ABOUT

Timothy Pickering

Timothy Pickering spent all of his adult life in the service of his country. One of the few of his peers to actually take up arms, he marched on April 19, 1775 at the head of 300 men to cut off the retreat of the British from Lexington. Appointed by Washington as Quartermaster General in the Revolutionary War, he was present at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown and at Cornwallis’ surrender.

Pickering is the only person to serve three cabinet posts: Secretary of State, Postmaster General, and Secretary of War — which included administration of the Navy and Indian affairs. He oversaw the building of three noble frigates, the “USS Constitution,” “United States,” and “Constellation,” starting a love of things marine for succeeding generations.

The Pickering House

Home to a single family for over three and a half centuries; home to carpenters, farmers, patriots, military leaders, deacons, diplomats, linguists, scientists, and statesmen. And as homes will, it changed with the times.

Built in 1660 by settler John Pickering — a carpenter form Coventry, England — and his wife Elizabeth, it was once just a two-room farmhouse on a vast plot of land that ran all the way down to the seaport on the North River, encompassing what is today Chestnut Street and the McIntire District.

Over the next 350 years, the succeeding John Pickerings and their wives added wings, gables, and Gothic peaks. They raised ceilings, extended the roofline, and created the distinctive fence, to evolve into the warm and gracious home it is today.

Tour the Home

Officers:
President: Carol Pickering
Vice President: Charles Newhall
Treasurer: Deborah Jackson
Secretary: Emily Pickering
Comptroller: John Pickering II

Staff:

Executive Director: Vijay Joyce

Administrative Assistant: Carolyn McGuire

Archivist/Curator: Ana Swartz

Docent: Anna Morsillo

Trustees:

Timothy Pickering, Jr.

Edith Armstrong

Milicent Armstrong

Otis Edwards

Timothy Jenkins

Phoebe Lehy

Richard Pickering, Jr.

Nina Pickering-Cook

Katharine Pickering

Racket Shreve

Jeffrey Swartz