Public Records, Private Reflections, and Pictures
How can you learn who lived in a house and what a neighborhood was like? Documents, pictures, and reminiscences can help give a sense of a house's history.
From wills and deeds on file in town or county records, a researcher can often construct a chain of title—a list of owners from the first to the most recent. Census records, city directories, maps, diaries, photographs, and interviews with former residents all add pieces of the puzzle.
Josiah Caldwell and his family appear on the 1850 U.S. Census returns for Ipswich. This entry shows who was living in his house and notes that he was superintendent of the Ipswich railroad station and owned real estate valued at $8,000.
The house on Elm Street is highlighted on this map, made during the Lynches' time. The numerals inside show the number of stories in each section. The "x" denotes a shingle roof. The mills around the comer show that this was an industrial neighborhood by 1887.
