Spencer Ownership: First Settlement

John Spencer was granted a 400-acre parcel, the lion’s share of which now makes up Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm, in 1635 as part of the first allocation of land to colonial settlers. He was an investor in the cattle venture that drove settlement in Newbury, and was a man of means. The town also granted him a house lot of four acres near the landing site in the Parker River.

John Spencer played a prominent role in the early years of the fledgling settlement, representing the town to the General Court in Boston, acting as a captain in the militia, and involving himself in a mill-building venture with friend and fellow wealthy settler Richard Dummer. In 1637, however, both Spencer and Dummer were disarmed for being supporters of Anne Hutchinson, the Puritan spiritual leader who was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony after challenging male authority, and part of a heretical sect. He left Newbury, likely intending to return, and left his property to his nephew. John Spencer died in England in 1648 and his nephew sold the property, now smaller by 100 acres, to Daniel Peirce.

exterior of 1690 Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm

Peirce Ownership: A Colonial Farm

Daniel Peirce Sr. came to Newbury from Watertown in 1638. Like Spencer, he took an active role in the affairs of the new town, and was engaged in blacksmithing, malt making, farming, and cattle raising. When he died in 1677, the farm had greatly increased in value from 500 to 1,200 pounds, due in part to barns and outbuildings he had built on the land and to the growing settlement and scarcity of new land in Newbury.

Daniel Peirce Sr. left the farm to his son, Colonel Daniel Peirce. Col. Peirce held nearly every post available to a man of means in Newbury at the time. He was a justice of the peace, a militia leader, a charter representative, and a member of the Council of Massachusetts Bay from 1693-1704. His status is reflected in his choice of the first pew in the new meeting house, completed in 1699.

Tracy, Boardman, Pettengell Ownership: A Country Estate

In 1778 Newburyport merchant Nathaniel Tracy purchased the farm from the Peirce descendants. Tracy’s ownership inaugurated an era when the house served as a country seat for families prominent in nearby Newburyport.

Nathaniel Tracy was a very wealthy man, the wealthiest merchant in Newburyport prior to the Revolutionary War. He fitted out a fleet of privateer vessels during the Revolutionary War, and suffered severe financial hardships as a result. By 1786 he was in complete financial collapse, and was sent to live in genteel retirement at the farm. During his early ownership of the farm, Tracy made modest Georgian-style changes to the house, reconfiguring the central chimney, replacing the mantles, and encasing the beams.

Little Ownership: A Family Farm

In 1851 Edward Little, a descendant of early settlers of Newbury, leased Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm from the Pettingell heirs. By 1861 his hard work and shrewd business investments made it possible for him to purchase the farm outright. Edward Little believed in the principals of “scientific farming” and also invested heavily in local banks. Throughout the 1860s and 1870s, decorative changes were made to the house to update it for his middle-class Victorian family. A window was added in the front room, the doors were grain-pained, and rugs were installed. Edward Little died in 1877, and the house passed to his two sons, Edward Francis Little (known as Ed) and Daniel Noyes Little (known as Dan). They had a significant dairy operation, and also imported and trained draft horses for use on local farms and in the Coast Guard. Dan and Ed Little both married and had six children between them. By 1930 the surviving three of these six children were being raised on the farm by their paternal aunt, Eliza, after the deaths of their parents from illness or accident.

Eliza Little and her nieces, Agnes, Amelia, and Margaret, never married and lived at the farm until their deaths. They lived carefully and were active in the First Parish Church and in various missionary and anti-tuberculosis efforts.

Becoming a Museum

In 1986 the farm passed to Historic New England, and extensive structural work was undertaken immediately. The massive center chimney had partially collapsed, pulling down the floor by up to eighteen inches, and many beams had rotted away from their pockets in the stone walls. After six years of stabilization and preservation, costing more than $1 million, the house was opened to the public for regular hours in 1992.

Family-Friendly Farm

In 2003 Historic New England responded to an overwhelming community need by becoming the first family-friendly farm at Historic New England. The return of animals to the farm was central to this effort, and an innovative partnership with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) brought sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, and horses to the farm. A year-round preschool program focusing on farm life brought new audiences to the farm, as did interactive stations in the house and new, large-scale family programs. Since 2003, visitation has grown yearly, and the site continues to find new ways to serve families and the community.