brought over, at his great charges, all things fitting for taking
wild fowl by way of duck-coy, this court, being desirous to encourage
him and others in such designs as tend to the public good," &c.,
orders that liberty shall be given him to set up his duck-coy within
the limits of Salem; and all persons are forbidden to molest him in
his experiments, by "shooting in any gun within half a mile of the
ponds," where, by the regulations of the town, he shall be allowed to
place the decoys. The court afterwards granted to other towns liberty
to set up duck-coys, with similar privileges. What was the particular
structure of the contrivance, and how far it succeeded in operation,
is not known; but the thing shows the spirit of the man. He at once
took hold of his farm with energy, and gathered workmen upon it.
Winthrop in his journal has this entry, Aug. 2, 1645:--

"Mr. Downing having built a new house at his farm, he being
gone to England, and his wife and family gone to the church
meeting on the Lord's day, the chimney took fire and burned
down the house, and bedding, apparel and household, to the
value of 200 pounds."

This proves that his family resided on the farm; and it indicates,
that, when he first occupied it, he had only such a house as could
have been seasonably put up at the start, but that a more commodious
one had been erected at his leisure: the expression "having built a
new house" appears to carry this idea. On his return from England, he
undoubtedly built again, and had other houses for his workmen and
tenants; for we find that one of them, in 1648, was allowed to keep an
ordinary, "as Mr. Downing's farm, on the road between Lynn and
Ipswich, was a convenient place" for such an accommodation to
travellers. Public travel to and from those points goes over that same