Wenham
Originally part of Salem, Wenham was incorporated in 1643. First settlers called their village Enon.
Explore
Claflin-Gerrish-Richards House (1662), 132 Main Street. Now part of the Wenham Museum, this was the parsonage of Rev. Joseph Garrish (1650-1720), who was involved in the Salem Witch trials. Owned by Wenham Museum.
Old Wenham Burying Ground, Main Street. Burial place of Rev. Joseph Gerrish and jurors Deacon William Fisk (1642-1728) and Thomas Fisk (1656-1723).
Henry Sewall House (1678), 30 High Road. PRIVATE home. Henry Sewall (1615-1700) and Jane Dummer (1627-1701) were the parents of Judge Samuel Sewall (1652-1730) and Stephen Sewall (1657-1725), court clerk, who were part of the Court of Oyer & Terminer in Salem. After his mother’s death, Samuel Sewall owned the house.
Solart-Woodward House (1670), 106 Main Street. PRIVATE home. Innkeeper John Solart Sr. and his wife Elizabeth were the parents of Sarah (Solart) (Poole) Good, witch trial victim hanged 19 July 1692. Shortly after John drowned in 1672, his widow married Ezekiel Woodward (1625-1699) and they maintained the inn.
Wenham Museum, 132 Main Street. Library and archives. Although known for its “Celebrating Childhood” mission with its superb collection of dolls and toys, the Wenham Museum also has a strong clothing and textiles collection and the 17th century Claflin-Gerrish-Richards house.
Research
Hamilton-Wenham Public Library, 14 Union Street, South Hamilton. Closed stack collection.
Online Books & Records
History of Wenham : civil and ecclesiastical: from its settlement in 1639 to 1860 by Myron O. Allen (1860)
Inscriptions from gravestones in the old burying ground in Wenham by Wellington Pool (1887)
Old Naumkeag: an historical sketch of the city of Salem, and the towns of Marblehead, Peabody, Beverly, Danvers, Wenham, Manchester, Topsfield, and Middleton by Charles Henry Webber and Winfield S. Nevins (1877)
Records of the Congregational Church, Wenham, Mass., 1643-1805, Vol. 1 (admissions, members, marriages, deaths, baptisms, ministers, church meetings)
Transcription for Church records, 1674-1719, in the First Church in Wenham, Mass.
Vital records of Wenham, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849