Wharfs, Women, and the Waterside

The second presentation in a five-part lecture series celebrating Newburyport history, will be held Sunday, March 15, at 2:00pm at the Newburyport Public Library Program Room. The presentation is by Skip Motes (research by Marge Motes).

Skip Motes is a local author, historian, and artist. Last year Newburyport celebrated the 250th anniversary of the separation of the maritime Waterside community from Newbury to form the new town of Newburyport. This presentation turns to two earlier questions. How did the Waterside develop within agrarian Newbury? What role did women—history’s silent partners—play ?

Captain Paul White, came to Newbury, sixty-three years old, a seasoned sea captain and merchant, built the first wharf on the waterfront in 1656. His second wife, Anne (Wood) (Jones) White had children from an earlier marriage that married into the families of the early governors of Massachusetts, including Anne (Dudley) Bradstreet, the first published female poet in America.. Stephen Greenleaf, Richard Dole, Nathaniel Clark and Nathaniel Davison built the next group of wharfs on the central waterfront.. Daughter Anne Wood married 2nd Colonel Dudley Bradstreet, son of Gov. Simon Bradstreet and Anne (Dudley) Bradstreet.Anne (Dudley) Bradstreet was the daughter of Gov. Thomas Dudley, and the first published female poet in America.

Skip and Marge Motes are both members of the Newburyport Preservation Trust, Members at Custom House Maritime Museum, Museum of Old Newbury, and Volunteer at The Archival Center at Newburyport Library. They have been researching Newburyport’s history since moving here in 1995. Resume of Skip Motes Art.

Please visit Melissa @AnceStoryArchives