Situated on a knoll at 34 Parker Street, sits a living monument to
the history of Chelsea, the Governor Bellingham Cary House. Built on
the southeastern slope of Powderhorn Hill, in 1659, the home tells,
in a personal and appealing way, of the courage and fortitude of our
young nation, to exist and create a way of life.
In 1624, Samuel Maverick settled on, what is today, Admiral’s Hill.
For protection against Indian attacks, Maverick built a fortified
house, the first permanent home to be built in the Massachusetts Bay
Colony, Maverick received a grant, for Winnisimmet, which included
all of present day Chelsea except Prattville. (Winnisimmet, the
original name for Chelsea was an Indian name meaning “good water
nearby”). In 1635, Maverick deeded all his Winnisimmet property,
except Admiral’s Hill, to Richard Bellingham.
Richard Bellingham, a member of the charter company responsible
for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, arrived in Boston, Massachusetts
from Boston, England in 1634. Bellingham served as Deputy Governor of
the Massachusetts Bay Colony, for thirteen years and served as
Governor for an additional ten years. Bellingham divided Winnisimmet
into four farms after the manorial estates of England. Each farm was
leased to a tenant farmer and became known by the farmer’s name. What
originally were named; the Smith, Eustace, Senter, and Townsend farms
finally became the Williams, Shurtleff, Carter and Cary farms.
Governor Bellingham in 1659, built a hunting lodge on the largest
of the farms, the Townsend farm. The area was surrounded by woods and
provided excellent hunting. Governor Bellingham died in 1672.
Bellingham’s property passed down through the family and married
relations. The property with the lodge, the Townsend farm, passed
from Governor Bellingham’s son to his wife who in turn left it to her
sister Rebecca Watts. Rebecca willed it to her widowed
daughter-in-law Ann Watts. Ann married Thomas Greaves of Charlestown
and they in turn willed the property to a step daughter, Margaret. In
1741, Margaret married Captain Samuel Cary, a Harvard graduate
(1731), and a seafaring man. Upon the death of her step-parents,
Margaret inherited what now became the Cary Farm.
Samuel Sr, Margaret and children lived in Charlestown but had the
farm managed by a tenant farmer. In the early 1700’s a number of
changes were made to the house. Samuel Cary Jr., the eldest of the
Cary children, married Sarah Gray in November 1772. They occupied the
Cary mansion that had been suitably refurbished. Samuel Cary Jr. was
a trader and planter with a great plantation in Grenada. In 1773
trouble arose in Grenada threatening the plantation. Samuel Cary had
to leave Chelsea immediately for Grenada. Sarah decided to go with
him, leaving their newly born first child with the newborn’s
grandmother in Chelsea. Samuel and Sarah Cary remained in Grenada for
eighteen years during which time, eight more children were born to
them.
Samuel and Sarah Cary with their children, returned to Chelsea in
1791 and immediately began renovations on the mansion. White pine
paneling was imported from England and still remains in the house
today. Extra rooms were added and the land was extensively
landscaped. The Cary House became the showplace of these parts. In
all, $12,000, a huge amount of money at that time, was expended for
renovations. Other buildings: servant quarters, a great barn and a
carriage house were erected. There were two avenues of approach to
the Cary House, both lined with a variety of trees. One approach was
from the East at the SalemTurnpike,(Broadway today). The other
approach came from what is Cary Square today. The farm lands extended
beyond these roads.
Once home, Samuel Jr., and Sarah had four more children for a
total of thirteen. Samuel Cary Jr. passed away in 1812 and Sarah died
in 1825. Sarah, the oldest daughter, married Joseph Tuckerman, pastor
of the Church of Christ, located in Rumney Marsh (Revere). Charles
Cary was Chelsea’s town treasurer for a number of years. Ann and
Harriet, both unmarried, were the last of the Cary children to occupy
the house. Ann, the last of the Cary children, passed away in 1881,
at the age of 94. The house was bought by the Gov. Bellingham-Cary
House Association in 1908. The Cary House is still managed and
maintained by the Association today.
Local folklore surrounding the Cary House include the tales of a
duel between two Colonial officers of George Washington, stationed in
the Cary House during the siege of Boston and of a secret tunnel
located behind the kitchen oven.
The huge Cary farm, excepting the house lot itself, was sold to
the Cary Improvement Company, in 1852, for $150, 000.
The Cary House today is a museum of early Americana dating back
two to three hundred years. To visit the Governor Bellingham Cary
House is to relive a piece of American history in the City of Chelsea.