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172 Federal Street
Built circa 1849 for George Nichols, Tanner
History of the property:
172 Federal Street was built at the peak of the Greek Revival
era of American architecture in the 1840s by Salem tanner George
Nichols for his son Nathan. The elder Nichols built the house and
resided in it briefly before conveying it to Nathan Nichols, a
clerk, who owned and occupied the property for the next fifteen
years.
The western end of the present-day Federal Street, which was
laid out across private lands after 1769 and referred to as the
"new street" on or near the North River until its formal
designation as "Federal Street" in 1794, was owned primarily by the
Buffum family, who had purchased it from the original land grant
recipient Robert Moulton in the later seventeenth century. Both
the Moulton and Buffum families were Quakers, and they located
their meeting house on the nearby "main street", or Essex Street.
The Buffum family retained, their property on Federal Street
until well into the nineteenth century, when it was divided into
house lots and sold to several grantees, including Thomas Reynolds,
a Salem laborer who purchased the lot on which the present-day 172
Federal Street now stands from Peace Buffum, a spinster, in 1847. 1
Reynolds purchased a lot of land bounded southerly by Federal
Street, westerly by land of Miss Buffum extending to the high water
mark of the North River, northerly by the river, and easterly by
land of Daniel Haskell, "together with all the flats belonging to
said lot". Less than a year later, he conveyed this lot to George
Nichols, Jr.,-a Salem tanner, who erected 172 Federal Street. 2
George Nichols did not transfer the deed to 172 Federal Street
to his son in his lifetime, but Nathan Nichols and his wife
Elizabeth took up exclusive residence in 1850 according to the
Salem Directories.
After his father's death and his subsequent
inheritance of the property, the younger Nichols obtained a
mortgage with which he expanded the original house in the early
1860s. The enlarged house was conveyed to Roderick A. MacKenzie,
Essex country (South) Registry of Deeds, Book 386, leaf
293; August 30, 1847.
1
2
E.C.R.D. Book 392, leaf 242; January 26, 1848
�I
a Salem tailor, in 1865. 3 The MacKenzie family resided at 172
Federal Street for five years, after which they conveyed the
property to Daniel Haskell, who owned an adjacent house as well as
the Daniel c. Haskell & company, Tanners and Curriers, on Mason
street. Haskell immediately conveyed 172 Federal Street to one of
his employees, James Donaldson.'
The Donaldson family owned and occupied 172 Federal Street for
over twenty-five years, and their ownership is illustrated on both
the 1876 and 1897 Atlases of Salem (attached).
In 1906 James
Donaldson conveyed the property to the Wesley Methodist Episcopal
Church, and it became the rectory and residence of its pastor, the
Reverend Thomas W. Fessenden. 5
Six years later, the Church
transferred the house and land to the four Cuffe sisters of Salem,
who promptly took up residence. 6
Alice, Nellie, and Sarah Cuffe were single "career women"; the
former two were clerks and the latter was a factory forewoman.
Their elder sister Katharine Cuffe is listed simply as a "boarder"
in the Salem Directories. They apparently experienced difficulties
maintaining their household, as they obtained several mortgage
loans and took in a succession of boarders during their term of
ownership of the property (1912-1946). Of course, the Depression
coincided with several of these difficult years.
In 1946 the
surviving Cuffe sister, Sarah, conveyed the property to a nephew,
John L. Cuffe, and his wife Marion. 7 Though the Cuffes' property
was reduced by the construction of the Sylvania plant along "West"
Bridge Street, 172 Federal Street remained in the family for nearly
forty years through the inheritance of their daughter, Marion
Andrews.
The latter sold the property to its present owners,
Kenneth and Joyce Wallace, in 1984.
Transfers of title:
Essex County Registry of Deeds, Book 386, leaf 293
Grantor: Peace Buffum of Salem, Singlewoman
Grantee: Thomas Reynolds of Salem, Laborer
Consideration: $600
Conveyance of: "a lot of land in said Salem and bounded thus:
southerly on Federal Street thirty-six feet and six inches,
3
E.C.R.D. Book 694, leaves 252-253; December 6, 1865
4
E.C.R.D. Book 810, leaves 205-207; December 2, 1870
5
E.C.R.D. Book 1837, pages 196-197; August 7, 1906
6
E.C.R.D. Book 2144, pages 444-447; May 1, 1912
7
E.C.R.D. Book 3441, pages 473-474; February 13, 1946
�Westerly by land conveyed by me Peace Buffum to Daniel Haskell
one hundred and two feet and seven inches more or less to high
water mark of North River, Northerly on the line of the high
water mark thirty-six feet and six inches, Easterly by a line
running Southerly to said Federal Street parallel to the
Eastern line of said Haskell's land and thirty-six feet and
six inches from the same, together with all the flats
belonging to said lot."
·
Date recorded: August 30, 1847
E.C.R.D. Book 392, leaf 242
Grantor: Thomas Reynolds of Salem, Laborer
Grantee: George Nichols, Jr. of Salem, Tanner
Consideration: $762
Conveyance of: the above lot
Date recorded: January 20, 1848
E.C.R.D. Book 694, leaf 252
Grantor: Nathan Nichols of Salem
Grantee: Roderick A. MacKenzie of Salem
Consideration: $5050
Conveyance of: the above lot, in addition to "the dwelling
house and other buildings now standing thereon."
Date recorded: December 6 ;· 1865
E.C.R.D. Book 810, ·leaves 205-207
Grantor: Daniel Haskell of Salem
Grantee: James Donaldson of Salem
Consideration: $6000
Conveyance of: "a lot of land situated in said Salem, bounded
Southerly on Federal Street thirty-six feet and six inches,
Westerly on land of said Haskell sixteen feet then Northerly
on land of said Haskell seventeen feet then Southerly on said
land four feet nine inches, then on a line coincident with the
western line of sixteen feet first described bounding westerly
on land of said Haskell sixty-nine feet seven inches more or
less to high water mark on North River: Northerly on the line
of said high water mark thirty-six feet six inches, Easterly
on a straight line running from the North River to Federal
Street and thirty-six feet six inches distant at each end from
the line of the land of said Haskell which is the western
boundary line of the above conveyed premises, together with
all the flats thereto belonging and extending into the North
River and the dwelling house and other buildings on said
conveyed premises. Being the same estate which was conveyed
this day to said Daniel Haskell by Roderick A. and Sarah A.
MacKenzie."
Date recorded: December 2, 1870
�E.C.R.D. Book 1837, pages 196-197
Grantor: James Donaldson of Salem
Grantee: the Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church, "a religious
society duly incorporated and having its home of worship in
said Salem"
Consideration: $1 and other considerations
Conveyance of: the above property, "with the exception of
the flats named in said deed which flats have since been
filled."
Date recorded: August 7, 1906
E.C.R.D. Book 2144, pages 445-446
Grantor: the Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church of Salem
Grantee: Nellie M. Cuffe, Sarah A. Cuffe, Alice M. Cuffe, and
Katharine J. Cuffe, all of Salem
Consideration: $1 and other valuable considerations
Conveyance of: the above property
Date recorded: May 1, 1912
E.C.R.D. Book 3441, pages 473-474
Grantor: Sarah A. Cuffe of Salem
Grantee: John L. Cuffe and Marion L. Cuffe of Salem
Consideration: paid
Conveyance of: the above property, "excepting therefrom and
reserving to myself a life tenancy in the said demised
premises during my natural life."
Date recorded: February 13, 1946
E.C.R.D. Book 7367, page 502
Grantor: Marion L. Andrews of Salem
Grantee: Kenneth s. Wallace of and Joyce E. Wallace of Salem
Consideration: paid
Conveyance of: 172 Federal Street
Date recorded: March 30, 1984
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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
Federal 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
172 Federal Street, Salem, Massachusetts 01970
Subject
The topic of the resource
House history
Description
An account of the resource
Built for George Nichols
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. 1849, 1996
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Donna Vinson
Language
A language of the resource
English
01970
172
1849
1996
Donna
Federal
George
Massachusetts
Nichols
Seger
Street
Vinson