History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 1

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 1

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.

HISTORY 1

ESSEX COUNTY,

MASSACHUSETTS,

WITH

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

OF MANY OF ITS

PIONEERS AND PROMINENT MEN.

"COMPILED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF

D. HAMILTON HURD.

VOL. II.

MA 30 388

ILLUSTRATED.

PHILADELPHIA: J. W. LEWIS & CO. 1888.

PRESS OF JAS. H. RODGERS PRINTING COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA.

CONTENTS.

VOLUME II.

CITIES AND TOWNS.

CHAP.

PAGE

CHAP.

PAGE

LXIII. Boxford, .

957

CXVII. Nahant, continued,

1423

LXIV. Topsfield,

972

CXVIII.

1434

L.XV. Peabody,

989

CXIX. Salisbury,

1441

LXVI.

continued

993

CXX. Swampscott,

1472

LXVII.

998

CXXI.

continued, .

1474

LXVIII.

1000

CXXII.

1481

LXIX.

1003

CXXIII.

1485

LXX.

1006

CXXIV.

1486

LXXI.

1008

CXXV. Amesbury,

1495

LXXII.

1013

CXXVI. Merrimac,

1535

LXXIII.

1016

('XXVII. Andover,

1556

LXXIV.

1023

CXXVIII.

continued,

1558

IXXV.

1027

CXXIX.

1562

LXXVI. Marblehead,

1058

CXXX.

1564

LXXVII.

continued,

1060

CXXXI.

156×

LXXIX.

1067

(XXXIII.

1579

LXXX.

1071

CXXXIV.

1583

LXXXI.

CXXXV.

1590

LXXXII.

1084

CXXXVI.

1592

LXXXIII.

1090

CXXXVII.

1610

LXXXIV.

1093

CXXXVIII.

1644

LXXXV.

1097

CXXXIX. North Andover,

1657

LXXXVI.

1101

CXL. Groveland,

1694

LXXXVII.

1106

CXLI. Newbury,

170G

LXXXVIII.

1110

CXLII.

1717

LXXXIX.

1111

CXLIII. Newburyport, .

1737

X(.

1116

('XLIV.

continued .

1756

XCI. Rowley,

1128

CXLV.

1771

XVII. Essex,

1153

CXLVI.

1788

XCIII.

continued

1156

('XLVII. West Newbury,

1860

XCIV.

1161

CXLVIII. Haverhill, . .

1893

XPV.

1179

CXLIX.

continued,

189€

XCVI.

1186

CL.

1905

X(VIII. Hamilton,

1210

CLII.

1911

XCIX. Wenhanı,

1229

CLIIII. =

1938

CLIV.

194: 1965

CII.

1272

CLVI.

1971

CHIL.

1282

CLVII.

1981

CLVIII.

1992

(V. Gloucester,

1298

CLIX.

1998

CVI.

continued,

1304

CL.Y.

2002

CVII.

1322

CLXI.

2007

CIY.

1330

CLXIII.

2019

CX.

1333

CLXIV.

2050

CXI. Rockport,

1354

CLXV. Bradford,

2083

CXII.

= continued,

1361

CL.XVI.

continued,

2088

CXIII.

1370

CLXVII.

2094

CXIV. =

1389

CLXVIII.

2097

1397

CLXIX.

2102

CXVI. Nabant,

1325

CLXII.

2014

C. Manchester,

1249

CI.

= continued,

1259

CLV.

1901

XVII.

1198

CLI.

LXXVIII.

1063

CXXXII.

1570

1078

continued,

1408

1291

THE

HISTORY OF ESSEX CO., MASSACHUSETTS.

CITIES AND TOWNS.

CHAPTER LXIII. BOXFORD.

BY SIDNEY PERLEY.

FIRST SETTLEMENT, GENERAL HISTORY, ETC .- Originally, the present town of Boxford comprised a large portion of the western part of Rowley. About the middle of the seventeenth century there were several villages in Rowley, namely : Rowley, Rowley Village and Rowley Village by the Merrimac. The first of these is still Rowley ; the last is now Bradford, and Rowley Village was given the name of Boxford.

The first settler within the present territory of Box- ford was Abraham Redington, who came here as early as 1645, being an emigrant from England. The site of his residence was at or near Hotel Redington, in the East Parish Village. Other settlers came, and by the close of the next score of years there was quite a settlement here. The principal settlers in the seventeenth century, after the coming of Mr. Redington, were Robert Andrews, from England, about 1656; John Cummings, in 1658; Robert Stiles, from Yorkshire, England, in 1659; Joseph Bixby, from Ipswich, in 1660; Robert Eames, from Eng- land, in 1660; William Foster, from Ipswich, in 1661; Robert Smith, in 1661 ; Zaccheus Curtis, from Glouces- ter, in 1661; John Peabody, from Topsfield, in 1663; Samuel Symonds, in 1663; Daniel Black, a Scotch-

man, about 1665; Moses Tyler, from Andover, in 1666; John Kimball from Wenham, about 1666; Joseph Peabody, from Topsfield, about 1671 ; Samnel Buswell, from Salisbury, about 1674; George Blake, from Gloucester, about 1675; Daniel Wood, about 1675; John Perley, in 1683; Thomas Perley, from Rowley, about 1684; Thomas Hazen, from Rowley, in 1684; William Peabody, from Topsfield, in 1684; Timothy Dorman, from Topsfield, in 1688; Joseph Hale, from Newbury, about 1691 ; Luke Hovey, from Topsfield, in 1699 ; and Ebenezer Sherwin, about 1699.

August 12, 1685, Rowley Village, as the settlement had heretofore been called, was incorporated as a town. It was given the name of Boxford, probably, be- cause the birth-place of the pastor of the parent town at this time was one of the Boxfords in England. The settlement then consisted of forty families. The ter- ritory of Boxford then included a part of the present towns of Groveland and Middleton.

Before, and at this date, the people here had very little to do with the principal settlement at Rowley. They trained at Topsfield, were chosen into office there; attended, belonged to and held offices in the churches at Topsfield and Bradford, and hardly any of their interests were in common with their fel- low-townsmen.

Boxford happily escaped the depredations which many frontier towns suffered from the Indians. The only connection that the settlers ever had with them was when certain heirs of the old sachem of the

958

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Agawams, Masconomet, laid claim to our soil. They were met at the house of Thomas Perley (now the residence of Mrs. Isaac Ifale) in January, 1701, and a quit-claim deed was obtained from them upon the payment of some refreshment in the nature of "rum and vittels," and the sum of nine pounds in money.

The witchcraft delusion visited the settlement, and one of the wives and mothers of the town was con- demned to pay the death penalty. The convicted woman was Rebecca, the wife of Robert Eames. She was in a house near Gallows' Hill, in Salem, when Rev. George Burroughs was executed, August 19, 1692, "and the woman of the house " felt a pin stuck into her foot, as she said. Mrs. Eames was accused of doing it, and convicted of witchcraft, but was afterward reprieved, having lain in jail more than Seven months. She survived until May 8, 1721, when she died at the age of eighty-two years.

The settlers were buried at Topsfield until the settlement was incorporated, but no grave-stones re- main, if any were erected so early, by which we can tell how early burials were had at home. The oldest cemetery in Boxford is that across the street from the residence of Mr. Walter French, which has not been used for more than a half a century. The oldest stone here is dated "1714." The cemetery near B. S. Barnes, Esquire's, and the oldest one in the West Parish, be- gan to be used at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The cemetery near the First Church was laid out and first used in 1807 ; and the new one in the West Parish in 1838.

Boxford has been constantly reduced in popula- tion, by parts of the territory being annexed to other towns, and by emigration to new regions. The peo- ple have helped to settle Bridgton and other places in Maine, Harvard, Hopkinton, Oxford, Lunen- hurg and Brookfield, in Massachusetts, Amherst and other places in New Hampshire, the State of Ohio, the province of New Brunswick, and other places. From the Atlantic to the Pacific the sons of old Box- ford are assisting as men ought in the affairs of human life.

The population of the town in 1765 was eight hundred and fifty-one. From that number it in- creased in 1860 to one thousand and twenty. The number of inhabitants, by the census of 1885, was eight hundred and forty. A century ago several negroes were numbered among the inhabitants, and the race can still be seen here. One by the name of Neptune served in the army of the Revolution.

Boxford has always been careful to be represented in the legislative halls. Two State Senators, Aaron Wood, in 1781, and Julius Aboyneau Palmer, in 1869,

and thirty-four members of the House have been sent from this town, some of the latter serving for long terms of years. Major Asa Perley was a member of the Provincial Congress.

Boxford has had societies of various kinds, be- sides those mentioned in other portions of this sketch. "The Moral Society of Boxford and Tops- field" was established in 1815, and flourished for several years. Its purpose was the suppression of immorality of every description, particularly intem- perance, Sabbath-breaking and profanity; and the promotion of piety and good morals. At present, the most prominent are the Boxford Natural His- tory Society, the Rural Improvement Association, a local assembly of the Grangers and the Literary League.

The Danvers and Newburyport Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad runs through the south- eastern portion of the town, having been located here in 1853. There are two post-offices in the town, -Boxford, Mr. Frederic A. Howe, postmaster, and West Boxford, Mrs. Mary C. Cole, postmistress. The mail is transported to the first by the railroad, and to the second by a mail-stage, running from George- town to Lawrence.

The taxable property in the town is valued at about six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The town debt is $4,857.59. The rate of taxation in 1887 was nine dollars and fifty cents on one thousand dollars.

The citizens of the town are in general quiet and orderly and possessed of good common-school ac- quirements. No lawyer ever expected to reap a competency from the practice of his profession here, and for several years past a physician has not had an office here.

The earliest member of the medical profession who practiced here was David Wood, a native of the town, who was born in 1677, and died in 1744. He practiced here thirty years. He had quite a large practice in the surrounding towns, yet the estate which he accumulated was in great part derived from his farm and mills. Dr. Wood was followed, in 1753, by Dr. Benjamin Foster, who was born in Ips- wich in 1700, and died in 1775, of the asthma, hav- ing practiced here for twenty-two years. He was a successful and skillful physician, and a distinguished botanist. Dr. William Hale, the next one in the list, commenced practice here about 1770. He was a native of Boxford, having been born in 1741, and dy- ing about 1785. Then came Dr. George Whitefield Sawyer, who was born in Ipswich in 1770. HFe set- tled in Boxford as a physician shortly after 1800, and continued in the practice of his profession until his

959

BOXFORD.

death, which occurred in 1855, at the age of eighty- five years. Dr. Sawyer lived in the East Parish ; and in the West Parish Dr. Josiah Bacon practised for about twenty years contemporaneously with him. Dr. Bacon was doubtless a native of Bradford, and was born about 1780. He was in practice here from about 1820 to about 1840. He was an ex- cellent physician, and highly cultured. Intemper- ance, however, caused the loss of his practice and character. Dr. Sawyer and Dr. Bacon died on the same day,-March 23, 1855. Dr. Bacon's brother John was the author of Bacon's Town Officer, one of the earliest works of the kind. During 1848 and 1849 another young physician lived and practised in the town. This was Charles P. French, who was born in Lyndsborough, N. H., in 1824. In 1849 he removed to Topsfield. No one has since endeavored to obtain a livelihood from the medical practice which the town would yield.

Boxford has always been noted, on account of its rural advantages, temperance and simple manner of living, as one of the healthfulest places in our re- gion. The inhabitants live generally to old age. About forty-five persons are recorded as having died above the age of ninety years. The prevalence of fatal diseases is almost unknown. Small-pox was known here to a very limited extent in 1722, 1760 and 1854, and the throat distemper, in 1736 and 1737, took away quite a large number of the children of the town.

Boxford is a fine old farming community, pleasant and interesting, and, with the many natural beauties of her landscapes, the songs of the birds and the lovely sisterhood of flowers, continually attractive to all classes.

The history of the town was written and published in 1880, by Sidney Perley, in an illustrated volume of four hundred and eighteen octavo pages.

The bi-centennial anniversary of the incorporation of the town was celebrated August 12, 1885. The exercises were held in the First Church, and the din- ner was enjoyed in the grove on the lawn in front of the church. Music was furnished by the Groveland Cornet Band. Several hundred people were present. The exercises were prefaced by a flag-raising on a square near the church, on which occasion Mr. George W. Chadwick made an address. The leading parts of the exercises in the church were as follows : Ad- dress on "The New England Town," by Rev. Charles L. Hubbard ; "The History of the Town," by Sidney Perley ; "The First Church," by Rev. Robert R. Ken- dall; "The Second Church," by Rev. Calvin E. Park; " Distinguished Natives," by Rev. William P. Alcott ; "Schools," by Dr. Francis J. Stevens. Other addresses were made. Rev. William S. Coggin pre- sided.

RELIGIOUS HISTORY-As the settlers came, they attended divine worship at Topsfield, and many of them were admitted to and assisted in supporting the

church there. This they continued to do until the early part of the last decade in the seventeenth cen- tury, when "contentious feelings " arose among the brethren, probably because the Boxford people were about to withdraw their support from the church, and to form a society among themselves. This unhappy state of affairs existed for several years after the con- nection was dissolved in 1702.

There have existed in Boxford three religious par- ishes, and of these we will speak in the order of their creation.

First Parish .- A church was thought of being built as early as 1692; but one was not begun to be erected until 1699. This was completed and presented to the town, which then constituted the parish, January 9, 1701. It was " thirty-four feet long, thirty feet wide, and eighteen feet stud between joints." The four surfaces of the roof met in one peak at the top, above which was a turret. This ancient edifice stood in the northerly corner of the cemetery near the First Church.

A parsonage was also built on the site of the present ancient Holyoke house. It was forty-eight feet long and twenty feet wide, two stories in height, and with a back room of sixteen or eighteen feet square. This house was finished and taken possession of July 22, 1702 .. The old parsonage remained here until 1760, when the present house was erected.

The first pastor of the church was Rev. Thomas Symmes, who was ordained December 30, 1702, at which time probably the church was formed. Mr. Symmes was born in Bradford February 1, 1678, and graduated at Harvard College in 1698. He preached his first sermon in Boxford on Sunday, April 27, 1701. This was probably the first service ever hell in Box- ford. His salary was sixty pounds in money, thirty- five cords of wood and the use of the parsonage and ten acres of land.

Mr. Symmes met with uncommon difficulties in his pastorate here, but just what they were cannot be de- termined. Good feeling had always existed between pastor and people. He resigned May 21, 1708. He went to Bradford, and took his father's place in the church there, the same year he was dismissed from the church here. He died there October 6, 1725, aged forty-seven years He was a man of much learning, and very active with his pen; several of his productions, both religious and secular, were pub- lished, and among them is the most authentic account of "Capt. Lovewell's fight at Pigwacket," in 1725. Increase Mather spoke highly of him.

The second pastor was Rev. John Rogers, of Salem, who preached here several months before his ordina- tion, which occurred in 1709. His salary was at first sixty pounds, it being increased in 1717 to eighty pounds. He resided in the parsonage.

Mr. Rogers was a native of Salem, and graduated at Harvard College in 1705. He seems to have been born in humble life. He preached here until about

960

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

1743, when he removed to his son's in Leominster, where he died in 1755. He was an earnest, forcible preacher, and very successful in the ministry.

The people in the western portion of the town had been compelled, as a portion of the town, to assist in supporting the church here, and at the same time attended and helped to support the churches at Andover and Bradford. The meeting- house here had become needful of repair, and a new one was contemplated, but a vote to build a new one could not be obtained. The people living in the western part of the town desired a division of the town into two parishes, and that each should build a church. This was done in 1735. The first meet- ing held by the East or First Parish was on Monday, November 17, 1735. A new meeting-house was built and completed in 1745. It was forty-eight feet long, thirty-eight feet wide, and twenty-four feet stud. Its cost was about fifteen hundred pounds. The old church was used until January, 1747, when religious services were first held in the new meeting-house. This edifice stood a few rods in front of the present church.

From 1743 to '59 the church had no regular ser- vices. The next minister who was settled here was Rev. Elizur Holyoke. He graduated at Harvard College in 1750, and was ordained Jannary 31, 1759. Mr. Holyoke was born in Boston May 11, 1731 ; and was prostrated by a paralytie shock in February, 1793, from the effects of which he died March 31. 1806, at the age of seventy-four years. He resided in the Holyoke house, which his father, a merchant of Boston, had built for him, a year or two after his settlement here, on the site of the ohl parsonage.

" Lost to the world, adieu ! our friend, adieu ! Unblemished spirit, seek those realms of light, Where boundless Mercy only meets the view, Faith lost in wouder, Hope in full delight " -- Epitaph.

The fourth minister was Rev. Isaac Briggs, of York, Me., who was installed on Wednesday, Sep- tember 28, 1808. " Parson Briggs " was born in Hal- ifax, Mass., about 1775, and graduated at Brown University in 1795. He was settled at York in the ministry, and resigned in 1807. Mr. Briggs lived in the old "Briggs house " during the twenty-five years he preached here. Contentions in the church made his service here unhappy, and his connection with the church and society was dissolved in 1833. Mr. Briggs afterwards preached in other places, but never again settled over a church. lle came back to visit the friends and scenes of his early labors, and oceu- pied the pulpit, several times after his departure from the town. He died in East Morrisania, N. Y., Febru- ary 22, 1862, at the age of eighty-six years.

Mr. Briggs was followed by Rev. John Whitney, who was born in Harvard, Mass., September 1, 1803. He graduated at Amherst College in 1831, and from the Andover Theological Seminary in 1834. Ile was

ordained here October 15, 1834, and dismissed in the summer of 1837. He boarded in the " Bunker house," with Colonel Charles Peabody and Elisha G. Bunker respectively. Mr. Whitney went to Waltham, where he was pastor for twenty years, then removed to Canaan, N. Y., and in 1867 to Newton Centre, Mass., where he died May 31, 1879. He kept up his studies to the end of his life.

At the elose of Mr. Whitney's service here the present church was built and dedicated May 9, 1838. The bell was a gift from Gen. Solomon Low.

Rev. William Symmes Coggin, the next minister, was ordained May 9, 1838, the day of the dedieation of the church. He was born in Tewksbury, Mass., Nov. 27, 1812, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1834. He resigned on account of ill health, and was dismissed May 9, 1868. He still resides with the people of his early charge.

Rev. Sereno Dwight Gammell, the seventh pastor, was ordained Sept. 9, 1868. He was born in Charles- town, Mass., March 2, 1842, graduated at Amherst College in 1865, and from the Andover Theological Seminary in 1868. He resigned and was dismissed Aug. 31, 1880. Ile is now settled in Wellington, Ohio.

Mr. Gammell's successor was Rev. William Penn Aleott, who was installed March 30, 1881. He was born in Dorchester, Mass., July 11, 1832 ; graduated at Williams College in 1861, and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1865. He had been tutor in chemistry in his alma mater, and settled in the min- istry at North Greenwich, Conn., before coming to Boxford. He resigned and was dismissed May 18, 1883. He still resides near the church, and is at present the pastor of the Linebrook Parish Church in Ipswich.

The next and present pastor of the church is Rev. Robert Roy Kendall, who was installed Dec. 27, 1883. He was born in Ridgefield, Conn., March 28, 1849; graduated at Yale College in 1872, and at the Yale Theological Seminary in 1876. Before coming to Boxford, he had been settled in Bloomfield, Ohio, and Angelica, N. Y.

The parsonage was built by subscription, at a cost of about 84,000, in 1870. The church has one hun- dred and thirty-eight members, and a ministerial fund of $9,275.21. The Sunday-school eonnected with the church has one hundred scholars, and a library of three hundred volumes, called the "Mary Ann Peabody Sunday-school Library," the gift of Miss Mary Ann Peabody, an earnest worker in the field of the Master.

Second Parish .- The people in the western portion of the town erected a meeting-house for themselves in the summer of 1734, and were incorporated as a distinet parish June 28th of the next year. The first meeting of the parish was held July 22, 1735. June 13, 1740, the General Court added to the parish eight Andover families with their lands, and after-

961

BOXFORD.

wards several more Andover families were annexed, the parish being partly composed of North Andover families at the present time.

The founders of the church were dismissed for that purpose from the churches of Bradford, and the First Parish here. The church was organized Dec. 9, 1736, and on the 29th of the same month Rev. John Cush- ing, who had been preaching here for the year, was ordained. The salary of Mr. Cushing was fixed at one hundred and forty pounds in money and twenty- five cords of wood, with a settlement of three hun- dred pounds. The church stood in the "meeting- house lot" a short distance south of the new ceme- tery, and Mr. Cushing lived nearly on the opposite side of the road from Rev. Samuel Rowe's residence.

After 1763, he was not able to preach regularly, hut he continued as the pastor of the church till his death, which occurred Jan. 25, 1772. Mr. Cushing was a son of Rev. Caleb Cushing, and was born in Salisbury April 10, 1709. He graduated at Harvard College in 1729. Mr. Cushing was a man of exten- sive learning, and a popular preacher.

The second meeting-house was built in 1774 by Stephen Barker. It stood where the present one stands. The old meeting-house was sold for what it would " fetch."

The second minister was Rev. Moses Hale, who was ordained November 16, 1774. He was born in Rowley February 19, 1749, and graduated at Harvard College in 1771. His salary was eighty pounds per annum. He resided across the street from the resi- dence of the venerable Mr. Daniel Wood. Mr. Hale was stricken down by disease in the twelfth year of his ministry and thirty-eighth of his age, and died May 25, 1786, leaving five motherless children to mourn his loss, his wife having died April 24th of the preceding year. Mr. Hale's father was the Rev. Moses IIale of Newbury.

Mr. Hale's successor was Rev. Peter Eaton, D.D., of ITaverhill, who was ordained on Wednesday, Octo- ber 7, 1789. He erected the residence of the late Lawrence Carey, and lived in it during his long pas- torate here.

It was during Mr. Eaton's ministry that the present church was erected. It was dedicated November 22, 1843. Its cost was $4,917.62. The bell was a dona- tion from Charles Saunders, of Andover, its weight being eleven hundred and fifty-nine pounds.

After preaching here for fifty-five years, his health failing, Dr. Eaton asked to be dismissed; but it was voted that he should remain and preach when he felt able. This he consented to do, but shortly afterward again resigned. Then Rev. Calvin Em- monds Park was installed as his colleague October 14, 1846; and this relation continued as long as Dr. Eaton survived, which was but a short time. He quietly passed away April 14, 1848, at the age of eighty-three years. Dr. Eaton was born in Haverhill March 15, 1765, and graduated at Harvard

College in 1787. Ile secured, during his long and quiet ministry, the respect and love of his people, who, as a memorial of their affection, erected a mon- ument to his memory. Several of his sermons were published, among them the "Election Sermon," which he preached to the Legislature in 1819.

After Dr. Eaton's death, Rev. Mr. Park continued as the pastor until April 9, 1859, when he resigned. His farewell sermon was preached on the first Sah- bath in June, 1859. Mr. Park's labors were judi- cious, faithful and unremitting. He continued to oc- cupy the pulpit for some time after his dismission, and has ever since that time occasionally preached to his old congregation. Afterwards, for several years, he had a private school for young men, and is now mostly engaged in literary work. He resides in his old home near the church. Mr. Park was born in Providence, R. I., December 30, 1811. He first served for six years as pastor of the church at Water- ville, Me., where he was ordained on October 31st, 1838.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 1

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1672

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672