On July 12, 1932, the historic George Jacobs House in Danvers, Massachusetts. was destroyed by a fire, according to a news report in the Beverly Evening Times. Fire Chief Joseph E. Kelley stated at the time that he believed the fire was set by children.
The fire quickly consumed the old house, which was located on the former Jacobs farm at what is now 20 North Shore Avenue, and firemen were unable to control the blaze.
One fireman, Charles Simpson, was injured when he was climbing a fire ladder and one of his fellow firefighter’s helmets fell from above and struck him about the eye, cutting his face. Simpson was taken to the Hunt Memorial Hospital, where he received several stitches.
Yet, although the 1932 news report says the house was destroyed, according to an article in the architectural journal Pencil Points, although the house was seriously damaged in the fire, it still stood for a few years after, mostly in ruins, but was in the “process of disintegration” by 1938.
This is supported by the fact that the house was last photographed in 1935 by the Historic American Buildings Survey, who later reported that it collapsed in 1938.
The two-and-a-half-story house was built in 1658 and was considered to be the second oldest house in Danvers at the time of its destruction. It was the home of accused witch George Jacobs Sr., who was hanged during the Salem Witch Trials.
The Jacobs farm had been unoccupied for several years prior to the fire. According to the book Historic Houses and Spots in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Nearby Towns, published in 1897, about 10 generations of the Jacobs family had lived in the house (Freese 130.)
In 1891, the house was occupied by the family of William A. Jacobs, a lineal descendant who was born in the house in 1833, and it was reported to be “a well-preserved old house; its low ceilings and the general appearance of the interior bear the mark of antiquity,” according to the Bulletin of the Essex Institute (Essex Institute 117.)
The 1932 news report in the Beverly Evening Times stated that the property was owned by a Worcester real estate syndicate at the time of the fire.
The house was considered a local historical treasure and was frequently photographed and cited in books about local historical structures in Massachusetts and was even temporarily opened to the public to celebrate a political event in 1896.
The property was also the reported location of George Jacobs Sr.’s grave, although the parcel of land where Jacobs’ grave was located was accidentally sold off by the family in 1904.
The body was later accidentally uncovered by bulldozers after the property had been sold to land developers in the 1950s and eventually relocated to the nearby Rebecca Nurse Homestead family cemetery.
A modern housing development now occupies the spot where the Jacobs farm and house once stood.
Sources:
Bulletin of the Essex Institute. Vol. 22, 1891.
Pencil Points. Vol. 19, p. 724, 1938.
American Biography: A New Cyclopedia. Volume 5, The American Historical Society, 1919.
Freese, John Wesley. Historic Houses and Spots in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Nearby Towns. Ginn & Company Publishers, 1897.
Historic American Buildings Survey. Compiled and Edited by HABS, National Parks Service, 1959.
“Historic Jacobs House at Danvers Destroyed in a Fire.” Beverly Evening Times, 13 Jul 1932, p. 5.
“Places of Interest.” The Danvers Mirror, 10 May. 1906, p. 3.
“Houses Prominently Identified With the History of Danvers.” The Boston Herald, 9 Mar. 1902, p. 43.
“The Dark Days of New England History.” Peterson’s Magazine, May 1897, p. 428.
“Old Jacobs House to Open.” Beverly Evening Times, 9 Nov. 1896, p. 5.