57 



our heyres, executors and administrators, firmly by these pres- 

 ents, as witnesse our hands, this nineteenth day of February, Anno 

 Domini 1674-5. 



JONATHAN CORWIN. 



DANIEL ANDREWE." 



Thus it appears that this house was so old in 1675 that 

 the chimneys had to be taken down and new ones built. 

 Previous to that time it seems not to have had any plas- 

 tering or ceilings, the "sides of the house" only being 

 filled with brick and covered or "daubed" with clay. 



A picture of this house, as it was before the second 

 alteration was made in 1746, is in the possession of the 

 Institute. It shows the underpinning "not exceeding 

 three feet in height," and the porch with the stone steps 

 up into it. The side gables were perhaps an addition at 

 some intermediate period. 



By the favor of Dr. G. P. Farrington, who now owns 

 the house, and Mr. W. T. Servey who occupies the upper 

 part of it, we have been enabled to obtain the following 

 minutes of the present appearance of the interior. The 

 western side of the house still retains, behind the plaster- 

 ing, the bricks with which it was originally filled, covered 

 over with clay. The original rooms measure nearly 

 as follows : eastern room below 21 by 18 feet ; room 

 over it 21 by 20 feet ; western room below 16 by 18 

 feet ; room over it 16 by 20 feet. The chimney is about 

 12 by 8 feet. In each of the eastern rooms three, and 

 in the western rooms two, stout hewn timbers of solid 

 oak cross the ceiling. The line of the old roof is now 

 plainly visible on the eastern face of the chimney in the 

 garret, and shows that the pitch of the roof was very 

 steep. The only part of the outside of the house which 

 retains its original appearance is the western part of the 

 front towards Essex street with its projecting upper 

 story. 

 ESSEX INST. BULLETIN. n 8 



