The William Murray House is a First Period house in Salem, Massachusetts.
Built in 1688, the house was constructed for William Murray, who was a cooper and a court clerk in the Salem Witch Trials, and he also provided testimony against Alice Parker. The makes the house one of only a few still standing in Salem with direct connections to the Salem Witch Trials.
The house is a six-bay-long, two-and-a-half-story clapboard house with a steep-pitched roof and a central chimney. When the house was originally built, it was only three bays long and had overhangs on the south and east facades.
On July 22, 1687, William Murray purchased the land that the house sits on, which was originally an orchard owned by Edward Woodland, and built the house and a barn on the property the following year.
Murray was still living in the house when he served as a court clerk during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and also provided testimony against Alice Parker in September of that year.
During the trials that summer and fall, Murray recorded the examinations of accused witches Job Tookey, Mary Parker, Mary Toothaker, Henry Salter, Rebecca Johnson, and William Proctor.
On September 6, 1692, Murray and Thomas Putnam testified that they witnessed several of the afflicted girls being afflicted during Alice Parker’s examination. Murray and Putnam said they were struck down when Parker glanced at them and that they recovered when the touch test was administered, which is when the accused witch touches the afflicted person.
Murray and Putnam ended their testimony by stating, “We believe that Alice Parker the prisoner at the bar has often hurt the said persons by acts of witchcraft.” Parker was found guilty and executed on September 22, 1692.
Murray died eight years later on December 23, 1700, and left his estate to his widow, Mary Murray. In the will, the estate is described as a house with about 56 poles of land (a little less than half an acre), which included an orchard and a small barn. In 1700, the north half of the house was constructed, and both halves of the house shared the central chimney.
The estate later passed to William Murray, who was also a local cooper. On July 7, 1759, William Murray sold the north half of the house to his son Jonathan. After William Murray died in 1769, the south half of the house passed to his other son, Samuel.
Samuel Murray died in 1788, and his half of the house was sold to local mariner Ebenezer Slocum of Salem on September 19, 1795. Jonathan Murray continued to own his half of the house, and Slocum owned his half until about 1811.
Since the two halves of the house were owned separately from 1759 until the mid-19th century, each half has its own small foyer and its own staircase.
In the late 18th or early 19th century, the roof was raised to a shallower pitch on the original part of the house, and the overhangs were concealed behind a flush wall.
In 1980, Ken Towey was hired to restore the house. During the restoration, beaded clapboards were installed on the west part of the house. Plain clapboards remained on the east part of the house.
Due to the cost, Towey didn’t restore all of the original finishes that he found. He instead left many of the finishes intact for possible future restoration and built new walls in front of them.
On March 9, 1990, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Located at 39 Essex Street, the house is currently privately owned. It is considered one of many historic sites in Salem.
Sources:
Perley, Sidney. “Salem in 1700, No 23.” The Essex Antiquarian, Salem Mass, 1906, pp. 60 – 74
“Deposition of Thomas Putnam and William Murray v. Alice Parker.” PEM, pem.quartexcollections.com/Documents/Detail/7701
“Case files referencing William Murray.” Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project, salem.lib.virginia.edu/tag/murray_william.html
Historic Building Detail: SAL.3239 Murray, William House.” Macris, mhc-macris.net/details?mhcid=SAL.3239