Number 32. The Merchant Choate House. 103 High Street. Early houses were frequently built with one large room with fireplace on the ground level with a matching room above. As they were able to afford a larger house, a matching set of rooms was added on the opposite side of the fireplace and stairway. This house was formed by combining two such houses. The rooms to the left of the front entrance were built with fine woodworking and panelling. The rooms to the right, originally a story and a half house, were much simpler, the kind that most early residents would have built.The left part of the house was possibly built by William Merchant. He left his house to his only child, Mary, and her husband, Henry Osborn. Later, it became the home of another Lord family. The right portion of the house became the home of Henry Russell and his wife Katherine Sutton in 1787. They were the great grandparents of William Russell who built the Queen Anne House at 12 High Street. They lived there 45 years and died within a few hours of each other. They were buried in separate coffins in a single grave. 
At this point, the original town ended. A fence was built at this location and cut off all roads. Those who lived nearby were required to pay the costs and maintain the fences. The land beyond the fence was common land. This was divided up later on as the population of the town grew and need for land increased.At the time of the Revolution, Ipswich ranked with Salem and Boston as the most important towns in the colony. |
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