The Dickinson–Pillsbury–Witham House is a historic
First Period
First Period is an American architecture style originating between approximately 1626 and 1725, used primarily by British colonists during the settlement of the British colonies of North America, particularly in Massachusetts and Virginia. ...
house which, along with an 18th-century barn, sits on an 8.84 acre lot in
Georgetown, Massachusetts
Georgetown is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,470 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It was incorporated in 1838 from part of Rowley, Massachus ...
. 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 surveyed by architectural historian and genealogist
Abbott Lowell Cummings
Abbott Lowell Cummings (March 14, 1923 – May 29, 2017) was a noted architectural historian and genealogist, best known for his study of New England architecture.
Life and career
Cummings was born in St. Albans, Vermont, educated at the Hoo ...
.
The oldest part of the -story wood-frame colonial house was built 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.
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
Albert Pike (December 29, 1809April 2, 1891) was an American author, poet, orator, editor, lawyer, jurist and Confederate States Army general who served as an List of justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court, associate justice of the Arkansas Supr ...
. Paul Pillsbury was also the uncle of abolitionist
Parker Pillsbury Parker Pillsbury (September 22, 1809 – July 7, 1898) was an American minister and advocate for abolition and women's rights.
Life
Pillsbury was born in Hamilton, Massachusetts. He moved to Henniker, New Hampshire where he later farmed and wo ...
and the great-uncle of attorney
Albert E. Pillsbury
Albert Enoch Pillsbury (August 19, 1849 – December 23, 1930) was a Boston lawyer who served in both houses of the Massachusetts legislature, president of the Massachusetts State Senate, and as the Attorney General of Massachusetts from 1891 to ...
who drafted the bylaws of the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
.
The house was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1990.
See also
*
*
List of the oldest buildings in the United States
This article lists the oldest buildings in the United States and its territories. The list includes sites in current U.S. state, states and Territories of the United States, territories which were not part of the original Thirteen Colonies when th ...
References
Houses in Georgetown, Massachusetts
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Essex County, Massachusetts
{{EssexCountyMA-NRHP-stub