When was the Holmes Cottage built?

July 17, 2025

Several years ago, we were privileged to restore all the original windows in the historic Dr Holmes Cottage Museum in Calais. At the time we did extensive research resulting in several blogs. We also learned there were questions about when the cottage was built. We decided to tackle the issue, expanding on our previous research.

The property where the cottage would be built was part of a large track of land (mostly virgin forest), first purchased in 1789 from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by Waterman Thomas of Waldoboro, Maine. Thomas paid 672£, 8s. 3d., for 19,392 acres. Designated Township #5, the parcel was one of many land grants created by the Massachusetts Committee for the Sale of Eastern Lands. By encouraging the settlement of the frontier wilderness of Maine, the Massachusetts General Court hoped to generate revenues to counter the financial chaos left by the Revolutionary War.

About six years later Mr. Thomas sold half the township to Shubael Downes, of Walpole, Mass, one-quarter to Abiel Woods and one quarter to Edward Hutchinson Robbins, of Milton, Mass. Robbins. A few years later Samuel Jones re-surveyed the township, dividing it into settler's lots of 50 and 100 acres.

In 1805 Edward Robbins sold one of these lots, "one hundred acres and commonly called the shore point lot," to the Honorable Artemas Ward Esquire of Charlestown, son of a prominent Massachusetts family. The price was $3000.00

Artemas was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, in 1762. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he was a member of the State House of Representatives from 1796 to 1800, serving at the same time Edward Robbins was speaker. He moved to Charlestown, Mass. in 1800; was member of the board of overseers of Harvard University 1810-1844; was elected as a Federalist to the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Congresses 1813- 1817; served in the state senate in 1818 -1819; was a member of the state constitutional convention in 1820; was chief justice of the court of common pleas 1820-1839. He died in Boston, October 7, 1847.

Artemas does not appear in any census for Calais. It is unlikely he ever resided in the town and clearly purchased the property as an investment. Given this status it is very unlikely he would have built anything on his property and there is no evidence to suggest he was the builder of the cottage.

An item posted in the Calais Advertiser, May 27, 1887, when supported by evidence, does make a compelling case, not only providing a circa date but also the name of the builder. 

J. H. Saunders is building a porch on the old Holmes House. It is one of the oldest houses in the city built about 1816 or 1820 by the father of George Turner, the mason. He loved it awhile in an unfinished state. Having bought the land from the late Deacon Kelly, and a Turner failed for it the land reverted to the Deacon. He then sold it to Dr. Whipple and he sold it to Dr. Holmes.

We do know that George Turner, a brick mason, was born in Robbinston in 1824, to John Turner and Eleanor Warren Turner, both formerly of England. George's sister Caroline was born in Calais in 1832. This time frame is consistent with the notion that John Turner would have been seeking to build a new home for his fledgling family. It is clear the couple moved from Robbinson to Calais within this period. The dates 1816 and 1820 appear to have been estimates or recollections not consistent with the record. George died in Calais in 1904.

John is listed on both of his children's death records as a carpenter. Robert J. H. Saunders was likewise a carpenter in Calais.

Land records tell us that on July 26,1824, Artemas Ward sold his “shore point lot “to Samuel Kelly (1797-1885) for $2000.00 (not to Whipple as was previously thought). No buildings are mentioned in the deed. Kelly, a merchant who hailed from New Hampshire and came to Calais in 1821, established a farm on the property. In 1825 he donated a lot of land to The First Congregational Church of Calais, where he was a founder and a deacon.

In 1831 he sold a small portion of his farm, 6 by 8 rods, (99 x 132 ft) south of the county road (the Holmes property), to Shelomith Stow Whipple, Calais's first doctor for $150.00. This of course would present a buildable city lot. It is interesting to note that there are no buildings mentioned in the deed.

If the item in the Calais Advertiser is to be believed and there is no reason to discount it, then the Cottage was likely built between 1824 and 1831. Whipple may have completed the project started by the carpenter, John Turner for his family. Turner and Kelly may well have entered into a gentlemen agreement with a mortgage, (which is often not recorded till paid in full) that Turner later defaulted on.

Two years later, in 1833, Whipple sold to Cyrus Hamlin for $2500.00, “with all the buildings and appurtenances and privileges thereon”. This substantial price increase could be explained by the addition of buildings. This is the first mention of the Holmes Cottage in a deed.

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