35-37 Green Street

History

High-style Georgian-style home with circa 1860 Italianate-style entry.

The Frazier-Greenleaf House has undergone several periods of alteration, leaving it with an unusual form. The 3rd-floor, double hip roof with dormers, and dentil molding at the cornice were added after the original construction date. The addition of a full third story makes the building’s proportions unusual for Newburyport. Nearly all of the Federal three-story houses in Newburyport have decreasing height in the upper stories. The entrance to the Frazier-Greenleaf house also dates from a later period, that of the Greek Revival. A porch was also added at that time.

This house was built by Moses Frazier around the turn of the 19th century. Frazier was one of Newburyport’s early patriots, active in the State’s constitutional conventions. He advocated protecting trading interests before the Continental Congress in 1774. Frazier served as town selectman, town treasurer, and as a representative to the General Court.

John Quincy Adams, studying law in Newburyport, courted Mary Frazier, daughter of Moses Frazier, in this house.

Jonathan Greenleaf later lived in the house. He was a shipbuilder with a shipyard at the bottom of what is now Federal Street. He, in partnership with Ralph and Stephen Cross, built the frigates “Boston,” “Hancock,” and “Protector” between 1776 and 1778. Greenleaf also served in the General Court and as Senator, 1790-1791.

In 1851, Stephen W. Marston lived in the house. He was Justice of the Police Court in Newburyport and, in 1836, elected President of the Newburyport Bank. He was also President of the Newburyport Steam Cotton Company. The building was converted to a funeral home in the twentieth century.