The Manse

54 Prospect Street, Northampton, MA

Photograph of the exterior front of the Manse. The photograph is black-and-white and shows the Manse house, which is white with dark shutters. The roof is brick and has three protruding windows. Above the front door is a marquee with 4 columns in a Romansesque style. A marquee covering the side door can also be seen, in a more decorative style. A small watchtower peaks through the roof of the house.
Photograph of The Manse, 1939. The house, as it appears here, was built in 1782. Today, The Manse is a private residence. Historic Northampton (ID no. 55.502).

Introduction

The Manse and its site was home to three generations of Stoddards. When Jonathan Edwards first came to Northampton, he presumably lived with his grandfather Solomon Stoddard at this site. Solomon Stoddard was called to Northampton in 1669-1670 to “cary [sic] on the work of the ministry” and was ordained on September 11, 1672 as the town’s second minister.

Who was Solomon Stoddard?

Stoddard was born in Boston in 1643, the son of merchant Anthony Stoddard and Mary Downing. A 1662 graduate of Harvard College, Stoddard was chosen library-keeper at Harvard in 1667.

Hide-covered trunk lined with worn orangish-brown floral print wallpaper. Straps can be seen on the inside, likely to tie items down.
Hide-covered trunk likely used by Solomon Stoddard, 1682. The trunk is lined with floral print wallpaper that is likely 19th century as is the lock. The replacement of the lining and lock indicate that it was used for some time after Stoddard. Historic Northampton (ID no. 16.101).

Stoddard was born in Boston in 1643, the son of merchant Anthony Stoddard and Mary Downing. A 1662 graduate of Harvard College, Stoddard was chosen library-keeper at Harvard in 1667. After working as a chaplain in Barbados for health reasons, Stoddard returned to Boston and prepared to leave for a position in London when a group from Northampton traveled to Boston to ask him to succeed the town’s first minister, Eleazer Mather. Stoddard accepted the position and relocated to Northampton, marrying Mather’s widow, Esther, and residing in the house built for Mather, which was located at the corner of Main and Pleasant Streets.

Stoddard became widely known for his adoption of the “Half Way Covenant” by which the Puritan church retained its declining influence by modifying conditions for membership. In 1684, Stoddard purchased the Prospect Street property and built a house upon it, believed to consist of six rooms. Solomon Stoddard died on February 11, 1729. Only the foundation of the 17th century house remains today. Stoddard’s son, Colonel John Stoddard (1681/82-1748), inherited the property and built the rear ell of the current structure in the 1730s. Solomon Stoddard II (1736-1827) built the gambrel roof structure, circa 1782.