By Susan Shaw

The hurricanes took their toll on the South and did a job on Howland House. Nancy Kerr was working there on a Saturday, giving a tour when she heard a drip-drip-drip. Upon investigation she found water running from the main beam in the Hall — that's the original room built by Jacob Mitchell around 1667. Nancy called me, and when I got there 15 minutes later there was a search party running around the house looking for leaks. They found that all the east windows had water blowing between the frames and also some in the lead work. they also thought that the rain was being driven in between the clabber boards, onto the main boards to the lathing and plaster. We did have a lot of wet plaster along with a steady drip from one of the beams. We moved the furniture out of the way and set up a series of pans and towels.

All this added fun for the visitors but not for the staff. The next week the same thing happened again.

If you would like to make a donation to the Howland House to help us maintain the property please send your contribution to Jabez Howland House, 33 Sandwich Avenue, Plymouth, MA 02360 (508) 746-9590