The Founding and Early Development of the Ipswich Historical Society

The Ipswich Historical Society was organized in 1890 by the Reverend Thomas Franklin Waters, the minister of the South Congregational Church of Ipswich, during what is known as the American Colonial Revival. Waters, a scholar of high regard and a friend of the well known preservationist George Francis Dow, gathered together a group of friends who, like him, wished to collect and preserve documents and artifacts related to Ipswich. As he noted in his 1896 address before the Society:

The scheme of organizing such a society was first seriously discussed at a gathering of gentlemen, known to be interested in antiquarian research, at the parsonage of the South church on the evening of April 14, 1890. If my memory serves me, Rev. Augustine Caldwell, Mr. Charles A. Sayward, Mr. Joseph I. Horton, Mr. John H. Cogswell, and Mr. John W. Nourse formed the group. Mr. Arthur W. Dow was unavoidable absent. It was the unanimous sentiment of this meeting that a town so rich in historic remains, and so famous in the early annals of the Commonwealth should have a local Historical society, to foster systematic and accurate antiquarian studies and promote a popular acquaintance with its brilliant history.

The time seemed to them ripe for its organization, and then and there, they formed themselves into a society, to be known as the Ipswich Historical Society, and organized by the choice of Rev. T. Franklin Waters, president, Mr. John H. Cogswell, secretary, and Mr. C. A. Sayward, Mr. J. I. Horton, and Mr. J. H. Cogswell, executive committee.

During the spring and early summer several public meetings were held in the studio of Mr. Arthur W. Dow, at which papers on the early history of the town were read, and much pleasant reminiscence was in order….

In the Society’s early years, not possessing a headquarters of their own they met “in the studio of Mr. Arthur W. Dow,” the renowned Ipswich artist and educator. During the spring and early summer “several public meetings were held…at which papers on the early history of the town were read, and much pleasant reminiscence was in order,” according to Waters.

The Society Finds a New Home

Dow’s studio was convenient but small. What’s more, the organization’s activities were expanding. They needed larger, more appropriate rooms to meet and display their growing collections, and in 1896 they contracted the use of rooms in the Odd Fellows Hall on Town Hill. Mr. Waters described their new home, and their newly invigorated mission:

And now, the Historical Society, housed so comfortably, dignified with its weight of honorable associations, conscious of its capacity to become a pride and honor to the town, makes appeal to all lovers of old Ipswich, whether dwelling still beneath her elms or far away, to rise up to her support. We plead for funds wherewith to publish the results of our investigations, purchase gradually a library of antiquarian lore, and meet our current expense. We ask for donations or loans of articles of historic interest, Indian remains, colonial heirlooms, relicts of the Civil War, ancient documents, portraits, pictures and aught else that illustrates the history of our town in every age. We can keep them more safely than their owners, and the community can enjoy them here.

We invite independent research, and promise ready hearing to any investigator into any branch of our local history. We hope to foster the historic spirit and awaken local pride to such degree, that ere long our commons will be adorned with monuments. On the site of the old Town House, may a worthy memorial be reared to the men of 1687, who saw with keen vision the greatness of the issue and made such strenuous and splendid protest against taxation without representation. On the Green about the historic First church may some slab be raised to commemorate the successive houses of worship and the illustrious names of the early ministers. The site of the ancient fort, and prison, and whipping post should be recalled.

The South Green is rich in its associations with Ezekiel Cheever and his famous school, Rogers and Ward and Saltonstall, who made their houses close by. May their names be perpetuated in enduring stone! The spots, made memorable by the houses of Robert Payne, and Ann Bradstreet, Denison and Symonds should bear some simple memorial to tell the stranger how rich we are in proud remembrances of [a] great past.

These great tasks await us. May we as a Society, rejoice in our mission and pledge tonight that generous and enthusiastic cooperation in effort which shall be the sure pledge of eventual and large success.

In 1896, Mr. Waters made good on his promise to mark important historical sites in Ipswich when the Society dedicated two “memorial tablets” on the South Green to mark the homes of Nathaniel Ward, Richard Saltonstall, Rev. Nathaniel Wade, and others, as well as the site from which Ipswich militia men left for Quebec in 1775. Elsewhere in Ipswich, they eventually mounted plaques on the homes of Anne Bradstreet and other notables. They continued this activity for many years.

The Whipple House is Saved and Becomes a Permanent Home

Mr. Waters also continued his scholarly research and publishing under the auspices of the Society, concentrating especially on Ipswich’s colonial days and the town’s extraordinary number of “First Period” houses. At some point, he became aware of a particularly important house. In his 1897 President’s address to the Society, he set the stage for his next move:

One of our old houses, the very oldest in all probability, is fast falling into complete decay, the old Whipple house, as I must call it, now owned by Mr. James W. Bond. In its day it was a grand mansion, and some of its rooms are inspiring to-day even in their ruin. Is it not worth our while as a Society to purchase it if it be possible, and repair and restore it to some semblance of its old self?

And that is exactly what the Society did. They raised funds to not only save the house, but provide for themselves a new home and exhibit space. In Waters’ mind, the Whipple House was “a link that binds us to the remote Past and to a solemn and earnest manner of living, quite in contrast with much of our modern life.” While Ipswich could claim more First Period houses than any other community in America (meaning, those built between 1625 and 1725), “none can compare” to the Whipple House, according to Waters.

In 1898, Waters and his colleagues incorporated the Ipswich Historical Society and dedicated their new home on October 19, celebrating the “wonderful transformation without and within” the men had financed. Waters had overseen much of the work himself, “adhering slavishly to the original.”

After extensive investigation of old Ipswich land deeds and other town records, Waters dated the Whipple House to “some time subsequent to 1669 and prior to 1683.” He later published his findings in an essay titled Some Old Ipswich Houses, which was published by the Society in 1929. While some still insisted on calling the house the “Saltonstall House,” or dating it to 1636 or 1655, science would eventually prove Mr. Waters right.* At the dedication ceremony, the Rev. John C. Kimball of Hartford, Conn., asked, “Who shall say it is mere fancy that gives [historic sites] their value? It is their power of making for us the past alive and making us live in the past.”

In 1899, the Society opened the Whipple House as a historic house museum -- one of the first in the country -- complete with room displays and curio cabinets chock full of historical objects, books, and manuscript material. Mr. Waters hired Alice A. Gray away from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to serve as the museum’s first (resident) curator. That same year, John Heard was elected Vice President of the Society. He was a direct descendant of the John Heard who built what is today the Heard House Museum between 1795-1800. At some point, John Heard’s daughter, Alice “Elsie” Heard, painted Mr. Waters’ portrait. The Heard family’s importance to the Society would grow exponentially before long.

Mr. Waters Passes Away

Thomas Franklin Waters died in 1919, suddenly, from a heart attack. There was nothing anyone could do. In his eulogy, the Rev. Paul Griswold Macy described “Mr. Waters’ long life of service in this place, as Minister, neighbor, friend, fellow citizen, lover of Ipswich, preserver of all that is best in the town’s history…all these years he has gone in and out among you; he has woven himself so quietly into the fabric of your community life that you scarcely realize, until that fabric is torn and rent by his departure, how large a place of influence he held and how greatly he had endeared himself to all.”

Several years later, Richard Crane of Ipswich gave the Society a parcel of meadow and woodland across the road from the Heard mansion, stipulating that the Whipple House should be moved to that location. This was accomplished in 1927, removing the Whipple House from its original site near the town center (at the corner of Market and Saltonstall Streets, near the Ipswich Hosiery Mills) and placing the building in its present rural setting.

In 1953-4 the Society closed the Whipple House for extensive renovations, including the present façade gables and leaded casement windows. In 1957, they purchased adjoining property to increase the size of its grounds. Garden expert Isadore Smith installed an authentic “Housewife’s Garden” following a design by Arthur Shurcliff, who also created the historical gardens at Colonial Williamsburg. (Smith went on to publish three highly regarded books on gardens in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries under the pen name Anne Leighton.) In 1966, the Whipple House was designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service for its “exceptional value in commemorating or illustrating the history of the United States.”

The Heard House is Acquired

Meanwhile, in 1939, unable to maintain her family home on her own now that her parents were deceased, Elsie Heard sold her magnificent family home to the Ipswich Historical Society requesting that she be allowed tenancy until her death. In this house, the Society was able to expand its program by showcasing later centuries of Ipswich history including an outstanding collection of works by the nineteenth century “Ipswich Painters” (including Society founder Arthur Wesley Dow) and other collections dating to the early twentieth century. In 1939, and again from 1951-2, the Society restored parts of the Heard House.

Elsie Heard lived in the Heard House until 1949 or 1950, when she moved to the Hotel Vendome in Boston’s Back Bay. She died in 1953. At the time of her death, the house was named the “Waters Memorial” in honor of the Society’s founder. Later, it was changed to the Heard House Museum, and the Society hung a plaque in memory of Elsie Heard in the front entryway. In 1980, the Heard House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the South Green District.

*In 2005 dendrochronology testing dated the Whipple House to 1677, proving Mr. Waters was right.