Number 20. The William Russell House. 12 High Street. Job Harris built a house on this location in the 1760's. It was still standing at the time William Russell, who owned a dry goods store on Market Street, bought the property. Rather than tear down a serviceable house, he sold it and moved it to the other side of the block. When Russell bought the property, it was owned by Aaron Ross. The Ross family in Ipswich descend from Killicross Ross, who was a Scottish soldier, captured at the battle of Dunbar by Oliver Cromwell's army. Like many others, he was sold to Puritans who desperately needed servants to work their farms. He was never able to return to Scotland. While he wasn't worthy to marry a Puritan, he found a woman in Beverly to marry. His son, Daniel, married into the highly respected Rogers family, and the assimilation of the family was complete.This house is a Queen Anne period house, relatively unusual in Ipswich. The sitting room contains a fireplace decorated with sea serpents. According to tradition, this house had the first inside bathroom in Ipswich. |