The Annual Meeting of the Society was held on Dec. 2, 1901, at the House of the Society. The following officers were elected for the year ensuing: President.-T. Frank Waters. John Heard. Clerk.-John W. Goodhue. Directors.-Charles A. Sayward, John H. Cogswell, Edward Kavanagh. Corresponding Secretary.-John H. Cogswell. The following Committees were chosen : ON HISTORICAL TABLETS. Charles A. Sayward, SOCIAL COMMITTEE. Ralph W. Burnham, Mrs. John E. Tenney. ON MEMBERSHIP. John W. Nourse, Ralph W. Burnham, Mrs. Harriet E. Noyes, Mrs. Elizabeth M. Brown. The Reports of the Treasurer, Curator and President were read and ordered to be printed. REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE IPSWICH HISTORICAL SOCIETY. I take pleasure in reporting a year of gratifying prosperity, though not of phenomenal growth. Last year a special exhibit of Textiles was opened in July and continued until September. This was widely advertised and the number of visitors reached the highest figures thus far attained. The state of Miss Gray's health rendered it impossible for her to attempt anything of this nature this summer. It was deemed desirable as well to test the interest of the public in the House and its contents, without any special endeavor to bring it conspicuously into notice. Accordingly the House was opened only during the regular hours in the afternoon, and as Miss Gray felt unequal to the task of receiving visitors, Miss Alice M. Brown was engaged as care-taker and hostess. She performed her duties in excellent fashion, and we are sure that all visitors were received hospitably and entertained very intelligently during the eleven weeks she remained in charge. The total number of visitors for the year ending Dec. 1st, was 1008, considerably less than last year's record as would be supposed for the reasons just noted. Beside this, the summer season was not favorable. The visitor's book at the Essex Institute, Salem, and the diminished business of the professional guides in that city, indicate a marked falling off in the average number of visitors, and this is explained by the attractions of the Pan-American Fair at Buffalo, which led many to take their vacations in that quarter. But a goodly number found our House, and we may well be satisfied. The Report of the Curator, with tabulation of visitors, is appended to this report. The most distinguished visitors of the year were the senior Senator from Massachusetts, Hon. George F. Hoar and wife, who spent several hours in town by invitation of the Society. They were greatly interested in the House and in the work of the Society, and enjoyed as well a ride about our town and a visit to the home and place of burial of Dr. Manasseh Cutler in Hamilton. Mr. Halliday of Boston, an expert authority in old houses, has repeated his visit and made interesting photographs. His opinion, given very enthusiastically, is that "there is nothing in the country that can touch it." Mrs. Alice Morse Earle, the famous writer on Colonial themes, and her sister, Miss Morse, spent several hours here, and a considerable number of photographs of ancient pieces of furniture were carried away with them. Four numbers of Miss Esther Singleton's " Furniture of our Forefathers," have been published by Doubleday, Page & Co., of New York. In the third number of this series a full page was given to a photograph of our ancient Kitchen, with its unique furnishings, and another to the ancient mirror with inlaid olive-wood frame, presented by Mrs. Bomer. Drawings of chests, etc., in our possession, also found place, and eulogistic mention was made of the Kitchen as an architectural study. The New York Tribune, in its Illustrated supplement of July 28, 1901, reviewed the Singleton books, and honored us by selecting the picture of the Kitchen for full-size reproduction, the only illustration borrowed from the whole series. In September, Miss Alice A. Gray, the Curator of the House since it was opened to the public, resigned her office and removed her possessions. This was due chiefly to the impaired state of her health, and the loss of her efficient housekeeper and assistant, Miss Julia Gutberlett. We contemplated this event with dismay, for Miss Gray's collection of antique furniture, pictures and bric-a-brac, had made the parlor a very beautiful room, and her rare taste had been manifest in the arrangement of the whole house. Her wide acquaintance had brought many interesting visitors, and some munificent gifts, the most notable of which was the splendid contribution of $1800 from Mrs. W. C. Loring, for the purchase of the corner lot, which has added so much to the value and beauty of our grounds. Long and patient inquiry had failed to reveal a suitable successor available for this important office, but at the very last moment, by rare good fortune, we found that our former fellow townsman, Mr. Ralph W. Burnham, desired the position. Mr. and Mrs. Burnham took possession at once, and brought an unrivalled collection of beautiful ancient mahogany furniture, and a large and costly collection of old china. Entering enthusiastically upon the work, they have re-arranged the upper rooms very tastefully, and with fine effect, and are prepared to receive visitors at any reasonable hour. A reception was given by the Society to Mr. and Mrs. Burnham on Wednesday, November 20th, and other social events are in prospect. By this means we hope to quicken the interest of our members, and draw in many who have not yet joined our Society. The Society has now about one hundred and eighty active members. A considerable enlargement is very desirable. Popular interest is enhanced by a large body of members scattered over the whole community, who receive and distribute the publications and come with their friends to the House. The enlargement of revenue accruing from this source provides the funds that are needed greatly for extending the work we wish to accomplish on many lines. I suggest that a Committee on Membership be elected, and that it shall be the duty of this Committee to make a special canvass for new members and report the names at intervals to the officers. Since the last annual meeting, the tenth number of our Historical Publications, entitled "The Hotel Cluny of a New England Village," has been distributed. The demand. for our earlier publications has exhausted the editions, and no provision has been made for a reprint of the numbers, no longer in hand. Profiting by this experience, a much larger edition of the last issue was ordered, and the bulk of the expense was borne very generously by Mr. D. F. Appleton. The question of the early enlargement of the scope of our publications is one that is confronting us with increasing force. The great demand for genealogical material gives large and widely extended value to the vital statistics and other records of the town. The topography of |