1740 – Historic Ipswich

The Devil’s footprint

By Gordon Harris on February 16, 2019 • ( Leave a comment )

Imprinted into the rocks in front of the First Church in Ipswich is the footprint of the devil, left there forever in a legendary encounter with the traveling English evangelist George Whitefield in 1740.

Illegal Currency: Ipswich and the Land Bank scheme of 1740-41

By Gordon Harris on December 20, 2016 • ( Leave a comment )

In September 1740, two Massachusetts Land Banks organized and issued 50,000 pounds of notes of varying amounts, without legal authorization of the Crown, and over the objections of the governor and his Council. An Act of Parliament declared all the transactions of the two Bank Schemes illegal and void.