with its gabled roof oke clapboards and
vast central chimney the fairbanks house
looks to have come from another world
but in reality it's been here longer
than any other building around it almost
400 years in fact according to experts
it's the oldest house of its kind in the
United States and it has the history to
prove it when European settlers first
arrived in America in the 16th century
they encountered a wild and inhospitable
land in fact many of the first colonies
ended in disaster as supplies ran out
disease decimated their populations and
clashes with Native Americans escalated
into all-out Wars
however these settlers persevered and by
the time that the Mayflower arrived with
its cargo of English pilgrims in 1620 a
number of colonies were already thriving
across the modern-day US and despite
difficult conditions those passengers
established the Plymouth Colony in what
is now Massachusetts eight years later
the Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded
and settlers in their hundreds began
arriving in New England and even though
they hoped for a fresh start on the
other side of the Atlantic many of their
practices such as the houses they built
remained reminiscent of the world they
left behind one of these settlers was
John Fairbanks a Puritan from Yorkshire
England
in 1633 Fairbanks arrived in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony along with his
wife Grace and their six children and
after spending three years in the
settlement at Watertown they decided to
relocate along with a number of other
families the Fairbanks is found the
settlement of Dedham Massachusetts there
they acquired land amounting to twelve
acres and set about building themselves
a home but rather than rely on his own
amateur building skills John decided to
employ master craftsmen to do the work
beginning in 1637 the craftsmen
constructed a timber framed home for the
Fairbanks family originally it was a
two-story property with a gabled roof
and a large chimney in the center
outside the building was clad in oak and
cedar clapboards while the front door
led directly into a lobby whilst the
home was relatively modest to begin with
John was a man of some means apparently
is trade for manufacturing spinning
wheels and these vital pieces of too
Najee were in high demand and as the
fairbanks family's fortunes grew so did
their denim home although the first
stage of the house is thought to have
been completed in 1641 the Fairbanks has
continued adding to their property over
the years at some point extra space was
created with the construction of a
lean-to towards the back of the building
then a new wing was added to the eastern
side of the home in about 1650 for the
Fairbanks has added a West Wing to their
home however it was to be the last
addition that John himself would oversee
14 years later the head of the family
died leaving the house at Dedham to John
the eldest son a successful businessman
like his father John grew the family's
fortunes and eventually purchased
another house in nearby Wrentham when
John died in 1684 his two youngest sons
Joseph and Benjamin inherited the house
at Denham and while Benjamin took a
share of the attached farmland Joseph
moved into the family house for two
generations the property was passed down
through the Fairbanks family until one
son decided to let his brothers buy him
out by then it was 1755 and the house
came into the ownership of Samuel Israel
John and ebenezer Fairbanks but evan
easer soon bought the shares held by his
brothers making him the sole owner of
the property and it was during this
period that some of the most significant
alterations took place beginning towards
the end of the 18th century a series of
modifications were made to the Fairbanks
house first another wing was added on
the east side followed by an extension
that created a larger parlor then a new
wing was constructed on the west of the
property back then the Fairbanks is were
prosperous and luxurious additions such
as wallpaper adorn the house but as evan
easer grew older he handed
responsibility for the house over to his
son and the family's fortunes began to
wane without his forefathers talent for
business evan easer jr. found himself in
debt sadly was around this time that the
Fairbanks received another blow Jason
evany tzer's younger brother was found
guilty of murdering his sweetheart
Elizabeth phase and when he was sent to
the gallows in 1801 it caused a scandal
that would haunt the family for many
years to come
with the decline in the Fairbanks as
fortunes the elaborate additions to the
family home drew a halt as time passed
in fact the only concession made to
modern living was a Privy installed in
1881 aside from that the house remains
stuck in the past without luxuries such
as electricity or running water by that
time the house was passed to the female
line of the Fairbanks family after a
boneses wife Mary died her three
daughters inherited the home and when
they passed on without any children a
niece Rebecca took over ownership of the
property
eventually in 1904 she was forced to
leave for good that wasn't the end of
the story however in 1905 John's
descendants form the Fairbanks family in
America organization and purchased the
property turning it into a museum today
it's open to the public giving visitors
a taste of life in a bygone era and
every year members of the family
returned for a reunion in their
ancestral home over the years many
different rumors have emerged about the
old house they included that claim that
parts of it were imported from England
when John and grace first arrived at
American shores
however analysis of the property's
wooden beams has determined that the
earliest parts date from 1637 a year
after the Fairbanks arrived in Dedham
despite this the Fairbanks house still
enjoys a singular claim to fame as the
oldest timber frame home in the United
States it's long and colorful history
has earned it a distinction as a
National Historic Landmark and hopefully
this status will ensure that it remains
for many more generations to come I hope
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