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GEORGETOWN
Story of One Hundred Years
OF GEOR
KALY
BOWL
1838 VMOJ
1639
---- 1838
1938
MAS MASSACHUSETTS TTS ยท
Gc 974.402 G295h 2035461
REYNOLDS HISTORICA GENEALOGY COLLECTICY
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01100 0285
6 - MIF
GEORGETOWN
Story of One Hundred Years
1838 - 1938
With Illustrations
By FORREST P. HULL
OF
GEORGE
NEW
AERLY
TOWN
FORME
1639
ROWLEY
OWN
----
1838
MA
INCORPORATED
U
SOUVENIR EDITION
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE INCORPORATION TOWN OF GEORGETOWN, MASS. AUTHORIZED BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
SALIENT ITEMS IN HISTORY
The following dates should be kept in mind as one traces the Georgetown story, either through the three hundred years from the settlement of Rowley, or through that period first marked by the setting aside of the West Parish for a group of courageous men and women who had journeyed miles from the original land grants of the parish to seek their living in a wilderness.
1639 Settlement of Rowley by Rev. Ezekiel Rogers and his Yorkshire group of weavers. 1643 Establishment of the first fulling mill in the country by John Pearson of the Byfield Parish.
1669-70 First permanent settlement in what is now Georgetown by John Spofford and his family.
1692 Indian raid on the family of Mr. Goodrich, resulting in his death, his wife and two children.
1731-32 Second or West Parish established, as well as the church, with Rev. James Chandler as pastor.
1754 Group of members leave the church, later to form the First Baptist Church of Georgetown.
1769 Second meetinghouse erected, later known as the Old South Church, with Rev. Isaac Braman as pastor.
1838 Town of Georgetown incorporated at a period of rapid growth and independent spirit.
1849 Group of boys given a lively farewell in the Square as they left for the California gold fields.
1856 Town Hall erected and Georgetown High School established on the lower floor.
1857 Rev. Charles Beecher installed a third colleague pastor with Rev. Isaac Braman.
1864 Eighty-three members of the church withdrew and formed a church of their own.
1865 Corner stones of the Peabody Memorial Church and the Peabody Library laid.
1874 First disastrous fire in the business center, in which many firms suffered.
1885 Second disastrous fire in the business center, in which three men lost their lives.
1900
Perley Free School opened.
1905 Completion of the new Central School.
1908 New Peabody Library opened.
1920 Memorial Church Building burned.
1935 Perley Free School burned and new hydrants used for first time.
Page Two
AM
CHARLES F. HURLEY GOVERNOR
THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT STATE HOUSE. BOSTON
September 9, 1938
Executive Committee For Georgetown's Centennial Commemoration:
2035461
My dear Friends:
Permit me to extend both my personal and official congratulations to the Town of Georgetown on its Centennial Year, and to express the hope that the next century will give you an ever-increasing in- fluence and power, to the end that you may achieve the highest measure of prosperity and contentment.
I sincerely regret that I was unable to be with you during your celebration of July 2, 3 and 4 last. I have heard of its success and hope that your Historical Exhibition, and Book Sale, will prove of equal satisfaction.
Georgetown is one of the brightest jewels in the diadem of Bay State towns. Though nestling quietly amid the hills and valleys of Northern Essex County, it has advanced with the times and is in all respects one of the most modern villages of the Commonwealth.
Your stately churches, schools and homes, your social and fraternal organizations, your lively community spirit, must prove of great satis- faction to all residents.
A town with such a background of history, achievement and pride, such as Georgetown possesses, will ever be alive to its best interests, and those of the state and the nation as well.
May your happiness long endure.
With highest regards, Charles 7 Amly
Governor
Page Three
Churches of Georgetown
3
1. All Saints Episcopal Church. 2. Byfield Congregational Church. 3 St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. 4. First Baptist Church. 5. First Congregational Church.
Page Four
FOREWORD
T HIS souvenir of the Centennial Celebration of the Incorporation of the Town of Georgetown not only tells the story of the celebration with much detail, but is primarily an attempt to trace the history of the community through the one hundred years of its independent life.
Georgetown's history begins with the settlement of Rowley in 1639, but more significantly, perhaps, with action by the General Court in setting aside the West Parish on petition of the leading residents. The first meeting of the new Parish was held on October 5, 1731, and the Church was organized on October 4, 1732. One hundred and six years elapsed before the name of Georgetown was given to the fast-growing district.
Study as one will the old New England communities, few can be found that enjoy so rich an inheritance as Georgetown. The early settlers, and those who followed, were men of pluck, determination and independence. They possessed the true pioneering spirit. They never dreamed of modern comforts, social security or alphabetical reliance. Hard-working, restless, self-possessed, striving against obstacles which the present generation cannot visualize, they never admitted discouragement or defeat. They contributed to the building of New England, to the establishment of a way of life and of a representative government, which have ever been our pride. Fisherman, farmer, merchant, sailor, manufacturer, teacher, statesman, soldier, clergyman and student have combined in ten generations to give us constant growth and fame.
It has been a pleasure to study the records of Georgetown and the parent town of Rowley, especially to enjoy the research afforded in the State Library, the State archives and the Essex Institute. By such inquiry we are able to present in this volume much new and interesting information concerning the Incorporation. So far as can be ascertained, residents of Georgetown and Rowley today have no knowledge of the Incorporation difficulties.
Such documents as a petition seeking Incorporation signed by Robert Savory and 350 others, a remonstrance by David Mighill and 169 others, the report of Thomas Gage, historian and town clerk of Rowley, giving the General Court a record of the various town meetings on the question of a division of the town; and the report of the Committee on Towns which con- vinced the General Court of the justness of the cause as well as the petition to the General Court dated May 27, 1730, praying for the establishment of a separate parish, signed by forty-four persons, were probably taken from their original wrappings for the first time by the author of this volume to be scrutinized, photostated, and framed, together with the parchment Act of Incorporation, signed by Governor Edward Everett, for the permanent pos- session of the town.
Our thanks for generous and sympathetic assistance is gratefully extended to the officials of the State Library, the archives department of the Secretary of State, the Essex Institute, to Mr. and Mrs. Amos E. Jewett of Rowley (learned, industrious and renowned antiquarians) and to numerous other persons and agencies who have been at our command.
F. P. H.
Georgetown, September 24, 1938.
Page Five
INTRODUCTION
S OMEBODY has said that if a reader does not know the books of the past he cannot understand the meaning of the books of the present. If that be true it is reasonable to assume that to live in the present without a knowledge of national, local or family history is to rob the soul of an essential storehouse of experience or inspiration and to suffer a mind that is blank to standards of comparison or contrast.
Most of us are too busy trying to adjust imaginary existence to grim reality, or lacking the incentive for other reasons, to attempt to seek real values of a bygone day. If this volume accomplishes no other purpose than that of piquing the curiosity of the newer residents or of stimulating the thoughts of others, whether or not they be descendants of the old families of Rowley and Newbury, it may be considered worthwhile.
We know much in general of the early days, but perhaps too little of those intimate human relationships which modern life accentuates. Enough is revealed in these pages to suggest something that is helpful, at least in advancing the spirit of friendly and happy Americanism, at a time when new tendencies, dangerous at their best, are relentlessly, like termites, eating into our old foundations of sanity and conservatism in government and society. If our ancestors have no other appeal for us than that of rugged individualism (now considered in some quarters as very much a fault) we should turn to them with everlasting pride.
It is needless to review at length the various features of this volume, the first sub- stantial effort of the kind in the history of the town. We like to think of it as serving the purposes of a permanent memorial of the Centennial celebration of July 2, 3, 4. The articles presented all speak for themselves and all may be sufficiently self-contained to project a picture, rather than a connected story. Manifestly, it would have been impossible, in reasonable space, to relate the complete story. With such a mass of material it has been more or less a distressing question of selection.
If the reader is impressed, in the first instance, with the faith, courage and aggressive- ness of the early residents, he may realize more deeply how important those qualities are today. But, in addition, he will obtain a fresh revelation of the fact that human nature changes but little, if at all, through the years. Let us not indulge in flattering commentary as we consider persons or events. The plain fact is that many of our ancestors, and their immediate descendants, despite their many virtues, were persons of beclouded vision, of fantastic speculations, of dreams and never-to-be fulfilled illusions. So are we today. Our ancestors led lives of conflicts, of failures and of little achievement. So do we today. They were simple and uneducated, but not artificial or enigmatical figures as they plodded along year after year to find an acceptable way of life. They were men and women of convictions and contradictions. And so are we.
There are few communities so closely knit geographically as Georgetown, Rowley and Newbury. As children we learned that one could straddle the boundary line of the three towns; that part of the old Byfield Church was in Georgetown and part in Newbury, so that in one pew at least a man and his wife could worship side by side but in different towns. Boundary lines do not make for that happy relationship which the best in human nature seeks. Happily, good feeling exists among the residents of the three towns.
The setting aside of the West Parish in 1731 was naturally a blow to the parent town, but it was a perfectly natural step in community life. The question of a further division in 1838 was but another logical step. Naturally, Rowley did not wish to lose for- ever its great advantages to the west, but realized that separation was inevitable. The great question of that day was the boundary line. Rowley fought for as complete an entity as she thought she deserved and won.
Page Six
The literature of the subject of Incorporation, as herewith presented for the first time, should prove of distinct historical interest. If we knew anything about it many years ago it had passed from memory of the oldest residents of the two communities. Though the sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of a division, there were close to two hundred residents of the Georgetown-to-be who objected, not only because of their avaricious desire for the greatest possible limit of territory but for various other reasons, such as spite and jealousy. Study the signatures to the petitions in favor and against division and note how many families were divided against themselves and the further disclosure that residents signed both petitions to be on the safe side.
For instance, Col. John Kimball, one of the most prominent residents, was in opposition to separation while his son was in favor. The Nelsons were largely opposed, but Jonathan and Thomas signed both ways. The Chaplins signed in favor, but William S. Chaplin straddled the fence. Likewise, the Spoffords were divided, with two of their number in opposition. Four of the Brocklebanks were in favor, and David signed both petitions. Seven Tenneys signed affirmatively, yet William Tenney joined with John and Francis Tenney in opposition. Seven Jewetts did not like the proposal, but Maximilian is recorded both for and against. Ten Doles were recorded in the affirmative, but Henry Dole's name was on both papers.
The Town of Rowley was twelve miles in length and from two to six miles in width, much too large for comfort. It contained 2444 inhabitants. Of that number 1500 lived in what is now Georgetown and 994 in Rowley. New Rowley residents had been subjected to many difficulties in communicating with the parent village, either in normal business affairs or in town meeting. The committee on division came to an agreement satisfactory to the inhabitants of Old Rowley and to most of the petitioners.
It was predicted by the Legislative Committee on Towns that the new town would continue to grow and the old town remain stationary. Georgetown was a fast-growing community for years after incorporation, with its extensive shoe business, but it has not progressed in material wealth as predicted by leading citizens who envisioned it as rivalling in time Salem or Newburyport. The town has suffered several disastrous fires and has little of new values to replace losses.
In 1837 the Town of Rowley had a real estate valuation of $439,533 and 740 polls. When the town was divided in the following year, Georgetown was credited with 462 of the 740 polls and $240,272 of the total valuation of the old town. It was figured that the new town would pay of the 1837 tax levy, the sum of $2,503.46, while the old town's share was fixed at $1,974.36.
The valuation figures of Georgetown today are interesting in comparison. The total valuation is $1,687,167. Of that amount the assessment is $154,202 on personal property and $1,532,965 on real estate. The number of assessed polls is 595. The tax rate is $36.
Georgetown's public buildings and utilities have been officially appraised at $187,470 in realty and $449,302 in personal property. The Public Library is appraised at $41,470; the Perley High School at $80,000; the Central School at $47,500; the Central Fire Station at $14,000; the Town Farm (recently reported sold) at $3500; and the Sub Station for electric service, at $1000.
The appraisal of personal property includes the following: Peabody Library, $12,000; Perley High School, $8500; Central School, $5000; Central Fire Station, $17,700; poles and wires, Electric Light Department, $57,582; water mains and tools, $107,100; water tank and pumping station, $38,700; town office, police and sealer of weights and measures, $2650; Highway Department, $10,300; land for parks, $2300.
Georgetown people are credited with high position among the sister towns of the Commonwealth. The interesting letter of congratulation from Governor Hurley is a most kindly expression of personal as well as official greeting and should be highly prized as a token of the town's Centennial year.
Page Seven
The Governor looks upon Georgetown as a most intelligent and progressive modern village solidly set upon old foundations, a village which has steadfastly kept pace with changing conditions. Indeed, we pride ourselves upon our geographical location, upon our modern school system, our well-organized churches and fraternities, our well-kept old homes, our good roads, our busy trading center, our electric light, water and gas services and our spirit of community consciousness.
Those who are interested in family names should be specially interested in the old Rowley records, particularly in view of the signatures that have come to light in the present study. The signatures of the forty-four men who signed the petition of 1729 for the setting aside of the West Parish have come to light for the first time. Heretofore, the petition was supposed to have been signed by forty-two, instead of forty-four residents.
In the earliest church records the names of residents were spelled as the parish clerks wished to spell them. It is also true that the residents themselves were not particular as to the spelling. Often one finds father and son spelling their names differently. Tenney was often spelled Tenny, Todd as Tod, Bailey as Bayly, Jewett as Jewet, Boynton as Bointon, Mighill as Mighel, Perley as Pearley, Wheeler as Wheler, Brocklebank as Brockel- bank, Spofford as Spoffort and Spafford, Dummer as Dumer. Often the last name is not capitalized.
Love of the town, family pride, good-citizenship and a fair and honest relationship one to another are the particular elements of satisfactory living that one might emphasize in any community survey of interest. To go farther and include our neighbors, those of the surrounding towns, in our fraternity of good will, is a laudable purpose and should be furthered by every possible means.
One hundred years ago Rowley celebrated its anniversary, having invited the inhabitants of Georgetown to join with them. The town accepted the invitation in Town Meeting, April 8, 1839, and a distinguished committee was appointed, including Rev. Isaac Braman, Solomon Nelson, Amos J. Tenney, George Spofford, Jeremiah Jewett, Ira Stickney, David Mighill, Jeremiah Russell and Benjamin Winter. This committee very cordially co-operated with their Rowley brethren and continued until the town, at another meeting, declined to make an appropriation. (There was a similar refusal for our Centen- nial.) The committee was dissolved, but certain Georgetown residents liberally contributed and took a lively interest in the celebration.
Next year Rowley will celebrate its 300th anniversary and it is sincerely to be hoped that a similar invitation will be extended to her sister town and that Georgetown will respond with real enthusiasm, in order that the observance may be of a scope and signifi- cance to merit the distinction to which the grand old town is entitled.
It is worthy of note, in connection with Rowley's former anniversary celebration, that in the Meetinghouse was displayed the old weather-vane, made of a thin plate of iron, with the figures 1697 cut through it, which had buffeted many a storm on the steeple of the Old South Church for half a century. That weather-vane is still preserved in George- town. Rowley also displayed many other historical relics and had as guests, who rode in carriages, soldiers of the Revolution. What is also of importance was the regret expressed that records of the celebration one hundred years before had not been saved, and the provision which was made to compile the record of the memorable festival then planned. This provision resulted in the history of Rowley written by Thomas Gage, town clerk, a most valuable contribution to the historical data of the Commonwealth. Of equal im- portance and distinction has been the work of the late Mr. Blodgett and Amos E. Jewett in compiling the genealogy of 250 families.
A final word of greeting might be appended in the words of James Bradford, native of Rowley, who gave the address at the Rowley celebration 100 years ago, when, in referring to the influence of the Puritan and Pilgrim forefathers, he said:
"To their self-denial, their wisdom, their constancy, their labors, their valor, their perseverance, their privations, piety and prayers, we owe, under God, and our posterity to the last generation will owe, the possession of privileges, civil and religious, surpassing those of any other people on earth."
Page Eight
THE EARLIEST DAYS
F OR either historical, sentimental or practical purposes it is easy to apportion the his- tory of Georgetown into several periods. One would center in the Rowley settlement, another in the institution of the West Parish and still another in the Incorporation of the town. An ecclesiastical study would limit periods to the Chandler, the Braman and the Beecher pastorates of the church now known as the First Congregational Church which a few years ago celebrated its two hundredth anniversary.
But no fair and impartial survey would confine Georgetown's story to any particular characterizations except as they depict the full vigor, the significance, the enterprise and the progress in which many agencies and influences joined. All churches, business groups, the fraternal organizations, the fire department, the Grange, the military organizations, the Georgetown Literary and Social Club, the schools and various other groups all have a part in the story.
First of all, the historian would emphasize the fact that our forefathers came to our shores not alone through love of adventure or for pecuniary reasons. The mighty force behind those movements was religious. Therefore, it is not strange that the church plays so important a part in Georgetown's history, as it does also in the history of other com- munities. The church was the town and the town was the church, and their respective spheres of influence were so closely interwoven that they could not be separated.
Many pictures, mental or photographic, we should have before us in reviewing our history. The first, and perhaps most significant, was the appearance of that little group who settled in Rowley with Rev. Ezekiel Rogers in the Spring of 1639, slowly to populate a large region to the west. Another picture would be that of John Spofford, who with his wife and their children, moved in 1669 from his original holdings six miles into the wilderness and became the first permanent settler of the Georgetown to be. Still another picture of precious historical value would be the appearance of the West Parish at its incorporation on October, 1731, and the scene in the rude church when organzation was effected. Other pictures of interest would be that depicting the excitement in and about the Old South Church, June 7, 1797, when Isaac Braman was installed and that presenting the appearance of the town of Georgetown in 1838 on its Incorporation.
One hundred years of corporate existence may seem trivial with the light of two hundred previous years as a background. Naturally, Georgetown's roots lie imbedded in the settlement of Rowley by that brave following of the minister who were given an extensive grant of land by the General Court, including the Georgetown of today, parts of Byfield, Boxford and Bradford, or East Groveland.
It was perhaps providential for Georgetown that Mr. Rogers did not yield to the tempting offers from Connecticut to settle in the vicinity of New Haven. Mr. Rogers who had been staying in Salem for a year with his people, trying to make up his mind just where to go, moved into the grant in the spring of 1639 and made the necessary allotments of land. For three years the settlers lived in common. When individual con- struction started families worked with other families until all were housed. A map of Rowley showing the original allotments of land to the ancestors of many Georgetown families of today is the result of careful research by Amos Jewett and others, and can be depended upon as accurate.
Once the settlers became established in their new homes, attention was given to the laying out of streets. Many of our present roads exist as originally planned. Boundary disputes occupy much space in the ancient town records. It was primarily a boundary line
Page Nine
which threatened the incorporation of the town of Georgetown. Mr. Rogers fought hard to retain the land he had been given, seemed to have apportioned it fairly and to have envisioned the migrations that would follow. When Governor Endecott pressed his claim for five hundred acres within the Rogers grant and won it, Mr. Rogers succeeded in hav- ing the eight-mile limit into the interior extended eleven miles from Center Rowley.
Though John Spofford is hailed as Georgetown's first permanent settler, there were two much earlier grants within the town's present boundary lines. One, if not the first, was assigned before 1652 to Elder Humphrey Raynor, east of Pen Brook, and the other, at about the same time, was assigned to Thomas Mighill, a wealthy deacon, who received twenty-three "akers," at a place called the "Pen," near the Union Cemetery. The parish farm of three thousand acres was bought by individuals from time to time and by the year 1700 Georgetown was clearly in the making. How many families were within the present Georgetown limits cannot be accurately told. When the Byfield Church was established the farmers adjacent went there to church rather than to the First Parish. It was a difficult journey and divided into relays of walking and horseback riding.
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