01907 Spring 2021

28 | 01907
The house where history lives
BY ANNE MARIE TOBIN
Is Swampscott home to the oldest
wooden structure in North America?
The answer is complicated but comes
down to this — unless and until the John
Humphrey Memorial House on Paradise
Road undergoes a dendrochronology
examination, nobody knows the answer.
What is known is that the home was
built shortly after Sir John Humphrey
arrived in America in 1634 with his
wife, Lady Susan, and their children
from Dorchester, England. Landing in
Salem Harbor, the ship was loaded with
ammunition, heifers and the bricks, oak
beams and other products believed to have
been used to build the home.
A wealthy barrister and member of the
Massachusetts Bay Company, Humphrey
was the first deputy governor of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony, serving under
Gov. John Winthrop. Humphrey had
received a land grant from King Charles I
containing 1,500 acres in Swampscott.
"The only way to determine the true
age of a structure is dendrochronology,"
said Swampscott Historical Society (SHS)
President Molly Conner. "Without that, we
cannot know for sure. We know that it was
built by the earliest colonists who settled
here, so it is a First Period house. It's a socalled
memorial house because we can't say
for sure if it dates back to 1637, but we do
think it was built by John Humphrey as he
brought framing and brick from England.
Until we have information that can only
be obtained through dendrochronology, we
don't know if this is one of the oldest, or
the oldest wood-framed houses in North
America."
Dendrochronology is a scientific
process in which core samples of wood
collected from the structure are analyzed
to determine the age of the wood, thereby
narrowing down the date the structure
was likely constructed. The process is more
commonly used to determine the age of
trees through the examination of tree rings.
Conner said there are only two
businesses left in the eastern United States
in the dendrochronology business, one of
which has a vast reservoir of wood samples
from England with timbers dating back to
the 17th century.
Conner said an English historian found
that the house has many features that are
very similar to the Fairbanks Home in
Dedham, which was built between 1637
and 1641. Fairbanks Home is considered
the oldest house of timber-frame
construction in North America as verified
by dendrochronology.
Conner said the Humphrey family lived
in the house for only a few years before
Humphrey went off to the Caribbean and the
home was sold to Lady Deborah Moody in
1641.
"She was one of the first women
landowners in the New World," Conner
said.
For the past 100 years, the house has
served as the home of the society, which
purchased the home in 1921 with the help
of public donations.
The home was originally located on
what is now Elmwood Road. The structure
was moved in 1891 to its current location
on Paradise Road to make room for a
development designed by famed architect
Frederick Law Olmstead. The original
chimney, measuring 14 feet by 16 feet was
left behind.
There have been 11 owners of the home, the
current one being the Swampscott Historical
Society which purchased the home 100 years
ago with the help of public donations.
"If you drive around town you will notice
their names in street names and beach
names," Conner said. "Burrill Street (John
Burrill, Sr. and Honorable Eberneser Burrill),
Mudge Street (Hon. E. Redington Mudge)
and King's Beach was named after the third
owner, Daniel King," Conner said.
The home has many fascinating features
The Sir John Humphrey Memorial House
on Paradise Road in Swampscott is
thought to be one of the oldest
wood-timber buildings in North America.
PHOTOS: SPENSER HASAK