The house at 25 County Street in Ipswich was built in approximately 1860. It does not appear on the 1856 map, at which time this section of County St. was part of the Ipswich Jail grounds. The present owner informs us that “We live at 23 County St. at the corner of Green St. Our understanding is that this house was originally built by the Caldwell family, the same family that the Caldwell block downtown is named for, and the nursing home across the street was named for.”
The 1872 Ipswich map shows the owner as “J. Caldwell.” The 1884 map lists it as the “Caldwell estate.” In 1910, the owner was N. S. Kimball. Thomas Franklin Waters wrote in the book Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Volume II, published in 1917:
“The music of the anvil was taken up by Jonathan Prince, whose (blacksmith) shop and dwelling were on the site of the late N. Scott Kimball’s dwelling.” The 1856 Ipswich Annual Report shows payment to N. S. Kimball, services as clerk, $5. The 1925 Town Report shows payment to the estate of N. S. Kimball for hay and grain.
Possible identifications for J. Caldwell are:
- Caldwell, James, died 1874, married Mary Kimball, d. 1873.
- Caldwell, Joel, died 1883, married Margaret Kimball, d. 1903.
- Josiah Caldwell: Josiah Caldwell was regarded as one of the most intellectual and reliable of the Ipswich gentlemen of his day. He served as Representative to the General Court, Selectman, etc. He was First Church S. S. 1822-25, and 1836. (from John Caldwell and Sarah Dillingham Caldwell his wife)
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Historic Ipswich 
Hi there, I grew up in this house and when my father was remodeling the second floor, a Sunday School booklet fell from the ceiling, it must have fallen through the floorboards in the attic and was dated roughly around 1903. The name Victoria Caldwell was written inside. Maybe look up which Caldwell had a granddaughter or a great granddaughter named Victoria and we could figure out who built the house.
We always assumed whoever built the house was or was related to the Caldwell on the block downtown and/or Stephen Caldwell who the former nursing home-now condos was named for. Maybe J Caldwell, Victoria Caldwell and Stephen Caldwell were related? It seems Caldwell was a big name in Ipswich back then and I assume it was one family, living all over town or something.
The Caldwell family played a wonderful role in Ipswich over the years, and many of their homes are still standing, including 25 County St. Read https://historicipswich.net/2021/07/10/thomas-and-elizabeth-lull-and-the-caldwell-sons/
Josiah Caldwell b in 1781 was married to Lucy Lord in 1822 – he is the highly regarded man you speak of here. His house is the one that is in the American History Museum in Washington – there is a comprehensive article on this home and the significant contributions he and his family made to anti-slavery movement pre-Civil War. This can be found on the Smithsonian website. Later, his son-in-law provided for Lucy and gave her a house at 24 High Street, which was subsequently sold to J.W. Gould , my ancestor….