132 



Mr. Upham showed a drawing representing the appearance of the 

 nails found in an oak beam in the cellar of this house, supposed to rep- 

 resent the initials of John Endicott, and referred to as corroborating 

 the tradition. The beam is part of the original frame of the house, 

 and runs across the middle of the cellar parallel with the front of the 

 house, and is of solid oak, one foot square. These nails must have 

 been driven in when the wood was green, for they are wholly embed- 

 ded in it, while it would be impossible to drive any nail into the wood 

 now at all. The following will give some idea of the relative position 

 of the nail heads, the face of the beam being smooth and free from any 

 other mark near them. 



The above is about one-third size. Turned upside down it will 

 stand, perhaps, for IE. It would be difficult to assign any other ob- 

 ject for driving these large nails into such a beam, except for a mark 

 of ownership, and they resemble nothing more nearly than the initials 

 of John Endicott, for which they have always, according to tradition, 

 been supposed to be intended. 



Remarks on the same subject were made by Messrs. J. C. Osgood, 

 G. D. Phippen, and others. The terms of " cottagers," " common- 

 ers," and " cottage rights" having been used in the course of the re- 

 marks of the several speakers, Mr. Upham gave an account of the ori- 

 gin of the Common and Cottage Rights, so called, and showed how 

 a proper understanding of them, and a study of the Commoner's Rec- 

 ords enables us to determine many interesting points in local history 

 especially relating to the location of the earliest dwellings. 



Donations to the Museum and Library were announced. 



Daniel James Tapley, and S. P. Cummiugs, of Danvers ; and F. 

 Margoles, Everett E. Austin, Stephen Gauss, and George P. Fowler, of 

 Salem, were elected Resident Members. 



MONDAY. APRIL 15, 1867. Regular Meeting. 

 Vice President GOODELL in the chair. 



Letters were announced from, James M. Barnard, Boston ; Prof. 

 W. P. Blake, San Francisco, Cal. ; W. P. Conant, Wenham (Mar. 30) ; 

 Rev. E. C. Bolles, Portland, Me. ; Brevet Maj. Gen. Barnard, U. S. A., 



