April 30th, 2024 Submitted by The Hingham Historical Society
On Saturday, May 4th, the Hingham Historical Society will offer a community open house at the Benjamin Lincoln House at 181 North Street from 10AM – 4PM in advance of the Museum’s official grand opening celebration on Saturday, May 11th. The Benjamin Lincoln House is Massachusetts’s newest house Museum and on Saturday, May 4th, docent led tours of the first floor are free.
The Benjamin Lincoln House, at 181 North Street, in Hingham, stands in the heart of one of New England’s most historic towns as it has for over 350 years. Its most famous resident, Major General Benjamin Lincoln, 1733-1810, was the fourth Lincoln to own the house that his great-grandfather Thomas built around 1665. Remarkably, for an additional seven generations after General Lincoln, spanning another 200 years, the Lincoln family continued to call his house home. In 2020, after 11 generations and 375 years, the Benjamin Lincoln House was sold to the Hingham Historical Society to be opened as a museum.
A 2020 Town of Hingham Community Preservation Grant in addition to the Society’s private fundraising enabled the Society to purchase the home and create a suitable endowment. Upon the sale of the home, the Lincoln descendants generously donated the home’s historic contents to the Society. The Lincoln Home is a National Historic Landmark – the country’s highest designation for structures of historic importance and a fitting tribute to General Lincoln, Hingham’s own Revolutionary War hero. A veteran of the three principal Revolutionary War campaigns at Saratoga, Charleston, and Yorktown, Lincoln accepted the British sword of surrender at Yorktown, essentially ending the hostilities during our War of Independence. It is General Lincoln who sits on a white horse, presiding over the surrender ceremonies in the iconic Jonathan Trumbull painting in the Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C. While Lincoln’s contributions to our nation’s birth are alone a sufficient reason to preserve his lifelong home, his contributions to his hometown are almost as noteworthy. He was born, raised, and died in Hingham—all in the house at 181 North Street, and for more than 50 years, he was the dominant figure in Hingham’s public life. Selectman, Town Clerk, and representative to the provincial legislature, he was also deacon and clerk of the Old Ship Church, a founding member of Hingham’s Third Parish (New North Church), a founding trustee of Derby Academy, and a colonel in the Hingham militia.
The house is also a witness to the complexities of American history as the Lincoln family were enslavers and extant attic quarters may be the only remaining sleeping quarters of an 18th century African American in Massachusetts if not New England. The Society continues to research the lives of those who worked in the home both free and enslaved and visitors to the Museum will learn about those residents. “As the world commemorates the 250 th Anniversary of the American Revolution and on the eve of America’s 250th birthday, the Hingham Historical Society is proud to steward the Benjamin Lincoln House Museum and ensure that it remains a Hingham and American history treasure into its fourth century,” said Deirdre Anderson, Executive Director of the Society. “At a time when communities like Marblehead and Swampscott are fighting to save witness structures from demolition, including the National Historic Landmark General Glover House, Hingham is incredibly fortunate. We hope the open house will inform Hingham citizens about the central role our community and its citizens played in the country’s founding and why museums such as the Lincoln House provide a powerful way to experience history.”
The Society is hopeful guests at the open house will be inspired to support the ongoing Campaign for the Benjamin Lincoln House and will consider purchasing tickets to attend the Grand Opening Celebration the following Saturday, May 11 th from 5PM – 7PM.
Tickets are available at hinghamhistorical.org
Please note: The home is accessible through the front entrance. Drop off is available and parking is available on site or at the Society’s Old Ordinary property at 21 Lincoln St. Children must be accompanied by an adult and please no food, drink or baby strollers in the house. For further information please visit https://hinghamhistorical.org/benjamin-lincoln-house/ or call Visitors Center at 781-749-7721.