USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Pigeon Cove : its early settlers & their farms, 1702-1840 > Part 8
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On BREAKWATER AVENUE the house next east of the Fears house was built by Isaac Lurvey in 1840. The house next east of that was built by Ebenezer Cleaves between 1833 and 1834. Cleaves sold to Moses H. Marshall in January 1835, he to Levi B. San- born in January 1836, and he to Zebulon junior and Gorham Lufkin three years later. The house is still occupied by a mem- ber of the Lufkin family.
Continuing up the easterly side of GRANITE STREET:
209. Eliza Wheeler, a daughter of Moses of The Garrison House, married Captain Amos Story, December 1, 1825. Eleven years later, November 26, 1836, her mother and her brother John W. deeded her this lot, 179 feet wide on the street. The house was almost certainly built as early as 1837.
223-225. Susanna Wheeler, the eldest child of Moses Wheeler of The Garrison House, married William Norwood December 1 I, 1795. On December 24, 1805, Moses Wheeler deeded this land, 264 feet wide on the street, to his son-in-law. Mr. Norwood was.
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associated in the fish business at the Cove with his brother-in-law and next door neighbor, David Babson, and for a time operated the tavern at the Cove. In 1846 the Norwoods opened their house to summer visitors, subsequently enlarging it to the pro- portions of a small hotel called The Pigeon Cove House. Mrs. Norwood sold to Mrs. E. S. Robinson in 1866. The latter moved the old structure in 1871 to the site of The Hotel Edward, of which it is still a part, and built a larger hotel on the old site. That house was burned and the lot is now vacant.
231. Charlotte Wheeler, another daughter of Moses of The Garrison House, married David Babson August 25, 1800. On March 10, 1802, Moses deeded to this son-in-law a lot 290 feet wide on the street. It is presumed that the house was built about that time.
255. The house of William Andrews senior, presumed to have been built about 1711, stood on this land, now a vacant lot. It was bought by Moses Wheeler from the Andrews heirs and sold by him to his brother Joseph Wheeler in 1783. Moses purchased it from Joseph's estate in 1797 and the deed stated that it was where William Andrews' dwelling house formerly stood. Nehe- miah Knowlton bought the land from the heirs of Moses Wheeler. (See Chapter: William Andrews.)
Crossing the street to the westerly side there is a house just north of Curtis Street which is numbered
212. The exact origin of this house is not known. Its site was a part of the William Woodberry farm, later owned by William Norwood, who married Mr. Woodberry's daughter. In 1771 the Norwoods deeded the westerly half of the farm to their son James, who had married that year. (See Chapter: William Wood- berry.) It is possible that he built this house at that time for his own occupancy. The first record of the house is found in a deed from James Norwood's son-in-law, James Gooch, when he sold it to James Story, Jr., September 17, 1816, for $400. James Nor- wood had died in 1814. Mr. Story had married Lucy Sargent in 1813 and the family lived there for the remainder of their lives.
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Returning to the easterly side of the street opposite the James Story, Jr., place, and next north of the William Andrews site, is 259. This house lot was formerly a part of the Samuel Gott, Jr., farm which extended northerly along the street to include 269. (See chapter: Samuel Gott And His Sons.) Levi Bailey, a son of Joseph senior, bought this lot from his brother Joseph junior and built the present house in 1830. That same year he sold to David junior and Gorham Babson, sons of David senior, who in turn sold to Michael Walen in 1835. The Walen family lived there for many years, and later the Matheson family.
265. This is now a vacant lot with the cellar walls of the house built by Samuel Gott, Jr., between 1723 and 1748. House moved in recent years to 182 1/2 Granite Street. Latest owner and occu- pant on the original site was Andrew Bailey, son of Joseph senior.
269. The present-day house stands on the site of a barn built by Joseph Wheeler in 1790.
275. The existing story and a half house was built originally by John Blatchford about 1771 on the Path From Sandy Bay to Jumper's. It was moved to the Granite Street site by Joseph Bailey senior about 1804 and occupied by him, and later by his son William. It stands on the site of the Daniel Gott house built about 1726. (See Chapters: Samuel Gott and His Sons, and The Woods Settlements.)
277. Built by Levi Bailey, son of Joseph senior, probably about 1828, for his own occupancy. He married first in 1826 and bought this lot from his father two years later.
281. This site was a part of Daniel Gott's farm. He sold this portion to his neighbor William Norwood, 511 feet on Granite Street, and 347 feet on Gott Avenue, January 5, 1762. The earli- est reference to the existing house is found in a deed from James Norwood, son of William, when he sold, March 10, 1795, to his sister-in-law, Esther (Norwood), widow of Captain Nathaniel
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Parsons senior, " the land whereon the said Esther's house stands." Captain Parsons and Esther Norwood, a daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Davis) Norwood, were married October 8, 1761. This house descended to Nathaniel Parsons, Jr., who married Susanna Norwood, daughter of Gustavus and Abigail. Nathaniel junior died November 7, 1823, and the property was conveyed to his wife's sister, Mary (Norwood) Baker, widow of Joseph. Mrs. Baker sold to John Story, son of James senior, October 13, 1832, and the following year Mr. Story bought the dower rights in the property from Mrs. Parsons. Mr. Story lived there until his death in 1887 and the property is still owned by his heirs. Mr. Story married Abigail Walen, daughter of Michael, No- vember 14, 1822. They had six sons and three daughters. Mr. Story married second Martha Woodbury Hovey, and third Mary A. Saunders. He was in the military service in the war of 1812.
291. There has been a house on this site since 1705 when the farm was settled upon by Captain William Woodberry, a wheel- wright from Beverly. He died in 1713, leaving a widow and an only daughter, Judith. The latter married William Norwood in 1732. They lived here during their lives. William Norwood died in 1781 and was succeeded by his son James, who continued there until his death in 1814. His daughter Harriet, Mrs. James Gooch, inherited the property but sold it in 1820 to David Babson, and it remained in that family until within recent years. The date of the present house is unknown. It may have been built originally by the Norwoods. If so it was considerably altered by the Babson family. (See chapter: William Woodberry.)
At the extreme northerly end of Granite Street, near the Glouces- ter boundary line at Folly Cove, there are five houses which date from about 1722 to 1843. They are on the farm settled by Samuel Lane senior which came into the Marchant family in 1770. (See chapter: Samuel Lane.) The house built about 1843 by William Marchant is the one now the second east of the town line. As no houses built after 1840 are shown on the ac- companying map, this one has been omitted there.
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GOTT AVENUE
THERE are but two houses on this short dead end street. At its easterly end is the gambrel-roofed house built by Samuel Gott at the time of his settlement here in 1702. Samuel died in 1748 and the house descended to his sons Benjamin and Joseph. The latter acquired his brother's portion and at his death in 1755 his son Joshua succeeded. This was Lieutenant Joshua of the Con- tinental Army. He died in 1846 and his son Captain Joshua junior inherited the house, and his grandson, Kenneth McClellan, now lives there. (See chapter: Samuel Gott And His Sons.)
CURTIS STREET
33, rear of. The origin of this house is not known. It was built on a piece of the Garrison House farm before 1833 when it was first mentioned in a deed to Charles Wheeler, son of Moses. The deed stated that it was then occupied by Solomon Knights. Three years later it was conveyed by Wheeler to John and Thomas Knights.
46, rear of. Built by Benjamin Stockbridge in 1756. (See chap- ter: The Woods Settlements.)
64. Site of the house built by James Story senior in 1790.
63. The house standing close to the street, opposite number 64, is presumed to be the one built by Job Knights before 1794 in which year he bought the land, half an acre, from Moses Wheeler. (See chapter: The Woods Settlements.)
69. Probably built by Andrew Woodbury, Jr., who died there before 1790. It stands on a part of the old William Woodberry farm that was deeded to the latter's grandson, James Norwood, in 1771. No deed to Andrew Woodbury, Jr., has been found. (See chapter: The Woods Settlements.)
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78. This house had its beginning as the first school house at Pigeon Cove. The land was given by James Norwood about 1797 according to tradition. The deed does not appear to have been recorded at Salem or with the Gloucester town clerk. (See chapter: The Woods Settlements.) The first schoolmaster was Stephen Knutsford senior, who died December 29, 1807. James Gooch was the master in 1814, and perhaps earlier.
STOCKHOLM AVENUE
THE house located in the valley, on the east bank of the Nor- wood Mill Brook, and reached by a roadway leading from Stockholm Avenue near Curtis Street, was presumably the one built by Stephen Gott, Jr., in 1756. It was bought in 1810 by Thomas Knutsford as a home for his brothers Stephen and Wil- liam and his sister Susanna (Sukey). Thomas made formal trans- fer to his brothers by deed in 1831. (See chapter: The Woods Settlements.)
PIGEON HILL STREET
21. Built by Isaac Dade in 1833. The land was formerly a part of the Old Castle farm. The street was merely a cart road in 1833 and was known as " the road to the sheep pasture."
36. This is the presumed site of the Richard Langsford house built about 1719 at the time of Langsford's marriage to Mary Row, a daughter of Hugh. Judging from a deed of 1834 the house was then owned by Captain Daniel Wheeler of the tavern, and was occupied by Josiah Witham as a tenant. (See chapter: The Woods Settlements.) The easterly end of the existing house is thought to be the original structure.
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MAP LEGEND
THE BOUNDARIES of the earliest Pigeon Cove farms as shown on the map are based upon a careful study of deeds and probate records, upon G. M. Hopkins' Atlas of Gloucester and Rockport, published in 1884, in which many of the original lines are recognizable, and upon a survey of the Pigeon Hill farm made by William Saville in 1794, a copy of which is in the collections of the Sandy Bay Historical Society.
It has not been possible to determine the lines of the farms on the Lanesville side of the town line, owing to the vagueness of the early deeds covering that section. From the town line at Folly Cove south to the parish line the various farm boundaries are regarded as being substantially correct. The less definite lines are drawn with dashes.
The highways on the map follow the lines of the original layouts, and are as at present except for three straightenings on Granite Street, made within recent times, in the vicinity of Folly Cove. The by-paths, such as "the path from Sandy Bay to Jumper's," now Wood- bury Street at its northern end and Squam Hill Road at its southern end, and the "path into the woods," now the northern end of Curtis Street and thence around the westerly side of Pigeon Hill, have been compiled from old maps and plans.
The coast line as shown from Pigeon Cove harbor southward is in accordance with the Saville plan of 1794 of the Pigeon Hill farm, the plan of the road around the cape made by Jabez R. Gott in 1823 (now in the City Engineer's office, Gloucester), and a plan of Pigeon Cove harbor drawn by William Pool in 1838 (now in the collections of the Village Improvement Society of Pigeon Cove).
The houses shown along the street frontages are those that existed when the Town of Rockport was incorporated in 1840, so far as can be determined from the deeds. Where an early house or one standing in 1840 has been removed, its site is indicated by a hollow square.
To enable the reader to connect the ancient lines with modern conditions the streets built since 1840 are shown in undertone.
The location of the Annisquam Parish line, established by the General Court in 1728, has been plotted from a plan of the original First Parish made by Josiah Batchelder May 30, 1741, the original of which is in the Massachusetts Archives at the State House, Boston, as number 576 of Maps & Plans. Owing to the scale of that plan, 100 rods (1,650 feet) to an inch, it is impossible to accurately plot the intersection of the parish line with Granite Street. A brief note in an historical manuscript written by the late Calvin W. Pool in 1867 reads, " The parish line from the west passed the large stone boarding house near it and thence to the seashore." The stone house is now numbered 87 Granite Street. Assuming that the easterly end of the line lay on the promontory, formerly known as Rowe's Point, which is now incorporated in the jetty built by the Rockport Granite Company, the line would cross Granite Street close to the quarry bridge.
The two dams and mill foundations on the Norwood Mill Brook are of unknown date and origin. They are on the farm of William Woodberry, later owned by William Nor- wood and his son James, by the latter's daughter Harriet, Mrs. James Gooch, and, after 1820, by David Babson. Not so much as an incidental mention of them has been found in any deed or probate inventory connected with that property. A deed of 1828 covering the property west of the brook locates the upper one as "the milldam." The stream was referred to in a deed of September 3, 1790, as " James Norwood's mill brook formerly his father's, William Norwood." Similarly the dam on the small tributary of that brook is of unknown origin. It once held a shallow pond, now a cattail swamp, on the north side of Curtis Street on land once owned by the Norwoods. In the " sea wall " on the Halibut Point public reservation north of the Gott house, there is a partially completed mill stone of standard proportions. Why it was abandoned before completion is a subject for conjecture. Possibly it was intended for use in one of the mills.
HISTORICAL MAP of PIGEON COVE ROCKPORT - MASS. Compiled by Allen Chamberlain 1940
600
feet
Hoop Pole Cove
C A. C.
Wm Andrew's "old garden"
Andrews Point
VE
h
ng
EARLIEST HOUSES, ROADS & PATHS
Houses Standing in 1840 Other Early Sites Streets Built Since 1840 Shown in Undertone.
Copyright by Allen Chamberlain 1940
MAP LEGEND
THE BOUNDARIES of the earliest Pigeon Cove farms as shown on the map are based upon a careful study of deeds and probate records, upon G. M. Hopkins' Atlas of Gloucester and Rockport, published in 1884, in which many of the original lines are recognizable, and upon a survey of the Pigeon Hill farm made by William Saville in 1794, a copy of which is in the collections of the Sandy Bay Historical Society.
It has not been possible to determine the lines of the farms on the Lanesville side of the town line, owing to the vagueness of the early deeds covering that section. From the town line at Folly Cove south to the parish line the various farm boundaries are regarded as being substantially correct. The less definite lines are drawn with dashes.
The highways on the map follow the lines of the original layouts, and are as at present except for three straightenings on Granite Street, made within recent times, in the vicinity of Folly Cove. The by-paths, such as " the path from Sandy Bay to Jumper's," now Wood- bury Street at its northern end and Squam Hill Road at its southern end, and the "path into the woods," now the northern end of Curtis Street and thence around the westerly side of Pigeon Hill, have been compiled from old maps and plans.
The coast line as shown from Pigeon Cove harbor southward is in accordance with the Saville plan of 1794 of the Pigeon Hill farm, the plan of the road around the cape made by Jabez R. Gott in 1823 (now in the City Engineer's office, Gloucester), and a plan of Pigeon Cove harbor drawn by William Pool in 1838 (now in the collections of the Village Improvement Society of Pigeon Cove).
The houses shown along the street frontages are those that existed when the Town of Rockport was incorporated in 1840, so far as can be determined from the deeds. Where an early house or one standing in 1840 has been removed, its site is indicated by a hollow square.
To enable the reader to connect the ancient lines with modern conditions the streets built since 1840 are shown in undertone.
The location of the Annisquam Parish line, established by the General Court in 1728, has been plotted from a plan of the original First Parish made by Josiah Batchelder May 30, 1741, the original of which is in the Massachusetts Archives at the State House, Boston, as number 576 of Maps & Plans. Owing to the scale of that plan, 100 rods (1,650 feet) to an inch, it is impossible to accurately plot the intersection of the parish line with Granite Street. A brief note in an historical manuscript written by the late Calvin W. Pool in 1867 reads, " The parish line from the west passed the large stone boarding house near it and thence to the seashore." The stone house is now numbered 87 Granite Street. Assuming that the easterly end of the line lay on the promontory, formerly known as Rowe's Point, which is now incorporated in the jetty built by the Rockport Granite Company, the line would cross Granite Street close to the quarry bridge.
The two dams and mill foundations on the Norwood Mill Brook are of unknown date and origin. They are on the farm of William Woodberry, later owned by William Nor- wood and his son James, by the latter's daughter Harriet, Mrs. James Gooch, and, after 1820, by David Babson. Not so much as an incidental mention of them has been found in any deed or probate inventory connected with that property. A deed of 1828 covering the property west of the brook locates the upper one as "the milldam." The stream was referred to in a deed of September 3, 1790, as " James Norwood's mill brook formerly his father's, William Norwood." Similarly the dam on the small tributary of that brook is of unknown origin. It once held a shallow pond, now a cattail swamp, on the north side of Curtis Street on land once owned by the Norwoods. In the " sea wall " on the Halibut Point public reservation north of the Gott house, there is a partially completed mill stone of standard proportions. Why it was abandoned before completion is a subject for conjecture. Possibly it was intended for use in one of the mills.
OCEAN
Halibut
Point
Spring
Folly Point
HISTORICAL MAP of
SAMUEL
GOTT FARM - 1702 Lots 29-35
PIGEON COVE ROCKPORT - MASS. Compiled by Allen Chamberlain 1940
Gallop's
Folly
Cove
600
feet
Lot 2
STREET
Hoop Pole Cove
C
A. C.
GRANITE
WILLIAM WOODBERRY FARM 1705
Town Landing
0
Lots 24-28
GOTT AV.
To Well
1
Gate -
& Spring
Wm Andrews "old garden"
Andrews Point
COMMON LAND 1688
Mill
.
"Don't Gott
WILLIAM
ANDREWS FARM - 1702 LOTS 36-43
BENJ. HOPPEN 1706
Andrews orchard
TON
WOOD BURY
PHILLIPS
AVENUE
Presumed site of Jonathan Andrews 740
EDWARD JUMPER 1707
Presumed house of James Norwood
wm Andrews' house site 1710/11
"cart/or drift way"- of-1746
*The Dam
-The Maple Tree & Gate
OCEAN
Wood bury. Jr.
AVENUE
STREET
Site of Jumper house
0
Lots 44-53
NORWOOD 1704
Garrison House 1676 ?
PHILLIPS
True N
AVENUE
into
Sol. Knights
Quarry Road 1840
CURTIS
·Western
--
.
Gote ot the
Bass wood Tree FARM- 1713
JETHRO WHEELER Lots 54-59
Pigeon
Cove
The Old Castle 1713
Well
- 1823
STREET
OAKLAND
"Road
STORY
STREET
STREET
Wheeler's " Little
RICHARD LANGSFORD FARM
"Sea Mark" 1713 6 1792
Gate
1HILL
Langsford's orchard
THOMAS HARRIS FARM 1714
PIGEON HILL
Lots 60-62
Harris house
1784
Landmark Lane -March 13, 1799
Road
JOHN KIMBALL & COMPANY PASTURE 1714 Lots 63-70
School-1830
Swamp
" Bull Rock Pasture ™
to
# STREET
/
Lot 71
Z before 1794/
0
Rowe's Cove
VbcGate
Black Ash Swamp
Rowe's Point
DODGE ROCK
1
0
RECENT POND
EARLIEST HOUSES ROADS 6. PATHS
Short Beach Town Landing
Houses Standing in 1840 Other Early Sites
.
0
Streets Built Since 1840
1
GRANITE
Shown in Undertone.
1
Copyright by Allen Chamberlain 1940
SANDY BAY
Stony or Folly Brook
755
GOTT
1730
STEPHEN'S
Barley Stubble"
..
Pillion Rocks
Beach
AVENUE
Pigeon Rock before the breakwater
Tavern
LD
PIGEON
w&u "JOHN BLANCH" Before 1784
leading
Cove
" SpoOM
BOWE TOMB
GRANITE
Coleburn's Point
Major John Rowe
Added to Rowe Farm
before 1794
3ª Parish 1728 : Approximate line from plan 5th Parish 1754: Josiah Batchelder
May 30, 1741
STREET
- Pond
Brook
SAMUEL LANE FARM Lots 22 6, 23 1707
Presumed house of Thomas Wise 1705
Norwood
D Sam'l Gott, Jr.
.
Ancient Dams & Mill Sites
1771
School-1797
>Andrew
1840
Spring
GRANITE
JOSHUA
FARM
GLOUCESTER
ROCKPORT
STREETO
STOCKHOLM
"Road
1756 \1730
before 1833
Abandoned Quarry
R. R.
James Story 1790
Job Knights before 1794
before 1790 +
HAVEN
AVENUE
Twoods #
Gott House! 1702-
Andrews' Hollow Lot 36
AVENUE
POINT DE CHENE AVE
LANGSFORD ST.
STREET
JASHINGTO
"Path from Sandy Bay to Jumper's "
Pasture"
1708
MAJOR JOHN ROWE
"The Barley Stubble"
& Annisquam
Path To Hodgkins
Path to Jumper's
To Johnson's Quarry
To Squam
to the Sheep Pasture" PIGEON HILL STREET
3298
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