History: Wakefield's Hartshorne House

In the ancient town of Redding (which actually was begun in what is now known as Wakefield), most of the oldest dwellings were centrally located in proximity to the two ponds that had drawn the inhabitants to their shores. There were seven houses by 1644 when the town was officially incorporated. In 1647 there were twenty-nine land grants given, most of them associated with homesteads. One of these belonged to William Hooper who almost certainly lived at or near the current location of the ‘Hartshorne House.’  Hooper was one of the earliest residents of the town, and had come from England in 1635 with his employer or relative Thomas Marshall, who had one of the earliest land grants here.

In 1664, Hooper sold his homestead and some of his land to 24-year old Mary Hodgman. The young woman, born Mary Kebbe, had married Ezekiel Morrill several years earlier; upon his death in 1663, she re-married a yeoman farmer, Thomas Hodgman. The young couple used Mary’s inheritance to pay for their new homestead. Did they use the original homestead, used by the Hoopers for 17 years, as their own? Did they add to it, or move it? It’s unlikely that they tore it down but we are unsure of the exact age of the present house, which could very well date from 1664 or before. We are only certain that the home that the Hodgman’s occupied for many years was definitely the oldest, or westernmost part, of the Hartshorne House. Tom and Mary Hodgman had no natural children, but had an adopted son, Josiah Webber, to whom they deeded most of their land. In 1725, the couple went to live with Josiah; their home was sold at this time to ‘the widow Patterson.’ Mrs. Patterson, about whom very little is known, lived in the house until 1757, when it was sold to Jonathon Cowdrey.

Cowdrey was related to the wealthy Cowdrey family, owners of much property along the present Prospect Street. He was a skilled artisan and worked as a clock and buckle maker. During his 35-year ownership of the property, he added on to the Hodgman’s original two-story house.  In 1792 he sold the property to Dr. John Hart.

Hart, the town’s primary physician, owned a lot of property in the town.  He had been a surgeon in the American Revolution, serving from his enlistment at around the time of the Battle of Bunker Hill, until after the war’s end in 1784.  He was well known to George Washington and was mentioned in the records of the Continental Congress. As the town’s primary physician, he made his fortune here, and recognized the importance of real estate. He may have lived for a time in the home that he purchased from Jonathon Cowdrey, but the house was primarily an investment property. Dr. Hart made the last major addition to the house, adding two rooms (upstairs and down) to the east side, and used it as an inn. One of the major tenants of the second floor meeting room was the Mount Moriah Lodge of Freemasons. 

In 1802 the house was sold to Caleb Eaton and David Smith, who owned it only briefly before selling it, in 1803, to James Hartshorne.

Hartshorne, born in 1776, was a descendant of one of the town’s first settlers.  He was a cordwainer or shoemaker by profession. In 1803, he married Abigail Coggin and brought his bride to live in his new home. They quickly filled it with children; in their thirteen year marriage, Abigail had seven children. Three years after Abigail’s death in 1813, James married Mary Poole, with whom he had six more children. Of the thirteen children born in the house, eight lived to adulthood. 

James Hartshorne was an important person in the town of South Reading. He prospered as a shoe manufacturer and had outbuildings on his property to house his inventory. He also served as Selectman and as Town Treasurer. Like many men of his time, he served in the town’s cavalry, although there is no record of his having taken part in any military conflict. He was honored with the title of ‘Colonel’ for his tenure in this regiment.  James Hartshorne lived in the house until his death in 1870. His widow Mary lived there until her death in 1884; afterward the house came into the possession of her daughter Mary and son-in-law John Rayner. It is believed that the house was in poor condition when it was sold, in 1890, to John G. Morrill of Wakefield and J. Reed Whipple of Boston.  Morrill joined with Frank Atwood in forming the Morrill-Atwood Ice Company and proceeded to build icehouses in the land they had purchased from the Rayners.  The house was incidental to their purchase; they turned it into a tenement house for the icehouse workers. 

On September 26, 1929, when the icehouses were empty and the ice harvesting industry was faltering due to the rapid rise of electrical refrigeration, a spectacular fire broke out in one of the icehouses. The cork-lined walls fed the flames and the icehouses were soon leveled. On October 30, 1929 (coincidentally, the day after the stock market crash), the Town of Wakefield purchased the house and the land for the sum of $14,999.   

It was the eve of the Tercentenary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  All of the cities and towns had been urged to take part in the commemoration of the 300^th anniversary by celebrating their heritage. The Town of Wakefield decided to restore the little old house on Church Street as their part in the celebration.  The old house, most commonly called the ‘Lafayette House,’ was re-named in honor of the resident who lived there for 63 years, and a non-profit association was formed to care for the house.

Now, 81 years after its inception, the Colonel James Hartshorne House Association lovingly tenders the constant care that an ancient structure requires, and holds an .

The association invites the public to visit the House this Sunday, December 4th, when the venerable structure will be young again with the spirit of hospitality and the joy of the holiday season. The House will welcome visitors from 2 to 4 p.m.