White Homestead

The Salem Cross Inn, formerly known as the White Homestead, is located on Ware Road, Route 9, in the western part of West Brookfield. It is surrounded by acres of rolling meadows and woodlots bounded by fieldstone walls and crisscrossed with old cart roads. The immediate environs preserve an atmosphere of rural colonial days. The homestead is located on the land granted to Sergeant John White in 1707. The original one story house was built by White c. 1707 with clapboard sides and a ridge roof. The ground floor contained a kitchen with a large cooking fireplace and an oven. On the backside of the fireplace was a small heating fireplace which faced into a small chamber known as a "borning room". There were also two general ase chambers on the far side of the borning room .

The walls of the kitchen and borning room are the original plaster on handsplit chestnut laths. The outside walls were lined with handmade burnt bricks, some of which still remain, serving as fortification against both the Indians and the severe New England weather. Above the ground floor is a three-quarter loft with access via an enclosed staircase from the first general chamber. When the main house was constructed, this primitive structure was converted to a carriage shed and still so remains. It was moved c.1960 behind the main house. While the chimney was removed, the interior and exterior are otherwise mostly intact. The house and barn were built by John and Cornelius White c.1740 upon their return to Brookfield from Concord to claim their father's land.

The main house -is a 2 story clapboard Colonial structure with a hip roof, large central chimney, and main entrance on the east facade.

BUILDER/ARCHITECT John White; John and Cornelius White The Salem Cross Inn is significant to the local Brookfield area both for its architectural and its associative values. The 1707 structure is one of the last remaining structures from the early days of the second settlement of Brookfield and the 1740 building is important as an example of an excellently restored, 18th c. architecture in its original rural setting. The main house also retains its original outbuildings.

In addition to its architectural significance, the Salem Cross Inn is álso important as being the home of three persons notable in history: John White, who received the original land grant, was the grandson of Peregrine White, the first male child born in New England aboard the Mayflower as it rode at anchor in Cape Cod Harbor. John White was also an important figure in Brookfield town history. In 1706 he served second in command at the local Goss Garrison. As Indians had forced the removal of the first settlement in Brookfield (now West Brookfield) and were still a constant threat there, the garrison was most important. In 1707 John was granted 60 acres of land by the inhabitants of the town.

In March, 1710, he and eight other men were granted permission to build a sawmill to service the community-|John White was one of the victims of the Indian massacre at Brookfield on July 22,1710, at which time he and five other men were killed while harvesting hay. This massacre was the last act of hostilities committed by the Indians in Brookfield. The 1740 house was built by White's sons, John and Cornelius. The two other important figures who lived in the house were Sarah White Smith (b.1813) and her sister, Adeline White Tracy ( b.