1900 George Francis Dow Massachusetts House of Representatives

George Francis Dow (January 7, 1868 – June 5, 1936) was an American antiquarian for the

Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities Historic New England, previously known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), is a charitable, non-profit, historic preservation organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is focused on New England ...

, active in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. George Francis Dow was born on January 7, 1868, in

Wakefield, New Hampshire Wakefield is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,201 at the 2020 census. The town includes the villages of Wakefield Corner (the original town center), East Wakefield, North Wakefield, Sanbornville, Union ...

. He joined the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

in 1910. The Parson Capen House (

Topsfield, Massachusetts Topsfield is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,569 at the 2020 census. Topsfield is located in the North Shore region of Massachusetts. Part of the town comprises the census-designated place of Topsfiel ...

) was restored under his direction in 1913. Dow was instrumental in the creation of the Pioneer Village for the 300th anniversary of the founding of Salem, Massachusetts.

Joseph Everett Chandler Joseph Everett Chandler (December 11, 1863 – August 19, 1945) was an American architect. He is considered a major proponent of the Colonial Revival architecture. Biography Joseph Everett Chandler was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the son o ...

, an architect, and George Francis Dow conceived Pioneer Village as a means to demonstrate life in 1630. They "engaged other experts and architects to help pull it off" before the Tercentenary celebrations. Noted landscape architect Harlan Page Kelsey drew up the plan. Philip Horton Smith planned the restoration of the Ruck House. They created one of America's first living history museums which the city of Salem committed to preserve in perpetuity. The

John Ward House John Ward House may refer to: *John Ward House (Newton, Massachusetts), a historic Federal style house *John Ward House (Salem, Massachusetts), a National Historic Landmark house, listed on the NRHP *John Ward House, Haverhill, Massachusetts, a his ...

was moved to its present site in 1910 and restored by the

Peabody Essex Museum The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, US, is a successor to the East India Marine Society, established in 1799. It combines the collections of the former Peabody Museum of Salem (which acquired the Society's collection) and the ...

, under the direction of curator and early preservationist George Francis Dow. The house was moved my splitting it into two and rolled on ox-drawn logs from its original site three blocks away. In 1911, The John Ward House opened to the public, becoming the first outdoor museum of architecture in the country. The

is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

at 132 Essex Street in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

. The house was built in 1684 by John Ward and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1968. He was a Republican member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the 10th Essex district, in the

1900 Massachusetts legislature The 121st Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1900 during the Governor of Massachusetts, governorship of Winthrop M. Crane. George Edwin Smith served as Presid ...

. Dow died on June 5, 1936, in Topsfield, Massachusetts.

Selected works

* ''Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County'', ed. George Francis Dow, 1911-1975. * ''The Pirates of the New England Coast 1630-1730'', 1923 (Co-authored with John Henry Edmonds). * ''Domestic life in New England in the seventeenth century; a discourse'', 1925. * ''Whale ships and whaling; a pictorial history of whaling during three centuries, with an account of the whale fishery in colonial New England'', 1925. * ''Arts & Crafts in New England, 1704-1775'', 1927. * ''Slave Ships and Slaving'', 1927. * ''Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony'', 1935. * ''History of Topsfield, Massachusetts'', 1940.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dow, George Francis American antiquarians 1868 births 1936 deaths