The inhabitants of the part of Ipswich known as Chebacco built a meetinghouse in 1674 and established their own parish in 1679, after overcoming resistance from the mother church in Ipswich. The word “Chebacco” was a Native American name for the lake that lies between Essex and Wenham. At the close of the seventeenth century,… Continue reading An Early History of the Town of Essex, with Photos of Its Oldest Houses
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Time Travels Through the Great Marsh
I recently received a copy of Marcia Ciro's fascinating little book, Time Travels Through the Great Marsh. Flipping quickly through the pages creates a time-lapse of the rising tide in the Newbury Marsh, while the accompanying side describes the times, seasons, and the future of the Great Salt Marsh, which extends from Gloucester through Ipswich… Continue reading Time Travels Through the Great Marsh
“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”
A History of the Choates of Ipswich, Essex, and Newburyport
John Choate, the early settler of that name, arrived in Ipswich during the Great Puritan Migration of the 1630s and ‘40s as a young man, and soon eventually acquired land in Chebacco, originally a part of Ipswich which broke away in 1820. By the 3rd generation, Choate family members lived in Newbury and Newburyport, marrying… Continue reading A History of the Choates of Ipswich, Essex, and Newburyport
Five Generations of John Whipples
Matthew Whipple of Bocking, Essex County, England, died about 1618 and was the father of early Ipswich settlers Deacon Matthew Whipple and his brother John Whipple, leading citizens of the town. By 1638, in addition to their house lots in Ipswich, Matthew and John Whipple were granted neighboring farms totaling over 200 acres in the… Continue reading Five Generations of John Whipples
Prominent Members of the Early Ipswich Bar
Ipswich boasts a long line of legal luminaries – lawyers and judges – going back to the dawn of the Town’s existence. Not only is this the “Birthplace of American Independence” but the home to many notable statesmen, and the caliber of the bench and bar of a people is in part a measure of the quality of the culture.
Recollections of a Boy’s Life In the Village
This story was written by Amos E. Jewett in 1945. At the time, he was 83 years old. having been born in Ipswich Village, near Rowley, on June 16, 1862.
Election Night in Ipswich
"The climax of petty officialdom might well have been reached in 1797 when the list of officers chosen at the Town meeting included Selectmen, Overseers, Town Clerk and Treasurer, Tithing-men, Road Surveyors, Fish Committee, Clerk of the Market, Fence Viewers, Haywards, Surveyors of Lumber, Cullers of Fish, Sealers of Leather, Hog-reeves, Gangers of Cask, Sealers of Weights, Measurers of Grain, Corders of Wood, Firewards, Packer of Pork, and Cullers of Brick.”
Abolition and the Underground Railroad in Essex County
A network of the Underground Railroad ran north along the coast from Boston to Salem, where it split into three trails; one continued through Beverly, Ipswich, Newburyport and West Newbury to Amesbury where escaped slaves were escorted into New Hampshire.
Indigenous Peoples of the North Shore
A Brief History of Native Americans in Ipswich Before English Colonization Native Americans began moving into New England after the retreat of the Laurentide ice sheet. In the early 1950s, a group of young amateur archaeologists, men now known as the “Bull Brook Boys,” discovered one of the largest Paleo-Indian sites in North America along… Continue reading Indigenous Peoples of the North Shore
Ipswich and the American Revolution: The Breach with Britain
In John Adams’ 1765 opposition to the Stamp Act, he referenced the citizens of Ipswich who resisted a tax imposed by the Crown in 1687. An Ipswich town meeting on August 11, 1768 approved of "the Conduct of those Gentlemen of the late House of Representatives...when it was required of them at the Peril of their Political Existence." The Town meeting on Dec. 28, 1772 supported the rights of the Colonists as British subjects, and established a Committee of Correspondence to communicate resistance with the Committees of other towns. Delegates from throughout Essex County arrived in Ipswich on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 1774, and by unanimous vote, bound themselves together in establishment of the Provincial Congress for the common safety.
