Abigail Hooper Trask House

This Federal-style house now functions as the Manchester-by-the-Sea Museum. Built in 1823 by storekeeper Abigail Hooper, it was originally her home and place of business.

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Born in 1788, Abigail was a prominent figure in both stature and business skills. As a single woman, she opened and operated a general store that sold a variety of goods, including handmade bonnets. She also acted as an unofficial attorney, drafting wills, real estate deeds, and mortgage documents. The Selectmen often sought her advice when preparing warrants for Town Meetings. In her social life, as a dedicated member of the town's congregational church, she helped establish the first Sunday school. Abby's generosity was well known, as she assisted the poor and left some of her property to charity.

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Abigail Hooper married a local merchant and sea captain named Richard Tink the same year she contracted to have her house built. An orphaned boy living in a Salem poorhouse, Richard was adopted by the Lee family of Manchester. By age twelve, he was sailing off the Grand Banks. His career and fortunes quickly rose as he became a merchant sea captain. Working for a Boston shipping company, he eventually became a part-owner of the tall-masted clipper ship, St. Petersburg. Captain Richard undertook many trading voyages to Russia and other foreign ports. He had been married once before and, as a widower, brought two stepchildren into his marriage with Miss Hooper. The determined Abigail refused to let her role as a wife and mother diminish her independence. Defying common law, Abby and Richard agreed that she would keep sole ownership of her house after they married.

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Abigail was thirty-five when they married. Their son, Charles, was born the following year, and legend has it that Abby, unhappy with the name Tink, convinced her husband to change their last name to Trask (his mother's maiden name). Abigail also took in a young woman named Louisa Lord, who became her daughter and lifelong companion. Not long after retiring from the sea, Captain Trask died of cholera in 1846. Thrust into widowhood, Abby retired from her store around this time and continued to live in her house until she died at age 96, making her the town's oldest resident. She stayed sharp until the end and kept a strong connection to the community and her past—a remarkable woman in any era.

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Following Abigail Hooper Trask's death, the building was maintained as a boarding house under family ownership until its sale to the Manchester Historical Society (today the Manchester-by-the-Sea Museum) in 1925.  Since then, the house has been renovated to fit the needs of the Museum as it serves and celebrates the town, including the extraordinary history of Abigail Hooper.

 

For further reading:

- Gibson, Sally, editor. "Abigail Trask: Her House, Her Store." Manchester Historical Society Newsletter, October 1984.

- Lamson, Rev. D.F. History of the Town of Manchester, 1645–1895. Published by the Town, 1895, pp. 332–33, 337–38.

- Rice, Fred L. A Part of Manchester's Heritage. Manchester: The Bicentennial Committee for the Town of Manchester, 1976, pp. 38-39.

- Youngman, Elsie P. Summer Echoes from the 19th Century, Manchester-by-the-Sea. Published by Don Russell, Rockport, 1981, pp. 65-66.