Sandwiched between the playing fields and tennis courts of what is now Caryl Park, it is difficult to imagine the Dover Historical Society’s Caryl Farm at 107 Dedham Street as an 83-acre country farm.  Now a house museum with a contemporary barn saved from another Dover property, the house was home to Dover’s first minister.  Benjamin Caryl was born in Hopkinton in 1732 and graduated from Harvard College in 1761.  In 1762 he was ordained as Minister of Dedham’s Fourth Precinct, later to become the Town of Dover.  Later that year he married the widow Sarah (Messenger) Kollock of Wrentham and purchased the Eleazer Ellis farm on Dedham Street.  They occupied an existing home on the premises until the present one could be built in 1774, using wood and bricks taken from the earlier structure.

The new house was an elegant home for its time, facing north toward the street rather than south as was customary.  Its style reflects the evolution from traditional First Period houses to the newer Georgian style with such exterior details as a corniced front entry and symmetrical window placement. Inside, however, the house retains many First Period characteristics such as its center chimney, hall (dining and living room), parlor (the best room in the house, reserved for entertaining guests), kitchen with hearth and beehive oven, and parlor chamber.

The Town is fortunate in that the Caryl House was continuously occupied by members of the same family for four generations.  The modest means of later generations prevented them from making significant improvements, leaving it much as it was originally constructed. On the on the death of the last member of the Caryl family, Ellen Miller, in 1898, the house and its 83 acres were acquired by a prosperous local farmer, George Ellis Chickering.

In 1917 Chickering donated the house and land to the Town of Dover for use as a park, with the stipulation that the house be placed under the care and management of the Dover Historical Society.  Sadly, the house had been burglarized during Ellen Miller’s funeral and most of its original contents were stolen.  The handful of surviving Caryl family possessions are on display, most notably the family cradle and an enormous loom found disassembled in the attic and restored to functionality.

Curator Kevin Shale used the pandemic closure to reimagine the interior of the house so as to reflect four different moments in the life of the Caryl family.  In the Hall visitors see the room in 1777, moments after the family have finished their mid-day meal, with Reverend Caryl’s handwritten 12-page sermon for the day sitting on his desk.  In the parlor, it is July, 1818 and Reverend Caryl’s son, Dr. George Caryl (Dover’s first doctor) has just set down his reading glasses and stepped away from the desk at which he was reading the latest news of President Monroe.  A portrait of George Washington, dead for only 19 years, hangs above his desk.  The kitchen, which was never updated, reflects life in the heart of the home, with all the utensils needed for any meal.  Just off the kitchen is the “borning room” where mothers gave birth and could rest while keeping an eye on the kitchen.  This room has been redressed as Dr. George Caryl’s infirmary, with his medical instruments on display.  Visitors will see the infirmary shortly after Dr. Caryl has bled a patient to balance their humors.

Upstairs in the parlor chamber, the Caryls have just awakened, and Reverend Caryl has completed his morning toilet and shave.  The adjacent room is dedicated to the home’s last occupant, Ellen Miller.  A gifted artist, many of Miller’s cut paper works are on display in this bedroom.  The great chamber, and large open room across the rear of the house are where the children slept. The Caryl family’s loom is set up and working in this room, along with a display of various weaving utensils.

Also situated on the grounds of the Caryl Farm is the Fisher Barn, relocated from its original site at 6 Centre Street when that property was redeveloped in 1995.  While it is difficult to date the barn with certainty, it too was probably constructed around 1774 and presently houses the Society’s collection of tools and early agricultural implements.  In addition, the Barn is home to one of the Society’s recent restoration projects, a 1926 McCormick & Deering No. 4 horse drawn manure spreader originally used on another Dover farm at 46 Springdale Avenue.

Those interested in the architecture of historic homes appreciate the abundant period details as well as the interesting history of the original family who built it.  Most children who tour the property enjoy the original Hodgson Chicken Coop that will soon be occupied by several hens, as well as the line of sweet Concord grapes that grow at eye level near the parking area, the apple grove and the herb garden.

Elisha Lee