On June 10, 1913, police fired into a crowd of protesting immigrant workers at the Ipswich hosiery mill. A young Greek woman named Nicholetta Paudelopoulou was shot in the head and killed by police.
Category: History
In the 19th Century, Religion Divided the Town
Revivalist Rev. John N. Maffit held a "protracted meeting" which was undoubtedly the most extraordinary episode in the history of the churches of Ipswich since the days of George Whitefield and Gilbert Tennent, preaching sixty nights to congregations which occupied every inch of the meeting-house.
The Dark Day, May 19, 1780
At noon, a "midnight darkness" had fallen on Essex County. Candles were lighted, and fowls went to roost. By the next morning, dark ash lay four or five inches thick.
The Witchcraft Trial of Elizabeth Howe, Hanged July 19, 1692
Elizabeth Howe and her husband James resided on outer Linebrook. She was charged with bewitching her neighbor’s child and was arrested on May 28, 1692. She was one of the five women hanged in Salem on July 19, 1692.
“The Hobby Horse of Popularity”
Alexander Hamilton wrote these words in a letter to George Washington on August 18, 1792. Political divisions between the Federalist Party (led by Hamilton) and the Democratic-Republican Party led by Thomas Jefferson were deepening. Jefferson’s adoring supporters organized large, well-attended events where they praised him in speeches and songs, while his political opponents portrayed him as a radical… Continue reading “The Hobby Horse of Popularity”
January 10, 1776: Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” is Published
Thomas Paine In 1776, Thomas Paine's 47-page pamphlet "Common Sense" inspired the American Revolution. The following excerpts still speak true today: "The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances have, and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all lovers… Continue reading January 10, 1776: Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” is Published
The Birthplace of American Independence, 1687
The important events I shall describe were a mere tradition in the town where I was born. It was almost a revelation, when, in later years, I found unquestioned historical records deserving of national attention.
June 19, 1774: John Adams Takes a Long Walk in Ipswich
"I feel unutterable anxiety. God grant us wisdom and fortitude! Should the opposition be suppressed, should this country submit, what infamy and ruin! God forbid. Death in any form is less terrible!"
The Burke Heel Factory and Canney Lumber Fire, June 19, 1933
The factory at Brown Square burned after volatile glues burst into flames. In the adjoining lot was the Canney Lumber Co. where the building lumber were destroyed. The smaller brick building on the right survived and is now the Ipswich Ale Brewery.
First Church Burns, June 13, 1965
It was a sad day for Ipswich when on June 13, 1965, lightning hit the steeple on the sanctuary of the First Church on Meeting House Green and the building was destroyed by fire. The building was over a century old and considered to be one of the best examples of Gothic church construction in… Continue reading First Church Burns, June 13, 1965
The Rev. John Wise of Ipswich
The concepts of freedom about which Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence originated from the pen of the Rev. John Wise of Ipswich: "The origin of civil power is the people...and when they are free, they may set up what species of government they please."
The Bull Brook Paleo-Indian Site
In the early 1950s, a group of young amateur archaeologists men discovered one of the largest Paleo-Indian sites in North America along the banks of Bull Brook and the Egypt River in Ipswich, with over 6,000 artifacts uncovered.
Ipswich at War
Links to two dozen wars that Ipswich men fought in from the town's settlement in 1633, through the Vietnam War.
Abraham Lincoln’s Brush with Essex County
By David J. Kent Abraham Lincoln toured New England twice. He never made it to Ipswich, but he did have some brushes with Essex County that influenced his development as a politician and his rise to the presidency. The first trip was as a sitting congressman in 1848, during which he gave ten speeches in… Continue reading Abraham Lincoln’s Brush with Essex County
The Hanging of Ezra Ross and Bathsheba Spooner, July 2, 1778
In 1778, sixteen-year-old Ezra Ross of Ipswich was condemned to death for the murder of Joshua Spooner of Brookfield. Spooner's wife Bathsheba became the first woman executed in the newly-created United States of America. Ezra Ross is buried in an unmarked grave at the Leslie Road Cemetery.
To the Inhabitants of Ipswich from Thomas Jefferson
The Embargo Act of 1807 put New England ports at a standstill and its towns into a depression. The Ipswich Town Meeting petitioned the President to relieve "the people of this once prosperous country from their present embarrassed and distressed condition." The town found Jefferson's answer "Not Satisfactory."
Historic Ipswich 