river to land of Samuel Wade, northwest by said Wade to Moore, northeast by Moore to first.

(Essex Deeds 326: 215).

Caleb K. Moore sold to Abraham H. Bond, manufacturer, one of the Nottingham stocking weavers, who colonized in Ipswich, on October 7, 1841, for $900 (Essex Deeds 327: 157). The property remained in the hands of Mr. Bond until his death. During his ownership an old house was removed by him from the estate now owned by Miss Lucy Slade Lord, it has been said, and located on the corner of Market and Saltonstall streets. Mr. James W. Bond, son of Abraham, acquired the homestead by inheritance and purchase from other heirs, and sold to the Ipswich Historical Society, the house and land about it on May 12, 1898. (Essex Deeds, 1549:6), the corner house with land, July 26, 1899 (Essex Deeds, 1584:266), and the remainder of the land with an old barn, November 17, 1902. (Essex Deeds, 1691:470.)

THE IPSWICH HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

On the evening of April 14, 1890, Rev. Augustine Caldwell, Hon. Charles A. Sayward, Mr. J. Increase Horton, Mr. John H. Cogswell and Mr. John W. Nourse, met at the residence of Rev. Thomas Franklin Waters to consider the organization of an Historical Society. Mr. Arthur W. Dow was unavoidably detained. It was the unanimous sentiment of this gathering that such a society should be organized to foster systematic and accurate historical studies and promote a better acquaintance with the history of the town. They voted, then and there, to organize a society, to be known as The Ipswich Historical Society, and elected as its officers: Mr. Waters, president, Mr. Cogswell, secretary, Mr. Sayward, Mr. Horton and Mr. Cogswell, executive commit

tee.

During the spring and early summer several public meetings were held in the studio of Mr. Dow, at which papers on the early history of the town were read and interesting reminiscence was in order. In the winter of that and several following years, occasional meetings were held in the vestry of the South Church. The president read a series of

papers on the original locations of the early settlers and some studies on the old houses. Mr. Sayward contributed an interesting paper on the probable visits by voyagers to the spot now occupied by the town before Winthrop's coming. Hon. W. D. Northend of Salem read on several occasions some chapters from an unpublished work on early colonial history and Mr. Winfield S. Nevins gave a lecture on "The Homes and Haunts of Hawthorne in old Salem."

These meetings were well attended and it was evident the community was interested in the society. The membership enlarged gradually, but it was plain that the Society could not gain the success it desired until some permanent place of meeting should be secured, and the beginning of an historical collection should be made. Mr. Daniel S. Burnham very generously offered to give the half of the ancient house in East St., owned by him, provided that the Society should acquire the remainder. The old mansion would have been admirably adapted to our use in many ways but its location was unfavorable, and later investigations robbed it of its association with Rev. Mr. Norton and Rev. Mr. Cobbett. No active steps were ever taken toward securing this property.

The removal of the post office from the Odd Fellows' building opened a more promising opportunity, and at a meeting in the early autumn of 1895, the project of renting the vacant portion was enthusiastically approved. A generous subscription was made at once and in a short time sufficient funds were collected to provide a cabinet and table case for expected gifts. The first meeting in the new room took place on Friday evening, January 3, 1896. It was well attended and plans for the development of the society were adopted. Gifts of objects of interest, books and documents, began to be made.

In his address at this first meeting the President expressed the hope that some suitable monuments or markers might be put in place near the meeting house of the First Church, and on the South Green to recall and perpetuate the great associations, clustering about these spots. Shortly afterward, Mr. Francis R. Appleton generously offered to bear the expense of a monument with bronze tablets on the South

Green. This was unveiled and dedicated with public exercises of great interest on Wednesday, July 29, 1896. The Town has since appropriated sufficient funds to place the large tablet near the meeting house, and the smaller ones, which mark the spots where Governor Dudley and Simon and Anne Bradstreet dwelt.

At the annual meeting in December, 1897, the attention of the Society was called to the ancient Whipple house, as an admirable type of the earliest style of architecture, already much decayed and likely to fall into utter ruin. It was suggested that this old mansion, repaired and restored, would be an ideal permanent home for the Society. A committee was appointed to examine the house, and consider the feasibility of this project. It was found that notwithstanding its decayed condition the interior was well preserved, and of phenomenal attractiveness, and as the owner was willing to sell the committee reported in favor of its purchase.

A preliminary canvass for funds resulted in the contribution of fourteen hundred dollars, and the house and a small lot of land, with a right of way in the narrow passageway, separating from the other house on the corner, were purchased in May, 1898, at the cost of $1650. Work was begun at once and it was found that the original plastering against the second floor still remained above the modern plastered ceiling, which was put up in Mr. Bond's boyhood, and that the original sheathing in the second story was intact behind the later plastering. The locations of the ancient casement windows were disclosed, the original fireplaces were excavated, and the splendid oak beams were laid bare. Unexpected bits of the original architecture, the ancient door-post, old batten doors with huge, unshapely hinges, portions of the old clay plastering, traces of the early coloring came to light and afforded invaluable guidance in the restoration of the old mansion to its pristine glory.

The work of repair and restoration being well completed, the dedication exercises were held on October 19, 1898. Miss Alice A. Gray, a lineal descendant of the Ipswich Howards of two centuries ago, after twenty-three years of service at the Fine Art Museum in Boston, felt the charm of the cld house so powerfully, that she relinquished in a large measure