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I found it! The Dailey Homestead on Stonehill College property. I mentioned Dailey in an earlier newsletter about Stonehill; Dailey was an early settler in Easton. “John Dailey (Daley/Dayly) ‘pitched’12 acres (1708-9) on Stone-House Plain.” He was here before 1708 and originally a native of the north of Ireland. (Chaffin) He was a hogreeve, or hog constable. After reading, or re-reading, about the find, and subsequent research and excavation beginning in 1996, I wanted to see the site for myself. Of course, I did it the hard way- I did not go directly to the College archives. I had tips from three different people, and off and on, over the past several months, I have wandered the vicinity looking for the site. It was not easy to find. There is a path, though a rather faint one off a more well-traveled path, and the site is marked- once you manage to find it. Artifacts are stored in the Stonehill College Archives.

​ Sign posted near Dailey homesite on Stonehill College property.
Found at the site were a bronze coin with a likeness of George II, a musket ball, pieces of window glass, china imported from England and China, and part of a tobacco pipe. Artifacts are stored in the Stonehill College Archives.

Remains of a well at Dailey site near house foundation.

Photo of Dailey house foundation. 
The woods were quiet and calm the day I found the site, the sun shining through the leaves of the surrounding trees, the occasional brown leaf silently drifting down to the ground. It was a good moment to reflect on the past and try to imagine what life was like for John Dailey and his family. It was worth the hours spent searching.
The photos are mine, but some information is from the Stonehill Alumni Magazine, Fall 1999.


Anne Wooster Drury

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