LIBRARY OF
WELLESLEY COLLEGE
PRESENTED BY
Will.iam G, Thayer, Jr.
"The JVood-Carver of Salem
Nine hundred and thirty copies of ^l)Z
S2Eociti=ffl^arfarc o! Salem, of which nine hun-
dred are for sale, have been printed from
type and the type distributed.
This copy is Number.. _ck_-^^<^—
Plate I. — Profile Medallion of Washington, hand carved in Wood,
1802.
The Wood-Carver
of Salem
Samuel Mclntire
His Life and W^ork
By
Frank Cousins and Phil M, Riley
Illustrated
NON'REFERT
SWVAD • Q3S
Boston
Little J Brown, and Company
igi6
r^' r i, '^^
269272
Copyright, igi6,
By Little, Brown, and Company.
All rights reserved
737
Foreword
ABOUT thirty years ago Mr. T. Frank Hunt,
of Salem, suggested to Mr. Cousins that he
undertake the task of making a comprehensive
photographic record of the fine old houses of Salem,
many of which could not be expected to exist per-
manently. All his life Mr. Cousins had been keenly
appreciative of the remarkable history and splendid
architecture of his native city ; the idea appealed to
him strongly and with the further commendation of
Mr. John Robinson, of Peabody Museum, he finally
decided to adopt it. From the outset both of these
gentlemen were generous in valuable suggestions
and material assistance in connection with the
research necessary to bring to light a great amount
of interesting historical data long buried in the
quaint records of the Essex Institute, the City
Hall of Salem, the Registry of Probate of Essex
[v]
Foreword
County, and many old books, magazines, and news-
papers.
In 1895 the architectural summer school of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, held in
Salem, impressed upon Mr. Cousins as never before
the artistic and practical value of old Salem build-
ings, particularly the delightfully proportioned and
admirably executed designs of Samuel Mclntire,
that master craftsman of the third period of Colo-
nial architecture, and thus emphasized emphati-
cally the true importance of his ambitious project.
Ten years later, having accumulated over two
thousand photographic negatives, he began to show
the results of his labor to leading architects in the
principal cities, fully a thousand of whom soon be-
came his clients. This immediate recognition pres-
ently became even more gratifying by reason of the
growing interest manifested in Mclntire the man
and his work, which culminated in a genuine
demand for a book devoted to both. Among those
to whom grateful acknowledgement is due for en-
couragement and inspiration in its preparation
are : Mr. Louis C. Newhall, of Boston ; Mr. Cass
Gilbert and Mr. Electus D. Litchfield, of New
York ; Mr. Edward Robinson, Director of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, of New York; and
[vi]
Foreword
Mr. Edward R. Smith, of Avery Library, Colum-
bia University.
Five years ago Mr. Cousins was invited to meet
the editors of Country Life in America and show
them his photographs. At that time Mr. Riley was
Architectural Editor, and the suggestion to write
the text of a book devoted to the life and work of
Samuel Mclntire readily won his enthusiastic ap-
proval and enlisted his constructive support. He
came to Salem to examine into the matter at first
hand and after considerable investigation conceived
the title and prepared the synopsis of "The Wood-
carver of Salem." Then followed much painstaking
joint eifort ; the book commenced to take tangible
form, and a sincere attempt was made to phrase a
true estimate of Mclntire's achievements, and by
impartial criticism to interpret in a logical and enter-
taining manner its value and significance in modern
home building. Thus this volume represents a real
collaboration the perusal of which, it is hoped, may
prove as informative and pleasurable to the reader
as its preparation has been to the authors.
FRANK COUSINS and PHIL M. RILEY.
September 15, 1916.
[vii]
Contents
Chapter
Foreword ....
I. Salem Architecture .
II. Samuel and the Other McInt
III. Doorways and Porches
IV. Interior Woodwork .
V. Mantels and Chimney Pieces
VI. The Cook-Oliver House .
VII. The Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols
VIII. Public Work
Index
res
House
Page
V
I
17
46
(>^
85
102
117
133
149
[ix]
List of Plates
I. Profile Medallion of Washington, hand carved
in Wood, 1802 .... Frontispiece
Page
11. The Home of Samuel Mclntire, 31 Summer
Street, Salem, Mass. .... 4
III. TheLower and Upper Halls of Mclntire's Home 5
IV. Detail of Mantel in the Front Chamber of Mc-
lntire's Home ; Detail of Mantel in the
Chamber where Mclntire died . . 10
V. Detail of a Door in Mclntire's Home; Mantel
and Cornice in the Front Chamber . . n
VI. Mclntire's Gravestone, Charter Street Burial
Ground ....... 16
VII. Petition for a Public Pump signed by Mcln-
tire ; Mclntire's Autograph on the Peti-
tion ........ 17
VIII. Summer House formerly on Elias Haskett
Derby's Peabody Farm .... 22
IX. Mclntire's Plans of an unknown End-to-the-
street House ......
23
X. Basement and Street Floor Plans of an un-
known house by Mclntire ... 28
[xi]
List of Plates
Page
XI. Chamber and Street'^^Floor Plans of unknown
houses by Mclntire .... 29
XII. Window Head from Elias Haskett Derby
Mansion, and other woodwork preserved
at the Essex Institute .... 34
XIII. Detail of Fence and Ornamental Post,
25 Chestnut Street ; Stone Gatepost,
Charles Street Entrance to Boston Pub-
lic Garden, adapted from Mclntire's
earlier wood design .... 35
XIV. Doorway of the Eden-Brown House ; Door-
way of the Kimball House ... 46
XV. Peabody-Silsbee House, erected in 1797 . 47
XVI. Peabody-Silsbee Porch .... 48
XVII. Keyed Marble Lintel, Peabody-Silsbee
House ; Entablature of Window Frame,
"Oak Hill" 49
XVIII. Cornice, Eaves, and Balustraded Roof, Pea-
body-Silsbee House ; Peabody-Silsbee
Barn 50
XIX. Porch of the Stearns House ... 51
XX. Porch of the Home for Aged Women . . 52
XXI. Home for Aged Women, formerly the Ben-
jamin W. Crowninshield House, erected
in 1 8 10; Detail of Side Doorway. . 53
XXII. Clifford Crowninshield House, erected in
1805 ; Pickman - Derby - Brookhouse
Estate, erected in 1764 ... 54
XXIII. Clifford Crowninshield Porch ; Gardner-
White-PIngree Porch .... 55
XXIV. Porch of the Tucker-Rice House . . 56
[xii]
List of Plates
XXV. Tucker-Rice House, erected in 1800;
Detail of Porch ....
XXVI. Gardner-White-Pingree House, erected
in 1810
XXVn. Detail of Gardner-White-Pingree Porch
XXVHI. Nathan Reed House, erected in 1790;
Josiah Dow House, erected in 1787
XXIX. Hosmer -Waters Enclosed Porch, and
Front Doorway ....
XXX. David P. Waters Enclosed Porch ; Benja-
min Pickman Enclosed Porch .
XXXI. Parlor Doorway of Clifford Crownin-
shield Hall ; Door in Derby-Crown-
inshield-Rogers House
XXXII. Stucco Cornice in Derby-Crowninshield-
Rogers House; Wainscot and Sur-
base ......
XXXIII. Dado, Surbase, Baseboard, and Archi-
trave Casing, Pierce - Johonnot-
Nichols House; Door Paneling,
Casing, and Drop Handle
XXXIV. Street Floor Plan, Derby-Crowninshield-
Rogers House ; Front Elevation ;
Second Floor Plan ....
XXXV. Doorway in East Front Chamber, Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols House .
XXXVI. Drawing-Room Doorway, "Oak Hill" .
XXXVII. Detail of Doorway of a Chamber at " Oak
Hill"
XXXVIII. Doorway of the Morning Room, "Oak
Hill"
XXXIX. Architectural Treatment of the Drawlng-
Room," Oak Hill" .
[ xiii ]
Page
57
58
59
60
61
64
65
66
(>7
68
69
70
71
72
73
Ljist of Plates
Page
XL. Inside of Front Doorway, "Oak Hill" . 74
XLL Two Views of the Second Floor Hall, "Oak
Hill," showing Zuber's "Classic" Wall
Paper 75
XLH. Hall and Stairway at "Oak Hill" . . 76
XLHI. Elliptical Arches in the Hall, Derby-
Crowninshield-Rogers House . . 77
XLIV. "Winder" in the David P. Waters House;
Stairway in the Hosmer-Waters House 78
XLV. Side Stairway, Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols
House ; Back Stairway, Derby-Crown-
inshield-Rogers House ... 79
XLVI. "Winder" in the Derby-Crowninshield-
Rogers House ..... 80
XLVn. Stairway at Second Floor Level, Derby-
Crowninshield-Rogers House ; Detail
of Newel and Stair Ends ... 81
XLVHL Detail of Newel and Twisted Balusters,
"Oak Hill" 82
XLIX. A Doorway in the Hall, "Oak Hill" . . 83
L. Mantel in a Chamber of the Hosmer-
Waters House ; Mantel in Northwest
Parlor 84
LL Parlor Mantel, Lindall-Barnard-Andrews
House ; Corner Section showing hand
carved Applied Ornament ... 85
LH. Mantel in the West Chamber of the Pea-
body-Silsbee House .... 86
LHL Mantel in the Rear Parlor of the Woman's
Bureau ...... 87
LIV. Mantel in the Front Parlor of the Woman's
Bureau 88
[xiv]
List of Plates
LV. Detail of Mantel at the Woman's Bureau .
LVI. Detail of Mantel in the Kimball House .
LVII. Mantel in the Kimball House .
LVni. Mantel in the Parlor of the Home for Aged
Women ......
LIX. Parlor of the Home for Aged Women
LX. Two Mantels on the Third Floor of the
Derby-Crowninshield-Rogers House .
LXI. Corner Section of Adam Mantel, Derby-
Crowninshield-Rogers House
LXn. Detail of Mantel in the David P. Waters
Reception Room ....
LXni. Parlor of the Clifford Crowninshield House
LXIV. Detail of Mantel in the Clifford Crownin-
shield Parlor .....
LXV. Two Chimney Pieces at "The Lindens,"
Danvers ......
LXVI. Chimney Piece in the Drawing-Room,
"Oak Hill"
LXVH. Corner Section of Drawing-Room Mantel,
"Oak Hill"
LXVni. Chimney Piece in the Morning Room,
"Oak Hill"
LXIX. Chimney Piece in a Chamber at " Oak Hill "
LXX. Preliminary Sketches, Elias Haskett Derby
Mansion ......
LXXI. Preliminary Front Elevations, Elias Has-
kett Derby Mansion ....
[XV]
Page
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
lOO-IOI
lOO-IOI
lOO-IOI
lOO-IOI
102
103
List of Plates
Page
LXXII. Woodcut of the Elias Haskett Derby
Mansion from Felt's "Annals of Sa-
lem"; Floor Plans of the Stair Hall 104
LXXIII. First and Second Floor Plans, Elias
Haskett Derby Mansion . . . 105
LXXIV. Detail of Carved Moldings and Stucco
Work, Elias Haskett Derby Mansion 106
LXXV. Plan of Garden and Grounds, Elias
Haskett Derby Mansion . , « 107
LXXVI. The Cook-Oliver House, erected in 1804 . 108
LXXVn. Detail of Cook-Oliver Gateway and
Porch ; Detail of Gatepost . . 109
LXXVni. Cook-Oliver Entrance, showing Window
Heads no
LXXIX, Stairway, Cook-Oliver House . . . in
LXXX. Doorway in Cook-Oliver Hall . . 112
LXXXI. Palladian Window, Cook-Oliver Hall;
Corner Section of Hall Door . , 113
LXXXn. Parlor Mantel and Scenic Wall Paper,
Cook-Oliver House ; Corner Section
of Mantel 114
LXXXHI. Wall of Parlor, Cook-Oliver House, show-
ing "Panorama of Paris" Wall
Paper ; Embrasured Windows with
Folding Shutters .... 115
LXXXIV. Detail of Parlor Mantel, Cook-Oliver
House 116-117
LXXXV. The Dining Room, Cook-Oliver House . 116-117
[xvi]
List of Plates
Page
LXXXVI. Detail of Mantel in Chamber over
Parlor 1 16-117
LXXXVII. Chamber over Dining Room, Cook-
Oliver House .... 116-117
LXXXVIII. Detail of Mantel in Chamber over Din-
ing Room, Cook-Oliver House . 118
LXXXIX. The Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House,
erected in 1782 .... 119
XC. Detail of Gateway and Porch, Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols House , 120
XCI. Detail of Corner Treatment, Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols House; Hand
carved Eagle on Barn Roof ; Detail
of hand carved Gatepost . . 121
XCn. Enclosed Side Porch, Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols House .... 122-123
XCni. Old Terraced Garden, Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols Estate .... 122-123
XCIV. Paved Courtyard between Pierce-Jo-
honnot-Nichols House and Barn,
from two viewpoints . . . 122-123
XCV. Hall and Stairway, Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols House ; Detail of Chippen-
dale Balustrade .... 122-123
XCVI. Second Floor Hall, Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols House; Third Floor Hall 124-125
XCVH. Inside of Front Door, Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols House; Inside of Rear
Door 124-125
[ xvii ]
List of Plates
Page
XCVIII. Palladian Window on Stairway Landing,
Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House; De-
tail of Newel Treatment . . . 124-125
XCIX. West or Georgian Parlor, Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols House ; Doorway and Archi-
tectural Treatment .... 124-125
C. Embrasured Windows and Seats, West Par-
lor, Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House ;
Detail of Mantel .... 126-127
CI. Detail of Chimney Piece and China Closet,
West Parlor, Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols
House; Corner Section of the Mantel 126-127
CH. Detail of Embrasured Window and Seat,
West Parlor, Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols
House 126-127
CHI. General View of East or Adam Parlor,
Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House . . 126-127
CIV. Front and Rear Ends, East or Adam. Par-
lor, Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House . 128-129
CV. Detail of Doorway, East Parlor, Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols House . . . 128-129
CVI. Detail of Adam Chimney Piece, East Parlor,
Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House . . 128-129
[CVII. Corner Section of East Parlor Mantel,
Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House . . 128-129
CVIII. Detail of Embrasured Window, East Par-
lor, Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House . 130-131
CIX. Detail and Corner Section of East Parlor
Doorway, Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols
House 130-131
[ xviii ]
List of Plates
Page
ex. Detail of East Front Chamber Mantel,
Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House ; Cor-
ner Section of the same . . . 130-13 1
CXI. East Front Chamber, Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols House ; Architectural Treat-
ment of Rear Wall .... 130-131
CXH. Detail of Porch and Fafade, Assembly
House 132
CXIII. The Assembly House, erected in 1782 . 133
CXIV. Western Gateway, Washington Square,
erected in 1805, from a Woodcut in
Felt's "Annals of Salem" ; St. Peter's
Episcopal Church, razed in 1833, and
the Western Gate in the distance, from
an old painting ..... 134
CXV. The Courthouse of 1785, from an old paint-
ing at the Essex Institute ; also, from
an engraving in the Massachusetts
Magazine . . . . . . 135
CXVI. Interiorof Washington Hall, erected in 1792 136
CXVII. Mantel from the Old Registry of Deeds
Building, erected in 1807 . . , 137
CXVIII. Principal Elevation and Second Floor Plan,
Proposed National Capitol . . 138
CXIX. Rear Elevation and First Floor Plan, Pro-
posed National Capitol ... 139
CXX. Interior Sectional Plan at three points,
Proposed National Capitol ; Exterior
End Elevation; Interior Sectional
Plan
[xix]
140
List of Plates
Page
CXXI. Hand;carved'Gilt Eagle on the City Hall,
1805 ; a Carving at the Essex Insti-
tute ; Sculptured Eagle, formerly-
over the Old Custom House Door,
1805 ; another Carving at the Essex
Institute ...... 141
CXXII. The Old South Church, Salem, erected in
1804 142
CXXIII. Hamilton Hall, erected in 1805 ; Detail
of the Second Floor Windows and
Sculptured Panels .... 143
CXXIV. Side View of Hamilton Hall ... 144
CXXV. Entrance Doors and Music Balcony, Ham-
ilton Hall ; one of the Side Walls . 145
CXXVI. Fireplaces, Vaulted and Groined Ceiling,
Hamilton Hall 146
CXXVII. Detail of Mantel, Hamilton Hall ; Corner
Section of Mantel .... 147
[XX]
The JVood'Carver of Salem
The W^ood-Carver of Salem
CHAPTER I
SALEM ARCHITECTURE
FEW cities in the United States can boast a resi-
dential section, still well preserved and occupied
by the best families, which suggests only the long-
distant past with virtually no intrusive indication
of modernity to mar the illusion. Salem, Massa-
chusetts, is among the foremost. That its beauties
have been so abundantly preserved to posterity seems
to be almost a miracle — particularly when one
recalls the great conflagration of 19 14 — and mir-
acles are always happy. One may also marvel at
the remarkably perfect condition of the woodwork
on these old houses as it exists in Salem to-day,
proving conclusively that for white-painted exterior
wood trim no wood, unless it be cypress, excels
white pine for endurance. Street after street in this
remarkable city, so rich in historic lore, is lined
[I]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
with houses to which intelligent citizens point with
pride because of their pristine beauty, their age,
and the splendid manner in which they have been
maintained, in many instances for considerably more
than a century. Here, indeed, is an example of
true New England spirit and Yankee thrift.
Amid such surroundings fancy readily transports
the imaginative mind back to the days when Wash-
ington, La Fayette, and other men distinguished
in the early affairs of the nation were guests within
these very-welcoming doorways. In fact, to wander
about among the old houses and gardens of Salem
is to see a vivid reflection of that golden age when
this fascinating place was counted among the prin-
cipal centers of culture and wealth ; when leaders
in art, science, and letters were familiar figures in the
streets, and when prosperous merchants and emi-
nent statesmen called the town "home."
Next to Plymouth the oldest settlement in Massa-
chusetts, Salem quickly attained civic and com-
mercial importance because of its early origin and
seacoast situation ; the people, too, were of high
ideals, sincere determination, and steadfast purpose
— the sort that achieve greatness. Theirs was the
first armed resistance to British tyranny at the North
Bridge two months before Paul Revere's immortal
[2]
Salem Architecture
ride, and during the Revolution it was their pri-
vateers, carrying upward of two thousand guns,
which took four hundred and forty-five prizes —
more than were taken by the ships of all the other
ports combined. The entire merchant marine be-
came engaged in privateering, and new ships were
built as rapidly as possible, until the number flying
Salem signals at the close of the Revolution was
said to have been one hundred and fifty-eight. By
far the greater portion of the male population of the
town was engaged either in building ships or in a sea-
faring life. Shipbuilding became a fine art, so to
speak ; Salem vessels could outsail almost anything
then afloat, and their cabins were the supreme
achievement of skilled joiners and wood-carvers,
attracted thither by this industry from all sections
of the country.
In later, happier days, these very ships, and others
built in the quarter century that followed, made
Salem the center of commerce and refinement that it
became. An idle fleet, more ably manned than any
before it, had to be peacefully employed. With
admirable courage and remarkable foresight, its
owners entered into business relations with the East
Indies and other far ports of the world never before
reached by trading ships, and thus Salem became our
[3]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
chief port of entry long before New York, Boston,
and Philadelphia were even known to the merchants
of the East. In 1807 Salem had 252 vessels, aggre-
gating 43,570 tons. These ventures brought great
wealth to shipowners and captains with which to
build more pretentious homes than had previously
supplied their somewhat frugal necessities. During
the thirty years prior to 181 1, Salem merchants
paid into the Custom-house in duties more than
eleven million dollars, which gives an indication of
the tremendous amount of their business. The
refining influence of their extensive foreign travels
demanded a better standard of living, and the rare
furniture, wall papers, and other objects of art which
they had collected called for appropriate home
surroundings in which to display them. This pro-
vided a higher type of employment for the more
versatile of their shipbuilders, and the intelligence
and native ingenuity with which these craftsmen
adapted the motives of the Renaissance to their own
radically different problems is truly remarkable.
That was during the optimistic days a hundred
years ago ; but the wheel of progress has turned,
as turn it will, and Salem now lives chiefly in the
glory of its illustrious past, reminders of which are
to be seen in nearly every one of the principal streets.
[4]
Plate 11. — 7"he Home ut Samuel Mclntire, 31 Summer Street,
Salem, xMass.
o
X
CI,
CI-
TS
c
Salem Architecture
No longer does the ring of the hammer resound
in the shipyard of the Beckets ; no longer are
rich cargoes from all the great ports of the world
discharged at Derby and Crowninshield wharves ;
no longer do anxious merchants scan the horizon
to seaward from the belvederes and cupolas of their
beautiful homes. Salem is no longer mistress of the
seas ; her splendid merchant marine, said to com-
prise one hundred and ninety-eight ships in 1825,
gradually began to decrease in number upon the
coming of the railroads, which built up the ports of
large cities at the expense of smaller towns. The
foreign commerce of Salem is a thing of the past, but
most of the homes of her former distinguished men
stand intact to-day, compelling universal admira-
tion for their refined, substantial beauty, and com-
prising in many respects the most notable collection
of early American architecture.
In terms of the so-called Colonial style, our national
heritage, Salem is the architectural center of New
England, and to New England and Virginia must be
accorded the highest places in our regard as the
principal fountains of our culture and development.
But the architecture of Virginia implies the great
estate ; it is neither for the town nor the masses.
Thus it is that in Salem oftener than elsewhere lead-
[5]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
ing architects and discriminating home builders
have found inspiration for modern adaptation. One
ever goes to Salem as to a great storehouse of Ameri-
can antiquities, walking along her principal streets
in admiration and entering her historic homes with
reverence. Indeed, this fascinating historic city
has become a synonym for the best in Colonial
architecture, notably doorways and chimney pieces.
Variety and the opportunity for comparison render
Salem architecture unique and especially valuable
in that it embraces three dissimilar types — one
might say four, since they were developed in four
distinct periods. First came the lean-to, the aver-
age date of the examples still standing being about
that of the witchcraft delusion of 1692; next fol-
lowed the [gambrel-roof type about 1750; then came
the three-story, square wooden house of 1785, and
finally the three-story, square brick construction of
1 81 8. None of these aspires to the manorial splendor
of the South, but each frankly interprets the refine-
ment, the domestic spirit, and reasonable degree of
dignity of the people, quite as true in the prosperous
period of brick construction as in the earlier years,
when the snug comfort of the lean-to sufficed.
Strictly speaking, the first two periods constitute
the only really Colonial houses in Salem, but the
[6]
Salem Architecture
custom everywhere is to place in the Colonial cate-
gory all houses with classic detail up to the beginning
of the so-called Greek revival about 1825, when the
vogue came to give houses of wood as nearly as pos-
sible the form and aspect of the Doric temple in its
purest and severest form. This is logical and proper,
inasmuch as the mansions immediately preceding
and following the Revolution were a direct develop-
ment of their simpler predecessors and hence very
closely related to them. Such a broad application
of the word seems particularly happy in connection
with Salem architecture which did not attain the
full measure of its development until after the Revo-
lution.
The word "Provincial" has been suggested as a
more accurate substitute for Colonial, the argument
being that little worthy of serious architectural con-
sideration was erected in America during the actual
Colonial period. On this basis those splendid houses
built during the first three or four decades of our
national life should no doubt be termed "Federal."
But, after all, the word matters little in comparison
with its meaning, provided the latter be well under-
stood. The name Colonial has taken the popular
fancy and become a byword on every lip, while the
architecture it designates, principally because of its
[7]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
very comprehensiveness, expresses our national spirit
as nearly as we have been able to express it.
In those days of maritime prosperity large families
were the rule, not the exception, and the very num-
ber of rooms required, when a state of affluence made
large ones possible, tended toward a square house.
And it was in this square Colonial town house that
Salem architecture reached the pinnacle of its
achievement. Although eloquent in substantial
comfort and dignified appearance, it had not the
picturesque appeal of the lean-to or the gambrel-
roof types, yet in its ornamental detail it far sur-
passed them both. Severe, almost ugly in line
and mass, such a structure needed considerable
embellishment in order to ensure an attractive ap-
pearance. Quickened by this obvious requirement
and the spirit of the time, which ever called for more
elaborate externals corresponding to the great wealth
being amassed in foreign trade, local builders turned
more frequently for inspiration to the published
works of the master architects of the Renaissance.
The classic orders were modified to domestic uses
and applied throughout ; both exterior and interior
features responded to the influence. The hard out-
lines of the structure as a whole, and especially the
plainness of flat-boarded facades, were relieved by
[8]
Salem Architecture
imposing pilaster treatments ; flat roofs were decked
with balustrades, and hip roofs terminated in orna-
mental cupolas or balustraded belvederes ; columned
and pedimented porches shielded the doorways ;
architrave casings of doors and windows, both inside
and outside, were elaborated by completing the
entablature with cornice and frieze to form an orna-
mental head ; cornices with elegant hand-tooled
moldings and often supported by modillions were
placed under overhanging eaves and at the ceiling
of interiors.
In the execution of this work, Salem architects
and builders were quick to call to their aid the more
accomplished of the wood-carvers employed in the
local shipyards, then the largest in America. The
previous training of these craftsmen and their skill
in the use of sharp-edged tools made it an easy
matter for them to adapt to their needs and execute
in wood the moldings and other classic detail which
their fellow workers across the sea were cutting in
stone. Done in a masterly manner indicating in-
telligent study as well as clever adaptation, the work
in its translation to wood took on a lightness and
grace which has come to be regarded as one of the
principal charms of the Colonial work in this locality.
Considering the crude tools of those days, one's
[9]
The W^ood-Carver of Salem
admiration for the nicety with which the fine-scale
detail was cut need know no bounds, for it com-
pares favorably with the finest handiwork of our
most painstaking workmen of to-day. Even simple
moldings had to be made with hand planes, while
those bearing further enrichment were of necessity
carved laboriously with gouges and other chisels.
In the free atmosphere of a new country virtually
without local tradition, untrammeled by the letter
of European precedent, and immediately influenced
by the fanciful rope moldings and other flamboyant
decorations then being prepared all about them for
ship cabins, these wood-carvers and joiners succeeded
in imparting to their work a delightful spontaneity
and particular fitness ; it possesses distinguishing
traits peculiar to itself. Even the neighboring towns
do not anywhere, in work of the same period, dis-
close several of the more distinctive motives of
Salem's resourceful craftsmen. In admirable pro-
portions her architecture is more highly refined ;
in exceptional precision of workmanship more uni-
form ; in decorative detail more delicate and chaste.
But, above all else, it commands favorable attention
for its frequent unconventionality and even novelty,
combined with marked restraint and undeniable
good taste. Not only did the Salem architects in-
[lo]
Plate IV. — Detail of Mantel in the Front Chamber of Mclntire's
Home; Detail of Mantel in the Chamber where Mclntire died.
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Salem Architecture
terpret the orders with considerable freedom, vary-
ing the moldings, rearranging their relation one to
another, and altering proportions for variety of ef-
fect, but they neither hesitated to combine mold-
ings from two orders in one entablature nor to
substitute for any of them clever innovations of their
own, which usually preserved virtually the same
scale. Cornice and frieze were often utilized without
the architrave, but it was chiefly in the bed-molding
or dentil course underneath the corona of the cornice,
whether outdoors or inside and however employed,
that the more prominent alterations were made.
In its resourceful initiative, the work of these men
is more nearly creative and hence less interpretive
than that of the early craftsmen of any other lo-
cality. Not subservient to the classic orders as
evolved by the ancients, nor yet as modified by the
leaders of the Renaissance, they dominated them,
cleverly molding them anew to meet their own radi-
cally difi"erent needs, with the result that their work
became more intimately an expression of its creators
than did the Georgian in England.
These old mansions of Salem, representing the
very flower of a remarkable architectural period,
bespeak the earnest study of every prospective home
builder. A visit to this quaintly picturesque city
The Wood-Carver of Salem
invariably moves the most blase student of archi-
tecture to eloquence, yet to extol its praises amounts
only to humming the chorus of the song. Whether
one go to Salem or to one of the several other
early American centers of wealth and culture for
local color, it should not be forgotten that the prin-
cipal theme is the Colonial style, now more securely
rooted in popular esteem than ever before and more
frequently influencing the character of the houses
now being erected than any other guiding spirit.
This happy outcome finds a more lively appreciation
in that it corrects an aberration in the logical devel-
opment of our building traditions.
It will be recalled that for half a century after
the advent of the Greek revival, the Colonial style
completely lost its power of appeal. Fads and
fancies took the country by storm, but as the pro-
cesses of our economic and social evolution ever
turned our eyes backward to scrutinize the funda-
mentals of our national life in the solution of the more
complex problems of passing years, so the attempt
to lift American architecture out of that slough of
despond known as the Victorian period led archi-
tects back surely and directly to the supreme achieve-
ments of our early craftsmen, there to resume the
perpetuation of a heritage as fine as that of any coun-
[12]
Salem Architecture
try, unless it be Greece itself. It was inevitable
that the Colonial tradition should persist, but this
was due as much to the development of a higher
average mentality as to the efforts of architects,
though they were naturally the leaders. Whereas
just prior to the dawn of the present century the
pioneers among them were accorded scant encourage-
ment in their efforts to revive and adapt this archi-
tecture of a bygone day, its advocacy now meets
with genuine enthusiasm in most quarters. The
whole people seems to respond to the magic word
Colonial, and, stirred by a keener consciousness of
the meaning of our nationality and quickened by
a growing appreciation of its founders and early
supporters, is finding a wholesome and appealing
significance in the architecture of those brave days
and likewise a prototype decidedly worthy of emu-
lation. The dissensions engendered by the Civil
War, also the unfortunate architectural delusions
of that period, have been forgotten. We are now a
people more strongly united than ever before in our
history, and in architecture we have finally bridged
the gap of intervening years and begun, as in all
things else, to build for the future as well as the
present upon the fundamentals of the past. In such
measure do we accord to architecture a continuity
[13]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
as certain as that of the other fine arts In America,
and by a rational, concerted national viewpoint do
we lay the foundation for a strong and clearly defined
American style ; a living style, ever sufficiently
related to the past yet always susceptible of greater
refinement and further adaptation to the spirit and
needs of each successive generation ; a style that
though old is yet ever new ; a style to which distin-
guishing local traits may be imparted ; a style that
lends itself to public and commercial as well as
domestic uses.
Thus it may truthfully be said that the real
American style now is, always has been, and prob-
ably always will be Colonial. Inseparably wrapped
up in our glorious history. It has become a conspicu-
ous expression of our national life. Its delightful
grace, repose, and dignity never fail to make direct
appeal to every thinking person possessed of a keen
sense of good design and proportion or a ready ap-
preciation of our early traditions. In Colonial,
rather than the styles brought from far afield, does one
find complete fitness, absolute sincerity, and sheer
beauty. Embracing the varied Renaissance ex-
pressions of the Dutch and French as well as the
English peoples in America, it evolved among us the
one distinctive type of American architecture which
[h]
Salem Architecture
has aroused the admiration of the world ; it is ours,
and we cherish it.
Of course the intrinsic merit which is perpetuating
the Colonial style lies in its complete suitability
and ready adaptability to new uses and present-day
requirements, for happily they are becoming oftener
the dictates of comfort than of ostentatious appear-
ance, although Colonial motives possess that rare
quality of seeming appropriate for either a mansion
or a cottage when sympathetically interpreted. In-
deed, it daily arouses our admiration anew, solving
our ever more complex building problems gracefully
and well when other styles fail, and ensuring a home
of which the owner will not tire during a lifetime, and
which his descendants will be proud to inherit.
The occasional criticism that the style is some-
what restricted in its possibilities loses force when one
considers not the examples in Salem or any one
locality alone but the entire manifestation both in
the North and the South. Surely no dearth of evi-
dence exists to the effect that Colonial is varied
enough for our purposes. Found from Maine to
Louisiana, and differing considerably in the several
localities, according to size, climatic conditions,
constructive materials, and other personal influ-
ences, it appeals to us more strongly than any
[15]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
style derived from other sources. How similar yet
how different are the New England lean-to, the square
Salem town house, the gambrel-roof cottage of the
Dutch middle colonies, the hooded, gable-roof
Pennsylvania farmhouse, and the stately, porticoed
plantation mansion of the South. Despite the
similarity and relatively small number of motives,
how varied are the effects of altered detail, scale,
and arrangement as applied to structures of differing
outline, mass, and constructive material. The
marked absence of monotony in Salem, for instance,
where everything of consequence is Colonial, indi-
cates beyond question that any occurrence of monot-
onous similarity in neighboring houses must ever
be ascribed to the unresourcefulness of the architect
rather than to a restricted medium of expression.
In fact, whatever one's preference as to local color,
and whether one go to Salem or elsewhere for the
scale and proportion of the detail, this much is cer-
tain, that those basic motives from which the Colonial
style springs live as surely to-day as they did over a
century ago, and, thanks to the wisdom of our fore-
most architects, will continue to live in the hearts,
the minds, and the sight of true Americans.
[i6]
Plate VI. — Mclntire's Gravestone, Charter Street Burial Ground.
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CHAPTER II
SAMUEL AND THE OTHER McINTIRES
OF the many Salem craftsmen in wood, most
of them long since forgotten, one family of
wood-carvers, joiners, and housewrights, named
Mclntire, whose skill descended through several
generations, stands forth conspicuously because of
a genius among them named Samuel. The son of
Joseph and Sarah (Ruck) Mclntire, Samuel was
born January i6, 1757, in the gambrel-roof house at
the corner of Mill and Norman Streets, Salem, now
considerably remodeled and numbered 2 and 4
Mill Street. This house had been built by his
father, himself a housewright, so that Samuel was
bom and came to man's estate in the atmosphere
of his father's work. In his father's shop he learned
the trade of carpenter and joiner and, as the result
of persevering application with his tools and of culti-
vating his inherent sense of design through persist-
ent study of the classic masters, he became probably
[17]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
the most highly skilled American wood-carver of
his time.
These were exciting years in our national history
and that through their influence Mclntire became
ardently patriotic and a staunch supporter of those
fine principles of liberty, of justice, and of humanity,
to which we as a people have been devoted from the
first, is indicated by the impulse which prompted him
to excel in carving that symbol of American ideals,
the eagle, and to exalt the national consciousness
as well as to exhibit his own loyalty by its frequent
use in a variety of ways wherever consistent with the
work in hand.
Spurred by the hearty praise and constant encour-
agement of Rev. William Bentley, historian and
pastor of the East Church, Mclntire was finally
induced to carry his carving to the point of assaying
his skill in the field of sculpture in its true sense.
His several modest achievements in this direction
showed great promise, and had he lived this versatile
man would doubtless have won renown in this de-
partment of the fine arts also. His bust of Governor
Winthrop, carved in wood in 1789 for Doctor Bentley,
and now in the possession of the American Anti-
quarian Society, is no mean achievement, and the
complete ornamental figure of a reaper, surmounting
[18]
Samuel and the other Mclntires
the roof of the summerhouse formerly on the Elias
Haskett Derby farm in Danvers, compares favor-
ably with most similar work in plaster or marble.
Referring to the sculptors who at various periods
have made enviable names for themselves in Salem,
Felt in his "Annals of Salem" writes :
"Among our later sculptors, Samuel Mclntire
was noted. He died 1811, aged 54. So was his
brother Joseph, who deceased June 11, 1825. The
son of the latter, who still survives (1849), has
exhibited a similar genius."
The education of Samuel Mclntire's boyhood was
meager and did not exceed that of his fellows, but,
like others whom the world has heard from, this did
not deter him. Realizing that the ability to read
opens all doors to a determined mind, the thirst for
knowledge led him to spend much of what he could
earn for books that he might familiarize himself as
nearly as possible with some of those things which
his lack of a college education and his inability to
travel had denied him. With few exceptions these
dearly bought volumes were devoted to the fine
arts, and he made the most of them, studying every
page repeatedly with increasing comprehension,
making their precepts his ideals, and translating them
into terms of his own craftsmanship.
[19]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
In 1777 his father died intestate, and Samuel,
for a consideration, released all rights to his father's
property, which was apportioned among his mother,
Sarah (Ruck) Mclntire, his two aunts, Deborah
and Mahitable Mclntire, and his brothers Joseph
and Angler. Joseph succeeded to the business of
his father, and the following year, August 31, 1778,
Samuel married Elizabeth Field, the ceremony being
performed by Rev. Thomas Barnard, pastor of the
North Church and the hero of the North Bridge
incident referred to elsewhere. Quickened by the
loving encouragement of a congenial helpmate,
his meteoric career then began in very earnest, first
as a carver, then as a designer, and finally as an archi-
tect. In 1782 we find him the architect of the Plerce-
Johonnot-NIchols house, one of his greatest works,
and from that time until his death, nearly thirty years
later, according to Rev. William Bentley, he domi-
nated the architecture of Salem. That he could have
reached this third and ultimate stage of his career
within five years from the Inception of his independ-
ent enterprise and at the age of twenty-five speaks
eloquently of the thorough training of his father as
well as of his own aptitude, determination, and energy.
But those were ambitious days for the youth of
Salem; the wonderful exploits of her more adven-
[ao]
Samuel and the other Mc In tires
turous sons at sea set a pace which those at home
could match only by the utmost of persistent en-
deavor. When one recalls that Benjamin W. Crown-
inshield, who finally became Secretary of the Navy,
and his three brothers each sailed his own ship at
the age of twenty, one begins to comprehend the
spirit of do and dare which developed at home the
statesmen, jurists, writers, educators, architects,
painters, sculptors, and musicians, who, with her
merchants and sea captains, won for Salem the re-
nown and unique place she has always occupied in
the annals of New England and of the nation.
Once established in his career, Mclntire bought the
modest, three-story, gable-roof house at Number 31
Summer Street which had been built in 1780 and there
he lived until his death. He was too busy with the
commissions of others to build for himself such a
home as he might have liked, and no record or tradi-
tion tells whether he improved this house to any
considerable extent. The charming mantels re-
semble his work, and the stairway, doors, and other
wood finish, although of the utmost simplicity,
possess a certain quaint distinction that pleases
the eye; had it been otherwise they would doubt-
less have offended his sensitive taste and been re-
placed. The front of the third story was Mclntire's
[21]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
music room, its coved ceiling under the roof probably
being his own idea. Here he had his organ and other
musical instruments, and that it was the best room
of the house and the place where he entertained his
friends is shown by the inventory of his effects at the
time of his death which appraises the chairs at a
higher value than those of the parlor on the first
floor.
In the rear of his house stood the shop where most
of the wood finish and exquisite carving for Mclntire's
houses were prepared. About 1840 this building was
moved to Tapleyville, Danvers, and built into a
dwelling there.
A third dwelling still standing in Salem is of much
interest in connection with the life of Mclntire.
Then the home of Samuel Field, it was in the house
at Number 90 Washington Street that Mclntire
courted and married Field's daughter Elizabeth.
The records show that for about five years, from
1785 to 1790, Mclntire held a mortgage on the front
half of this house. The lower front room was then
occupied as an insurance ofiice, and here Mclntire
probably transacted much of his business, for an
insurance company in those days was an associa-
tion of merchants, and his frequent presence there
brought him in touch with the leading men of Salem,
Plate VIII. — Summer House formerly on Elias Haskett Derby's
Peabodv Farm.
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Samuel and the other Mclntires
by whom he was employed. With the construc-
tion of the Courthouse near by and his other resi-
dential work, Mclntire was exceedingly busy during
that period and much in need of an office near the
center of the town's business section. Elias Has-
kett Derby then lived at Number 70 Washington
Street, only two estates north on the same side, and
with thoughts of his future mansion maturing in his
mind, was probably watching Mclntire's develop-
ment with interest. Derby's patronage continued
throughout his life and meant much to Mclntire
even after Derby's death, for the Derbys, Crownin-
shields, Peabodys, Wests, and other prominent
families were closely related by marriage and inclined
to follow the lead of the senior Derby.
That every rung in Mclntire's remarkable ladder
of achievement was sound and represented the direct
result of real merit and genuine progress can be shown
readily. It is generally conceded that the best
carving of Mclntire's time was done in Salem ;
contemporary critics so referred to it, as may be
seen in many old books, magazines, and newspapers.
Certainly nothing to excel it in quantity, quality,
and variety has been found elsewhere, and thanks
to the enduring character of white pine, these merits
need not be taken as a matter of hearsay but may be
[^3]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
corroborated by any appreciative person who will
visit this quaint city. Mclntire is the one name
which has persisted to this day in connection with
the best of this work, so it may be said with justice
that he was probably the greatest American carver
of his time. As evidenced by quotations which
follow later in this chapter, he was so regarded by
writers of that period. Even to-day his work needs
no written encomiums ; its delicacy and precision
speak for themselves to every competent observer.
As a designer Mclntire stood second to none in
America. We find even our foremost designers
of the present day and students of things Colonial
sitting at the feet, as it were, of this master crafts-
man of a century ago — this man of the chisel, the
plane, and the saw — whose workroom was graced
by no institutional diploma, yet who by his rare
skill in the use of tools and his innate good taste
demonstrated the beneficial influence of a sympa-
thetic relation and intimate working knowledge be-
tween artist and artisan. Obviously the man who
can execute his own designs in a superlative manner
becomes potentially the greater designer, and so
with Mclntire. He realized both the extent and
limitations of his medium ; likewise he appreciated
the capabilities of his men and knew by actual ex-
Samuel and the other Mclntires
perience the restrictions imposed by even the best
tools available in those days. And with this knowl-
edge he had the clever common sense never to court
failure by attempting to exceed the confines of either.
While he demonstrated again and again his own per-
sonal ability to carve even at very fine scale with a
delicacy of execution equal to that of the best sculp-
tors in clay, he himself could tool only a small frac-
tion of the decorative material required for the
hundred or so houses which were built or improved
under his direction during the thirty years of his
practice. The time and expense would have been
prohibitive, and he naturally welcomed the advent
of applied stucco, composition, or French putty pre-
pared from casts or molds after the Adam manner
as a means to attain greater delicacy of detail and
precision of workmanship more quickly and at smaller
cost. When glued in place and painted, the applied
pieces could not be distinguished from the wood, so
that it combined well with the hand-planed and
carved moldings. Most of this applied work was im-
ported from England, but several motives not to be
found in other than Mclntire's houses so resemble
some of his carvings in wood as to lend color to the
conclusion that they may have been cast from de-
signs or actual carvings by him. It is not unrea-
[25]
The Jf^ood-Carver of Salem
sonable to suppose that his creative ability stood
him in good stead here as in working out new mold-
ings, and certainly the detailed plan of carved mold-
ings and applied work for the oval room of the
Elias Haskett Derby mansion indicates that he gave
close attention to the composition of this ornamental
detail. That he so quickly grasped the possibilities
of this new art and so intelligently made it part of
his own work discloses a keen understanding of his
trade and remarkable foresight as well, for this
method has stood the test of time and to-day is more
widely used than ever. In this, as in his hand-
tooled work, it is the exceptionally pleasing propor-
tions which have so strongly appealed to architects.
A subtle balance is always maintained between plain
surface and rich decoration, and as compared with
other contemporary work in Salem and elsewhere
his displays greater refinement of detail and a
generally lighter and more graceful effect ; always
it was delicate without weakness and rich without
ostentation.
Although at the outset Mclntire executed most
of his decorative woodwork himself, this became
impossible as his practice broadened to include the
functions of designer and architect, and he began
to depend more and more upon the craftsmanship of
[26]
Samuel and the other Mclntires
his two brothers, Joseph, nine years his senior, and
Angier, two years his junior, who were housewrights
— that is carpenters and master builders, — his
own son, Samuel F. Mclntire, and his brother
Joseph's son, Joseph, both of whom were accom-
plished carvers. The magnificent east parlor of the
Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols house, best known and
most admired of all his artistry, probably represents
the work of all five Mclntires, four craftsmen working
under the direction of Samuel, the designer, archi-
tect, and master craftsmen of them all. The
same is doubtless true of the Elias Haskett Derby
mansion, the Tucker-Rice house, the Derby-Crown-
inshield-Rogers house, and "Oak Hill." In none of
these will be found anything conventionally classic
as a whole. Greek and Roman detail was intelli-
gently varied and recombined in a manner to elicit
enthusiastic commendation for individuality in de-
sign, good taste, and resourcefulness in adaptation.
The tendency on the part of a few writers of the
present day to deny to Mclntire the full measure of
credit due him for his achievements, to state, as
some have done, that he was hardly an architect
but merely a clever carver and builder, or to infer
that he cannot be regarded as a great architect be-
cause of the trifling fact that all his houses were of
[^7]
The ff^ood-Carver of Salem
the three-story square type and built in the vicinity
of Salem, betokens no intent to do his memory in-
justice ; rather it betrays a woeful ignorance of the
written records regarding the man and his accom-
plishments, of which there is a considerable number
in the literature of his day and the legal records of
Salem.
To say that he is our foremost Colonial architect
of domestic buildings is a strong statement indeed,
yet what other designer of this period did so much
work as well ? To dispute that in this field
Mclntire's eminence equals that of Bulfinch in
public buildings presents a task which one may
well hesitate to attempt. That few encyclopaedias
and library catalogs even list his name and only
fugitive references are to be found in books of Colo-
nial architecture belittles his work not at all. Un-
like Bulfinch, who had a daughter to collect, preserve,
and publish most of the papers her father ever
touched pen to, Mclntire had no one to herald
him upon his death, with the result that the facts
have become buried in the old records of Salem,
and no one has taken the time and trouble to dig
them out except a few antiquaries. Yet, despite
the oblivion into which his life had passed, the
beautiful, refined architecture of Salem and vicinity,
[18]
Plate X. — Basement and Street Floor Plans of an unknown house
bv Mclntire.
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Plate XI. — Chamber and Street Floor Plans of unknown
houses bv Mclntire.
Samuel and the other Mclntires
as planned, designed, and hand-tooled by Mclntire
with the assistance of his relatives, stands as an en-
during monument which requires no written eulogy,
for it is known through the medium of photographs
to fully a thousand prominent architects in all parts
of the country who have admired, studied, and
adapted its splendid motives and superb detail to
their needs. His doorways, chimney pieces, and other
wood trim have furnished the inspiration for more
of the best modern Colonial houses than the work
of any other one man. Through this medium and
the appearance of a few recent magazine articles
by the authors and others, interested laymen are
also beginning to know and appreciate Mclntire's
genius so that a permanent record of his name in
the honored place it deserves in the early history of
American architecture now seems assured.
Mclntire's exceptional ability as an architect
cannot be questioned when Rev. William Bentley's
diary, Mclntire's gravestone, and the obituary no-
tices in The Essex Register and The Salem Gazette,
all quoted later in this chapter, refer to Mclntire's
talents as an architect. The Historical Collection
of the Essex Institute has references to his work as
an architect far too numerous to quote, and those
who will take the trouble to examine the records at
[29]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
City Hall will find that Joseph Cloutman, town
clerk, made the following entry :
Age ^4. Mr. Samuel Mclntire, carver
" The Architect oj Salem "
Bentley wrote in his diary that upon the death
of Mclntire, "no man is left to be consulted upon a
new plan of execution beyond his bare practice ",
and in corroboration of this, Bulfinch designed the
Essex Bank, now the house of The Salem Fraternity,
in 181 1, and the Almshouse in 18 16. The former,
the oldest boys' club in the country, was organized
in 1869 to provide evening instruction and whole-
some amusement for those who "being confined to
their work during the day need recreation at the end
of their labors." In addition to physical training
and general education, there are classes devoted to
many of the principal arts and crafts, a well filled
library and reading room. One cannot but think
what such privileges would have meant to Mclntire
had they existed during his boyhood.
These two buildings, the only ones designed by
Bulfinch in Salem, emphasize the loss Mclntire's
death meant to the community. Indeed, it may
rightly be regarded as a significant fact that the
creative influence of the Mclntire family upon the
[jo]
Samuel and the other Mclntires
architecture of Salem ended with the death of
Mclntire's son, Samuel F., in 1819, and that nothing
of note belonging to this period was built after 1818.
Felt's "Annals of Salem" and The Massachusetts
Magazine for March, 1790, both contain the state-
ment that Mclntire was the architect of the Court-
house of 1785, his plans being executed by Daniel
Bancroft. Rev. C. C. Beaman writes in the His-
torical Collection of the Essex Institute that Mclntire
was the architect of the Branch Meeting House
and named the seven master carpenters who executed
separate parts of the work on contract. In an old
letter Perley Putnam states that the Nathan Read
house was designed by Samuel Mclntire and built
by his brother Joseph and other carpenters.
Mclntire's plans preserved at the Essex Institute,
and those of the proposed national capitol in the
possession of the Maryland Historical Society,
many of them signed and all bearing hand-writing
easily identified as his, also indicate his activities as
an architect. Although upon comparison with mod-
ern building plans Mclntire's draftsmanship may
seem crude and his small-scale floor plans and simple
elevations, devoted chiefly to mass, fenestration,
and the principal doorway, cornice, balustrade, and
other ornament may appear somewhat incomplete,
[3']
The Wood-Carver of Salem
it must be remembered that the architect's calling
had not then become the highly specialized profes-
sion it now is. Every architect was then primarily
a craftsman, a carver, a joiner, or housewright as
well as a designer, and often himself the man to
execute the designs, and was thus less in need of
details carefully laid out to scale ; always the work
was done under the direct supervision of the archi-
tect.
Being primarily a carver, Mclntire left the erec-
tion of the structure itself to such successful house-
wrights as his brothers, Joseph and Angier, and de-
voted himself chiefly to the design and preparation
of the wood trim and other ornamental features
which were made in his own shop by skilled carvers
and joiners, among whom his son, Samuel F., and his
nephew, Joseph, finally took the lead, often revealing
skill almost equal to his own. There is no evi-
dence that Samuel Mclntire was a builder or con-
tractor in the modem sense ; but he was virtually
an architect in the modern sense and a designer and
and carver of note as well. His work as an architect
calls for no apology ; neither can his claim to great-
ness be denied because his houses were all of the
square type. In this he was following the tendency
of the time throughout New England, and what the
[3^]
Samuel and the other Mclntires
type lacked in picturesqueness of line and mass he
supplied in variety of embellishment as seen in his
doorways, porches, windows, cornices, roofs, and
occasional pilaster treatment of the fagade. The
adoption of brick in his later work considerably
broadened its scope, and he demonstrated also that
variety can be obtained even in the so-called square
house by variation of the floor plan, sometimes
actually square, as in the Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols
house, again rectangular and broadside to the street,
as in the Clifford Crowinshield house, or rectangular
and end to the street, as in the Josiah Dow house.
In this latter instance the ell and outbuildings ad-
join the end of the main house and elongate the rec-
tangular arrangement, whereas in the Gardner-
White-Pingree house, for instance, which stands
broadside to the street, they adjoin the broad rear
side.
Mclntire proved his versatility by his public work,
to which the last chapter of this volume is devoted.
True, his activities in this as well as in the domestic
field were confined to Salem and its vicinity, and
therein lies much to his credit. To be so highly
appreciated at home in itself meant much ; he found
all he could reasonably attempt to do in Salem,
and as it was then our greatest port of entry and in
The Wood-Carver of Salem
every way important as a civic center, why need
he look elsewhere ? So far as is known, his com-
petitive plan for the national capitol at Washing-
ton was his only attempt to do so. Other unsuccess-
ful competing architects were Benjamin Henry
Latrobe and Charles Bulfinch who in turn super-
vised the building of the capitol as designed and
begun by Doctor William Thornton, and it is fair to
presume that had he lived Mclntire also would
eventually have had an active part in its comple-
tion and enlargement.
While, as already stated, there appears to be no
definite proof of Mclntire's having designed any
house or other building beyond the confines of the old
township of Salem, one occasionally sees noble
structures in New England seaport towns that
must have been his work or inspired by it. The best
builders came to Salem from all parts of Massachu-
setts and New Hampshire to seek inspiration, and
many of the less versatile did not hesitate to copy
his detail outright. As an instance in point, the
visitor to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, will find in
Middle Street a large, square house with a pilaster
treatment of the facade so like that of the Derby-
Crowninshield-Rogers house in Salem as at least to
suggest Mclntire influence.
[34]
Plate XII. — Window Head from Elias Haskett Derby Mansion, and
other woodwork preserved at the Essex Institute.
CO
"23
CM ^
c ^
go
^ o
(u o
w
Samuel and the other Mclntires
One likes to look into the face of such a man and
read his character as his life has written it there, but
unfortunately no painting or other portrait of
Mclntire is known to exist. The most illuminating
picture of him is found in the written words of his
warm friend, wise counselor, and stanch advocate,
Rev. William Bentley, pastor of the East Church,
Salem, who, on February 7, 181 1, the day after
Mclntire's death, wrote in his diary as follows :
"This day Salem is deprived of one of the most
ingenious men it had in it. Samuel Mclntire, aet.
54, in Summer street. He was descended of a family
of Carpenters who had no claims on public favor
and was educated at a branch of that business. By
attention he soon gained a superiority to all of his
occupation and the present Court House, the North
and South Meeting houses, and indeed all the im-
provements of Salem for nearly thirty years past
have been under his eye. In Sculpture he had no
rival in New England and I possess some specimens
which I should not scruple to compare with any
I ever saw. To the best of my abilities I encouraged
him in this branch. In music he had a good taste
and tho' not presuming to be an original composer,
he was among our best Judges and most able per-
formers. All the instruments we use he could
[3J3
The Wood-Carver of Salem
understand and was the best person to be employed
in correcting any defects, or repairing them. He
had a fine person, a majestic appearance, calm
countenance, great self command and amiable tem-
per. He was welcome but never intruded. He had
complained of some obstruction in the chest, but
when he died it was unexpectedly. The late in-
crease of workmen in wood has been from the de-
mand for exportation and this has added nothing
to the character and reputation of the workman,
so that upon the death of Mr. Mclntire no man is
left to be consulted upon a new plan of execution be-
yond his bare practice."
The following day, February 8, 1811, a notice of
his death appeared in The Salem Gazette which in-
dicated the high esteem in which Mclntire was held
by the community at large :
"In this town, Mr. Samuel M'Intire, carver, age
54 years — a man very much beloved and sincerely
lamented. His funeral will be from his late dwelling
house in Summer Street, at 3 o'clock Saturday after-
noon, where his relations and friends are requested
to attend.
"We have received a just and respectful tribute,
from one who knew him well, to the genius and vir-
tues of the deceased and lamented Mr. MTntire.
[36]
Samuel and the other Mclntires
We regret that it comes too late for insertion this
day, but we shall most cordially give it place in our
next."
In similar vein, the following appeared in The Essex
Register of February 9, 181 1 :
"In this town, Mr. Samuel M'Intire, aged 54.
His talents in architecture, sculpture and music were
distinguished. His manners combined suavity, pu-
rity and firm character. His industry, usefulness and
consistent virtues gave him an uncommon share
of the affections of all who knew him. By his own
well directed energies he became one of the best of
men. His funeral will be from his late dwelling
house in Summer Street at 3 o'clock on Monday
afternoon, if fair weather. If not the next fair day,
which his friends and relatives are requested to at-
tend."
On February 12, 181 1 the promised "tribute",
written by a very intimate friend, appeared in The
Salem Gazette, throwing interesting additional side-
lights on Mclntire's character as follows :
"OBITUARY NOTICE.
"Of the late and lamented Mr. M'Intire neces-
sarily omitted in our last.
"Mr. M'Intire was originally bred to the occupa-
[37]
The JVood-Carver of Salem
tion of a housewrlght, but his vigorous mind soon
passed the ordinary limits of his profession, and
aspired to the highest departments of the interesting
and admirable science of architecture, in which he
had advanced with a steady and sure step far beyond
most of his countrymen. To a delicate native taste
in this art, he had united a high degree of that
polish which can only be acquired by an assiduous
study of the great classical masters ; with whose
works, notwithstanding their rarity in this country,
Mr. M. had a very intimate acquaintance. His
native town (as well as other places) is enriched with
many memorials in this art, whose excellences now,
alas ! only serve to sharpen the regret of the beholder
for the loss of their author. He had also made a
profession of the kindred art of sculpture, in which
he had arrived at a very distinguished rank.
"The uncommon native genius of Mr. M. displayed
itself in many subjects not connected with his profes-
sional pursuits ; and in the various objects to which
his unerring taste directed him, he never failed of reach-
ing a degree of excellence that would have been
honorable to a professed artist. He sometimes
employed himself in drawing ; he had an admirable
musical taste, and was a good performer of instru-
mental as well as vocal music. Thoroughly ac-
[38]
Samuel and the other Mclntires
quainted with the principles of various musical in-
struments, in the construction of them, particularly
the organ, the most harmonious of all, he was
directed by an ear of exquisite nicety, and an exact-
ness of mechanism that ensured success. Even on
subjects of literature his casual observations evinced
a degree of knowledge that surprised all who were
acquainted with the variety of his professional and
other pursuits. — To these attainments (and these,
notwithstanding he had been obliged to struggle
against the want of an early education, were not all
he possessed) he united an unaffected native polite-
ness, and a mildness of deportment, which delighted
all who enjoyed his acquaintance. With these rare
endowments of the mind, he possessed the best
feelings of the heart ; and his exertions in the cause
of humanity (in rescuing a child from drowning)
probably laid the foundation of that disease which
had afflicted him for many years, and terminated his
life. Conspicuous among all these excellences shone
his unassuming modesty, his sterling integrity and
his ardent piety."
Mclntire was laid to rest in the historic Charter
Street Burial Ground, the oldest in Salem, where lie
most of those who figured prominently in her early
history. His gravestone of dark gray slate, like
The IVood-Carver of Salem
others of the time, bears a quaint inscription of com-
prehensive brevity, corroborating the opinions of
him already expressed :
In Memory of
Mr. Samuel Mclntire,
who died Feb. 6, i8ii ;
^t. 54.
He was distinguished for Genius in Architecture,
Sculpture, and Musick : Modest and sweet Manners
rendered him pleasing : Industry and Integrity
respectable : He professed the Religion of Jesus
in his entrance on manly life ; and proved its
excellence by virtuous Principles and unblemished conduct
Like his father, Mclntire died intestate, his wife
inheriting the property, and his son, Samuel F.,
continuing the business of carving and woodworking,
as indicated by the following interesting advertise-
ment which appeared in The Salem Gazette of April
30, 1811 :
For Sale
Sundry Articles belonging to the estate of Samuel
M'Intire, deceased, — VIZ.
I elegant Barrel Organ, 6 feet high, 10 barrels ;
I wind chest for an organ ;
Encyclopedia complete ;
Paladia Architecture, best kind ;
1 Ware's do ; i Paine's do.
2 vols. French Architecture
[40]
Samuel and the other Mclntires
I large Book Antique Statues, excellent ;
Lock Hospital Collection of Music ;
Handel's Messiah in score ;
Magdalen Hymns ; Massachusetts Compiler ;
I excellent toned Spinnet,
I excellent Violin and case
I eight day Clock, Mahogany case ;
12 prints of the Seasons ;
I book drawings of Ships ;
1 large head of Washington ;
Number of Busts of the Poets ;
2 Figures of Hercules, 2 feet high ;
I Head of Franklin, and Pillar for a Sign ;
Composition ornaments ;
Number of Moulding Planes and
sundry other Articles. Apply to
Elizabeth M'Intire Adm'x
or to Samuel F. M'Intire Att'y
N. B. The subscriber carries on Carving as usual
at the Shop of the deceased, in Summer Street where
he will be glad to receive orders in that line. He re-
turns thanks for past favors.
April 30, 181 1 Samuel F. M'Intire.
Incidentally this corroborates Bentley's obituary
and is particularly interesting as a partial list of
Mclntire's library. In addition to the works men-
tioned, the inventory of Mclntire's property pre-
pared by his executors includes Langley's "Archi-
tecture", "Directory of Arts and Sciences", "New
Version of New Testament", Goldsmith's "Animated
Nature", Josephus' "History", and Sandys' "Trav-
[41]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
els." This inventory contains many other items
of interest and may be read in full at the Essex
County Probate Courthouse, book 380, page 367.
It discloses the surprising fact that despite the
amount and character of Mclntire's prolific work,
he enjoyed only moderate circumstances at the time
of his death. Architecture did not command mu-
nificent fees in those days, and like many persons of
artistic temperament he possessed creative ability
but little capacity for accumulating money. Mc-
Intire was also generous to a fault and ever ready
to help the unfortunate whom chance threw in his
way. None of his relatives attained so great earn-
ing power, and there is reason to believe that he may
have contributed largely in certain instances toward
the betterment of their home conditions. His house
and shop were appraised at three thousand dollars,
probably an undervaluation, his personal property
at eleven hundred and ninety dollars in addition to
nine hundred and sixty-three dollars in notes. His
shop was found to contain the largest equipment
of carver's, joiner's, and draughtsman's tools of his
time, including three hundred chisels and gouges,
forty-six molding planes, and twenty large planes.
A few of these tools are preserved at the Essex
Institute and an examination of them redoubles
[4^]
Samuel and the other Mclntires
one's admiration for the nicety of the work done
with them.
Thus Mclntire was born, lived his busy life, and
died in Salem, yet he was not provincial. He
never saw the best examples of Georgian architecture
in England, but despite this seeming restriction and
the fact that his activities were all in and about
his native town, his work became favorably and for-
ever known throughout America and even across
the water, for in those days Salem was known around
the globe. It has been said that he was the artistic
descendant of Inigo Jones, Sir Christopher Wren,
Grinling Gibbons, and the brothers Adam. So
he was, and much besides. His designs are more
chaste and classic than those of Wren and Gibbons,
more original and Imaginative than those of the
brothers Adam. That his Is Incomparably more
interesting than similar contemporaneous work else-
where in America is due at once to his skill with
tools, his mental refinement, and his native Inge-
nuity. A man of inherent good taste and a keen sense
of proportion, qualities that architects of academic
training have often lacked, he had the great ad-
vantage of being able to design with the fullness of
working knowledge and experience. In its pains-
taking thoroughness his admirable craftsmanship
[43]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
displays a personal pride in his work, an instinct
always to do his best conscientiously for its own sake
that was more nearly akin to the religious fervor
which built the great cathedrals of the Middle Ages
than anything known to us at present in America.
Indeed, he seemed to work more directly under the
strong impulse of the Renaissance, when designers
reverted to the Roman classics of the fifth century,
than did his more traveled and more highly educated
contemporaries. The very fact that he never saw
the great masterpieces of architecture appears to have
sharpened and given freedom to his imagination.
Following the lead of English designers of his time
less than other American workers, he oftener went
back to original sources and adapted direct from
Greek temples and Roman palaces, with modifica-
tions and innovations of his own. Boldly conceived,
strengthened and colored by the simplicity and vigor
of local conditions, these novel and clever adapta-
tions provide the distinguishing trait of what is in
many respects the most notable collection of Colonial
architecture — the architecture of Salem from 1782
to 181 1. Indeed, no other square mile in England
or America embraces so large, so varied, or so pleas-
ing an aggregation of the woodworker's art as was
brought into being in thirty years by Samuel Mcln-
[44]
Samuel and the other Mclntires
tire. This carver, designer, and architect, this
building genius of Salem, died in the prime of man-
hood ; had he been granted a normal lifetime his
record of achievement would doubtless have been a
far more noble one. Nevertheless every living de-
scendant of this versatile and prolific man may take
just pride in the important role his ancestor played
in the development of our national heritage in archi-
tecture, for architects of the present day acknowl-
edge that his woodwork presents a more domestic and
delightful interpretation of Renaissance motives
and therefore a more useful inspiration in modern
work than any similar collection. In its freedom,
refinement, lightness, and graceful dignity it is
more acceptable ; as an expression of the true at-
mosphere of the home and the gracious hospitality
of the days of the early presidents, without any of its
priggishness, it is more indicative.
[4J]
CHAPTER III
DOORWAYS AND PORCHES
JUST as one senses something of a man by the
grasp of his hand, so does one pass first judg-
ment upon a house by its doorway, for it is the
dominant exterior feature, the keynote of the fagade.
One never seems to disassociate a house from its en-
trance, so that the front doorway becomes a primary
consideration in every carefully conceived design for
a home ; it must accord with and be worthy of the
house, yet not overpower it. Narrow the proposi-
tion down to our so-called Colonial style, and we
become more than ever convinced that doorways,
like men, have character and individuality and so
when happily devised and carefully executed will
lend distinction and charm to the building as a
whole. Each is important, too, as the entrance
to a home ; there a welcome is given and first impres-
sions are received ; it seems to symbolize the house
as a whole.
[46]
ON
3
O
X
I
O
>
X
u
Doorways and Porches
One has but to read history in order to realize
that houses, even their doorways, reflect the char-
acter of those for whom they were built. The wel-
coming doorways of Salem are clothed with an inde-
finable something — call it atmosphere, what you
will — not to be found elsewhere. Salem doorways
are as broad as her merchant princes were hospitable
and cultured ; they seem to express a sincere spirit
of democracy born of the refining influences of exten-
sive foreign travel. Of course Salem has other door-
ways, such as the enclosed porch and the door with-
out accompanying glasswork, but the wide, solid wood
door with leaded side lights and elliptical fanlight,
comprising one of the most attractive of the distinc-
tive Colonial motives, is typical, as indicated by a
critical study of the work of Salem's great architect.
Numerous exceptions exist, however, and the
doorway of the Eden-Brown house at Number 40
Summer Street, added by Mclntire in 1804 to a
house then over forty years old, illustrates the occa-
sional use of a simple elliptical fanlight without side
lights. The original house was erected in 1762 for
Thomas Eden, the first signer of the Salem Marine
Society, established in 1766, who was a partner of
that rich Marblehead merchant, Robert (commonly
known as "King") Hooper because of his Tory
[47]
The Wood-Carver oj Salem
proclivities and the fact that his beautiful country
home, "The Lindens ", in Danvers, was occupied
by General Gage as a summer residence in 1774,
while he was governor of the province of Massa-
chusetts.
The architectural treatment of the Summer Street
house recalls that given by Mclntire four years pre-
vious to the enclosed porch of the Benjamin Pick-
man house on Essex Street, to which detailed refer-
ence will be made later in this chapter. The reeded
pilasters and the festooned drapery, carved out of
wood, closely resemble those of the other doorway,
but here the oval florets are used as frieze spots on
the pilasters and the dentil course of the cornice
has been enriched by fine-scale cuttings — one ver-
tical flute on the face of each dentil and two horizon-
tal flutes on each side. Unfortunately, inappro-
priate modern doors mar the original effect.
It is a thoughtful host who provides shelter from
sun and storm until his guest can be admitted, and
Salem's welcome often includes the sheltering porch
as well as the welcoming doorway with its friendly
side lights. Such entrances possess characteristics
of charm and distinction not seen elsewhere, due
chiefly to their splendid proportions, refinement of
detail, and precision of workmanship. Architec-
[48]
Plate XVI. — Peabodv-Silsbee Porch.
o
c
W
X
Doorways and Porches
turally the porch serves a double purpose ; whereas
it may lend picturesqueness to a small house, on a
large house it relieves in a measure the severity of a
three-story facade with many ranging windows.
Beginning with the exception rather than the rule,
the Kimball house, Number 14 Pickman Street,
abuts upon the sidewalk, with a porch roof over the
four granite steps which rise directly from the brick
pavement; there is no porch platform proper. As
compared with the Eden-Brown doorway, one sees
here the other extreme — the employment of side
lights without a fanlight. These side lights with
their square panes are of the simplest possible sort,
the pleasing effect depending upon the well-propor-
tioned door, the paneling over it, and the straight-
hanging garlands on the door frame, reminiscent of
the Cook-Oliver doorway, which will be described
in a later chapter. Obviously, too, a porch renders
any considerable embellishment of the doorway un-
necessary, even superfluous. Effective simplicity
characterizes this porch with its hand-carved Ionic
capitals and typical entablature, conspicuous in which
are the modillions under the corona with sections of
fascia molding between.
Another much more elaborate instance of the
Ionic porch may be seen on the Peabody-Silsbee
[49]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
house, Number 380 Essex Street, of interest histori-
cally as the birthplace alike of Francis Peabody, a
close personal friend of the late J. Pierpont Morgan,
and of S. Endicott Peabody, one of the trustees of
George Peabody, the London banker for whom Pea-
body, Massachusetts, was named. This hip-roofed,
three-story, square house, erected in 1797, of which
Mclntire was the architect, is one of his best designs
executed in brick. Both the deck roof and the bel-
vedere on a hip roof, as in this instance, are but archi-
tectural modifications of the earlier enclosed cupola
so frequently a feature of the mansions of New
England seacoast towns. In recent years the walls
have been painted gray, but the keyed marble lintels
and sills of the windows and the white-painted wood-
work remain unchanged. Although strongly Ionic
in feeling, the porch is absolutely unconventional,
and throughout the entablature shows Mclntire's
bent for freshening classic motives with new detail,
or with classic detail employed in new ways. And
strangely enough, despite his daring innovations,
this porch is generally regarded as one of the best
in Salem. Could there be a higher tribute to the
genius and courage of its designer ? The fluted,
nicely tapering columns, with the acanthus-leaf
enrichment of the neck of the capitals below the
[50]
Plate XVIII. — Cornice, Eaves, and Balustraded Roof, Peabody-
Silsbee House; Peabody-Silsbee Barn.
Plate XIX. — Porch of the Stearns House.
Doorways and Porches
usual volutes, impart a distinctly Roman aspect to
the whole, yet the heavy, cubical Tuscan plinths
were retained, and a strange, though none the less
pleasing, note has been sounded by the guttae of the
Doric order both on the architrave and the mutules
under the corona of the cornice. A ball molding,
a veritable triumph of hand carving, replaces the cus-
tomary dentil course, yet gives the same effect of
scale. Thus did Mclntire accomplish precedented
things in unprecedented ways. The entire cornice
has been repeated on a larger scale under the eaves
of the house. Except for rosettes directly over the
columns, the frieze is plain. The wooden door with
its delicately molded panels and tiny corner orna-
ments ; the artistic leaded fanlight and side lights,
and the iron fence, stair rail, and balustrade over
the porch, are all distinctive in the extreme and not
surpassed by any similar work in Salem. As a whole,
the effect seems actually to visualize the popular
mental picture of a typical Colonial doorway.
A word may well be said in passing in regard to
the stable in the rear, which, while rightly unas-
suming, lives in complete accord with the house, as
every outbuilding should.
Roman Doric feeling pervades the porch of the
Stearns house, Number 384 Essex Street, despite
[5']
The Wood-Carver of Salem
the cubical Tuscan plinths on which Mclntire's
columns of whatever order almost invariably rested.
This porch was added in 1785 to a dwelling erected
in 1776, and in its pediment and entablature closely
resembles the front porch of the Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols house, to which detailed reference will be
made in another chapter. It differs, however, in the
addition of flat pilasters at each side, which give in-
creased breadth, weight, and dignity and so in modern
adaptation render it better suited to public than
domestic work, unless the house be one of large
size and considerable pretension.
Because of the large number of rooms and their
spaciousness, the square, three-story brick mansions
of the early nineteenth century lend themselves ad-
mirably to adaptation for use as semi-public institu-
tions. Thus two splendid old dwellings, of which
Mclntire was the architect, now serve as the Home
for Aged Women and the Woman's Friend Society
respectively.
The former, at Number 180 Derby Street, was
originally the residence of Benjamin W. Crownin-
shield, congressman and Secretary of the Navy under
Presidents Madison and Monroe. When President
Monroe made his tour of the North in 18 17, this house
was prepared for his occupancy and placed at his
[5^]
Plate XX. — Porch ot the Hume tor Aged Women.
Q
o
oo
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X
<u
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C
c
I
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Oh
Doorways and Porches
disposal during the four days of his stay in Salem.
At a banquet tendered to him in the southeast room
on July 9, Commodores Perry and Bainbridge, Gen-
erals Miller and Dearborn, Senator Silsbee, Lieuten-
ant-Governor William Gray, Judge Story, and other
eminent men were present. Later the house became
the residence of General James Miller while he was
Collector of the Port from 1825 to 1849. He, it will
be remembered, was the hero of Lundy's Lane, whose
famous reply "I'll try, sir", was stamped on the
buttons of his regiment by order of the government.
In 1826, William C. Endicott, Secretary of War
during Cleveland's first administration, was born
here.
But it was through the generosity of a still later
owner, Robert Brookhouse, a merchant who had
amassed wealth in the African trade, that the house
was donated outright to the Association for the
Relief of Aged and Destitute Women, organized in
i860 at the suggestion of Reverend Michael Carlton,
city missionary. In 1896 further donations amount-
ing to fifty thousand dollars were expended to enlarge
the structure considerably.
This hip-roofed mansion is almost devoid of orna-
mentation except for the marble lintels and sills of
the windows and the doorways, which are Grecian
[53]
The JVood-Carver of Salem
Doric of the utmost simplicity and chaste appearance,
depending almost entirely for their pleasing effect
upon nicety of proportion rather than enrichment of
detail, and so again demonstrating Mclntire's ver-
satility. Solid wood doors, such as this, with care-
fully spaced and attractively molded stiles and rails,
or panels as the case may be, predominate in Salem,
providing an effective background for handsome
brass hardware. To the very breadth of the door,
and especially to the use of glass about it, as in this
instance, is due the pervading spirit of welcome.
Side lights encourage intimacy like hands extended
in greeting ; they increase the apparent breadth of
the doorway and foretell a cheerful interior. With-
out them, a solid wood door seems to raise a barrier
of reserve and superiority ; the doorway seems nar-
rower, and the fanlight indicates the desire for more
illumination without the willingness to descend
to the equality of the passer-by to obtain it. Who
shall say, then, that in his choice of a doorway the
prospective home builder does not reflect his own
personality and mental attitude toward his fellow
men ? Certainly his course is clear, whether he
would encourage friendship with his neighbors or
maintain toward them an attitude of distant exclu-
siveness.
[J4]
Plate XXII. — Clifford Crowninshield House, erected in 1805;
Pickman-Derby-Brookhouse Estate, erected in 1764.
c
Oh
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X
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Illlll. Illllllllliili
Doorways and Porches
Those who know the annals of Salem commerce will
recall that the first Salem vessel to circumnavigate the
globe was the Minerva, owned by Clifi^ord Crownin-
shield and Nathaniel West. By such daring ventures
did the former accumulate the wealth which made
possible the erection of his home at Number 74
Washington Square in 1805. Aside from its ample
size and excellent interior finish, it is really a hip-
roofed dwelling of the utmost simplicity, and the
porch over the front doorway afi'ords the only archi-
tectural embellishment, other than the necessary
windows, to break the great expanse of the facade.
As a type, this entrance with its heavy Tuscan
columns is the forerunner of the tasteful semi-oval
porch which was evolved by Mclntire when he real-
ized the possibilities of a slender interpretation of
the Corinthian column and entablature. The simple
grace of the fence, with its small, square posts, light,
molded rail and base, and unique jig-sawed member
between each five square pickets, provides an effec-
tive foil for the severity of the house itself, the form
it takes each side of the porch being especially appro-
priate in this instance.
Two excellent examples of the semi-oval Corinthian
porch just referred to may be compared as found
on the Tucker-Rice house. Number 129 Essex Street,
[5S]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
erected in 1800, and in the Gardner- White-Pingree
house, Number 128 Essex Street, erected in 18 10,
both designed by Mclntire. The latter was, perhaps,
Mclntire's last work. It is conceded to be his best
brick house and contains remarkably fine interior
finish. Exteriorly, by the ingenious expedient of
applying broad, horizontal bands of white marble at
each floor level, Mclntire demonstrated how simple
a matter it is to relieve the severity of so high a
fagade. These bands, together with the marble
sills and keyed lintels of the many ranging windows,
contribute much toward a seemingly broader front-
age and so, like the foreshortened third-story win-
dows, tend to reduce the apparent total height. A
comparison of this with the Tucker-Rice house also
discloses more fully the eifectiveness of a balustraded
roof quite apart from its ornamental value. In-
stead of increasing the seeming height, it has the very
contrary effect, and by placing the roof line some-
what below the absolute top of the structure causes
the whole mass to look lower.
The Tucker-Rice porch was much admired by
Professor Eleazer B. Homer, of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology summer school, who told
his class in 1895, while in Salem, that it was the best
proportioned porch in the city. And so it remains
[56]
Plate XXIV. — Porch of the Tucker-Rice House.
Plate XXV. — Tucker-Rice House, erected in 1800; Detail of
Porch.
Doorways and Porches
to-day, although its former beauty of ensemble has
been marred by the substitution of inappropriate
modern doors and surrounding glasswork. Its
neighbor across the street, however, still displays the
charming, original leaded glass and the quaint door,
three panels wide, which became such a popular
feature of the doorways of 1818, but the columns
of this porch are not fluted in the characteristic
Corinthian manner. As one sees these porches to-
day, the ideal lies in a mental composite of the two,
which would be very nearly what the Tucker-Rice
porch originally was. Indeed, despite the elabora-
tion of the type by the builders of 1818, nothing was
accomplished to surpass this supreme achievement in
grace, delicacy, and refinement ; the detail is almost
beyond criticism and the proportions such as to
make instant appeal to any seeing eye.
Other differences occur in the entablatures, the
moldings of the Tucker-Rice porch being worked
to a finer scale, though in this it adheres less closely
to precedent. It will be seen that in each instance
the cornice with its jig-sawed modillions has been
repeated on a larger scale under the eaves of the
house. The iron fences and stair rails interest the
antiquary as contrasting the wrought iron of the
older house with the cast iron of the newer. The
[57]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
former repeats well-known Florentine motives al-
ways welcome, whereas the latter bespeaks admira-
tion for the apparent stability, yet light and decora-
tive effect, of the square, openwork gateposts. Both
the Tucker-Rice doorway and porch are now pre-
served on the grounds of the Essex Institute, the
lower floor recently having been remodeled.
The semi-oval porch was also a feature of two other
notable houses of Mclntire design no longer in exist-
ence. One of these, shown by an old print repro-
duced on another page, stood on the site now occupied
by the museum building of the Essex Institute, which,
before the extensive alterations of 1906, had been
Plummer Hall, the quarters of the Salem Athenaeum.
Few spots in this historic city recall as many inter-
esting associations with the events and personages
of bygone days. Here was located the house of
Emanuel Downing who married a sister of Governor
John Winthrop. Downing Street, London, now a
synonym for the official residence of the Prime
Minister, was named for their son, George Downing,
the diplomatist, while Downing College, Cambridge,
derived its name from his grandson. George Down-
ing's daughter married Captain Joseph Gardner,
the "Fighting Joe" of the Narraganset wars. From
this very house he set forth for the "Great Swamp
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Doorways and Porches
Fight" in 1675, during which he was killed. His
widow married Governor Simon Bradstreet who
lived here in his old age and died here. In later
years this estate was for generations the homestead
of the famous Bowditch family until the last dwelling
on the site was built from plans by Mclntire in 1790
for Honorable Nathan Read, a congressman. On
May 4, 1796, William Hickling Prescott, the histo-
rian, whose " Conquest of Mexico " is known to most
readers of the English language, was born in this
house, which in 1799 became the residence of Cap-
tain Joseph Peabody, a wealthy merchant prominent
in the Calcutta trade, whose ship George made
twenty-one voyages to that port, ^651,743.32 in
duties being paid into the Salem Custom-house on
her cargoes. It was upon the death of Captain
Peabody's widow that the estate was purchased
by the Salem Athenaeum. The old mansion was
razed in 1856, and Plummer Hall was erected in 1857.
The other Mclntire house, formerly at Number
151 Lafayette Street, was built for Josiah Dow in
1787, and was afterwards known as the Osgood
estate. In later years it was occupied by John F.
Hurley, a recent mayor of Salem, until razed in 1909
to make way for the French Catholic Parish House.
The original house of brick, three stories high and hip-
[59]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
roofed, was one of those picturesque, end-to-the-
street arrangements, with the front door opening
upon the yard at one side, and the ell, shed, and
barn with their arched doorways and balustraded
roof rambling away to the rear. The white marble
sills and keyed lintels of the twelve-paned Georgian
windows lent character, dignity, and scale to the ex-
terior, and its crowning feature, the entrance —
porch and doorway — was evidently done by Mc-
Intire in the fullness of his artistic powers. The
door, topped and flanked with delightful leaded
glasswork, possesses all the chaste and delightful
charm of the Benjamin W. Crownishield door, while
the semi-oval Tuscan porch has not been excelled in
effective simplicity. The high picket fence with its
modest ornamental gates, particularly that over
which an arch of Florentine bent iron formerly sus-
pended a lantern, was ever much admired. The
splendid posts, surmounted with hand-tooled spheres
and otherwise molded and enriched with fluted pilas-
ters and carved Ionic capitals, have frequently been
copied by architects for modern work.
At the much-used side door, the enclosed porch
became a distinctive feature of the early New Eng-
land mansion ; it was the forerunner of the modern
vestibule, which does so much toward ensuring
[60]
Plate XX\"III. — Nathan Reed House, erected 1790; Josiah Dow
House, erected 1787.
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Doorways and Porches
warm interiors in winter. The most frequent con-
ception of it took the form of a pediment supported
by pilasters with a solid wood door having rails and
molded panels spaced according to the characteristic
manner of the time, and oval windows in the sides
to admit light. A charming example is to be seen
on the Hosmer-Waters house, Number 80 Washing-
ton Square, designed for Captain Joseph Hosmer by
Mclntire in 1795, and rendered more picturesque
with the passing years by a giant wistaria which
regularly clothes it with a wealth of bloom in spring-
time. In this instance fluted pilasters accompany
a simple Tuscan pediment, and the combination
has stood the test of years, being one of the most
admired doorways in Salem. The harmonious rela-
tion yet slight difference between this and the front
door of the same house offer interesting material for
comparison. A similar enclosed porch on the Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols house illustrates the employment
of a Doric pediment with the repeated triglyph in
the frieze and guttse in the architrave.
The flat-roofed, enclosed porch of the David P.
Waters house. Number 14 Cambridge Street, is un-
usual in its breadth, due to the employment of the
ever-charming side lights beside the door rather than
oval sashes in the side walls common to most of the
[61]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
other enclosed porches of Salem. Mclntire im-
parted further individuality by adopting the broad
two-part door three panels wide. Supported by fine-
scale fluted pilasters, the entablature is generally
Corinthian in character and includes a hand-tooled
dentil course with modillions supporting the corona.
About 1800 Mclntire added an enclosed porch of
more picturesque type to the gambrel-roofed house
of Benjamin Pickman, the elder, who, in 1756, was
Judge of the Superior Court and Colonel of the
Salem regiment at the same time. Erected in 1743,
the house still stands in the rear of Number 165 Essex
Street, partly concealed by stores, but the interior
has been despoiled of its beautiful woodwork which
illustrated well the tendencies of the p re-Revolution-
ary period and was particularly interesting because
of the carved and gilded codfish on each stair end,
indicating the source of the owner's wealth. The
archway through which one passes from the picture
gallery into the museum of the Essex Institute was
taken from this house. Among the distinguished
guests entertained here were Governor Pownall,
October 22, 1757, Count Castiglioni, June 23, 1784,
and Alexander Hamilton, June 20, 1800.
This Mclntire porch takes somewhat the form of
the modern cottage bay window with supporting
[62]
Doorways and Porches
reeded pilasters, which also provide the neck of the
capitals, oval windows in the sides to admit light,
and a surmounting cornice and frieze to which the
designer apparently devoted special attention. The
festooned drapery and oval florets of the frieze are
carved out of wood, and the cavetto molding of the
cornice, suggesting a series of tiny arches, contrib-
utes a novel bit of handwork not found in other
Mclntire designs. The present door, of course, is
obviously modern and inappropriate.
It was for Benjamin Pickman, Jr., a wealthy
merchant, that the brick mansion at Number 70
Washington Street, later known as the Pickman-
Derby-Brookhouse estate, was built in 1764, replac-
ing the large wooden house of Reverend Nicholas
Noyes, who was extremely violent in the witch trials
of 1692. Later it became the residence of Elias
Haskett Derby, who occupied it during the best
years of his life until, in 1799 and shortly before his
death, he moved into his eighty thousand dollar
mansion designed by Mclntire. The accompanying
photograph shows the house as it appeared before
its removal to make way for the present Masonic
Temple. The wood trim, including the Ionic pilas-
ters, balustrade of the roof, cupola and hand-carved
eagle in wood, also the barn, were added by Mclntire
[63]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
during Derby's occupancy. The festooned drapery
on the barn was transferred to the barn of Mr. John
Robinson, Number i8 Summer Street, and the cupola
to the grounds of the Essex Institute where it may
now be seen. On the arched ceiling of the cupola a
fresco by Corne depicted the several vessels of the
Derby fleet, and in the blind of one of the windows
a hole was left through which a telescope could be
pointed to watch for ships. John Rogers the sculptor
was born in this house, October 30, 1829.
It is with genuine admiration that we look to-day
upon these famous old doorways of Salem, not only
because they have furnished the inspiration for and
are the equal of the best recent work, but because
they are entirely of wood, hand-tooled out of white
pine, and we realize full well how crude were the
tools of those days and how essential the utmost
of patient, painstaking, and skilful workmanship.
With their graceful dignity and simple air of distinc-
tion these old doorways are well worth the study of
every prospective home builder ; they cannot fail to
appeal strongly to any thinking person of good taste
and refinement having a ready appreciation of our
national traditions.
[64]
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CHAPTER IV
INTERIOR WOODWORK
WHITE-PAINTED wood finish provides the
only thoroughly satisfactory setting for
mahogany furniture, now, as in Mclntire's day, the
popular ideal in American homes. Nothing to excel
the slender Sheraton and Adam elegance or the more
substantial beauty of Chippendale and Heppelwhite
designs has been devised by the furniture makers of
more recent times. Executed in dark woods, whether
mahogany, rosewood, or walnut, these four justly
famous types possess rare grace of line, nicety of de-
tail, and richness of effect which are enhanced by a
background of white standing finish. The interior
woodwork provides the setting in which the furniture
gems of a room are placed. Just as the row of white
pearls sets off to best advantage the richness of the
ruby or emerald, so white-painted woodwork serves
as a foil to emphasize the mellow warmth and
graceful dignity of dark eighteenth-century furni-
[65]'
The Wood-Carver of Salem
ture, forceful in its contrast and cheerful in its
brightening eifect. The same pieces would lose
half their charm in a room having dark wood trim.
Indeed, few woods available for interior finish har-
monize with mahogany furniture when waxed or
varnished in their natural colors. And while there
is a somber richness about mahogany finish and fur-
niture combined, both together seem undesirable,
except for an occasional room in a large and pre-
tentious house.
We realize now as never before that our great-
grandfathers displayed excellent taste in placing
their rare pieces of furniture, brought from across
the seas, in white-trimmed rooms. This treatment
has stood the test of time, and with the recurring
popularity of architecture and other things Colonial,
is again finding the favor it really deserves. It is
not surprising, therefore, that to examine the pho-
tographs of recent houses designed by almost any
ten well-known American architects is to be im-
pressed by the predominance of the Colonial spirit
which pervades the principal rooms. The lure of
white-painted interior woodwork is upon us ; pro-
spective home builders of education and artistic
tastes are demanding it, and intelligent architects
are happy indeed to comply, even in the case of houses
[66]
mun **lkiA.tfA* »A< »>« V "*
Plate XXXII. — Stucco Cornice in Derby-Crowninshield-Rogers
House; Wainscot and Surbase.
Interior Woodwork
which in exterior appearance and constructive mate-
rials disregard period. This is because it harks back
to early traditions which we at once respect and ad-
mire.
There is a certain financial psychology about it,
too. White pine, once the cheapest of native
woods, has been used with such prodigality and for
so many purposes that in finish grades, although ob-
tainable in ample quantity from the Northwest, it
now costs as much as some good hardwoods. Un-
fortunately human nature too often permits us to
measure the worth of an article by the price which
supply and demand have placed upon it. Now that
white pine has become expensive because of its scar-
city in the East, we have begun to prize it highly.
And then, too, we have had an opportunity to ob-
serve its sterling qualities in the remarkably well
preserved old mansions of our early seaport towns.
Mclntire's admirable work in Salem affords
eloquent testimony to the fact that the possibilities
of painted softwood for interior finish are fully as
great as those of more expensive hardwoods. Ef-
fects must be achieved in a different way, however.
The broad, flat surfaces and simple moldings of
hardwood finish depend for their interest chiefly
upon the natural grain of the wood. Painting
[67]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
similar designs executed in softwood would con-
ceal the grain and leave them uninteresting and with-
out character. Painted wood finish needs beauty
of form as a substitute for the beauty of wood grain.
Lest the background become monotonous and un^
worthy of its furniture accompaniments, therefore,
the motives and details of exterior ornamentation,
such as moldings, carefully spaced panels, and appro-
priate carving, or its equivalent in applied ornament,
are brought to bear upon the interior woodwork
in such a manner as to delight the eye, yet not to
detract unduly from the contents of the room. To
this end a nice balance between plain surface and
decoration is as important as the decoration itself.
Fireplaces and stairways, the principal architectural
features of interiors, properly may be elaborated
considerably beyond the somewhat negative char-
acter of background accessories. Tasteful ornamen-
tation applied to such important forms of utility and
necessity seems sincere and amply justified. In-
deed, they are regarded almost as furnishings rather
than parts of the house.
For convenience in studying them, Colonial in-
teriors may well be divided into three classes : first,
those having a molded baseboard and a simple pic-
ture molding or cornice; second, those of which a
[68]
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Plate XXXV. — Doorway in East Front Chamber, Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols House.
Interior Jf^oodwork
dado or paneled wainscot, almost invariably accom-
panied by a cornice, is a feature ; third, those rooms
architecturally treated with paneled walls.
Mclntire seldom employed the first of these treat-
ments. The hall at "Oak Hill", the summer home
of Mrs. J. C. Rogers at Peabody, Massachusetts,
erected in 1800, appears to be the only instance of
consequence. Although appropriate in any room of
a small house, architects of the present day often
reserve it, because of its extreme simplicity, for
chambers and unimportant rooms not often seen
by outsiders. As in this instance the cornice, accom-
panied by a flat frieze, but without the architrave,
is used with a molded baseboard.
The second, and Mclntire's favorite treatment,
combining dado and cornice, has proved itself gener-
ally useful, especially in hall, dining room, living
room, and the principal bedrooms of large houses.
As an exemplification of the classic orders applied
to interior woodwork, it is especially interesting and
consistent ; the dado, the wall above it, and the cor-
nice corresponding to the pedestal, shaft, and en-
tablature respectively. When this treatment is
applied to a room, the dado becomes in very truth a
continuous pedestal with a plinth and base molding
and a surbase surmounting the die or plane face of
[69]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
the pedestal. Suggesting a miniature cornice, this
surbase may be molded horizontally, as in most of
the rooms at "Oak Hill", or attractively elaborated
with vertical hand-carved reedings or flutings on a
fascia-like band below the surbase proper. These
reedings may be continuous, as in the hall of the
Cook-Oliver house, or in groups of seven or so with
sections of plain fascia between them, as in the
Clifford Crowninshield house. Again, the surbase
may be still further enriched by a circular or oval
floret, carved or in composition, applied in alterna-
tion with the reeded groups, as in the Derby-Crown-
inshield-Rogers house. Number 202| Essex Street,
and the east front chamber of the Pierce- Johonnot-
Nichols house. As seen in the east parlor of the
latter delightful old mansion, Mclntire sometimes
used vertical fluted instead of reeded groups to or-
nament the surbase, while in several rooms of the
old house at Number 202^ Essex Street and also in
the drawing-room at "Oak Hill" the well-known
and always welcome Grecian fret, that favorite mo-
tive that so often replaces the dentil course of his
cornices, lends distinction to the surbase.
The histories of the two houses last mentioned are
so closely interwoven that it seems well to digress
momentarily in order to recount them in a single
[70]
Plate XXX\'I. — Drawing-Room Doorway, "Oak Hill.
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Interior fp^oodwork
brief paragraph. Both in exterior appearance and
interior arrangement, as shown by Mclntire's ac-
companying floor plans and elevation, the Derby-
Crowninshield-Rogers house holds much of interest
to the student and architect in that it was originally
an early type of the modern town house. Shortly
after its erection about 1800, it was occupied by
Ezekiel Hersey Derby, a son of Elias Haskett Derby,
Salem's greatest merchant. Not having the family
love of adventures at sea, however, he soon moved
to the family estate in South Salem, there to devote
himself to the pursuits of agriculture. His town
house then became the last residence in Salem of
Benjamin W. Crowninshield before moving to Boston.
It was last occupied as a winter residence by Richard
S. Rogers, a wealthy merchant in the foreign trade,
whose splendid summer home on a farm in Peabody,
also designed by Mclntire, is now known as "Oak
Hill" and occupied as a summer residence by his son's
widow, Mrs. J. C. Rogers. "Oak Hill" was built
originally for Nathaniel West, a wealthy merchant
and ship owner, who married Elizabeth Derby,
one of the daughters of Elias Haskett Derby. When
the old Salem residence became the Maynes estate,
the street floor was converted into stores, and so it
stands to-day a mere echo of its pristine elegance
[7>]
The TFood-Carver of Salem
yet still admired by those who know and appreciate
good architecture.
While these old dados are of the low type with a
plain wood face, in modern work a similar effect is
sometimes obtained in dining rooms by the simple
expedient of a baseboard and surbase at the same
height as the top of the chair backs with a papered
wall between. Still another device to carry the wood-
work high on dining room walls of the present
day is to adopt the paneled wainscot so often exe-
cuted in hardwood and equally if not more effective
when of softwood painted white. Preferably five
or six feet high, this may be surmounted by a plate
rail or only a heavy molding as preferred.
When accompanying a dado, the cornice may prop-
erly be of more distinctive character, with a prom-
inent denticulated molding replacing the corona, as in
the hall at " Oak Hill " and in several rooms at Number
202J Essex Street, or considerably elaborated by
hand carving after the Adam manner, as in the morn-
ing room at "Oak Hill." There the Grecian fret
reappears supplemented by a broad frieze beneath,
consisting of a continuous band of vertical reedings.
In the drawing-room of the same house reeded groups
alternate with circular medallions set in square plain
sections of the frieze to form a richer effect.
[72]
Plate XXXVIIJ. — Doorway of the Morning Room, "Oak Hill.
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Interior Woodwork
A novel and interesting variation of the cornice
may be seen in the hall of the Clifford Crowninshield
house. Below the usual cyma recta a reeding, hand-
tooled spirally and resembling the twist drills of to-
day, though doubtless a modification of the popular
rope moldings of the time, replaces the usual flat
fillet. The corona with a plain torus below it has
been given the width of a narrow frieze, and its flat
surface relieved at intervals with groups of seven
vertical reedings corresponding to those of the sur-
base. Another cornice of still different character
in the Derby-Crowninshield-Rogers house consists
entirely of plaster-work according to designs by
Mclntire, including well-known classic detail of
which the ^%% and tongue molding, scroll and in-
terlacing circular fillet frets are prominent.
Most pretentious of all, the third treatment of
completely paneled walls with embrasured windows
best creates the atmosphere of formal rooms, such
as hall, reception room, or dining room. Purely
as a matter of convenience in the library it sometimes
serves attractively to fill the spaces between and
above built-in bookcases, doors, and windows. Pan-
eling is a true measure of an architect's skill in ap-
propriate spacing ; a subtle sense of proportion and
careful selection of moldings are necessary. No
[73]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
examples exist to-day to indicate that Mclntire
ever completely paneled any of his interiors, as did
some of the English builders who came to America
prior to the Revolution. Paneling one of the four
walls of a room, however, was a picturesque custom
of the time often adopted by him and revived occa-
sionally to-day. This architectural treatment was
usually resorted to when a fireplace was flanked by
a door at each side, one often opening into a closet
and the other into an adjoining room. Notable
examples are found in the Pierce- Johonnot-Nichols
house. These same rooms show Mclntire's appli-
cation of embrasured windows with folding shutters
and window seats to unpaneled walls. In a dining
room a clever modern adaptation of the same idea
consists of paneling carried around a small oriel
window and extended on each side to comer china
closets with arched, leaded glass doors. Such an
application of white-painted woodwork brightens
the space about a window and makes cheerful a por-
tion of the room that too often seems dark and
gloomy.
In any scheme of interior woodwork, windows
and doors naturally attract particular notice. Mc-
lntire's windows were usually of the twelve-paned
Georgian type which still continues to find favor in
[74]
Plate XL. — Inside of Front Doorway, "Oak Hill."
Plate XLI. — Two Views of the Second Floor Hall, "Oak Hill,"
showing Zuber's "Classic" Wall Paper.
Interior Woodwork
most Colonial adaptations. With a few exceptions,
such as the east parlor of the Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols
house, the casings indoors as well as outside were
molded after the manner of an architrave, with
the window sill at the level of the surbase and the
casing across the lintel joining the cornice or being
somewhat below, according to the height of the
room. The casings of less important doorways
were the same, while those in more conspicuous
positions, like those at the foot of the stairs at "Oak
Hill", were elaborated by the addition of a beautiful
cornice and frieze which, with the architrave motive
of the lintel, form a complete entablature. The
cornice of this doorhead includes one beautifully
hand-carved molding with tiny spheres between the
dentils, and is supported by pilasters each side of
the frieze. A dainty applied grape cluster deco-
rates each pilaster, and a superbly modeled fruit
basket within an oval, beaded border, also applied,
occupies the center of the broad frieze.
Similar doorways are to be seen in the Clifford
Crowninshield and Derby-Crowninshield-Rogers
houses, in both of which the decorations of the door-
head frieze consist of applied work in the form of
dainty festooned and straight-hanging garlands with
florets between and Adam urns or ornamental flower-
[7J]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
pots with blooming plants on the pilasters sup-
porting the cornice in which a hand-tooled dentil
course invariably is prominent. As in the Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols house, several of the doorways of
the Clifford Crowinshield house have casings with
groups of flutings at frequent intervals, and in
the east front chamber of the Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols house a doorway demonstrates how pleas-
ingly the cornice of the room and that of the door-
head may be one and the same in low-studded
rooms.
Although with few exceptions Mclntire's moldings
were planed and carved by hand, most of the more
elaborate decorations of doorheads and chimney
pieces, such as baskets, urns, garlands, and cornu-
copias were molded in French putty, applied to the
surface of the wood with glue, and painted. After
more than a century these ornaments, as found at
"Oak Hill", still remain in perfect condition, indi-
cating that leading decorators of the present time
make no mistake in continuing to use this form of
ornamentation.
Other more elaborate doorways at "Oak Hill",
three of which are illustrated herewith, have a con-
siderable amount of applied ornament. Outside
the casings, upon which hand-tooled reedings are
[76]
Plate XLII. — Hall and Stairway at "Oak Hill."
Plate XLIII. — Elliptical Arches in the Hall, Derby-Crownin-
shield-Rogers House.
Interior Jf^oodwork
cut, either molded or fluted pilasters rise from pro-
jecting bases, corresponding to the baseboard, to
the doorhead. The applied capitals represent vari-
ously modified forms of the Corinthian order, in
which the acanthus leaf motive is prominent, while
in the sunken panels of the pilasters the straight-
hanging garland effect is a feature interspersed with
other delicate, fine-scale ornament. Fruit-filled urns
or sheaves of wheat decorate the pilasters support-
ing the cornices, and fruit baskets, urns, and festoons
fill the friezes. Two of the moldings of each cor-
nice are examples of refined applied work in which
the acanthus and Lesbian leaves predominate, and
a hand-tooled Grecian fret supplies the dentil course
between them.
Quaint in appearance, the old six-panel doors are
attractively arranged with four panels of equal size
and two small ones at the top, according to Mclntire's
favorite manner. Both stiles and the muntin are
of equal width, but the lock and bottom rails are
broader than the top and frieze rails. In most in-
stances moldings are confined to the edges of the
panels, but in the drawing-room an additional mold-
ing has been applied to the panel itself, about an inch
from the edge, recalling the doors of the Derby-
Crowninshield-Rogers and the later portion of the
[77]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
Pierce- Johonnot-Nichols houses. The latter instance
also illustrates Mclntire's variation in panel arrange-
ment, the small panels being happily placed between
the larger ones which, in consequence, are of unequal
size, the larger pair being at the top. Stiles, mun-
tin, and rails are here alike except for the broader
bottom rail. In the older portion of this house and
also in the Cook-Oliver house the panels are nicely
beveled. No finer examples of the quaint and
elegant drop handle as a substitute for the more
common round brass knob of that day are to be
found in America than those in the Pierce- Johonnot-
Nichols house, which have several times been repro-
duced in recent works.
Returning once more to "Oak Hill", one side of
the drawing-room, architecturally treated, illus-
trates more convincingly than any similar instance
known to the authors the splendid possibilities of
white wood finish ; it is the equal of the chimney
piece end of the Pierce- Johonnot-Nichols east parlor
and hence one of Mclntire's supreme achievements.
Two doorways, similar to those already described,
are located at opposite sides of the wall, while a large
mirror in the same spirit occupies the space between.
In three parts, the broad central portion has a seg-
mental top, and the narrower flanking portions have
[78]
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Interior Woodwork
horizontal tops. These tops take the form of a cor-
nice and frieze, echoing those of the room itself, with
applied medallions at regular intervals and hand-
tooled vertical flutings substituted for the reedings
above. A delicately executed urn surmounts the
central mirror and from it hang graceful festoons of
applied work over the glass. Molded pilasters with
applied garlands in their sunken panels serve as
mullions or casings. The whole eifect is one of rare
beauty, refined, distinctive, a tribute to Mclntire's
good taste and exceptional sense of proportion.
Indicating clearly the influence of the brothers
Adam upon his work, it is still no mere copy of
their designs, but is possessed of marked individ-
uality.
A wealth of suggestion lies in the front doorway
with its well-proportioned fanlight and side lights.
Here one sees the interior charm of the typical Colo-
nial front doorway arrangement. One notices with
interest that the charming pattern in these particu-
lar sashes is obtained by the use of iron bent against
the glass rather than by means of sash bar divisions.
Unfortunately the modern door is not in accord with
others in the house, but the original finish, including
reeded pilasters with modified Corinthian capitals,
a lintel with hand-tooled flutings, and an elliptical
[79]
The W^ood-Carver of Salem
arch with frieze motive of reeded sections between
applied florets, is splendid.
As in most houses of this period, the elliptical arch
of the fanlight is echoed elsewhere, sometimes sup-
ported by pilasters and framing the stairway vista
or that at the far end of a long hall, as in this in-
stance; also frequently spanning the upper hall
at the head of the stairs where it rests upon beauti-
fully carved consoles. It may also be seen at
intersections of hall corridors in the Derby-
Crowninshield-Rogers house. This brings us to
a consideration of the Colonial hall, ever of
great interest as an avenue of approach from
the doorway to the fireside, and its principal em-
bellishment, the stairway.
Stairways provide opportunities for architectural
treatment quite as spontaneous and admirable as do
chimney pieces, and Mclntire's work includes vir-
tually all of the really satisfactory types. In the
old residences of Salem, wide halls sometimes lead
completely through the center of the house with an
outside door at both ends and doors at each side giv-
ing access to the principal rooms, as in the Cook-
Oliver house. Oftener, as at "Oak Hill" and in the
Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols house, halls extend only
part way through the house, the rear door opening
[80]
Plate XLVI. — "Winder" in the Derby-Crowninshield-Rogers House.
Plate XLVII. — Stairway at Second Floor Level, _ Derby-
Crowninshield-Rogers House; Detail of Newel and Stair Ends.
Interior Woodwork
into a room rather than into the yard or garden.
Where the balustrade is considerably elaborated, a
simple molded baseboard runs about the walls and
up the stairway, but oftener there is a dado like that
in the David P. Waters hall. The paneled wain-
scot of the pre-Revolutionary builders appears not
to have appealed to Mclntire, although some
paneling occurs in the Derby-Crowninshield-Rogers
house.
In long halls the stairway takes the form of a single
straight run, as at "Oak Hill", or of a straight run
to a landing only three or four steps below the second-
floor level where the direction of the flight reverses.
On this landing, as in the Cook-Oliver and Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols houses, a beautiful Palladian win-
dow admits light and provides an effective feature
of the architectural scheme. At opposite sides of the
window in bygone days often stood a floor clock and
a tip-table on which were placed the candles to light
guests to bed. In short halls a broken flight with
two landings at opposite sides of the hall where
right angle turns occur was less popular about 1800
than now. Although it had been the prevailing type
in the mansions of 1750, and was used with heavy
turned balusters in the Hosmer- Waters house, erected
in 1795, ' Mclntire ordinarily reserved it for the
[8i]
The JVood-Car'ver of Salem
side or rear stairway, as in the Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols or Derby-Crowinshield-Rogers houses. He
seemed to prefer the more graceful and striking semi-
circular stairway or "winder" as a solution of the
short hall problem. A particularly pleasing example
occurs in the David P. Waters house, and it may
be seen on a much more ambitious scale in the old
mansion at Number 202J Essex Street, already
referred to many times.
These stairways of whatever type depend in large
measure for their beauty and distinction upon the
ornamentation of balustrade, dado, and stair ends.
Although occasionally painted white, a dark-stained
pine or mahogany molded handrail is the rule. Usu-
ally it curves outward to the newel at the bottom
and occasionally winds about in spiral fashion on a
broad, bottom stair, suggesting the volute of the
Ionic order, the stair tread taking the shape of the
rail above, as in the David P. Waters house. Up-
ward, the rail sometimes swings along from flight
to flight, unbroken by newels, as in the Pierce- Johon-
not-Nichols house, or again, at each landing and
floor, sweeps upward in a graceful curve to a newel,
as illustrated by the back stairway of the Derby-
Crowninshield-Rogers house. When accompanied
by a dado as in the Hosmer-Waters hall, its surbase
[82]
Plate XLVIII.— Detail of Newel and Twisted Balusters, "Oak
Hill."
Plate XLIX.— A Doorway in the Hall, "Oak Hill."
Interior Woodwork
duplicated this graceful sweep of the ramped rail.
Mclntire's balustrades afford slender turned newels
and balusters of several attractive patterns, while
the stairway of the David P. Waters house indicates
the charm of simple inch-square balusters when
applied to a stairway the very form of which provides
its own ornament. Almost invariably some form of
scroll brackets under the overhang of the tread lent
a note of individuality, and sometimes this was
supplemented by the application of some form of
restrained yet highly effective decoration along the
second-floor level, such as the fret in the Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols house, and the applied festooned
garlands and oval florets in the Derby-Crowninshield-
Rogers house.
Built during the days of our maritime supremacy,
many houses, of which "Oak Hill" is an example,
were influenced considerably in their decorative de-
tails by the shipbuilding industry. This is seen
particularly in the stairway with its paneled box-
stairs and beautifully turned and carved balusters
and newels which were suggested by the rope mold-
ings much used in the ship cabins of those days.
Three balusters stand on each stair, the twisted por-
tion of each being different, although the turned
portions at the top and bottom are all alike. The
[83]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
newel is a particularly good specimen of its type and
consists of one corkscrew spiral within another, a
difficult and excellent piece of hand carving indicat-
ing the native ingenuity and intuitive decorative
sense of the skilled craftsmen to whom so great a
measure of the charm of Salem architecture is
due.
[84]
Plate L. — Mantel in a Chamber of the Hosmer-Waters House;
Mantel in Northwest Parlor.
i ii I itii II iiiiEii I IE 1 1 1 1 1 1 ill 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 mini iiii f 1 1 itr n i n ii
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Plate LI. — Parlor Mantel, Lindall-Barnard-Andrews House; Corner
Section showing hand carved Applied Ornament.
CHAPTER V
MANTELS AND CHIMNEY PIECES
A FIREPLACE ever makes a strong sentimental
appeal, not only for the charm of the open fire,
but because it seems to represent the ideal of homely
comfort in the days when people lived close to the
hearthstone ; it is human and direct. A century
ago the fireplace was the source of warmth and good
cheer during six months of the year and the very
center of home life ; here the family gathered when
the day's work was done ; here the honored guest
was entertained ; here youth plighted troth, and
plans for new firesides were whispered in the mellow
glow from the hearth. The fireplace was a thing
of the utmost necessity that could be made beauti-
ful by the application of woodwork with carving
and other embellishment. Naturally, therefore, like
the architects of all times, Mclntire devoted his
best efforts to the judicious ornamentation of his
mantels and chimney pieces ; they became the
[85]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
crowning feature of his interiors, indeed virtually
the keynote of the scheme of furnishing and decora-
tion, and, because of Mclntire's rare skill and
creative genius, they are possessed of exceptional
grace of line and proportion.
To contemplate these masterpieces of interior
woodwork is to comprehend the importance and
attributes of the fireplace. Unlike many architects
of the present day Mclntire realized fully that while
sentiment lies in the fire on the hearth, the fire is
absent during warm weather, and that as a perma-
nent ornamental feature of the house actual beauty
centers not in the fireplace proper but in its archi-
tectural setting, the mantel or entire chimney piece.
Hence he invariably avoided structural materials
that would have emphasized the fireplace opening
by strong color-contrast with the white woodwork,
such as red brick facings with conspicuous mortar
joints. Instead, he employed marble, white and of
various tints and markings, gray soapstone, and the
like, a precedent in close harmony which may well be
followed to-day.
Many of Mclntire's mantels were very simple,
yet never deficient in that chaste appearance and
just proportion which characterized all his work.
An interesting one, intended as the setting for a
[86]
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Mantels and Chimney Pieces
Franklin stove, may be seen in a chamber of the
Hosmer-Waters house. Like numerous others made
entirely of wood, the frieze beneath the shelf is plain,
and the hand tooling has been confined to the
fluted pilasters with Ionic capitals and two moldings
of the cornice. The dentil course displays typical
Mclntire traits to be seen elsewhere, and a realistic
rope molding carved with painstaking care replaces
the conventional ovolo.
At the outset of Mclntire's independent career, and
occasionally for ten years or so afterward, consider-
able of the enrichment of the mantel frieze was carved
in wood and applied with glue, as in the case of the
delightful mantel made in 1800 for the Lindall-
Barnard-Andrews house. Number 393 Essex Street,
erected in 1747. Mclntire's personal carving here
includes not only the central basket of fruit and
flowers, but the festoons, sheaves of wheat, the
delicate cuttings after the Adam manner in the
architrave and the pleasingly ingenious modifica-
tion of the cornice bed-molding. No small measure
of the lovely ensemble is due to the slender grace of
the colonnettes supporting the complete entablature
and the beautiful brass andirons and fire set.
It will be remembered that the Rev. Thomas Bar-
nard married Mclntire, and in this exquisite design
[87]
The If^ood-Carver of Salem
and workmanship one seems to see the carver's trib-
ute to an esteemed friend. It thrills one to stand
in this room, too, realizing that this very clergyman,
whose presence it so often knew, for the time being
averted bloodshed during the first armed resistance
to British tyranny on February 26, 1775. Dis-
missing his congregation at the old North Church in
response to the urgent summons of a messenger,
Doctor Barnard hastened to the North Bridge in the
role of peacemaker, and finally succeeded in per-
suading the townspeople to lower the draw and
permit the British troops to cross in their fruitless
search for cannon, which, meantime, had been trans-
ferred to a new hiding place.
Returning once more to the Hosmer- Waters house,
one finds in the northwest parlor an excellent Adam
mantel exemplifying the combined use of carved
and applied composition detail. All of the moldings
are rightly of a modest nature because of the enrich-
ment of the frieze and paneled pilasters with fes-
toons, urns, and straight-hanging garlands. Only
the bed-molding and architrave bear hand-tooling,
and that of simple though effective character. This
work was done in 1795 when most of the composition
ornament was imported, but the American eagle
never became popular with British craftsmen, and
[88]
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Plate LV. — Detail of Mantel at the Woman's Bureau.
Mantels and Chimney Pieces
so Mclntire himself carved the central panel in
wood.
This house is of interest to the antiquary in that it
was long the home of Henry FitzGilbert Waters,
author of "John Harvard and His Ancestry", "An
Examination into the English Ancestry of George
Washington", and many papers devoted to the
genealogy of prominent Salem families. His in-
vestigations in London, covering a period of several
years, for the New England Historical and Genealogi-
cal Society are well known and resulted in his "Gen-
ealogical Gleanings in England." During Mr.
Waters' occupancy this house contained the best
private collection of rare Colonial furniture in New
England.
The mantel in the west chamber of the Peabody-
Silsbee house with its attractive hob-grate of orna-
mental iron will be seen to resemble that in the
Hosmer- Waters chamber, but it is richer and shows
greater refinement. A conventional cymatium re-
places the rope molding with a torus and fillet sepa-
rating it from the corona ; the dentil course remains
the same. The pilasters are reeded, and a fine-
scale vertical reeded belt supplies the capitals as well
as the architrave. Both the oval panel and the urns
of the frieze are of composition applied.
[89]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
Reminiscent of the Lindall-Barnard-Andrews man-
tel, in its pairs of supporting colonnettes and corner
projections of the shelf, the rear parlor mantel of
the Woman's Bureau, also done in 1800, differs mate-
rially in cornice and frieze. Here again a rope mold-
ing of the utmost precision replaces the usual ovolo,
and the dentil course, with its tiny triangular inci-
sions, simulating a continuous band of guttae from
the Doric order, is without a parallel in Mclntire's
work. The tiny q^%% and dart molding beneath is
in applied work, like that edging the central oval
panel of the frieze, but the sheaves of wheat and
the military symbolic group including a shield bear-
ing a small eagle are of wood nicely carved and glued
to the face of the sunken panels. The peculiar or-
namental hob-grate of cast-iron is shown with its
summer blind in place.
The front parlor of the Woman's Bureau contains
one of Mclntire's two most fanciful mantels. The
other is in the Kimball house, and both may well
be considered in comparison because they are so
similar yet so different and hence illustrate as few
others can the resourcefulness of the one who made
them. While many will say they are overornate,
none can but admire the intricate carving necessary
to their making, for there is no applied composition
[90]
Plate LVI. — Detail of Mantel in the Kimball House.
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Mantels and Chimney Pieces
work on either. Even the twist-drill reeds of
column and cornice, the flowers and urns of the small
oval inserts, and the central panels resembling one
already referred to, were carved out of wood. The
comer projections have been carried to the extreme
in order to provide a place for flanking columns in
addition to the fine-scale fluted pilasters which made
it desirable, indeed necessary, to carry the shelf
around the corners at each end and support it with
a second pair of pilasters. But the most unique
feature of all lies in the dentil course with its trumpet-
like units set well apart ; probably no designer be-
fore Mclntire ever thought to use such a decoration
on a mantel, or to insert a band of wooden spheres
into the edge of a mantelshelf as in the Kimball house
parlor.
This is not the only use Mclntire found for a band
of spheres, however ; in several instances it replaced
the dentil course. Employed in this manner, it ap-
pears on a large scale in the cornice of the Peabody-
Silsbee house and again is to be seen in the parlor
mantel of the Home for Aged Women, formerly the
residence of Benjamin W. Crowninshield. Aside
from the Corinthian feeling of the capitals, the
design adheres to no classic order. The engaged
columns are not fluted ; the architrave rather than
[9-]
The Jf^ood-Carver of Salem
the frieze bears most of the ornament, and the
cornice or mantelshelf is a thing unto itself. Yet
despite its unique traits and marked unconvention-
ality, this mantel is distinctly pleasing. Both the
sheaves of wheat and the applied fruit groups in
alternation with vertical reeded sections in the
architrave symbolize the fullness of the harvest,
motives which architects of the present day fre-
quently make use of in country houses. Though
entirely different, the beautiful surbase accords
well with the architrave, while the fret of interlaced
fillets at the same level about the window em-
brasures is one of Mclntire's best and successfully
fulfils his desire for variety.
As Mclntire progressed in sculpture, he came to
appreciate more highly its excellences and advan-
tages for beautifying the mantel frieze, often de-
pending almost entirely upon a horizontal bas-
relief panel of stucco in which exquisitely modeled
human figures were prominent. When applied to
the wood and painted white, the ensemble lacked
little of the daintiness and purity of marble, in those
days almost prohibitive in price because of the im-
mense amount of labor required for hand cutting.
Two notable instances of the sort occur on the
third floor of the old Derby-Crowninshield-Rogers
[92]
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Mantels and Chimney Pieces
mansion, where, despite the shameful usage to which
they have been subjected by careless tenants since
the house has been devoted to commercial purposes,
the mantels please the eye with their unaffected sim-
plicity, and if cleaned and given a fresh coat of white
paint would be counted among the most chaste of
Mclntire's work. Aside from the bas-relief panel
and a conventional bed-molding above, one of these
mantels boasts no ornament other than simple,
hand-planed moldings, yet in several respects it finds
more admirers than the other, for its very propor-
tions render it a positive joy to look upon. The
other mantel, with its detail of finer scale, implies
more skilful craftsmanship because of the reeded pi-
lasters and denticulated bed-molding. It exalts its
designer no more, however, for with more ornament
the eifect was more easily conceived even if more
laboriously executed. Indeed, it is axiomatic that
the less the amount of ornament and the more the
effect depends upon just proportion and carefully
balanced spacing, the more difficult the task of de-
sign and the more creditable the result.
Lovely as were his mantels with sculptured friezes,
Mclntire is best known and most admired for his
work in the Adam manner which he applied to both
mantels and chimney pieces with positive genius,
The IVood-Carver of Salem
in several Instances worthy of Robert Adam himself.
Often these Included a central bas-relief panel with
Adam festoons at each side. Another mantel on the
third floor of the old Derby-Crownlnshleld-Rogers
house is of this character. Its structural work will
be seen to resemble closely the simpler of the two
mantels of this house already described. The only
essential differences occur In the dentil course and
the applied enrichment of the frieze, consisting of
typical Adam urns, festoons, florets, and a sculptured
central panel more fanciful and less pleasing than
the others.
Unquestionably the finest Salem mantels done by
Mclntire after the Adam manner, exclusive of his
chimney pieces, are those in the parlors of the David
P. Waters and Clifford Crownlnshleld houses. The
former will be seen to be an elaboration of much
that has already been considered, in response to the
desire for a richer effect. The cornice has been made
heavier than is usually the case by the addition of
a surmounting thick shelf, while the bed-molding
has been augmented by the twist-drill reed above
the dentil course. Used in this manner, where its
cross section Is not apparent, the latter has much the
effect of a bead molding. The motives of the applied
treatment of the frieze recall the oval panel and
[94]
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Plate LX. — Two Mantels on the Third Floor of the Derby-
Crowninshield-Rogers House.
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Mantels and Chimney Pieces
basket of fruits and flowers, as well as the wheat
sheaves on the pilasters which were features of the
Lindall-Barnard-Andrews mantel ; the festoons are
reminiscent of one of the Derby-Crowninshield-
Rogers mantels and the reeded pilasters of another
in that house. The effect here is considerably en-
hanced by decorating the architrave with vertical
reeded groups of wood in alternation with applied
rosettes, and an oval floret adorns the pilaster capital,
all of which motives will be seen repeated in the
surbase and cornice of the room. The photograph
shows another quaint summer blind in place.
Impartial criticism seems to favor the Crownin-
shield mantel as representing higher refinement in
design and greater precision in workmanship ; cer-
tainly it is daintier, more exquisitely carved, and the
applied work — festoons, urns, horns of plenty
and straight-hanging garlands — are of slenderer
grace. The central panel, an oval within a rectangle
with its group of musical instruments, is a veritable
gem, and the slight projection of the whole panel
above the surface of the frieze proper lends a pleasing
note of distinction. Here again the cornice has
been made heavier by an additional surmounting
shelf, in this instance molded on the edge with a
torus between two fillets. A nicely carved bead and
[9J]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
reel separates the cymatium from the corona, be-
neath which, in the role of a bed-molding, occurs
the finest scale work of all, consisting of a band of
tiny vertical flutings between ovolo and ogee moldings
so tiny as to be hardly more than the smallest of
reeds. Groups of flutings adorn the facings about
the fireplace opening, as in the famous east parlor of
the Pierce- Johonnot-Nichols house, described in the
seventh chapter, and have been repeated in the sur-
base. Similar feeling will be noticed in the ornate
cornice, which appears to be one of Mclntire's welcome
innovations suggested in part by the modillions of
the Corinthian order and the triglyphs of the Doric.
Many, in fact most, fireplaces built about 1750 had
no accompanying mantelshelf proper; although
often given an architectural setting of considerable
pretension, the side of the room in which they oc-
curred sometimes was entirely paneled up with or-
namental molded facings about the fireplace opening.
The desire for, almost the need of, this pleasing and
useful adjunct probably accounts for the several
Mclntire mantels put into old houses, some of which
were erected before his birth. Two such instances
at "The Lindens", Danvers, erected in 1745, and
referred to in the third chapter, are shown by accom-
panying illustrations.
[96]
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Plate LXII. — Detail of Mantel in the
David P. Waters Reception Room.
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Mantels and Chimney Pieces
Taken from the Nathan Read house, designed by
Mclntire in 1790 and referred to in the third chapter,
these mantels are seen at a glance not to have been
built for their present locations. Although their
height is such as to split the lowest of three original
horizontal panels, Mclntire was not responsible for
this blunder, nor is it serious enough to detract
greatly from the beauty of the mantels themselves,
particularly in the instance where a handsome
gilt Adam mirror virtually conceals it. In both in-
stances the slight projection of the paneling and cor-
nice over the fireplace combine with the mantel to
simulate the effect of a complete chimney piece.
The frieze of one of these mantels recalls that of
the David P. Waters parlor mantel, without the
festoons of the latter and including a simpler archi-
trave, consisting of a continuous band of exceedingly
fine vertical reedings. The broad, reeded pilasters
are heavier and the Corinthian capitals are not pres-
ent in the Waters mantel, while the broad molded
facings about the fireplace opening are by no means
common to Salem architecture.
Rarely did Mclntire's work take such a light and
fanciful character as in the other mantel at "The
Lindens." The bed-molding is a repetition of that
of the Peabody-Silsbee mantel, and the twist-drill
[97]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
motive also appears again here. In fact, the latter
provides a prominent repeated theme in the cornice,
the architrave, and the narrow paneled pilasters.
A broad Grecian fret of well-known pattern supplies
the architrave and sounds an unusual note in
Mclntire design, but chief interest centers in the
applied work, not so much in the central panel as
in the horns of plenty which serve as frieze spots
at each side and particularly the realistic grapevines
and fruit which replace the conventional Adam gar-
lands in the paneled pilasters. Although perhaps
attracting too much attention to themselves, the
pictorial Flemish tiles are of peculiar interest as
antiques.
With due respect to Mclntire's resourcefulness
and good taste, his rare versatility, and remark-
able success in the design of varied architectural fea-
tures, his complete chimney pieces must be regarded
as surpassing all his other achievements. In con-
ceiving them he may be said veritably to have out-
done himself; certainly no century-old chimney
pieces in America equal them in harmonious en-
semble, subtle proportion, or exquisite detail ; they
are in every way superlative. While the mantels
themselves closely resemble those already described,
they are richer in ornament throughout, and with the
[98]
Plate LXI V. — Detail of Mantel in the Clifford Crowninshield
Parlor.
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Mantels and Chimney Pieces
elaboration of the upper part of the chimney breast
or overmantel into a highly decorative frame for a
mirror or the family portrait take on much greater
dignity and pretension.
Although the chimney piece in the east parlor of
the Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols house, illustrated and
described in the seventh chapter, is best known, no
house contains so many or such beautiful examples
as "Oak Hill", Peabody, to which frequent reference
was made in the fourth chapter. All are after the
Adam manner and savor of the Corinthian order,
yet differ considerably in detail, although in each one
notices the repeated use of Mclntire's favorite
double denticulated and vertical reeded ovolo mold-
ings. By extending the cornice and frieze around
the chimney breast and carrying a pilaster effect
up through them, they have been made virtually a
part of the chimney piece and a means to relate it
closely to the architectural setting of the entire room.
As a whole, the effect of each is one of delightful
harmony, chaste elegance, and graceful dignity.
Critical examination of the chimney pieces in the
drawing-room and chamber discloses many char-
acteristics in common. In both, variety with com-
plete harmony avoids monotony and preserves good
taste. Reeded pilasters or engaged columns support
[99]
The IFood-Carver of Salem
the mantelshelf, while paneled pilasters with beauti-
ful applied work are employed for the overmantel,
the horns of plenty on those of the drawing-room
being unusual. Beautiful composition moldings
frame the square panel of the overmantel, scroll and
acanthus flower patterns being used together in one,
and the pattern of alternate florets and reeded groups
being employed with the scroll in the other, thus
putting this drawing-room overmantel frame in
pleasing accord with the frieze of the room. The
flower vases of the chamber mantel frieze contribute
a new note, as do the grape clusters in the drawing-
room and the use of the baskets of fruit and flowers
each side of a pastoral bas-relief panel in the center.
In both instances reminiscent of the Cook-Oliver
parlor mantel, illustrated in the sixth chapter, the
acanthus leaf applied to the cymatium of the mantel-
shelf greatly enriches the effect, while the marble
facings of the fireplace opening, both the plain
slabs in the chamber and those magnificently incised
with a Grecian fret in the drawing-room, preserve the
chaste appearance so essential to the purity of the
fireplace in the unavoidable transition from struc-
tural wood to structural stone.
Architects regard this drawing-room chimney
piece as one of Mclntire's greatest works, yet fine as
Plate LXVI. — Chimney Piece in the Drawing-Room, "Oak Hill.
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Plate LXVIII. — Chimney Piece in the Morning Room, "Oak HilL"
Plate LXIX. — Chimnev Piece in a Chamber at "Oak Hill."
Mantels and Chimney Pieces
it is, the less spectacular chimney piece in the
morning room excels it in harmony of line ; it is a
veritable symphony of vertical reeding, conservative
in applied ornament yet rich in effect by reason of
its fine scale and precision of workmanship. Unlike
any other, this distinctive piece of work will be re-
membered for its reserve, refinement, and effective
simplicity. Here, as well as in the other fireplaces at
"Oak Hill", the handsome brass andirons and fire-
set form an interesting study.
[.OI]
CHAPTER VI
THE COOK-OLIVER HOUSE
UNFORTUNATELY for the antiquary and the
architect, the largest and handsomest dwelling
designed by Mclntire no longer exists in its entirety.
Happily, however, the plans and a picture of it
have been preserved, and much of the splendid wood-
work taken from it was built into another house,
still standing in an excellent state of preservation
at Number 142 Federal Street. Whereas certain
Salem buildings erected during that notable period
from 1782 to 181 1 command attention chiefly for
architectural excellence, others for historic associ-
ation, this so-called Cook-Oliver house combines
the two in rare degree and possesses the addi-
tional attraction of being very closely associated
with the chief source of Salem's prosperity.
A stately mansion, standing in the shade of splen-
did old trees, it still compares favorably with any-
thing old or new in Salem ; but even were it hidden
from view, the very gateposts would attract and
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Plate LXX. — Preliminary Sketches, Elias Haskett Derby Mansion.
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Plate LXXI. — Preliminary Front Elevations, Elias Haskett
Derbv Mansion.
The Cook- Oliver House
hold the attention of any inteUigent passer-by, so
chaste and beautiful is their design. They are the
work of Samuel Mclntire, who hand tooled them In
1799 to adorn the entrance of the Ellas Haskett Derby
mansion, where they were first erected. Derby,
who was Salem's greatest merchant and prominent
in the equipment of privateers during the Revolu-
tion, spent eighty thousand dollars on the house,
which was said to be the most sumptuous in Amer-
ica at that time and gave Mclntire the opportunity
for his greatest achievement as an architect of
domestic buildings. It stood between Essex and
Front Streets, on what had formerly been the
Colonel William Brown estate, the grounds extend-
ing to the water's edge and being beautifully laid
out and terraced. The second edition of Felt's
"Annals of Salem" contains a picture of it, repro-
duced on another page, and Mclntire's own plans,
also reproduced and showing the gradual develop-
ment from preliminary drawings, may be seen at
the Essex Institute.
The Derby gardens, famous throughout New
England, owed their beauty chiefly to the good taste
and superior knowledge of George Heussler, an Al-
satian, the first professional gardener in the vicinity,
who came to this country from Harlaam and Am-
[ 103]
The If^ood-Carver of Salem
sterdam in 1780, bringing diplomas and recommenda-
tions. His horticultural pursuits were begun in the
employ of John Tracy of Newburyport, where he
married. In 1790, owing to Tracy's financial diffi-
culties, Heussler moved to Salem and continued
to work at his chosen vocation at the town residence
and also at the farm of Elias Haskett Derby in that
part of Danvers now known as Peabody. To his
influence is due in large measure the exceptional at-
tention which persons of wealth throughout Essex
County gave to their gardens, and to him must be
attributed the credit for introducing many flowers
and valuable fruits new to America.
Reverend William Bentley in his famous diary,
under date of October 24, 1801, describes a visit to
the farm, then occupied by Derby's son, and refers
particularly to the exotic flowers, the oranges, lemons,
and other rare fruits which he saw in the green-
houses. The beautiful summer or teahouse, formerly
another important architectural feature of this
garden, and now congenially located in a neighbor-
ing town, presents one of Mclntire's most delightful
and effective classic adaptations, while the urns at
the four corners of the roof and particularly the
figure of a reaper with his scythe carved in wood
and standing at one end may be regarded as among
[ 104]
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Plate LXXII. — Woodcut of the Elias Haskett Derby Mansion from
Felt's "Annals of Salem"; Floor Plans of the Stair Hall.
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Plate LXXIII. — First and Second Floor Plans, Elias Haskett
Derby Mansion.
The Cook-Oliver House
his most ambitious successes in sculpture. At
the opposite end of the roof there also stood formerly
the figure of a milkmaid, like its companion repre-
senting an important farm industry and so symboliz-
ing the spirit of agriculture. The whole structure is
exceptional in its elongated rectangular shape and
just proportions, the beautiful pediment, supporting
pilasters and window frames, taking the form of the
Ionic order and providing adornment of a refined
and suitable character. Within, a stairway leads
to the second floor, where one finds a surprisingly
beautiful room with coved ceiling, paneled wainscot,
and charming built-in cupboards for those dainty
things pertaining to afternoon tea.
It is interesting to recall that Derby was the first
American merchant to open trade with the Cape
of Good Hope in 1784 and with China the following
year. To those far-off shores he sent the famous
Grand Turk, a fast sailing-ship of three hundred
tons which originally had been built for him as a
privateer. A painting of it in a large punch bowl,
made at Canton, China, in 1786, may be seen in
the Peabody Museum. Later, in 1788, Derby's
ship Atlantic opened the East India trade, being
the first to carry the American ensign into the har-
bors of Bombay and Calcutta.
[105]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
Upon Derby's death, only a few months after
he moved into his new home from the Pickman-
Derby-Brookhouse estate at the corner of Washing-
ton and Lynde Streets, which he had formerly oc-
cupied, the mansion was closed. No purchaser
could be found for so expensive an establishment,
and so in 1804 the gateposts and much of the charm-
ing wood finish, including some of the best examples
of Mclntire's genius in design, were removed and
built into the new residence then being erected under
Mclntire's direction for Captain Samuel Cook,
a master mariner whose silhouette portrait may
be seen at the Essex Institute. Later, in 1815,
the Derby mansion was completely torn down, and
the land on which it stood was given by the heirs
to the town for a permanent market, ever since
known as Derby Square.
The story goes that just before leaving on a long
voyage Captain Cook approved Mclntire's design
and gave him the commission to have the house
erected under his direction. The trip proved so
unsuccessful, however, that upon his return Captain
Cook despaired of being able to complete the under-
taking and ordered the work stopped. But Mcln-
tire, with all the self-sacrificing enthusiasm of
the builders of old, expressed his eagerness to go
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Plate LXXIV. — Detail of Carved Moldings and Stucco Work,
Elias Haskett Derbv Mansion.
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Plate LXXV. — Plan of Garden and Grounds, Elias Haskett Derby
Mansion.
The Cook Oliver House
ahead with It slowly, as his associates had spare
time, payment to be made accordingly. More-
over, in prevailing upon Captain Cook to buy con-
siderable of the fine woodwork then being taken
out of the Derby mansion he not only saved his
client considerable expense but at a single stroke
transformed what had originally been intended as
only an ordinary house into one of rare charm and
distinction, and also preserved several of his great-
est achievements intact to posterity. Thus the
Cook house was from eight to eleven years in the
building. Mclntire did not live to see all of the
interiors completed, but his plans were executed by
his brother Joseph, who had regularly been asso-
ciated with him as a housewright and master builder,
and for the most part the work was done with
material which had been prepared before his death.
In more recent times the Cook house was occupied
until his death in 1885 by Captain Cook's son-in-
law, General Henry Kemble Oliver, the famous
composer and musician. Here he married Sally
Cook and wrote several of his well-known church
hymns, including "Federal Street", so dear to the
hearts of all Salem residents. His was a life of
varied and useful service, since he was at different
times one of the early mayors of Lawrence, treasurer
[ 107]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
of her great cotton mills, Adjutant General and
State Treasurer of Massachusetts, and Mayor of
Salem in his eightieth year.
A study of the Cook-Oliver house ensemble indi-
cates clearly that Mclntire rightly regarded the
fence as a purely architectural feature which should
accord with the house. His pickets, rails, and bases
were always of extreme simplicity, with some inter-
esting departure from continued verticality in the
gate, as seen here, and considerable elaboration of the
gateposts, often, as in this instance, four in number
in front of the house, with simpler posts for any con-
tinuation of the fence and a simpler gateway for the
side entrance. These high, square gateposts with
their shapely urns and surmounting flame motives
are the best and most elaborate of the many in
Salem by Mclntire.
They consist of a base, paneled shaft, and en-
tablature, the shaft panels containing beautifully
carved, straight-hanging garlands, and the frieze
panels containing oval sunburst medallions. The
fine-scale cornice included a vertical-fluted belt
similar to the much heavier one across the front of
the house at the second-floor level. Another repeti-
tion to relate house and fence and to brighten the
whole effect is that of the straight-hanging garlands,
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The Cook-Oliver House
one of which decorates each of the vertical door
casings, while a festooned garland stretches across
the head. These garlands, favorite motives of the
brothers Adam, indicate positively their influence
upon Mclntire's work and account in large measure
for its refinement.
Conforming to the prevailing style of that period,
the Cook-Oliver house is a white-painted, square
structure, three stories high, with a two-story ell,
the third story of the main house being foreshortened
with almost square, nine-paned windows to reduce
the apparent total height. All the other windows
have twelve-paned Georgian sashes which with their
two-part green blinds range absolutely on all ele-
vations. Clapboards cover the walls with rather
narrow exposure to the weather, except for the
eastern side of the main house, which is of brick,
affording, before its neighbor was built, greater
protection against the northeast storms off the sea.
Several Salem houses are constructed in this manner.
The low hip roof is shingled, and like many houses
built for seafaring men of Salem and other New
England seaport towns was originally decked with a
surrounding balustrade and reached through a scuttle.
Severity of line in the whole house is relieved by
several decorative features of pleasing and refined
[ 109]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
appearance. A heavy cornice with large molded
dentils adorns the eaves. The second-story windows
are elaborated by the addition of beautiful entabla-
tures above the heads, the simple window casings of
architrave motive being exactly like those on both
other floors. These entablatures are hand carved
in fine-scale detail with denticulated cornice moldings
supported by a flat pilaster eflPect each side of the
frieze, the latter consisting of a central horizontal
band, vertical-fluted, flanked by an oval medallion
beside each pilaster. At the level of the second
floor and porch cornice a broad horizontal belt of
vertical-fluted wood finish extends across the entire
facade, seeming in a sense to "tie" the porch to the
house.
Most important of the exterior decorative features
are the porch and doorway, showing individuality
in design and a keen sense of harmony in adaptation.
Upon these Mclntire focused the full measure of his
skill, as was the custom of the time, with the result
that they stand out with exceptional grace, repose,
and dignity, even among the many notable examples
in Salem. The naive manner in which free use was
made of the orders, characteristic of much of his
work, and the surprising harmony, charm of line, and
proportion, achieved with such absence of restraint,
[mo]
Plate LXXVIII. — Cook-Oliver Entrance, showing Window Heads.
Plate LXXIX. — Stairway, Cook-Oliver House.
The Cook Oliver House
furnish eloquent tribute to Mclntire's keen discrimi-
nation and artistic perception. In the face of such
evidence it cannot be said that "the architect of
Salem" was any mere copyist.
The porch of the Cook-Oliver house is entirely of
wood, including the steps ; substantial but distinctly
inviting. The columns, with their smooth shafts
and high, square plinths, both those at the front
and also the engaged columns each side of the door-
way, suggest the Tuscan rather more than the Roman
Doric, while the entablature seems to be an Ionic
adaptation with flat, plain frieze and denticulated
cornice. An elliptical fanlight and vertical side
lights, all subdivided with exceptional grace, contain
the original Colonial glass, and it is interesting to
remember that quite aside from the beauty of these
sashes the difficulty of making large sheets of glass
and its consequent high cost in those days were par-
tial reasons for adopting them. The same was true
of ordinary windows, though the subdivisions were
useful to give scale, and it is as much for that pur-
pose that they are so much used to-day as to carry
out any period adaptation. Two-part green blinds,
characteristic of the time and the predecessor of the
modern screen door, are hung outside the paneled
wooden door.
[Ill]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
In such a house it is natural to expect great refine-
ment of the interior woodwork, and one is not dis-
appointed. White pine, so easily worked and so
enduring, was used exclusively. It is painted white,
carved and molded in a masterly manner. As in
many old houses of the time, the hall extends directly
through to the rear of the house, whence a door opens
upon a picturesque garden. At the left-hand side
of the hall a flight of stairs rises to the second floor,
broken three steps below the top by a landing where
the direction of the run reverses. Delightful in its
slender grace, the balustrade consists of a molded
rail and simple turned newel and balusters. A
Palladian window on the landing lights the stairway,
and at the head of the lower run stands a "clock on
the stairs", recalling Longfellow's immortal poem.
A flat wainscot with its molded base and surbase
hand-carved in fine-scale, vertical-reeded motive
extends up the wall side of the stairway, and the
stair ends are decorated by a sort of double scroll jig-
sawed out of lumber somewhat less than an inch in
thickness and applied to the wood trim over the
stair stringer.
Most of the casings throughout the house are
molded after the manner of an architrave, but
those in the hall, which were taken from the Derby
[112]
Plate LXXX. — Doorway in Cook-Oliver Hall.
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The Cook-Oliver House
mansion, are exquisitely hand-carved and other-
wise decorated with applied ornament, demonstrat-
ing the refined and subtle effect of straight lines re-
lieved by curves only in the trim of the head. There
is at once harmony and great variety in the combined
use of both vertical and horizontal cuttings, the
flutings and reedings being almost perfect in exe-
cution. Salem has no more exquisite examples of
interior wood finish than these heads with their
gracefully festooned draperies, fruit-filled urns, and
rosettes. The cornice has one deeply-carved mold-
ing, and the same motive, resembling a double dentil
and a favorite with Mclntire, is repeated in a cornice
molding about the ceiling of the hall. One notices
with pleasure, also, the panel arrangement of the
door, the brass-mounted glass knob, and the brass
key-plate.
The accompanying photographs of the hall illus-
trate well a beautiful, old, imported wall paper that
appears to be unmatched in America. It was hand
blocked in eighteen-inch squares and consists of pink
roses on a background of green leaves, the coloring
having been softened and improved by the passage
of time. Owing to its unique character, the paper
was purchased early this year by the Metropolitan
Museum of Art and has since been removed, cleaned,
["3]
The Jf^ood-Carver of Salem
and taken to New York, where it will adorn one of
the several Colonial rooms to become an important,
permanent feature of the Museum. Antiquaries
may regret its removal from the house where it was
first hung, but better certain preservation in this
way than possible ruin by some unsympathetic owner
of the future.
Through one of the hall doorways can be seen a
glimpse of the parlor with its splendid mantel and
French scenic wall paper, brought from Europe by
Captain Cook about 1820 on his return from one of
his sea voyages. It is said that he bought the paper
to decorate the "best room" for the approaching
marriage of his daughter to General Henry Kemble
Oliver in 1825. This quaint wall paper was prob-
ably printed by J. Zuber & Company, a famous old
Alsatian firm, and its grays, greens, and black with
touches of red and yellow have become delightfully
mellow with age. It depicts the panorama of Paris
as viewed from the Seine a century ago, and includes
much of interest to the antiquary. Several panels
now show the ravages of time somewhat, yet it is to
be hoped that the present owner will preserve them
intact. The west wall, representing a pastoral
scene, remains virtually as perfect as ever and is
among the most beautiful specimens of old hand-
["4]
Plate LXXXII. — Parlor Mantel and Scenic Wall Paper, Cook-
Oliver House; Corner Section of Mantel.
Plate LXXXIII.— Wall of Parlor
"Panorama of Paris" Wall P
Folding Shutters.
Cook-Oliver House, showing
aper; Embrasured Windows with
The Cook-Oliver House
blocked wall paper to be found anywhere. Tradi-
tion tells us that General Oliver composed "Federal
Street" and several other well-known hymns in this
room.
Delicate in design and superbly executed, few
Salem mantels equal that in the parlor of the Cook-
Oliver house. It was hand-carved by Mclntire, in
1799, for the Derby mansion, and among other fea-
tures was removed to its present location. Daintier
moldings it would be difficult to conceive ; the classic
acanthus leaf of the top cyma molding, as well as of
the smaller molding below the frieze spot, and the
familiar tiny bead molding are prominent, yet there is
a certain ingenuousness in their use, and particularly
so in the application of the acanthus leaf to the capi-
tals of the two slender, reeded colonnettes.
A flat, unadorned central panel with nicely deline-
ated medallions on each of the pilasters provides the
distinctive but somewhat meager decoration of the
frieze, while the architrave repeats the festooned
garland effect seen elsewhere indoors and out.
Doubtless the central panel originally contained
some form of applied ornament after the character-
istic Mclntire manner. The acanthus leaves, bead
molding, medallions, and garland decorations are
good examples of appropriate applied orn-ament.
["5]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
By no means the least interesting feature of this
fireplace is the beautiful brass hob-grate set in soap-
stone, the first of its kind ever placed in a Salem house
and at that time considered a great extravagance.
Indeed, in nearly all the fireplaces of the house there
are grates rather than hearths. A surbase extending
about the room above the flat dado, hand-tooled
in 1804 when the house was built, displays a delicate
incised pattern consisting of two entwined bands or
fillets, one a flat ribbon and the other made up of
repeated round discs. It suggests a modification
of the lozenge fret with segmental sides. At the
embrasured windows five-part paneled shutters fold
into side pockets in such a way that they carry up-
ward the panel effect of the wainscot below.
The dining room, at the left of the front door,
reflects the parlor, but is simpler in treatment,
especially the mantel. On the floors above, large,
nearly square rooms open off the hall at each side.
Architecturally they are notable chiefly for their
simple, well-proportioned mantels and modest, fine-
scale cornices. The ell includes a large kitchen and
laundry, with servants' rooms above.
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CHAPTER VII
THE PIERCE-JOHONNOT-NICHOLS HOUSE
OF Salem's many splendid old mansions, the
Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols house, Number 80
Federal Street, has generally come to be regarded
as the architectural gem, the finest wooden house in
New England, and also the principal monument to
the genius of Samuel Mclntire now in existence.
While it boasts no direct association with persons
or events of great national importance, over this
imposing residence the pathos of financial adversity
and a romantic friendship sheds a golden glow.
In the planning, and later in the building of the
house and development of the grounds, this estate
was the pride and joy of Jerathmel Pierce, a wealthy
East India merchant. Here were centered virtually
his every life-interest both in home and in business.
At the rear the land sloped away to a wharf and ware-
house on the North River, then a navigable stream,
to which his ships came heavy laden with fragrant
["7]
The ff^ood- Carver of Salem
spices and beautiful fabrics. The intervening space,
through which he passed and repassed daily, was
handsomely laid out as a terraced and formal garden,
with box-bordered paths, stone steps, and pic-
turesque wooden arches, fruit trees, and a wealth of
flowers. Many leisure hours were spent directing
the yearly improvements, and with his own hands
much tender care was bestowed upon his friends
of the horticultural world ; it was his recreation and
his exercise. So well was the work done that even
to-day what remains of the old garden retains much
of its pristine charm, although the warehouse at its
western end no longer remains, and successive em-
bankments have gradually encroached upon the
river until it now resembles a mere canal at this point.
No home lover can fail to understand how com-
pletely this estate became an expression of the joys,
successes, and aspirations of its owner.
For forty-four years this ideal condition continued,
and then came disaster. Ventures at sea are pre-
carious at best, the Embargo and Non-Intercourse
Acts had imposed great hardships upon New England
merchants, and in 1826 both Jerathmel Pierce and
his son-in-law, George Nichols, lost their fortunes.
In consequence it became necessary the following
year for the older man to give up his most cherished
[118]
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The Pierce-yohonnot-Nichols House
possession, his home, which was bought by George
Johonnot, an old friend of both famiHes. Jerathmel
Pierce, then in his eightieth year, could not bear
the shock of so great a change in his life and cir-
cumstances ; only once after going to live with his
son-in-law in the famous old Tontine Block, formerly
on Warren Street, did he venture to look at the
stately home which had once been his, and shortly
afterward he died broken-hearted.
Later, in 1840, when both Mr. and Mrs. Johonnot
also died within a month of each other, it was dis-
covered that the house had been bequeathed to
George Nichols and his wife to be held in trust
during their lives for their four daughters, who were
eventually to inherit it outright. And thus through
a remarkable bond of friendship, the property was
restored to the descendants of him who had created
and loved it so dearly, and the son-in-law was
enabled to pass his declining years in the house where
he married his first wife and where his second wife,
Betsey Pierce, was born. What a benevolent trib-
ute to the sacrifice of a friend, the greatness of which
George Johonnot came to realize more fully through
living on this delightful estate and experiencing an
ever growing fondness for it himself ! Is it to be
wondered at that lovers of romance and of good
["9]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
architecture alike rejoice in the fact that the Essex
Institute is raising a fund with which to purchase and
perpetuate the estate in as nearly its original con-
dition as possible ? An effort will also be made to
reassemble the large and excellent collection of
antique furniture, rare china, and silver.
Among the other square houses of Salem, this
fine old residence stands architecturally unique and
distinct. Like the Cook-Oliver house, it was many
years in the building, for those were the days of
thorough workmanship, and without machinery of
any sort for the manufacture of either structural
lumber or wood trim, the preparation of the material
was in itself a slow and expensive matter. Erected
in 1782, it was not completed until 1800. In this
fact lies the source of its greatest charm, for the
western half is purely Georgian in conception,
whereas the eastern half, built eighteen years later,
obviously reflects Adam influence throughout, and
so in a single house constitutes to a certain degree
a record of the development of Mclntire's mind
toward a style of greater delicacy and refinement.
Exteriorly this is particularly true of the pictur-
esque one-story portion along one side of the brick-
paved stable courtyard, its series of broad doors under
elliptical fanlights somewhat after the manner of a
[ J20]
Plate XC. — Detail of Gateway and Porch, Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols
House.
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colonnade and in their treatment utterly at variance
with the severity of the front and side entrances.
On the opposite side of this courtyard and across
one end range the stable and various outbuildings,
through one of which the stairway leading down into
the garden is reached. Likewise elaborated by a
clever adaptation of the flat elliptical arch, these
buildings together with the adjacent side of the house
form a picture redolent of the quaint New England
spirit equal to any stage-setting ever conceived by
David Belasco from Salem inspiration. On the roof
of one of these outbuildings still roosts in an excel-
lent state of preservation one of Mclntire's famous
wooden eagles. They were popular then and much
used in connection with domestic as well as public
work, for those were times when the eagle as a
symbol of Americanism meant much and was close
to the heart of every true patriot.
As a whole the greater depth, breadth, and fore-
shortened third story of the Pierce- Johonnot-Nichols
house give it a mass much more pleasing than the
average square Salem house. Its unique distinction,
however, lies in the attractive balustrades of the
low, hip roof and belvedere, whence arriving ships
might be watched for, and the welcome embellish-
ment of the fluted pilaster treatment at the corners,
[.21]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
a free use of the Doric order, which goes a long way
in mitigating the severity in shape of a square house.
The Doric spirit also pervades the entrance porch
at the front and the enclosed porch at the side door-
way, that early forerunner of the modern vestibule.
No better instances of pleasing proportion and deli-
cate detail are to be found in New England. Despite
the fact that Doric, severest of the orders, is better
suited to public than domestic work unless inter-
preted with the utmost sympathy, and notwith-
standing the unresponsiveness of a solid wood door
without side lights, which were rarely found in
houses prior to 1800, Mclntire succeeded in impart-
ing to these doorways a certain indefinable quality
of dignified individuality tempered by the character-
istic Salem breadth which makes them friendly door-
ways ; they speak of a genuine welcome beyond
these conventional barriers of seeming reserve. One
sees clearly here that gateways and doorways are
closely allied ; in fact, are virtually parts of the same
effect when treated in harmony, providing an archi-
tectural setting for the vista of the doorway itself
between them.
The window treatment, both of heads and casings,
is one of effective simplicity, and the dark-painted
doors with panels well spaced are equipped with
[ 122]
Plate XCII. — Enclosed Side Porch, Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House.
Plate XCIII. — Old Terraced Garden, Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols
Estate.
Plate XCIV. — Paved Courtyard between Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols House and Barn, from two viewpoints.
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quaint brass hardware, including one of the best
knockers in Salem.
Praiseworthy as is the exterior design of this
noble example of Colonial architecture, its interior
adornment evokes the unrestrained admiration of
all, for here in his later capacity of architect and de-
signer Mclntire found ample opportunity to employ
the product of his original vocation of wood-carver.
Upon entering the hall the stairway at once commands
attention, its unusual balustrade, as well as the fret
along the second-floor level, undoubtedly owing
its origin to Chippendale influence. Four slender
square balusters alternate with a jig-sawed member
very like the well-known chair back to form a scheme
at once unique and beautiful. Chippendale's work
preceded that of Adam ; already occasional examples
of his splendid craftsmanship were being brought
to America, and it followed naturally that Mclntire,
in his search for distinctive motives for the interior
of this house at the time of its inception, came as
completely under the spell of Chippendale as he did
later that of Adam.
After the manner of the time jig-sawed double
scrolls decorate the stair ends, in this instance also
bearing three pairs of vertical flutes which sound the
only false note of consequence in the entire house.
[123]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
The ingenious newel treatment suggests the volute
of the Ionic order, the balustrade with its square
balusters winding scroll fashion about a simple
turned column and the first stair tread taking the
outline of the rail above.
Other features of interest in the hall include the
hand-tooled denticulated molding of the cornice with
a bead and dentil in alternation, each dentil having
a flute carefully gouged upon it ; the vertical fluted
surbase of the wainscot; the beautiful Palladian
window on the landing three steps below the top
of the stairway, where the direction of the run re-
verses, and the approach from the landing by two
semicircular steps to a door opening upon a chamber
at the rear of the house. One looks backward, too,
with admiration toward the Inside of the front door-
way and fanlight which have been elaborated con-
siderably in rare good taste. Here may be studied
one of those instances of delightful proportion which,
as much as the design and exceptional workmanship,
have rendered Salem architecture superior to much
contemporaneous work elsewhere. The casings with
their broad horizontal flutings below the Corinthian
capitals sound an unusual though pleasing note, as
do the beaded panels with urn-shaped inserts in ap-
plied work each side of the fanlight. The ornamenta-
[■24]
Plate XCVI. — Second Floor Hall, Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House;
Third Floor Hall.
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Plate XCIX. — West or Georgian Parlor, Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols House; Doorway and Architectural Treatment.
The Pierce^yohonnot-Nichoh House
tion of the lintel with festoons and rosettes each side
of a vertical reeded central panel, however, exempli-
fies a typical Adam treatment. A comparison of
this with the simpler though similar rear door under
the stairway landing will prove interesting.
The east and west parlors contain the best examples
of Mclntire's creative talent as a designer. The
latter, a room sixteen and one half feet square, was
finished in 1782 along Georgian though hardly con-
ventional lines, for it has individuality; more, the
wood finish here as throughout the house evinces
that superlative skill in the use of plane and chisel
which indisputably placed Mclntire among our fore-
most early craftsmen. Decidedly substantial in
character, it is essentially simple in conception and
graceful in form and proportion. A flat dado with
molded base and surbase, also a heavy cornice, sur-
round the room and serve to combine its several
features into a unified whole. First attention natu-
rally goes to the fireplace and its treatment, which
here, as in many old houses, has been made part of
one side of the room architecturally treated with
wood paneling throughout. Upon chimney pieces
Mclntire ever focused his greatest skill, because of
their importance as centers of home life, with the
result that they stand out with exceptional beauty
The Wood-Carver of Salem
of proportion and refinement of detail. The preci-
sion and regularity of repetition in the incised mold-
ings cannot but evoke unstinted praise, the more so
considering the laborious manner in which they had
to be tooled by hand.
Of these moldings the ovolo under the shelf will
be seen to be a repetition of that in the cornice above
the dentil course. Generally speaking, an interpre-
tation of the classic &%% and tongue motive, it was
employed without the customary bead and reel and
still further received the stamp of Mclntire's per-
sonality by the small round borings at the base of
the tongue. A related but dissimilar ovolo molding
surrounds the broad panel of the overmantel, while
the ogee moldings about the fireplace opening but
faintly resemble any well-known ancient motive,
though restrained and effective. Thus Mclntire
varied and recombined classic detail, nor did his
creative instinct permit him again and again to
copy these motives mechanically, but rather induced
him to freshen them here and there with innovations
of his own which indicate clearly his native ingenuity
and keen sense of the fitness of things.
The beautiful brass hob-grate mounted on soap-
stone recalls a similar one in the Cook-Oliver house
and compares favorably with any in America, its
[126]
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Plate C. — Embrasured Windows and Seats, West Parlor, Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols House; Detail of Mantel.
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Plaie CII. — Detail oi Embrasured Window and Seat, West Parlor,
Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House.
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setting within a border of blue and white tiles which
depict animals in the wild and hunting scenes being
exceptional.
Both the doors and windows of this room deserve
careful scrutiny, the former for the arrangement of
their molded panels, the casings or architrave motive,
their striking caps, and the delightfully quaint hard-
ware, particularly the brass drop handles. Were
it not established otherwise, the old wrought-iron
strap hinges would indicate positively the early ori-
gin of the work. The quarter-circular ends of the
frieze board above the lintel lend a distinct touch
of individuality, as does also the square-end finish
board above, which ties the doorhead into the cornice
corresponding to the treatment of the windows.
The latter, twelve-paned in accordance with the best
Salem custom, it will be noticed, are deeply em-
brasured with seats underneath and paneled shutters
folding into side pockets.
It is the east parlor, however, which has become a
veritable Mecca for architects from all sections of
the country. Done in 1800 at a time when Mclntire
had yielded completely to the spell of those master
craftsmen of England, America has no contempora-
neous example of the Adam influence superior to this
very room. In size a veritable drawing-room six-
[127]
The ff^ood- Carver of Salem
teen and one half by twenty-six and one half feet, it
possesses the spaciousness which alone empha-
sizes to the full that subtle quality of nice balance
between the plain surfaces and delicate ornament
to which the Adam manner owes its principal charm
of refinement. Indeed, the flat dado with its molded
surbase embellished with groups of vertical flutings,
the pilaster treatment of the corners with Corinthian
capital and fluted shaft resting on an appropriate
pedestal, the heavy cornice with delicately carved
moldings and frieze with rosettes and vertical reeded
groups in alternation on a flat ground, the embra-
sured windows with hand-tooled casings and paneled
shutters, and last, but best of all, the magnificent
chimney piece, provide an architectural setting of
rare beauty for some fine old furniture, paintings,
and bric-a-brac long cherished by the family.
A favorite Mclntire motive, ever recurring with
minor variations throughout his work in the Adam
manner, occupies the stringcourse of the cornice.
This double dentil or Grecian fret is formed by
vertical cross-cuttings alternately from the top and
bottom of a square molding, the fine-scale reeded
ovolo beneath giving it just the right emphasis and
relating the cornice as a whole more closely to the
ornamentation of the frieze. On the under surface
[128]
Plate CIV. — Front and Rear Ends East or Adam Parlor, Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols House.
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Plate CV. — Detail of Doorway, East Parlor, Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols House.
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Plate CVI.— Detail of Adam Chimney Piece, East Parlor,
Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House.
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of the projecting cornice and frieze another fret,
consisting of interlacing circular fillets, large and
small circles in alternation with applied rosettes
within the larger ones, represents considerable pains-
taking effort.
Turning to the chimney piece, unquestionably the
finest in Salem, the logical manner in which both cor-
nice and frieze have been carried about and made
a part of it, thus tying it into the entire scheme, at
once elicits hearty commendation. Delicate hand-
planed moldings which echo the motives prominent
elsewhere in the room do much toward beautifying
this chimney piece, notably the reeded pilasters, the
fluted band about the fireplace opening, and the
dentil course under the shelf which Mclntire elabo-
rated somewhat by cutting into the surface of each
dentil with a gouge. The pilasters above the shelf,
the molding surrounding the large panel over the
chimney breast, in which a mirror or painting was
usually set, as, in this instance, the corona of the
shelf, which is in itself another cornice, and the capi-
tals of the reeded pilasters each side of the fireplace
opening, all display exquisite applied work. The
ornamentation of the mantelboard or frieze, too,
including the graceful festoons, central oval panel,
and flanking frieze spots on the pilasters with their
[129]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
nicely delineated figures, is a little masterpiece of
bas-relief in French putty.
The doorway of this room, like others in the house,
has considerable refined embellishment. Flat pilas-
ters rise from the baseboard to the doorhead, beside
the casings, upon which hand-tooled reedings are
cut. The capital consists of a simple use of the
acanthus leaf taken from the Corinthian order.
Fruit-filled urns, garlands, and rosettes of applied
work ornament the broad frieze and pilasters of the
doorhead, which is virtually a complete entablature
including the favorite dentil course in its cornice
with reed cross-sections between the dentils, but
minus the tiny holes in each dentil of the main
cornice above, which are probably the marks of a
nail set purposely left unfilled. The door itself
pleases the eye with its well spaced and carefully
molded panels, and the brass drop handle corre-
sponds to those of the other principal rooms, but one
notices the substitution of modern butts for the old-
fashioned strap hinges of the west parlor.
On the floors above, the chambers architecturally
worthy of special mention correspond in treatment
to the rooms below, those in the earlier western
portion being Georgian and in the later eastern
portion Adam. Of them all, the east front and prin-
[ 130]
Plate CVIII. — Detail of Embrasured Window, East Parlor, Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols House.
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Doorway, Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols House.
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Plate CX.- — Detail of East Front Chamber Mantel, Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols House; Corner Section of the same.
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House; Architectural Treatment of Rear Wall.
The Pierce-yohonnot -Nichols House
cipal guest chamber excels. Reversing the usual
order of projection, the chimney piece has been re-
cessed slightly more than the width of the shelf
between flanking closet doorways, the entire end
of the room being architecturally treated in wood.
The chimney piece itself seems to be a delightfully
simplified reflection of the one below with engaged
columns instead of pilasters to support the shelf.
The reversed position of the reeded ovolo and dentil
course in the cornice, the omission of the ovolo from
the shelf, the absence of the frieze above and the
pilasters at the side of the panel over the chimney
breast, also the fluted band about the fireplace
opening, constitute the chief differences. The man-
telboard is typically Adam, with a central panel of
vertical flutings and garlands and flower-filled urns
of applied work at each side. In its very restraint
and nice selection of simple ornament lies that charm
which renders this one of the most admired mantels
in New England.
As an example of the delightful architecture of
Salem's prosperous days, this old house amply re-
pays the critical study of students or prospective
home builders, and it seems the more remarkable
when one recalls that in those days all the smooth
finish and moldings had to be made with hand planes,
['31]
The Jf^ood-Carver of Salem
and all decoration cut out with chisels or applied with
composition. It is especially notable for its chaste
elegance, the delicacy of its carving, and the careful
manner in which they are subordinated to the more
important structural features ; skilful balance is
always maintained between plain surface and dainty
decoration. These qualities are the fruit of Mcln-
tire's genius, his painstaking craftsmanship, his
exhaustive study of the best architectural publica-
tions of his time, and his keen sense of harmony and
proportion.
[ 131]
Plate CXII. — Detail of Porch and Facade, Assembly House.
CHAPTER VIII
PUBLIC WORK
ALTHOUGH Mclntire is known primarily as
a designer of homes, his versatility led him
on numerous occasions into the field of public work,
where he acquitted himself with success and even
renown. Virtually from the very outset of his
career as an architect, and almost until its untimely
close, he was engaged more or less regularly upon
buildings of a public or semi-public character, for as
his winning personality and frequent achievements
in domestic design ever strengthened the esteem and
admiration of his fellow citizens, they saw to it that
he found opportunities to serve the town, the county,
and even the nation.
As early as 1782 we find him designing Assembly
Hall at Number 138 Federal Street, the assembly
house of the Federals, political rivals of the Democrats
whose headquarters were later established in Wash-
ington Hall, also designed by Mclntire. At once
[ ^33 1
The Wood-Carver of Salem
this building took its place among the foremost social
centers of the town and became the scene of many
receptions, balls, banquets, and other functions.
Here La Fayette dined during his first triumphal
tour of America in 1784, and here also Washington
danced at a ball given in his honor in 1789. In 1795
the building was remodeled for dwelling purposes,
Judge Samuel Putnam being among those who
occupied it.
This hip-roofed and decked house bespeaks atten-
tion chiefly for the elaboration of its flat-boarded
facade with Ionic pilasters on the second story
under the pediment, within which a pleasing fanlight
is located to admit light to the attic. Here, as
elsewhere in Mclntire's work, it will be noticed that
the order has been employed with considerable
license, particularly in the capitals. The porch
claims special notice because of its festoons, orna-
mental scroll corners, and heavy grape frieze — vine,
leaves, and fruit being life-size and carved out of
wood in a masterly manner.
Of Mclntire's second venture in this larger field
the Massachusetts Magazine for March, 1790, states :
"The Court Houfe in Salem, is a large, elegant
building, and ftands towards the end of a handfome
fpacious street. On the lower floor, on the eaftern
[■34]
A
Plate CXIV. — Western Gateway, Washington Square, erected in
1805, from a Woodcut in "Felt's Annals of Salem"; St. Peter's
Episcopal Church, razed in 1833, and the Western Gate in the
distance, from an old painting.
Plate CXV. — The Courthouse of 1785, from an old painting at the
Essex Institute; also, from an engraving in the Massachusetts
Magazine.
Public Work
fide, is a range of offices, large and convenient ; one
of which is occupied by the Clerk of the Court of
Common Pleas for the county of Effex ; in which are
kept all the records of that court : The other two are
ufed as offices, for the Selectmen and Affeffors of
the town of Salem. The remainder of the lower
ftory is a fine capacious area, for walking &c.
"The fecond ftory is compofed of a large court
hall, with feats on every fide, for the Judges, officers
of the court, and for the auditors — faid to be the
best conftructed room, for the holding of courts, of
any in the Commonwealth, and perhaps is not ex-
ceeded by any in the United States. In the ceiling
is a handfome ventilator. Back of the Judges' feat
is a Venetian window, highly finished in the lonick
order; which affords a beautiful profpect of a fine
river, extenfive well cultivated fields and groves ;
in addition to which, the paffing and repaffing of vef-
fels continually, in the river, makes a pleafing
variety. There is alfo on this floor a convenient
lobby for Jurors &c. This houfe was begun in 1785,
and completed in 1786, at the joint expenfe of the
county of Effex and town of Salem. The plan of it
was defigned by the ingenious Mr. Samuel MTntire
and executed by that able architect, Mr. Daniel
Bancroft, both of Salem."
The Jf^ood-Carver of Salem
Felt, in his "Annals of Salem", describes it still
further :
"It was planned by Samuel Mclntire, and built
under the direction of Daniel Bancroft, two ingen-
ious architects. It was two stories high, 62 feet
long, and 36f feet broad. It was finished in 1786.
Its cost was ^7,145, paid, one moiety by the town
and the other by the county. Its walls were of
brick and its roof surmounted by a cupola. On the
front or southern end of it, was a balustrade, open-
ing into the second story, supported by a row of Tus-
can pillars. Under the balustrade were wide stone
steps, which could accommodate a large number of
persons and which led into a door of the lower hall.
On the east side of this hall were several offices and
the rest was left open for public assemblies and the
exercise of military companies. The part thus oc-
cupied for the last purposes, was too often appro-
priated by unruly boys to their boisterous sports and
destructive propensities, until large bulls of authority
sounded in their ears and drove them from the prem-
ises."
Examination of the records at City Hall would
seem to indicate that the total cost of the Courthouse
was much greater than Felt states. One additional
appropriation of six thousand dollars and another of
[>36]
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three thousand dollars are certain, and surely such
a brick building must have cost at least twenty thou-
sand dollars.
This much admired work of Mclntire, erected in
1785, was located in the middle of Washington Street,
north end, nearly opposite the Tabernacle Church,
as shown by several old steel engravings and a con-
temporary oil painting preserved at the Essex In-
stitute. There it stood until 1839, when the build-
ing of the railroad tunnel beneath necessitated its
removal, and the porch columns were removed to
the Chase house on Federal Street. It was from
the balcony over this porch that Washington was
presented to the townspeople on the occasion of his
visit October 29, 1789. Here he stood bowing
his acknowledgments while odes were sung and
the populace shouted itself hoarse. Meanwhile
Mclntire, seated at a window near by, studied the
features of the first president minutely, and made
a sketch which formed the basis for his famous
profile bas-relief, thirty-eight by fifty-six inches
and executed in wood, which for years adorned the
architectural gateway at the western entrance of the
Common and now hangs in the Essex Institute.
In 1792 Washington Hall, Number loi Washington
Street, was erected after plans by Mclntire, and as
[137]
The If^ood-Carver of Salem
the assembly hall of the Democrats, as already men-
tioned, it, too, became a prominent social center.
Dedicated on the anniversary of Washington's
birthday, February 22, 1793, at the time of his sec-
ond assumption of the presidency and amid great
rejoicings over the French Revolution, it was the
scene of a notable banquet at which Reverend
William Bentley made the principal oration. This
quaint hall, located on the third floor of the Stearns
Building, over stores and offices, presented a curious
survival in the Doric style of the old-time Eng-
lish assembly room, with built-in seats along the
walls, fireplaces, and a music gallery at one end ;
the balustrade of this may be seen in the Essex
Institute. In later days the hall became a theater,
but, being unsuited to modem uses, the entire build-
ing has since given way to a modern structure.
It seems appropriate here to digress momentarily
from Mclntire's executed designs to include his
plans for the national capitol, drawn in 1793 and
entered that year in the first architectural competi-
tion ever held in America. Still preserved by the
Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore, they com-
pare favorably with the other submitted plans. The
design is one of pleasing mass, great dignity, and
impressiveness, the principal fa9ade indicating an
[■38]
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intimate knowledge of the Renaissance in Italy,
France, and England, and the combined use of the
Corinthian and Doric orders on the rear elevation
again emphasizing Mclntire's characteristic disre-
gard of traditional restraint. Although eminently
pleasing, the scheme did not possess the grandeur
or the novelty of that submitted by William Thorn-
ton, superintendent of the Patent Office, which was
finally chosen and considerably modified and altered
during the course of construction by B. H. Latrobe
and Charles Bulfinch who in turn succeeded to the
post of Architect of the Capitol after Thornton's
death in 1827.
Mclntire's name will ever be inseparably associated
with the Common, a tract of about eight acres,
formerly the training field of Salem and since 1802
known as Washington Square. In 1801, Elias Has-
kett Derby, then a colonel in the militia, raised a
fund of about twenty-five hundred dollars to which
he contributed largely for grading, planting trees,
and otherwise improving it, and in 1805 further
contributions were made by individuals and the
town to surround the entire field by a wooden fence
with four ornamental gateways. The principal ones
at the eastern and western entrances are described
by Felt, in his " Annals of Salem ", as follows :
The W^ood-Carver of Salem
"Being designed, arched, and ornamented by Mr.
Samuel Mclntire, a noted architect, they do much
honor to his taste."
The accompanying woodcut, also reproduced from
the same volume, gives a general idea of its quaint
appearance. Surmounted by one of Mclntire's best
sculptures in wood — a gilded eagle — the face of
the arch below bore the famous profile medallion of
Washington already referred to — a fitting adorn-
ment in view of the fact that in naming the field
Washington Square it had been dedicated to the
memory of the "father of his country." In 1850
the wooden boundaries were replaced by the present
iron fence, and the eagle over the gateway was
transferred to the fa9ade of the City Hall, where it
remains to this day a conspicuous reminder of the
past, finely executed and much admired by all who
examine it critically. One or both of the uniden-
tified carvings now in the possession of the Essex
Institute and shown in Plate 119 according to final
arrangement were probably features of the eastern
gateway of Washington Square.
Although not a Mclntire design, the old Custom-
house at Number 6 Central Street is better remem-
bered for his sculptured eagle placed over the door-
way in 1805 than for the building Itself. Since the
[ 140]
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Plate CXXI.— Hand carved Gilt Eagle on the City Hall, 1805;
A Carving at the Essex Institute; Sculptured Eagle formerly over
the Old Custom House Door, 1805; another Carving at the Essex
Institute.
Public Work
present Custom-house was erected in 1818, the older
building has been devoted to miscellaneous private
business purposes, and the eagle was finally trans-
ferred to the Essex Institute for safe-keeping. Of
life size, and hand tooled in full relief with superla-
tive nicety, this piece of the authenticated personal
carving of Mclntlre may confidently be regarded
as one of his greatest achievements in sculpture.
Along with it may be classed his profile of Washing-
ton, the eagle on City Hall, and the figure on the roof
of the Derby summerhouse. Two other impor-
tant examples of a similar character but of unknown
original location form part of the Essex Institute
collection and deserve high praise.
When called upon to do so in 1804, Mclntire did
not hesitate to essay his skill in the very different
and difficult art of church design. Indeed, a few
writers of the present day, eager to enlarge the list
of his accomplishments, have hazarded the proba-
bility that he may have been responsible for the
beautiful steeple of the Park Street Church, Boston,
but no authentic record has ever been found to prove
it, and for years it has been known that the church
proper was designed by Peter Banner, an English
architect, and that the Ionic and Corinthian capitals
of the steeple were the work of Solomon Willard,
[141]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
the architect who superintended the construction
of Bunker Hill Monument.
Certain it is, however, that Mclntire designed the
South Church, Orthodox Congregational, on the
northeast corner of Cambridge and Chestnut Streets,
Salem, which came as the result of a separation from
the Tabernacle Church in 1774 under the leadership
of Colonel Timothy Pickering. Until the edifice was
erected, the new society occupied an assembly hall
that stood on adjoining land, and in which many
notable functions were held before the Revolution,
among them a reception tendered to Governor Gage
on the last King's Birthday celebrated in Massachu-
setts. When completed, the church was considered
one of Mclntire's greatest works. Its dimensions
were sixty-six by eighty feet with a graceful spire
after the Wren manner one hundred sixty-six feet
high, and together with the land it cost ^23,819.78.
The following description of it by James Gallier, an
architect, occurs in the North American Review for
October, 1836:
"One of the best proportioned steeples in our
country is at Salem, in Massachusetts ; the work of
a native artist. The whole church is the best speci-
men of architecture in that city, notwithstanding
the various efforts which have been made since its
[ 142]
Plate CXXIL— The Old South Church, Salem, erected in 1804.
Plate CXXIII. — Hamilton Hall, erected in 1805; Detail of the Second
Floor Windows and Sculptured Panels.
Public Work
erection. We are not aware that it has any name;
but the building will easily be recognized as the only
church in Chestnut Street. The Ionic portico in
front is uncommonly elegant, though simple and un-
pretending. Above this rises the steeple, to the
height of nearly a hundred and fifty feet. Its prin-
cipal merit is beauty of proportion, which is not
equalled in any steeple, that we know of, in the
United States."
This noble example of his versatility in design,
under the very shadow of which Mclntire lived, was
generally speaking Ionic, with touches of Adam de-
tail here and there except for the bell deck, where
the cornice, frieze, and flat pilasters are pure Doric.
It was from this bell deck that Captain Oliver
Thayer watched the naval battle between the Chesa-
peake and the Shannon, June i, 1813. Below, the
base of the steeple, clapboarded like the building
proper, has quoined corners after the manner of
stonework. Within this steeple was housed an
interesting piece of homemade mechanism said to
have been constructed by a Beverly blacksmith, pos-
sibly Samuel Luscomb, who also made the clock for
the East Church, of which Reverend William Bentley,
the historian, was pastor for thirty-six years. The
clock in the South Church had no face and was
The Wood-Carver of Salem
provided with works only for striking the hour.
It was originally in the First Church at Essex and
Washington Streets, then removed to the Old North
Church on North Street in 1826, and finally to the
South Church ten years later. An iron frame, a
pendulum ten feet long, and weights consisting of
wooden boxes filled with stones were among its
curious parts.
A distinctive feature of the interior of the church
was a large crystal chandelier imported in 1807. It
had arms for thirty candles and is said to have cost
one thousand dollars. For almost a century this
edifice stood one of Salem's most picturesque land-
marks until destroyed by fire in 1903. Several of
the hand-carved urns from the steeple, fortunately
rescued from the ruins, are now in the possession of
the Essex Institute.
There also may be seen a fireplace and mantel
taken from the Old Registry of Deeds Building,
erected in 1807 on the corner of Broad and Summer
Streets, which was razed when the State Normal
School was built. The mantel is one of Mclntire's
simplest and best proportioned, and the public
character of the building gave him an opportunity to
employ one of his ever-popular eagles for the central
panel of the mantelboard or frieze.
[ 144]
CTj
X
cu
Plate CXXV. — Entrance Doors and Music Balcony, Hamilton Hall;
one of the Side Walls.
Public Work
In 1804 Mclntire was also the architect of the
Branch or Howard Street Church built on a lot of
land in an open field back of Brown Street, Howard
Street not having been laid out at that time. No
photograph showing its exact appearance is known to
exist, but Reverend C. C. Beaman, speaking before
the Essex Institute in 1861, referred to it as "a spa-
cious and handsome edifice", and it is on record
that the total cost of the land and building was
about fourteen thousand dollars. Seven master
carpenters took separate parts of the work on con-
tract, viz., William Doliver, Joseph Eveleth, Daniel
Farrington, George H. Smith, Asa Flanders, Joseph
Fogg, and Peter Frye. Shaw and Lovett, of Beverly,
did the mason work. What better proof could there
be that Mclntire was an architect rather than a
mere carpenter or wood-carver and worked in a
manner similar to that of the architect of to-day ?
After its dedication, February 6, 1805, this church
continued for many years to be one of the important
places of meeting in Salem. Here on August 23,
181 3, Judge Joseph -Story delivered his famous
eulogy of Captain Lawrence and Lieutenant Ludlow
of the Chesapeake^ who were killed in that memorable
engagement with the Shannon^ already referred to,
which was fought so near shore that many persons
[■45]
The Wood-Carver of Salem
watched it from the highest hills in this vicinity.
Finally, after many vicissitudes, the building was
sold at public auction in 1867. The structure was
taken down, and such of its material as was suitable
was used in the construction of the First Methodist
Meeting House on Railroad Avenue, Beverly. Mr.
Peter Clark, of Beverly, who was on the building
committee, states that the frame and boarding was
used, but that new clapboards, shingles, and a new
tower were necessary. A new first story was also
added, so that to-day only that part with the high
church windows and the roof retain the form and
appearance of the original. Probably none of the
exterior wood trim was retained, though some of the
inside doors are the originals.
That remarkable statesman and economist, Alex-
ander Hamilton, had many ardent admirers in Salem.
Several prominent citizens counted him among
their personal friends, and the townspeople had
seen him in their midst in the pursuance of his mili-
tary duties and felt that they knew him. And so
in 1805, when the South Building Corporation, an
association of wealthy men, decided to erect a
building for assemblies on the southeast corner of
Chestnut and Cambridge Streets opposite the South
Church, they named it Hamilton Hall. Here La
[146]
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Plate CXXVII. — Detail of Mantel, Hamilton Hall; Corner Section
of Mantel.
Public Work
Fayette dined with three hundred guests on August
31, 1824, during his second triumphal American
tour, when he was presented with the sum of two hun-
dred thousand dollars and a township of land by the
government in recognition of his services to the
nation during the Revolution. Here, likewise. Com-
modore William Bainbridge, commander of the
famous frigate Constitution in succession to Captain
Isaac Hull, also Timothy Pickering, a politician
with a record of public service equalled by few
Americans, were accorded the full measure of Salem
hospitality ; and indeed, ever since its erection, this
building has remained the very heart of the social
activities of Salem.
Exteriorly the structure boasts little adornment
other than its purely utilitarian features. The en-
trance porch at one end has been so remodeled as to
make it difficult to judge with certainty of its origi-
nal appearance. The sides, however, remain un-
changed, except that the brickwork has been painted,
and are pierced on the second and principal floor by
five Palladian windows of the simplest sort, somewhat
recessed under a double arch of brick headers. A
rectangular insert above each window displays one
of Mclntire's sculptures, that in the center being
one of his well-known eagles, and the others being
[H7]
The W^ood-Carver of Salem
the festooned drapery which he sometimes used on
a smaller scale on doorways and mantels. .
Dignified simplicity characterizes the interior
treatment of the hall, which consists of fluted pilas-
ters in pairs at the comers resting on pedestals cor-
responding to the flat dado with molded base and
surbase and supporting a heavy cornice entirely of
planed moldings. Above, the ceiling is groined,
producing a pleasing effect over the two fireplaces
at one end of the hall with their mantels of cor-
responding simplicity, though distinctive in the
substitution of a hand-tooled, vertical fluted molding
for the usual dentil course, as well as for the vertical
reeded ovolo beneath It. A music balcony with
handsome balustrade graces the opposite end of the
hall over the double entrance doors, and In the cor-
nice one notices again the double denticulated
Grecian band so familiar to every studerit of Mcln-
tlre's work. The single doors, both In arrangement
and spacing of their stiles, rails, and molded par els,
represent this notable architectural period at Its best.
[148]
INDEX
INDEX
Acanthus Flower, ioo
Acanthus-leaf, on Peabody-
Silsbee house, 50; at "Oak
Hill", 77; applied to the
cymatium of the mantel-shelf,
100; in Cook-Oliver house,
115; in Pierce- Johonnot-
Nichols house, 130
Adam, the Brothers, influence on
Mclntire, 25, 43, 79, 87, 93,
99, 120, 123, 127, 143; furni-
ture, 65 ; urns, 75, 94; mantel,
88 ; festoons, florets, sculp-
tured panel, 94; mirror, 97;
garlands, 98, 109; lintel, 125;
balance, 128; chambers in
manner of, 130; mantel-
board, 131
Adaptation, Salem architecture
shows clever, 9, 27; Colonial
style bends itself to, 14, 15;
Mclntire's faculty for, 44,
104, no, 121; Colonial, 75
Almshouse, Salem, 30
American Antiquarian Society, 18
American antiquities, 6
American architecture, 5, 12, 14,
19
American style, foundations for,
14; will probably always be
Colonial, 14
Amsterdam, 103
Andirons, 87, loi
"Annals of Salem", 19, 31, 103,
136, 139
Applied work, 25, 26, 68, 70, 92;
at "Oak Hill", 75,76, 77,79,
100, loi ; in Pierce- Johonnot-
Nichols house, 83 ; in Derby-
Crowninshield-Rogers house,
83, 94, 124, 129, 130, 131;
in Lindall-Barnard-Andrews
house, 87, 90; in Hosmer-
Waters house, 88, 89; in
David P. Waters house, 95 ;
in "The Lindens", 98; in
the Cook-Oliver house, 112,
ii3> 115
Arches, over gate, 60; of Pick-
man House, 62 ; ceiling of
cupola, 64; of china closet
doors, 74; elliptical, 80, 121;
in Washington Square, 140;
in Hamilton Hall, 147
Architects, Salem, their method of
treating the classic orders, 10,
1 1 ; of Samuel Mclntire's time
and of the present day, 31, 32.
See Wood-Carvers ; Joiners
Architecture, Salem. See Salem
Architrave, casings, 9; in Pea-
body-Silsbee house, 51;
in Pierce- Johonnot-Nichols
house, 61 ; in Hosmer-Waters
house, 88 ; in Peabody-Silsbee
house, 89 ; bearing most of the
ornament, 91 ; in David P.
Waters house, 95, 97; in
"The Lindens", 98; in
Cook-OUver house, no, 112,
"5
Assembly Hall, Salem, 133
[ip]
Index
Association for the Relief of Aged
and Destitute Women, 53
Atlantic i Derby's ship, 105
B
Bainbridge, Commodore Wil-
liam, 53, 147
Balcony, music, 148
Ball molding, 51
Balusters, 81, 83
Balustrades, 9, 31; porch, of
Peabody-Silsbee house, 51;
roof, of Dow house, 60 ; roof,
on Pickman - Derby - Brook-
house estate, 63 ; in Hosmer-
Waters house, 81 ; Mclntire's,
83 ; in Cook-Oliver house, 109,
112; in Pierce- Johonnot-
Nichols house, 121, 124; in
Courthouse, 136; in Wash-
ington Hall, 138; in Hamilton
Hall, 148
Bancroft, Daniel, 31, 135, 136
Bands, 56, no, 116; fascia, 70;
of guttae, 90; of spheres, 91;
of flutings, 96, 129; of read-
ings, 97
Banner, Peter, 141
Barnard, Rev, Thomas, 20, 87, 88
Barns, 60, 63
Base, of fence, 55, 108; of pilaster,
77; of wainscot, 112; dado
with, 125, 148
Baseboard, 68, 69, 72, 77, 81, 130
Bas-relief, 92, 93, 94, 100, 130, 137
Bead and reel, 95, 126;' and
dentil, 124
Bead molding, 115
Beaded border, 75
Beaman, Rev. C. C, 31, 145
Becker's shipyard, 5
Bed-molding, 11, 87, 94; bears
hand-tooling, 88 ; denticulated.
93 ; in Derby-Crowninshield-
Rogers house, 96; in "The
Lindens ", 97
Belasco, David, 121
Belvedere, 5, 9; of Peabody-
Silsbee house, 51; of Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols house, 121
Bentley, Rev, William, 18, 20,
29, 30, 143; extract from his
diary on death of Samuel
Mclntire, 35, 36, 41; de-
scribes visit to Derby farm,
104; oration made by, 138
Beverly, Mass,, 143, 146
Blinds, 95, 109, III
Boston, Mass,, 4, 71, 141
Bowditch family, 59
Box stairs, 83
Boys' club, 30
Brackets, scroll, 83
Bradstreet, Governor Simon, 59
Branch Meeting House, 31, 145
Brass, hardware, 54, 123 ; knobs,
78, 113 ; andirons and fire set,
87, loi ; hob-grate, 116, 126;
drop handles, 127, 130
Brick, 33
Broad Street, Salem, 144
Brookhouse, Robert, 53
Brown, Colonel William, 103
Bulfinch, Charles, 28, 30, 34, 139
Bunker Hill Monument, 142
Busts, 41
Butts, 130
Cambridge Street, Salem, 61,
142, 146
Capitals, Ionic, 49, 60; of Kim-
ball house, 49; of the Peabody-
Silsbee house, 50, 89, 91; in
Mclntire porch, 63 ; at "Oak
Hill ", 77, 79 ; in Hosmer-
Waters house, 87; in Derby-
[15^]
Index
Crowninshield-Rogers house,
95 ; in David P. Waters house,
97 ; in Pierce - Johonnot-
Nichols house, 124, 128, 129,
130; in Assembly Hall, 134;
in Park St. Church, Boston, 141
Capitol, the, at Washington, 31,
34> 138
Carlton, Rev. Michael, 53
Carving, equal to best sculpture,
25 ; in Peabody-Silsbee house,
51; on fireplaces, 85; for
Lindall - Barnard - Andrews
house, 87; delicacy of, in
Pierce-Johonnot-Nichols
house, 132; unidentified, 140
Casings of doors and windows, 9;
molded after manner of archi-
trave, 75 ; with groups of
flutings, 76; molded pilasters
as, 79; in Cook-Oliver house,
109, no, 122; in Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols house, 122,
124, 128, 130
Castiglioni, Count, 62
Cavetto molding, 63
Ceiling, of Samuel Mclntire's
house, 22 ; of Pickman-Derby-
Brookhouse cupola, 64; of
Cook-Oliver house, 105, 113;
groined, of Hamilton Hall, 148
Central Street, Salem, 140
Chambers, 69, 70, 76, 87, 89, 99,
100, 130, 131
Chandelier, 144
Charter Street Burial Ground,
Salem, 39
Chase house, 137
Chesapeake, the, 143, 145
Chestnut Street, Salem, 142, 143
Chimney breast, 99, 129, 131
Chimney pieces, 6, 76; Mcln-
tire's, 29, 125; considered in
detail, 85-101 ; of Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols house, 128,
129, 131
China closets, 74
Chippendale, 65, 123
Chisels, 10, 42, 125, 132
Churches, 141-145
City Hall, Salem, 30, 136, 140,
141
Civil War, the, 13
Clapboards, 109, 143
Clark, Peter, 146.
Classic detail, 7, 9, 27; in Pea-
body-Silsbee house, 50; in
Derby - Crowninshield - Rogers
house, 73 ; in Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols house, 126
Classic orders, 8, 11, 69, 91, 104
Clock, 81, 112; of South Church,
143
Cloutman, Joseph, 30
Codfish, 62
Colonial, scope of the word as
applied to Salem architecture,
Colonial period, 7 ; work, light-
ness and grace of, 9, 10;
houses, 29, 44; motive, in
doorways, 47; interiors, three
classes of, 68; doorways, 51,
79; adaptations, 75 ; hall, 80;
furniture, 89; rooms, 114
Colonial style, 5 ; square house,
8 ; principal theme in Ameri-
can architecture, 12; persist-
ence of, 13, 16; will probably
always be the American style,
14; grace, repose, and dignity
of, 14; embraces expressions
of Dutch, French, and Eng-
lish peoples in America, 14;
the intrinsic merit of, 15;
its adaptability to new uses
and requirements, 15; not
restricted in its possibilities,
l^sz^
Index
Colonial style, continued,
15, 16; differs in different
localities, 15; doorways have
character and individuality,
46; spirit of, predominates in
recent houses, 66
Colonnettes, 87, 90, 115
Color of furniture and interior
woodwork, 65, 66
Columns, of Peabody-Silsbee
house, 50, 51 ; Mclntire's, 52;
of Clifford Crowninshield
house, 55; of Tucker-Rice
house, 57; of Woman's
Bureau, 91; of "Oak Hill",
99; engaged, 99, in, 131; of
Cook-Oliver house, in; of
Pierce - Johonnot - Nichols
house, 124, 131; of Court-
house, 137
Common, Salem, 137, 139
Competition, architectural, 138
Composition ornament, 25, 26,
41; floret, 70; in Hosmer-
Waters house, 88 ; in Peabody-
Silsbee house, 89
Consoles, 80
Constitution, the, 147
Cook, Sally, 107, 114
Cook, Captain Samuel, 106, 107,
114
Cook-Oliver house, doorway, 49;
hall, 70, 80; panels, 78;
Palladian window, 81 ; parlor
mantel, 100; considered in
detail, 102-116; many years
in the building, 120; brass
hob-grate, 126
Corinthian, porch, 55; column
and entablature, 55, 62; capi-
tals, modified, 77, 79, 91 ;
modillions, 96; capitals, 97,
124, 128, 141 ; order, savor of,
at "Oak Hill", 99; acanthus.
130; order, combined with
Doric, in plans for Capitol, 139
Corne, 64
Cornices, 9, li, 31, 33, 48; Mcln-
tire's, 33 ; of Peabody-Silsbee
house, 51; of Tucker-Rice
house, 57; of Pickman house,
63 ; picture molding or, 68 ;
with flat frieze, 69; accom-
panying dado, 72; a novel
variation of 73 ; in Derby-
Crowninshield-Rogers house,
73; in "OakHill", 75, -j-], 79,
99; in Hosmer-Waters house,
87; in Woman's Bureau, 90,
91, 92; in David P. Waters
house, 94, 95 ; in Clifford
Crowninshield house, 96; in
Nathan Read house, 97 ; twist-
drill in, 98 ; in Cook-Oliver
house, 108, no, in, 113, 116;
in Pierce- Johonnot -Nichols
house, 124-131; Doric, 143;
in Hamilton Hall, 148
Cornucopias, 76
Corona, n, 49; in Peabody-
Silsbee house, 56; in David P.
Waters house, 62 ; with width
of a narrow frieze, 73 ; sepa-
rated from cymatium, 89, 96;
in Pierce -Johonnot -Nichols
house, 129.
Courthouse, Essex County Pro-
bate, 42
Courthouse of 1785, Salem, 23,
31, 35, 134, 136
Courtyards, 120, 121
Crowninshield, Benjamin W., 21,
52,60,71,91
Crowninshield, Clifford, part
owner of the Minerva, 55
Crowninshield house, Clifford, 33,
73; hall, 70; doorways, 75;
casings, 76; parlor, 94
[154]
Index
Crowninshield wharf, 5
Crowninshields, the, 23
Cupboards, 105
Cupolas, 5,9; of Peabody-Silsbee
house, 50; of Pickman-Derby-
Brookhouse estate, 63, 64; of
Courthouse, 136
Customhouse, Salem, 4, 59, 140,
141
Cyma recta, 73, 115
Cymatium, 89, 96, 100
Cypress, i
D
Dado, 69 ; with cornice, 72 ; in
David P. Waters hall, 81;
on stairways, 82 ; in Hosmer-
Waters house, 82; in Cook-
OHver house, 116; in Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols house, 125,
148; in Hamilton Hall, 148
Danvers, 19, 22, 48, 96, 104
Dearborn, General, 53
Deck roof, of Peabody-Silsbee
house, 50, 109, 134
Decoration, balance between
plain surface and, 68 ; along
second-floor level, 83 ; mantel
and chimney piece keynote
for, 86; cut out or applied,
132
Denticulated moldings, 93 ; in
"Oak Hill", 72; double, 99;
in Cook-Oliver house, no, in,
113; in Pierce- Johonnot-
Nichols house, 124; in Hamil-
ton Hall, 148
Dentil course, 11, 48; hand-
tooled, 62, 76; in Hosmer-
Waters house, 87 ; in Peabody-
Silsbee house, 89 ; in Woman's
Bureau, 90, 91 ; in Derby-
Crowninshield-Rogers house.
94 ; in Pierce- Johonnot-
Nichols house, 129, 130, 131;
in Hamilton Hall, 148
Dentils, in Cook-Oliver house,
110,113; in Pierce- Johonnot-
Nichols house, 124, 128-130
Derby - Crowninshield - Rogers
house, the, 27, 34; history,
70, 71 ; cornice, 73 ; doorways,
75; doors, 77; corridors, 80;
paneling, 81; stairway, 82;
garlands and florets, 83 ;
mantels, 92, 94, 95
Derby, Elias Haskett, 71 ; farm,
19, 71, 104, 141; his patron-
age of Samuel Mclntire, 23 ;
mansion, 26, 27, 63, 103,
106, 107, 113, 115; first
American merchant to trade
with Cape of Good Hope and
China, 105 ; death, 106; raised
fund for improvement of Salem
Common, 139
Derby, Elizabeth, 71,
Derby, Ezekiel Hersey, 71
Derby fleet, the, 64
Derby Square, Salem, 106
Derby Street, house on, 52
Derby wharf, 5
Design, of Mclntire, 43, 106, no,
115, 124, 142; church, 141
Detail, fine-scale, 10, no; al-
tered, 16; delicacy of, 25;
ornamental, 26; Mclntire's
refinement of, 26, 29; Greek
and Roman, 27; Mclntire's,
copied, 34; of porches, 48, 57,
122; classic motives freshened
with new, 50; of Sheraton,
etc., 65 ; of exterior orna-
mentation, 68 ; in "Oak Hill ",
83 ; composition, 88 ; of
chimney pieces, 98, 99, 126
Dining rooms, 69, 72, 73, 74, 116
[15J]
Index
DolHver, William, 145
Doorhead, 75, 76, 77, 127, 130
Doors, 9, 54; without glasswork,
47; with leaded side lights,
47 ; in Peabody-Silsbee house,
51; three panels wide, 57,
62; of Dow house, 60 ; leaded
glass, 74; six-panel, 77; in
Cook-Oliver house, 113; in
Pierce - Johonnot - Nichols
house, 120, 122, 125, 127, 130;
in First Methodist Meeting
House, Beverly, 146
Doorways, 9; Salem famed for, 6;
Mclntire's, 29, 33 ; the key-
note of the facade, 46; have
character and individuality,
46; reflect character of those
for whom they were built, 47 ;
the welcoming, 48 ; of the
Kimball house, 49; of house on
Derby Street, 54; leaded glass
and three-paneled door a fea-
ture of, 57; the Tucker-Rice,
58; of Dow house, 60; of
Hosmer-Waters house, 61 ;
of Clifford Crowninshield and
Derby - Crowninshield - Rogers
houses, 75, 76; at "Oak Hill",
78, 79, 80; of Cook-Oliver
house, no. III, 114; of
Pierce - Johonnot - Nichols
house, 122, 124, 130, 131;
of Hamilton Hall, 148.
Doric order, in Stearns house, 51 ;
in house on Derby Street,
53, 54; in Pierce- Johonnot-
Nichols house, 61,96, 122; in
Woman's Bureau, 90; in
Stearns Building, 138 ; in plans
for Capitol, 139; in South
Church, 143
Dow house, Josiah, 33, 59
Downing, Emanuel, 58
Downing, George, 58
Downing College, Cambridge,
Downing Street, London, 58
Drawing-rooms, 70, 72, 77, 78, 99,
100, 127
Drop handles, 78, 127, 130
Eagle, the, Samuel Mclntire
fond of carving, 17, 18; on
Pickman - Derby - Brook-
house estate, 63 ; shield with,
90 ; on Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols estate, 121; on the
Common, 140; on old Cus-
tom-house, 140, 141 ; on man-
tel from Old Registry of Deeds
Building, 144; in Hamilton
Hall, 147
East Church, 18, 35, 143
East Indies, 3, 105
Eaves, 9, 51, 57, no
Eden, Thomas, 47
Eden-Brown house, 47, 49
Egg and dart motive, 90
Egg and tongue motive, 73,
126
Elevations, 31, 139
Elliptical arches, 79, 80, 121
Ells, 33, 63, 109, 116
Embargo Act, 118
Embellishment, 8, 33, 49, 55, 80,
85, 121, 130
Embrasures, 73, 74, 92, 116, 127,
128
Enclosed porches, 47, 48, 60, 61,
62, 122
Endicott, William C, 53
Engaged columns, 99, in, 131
England, 25, 89, 127, 139
Enrichment, 87, 88, 94
[156]
Index
Entablature, 9, 11; of Kimball
house, 49 ; of Peabody-Silsbee
house, 50; of Stearns house,
52; of Tucker-Rice house, 57;
Corinthian, of Waters house,
62; at "Oak Hill", 75; in
Lindall - Barnard - Andrews
house, 87; in Cook-Oliver
house, 108, no. III ; in
Pierce - Johonnot - Nichols
house, 130
Entrances, 46, 48 ; of Dow house,
60 ; of Pierce- Johonnot-
Nichols house, 121
Essex Bank, the, 30
Essex County, 104, 135
Essex Institute, the Historical Col-
lection of the, 29; Mclntire's
plans preserved at, 31, 103;
tools preserved at, 42 ; Tucker-
Rice doorway and porch at,
58; archway from Pickman
house at, 62 ; cupola preserved
at, 64; "Annals of Salem" at,
103 ; Captain Cook's portrait
at, 106; fund being raised by,
120; pictures of Courthouse
at, 137; balustrade at, 138;
carvings at, 140; eagle at,
141; urns at, 144; speech of
Beaman before, 145
Essex Register, The, 29 ; notice of
death of Samuel Mclntire in,
37
Essex Street, Salem, Benjamin
Pickman house on, 48, 62;
Peabody-Silsbee house on, 50;
Stearns house on, 51 ; Tucker-
Rice house on, 55; Gardner-
White-Pingree house on, 56;
Derby- Crowninshield - Rogers
house on, 70, 72, 82 ; Lindall-
Barnard-Andrews house on, 87
Eveleth, Joseph, 145
Facades, flat-boarded, 8, 134;
pilaster treatment of, 33, 34;
doorway the keynote of, 46;
three-story, 49 ; expanse of,
55; of Tucker-Rice house, 56;
of Cook-Oliver house, no
Facings, 86, 96, 97, 100
Fanlight, 47, 49; of Peabody-
Silsbee house, 51 ; of house on
Derby Street, 54; at "Oak
Hill", 79; often used, 80;
of Cook-Oliver house, in;
of Pierce- Johonnot- Nichols
house, 121, 124; of Assem-
bly Hall, 134
Farrington, Daniel, 145.
Fascia molding, 47, 49, 70
Federal, the word, 7
Federals, the, 133
Federal Street, Salem, 103, 133,
137
"Federal Street" hymn, 107, 115
Felt, the historian, 19, 136,
139
Fence, 51, 55, 57, 60, 108, 139
Fenceposts, 55, 60
Festoons, 48, 63, 64, 75, 83, 87;
in Hosmer-Waters house, 88;
in Adam manner, 94; in
David P. Waters house, 95,
97 ; in Cook-Oliver house, 109,
113, 115; in Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols house, 125, 129; in
Assembly Hall, 134; in Hamil-
ton Hall, 148
Field, Elizabeth, 20, 22
Field, Samuel, 22
Fillets, 73, 89, 92, 95, 116, 129
Fireplace opening, 86; facings,
96, 97, 100; ogee moldings
about, 126; fluted band about,
129, 131
[■57]
Index
Fireplaces, 68, 74, 85, 86; in
David P. Waters house, 97; in
Cook-Oliver house, 116; in
Pierce - Johonnot - Nichols
house, 125; in Washington
Hall, 138; in Hamilton Hall,
148
Fire sets, 87, loi
First Church, Salem, 144
First Methodist Meeting House,
Beverly, 146
Flame motives, 108
Flanders, Asa, 145
Flemish tiles, 98
Florentine bent iron, 60
Florentine motives, 58
Florets, oval, 48, 63, 83, 95; cir-
cular or oval, 70; between
garlands, 75; applied, 80;
enrichment of frieze, 94 ; alter-
nate, 100
Flower-pots, 75
Flowers, carved ornaments, 87,
91, 95, 100, 104
Flutes, 48, 70, 76, 77, 79 ; of Pea-
body-Silsbee house, 50; of
pilasters of Dow house, 60; in
Hosmer- Waters house, 87; in
Crowninshield house, 96; in
Pierce - Johonnot - Nichols
house, 96, 121, 123, 124, 128,
131; in Cook-Oliver house,
108, no, 113; in Hamilton
Hall, 148
Fogg, Joseph, 145
Foreshortening, 56, 109, 121
France, 139
French Catholic Parish House, 59
French putty, 25, jd, 130
Fret, Grecian, 72, 77, 98, 100;
interlacing fillet, 73, 92; in
Pierce - Johonnot - Nichols
house, 83, 123, 128, 129;
lozenge, 116
Frieze, 9, ii ; of Peabody-Silsbee
house, 51, 89; of Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols house, 6i,
75, 127-13 1 ; of Pickman
house, 63 ; at "Oak Hill ", 69,
lly 77, 79. 80, 99, 100; sup-
planting Grecian fret, 72 ;
in Hosmer-Waters house, 87,
88; enrichment of, 87, 94; of
Woman's Bureau, 90; advan-
tages of beautifying mantel,
92; mantels with sculptured,
93 ; of Nathan Read house,
97; of David P. Waters
house, 97; of Cook-Oliver
house, no, in, 115; of
Assembly Hall, 134; of South
Church, 143
Frieze spots, 48, 98, 115, 129
Front Street, Salem, 103, 133,
137
Fruit, carved, 92, 98, 113
Fruit baskets, carved, 75, 77, 87,
95, 100, 130
Frye, Peter, 145
Furniture, white-painted interior
setting for mahogany, 66, 67;
the four famous types, 66;
built-in, 73, 105, 138; collec-
tion of rare Colonial, 89;
antique, 120
Gable-roofs, 16, 21
Gage, General, 48, 142
Gallier, James, 147
Gambrel-roof type of architecture,
6, 8, 16, 17, 62
Gardens, 2; Derby, 103, 104;
of Cook-Oliver estate, 112;
of Pierce - Johonnot - Nichols
estate, 118, 121
Gardner, Captain Joseph, 58
[■58]
Index
Gardner - White - Pingree house,
33, 56
Garlands, 76, 130, 131; straight-
hanging, 49, 75, 77, 88, 95,
108,109; appHed, 79; appHed
festooned, 83; Adam, 98;
festooned, 115
Gateposts, 58, 102, 106, 108
Gates, 60, 108
Gateways, 122, 137, 139, 140
George, the, 59
Georgian style, 43, 120, 125, 130;
windows, 60, 74, 109
Gibbons, Grinling, 43
Glass, Colonial, iii
Gouges, 10, 42, 129
Grand Turk, the, 105
Grape clusters, 75, 100
Grape-vines, 98
Grates, hob, 89, 116, 126
Gray, Lieutenant - Governor
William, 53
Great Swamp Fight, 58, 59
Grecian bank, 148
Grecian Doric, 53, 54
Grecian fret, 70, 72, 77, 98, 100,
128
Greek revival, 7, 12
Greek temples, 44
Guttae, of Peabody-Silsbee house,
51; of Pierce- Johonnot-
Nichols house, 61 ; in the
Woman's Bureau, 90
H
Halls, at "Oak Hill ", 69, 72, 80;
in Cook-Oliver house, 70, 112-
116; of Clifford Crowninshield
house, 73 ; the Colonial, 80-
82; in Pierce -Johonnot-
Nichols house, 123, 124; in
Courthouse, 136 ; of Hamil-
ton Hall, 148
Hamilton, Alexander, 62, 146
Hamilton Hall, 146
Handrail, 82
Hardware, 54, 123, 127
Hardwood, 57, 67, 72
Harvard, John, 89
Headers, 147
Heppelwhite, 65
Heussler, George, 103, 104
Hinges, 127, 130
Hip roof, 9; Peabody-Silsbee
house, 50; building of Asso-
ciation for the Relief of Aged
and Destitute Women, 53 ;
Clifford Crowninshield house,
55 ; Dow house, 59, 60 ; Cook-
Oliver house, 109; Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols house, 121 ;
Assembly Hall, 134
Hob grates, 89, 116, 126
Home for Aged Women, Salem, 52
Homer, Professor Eleazer B., 56
Hooper, Robert (known as
"King"), 47
Horns of plenty, 95, 98, loi
Hosmer, Captain Joseph, 61
Hosmer-Waters house, 61, 81, 82,
87-89
Houses, reflect character of those
for whom they were built, 47
Housewright, 17, 27, 32, 38, 107
Howard Street, Salem, 145
Howard Street Church, Salem,
147
Hull, Captain Isaac, 147
Hurley, John F., 59
I
Individuality, of doorways, 46,
122; of room, 125; lent by
ends of frieze board, 127
Inserts, 91, 124, 147
Insurance company, 22
[159]
Index
Interior finish, 55, 56, 66, 67
Interior woodwork, setting for fur-
niture, 65, 66; white-painted,
65, 74; details of exterior
ornamentation brought to bear
on, 68 ; classic orders appHed
to, 69; importance of fire-
place to, 86; of Cook-Oliver
house, 112
Ionic capitals, 49, 60, 87, 141
Ionic order, volute of, 82, 124;
pilasters and window frames
with form of, 105 ; entablature
of, III; South Church, 143
Ionic pilasters, 63, 105, 134
Ionic porches, 49, 50
Italy, 139
J
Jig-saw Work, 55, 57, 112, 123
Johonnot, George, 119
Joiners, their work on ships, 3 ;
employed on houses, 10; were
architects, 32
Jones, Inigo, 43
K
Key-plate, 113
Kimball house, porch, 49 ; mantel,
90, 91
Knobs, 78, 113
Knocker, 123
La Fayette, Marquis de, 2, 134,
146
Lafayette Street, Salem, 59
Landing, 81, 82, 112, 124, 125
Lantern, 60
Latrobe, Benjamin Henry, 34,
139
Lawrence, Captain, 145
Leaded glass, 57, 60, 74
Lean-to, the, 6, 8, 16
Lesbian leaf, 77
Library, 73
Lindall-Barnard-Andrews house,
87» 90, 95
"Lindens, The ", 48, 96, 97
Line, 8, 33, 65, 86, loi, no
Lintel, 53, 75, 127; keyed, 50, 56,
60; with hand-tooled flutings,
79 ; with festoons and rosettes,
125
Living room, 69
London, 50, 58, 89
Longfellow, Henry W., 112
Louisiana, 15
Ludlow, Lieutenant, 145
Lundy's Lane, 53
Luscomb, Samuel, 143
Lynde Street, Salem, 106
iM
McIntire, Angier, 20, 27, 32
Mclntire, Deborah, 20
McIntire, Elizabeth (Field), wife
of Samuel McIntire, 20, 41.
Siee Field
McIntire, Joseph, 17, 19, 20, 27,
3i» 32, 107
McIntire, Joseph, son of Joseph,
27, 3i> 32
McIntire, Mahitable, 20
McIntire, Samuel, birth, 17;
learns father's trade, 17; most
skilled American wood-carver
of his time, 17, 18, 24; fond
of carving eagles, 18; as a
sculptor, 18, 35, 37, 38, 40;
his bust of Gov. Winthrop, 18;
his figure of a reaper, 18, 19;
notice of, in Felt's "Annals of
Salem," 19; education, 19, 39;
library, 19, 40, 41 ; father's
60]
Index
death, 20; marriage, 20, 22;
first a carver, then designer,
finally architect, 20; his home,
21, 22, 42; workshop, 22;
mortgage, 22 ; music room,
22; musical instruments, 22,
40; office, 22, 42; inventory
of effects, 22, 40, 41 ; Elias
Haskett Derby's patronage,
23 ; as a designer, 24 ; rec-
ognized extent and limita-
tions of his medium, 24;
welcomed advent of stucco,
25 ; pleasing proportions of his
work, 26; his plans, 26, 31,
34; work marked by refine-
ment of detail and light and
graceful effect, 26; called
"The Architect of Salem ", 30;
buildings ascribed to, 31; his
draftsmanship, 31 ; handwrit-
ing, 31; primarily a carver,
32; not contractor in modern
sense, 32; brick adopted by,
33 ; depended on craftsman-
ship of two brothers, 26, 27;
detractors, 27, 28 ; facts about,
buried in the old records of
Salem, 28 ; inspiration fur-
nished by his work, 29; his
place assured, 29; references to
his talents as an architect, 29,
30; versatility, 33 ; his door-
ways, porches, etc., 33 ; his de-
tail copied, 34; as a musician,
35> 37> 38, 40; death, 30;
extract from Rev. William
Bentley's diary on death, 35,
36; funeral, 36, 37; notices
of death in The Salem Gazette
and The Essex Register, 36,
37; personality, 36, 37, 39,
40; tribute to, in The Salem
Gazette, 37-39; burial, 39;
gravestone, 29, 39 ; died intes-
tate, 40; notice of sale of
articles from estate, 40, 41 ;
circumstances at time of death,
42 ; estate, 42 ; tools, 42 ;
was not provincial, 43 ; appre-
ciation of the man and his
work, 43, 44; innovations of,
44, 50, SI, 63, 90,^91, 96-98,
126; imporant role of, 45;
last work, 56
Mclntire, Samuel F., 27, 31, 32,
40, 41
Mclntire, Sarah (Ruck), 17, 20,
40
Mclntire, family, influence of,
upon the architecture of
Salem, 30, 31
Mahogany, 65, 66, 82
Maine, 15
Mansions, of Revolutionary times,
7; bespeak earnest study, 11 ;
of New England seacoast
towns, 50, 67; square, three-
story brick, 52; enclosed
porch, feature of, 60; of 1750,
81
Mantelboard, 129, 131, 144
Mantels, of house at No. 31,
Summer Street, 21 ; detailed
consideration of, 85-101 ; in
Cook-Oliver house, 11 4-1 16;
in Pierce - Johonnot - Nichols
house, 131 ; from Old Registry
of Deeds Building, 144; in
Hamilton Hall, 148
Mantel shelf, in Hosmer-Waters
house, 87; in Woman's
Bureau, 90, 91 ; in Home for
Aged Women, 92 ; in David
P. Waters house, 94; in
Clifford Crowninshield house,
95; none in house of 1750,
96
[.61]
Index
Marble, lintel of, 50; sills, 56,
60; of mantels and chimney
pieces, 86; high-priced in time
of Mclntire, 92; facings of
fireplace opening of, 100
Maryland Historical Society, 31
Masonic Temple, 63
Massachusetts Magazine , The, 31,
134
Maynes estate, 71
Medallions, circular, 72 ; applied,
79, 115; sunburst, 108; oval,
no; profile, 140
Merchant marine, 3, 5
Merchants of Salem, 2, 4, 21
Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, 113, 114
Milkmaid, figure of, 105
Mill Street, Salem, house at Nos.
2 and 4, birthplace of Samuel
Mclntire, 17
Miller, General James, 53
Minerva, first Salem vessel to
circumnavigate the globe, 55
Mirrors, 78, 79, 99, 129
Modillions, 9; of the Kimball
house, 49; of Tucker-Rice
house, 57; of Waters house,
62 ; of Pierce- Johonnot-
Nichols house, 96
Moldings, hand-tooled, 9 ; rope,
10, 73, 83,87, 89,90; bed, II,
87, 88, 93, 94, 96, 97; modi-
fication of classic, II ; ball, 51 ;
of Tucker-Rice porch, 57;
cavetto, 63 ; picture, 68 ; base,
69 ; surmounting wainscot, 72 ;
denticulated, 72 ; egg and
tongue, 73 ; cornice of door-
head, 75 ; of cornice, 77, 87 ;
ovolo, 96, 99, 126, 128, 131,
148 ; of Hosmer-Waters house,
88; egg and dart, 90; ogee,
96, 126; vertical reeded ovolo.
99; composition, 100; of
Cook-Oliver house, no, in,
113, 115; of Pierce- Johonnot-
Nichols house, 120, 125, 126,
128, 129, 131; vertical fluted,
148
Monroe, President, 52
Morgan, J. Pierpont, 50
Motives, varied effects with few,
16; of Salem architecture,
29; classic, freshened, 50;
Florentine, 58; Grecian fret,
70; acanthus leaf, 77; frieze,
80; of country houses, 92;
of applied treatment of frieze,
94; repeated in surbase and
cornice, 95 ; twist drill, 98 ;
flame, 108; architrave, no,
127; vertical reeded, 112;
repeated in cornice, 113; egg
and tongue, 126
Mullions, 79
Muntins, 77, 78
Music gallery, 138, 148
Musical instruments, 95
Mutules, of Peabody-Silsbee
house, 51
N
New England, 5, 16, 34; sea-
coast towns, 50, 109; man-
sions, 60; spirit, 121
New England Historical and
Genealogical Society, 89
Newel, 82, 83, 84, 112, 124
Nichols, George, 118, 119
Non-Intercourse Act, 118
Norman Street, Salem, 17
North American Review, descrip-
tion of South Church in, 142
North Bridge, the, 2, 20, 88
North Church, 20, 35, 144
North River, 117
[.62]
Index
North Street, Salem, 144
Noyes, Rev. Nicholas, 63
O
"Oak Hill", 27; the hall at, 69,
72, 80, 81; surbase at, 70;
drawing-room, 70; history of,
71 ; morning room, 72 ; cas-
ings, 75; ornaments, 76;
interior woodwork, 78-80 ;
decorative details influenced
by shipbuilding industry, 83 ;
chimney piece, 99; fireplaces,
lOI
Ogee moldings, 96, 126
Oliver, General Henry Kemble,
107, 114, 115
Oriel window, 74
Ornaments, corner, 51 ; applied,
68, 76, loi ; composition, 88;
frieze, 92
Osgood estate, 59
Outbuildings, 33, 51, 121
Overmantel, 99, 100, 126
Ovolo moldings. See Moldings
Paint, of interior woodwork, 65-
68, 72, 74, 76, 82, 92, 93, 112;
of outer doors, 122
Paintings, 105, 137
Palladian windows, 81, 112, 124,
147
Paneling, molded, 51, 61, 127,
148; door, 54, III, 113, 122,
130; door three panels wide,
57, 62; carefully spaced, 68;
wainscot, 69, 72, 81, 105 ; of
walls, 73, 74, 96, 114, 125;
arrangement of panels in doors,
77, 78 ; sunken, 79 ; of box-
stairs, 83 ; of pilasters, 88, 98,
[I
100; oval, 89, 90, 95 ; carved,
91; bas-relief, 92, 93, 94;
projection of, 97; of shaft,
108 ; decoration of frieze,
115; of shutters, 116, 128;
beaded, 124; of the over-
mantel, 126; over the chimney
breast, 129, 131
Papers, wall, 4, 113, 114, 115
Park Street Church, Boston, 141
Parlors, of Derby-Crowninshield-
Rogers house, 70; of Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols house, 75,
96, 99, 125, 127, 130; of
Hosmer-Waters house, 88 ; of
Woman's Bureau, 90; of
Kimball house, 91 ; of David
P. Waters house, 97 ; of Cook-
Oliver house, 114
Peabody, Francis, 50
Peabody, Captain Joseph, 59
Peabody, S. Endicott, 50
Peabody family, 23
Peabody, Mass., 50, 69, 99, 104
Peabody-Silsbee house, 49-51, 89,
9i»97
Pedestals, 70, 128, 148
Pediment, 105 ; of Stearns house,
52; Doric, 61
Pennsylvania, 16
Period adaptation, iii
Perry, Commodore Oliver Hazard,
53
Photographs, 29
Pickering, Col. Timothy, 142, 147
Pickets, 55, 60, 108
Pickman, Sr., Benjamin, 62
Pickman, Jr., Benjamin, 63
Pickman - Derby - Brookhouse
estate, 63, 106
Pickman house, Benjamin, 48, 62
Pickman Street, Salem, No. 14,
house at, 49
Picture molding, 68
63]
Index
Pierce, Betsey, 119
Pierce, Jerathmel, 117, 118, 119
Pierce- Johonnot- Nichols house,
20, 27, 33, 61 ; porch, 52, 61 ;
east front chamber, 70, 76;
east parlor, 70, 78, 96, 99;
paneling, 74; casings, 75;
halls, 80, 81, 82; fret, 83;
detailed study of, 1 17-13 1
Pilasters, 9; Mclntire's, 33, 63;
of house in Portsmouth, 34;
reeded, 48, 63, 89, 93, 97, 129;
of Stearns house, 52; of Dow
house, 60; fluted, 61, 87, 91,
121, 148; Ionic, 63, 105, 134;
cornice supported by, 75, 76;
molded or fluted, 77; with
applied garlands, 79; arch
of fanlight supported by, 80;
paneled, 88, 98, 100; with
wheat sheaves, 95 ; effect, 99 ;
medallions beside, no;
medallions on, 115; with
Corinthian capital, 128; with
rosettes, 130; flat, 143
Planes, 125
Plaster work, 73
Plinths, 51, 52, 69, III
Plummet Hall, 58, 59
Plymouth, Mass., 2
Porches, columned and pediment-
ed, 9; Mclntire's, 33 ; of Salem
houses, possess charm and dis-
tinction, 48 ; of Kimball house,
49; of Peabody-Silsbee house,
49-51; Ionic, 49, so; of
Stearns house, 52; of house
in Washington Square, 55 ;
semi-oval, 55, 58, 60; of
Tucker-Rice house, 56; of
Dow house, 60; enclosed, 60,
61, 62 ; of Pickman house, 62 ;
decorations, no; of Cook-
Oliver house, III; of Pierce-
Johonnot-Nichols house, 122;
of Assembly Hall, 134; of
Hamilton Hall, 147
Portico, Ionic, 143
Portsmouth, N. H., house showing
Mclntire influence, 34
Pownall, Governor, 62
Prescott, William Hickling, 59
Profile of Washington, 137, 140,
141
Proportion, characteristic of
Salem architecture, 10; char-
acteristic of Colonial style, 14;
Mclntire had sense of, 43,
79, 86, 132; of porches, 57,
no, 122; sense of, necessary
for paneling, 73 ; of mantel,
93 ; of Mclntire's chimney
pieces, 98, 126; of door and
fanlight in Pierce-Johonnot-
Nichols house, 124; of steeple
of South Church, 143
Provincial, the word, 7
Public work, 33, 52, 133-148
Punch bowl, 105
Putnam, Perley, 31
Putnam, Judge Samuel, 134
Quoins, 143
Q
R
Railroads, 5
Rails, 61, 78, 108, 148; stair, 51,
57, 124; molded, 54, 55, 82,
112; plate, 72; frieze, 77;
ramped, 83
Read, Nathan, 59
Read house, Nathan, 31, 59, 97
Reaper, figure of, carved by
Samuel Mclntire, 18, 19, 104
Reception room, 73
[164]
Indi
ex
Reeds, of pilasters, 63, 89, 95, 97,
129; hand-carved, 70, 76, 130;
band of vertical, 72 ; below
the cyma recta, 73 ; frieze
motive of, 80; in architrave,
92; twist-drill, 94; ovolo
molding, 99 ; groups, 100, 128 ;
symphony of vertical, loi ;
wainscot, 112; casings, 113;
colonnettes, 115; central
panel, 125; ovolo, 131, 148
Registry of Deeds Building, Old,
Salem, 144
Renaissance, the, 4, 8, 11, 14, 44,
45. 139
Revere, Paul, 2
Revolution, the, 3, 7, 74, 103, 142,
147
Robinson, John, 63
Rogers, John, 64
Rogers, Mrs. J. C, 69, 71
Rogers, Richard S., 71
Roman Doric, 51, iii
Roman palaces, 44
Roofs, flat, 9, 61 ; hip, 9, 50, 53,
55» 59» io9» 121, 134; Mc-
Intire's, 33 ; balustraded, 56,
60, 63 ; figures on, 104, 105
Rope moldings, 10, 73, 83, 87, 89,
90
Rosettes, 51, 95, 125, 128, 129, 130
Rosewood, 65
Run (stairway), 112, 124
Salem, Mass., boasts well-pre-
served residential section, i,
2, 4, 5 ; perfect condition of
woodwork in houses of, i ; old
houses of, recall the past, 2 ;
next to Plymouth, the oldest
settlement in Massachusetts,
2; merchants of, 2, 4; at the
time of the Revolution, 2, 3 ;
ships and shipbuilding of, 3 ;
center of commerce and refine-
ment after the Revolution, 3 ;
chief port of entry, 3, 4; ships
and tonnage of, in 1807, 4;
Custom-house of, 4, 59, 140,
141 ; now lives in the glory of
its past, 4, 5 ; the architectural
center of New England for
Colonial style, 5 ; a storehouse
of American antiquities, 6;
architecture of, embraces four
dissimilar types, 6; scope of
the word Colonial as applied
to the architecture of, 6, 7;
the square Colonial town
house of, 8 ; modification of
classic orders, 8, 9; charac-
teristics of its architecture,
10,11; everything of conse-
quence in, is Colonial, 16; ab-
sence of monotony in archi-
tecture of, 16; during the
early years of Samuel Mclntire,
20, 21; home of Samuel
Mclntire in, 21, 22; houses
at Nos. 70 and 90 Washington
Street in, 22, 23 ; best carving
of Samuel Mclntire's time
was done in, 23, 24; archi-
tecture of, stands as monu-
ment to Samuel Mclntire, 28,
29; buildings designed by
Bulfinch in, 30; Samuel Mc-
lntire's activities confined to
old township of, 33 ; archi-
tecture of, from 1782 to 181 1,
44; doorways of, have an
atmosphere of their own, 47;
porches of, possess charm and
distinction, 48; charm of
architecture of, 84 ; superiority
of architecture of, 124
[165]
Index
Salem Almshouse, 30
Salem Athenaeum, 58, 59
"Salem Fraternity, The", 30
Salem Gazette, The, 29; notice of
death of Samuel Mclntire in,
36; tribute to Samuel Mc-
lntire in, 37-39; notice in, of
sale of articles from estate of
Samuel Mclntire, 40, 41
Salem Marine Society, 47
Sashes, oval, 61 ; with iron bent
against the glass, 79; twelve-
paned Georgian, 109; in Cook-
Oliver house. III
Scale, fine, 91, 93, 96, loi, 108,
no, 112, 116, 128
Scenic papers, 4, 113, 114, 115
Scroll, cornice, 73 ; brackets, 83 ;
with acanthus flower, 100;
stair ends, 112, 123 ; balusters,
124; corners of porch, 134
Seats, built-in, 138
Second floor level, 81, 83, 108, 121
Shaft, paneled, 108; smooth, in ;
fluted, 128
Shannon, the, 143, 145
Sheaves of wheat, 77, 87, 90, 92,
94
Sheraton, 65
Ships and shipbuilding of Salem,
3-5, 9, 10, 83
Side lights, 47, 48, 79; of the
Kimball house, 49; of Pea-
body-Silsbee house, 51; of
house on Derby Street, 54; of
Waters house, 61 ; of Cook-
Oliver house. III; rarely
found before 1800, 122
Side pockets, 116, 127
Sills, 75 ; of the Peabody-Silsbee
house, 50; of house on Derby
Street, 53 ; of Gardner-White-
Pingree house, 56; of house
on Lafayette Street, 60
Silsbee, Senator, 53
Smith, George H., 145
Soapstone, 86, 116
Softwood, painted, possibilities
of, 67 ; painted, needs beauty
of form, 68; wainscot of,
eflFective, 72
South Building Corporation, 146
South Church, 35, 142, 143, 144,
146
Spacing, 93, 122, 130, 148
Spheres, 60, 75, 91
Spiral, 82, 84
Spire, 141-144
Square houses, 6, 8, 16, 28, 32, 33 ;
at Portsmouth, 34; Peabody-
Silsbee house, 50; lend them-
selves to adaptation, 52;
Clark-Oliver house, 109;
Pierce - Johonnot - Nichols
house, 120
Stable, of Peabody-Silsbee house,
51; of Pierce - Johonnot-
Nichols house, 120, 121
Stair ends, 62, 82, 112, 123
Stair rails, 51, 57, 124
Stairways, 75; of Mclntire's
home, 21 ; one of principal
features of interiors, 68, 8a-
83 ; of Cook-Oliver house, 112;
of Pierce - Johonnot - Nichols
house, 121, 123, 124, 125
Standing finish, 65
State Normal School, 144
Stearns Building, 138
Stearns house, 51, 52
Steeple, 141-144
Steps, III, 136
Stiles, 54, 77, 78, 148
Story, Judge Joseph, 53, 145
String course, 138
Stringer, 112
Stucco, 25, 92
Summer house, 19, 104, 141
[.66]
Index
Summer Street, Salem, 21, 22, 40,
47, 63, 64, 144
Surbase, surmounting die, 69;
molded horizontally, 70 ;
height of top of chair backs,
72 ; window sill at level of, 75 ;
accompanied by dado, 82 ;
in Peabody-Silsbee house and
Home for Aged Women, 92 ;
motives repeated in, 95, 96;
molded, 112; in Cook-Oliver
house, n6; in Pierce- Johon-
not-Nichols house, 124, 125,
128; in Hamilton Hall, 148
Tabernacle Church, 137, 142
Tapleyville, Mass., 22
Teahouse, 104
Thayer, Captain Oliver, 143
Thornton, Doctor William, 34,
139
Tiles, 98, 127
Tracy, John, 104
Tread, 82, 83, 124
Triglyph, 61, 96
Tucker-Rice house, the, 27, 55-
Tuscan, plinths, 51, 52; columns,
55, in; porch, 60; pedi-
ment, 61 ; pillars, 136
U
Urns, 113; Adam, 75, 94, 131;
in French putty, 76; on
pilasters, 77, 88 ; over mirror,
79; frieze, 89; of oval in-
serts, 91; applied, 95, 130;
on roof, 104; on gateposts,
108; from steeple, 144
Vases, ioi
Venetian window, 135
Victorian period, 12
Virginia, 5
Volutes, 82, 124
w
Wainscot, paneled, 69, 72, 81,
105, n6; flat, 112; surbase
of, 124
Wall papers, 4, 113, 114, 115
Walls, of Peabody-Silsbee house,
50; paneled, 69, 73, 74;
dining room, 72 ; baseboard
about, 8i; clapboards on,
109; side of stairway, 112
Walnut, 65
Warren Street, Salem, 119
Washington, D.C., Capitol, 31,
34
Washington, George, 2, 89, 138;
ball in honor of, 134; bas-
relief profile of, 137, 140, 141
Washington Hall, 133, 137
Washington Square, Salem, 55, 61,
139, 140
Washington Street, Salem, 22, 23,
63, 105, 137, 144
Waters, Henry Fitzgilbert, 89
Waters house, David P., 61, 81,
82, 83, 94, 97
West, Nathaniel, 55, 71.
West family, 23
White pine, I, 23 ; doorways of,
64; highly prized, 67; dark-
stained, 82; in Cook-Oliver
house, 112
Willard, Solomon, 141
"Winder", 82
Window frames, 105
Window heads, no, 122
[■67]
Index
Window seats, 74, 127
Window sills, ^ee SiLLr
Windows, 9, 49; Mclntire's, 33,
74; Georgian, 60; in Tucker-
Rice house, 56; oval, 61, 63;
embrasured, 73,74,92; twelve-
paned, 74; Palladian, 81, 112,
124, 147; nine-paned, 109;
in Cook-Oliver house, 109-112,
116; Venetian, 135
Winthrop, Gov. John, 18, 58
Witchcraft, 6, 63
Woman's Bureau, 90
Woman's Friend Society, 52
Wood-carvers, employed to dec-
orate Salem ships, 3 ; em-
ployed on houses, 9; skill of,
9, 10; were architects, 32
Wood finish, 65, 66; of Mclntire's
home, 21 ; painted, needs
beauty of form, 68; at "Oak
Hill", 78; on Pickman-Derby-
Brookhouse estate, 106; in
Cook-Oliver house, 113; in
Pierce - Johonnot - Nichols
house, 131
Wood trim, i, 112, 120; Mc-
lntire's, 29, 32; on Pickman-
Derby-Brookhouse estate, 63 ;
dark, 66
Wren, Sir Christopher, 43, 142
Wrought iron, 57, 127
ZUBER & Co., J., 114
[168]
1
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Date
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Library Bureau Cat. No. 1137
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Cousins^ Frank, 1851-
The wood-carver of Salem
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