Dickinson-Pillsbury-Witham House

The Dickinson-Pillsbury-Witham House
Dickinson-Pillsbury-Witham House
An early photo of the Dickinson-Pillsbury-Witham House
Location Georgetown, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°43′44.04″N 70°56′42″W / 42.7289000°N 70.94500°W / 42.7289000; -70.94500Coordinates: 42°43′44.04″N 70°56′42″W / 42.7289000°N 70.94500°W / 42.7289000; -70.94500
Built 1694
Architect Unknown
Architectural style First Period, Colonial
MPS First Period Buildings of Eastern Massachusetts TR
NRHP reference #

90000210

[1]
Added to NRHP March 9, 1990

The Dickinson-Pillsbury-Witham House is a historic First Period house at 170 Jewett Street in Georgetown, Massachusetts. The well-preserved building with its massive original hardwood frame has many surviving early components including a rare original enclosed stairway, doors, wooden latches, hardware, cupboards, brick nogging in the walls, and early paint.

The house was the original home of the Georgetown Historical Society. The Society moved to the Brocklebank-Nelson-Beecher House in 1975 and sold the Dickinson-Pillsbury-Witham House to an archaeologist, who took meticulous care of the property for over 40 years. During that time the building was the subject of a survey by architectural historian and genealogist Abbott Lowell Cummings.

The oldest part of the 2.5 story wood frame colonial house was built circa 1694 by James Dickinson, and consisted of the chimney and rooms to its right. The left side rooms are also First Period, apparently built soon afterward, based on similar construction methods used on the two sections. In 1856 a knee-wall cape was moved to the lot and attached as an ell on the right-hand side against the oldest end of the dwelling.

In addition to historical integrity, the house is notable for being the home of War of 1812 veteran and inventor Paul Pillsbury, who purchased the property about 1801. His inventions included devices for pegging shoes, milling bark off tree sections, and stripping kernels from ears of corn.[2] Paul Pillsbury and his wife Elisabeth Frink had a family of seven sons and one daughter. Elisabeth died in 1829 at age 41. Pillsbury remarried in 1843 to Sarah Andrews Pike, the widow of Benjamin Pike and mother of CSA Brigadier-General Albert Pike. Paul Pillsbury was also the uncle of abolitionist Parker Pillsbury[3] and the great-uncle of attorney Albert E. Pillsbury who drafted the bylaws of the NAACP.

The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.[1]

In 2017, the house was put on the market[4] and is now occupied by members of the Chase family.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ "NRHP nomination for Dickinson-Pillsbury-Witham House". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-01-14.
  3. ↑ Hamilton, Duane (1888). History of Essex County, Massachusetts. Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
  4. ↑ Behar, Rena (November 7, 2017). "Built in 1694, This Might Be the Oldest House for Sale in the Country". Realtor. Retrieved 17 December 2017.


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