THE LINDALL-BARNARD-ANDREWS HOUSE
Popular tradition has it that the unjust aggressions of Great Britain first met armed resistance in the Colonies at Lexington and Concord. But nearly two months previous to Paul Revere’s famous ride, on Sunday, February 26, 1775, British troops were reported approaching North Bridge at Salem, in search of cannon which were known to be concealed somewhere in the town. The Reverend Thomas Barnard, pastor of the Old North Church, was in his pulpit. To him appeared a breathless messenger: ‘The regulars are coming!’ From all directions the excited citizens flocked to the bridge, where the open draw frustrated the further advance of Colonel Leslie and his troops. Barnard, in the forefront, calmed his excited townsmen; Leslie was allowed to cross the bridge; but his search for the concealed guns proved fruitless and he retired discomfited to Boston.
At the time in question, the Reverend Mr. Barnard lived at 393 Essex Street, in the handsome mansion now known as the Lindall-Barnard-Andrews house. This was built in 1747 for Timothy Lindall, for several years Speaker of the House of Deputies. Much of the elaborate carving in the interior of this old dwelling is from the hand of Samuel McIntire, the famous architect and worker in wood.
The doorway of the Lindall house is almost sternly plain, the sole attempt at decoration being found in the fluting of the pilasters, repeated in the posts which flank the gateway, these also supporting interesting urns. Similar urns grace the posts at the gate of the Ropes Memorial, these being much more elaborate, though perhaps no more effective, than the ornaments at the Lindall house.
The style of this doorway is Doric, the pediment utterly without carving or ornament of any description. It possesses a unique feature in its door, the panels being seven in number instead of six, the extra one very narrow, and running horizontally across directly above the lower pair. A rectangular top-light with five square panes completes the fine Colonial ensemble.
The Cabot-Endicott-Low House
THE CABOT-ENDICOTT-LOW HOUSE
Distinctive among Salem residences is the Cabot-Endicott-Low house at 365 Essex Street. It is clapboarded, but possesses white corner-boards which simulate the marble quoins used later in brick houses, which did not begin to appear in Salem until about 1800.