Lathrop Brothers Coal and Ice Company harvested on the Ipswich River between Upper River Road and Haywood Street. Lines were drawn on the ice and horses dragged "groovers" along the line, cutting the ice about 6 to 8 inches deep. The ice was then floated to the ice house, where it was cut into blocks.
Author: Gordon Harris
Gordon Harris is a local historian living in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and publisher of the Historic Ipswich site. Follow him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordonrharris/
Great Sorrows, the Deadly “Throat Distemper” of 1735
"What mourning Sighs, and loud Outcries comes from the Eastern Towns, Of Children crying, and others dying, which makes a doleful Sound."
The 1778 Ipswich Convention and the Essex Result, Sept. 6, 1774
Delegates from 67 towns arrived in Ipswich on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 1774 "to consider and determine on such measures as the late acts of Parliament" and declaring support for a Provincial Congress. They reconvened four years later to debate a draft constitution for Massachusetts.
The Tithingman at the Ipswich Meeting House
On Dec. 26, 1700, a resolve was made that the disorder that had disturbed the public worship for some years owing to the wanton and perverse behavior of the boys and young men should be effectually quelled.
Ipswich Mob Attacks Loyalist Representative Dr. John Calef
Dr. John Calef was among a handful of members of the Massachusetts Assembly who voted to retract the "Massachusetts Circular Letter" which was adopted in response to the 1767 Townshend Acts. Ipswich citizens' anger at Calef lingered as war with England approached.
Rachel Haffield Clinton Arrested for Witchcraft, May 28, 1692
Everything about Rachel Clinton's life went wrong, and in her old age she was an easy target for the witchcraft hysteria that spread from Salem throughout Essex County.
The Women of Chebacco Build a Meeting House
When Chebacco Parish (now Essex) began building their own meeting house, Ipswich authorities obtained an order that “No man shall build a meeting house at Chebacco.” Abigail Proctor saw a glaring legal loophole...
The “Birthplace of American Independence”
Resistance by the citizens and leaders of Ipswich to a tax imposed by the Crown in 1687 is commemorated in the seal of the town of Ipswich, which bears the motto, "The Birthplace of American Independence 1687."
Destination Topsfield: Mass Audubon’s Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
Massachusetts Audubon's Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary at 87 Perkins Row in Topsfield has miles of trails weave through an amazing mix of forests, meadows, and wetlands, with beautiful views of the Ipswich River from an observatory and two glacial eskers.
How Christmas Came to Ipswich
Puritans shunned Christmas for its pagan roots, allowing only Thanksgiving as a time for feasting, and imposed a five-shilling fine on any persons found “observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way.”
Adrift on a Haystack, December 1786
In a northeasterly storm in December, 1786 Samuel Pulsifer and Samuel Elwell of Rowley were digging clams on Plum Island, got caught in the storm, and took refuge in a stack of salt hay for the night. In the morning they found they had been set afloat.
The Newburyport Tea Party
When Parliament laid a tax on tea, the British locked all the tea that had arrived in Newburyport into the powder house. Eleazer Johnson led a group of men who shattered the door and burned the tea in Market Square.
Madame Shatswell’s Cup of Tea
Madame Shatswell loved her cup of tea, and as a large store had been stored for family use before the hated tax was imposed, she saw no harm in using it as usual. News of the treason spread throughout the town.
The “Detested Tea” and the Ipswich Resolves
On Dec. 16, 1773, the tea brought into Boston harbor was thrown into the sea. A week later, Ipswich citizens met in the most violent mood, and adopted a series of resolutions,
The British Attack on Sandy Bay, Sept. 8, 1814
Rockport experienced one of the oddest invasions in U.S. history during the War of 1812 when the town's fearless residents stopped the British with rocks and anything they could get their hands on.
Rowdy Nights at Quartermaster Perkins’ Tavern
The Quartermaster's house became the scene more than once of violent disorder. The company's behavior was so scandalous that the whole lot were summoned to Ipswich Court on May 1, 1672.
