The finely wooded slope, recently purchased of Mr. John Galbraith by Mr. Geo. A. Barnard, was owned previously by Mr. Frederic Bray, who bought an orchard "so called" about six acres in March, 1850, of James Manning of Rockport. It came to him from John Manning, who bought in 1841 of John B. Brown, Joseph Kinsman and others, . . 2 and these I presume were the heirs of Thomas Burnham, in whose family the title had resided for generations. The fine open fields beyond the old orchard were included in the ancient Simon Tompson property, and when that estate was divided, they fell to William Baker, who had married Sarah Fitts, daughter of Abraham Fitts and granddaugther of Tompson.3 Baker enlarged his holding April 1, 1697, by the purchase of a small lot, measuring one and a quarter acres, of Jonathan Wade, and it is stated in the deed that it was on the northeast side of the highway that separated it from other land of Wade.4 Baker sold to Robert Fitts in 1714 "that island of upland and meadow, which I bought of Mr. Thos. Wade . . . about one acre," also "one half acre out of ye ten acres lying on the side of said Island, always reserving a highway sufficient for carting through said Island and half acre."5 On Nov. 22, 1731,6 Robert Fitts sold to Abraham Fitts, his half part of 56 acres," in which is included all the land which I and my said brother Abraham, bought of our uncle Baker," and the land which came "partly by inheritance from father Abraham, and partly from Wm. Baker." It is specified in this deed that the sale included "my dwelling house and barn in said premises." Fitts sold this house and barn with three-quarters of an acre to Jacob Boardman in 1734,7 and in 1747, Boardman sold to Richard Manning, gunsmith.8 No mention is made of the house and it may have disappeared. But the location of this ancient dwelling is undoubtedly preserved by the remembered location of an old cellar, near the road, and a little way from the barred gateway, which used to be known as the "old cellar bars." The house was built evidently by Robert Fitts, a little later than 1714. The heirs of Wm. Baker, John Waite, John Baker and others, sold their interest in an adjoining nine-acre field to Joseph Abbe in 1744. Abbe sold to John Appleton in 1748,2 who also acquired an adjoining tract of upland and marsh, bordering on Laborin-vain Creek, in 1753,3 from Rev. Nathaniel Rogers. This property had passed from father to son, from the first minister of the name, and had been in the Rogers family for more than a century. At Mr. Appleton's death, he bequeathed to his son William, "all the land I bought of Nathaniel Rogers and Joseph Ashby,"4 1793.5 When Wm. Appleton's estate was divided, the Abbe and Rogers lot fell to his daughter Mary Bowditch, 1809.6 Wm. A. Bowditch and others, heirs of their mother, Mary Bowditch, sold "Abbey's lot" to Joseph Kinsman in 1834,7 and his grandson, Gustavus Kinsman, has recently sold to Mr. Geo. A. Barnard. These prosaic facts may well be supplemented by Celia Thaxter's well-known poem, totally unhistoric, but a very pleasing idyll, devised to explain the name. In Ipswich town, not far from the sea, Is an old, old legend known to all. It was a sailor who won the heart Of an Indian maiden, lithe and young; And she saw him over the sea depart, For he cried, as he kissed her wet eyes dry, 66 I'll come back, sweet-heart; keep your faith!" So this poor dusk Ariadne kept Her watch from the hill-top rugged and steep; While she studied the changing face of the deep, Fastening her eyes on every speck That crossed the ocean within her ken; 1 Essex Co. Deeds, 89: 129. 2 Essex Co. Deeds, 93: 36. Essex Co. Deeds, 98: 151. 4 Error for Abbe. Probate Records, 363: 110. Probate Records, 376: 101; 378: 181. Essex Co. Deeds, 280: 32. The Isles of Shoals, loomed lonely and dim, The low rock heap of Boone Island lay. * Oh, but the weary, merciless days, With the sun above, with the sea afar, Like a slender statue carved of stone, She sat, with hardly motion or breath, He never came back! Yet, faithful still, She watched from the hill-top her life away, BATH SPRING. Mention is made in the deed of Bowditch to Kinsman in 1834 of the Bath Spring. This is still seen by the roadside, though I have been told by an old resident that in early days it bubbled up near the center of the present highway, and that it was led by a pipe to its present location. The name Bath Spring is interesting as connecting it with other well-known springs or wells. The first thus specified is mentioned in a deed by Matthias Button to Thomas Wells in 1644, of twelve acres upland and meadow, which alludes to Goodman Hovey's Island and "the spring well that is in" this Island.1 A later deed of the "Startford Farm and Hovey's Island or Bath Island," from Beamsley Perkins to Thomas Choate, makes exception of the Bath and house thereon, situate in said Bath Island with liberty to re-edify the house over the bath or build another of same dimensions, which is reserved." July, 1719.2 A well, now filled to the curb, may still be found there, but as no evidence of any dwelling is found, it perplexes us to know why such value should have attached to the water of this spring or well, that it was housed in, and reserved by the owner, when he sold all the adjoining land. A second spring, highly valued as a bath, is still 1 Ipswich Deeds, 1: 435. 2 Essex Co. Deeds, 37: 28. covered by the brick building on Spring Street, and is used by the County for a source of water supply for the House of Correction. In 1772, Dr. Berry petitioned the town in regard to it as follows: "A petition of Doctor Thomas Berry, shewing as it has been found by Experience that a cold bath is of great service to mankind, and there being a suitable and convenient place to erect one at the upper end of the spring in Hogg Lane so called, nigh the house of John Grow, praying that the town would please to make a grant to him and his heirs of twenty feet of ground, below the bank at the foot of the upper spring, to erect an edifice for the use aforesaid, the Town reserving to themselves the whole benefit of the Lower great Spring which is no ways to be diverted." This was granted, and the bath house was probably erected, but whether for his family alone or for public use is not declared. I incline to believe that the name Bath Spring, still attaching to this spot, indicates that it may have been enclosed in a similar structure for this purpose, and it may have been of special value to Robert Fitts and the other dwellers in the house that once stood near it. GIDDINGS-BURNHAM. Retracing our steps to the dwellings and farms on the southern side of our old highway, we consider first of all the ancient dwelling, once picturesque with great chimney stack and projecting second story, now through remodelling, prosaic and commonplace in outward appearance. It used to be said that John Winthrop owned the land and built the house, but records and deeds are stubborn witnesses, and their testimony is invariably against this tradition. The Town Record, under the year 1635, informs us that a grant had been made to George Giddings of "one hundred acres of Land at Chebocky" (now the town of Essex), and "likewise about sixteen acres of meaddow and upland, havinge the highway to Cheboky on the north-east," and a house lot as well on the south side of the river. This very ambiguous location becomes more definite when we find in the deed of sale2 from Giddings to Thomas Burnam of "my dwelling house wherein said Thomas now dwelleth and twelve acres of land, bounded by the land of Mr. Jonathan Wade toward the North, and land of Mr. Nathaniel Rogers toward the West and South, the Highway leading to Chebacco, East.” June 3, 1667. 1 Town Records. 2 Essex Deeds, 1: 217. The Rogers land may be identified with the meadow on the turn of the road, between the Ordway property and the land about the old house, which continued in that family for several generations. The Burnham title continued through generations of sons bearing the good old names of Thomas, Isaac, Aaron, Josiah, and one of finer parts, Doctor Joshua, down to the year when Mrs. Sally, widow of the last Josiah, sold it to the present owner. It would appear from the deed that Burnham was living on this spot at the time, and it might be thought possible that the present well-preserved building is the original house. But the style of the house in its original form and its general appearance, led Dr. Lyon of Hartford, an expert in olden architecture, to locate it about the beginning of the next century. George Giddings, it is believed, came over the ocean in the ship Planter, and an old shipping document' is of interest. 2 April, 1635. Theis underwritten are to be transported to New England, imbarqued in the Planter, Nicholas Frarice, Mr bound thither, the parties have brought certificates from the Minister of St. Albans in Hertfordshire, and attestacon from the Justices of peace according to the Lord's order. George Giddins, husbandman, 25 years. Jane Giddins, Thomas Carter 25 20 years. Camere, stepd of a kink Michael Willinson 30 Servants of George Giddins. Elizabeth Morrison 12 People of the poorer sort frequently bound themselves to service in the families of well-to-do emigrants, and thus secured free transportation to the New World. Michael Williamson, whom we may identify with Michael Willinson, above, accompanied Mr. Giddings to this town, and received a grant of land on Heart break, and another on Sagamore Hill. We have remarked on the early residence of the Fullers on the other side of the road. On the occasion of a dispute as to the bounds of the highway, old William Fuller was summoned as a witness. His testimony is explicit, and suggestive of neighborhood bitternesses of the period. of "Dec. 13, 1681. William Fuller, seventy-three years of age Hampton, testified that about forty-one years ago, the highway to 1 From "Our Early Emigrant Ancestors," edited by John C. Holten quoted in "The Giddings Family." |