The Jewett-Cressey House, 39 Pleasant St., Rowley MA (1732)

The house at 39 Pleasant St. was built for Joseph Jewett in 1732. Ownership by Jewett heirs continued by inheritance and marriage through the Hale and Cressey surnames until 1947. The following information is from the MACRIS site of the Massachusetts Historical Commission:

ROW.46 Langley – Jewett – Hale – Cressey House 39 Pleasant St., 1732

“This 1732 half-house, with a two-story ell, has nine over six windows on the first floor and Indian shutters. The inside has many interesting features, such as large beams and curved, corner arched framing, which is exposed. There are few, if any, other houses exactly like it in the community of this period.

“This house sits on the two-acre house lot, which was granted to Robert Hunter, the first settler. He died in 1647. It passed through the families of Langley, Hale, and Cressey, all prominent families in town, who always lived on this street and built many of the early houses here. Langleys and Hales are no longer there, but the large market and flower garden farm of the Cressey family is still operating on nearby lots on this street, as it has, for nearly 200 years, provided employment for many young people in the town who are interested in market gardening.”

Robert Hunter

This house sits on the two-acre house lot, which was granted to Robert Hunter, an early settler, who died in 1647. His will mentions his wife, Mary, to have lifetime use of the house and lands; the remainder went to Abel Langley, “if he shall settle here & carry well towards his Dame”. Otherwise, the remainder of the house was to be for the use of the poor of Rowley. (Source)

Abel Langley

Abel Langley agreed to the terms and had possession of the land in 1654. His wife, Sarah, died on May 16, 1666. His second wife was Mary, daughter of Thomas Dickinson, who died on April 22, 1673. Langley’s third wife was Sarah, daughter of Mark Quilter of Ipswich, who died on June 20, 1683. Langley’s will was probated on June 10, 1687. He had a son also named Abell, or Abel.

In 1725, the Quilter and Langley heirs transferred part of the estate of Abel Langley to Joseph Jewett (61:239) in a lengthy deed that is difficult to read. In 1732, Abel Langley and Sarah Quilter, daughter of Samuel Langley and other heirs, sold this house lot to Joseph Jewett (61-239), and Joseph Jewett built this house. (Source: Early Settlers of Rowley). In 1741, Abel (aka Abell) Langley, son of Abel Sr., quitclaimed “land, marsh, and meadows” to Joseph Jewett’s heirs (83:77).

Joseph Jewett, the early settler of Rowley (1609-1660), was a distinguished, wealthy merchant. Captain Joseph Jewett, son of Joseph Jewett, served as representative to the General Court in 1718 and 1719.

Deacon George Jewett

Deacon George Jewett (John-Nehemiah-Nehemiah-Joseph-Edward) was born in Rowley on March 18, 1746-7. He married on April 16, 1771, Sarah Noyes of Ipswich. Sarah Noyes Jewett died in Rowley of consumption on Feb. 12, 1824, aged 76 years. Deacon George Jewett died on May 5, 1829, at age 83. Their children, born in Rowley, were:

Sarah, born Jan. 11, 1772.
Susannah, born June 5, 1775, married Pemberton Hale in 1797.
Hannah, born Oct. 25, 1774; died Oct. 12, 1800.
Lucy, born Aug. 2, 1776; died June 26, 1796.
Dolly, born June 26, 1779; died Feb. 26, 1798.

The Cressey Family

The year following Deacon George Jewett’s death, the 1830 Rowley map shows the owner of this lot as Nathaniel Cressey (1800-1875), who in 1823 married Sarah Jewett Cresey, the daughter of Pemberton Hale. Hale moved to Rowley from Newbury and married Susannah (Jewett) Hale in 1797. This house, and the land across the road, came into the possession of Pemberton Hale through his marriage to Susanna Jewett, and in 1823 became the home of Nathaniel and Sarah Cressey. A house on the north side of their lot was constructed by Daniel Hale, son of Pemberton Hale.

Nathaniel Cressey was the son of John Cressey and Phebe Bradstreet Cressey. Nathaniel and Sarah Cressey’s son Thomas lived in the Jewett house at the corner of Pleasant and Cross Street, which is today’s Cressey Farm. (Sources: Joseph Dummer, Houses and Land of Rowley (Rowley Library, History of the Jewetts in America; Early settlers of Rowley)

This house stayed in the Cressey family for over a century. In the 1884 map, the house was owned by George Cresssey. In 1947, the estate of Bertha L. Holbrook (nee Cressey) sold the “Old Place” to Joseph and Lucy Dubuque. (Deed 3560:560)

The 1830 map of Rowley shows Nathaniel Cressey as the owner of this house.

Architecture of 39 Pleasant St.

The Rowley assessors’ page provides a date of 1732 for the construction of this house, which is compatible with physical observations. The house at 39 Pleasant St. is a two-over-two “half house” constructed in the early Georgian era, and features 1″ thick Georgian / Federal through-tenon doors throughout the house. The front entry is typical of early half houses with a landing and a winder stairway. The front, original part of the house is three bays on the front side (one door and two windows) and a single bay (one window for a single room) on the side. The house is slightly deeper than First Period houses.

Originally, the house had a central chimney stack, which was later removed, and a smaller brick flue was installed as the chimney for the boiler in the basement. The back walls of the rooms on either side of the house have decorative fireplace mantels attached to plaster walls, with no indication of a previous fireplace. An ell on the rear of the house appears to have been added not long after the construction of the front of the house. On the wall facing the rear of the former central chimney is a very wide mantel, which is again attached to a plaster wall, indicating the probable early existence of a large cooking fireplace before the chimney was removed. These three phantom fireplace mantels are an enigma.