one anothers heels, and quarrel as I have seen em in England." With this bit of romance, I conclude my present study of the old houses of Ipswich. Many more remain to be investigated, and unsuspected rewards may await the diligent student. In due time I hope every old dwelling will have its history carefully written. My aim has been not so much to exhaust the field, for this is impossible, nor to pronounce final judgments, as to illustrate the only sure way of approximating the truth. The work must be done cautiously and candidly, with a mind open to the truth, however sharp the conflict with cherished traditions or deeply seated prejudices. Resort must always be made to original documents. Regard must be had to inherent probabilities. Results obtained by the application of this method may fairly be considered a contribution to the permanent history of our town. The conclusion to which we must come is that many houses are not as old as they have been thought; that many substantial houses have passed away; that the history of one house is very easily transferred to another; that tradition is very unhistoric; that definite decision is impossible in many cases; but that, after all allowance is made, a remarkable number of ancient dwellings, still in use, were built in the earlier half of the last century, and a few remain from the closing decades of the seventeenth century, which were built before all the pioneers who knew Winthrop, and cleared the wilderness and built the town, had passed away. MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING AND REPORTS OF OFFICERS. THE annual meeting of the Ipswich Historical Society was held in the Parish House, Monday evening, Dec. 6, and although not so largely attended as it might have been it was nevertheless a very enthusiastic gathering. A great deal in the advancement of the Society's interest was accomplished and several new and important lines of work started. President Waters called the meeting to order and the reports of Treasurer J. I. Horton, Secretary John H. Cogswell and President Waters, were read and accepted. The reports are given in full below. Mr. Waters' paper was a valuable historical addition to the society's reports and he was warmly commended for the same. The purchase of a permanent location in the " Whipple House," at railroad square, was talked of, and a committee of three, George A. Lord, Fred A. Willcomb and J. I. Horton, were chosen to inquire into the feasibility of the plan. The President was instructed to appoint a committee of five on membership, to consist in part of ladies. Mr. Gates moved that a committee of ladies be chosen in the same way to take charge of the rooms on certain afternoons in the week. He suggested that in summer particularly quite an income could be secured by keeping the rooms open and charging a small admission fee. |