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Text
198 North Street
Built for
Henry Chew
A free man of color
Mariner
c. 1834
Research & Writing Provided by
Amy E. Kellett
October 2018
Historic Salem, Inc.
9 North Street, Salem, MA 01970
978.745.0799 | HistoricSalem.org
© 2018
�Historic Salem, Inc.
9 North Street | Salem, Mass.
www.historicsalem.org
House History Report for
198 North Street
c.1967 Photograph — 198 North Street
Report completed by
Amy E. Kellett
October 2018
www.amykellett.com
1
�198 North Street
Built for
Henry Chew
A free man of color
Mariner
c.1834
1867-1925 | Part of the Cressey Estate
1949-1983 | Property of Salem Housing
Authority — Veteran’s Housing
2
�1833 — Henry Chew, mariner, purchases land from the Town of Salem
Amidst the rapidly expanding neighborhoods of the prosperous seaport town of Salem, Massachusetts a
mariner named Henry Chew purchased a plot of land in ‘Northfields’ (what is now North Street) from the
Town of Salem for one-hundred dollars on the 2nd of August, 1833. As there is no buildings noted on the
deed as being part of the property, it can be assumed that shortly after the land purchase, the Greek
Revival dwelling house was built on the land where it stands to this day.
2nd August 1833 — Northfields Property sold from Town of Salem to Henry Chew
Essex County Registry of Deeds
Book 273 | Page 15
This home remains one of the best examples of vernacular Greek Revival architecture in the City of
Salem, and has remained largely unchanged on its exterior through the decades of history that have
passed by its front door. Indeed, this house is one that is passed by millions of cars every year, as North
Street is one of the main thoroughfares in and out of the ‘Witch City’, and its unassuming appearance
belies its fascinating and extensive history. The architectural history standard text, A Field Guide to
American Houses, by Virginia & Lee McAlester notes the historical significance of Greek Revival
architecture, which is often associated with government buildings and the like, but the vernacular
examples hearken to the same historic influences:
Greek revival was the dominant style of American domestic
architecture during the interval from about 1830 to 1850 […] during
which its popularity led it to be called the National Style. [It]
especially flourished in those regions that were being rapidly
settled in the decades of the 1830s, ‘40s, and ‘50s.
3
�… archaeological investigation in the early 19th century emphasized
Greece as the Mother of Rome which, in turn, shifted interest to
Grecian models. Two additional factors enhanced Greek influence
in this country. Greece’s involvement in a war for independence
(1821-30) aroused much sympathy in the newly independent United
States; at the same time, the war of 1812 diminished American
affection for British influence, including the still dominant Adam
style in domestic architecture.
An important and enduring legacy of the Greek Revival to American
domestic architecture is the front-gabled house. Popularized during
the ascendance of the Greek Revival style in the early 19th century,
this became the predominant form for detached urban houses in cities
of the Northeast…1
The purchase of this property and the subsequent building is especially significant as the home’s builder,
Henry Chew, listed in the 1833 City Directory as a mariner living on North Street, was a free black man.
Records indicate that he lived at the Greek Revival home on North Street for a number of years with his
family, including his wife Venus (married in 1801) and several children. Although the Chew family were of
a higher social status than many of their enslaved counterparts in the South, life was not easy for them, as
the couple buried several children in the time that they lived at the home on North Street, including a son
born the year that the home was built. Just fourteen months later the little boy died of an unnamed illness
in 1834. Prior to the family’s residence on North Street, they had also buried a daughter, Hannah, who
had died in 1822 from consumption, what is today called tuberculosis, at only eight years old.
Unfortunately, not much more is known about the Chew family, as records available from the time are
scarce. As a free black family, they were likely involved in the Abolitionist movement that had taken hold
in the greater Boston and North Shore region. Furthermore, this property may have been involved in the
Underground Railroad, as there is evidence that escaped slaves on the Railroad went through Essex
County, including Salem, on their route North to freedom. Maybe it is appropriate to note the
coincidence here — that Henry Chew and his family purchased land and built their home along a
farmland path that would eventually be named ‘North Street’ before the house was sold to the next
generation of owner in 1842.
1 McAlester, Virginia & Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses, Romantic Houses, Greek Revival. Pages 179-84
4
�1842 Salem City Directory — Henry Chew, Mariner, North [Street]
Following the alphabetical list of names of Salem’s white residents, the City Directory included a
separate section entitled “People of Color” — the 1842 publication of the directory notes Henry Chew as
living on North Street, and lists the places of work for the other Chew family members.
5
�1842 — Elisha Odlin purchases property from Henry Chew
According to the records found through the Essex County Registry of Deeds, Elisha Odlin purchased the
property on North Street from Henry Chew, including “a dwelling house and out buildings thereon” for
$100, plus interest. The deed also importantly notes about the North Street property, as “being the same
I (Henry Chew) purchased of the City or Town of Salem,” which refers to the earlier cited 1833 deed.
26th August 1842 —North Street Property sold from Henry Chew to Elisha Odlin
Essex County Registry of Deeds
Book 333 | Page 65
Elisha Odlin’s occupation is noted as ‘trader’ on the deed (above), which likely refers to the maritime
trade that supported Salem’s booming economy. Although there are several generations of men named
‘Elisha Odlin’ throughout the decades of the 18th and 19th centuries in Salem, the generation that aligns
with this deed suggests it was owned by Elisha Odlin, Jr. son of Samuel Odlin. Unfortunately, just five
years after Elisha Odlin Jr.’s purchase of the property on North Street, he died from consumption at only
twenty-seven years of age on November 19, 1848. Subsequently, his estate was divided among multiple
owners, until the property was procured by Pierce L. W. Gardner, and shortly thereafter sold to Caleb A.
Smith in 1855.
6
�1874 Salem City Atlas
(Top) North Salem was a rapidly-developing neighborhood from the 1830s through the early 20th
century, and these Atlas images show the great swaths of land owned by Wm A. Creesy, as well as other
prominent Salem families. The arrow indicates the property that is now 198 North Street.
(Bottom) Close-up view of the 1874 Salem City atlas that notes 148 and 146 North Street as being the
property of William A. Creesy, and contemporaneous Federal censuses city directories list David
Sinclair, carpenter, as the resident of 148 North Street.
7
�1855 — North Street property becomes part of the Estate of Caleb A. Smith
The Essex County Registry of Deeds records records multiple purchases of property by Caleb Smith in
the mid-18th century, including a “parcel of land with the buildings thereon, situated on North Street in
Salem” described as “the premises to me (Caleb A. Smith) conveyed by the heirs of Elisha Odlin, by
various deeds on record.” Mr. Smith also appears on Historic Salem, Inc. historic house report records
as being the builder in 1861 of what is now 3-5 Ridgeway Street, less than a tenth of a mile from the North
Street property. For the next twelve years the Smith family would own the property and dwelling house
across the street from their own home on North Street, during which time the home would likely have
been used as a residence for the Smith family staff, or as an income property that they could rent out.
14th March 1867 — North Street Property sold from Caleb A. Smith to Wm. A. Creesy
Essex County Registry of Deeds
Book 719 | Page 242
8
�1867 — Smith sells Estate, including North Street property, to William A. & Emily F. Creesy
Documentation shows that William A. Creesy, along with his wife Emily, purchased the estate from
Caleb A. Smith in 1867. Creesy had made his fortune, along with so many others, in Salem’s booming
maritime trade industry. According to the text entitled ‘Old Marblehead Sea Captains and Ships in
Which they Sailed” published by the Marblehead Historical Society in 1916, William Andrew Cressy
(whose name spelling seems to have varied depending on who recorded the documentation) was the
brother of Josiah P. Cressy, and was the captain for a number of Salem’s ships, including the Oneida,
Mary Whittredge, and Cohota.
1874 Salem City Directory
Captain William A. Creesy and his son and namesake, William A. Creesy Jr. are both noted as living at 145
North Street — their former home is now 3-5 Ridgeway Street, and the property at 198 North Street
belonged to part of the same Creesy Estate.
The 1867 Deed, dated March 14th, notes and references the premises as being the same that were
purchased by Smith in 1855 from Pierce L. W. Gardner:
…the real estate in said Salem which is bounded commencing at the
Southwest corner and running Northwesterly by North Street about one
hundred and forty eight feet to the land of Dearborn about four hundred
and twenty feet to land of Cross, then turning and running Southerly by
land of Cross about one hundred and thirty feet to the land of Newhall,
then turning and running Southwesterly by said Newhall’s land to North
Street and the said point begun at. […] Being the same premises conveyed
to Caleb A. Smith by Pierce L. W. Gardner by deed dated May 5, 1855,
recorded in the Registry of Deeds for Essex County in Book 513 Leaf 13.
9
�1886-1889 Massachusetts State and Federal Naturalization Records
Petition for Naturalization — David Sinclair
Volume 3 | No. 4692-ixv3
10
�Upon William A. Creesy’s passing in 1874, the Creesy Estate became the property of Mrs. Emily F.
Cressey (whose name spelling yet again changed on subsequent documentation). This is also around the
same time frame that the earliest map and atlas images appear showing the property at what is now 198
North Street. By 1872 a carpenter named David E. Sinclair and his family are listed in the City Directories
as living at 148 North Street (now 198).
1872 Salem City Map
This clip from an 1872 publication that included a map of Salem, Massachusetts Ward 6 area of North
Salem, while the arrow indicates the North Street property that is the subject of this report.
The larger historic context is important to note before recording the Sinclair’s history at 198 North
Street: as noted earlier, the neighborhood of North Salem was rapidly becoming more densely populated
throughout the 19th century, including a major renovation completed by the city around 1871 near what is
now the North Street Bridge (adjacent to the MBTA Commuter Rail station). As a result, land parcels
were subdivided as well as the numbering of the dwelling houses throughout the neighborhood,
including on North Street, where in the time period between 1870 and 1880 the address for the North
Street house that is the subject of this report changed from 148 to 198 North Street. For this reason,
11
�earlier historic records of this property proposed a feasible theory that the building had been moved from
another parcel of land to its current current location, but further research confirms that the dwelling
house at 198 North Street has been on its current foundation since the area was called ‘Northfields’ and
the path that now bears the name North Street was little more than a passageway for merchants, goods,
and travelers to and from Danvers.
1870-c.1887 — David E. Sinclair & Family live at North Street property dwelling house
Prior to living at the home that would become 198 North Street for nearly two decades, David Sinclair,
housewright, and his family lived at a number of addresses throughout Salem. Naturalization records
note David Sinclair’s immigration to Salem on the 9th of November, 1849. He and his young wife
Margaret are listed on the 1850 Federal Census as living in Ward 1 along with Catherine Humber, Ann
Garret, Rebecca Phillips, and James A. Humber. The couple soon had a family of their own, and by 1853
are listed as living at 14 Turner Street (in Ward I of Salem, Mass.), and then at 15 Mall Street by 1855.
The 1860 US Federal Census provides more detail about the Sinclair family ten years after the couple
first appeared on Federal records. The family is listed as living in Ward 3, confirmed by the 1861 Salem
City Directory which notes the family’s address as 57 Broad Street. In 1860 the family included Mr. David
Sinclair, a 35 year-old carpenter, his wife Margaret, now 27 years old attended to the house and the
children: David A., age 9; Charles H., age 6, and 2-year-old Frank.
The family of five did not remain in the Broad Street neighborhood of Ward 3 very long, however, as the
American Civil War called Mr. Sinclair to join the Union Army, the family moved once again, this time to
15 Essex Street in Salem’s Derby Street neighborhood, during the absence of David. Mr. Sinclair’s
naturalization records note his voluntary enlistment into the Army of the United States on October 3rd,
1861 until he was honorably discharged in January of 1866. This is confirmed through Salem City
directories that list David Sinclair as serving with Company B of the 24th Army Regiment. Upon the
ending of the war, David Sinclair returned to his family at 15 Essex Street where they remained until 1870,
when the US Federal Census lists the Sinclair family as living in the 6th Ward of the City: North Salem.
12
�By the 1870 recording of the US Federal Census, the Sinclair family had changed in the preceding
decade; the two oldest Sinclair boys, David and Charles Sinclair, now 19 and 16 years old, no longer are
listed as living with the family (for reasons yet discovered). David Sinclair, now 44 years old, is again
listed as a carpenter, his wife Margaret, now 37, continued to maintain the family home and raise the
younger Sinclair children: Joseph F. Sinclair, 12 (most likely the ‘F’ meaning ‘Frank’ or ‘Francis’ — the
youngest Sinclair child from the 1860 Census), a 3-year-old daughter, Annie F. Sinclair, and 7-month-old
Stephen H. Sinclair. In all, David and Margaret Sinclair would raise four boys and one girl during their
lives and time lived at 198 North Street.
1870 US Federal Census — Salem, Mass. — Ward 6
The Sinclair family, including David Sinclair with his occupation listed as ‘carpenter, Margaret E.
Sinclair as keeping house, and their 3 children, Joseph (12), Annie (3), and Stephen (7 months).
Salem City Directories during the Sinclair tenure at the North Street property show the change in
address for the home from 148 to 198 North Street between 1876 and 1878, just a few years after the
family’s first appearance at the address. Throughout their time at the residence David Sinclair is listed as
a carpenter by trade through the 1886 City Directory, after which he and his family moved to 29 Osborne
Street by 1888.
13
�1888-1925 — 198 North Street remains part of the Cressey Estate while rented by several tenants
While the estate was owned and managed by the widow of William Creesy, Emily F. Cressey, the
property at 198 North Street was home to several tenants, whose names and occupations are traceable
though the Salem City Directories:
1888-c1896 : John E. Scanlan — Morocco Dresser
“Morocco Dresser” is a specialization in leather finishing; specifically, ‘morocco’ referred to a
type of goat skin leather that is much lighter than other 19th and 20th century finished leathers,
and a ‘dresser’ tanned the leather. This type of leather work was most often used in shoe leather
applications, so Mr. Scanlan likely worked with of one of the many shoe factories in Salem and
the greater North Shore region of Boston.
1897 : Walter A. Tarr — Shoe Trimmer
1899 : Ernest A. Oliver — Electrician
1901 : George M. Sinclair — Clerk
1903-1904 : Arthur W. Stevens — Shoemaker
1905-1910 : Frank J. Verry — Brakeman for the Boston & Maine Railroad
1911-1912 : Oliver Collette — Driver
1913 : Otis H. Pickard — Plumber
1914 : Albert Dyer — Teamster
In the early 20th century, ‘teamster’ referred to a person whose occupation it was to manage and
be in charge of a team of horses, which could be used for anything from transportation to fire
brigades.
1915 : Albert Nolet — Carpenter
1916-1920 — Charles W. Chapman — Machinist
(& Martha A. Chapman)
1921-1922 — John F. Farnsworth — Bricklayer
(& Sadie J. Farnsworth)
1924-1926 — William A Walsh — Leatherworker
(& Blanche Walsh)
14
�1925 — The Heirs of Emily F. Cressy sell the property at 198 North Street to Arthur W. & Bessie M.
Dorman
The property at 198 North Street remained the property of the Cressy Family until 1925, at which time
the Essex County Registry of Deeds records indicate the land belonging to the Estate of Emily F. Cressey
on the even-numbered side of North Street was sold to Arthur W. & Bessie M. Doorman. Importantly,
this deed references an official survey plan recorded by Civil Engineer Thomas A. Appleton of the
property entitled “Land of Estate of Emily F. Cressy, Salem, Mass.” which clearly depicts the properties
at both 198 and 196 North Street.
30th March 1925 — 198 North Street sold from Cressy Estate to Arthur W. & Bessie M. Dorman
Essex County Registry of Deeds
Book 2634 | Page 201
15
�After being in the Cressy family for nearly six
decades since 1867, Arthur & Bessie Dorman
purchased the property at 198 North Street and
maintained its ownership until 1949. The City
Directories give insight to the tenants of the Greek
Revival house at 198 North Street:
January 1925
Land of Emily F. Cressy — Salem, Mass.
Book of Plans 42, Plan No. 30b
With deed Josiah P. Cressy to Arthur W. Dorman
et ux. Rec.B.2634 P.201
1929 - 1935 — Charles E. Millner —Leatherworker
(& Lillian B. Millner)
1936-1939 — Robert J. Preston — Salesman
(& Rose M. Preston)
1940-1949 — John J. O’Shea — Post Office Clerk
(& Mary A. O’Shea)
16
�1949 — Salem Housing Authority issues an ‘Order of Taking’ for 198 North Street
Following the second World War, the nation’s burgeoning population, known as the ‘Baby Boom’
created a need for veteran’s housing throughout the country, including in Salem, Massachusetts. As a
result, the property that had been purchased by Arthur and Bessie Dorman in 1925 was the subject of an
official ‘Order of Taking’ by the Salem Housing Authority, by order of an official State-Aided Housing
Project. Two documents record this transaction: the Essex County Registry of Deeds Book 3662 Page
213, and the Plan of Land for the ‘State-Aided Housing Project, Salem #200-1’, which included the
dwelling houses at 198 and 196 North Street, as well as two additional parcels of land:
17
�1949-1983 — 198 North Street owned by the Salem Housing Authority
Following the government seizure of the property at 198 North Street, the property is listed as ‘Vacant’ in
the 1950 Salem City Directory. Available City Directories only give insight to tenants through 1963; the
recorded residents of 198 North Street through the early 1960s create a more detailed look into this
property’s extensive history:
1951-1953 — Ernest P. Snow — Leatherworker
(& Anna P. Snow)
1954-1962 — Emerson E. Pollock — Masonic Temple Superintendent
(& Lucy C. Pollock)
1964— Leo W. Dragon —- Leatherworker at A. C. Lawrence
The final document of this report correlates to the 1983 Deed regarding the property at 198 North Street,
by which time the property had been in the ownership and management of a trustee of Allyn Realty Trust.
Recorded in October of 1983, the deed and plan record the sale of the property from being managed as
State-Aided housing project to a private home, which it remains to this day.
18
�
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
North 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
198 North Street, Salem, MA 01970
Subject
The topic of the resource
House history
Description
An account of the resource
Built for
Henry Chew
A free man of color
Mariner
c. 1834
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
c. 1834, 2018
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Amy E. Kellett
Language
A language of the resource
English
1834
198
2018
Chew
circa
Henry
History
House
Massachusetts
North
Salem
Street