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SAVE
THE CLAYES HOUSE IN FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS
Introduction by Janice Thompson ©2006 |
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| The
house stands, windows boarded, unoccupied and in
desperate disrepair on 657 Salem End Road. Not
many people notice it. Very few Framingham
residents are aware of how this single house
represents the deepest roots of their town. The original house was
built in 1693 by Peter and Sarah Clayes, who had
fled the witch hysteria that had terrorized Salem
Village the year before. Known in that town as
Cloyce, Sarah, along with her sisters Rebecca
Nurse and Mary Esty and countless others, had
been accused and jailed for witchcraft. It is
unknown why Sarah escaped the noose while her
sisters were not so lucky. Whether she escaped or
was set free from jail is not certain, but we do
know that she and her husband Peter, along with
members of her extended family, settled in an
area 40 miles away, in the early part of the
following year.
Their new home was
in a region known as "Danforth's Farms," so named because it was
owned by Thomas Danforth, Deputy Governor of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony. Danforth himself was,
in fact, one of the magistrates who oversaw
Sarah's pre-trial examination in April of 1692.
Later on, Danforth was known to change his
opinion about the trials, and worked behind the
scenes to put a stop to the madness.
We don't know for
sure the true connection between Danforth and
Sarah and Peter Clayes. Did Danforth invite them
to settle on his land out of some feeling of
guilt? Or was the move just a coincidence? But
what we do know is that the Clayes, along with
their brethren Towne, Barton, Bridges and Nurse,
were among the first residents of a town
newly-incorporated in the year 1700 as Framingham
(after "Framlingham," Danforth's home
in Suffolk, England); indeed, these surnames can
be found in many early local government records
as elected officials and leaders.
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| The Enormous
Importance of the Clayes House to Framingham |
| The Clayes House
is a tangible reminder of these early stories,
preserving for new generations the connection
between Salem and Framingham. It has tremendous
potential for a public resource, one that could
provide vital education in history, architecture
and culture to the local, regional and national
community. Stephen Herring, recent Town
Historian, has called the property "one of
the five most important houses in
Framingham" (see attached feature written by
Herring for the Spring 2005 edition of Framingham
History). It is likely one of the very last
houses with first-period details that has not
been preserved or razed in the entire New England
region. |
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| The Current
Situation |
| Unfortunately,
the state of the house is in crisis. It has been
empty for years and is now in such poor condition
that it may not be able to withstand another
winter without falling down. This progressively
bad situation is the result of many variables,
including a divorce of past owners, difficulties
with possible liens, problems between potential
buyers and the bank, and back taxes. In the
meantime, local teenagers were using the place
for a gathering and drinking hang-out,
vandalizing windows and doors. Over the past year, a group
of local concerned citizens, including Selectmen,
members of the Historical Commission and Planning
Department, and the Framingham Historical Society
and Museum, have gathered to try to save the
Clayes house from destruction. We have made
tremendous progress. Among our successes have
been:
- Boarding up
the fIrst floor windows, thus deterring
any future trespassing and vandalism by
local youths;
- Garnering,
through the non-profIt organization The
Framingham Preservation Trust, the
$65,000 lien and the right of fIrst
refusal from the divorced wife of the
last mortgage holder
- Enlisting the
help of Vanessa Redgrave, who played
Sarah in the 1984 PBS production entitled
Three Sovereigns for Sarah
- Discussing
the case with local officials and funding
sources including The National Trust,
Historic New England and The Trust for
Public Land
- Getting the
story out to the media through several
articles (see attached)
- Working with
the Town to name the property a single
property local historic district
(expected fall 2006), to prevent any
future owner from razing or signifIcantly
changing the appearance of the house
- Enlisting the
cooperation of the last mortgage holder
- Establishing
a relationship with the last auction's
highest bidder, working with her attorney
to track the bank's actions vis-a-vis the
property (which have been nonexistent, at
least as far as we know; we have not been
able to make our own contact with any
bank representative)
- Working with
the Town to extend the demolition delay
from 6 to 12 months for all houses on the
Cultural Resources Inventory, including
the Clayes house
- On occasion
making emergency repairs to the house.
Through these
moves, we are fairly certain that the house will
be saved from destruction. However, the property
is still in foreclosure, held by the Wells Fargo
Bank in California, who could attempt to auction
the house at any given moment. At the same time,
now that the house itself is protected and it is
in such terrible disrepair, our group does not
believe any private buyer will want to purchase
the place: the property costs, the back taxes,
our lien, and the enormous costs of renovation
are now too high.
Thus, we are very
fearful that the house will continue to remain in
limbo, and will be destroyed by neglect.
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| Our Plan |
It is our group's
sincere hope that we can raise the capital
necessary to:
- Purchase the
property from the bank
- Pay any
existing obligations
- Restore and
preserve the house and grounds
- Build an
endowment in order to make the place
self-sustaining into the future
- Look into the
possibility of gifting the property to an
organization, such as the Framingham
Historical Society and Museum, that will
run and maintain the place as a house
museum, open to the community for
education purposes.
We can envision
the house being open to researchers interested in
tracking architectural changes in a single house,
from first period to modem day; to schoolchildren
who can see history come alive by seeing, hearing
and touching the very environment their town's
founders built for themselves; to people from
near and far who are fascinated by Sarah's story
in particular and the history of social injustice
in general.
While many funding
organizations have expressed interest in the
project, we have not been able to initiate the
capital campaign because we do not own the
property. In addition, some grant programs will
only support projects that have been funded in a
significant way by members of the community the
house museum will most immediately serve.
We are now seeking
a lead donor who will initiate the project
through a gift that will, we hope, cover a
majority of the campaign goal. We would not be
able to move forward without such a substantial
commitment because the Framingham Preservation
Trust does not have the infrastructure to hold
the property for any length of time.
Such a lead
commitment will ensure the success of the
project, serving as the key that will open the
house to the community. The significance of this
step and the gratitude that will result will be
immeasurable.
Because we are not
yet owners, and because we have no current
funding, we have not been able to order the
architectural and preservation assessments
necessary to determine actual costs of the
project. We do know that the repairs will be
substantial (see attached photos). In addition,
the septic system will have to be replaced. For
now, we estimate that the entire purchase and
restoration, including operating costs (legal and
professional fees), to be roughly $1.5 million.
In addition, we are seeking $500,000 in endowment
(the Framingham Historical Society and Museum
will accept the management duties of the property
only if it comes with a sufficient endowment).
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| In Closing |
| As we stand at
the beginning of the 21 st century, in a
futuristic era of constant change, high
technology, and amazing advances in medicine,
business and communications, it is more important
than ever to preserve our roots. In order to know
where we are going, we need to understand where
we come from. In a time of everquickening pace of
communications, travel and entertainment, we have
a more urgent need for a sense of place. This is the moment of
truth, when we have the opportunity to save what
Framingham has left of its vital history, of its
connections to this nation's beginnings. In a
very significant way, the Sarah Clayes House can
preserve these stories for future generations of
our neighbors and friends.
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| Janice welcomes
correspondence regarding the Sarah Clayes home. |
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Updated
07 Jun 2008
Web Content Contributed by Janice Thompson ©
2006
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