Despite the hot weather, a crowd estimated by some at over 1,000 people turned out on July 4, 2026, for the Independence Day Community Walk, Bike and Town Hall Field Day. The event marked the town's celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The one-mile parade route began at… Continue reading Hundreds Turn Out For Ipswich Independence Day Parade and Festivities
Tag: Revolutionary War
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.
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
Ipswich Minutemen March to Lexington and Concord, April 18, 1775
Exerpt from: Letters from an American, by Heather Cox Richardson, April 19, 2026. On the evening of April 18, 1775, the people who lived in the British colony of Massachusetts had gone to bed with the sun, as usual. By the evening of April 19, everything had changed. In the past twenty-four hours, soldiers from… Continue reading Ipswich Minutemen March to Lexington and Concord, April 18, 1775
The Ipswich Minutemen at Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775
Capt Nathaniel Wade's company and Capt. Abraham Dodge's company fought from the trenches in Col. Moses Little's regiment. 18-year-old Jessie Story of Chebacco Parish was killed, the first Ipswich man to lay down his life in the struggle for Independence.
The Revolutionary War Letters of Joseph Hodgkins and Sarah Perkins
Throughout the Revolutionary War, Joseph Hodgkins sent letters home from the battlefronts to his wife, Sarah Perkins Hodgkins.
Memorial to Crispus Attucks
The following is an excerpt from a presentation given on November 14, 1889, at the dedication of the Boston Massacre and Crispus Attucks Monument at Boston Common, which memorializes victims Crispus Attucks, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, Samuel Gray, and Patrick Carr. ADDRESS BY MR. JOHN FISKE The troubles and disorders in Boston, which led to… Continue reading Memorial to Crispus Attucks
Ipswich Voters Unanimously Support the Massachusetts Circular Letter, February 11, 1768
The voters of the Town of Ipswich resolved on August 11, 1768, that "Thanks be given to the worthy and much esteemed ninety-two gentlemen of the late Honorable House of Representatives for their firmness and steadiness in standing up for and adhering to the just rights and Liberties of the Subjects when it was required of them at the Peril of their political existence."
John Freeman, an African American Revolutionary War Soldier from Ipswich
John Freeman, son of enslaved Peter and Jane Freeman of Ipswich, enlisted into the militia of the Revolutionary War in the year 1777, and served in Rhode Island, Providence and Cambridge.
The 1774 Ipswich Convention “To Consider the Late Acts of Parliament”
Notifications were posted in Salem to gather at the Town House to appoint representatives to meet at Ipswich, on September 6, 1774 along with the representatives of the other towns in the county, to consider "to consider and determine on such measures as the late acts of Parliament, and our other grievances render necessary and expedient."
General Michael Farley
In 1774, the Town of Ipswich chose Michael Farley, a tanner, as a delegate to the Provincial Congress. He was appointed major-general of the Militia of Massachusetts in 1777. Farley is buried at the Old North Burying Ground beside his wife Elizabeth. The site of his home is now the Richdale store on Market St..
The Intolerable Acts of 1774
Despite the failure of the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts, the British Parliament responded to the "Boston Tea Party" by passing even more restrictive acts to punish the American extremists.
Ipswich and the American Revolution, Part 2: The Revolutionary War
On June 10th, 1776, the men of Ipswich, in Town-meeting assembled, instructed their Representatives, that if the Continental Congress should for the safety of the said Colonies Declare them Independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, they will solemnly engage with their lives and Fortunes to support them in the Measure.
The “Commonwealth”
"Commonwealth" is defined as a state in which authority is vested in the citizenry. In the 17th Century it was the radical philosophy the work and the proceeds thereof should be shared by the people.
Ipswich Pillow Lace
In the late eighteenth century, Ipswich had 600 women and girls producing more than 40,000 yards of lace annually. Ipswich industrialists imported machines from England to mechanize and speed up the operation, which destroyed the hand-made lace industry.
Benedict Arnold and the Fate of the American Revolution
In September 1776, the vulnerable Continental Army under George Washington evacuated New York after a devastating defeat by the British Army. One of Washington's favorite generals, Benedict Arnold, miraculously succeeded in postponing the British naval advance down Lake Champlain that might have ended the war. Thomas Franklin Waters wrote about Arnold's march through Ipswich on the way to Quebec "The… Continue reading Benedict Arnold and the Fate of the American Revolution
Historic Ipswich 