Fisher-Richardson House of Mansfield Historical Society
Last Sunday — July 14, 2024 — I visited three more stops in the Passport to History developed by Old Colony Museum, along with making several quick history stops. First on my adventure was Fisher-Richardson House of Mansfield Historical Society, a mid-18th century building with an early 19th century addition restored in 1930. Similar in appearance to the reproduction house Carpenter Museum of Rehoboth Antiquarian Society, the building contained a main room, kitchen, bedroom, and several miniature exhibits. As an added bonus, the house has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1998; its latest sign was installed in 2019 by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, best known for hosting National Historic Marker Day. In fact, the house was originally offered to Historic New England, but the town ended up receiving it instead.
What differentiates Fisher-Richardson House from the myriad of other small town historical society old houses is the participation of the Richardson family in the abolitionist movement. Connecticut abolitionist and American Anti-Slavery Society member Charles Calistus Burleigh arrived in Mansfield on August 29, 1826 to lecture at East Mansfield Methodist Church, but a mob kept interrupting his talk. When Burleigh returned on October 10, the town clerk and selectman worked with a mob to drive him away. The wealthy elite of Mansfield were concerned that the end of slavery would affect their cotton mill businesses and worked against the local constable to cause a riot. Fortunately, Burleigh escaped, but a lengthy poem mocking the entire incident was printed on a broadside, now preserved in the museum.
The tour guide, Alex, did an amazing job covering all of the materials in the house, which included a ceramic set of dishes, a fancy quilt, vintage clothing, a rug beater, a cranberry harvesting scoop, butter molds, a lemon squeezer, a massive trencher where an entire family might eat their food, Shaker style boxes, and a teacup with a built-in mustache protector. Mini-exhibits highlighted a chocolate factory, a hat making factory, restored but still creepy dolls, and the railroad station. The tour came with the obligatory bleak references to past life, including “sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite”, open fire kitchens were incredibly dangerous, and most children died before reaching adulthood.
Fisher-Richardson House is free and open on Sundays. The passport book listed its open times as from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., while the website said 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Like most historic homes, the property is not accessible for those using a wheelchair or with limited mobility. Lighting in the house is fairly good on a sunny day due to its small size but would be dark on a cloudy day. The house has an extensive 3D virtual tour hosted by VR monopoly Matterport. While this is a decent substitute for those who cannot go in the house, the URLs on the tour are all dead and lead to a 404 page. If you live in the Mansfield area, this is a good place to go with children as their first introduction to historic house museums.
Abby Epplett’s Rating System
Experience: 8/10
Accessibility: 7/10