8 Atwood Street

History

8 Atwood Street was built by Moses Short (1725-1760), a cordwainer (a shoemaker who makes shoes from new leather), and carpenter who married Elizabeth Noyes in 1750, the same year he built the house. They had four children: Joanna, Nicholas, Hanna, and Elizabeth.

The Short family had much land in what was then Newbury (until 1764, when it became Newburyport). Moses Short probably built 10 and 8 Ann Street around 1750 and had land in the back and on either side.

Nicholas Short inherited the house from his father and passed it on to his son Moses Short II, a carpenter like his grandfather. Moses Short was also very involved in creating the Baptist denomination in Newburyport. “The first meeting regarding the formation of a new Baptist church in Newburyport took place on May 26, 1804, at the home of Moses Short on Ann Street. Five men — Jesse Dorman, David Burbank, Moses Short, James Norris, and Jonathan Floyd- attended the first meeting and agreed to continue meeting weekly to discuss the church. Meeting again at Moses Short's house on May 31, 1804, the men discussed finding a recurring place for meeting.

In 1822, Moses Short sold the house to Daniel Smith, an apothecary. 1826 Daniel Smith sold 8 and 10 Ann Street to Samuel Todd, a house painter on the 1851 Map. Samuel died in 1865, leaving his wife, Mary, and Thomas Todd. Thomas Todd was put under guardianship by his mother for the reason of insanity shortly after his father’s death.

Atwood Street was laid out before 1770. It was called Ann Street for nearly a century. In 1856, the name was changed to Atwood Street after Margaret Atwood. It is one of four streets in Newburyport named after a woman.