The John Harris House at 38 East Street was built circa 1742. The symmetrical 5-bay front façade of this Georgian home has numerous side and rear additions dating to the early 19th Century or before.
Description from MACRIS: “John Harris inherited the east side of his father’s estate in 1742, and probably built the present dwelling shortly thereafter (82:252). The house is a good example of a large Ipswich house of the 2nd period, and it has acquired a notable collection of side and rear additions. An interesting example of the reuse of materials appears in the attic, where 17th-century shadow-moulded sheathing is used as roof boarding.
Thomas Franklin Waters traced the history of the lot from 1634 until the beginning of the 20th Century, including the transfer of deeds, with book and page numbers.
“The next original lot was owned by William Symonds, sold to Thomas Harris, fisherman, “my house, wherein I now dwell,” with two acres, bounded northeast by the house lot, now owned by Harris, which he bought of John Warner, 1648 (Ips. Deeds 1: 159). By the will of Thomas Harris, his estate was divided between his sons, John, Ebenezer, and William, extending from the Stephen Hovey lot to the lot now owned and occupied by the widow of John Roberts.
John owned the western part, William the eastern portion. Ebenezer sold William half a dwelling and a third of the house lot and orchard, half of the barn, lean-tos, and shop, and a fourth of the “clay pitt meadow” on the opposite side of the street. Feb. 25, 1695 (32:49).
The heirs of John (William and John) succeeded to his estate. John had the east half and William the west, Dec. 22, 1742 (82: 252). William Harris sold a piece of land, three rods six feet on the Street, the line on the east side running north, over the middle of a well, two rods eight feet, to John Holmes, May 18, 1766 (158: 133). Capt. Holmes built the house now standing next to the Hovey house, which his widow, Sarah, sold to Joseph Wait on March 12, 1805 (176: 26). Joseph Wait sold to Elizabeth and Polly Ross, single women, the house “which I purchased of Sarah Holmes” July 12, 1816 (209: 277). “Polly” Ross kept a “dame store” in the small building connected with the house. It was purchased by Aaron H. Sweet, whose will, filed Feb. 7, 1860, bequeathed all his property to his widow. She conveyed it to Dr. Charles Cullis, of the Home for Consumptives (tuberculosis) on March 5, 1880 (1033: 145), who sold it to Frederic Willcomb, on Jan. 31, 1885 (1354:216). *Dr. Cullis operated 25 faith-based wellness clinics in New England, but there is no history of one in Ipswich.
The John Harris property descended to Capt. Stephen Baker, whose heirs still own and occupy. (circa 1900).”
The 1832 map shows Mrs. Harris living in the house at 38 East Street. The small house to its west, which no longer stands, was owned by Mrs. E. “Polly” Ross, who operated a “Dame Shop” in the house. It was sold to Fred Willcomb. Auxiliary buildings are not shown in this map.
38 East Street is the Stephen Baker estate in the 1872 Ipswich map. To its west is the W. Johnson house on the same property, no longer standing, and 30 East Street, the Hovey house, better known as the Francis Jordan house. The map shows a small hay scale weighing station that once sat on the corner (shown below). Auxiliary buildings are not otherwise shown on the map.
Harris Family in Ipswich
The first of the Harris family in Ipswich was Thomas Harris, a fisherman born in England and who died in Ipswich in 1687. He purchased land in the East Street area in 1665. His first son, also named Thomas, was born in Ipswich in 1648 and died at sea in 1687. A second son, John, was born in 1652 and died in 1732. This John Harris was a deputy sheriff and had the duty of transporting accused witches to Salem for trial. He also had a son named John Harris, born in 1686, who may be the builder of this house. Genealogy pages for Harris families in America often point back to this family. View at genealogy.com.
Other Harris family homes in Ipswich:
- John Harris II or III built the Harris–Stanwood house nearby on Water Street in 1696, which was passed on to his son Thomas Harris.
- Ephraim Harris House, Mineral Street, built in 1696
- Dow Harris House, 108 High Street, built in 1735
- Harris – Jewett House, 66 High Street, built in 1795
- Harris House, 29 High Street, built in 1819
Historic Ipswich 