The early history of this lot is from Candlewood, published in 1908 Thomas Franklin Waters:
Waters wrote, “The ancient dwelling, now occupied by Mr. Caverly, is the one surviving link that binds this compact group of eighteenth and seventeenth century dwellings with the present.” The land on which this house sits was originally granted to Nathaniel Rogers and Thomas Low. . John Heard sold half an acre to Levi Brown, a cordwainer, for $55.00 on September 5, 1826 (244:38) No buildings are mentioned in John Heard’s deed. Mr. George W. Heard sold an acre and a half to Levi Brown, who had bought a half acre from his father, on March 21, 1832. *(The deed for George Heard’s sale to Levi Brown has not yet been found. Two purchases by Levi Brown are shown on Sept. 7, 1832 on the Salem Deeds site, but the name of the seller and the book and page numbers are not listed.)
Brown purchased a half acre from his father (name unknown) on March 21, 1832. He built a dwelling and other buildings. He quit-claimed to his brother, Francis, who sold to Henry S. Holmes, 2 acres and buildings on March 9, 1842 (330: 18), Holmes to Willard B. Kinsman, April 1, 1851 (456: 112), who enlarged the house on the front. That section was moved around 1950 to 74 Essex Rd.
When John Updike and his wife, Mary moved to Ipswich in 1957, they rented this house for 10 months before purchasing the so-called Polly Dole House on East Street (Salem Deeds 4442:64). Updike sold the house on East St. in 1970 (5686:151) when he moved from Ipswich.
Neil and Ben Raymond of the Buttonwood Trust sold 68 Essex Road to Alice Dietrich on August 14, 2026 for $430,000. A demolition request has been submitted by Larry Graham for the construction of a single family dwelling.
Sources:
- Candlewood, by Thomas Franklin Waters
- The 1832 Ipswich map shows the owner as Levi Brown.
- The 1856 map shows the owner as W. B. Kinsman.
