D Bancroft
GAWP5 presented Daniel Bancroft as the craftsman behind D Bancroft, citing his association with Samuel McIntire and Daniel's estate dated 1818.
In 4-2026, an additional search was conducted to find other D Bancroft candidates. Daniel and his son Daniel Jr. were the only period D Bancroft woodworkers found in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 18thC New England.
Daniel Bancroft (Sr.), 1746 -1818 Salem, MA, housewright and recognized builder of note, RW soldier
Daniel Bancroft Jr., 1772 - 1827 Salem, MA, housewright
The 4-2026 search was conducted following research done by M. Wyckoff.
D Bancroft
GAWP5 reported Daniel Bancroft as a Salem, MA housewright behind the ca 1780 D Bancroft imprint / molding plane, noting his association with Samuel McIntire and his estate dated 1818.
In 4-2026, an additional search was conducted to find other D Bancroft candidates. Daniel and his son Daniel Jr. were the only period D Bancroft woodworkers found in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 18thC New England.
Daniel Bancroft (Sr.), 1746 -1818 Salem, MA, housewright and recognized builder of note, RW soldier
Daniel Bancroft Jr., 1772 - 1827 Salem, MA, housewright
The 4-2026 search was conducted following research done by M. Wyckoff which located Donna Seager's 2019 blog.
Daniel Bancroft (Sr.)
-
b 12-15-1746 in Reading, MA, moved to Worcester, MA and then Salem, MA
-
d 6-3-1818 in Salem, MA
-
parents Thomas and Pheobe
-
m Hannah Symonds in 1770 in Salem
-
1773 deed, housewright in Worcester, MA
-
1776-1777 builder on the Third Congregational Church as published in the blog "Looking for Daniel Bancroft" in "Streets of Salem" by Donna Seager, 2019
-
1779 deed, housewright in Salem
-
RW service in the MA 6th Regiment under Capt. Japheth Daniel, Col. Thomas Nixon, 1780
-
1803 deed, housewright in Salem, wife Hannah
Daniel Bancroft Jr., b 1772 d 1827, Salem, MA
-
deed 1806, 1810, housewright in Salem
-
builder of the 1806 Daniel Bancroft house on River St., Salem, around the corner from his father's shop and house on Lynn St. per the blog "Looking for Daniel Bancroft" in "Streets of Salem" by Donna Seager, 2019
If GAWP5's dating of the known D Bancroft molding plane is ca 1780, Daniel Sr. is most likely the craftsman behind the D Bancroft imprint. However, if the known plane is closer to ca 1790, then the son might be a better candidate as the father would have been using planes dating closer to the mid 1760s. (Based on the known plane with it's being made of beech, it's simple turnout chamfer stops on the reverse and it's 9.5" length, the editor would place the plane closer to 1790 or slightly later.) Additional D Bancroft planes are solicited to help with this assessment.
Mike Humphrey's 4-23-26 assessment of the D Bancroft plane and the D Bancroft candidates.
"To the question of which Bancroft made the plane; the chamfers and stops are typical, simple North Shore, 3rd quarter 18th century into the 19th century. The 9.5” length would push production into the 19th century, if the influence were strictly from Newburyport [Sleeper], but W Raymond [right next door in Beverly] was making shorter planes through most of the 1790’s. [I had a W Raymond large mark plane which is 9 7/16” long]. And the wedge profile of the Bancroft is quite similar to the A1 wedge of Raymond [except that it tips forward a little more-Sleeper influence?] So based on style, and the likely Raymond influence, the plane probably dates from somewhere early in 1790’s to perhaps 1810. Bancroft Sr. would have been just 54 years old in 1800, and Bancroft Jr. would have been 21 years old in 1793. Also, Jr. would have hit the ground running given his exposure to his father. Therefore, either Bancroft would have been quite capable of having made the plane. From a logical standpoint, I might guess that Jr. was the more likely maker. Investing in a name stamp, and making a few planes seems most probable early in a career."
The following quotes and photographs are from the blog by Donna Seager titled "Looking for Daniel Bancroft" published in "Streets of Salem", 2019.
"We have an absolutely glowing epitaph for Bancroft from the Reverend William Bentley, following his death from typhus in 1818 at the age of 72: "the most able Architect we had. We gave more to the genius of Macintire, as a Carver, but as a practical man in every part of Carpentry in house building, I have never known Mr. B’s superior." [Diary, IV, 6]"
"The earliest “commission” I could find for Bancroft is for the construction of a new church or meeting house in 1776-77 for the Third Congregational Church, later (and now) called the Tabernacle Church, as the church which replaced the colonial construction was inspired by London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle. The Tabernacle’s records have been digitized by the Congregational Library, and among them are payments to Bancroft, specifically in terms of days of labor."
Daniel Bancroft Sr.'s 1776 bill for work done on the Tabernacle Church in Salem.
The "Old Tabernacle" in Salem, Daniel Bancroft Sr.
"Bancroft exceeds mere workman status thirteen years later in an article in the March 1790 issue of Massachusetts Magazine about the Salem meeting/courthouse at the head of Washington Street, which states that its plan “was designed by the ingenious Mr. Samuel McIntire and executed by that able architect, Mr. Daniel Bancroft.” Clearly the word is used to refer to the builder, or executor, of McIntire’s vision, and I guess we can conclude that Bancroft was just that. But he built the most elaborate buildings in the Salem of his day: not just the Tabernacle and the courthouse, but also the Assembly House and the short-lived mansion of Elias Hasket Derby, which stood on the present site of Old Town Hall for only fifteen years."
The Salem courthouse from the 1790 Massachusetts Magazine, Daniel Bancroft Sr.
1806 house built by Daniel Bancroft Jr. (The final entry from Donna Seager's 2019 blog on Daniel Bancroft.)
1773 deed, Daniel Bancroft, Worcester, MA, housewright.
1780 Massachusetts 6th Regiment, Company Muster Roll at West Point, Daniel Bancroft.
Daniel Bancroft Jr., housewright, administrator of the 1818 estate of Daniel Bancroft Sr., housewright.
1818 estate inventory of Daniel Bancroft Sr., housewright, including carpenter's tools valued at $10.
Daniel Bancroft, d 1818, Salem, MA. Photo courtesy of the website Find a Grave.
1806 deed, Daniel Bancroft Jr., Salem, MA, housewright.
D Bancroft molder. 9.5" long, beech, simple turnout chamfer ends on the reverse. Photos courtesy of Martin Donnelly and M Wyckoff.
