4 East St., the old Methodist Parsonage, 1830

The house at 4 East Street was constructed about 1830 and served as the Methodist Parsonage. The first sanctuary of the Methodist Church was located next door at the location of the present-day Ipswich Inn.4 East Street, Ipswich Ma

A Methodist Society was organized in 1822. Construction of the meeting house next door was accomplished 3 years later, and services moved to the new location.  Today’s Methodist Church on Meeting House Green was built in 1859. In 1862 the old church building and lot were sold to Robert Jordan, who built the home that is now the Ipswich Inn.

The Methodist church and parsonage in the 1832 Ipswich map

Ipswich original Methodist Church

The first Methodist Church meeting house was on East Street at the present day location of the Ipswich Inn. The house next door was the parsonage, still standing.

Rev. Jacob Sanborn was the Preacher in  in 1830, and the increased vigor of the Church was further manifest in the erection of a parsonage on the lot adjoining the meeting house. Joseph Wait bought the lot, June 16, 1830, and after the parsonage was built, conveyed it to the Trustees “with the buildings, the same having been built by subscription, and by said Trustees, their Committee,” May, 6, 1831.

  • A new parsonage was constructed at 29 County Street in 1872, and this building and lot were sold by the Methodists to Moses Spiller.
  • The 1884 Ipswich map shows the owner as A. H. Spiller.
  • The 1910 Ipswich map shows the owner as W. E. Morrill.
  • In 1922, he sold to Florence M. Bayley.
  • The next owner was Arthur S. Lord, who purchased the house in 1938.

It is interesting to observe that the houses at # 4 and #6 East Street have the same original footprint, but #6 retains its original Federal-era appearance, whereas #4 has bow windows, a turret, and other Victorian flourishes.

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