Country and County: Massachusetts

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The Great New England Vampire Panic

Over the last few weeks I have been adding articles about some of the vampires found throughout New England that were associated with tuberculosis deaths.

Fairbanks House

The Fairbanks House at 511 East Street, dates from the mid 17th century and is thought to be North America’s oldest surviving timber frame house. It was built around 1637 for Jonathan Fairbanks (Fiarbanke, Fairbanck, Fairebanke or Fayerbanke) (born 1594 – died 5 December 1668), his wife Grace (nee Lee) and their six children.

Salem Village Parsonage (1692)

Salem Village (now Danvers) was settled by European farmers from nearby Salem Town in the 1630’s becoming a separate parish in 1672. The Parsonage dated from 1681, and from 1689 when the covenant church was established it was the home of English born Rev Samuel Parris (born 1653 – died 27 February 1720), his family and household slaves.

The Double-headed Snake of Newbury

The following poem was wrote by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807 – 1892)

Far away in the twilight time
Of every people, in every clime,
Dragons and griffins and monsters dire,
Born of water, and air, and fire,
Or nursed, like the Python, in the mud
And ooze of the old Deucalion flood,
Crawl and wriggle and foam with rage,