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 146:206. “John Derby to Josiah Richardson, 1787”
230
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 150:256. “John Derby to Joshua Phippen, 1790”
225
�Allen. 231 On September 23, 1800, Bentley noted that “The Lots between Capt. Prince &
Crowninshield in Derby Street were sold this day in Lots, & the sale exceeded 8,000 D…The
neighbours bought the Lots, which were sold by John Derby benign part of the real estate of
E.H.D. left to him. On this Land in 1780 Mr. Derby raised a Great House which he never
finished. The third story was as high as the first & higher than the second…It was sold this day
to the Carpenters for 600 Dollars.” 232
His disbursements in 1797 and 1798 were parcels along Barton Square and Common Rights
from the estate of Samuel Barton, Sally Derby’s brother.. 233234235236237 Barton Square was laid
out by Samuel Barton in 1797. 238 Bentley observed the creation of the square on April 28, 1797,
saying it was “being the two Sides leading from Essex Street, old paved Street, into Washington
street. It now forms four lots. John Derby has bought upon the Street & the House, the widow is
to have part of the Buildings moved upon the Southern Lot, and S. Derby takes the S. western.
The S. Eastern Lot & House in Washington street was sold to Mr. Marston.” 239
In February of 1794, Derby sold the messuage on Summer Street to Joseph Lee of
Cambridge for £925 Lawful Money. It was described as “A messuage containing a dwelling
house barn & out houses with a garden & the land adjoining to it which gardens & land are
bounded Easterly on Gardners land northerly on land of Francis Cabot esquire Westerly on the
Street leading from the North River to the burying place, southerly on Matthew Mansfield’s land
together with the privileges thereto belonging to it.” 240
On June 12, Bentley undertook a day trip on “Mr. John Derby’s Two mast Boat” out to
Tinker’s Island off Marblehead. 241
In August of that year, Derby “fell from the Chaise upon the Pavement in consequence of
an attempt to leap out, the bits of the Horse having given way, & is much hurt.” Two days later,
Bentley wrote, “Capt. J. Derby still lays in a state of insensibility. Dr Warren of Boston had
visited him. The Swellings prevent any determination respecting his case.” Three days after that,
he noted “This morning Capt. J. Derby revived so as to speak the first of their daughter.” 242
In 1795, Bentley mentioned an incident of arson “at Capt. John Derby’s Barn, Derby
Street,” implying that he relocated there after selling the house on Summer Street. 243
4. Joseph Lee (1794-?)
231
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 157:73. “John Derby to Edward Allen, 1793”
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of Rev. William Bentley, D.D., Vol. 2, p. 350.
233
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 162:157. “John Derby to William Marston, 1797”
234
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 162:164. “John Derby to William Lang, 1797”
235
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 162:181. “John Derby to William Gray, 1797”
236
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 161:240. “John Derby to Enos Briggs, 1793”
237
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 162:208. “John Derby to John Norris, 1797”
238
Perley, Sidney. “Part of Salem in 1700, No. 2.” The Essex Antiquarian, Vol. III, May 1899. p. 65.
239
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of William Bentley, D.D., Vol. 2, p. 221.
240
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds. Deed 157:100. “John Derby to Joseph Lee, 13 Jan 1794”
241
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of Rev. William Bentley, D.D., Vol. 2, p. 93.
242
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of Rev. William Bentley, D.D., Vol. 2, p. 95.
243
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of Rev. William Bentley, D.D., Vol. 2, p. 159.
232
�Joseph Lee was born in 1710 to a Salem shipbuilder, and he graduated from Harvard in
1729, “one of the more disorderly members of a quiet class.” 244 In 1758, he purchased the
Hooper-Lee-Nichols House on Brattle Street in West Cambridge, from Faith Waldo. 245 The
house, since 1957 the headquarters of History Cambridge, is the second oldest house in
Cambridge after the Cooper-Frost-Austin House, built in 1681. It was built in 1685 by Richard
and Elizabeth Hooper. Richard’s son Henry sold the house in 1733 to Cornelius Waldo, a
merchant and distiller. Waldo added a third story and remodeled the seventeenth-century house
in a Georgian style. 246247
When Lee purchased the old Hooper house, he undertook renovations of his own.
According to preservationist Karen L. Davis: “[Lee] has been credited with adding the projecting
section of the entry hall, which was cramped due to the central chimney behind it. He also
applied the roughcast finish, scored to resemble stone, to the western exterior wall. (The
roughcast wall is highly significant as the only surviving example in the Boston area.)” 248
Lee was elected to the state House of Representatives, but was not reelected in 1766 and
in 1769 his appointment to the Court of Common Pleas was rejected for political reasons. 249 By
the outbreak of the Revolution, Brattle Street in Cambridge had transformed into Tory Row,
home to some of the most politically influential Loyalists in Massachusetts.
On August 4, 1774, when Thomas Oliver was made lieutenant governor of
Massachusetts, Joseph Lee, Esq. was appointed to the Governor’s council. 250 This was just as the
Intolerable Acts were being enforced and passions in Massachusetts were growing against
Governor Gage.
In 1777, the neighborhood was home to Lieut. Gov. Thomas Oliver, whose home,
Elmwood, he built in 1767, the Ruggles-Fayerweather House, built in 1764 by George Ruggles
and purchased by Thomas Fayerweather in 1774, the Lechmere-Sewall-Riedesel House, built in
1761 and owned by Joanthan Sewall, the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House, built by John
Vassall in 1759, which became Washington’s headquarters. 251
According to Michael Kenney at History Cambridge, “When [Lee] was alerted that
protesters were gathering against him, he hastily resigned –– “on first rumor of disturbance,” said
General Thomas Gage, the military governor. His neighbor, Lieutenant Governor Oliver, waited
to resign until the crowd surrounded his house.” 252 He obtained a letter attesting to his
friendliness to the revolutionaries from the Charlestown Committee of Correspondence which
read in part: “we doubt not he will be treated by all the Friends of our happy Constitution, with
244
“The Families” Rediscovering the Hooper-Lee-Nichols House, The Cambridge Historical Society, 2010. p. 13.
“Hooper-Lee-Nichols House” History Cambridge. https://historycambridge.org/hooper-lee-nichols-house/
246
Brief History of the Hooper-Lee-Nichols House and Enslaved People. History Cambridge.
https://historycambridge.org/articles/brief-history-of-the-hooper-lee-nichols-house-and-enslaved-people/
247
Davis, Karen L. “The Traditional History of the Hooper-Lee-Nichols House” Rediscovering the Hooper-LeeNichols House, The Cambridge Historical Society, 2010. p. 6.
248
Ibid.
249
“The Families,” pp. 13, 16.
250
“List of the Mandamus Counsellors appointed by the King” Northern Illinois University Digital Library.
251
“The Houses of Tory Row,” Rediscovering the Hooper-Lee-Nichols House, The Cambridge Historical Society,
2010. p. 5.
252
“The Families”, p. 16.
245
�such civility and respect, as shall do honour to our common Cause.” 253 He fled Cambridge for
Boston in 1774 and returned in 1776 after the evacuation of Boston.
Kenney writes, “Lee spent the rest of his life in his Brattle Street home, living to be the
last surviving member of his Harvard class” 254
Joseph Lee died in 1802, and left the Cambridge house to his two nephews, Thomas and
Joseph Lee.
In 1808, Thomas Lee sold the Hooper-Lee-Nichols mansion to Cambridge-born Salem
merchant Joseph Appleton, who built a house on part of the property which was destroyed in a
fire in 2005. Appleton had served as a consul Appleton sold the old house to Benjamin
Carpenter, a Revolutionary privateer who married Thomas Lee’s daughter, Deborah Lee
Austin 255
The Hooper-Lee-Nichols House photographed by Samuel Chamberlain between 1928 and 1943,
from the Phillips Library
On May 10 1798, Bentley wrote in his diary of a fire at Mr. Orne’s barn at six in the
morning. He observed it “At Mr. Lee’s, in Paved Street, opposite the fire.” He then describes a
capital from the first brick house built in Salem, which was constructed in 1706. “I saw in his
garden one of the stone Corinthian Capitals which formerly belonged to the house built upon the
253
Ibid.
“The Families” p. 17.
255
“The Families” pp. 28-29.
254
�spot he possess by Mr Marston. That House was of brick & was demolished from the prejudice
against brick houses & the present house was raised in its stead. The outhouses were also of
brick & the last of them was taken down within the memory of the present generation. The
capitals were purchased & some of them removed to a Building possessed by Kitchen &
afterward Turner [John Turner III] at W. corner of Beckford & Essex Street.” Then returning his
attention to Lee’s home, he gives a further description: “They have several family portraits & a
fine view of Vesuvius. Mr. S. Gardner & Wife, lately of this Town, are in the number of portraits.
There is a most beautiful garden spot behind this house extending almost to Norman Street.” 256
A footnote describes this at the corner of Crombie Street. The “Paved Street” or “Old Paved
Street” refers to that section of Essex Street between Summer and Washington. 257258
The Hon. Joseph Lee, Esq, died December 5, 1802 in Cambridge. 259 He had no children,
but in his probate made bequests to various relatives. He left a farm and dwelling house in
Sherburn, Massachusetts to his niece Elizabeth Newell. The house had been purchased from
Edward Hutchinson and was inhabited by Elizabeth Newell and her son, Thomas. He gave an
annuity to his nephew Thomas Love, and money to Elizabeth and Thomas Newell, and her other
children: Andrew Newell, Jonathan A. Newell, and Elizabeth Wheelock, wife of Oliver
Wheelock of Medfield; the children of his nephew Thomas Lee: George G. Lee, William C. Lee,
Louisa Lee, and Deborah Lee; the children of his nephew Joseph Lee: Joseph Lee, Jr., Nathaniel
C. Lee, George Lee, Thomas Lee, Henry Lee, Francis Lee, Elizabeth Lee, Nancy Lee, and
Amelia Jackson, wife of Charles Jackson. He gave money also to his brother-in-law David
Phipps, his late wife’s niece Rebecca Brett, widow of Capt. Brett, his brother-in-law Richard
Lechemere (wife of Rebecca Phipps’ sister, Mary), then of England, and his daughter, Mary
Russell, wife of James Russel of Bristol, and to Rebecca’s nephew, Andrew Boardman, of
Cambridge. Finally, he left money for the three daughters (Eliza Davis, Hannah Davis, and Lucy
Haydon) of Edward Davis of Boston.
For Caesar, a man that he enslaved, Lee stipulated that he “be provided out of my effects
with all things necessary and suitable to his condition,” these last five words an important
qualifier to the extent of his munificence. Of Caesar, Lee wrote that he was “an old and faithful
Servant, formerly in my father’s family, now in mine.”
He presented to the Corporation of Harvard College “a small dwelling House and my
land under and adjoining and other buildings thereon, situate in Cambridge…being the same
which formerly belonged to Professor Samuel Williams.”
In Salem, he gave to his nephew, Thomas Lee, a house and land on Essex Street which
Lee purchased of Benjamin Carpenter. Lee wrote in his will that this bequest was “in
remembrance not only of his kind care and attention to my blind and insane sister Abigail, but
also of his assistance to me worn out by age.” 260 The house was purchased on May 21, 1796,
from Benjamin Carpenter, mariner, and Abigail, his wife for $5,500. It is described as “A certain
dwelling house in Salem aforesaid with the out houses, and the land under and adjoining the
same, bounded as follows, viz, northwardly on Essex Street, eastwardly on land of Mr Weld
Gardner, southwardly on land late Capt John Derby’s, westerly on land late the estate of Francis
256
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of Rev. William Bentley, D.D., Vol. 2, p. 268.
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of Rev. William Bentley, D.D., Vol. 2, p. 382.
258
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of Rev. William Bentley, D.D., Vol. 2, p. 95.
259
Cambridge Vital Records, Volume 3: Deaths, p. 636.
260
Middlesex County Probate Records, Probate #13935, “Joseph Lee, 1802”
257
�Cabot Esqr deceased, as the fences and the house now stands to the first mentioned bounds” 261
This piece of land would have bordered northerly on the property of 11 Summer Street, which is
curiously described as “land late Capt John Derby’s” rather than as Lee’s land.
In Lee’s will, the remainder of his estate after fees was to go to his nephews Thomas and
Joseph Lee. No inventory is provided with his probate.
Location of House and Land purchased by Thomas Lee from Benjamin Carpenter, 1796
Weld Gardner
Weld Gardner, another Loyalist merchant, who owed a small debt to William Pynchon at
the time of the latter’s death, lived in the same neighborhood in Salem. He was born in Salem in
1745 to Samuel Gardner and died in Salem in December of 1801, age 56. 262263 He seems to have
never married or had children.
The subscribers to his estate were Thomas Lee, merchant (the nephew of Joseph Lee,
Esq.) as executor and Isaac Osgood, Esqr & John Punchard, gentleman, as sureties 264 In his will,
Gardner bequeathed $5,000 each to George Gardner Lee, the “eldest son of my kinsman Mr.
Thomas Lee,” and to William Colman Lee, “second son of my said kinsman,” $2,500 each to
Louisa Lee, “eldest daughter…,” and to Deborah Lee, “second daughter.” He also bequeathed
$1,500 each to his sisters Lois Barnard and Elizabeth Stevens. $1,500 was to be split between the
four children of his deceased sister Esther Mackay. The remainder of his estate went to George
261
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, Deed 160:261, “Benjamin Carpenter to Joseph Lee, 21 May 1796”
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 1: Births, p. 343.
263
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 3: Deaths, p. 273.
264
Essex County Probate Records, Probate #10672, “Gardner, Weld. 1801, Dec. 7,” p. 7.
262
�Gardner Lee’s daughter, Lydia Gerry Lee. His will was witnessed by Isaac Osgood, John
Punchard, and Robert Peele. 265
Gardner’s real estate consisted of a “Dwelling house & land in Essex Street in Salem”
worth $7,500, “a lot of land in Andover containing 20 acres” for $600, and “a Pew in ye Revd.
Doctr. Barnards Meeting House,” the North Church of Salem. His real and personal estate
totalled $34,088.61, including $51.47 in books. The appraisers of his estate were Isaac Osgood,
Abijah Northey, and John Punchard.
In 1772, Gardner was a grantee of one of the strangest deed I have yet seen in Salem, in
which John Nutting and his wife, Elizabeth, sold for £195 6s 10d. a lot of land in Salem that was
divided 43 ways, with 42 grantees. 266 The property was twenty four poles, bounded “Easterly on
Land of Abijah Northey and there Measures Seventy five feet Southerly Partly on Land
belonging to the Heirs of Geo: Daland Decd. and Partly on Land of Elizabeth Henderson and
there measures Eighty one feet Westerly on an Highway and there Measures Seventy Nine feet
and Northerly on an highway and there measures Eighty Eight feet with the appurtenances.” 267
In 1789, William West, merchant, sold his “Mansion house” in Salem to Weld Gardner, it
was bounded westerly on the street leading from the town pump towards Marblehead, northerly
on the Paved Street, easterly on “the other part of the buildings to which my house adjoins & on
the Land adjoining thereto being the property of the heirs of David Northey deceased,” and
southerly on West’s own land. 268
The Northeys
In 1732, David Northey, goldsmith, purchased the eastern half a dwelling house on land
abutting northerly to what would become 11 Summer Street from John West, sadler, for £500
province bills, then bounded southerly on “Mr. Curwin’s land”, easterly on “Mr. Cabot’s land”
and northerly on the street. 269
In 1750, Philip Sanders, baker, administrator of the estate of Thomas Elkins, sold a
Common Right in the Great Pasture to David Northey, goldsmith. 270 In 1772, Northey bought
two more Common Rights in the Great Pasture, from Abijah Northey, goldsmith and from
Samuel and Marcy Smith and James and Mary Hanscom. 271272
265
Ibid. pp. 5-6.
The grantees were: Isaac Andrew, housewright, Joseph Blaney, William Browne, Francis Cabot Esqr. William
Clough, mason, Samuel Curwen, Esqr., Benjamin Daland, yeoman, Andrew Dalglish, merchant, Stephen Daniel,
Mary Eden, widow, John Felt, shoreman, Samuel Field, boatbuilder, Nathaniel Foster, tailor, Robert Foster,
blacksmith, Weld Gardner, Henry Gardner, merchant, Jonathan Gavet, cabinetmaker, Samuel Holman, hatter,
Edward Augustus Holyoke, Esqr, Isaac King, shopkeeper, William Luscom, Sr., William Luscom, Jr., Joseph
McIntire, housewright, David Mason, gentleman, Jonathan Mansfield, Gentleman, John Millet, cooper, Eleazar
Moses, sailmaker, Jeremiah Newhall, housewright, Benjamin Pickman, Sr., Benjamin Pickman, Jr., Esqrs., Clark
Gayton Pickman & William Pickman, merchants, Ebenezer Porter, housewright, Daniel Ropes, cordwainer, Samuel
Symonds, Jr. shoreman, Joshua Ward, gentleman, Richard Ward, tanner, Miles Ward III, glazier, Samuel West,
Gentleman, Samuel West, Jr., mariner, William West, merchant, Benjamin West, merchant, all of Salem.
267
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, Deed 130:117, “John Nutting to Isaac Andrew et al., 15 Feb. 1772.”
268
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, Deed 148:225, “William West to Weld Gardner, 18 Mar. 1789”
269
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 60:269, “John West to David Northey 12 Jan. 1732”
270
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 94:265, “Philip Sanders, Exr., to David Northey 23 Feb. 1750”
271
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 134:214, “Abijah Northey to David Northey, 4 May 1776”
272
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 130:80, “Abijah Northey to David Northey, 4 May 1776”
266
�Northey purchased a lot of land on Ferry Lane (now Bridge Street) with “Wind Mills,
Tackle, and Geer” on it from James Diman, clerk, Nathaniel Andrew, shopkeeper, Benjamin
Gray, gentleman, and Abraham Watson, joiner, for £53 6s. 8d. in 1751. 273 He continued to
purchase land on what is today Bridge Street Neck from John Lemmon, Benjamin Lynde, Sarah
Smith, Samuel and Marcy Smith, sand James and Mary Hanscom. 274
Sarah Northey married Benjamin King in 1764. 275
David Northey, goldsmith, husband of Miriam Northey, died in 1778. William and
Abijah Northey served as his executors in 1779. His children were Abijah Northey, Rebeckah
Northey, Edward Northey, Sarah King, and Anna Churchill (who married Joseph Churchill). His
real estate consisted of a “Mansion House with Dependencies in Salem,” £350, 3 Common
Rights in the Great Pasture, £32, and an “Outhouse and about Six Acres of Land in Ferry Lane,
Salem,” £150. His real and personal estate, appraised by Mansele Alcock, Mascoll Williams, and
Samuel Flagg, came to £1657 10s 7 ½d, including an enslaved person. His dwelling house was to
go to his son, Abijah, after his widow’s death. 276
Abijah Northey was born around 1741. He married Abigail Wood of Charlestown in
1765. 277 Their children, David Northey and Abigail Wood Northey, were baptized in the
Tabernacle Church in Salem in 1770 and 1772, respectively. 278 They also had a son, Abijah
Northey, Jr. David Northey died aged 21 in 1791. The older Abigail Wood Northey died in 1814
and Abijah Northey, Sr. died age 75 in October 1816. 279 The younger Abigail Wood Northey
married Samuel Barton of Salem in 1831, she was then living in Boxford. 280
Abijah Northey, Jr. married Sally G. King in 1795. They had a daughter Harriot in 1798.
An Abijah Northey died in 1802 and is buried in Broad Street Cemetery. Another Abijah
Northey, Jr. married Lydia Holman in 1804. Harriet married Jonathan Webb in 1825.
Capt. Abijah Northey, Jr. died in 1817 and his subscribers were Abijah Northey as
principle, and Robert Peele, trader, and Jonathan Holman, gentleman as sureties. 281
Lydia Northey, his widow, died in 1836 at 58 years of age. 282
273
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 96:132, “James Diman et al. to David Northey, 19 Apr. 1751”
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deeds 96:143 (1751), 100:52 (1754), 123:152 (1768), 130:80 (1772).
275
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 2: Marriages, p. 129.
276
Essex County Probate Records, Probate #19596. “Abijah Northey, 1817 May 20”
277
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 2: Marriages, p. 129.
278
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 1: Births, p. 112.
279
Salem Vital Records, Vol 3: Deaths, p. 95.
280
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 2: Marriages, p. 129.
281
Essex County Probate Records, Probate #1957. “David Northey, Nov. 3 1778”
282
Salem Vital Records, Vol 3: Deaths, p. 95.
274
�From Nathaniel Bowditch’s 1804 “Chart the Harbours of Salem, Marblehead, Beverly, and
Manchester”, from Boston Public Library
4. Jacob Crowninshield (1796-1800)
Jacob Crowninshield was born March 31, 1770 in Salem. 283 His great-grandfather,
Johannes Casper von Richter von Crowninshieldt, was a German doctor who came to Salem in
1702. Jacob’s father, Capt. George Crowninshield, Sr. married Mary Derby, the eldest daughter
of Capt. Richard Derby, making John Derby his uncle. Jacob was the second son of five. 284 On
June 5, 1796, Jacob married Sally Gardner. 285
As a young man, he went into business with his brothers, George Crowninshield, Jr.
(born 1766), Benjamin Williams Crowninshield (b. 1772), Richard (b. 1774), and Edward (b. c.
1776). His sisters, Sally (b. 1775) and Mary (b. 1778) married wealthy merchants, John Rice and
Nathaniel Silsbee.
283
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 1: Births, p. 220.
Phillips, Salem and the Indies, p. 81.
285
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 2: Marriages, p. 262.
284
�Jacob Crowninshield, by Robert Hinckley, from Frank Cousins Photograph from Digital
Commonwealth
In 1795 and 1796, Crowninshield was the captain of the America, a ship he purchased for
Elias Hasket Derby on Mauritius the year prior. The ship sailed for Calcutta for rice, coffee, and
textiles, arriving there in the fall. There Crowninshield bought a juvenile Indian elephant:
“We take home a fine young elephant, two years old, at $450.00. It is almost as large as
a very large Ox and I dare say we shall get it home safe, if so it will bring at least $5,000.00. We
shall at first be obliged to keep it in the Southern States till it becomes hardened to the climate. I
suppose you will laugh at the scheme but I do not mind that. Will turn elephant driver. We have
plenty of water to the Cape or St. Helena. This is my plan. Ben. did not come into it, so if it
succeeds I ought to have the whole credit and honor too. Of course you know it will be a great
thing to carry the first elephant to America.” 286
286
Goodwin, G.G, “The First Living Elephant in America.” Journal of Mammalogy 6, no. 4 (1925): 259.
doi:10.2307/1373413.
�The ship departed Calcutta on December 3, 1795, and stopped February 17, 1796 at St.
Helena in the southern Atlantic to take on greens and fresh water for the elephant. The ship’s
first mate, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s father, Nathaniel Hathorne, Sr. wrote in the ship’s log, his text
growing appropriately large at the end:
“This day begins with moderate breezes….Latter part employed in landing 23 sacks of
coffee,....Took on board several pumpkins and cabbages, some fresh fish for ship’s use and
greens for the elephant.” “ELEPHANT on Board.” 287
In April 1796, the ship arrived in New York, officially carrying the first elephant to the
United States. The Salem Gazette reported on May 6:
“The Ship America, capt. Jacob Crowninshield of Salem, Mass., Commander and owner,
has brought home an elephant from Bengal in perfect health. It is the first ever seen in America
and is a great curiosity. It is a female two years old.” 288
The elephant was then exhibited for a fee in New York, Philadelphia, Charleston,
Philadelphia, Boston, Salem, Stockbridge, and other cities. Both times she was in Philadelphia,
President Washington and his family paid to see the elephant. 289
On August 30, 1797, Rev. Bentley visited the elephant in Salem. He wrote, “Went to the
Market House to see the Elephant. The crowd of spectators forbad me nay but a general &
superficial view of him. He was six feet four inches high. Of large Volume, his skin black, as
tho’ lately oiled. A short hair was on every part, but not sufficient for a covering. His tail hung
one third of his height, but without any long hairs at the end of it. His legs were still at command
at the joints, but he could not be persuaded to lie down. The Keeper repeatedly mounted him but
he persisted in shaking him off. Bread & Hay were given him and he took bread out of the
pockets of the Spectators. He also drank porter & drew the cord, conveying the liquor from his
trunk into his throat. His Tusks were just to be seen beyond the flesh, & it was said had been
broken. We say his because the common language. It is a female & teats appeared just behind the
fore-legs.” 290 The fate of the elephant is unknown, but contrary to some reports, she was not the
same animal as Old Bet, another elephant exhibited about 20 years later.
287
Goodwin 257
Goodwin 257
289
Garbooshian-Huggins, Adrina. “George Washington sees an Elephant” The Washington Papers, University of
Virginia. 28 May 2021. https://washingtonpapers.org/george-washington-sees-an-elephant/
290
Bentley, Vol. 2, p. 235.
288
�Nathaniel Hathorne, Sr.’s Logbook from the Ship America, 1796.
On June 3, 1796 he purchased the house on Summer Street from Joseph and Rebecca Lee
for £1,550. It was described as “a messuage containing a dwelling house barn & out houses with
a garden and the land…bounded easterly on Gardner’s land northerly on land of Willm. Cabot
and Capt Benj.a Carpenter, Westerly ye street southerly on Mathew Mansfield’s land…it being
the same I purchased of Cap.t John Dorbay as by his Deed Executed ye thirteenth day of January
one thousand seven hundred & ninety four being ye. same which did Jn.o Dorbey bought of Willm
Pynchon Esq.r as by his deed by him…” The deed was witnessed by James Fillebrawe and
Ebenezer Bradish. 291
On April 8, 1800, Crowninshield enlarged the property to the north by buying a piece of
land from merchant Edward West and his wife, Elizabeth, for $406. The lot measured 13 feet
westerly on Summer Street, being “one fifth part of the said piece of land which I bought of the
said William Cabot and others.” It was bounded norhterly by Cabot and others, easterly on
Thomas Lee’s land, southerly on “Crowningshield”’s own land. 292
Jacob and Sally Crowninshield sold the house and land to James King on September 17,
1800, for $6,400. The property was described as:
“bounded as follows, vizt. eighty six feet more or less on said Summer Street- begining at
the northwest corner of the premises and running easterly one hundred and forty feet, bounding
291
292
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 159:284 “Joseph Lee to Jacob Crowninshield, 3 Jun 1796.”
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 166:301 “Edward West to Jacob Crowninshield, 8 Apr 1800.”
�northerly on land of Edward West, thus running to the southward about seventy four or seventy
five feet to land of Matthew Mansfield and bounding easterly on land of Wells Gardner, thence
running to the westward two hundred and five feet or there about and bounding southerly on land
of said Mansfield to Summer Street, and thence by said Summer Street to the first described
bounds.” 293
In 1800, Crowninshield ran unsuccessfully for congress to replace Dwight Foster of
Brookfield, Massachusetts who resigned to serve in the senate. Crowninshield was elected to the
Massachusetts State Senate, beginning his term in 1801.. Jefferson put him up to be the Secretary
of the Navy by President Jefferson, but did not serve because of ill health. He was elected as a
Republican to the Eighth, Nineth, and Tenth Congresses, from March 4, 1803 until his death. In
the Ninth Congress he was on the Committee on Commerce and Manufactures. 294
Hon. Jacob Crowninshield, Esq. died age 38 in Washington, D.C., of tuberculosis during
a session of congress, on April 15, 1808. 295 He was buried in Harmony Grove Cemetery in
Salem.
5. James King, Esq. (1800-1831)
James and Judith Norris King
James King was baptized in May, either in 1751 or 1752. 296 He married Judith Norris on
September 14, 1777. 297 She was born on October 28, 1753, to Mr. Norris, a baker. 298 His father
was James King, who died in 1802. 299
The children of James and Judith Norris King, Esq.:
1. Elizabeth, b. Nov. 14, 1777.
2. Judith, b. July 1, 1779
3. Polly, b. July 22, 1781.
4. Sally, b. March 27, 1783.
5. John, b. Sept. 4, 1785.
6. John Glen, b. March 19, 1787. [baptized March 10, North Church]
7. Samuel, b. April 3, 1789.
8. Harriet, b. Nov. 8, 1793.
9. Lydia, b. July 17, 1795. 300
In 1791, James King was one of the members of Essex Lodge, and was elected to the
committee of five to provide representation to the Grand Lodge. 301
293
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, Deed 167:65, “Jacob Crowninshield to James King, 17 Sep 1800.”
“Crowninshield, Jacob” History, Art, & Archives: United States House of Representatives.
https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/11636
295
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 3: Deaths, p. 185.
296
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 1: Births, p. 492.
297
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 2: Marriages, p. 571.
298
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 1: Births, p. 112.
299
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 3: Deaths, p. 376.
300
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 1: Births, pp. 491-494.
301
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of Rev. William Bentley, D.D., Vol. 1. pp. 237, 293.
294
�1802 Benjamin Crombie Deed
On December 15, 1802, Benjamin Crombie, housewright, later an innholder and
wallpaper merchant Benjamin Crombie, originally from Rowley, purchased a fifth of George
Gardner’s former dwelling house from Henry Gardner of Salem, merchant, brother and one of
the heirs at law of George Gardiner for $1,600. It was bounded northerly on Essex Street 89 feet
six inches, easterly by land of John Jenks 372 feet, southerly by land of Thomas Webb, Andrew
Wiggin, and Israel Forster, 113 feet, and westerly “by land of the heirs of Matthew Mansfield,
deceased, of James King and of Thomas Lee” 372 feet. 302 The same day, Crombie purchased
another undivided fifth of the house from Thomas Lee, merchant, formerly of Salem but then of
Cambridge, in right of his granddaughter, Lydia Gerry Lee, who inherited the remainder of the
estate of Weld Gardner in 1801. 303 Crombie purchased another fifth of the house the same day
from Ebenezer Stevens of Andover, husband of George Gardner’s sister, Elizabeth, for $1,600,
and another from Rev. Thomas Barnard, whose wife Lois was also George Gardner’s sister, also
for $1,600. 304305 Nancy Mackey, singlewoman, Samuel Gardner Mackey, of Beverly, mariner,
and Elizabeth West, wife of Edward West, mariner, the children of Esther Mackey, deceased
sister of George Gardner sold three undivided fourth parts of one fifth part for $1,200. 306
1806 Expansion of his Property and Crombie Street
Benjamin Crombie began Crombie Street from the Essex Street side in 1805, and it was
not extended to Norman Street until later in the 1800s. 307 That same year he built a house at 13
Crombie Street on land he purchased several years earlier from the heirs of merchant George
Gardner. 308 King operated a tavern at the Essex Street side of Crombie Street. In 1803, Bentley
says that “The House which has long been occupied by Wells Gardner, lately deceased [on the
corner of Essex and Barton Square], on the south side of Old Paved Street, & which was long
supposed to be the property of the Marine Society, is now occupied by a Mr. Crombie as a
Tavern, by the sign of the Ship...Mr. Crombie is said to have engaged 6,000 dollars for his new
stand…” 309
302
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 172:36, “Henry Gardner, Exr. to Benjamin Crombie, 15 Dec
1802.”
303
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 172:37, “Thomas Lee, trustee,. to Benjamin Crombie, 15 Dec
1802.”
304
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 172:35, “Ebenezer Stevens to Benjamin Crombie, 15 Dec
1802.”
305
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 172:34, “Thomas Barnard, D.D. to Benjamin Crombie, 15 Dec
1802.”
306
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 172:34, “Nancy Mackey, et al. to Benjamin Crombie, 15 Dec
1802.”
307
Perley, Sidney. “Part of Salem in 1700, No. 2” May 1899, p. 65.
308
Moffat, David. “13 Crombie Street-Benjamin Crombie House.” House Histories for Christmas in Salem, 2017.
Historic Salem, Inc.
309
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of William Bentley, D.D., Pastor of the East Church, Salem, Massachusetts,
Vol. 3, January, 1803-December, 1810. p. 10.
�In 1806, Bentley makes a reference to the Cadets stayed at the “New Inn in Essex Street,
above Court Street,” which a footnote identifies as “Crombie’s Tavern, formerly the Lee house,
the sign of the Ship.” 310
In 1806, James King purchased an adjoining parcel of land from Benjamin Crombie,
innholder, for $400, described as: “bounded as follows by a line running easterly from said
Kings land twelve feet eight inches to a court or way herein after described, easterly by said way
running seventy five feet six inches on the same Northerly by a line running Westerly on land of
said Crombie nine feet & one inch to land of said King westerly by a line running southerly on
said Kings land to bounds first mentioned, also a right & privilegde of way with free ingress,
egress & regress for said King his heirs assigns or servants for themselves on foot or in carriages
upon their cattle carts or otherwise to use the same in as full sample a manner as the inhabitants
of said Salem lawfully use the streets of the same in to out & over a certain piece of land way or
court of said Crombie bounded easterly by a line running Southerly from Essex Street along the
westerly end of said Crombie’s house about three hundred & seventy two feet to Ebenezer
Larracks land, then by a line running westerly on land of Mr Wiggins twenty feet, thence by a
line running Northerly parrallel [sic] with the first mentioned line of said way to Essex Street,
thence by the line of said street running to the first mentioned bounds.” 311 The witnesses were
Pynchon’s son-in-law William Wetmore and Richard Gray.
By 1810, Crombie removed to Boston and sold his lot to the Boston merchant Archibald
312
Gray. Crombie Street remained mostly undeveloped until 1828, when J.W. Barton built the
Crombie Street Theater, which in 1832 was converted to the Crombie Street Church, a building
which still stands at 7 Crombie Street.
On December 24, 1802, Crombie sold the former house of Weld Gardner to Benjamin
Pickman, Esq. and James Bott, saddler for $3,000. 313
Saddler James Bott, Jr. bought property opposite Crombie on his new street from
merchant Joseph Baker. Bott mortgaged the properties and sold them to his father, James Bott,
Sr., a chaise-maker, in 1811. When the elder Bott died in 1829, his five grandchildren inherited
shares in the still-undeveloped properties. Painter Samuel Ferguson bought the shares from his
siblings and his cousins in 1833 and constructed this Federal-style house at 16 Crombie. 314
In 1839, the Salem Charitable Mechanic Association built a large Neoclassical hall called
the Mechanic Hall, which stood on the corner of Crombie and Essex until it burned down in
1905. Thereafter it was replaced by the Empire Theatre in 1907. 315 The Empire Theatre stood
until 1955, when it was replaced by a parking lot. 316 Beside it stood the Salem Theatre, a movie
theater operated by the Koen Brothers sometime after 1914. 317
.
310
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of William Bentley, D.D., Pastor of the East Church, Salem, Massachusetts,
Vol. 3, January, 1803-December, 1810. p. 238.
311
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, Deed 177:252 “Benjamin Crombie to James King, 20 May 1806”
312
Moffat, 2017.
313
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 172:36, “Benjamin Crombie to Benjamin Pickman, Esq et al.,
23 Dec 1802.”
314
Moffat, David, “16 Crombie Street- Samuel Ferguson House” Christmas in Salem House Histories 2017.
Historic Salem, Inc.
315
“Mechanic Hall” Salem State University Archives.
316
Ratliff, Jen. “Empire Theatre” https://www.historybythesea.com/the-empire-theatre-salem-massachusetts
317
“Salem Theatre” Cinema Treasures. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/11688/photos/167171
�Crombie Street in the Late 1800s, by Frank Cousins, from the Phillips Library
The Estate of John Norris, 1809
In 1809, Hon. John Norris, Esq. died, leaving his widow, Mary. 318 John Glen King
served as the principal for the bond of probate, with Henry Whipple and Benjamin Morrill as
sureties. 319 The subscribers of the estate of John Norris were his siblings: Elizabeth and her
husband, Walter Price Bartlett, Judith and her husband James King, Edward Norris, John Norris,
George Norris, Henry Lee Norris, and Jeremiah Norris. Bentley wrote of his passing, saying
among other things, “he married a Herbert, sister to the wives of Col. Harthorne, Ellis Mansfield
&c. And his sisters married James King & Walter Bartlet….He left no children.”
318
319
Essex County Probate Records, Probate No. 19583. John Norris, Jan. 17, 1809.
Ibid.
�Signatures of the subscribers to John Norris’s Estate, 1809
Norris’ estate included “a mansion house and land” on Essex Street, bordering on land of
Hathorne, Nichols, John Appleton, Barton’s heirs, and Barton Square, another lot of land on
Essex Street, a share in Union Wharf, a wharf adjoining to Union Wharf, and land in North
Andover. 320 His estate included “a Mansion house and land and buildings thereon…situated in
Salem afores.”
Norris’ daughter, Judith King, died on September 10, 1809 at 56 years old. 321 James then
married Elizabeth Grant on November 5, 1820. 322
In 1830, the household of James King, probably James C. King, contained a male aged
50 to 60, a male aged 20 to 30, a male aged 15 to 20, a female aged 30 to 40, and a female aged
10 to 15. 323
The Death of James King, 1831
320
Probate 19583, p. 10.
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 3:Deaths, p. 377.
322
Salem Vital Records, Vol 2: Marriages, p. 571.
323
"United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch
(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH5C-2JM : 20 February 2021), James King, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts,
United States; citing 435, NARA microfilm publication M19, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records
Administration, n.d.), roll 61; FHL microfilm 337,919.
321
�James King, Esq. died at age 77 on June 3, 1831. 324 His probate names him as a
gentleman, and was administered by his son, John Glen King. 325 His real estate came to $5,050,
with the house on Summer Street valued at $5,000 and a pew in the Tabernacle Church worth
$50. 326
The personal estate of James King gives a fantastic picture of the house, and how it was
used and furnished in 1831. The rooms were the South Front Parlour, the South Back room, a
Closet, the Hall, the North Front Chamber and South Front Chamber, North Back Chamber, the
North Front Upper Chamber, the South Front Upper Chamber, and the South Back Upper
Chamber, Back Upper Entry, Kitchen, the Northern Unfinished Back Chamber, and Cellar. This
layout suggests a typical four-square Federal house design. It was a well-appointed house, with
looking glasses, carpets, mahogany furniture, blue Cantonware, and Liverpoolware, and a
“Roman Sofa.” He kept bottles in the “Arch in Cellar” and had both a phaeton and a chaise, as
well as sleigh runners and bells. He owned a horse, which he likely boarded in the barn on the
property along with hay and “Garden & other tools & articles.” 327
In answer to a query in the Boston Evening Transcript in 1885, J. Ford, Sr. wrote “James
King, Esq., of Salem, Mass., born 1852 [sic], and died 1831, was the owner of a heraldic
painting of considerable age. It is now in the possession of a member of the family. The tinctures
are faded, and the gilt frame, in which it is enclosed, is tarnished and time-worn. Underneath the
shield is the following emblazonment:
‘He beareth argent, a lyon rampant, sable, crowned gules, three cross-crosslette, sablecrest- a coronet, gules, by the name of King.” 328
James C. King
James Charles King was captain of the Salem Light Infantry during The War of 1812.
The Infantry company was founded in 1805 and King served as its third captain (after John
Saunders and Samuel G. Derby), from March 27, 1810 until 1815. 329
324
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 3: Deaths, p. 377.
Probate 15793, “James King, June 7 1831” pp. 2-11.
326
Ibid. p. 12.
327
Probate of James King.
328
“Answers to Queries.” Boston Evening Transcript. 21 Dec 1885. p. 6.
329
Whipple, George Mantum, The History of the Salem Light Infantry from 1805-1890. Salem: Essex Institute,
1890, pp. 8-9.
325
�The Salem Mechanick Light Infantry Quick Step, 1836, from The Art Institute of Chicago
On April 24, 1810, a poster was set up around Salem reading:
“Attention- Light Infantry! You being a member of the Salem Light Infantry
Company, are hereby notified and warned to meet at Washington Hall, on Tuesday the
first day of May next, at 9 o’clock in the morning (if fair weather; if not fair, at one
o'clock in the afternoon), armed and accoutred as the law directs for inspection; and in
uniform complete.
By order of JAMES C. KING,
Capt Com. of S. L. I. Comapny.
NATHANIEL LANG, JR., Clerk.
It is expected every soldier will be at his post at the time notified, as the
roll will be called precisely half an hour after the time warned, and move off the ground.
Assessment collected on parade.” 330
Over the following year there were occasional parades and ceremonies, for July 4, the
company’s anniversary on September 14th, and a parade with the Salem Regiment on October
12. On July 4, 1811, the company escorted “the Federal procession” to Rev. Dr. Barnard’s
Church, where John Glen King delivered an oration, followed by dinner at Washington Hall (on
Washington Street.) 331 The activites of the company during the war seem to have consisted
330
331
Whipple (1890), pp. 8-9.
Whipple (1890), pp. 9-10.
�mostly of parading and camping exercises. When Capt. James Charles King retired, he was
presented a handsome service of silver plate. 332
He married Rebecca Kimball in 1815. 333 He was a prolific ship owner, owning several
ships like the Harriet, Independence, and Joanna before the War of 1812, and later used refitted
privateer prizes such as the Cyrus and the Levant. 334 The last ship registered under his ownership
was in 1817. James C. King died intestate in March of 1830 and was buried in Broad Street
Cemetery. 335336
1834, Rebecca King brought administration of her late husband James C. King’s estate
“that there is a claim under this late Treaty with Naples belonging to the estate” 337 This was in
reference to an indemnity treaty against the Kingdom of Two Sicilies ratified by President
Jackson in 1833 and enacted in 1834. 338 Daniel Sage, whose daughter Mary Ann Emmerton was
living at 11 Summer Street after 1831, had a “Naples Claim” of $1592.59 in his probate
inventory in 1838. 339
John Glen King
John Glen King graduated from Harvard in 1807, but did not receive his degree when he
left in May of 1807 because he was part of the “Grand Commons Rebellion,” in which students
walked out of Harvard Commons on March 30th after their complaints about the quality of the
food were not met. Students complained that “not only was their butter bad but their biscuits
were bad, their coffee bitter, their sugar dirty, and the cups and saucers not washed,” but later
analysts have looked at a variety of underlying causes for the event. As a result of the protest, 23
students were expelled in April and several other students withdrew in sympathy. 340 Bentley
wrote of the incident on April 19: “Of these [expelled leaders] one belonged to Salem, a son of
Mr. James King, who is kindly spoken of among the Inhabitants of the town.” 341
King eventually received his diploma in 1848.
In 1815, J.G. King married Susan Hiller Gilman, probably a relation of James King’s
Essex Lodge friend, Joseph Hiller. 342
King became a distinguished lawyer, “repeatedly elected to offices of honor and trust,
having been a member of both branches of the Executive Council. He was also the first President
332
Whipple (1890), p. 17.
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 2: Marriages, p. 571.
334
Ship Registers in the District of Salem and Beverly.
335
Probate 15794, “James C. King, Feb. 18, 1834” p. 3.
336
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 3: Deaths, p. 377.
337
Essex County Probate Records, Probate 15794, “James C. King, 18 Feb. 1834” p. 2
338
Wagner, Dennis. “1831- Andrew Jackson, Indemnity Claims against Naples, The Kingdom of Two Sicilies.”
2019. http://www.stateoftheunionhistory.com/2019/06/1831-andrew-jackson-indemnity-claims.html
339
Essex County Probate Records, Probate #24516 “Daniel Sage, 1836, June 7.”
340
“Harvard Commons Records, 1686-1829” Harvard University Archives,
https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/4/resources/4100
341
Bentley, Rev. William. The Diary of William Bentley, D.D., Pastor of the East Church, Salem, Massachusetts,
Vol. 3, January, 1803-December, 1810. p. 289.
342
Salem Vital Records, Vol 2: Marriages, p. 572.
333
�of the Common Council of Salem, under city charter. 343 In 1814, he was elected to the state
house of representatives as a member of the Federalist Party. 344
In 1821, he was a member of the state House of Representatives who served on the
impeachment committee before the Senate in the impeachment of probate judge James
Prescott. 345 His obituary in the Boston Evening Transcript says of the case: “Mr. King, although
younger than several of the gentlemen comprising this eminent array of legal talent, bore a
distinguished part in the conduct of the laborious and novel case. He made the opening
argument, and at the close of the proceedings demanded judgment upon the articles on which the
respondent was found guilty.” 346 He served as the Commissioner for Insolvency for Essex
County.
In 1847, a tract by William A. Richardson, a lawyer practicing in Lowell, accused King
of corruption. 347 The issue resolved around a suit Richardson brought against William T. Haskell
which he felt King had unfairly sided with Haskell.
He writes in a sarcastic, hyperbolic style, often addressed to his opponents, saying “At
another time he had them deposited in the office of John G. King. A safe place indeed, to put my
papers into the hands of John G. King, with his biography written upon them. Do you, reader,
hesitate to say that such an instrument would be safe, for one moment of time, in the hands of
such a man?” Of King, Richardson says “He is a selfish man with wicked propensities, and
callous in his feelings towards those that disagree with him– his heart is cauterized and as hard as
a flint– cold and icy as a stone found within the regions of the frigid zone.” 348
Richardson concludes, “Then comes my great opponent, the all powerful John G. King,
who is considered wealthy, and sits upon a cushioned throne at his ease, almighty in influence
and sway, which is expanded and extended beyond the Essex county bar, and his Irony is felt in
its effects upon those who have to submit to his arbitrations.” 349
Richardson later became the Secretary of the Treasury from 1873 to 1874, during the
Grant Administration. His short tenure was reflective of the Panic of 1873, and the Sanborn
Incident, in which he faced charges of favoritism and corruption.
King was also involved in merchant shipping like his father, and in 1838 was co-owner of
the brig Palestine, which was a former merchant ship outfitted as a whaling ship in 1835.
According to Ship Registers in the District of Salem and Beverly, “She made two voyages to the
Indian Ocean from 1835 to 1842, but like most of the Salem whalers at the time, was not very
successful and was sold and returned to the merchant service.” 350 For its 1835 voyage, the
343
“Death of Hon. John Glen King.” Boston Evening Transcript, Tuesday, July 28, 1857.
“Massachusetts 1814 House of Representative, Salem.” A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 17871825. https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/j38607082
345
Pickering, Octavius, and William Howard Gardner. Report of the Trial by Impeachment of James Prescott,
Esquire, Judge of the Probate of Wills, Etc. for the County of Middlesex, for Misconduct and Maladministration of
Office, before the Senate of Massachusetts in the Year 1821. Boston: The Daily Advertiser, 1821.
346
Boston Evening Transcript, 1857.
347
Richardson, William A. Justice suppressed by a combination of individuals headed by J. G. King of Salem. Also,
Crimes committed by W. T. Haskell in conjunction with others, exposed by W. A. Richardson author, etc. of this
work. William A. Richardson.
348
Richardson, p. 38.
349
Richardson, p. 42.
350
Ship Registers, pp. 138-139.
344
�Palestine was captained by Alexander Cartwright and crewed mostly by Massachusetts men. 351
The 1842 voyage was captained by James Crimblish and while most of the crew was from
Massachusetts, it did have three Tahitian sailors aboard. 352
King’s obituary wrote of his personality and intellectualism:
“Mr. King was a gentleman of profound literary culture, continuing the study of the
classics and maintaining his general reading, until the latest days of his life. He was a member of
the Massachusetts Historical Society. The soundness of his health and the vigor of his faculties
have been unimpaired until the present summer. The illness from which he did not recover began
only a few weeks since. The properties of a public notice permit us simply to allude to the
kindliness and generosity of his social feelings. He was a man of distinguished probity and
eminent attainments, and his death will cause a deep void in the community of which he was a
useful member and an illustrious ornament.” 353
John Glen King had four children baptized at the North Church on June 18, 1826, and a
daughter born Feb. 22, 1844. 354
351
“Palestine, 1835-39” Whaling Resource AC111971. American Crew Lists, Mystics Seaport Museum.
https://whalinghistory.org/?s=AC111971
352
“Palestine, 1839-1842” Whaling Resource 111981, American Crew Lists, Mystic Seaport Museum.
https://whalinghistory.org/?s=AC111981
353
Boston Evening Transcript, 1857.
354
Salem Vital Records, Vol. 1: Births, p. 494.
�Petition of Elizabeth King, 1831
6. Ephraim Emmerton and family, 1831-1888
From Henry McIntyre’s 1851 Map of Salem, Boston Public Library
Ephraim Emmerton’s Early Life 355
Ephraim Emmerton was born on July 6, 1791 to Jeremiah and Elizabeth Newhall
Emmerton. 356 He was named for his father’s older brother, Ephraim Emmerton, who served in
the Revolution both as a lieutenant in the army and as a privateer. 357 He got involved in the
merchant trade after the war, and in 1803, George Ropes captained the brig Sukey to Sumatra on
355
This section adapted from from 2015 essay, “Ephraim Emmerton and the Salem-Russia Trade,” section on
Daniel Sage and Deborah Silsbee adapted from my 2018 house history of 152 Essex Street.
356
Emmerton (1881) p. 118.
357
“Emmerton Family Papers, 1794-1891,” September 2014. Finding aid at Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex
Museum. Salem, Massachusetts.
�behalf of his partnership with Emmerton, bringing back pepper, indigo, and coffee worth
$620.47. 358
Ephraim Emmerton learned the merchant trade young. At 15, he entrusted an adventure
(a personal investment in the cargo of a ship) in his half-brother John Ives’s voyage to
Alexandria in 1806, Virginia, and then worked two years in the counting house of Clifford
Crowninshield 359, his first cousin once removed 360, until his boss’ death in 1809 361. This period
coincided with the Embargo Act of 1807, which forbade American shipping from the beginning
of 1808 until President Jefferson left office in March of 1809, though its practical effects were
felt until the War of 1812. 362 The counting house in which Emmerton served may survive, as the
outbuilding behind Crowninshield’s McIntire house on Salem Common, built 1804-1806, was
allegedly used as his office. 363 John Ives died in 1809 in Havana. 364 In 1810, he clerked for
Robert Stone Jr. 365
Emmerton’s older brother, James, was a merchant in the Russia trade in the late 1810s
and early 1820s. 366 The Mary Ann, the ship on which Emmerton travelled to Kronstadt, Russia,
in 1811, was a 240 ton ship, built 17 years earlier in Columbia, Maine. It was owned by
Emmerton’s employer, Robert Stone Jr. beginning in 1809, in partnership with Robert Stone, his
father, Timothy Wellman, and Joseph Ropes. 367 They had purchased it from John Norris, who
had employed Timothy Wellman as the master of the Eliza in 1792. 368When the journey to
Russia was undertaken in 1811, ownership was split between seven people (Nathaniel Silsbee,
Joseph Ropes, Robert Stone, Jr., James Devereux, John Forrester, Timothy Wellman, Jr.) and
mastered by Timothy Wellman, Jr. 369
Emmerton was 21 when the War of 1812 broke out, and he served as an officer in both
the Essex Guards and the Washington Rangers, both units for young men, though neither saw
combat. 370 B.J. Brown wrote a piece on the Washington Rangers for the Essex Institute
Historical Collections in 1864, and not having the company’s records, he based his sketch on his
own recollections and the memoranda of two of the surviving members, “Ephraim Emmerton &
Wm. Archer, Esqrs.” 371 Brown notes that between the Revolution and 1807, there were four
358
Putnam, George Granville. Salem Vessels and their Voyages: A History of the Pepper Trade with the Island of
Sumatra. Salem: The Essex Institute, 1922. Electronic. p. 157.
359
Emmerton (1881) p. 118.
360
Brown (1864). p. 206, marginalia.
361
Charter Street Burying Ground (Salem), gravestone, photographed 29 December 2015.
362
Jennings, Walter W. “The Agitation for the Repeal of the Embargo Act,” Social Science, Vol. 3, No. 3 (May,
June, July 1928) pp. 217-246. Electronic. p. 244-246.
363
Philbrook, Everett. Personal interview. 26 December 2015.
364
The Essex Institute Hist. Coll. XIII (1878). p. 279
365
Emmerton (1881) p. 118.
366
Emmerton (1881) p. 118
367
Hitchings and Phillips (1906) p. 117
368
Hitchings and Phillips (1906) p. 47
369
Hitchings and Phillips (1906) p. 117
370
The Essex Institute Hist. Coll. XIII (1878). p. 277
371
Brown, B.J. “Memorials of the Washington Rangers.” Essex Institute Historical Collections VI, Feb. 1864. Print.
pp. 202-215.
�uniformed military companies in Salem, the Salem Cadets (formed 1786), the Salem Artillery
(formed 1787), the Salem Light Infantry (formed 1805), and the Salem Mechanic Light Infantry
(formed 1807). 372 In 1807, the Washington Rangers were added to that list, formed in the Lewis
Hunt House 373 (built about 1698-1700, and demolished in 1863). 374 It was there, at one of the
first meetings, that Emmerton was named an ensign, and in July of 1808, his remarks on
receiving the standard from Benjamin T. Pickman were recorded in The Salem Gazette. 375
Emmerton married Mary Ann Sage, in 1826. She was born in Salem in 1805 to Daniel
Sage and Deborah Silsbee. Daniel Sage, was a Scottish immigrant, born in 1758 in Greenock, a
fishing port in Inverclyde in the west central lowlands along the Firth of Clyde. 376377 Greenock
had a successful harbor and fishing industry since the middle ages, largely exporting salted cod.
It is unclear when Sage came to the United States, but he was in Salem by the 1780s and by the
1790s he is recorded as a captain and ship owner.
Sage married Deborah Silsbee October 8, 1786. 378 Silsbee was born in April of 1767, the
daughter of carpenter Samuel Silsbee. 379 After their marriage, the Sages lived in the Silsbee
family house on the corner of Derby and Essex streets for nearly thirty years according to family
genealogist, James A. Emmerton. 380 That house was the Stephen Daniels house, one of the oldest
in Salem, built 1667 and still standing at 1 Daniels Street. 381 Samuel’s mother, Mary Daniels
Silsbee, was Stephen Daniels’ daughter. She married Nathaniel Silsbee, who died in 1731 when
he was killed during a construction project when the staging collapsed. 382 Samuel Silsbee added
the northern half, third floor, and leanto to the Daniels House in 1756 and lived in the home his
whole life. 383
Around 1800, Capt. Daniel Sage built a Federal house at 152 Essex Street, which still
stands today. 384385 Sage constructed a small store on the western end of the property, today 54
Derby Street, and owned a lot across the street with a barn. The Sages were members of William
Bentley’s East Church. 386387 Both Deborah and Daniel Sage died in 1836. He had amassed a
large fortune. 388389390
372
Brown (1864). p. 203.
Ibid.
374
Architecture in Colonial Massachusetts: A Conference held by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, September
19 and 20, 1974. Boston: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1979. Print. p. 176.
375
Brown (1864). pp. 204-205.
376
Emmerton (1881). p. 178.
377
Salem Vital Records, Deaths, p. 204.
378
Salem Vital Records, Marriages, p. 283.
379
Emmerton, 1880, p. 19.
380
Ibid., p. 32.
381
MHC MACRIS, SAL.2616, “Daniels, Stephen House”
382
Emmerton, 1880. p. 17.
383
MHC MACRIS, SAL.2616, “Daniels, Stephen House”
384
Tolles, Bryant F. Architecture in Salem: An Illustrated Guide, University of New England Press, 2004. p. 40.
385
Moffat, David. “History of 152 Essex Street” Historic Salem, Inc. Nov. 2018.
386
Essex County Probate Records, Probate 24516.
387
Bentley, William. The Diary of William Bentley, Vol . 4: 1811-1819. Salem: The Essex Institute, 1914. p. 123.
388
Salem Vital Records, Deaths, p. 204.
389
Ibid.
390
Essex County Probate Records, Probate 24516, Daniel Sage.
373
�Mary Ann was just 21 at the time of marriage, whereas Emmerton was 34. 391 They had
11 children, five of whom were alive at this time of his death. 392 His father, Jeremiah Emmerton,
died also in 1826, and he was appointed administrator of the estate. 393
Ephraim Emmerton Purchases the Home
In the 1830 census, Ephraim Emmerton’s household consisted of 1 male between the age
of 30 and 50 (himself), two males under five years of age (Ephraim Augustus and William
Henry), one female between 30 and 50 (Mary Ann), one female between 15 and 20, one female
between 10 and 15, and one female under five years of age (Mary Ann Sage). The identities of
the two women between 10 and 20 are unknown, but may have been domestic servants or
relatives. 394
In August of 1831, the 40-year-old merchant Ephraim Emmerton purchased the home
from the heirs of James King for the fee of $3,857 total. 395396397398399 Emmerton purchased the
property in several transactions from Elizabeth King, widow of James King, John Glen King,
Esq. (of Salem), Henry Whipple, Esq. and Harriet, his wife, in her right (of Salem) Edward
Norris merchant, and his wife, Judith, in her right (of Utica, New York).
A Fire, 1832
The roof of the home caught fire in March of 1832 after some stray sparks of a chimney
fire landed on top of it, but his neighbors quickly helped him extinguish it. For their part, he
printed his thanks in the Salem Gazette: “This subscriber expresses his grateful
acknowledgements to his friends and fellow towns-men, for their prompt and effectual assistance
at the fire that took place at this house on Wednesday afternoon, in summer street.” 400
Ephraim Emmerton’s Family
Ephraim Emmerton was born on July 6, 1791 to Jeremiah Emmerton of Ipswich. He
married Mary Ann Sage (born April 1, 1805) on June 8, 1826.
According to James Arthur Emmerton, they had eleven children:
391
Emmerton (1881). p. 118.
Ibid.
393
Salem Gazette. 24 November 1826. 3. Electronic.
394
"United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch
(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH5C-VPC : 20 February 2021), Ephraim Emerton, Salem, Essex,
Massachusetts, United States; citing 377, NARA microfilm publication M19, (Washington D.C.: National Archives
and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 61; FHL microfilm 337,919.
395
Emmerton (1881). p. 122.
396
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds. Deed 262:61, “Edward Norris et al. to Ephraim Emmerton, 30 Aug
1831.”
397
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds. Deed 262:61, “Henry Whipple, Guardian to Ephraim Emmerton, 30
Aug 1831.”
398
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds. Deed 262:61, “Charles Whipple et ux. to Ephraim Emmerton, 30 Aug
1831.”
399
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds. Deed 262:61, “Elizabeth Whipple to Ephraim Emmerton, 30 Aug
1831.”
400
Salem Gazette. 30 March 1832. 2. Electronic.
392
�1. Ephraim Augustus, b. 9 M’ch, 1827; m.1 Caroline E. Osgood; 2 Lucy Osgood.
2. William Henry, b. 17 J’ne, 1828; d. 26 Aug., 1871; m. 7 J’ne ’65, M.E.R. Stevens
3. Mary Ann Sage, b. 28 Nov., 1829; m. 25 M’ch 1852, Joseph Osgood. 401
4. Daniel Sage, b. 13 Sept., 1831; d. 26 Dec., 1872.
5. Elizabeth Newhall, b. 21 May, 1833, d. 6 Dec., 1833.
6. James Arthur, b. 28 Aug., 1834.
7. George Robinson, b. 9 Feb., 1836; m. 7 Oct., 1863, Mary J. Bertram.
8. Edward Putnam, b. 15 Sept., 1837; d. 4 Aug., 1864.
9. A son, b. 31 Aug., 1839; d. 1 Sept., 1839.
10. Caroline Prince, b. 7 April, 1841; d. 31 July 1849.
11. Charles Silsbee, b. 29 Jan., 1843; m. 23 July 1879, Alice G. Perley. 402
Ephraim Augustus Emmerton died on August 28th, 1901 of myocarditis. 403
Directories, 1837-1877
In 1833-34, Benjamin West constructed the triple house next door which is today the
Salem Inn. at numbers 5-9 Summer Street. 404
The 1837 and 1842 directories list “Ephraim Emerton, merchant” as having a house at 13
Summer Street. The 1846 directory gives the address as 11 Summer Street. 405
In 1851, the residents were listed as Ephraim Emmerton, merchant, and E.A. Emmerton,
captain. 406 Emmerton was listed as the owner from 1859 until his death in 1877 in the Salem
Directory 407408409410411412413, and depicted as such in the Atlas of Salem of 1874. 414 Those others
living there at various points included his sons William H., an architect, Daniel S., a mariner,
Ephraim A. merchant, James A., a physician, George R., a clerk and a merchant, and Edward
P. 415
401
Ibid.
Emmerton, James Arthur. Materials towards a Genealogy of the Emmerton Family, 1881.
403
"Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920", database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N4CK-6RX : 14 December 2022), Ephraim A. Emmerton, 1901.
404
Tolles, Bryant F. and Carolyn K. Tolles. The Architecture of Salem: An Illustrated Guide.
405
The Salem Directory, 1846, p. 39.
406
The Salem Directory, 1851. Sampson, Murdock, and Company, p. 70.
407
The Salem Directory. 1859. Electronic. p. 91.
408
The Salem Directory. 1866. Print. p. 67.
409
The Salem Directory. 1869. Print. p. 63.
410
The Salem Directory. 1872. Print. p. 71.
411
The Salem Directory. 1874. Print. p. 68.
412
The Salem Directory. 1876. Print. p. 69.
413
The Salem Directory. 1878. Print. p. 69.
414
Busch, Edward. Atlas of the City of Salem. Massaschusetts. From actual Survey & Official records.
Philadelphia: G.M. Hopkins & Company, 1874. Electronic. Plate F.
415
See Salem directories cited above,
402
�1848, 1851, 1852, 1853, 1854: Emmerton was on the finance committee, with John C. Lee and
Frederic Howes. 416 In 1853, Joseph Cabot replaced Frederic Howes, Joseph S. Cabot in 1854.
1856-1858: Emmerton was on the finance committee of the Essex Institute 417
Ephraim Emmerton in 1842 Salem Directory, from Hathi Trust
Censuses: 1840, 1850, 1855, 1865, 1870
In 1840, the household of “E. Emmerton” consisted of:
Males Under 5: 2 (George R., son, then 4, Edward P., son, then 2)
Males 5-10: 2 (Daniel, son, then 9, James A., son, then 6)
Males 10-15: 2 (Ephraim A., son, then 13, William H., son, then 12)
Males 40-50: 1 (Ephraim, then 49)
416
“Proceedings of the Essex Institute,” Proceedings of the Essex Institute, Vol. 1, 1848-1856. Salem: Essex
Institute, 1856. pp. 11, 23, 53.
417
“Proceedings of the Essex Institute, Wednesday, May 14, 1856” Proceedings of the Essex Institute, Vol. 2, 18561860. Salem: Essex Institute, 1862. pp. 20, 364.
�Females 10-15: 1 (Mary Ann, daughter, then aged 11)
Females 20-30: 1 (likely a domestic servant)
Females 30-40: 1 (Mary Ann, then 35) 418
The 1850 Federal Census listed Ephraim Emmerton’s property at a value of $15,000. The
residents of 11 Summer Street were:
Ephraim Emmerton, age 59, Merchant
Mary A. Emmerton, age 45
Mary A. Emmerton, age 21
Ephraim A. Emmerton, age 23, Mariner
Daniel Emmerton, age 19, Mariner
James A. Emmerton, age 16
George R. Emmerton, age 14
Edward P. Emmerton, age 12
Charles S. Emmerton, age 8
Ellen Healey, age 23
Margaret Healey, age 21.
Ellen and Margaret Healey were both born in Ireland. 419
In the 1855 Massachusetts Census, the residents of 11 Summer Street were listed as:
Ephraim Emmerton, age 64, Merchant
Mary A. Emmerton, age 50
William H. Emmerton, age 28, Architect
Daniel S. Emmerton, age 23, Mariner
James A. Emmerton, age 21, Student
George R. Emmerton, age 19, Clerk
Edward P. Emmerton, age 17
Charles S. Emmerton, age 13
Julia A. Murphy, age 20
Bridget Gordon, age 20
Murphy and Gordon, domestic servants, were both born in Ireland. 420
418
"United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHT9-5M3 : 8 December 2020), E Emerton, Salem, Essex,
Massachusetts, United States; citing p. 272, NARA microfilm publication , (Washington D.C.: National Archives
and Records Administration, n.d.), roll ; FHL microfilm.
419
"United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD92-78K : 22 December 2020), Eph Emmerton, Salem, Essex,
Massachusetts, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives
and Records Administration, n.d.).
420
"Massachusetts State Census, 1855," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQHMV36 : 11 March 2018), Ephraim Emmerton, Ward 03, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; State Archives, Boston; FHL
microfilm 953,981.
�In the 1865 Massachusetts Census, the household consisted of:
Ephraim Emmeron, age 75
Mary A. Emmerton, age 60
William H. Emmerton, age 36, Architect
Daniel S. Emmerton, age 33
James A. Emmerton, age 30, Surgeon Army
Charles S. Emmerton, age 21
Joseph Osgood, age 30, Sea Captain
Mary A. Osgood, age 35,
Josephine Osgood, age 12
Joanna Donovan, age 21
Ellen Mullarkey, age 19
Elisha Holly, age 28, Black
Joanna Donovan and Ellen Mullarkey were both born in Ireland, whereas Elisha Holly
was from Georgia. It is noted that Joanna Donocan and Elisha Holly can read, but Ellen
Mullarkey cannot. 421
In 1870, Ephraim Emmerton’s real estate was valued at $25,000 and his personal estate at
$75,000. The household consisted of:
Ephraim Emmerton, age 78, retired merchant.
Mary A., age 65, keeping house.
Daniel S., age 38, physician
James A., age 35, “No Occupation”
Ellen Downey, age 23, Domestic Servant
Margaret Conners, age 24, Domestic Servant
Like many of their predecessors, both Ellen Downey and Margaret Conners were born in
Ireland. 422
Emmerton’s Later Life 423
In 1839-41, he was an alderman 424 and was a member of the Whig party. 425 In 1834, he
was a “subscriber to the Whig Dinner” and listed as a member of the Committee of
Arrangements, to invite the Whig politicians of Massachusetts and surrounding states to a dinner
in Salem in their honor. 426 The chief concern of the time for the city government was small-pox.
421
"Massachusetts State Census, 1865", database with images, FamilySearch
(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQC7-9FW : 22 February 2021), Ephraim Emerton, 1865.
422
"United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD3S-C4G : 29 May 2021), Ephrine [sic] Emmerton, 1870.
423
This section is also adapted from my essay “Ephraim Emmerton and the Salem-Russia Trade”
424
Emmerton (1881). p. 119.
425
Salem Gazette. 2 March 1841. 2. Electronic.
426
“Whig Dinner to the Senators of Massachusetts” TS. Salem, 1834. America’s Historical Imprints, Newsbank.
Electronic.
�The alderman and mayor coordinated with the school committee to get all children vaccinated 427
and sought the advice of Boston doctors for improving Salem’s treatment of the infectious
disease. 428
At the time of his campaign for reelection in 1841, the president-elect, William Henry
Harrison, the Governor of Massachusetts, John Davis, and the Mayor of Salem, Stephen C.
Phillips, were all Whigs. Nevertheless, Emmerton lost reelection, falling 18 votes short. He was
the least popular Whig candidate (out of six) in Wards 1 & 3, the latter of which he lived in, and
tied with the other losing Whig, Thomas Farless, for lowest in Ward 2. His performance in Ward
4 was average. 429
According to his obituary, he spent the next decade “in voyaging, mostly to Calcutta, as
supercargo, securing with a modest competence the loving esteem of his shipmates and the
complete confidence of his employers.” 430 “For a time he kept his property in the familiar
Calcutta business,” and he was a supercargo for at least four voyages aboard the George, an 1814
privateer which made 20 voyages to Calcutta between 1815 and 1837. 431432 The George “was
known as the ‘Salem School Ship’” according to historian Walter Muir Whitehill, because “more
boys who began their sea experience in her rose to be masters or supercargoes of vessels than
was the case with any other craft.” 433 When the ship was finally in 1837 sold by its owner,
Joseph Peabody, some former hands “organized a fishing party, concluding with a ‘glorious
dinner’ on board the old ship.” 434 Emmerton’s obituary alludes to his teaching of navigation to
pupils aboard the George, so he may have attended the farewell dinner. 435
In 1825 his doctor had recommended he not return to India for his health, so he became
“engaged in the trade to Zanzibar and the east coast of Africa.” 436 The Salem-Zanzibar trade
opened in 1827, when the Ann, belonging to Henry Price & Son, touched in there for grain and
ivory on a voyage to Mocha. In 1831, the ship Black Warrior returned to Salem with a large
quantity of gum-copal, the first major cargo from Zanzibar. 437 The ship was captained by
Caroline Emmerton’s other grandfather, John Bertram. 438
In 1834, Ephraim Emmerton and his brother, James, are listed as co-owners of the Salem
brig Richmond, with James Emmerton listed as the master. 439 In 1840 and 1845, William Bates
captained the ship to Zanzibar for Emmerton. 440 In January of 1841, Emmerton advertised the
427
Salem City Documents 1840-1858. TS, Salem Public Library, Salem. Print. p. 14.
Salem City Documents 1840-1858 (1840), pp. 14, 24-26.
429
Salem Gazette. 5 March 1841. 2. Electronic.
430
The Essex Institute Hist. Coll. XIII (1878). p. 277
431
Hitchings and Phillips (1906). pp. 70-71.
432
Osgood and Batchelder (1879). p. 146.
433
Whitehill (1962). p. 100.
434
Ibid.
435
The Essex Institute Hist. Coll. XIII (1878). p. 277
436
The Essex Institute Hist. Coll. XIII (1878). pp. 277-278
437
Osgood, Charles S. and Henry Morrill Batchelder. Historical Sketch of Salem, 1626-1879. Salem: Essex
Institute, 1879. Print. p. 163
438
Ibid.
439
Hitchings and Phillips (1906). p. 157.
440
Osgood and Batchelder (1879). p. 164.
428
�cargo of the Richmond, and listed his contact as No. 17 Derby Wharf: “Madagascar dry and
salted Hides; Prime Ivory, large size; Cloves, Dates, and Gum-Copal.” 441
In 1849, Ephraim Emmerton is listed as the owner of the bark Sophronia, with his oldest
son, Ephraim Augustus Emmerton, as the master. Then later in the year, it appears under six
owners, including Emmerton. 442 The Sophronia’s destination was also Zanzibar. 443 The busiest
period in the Salem trade with Zanzibar was 1840 to 1860, when 145 Salem ships traveled to
Zanzibar, and Emmerton was one of the major captains of the trade, as was his son George’s
father-in-law, John Bertram. 444
At home, Emmerton worked as a joiner and “many a piece of nice cabinet work remains
as proof of his ingenuity and skill.” 445 He was elected to the board of directors of the Oriental
Insurance Company in November of 1837. 446 He served as a director of the Salem and South
Danvers Aqueduct Company in 1849, which had provided water for parts of Salem and Peabody
since 1797 447 and he was on the board of directors of the Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company in
1855 448 and served as vice president and president of the organization. The Naumkeag Steam
Cotton Company had been formed in 1839, the building constructed in 1845, and by 1855 there
were 600 employees working at 641 looms with 32, 768 spindles. 449 In 1859, he also served as
the clerk for the First Church of Salem, Unitarian, at the corners of Essex and Washington
Streets. 450
He was a dedicated pomologist and won prizes at the Essex Institute for the pears he
cultivated in “his little city-garden.” 451 He joined the Natural History Society in 1834, 452 and
would undoubtedly have known Robert Manning, the maternal uncle of Nathaniel Hawthorne,
and a renowned expert on pomology in Salem. 453 In the Essex Institute Bulletin of 1881, the
want of Emmerton’s pears is lamented, in a catalog of fruits and flowers lacking in the annual
Essex Institute Horticultural Exhibition. 454455
He grew deaf 456 and senile 457 as he aged, but he retained the athleticism of his youth. His
son, James Arthur, noted in his genealogy, that “his bodily health was remarkably preserved, and
he enjoyed a great amount of outdoor exercise till within a week of his happy, painless death.” 458
441
Salem Gazette. 5 January 1841. 3. Electronic.
Putnam (1922). p. 174
443
Osgood and Batchelder (1879).p. 164.
444
Ibid.
445
The Essex Institute Hist. Coll. XIII (1878). p. 278.
446
Salem Gazette. 4 November 1837. 2. Electronic.
447
Salem Gazette. 27 November. 1849. 3. Electronic.
448
Salem Directory. 1855. p. 199.
449
Ibid.
450
Salem Directory. 1859. p. 217.
451
The Essex Institute Hist. Coll. XIII (1878). p. 278
452
Bulletin of the Essex Institute XXI, 1888. Salem: Essex Institute, 1889. p. 174.
453
Manning, Robert. The New England Fruit Book. Being a Descriptive Catalogue of the Most Valuable Varieties
of Pear, Apple, Peach, Plum, and Cherry, for New England Culture. Salem: W & S. B. Ives, 1844. Print.
454
Bulletin of the Essex Institute XIII, 1881. Salem: Essex Institute, 1889.
455
Among the other pirologists listed in the Bulletin of 1881 is the name Upton, which may be a relation to Henry
Upton, soon-to-be owner of The House of the Seven Gables.
456
Emmerton (1881). p. 122.
457
Emmerton (1881). p. 125.
442
�Ephraim Emmerton died on March 22, 1877, age 85, and was buried in Harmony Grove
cemetery on March 24. 459
Directories, 1880s
The Salem Directories in 1881, 1882-3, and 1884 list 13 Summer Street’s inhabitants as Mary
Ann Emmerton and James Arthur Emmerton, who in 1882 was listed as a merchant. 460461462
Mary Ann Emmerton died on March 1, 1885. 463 In 1886, James Arthur Emmerton was listed as
the home’s sole resident in the directory. 464
From 1872 Atlas of Essex County, Salem Registry of Deeds
458
Ibid.
“Ephraim Augustus Emmerton,” Findagrave.com. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/234946590/ephraimaugustus-emmerton. Note that this date and grave is misattributed to Emmerton’s son.
460
Salem Directory, 1881, p. 74, p. 360.
461
Salem Directory, 1882-3, p. 129.
462
Salem Directory, 1884, p. 150.
463
Salem Directory, 1886, p. 165.
464
Ibid.
459
�1874 Atlas of Salem, Salem Registry of Deeds
�Stereoscopic View of Summer Street from Essex Street, Salem State University Archives, c. 1874
James Arthur Emmerton
Dr. James Arthur Emmerton was one of the middle sons of Ephraim Emmerton and Mary
Ann Emmerton, born at 11 Summer Street in 1834. 465 He attended Harvard in the 1850s, and in
1855 was elected secretary of the Hasty Pudding Club. 466 In 1858, he earned his M.D. 467 In
1856, he contributed native plants to the Herbarium of the Essex Institute. 468 During the Civil
War, he worked as a surgeon in the army. 469
In March of 1885, he purchased the other five undivided sixth parts of the house at 13
Summer Street and became its sole owner.
In the first transaction, George R. Emmerton, Guardian of Kate Emmerton, a minor and
child of William Henry Emmerton, late of Providence, RI, under license granted March 23, 1885
from the probate court “sold the real estate of the said minor…at private sale to James A.
Emmerton” The asking price was $3,300.33 for one undivided sixth part of certain real estate
situate in Salem “consisting of the dwelling house No. 13 Summer Street and the out buildings
with land under and adjoining also a wooden block of three dwelling houses, No. 10, No 12 &
No. 14 Crombie Street with land under and adjoining, contiguous to the above, said estate is
bounded as follows, easterly by Summer Street, about eighty six feet, northerly by land of Jennie
M. Emmerton about one hundred and forty feet and easterly by the same about thirteen feet and
again northerly by the same about seventy seven feet, easterly by Crombie Street about seventy
465
Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Jan. 10, 1889. p. 52. Google Books.
Institute of 1770, Harvard University, Sixth Catalogue of the Officers and Members of the Institute of 1770,
1909, p. 249.
467
Ibid, p. 76.
468
“Proceedings of the Essex Institute…” 1862. p. 182.
469
Massachusetts Census 1865
466
�four feet ten inches and southerly by land of Lyida O. Woodbury and land of John P. Peabody
about two hundred and sixteen feet.” 470
In the second transaction, James Arthur Emmerton purchased the other four undivided
sixth parts from Ephraim Augustus Emmerton, Mary Ann S. Osgood, widow, George R.
Emmerton, all of Salem, Charles S. Emmerton, of Peabody, for $13,333.33, the bounds being the
same as above. 471
A Footnote in Essex Institute Historical Collections, 1885. “Pyncheon lived in the house
now occupied by Dr. J. A. Emmerton, 15 Summer Street, Salem.” 472
James Arthur Emmerton developed in his later years into “a notable antiquary” 473 On
October 20, 1883, presented to Adjutant General Samuel Dalton the company book of Capt.
Johnson Proctor’s company of the Sixth Regiment of the Danvers Light Infantry, with records
from 1796 to 1830 474 In November 1885 he wrote the preface to A Record of the Twenty-third
Regiment Mass. Vol. Infantry in the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865 with Alphabetical Roster 475
Emmerton also wrote Eighteenth-century Baptisms in Salem, Massachusetts, Materials Towards
a Genealogy of the Emmerton Family, Gleanings from English Records about New England
Families.
Dr. James Arthur Emmerton died in Salem, December 31, 1888. 476
470
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, Deed 1147:53, “George R. Emmerton, Guardian to James A. Emmerton 23
Mar 1885”
471
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, Deed 1147:54, “ Ephraim Augustus Emmerton, Mary Ann S. Osgood,
George R. Emmerton, and Charles S. Emmerton to James A. Emmerton 23 Mar 1885”
472
Northend, William D. “Wiliam D. Northend’s Address before the Essex Bar” Essex Institute Historical
Collections, Vol. 22, 1885.p. 278. Google Books.
473
Rantoul, Robert. “Henry Fitzgilbert Waters, A.M.” William Endicott, p. 4. Google Books.
474
Maj. Frank C. Damon in “The Danvers Light Infantry, 1818-1851” in the Historical Collections of the Danvers
Historical Society, Vols. 14, 1926, p. 23.
475
Emmerton, James Arthur. A Record of the Twenty-third Regiment Mass. Vol. Infantry in the War of the Rebellion
1861-1865 with Alphabetical Roster. 1886. p. IV. Google Books.
476
Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Jan. 10, 1889. p. 52. Google Books.
�1883 Bird’s Eye View Map of Salem, from Wikimedia Commons. #43 is Mechanic’s Hall, #10 is
Crombie Street Church, #9 is the South Church and #44 is Hamilton Hall.
7- Sarah F. Wardwell, 1889-1923
�Plan of the Property, March 11, 1889
�Detail of the house from March 11, 1889 Plan
On March 11, 1889, Charles S. Emmerton conveyed the property to Sarah Wardwell for
$12,000. It was described as being: “beginning at the South westerly corner of the granted
premise, on Summer Street, at land of John P. Peabody and thence running, by Summer Street,
Northerly about eighty eight feet to land of Mary A. Bertram; then turning and running by land
of said Bertram, easterly about one hundred and forty two feet to land of Dennis F. Hallahan,
then turning and running by land of said Hallahan, Southerly thirteen feet; then turning and
running by land of said Hallahan, easterly sixteen feet to land given to me in trust for my
children in the fifth clause of the will of my brother the late James A. Emmerton, then turning
and running by said trust estate, Southerly seventy five and seventy five on hundreds feet to land
�of Dr. George S. Osborne, then turning and running by land of said Osborne, westerly twenty
five and two tenths feet to land of said Peabody, and one, containing the same line, Westerly by
land of said Peabody, twenty nine and nine teenths feet, and then by land of said Peabody still
westerly, but bearing slightly to-wards southerly about ninety three and nine tenths feet to
Summer Street and point begun at” 477
In August, Charles S. Emmerton of Peabody, trustee, under the will of James A.
Emmerton late of Salem, given in the fifth clause of said will, in trust for my children Ethel,
Lawrence, and Donald Sage Emmerton, by authority granted June 17, 1889 by the Probate Court
“do hereby declare that the true boundary line between said trust estate and the estate on Summer
Street in said said Salem given to be me individually in the fourth clause of said will and by me
conveyed to Sarah F. Wardwell, formerly of said Peabody and now of said Salem, by deed dated
March 11th A.D. 1889, and recorded with Essex So. Dist. Deeds, Book 1244 fol. 203, is the
boundary line between said estates, which is described in said deed and shown on a plan made by
Charles A. Putnam C.E. dated March 11th 1889, and recorded with said deed.” 478 This
transaction was for the nominal fee of $1 and other consideration paid.
Henry and Sarah Fitch Wardwell
Advertisement for Henry Wardwell in the Salem Directory, 1890-91.
Sarah Osborne Fitch was the daughter of Edwin and Elizabeth Osborne Fitch of Peabody,
who were originally from New York and Massachusetts, respectively. She was born in Oswego,
New York on July 27, 1855.
Henry Wardwell was born in Ipswich in 1840, to Capt. Moses Wardwell and Amy Farley
Swasey Wardwell. His father was born in Bradford in February of 1798, and his mother in
Ipswich on July 30, 1801. In 1855, when he was 15, he was living in the household of the
Farleys in Ipswich, consisting of Nathaniel R. Farley (71), Sarah D. (67), Lucy R. (40), Sarah D.
(35), Alfred M. (40), Michael M. (10), Abby C. (8), Lucy M. (57), James [Austin?] (16) , Henry
B. (9), and James F. (7). 479
477
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, Deed 1244:2 “Charles S. Emmerton to Sarah F. Wardwell”
Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, Deed 1255:267 “Charles S. Emmerton, trustee, to Sarah F. Wardwell.”
479
"Massachusetts State Census, 1855," database with images, FamilySearch
(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQ4Y-3LW : 11 March 2018), Henry Wardwell in household of Lucy M
Farley, Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 953,979.
478
�Henry attended Dartmouth College before engaging in teaching, the grocery business,
and then law. 480 He served in 5th Massachusetts Volunteers in 1864 as a private for four months
during the Civil War. 481482483
They married on October 6, 1875, and had three children: Henry Fitch Wardwell, born
1876. Katherine Farley Wardwell, and Mary Wardwell. 484
Henry Fitch Wardwell graduated from Harvard with the class of 1898 and served in the
Mexican American War. In 1905 he married Charlotte Louise Kenney of Barrington, Nova
Scotia in Beverly. 485486487
Katherine Farley was born in 1880, and never married.
Mary was born in 1885 and in April of 1908 married Grafton B. Perkins of Melrose, son
of Charles B. Perkins and Jeannette Purbeck. He was born in Maryland, and they had two
children, Grafton B. Perkins, Jr. and Deborah Perkins. 488
After their marriage, they moved to Summer Street from Peabody, where he served as
town solicitor from 1876 until at least 1896. In the early 1890s, he served as a member of the
Common Council from Ward 3 and served on the board of Aldermen. When he was elected to
the Superior Court in 1896, the Boston Globe wrote “He is a Republican of the conservative
type, and although deeply interested in and active in public affairs, was never identified
prominently with politics.” 489 He stepped down from the bench in 1898 due to his health. The
facts of his life are well attested. 490491
480
“Suspense Ended. Two New Superior Court Judges Named. Gov. Wolcott Lays Nominations Before Council.
John H. Hardy One of the Men Chosen. Other is Henry Wardwell of Salem. Both have won Distinction in the Legal
Profession.” The Boston Globe, 11 September 1896. 3.
481
Dartmouth College, General Catalogue of Dartmouth College and the Associated Schools 1769-1910
Including a Historical Sketch of the College, 1900, p. 246. Google Books
482
Dartmouth College, General Catalogue of Dartmouth College and the Associated Schools 1769-1910
Including a Historical Sketch of the College, 1911, p. 318. Google Books
483
"United States Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War, 1890," database with images,
FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8S2-L41 : 8 March 2021), Henry Wardwell, 1890; citing
NARA microfilm publication M123 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL
microfilm 338,174.
484
"Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920", database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N4ST-9M6 : 10 November 2022), Henry Wardwell and Sarah
Osborne Fitch, 1875.
485
“Henry Fitch Wardwell’ Findagrave.com https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85917267/henry-fitch-wardwell
486
“Charlotte Louise Kenney Wardwell” Findagrave.com
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85918537/charlotte-louise-wardwell
487
"Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920", database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N4Z8-RHM : 16 December 2022), Henry Wardwell in entry for
Henry Fitch Wardwell and Charlotte Louise Kenney, 1905.
488
"Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920", database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N4XL-W26 : 4 November 2022), Henry Wardwell in entry for
Grafton B Perkins and Mary Wardwell, 1908.
489
Ibid.
490
Harvard Law School, Quinquennial Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the Law School of Harvard
University, 1900, p. 55, p. 200. Google books
491
Dartmouth College, Dartmouth Alumni Directory, 1906, “Addresses Graduates, 1865-1867”, p. 15. Google
Books.
�Portrait of Henry Wardwell in The Boston Globe, 1896
In “Salem in the Nineties” James Duncan Phillips wrote, “Judge Wardwell withheld his
judicial opinion from the guard window of the old Pynchon house.” 492
The 1916 Dartmouth Class Report says:
“Henry Wardwell, born April 28, 1840, at Ipswich, Mass. Was a teacher in Dorchester,
now a part of Boston, from 1866-1869. During those three years he read law, and for a year
afterwards was in the law offices of Henry W. Paine and Robert D. Smith, in Boston. Admitted
to the Suffolk Bar in 1870, and had an office in Boston until 1896.
He was married in Peabody, Oct. 6, 1870, to Sarah Osborne Fitch, and his children are:
Henry Fitch, Catherine Farley, and Mary. Henry Fitch Wardwell is a dealer in railroad
equipment in Chicago. He married Charlotte Louise Kenney in 1905, and has two children,-- a
daughter, born November, 1906, and a son, born November, 1912. Catherine Farley Wardwell is
unmarried and lives with her parents in Salem. Mary Wardwell married Grafton Brookhouse
492
Phillips, James Duncan. Salem in the Nineties and Some of the People who Lived There, Salem: Thomas Todd
Company, 1937. p. 3.
�Perkins in 1908, and has two children, – a son, born January, 1913, and a daughter, born January,
1915. She lives in Roland Park, Md., a suburb of Baltimore.
Mr. Wardwell served several years on the Peabody School Committee; was counsel for
the town for about fifteen years; was representative from the town in 1879 and in 1881.
After removing to Salem he served in the city government, in the Common Council in
1890, and in the Board of Aldermen in 1891.
Was appointed a justice in the superior court in September, 1896, serving until 1898,
when ill health obliged him to resign. Since then he has continued the practice of law in Salem,
his law business being very general, including substantially all branches of practice in the
profession. His summing up in his report of his varied activities is characteristically pleasant, ‘At
the age of seventy-five I enjoy a good measure of health, am blessed with domestic happiness,
and have very many things in life to remember with satisfaction.”
Mr. Wardwell’s address is 13 Summer Street, Salem, Mass.
[We observe with pleasure as a proof of our classmate’s continued participation with
undiminished energy and ability in the duties and honors of his profession, that Judge Wardwell
delved recently an eloquent and discriminating memorial eulogy on Judge Sayward of the
District Court of Ipswich before the members of the Essex Bar Association.]” 493
Henry Wardwell, admitted to the bar 1870, elected to the Bar Association of the City of Boston,
1876 494 In 1898, listed as an honorary member of the S.C. of the Bar Association of the City of
Boston 495
493
Dartmouth College, Dartmouth College, Class of 1866, 1916, pp. 86-88. Google Books.
Bar Association of the City of Boston, Officers and Members of the Bar Association of the City of Boston
Together with the Reports of the Council and Standing Committees and the Constitution, By-laws, and Code of
Ethics, 1915. p. 35. Google Books
495
Bar Association of the City of Boston. Officers and Members of the Bar Association of the City of Boston
Together with the Reports of the Council and Standing Committees and the Constitution, By-laws, and Code of
Ethics. 1898. p. 33.
494
�1897 Atlas of Salem, from Boston Public Library
�Late 19th Century Photograph of Summer Street, looking south from Essex, Frank Cousins,
Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum
�Detail- 11 Summer Street from Photograph Above
�Late 19th Century Photograph of Summer Street, looking north from Chestnut, Frank Cousins,
Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum
�1903 Atlas of Salem, from Salem Registry of Deeds
�11 Summer Street, from Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum
�11 Summer Street, from Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum
�Salem Atlas, 1911, from Salem Registry of Deeds
In 1890 and 1891, the directory listed for 13 Summer Street: “Henry Wardwell, lawyer, 71
Washington, rooms 1 and 2; also (35 Court, Boston), h. 13 Summer.” 496 In 1893-4, apparently
his offices shifted to rooms 5 and 6 at 71 Washington Street, but he moved back by 1895-6. 497498
In 1897-98, the residents of 13 Summer Street: Henry a justice at Superior Court, Henry F., a
student. 499 In 1899-1900, it was Henry and Henry F. 500501
In 1906, the residents were Catherine F., Mary, and Henry, still a lawyer. 502 By 1910, 1911,
1914, 1915, 1917, and 1921 it was only Catherine F. and Henry. 503504505506507508
496
Salem Directory, p. 326.
The Salem Directory, 1893-94. p. 231.
498
The Salem Directory, 1894-5, p. 342.
499
The Salem Directory, 1897-98, p. 345.
500
The Salem Directory, 1899-1900, p. 328.
501
The Salem Directory, 1901-1902, p. 356.
502
The Salem Directory, 1906, p. 370.
503
The Salem Directory, 1910, p. 398.
504
The Salem Directory, 1911, p. 407.
497
�The Federal Census of 1900 lists the residents of 11 Summer Street as:
Henry Wardwell, b. April 1840, age 60, Lawyer
Sarah F. Wardwell, b. July 1855, age 44
Henry F. Wardwell, son, b. Sept 1876, age 23, Student
Catherine F. Wardwell, daughter, b. June 1880, age 19
Mary Wardwell, daughter, b. 1885, age 14. At school 509
In 1910, the household consisted of:
Henry Wardwell, age 69, Lawyer
Sarah F., age 55
Catharine F., daughter, age 29 510
In 1920, it was:
Henry Wardwell, age 79, lawyer (General practice)
Sarah F. Wardwell, age 64
Catharine F., daughter, age 39
Grafton Perkins, Jr., grandson, age 6
Deborah Perkins, granddaughter, age 4
Margaret Lynch, age 50, servant,
Mary Maddey, age 24, servant
Margaret Lynch was born in Massachusetts to Irish-born parents, while Mary Maddey
was born in Ireland. 511
Henry Wardwell died in 1922, at age 81, and was buried in Harmony Grove Cemetery. 512
Sarah Fitch Wardwell lived until August 7, 1931, when she died in Chicago, Illinois. 513 In the
1930 Census, she is listed with her son, Henry Fitch Wardwell’s household. His home was
valued at $40,000.
Henry F. Wardwell, age 57, president in steel industry 514
505
The Salem Directory, 1914, p. 450.
The Salem Directory, 1915, p. 410.
507
The Salem Directory, 1917, p. 472.
508
The Salem Directory, 1921, p. 494.
509
"United States Census, 1900", database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9R8-GLN : 11 March 2022), Henry Wardwell, 1900.
510
"United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch
(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2JJ-F7L : accessed 26 February 2023), Cathrine F Wardwell in household
of Henry Wardwell, Salem Ward 3, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 460,
sheet 1B, family 21, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records
Administration, 1982), roll 587; FHL microfilm 1,374,600.
511
"United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXYT-FXD : 1 February 2021), Henry Wardwell, 1920.
512
“Henry Wardwell,” Findagrave.com https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74089614/henry-wardwell
513
“Sarah Fitch Wardwell,” Findagrave.com https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74089664/sarah-osbornewardwell
506
�Louise K. Wardwell, age 48
Henry Wardwell, son, age 17
Sarah S. Wardwell, mother, age 74
Viola Anderson, age 20, servant, born in Sweden.
Henry Fitch Wardwell founded the Burnside Steel Factory on E. 92nd Street in Chicago
and lived at 9401 Hoyne Avenue with his wife, Charlotte Louise Kenney (1880-1971) and their
daughter Louise Stone and their son Henry Fitch Wardwell II. He died in 1960 in Chicago. 515
8. Harriet E. Searle, 1923
William F. Searle and Harriet E. Searle of Peabody purchased the home from Sarah F.
Wardwell for consideration paid on February 15, 1923: the property was described as “bounded
northerly by land now or late of Mary A. Bertram one hundred and forty two feet, easterly
thirteen feet and northerly sixteen feet by land now or late of Dennis F. Hallahan, easterly again
by land now or late of Charles S. Emmerton Trustee seventy five and 75/100 feet, southerly by
land now or late of Osborne and land now or late of Peabody one hundred and forty nine feet,
and westerly by Summer Street eighty eight feet.” 516
William F. Searle was a newspaper correspondent and local politician. He was born in
Akron, Ohio in 1865. He was “author of two plays frequently performed a decade ago by stock
companies, Washington correspondent for a number of Metropolitan newspapers, and active for
many as a Republican political worker.” 517 In 1900, he organized Massachusetts State Senator
Maj. Augustus Peabody Gardner’s unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Congress. Two years later,
Gardner was elected in a special election and he served as the Massachusetts Sixth District’s
U.S. Representative from 1902 until 1917. 518 In 1903, he was a member of the Salem Press
Club. 519
Until 1914, Searle was the Secretary of the Essex Club, “one of the leading political
organizations of Massachusetts.” 520 In 1919, he was one of the donors to the printing of Some
514
"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSTW-D8R : accessed 26 February 2023), Sarah S Wardwell in
household of Henry F Wardwell, Chicago (Districts 0001-0250), Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration
district (ED) ED 174, sheet 21B, line 93, family 444, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.:
National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 421; FHL microfilm 2,340,156.
515
“Henry Fitch Wardwell,” Findagrave.com https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85917267/henry-fitchwardwell
516
Southern Essex County Registry of Deeds, Deed 1244:2 “Charles S. Emmerton to William F. and Harriet E.
Searle” 15 Feb 1923
517
“William F. Searle is Dead in Peabody.” The Boston Globe, Friday 25 Dec 1931.
518
“Gardner, Augustus Peabody., 1865-1918” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/G000050
519
“H.C. Page Banqueted- The Guest of the Salem Press Club at Dinner” Berkshire Evening Eagle, Thursday 12
March 1903.
520
“Not Real Fight, Says McGregor, Insists the State is Still Republican. Andrew Urges Faction Rejoin in his Essex
Club Speech. Ingraham is President, Succeeding Lufkin.” The Boston Sunday Globe, January 4, 1914.
�Merchants and Sea Captains of Old Boston, put together by the State Street Trust Company. 521
From 1922 to 1931, Searle was the Republican postmaster of Peabody, Massachusetts. 522523
At the time of his death, the Searles lived at 72 Central Street in Peabody and his funeral was at
the Peabody Unitarian Church. According to his obituary, he was a member of the Salem Lodge
of Elks, the Peabody Club, Harmony Lodge, and the A.F. & A.M. of Washington. His obituary
states that his wife was Frances I. Webb. Their son, Philip Searle, was a secretary to Senator
Henry Cabot Lodge. 524
The obituary of William F. Searle, The Boston Globe, 1931
In 1934, Harriet E. Searle was the primary beneficiary of the will of Arthur Winslow
Pierce, headmaster of the Dean Academy in Franklin, Massachusetts. 525526
8. Rose L. Kaplan, 1923-1946
521
Some Merchants and Sea Captains of Old Boston, Being a Collection of Sketches of Notable Men and
Mercantile Houses, Prominent During the Early Half of the Nineteenth Century in the Commerce and Shipping of
Boston. Boston: State Street Trust Company, 1919. p. iv.
522
Political Graveyard, https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/scull-searls.html#325.09.09
523
Congressional Record-Senate 1930, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1930, p. 7063.
524
“William F. Searle is Dead in Peabody.” The Boston Globe, Friday 25 Dec 1931.
525
“Arthur Winslow Pierce” Franklin Historical Society. https://www.franklinmuseum1778.com/historic-figuresarthur-winslow-pierce
526
“Tufts Benefits by Pierce Will, Other Public Bequests by Dean Headmaster” The Boston Globe, Friday, January
11, 1934.
�Fanciful Map of Old Salem by Warren H. Butler, 1930, from Boston Public Library
Rose L. Kaplan was born in Poland in on September 10, 1890. 527 Her husband, Henry O.
Kaplan, was born on November 1, 1887. 528 Both were born in the Russian-occupied section of
the country, and spoke Yiddish as a first language. He immigrated to the United States in 1900 or
1901 and she arrived in 1905, and both were naturalized citizens in 1910. Henry O. Kaplan
prospered as a coal merchant and then a toy shop owner and in 1930, their home was worth
$20,000. 529
In 1920, they lived at 35 Forrester Street. Henry, age 32, was a wholesale dealer of
stationary. Rose L. was 28, and they had two children: Joseph M., age 6, and Norton M., age 1
year 8 months. 530
527
“Rose L. Kaplan” Findagrave.com https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/188237287/rose-l-kaplan
“Henry O. Kaplan” Findagrave.com https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/188237327/henry-kaplan
529
"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQGM-JL8 : accessed 26 February 2023), Rose L Kaplan in
household of Henry Kaplan, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 261,
sheet 1B, line 100, family 31, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and
Records Administration, 2002), roll 903; FHL microfilm 2,340,638.
530
"United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXYR-Y5V : 1 February 2021), Rose L Caplan in entry for Henry
Caplan, 1920.
528
�On the 1940 Census,she lived at 18 Lafayette Place in Salem. Her household contained:
Henry O. Kaplan, age 52, the proprietor of a toy shop
Rose L. Kaplan, age 49
Maynard Kaplan, age 27, lawyer, with his own office
Norton M. Kaplan, age 22, Newspaper reviewer 531
In 1950, their home was still at 18 Lafayette Place. Henry worked 20 hours a week in his
toy shop, and Rose L. worked 20 as a “toy salesman.” Living with them was their son, Maynard
J. Kaplan, age 36, who worked in “travel promotion and sales” at a travel agency, and his family:
wife, Rhea, age 31, born in Ohio, and their children Jonathan E., age 2, and Marcie E., a baby. 532
Rose L. died on March 3, 1973, in Columbus Ohio. Henry died on December 21, 1981 in
Columbus. They are buried together in the sons of Jacob Cemetery in Danvers, Massachusetts. 533
Early in the Great Depression, likely around 1931 or 1932, the home was stripped of its
interior paneling. 534 At the time, the house consisted of four rental units.
The 1930 Federal Census records the following residents of 11 Summer Street:
KAVANAUGH James F., age 56, parents from English Canada, works in leather shop
Catharine, age 58, parents from Ireland
Mabel, daughter, age 28, bookkeeper in real estate
Alice, daughter, age 26, bookkeeper at the telephone co.
Frederick, son, age 25, golf instructor
J. Harold, clerk, age 21, clerk in a broker’s office
Charles, son, age 16
PERKINS
Arthur, age 75
Marietta, age 73
EGAN
Robert, age 31, dentist
Helen, age 30
Celeste, daughter, age 2
MORENCY Joseph, age 45, parents from French Canada
Winifred, age 29
Alda?, daughter, age 5 months
Haggerty Mary, Mother-in-law, 67, parents from Ireland
The Kavanaughs and Morencys each paid $85 a month rent and the Perkins and Egans
$70 each.
In 1931, 11 Summer Street was home to James F. Kavanagh, Robert G. Egan, Joseph
Morency, Arthur S. Perkins. 535 Robert G. Egan was a dentist at 259 ½ Essex Street Room 5.
531
"United States Census, 1940", database with images, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:K4XL-KQ8 : Mon Jan 02
03:45:27 UTC 2023), Entry for Henry Kaplan and Rose L Kaplan, 1940.
532
"United States 1950 Census", database, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:6F36-VKHP : Sun Jan 29 14:31:34 UTC
2023), Entry for Henry Kaplan and Rose L Kaplan, 5 April 1950.
533
“Henry O. Kaplan” Findagrave.com https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/188237327/henry-kaplan
534
My friend reports reading an article on this in the Salem News from 1931 or 1932 on microfiche, but finding it
would be like a needle in a haystack.
�Helen L. Egan was his wife. 536 The Kavanaughs consisted of Alice G., a clerk at 209 Essex,
Frederick J., a professional golfer, J. Harold, a clerk, James T., a leather worker, and his wife,
Katherine. Joseph Morency worked at 273 Essex and Winifred Morency worked at the Plaza
Theatre. 537 Arthur S. Perkins was retired and lived at thome with his wife Marietta. 538
In 1933-34, it was home to Marietta Perkins, Fred W. Gamble, Edward F. Cottle, John
Lomasney. 539
In 1930, Frederick W. Gamble lived on Larchmont Street, near Harmony Grove
Cemetery, with a house worth $10,000. He was a conductor for the steam railroad, then 60 years
old. His parents had been born in the English-speaking part of Canada. His wife, Agnes, was 55,
with a father from Ireland and mother from Scotland. 540
In 1936, Marietta Perkins, Maurice H. Shulman, physician, Edward F. Cottle, John H.
Lamasney. 541
Maurice H. Shulman was the son of Hyman and Ida Berner Shulman, who later in life
were of Millis and Roslindale, Massachusetts. 542 According to the 1920 census, his parents had
been born in Russia speaking Yiddish as a first language before they immigrated to the United
States in 1900 and were naturalized as citizens in 1919. Hyman was a fruit dealer in a fruit store,
age 39, and Ida was age 39 as well. Maurice was 12, and had three sisters: Eva, age 16, Ester,
age 15, and Harriet, age 9. 543 The 1930 Census clarifies that Hyman and Ida were from
Lithuania, which became an independent republic in 1918. In 1930, Maurice was 23 and working
as an intern at the hospital. Hyman was a social worker for a fraternal organization, Eva, age 26,
was a public school teacher, and Harriet, age 19, was the bookkeeper at a furniture store. 544
In 1940, he and his wife, Edythe, lived at 60 Washington Square South. He was 33, she
was 29, and they had a 25-year-old Irish-born maid named Mary Lane from Roscommon. 545
535
The Salem Directory, 1931, p. 433.
The Salem Directory, 1931, p. 133.
537
The Salem Directory, 1931, p. 230.
538
The Salem Directory, 1931, p. 254.
539
The Salem Directory, 1933-34, p. 522.
540
"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQGM-GLD : accessed 26 February 2023), Frederick W Gamble,
Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 267, sheet 10A, line 25, family
232, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002),
roll 903; FHL microfilm 2,340,638.
541
The Salem Directory, 1936, p. 511.
542
“Shulman” The Boston Globe, Thursday, February 28, 1963.
543
"United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFMH-13P : 1 February 2021), Maurice Shulman in entry for
Hyman Shulman, 1920.
544
"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQRZ-6Q7 : accessed 26 February 2023), Maurice Shulman, Boston,
Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 409, sheet , line , family , NARA
microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll ; FHL
microfilm.
536
545
"United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4X2-TR1 : 10 January 2021), Maurice Shulman, Salem,
Essex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 5-338, sheet 6B, line 47, family 97,
Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of
�Shulman was an associate in pediatrics at Beth Israel Hospital in 1948, and spoke to the
Boston Globe about children’s allergies. 546 In 1951, he was a research associate at the multiple
sclerosis clinic at Boston General Hospital, studying capillary resistance. 547 In 1953, he was one
of the chairs of the committee of local arrangements for the American Allergy Academy meeting
in Boston.548 In 1959 he was a researcher in the biology department at Boston University while
living in Brookline and in 1963, he was living in Boston. 549 In 1965, Shulman was one of the
vice presidents of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) and by 1970, he was the chairman
of the board of the organization. 550551
The HIAS was founded in 1902 as a successor to charities begun in the 1870s and 1880s
to help settle Jews arriving in the United States. It helped to settle mass immigrations of Jews
fleeing persecution and genocide during WWI and WWII, and in the 1950s helped Jews emigrate
from the Soviet Bloc and organized the mass evacuation of Jews from North Africa. It helped to
draft the landmark 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act. In 1975, the American government
asked HIAS to resettle Vietnamese refugees and the organization broadened its mission to assist
in the emigration and resettling of refugees of all ethnicities. 552
Shulman was married to Edythe Kumin, who owned the Origins Art Gallery on Newbury
Street. He died in 1973, and she followed in 1996. 553
In 1940, the residents of 11 Summer Street were:
NOLAN
Elizabeth, age 62
Joseph T., son, age 30, stocker, leather factory
Edward J., son, age 26, shipper, leather factory
Walter, son, age 22, measurer, leather factory
Margaret E., daughter, age 21, waitress, restaurant
HARPER
Charles E., age 46, Music teacher in his own studio
Constance, age 41, born in Rhode Island
the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration,
2012, roll 1589.
546
“Best Time to Avoid Allergies is Early in Life, Says Doctor” The Boston Daily Globe, 11 September 1948.
Burns, Frances. “Clinic Gives Hope in Battle Against Multiple Sclerosis” The Boston Daily Globe, Tuesday,
February 20, 1951.
548
“500 Specialists on Allergies Meet Here Feb. 26-28” The Boston Sunday Globe, 15 Feb 1953.
549
“Shulman” The Boston Globe, Thursday, February 28, 1963.
550
“Hebrew Aid Again Names Gerber Head” The Boston Globe, Tuesday, May 18, 1965.
551
“The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) Regrets the Passing of Myer L. Alpert” The Boston Globe,
Tuesday 15 September 1970.
552
“Our History” Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, https://hias.org/who/our-history/
553
“Shulman, Edythe (Kumin), The Boston Globe, Sunday, February 18, 1996.
547
�The Obituary of Rose L. Kaplan, The Boston Globe, 1973
��1938 Atlas, from Salem Registry of Deeds
Additional 1938 Atlas Page, from Salem Registry of Deeds
In 1945, James Duncan Phillips wrote of Salem in the Federal Period in his book Salem
and the Indies, which was published in 1947. He wrote of Summer Street:
“There were a lot of houses on Summer Street but most notable the old Pynchon house
(Number 13) built before the revolution and still (1945) standing, much defaced.” 554
554
Phillips, James Duncan (1947). p. 290.
�10. Salem Realty Company and Other Corporations and Trusts, 1946-1972
In 1947, the Salem Realty Co. applied for a permit to convert the property from four units
to six.
555
11. Jon-Heath Realty Trust, 1972-2022
1946 Plan, from Salem Registry of Deeds
555
City of Salem, Property Card: 11 Summer Street.
https://records.salem.com/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=56474&dbid=0&repo=CityofSalem
��1959 Plan, from Salem Registry of Deeds
��Subdivision- January 23, 1986, from Salem Registry of Deeds
Notes:
The ell on the southern side and southerly ell on the eastern side of the house appear to be short
as well in the two photos from the Phillips Library.
Appendix A: Chain of Title
Date
Conveyed by
Conveyed to
10
May
1972
Arthur K. Kontinos and
James Licholous,
Trustees of Koli Realty
Trust
Rodney A.
Maurice and
Robert H. Roy,
Jr., Trustees of
Jon-Heath Realty
Trust
“the land in
Salem,
Essex
County,
Massachuse
tts”
15 Oct Arthur K. Kontinos
1971
Arthur K.
Kontinos and
James Licholous,
Trustees of Koli
Realty Trust
25 Jan Stanley J. Weynor
1971
25
Aug
1969
Property
Amount Doc
Page
Deed 5865
272
“the land in
Salem,
Essex
County,
Massachuse
tts”
Consider Deed 5820
ation
Paid
343
Arthur K.
Kontinos
“the land in
Salem,
Mass.”
Consider Deed 5746
ation
Paid
191
Evangelus Spanos,
Stanley J.
Trustreet of Water Street Weynor
Trust
“the land in
Salem,
Mass.”
Consider Deed 5632
ation
Paid
539
Samuel G.
“the land in
McGlauflin,
said Salem”
Trustee of Water
Street Trust
Consider Deed 4939
ation
Paid
101
28 Jun Seacoast Realty Co.
1962
$65,000
Book
�16
Aug
1961
Salem Realty Co.
Seacoast Realty
Co.
“the
premises
conveyed
by said
mortgage”
$5,000
Affid 4812
avit
of
Sale
187
N/A Forec 4812
losure
185
1 Sep T. Albert Marcoux,
1961 Trustee of Tamtang
Realty Trust
Salem Realty Co. -
25 Jan T. Albert Marcoux,
1960 Trustee of Tamtang
Realty Trust
T. Albert
Marcoux,
Trustee of
Marctang Realty
Trust
“the land in
said Salem,
together
with the
buildings
thereon”
Consider Deed 4639
ation of
Paid Trust
41
6 Jan
1959
T. Albert
Marcoux,
Trustee of
Tamtang Realty
Trust
“the land in
said
SALEM,
together
with the
buildings
thereon”
Consider Deed 4587
ation
Paid
342
Salem Realty Co. “the land in
said
SALEM,
together
with the
buildings
thereon”
Consider Deed 3518
ation
Paid
351
“the land in
said
SALEM,
together
with the
buildings
thereon”
Consider Deed 3458
ation
Paid
581
“the land in
said
SALEM,
together
with the
Consider Deed 2571
ation
Paid
255
Salem Realty Co.
9 Dec Naumkeag Insurance
1946 Agency, Inc.
24
May
1946
Henry Kaplan and Rose Naumkeag
L. Kaplan
Insurance
Agency, Inc.
17 Sep Harriet E. Searle and
1923 William F. Searle
Henry Kaplan
and Rose L.
Kaplan
�buildings
thereon”
15 Feb Sarah F. Wardwell,
1923 widow
Harriet E. Searle “the land in
said
SALEM,
together
with the
buildings
thereon”
Consider Deed 2541
ation
Paid
217
5 Aug Charles S. Emmerton
1889
Sarah F.
Wardwell
$1 and Deed 1255
other
valuable
Consider
ation
Paid
467
11
Mar
1889
Charles S. Emmerton
Sarah F.
“a certain
Wardwell, wife of parcel of
Henry Wardwell land, with
the
dwelling
house and
other
buildings
thereon”
23
Mar
1885
Ephraim Augustus
James Arthur
Emmerton, Mary Ann S. Emmerton
Osgood, widow, George
R. Emmerton, of Salem,
Charles S. Emmerton, of
Peabody
“the parcel
of land and
every part
thereof”
“four
undivided
sixth parts
of certain
real estate
situate in
said Salem,
consisting
of the
dwelling
house No.
13 Summer
Street.”
$12,000
Deed 1244
2
$13,333.
33
Deed 1147
53
�23
Mar
1885
George R. Emmerton, as James Arthur
legal guardian of Kate
Emmerton
Emmerton
“one
undivided
sixth part of
certain real
estate
situate in
said Salem
consisting
of the
dwelling
house No.
13 Summer
Street and
the out
buildings
with land
under and
adjoining”
$3,300.3
3
Deed 1147
53
30
Aug
1831
Elizabeth King, widow
of James King
Ephraim
Emmerton
“dower or
thirds in
and to a
certain
messuage
on Summer
Street in
said Salem”
$603
Deed 262
63
30
Aug
1831
Charles Whipple,
bookseller, and Mary,
his wife,
Ephraim
Emmerton
“all her
right, title,
and interest
of sd. Mary
in and to
the real
estate of her
late father,
James King,
deceased”
$640
Deed 262
62
30
Aug
1831
Henry Whipple, Esq. as Ephraim
guardian of Mary Jane Emmerton
King, a minor, only
daughter of James C.
King, deceased
“one
undivided
fifth part of
a certain
messuage”
$640
Deed 262
62
�30
Aug
1831
Edward Norris,
Ephraim
merchant, and Judith, his Emmerton
wife; Henry Whipple,
Esq., and Harriet, his
wife, and John Glen
King, heirs at law of
James King
three
undivided
fifth parts
of “a certain
messuage
on Summer
Street in
said Salem”
$1,974
Deed 262
61
$6,400
Deed 167
65
Deed 159
284
17 Sep Jacob Crowninshield,
1800 merchant
James King,
merchant
“a certain
dwelling
house and
the land
under and
adjoining”
3 Jun
1796
Joseph Lee, gentleman
Jacob
Crowninshield,
mariner
“a
£1,550
Messuage
containing a
Dwelling
House Barn
& out
houses with
a Garden &
the land
adjoining to
it”
13
Jan,
1794
John Derby, merchant
Joseph Lee, Esq. “a
£925
of Cambridge
Messuage
containing a
Dwelling
House Barn
& out
houses with
a Garden &
the land
adjoining to
it”
Deed 157
100
John Derby,
merchant
Deed 135
252
2 Feb William Pynchon, and
1778 Catharine, his wife
“a
£3,000
Messuage
containing a
Dwelling
House Barn
& out
�houses with
a Garden &
the land
adjoining to
it”
15
Apr
1762
David Cheever, distiller, William
and Elizabeth, his wife Pynchon, Esq.
“a piece of
land in said
Salem”
Appendix B: Probate of William Pynchon, 1789
[Page 1]
No. 23141
Pynchon
William
1789, July 17
8/8
[Page 2]
Essex, ss.
To Richard Ward Esqr. Mr. Nathl Ropes & William
Pickman Esqr all of Salem in said County
GREETING.
YOU are hereby appointed a Committee to appraise (on
Oath) all the Estate of William Pynchon
late of Salem Esquire deceased, and make
Return of your Doings, together with this Warrant, into
the Registry-Office of the Court of Probate, in and for said
County. Given under my Hand this seventeenth Day
of July A.D. 1789.
B. Greenleaf J. Proba
[Page 3]
Essex, ss. Jany 28th A.D. 1790 Then the within named
Richd Ward, Nath. Ropes & Will: Pick,an
personally Appeared and where Sworn to the
faithfull discharge of the trust reposed in
them by the within Warrant
£200
Lawful
Money
Deed 110
132
�before Richd Manning Just Peace
[Page 4]
Hampshire Ss.
To Colo Benjamin Day, Daniel White, and
Benjamin Ashley all of West Springfield
in the County of Hampshire. Greeting
You are hereby authorizd & empowered duly
to appraise at the just value thereof in lawful
money of the Commonwealth such part
of the Estate of William Pynchon Esqr
late of Salem in the County of Essex deceasd.
as lyeth in the said County of Hampshire being
first duly sworn therunto and returning an
Inventory thereof unto the Judge of Probate
for the said County of Essex as soon as
may for [shield] this shall be your sufficient
warrant fiven under my Hand and shal
at Springfield this fourth Day of October
in the Year of our Lord one Thousand seven
Hundred & ninety
Moses Bliss Justice of the Peace
[Page 5]
Hampshire Ss. Oct. 11. 1790. Then Benjamin Day
Daniel White & Benjamin Ashley within
named personally appeared & were duly
sworn to appraise such Estate of the
within named William Pynchon decd. as
lyeth in the County of Hampshire at
its just true value according to their
best judgment
before Moses Bliss Justi Paix
Wart of Appraisers
of Wm Pynchon Esq.
Estate
[Page 6]
Sir
Salem March 20 1793
I desire you as Register of Probate
for the County of Essex, to file then in that office as soon
as you receive the Same, noting the time when filed
and do as Attorney to Deborah Flinderson, Francis
Clark and Henry Clark, Creditors to the Estate of Willi-
�am Pynchon esq. whose claims against that Estate have
been wholly rejected by the commissioners appointed by
the Judge of Probate to receive and examine the Claims
against said Estate which has been represented, insolvent, and as attorney to the Representatives of Mrs.
Hannah Derby deceased, whose claim agains the
same Estate, has been, by said Commissioners rejected in part, give Notice in said Probate Office
that the said several Creditors intend to have those
their said rejected Claims determined at the Common
Law, this being within twenty days, after the Re
port of said Commissioners has been made and that
they will bring and prosecute their respective Actions
as soon as may be- Edw Pulling [Att] aforesaid
Daniel Noyes esq Register of Probate-
[Page 7]
Edwd Pulling Esqr
Notification
Recd on filed
March 21st 1793
Pynchon Wm. Esq
23141
PAID
Daniel Noyes esquire
Ipswich
[Page 8]
KNOW all Men by these Presents, That we
Katharine Punchon Widow, Nathan Goodlae
Esqr. & John Pynchon Gentleman all of Salem in
the County of Essex
within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, are holden and stand firmly bound
and obliged unto Benjamin Greenleaf, Judge of
Probate and Wills, and granting Administrations within the County of
Essex, in the full and just sum of six hundred
Pounds, lawful Money of the said Commonwealth, to be paid unto the said
Benjamin Greenleaf, Esqr his Successors in said office, or Assigns: To the true Payment whereof, we do bind ourselves, and each of us, our,
and each of our Heirs, Executors and Administrators, jointly and severally, for
the whole and in the whole, firmly by these Presents. Sealed with our seals.
�Dated the seventeenth day of July in the Year
of our lord One thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.
[Etc.]
Signed, sealed, and delivered
in Presence of us,
Benja. Pickman
Daniel Noyes
[Page 9]
Bond of Adma of Estate
of William Pynchon late
of Salem Esqr deceased
July 17th 1789
Recorded
360.231 [116]
23141
Cath Pynchon
N. Goodale
Jno Pynchon
[Page 10]
A List of claims against the Estate of Wm. Pynchon, Esq.r
deceased – exhibited by the Adm. y. 29 April 1790.
[ducto] Geo. Deblois, Halifax
Andrew Cabot
Cabot. Gerrish
Abigail Gerrish
J. Appleton
Gibson Clough
Priscilla Abbot
Jona Glover
Jno Dutch
Matthew Mansfield
Joshua Atherton
Saml Hazeltine
Saml Blyth
Jeremiah Page
William Hathorne
Saml. Luscomb deceased
James Cutler
Stephn L. Wm Cleveland
Jeremh. Page
Doctr. William Paine
Isaac Osgood
John Smith
£300.
128.10
260.75.3. 7. 2
2.14
9.7.11
10.0.0
3.8.2
9.16.3
4.16
2.14.0
0.15.8.182.13.3
2.6.2
1.17.2
6.9.5
1.4
1.10.4
37.11.6
4.10
�Frans Cabot
carried over
[Page 11]
Amount of claims continued £883.6.4
Richard Manning
Nathan Brown
Moses Bliss
Robert Lefavour
Marshal Mansfield decd
Doctr E.A. Holyoke
5.18
£883:6:4
9.4.6
10.10
9.0.0
9.3.4
2.2.2
30.£953.6.4
Salem Apl. 29th 1790 Cath. Pynchon, admx
Essex, Ss. April 29th. 1790 Then Mrs. Catherine Pynchon Admx.
made Oath to the above List of Debts.
before me
B. Greenleaf, J. Proba.
Sir
Whereas the whole Estate of the above namd
William Pynchon Esqr amounts only to the sum of
£872.5[4] and is insufficient to discharge the debts
contained in the foregoing list. I do therefore represent
the said Estate to be insolvent and pray that Commis-sioners maybe appointed to receive & examine the
claims of the Creditors to the said Estate as the law directs
To Benj. Greenleaf, Judge
Cath: Pynchon Adm.x
Essex Ss. April 29th 1790 The aforewritten Request is granted & Richd
Manning Esqr. & Jacob Ashton Esqr. are appointed Commissioners
to receive and examine the Claims of the several Creditors to said Es-tate and six months from the Date hereof are allowed for that pur
-pose.
B. Greenleaf, J. Prob.a
[Page 12]
List of Debts against Estate
of William Pynchon late
of Salem Esqr. deceased
April 29th. 1790
Recorded
360.461 [231]
23141
�[Page 13]
An Inventory of Such Part of the Estate
of William Pynchon Esq. late of Salem in
the county of Essex decd. as lyeth in the
County of Hampshire
viz
Sixty acres of Land in the Field
called Ireland Meadow, part Flowery
& Part Mowing West of & adjoining partly
on Connecticut River formerly Benja Elys
north of Northampton Lands & below ye Falls. 270.0.0
Two Hundred & seventy Pounds
Fifteen acres of Land on Marshfield Hill
near the Falls. bounding west on ye Brow
of the Hill & north on [Afabel] Chapman’s Land
at seventeen Fifteen Pounds
15.0.0
Seventeen Acres of Land lying west of ye
Road to Northampton & bounding East
thereon South & West on Joseph Ely Land 30.0.0
at thirty Pounds
Thirty Acres of Land mostly woodland westward of
Benja Ely & part of his Homestead taken by [Execution] 85.0.0
at Eighty Five Pounds
£400
West Springfield Octr11 1790
Benja Day
Daniel White
Benjamin Ashley
Cath: Pynchon Admx
[Page 14]
Additional Inventory of
Estate of William Pyn-chon Esqr late of Salem
decd
April 20th 1791
Recorded
361.255 [128]
23141
[Page 15]
Appraisors
sworn
�Essex Ss. Catharine Pynchon Admx. of the Goods and
Estate of William Pynchon late of Salem in Said County
Esquire deceased intestate her Account of Administration
of said Estate exhibited to Samuel Holten Esqr Judge
of Probate of Wills &c. in & for said County this eleventh
day of November AD 1796
1790
The Said Estate is C.rs
£
s
d
D
C
M
By Real Estate as pr Inventorys
412
“
“
1373
38
-
By Personal Estate including Books as
pr. Inventory- excepting and deducting
therefrom Furniture &c to the Value of £30
which the Judge of Probate allowed the
said Catharine as widow of Said William
Amt. of Inventory £138.11.3
from which deduct 30.0.0
108
11
4
361
89 -
28
10
-
95
-
9
-
1
50 -
1
-
3
50 -
By do. of Warwick Palfry
12
-
2
-
-
By do. of Wm Green
12
-
2
-
-
By Cash received of Robert Hooper Esqr. being
ballance of Acct ascertained by referees
after deducting the Expence upon his note
By Cash Rec.d of Robert Swan upon his note
By do. of James Andrews debt & Costs
1791
1792
1
By do. of Mr Wallis’s 22/- of Mr Perry dbt & Cost 15/
1
17
-
6
17 -
By do. of Jos: Jeffry Debt & Cost
2
14
-
9
-
By do. of Richard Peabody
5
18
-
19
67 -
By do. of E Sparhawk Debt & Cost
-
19
8
3
28 -
By do. of Peter Dodge
2
8
0
8
-
By do. of M. Newhall debt & Cost
-
14
8
2
44 -
14
4
2
39 -
15
-
12
50 -
By do. of Saml. Clarke
By do. of Mr Upton Admr of Ezra Upton
3
-
-
�1793
1794
By do. recd. Costs in atcon vs Perkins
2
-
10
6
80 -
By do. of Gilbert Tapley 29/6 Ebenr Proctor 54/
4
3
6
13
92 -
By do. of M. Doyl
-
9
-
1
50 -
By do. of Ebenr Procter
2
3
-
7
17 -
By do. of Thad.s Perry
2
4
5
7
40 -
By do. of Edward Pulling Esqr Admr. of
Saml. Ornes Estate
12
6
-
41
-
-
By do. of Isaac Southwick debt
3
18
5
13
7
7
By do. of Capt. John Baker Debt
1
2
5
3
74 -
By do. of Jeremiah Smith Esqr.
62
2
-
207
-
-
By do. of Juror Order on Hospital
3
-
-
10
-
-
By do. of Mr Marshall
1
16
-
6
-
-
Continued & Amt. Carried Over
£
666
1
72
2220
27 -
[Page 16]
By Amount brought Over
666
1
72
2220
27 -
1794
By do. of Jacob Ashton Admr of Blaneys Esta
3
2
4
10
39 -
1795
By do. of B.B. Raddan
2
2
-
7
-
By do. of John Parker for his Bond &
mortgage &c.
66
10
11
221
82 -
By do. of Enoch Putnam Esqr.
9
-
-
30
-
By Cash of Jon.a Mason Debt & Cost
3
9
2
11
53 -
By do. of Capt. Henry Clarke upon Ex’on.
agt. him
34
5
7
114
26 -
By do. of Amos Putnam Esqr. in
part of Ex’on. agt. him
4
17
9
16
29 -
By do. of Mr. Francis Clarke in part
of the Ex’on against him
52
10
-
175
-
1796
-
-
-
�Nov.
3
17
By do. recd. in full of Ex’on of Francis
Clarke Debt & Cost
35
13
2
118
86 -
By do. of Joseph Jeffry
1
4
-
4
-
By do. of Mayo Patch Admr of A McIntire
2
-
-
6
67 -
By do. of Benja. Alley 13/ 2 debts & ⅞ Cost
1
-
10
3
47 -
By do. of Edwd Britton bal.a Debt & Cost
-
19
8
3
21 -
By do. of Wr. Holt Debt & Costs
1
17
8
6
27 -
By do. of Martin Doyl
-
6
-
1
-
By do. of Abram Knowlton Debt & Cost
8
19
8
29
78 -
By do. of Sylvanus Wills in full
of principal & interst of his not
160
9
5
534
90 -
By Balla found by Referees to be due
from Debo F. Anderson
13
12
4
45
39 -
By Profit- the real estate sold for
more than it was Appraisedincluding some Rents due
24
2
6
80
41 -
By Cash of Mrs Pickman
1
6
-
4
33 -
By Cash of Mrs Cabot
1
3
4
3
89 -
By Cash of Wm Doust
0
12
-
2
-
-
By Cash of Jeremiah Smith
3
-
-
10
-
-
By Cash of Weld Gardner baa af
-
13
6
2
25 -
By Cash of Capt. Wm. Orne
1
13
-
5
50 -
18
-
3
-
10
5
3671
55 -
By Cash of Peter Landes
1101
[Page 17]
The Said Estate is Debtor for which your Accountant
prays Allowance viz
-
-
-
�1790
To paid for Letter of Administration- Bonds
&c and warrant to Appraise the Estate
To paid the Appraizers for their services
9
1
1
50
16
-
6
0
12
5
2
7
19
6
9
92 -
To Paid for power of Atty for Francis Cabot
& do to Moses Bliss
12
-
2
-
-
To paid the Register of Probate for Commission
to Commes to Receive Claimes &c
6
3
1
4
-
To paid for Swearing Appraizers
1
-
To Paid Francis Cabot expenses of collecting
Debt of Robert Hooper Esqr
To Paid Benja Daland Collector State &
Town Taxes for year 1788
2
-
17 -
To paid Mr Cushing Printer for publishing
Advertisements
1
1
-
3
50 -
To paid Matthew Mansfield for Mourning
8
15
6
29
25 -
11
3
1
88 -
11
6
5
25 -
17
-
2
83 -
To paid Thos. Sanders Bill for Articles
for Mourning
To paid Doctr Paines Bill for last Sickeness
1
To paid Taxes upon Lands in Town of Thornton
To paid for Coffin 60/ Plate 15/ Sexton 51/
6
9
-
21
50 -
To paid Mr. John Appleton for Articles
furnished by him for Mourning
7
6
12
24
36 -
To paid Butler Fogerty for drawing out Accts
6
-
-
20
-
To paid Tax on a Share in the Library
1
1
8
3
61 -
To paid Saml. Robinson for Expence &c
of the House while Commissioners sat
to Receive Claims
2
14
-
9
-
To paid Benja Webbs bill for Expences
&c. of the House while Commissioners sat
to Receive Claims
2
4
-
7
33 -
To paid Commissioners for their Services
12
-
-
40
-
-
-
-
�To paid [Vendue] Master for selling two
peices Land in Salem 30/ - paid for
Advertising Sale &c 7/6
1
17
6
6
25 -
To paid Wr. Prescotts bill of Monies
disbursed and for Services
120
1
3
400
21 -
To Expences Commissions &c on Sales
of Estate in Springfield, Appraisers [ ]
&c & Old Bal.a due from the Estate
22
5
6
74
25 -
To paid Benja. Watkins for Posting books &
8
2
-
27
-
To Cash paid [Bank] Note
1
6
8
4
45
218
17
17
703
37
carried over
[Page 18]
To amount bro’t over
To paid for List of Debts & warrant
To recording Inventory
To paid for copies of Inventory
To pd. for examining & recording Commissioners return
To pd. for proportioning Estate among the Creditors
To pd. for order of distribution recording same & copy
To pd. examining, allowing & recording this Account
To Allowance to Admx for Time & Trouble
dol
703
Cts
37
1.75
2.0
1.25
1.50
2.8
2
2
80
795.95
Cath. Pynchon Admx
Essex Ss. Salem November 11th 1796 This Account being ex
-amined & sworn to is accepted & allow’d
by me
S. Holten J. Probate
Accot. of Admo. of
Estate of Wm. Pynchon
late of Salem Esqr.
decd.
November 11th 1796
Recorded
364.526 [264]
23141
[Page 19]
-
�[Page 20]
[Page 21]
The Subscribers appointed by the Hon.ble
Benjamin Greenleaf Esq. Judge of Probate
&c for the County of Essex to receive & examine
the claims of the Creditors to the Estate of Will-iam Pynchon Esq. late of Salem, deceased,
having attended to that business do report
as due from said Estate to the following persons
the sums set against their names representatively
Viz.
Priscilla Abbot
£6.7.11½
James Andrews
2.2.0
John Appleton
3.7.2
John Bancroft
.14.4
Nathan Brown’s Estate
2.4.10
James Bott
4.15.9
.15.8
William Bridge
Andrew Cabot’s Estate
83.0.0
Abner Chase
.11.11
Francis Cabot
2.10.0
William Cabot
1.13.2½
David Cheever
27.8.0
William Cleveland
6.17.1
Gibson Clough
2.14.0
George Deblois
115.11.9½
Benjamin Daland
36.12.0¼
Benjamin & Joseph Daland
6.14.0
Joseph Daland
.2.9
John Dutch
2.15.0
Solomon Dodge
1.2.0
Jack Flint
35.0.8
the amount card. over
£343.0.1¾
[Page 22]
The amount brough over
Sally Field
Estate of Cabot Gerrish decd.
Abigail Gerrish
Jonathan Glover
William Hathorne
Susanna Higginson’s Estate
£343.0.1¾
.10.0
256.0.0
63.17.9
2.8.6
2.13.3½
9.2.8
�Hussey & Ropes
Edward Augustus Holyoke Esq.
Sarah Martin
Richard Manning Junr
Matthew Mansfield
Marshal Mansfield
Estate of Timothy Orne dec.d
Isaac Osgood Esq.
Jeremiah Page
Daniel Prince
Nathaniel Ropes
Brimsley Stevens
Seth Saltmarsh
Amos Smith
William Stearns
Joseph Purcell
Jonathan Thaxter
Samuel Ward
Benjamin Watkins
the amount card. forward
2.15.11½
12.4.2
3.13.10
4.14.6
1.0.9
.18.2
4243.11.10
38.9.7
1.4.0
3.4.6
3.5.3½
69.10.9
2.17.0
5.16.11
3.3.9
1.16.7
3.10.0
1.6.4½
3.7.0
[Page 23]
Amount of claims brot forward £1264.3.3¾
343.0.1¾
William West
1.11.7
William Wetmore
55.0.10
Isaac Williams
.14.0
Estate of Hannah Derby decd.
late Wife of John Derby
52.12.3
£1374.1.11¾
Salem March 2d 1793
Richard Manning
Jacob Ashton
Commissioners
sworn
359.19.7
Essex Ss. Ipswich March 4th 1793. The aforewritten Return of the
Commissioners being presented is accepted & allow’d
by me
B. Greenleaf J. Prob.a
[Page 24-25]
Essex Ss. Whereas the Estate of William Pynchon late of
Salem in Said County Esqr. deceased Intestate is insolvent
the debts due from said Estate amounting to the sum of one
�thousand three hundred & seventy four Pounds one Shilling
& four pence three farthings, and the whole of said deceased’s
Estate (after Charges of Administration &c are deducted is but
two thousand eight hundred & seventy five dollars and sixty
Cents, witches gives the Creditors to said Estate two dollars
nine Cents & three mills (nearly) on the Pound and is propor-tioned as follows, viz.
claims
proportions
dol. Cts mills
Priscilla Abbot
James Andrews
John Appleton
John Bancroft
Nathan Brown’s Estate
James Bott
William Bridge
Andrew Cabot’s Estate
Abner Chase
Francis Cabot
William Cabot
David Cheever
William Cleveland
Gibson Clough
George Deblois
Benjamin Daland
Benjamin & Joseph Daland
Joseph Daland
John Dutch
Solomon Dodge
Jack Flint
Sally Field
Estate of Cabot Gerrish decd.
Abigail Gerrish
Jonathan Glover
William Hathorne
Susanna Higginson’s Estate
Hussey & Ropes
Edward Augustus Holyoke Esq.
Sarah Martin
Richard Manning Junr
Matthew Mansfield
Marshal Mansfield
Estate of Timothy Orne dec.d
Isaac Osgood Esq.
Jeremiah Page
Daniel Prince
£6.7.11½
2.2
3.7.2
.14.4
2.4.10
4.15.9
.15.8
83
.11.11
2.10
1.13.2½
27.8
6.17.1
2.14.
115.11.9½
36.12.0¼
6.14
.2.9
2.15
1.2
35.0.8
.10
256.0.0
63.17.9
2.8.6
2.13.3½
9.2.8
2.15.11½
12.4.2
3.13.10
4.14.6
1.0.9
.18.2
4243.11.10
38.9.7
1.4
3.4.6
13.38.9
4.39.5
7.2.8
1.48.3
4.69
10.1.8
1.63.9
173.68.8
1.24.7
5.23.1
3.47.5
57.34.1
14.34.3
5.65
241.88.7
76.64.2
14.2.1
28.8
5.75.4
2.39
73.31.6
1.4.6
535.73.4
133.69
5.7.5
5.57.5
19.11.5
5.85.5
25.55.0
7.72.6
9.88.8
2.17
1.90.1
886.46.1
80.52.6
2.51.1
6.74.9
�Nathaniel Ropes
Brimsley Stevens
Seth Saltmarsh
3.5.3½
69.10.9
2.17
(continued)
6.83.1
145.51.5
5.96.5
[Page 27]
Continued
Amos Smith
William Stearns
Joseph Purcell
Jonathan Thaxter
Samuel Ward
Benjamin Watkins
William West
William Wetmore
Isaac Williams
Estate of Hannah Derby decd.
late Wife of John Derby
Claims
5.16.11
3.3.9
1.16.7
3.10
1.6.4½
3.7.
1.11.7
55.0.10
.14.0
Proportions
dol. Cts mills
12.23.4
6.67.1
3.82.8
7.32.4
2.76
7.1.1
3.30.5
115.18.8
1.46.5
52.12.3
£1374.1.11¾
110.10.5
$2875.60-
To Mrs. Catherine Pynchon Administratrix of
the Estate of beforenamed William Pynchon
late of Salem in said County Esqr Intestate
[you] are hereby ordered and directed to pay to the aforena-med Creditors to the Estate of said deceased the seveal
sums set against their respective Names as their proper-tions of said Estate, taking their Receipts for the same. Gi-ven under my hand & seal of Office this Seventh day
of November Anno Domini 1796.
S. Holten, J. Probate
[Page 28]
Order of distribution of
Estate of William Pynchon
Esqr late of Salem decd
November 11th 1796
Recorded
564.528 [265]
23141
[Page 29-30]
List of Notes in the aforegoing Inventory
1750 May 16th
Joseph Allen
10.5.0
�1750 July 20
Jonathan Hart
0.3.4
1752 May 25
Israel Averill
0.4.10
1753 Feby 7
Israel Lovett
0.18.0
1753 May 21
Jonathan Hart
0.4.8
1754 Jan.y 14
Stephen Welcome
4.13.6
Jany 14 1768 Recd. the Interest to this
day & 20/6 on ye. Principal
1.0.6
3.13.0
1754 Feby 16
Thomas Cary
0.8.0
1762 July 12
Israel Reed 10/10 & £5.9.10. is
6.0.8
1763 Aug.t 15
Benja Waters
£3.5.0
indorst Aug.t 15, 1763 2.0.0
1.5.0
1763 Decr 27
Gideon Parker
0.13.8
d
Rec . Indors’d in part 0.13.0
0.0.8
1764 Feby 17
Benjn Flagg
0.7.0
1764 May 16
Jonathan Stevens
0.18.0
1764 July 9
David Royal Junr. & James Buffum
3.12.11
1765 July 5
Jona. Hobby
0.16.8
1766 Feby 25
Edward Emerson
0.6.0
1766 Marh. 25
Jonathan Phelps
1.1.6
1766 May 12
David Wilkins
0.4.0
1766 Augt 1
Abigail Corney’s Order
2.19.3
1766 Octo 6
Archelus Greenfield’s Order
0.14.0
1767 Augt 4
Jacob Gould
£3.1.8
Paid to Feby 1787 0.11.5
2.10.3
1767 Augt 11
Benj.a Cudworth
0.12.0
indors’d June 13, 1771 0.6.0
0.6.0
1767 Decr 2
Jonathan Cutler £8. do 12/ is
8.12.0
1768 Feby 2
Benja Ober
1.1.0
�1768 March 15
John Baker
0.8.10
1768 March 23
Jeffry Thistle
0.3.11
1769 May 10
Gidray King
1.7.2
1769 July 22
Philip Kneeland
0.3.0
1769 Sept 9
John Davison
0.7.0
1762 May 28
Joseph Phelps
0.9.0
1768 June 25
Joseph Phelps
0.6.8
1769 July 11
Joseph Phelps
0.8.6
1.4.2
7.2
dedt. paid
0.17.0
1770 Jany 8
William Green
0.9.0
1770 Jany 8
Erasmus Dennis
0.6.0
1770 Jany 12
Saml. Flint & Order
on Saml Webber
2.7.0
1770 June 26
Samuel Shillaber
0.12.0
1766 Sept 15
James Cutler
0.6.0
1770 April 13
James Cutler
0.6.0
1770 June 26
Caleb Foster
1.2.0
1771 Augt 9
Mary Williams
2.9.5½
1772 Jany 13
David Royce Jr & Wm Nicholls
3.10.1
1772 Feby 3
John Eden
0.6.0
1772 July 9
Malachy Field
0.7.0
Continued and amount Carried Over
[Page 31]
-Two more pages of this
[Page 32]
-Another page of this
0.12.0
£62.6.2½
�A True Inventory of the Estate of
William Pynchon late of Salem deceased
Esqr. prized
1 Mahogany Desk
1 do. 4 feet Round Dining Table
1 do. 3 foot square do.
2 do. Round Tea Tables
1 Marble Slab with mahogany Stand
7 Black Walnut Leather bottom Chairs
1 Case with 12 Knives & 12 Forks
1 Shovel & pair Tongs
1 pair Tobacco Tongs & Box
1 pair Cast Iron Doggs
1 family Pickture
1 two Quart Glass Tumbler
1 pair Quart do. Decanters
1 small Tumbler
15 wine 7 beer Glasses
2 Glass salvers
8 Jelly Glasses
5 Glass Tart Pans
1 pr Glass Salts
29 Burnt China Cups & Saucers
1 do. mended Tea Pott 1 do Sugar Dish
1 do. Tea Canister 1 do. Cream Pott
1 do. dish 2 do. Plates
10 Blue & White China Cups & Saucers
2 black Tea Potts 1 black Coffee Pott
1 Jappan’d Tea Tray 1 do. Salver
1 Walnut Case of Drawers
1 Walnut Chamber Table
1 Walnut Dressing Box
6 Birch Chairs
1 Easy Chair
1 Scotch Carpet
1 Looking Glass
1 Bedstead with Sacking Bottom
1 Suit Green Curtins
1 Feather Bed bolster & 1 pillows 73ll 1/6
1 Chints Counterpain
1 pair of Blankets
1 Looking Glass
1 Chamber Table
6 Flagg bottom Chairs
continued & amt. Carried Over
[Page 33-Column 1]
£1.0.0
0.12.0
0.14.0
1.10.0
3.0.0
1.16.0
0.5.0
0.4.0
0.2.0
0.4.0
0.1.0
0.0.8
0.4.0
0.10.0
1.0.0
0.2.6
0.5.0
0.18.0
0.9.0
0.1.6
1.4.0
0.7.6
0.12.0
1.10.0
0.7.6
0.12.0
5.9.6
0.15.0
0.10.0
1.2.0
0.6.0
0.12.0
£26.6.2
�Inventory Conintued amt brot
over
26.6.2
1 bedstead with Sacking Bottom
0.7.6
Blue Chince Curtins
0.7.6
1 Feather bed bolster & 2 Pillows 67ll 1/6 5.0.6
1 Chints Quilt 6/ 1 pr. Blankets 8/
0.14.0
6 Metsitento Picktures
0.12.0
1 pair Hand Irons brass Tops
0.6.0
r
Shovel & p Tongs
0.2.0
A Cott
0.8.0
ll
1 Featherbed & bolster 55 1/6
4.2.6
6 birch Leather bottom Chairs
1.10.0
r
0.9.0
1 Baize Quilt - 1 p blankets
1 Bedstead sacking Bottom
0.7.6
ll
d
1 Featherbed & bolster 30 @ 4
1.2.6
1 White Counterpain
0.3.0
1 Rug - 1 Blanket
0.3.0
1 Bedstead & Cord
0.3.0
1 Feather Bed & Bolster
0.10.0
1 Counterpin
0.3.0
1 Birch Kitchen Table
0.2.0
I maple Oval Kitchen Table
0.2.6
6 Kitchen Chairs Leather Bottoms
0.6.0
1 Old Kitchen Candlestand
0.1.6
Lingum Vitae mortar & Pestle
0.1.6
d
r
0.2.6
1 Ironing Board 6 1 p bellows ⅙
Old Pewter viz.
7 Dishes 14ll/2 1 Bason 2/2ll
18 Plates 22ll
3910 1.0.0
t
Old brass viz
1 Kittle 45ll
1 do. 17 ½ .. 1 do. 11ll
73 ½ 10 1.16.0
2 Brass Skillets
0.4.0
1 Bell Mettal Skillet
0.5.0
4 pair Brass Candlesticks
0.10.0
1 Warming Pan 1 old Copper Tea Kittle
0.2.0
Kitchen Tongs, Shovel, & [Slice]
0.6.0
r
1 p . Kitchen Hand Irons
0.2.0
1 pr Cast Iron Doggs 2/ 3 Iron Tramells 12/ 0.14.0
1 Iron & brass Jack 20/ 1 Iron Dripn Pan 1/ 1.1.0
7 Squres - 1 Iron Chafing Dish
0.1.0
1 Toaster - 1 Gridiron - 1 Frying Pan
0.4.6
3 Iron Potts 7/ 1 do. Kittle 3/
0.10.0
0.5.0
1 do. Tea Kittle 2/6 2 do. Skillets 2/6
I Iron Spoon & Flesh fork
0.1.0
d
Amount Carr forward
£50.16.2
�[Page 33-Column 2]
£.s.d
50.16.8
0.7.0
0.4.0
0.12.0
0.8.0
0.4.0
0.2.0
0.2.0
0.2.0
0.1.6
0.2.0
0.1.0
0.6.0
0.1.6
0.4.0
0.2.0
Inventory Continued
2 pair Flatt Irons 6/ 2 Iron Grates 1/
1 Hammer 1/ 1 small pair Steelyards 3/
3 Cast Iron Chimney Backs
Tin Scales & Weights
1 Large Tin Canister- 2 small do
1 Tin Stove - 1 Tin Bucket
1 Tin Dish Cover- 1 do Plate Cover
1 small Tin Pan. 2 Coffee Potts
6 Pattey Pans- 1 Drudge Box
1 Pepper Box- 1 Baster 2 Sauce Pans
1 Tinder Box- 1 Apple Roaster
1 Tin Fish Kittle 5/ 1 Candle Box 1/
1 Tin Lanthorne
1 Glass do.
1 Tin Crane 1 Grater 1 Cork Puller
1 Mahogany Knife Box
Old Knives & forks & snuffers
0.3.0
d
o
3 Cream Col Dishes, 2 d . butter boats
16 do. do. Plates. 4 Small Muggs
0.9.0
o
o
4 d . d . Boles
1 half bushell, 1 peck, 1 half peck, measures 0.1.6
1 Fire Bucket
0.1.6
1 Bread Tray- 2 Coolers
0.4.0
1 wooden Funnell- 3 washing Tubbs
0.3.0
1 water cask - 1 Half pipe
0.5.0
5 Cyder Barrells- 3 Keggs
0.6.0
2 meat Barrells - 1 soap Barrell
0.3.0
7 Old Barrells
2 half do
for Roots &c.
0.1.6
8 Earthen Butter Potts 1 do. Pan
0.1.6
1 Stone Pickle Pott
0.1.0
1 Meal Chest - 2 wooden Plates
0.3.0
74 Junk Bottles 5 Case Bottles
0.18.0
1 Painted Canvis Floor Cloth
0.6.0
1 Stand with Cruets
0.6.0
7 Wooden Chairs - 1 broke sml. Look Glass
1 high Flagg bottom Chair
0.10.0
Oak Desk & book case
0.10.0
1 Reading Desk 3/ 2 pine writing Desk 2/ 0.5.0
1 Small Stand Table [ ] [ ed] before
0.0.0
1 Frankling Stove
1.16.0
1 pr. Small Iron Doggs
0.1.6
�Shovel & pr Tongs
2 Window Blinds- 2 window Curtins
2 Lead Ink Stands 1 Ink Jugg
8 Pine book Shelves
amount carried forward
[Page 34-35-Column 1]
Inventary Continued £61.2.2
Plate
2 Cans 17oz ¾
3 Porringers 19
1 Pepper box
1 Mustard
6½
1 Cream Pott
58 ounces @ 6/
7 Table Spoons 14¾
8 Tea Spoons
11 & a half pair of Sheets @ 4/ pr
5 pair Pillow Cases
9 Table Cloths
8 Napkins
9 Towells
Old Trunks
Apparrell
A Pew N 14 in St. Peter’s Church
in Salem
A Moiety of a piece of land in Danvers
Containing about six acres & one half
& seventeen poles
Also a moiety if a peice of land
in Beverly containing about
seven Acres & one half & sixteen
Poles
half a Pew in the Revd Nathan Holt
Meeting house in Danvers
A Box Containing White Gloves &c.
Sundry books &c as pr Cattalogue
vallue amounting
Sundry notes & Orders as
pr List amounting to
0.2.0
0.4.0
0.1.0
0.4.0
£61.22
17.8.0
2.6.0
0.5.0
0.18.0
0.6.0
0.2.0
0.3.0
4.0.0
1.10.0
5.0.0
7.0.0
0.6.0
0.1.0
49.5.2
£150.11.11
722.6.7½
£872.17.15½
We the subscribers being appointed by the Honbl. Benj.a
Greenleaf Esqr Judge of Probate for the county of Essex a
committee to appraise on oath the Estate of William
Pynchon Esqr. of Salem deceas’d & having been duly
sworn do return the foregoing as a true Inventory
�and appraisement of all the Estate of said Decas.d
shewn to us by the adminatratrix.
Richard Ward
Salem January 29th 1790.
Cath Pynchon Adm.
Wm Pickman Comm
Nathl Ropes sworn
[Page 34-35- Column 2]
Catalogue of Books belonging to the
estate of William Pynchon Esqr deceased
3 Maps 1/6 Lucas’ Reports 15/
0.16.6
Vaughan’s Reports
0.15.0
2 vols. in one 0.18.0
Wilsons
do.
o
Salkeds
d.
2 vols in one 0.18.0
o
Comberback’s d .
0.8.0
4 vols
0.18.0
Cokes
do.
Sanders’s
do.
2 vols
1.4.0
o
o
Burrows
d.
2d .
1.4.0
Lulwitch’s
do.
2 do.
0.9.0
o
o
4d .
1.10.0
Modern
d.
Mallorys Entries
1.4.0
o
Livings
d.
0.15.0
Vidien’s
do.
0.1.6
o
Collection of d .
0.3.0
Acts & Laws of the Province of Masa. 2 vols 0.3.0
Fosters Crown Law
0.12.0
Domats Civil Law 2 vols
0.18.0
Massachusetts Perpetual Law 1 vol. 0.1.6
Burns Ecclesiastical Law 4 vols
0.12.0
Law of [Ejectments]
0.4.0
Law of Fines & Recovery’s
0.4.0
Gilbert’s Law of Devises Revocations
& Last Wills
0.6.0
The law of Testaments & last wills
by Richardson
0.6.0
Gilbert on Tenures
0.3.0
Cokes Institutes 2 vols
0.8.0
Bohun institutes legalis
0.4.0
Burns Justice 4 vols
1.4.0
Harvey’s Justice of the Peace
0.0.6
Blackberby’s do. do.
0.0.6
Dalton’s
do. do.
0.3.0
The Law Merchant
0.2.0
The Country & Town Officer
0.0.6
Godolphin’s Admiral Jurisdiction 0.1.0
Exton’s Sea Jurisdiction of England 0.4.0
�Blackstone’s Comentaries 5 vols
Hale’s do.
2 do .
Hawkin’s Abridgement
Gauss’ do. 2 vols
Bacon’s do. 5 vols
Amount Carried Over
1.4.0
1.4.0
0.3.6
1.4.0
3.15.0
£24.11.6
[Page 36-Column 1]
Catalogue of Books Continued £24.11.6
0.16.0
Equity Cases Abridged 2 vols
Maxims in Equity
0.3.0
Mallorys abridgement
0.10.0
Brownlow’s Declaration’s & Pleadings 0.3.0
Bohun’s Pleadings
0.6.0
Hawkin’s Plea of the Crown
0.18.0
1.4.0
Instructor Clericalis 8 vols
Barnes’s Notes
2 vols
0.12.0
Blackston’s [Anlogis]
Swinburn on Wills
0.18.0
s
Sayter on Costs & Damages 2 vol 0.12.0
Becearia on Punishments
0.6.0
r
Tryals p . Pais
0.6.0
Tryal of Earl Macclesfield
0.3.0
Sachervill’s Tryal
0.3.0
Pigot
0.12.0
Plowden
0.18.0
Shower
0.8.0
Barren & Feme
0.4.0
Jacobs Dictionary
0.18.0
Robertson’s History Charles 5th
3 vols
0.9.0
1 Bible for Family use
0.0.6
s
Miltons Paradise Lost 2 vol
0.2.0
Spectator 8 vols
0.18.0
s
Yorrick’s Sermons 2 vol
0.8.0
0.7.6
Tristram Shandy 2 vols
Montisque’s Spirrit of Laws 3 vols 0.7.6
Dacier’s Horrace 10 vols French
0.10.0
0.2.0
Institution France 2 vols do.
Tissot on health 2 vols
0.6.0
Shirlock’s Discources
0.6.0
s
Prior’s Poems 2 vol
0.4.0
Sentimental Journey
0.2.0
More’s Fabels
0.4.0
Hutchinson’s History of N. Eng.d 2 vols 0.6.0
do. Collection of Original Papers
0.4.0
�Mather Apoligy
Tillotsons Sermons
Ordinance Demarin French
Brittish Grammer
Stubbs Precedents 2 vols
amount Carried forward
0.1.0
0.10.0
0.1.0
0.1.0
0.9.0
£40.10.6
[Page 36- Column 2]
Catalogue of books Continued £40.10.6
0.8.0
Lady Montague’s Letters 4 vols
Kelyng’s Report Collected
0.2.0
Farresley’s Modern Cases
0.2.0
Historical Law Tracts
0.9.0
Hobart’s Reports
0.6.0
Alphabetical Catalogue of Cases
0.1.0
Contd. in Coke’s Reports
Narrative of the Popes fireworks in
England with Tryalls of Sundry Persons 0.1.6
for High Treason
Strange’s Reports 2 vols
1.10.0
Raymond’s Reports 2 vols
1.10.0
Lilly’s Modern Entries
1.0.0
Acts & Laws of Massachusetts 1 vol. 0.1.6
Digest of the Law Concerning Libels 0.3.0
Chamberline’s Present State of Gt. Britn. 0.2.0
Johnson’s Dictionary in 2 vols
0.6.0
Bacon Law Tracts
0.3.0
Godolphin’s Orphan’s Legacy
0.6.0
The Trials of 5 persons for Piracy
0.1.0
Arithmatick
0.0.6
Treatise on Maritime affairs & of Commerce 0.1.6
Jaconi Rohanritti Tractarus Physicus 0.1.6
Epitome Interpretatione &c. 0.1.0
Jacob’s Statute Law Common-plac’d 0.1.6
Monsieur Rapin’s Works 2nd vol
0.1.0
0.1.6
Browns Estimate of Manners &c.
Bally Kelly, Colonies Address, Congress
Taxes, Mor.l Philosopher (together) 0.1.6
Acts & Laws of Massachusetts
0.1.6
A Collection of Plays
0.5.0
Sundry Pampherlits & Small books
& News Papers
0.10.0
A Detection of the Court & State of Engld. 1 vol 0.1.0
The Covenant of Nature made with Adam 0.0.6
Caner on the Piety of Founding Churches 0.1.0
Copies of Speeches in Parliment
0.0.8
�A Treatise of the Principles of Laws in Gen.l 0.1.0
the first part of Henry 4th &c &c
0.5.0
Corpus Juris Civilus
0.3.0
Watt’s Logick
0.4.0
£49.5.2
[Page 37]
Inventory of the Estate of
William Pynchon Esqr
�late of Salem decd.
February 1st 1790
Recorded
360.575 [188]
23141
Appendix C: Excerpt from the Probate of James King
[Page 12]
Inventory and Appraisement of the Estate of
James King
late of Salem in said County, gentleman deceased, intestate, as
show to us by the Administrator;
REAL ESTATE.
Dwelling House & Land under & adjoining
in Summer Street in Salem
Pew in the Tabernacle
$5,000
$50
PERSONAL ESTATE
Household Furniture.
South Front Parlour. Mahogany Secretary 6.00 Do. Table 2.00
8 Leather bottom Chairs 8.00 fire set 4. 2 Rocking Chairs 3.00
Chair with Castors 2.50. Work Table 2.50 Looking Glass 5.00
Time Piece $20.00 Bellows & brush 40c. Carpet 15.00
Picture $4.00. Gold Watch 40.00
South Back room. Bookcase $15. 2 Lolling Chairs 6. Sofa 9.00
Looking Glass 15.00. Pair Card Tables 6.00. 6 Mahog. Chairs $9
Fire Set & fender 5.00 bellows & brush 1.00 Carpet & Rug 21.50
Closet. Blue Canton Dinery Set $10.00 Liverpoolware & pitcher 10.00
2 pairs Lamps 2.00- Glass Salts & dishes 2.00
Silver plate 54 oz. $54.00 Plated Coffee Pot & Teas $10.00
2 Tea Pots Plates 2.00 - 4 Candlesticks 2.00 1 Doz. Knives & forks 1.00
3 Planished Tin Dish Covers 2.00 2 Tea Cadies 25c Waiter 1.50
Lot of Glass ware in Cupboard 4.00 Table mats 1.00 Castor 2.00
Two Tables in Entry 4.00. Entry Lamp. 2.00. Lantern & fire buckets 2.00
3 Entry Mats 1.00 Arm chair & cushion 50
Hall. Ruman Sofa 2.00 4 Hair bottom mahog. Chairs 6.00
6 Hairbottom Windsor Chairs 4.25. Rocking Chair 75
1 pair Looking Glasses 14.00 Mahog. Dining Tables 8.00
Lolling Chair 2.50 fire set 1.50 Travelling Trunk 2.00
Brussels Carpet & straw Carpet $50.00
$8.00
15.00
10.00
35.50
44.00
30.00
30.00
27.50
20.00
4.00
64.00
5.00
3.75
7.00
8.00
1.50
8.00
5.00
22.00
6.00
50.00
404.25
[Page 13]
Brought Over -
$
404.25
�North Front Chamber. 4 Russia arm Chairs 4.00
6 [flag] bott. white chairs 6.00 Fire set & fender 7. Bureau, 3.00
Mahog. Wash Stand $4.00 Reading Stand 1. Looking glass 4.00
Mahog. Toilet Table 3.00 Easy Chair &c. 5.00
Bed, bolster, pillows & mattras under
Mahog. bedstead & [cornice] 5.00 Curtains & Counterpane 6.00
Carpet 10. Rug 1. [ ] of patch 4.50
Stair & Entry Carpet & Rods $6.00
South Front Chamber Secretary 5.00 Wardrobe 4.00
1 Doz. White Chairs 4.80- Wash stand, bowl, & pitcher 2.50
Fire set, fender, & grate 5.50. Bed stead 10.00, feather bed & matress 20.00
Curtains & Counterpane 5.00 Carpet 43. Rug 1. Looking Glass 3.00
Marseilles Quilt 1.50- Slab Table in Back Entry- 50
North Back Chamber Table 50c Looking Glass 75c 5 Chairs 1.25
Chest of Drawers 2.00 Beds, bolster, pillows &c. 9.00
Cot bed &c 3.00
North front Upper Chamber Patent windlass bed stead
Single feather bed & straw bed $6.00 46 Cotton Sheets 23.00
28 Linen Sheets $22.00 6 Common table cloths 1.50
6 Comforts 5.00; 15 Blankets $15. Blue Curtains &c 3.00
Patch Chair Covering 75c 5 Bed Quilts 10.00 2 floor cloths 6.
Mat & Rugs 2.25, Old Carpets 6 in number 14. 2 looking Glasses 2.
South front Upper Chamber. Six chairs 3.00 3 Do 90c
3 [Flag] bottom Do. 75c 2 Tables 1.00, 2 light stands- 1.00
South back Upper Chamber Down Bed 15.00 Feather bed 10.00
2 under beds 3. Mahog. Bedstead 3.00 Night Closet 3.00
Chest of Drawers 1.00 - Mahog. Table 1.00 Round table 1.00
6 Chairs 4.50 - Old desk 2.00 - Rocking chair & Trunk 1.90
Back upper Entry. 3 Trunks 75c - Chest of Drawers 1.00
Northern unfinished back chamber.
2 Old Trunks 1.00. Bed &c $3.00 foot stove 75c
Old Green Bedstead 1.00 2 Chairs 50. Mahog. bedstead 3.00
Kitchen 3 Tables 1.00 work table 50c Drawers 50c
Settle 1.00; 5 Portable furnaces 2.00 - Boiler 2.50 Stove 1.50
6 Chairs 1.00, fire set 1.00, tin Steamer 50c Bellows 20c
Looking Glass 50c. Brass Kettle 3.00; 3 Glass lamps 1.00;
Wooden closet 1.50- Iron ware 5.00; Potter’s ware 1.25
Wooden [ stu ] 1.50- Lot of Crockery 5.00 Knives, forks, & tray $1.00
Brass & bell metal skillets & stew pan
Woodenware 3.00 - Stone Ware & Mortar 2.00, Pewter & [tin]ware 10.00
Lot of Waiters 1.00; - Bottles in Arch in Cellar 5.00; tubs, barrels &c 5.
A Horse Wagon 12.00 - Lumber 2.00 - Bottles $15.00
Lot of wood 30.00 Locust Posts 2.00 Phaeton & harness $25.00
Carried up
$
[Page 14]
4.00
16.00
9.00
8.00
21.00
11.00
15.50
6.00
9.00
7.30
35.50
12.00
2.00
2.50
11.00
3.00
12.00
29.00
23.50
23.00
16.75
18.25
3.90
2.75
25.00
9.00
3.00
8.40
1.75
4.75
4.50
2.00
7.00
2.70
4.50
7.75
7.50
7.00
15.00
11.00
29.00
57
913.05
�Brought up
$
c
Chaise & Harness 50.00, Sleigh runners, bells & 8.00 Horse 40.
Lot of Hay 10.00 Garden & other tools & articles 15.
Knives & forks 4.00 - 40 Pillow Cases 7.00
4 Tables Cloths &c 6.00 - 10 Damask Napkins 1.50
16 Different Kind table Cloths 30. Tea Cloths 50c
913.05
98.00
25.00
11.00
7.50
30.50
Promissary notes.
Wm. W. Oliver’s
$1000. Interest
Thos A. Breed’s
1000. Int.
Benj. Crowninshield’s 2880. Int.
Timo. Ropes
120. Int.
Tobias Davis
2000. Int.
Abner Goodhue
1000. Int.
Saml. Fowler
1200. Int.
Abel L. Peirson
3000. Int.
Henry Whipple
225. Int.
Whipple & Lawrence 75. Int.
J.G. King
4000. Int.
Solomon Towne
2433.95 =
1046.40
1013.20
2967.58
140.65
2144.62
1021.21
1260.56
3029.59
231.00
78.14
4019.63
2433.95
46.40
13.20
87.58
20.65
144.62
21.21
60.56
29.59
6.
3.14
19.63
=
Stocks
5 Shares Andover Bank
2 Shares Salem & Danv. Aqueduct
3 Shares Salem Turnpike
3 Shares Union Mar. Ins. Co.
8 Shares Merchts Bank
15 Shares Exchange Bank
13 Mercantile Bank
10 Shares Eastern Stage 60.
Balance of Cash in Merchts Bank 1006.25
Do.
do. in Danvers Bank 989.00
Library
Barrel of sugar
Bag of Coffee
And windlass bedstead not carried out
Notes of Edward Norris 8139.50
appraised at 0-
[Page 15]
Brought forward. Amount of real estate,
Amount of personal estate,
Dated at Salem this fourteenth day of June A.D. 1831..
545.00
1120.00
480.00
121.50
872.00
1035.00
1332.50
1000.00
$995.25
104.57
18.00
15.00
12.00
29,110.40
$5,050
29,110.40
Total, $34,160.40
�John Punchard
Jno Glen King Adm Robert Peele
John B. Osgood
r
COMMITTEE
[etc.]
[Page 16]
[etc.]
And the said Administration prays
allowance of the following charges and payments, to which said Estate is Dr: viz:
1831
June 11
To Cash paid N. Adams his acco.
“ 14
“ “
“ R. Bedney “ Do.
“
25
“ “
“ W. Twiss ‘ Do.
July 2
“ “
“ J.C. Patterson ‘ Do.
July 11
“ “
“ H.M. Rust ‘ Do.
“ 14
“ “
“ S.H. Archer ‘ Do.
“ “
“ D & J. Pulsifer ‘ Do.
“ 22
$25.
9.
4.33
7.28
13.40
1.50
3.51
Amount Carried Over $ 64.02
[Page 17]
1831
Amount Brough over $
July 29
To Cash paid J. Perley his acco.
Aug. 2
“ “
“ Foote & Browne ‘ Do.
“ 8
“ “
“ J. Secomb ‘ Do.
“ 31
“ “
“ J. Derby & Son ‘ Do.
Sept. 2
“ “
“ J.H. Cole ‘ Do.
“ 3
“ “
“ L. Thorndike ‘ Do.
“ 6
“ “
“ S. Jelly ‘ Do.
“ 10
“ “
“ Taxes
Octo 6
“ “
“ E. Ware his acco.
“ 8
“ “
“ Aqueduct Bills
“ 24
“ “
“ J. Perley his acco.
Nov. 1
“ “
“ Appeaisers their acco.
“
2
“ “
“ Copy of Inventy &c
“ 21
“ “
“ Colcord & Smith their acco.
“ “
“ “
“ Mrs Neal her acco.
Dec. 9
“ “
“ Wm. E. Hacker his acco.
1832 Jany. 3 “ “
“ F. Watson
Do.
“
“ “
“ Whipple & Lawrence Do.
Feb. 22 “ “
“ J. Perley Do.
Apr. 13
“ “
“ Ephraim Brown Do.
Aug 18
“ “
“ H. Whipple Do.
64.02
6.44
3.33
5.25
7.46
5.69
10.00
4.50
134.04
3.00
10.67
6.44
15.00
1.00
7.01
3.00
5.50
1.70
1.50
4.50
.40
13.00
�to loss on Library sold for less than appraised
The said Administrator charges for his services
time, commissions &c in Setting said Estate
30.78
344.23
600.00
$944.23
[Page 18]
Brought forward,
Amount of Credit
$30,294.19
Amount of Debit
944.23
Balance due estate
$29.349.96
Dated at Salem this 2d April AD 1833
Jno. Glen King Administrator
[etc.]
Appendix D: The Obituary of Ephraim Emmerton
The obituary of Ephraim Emmerton in the Essex Institute Historical Collections:
“EPHRAIM EMMERTON died at Salem 22nd March, 1877. He was the son of Jeremiah
and Elizabeth (Newhall) (Ives) Emmerton and was born at Salem July 6, 1791.
Receiving the common-school education of his time, he went from school to the
counting-house of Clifford Crowninshield and after his death to that of Robert Stone. In 1811 he
went to Cronstadt as a clerk of the shop Mary-Ann. During the war of 1812 he, with many
members of the “Washington Rangers,” of which company he was Ensign in 1807, 556 joined the
“Essex Guards” and did military duty in Salem. The next decade was spent in voyaging, mostly
to Calcutta, as supercargo, securing with a modest competence the loving esteem of his
shipmates and the complete confidence of his employers, especially of Capt. Joseph Peabody, for
whom he made, beside other voyages, four in the well known ship George. On the 8th of June,
1826, he married Mary Ann, daughter of Capt. Daniel and Deborah (Silsbee) Sage, who survives
him. Of their eleven children, fours sons and a daughter survive. For a time he kept his property
in the familiar Calcutta business. Becoming engaged in the trade to Zanzibar and the East coast
of Africa, he made that his chief interest, sending his own vessels and taking shares in many
others.
He was elected alderman 1839 to 1842, and for many year a director and president of the
Salem and South Danvers Aqueduct Company, and director of the Naumkeag Steam Cotton
Mill. He was a member of the Essex Institute from the Organization (1833) and was also
associated with several other societies.
From early life he had cultivated a taste for joiner’s work. At sea a handy drawer of tools
gave him occupation, when log book and private journal had been written up, when his
“foremast” pupils in navigation were otherwise employed, and interest in his own reading
flagged. At home he kept his workshop, and many a piece of nice cabinet work remains as proof
of his ingenuity and skill.
556
See Hist. Coll. Essex Institute, VI, 202.
�Early sharing in the awakened interest in Pomology which made the gardens of Salem so
famous some thirty or forty years since, he pushed, to its utmost, the capacity of his little citygarden, which under his constant care and skillful culture yielded in abundance beautiful and
delicious fruit. At the exhibitions of the Essex Institute, to which he was a constant contributor,
and especially at those during the above named period, his display of pears, in more than sixty
varieties, was unexcelled in waxen comeliness.
Although residence abroad had so far impaired his health that his physician forbade his
return to India in 1825, he has had since then almost uninterrupted good health to the last few
weeks of his life.
His father, Jeremiah Emmerton, was born at Salem, January 23, 1753, and died there
August 18, 1826. He married, first, Rebecca, daughter of Samuel Murray, of Salem. By her he
had Rebeccca, born Oct. 9, 1778, died Dec. 22, 1857, unmarried; and Jeremiah, born Dec. 17,
1779, removed to Lynn, where he married Mrs. Mary Newhall; died Dec. 1, 1820; leaving
descendants. The father Jeremiah married, secondly, Aug. 11, 1785, Elizabeth, widow of John
Ives of Salem, by whom she had one son John, born in Lynn, Dec. 22, 1783, and died at the
Havanna in 1809. The widow Ives6, born at Lynn June 23, 1761, died at Salem March 28, 1837,
was a daughter of ’Squire James Newhall5 of Lynn; son of Benjamin4; son of Joseph3; son of
Thomas2; son of Thomas1, who came to Lynn about 1630, settled on the eastern side of what is
now Federal street in that city with his brother Anthony1, and founded that extended family
name. Jeremiah and Elizabeth had three sons and four daughters. Of these, William, born Oct.
10, 1786; died Oct. 17, 1871; married May 21, 1809, Abigail Ellingwood, daughter of Zachariah
and Hannah Stone of Beverly; born Dec. 9, 1791; died April 6, 1871; they had two sons and two
daughters, but none of the name survive. James, born April 21, 1789; died June 7, 1835, at sea;
married Dec. 15, 1816, Hannah Mansfield, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Wells) Sweetser;
born Dec. 17, 1789; died Jan. 24, 1871; they had one son, James Emerton, now living in Salem.
Ephraim the subject of the present notice, and Mary, born March 27, 1795; died Aug. 3, 1838;
married Sept. 3, 1824, her cousin George, son of Colonel James and Lydia (Newhall) Robinson
of Lynn, born about 1795; died Nov. 21, 1859, at Cartersville, Georgia. George and Mary
resided at Petersburg, Va., where she died. The other sisters died early.
His grandfather, John Emmerton, born at Chebacco (now Essex), June 23, 1714; died at
Salem, April 10, 1784; married, at Chebacco, Jan. 20, 1737, Mary5 (Foster), daughter of
Jeremiah4; son of John3; son of Reginald2; son of Renald1, who was at Ipswich about 1638. 557 He
came to Salem about 1740, and managed the farm of Judge Lynde, situated at Castle Hill in
South Salem.” 558
Appendix E: Obituary of James Arthur Emmerton
“Dr. James Arthur Emmerton died in Salem, December 31, 1888. Dr. Emmerton was
born in Salem, August 28, 1834, the sixth of eleven children of Ephraim and Mary Ann (Sage)
Emmerton. His early education was obtained in the Salem schools. He was graduated from the
Harvard Medical School in 1858. He then went abroad, and in 1858-60 was a resident student of
the Dublin Rotunda Hospital, and attended Wilde’s eye and ear cliniques. At the breaking out of
the Rebellion he enlisted, in October, 1861, in company F, 23rd regiment (Colonel Kurtz),
557
Vide Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. XXX, p. 102, where, however, there is an error of name and
date.
558
Obituary Notice of Ephraim Emmerton, Essex Institute Historical Collections, Vol. XIV. 1878.
�Massachusetts volunteers. This regiment formed a part of the Burnside expedition. He was
warranted as corporal. After faithful service in the ranks, Dr. Emmerton was made assistant
surgeon at Batchelder’s Creek, in 1862, and commissioned July 31. He was post surgeon at
Plymouth, N.C., when the hospital was burned in December, 1862. He was with the 23rd in the
winder of 1863-64, and with General Butler at Bermuda Hundreds, and with Grant at second
Cold Harbor, until June 20, 1864, when he was made surgeon of the 2ns Massachusetts heavy
artillery, from June 27, 1864, until the regiment was mustered out in October, 1865. After he
came home he was assistant physician at New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica in 1866-67,
when he gave up practice. Since then he has devoted much time and study in behalf of the Essex
Institute, in 1879 he was with Henry Fitz Waters searching English records for the Prince and
Silsbee families at Salem, compiling a large amount of valuable information that has been
published by the Institute. In 1881, he published a large volume of the records of the Emmerton
family, tracing the family back to Paganus de Emberton in 1168, down to the brith of Joseph
Emmerton at Chebacco, now Essex, in 1712, who served as corporal at the siege of Louisburg,
and was drowned in Chebacco river, September 27, 1782. Dr. Emmerton was the historian of the
23rd regiment, and published an exceedingly interesting regiemental history.
Dr. Emmerton served the Salem public library as one of its trustees, and he made a
special study of the methods used in conducting libraries; visiting a large number, and by
correspondence and in other ways making himself fully acquainted with all the details of library
work. He had collected one of the most valuable libraries in Salem. It being very largely
composed of art works and those especially devoted to etching. He had a taste also for the drama,
and literature connected therewith. Dr. Emmerton was a member and officer in the Essex
Institute, a contributor to its publications, and interested in its work, a careful historical and
genealogical student, a quiet, unobtrusive man, leading his own life in his own way, known
intimately, perhaps, by very few outside of his own family circle, but by those to whom he was
known trusted and beloved.” 559
Appendix F: Abridgement of the Probate of John Norris
…Aforesaid and bounded as follows, viz: Northerly on Essex Street, Easterly on land of
Hathorne and Nichols Southerly on a way called Barton Square, Westerly on land of Barton’s
heirs, then again Northerthy and then westerly on land of John Appleton; together with the
appurtenances. The said Mansion house & land & buildings being the same which the said John
Norris occupied at the time of his decease.” 560 His other possession were a half part of a
warehouse and an entire wharf adjoining to Union Wharf, a share in Union Wharf, one and a half
Common Rights in the Great Pasture, a Pew (#70) in the New South Meeting House, a house in
Andover with five acres (Bordering on the Parsonage Orchard, the road leading to Martin’s ferry
and the highway to the training field; it previously belonged to Rev. Dr. William Symmes, who
died in 1807), another nearby parcel in Andover, acquired from the inhabitants of the North
Parish on June 20, 1808. 561 His estate was appraised by Capt. Ichabod Nichols and Mr. Philip
Chase, of Salem, and Jonathan Ingersoll of Danvers. 562
559
Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Jan. 10, 1889. p. 52. Google Books.
Probate 19583, p. 10.
561
Ibid., p. 12.
562
Ibid., p. 22.
560
�Norris’ real estate was itemized thus:
“Real Estate
Dwelling House, Stables, &c. with the
Land under & adjoining the same, measuring
about 32 feet on Essex Street, running southerly about 140 feet to a piece of Land on Barton
Street meas.g. about 94 feet by 59 feet
8000.00
Distil House, Coppers, Worms & other
utensils belonging thereto, together with a
Dwelling House, Store, &c. with the
Land under & adjoining, viz. about 95 feet
upon Liberty Street & about 76 feet upon
Water Street.
8000.00
Wharf, warehouses &c. measuring in
front on Water Street about 100 feet, nearly
East & West, & about 240 feet, nearly no: & South
to the Capsil of the Wharf with Docks & c.
10,000.00
Lot of Land in Essex Street measuring
about 53 feet on E:x Street, & about 141 feet deep. 5,000.00
Lot of Land, in North Fields measuring
about two acres.
2,000.00
One Undivided twenty fourth part of Long
Wharf so called
300.00
One half of Warehouse & all the wharf
to the westward of said Warehouse, adjoining the string of Long Wharf, being Lot no. 6,
with privileges & rights thereto belonging
1500.00
One Right & one half in Great Pasture
so called
150.00
Three Pews, No. 69, 70 & 50 in New South Meet:g
House
600.00
Undivided Property in New South
Meeting House, to be repaid as [ ]
money shall be realized from the Sale
of Pews, Ds: 2966.11ll being amo’t advanced
Treasurer per rects:
Farm in North Parish of Andover,
House, Barn &c., & about Six Acres &
one half of Land.
2500.00
Ten Shares in Sundry Tracts of Land
for particulars see page 11
1000.00
Dolls
39050.00
His personal estate consisted of an enormous amount of trade goods: 201 boxes of White Havana
Sugar, 166 of Brown Sugar, 4 casks of Clayed Sugar, 32 bags of Damaged Coffee, 2 Bales
Damaged Piece Goods, 953 Bags Calcutta Sugar, a further 399 Bags of Calcutta Sugar, 311
�Bargs of [Race] Ginger, 10 Bags of Refuse Ginger, 347 Bags of Pepper, 12443 Gunny Bags, 37
Casks Rice, 105 Casks New England Rum, 106 Casks & Barrels Clayed Sugar, 22 Barrels of
West Indian Coffee, 29 Casks Clayed Sugar, 10 Casks Brown Sugar, 60 Casks W.I. Coffee, 12
Pieces Ravens Duck, 5 Butts New England Rum, 214 Bales Calcutta Piece Goods, 50 Cords of
Wood, 154 Shooks & heading, 20 Rum Hogsheads, 22 Rum Barrels, 13 Half Rum Barrels, 4
barrels of mess beef, 1 of mess pork, 4 barrels of tar & pitch, a barrel of molasses.
For the appurtenances of his warehouse, he owned a large scale beam with a set of weights, 2
small scale beams, 2 four pound cannons with carriages, 2 one pound cannons with carriages, 23
water casks, a thermometer, a hydrometer, 2 tackle blocks, an old anchor, 150 feet of lumber, a
spy glass, empty barrels, 3 old muskets, old iron, a fish scale & sack screw, an old Camboose
table, and a lot of furniture and a lot of books in his “Compting Room.” He owned the Ship Mary
Ann, 240 20/95 tons ($8000.00), the Ship Hope, 105 tons ($4,500.00), and the Barque William
Gray, 190 33/95 tons ($7,000.00).
A rough attempt at determining the size of Norris’ messuage, from his probate, 1809
Appendix G: The Ships of James Charles King
Independence, 223-ton brig built in Salem in 1809, registered June 7, 1809, to King,
Timothy Wellman, Jr., Benjamin Ropes, and Samuel Upton of Salem, and John Saunders of
Danvers, with Nathaniel L. Ropes as master. 563
Harriet, 117-ton brig built in Weymouth in 1799. On July 29, 1811, registered to King,
Philip Chase, Abijah Chase, Thomas Whitteridge, and John Winn, with Mark Knowlton as
master. 564
563
Ship Registers, p. 91.
�Joanna, built as a schooner in Braintree in 1802, altered to a brig in 1811, registered
December 30, 1811 to King, Joseph J. Knapp, Thomas M. Woodbridge, Thomas Whitteridge,
Penn Townsend, William Silsbee, William Morrow, Jeremiah Briggs, William Manning, and
Benjamin Cox, Jr. Joseph Noble was the master. It was taken by the British and condemned in
England in 1812. 565
Prudent, 171-ton brigantine built in Danvers in 1810, Registered Feb. 15, 1812 to King,
Thorndike Deland, John Dutch, Jr., Samuel L. Page, Jerry L. Page, William Manning, Philip
Chase, Abijah Chase, with Samuel L. Page as the master. 566
Juno, 113-ton brigantine built in Weymouth in 1802, altered to 164 tons in 1807.
Registered April 4, 1812, to King, Joseph Baker, Philip Chase, Abijah Chase,of Salem and
Dennison Wallis of Danvers with William Mugford as master. 567
Montgomery, 166-ton brig built in Milton, 1812. Registered August 24, 1812 with a large
number of co-owners: King, Israel Williams, Henry Prince, Jr., Joseph Beadle, J & E Marston,
Joseph White, Jr., Stephen White, John Dodge, Henry Prince, Francis Boardman, Lynch Bott,
Thomas Dean, Henry Allen, Thorndike Proctor, David Putnam, Benjamin Upton, William
Manning, Joseph Winn, John Winn, Thomas Whitteridge, Thomas Butnam, William Morrow,
Isaac Needham, John Sinclair, Jr., Robert Brookhouse, Henry King, Benjamin Cox, Jr., William
Fabens, Samuel Leach, Jr., Joseph Perkins, Samuel Briggs, Jr., Joseph J. Knapp, George
Gregerson, Samuel Webb, Jr., Curtis Searl of Danvers. Holten J. Breed, Joseph Strout, and
Benjamin Upton were the masters of several successful privateering expeditions until it was
captured on May 5, 1813. 568 [See History of Essex County, I, p. 195, Maclay, History of Am.
Privateers, p. 470, Report of the Centennial Celebration of the Salem Marine Society, p. 112.]
Rising States, an 128-ton schooner built at Bluehill in 1805, registered January 9, 1813, to
King, Charles Saunders, Robert Wheatland, James Devereaux, James Cook, John Dodge,
William Manning, and William P. Richardson, withTimothy Ropes as master. 569
Dolphin, 69-ton schooner built in 1785 in Beverly, Registered October 23, 1813, to
Jeremiah L.Page and James C. King, with Joseph Lefavour as master. 570
Favorite, an 87-ton schooner built in Newbury in 1802. It was registered July 1, 1815, to
James C. King and Israel Williams, with Williams as master. 571
Cyrus, 105-ton schooner captured in the War of 1812, Registered July 17, 1815 to James
C. King, Joseph Howard, Robert Upton, of Salem, and James Brown of Danvers. Benjamin
Upton was the master. It was registered again May 15, 1817, to King, James Brown, Robert
Upton, James Brace, Jr., John Winn, John Andrew, Benjamin Russell, and Benjamin Fabens.
Benjamin Russell was also the master. 572
564
Ship Registers, pp. 79-80.
Ship Registers, p. 97.
566
Ship Registers, p. 151.
567
Ship Registers, p. 102.
568
Ship Registers, pp. 125-6.
569
Ship Registers, p. 157.
570
Ship Registers, p. 42.
571
Ship Registers, p. 60.
572
Ship Registers, p. 38.
565
�Washington, an 178-ton brigantine built in Somersworth, NH in 1800, registered
November 2, 1816 by King, Joseph J. Knapp, and William S. Gray, with Jonathan Skerry as
master. 573
Palladium, 341-ton ship built in Salem in 1816 and registered December 25, 1816, to
many merchants, including John C. King. 574
Roscious, 126-ton brig built in Wells, Maine in 1811, registered April 7, 1817 to King
and Emery Johnson, with Johnson as master. 575
Levant, 232-ton brig captured in the War of 1812, registered April 25, 1817, to James C.
King and Israel Williams, with Williams as master. 576
Argus, 125-ton brig, built in Barnstable in 1800, registered Dec. 23, 1817 to James C.
King and William V. Gray, with Jonathan Skerry as master. They were the last in a long line of
Salem owners before being sold to Portsmouth, NH, in December 1818. 577
Deeds:
1972 Deed (Koli Realty Trust to Jon-Heath Realty Trust):
573
Ship Registers, p. 196.
Ship Registers, p. 139.
575
Ship Registers, p. 160.
576
Ship Registers, p. 106.
577
Ship Registers in the District of Salem and Beverly, 1789-1900. p. 13.
574
��1971 Trustation
��1971 Deed (Weynor to Kontinos):
��1969 Deed (Water Street Trust to Weynor):
��1962 Deed (Seacoast Realty Co. to Water St. Trust):
��1961 Transfer (Salem Realty Co. to Seacoast Realty Co.):
��1961 Foreclosure:
��1959 Deed (Salem Realty Co. to T. Albert Marcoux):
��1946 Deed (Naumkeag Insurance Co. to Salem Realty Co.):
��1946 (Mortagage: Naumkeag Insurance to Danvers Savings Bank):
��1946 Mortgage Discharges:
��1946 Deed (Kaplan to Naumkeag Insurance):
��1946 Agreement with Naumkeag Insurance Agency
��September 1923 Deed (Searle to Kaplan):
���February 1923 Deed (Wardwell to Searle):
���August 1889 Deed:
���March 1889 Deed:
����1885 Deeds:
����1831 Deed (Norris, Whipple, and King to Emmerton):
������1800 Deed Crowninshield to King
���1796 Deed Lee to Crowninshield
��1794 Deed Derby to Lee
���1778 Deed Pynchon to Derby
���1755 Elizabeth Gray Parcel
����1762 Deed:
���1762 Land Sale to Samuel Gardner:
��
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Summer Street
Historic Salem, Inc. House History
A resource made available by Historic Salem, Inc. detailing the history of Salem's houses.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
11 Summer Street, Salem, MA, 01970
Subject
The topic of the resource
House History
Description
An account of the resource
Built 1762
By William Pynchon, Gentleman, and Catherine Sewall Pynchon
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Historic Salem Inc.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Historic Salem Inc. house histories
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Historic Salem Inc.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
Built in 1762
House history completed in 2023
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Moffat
Language
A language of the resource
English
11 Summer Street
1762
2023
gentleman
Massachusetts
Pynchon
Salem
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/28828/archive/files/554b4ae328629e1d7d17246cc6e07d83.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=Ht7kk2w7dYv4l2bPTZu7wD099VQJ2eY4d-oAyk2FKMVhl5TzF7W-2RV3Z1zC9ddk-AddmmmMjHpFE%7EOdxA-VdLbMP9tVkHvd9-PPLzL9QQGtncIAsJMNee0zRTq-VwwKqeL01gggkrShsn8jo-bpKCafowApyIIqiDGJ27Qwdl9WMQeYfmmuXPBAMKtRpxHq%7EFhiUjGrWRKNOd-4u5079olJ7qMug%7ERzC-b3YmNLgEA-fhUsUOH57wU0jLzdo9RBzqTCljP9hA6PzdgcFGs%7Eo-GA%7EdUf4lOG5TGTKvtSv5%7EmiXQ%7Ez-gn8oMxqjhWuyynmWI2-PUkGMW%7En1zCoCfvPA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
e4876cc36c8b5c776e8d1a6eb1896b6a
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Broad Street
Historic Salem, Inc. House History
A resource made available by Historic Salem, Inc. detailing the history of Salem's houses.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
2 Broad Street, Salem, Massachusetts, 01970
Subject
The topic of the resource
House history
Description
An account of the resource
Built for Capt. Thomas Eden, Shipmaster as a Warehouse c. 1762 Converted to a residence in 1834 for Benjamin Cox, Merchant
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Historic Salem, Inc.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Historic Salem, Inc. house histories
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Historic Salem, Inc., Salem Historical Society
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
circa 1762, 2004
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Robert Booth
Language
A language of the resource
English
1762
1834
2
Albert
Benjamin
Benjamin Cox
Broad
Browne
Captain
Cox
Eden
Georgian
Shipwright
Thomas
wood
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/28828/archive/files/14b9890849effaf9d9dadfb7aecf1509.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=ePG2mHf%7EjhD6rN%7EKRt33GAClzojs0qOmEBq0qDer1ym7910EGrwdLWY2fNNTMFdmSmo%7EVb-sptG9641qGd7USTPrGzA1QXX3oc69scSGpKZY0xfC6E7CssjWusJSIhCxPidUvXGGuCoKh2WIG0KuDVusUi7pEFFSyQfwIH7K1lyJ2Ed2H-A-viQch3I-%7E36enJRYFn-BgvU0ANN3396rioW%7EymCM7p93nXEyWPj9me%7EkOVOCRWYhgvF7ZWy-oFo7HAqAtAOOsCYrjyVowdSK24nhcBjfvQ61PGD8-TzE8LEsv7dG25ArQEOSZ7dCGUwCkMpfujh4jVHtWTcrJWwUeA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
da26b59d92890bd0b24d1dbf7643db5c
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lafayette Street
Historic Salem, Inc. House History
A resource made available by Historic Salem, Inc. detailing the history of Salem's houses.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
416 Lafayette Street, Salem, Massachusetts 01970
Subject
The topic of the resource
House history
Description
An account of the resource
Built for Dixey Morgan, farmer 1762
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Historic Salem, Inc.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Historic Salem, Inc. house histories
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Historic Salem, Inc., Salem Historical Society
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1762, 1968
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Dee
Language
A language of the resource
English
1762
1968
416
Dee
Dixey
Farmer
Lafayette
Massachusetts
Morgan
Salem
Street
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/28828/archive/files/474198a14fd1027910d0f3c9f5f7ef1e.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=qcJqsz0Q-jXMcP2D9S0LlsGqseEeKVEJku2wYz890YuAttLw6wBC5gJGp07ymcC1Ep7679d3ug9yjafu4d4cJUw6aUXarRCzqEY5wYnZjOM-D7jrcB-IYZQF%7EaiuZnvN9zTFW5nTZivrki4hfv4RWTCu-AiF53IeOZtLGuWNCj85PzwV%7ElmYCjeTE26z%7E2gfjOqSoHp%7EksRi9ZTshY4mlWT7%7EU-2LLx1BYn0PiJw5tTObysuHlLaNNl6auY1omawzqRE-FWeraRky8Y6613EJZf1Btxu8pB2PEVI8ZfeUexS6VqTpClgJUPCbGaavP8263lSDrGnT1%7Eqils-GoJLHg__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
34df0c00e35422d688dab891d30a8eab
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Orne Street
Historic Salem, Inc. House History
A resource made available by Historic Salem, Inc. detailing the history of Salem's houses.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
91 Orne Street, Salem, Massachusetts 01970
Subject
The topic of the resource
House history
Description
An account of the resource
Built for Benjamin Peters, Fisherman & Coaster 1762 (formerly 30 North Street)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Historic Salem, Inc.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Historic Salem, Inc. house histories
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Historic Salem, Inc., Salem Historical Society
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1762, 2003
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Robert Booth
Language
A language of the resource
English
1762
2003
30
91
Benjamin
History
House
Massachusetts
North
Orne
Peters
Salem
Street