In the 18th century, this site was part of the extensive holdings of Purchase Jewett which were subsequently divided among his heirs. Jacob Pickard, Jr. of Rowley, who had married Tabitha Jewett in 1788, purchased portions of the inherited land in 1810 and 1812 and built a house on it. Pickard purchased the Jewett sawmill on Dow Brook in 1816, and with his sons, Isaac and Nathaniel, “operated the mill with the old-fashioned up-and-down saw until the later half of the century.” When only 17 years of age, Jacob Pickard had fought in the Revolutionary War with other Ipswich Village men and served at West Point under Benedict Arnold. The house remained in the Pickard family until after 1914.
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