Samuel McIntire

Samuel McIntire , 1757-1811, American architect and woodcarver, b. Salem, Mass. He developed high skill as a joiner and housewright and in wood sculpture. McIntire's opportunities, both as builder and carver, came in designing houses for the shipowning aristocracy of Salem. In the interiors of these houses are beautiful carved cornices and mantelpieces, inspired by the elegant style of Robert Adam. McIntire's Salem works include the Pierce-Nichols, the Peabody-Silsbee, the Gardner-White-Pingree, and the Elias Haskett Derby residences. His public buildings are Assembly Hall, Hamilton Hall, Washington Hall, and the courthouse, all in Salem, of which the latter two no longer stand. In 1792, McIntire competed for the design of the Capitol at Washington. Among his works in sculpture are portrait busts of Governor Winthrop and Voltaire (both: American Antiquarian Society, Worcester).

Bibliography: See study by F. Kimball (1940); Samuel McIntire, a Bicentennial Symposium (ed. by B. W. Labaree, 1957).

McIntire, Samuel (bapt. Salem, Mass., 16 Jan. 1757; d Salem, 6 Feb. 1811). American architect and woodcarver. He worked all his life in Salem, Massachusetts, and his gracious and refined work helped make the town the handsomest in New England during the early years of the American Republic. His ideas were borrowed from English pattern books, but he did not copy complete designs, and his decorative carving shows superb craftsmanship. The Gardner House (1804–5) is regarded as his masterpiece.