| At the corner of Washington and Jefferson Streets stands a typical early four-room dwelling facing Washington Street, with an ell added along Jefferson Street. This is Conant House which, in fact, was constructed in the opposite manner. The main house was built on Jefferson Street; the addition is the southern part of the house on Washington Street. Much of the confusion arises from the fact that the door was never in its expected place in the front of the house on Jefferson Street. From the beginning it was found in the short, gable end of the house on Washington Street. The original house was built by William Ham, a tailor, shortly after he purchased this corner lot in 1791. Four years later Ham sold the house to Joseph Brown, a sea captain. It is not difficult to discern why Captain Brown built the addition on Washington Street. At his death in 1800 he left five children under the age of fourteen and a wife who was expecting another. | 
