Farmhouse 1950sThe Taylor-Bray Farm is a rare survivor of a type of property that once characterized the agricultural north side of Cape Cod.

It is located on 23 acres of town owned property in the Hockanom section of Yarmouth Port adjacent to Black Flats Marsh and Chase Garden Creek. The property consists of a house and barn built circa 1780-1820, a one time antique shop that has been converted into the caretaker’s residence, a semi-subterranean farm storage structure, five recently constructed livestock sheds, and a historic marker affixed to a large glacial erratic.

The site was occupied seasonally by Native American people at least 3,600 years ago, perhaps as early as 6,000 years ago.

The area was first settled by Europeans in the late 1630s while it was still part of Plymouth colony. The farm itself was established by Richard Taylor and his wife Ruth in 1639.

Captain Samuel Taylor was the farm’s most notable occupant. He had a remarkable record in the Revolutionary War and subsequently embarked on a maritime career that saw him rise to the rank of captain.

The property remained in the Taylor family until 1896 when the farm was purchased by George and Willie Bray for $400. At the time, the property included 50 acres of uplands and adjacent marshlands which were capable of producing six tons of a combination of salt and fresh hay a year. The deed described the property as being in that part of Yarmouth known as Hockanom. It was maintained as a working farm by the Bray brothers.

After the death of George Bray in 1941, the farm was unoccupied for several years until it was purchased by Robert and Kathryn Williams in 1947. The Williams family took steps to preserve the old colonial farmhouse while bringing it up to mid 20th century standards. They began to raise sheep which were shown at many agricultural fairs around the state. They subsequently bought an additional 30 acres of land extending the farm up to Route 6A.

After changing hands again, the farm was acquired by the Town of Yarmouth in 1987 for “historic and conservation purposes” saving it from development. The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

The farm is currently managed by the Town of Yarmouth and the non-profit Taylor-Bray Farm Preservation Association (TBFPA)

BrayBrosLowThe Bray Brothers

In 1896 George Bray (c1873-1941) and his brother William (Willie) Bray (c1876-1937) purchased the farm from Lucy White Taylor for $400. The brothers actively worked the farm until they died. Willie was at one time an officer in the Yarmouth Grange. They may also have been carpenters since there is a 1920’s reference to the brothers dismantling a house in Yarmouth Port.

While we have little other information about the brothers, we do have this photograph with a description and one anecdote about the Bray brothers’ eccentric behavior.

According to an account in the Register from 1987, this is a picture of George and Willie Bray with Mrs. Leslie (Ruth) Pfeiffer. When the story was published, it seems that it was seen by Mrs. Pfeiffer who was then living in Wellesley. She provided the following background for the photo.

In the 1940s, Ruth Pfeiffer and her husband Leslie moved to a home on eight acres on Mill Lane in Yarmouth. In the process of gardening on the property, they discovered “buried arrowheads and Indian stone artifacts”. Brad Clark, an antique dealer and local historian, suggested that the Pfeiffers show their finds to the Bray brothers who had an extensive collection of Indian artifacts of their own. The Pfeiffers did and decided to donate their finds to the larger Bray collection.

Mrs. Pfeiffer said, “My husband took the picture. It was to be a picture of the donor.” She said it was her understanding that in later years the Brays’ Indian relics were donated to the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth.”

While Mrs. Pfeiffer says the picture was taken in the 1940s, she must be mistaken since Willie Bray died December 15, 1937. Records show the Pfeiffers bought their home on Mill Lane on July 2, 1936. The Pfeiffers found Native artifacts while gardening, so it seems they approached the Bray brothers, and the photo was taken, either in the fall of 1936 or in 1937.

It seems that the Bray brothers were a bit eccentric as is indicated by this account in a Cape Cod Compassmagazine article over 30 years ago:

Still another case of isolated living involved the Bray brothers of old Yarmouth, a pair of elderly brothers who dwelt by themselves in a home some distance on the seaward side of Cranberry Highway. Perhaps they would have been granted isolation even if they had not sought it, for as the years went on their house developed gaps and sags, and they cultivated an ominous-looking companion that took advantage of the holes in the floor boards. He was a sizeable snake, long and fat, and when the Bray brothers would sit down to eat, they would place a platter of milk on the floor beside their chairs and rap on the wood with their heels. And up would come the snake, slithering through the floor, to join the Brays for dinner.

There is some corroboration for this story. A gentleman in town said he accompanied a carpenter friend to the ‘farm house’. The owners wanted a wall opened because of a terrible stench. What they found was the remains of a rather large snake. When this occurred is not clear, but a reasonable guess would make it in the ’50s or ’60s. The carpenter had a shop on the second floor of a building in Yarmouth Port village.

Please, if you have or know of information about the Bray brothers or about the Farm during the time of their ownership, we want to hear from you. Contact us..

Samuel Taylor

Samuel Taylor, great great grandson of Richard Taylor, is the most celebrated of the Taylor’s who lived on the farm. He was born in 1755 probably in the original Taylor house located on the knoll near the present day road. He married Lucretia in 1783 at the age of 28.

The relatively late age of marriage may have been the result of his military service during the American Revolution. He built the extant house about the time he married.