Medfield Historical Society Annual Holiday Party

An important part of Medfield's character and appeal is its history which inclues the number of antique houses, such as the Peak House, the Dwight-Derby House, and many others that have occasionally been open to the public on house tours. 

On Sunday, one of Medfield's lesser-known antique houses -- the Robert Hinsdale House at 87 Harding Street -- will be open to Medfield Historical Society members for the society's members-only annual holiday party (from 2pm to 5pm). 

Although this is a members-only gathering, non-members who join and pay the membership dues at the door are welcome to join the festivities. 

The following information about the Robert Hinsdale House has been provided by the Medfield Historical Society in its monthly newsletter.

The property at 87 Harding Street was first deeded to Robert Hinsdale, one of Medfield's original thirteen settlers. Hinsdale left Medfield for the Connecticut Valley around 1670 and, along with three of his sons, was killed there by Native Americans in 1675, during the King Philip War.

The property seems to have passed first into the Barber family and then into the Bullard family. Some 80 years after the original Robert Hinsdale left Medfield, the home returned to the Hinsdale family, having been purchased by Robert Hinsdale, a house joiner by trade, the great-great-grandson of that first Robert Hinsdale.

The history of the house now turns to Robert's grandson, Hinsdale Fisher, who was born in 1786, the only son of Obed and Catherine Fisher, and was named for his grandfather, Robert Hinsdale. It is Hinsdale Fisher to whom the current house is attributed. Hinsdale Fisher was a farmer by trade who taught school in the winter. He died in 1869 at the age of 83.

John G. Hutson, who had lived with Fisher since his arrival in Medfield in 1833, inherited the house in 1866 when Hinsdale Fisher died a childless widower. John's son Herbert succeeded in ownership of the house after the death of his father and retained ownership until he died in 1923.

For more information on local historic homes, to receive the Medfield Historical Society's newsletter, or to join the organization, click here.