Historic Homes Part 4

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XXIV.--The Lee Mansion, Marblehead, Ma.s.s.]

The celebrated Lee mansion, erected in 1768, is of the purest colonial type, and was the most costly residence ever built in this seaport town.

Many traditions relate that the timber and the finish were brought over in one of the colonel's trading s.h.i.+ps as ballast. However that may be, the material used was pine, such as was known in the old days as pumpkin pine. The trees of that species sometimes allow for boards four feet in width, and the fact that boards of this width are found in the Lee mansion is claimed by many to refute the idea of English wood, as the pines in the old country did not produce boards of such width when Jeremiah Lee commenced to build.

Standing back from the street behind a granite curb and iron paling is the old mansion, its dimensions being sixty-four feet by forty-six feet, and containing fifteen large rooms. The exterior was built of brick, over which were placed huge, bevelled, wooden clapboards, more than two feet in width, and one and a half in height. From a distance the observer might mistake the gray of the exterior for stone, as the block style of construction was employed, the wooden cube being painted and sanded to resemble dark gray rock.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XXV.--Porch, Lee Mansion.]

This gray wooden building, with its two wide-girthed chimneys pus.h.i.+ng up from the red roof, has the same appearance as in the days when the first housewarming took place, in 1768. The handsome porch and the gray cupola are distinguis.h.i.+ng features, and from the former in the olden days the colonel swept the seas with his spy-gla.s.s to watch for incoming s.h.i.+ps just as sea captains do to-day.

In the early part of the eighteenth century Jeremiah Lee came to this country and settled at Manchester-by-the-Sea. The little that can be learned of him shows him to have been a keen trader, who took care to make his savings increase his income. In 1760 we find him living in Marblehead, prominent in town affairs and serving on important committees, being one of the Board of Fire-wards in the first fire department of the town. He was also one of the building committee that had charge of the construction of the powder house erected about that time.

Originally Lee was a Loyalist, but he later became a patriot and was foremost in all the movements that kindled the spirit of independence in the colonists. Before the struggle had fairly commenced, his career was cut short by an early death; otherwise he would have been as well known to posterity as was his intimate friend and fellow-townsman, Elbridge Gerry. As a member of the Province Committee of Safety and Supplies, which held a meeting on April 18, 1775, at Weatherby's Black Horse Tavern, situated on the highway between Concord and Lexington, he was among the number who decided to spend the night at the tavern rather than to go on to Lexington. The advance guard of the British troops was sighted in the early morning, and the colonel and his friends hastily dressed and escaped by a rear door, the colonel thereby contracting a cold from which he died.

During Lee's life in Marblehead he entertained royally in this mansion, which was erected at a cost of ten thousand pounds. Within a few steps of this mansion there was also a cooking-house, the same building being used to shelter the carriages of the family. Originally the large brick building now used for the store was made his slaves' quarters. Not long ago was found inside the house a small bra.s.s b.u.t.ton, bearing the coat of arms of the Lee family, which was doubtless once worn on the livery of one of his slaves.

In the flagging that leads to the side door has lately been uncovered a central stone bearing the date of the erection of the house.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XXVI.--Two Views of the Hallway, Lee Mansion.]

As the ponderous front door swings open, one enters a grandly s.p.a.ced hall, wainscoted waist high in solid mahogany. At the right is a deeply recessed window, and a door on either side of the hall leads into rooms beyond. Above the casing of these entrances runs the cla.s.sic egg and tongue molding. The feature of the hallway is the wall-paper. This represents scenes of Grecian ruins, such as shattered columns, temples, landscapes, coats of mail, each set in a separate panel, handsomely carved. It is finished in soft tones of gray, beautifully blended, doubtless the highest development of early decorative art.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XXVII.--Wallpapers, Lee Mansion.]

At the rear of the hall, ascends the grand staircase, with boxed stairs s.p.a.cious enough for several people to walk abreast. It is quite likely that the stair rail was made on the other side of the water. The finely turned bal.u.s.ters of regularly varying style, together with the exquisitely wrought carvings and delicate panels running along the side of the staircase, are expressive of the taste and skill which went into its building. A great, arched window, which floods the hall with light, is inserted at the landing, and is flanked by several pilasters, which seem to support the high ceiling encircled with heavily dentated corners, and heighten the effect of grandeur. From this lofty window the broad hall is lighted.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XXVIII.--Wood Carving, Lee Mansion.]

In this hallway at the time of Lafayette's visit to the house, the banquet tables were set. The ever-loyal ladies of Marblehead sent for the entertainment some of their choicest belongings: table-cloths of wonderful damask brought from over the seas, rare old silver, and choice English gla.s.s.

At the right of the hallway is the drawing-room in white and gray. Two Corinthian pilasters flank the fireplace, rising to the molding and following the line of the wall. The whole chimneyside of this room was panelled in huge white slabs. This was the living-room of the house, and here were doubtless entertained the members of the Secret Council.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XXIX.--Banquet Hall, Lee Mansion; Fireplace, Lee Mansion.]

On the opposite side of the hallway is the dining-room, which was known as the banquet hall. Here Was.h.i.+ngton was entertained, also Monroe and Jackson. This room shows a huge open fireplace and a richly carved mantel. So carefully have the chimneypieces been wrought, that there are no two alike in the large house.

The tiles in many of the fireplaces are fascinating. We find some quaint and humorous, while others are sentimental. There is the wide-skirted shepherdess climbing the stile with the aid of the swain, a sailor taking leave of his la.s.s, a s.h.i.+p lying in the offing, nymphs and shepherdesses piping and playing. These tiles of blue and pale pink afford a study of interesting pictures to the lover of the antique.

In the former days scriptural texts and marble tablets were placed over the mantel in one of the chambers. One of these, a representation of Susannah and the Elders, was purchased from the family and is now found in the Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

Great care as to detail has been exercised in the finish of every room.

Notwithstanding the talk of secret stairways and mysterious trap-doors, there is nothing at all uncanny about the place, which was built for comfort and good living.

It is easy to be carried back in imagination to the days when Colonel Lee and Mistress Martha, noted for their open-handed hospitality, dwelt in this mansion. Its great rooms echoed with the laughter of the gallants of the day, who in short clothes, silver buckles, and laces, made love to the stately dames in trailing gowns and powdered hair and danced in the state chamber over the parlor, used then as a dance hall.

In this house the venerable Marquis de Lafayette accepted the hospitality of the Lees, when he came to America in 1824 at the invitation of Congress, accompanied by his son, George Was.h.i.+ngton Lafayette. It was during this visit that he danced a minuet in the great southwest room. An old letter, discovered recently by Miss Dixie, of Marblehead, discloses the fact that her mother led the dance with the gallant Frenchman.

This room is panelled in wood of dark finish, with exquisite designs over the fireplace, where a shelf on consoles shows over it an ornate panel made from a single board and exquisitely carved. On the opposite side of the room is the large apartment which was originally used as a chamber, probably by Colonel Lee. Here the pictures all relate to the sea,--one of them depicting Neptune and another a fish.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE x.x.x.--Chamber, Lee Mansion; Four-poster, Lee Mansion.]

The Lee mansion, like many of the Marblehead houses, stands with one foot on the land and the other almost on the water, bespeaking the maritime side of the community. Within the house, the arrangement of rooms and pa.s.sages suggests the troublous times in the years just before the Revolution. A secret stairway connects two of the upper rooms, while the front hall shows a trap-door which led to the cellar. This doubtless gave rise to stories of intrigue but probably was concerned only with the contents of the cellar. A small cupboard door, leading apparently into a clothes-press, gave access to a narrow secret stair leading to a bedchamber above. A smaller panel, sounding hollow, was discovered to have a pair of hinges. On being opened, this revealed an iron safe with double doors, buried in the brick work of the chimney. Doubtless it was the private safe of Colonel Lee, for according to tradition there was always plenty of money in the house.

In the early days an effort was once made to surprise the bank of which Lee was an official. A party of men came into town after the closing hour, and meeting the genial colonel, explained that they had come to collect money on a note. Without a moment's hesitation, they were escorted to the Lee mansion, where the entire sum, which was an unusually large one, was paid by him in gold. This story has been vouched for by one of the earliest inhabitants of the historic town, and the finding of the safe discounts the idea of the secret closet being used for any other purpose. In the upper floor are plainly found marks of sliding panels to mask a retreat by secret floors and false walls to reach the garret.

The kitchen fireplace has been a recent discovery. When the house was restored, the fireplace was a practical but shallow affair, not showing the generous depths found in many houses of that day. In the process of repairs it was discovered that this was a false fireplace, back of which two feet more were found, and behind them the deep oven that had not been used for cooking since Ma.s.sachusetts Bay was a royal colony. This kitchen fireplace is believed to be in what was used as the family dining-room, for doubtless the cooking was done in the slave quarters, much as in the Southern homes, the food being brought into the house through a covered pa.s.sageway.

In the early days, a little after the building of the house, there was a great demand for lead to make bullets for the Continental army. It has been discovered that in the upper cas.e.m.e.nts of the house, in rooms which were rarely occupied, the lead weights are wanting. This leads one to believe that the old tradition of their being melted during the time of the Revolution for ammunition may be true.

In the attic is a mark which shows the house to have been built by English architects. This is an inside dormer window used in those days by architects in the motherland for ventilation. This idea is rarely if ever carried out in a house where the architects or master builders are of this country.

On the death of Colonel Lee, the house was occupied by his widow, who continued to extend hospitality to the townspeople and visitors from other places, much as during her husband's lifetime. At her death the estate pa.s.sed into the hands of her son, and afterwards was owned and occupied by Judge Samuel Sewall.

A grand old landmark this colonial mansion makes, and even now the old sea captains climb to the gray cupola to scan the horizon for incoming s.h.i.+ps, much as they did in the days of long ago.

CHAPTER VII

THE LADD-GILMAN HOUSE

Closely linked with romance and history is the Ladd-Gilman house, one of the notable colonial houses at Exeter, New Hamps.h.i.+re. This mansion was not always of its present dimensions. When built by Nathaniel Ladd in 1721 it was of brick and about half the size of the present structure.

It is situated on a large area of land, with a frontage on Water Street, on a part of the original lot that was purchased of Oliphalet Coffin in the year above mentioned. For many years this estate was held in the possession of the Ladd family, descending from father to son until 1747, when it was purchased by Colonel Nathaniel Gilman, a leading citizen of the place and a man of influence. Gilman came from a family which had been prominent in the town for many years.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE x.x.xI.--Ladd-Gilman House, Exeter, N. H.]

Here in 1752 his son, Colonel Nicholas Gilman, then only twenty-one years of age, brought his bride, Anne Taylor, a very beautiful young woman who had descended from Puritan ancestors and who was very popular with the patriots of that day. During their residency the house, considered at that period one of the best in Exeter, was enlarged to its present size, and the exterior was entirely covered with wood to correspond with the additions.

Colonel Gilman was distinguished as one of a quartet who furnished brains for the Old Granite State, being known as the Robert Morris of the province and possessing not only influence but wealth and ability.

He was a close friend of Governor Wentworth who, with his son, was a frequent visitor at the house; so sincere was their intimacy that when Colonel Gilman sided with the colonists Governor Wentworth declared that instead of making a rupture in their friends.h.i.+p, if the Rebellion were crushed, he should save his friend. This great intimacy was also shared with Count Rumford.

It was in 1775, several years after the house was enlarged, that Gilman was made Treasurer and Receiver-general of the State, in which office he stayed until his death in 1783. The treasury building was a room in his own house. This may in a way account for there being two entrance doors, one for family guests and the other for business purposes. The house has never been altered, with the exception of the introduction of modern improvements, since the day that it was enlarged. It is a fine, substantial building, two and a half stories in height, showing dormer windows and a six-foot chimney. The huge fireplaces are still kept intact, few if any showing hand-carving. The porches are dignified but ample in their lines of architecture, and the entire exterior shows an unusual type.

The room nearest the entrance door at the extreme left was used as a treasury, for in addition to the office of State Treasurer, Colonel Gilman held the position of Continental Loan Officer of the State, all the money being received here. In this same room the Committee of Safety used to meet, and it was here that the Battle of Bennington was discussed and planned.

Gilman was a great friend of Daniel Webster, who never came to Exeter without pa.s.sing the princ.i.p.al part of his time in this house, the bed in which he slept being still shown in one of the large continental chambers.

The house was noted for its hospitality, a home where many gatherings, both for charity and pleasure, were held. The mistress of the household was a famous New England housekeeper, who possessed the whole art of housekeeping at her fingers' end. Beautiful as a young bride, she was even more so in after years. Her trim figure became rounded out, while her dark eyes and fresh, rich color preserved their brightness. Colonel Gilman was a striking figure, six feet tall, with an erect carriage. He wore until the day of his death a ruffled s.h.i.+rt-front and a cue.

It was during his occupancy that the Declaration of Independence was pa.s.sed. The Legislature had not adjourned when the message came, and the President, who was in waiting, decided the doc.u.ments must be publicly read. The news spread like lightning; the farmer eager to hear all dropped his scythe in the swath, the mechanic rushed from his shop, while the housewife forsook her spinning-wheel, all meeting in a general enthusiasm to hear the words that gave them freedom and a country. The doc.u.ment was brought into Exeter by a courier, who dashed suddenly into the village, bearing in his hand a letter addressed to the Convention of New Hamps.h.i.+re and signed by no less a personage than John Hanc.o.c.k. On, on, he rode, until he reached the Gilman house and delivered it into the hands of the host. It was read in the village square amid intense enthusiasm by his son, John Taylor Gilman, who was also destined to play an important part in our country's history.

John Taylor Gilman was then just out of his teens. He was a handsome man with magnetic power and an idol of the people. No one in the whole audience was more thrilled than was the father of the reader, who, filled with ardor, paused often to crush down the rush of sentiment that overmastered speech. Colonel Gilman was distinguished as one of those who financed the Revolution, and his son succeeded him in this service.

After Colonel Gilman's death, in 1783, the house was left to John Taylor Gilman, who inherited his father's love for political power. He, like his sire, was a most comely man, just entering into manhood when he married Dorothea Folsom, a great-granddaughter of the noted Revolutionary hero. She was only twenty-one years old when she married, being one of the belles of the village and a most estimable young lady.

For sixty years she directed the affairs of her household in a most exemplary manner and was the personification of hospitality.