Threatened: Salem Witch Trial Survivor's House
By Margaret Foster | Online Only | Jan. 19, 2010
The Sarah Clayes House is one of the oldest structures in Framingham, Mass.
Credit: Framingham History Center
A Massachusetts house built by a Salem witch trial survivor has stood empty for a decade, but a group of locals wants to save the boarded-up structure.
"It's a race," says Annie Murphy, executive director of the Framingham History Center, who organized a meeting on Jan. 14 to discuss saving the Sarah Clayes House. "[It] doesn't have much time."
Salem residents Rebecca Nurse and Mary Easty were among 19 "witches" hanged on Gallows Hill, outside of Salem Village, following trials in 1692. Their sister, Sarah Clayes, was convicted of witchcraft as well, but fled to Framingham, Mass., where she and her husband built a house in 1693. Today water is infiltrating the historic structure, now the property of a bank.
"When I first saw it and walked through it, it was in bad shape, but it's in really bad shape now," says Janice Thompson, who lives in nearby Ashland, Mass., and attended the Jan. 14 meeting. "It's not only the weather but it's vandalism. ... It's just a crime to let the house go."
With the help of a lawyer, Thompson and others plan to approach the bank and perhaps form a nonprofit. They hope to raise $2 million to buy and restore the Clayes House, and then raise another $2 million to establish an endowment that would support a house museum.
Saving the Clayes House has been a challenge because it was previously owned by a couple who divorced. "Unclear title chain makes purchase and restoration extremely difficult," says Erin Kelly, assistant director of Preservation Massachusetts, which placed the Clayes House on its 2006 list of the state's most endangered historic places. "The unique history and wonderful architecture of this property are an incredible local resource."
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Comments
Submitted by macdonald at: February 5, 2010
a strategy to save these historic buildings that does not require $4M to succeed needs to be developed. Estimates of $2M restorations will to many more lost buildings.
Submitted by RenaissanceR at: February 2, 2010
As a contractor specializing in restoration of older buildings, I see this all the time, and it's a shame nothing has been done to preserve the property.
Submitted by dorene at: January 27, 2010
My husband is a 10th generation grandson of Sarah. The family geneaology spells her last name as Cloyce,as does the film Three Sovereigns For Sarah.
Submitted by shelton wildes at: January 26, 2010
As a direct descendant of Sarah Wildes (my 7th great grandmother) and also of Edmund Towne (and my 7th great grandfather) who was the brother of Rebecca, Mary and Sarah I find it hard to believe that the city of Framingham hadnt restored this historic house many years ago. So much of this area depends on tourist I would think that anything that would draw visiters into such a history making environment would be of great interest to the town