Solomon Kimball House (Wenham, Massachusetts)

Solomon Kimball House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Solomon Kimball House
Location	Wenham, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°36′3″N 70°55′13″W / 42.60083°N 70.92028°WCoordinates: 42°36′3″N 70°55′13″W / 42.60083°N 70.92028°W
Built	1696
Architect	Unknown
Architectural style	Colonial, Other
MPS	First Period Buildings of Eastern Massachusetts TR
NRHP Reference #	90000264 [1]
Added to NRHP	March 9, 1990

The Solomon Kimball House, probably built in 1696,^[2] is a historic First Period house at 26 Maple Street in Wenham, Massachusetts. Although named for nineteenth- and early twentieth-century owner Solomon Kimball, the house was built by Thomas and Mary (Solart) Killam^[3]—he the veteran of a pivotal battle in King Philip’s War and she the sister and aunt of defendants in the Salem Witchcraft Trials.

Eighteenth-century owners included Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Deputies William Fairfield, and American Revolutionary War veteran Capt. Matthew Fairfield.

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

History of ownership

• 1701: Thomas Killam sold his dwelling house, barn, orchard and house lot of 25 acres (along with 1.5 acres of meadow land in Lord’s Meadow, Wenham) to William Fairfield.^[4] Further research is needed to determine when and from whom Thomas bought the parcel.
• 1725: William Fairfield gave the house and a house lot of 2 acres to his son Josiah Fairfield^[5] as a wedding gift
  

  Gravestone of Eunice Fairfield (ca. 1704-1730), first wife of Josiah Fairfield^[6]
  • William reiterated this gift on two subsequent occasions. First, in 1738, William gave Josiah one-fourth of William’s 45 acres of “homesteads and lands in Wenham and elsewhere” (reserving 16 poles for a burying ground) and another one-fourth to William’s son Benjamin—Josiah’s share including “Thomas Killam[ʼ]s homestead,”^[7] and Benjamin’s share including William’s homestead.^[8] Second, in his 1742 will, William refers to his deeds of gift to sons Josiah and Benjamin, and gives them the remainder of his real estate, representing 180 acres of “sundry parcels” in Wenham and Ipswich.^[9]
  • Over the years Josiah added to the acreage of his house lot, expanding it to 46 acres by 1767. He appears to have had some financial difficulty around this time, however, because in January 1767 he sold various assets (his dwelling house, barn, “out houses,” house lot of 46 acres, additional parcels of upland and meadow, lots in Wenham Great Swamp, and his pew in the Wenham Meeting House) to his brother Benjamin for £600^[10]—and seven months later purchased the same assets (less a lot of upland and the pew in the meeting house) back from Benjamin for £550,^[11] and at the same time sold Benjamin 40 acres on the south side of current-day Maple Street (with barn) for 10 shillings.^[12]
• 1771: Josiah Fairfield gave “the back part of my dwelling house with the cellar under it and the entry that is between that back house & my dwelling house,” along with one-half of his cider house and cider mill, to his son Capt. Matthew Fairfield^[13]
• 1777: Josiah Fairfield died and bequeathed all his real estate to his sons Matthew and Josiah, Jr., in reversion, after the death of his wife Elizabeth (Appleton) Fairfield. An inventory of Josiah’s real estate lists a “mansion house,” half a barn, half a cider house, a quarter of a cider mill and about 45 acres of land, the total value of which was £600.^[14]
• 1783: Josiah’s widow Elizabeth (Appleton) Fairfield sued Matthew and Josiah Fairfield, Jr. to secure her possession of her late husband’s real estate, resulting with a six-acre house lot^[15]

• 1797: Matthew Fairfield sold the property (i.e., a “mansion house” and six acres, including a “small piece of land” called “the nursery”) to Thomas Kimball and Joseph Fairfield for $333.33^[16]
• 1810: Thomas Kimball died, the inventory of his estate including a house, “old” and “new” barns, a cow barn and “old shop.” Thomas' widow Huldah (Porter) Kimball died in 1835.^[17] Their son Thomas Kimball, Jr. eventually bought out his siblings’ interests in the real estate.^[18]
• 1845: Thomas Kimball, Jr. died, and son Solomon E. Kimball inherited his house^[19]
• 1924: Solomon E. Kimball died intestate, and son Elwell F. Kimball inherited Solomon’s “[f]arm in Wenham including land and buildings” valued at $5,500.00^[20]

Solomon Kimball House, 1900^[21]

Thomas and Mary (Solart) Killam

Thomas Killam (or Kilham), son of Daniel and Mary (Safford) Killam, was born 1653-4 in Wenham, and married Martha Solart circa 1680.^[22] Killam was a veteran of King Philip’s War, serving under Major Samuel Appleton of Ipswich in Appleton’s campaign against the Narragansett, including the Great Swamp Fight of December 19, 1675. In May 1676 the General Court voted to repay soldiers for losses incurred, and voted £2 15d 6s for Killam’s losses.^[23]

Martha (Solart) Killam was the daughter of John, Sr. and Elizabeth (-----) Solart, who kept a tavern in Wenham, still standing at 106 Main Street. Solart, Sr. was financially successful, yet drowned himself in 1672 leaving an estate of over £500. Solart, Sr.’s widow soon remarried Ezekiel Woodward, and kept her seven children from receiving their rightful share of Solart, Sr.’s estate. Eventually, these children successfully petitioned the General Court for redress in 1682.^[24]

Martha was a sister of Sarah Good,^[25] who was one of the first three to be accused of witchcraft during the Salem witchcraft hysteria and was hanged in 1692. Sarah's 4 year-old daughter Dorothy Good (also known as Dorcas Good) was also accused and arrested for witchcraft. Dorothy Good survived the hysteria, but was the youngest to be accused of witchcraft during the Salem episode.^[26]

Thomas and Martha (Solart) Killam had six children, all born in Wenham and the last two likely born in the Solomon Kimball House:^[27]

1. Thomas, Jr., (date of birth not recorded); married Sarah Maxey, April 8, 1712, Topsfield, MA^[28]
2. Martha (date of birth not recorded); married Timothy Bragg, December 23, 1714, Ipswich, MA^[29]
3. Samuel (date of birth not recorded); married Grace Endicott, December 21, 1715, Boxford, MA^[30]
4. John, born November 3, 1695; died 1738; married Abigail Symonds, February 3, 1724-5, Boxford, MA^[31]
5. Daniel, born May 25, 1698; died October 20, 1699, Wenham^[32]
6. Daniel (2nd), born August 14, 1700^[33]

Thomas Killam sold his house in Wenham to William Fairfield in July 1701,^[34] and moved to Boxford (MA).^[35]

William, Esther (Batchelder) and Rebecca (Tarbox) Fairfield

William Fairfield owned the property from 1701 to 1725. He likely built himself a new house in 1724, having inherited land from his late father Walter the year before,^[36] and gave the former Thomas Killam homestead to his son Josiah as a wedding gift.^[37] (It's worth noting that the land William inherited from his father included a burial ground that the family had been using since at least 1691.^[38])

A son of Ensign Walter and Sarah (Skipper) Fairfield, William was born October 14, 1662 in Reading, MA, and died on December 18, 1742 in Wenham.^[39] He was active in town affairs, and was Town Clerk 1706-1711 and 1724-1729; Moderator of Town Meeting in 1715, 1716, 1733-1736, 1739 and 1741; and was elected deacon of the First Church in 1731.^[40] He was a Representative at General Court in 1723, 1728, 1730, and 1732-1742,^[41] and “[d]uring the session of 1741, he was Speaker of the House of Deputies, at that time the highest office in the gift of the people, the Governor and Lieut. Governor being appointed by the King.”^[42]

 He appears to have been one of those shrewd, clear-headed, practical men, whose minds are formed and trained by reflection and experience, rather than by a knowledge of books, or by intercourse with the world. He held, at different times, every office in the gift of the people of his native town and State, and in all, he gained the confidence of those whom he was called to serve. He was also an active member of the church, and for many years one of its deacons.

 We regret that so little can now be ascertained concerning Mr. Fairfield. An anecdote is still told of him, which is quite characteristic. The common mode of travelling in those days was on horseback. Setting out to attend a session of the Legislature, he became so absorbed in thinking of the business on which they were to enter, and upon his duties as Speaker, that he is said to have actually reached Boston, bridle in hand, before discovering that he had left his horse at home.^[43]

William married twice. His first marriage was to Esther Batchelder about the year 1687.^[44] She was born circa 1668 and died on January 21, 1722/3 in Wenham.^[45] More research is required to identify her parents and the dates and locations of her birth and marriage. William and Esther (Batchelder) Fairfield had thirteen children, all born in Wenham:^[46]

1. Sarah, born July 23, 1688; died February 6, 1705 in Wenham (buried in Fairfield Family Burial Ground)
2. Mary, born December 18, 1689
3. William, Jr., born October 18, 1691; died October 24, 1691 in Wenham (buried in Fairfield Family Burial Ground)
4. William, Jr. (2nd), born November 17, 1692
5. Esther, Jr., born August 12, 1695
6. Tabitha, born May 17, 1696; died October 7, 1717 in Wenham (buried in Fairfield Family Burial Ground)
7. Abigail, born May 9, 1698
8. Elizabeth, born January 9, 1699/1700
9. Josiah, born October 12, 1701
10. Prudence, born July 13, 1704
11. Skipper, born January 2, 1706
12. Benjamin, born October 29, 1708
13. Rev. John, born November 29, 1712

William’s second marriage was to Mrs. Rebecca (Tarbox) Gott on October 14, 1723 in Wenham.^[47] Rebecca was born on August 8, 1672 in Lynn, MA, the daughter of Samuel and Rebecca (Armitage) Tarbox.^[48] Her first marriage was to John Gott, whom she married on July 19, 1693 in Salem, MA.^[49] (John Gott was the son of Charles and Lydia (Clark) Gott, was born on November 8, 1668 in Wenham,^[50] and died on January 25, 1722-3 in Wenham.^[51]) She died on July 29, 1765 in Lynn, MA.^[52] No children are recorded in Wenham’s vital records for William and Rebecca (Gott) Fairfield.

Primary gravestone of William Fairfield (1662-1742)[53]

Secondary gravestone of William Fairfield (1662-1742)[54]

Gravestone of Esther Fairfield (ca. 1668-1722/3), first wife of William Fairfield[55]

Capt. Matthew and Abigail (Ayers) Fairfield

Matthew Fairfield, son of Josiah and his second wife Elizabeth (Appleton) Fairfield, was born May 18, 1745 in Wenham (likely in the Solomon Kimball House), married Mrs. Abigail Ayers on October 22, 1767 in Haverhill (MA), and died on February 11, 1813 in New Boston, NH.^[56] Matthew was the first of Josiah’s sons to reach adulthood, and it’s likely that when he married Abigail they took up residence in Josiah and Elizabeth’s house. This was certainly the case by 1771, when Matthew and Abigail were living in one part of the house, Josiah and Elizabeth were living in the other part of the house, and Josiah gave Matthew that portion of the house that Matthew and Abigail occupied (along with one half of a cider house and cider mill nearby).^[57]

Matthew Fairfield was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War. In December 1774 he was appointed to the three-member town committee that enlisted Wenham’s minutemen.^[58] Once the fighting began, he was a private in Capt. Billy Porter’s company of minutemen, Col. John Baker’s regiment, which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775, serving five days but arriving too late to see the Battles of Lexington and Concord. He enlisted as a lieutenant at Gloucester in 1775 in the 38th Regiment, and appears in its muster rolls for July through December 1775. He may have spent 1776 at home, since his name does not appear on Massachusetts muster rolls for this period, but was a captain in Col. John Wigglesworth’s regiment from January through October 1777, serving at the Battles of Saratoga.^[59] Later—December 1777 – Capt. Fairfield was with the 13th Massachusetts Regiment (de Kalb’s division, Glover’s brigade) at Valley Forge, although his name does not appear on Valley Forge musters for subsequent months.^[60]

Fairfield was initiated into the Masons in April of 1777,^[61] and held the office of Steward for the United States Lodge in Danvers in October 1778.^[62]

At some point during the Revolution, Capt. Fairfield and his company were sent to Hillsborough County, New Hampshire

 to quell the Tory insurrections, or mobs, that existed … where the old loyal Scotch element so largely predominated. … His greatest troubles were in New Boston, where the Tories had their rendezvous. But it appears that here he found friends, and soon after the war he moved his family from Wenham, Mass., to New Boston, and settled on a tract of land in the south part of the town, where he resided until his death, in 1814 [sic], which was occasioned by the falling of a tree.^[63]

Further research is required to identify Abigail Ayers’ parentage, date and place of birth, and information on her first marriage. She died on January 28, 1825, age 78.^[64]

Matthew and Abigail had twelve children, perhaps nine of whom were likely born in the Solomon Kimball House:

1. Nabby (Abigail), born July 25, 1768, Wenham; died December 24, 1796^[65]
2. Betsey (Elizabeth), born April 28, 1770, Wenham; married William Crombie, April 27, 1797^[66]
3. John, born February 11, 1773, Wenham; married Mehitable Baker (intention recorded October 12, 1799, Wenham)^[67]
4. Hannah, born February 4, 1775, Wenham; died August 8, 1809; married Capt. Joseph Wilson^[68]
5. Alice, died in infancy October 20, 1777, Wenham^[69]
6. Sarah (Sally), baptized August 29, 1779, Wenham; married Benjamin Fairfield (intention recorded April 3, 1803, Wenham)^[70]
7. Walter, died in infancy^[71]
8. William, died in infancy^[72]
9. Charlotte, baptized October 31, 1784, Wenham; married Capt. Joseph Wilson, her widower brother-in-law^[73]
10. Josiah, perhaps born in New Boston, NH; died in infancy^[74]
11. Matthew, Jr., perhaps born in New Boston, NH; died in infancy^[75]
12. William (2nd), perhaps born in New Boston, NH; died in infancy^[76]

Maps

• 1795: Surveyed by Richard Dodge, this is the oldest map known of Wenham, and shows the town’s boundaries, roads and major bodies of water. Current-day Maple Street appears, as does that portion of current-day Topsfield Road northwest of Maple Street. (Note that current-day Topsfield Road did not extend to the Beverly town line, but stopped at current-day Maple and Cherry Streets.)
• 1831: Surveyed by Philander Anderson, this map shows the expansion of Wenham’s system of roads, the addition of swampland, and a drawing of the Wenham Meeting House.

  Wenham, 1795

  Wenham, 1831

• 1872: This map shows the Solomon Kimball House as “T. Kimball Est[ate].” The “A. Bagley” house, near the northeast corner of the intersection of current-day Cherry Street and Topsfield Road, was the William Fairfield homestead.
• 1884: This map shows the Solomon Kimball House as “S. Kimball.”

  Wenham, 1872

  Wenham, 1884

• 1910 (Western & Central Wenham): This map shows the Solomon Kimball House as “S Kimball” and provides the location of the house itself as well as three out buildings. The outline of the house indicates an ell or porch at the northeast corner of the building that no longer exists.
• 1910 (Maple & Bomer Streets): This on-the-ground survey of properties adjacent to Maple and Bomer Streets (Bomer Street subsequently known as the portion of Topsfield Road southwest of Maple and Cherry Streets) shows the location of an orchard and garden belonging to Solomon Kimball, northwest of the Moulton lot (which was opposite Company Lane). The 1910 map of western and central Wenham, however—which likely was not drawn from an on-the-ground survey—identifies the lot northwest of the Moulton lot as “Hrs. E. Kimball” (or heirs of E. Kimball). This label is probably a typo; the lot northwest of the Moulton lot would have been owned by heirs of Thomas Kimball or by Solomon Kimball himself.

  Western & Central Wenham, 1910

  Maple & Bomer Streets, Wenham, 1910

• 1955: The subdivision of the Solomon Kimball farm began in 1955 and continued through the mid-1960s, creating Puritan Road, Mayflower Drive and the lots facing those streets. This 1955 map, drawn at the beginning of the subdivision program, shows the location and outline of the Solomon Kimball House and two outbuildings; note the outline of an ell or porch on the north side of the house that no longer exists.^[77]

  Solomon Kimball House Site, 1955

See also

• List of the oldest buildings in Massachusetts
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, Massachusetts

Notes

1. National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. On March 6, 1695/6 Thomas Killam was given permission by the town to cut enough pine timber (from town-owned common land) to yield 700 boards, suggesting that the house was built during the warm months of 1696 or 1697. Although Killam was chosen as surveyor of “high ways” for the west end of town at the January 3, 1686 town meeting, the road that would be known as Maple Street was not laid out until 1704. See Wenham Town Records, vol. 1, pp. 82, 86, 87, 101, 102, 130, Wenham Town Clerk’s Office.
3. Deed from William Fairfield to Josiah Fairfield, Feb. 13, 1737/8, refers to “Thomas Killam[ʼ]s homestead.” See Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 78, pp. 178-179.
4. Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 15, p. 63, deed dated July 22, 1701.
5. Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 70, pp. 75-76, deed dated April __ 1725.
6. Gravestone of Eunice (Cogswell) Fairfield, Fairfield Family Burial Ground, William Fairfield Drive, Wenham, MA, February 7, 2013 photograph and transcription by Robert O. Corcoran:
   HERE LYES Y^e BODY OF
   M^rs EUNICE FAIRFIED
   WIFE TO M^r JOSIAH
   FAIRFIELD DEC^D JULY
   Y^e 25. 1730
   IN Y^e 27. YEAR
   OF HER AGE
   Gravestones for Josiah Fairfield and his second wife Elizabeth (Appleton) Fairfield not found. For record of Eunice’s death see Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 196; she appears to have died because of complications from childbirth, since daughter Eunice (Junior) was born on July 23, 1730, per Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 33.
7. Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 78, pp. 178-179, deed dated February 13, 1737/8.
8. Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 84, pp. 121-122, deed dated February 13, 1737/8.
9. Essex County (MA) Probate, Docket 9198, will dated June 29, 1742.
10. Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 121, pp. 231-232, deed dated January 14, 1767.
11. Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 126, pp. 217-218, deed dated August 10, 1767.
12. Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 125, p. 143, deed dated August 10, 1767.
13. Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 135, pp. 80-81, deed dated January 13, 1771.
14. Essex County (MA) Probate, Docket 9191, will dated September 27, 1777 and inventory dated December 1, 1777.
    For death of Josiah on October 5, 1777 see Vital Records of Wenham, Massachusetts, To the End of the Year 1849, Salem, MA, The Essex Institute, 1904, p. 196.
15. Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 141, pp. 123-124, dated July 18, 1783, resolved August 5, 1783. The house lot is described as follows:
     First we assigned & sett off the
    Dwelling house of Said Josiah Fairfield Esqr deceased in Wenham & the appurte-
    nances also the land under & adjoining to said house bounded as follows viz
    beginning at the highway westerly on land of the heirs of Daniel Gott decease-
    ed Northerly & Easterly on Land of Francis Porter Southerly on the highway to
    the bounds first mentioned Also a Small piece of land bounded as follows viz
    Westerly on land of Said Porter Northerly on land of Benjamin Fairfield
    Southerly on the highway to the bounds first mentioned the whole contain-
    ing about Six acres be the same more or less
    Further research is needed to ascertain when Elizabeth (Appleton) Fairfield died.
16. Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 162, p. 277, deed dated February 23, 1797.
    Further research is needed to determine when Joseph Fairfield conveyed his interest in the property to Thomas Kimball.
17. Essex County (MA) Probate, Docket 15769, Estate Administration, March 5, 1811.
    Wellington Pool, “Inscriptions From Gravestones in the Old Burying Ground in Wenham,” 1882, p. 11: “In Memory of | MR. THOMAS KIMBALL | who departed this life, | Dec. 27 1810. |Æt. 54. | Retire my friends dry up your tears, | Here I must rest till Christ appears.” “In memory of | Mrs. Huldah Kimball, | wife of | Mr. Thomas Kimball, | who died Feb. 27 1835 | aged 75 years. | Also their Son | Mr. John Kimball | who died Nov. 15, 1835, aged 44 years. | Happy souls your days are ended | All your sufferings here below | Go by angel guards attended | To the arms of Jesus go.”
    Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, pp. 207 (Huldah’s death on February 27, 1835), 209 (Thomas’ death on December 27, 1810).
18. See Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 203, p. 248 for March 21, 1814 deed from John Kimball to Thomas Kimball, Jr., selling his interest in the real estate of Thomas Kimball; see Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 220, p. 68 for March 14, 1815 deed from Edmund and wife Mary Kimball, and Ebenezer and wife Betsey Todd to Thomas Kimball, Jr., selling their interest in the real estate of Thomas Kimball.
    See Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 214, p. 131 for August 8, 1817 mortgage of Thomas Kimball to Edmund Kimball, mortgage released December 6, 1820, describing two lots totaling 100 acres, bordered in part by current-day Maple Street and current-day Topsfield Road.
19. Pool, “Inscriptions From Gravestones in the Old Burying Ground in Wenham,” 1882, p. 11: “Mr. | THOS. KIMBALL | Died | Oct. 25, 1845. | Æt. 56.”
    Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 209 (death of Thomas on October 25, 1845).
    See Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 708, p. 111, deed dated February 7, 1866, in which Edmund and wife Mary O. Kimball, Ebenezer and Susan Kimball, and Joseph G. and Nancy Kent sell (for $50.00) to Solomon E. Kimball their interest in “[a] certain farm which was the homestead of our late father, Thomas Kimball” and three other lots of land inherited from Thomas Kimball.
    See Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 4145, p. 107, recorded March 4, 1955, for copy of record of death of Betsey E. Kimball (daughter of Thomas, Jr. and Nancy Kimball) who died September 4, 1864 in Wenham; see Book 4145, p. 108, recorded March 4, 1955, for copy of record of death of Sarah J. Kimball (daughter of Thomas, Jr. and Nancy Kimball) who died December 27, 1852 in Wenham; see Book 4145, p. 109 for Affirmation of Elwell F. Kimball stating that Thomas Kimball (Jr.) died at Wenham in October 1846 [sic].
20. Essex County (MA) Probate, Docket 150305, Petition, November 18, 1924, in which Elwell F. Kimball of Thompson, CT states that Solomon E. Kimball last dwelt in Gloucester and died September 4, 1924; Administrator's Inventory, February 3, 1925 (valuation of farm).
21. Photographed Sept. 27, 1900 by Benjamin H. Conant (1843-1921). Image courtesy of the Wenham Museum, Wenham, MA, B. H. Conant Collection, Plate #01757.
22. Sidney Perley, The Dwellings of Boxford, Salem, MA, The Essex Institute, 1893, p. 148.
    William Stowell Mills, “The Early Kilhams,” The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, vol. 56 (1902), pp. 345, 346.
23. George M. Bodge, “Soldiers in King Philip’s War,” The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, vol. 38 (1884), pp. 441, 443.
    Bodge, Soldiers in King Philip’s War, Boston, Rockwell and Churchill Press, 1896, pp. 155, 157.
24. For death of John “Soolard” the “Frenchman” on May 24, 1672, see Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 220; for marriage of Elizabeth “Soolart” and Ezekiel Woodward on December 20, 1672, see Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 166. (Evidently, “Solart” is an anglicized version of a French name.)
    Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, eds., Salem-Village Witchcraft, Boston, Northeastern University Press, 1972, pp. 141-142 (“Petition of the Surviving Children of John Solart,” signers of which included “Thomas Kelham and wife Martha”).
    Boyer and Nissenbaum, Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1974, p. 203.
    Wenham in Pictures and Prose, Wenham Historical Association & Museum, Inc., 1992, pp. 12-13.
25. Signers of the “Petition of the Surviving Children of John Solart” included not only “Thomas Kelham and wife Martha” (as noted earlier), but also “Daniel Poole and wife Sarah.” See Boyer and Nissenbaum, eds., Salem-Village Witchcraft, 1972, pp. 141-142.
    Sarah (Solart) Poole subsequently married William Good; see “Attachment Against William and Sarah Good” in Boyer and Nissenbaum, eds. Salem-Village Witchcraft, 1972 pp. 142-143.
26. Boyer and Nissenbaum, Salem Possessed, 1974, pp. 3, 5.
27. All children: Mills, "The Early Kilhams," 1902, p. 346.
    Children #4-6: Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, pp. 48, 205.
28. Perley, The Dwellings of Boxford, 1893, p. 152 (first name of wife; identification of Ebenezer Killam, born 1714, as the son of Thomas, Jr.).
    Mills, "The Early Kilhams," 1902, p. 346.
    Topsfield Historical Society, Vital Records of Topsfield, Massachusetts, To the End of the Year 1849, Salem, MA, Newcomb & Gauss, 1903, p. 159 (marriage of Thomas “Killum” and “Sary” or “Sarah Maxce”).
    Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 135 (marriage intention recorded March 16, 1712 for Thomas “Killem” of Topsfield and Sarah “Maxcy”).
29. Mills, "The Early Kilhams," 1902, p. 346.
    Essex Institute, Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts, To the End of the Year 1849, Salem, MA, Newcomb & Gauss, vol. 2 (1910), p.55 (marriage).
30. Mills, "The Early Kilhams," 1902, p. 346.
    Topsfield Historical Society, Vital Records of Boxford, Massachusetts, To the End of the Year 1849, Salem, MA, Newcomb & Gauss, 1905, p. 164 (marriage).
31. Perley, The Dwellings of Boxford, 1893, p. 148 (years of birth, marriage and death, and name of wife).
    Mills, "The Early Kilhams," 1902, p. 346 (birth, death, name of wife and year of marriage).
    Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 48 (birth).
    Topsfield Historical Society, Vital Records of Boxford, 1905, p. 163 (marriage).
32. Mills, "The Early Kilhams," 1902, p. 346 (birth and death).
    Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 48 (birth).
33. Mills,"The Early Kilhams," 1902, p. 346.
    Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 48.
34. Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 15, p. 63.
35. Thomas Killam bought the 100-acre farm of Zerubabel Endicott, which was located on property that had been part of a 550-acre grant to Endicott’s grandfather, Governor John Endicott, for £180. The farm included a house that Zerubabel Endicott had built circa 1682, as well as a barn. The farm no longer exists, due to the construction of U.S. Route I-95. The farm house originally stood about 50 feet from the bridge for the Masconomet Regional School, exit #51 over route I-95, in what is now the median strip; it was subsequently moved to River Road, Topsfield (MA). A family cemetery is located in the southeast corner of the school property, and it is thought that Killam and his wife are buried here. Thomas Killam’s daughter-in-law Grace Endicott was a daughter of Zerubabel Endicott.
    Perley, The Dwellings of Boxford, 1893, pp. 147-148, citing transaction date of January 25, 1701/2.
    Mills, “The Early Kilhams,” 1902, p. 346, citing transaction date of January 15, 1701/2.
    Rick Kilham, citing George S. Brown, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Genealogies, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1993 (see www.gravematter.com/kilham-boxford.asp).
36. William’s 1738 deed to son Benjamin Fairfield makes it clear that William’s own homestead was a parcel other than the former Thomas Killam homestead; see Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 84, pp. 121-122, deed dated February 13, 1737/8.
    For death of Walter Fairfield, July 20, 1723, see Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 196. See also Myron O. Allen, The History of Wenham, Boston, Bazin & Chandler, 1860, p. 136 for identification of Walter Fairfield as the father of William Fairfield.
    William’s new house was on the north side of what is now Cherry Street, about 200 feet east of what is now Topsfield Road, and appears as the “A. Bagley” house in the 1872 Beers’ atlas of Wenham. William’s grandfather John Fairfield was granted 90 acres in the vicinity of the current-day intersection of Cherry Street and Topsfield Road in 1639, and “[t]he grant was used as farmland until it became the home of [William Fairfield].” See Wenham in Pictures and Prose, 1992, pp. 126-128.
37. In William’s 1725 deed to Josiah, it is clear that Josiah was already living in the former Thomas Killam house. Josiah had married Eunice Cogswell on December 21, 1724 in Ipswich; see Essex Institute, Vital Records of Ipswich, 1910, vol. 2, p. 156.
38. The oldest gravestone in the burial ground is that for William Fairfield, Jr., who died in infancy in 1691—ten years before William Fairfield, Sr. bought the nearby Thomas Killam homestead. Interestingly, although William, Sr.’s father Walter owned the land surrounding and including the family burial ground, when Walter’s wife Sarah died in 1710 Walter buried her in the town cemetery. (See Allen, The History of Wenham, 1860, p. 129; see also Pool, “Inscriptions From Gravestones in the Old Burying Ground in Wenham,” 1882, p. 8.) Why didn’t Walter utilize the family burial ground for his late wife? Indeed, where was Walter himself buried?
    The Fairfield Family Burial Ground is Wenham’s only surviving family cemetery. It’s possible that other families similarly buried their loved ones on their own land, but if another family cemetery existed, the memory of it—as well as its grave markers—had disappeared by 1860. (The Fairfield Family Burial Ground is the only cemetery other than the town cemetery included in the history of the town published that year. See Allen, The History of Wenham, 1860, pp. 126-132.) If the Fairfields began using the burial ground prior to William, Jr.’s death, any older gravestones had disappeared by the time of the compilation of Vital Records of Wenham, published in 1904, as William, Jr.’s is the oldest gravestone record included for that cemetery.
39. Marriage of “Walter Fayerfield” and “Sarah Shippen” on December 28, 1654: Thomas W. Baldwin, Vital Records of Reading, Massachusetts, To the Year 1850, Boston, Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1912, p. 336. “Shippen” is probably a transcription error by Baldwin, since the name “Skipper” was given to various descendants of Walter and Sarah Fairfield (per www.fairfieldfamily.com). See also Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Baltimore, MD, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1985, p. 257.
    Birth: Baldwin, Vital Records of Reading, 1912, p. 90.
    Death: Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 197.
40. Allen, The History of Wenham, 1860, pp. 103, 203.
41. Allen, The History of Wenham, 1860, p. 102.
42. Allen, The History of Wenham, 1860, p. 62.
43. Allen, The History of Wenham, 1860, pp. 136-137.
44. Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, 1985, p. 257 (married before 1690).
    John A. Schultz, Legislators of the Massachusetts General Court 1691-1780, Boston, Northeastern University Press, 1997, p. 216 (married circa 1687).
45. Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 196.
46. All children: www.fairfieldfamily.com; see also Wynn Cowan Fairfield, "Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham," New York, 1953, pp. 11-13.
    Children #1, 3 & 6: Gravestones of Sarah, William, Jr., and Tabitha Fairfield, Fairfield Family Burial Ground, William Fairfield Drive, Wenham, MA.
    Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, pp. 33 (children #10-13), 35 (children #7-9; child #6’s birth), 196 (child #1’s death), 197 (child #3; child #6’s death).
47. Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 117.
48. Rev. Increase N. Tarbox, D.D., “John Tarbox of Lynn, and His Descendants,” The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Boston, David Clapp & Son, vol. 42 (1888), p. 30.
    Essex Institute, Vital Records of Lynn, Massachusetts, To the End of the Year 1849, Salem, MA, Newcomb & Gauss, 1905, vol. 1, p. 394 (birth); vol. 2 (1906), pp. 24, 368 (marriage of parents on November 14, 1665).
49. Essex Institute, Vital Records of Salem, Massachusetts, To the End of the Year 1849, Salem, MA, Newcomb & Gauss, 1925, vol. 3, p. 343.
    See also Tarbox, “John Tarbox of Lynn,” 1888, p. 30; and Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, 1985, p. 314.
50. Horace Davis, Ancestry of John Davis and Eliza Bancroft, San Francisco, 1897, pp. 38-39, 41.
    Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, pp. 41 (birth), 125 (marriage of parents on December 25, 1665). (See also Essex Institute, Vital Records of Lynn, vol. 2, 1906, p. 156 for marriage of parents on December 25, 1665).
    William Richard Cutter, Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, New York, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1908, p. 869.
51. Pool, “Inscriptions From Gravestones in the Old Burying Ground in Wenham,” 1882, p. 18: “Here Lies the body | of Lievten^t John Gott | Who died the 25th | of January 1722-3 | in the 54^year of his Age.”
    Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 201.
52. John T. Moulton, Inscriptions From the Old Burying Ground, Lynn, Mass., Salem, MA, The Essex Institute, 1886, p. 47: "Here lyes y^e body of M^rs Rebecca Fairfield, widow to Deacon William Fairfield, who died July y^e 29, 1765, in y^e 93 year of her age."
    Essex Institute, Vital Records of Lynn, 1906, vol. 2, p. 476.
53. Primary gravestone of William Fairfield, Fairfield Family Burial Ground, William Fairfield Drive, Wenham, MA, April 27, 2013 photograph and transcription by Robert O. Corcoran:
    HERE LIES BURIED Y^e BODY
    OF THE HONOURABLE
    WILLIAM FAIRFIELD ESq^r
    SOMETIME SPEAKER
    OF THE HOUSE
    OF REPRESENTATIUES
    AND FOR MANY YEARS
    A DEAC^N OF Y^e CHURCH
    IN WENHAM AND REPR
    ESENTATIUE FOR S^d TOWN
    WHO DIED DEC^R 18th
    1742 IN Y^e 81st
    YEAR OF HIS AGE
    This "primary" gravestone appears to be placed at the head of William's grave, while the "secondary" gravestone appears to be placed at the foot of his grave.
    A transcription of this stone appears in Allen, The History of Wenham, 1860, p. 132, but the transcription contains typographical differences and an erroneous date of December 19th.
54. Secondary gravestone of William Fairfield, Fairfield Family Burial Ground, William Fairfield Drive, Wenham, MA, April 27, 2013 photograph and transcription by Robert O. Corcoran:
    WILLIAM
    FAIRFIELD
    ESq^r
    1742
    This "secondary" gravestone appears to be placed at the foot of William's grave.
55. Gravestone of Esther (Batchelder) Fairfield, Fairfield Family Burial Ground, William Fairfield Drive, Wenham, MA, April 27, 2013 photograph and transcription by Robert O. Corcoran:
    HERE LYES Y^e BODY OF
    M^rs ESTHER FAIERFIELD
    WIFE TO M^r WILLIAM
    FAIERFIELD AGED About
    55 YEARS DEC^D JAN^ry
    Y^e 21st 1722/3
56. Birth: Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 35.
    Marriage: Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 87 (marriage intention April 11, 1767, “Mrs. Abigail Ayers”); Vital Records of Haverhill, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849, Topsfield, MA, Topsfield Historical Society, 1911, vol. 2, p. 15.
    Death: Elliott C. Cogswell, History of New Boston, New Hampshire, Boston, George C. Rand & Avery, 1864, p. 227.
    See www.fairfieldfamily.com, Database: “Descendants of John Fairfield,” #170; see also Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, pp. 33-34.
57. Essex County (MA) Deeds, Book 135, pp. 80-81.
58. Allen, The History of Wenham, 1860, p. 75.
59. Allen, The History of Wenham, 1860, p. 83.
    John J. Babson, History of the Town of Gloucester, Cape Ann, Including the Town of Rockport, Gloucester, MA, Procter Brothers, 1860, p. 389 (enlistment in the 38th Regiment).
    Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Boston, Wright & Potter, 1899, vol. 5, p. 473.
    “Participants in the Battles of Saratoga,” www.saratoganygenweb.com/batlfa.htm.
60. http://www.valleyforgemusterroll.org
61. Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts Membership Cards 1733-1990, New England Historic Genealogical Society, www.americanancestors.org, Matthew Fairfield.
62. Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, Proceedings in Masonry, St. John’s Grand Lodge 1733-1792, Massachusetts Grand Lodge 1769-1792, Boston, Rockwell and Churchill, 1895, p. 268.
63. Cogswell, History of New Boston, 1864, p. 409. At p. 227, however, Cogswell provides Fairfield’s date of death as February 11, 1813.
    For residency in New Boston, see also D. Hamilton Hurd, History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co., 1885, p. 605: “In 1792, Ninian Clark, Matthew Fairfield, Solomon Dodge, James Caldwell and John Cochran were appointed a committee to re-district the town [New Boston], which they proceeded to do, making eleven districts.”
    Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, p. 33 states that Matthew moved to New Boston in 1785, but does not record his reference.
64. Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, p. 33; Fairfield does not record his reference or the place of Abigail’s death.
65. Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 35.
    Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, p. 33.
66. Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 34.
    Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, p. 33.
67. Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, pp. 34, 177.
    Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, pp. 33-34.
68. Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, p. 34.
    Birth not found in Vital Records of Wenham, 1904.
69. Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 197 (death of an unnamed infant child of Matthew Fairfield).
    Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, p. 34.
70. Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, pp. 34, 117.
    Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, p. 34; identifies Benjamin as the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Sweetser) Fairfield.
71. Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, p. 34.
    Birth not found in Vital Records of Wenham, 1904.
72. Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, p. 34.
    Birth not found in Vital Records of Wenham, 1904.
73. Vital Records of Wenham, 1904, p. 34.
    Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, p. 34.
74. Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, p. 34.
    Birth not found in Vital Records of Wenham, 1904.
75. Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, p. 34.
    Birth not found in Vital Records of Wenham, 1904.
76. Fairfield, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953, p. 34.
    Birth not found in Vital Records of Wenham, 1904.
77. See Essex County (MA) Deeds, Plan Book 90, plan 89 (1958) for a plan of Puritan Road; Plan Book 97, plan 62 (1961) for the lot lines of a 22.7 acre parcel that would become the Mayflower Drive neighborhood; and Plan Book 106, plan 30 (1966) for a plan of Mayflower Drive. See also Plan Book 73, plan 52, sheet 3 (1941), land of Elwell F. and Luella M. Kimball, for (1) the original location of the driveway and (2) the stone wall along the north side of Maple Street. The driveway was moved (probably when Puritan Road was built) from the property’s southwest corner on Maple Street to the intersection of Maple Street and Puritan Road. The stone wall in front of the house, along the north side of Maple Street, was removed, perhaps at the same time the driveway was relocated.

External links

• Allen, Myron O., The History of Wenham, 1860
• Bodge, George M., Soldiers in King Philip's War,1896
• Fairfield Family Burial Ground
• Fairfield Family Genealogical Site
• Fairfield, Wynn Cowan, “Descendants of John Fairfield of Wenham,” 1953
• Moulton, John T., Inscriptions From the Old Burying Ground, Lynn, Mass., 1886
  Perley, Sidney, The Dwellings of Boxford, Salem, MA, The Essex Institute, 1893
• Pool, Wellington, “Inscriptions From Gravestones in the Old Burying Ground in Wenham,” 1882
• Vital Records of Wenham, 1904