Swampscott Glover House Preservation Efforts Find Bermuda Connection
SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Swampscott's Save The Glover House campaign recently included a trip to Bermuda as members of the preservation effort connected with local historians over the shared Revolutionary War era history. Nancy Schultz, Chair of the Swampscott Historical Commission, Ed Nilsson, Marblehead's Historical Commission and Planning Board, Frances Nilsson, St. Michael's Marblehead Parish Historian and other advocates traveled to Bermuda to attend a presentation by Schultz. The talk was called "Preserving Our Shared Heritage: The c. 1750 William Browne/John Glover Farmhouse, Swampscott, Massachusetts."Swampscott 'Save The Glover House' Push Gains Steam Ahead Of Rev 250The Bermuda National Library lecture focused on William Browne, a loyalist from Salem whose property was seized by Massachusetts during the American Revolution. General John Glover bought the 180-acre property and farmhouse from Massachusetts in 1781, and Browne was permanently banished. Browne had fled to England in 1776, and was later appointed Governor of Bermuda, where he served honorably from 1782-88. The Bermuda Historical Society recently received a gift of Browne's portrait from his descendants. The portrait was painted in 1755, while Browne was at Harvard and a classmate and friend of John Adams. The painting is by Joseph Blackburn, a renowned portrait artist, and is now in the Bermuda Historical Society.Society President Andrew Bermingham welcomed the Glover delegation, arranging a tour of a historic home and garden owned by Vice-President John Cox, and access to various museums on the island. The General Glover Farmhouse has stood for over 250 years and is now at risk of being demolished. The historic house sits on a shared historic site in Swampscott, Marblehead, and Salem.The Swampscott Historical Society and Save The Glover Farmhouse advocacy group have been raising funds and generating support to save the building where the Revolutionary War general once lived in recent years, with the town stepping in to facilitate that preservation as the property faced demolition as part of a proposed new housing development.Gen. Glover was one of Marblehead's key Revolutionary War figures with his regiment helping enforce trade sanctions against the British and then assisting in George Washington's army at a series of critical moments of the Revolution — including the crossing of the Delaware River during a raging snowstorm for an attack on Christmas night 1776.The house was turned into a renowned restaurant called the General Glover House in 1957 before its closing nearly 30 years ago. Since then, it has fallen into a state of neglect as the town and property owners haggled over the future of the property.In 2022, town meeting members voted in favor of a multi-family overlay district for the property that could be developed into 96 units of dwelling — which will include affordable housing — in Swampscott, with another 44 units in Marblehead.Eighteen of the 96 Swampscott units were to be designated as "affordable housing" —helping the town get closer to the 10 percent inventory threshold necessary to avoid being susceptible to 40B housing proposals that are allowed to avoid many local zoning bylaws.Town advocates were able to — at least temporarily — stave off the demolition of the house through a subsequent public campaign but have since made little progress on its proposed restoration.(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)The article Swampscott Glover House Preservation Efforts Find Bermuda Connection appeared first on Swampscott, MA Patch.
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