Soon after this, in about 1805, the farm was divided into three parts, the estate now known as the Jacob C. Rogers' place going to a daughter, Mrs. Nathaniel West, who built, I understand, the present mansion house in that estate; the Jacob Crowninshield estate and the part now known as the Osborn farm, went to George Crowninshield. In 1814, Dr. Bentley in his diary, speaks of Richard Crowninshield living there and in 1815, George Crowninshield died and it came into possession of Mary Crowninshield his daughter. She evidently did not live in the place for long, for she leased it in 1819 to Silas Winchester and a man named Fish, for tavern purposes.

Many gay parties came to the tavern. It is related that one night, after mine host and his wife were fast asleep, a lively party of soldiers, the Salem Light Infantry, came thundering at the door demanding a turkey supper. In vain did the landlord protest that there was no turkey, even killed, much less cooked. "No matter, they could wait." So yielding to their demands, he went out to kill the turkey while his wife, handing her sleeping baby over to Mrs. Fish, went down into the kitchen to do her part and the waiting soldiers made merry in the tap room. In came the good man with the turkey, killed and dressed. But it must be cooled before it was cooked, so Mrs. Winchester held the bird under the pump while her husband pumped the cold well water over it until it was cold enough to be stuffed and roasted.

The place possessed a keel board or a bowling alley, as we should call it, which was much in demand, and between games a visit to the bar was

nearly always in order. One day a scared urchin dashed into the house to tell Mrs. Winchester that the men were fighting over the keels. The Medford rum had done its work. Mr. Winchester was away but Mrs. Winchester saw her duty and she did it. She stepped upon the keel board and held up the hand of authority. "Roll, if you dare," she said, and ordered them off the premises, and -they went.

Mary Crowninshield, who owned the farm at this time, married William P. Endicott, and not so very many years ago were found on the old place three panes of glass with "Mary Crowninshield" scratched upon them with a diamond, perhaps the very one which Mr. Endicott gave her for an engagement ring.

We know that the Endicotts came sometimes to the farm while it was used as a tavern, for the late Mr. Wentworth Winchester, the landlord's son, used to tell of remembering a gay company from Salem that they entertained with a dinner there. The table was set in the lane under the great buttonwood trees and a brass band serenaded the party.

In 1832, the place was sold to Mr. Amos King, in whose possession it remained until 1848. Much of this time there were four families living in the house. In 1846, little Mary Whittemore was burned to death there, and this is the only real tragedy to throw a shadow on the place. In March, 1848, Mr. Kendall Osborn, Sr., bought the farm which then contained thirty-nine and a half acres, and the probate court records say that he paid $7250.00 for it. After seventy-five years, part of it still remains in the family.

The great buttonwood trees, which lined the lane, are gone and are replaced by apple trees planted by this same Kendall Osborn and it is now known as "apple tree lane." At the side of the house is one of Hasket Derby's mulberry trees, planted to feed the silk worms from which he was to make a fortune. Ten years ago there was a Danvers sweeting on the place, for the farm is credited with the original tree in 1702.

On this farm was established the first tan vat, by John Burton, in 1661; the first dye house, by John Slapp, in 1700; and the first pottery, by Jonathan Kettelle, in 1731. in 1731. Strangely enough these three industries succeeded each other on practically the same site, on land nearly down to the bridge which covers the railroad

track on the left-hand side of the street. Inside the house are still the beautiful McIntire carvings, the arched door on the landing, the fine staircase, and in the rear of the house the old L hinges. In the dining room is a Rumford roaster put there in 1828.

But, the garden, with its arched gateway and its high fence, its beautiful summer house, its box borders, its big bed of lilies of the valley, and the old-fashioned pinks, the spice apple tree at the side of the summer house, and the summer baldwin, and the strawberries, which once cultivated, grew wild down by the stone wall. All these things and many more I remember when, years ago, the family went on its annual picnic to "The Farm." Houses are built on the site. of the garden, and the summer house,

with its farmer lad on the top, is moved away. If it had to go it is most appropriate that it should be where it is, on the beautiful Danvers estate of Mr. William C. Endicott, the grandson of that same Mary Crowninshield who, with her diamond ring, scratched her name on the window panes.

Long before any of us can remember there was a milkmaid standing on the opposite side of the roof of this summer house and Mr. Fitch Poole wrote an article in the "Danvers Wizard," Wizard," when she disappeared, which reads as follows:

"WOMAN MISSING

"A very singular case of mysterious disappearance happened recently in this place which has given rise to various surmises as to its cause. A woman about forty years of age, who has always resided on the Derby Farm and has been so much attached to the place that she has remained there under every change of proprietorship, suddenly disappeared within a short period leaving her husband without the least intimation of her intention to depart. The case is more surprising, as this couple have lived together for many years, have been known to be very quiet, peaceable people and most unexceptionable neighbors. They have always, from their earliest connection, been together on the estate, as a part of the domestic establishment, the woman having formerly been employed as a milkmaid, until she threw aside her milking pail for a higher position. We will not attempt to describe the feelings of her anxious partner, at the melancholy separation, as all attempts at consolation, have been wholly unavailing. The unhappy man has appeared wholly unconscious

since the sad event, and remains in a fixed position as if incapable of

motion.

"The woman had on, when she went away, a gypsy straw hat, a short, loose gown, a white apron and light underdress and high heeled walking shoes. She is a little above the common height and of a graceful figure. There are some reasons for believing that she intended to go to the northern part of the county, and she may possibly be connected with some of the factories in that location. Any information concerning her will be thankfully received by communicating with this office.

"Since receiving the above information we have visited the farm house now owned by Amos King, and seen the disconsolate partner, whom we found on the top of a building standing in a fixed position, apparently in the act of whetting his scythe.

"It seems that the lady, who had always been near him, eloped when his back was turned, and the astonished husband has not changed a feature, or moved a limb since, which may probably be accounted for by the fact that he is a wooden man. The heartless conduct of his faithless spouse, may also be attributed to a similar cause, we suppose."

It is interesting to know that Mr. Poole was right in his supposition about the northern part of the county, for the lady until recently stood on the Sutton Mills in North Andover.*

I remember an old elm tree which was uprooted in a storm, and which lay near the side of the house, toward

*In June, 1923, the estate of William Sutton of North Andover, Mass., presented to William Crowninshield Endicott the carved figure of the milkmaid, much mutilated, and a new figure has now been carved from the original and placed on the summer house.