Massachusetts

Jencks Barn, 83 Walnut Street, Seekonk, Bristol County, Massachusetts (41.847902,-71.307321)

Felling Date: Summer 1796

The Jencks barn, with gable roof running east-west, is composed of four phases of construction. The original section, three bays in the center-east of the current structure, was built as an English barn with threshing floor in the central bay. The steep roof pitch of this portion was maintained in the next two additions to the building. The dendrochronology study has not yet identified a construction date for this phase. A lean-to was built north of this section of the barn at some point.

The second phase of construction was a three-bay addition west of the original building that doubled the barn in size. This section was dated to 1796 in the current study. In the third phase of construction, a second addition was built to the west. The dimensional sawn timbers used in this addition place its construction in the second half of the nineteenth century. There is a one story shed roof across the west end of this addition. In the final construction, a two-bay structure with a lower roof pitch was built on the east end of the barn.

The property was settled by the Carpenter family and Daniel Carpenter (1695-1763) is thought to have constructed the house west of the barn about 1720. The property remained in the Carpenter family until 1939 when is was purchased by the parents of the current owner.

Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory Unpublished Report 2005/9

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