The wood-carver of Salem; Samuel McIntire, his life and work

Front matter

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CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

Foreword

ABOUT thirty years ago Mr. T. Frank Hunt, of Salem, suggested to Mr. Cousins that he undertake the task of making a comprehensive photographic record of the fine old houses of Salem, many of which could not be expected to exist permanently. All his life Mr. Cousins had been keenly appreciative of the remarkable history and splendid architecture of his native city ; the idea appealed to him strongly and with the further commendation of Mr. John Robinson, of Peabody Museum, he finally decided to adopt it. From the outset both of these gentlemen were generous in valuable suggestions and material assistance in connection with the research necessary to bring to light a great amount of interesting historical data long buried in the quaint records of the Essex Institute, the City Hall of Salem, the Registry of Probate of Essex

Foreword

County, and many old books, magazines, and newspapers.

In 1895 the architectural summer school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, held in Salem, impressed upon Mr. Cousins as never before the artistic and practical value of old Salem buildings, particularly the delightfully proportioned and admirably executed designs of Samuel Mclntire, that master craftsman of the third period of Colonial architecture, and thus emphasized emphatically the true importance of his ambitious project. Ten years later, having accumulated over two thousand photographic negatives, he began to show the results of his labor to leading architects in the principal cities, fully a thousand of whom soon became his clients. This immediate recognition presently became even more gratifying by reason of the growing interest manifested in Mclntire the man and his work, which culminated in a genuine demand for a book devoted to both. Among those to whom grateful acknowledgement is due for encouragement and inspiration in its preparation are : Mr. Louis C. Newhall, of Boston ; Mr. Cass Gilbert and Mr. Electus D. Litchfield, of New York; Mr. Edward Robinson, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, of New York; and

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Foreword

Mr. Edward R. Smith, of Avery Library, Columbia University.

Five years ago Mr. Cousins was invited to meet the editors of Country Life in America and show them his photographs. At that time Mr. Riley was Architectural Editor, and the suggestion to write the text of a book devoted to the life and work of Samuel Mclntire readily won his enthusiastic approval and enlisted his constructive support. He came to Salem to examine into the matter at first hand and after considerable investigation conceived the title and prepared the synopsis of "The Wood-carver of Salem." Then followed much painstaking joint effort ; the book commenced to take tangible form, and a sincere attempt was made to phrase a true estimate of Mclntire's achievements, and by impartial criticism to interpret in a logical and entertaining manner its value and significance in modern home building. Thus this volume represents a real collaboration the perusal of which, it is hoped, may prove as informative and pleasurable to the reader as its preparation has been to the authors.

FRANK COUSINS and PHIL M. RILEY.

September 15, 1916.

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Contents

Chapter

Foreword

I. Salem Architecture ....

Chapter I

FEW cities in the United States can boast a residential section, still well preserved and occupied by the best families, which suggests only the longdistant past with virtually no intrusive indication of modernity to mar the illusion. Salem, Massachusetts, is among the foremost. That its beauties have been so abundantly preserved to posterity seems to be almost a miracle — particularly when one recalls the great conflagration of 1914 — and miracles are always happy. One may also marvel at the remarkably perfect condition of the woodwork on these old houses as it exists in Salem to-day, proving conclusively that for white-painted exterior wood trim no wood, unless it be cypress, excels white pine for endurance. Street after street in this remarkable city, so rich in historic lore, is lined with houses to which intelligent citizens point with pride because of their pristine beauty, their age, and the splendid manner in which they have been maintained, in many instances for considerably more than a century. Here, indeed, is an example of true New England spirit and Yankee thrift.

Amid such surroundings fancy readily transports the imaginative mind back to the days when Washington, La Fayette, and other men distinguished in the early affairs of the nation were guests within these very-welcoming doorways. In fact, to wander about among the old houses and gardens of Salem is to see a vivid reflection of that golden age when this fascinating place was counted among the principal centers of culture and wealth ; when leaders in art, science, and letters were familiar figures in the streets, and when prosperous merchants and eminent statesmen called the town "home."

Next to Plymouth the oldest settlement in Massachusetts, Salem quickly attained civic and commercial importance because of its early origin and seacoast situation ; the people, too, were of high ideals, sincere determination, and steadfast purpose — the sort that achieve greatness. Theirs was the first armed resistance to British tyranny at the North Bridge two months before Paul Revere's immortal ride, and during the Revolution it was their privateers, carrying upward of two thousand guns, which took four hundred and forty-five prizes — more than were taken by the ships of all the other ports combined. The entire merchant marine became engaged in privateering, and new ships were built as rapidly as possible, until the number flying Salem signals at the close of the Revolution was said to have been one hundred and fifty-eight. By far the greater portion of the male population of the town was engaged either in building ships or in a seafaring life. Shipbuilding became a fine art, so to speak ; Salem vessels could outsail almost anything then afloat, and their cabins were the supreme achievement of skilled joiners and wood-carvers, attracted thither by this industry from all sections of the country.

In later, happier days, these very ships, and others built in the quarter century that followed, made Salem the center of commerce and refinement that it became. An idle fleet, more ably manned than any before it, had to be peacefully employed. With admirable courage and remarkable foresight, its owners entered into business relations with the East Indies and other far ports of the world never before reached by trading ships, and thus Salem became our chief port of entry long before New York, Boston, and Philadelphia were even known to the merchants of the East. In 1807 Salem had 252 vessels, aggregating 43,570 tons. These ventures brought great wealth to shipowners and captains with which to build more pretentious homes than had previouslysupplied their somewhat frugal necessities. During the thirty years prior to 181 1, Salem merchants paid into the Custom-house in duties more than eleven million dollars, which gives an indication of the tremendous amount of their business. The refining influence of their extensive foreign travels demanded a better standard of living, and the rare furniture, wall papers, and other objects of art which they had collected called for appropriate home surroundings in which to display them. This provided a higher type of employment for the more versatile of their shipbuilders, and the intelligence and native ingenuity with which these craftsmen adapted the motives of the Renaissance to their own radically different problems is truly remarkable.

That was during the optimistic days a hundred years ago ; but the wheel of progress has turned, as turn it will, and Salem now lives chiefly in the glory of its illustrious past, reminders of which are to be seen in nearly every one of the principal streets.

Plate II. — The Home of Samuel Mclntire, 31 Summer Street,

Salem, Mass.

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No longer does the ring of the hammer resound in the shipyard of the Beckets ; no longer are rich cargoes from all the great ports of the world discharged at Derby and Crowninshield wharves ; no longer do anxious merchants scan the horizon to seaward from the belvederes and cupolas of their beautiful homes. Salem is no longer mistress of the seas ; her splendid merchant marine, said to comprise one hundred and ninety-eight ships in 1825, gradually began to decrease in number upon the coming of the railroads, which built up the ports of large cities at the expense of smaller towns. The foreign commerce of Salem is a thing of the past, but most of the homes of her former distinguished men stand intact to-day, compelling universal admiration for their refined, substantial beauty, and comprising in many respects the most notable collection of early American architecture.

In terms of the so-called Colonial style, our national heritage, Salem is the architectural center of New England, and to New England and Virginia must be accorded the highest places in our regard as the principal fountains of our culture and development. But the architecture of Virginia implies the great estate; it is neither for the town nor the masses. Thus it is that in Salem oftener than elsewhere leading architects and discriminating home builders have found inspiration for modern adaptation. One ever goes to Salem as to a great storehouse of American antiquities, walking along her principal streets in admiration and entering her historic homes with reverence. Indeed, this fascinating historic cityhas become a synonym for the best in Colonial architecture, notably doorways and chimney pieces. Variety and the opportunity for comparison render Salem architecture unique and especially valuable in that it embraces three dissimilar types — one might say four, since they were developed in four distinct periods. First came the lean-to, the average date of the examples still standing being about that of the witchcraft delusion of 1692; next followed the gambrel-roof type about 1750; then came the three-story, square wooden house of 1785, and finally the three-story, square brick construction of 1818. None of these aspires to the manorial splendor of the South, but each frankly interprets the refinement, the domestic spirit, and reasonable degree of dignity of the people, quite as true in the prosperous period of brick construction as in the earlier years, when the snug comfort of the lean-to sufficed.

Strictly speaking, the first two periods constitute the only really Colonial houses in Salem, but the custom every-where is to place in the Colonial category all houses with classic detail up to the beginning of the so-called Greek revival about 1825, when the vogue came to give houses of wood as nearly as possible the form and aspect of the Doric temple in its purest and severest form. This is logical and proper, inasmuch as the mansions immediately preceding and following the Revolution were a direct development of their simpler predecessors and hence very closely related to them. Such a broad application of the word seems particularly happy in connection with Salem architecture which did not attain the full measure of its development until after the Revolution.

The word "Provincial" has been suggested as a more accurate substitute for Colonial, the argument being that little worthy of serious architectural consideration was erected in America during the actual Colonial period. On this basis those splendid houses built during the first three or four decades of our national life should no doubt be termed "Federal." But, after all, the word matters little in comparison with its meaning, provided the latter be well understood. The name Colonial has taken the popular fancy and become a byword on every lip, while the architecture it designates, principally because of its very comprehensiveness, expresses our national spirit as nearly as we have been able to express it.

In those days of maritime prosperity large families were the rule, not the exception, and the very number of rooms required, when a state of affluence made large ones possible, tended toward a square house. And it was in this square Colonial town house that Salem architecture reached the pinnacle of its achievement. Although eloquent in substantial comfort and dignified appearance, it had not the picturesque appeal of the lean-to or the gambrel-roof types, yet in its ornamental detail it far surpassed them both. Severe, almost ugly in line and mass, such a structure needed considerable embellishment in order to ensure an attractive appearance. Quickened by this obvious requirement and the spirit of the time, which ever called for more elaborate externals corresponding to the great wealth being amassed in foreign trade, local builders turned more frequently for inspiration to the published works of the master architects of the Renaissance. The classic orders were modified to domestic uses and applied throughout ; both exterior and interior features responded to the influence. The hard outlines of the structure as a whole, and especially the plainness of flat-boarded fa9ades, were relieved by imposing pilaster treatments ; flat roofs were decked with balustrades, and hip roofs terminated in ornamental cupolas or balustraded belvederes ; columned and pedimented porches shielded the doorways ; architrave casings of doors and windows, both inside and outside, were elaborated by completing the entablature with cornice and frieze to form an ornamental head ; cornices with elegant hand-tooled moldings and often supported by modillions were placed under overhanging eaves and at the ceiling of interiors.

In the execution of this work, Salem architects and builders were quick to call to their aid the more accomplished of the wood-carvers employed in the local shipyards, then the largest in America. The previous training of these craftsmen and their skill in the use of sharp-edged tools made it an easy matter for them to adapt to their needs and execute in wood the moldings and other classic detail which their fellow workers across the sea were cutting in stone. Done in a masterly manner indicating intelligent study as well as clever adaptation, the work in its translation to wood took on a lightness and grace which has come to be regarded as one of the principal charms of the Colonial work in this locality. Considering the crude tools of those days, one's admiration for the nicety with which the fine-scale detail was cut need know no bounds, for it compares favorably with the finest handiwork of our most painstaking workmen of to-day. Even simple moldings had to be made with hand planes, while those bearing further enrichment were of necessity carved laboriously with gouges and other chisels.

In the free atmosphere of a new country virtually without local tradition, untrammeled by the letter of European precedent, and immediately influenced by the fanciful rope moldings and other flamboyant decorations then being prepared all about them for ship cabins, these wood-carvers and joiners succeeded in imparting to their work a delightful spontaneity and particular fitness ; it possesses distinguishing traits peculiar to itself. Even the neighboring towns do not anywhere, in work of the same period, disclose several of the more distinctive motives of Salem's resourceful craftsmen. In admirable proportions her architecture is more highly refined ; in exceptional precision of workmanship more uniform ; in decorative detail more delicate and chaste. But, above all else, it commands favorable attention for its frequent unconventionality and even novelty, combined with marked restraint and undeniable good taste. Not only did the Salem architects in-

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Plate IV. — Detail of Mantel in the Front Chamber of Mclntire's Home; Detail of Mantel in the Chamber where Mclntire died.

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h < terpret the orders with considerable freedom, varying the moldings, rearranging their relation one to another, and altering proportions for variety of effect, but they neither hesitated to combine moldings from two orders in one entablature nor to substitute for any of them clever innovations of their own, which usually preserved virtually the same scale. Cornice and frieze were often utilized without the architrave, but it was chiefly in the bed-molding or dentil course underneath the corona of the cornice, whether outdoors or inside and however employed, that the more prominent alterations were made. In its resourceful initiative, the work of these men is more nearly creative and hence less interpretive than that of the early craftsmen of any other locality. Not subservient to the classic orders as evolved by the ancients, nor yet as modified by the leaders of the Renaissance, they dominated them, cleverly molding them anew to meet their own radically different needs, with the result that their work became more intimately an expression of its creators than did the Georgian in England.

These old mansions of Salem, representing the very flower of a remarkable architectural period, bespeak the earnest study of every prospective home builder. A visit to this quaintly picturesque city invariably moves the most blase student of architecture to eloquence, yet to extol its praises amounts only to humming the chorus of the song. Whether one go to Salem or to one of the several other early American centers of wealth and culture for local color, it should not be forgotten that the principal theme is the Colonial style, now more securely rooted in popular esteem than ever before and more frequently influencing the character of the houses now being erected than any other guiding spirit. This happy outcome finds a more lively appreciation in that it corrects an aberration in the logical development of our building traditions.

It will be recalled that for half a century after the advent of the Greek revival, the Colonial style completely lost its power of appeal. Fads and fancies took the country by storm, but as the processes of our economic and social evolution ever turned our eyes backward to scrutinize the fundamentals of our national life in the solution of the more complex problems of passing years, so the attempt to lift American architecture out of that slough of despond known as the Victorian period led architects back surely and directly to the supreme achievements of our early craftsmen, there to resume the perpetuation of a heritage as fine as that of any country, unless it be Greece itself. It was inevitable that the Colonial tradition should persist, but this was due as much to the development of a higher average mentality as to the efforts of architects, though they were naturally the leaders. Whereas just prior to the dawn of the present century the pioneers among them were accorded scant encouragement in their efforts to revive and adapt this architecture of a bygone day, its advocacy now meets with genuine enthusiasm in most quarters. The whole people seems to respond to the magic word Colonial, and, stirred by a keener consciousness of the meaning of our nationality and quickened by a growing appreciation of its founders and early supporters, is finding a wholesome and appealing significance in the architecture of those brave days and likewise a prototype decidedly worthy of emulation. The dissensions engendered by the Civil War, also the unfortunate architectural delusions of that period, have been forgotten. We are now a people more strongly united than ever before in our history, and in architecture we have finally bridged the gap of intervening years and begun, as in all things else, to build for the future as well as the present upon the fundamentals of the past. In such measure do we accord to architecture a continuity as certain as that of the other fine arts in America, and by a rational, concerted national viewpoint do we lay the foundation for a strong and clearly defined American style; a living style, ever sufficiently related to the past yet always susceptible of greater refinement and further adaptation to the spirit and needs of each successive generation ; a style that though old is yet ever new ; a style to which distinguishing local traits may be imparted ; a style that lends itself to public and commercial as well as domestic uses.

Thus it may truthfully be said that the real American style now is, always has been, and probably always will be Colonial. Inseparably wrapped up in our glorious history, it has become a conspicuous expression of our national life. Its delightful grace, repose, and dignity never fail to make direct appeal to every thinking person possessed of a keen sense of good design and proportion or a ready appreciation of our early traditions. In Colonial, rather than the styles brought from far afield, does one find complete fitness, absolute sincerity, and sheer beauty. Embracing the varied Renaissance expressions of the Dutch and French as well as the English peoples in America, it evolved among us the one distinctive type of American architecture which has aroused the admiration of the world ; it is ours, and we cherish it.

Of course the intrinsic merit which is perpetuating the Colonial style lies in its complete suitability and ready adaptability to new uses and present-day requirements, for happily they are becoming oftener the dictates of comfort than of ostentatious appearance, although Colonial motives possess that rare quality of seeming appropriate for either a mansion or a cottage when sympathetically interpreted. Indeed, it daily arouses our admiration anew, solving our ever more complex building problems gracefully and well when other styles fail, and ensuring a home of which the owner will not tire during a lifetime, and which his descendants will be proud to inherit.

The occasional criticism that the style is somewhat restricted in its possibilities loses force when one considers not the examples in Salem or any one locality alone but the entire manifestation both in the North and the South. Surely no dearth of evidence exists to the effect that Colonial is varied enough for our purposes. Found from Maine to Louisiana, and differing considerably in the several localities, according to size, climatic conditions, constructive materials, and other personal influences, it appeals to us more strongly than any style derived from other sources. How similar yet how different are the New England lean-to, the square Salem town house, the gambrel-roof cottage of the Dutch middle colonies, the hooded, gable-roof Pennsylvania farmhouse, and the stately, porticoed plantation mansion of the South. Despite the similarity and relatively small number of motives, how varied are the effects of altered detail, scale, and arrangement as applied to structures of differing outline, mass, and constructive material. The marked absence of monotony in Salem, for instance, where everything of consequence is Colonial, indicates beyond question that any occurrence of monotonous similarity in neighboring houses must ever be ascribed to the unresourcefulness of the architect rather than to a restricted medium of expression. In fact, whatever one's preference as to local color, and whether one go to Salem or elsewhere for the scale and proportion of the detail, this much is certain, that those basic motives from which the Colonial style springs live as surely to-day as they did over a century ago, and, thanks to the wisdom of our foremost architects, will continue to live in the hearts, the minds, and the sight of true Americans.

Plate VI. — Mclntire's Gravestone, Charter Street Burial Ground.

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CHAPTER II SAMUEL AND THE OTHER McINTIRES

OF the many Salem craftsmen in wood, most of them long since forgotten, one family of wood-carvers, joiners, and housewrights, named Mclntire, whose skill descended through several generations, stands forth conspicuously because of a genius among them named Samuel. The son of Joseph and Sarah (Ruck) Mclntire, Samuel was born January i6, 1757, in the gambrel-roof house at the corner of Mill and Norman Streets, Salem, now considerably remodeled and numbered 2 and 4 Mill Street. This house had been built by his father, himself a housewright, so that Samuel was born and came to man's estate in the atmosphere of his father's work. In his father's shop he learned the trade of carpenter and joiner and, as the result of persevering application with his tools and of cultivating his inherent sense of design through persistent study of the classic masters, he became probably the most highly skilled American wood-carver of his time.

These were exciting years in our national history and that through their influence Mclntire became ardently patriotic and a staunch supporter of those fine principles of liberty, of justice, and of humanity, to which we as a people have been devoted from the first, is indicated by the impulse which prompted him to excel in carving that symbol of American ideals, the eagle, and to exalt the national consciousness as well as to exhibit his own loyalty by its frequent use in a variety of ways wherever consistent with the work in hand.

Spurred by the hearty praise and constant encouragement of Rev. William Bentley, historian and pastor of the East Church, Mclntire was finally induced to carry his carving to the point of assaying his skill in the field of sculpture in its true sense. His several modest achievements in this direction showed great promise, and had he lived this versatile man would doubtless have won renown in this department of the fine arts also. His bust of Governor Winthrop, carved in wood in 1789 for Doctor Bentley, and now in the possession of the American Antiquarian Society, is no mean achievement, and the complete ornamental figure of a reaper, surmounting the roof of the summerhouse formerly on the Elias Haskett Derby farm in Danvers, compares favorably with most similar work in plaster or marble. Referring to the sculptors who at various periods have made enviable names for themselves in Salem, Felt in his "Annals of Salem" writes :

"Among our later sculptors, Samuel Mclntire was noted. He died 1811, aged 54. So was his brother Joseph, who deceased June 11, 1825. The son of the latter, who still survives (1849), has exhibited a similar genius."

The education of Samuel Mclntire's boyhood was meager and did not exceed that of his fellows, but, like others whom the world has heard from, this did not deter him. Realizing that the ability to read opens all doors to a determined mind, the thirst for knowledge led him to spend much of what he could earn for books that he might familiarize himself as nearly as possible with some of those things which his lack of a college education and his inability to travel had denied him. With few exceptions these dearly bought volumes were devoted to the fine arts, and he made the most of them, studying every page repeatedly with increasing comprehension, making their precepts his ideals, and translating them into terms of his own craftsmanship.

In 1777 his father died intestate, and Samuel, for a consideration, released all rights to his father's property, which was apportioned among his mother, Sarah (Ruck) Mclntire, his two aunts, Deborah and Mahitable Mclntire, and his brothers Joseph and Angier. Joseph succeeded to the business of his father, and the following year, August 31, 1778, Samuel married Elizabeth Field, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Thomas Barnard, pastor of the North Church and the hero of the North Bridge incident referred to elsewhere. Quickened by the loving encouragement of a congenial helpmate, his meteoric career then began in very earnest, first as a carver, then as a designer, and finally as an architect. In 1782 we find him the architect of the Pierce- Johonnot-Nichols house, one of his greatest works, and from that time until his death, nearly thirty years later, according to Rev. William Bentley, he dominated the architecture of Salem. That he could have reached this third and ultimate stage of his career within five years from the inception of his independent enterprise and at the age of twenty-five speaks eloquently of the thorough training of his father as well as of his own aptitude, determination, and energy.

But those were ambitious days for the youth of Salem ; the wonderful exploits of her more adventurous sons at sea set a pace which those at home could match only by the utmost of persistent endeavor. When one recalls that Benjamin W. Crowninshield, who finally became Secretary of the Navy, and his three brothers each sailed his own ship at the age of twenty, one begins to comprehend the spirit of do and dare which developed at home the statesmen, jurists, writers, educators, architects, painters, sculptors, and musicians, who, with her merchants and sea captains, won for Salem the renown and unique place she has always occupied in the annals of New England and of the nation.

Once established in his career, Mclntire bought the modest, three-story, gable-roof house at Number 31 Summer Street which had been built in 1780 and there he lived until his death. He was too busy with the commissions of others to build for himself such a home as he might have liked, and no record or tradition tells whether he improved this house to any considerable extent. The charming mantels resemble his work, and the stairway, doors, and other wood finish, although of the utmost simplicity, possess a certain quaint distinction that pleases the eye ; had it been otherwise they would doubtless have offended his sensitive taste and been replaced. The front of the third story was Mclntire's music room, its coved ceiling under the roof probably being his own idea. Here he had h'is organ and other musical instruments, and that it was the best room of the house and the place where he entertained his friends is shown by the inventory of his effects at the time of his death which appraises the chairs at a higher value than those of the parlor on the first floor.

In the rear of his house stood the shop where most of the wood finish and exquisite carving for Mclntire's houses were prepared. About 1840 this building was moved to Tapleyville, Danvers, and built into a dwelling there.