The Williams-Salter House (1711)

The oldest surviving house in Mansfield Center is the Williams-Salter House, built around 1711. It was first the home of Rev. Eleazer Williams, Mansfield’s first settled minister and the son of Rev. John Williams, who was famously taken to Canada, along with five of his children, after the Raid on Deerfield in 1704 (Eleazer was away at school at the time). Eleazer Williams resided in the house until his death in 1742. He was succeeded as minister by Rev. Richard Salter, who married Williams’ daughter Mary in 1744 and purchased the privately-owned parsonage in 1745. Rev. Salter and his brother, John Salter, who also settled in Mansfield, were from a prominent Boston family. Richard Salter, one of the most respected ministers in Connecticut, served in Mansfield until his death, in 1787. The property also has a notable English-style barn.