Whipple House in Ipswich

Colonial New England

By: Charles Giuliano - Sep 14, 2017

Whipple House

On the town green
Land donated by Crane
Moved there 1927
Whipple House
Built in stages
Spacious and grand
John Winthrop the Younger
Son of governor
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Pious Pilgrims
Came in eleven ships
Hundreds God fearing
Many died off
Disease and starvation
Winter of 1630
First Nor’easter
Lost fingers and toes
Built house in stages
First half 1677
Then other side
Stout summer beams
Through and through
Shiver me timbers
Back lean-to later
Kitchen and slave quarters
Next to it  a replica
Miserable thatched hut
One small room
Like most lived
The common man
Cramped and mean
Grim life in His Name
Witches and devils
Nestled in thatch
Tumbling down on
Rainy days of
Cats and dogs
Exploring the mansion
Furniture richly carved
Chests instead of closets
Seventeen spacious rooms
Next to hearths
Massive central chimney
Heat and cooking
Night and day
Local cottage industry
Intricate pillow lace
Inch by inch
Collars and cuffs
Fashionable pin money
Then first stocking mill
Plans stolen from England
Early industrial espionage
Brought jobs and people
Mill shut down
No new housing
Town a time capsule
Frozen like Salem
Newburyport to Nantucket
Colonial archaeology
Hard living from
Ship building and farming
Marsh and salt hay
Rural and poor
Before clam shacks
Best in the world
Priced like gold
Bumper to bumper
On a summer day
Bogged down in Essex
For early settlers
Herbs by the kitchen
Sprigs of this and that
Fer what ails ye
Potent potions
Heaven or hell
Day in the stocks
Neighbors to gawk
Repent ye sinners
Lord have mercy
On your soul