99 Paradise Road (Route 1A), Swampscott
c1700
The Humphrey House, also known as the Burrill House, was likely built by either Lt. John Burrill, Sr., or his son Ebenezer. Originally situated on Elmwood Road, near #134, it was moved in 1891 to its present site on Paradise Road.
Lt. John Burrill, Sr. (1631-1703) was a tanner and maltster, and a selectman of Lynn, which included Swampscott until 1852. Tanneries were an important piece of the local economy, providing leather to Lynn's many shoemakers.
Capt. Ebenezer Burrill (1679-1761) was the son of Lt. John Burrill and Lois Ivory. He was a civil servant: selectman for sixteen terms, constable, councilor, and Representative from Lynn to the Massachusetts General Court. He married Martha Farrington, and left a large estate to his ten children. The Burrills were called “the royal family of Lynn.” (Lewis, History of Lynn, p. 116)
John Humphrey (died 1661) was the first Deputy Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, serving under Governor John Winthrop. He owned considerable land in what is now Swampscott, including the land this house sits upon. Humphrey Street, the road running along the shore to Marblehead, is named for him. It is possible that Humphrey's original house, dating to about 1634, was demolished to make room for a new house for the Burrills.
While the site has long commemorated Deputy Governor John Humphreys [sic], who died owning the original site in 1641[*], the physical evidence indicates a much later construction date. Presumably, on the basis of documentary evidence, it was actually built by either John Burrill Sr., who owned it from 1700 to 1703, or his son Ebenezer Burrill, who occupied the house from 1703 to 1761.
--Massachusetts Historical Commission Inventory
[*] He died in 1661: in 1641 he left Massachusetts for England, never to return.
What is now a five-bay, two-and-a-half story house with jetties likely began as a much smaller house, perhaps just the left-hand bay. For a full description of its architectural features, follow the MACRIS link below.
Further reading:
To read more about the ownership of this house, see:
Burrill, Ellen Mudge. The Burrill Family of Lynn: During the Colonial and Provincial Periods: with Some of Their Descendants. F.S. Whitten, 1907. pp. 29-30. (archive.org/details/burrillfamilyofl1907burr/page/n5 )
Lewis, Alonzo, and James R. Newhall. History of Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts: Including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant. Boston, 1865. (archive.org/details/historyoflynness01lewi/page/n11)
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