Holyoke French House c 1760 Boxford MA Georgian Elegance History Bites New England

Located about 25 miles north of Boston, in the small town of Boxford, is the Holyoke French House. Built in 1760 for Boxford's third minister, Eliza Holyoke, it is a two and a half story wood frame structure with a side gable gambrel roof, twin interior chimneys, clapboard siding, and a stone foundation. The center entrance is flanked by pilasters and is topped by a transom window and gabled pediment. The first house on this site, according to the Boxford Historical Society, which manages the property, was built in 1704 as a parsonage for the town's first preacher, Thomas Sims. It was Eliza's father, Samuel Holyoke, a merchant from Boston, who erected this house. The first house on the site was sold to Reverend Holyoke in 1759 and taken down the following year. Born in Boston in 1731, Eliza Holyoke was a great-grandson of Eliza Holyoke of Springfield, Massachusetts, for whom Mount Holyoke is named. Eliza Holyoke was also a nephew of Reverend Edward Holyoke, who served as president of Harvard College from 1737 to 1769. In the 1740s, Reverend Holyoke voiced his opposition to the popular revivalist George Whitefield, describing his views as excessive and inspiring division among families and local churches. It was two years before the construction of the Holyoke French House that Boxford's first church and parish invited Reverend Eliza Holyoke, then of Cambridge, to become their pastor. The parish agreed to give him 160 pounds in settlement and about 66 pounds with 20 cords of wood in salary annually. According to author Sidney Purley's The History of Boxford, published in 1880, the town parish was revived under Reverend Holyoke's leadership. For example, during the first year of his ministry, a small legacy was bequeathed to the parish by the will of Captain Jeremiah Purley, which was applied to paint a portion of Reverend Holyoke's settlement. The church was also painted in olive color. In 1759, Reverend Holyoke married Hannah Peabody, daughter of Reverend Oliver Peabody of Natick, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Holyoke had eight children, one of whom was Samuel Adams Holyoke, who would become a distinguished musical composer and publisher. Samuel was composing music before he graduated from Harvard in 1789. He would go on to compose some 700 pieces, including psalm tunes and anthems, some with musical accompaniment. While his music is largely forgotten today, music historian George Hood maintains, there was no man of his day that did more for the cause of music than Samuel Holyoke. The serpent head spout was a popular teapot feature at this time. While the house museum lacks any specific information about the teapot, it is known that it once belonged to a member of the Holyoke or French family. In 1793, Reverend Holyoke suffered what Sidney Purley described as a paralytic shock, which, in the author's words, unfitted him for constant duty in the pulpit during the rest of his life. Holyoke grew more ill as the year advanced, so much so that he did not preach after 1793. After enduring his illness for 13 years, Reverend Holyoke died in 1806. His wife, Hannah, who, in the words of Purley, had tenderly cared for her beloved husband, survived him little more than two years, dying in 1808. Few ministers or men, writes Sidney Purley, have lived in a place so long, so quietly, and so happily as Reverend Holyoke. The chords of harmony between him and his people were ever perfect, even to reverence and love. Reverend Holyoke's ministry extended through a period of 47 years and was, Purley adds, uncommon and unprecedented in the ecclesiastical history of New England. Located close to the church is a monument erected in memory of Reverend Holyoke by the parish, which reads in part, Lost to the world, adieu. Our friend, adieu. Unblemished spirit, seek those realms of light where boundless mercy only meets the view. Faith lost in wonder, hope in full delight. The house was owned and part of it occupied by Hannah, Reverend Holyoke's daughter, until her death in 1865. The rest of the house was tenanted by many different families, one of whom was Benjamin French, father of Elvin French, who was born in the house and would also become its owner. In 1866, Miss Holyoke's executors sold the house to Elvin French, who is described by Purley as a well-known musician. As the new owner of the house, French undertook an ambitious plan of home improvements, attempting to remedy what author Purley described as decay, fast creeping up upon the old mansion. Working alongside his son, who rented the house during summers, French did considerable and apparently skillful restoration on the house in such a manner, according to Purley, as to allow all that is interesting in it to remain. The crank on the side rotates internal wooden paddles to agitate the cream more efficiently. Turning it into butter. On the walls of the Holyoke French house hang old faded portraits, which called to mind a poem about the house, written in the late 19th century by Martha L. Emerson. It reads, in part, two antique portraits older than we know, perchance were old a century ago. Hang in the upper hall faint shadows they, of faces long since passed from earth, away. The Barnes and Sawyer families are historically significant to Boxford through their presence during the town's early development and the preservation of their personal records, which provide insights into 18th and 19th century life. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, she was the wife of Benjamin Spofford Barnes, Esquire. She and her husband were the parents of at least five children. Holding the title Esquire was a designation in that era, typically reserved for men of high social standing, often landowners or those involved in legal and administrative affairs. The daughter of Elvin and Ida French, Gertrude was a professional harpist and the last resident of the Holyoke French house. She lived in the L, as the house proper had no heat. This set of doll furniture was made as a gift for Gertrude, perhaps by her neighbor Samuel Eyre, who was a carpenter and made many toys for her. Her father then painted it to match her bedroom furniture, which he had also painted. Gertrude never married and spent her later years here living alone until her death in 1940. She bequeathed the house to the Oxford Historical Society.