The Wendell Parsonage is a '5 over 4, two-chimneys-behind-the-ridge' Federal period home and is the oldest residence
in the central historic district of Wendell, Massachusetts. It was built in 1823 on land donated by Judge Joshua Green (Squire Green) to serve as home for the pastors of the Wendell Congregational Church.
The Parsonage has always been an important part of Wendell's history. It is cited as a town landmark in official literature for the Wendell Congregational Church Centennial (1874), the Centennial of 1881, the Sesquicentennial of 1931
and the 1981 Bicentennial Celebration.
|
PASTORS (SPOUSE)
1823-1830 Rev. John Duncklee (Sarah Center) 1830-1837 Rev. William Claggett (Sarah K. Morril) 1838-1844 Rev. Salmon Bennett (Hepzibah Nurse Jewell) 1847-1852 Rev. Noahdia Dickinson (Asenath Goodrich) 1852-1854 Rev. Andrew B. Foster (Irene Cooley) 1854-1855 Rev. Solomon A. Gilbert (Sarah B. Dunbar) 1857-1859 Rev. Abraham Jenkins (Eliza Whittemore) 1861-1863 *Rev. John Henry Dodge (Elvira Moody Waite) 1864-1867 Rev. Willard Brigham (Laura Cleveland) 1867-1869 Rev. Caleb Ward Piper (Sarah Malvina Tucker) 1869-1876 Rev. Brainard Bradley Cutler (Phoebe Chapin Wilson) 1877-1879 Rev. Daniel Chase Easton (Florence Cordelia Leach) 1879-1880 Rev. Mr. Stowell (shared ministry) 1880-1883 Rev. William Dugan (shared ministry) 1883-1890 Rev. Pliny Fisk Barnard (Julia Hobart) 1891-1892 Rev T.C. Kinney (shared ministry) 1892-1895 *Rev. George Augustas Perkins (Sarah Elizabeth Farrington) 1895-1896 Rev. John Champness Whitman 1896-1902 Rev. Edward Parsons Seymour (Mary Preston Fisher) 1902-1909 Rev. Arthur Leighton Truesdell (Charlotte Merrill) 1909-1912 Rev. Charles Sumner Bates (Nellie Eudora Bean) 1912-1915 Rev. G.E. Allen (Katherine W. Wallace) 1915-1918 Rev. H.A. Sibley (Gertrude E. Haugh) 1918 A.C.S. Raymond (shared ministry) 1919-1920 Rev. J.R. Lawrence (shared ministry) 1920-1923 Rev. Edmund Blackmer (Louise Anderson) * Died while in residence |
BIRTHS AT THE PARSONAGE
Sarah C. Duncklee (1824) Cynthia Duncklee (1829) Ellizabeth Claggett (1833) Ann Claggett (1836) Ellen Fell Dickinson (1849) William Lord Jenkins (1858) Mary Elvira Dodge (1862) Frank Birch Easton (1878) Elizabeth Truesdell (1904) Ruth Truesdell (1905) Rollin Truesdell (1906) Clarissa Truesdell (1908) Paul E. Allen (1914) |
)
2-22-1851.png)
)
)
)
John H. Dodge was born in Wenham, MA on February 14, 1828. He attended the Williston Seminary in Easthampton, MA and enrolled in Amherst College in 1852 where he chose the life of a missionary. He entered the Andover seminary in 1856, graduated and was ordained in 1859. In October of 1859 he married Elvira M. Wait, a graduate of Mt. Holyoke College. In 1860 the Dodges were missionaries in West Africa. They returned in 1861 and he was appointed pastor of the Wendell Congregational Church; Rev. Dodge also served on the School Committee Wendell. |
District #1, May 6, 1862 (Charlotte M. Monroe, instructor) District #1, Sept 15, 1862 (Ellen Leach, instructor) District #1, Oct 15, 1862 District #3, May 7, 1862 (Minerva H Pitts, instructor) District #3, June 27, 1862 District #3, August 18, 1862 District #3, Oct 15, 1862 District #3, Nov 7, 1862 |
District #5, July 11, 1862 (Jane Leach, instructor) District #5, December 11, 1862 District #5, January 19, 1863 District #7-#8, May 20, 1862 (Ellen French, instructor) District #7-#8, September 18, 1862 District #7-#8, October 16, 1862 District #9, May 8, 1862, (Eliza J. Merchant, instructor) District #9, September 20, 1862 |
)
05-18-1895.jpg)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
|
When the Seymours moved back in late November, 1899, the look and feel of the Parsonage was new and different. A celebration and housewarming followed on December 15, 1899. Over 70 guests rejoiced “in having a modern parsonage,” with all its changes:
•A porch ('veranda') was added to the front of the building. •A pastor's study was added to the back of the main house. •The center entry stairs were removed and relocated to the east wall where a side doorway was added. •The walls of the center entrance were moved outward to create a third room centered on both the first and second floors. •The original center doorway entrance and sidelights were removed and replaced with a single door without sidelights. •The east chimney and fireplaces were removed to enable the relocation of the stairway. •A new chimney was constructed in the center of the building. •The dimensions of the upstairs east bedroom were modified to enable the relocation of the stairway. •The west parlor fireplace on the first floor was covered with a wall. •The original wide pine floors in the main house were removed and replaced with 4 inch Victorian style floors. Window and door casings were also changed to a 'modern' Victorian design. •In the ell, the original large kitchen/dining room was partitioned into two smaller rooms. The cost of the 1899 renovation was about $1000, (about $40,000 in 2026). |
) From the Orange Enterprise and Journal, December 22, 1899 Click image for larger view |
) From the Greenfield Recorder & Gazette, December 23, 1899 Click image for larger view |
)
)
)
The Parsonage was the Congregational Church pastoral residence until 1923. After 1923 ministers traveled to Wendell
from surrounding towns and the Parsonage was
rented. During those 21 years, tenants used the
home for different businesses including the manufacturing straw hats. Glenn Ellis and his family were among the first tenants. In the mid 1930s, Mr. and Mrs. Ray Clark sold ice cream at the Parsonage during warm weather. The late Ted Lewis recalled walking home from school during warm weather and buying ice cream from Mrs. Clark. The monthly rent for
the Parsonage in 1935 was $8.00, with ‘minor repairs to be made by the renter.’
)
03-09-1921.jpg)
) Greenfield Recorder, November 30, 1949 Click image for larger view |
 Ralph 'Chub' Carey 1906-1975 |
) Orange Enterprise & Journal, December 1, 1949 Click image for larger view |
In 1965 Frank Judice and his mother Kathryn Judice moved from Bellmore, New York to Wendell and bought the Parsonage from John Carey. By this time, the house was over 140 years old and needed major repairs: sills, roof, windows etc. The carriage shed that connected the ell to the barn had collapsed along with an outhouse. The barn needed extensive repairs as well; a few local residents suggested that it should be demolished and replaced with a new one. The Judice family's committment to restoring and renovating the Parsonage helped save it from falling down. Foundations were repaired or replaced, windows were replaced, interior walls were returned to their original locations, the chimney in the ell was rebuilt and the house was painted. In 1978, Frank married Jo Ann Fitch of Guilford, VT. They moved to the Lowney house -- the old Town Farm -- which was the abutting property and Kathryn Judice remained at the Parsonage.  Frank Judice 1932-2015 |
 Katherine Judice 1907-1997 |
SAVING THE BARN: 1967) Frank Judice replacing roof supports with assistance from his brother Edward Judice. Kathryn Judice nervously looks on. Click image for larger view |
)
Wendell Parsonage-2004 Click image for larger view |
)
Greenfield Recorder, August 27, 2000 Click image for larger view |
)
Wendell Parsonage-2022 Click image for larger view |
