USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > History of Newburyport, Mass., 1764-1905, Volume I > Part 1
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Go 974.402 N435c v.1 1136726
MIL
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01067 9139
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyofnewbury1176curr
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Frith the Compliments
March, 1906.
Sincerely yours
HISTORY
OF
NEWBURYPORT, MASS.
1764 -1905
By JOHN J. CURRIER
Author of "Ould Newbury": Historical and Biographical Sketches, and History of Newbury, Mass.
Volume I
With Maps and Illustrations
NEWBURYPORT, MASS. PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 1906
1
1
Copyright, 1906 JOHN J. CURRIER, Newburyport, Mass.
AND
NEWCOMMA OAUSS
PRINTERS
1136726
TO MY WIFE usan (Page) Currier I DEDICATE THIS HISTORY OF NEWBURYPORT
PREFACE.
WHEN Newburyport was incorporated, in 1764, it covered an area of only six hundred and forty-seven acres, and in ter- ritorial extent was the smallest town in the province of Massa- chusetts Bay. It was bounded on the southeast, southwest and northwest by the town of Newbury, and on the northeast by the Merrimack river, and had a population of about twen- ty-eight hundred men, women and children.
During the Revolutionary war the merchants of Newbury- port imported clothing and military stores for the use of the Continental army and fitted out privateers, in large numbers, " to cruise against the enemies of the United States." Many interesting facts relating to the service they rendered on land and sea have been gathered from letters and papers on file at the state house in Boston and are now published for the first time. What they said and did to uphold the cause of liberty, in the long struggle with the king and parliament of England, is told in their own language, as far as possible, without em- bellishment or words of comment. Public documents, town records and old newspapers have been carefully examined and freely quoted in order to give with scrupulous exactness the views and opinions they publicly expressed.
Many events and incidents connected with the history of
, Newburyport since the beginning of the nineteenth century are imperfectly described in the following pages for lack of space, and, for the same reason, biographical sketches of the men and women prominent in the commercial or social life of the town are omitted.
Quotations from the Newburyport Herald and Country Gazette previous to 1832 are taken from the editions published weekly and semi-weekly ; after that date the daily edition has been used to some extent and it is, therefore, necessary in
5
6
PREFACE
some cases to examine that edition also in order to find a sentence or paragraph quoted.
A few of the maps and half-tone prints used to illustrate this volume are reproduced from books and engravings pub- lished nearly a century ago, but most of them are from plates engraved by the Suffolk Engraving Company, of Boston, from photographs taken by Selwyn C. Reed, William C. Thompson, Edward E. Bartlett, George E. Noyes and Caleb D. Howard, of Newburyport.
For many items of interest relating to the early history of the town, and for assistance in preparing the following pages for publication, I am indebted to Sidney Perley, Esq., of Salem ; to Mr. George F. Dow, secretary of the Essex Institute; to Mr. Edmund M. Barton, librarian of the American Antiqua- rian Society, Worcester ; to Brigadier-General Adolphus W. Greeley, chief signal officer of the United States army ; to Mr. James W. Cheney, librarian of the War Department, Washington, D. C .; and to Mr. C. W. Ernst of Boston.
I am also under obligations to John D. Parsons, librarian ; to Arthur L. Huse, deputy collector ; to Edward F. Bartlett, clerk of the police court ; to George H. Stevens, city clerk ; to William H. Bayley, clerk of the overseers of the poor; to Capt. James O. Knapp, Oliver B. Merrill and Lawrence B. Cushing, all of Newburyport, for much useful and valuable information, and especially for the opportunity to carefully examine the newspapers and pamphlets in the public library and the records and public documents at City hall.
JOHN J. CURRIER.
NEWBURYPORT, December 20, 1905.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
PAGE
I. 1764 to 1774
13
II. 1774 to 1794
55
III. 1794 to 1824 104
IV. 1824 to 1854
160
VI. CHURCHES AND PASTORS
252
VIII. PUBLIC STREETS AND LANDING PLACES 333
IX. FERRY, BRIDGES, TURNPIKES AND POSTAL SERVICE 366
X. TAVERNS, STAGE COACHES, RAILROADS AND STREET CAR SERVICE 386
XI. DISTINGUISHED VISITORS, MEMORIAL SERVICES, CELEBRATIONS AND POLITICAL GATHERINGS 408
XII. SHIP-YARDS, SHIP OWNERS AND SHIP BUILDERS . 449
XIII. BOOKS AND NEWSPAPERS . 471
XIV. LIBRARIES . . 518
XV. REVOLUTIONARY WAR · 529
XVI. PRIVATEERS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR . 612
XVII. THE EMBARGO AND WAR OF 1812 . . 648
XVIII. THE MEXICAN, CIVIL AND SPANISH WARS
667
APPENDIX.
I. COLLECTORS AND DEPUTY COLLECTORS . 675
II. REPRESENTATIVES TO THE GENERAL COURT 678 ·
III. TOWN CLERKS, CITY CLERKS, AND ASSISTANT CITY CLERKS . 686
IV. TOWN TREASURERS AND CITY TREASURERS · 687
V. ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS
. 688
INDEX
. 693
7
309
VII. SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS
2II
V. 1854 to 1904
MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
JOHN J. CURRIER, Frontispiece.
Map of the town of Newburyport, 1795
Page 22
Bill head of John Tracy, cordage manufacturer
28
Swinging sign, " Wolfe Tavern" 29
John Lowell, Esq. 59
Title-page : Convention held at Ipswich in 1778, " Essex Result " 63
Lighthouse, 1860
67
Lighthouse, 1905
68
A northeast view of the town and harbour of Newburyport 80
Theophilus Parsons IO0
Powder house erected in 1822 106
Plan of land and buildings in the vicinity of Frog pond, 1771 I2I
Bartlet mall
I26
Jail and jail-keeper's house
129
Plan of Market landing, 1775
I31
Town and Court house, 1805
I32
Figure of Justice
I33
Meeting house in Market square
138
Almshouse erected in 1794
144
Map of Newburyport harbor, 1809
15I
John Quincy Adams
155
Clock made by Daniel Balch
165
Clock made by David Wood
165
Clock made by Samuel Mulliken
I68
Clock made by Thomas H. Balch
I68
Factory of Towle Manufacturing Co., 1905
172
Bayley's wharf
176
Old sail-loft
177
Horse and chaise
178
Comb factory of W. H. Noyes & Bro. company
180
Map of Newburyport, 1830
185
Market house, 1850
188
Market house and dock
189
Map of Newburyport harbor, 1826
195
City hall, 1851
203
Map of Newbury, Newburyport and West Newbury, 1850
205
Map of Newburyport, 1905
208
Frog pond
212
St. Paul's church yard .
216
Statue on Atkinson common
. 220
Elisha P. Dodge
.
223
9
IO
MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
Bartlett Spring pumping station
Page 233
Anna Jaques
242
William C. Todd .
243
Anna Jaques hospital .
244
Almshouse erected in 1888
246
Young Men's Christian Association building
248
At work on the jetties
249
Constructing the jetties
251
Meeting house of the First Religious society
254
Steeple of the meeting house
256
Erasurers in Prayer Book, St. Paul's church
258
Call for the Episcopal convention held in Boston in January, 1791
260
St. Paul's church, 1801
262
Tablet to Bishop Bass .
263
First Presbyterian meeting house, 1829
268
First Presbyterian meeting house, 1905 . Order written and signed by Rev. Samuel Spring
274
Ruins of the North Congregational meeting house, March, 1861
276
North Congregational meeting house, 1905
277
Paul Revere's bill; Church bell, 1795
279
Prospect Street meeting house
283
Harris Street meeting house
285 293 295
Washington Street meeting house
297
Church of the Immaculate Conception
300
Interior of the Church of the Immaculate Conception
302
Fourth Parish meeting house in Newbury
306
Meeting house of the Belleville Congregational society
307
Church of St. Aloysius de Gonzaga
308
Schoolhouse at southeasterly end of Bartlet mall
. 317
Schoolhouse at northwesterly end of Bartlet mall
320
David Perkins Page
321
Female High School house
323
Brown High School house
325
Map of Newburyport, 1843
332
Map of Newburyport from Marlborough to Jefferson streets, 1900
334
Green street
. 340
Plan of Merrill street, 1774
343
Water street from Federal to State street, 1791
353
Newburyport and Salisbury ferry
367
Bridge from Deer island to Salisbury
369
Essex-Merrimack bridge
371
Newburyport and Salisbury bridge, 1827
. 373
Newburyport and Salisbury bridge, 1840
.
374
Newburyport and Salisbury bridge, 1875
375
Newburyport and Salisbury bridge, 1903, (two views)
376
Wolfe tavern, 1764
389
Advertisement, Newburyport Sun hotel
. 391
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
269
Green Street Baptist meeting house
Purchase Street meeting house
MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
Eastern Railroad depot, 1840
Page 400
Eastern Railroad depot, 1854
40I
Eastern Railroad depot, 1892
. 402
City Railroad from Lower Long wharf
. 404
Daniel Foster
417
Boston Massacre, from a plate engraved by Jonathan Mulliken
428
Ship Dreadnaught
455
Launching of the ship
. 458
Building of the ship John Currier
. 462
Ship John Currier in Honolulu harbor
. 465
Title-page of Catechism printed in 1694
472
Psalm tunes from the Singing Book compiled by Rev. John Tufts 475
477
Frontispiece to the Newburyport collection of Sacred Music
481
Title-page of the New England Primer
490
Second page of the New England Primer
· 491
Title-page of Catechism printed in 1797
493
The Essex Journal and Merrimack Packet, 1773
502
The Essex Journal and the Massachusetts and New Hampshire General Advertiser, 1784 504
The Essex Journal and New Hampshire Packet, 1786 Impartial Herald, 1793
. 506
The Newburyport Herald and Country Gazette, 1797 Merrimack Gazette and Essex Advertizer
5 10
The Free Press
513
People's Advocate, and Commercial Gazette
514
Public Library building .
· 525
Fac simile of letter signed by Benjamin Greenleaf
542
Tristram Dalton
568
Jonathan Jackson
574
Autograph of Col. Edward Wigglesworth
583
Fac simile of part of the petition to the General Court signed by John Tracy, Nathaniel Tracy and others
. 591
Capt. Offin Boardman
615
Nathaniel Tracy
623
Souvenir spoon: " Yankee Hero "
. 624
Certificate of release of Capt. William Nichols
652
Endorsement on back of certificate
653
Privateer Brig Harpy
· 662
Capt. William Nichols
.
663
·
Psalm tunes from the Singing Book compiled by Daniel Bayley
. 508
5II
HISTORY OF NEWBURYPORT
CHAPTER I.
1764-1774.
FOR fifty years after the incorporation of Newbury, in 1635, the inhabitants of that town were busily engaged in tilling the soil and in stock raising. After the division of " the upper woods," in 1686, the territory between Parker river, on the south, Merrimack river on the north, Plum Island river on the east, and the town of Bradford on the west, was owned and occupied, almost entirely, by farmers.
The development of ship building and foreign commerce led to the introduction of other industries, and subsequently attracted many merchants, mechanics and seafaring men to that part of the town called " the water side " between what was then Cottle's lane, now Bromfield street, Newburyport, and the boundary line between the Third and Fifth parishes in Newbury, now Oakland street, Newburyport.
A contest over the location and erection of a new town and court-house, for the use of the County of Essex and the inhabitants of Newbury, culminated in the purchase of land and the erection of a building on Fish, now State street, Newburyport, by some of the inhabitants of the third parish in Newbury,' in 1762, and in the presentation of the follow- ing petition to the General Court, twelve months later.
To his Excellency Francis Bernard Esq. Governor & Commander in Chief in and over said Province To the Honorable his Majesties Council & house of Representatives in General Court assembled :
..
The Memorial of the Subscribers hereto, Inhabitants in & about that part of the town of Newbury' called the Water side, Humbly Sheweth :
That ye said Town of Newbury is Large & Extensive, That that part of it where the memorialists Dwell is Become thick Settled & Very Populous. That the inhabitants are chiefly Merchants, Traders, Mari-
1 History of Newbury (Currier), p. 243.
I3
I4
HISTORY OF NEWBURYPORT
ners & Artificers, those of the other parts of the town mostly husbandmen. That thro' an unaccountable & Strange opinion of things, there subsists on that account among some and many of the Inhabitants, a certain Jealousy as to their public affairs & a high spirit of opposition which is a continual source of uneasiness & disquietude. And as the Inhabitants in the outer parts & parishes are more numerous than at the Water side they carry the vote in the affairs of the town & conduct the business of it in a way very different from the sentiments of your memorialists about those things concerning which the Memoralists & others Inhabitants of the Water side, have great occasion of complaint on account of the several things hereafter mentioned of which they have not the least prospect of Redress but from your Excellency & Honours & that by a Division of the town into separate Communities & that part of it by your Excellency & Honors be sett & Erected into a District-and your Memorialists beg leave to observe to your Excellency & Honours some of the difficulties & grievances they labour under in the present state of the town, and they mention in the first place the want of public schools at the Water side for the instruction of children and youth, as before observed that part of the town is become populous. Three places of publick worship for ye people being there & a sufficient num- ber of Inhabitants for three considerable assemblies & consequently a great number of children & youth to be taught & Instructed. Yet there is not one fixed stated school (but movable ones only) nor a Public School house in that part of the town and no judicious person acquainted with the place but what will judge two fixed and stated schools (at least a Gramar School & Reading & writing schools) absolutely necessary for the instruction of the children & youth there. And it is a great grief to yr Memorialists & every well disposed person, to see great numbers of children among them whose parents are not able to be at ye expense of private schooling (as in populous places there are many such) brought up in ignorance idleness & instead of being hereafter useful members of the Commonwealth, bid fair to be the reverse ; also fire engines so nec- essary for the preservation of populous places, the town do not provide (and there is not the least reason to think in their present state they ever will) & some of ye Memorialists for their own & the safety of the place have been obliged to lay out and expend large sums of money for those necessary machines which they conceive ought to be provided at ye public expense as they are in such places of publick & general use. On the other hand most of the charge and expense in repairing the roads and highways in the town is expended in the out parts & upon roads chiefly used by the inhabitants there & for their particular good. The memoralists cannot be excused from their part of the charge under that head but annually are taxed & pay very large sums of money for that purpose & it is supposed sufficient for the suport of the schools before
I5
PETITION FOR NEW TOWN
mentioned as the memoralists & ye other inhabitants at the Water side pay the greater part of the publick charge & if the remote parts of the town think themselves too distant to have any advantage of the schools & fire engines before mentioned & so think it unreasonable to be at any expense therefor. The memorialists who are now actually suffering on that account can't but humbly hope, Your Excellency & Honours will put them in such circumstances as they may be enabled as a community to provide them. And as to the publick affairs in other particulars. The Memorialists humbly think there is great reason of complaint : Namely, there is no town treasurer, nor can they prevail to have such an officer chosen distinct from the selectmen notwithstanding the express directions of the Province laws in that case & ye apparent necessity of such an officer for the regular managing of & accounting for the publick
monies & especially in a society where very large sums are annually raised & appropriated to publick use as in the case here, for some years above a thousand pounds lawful money for the use of the town, besides fines & forfeitures & monies coming to the use of the town in other ways, but such an officer by some & even by the majority is said to be useless & of no necessity or convenience & only a charge to the town, & the selectmen can do better in that station : And the memorialists can't but conceive that a Treasurer here is absolutely necessary as it has been ye practice of the selectmen, illegally & arbitrarily to assess more than by law they ought, even one year, viz : 1761, £ 465 lawful money more than by law they ought to have done. But the memorialists & others agrieved thereat would have willingly passed by such a deviation from right, if an open & fair account could have been adjusted & reported of the disposal of the publick monies by the committee for that purpose appointed.
They are more fully confirmed in the necessity of a town treasurer & more so, as before the last annual meeting for the choice of town officers it was given out by those who used to oppose it that one should be chosen & that the grievances complained of by the memorialists should be rectified but not withstanding no Treasurer was chosen & instead of doing anything to remove the cause of the Memorialists complaint went into such measurers as apparently tended to increase them.
Your Memorialists are sensible that illegal taxes are not binding & that actions at law may in that case be brought, but they rather choose to put up with the grievance than take that method on a reasonable pros- pect of having the cause of the complaints removed which they humbly hope your Excellency & Honours will do, and your Memorialists humbly think they have a right to a fair & proper disposal of the publick monies as they pay a very large share of the publick taxes, some of them annual- ly and as they with the other inhabitants in that part of the town pay the greater part of the publick charges of the town, which they conceive
I6
HISTORY OF NEWBURYPORT
ought not & would not be the case in such degree if a due proportion of the selectmen & assessors were chosen from that part of the town who must be better knowing to the trade, commerce & particular circum_ ances of individuals, than the more remote, yet but one selectmen from that part of ye town has been chosen for many years past, or can be obtained, altho' for the present year seven were chosen for the town.
The Memorialists pray your Excellency & Honors indulgence for thus tresspassing on your patience & beg leave only to mention as an instance of ye prevailing & growing spirit of jealousy & opposition before men- tioned : the present state of the town relative to ye new Court house lately built at ye Water side by the County & the people there, which altho' most conveniently situated as well for the use of ye town & county, as has once & again been voted by the Court of sessions with respect to the County large & capacious enough for the whole town, whereas the old house is not so well situated for publick convenience, yet the town as yet have not & we suppose will not meet in it, which the Memorialists can , not but think proceeds from a party spirit which is so diffused & become so general in some parts of the town, that it is a sufficient objection with them to any measure proposed,or thing done, tho' ever so just & reasonable in its nature, that ye Water side proposed or did it. Wherefore, upon the whole, your Memorialists humbly pray, your Excellency & Honors would take the premises into consideration & as the Memorialists can't in the least see any reasonable prospect for the removal of ye complaints & grievances before mentioned, in the present situation of the town, they, therefore, pray the same may be divided & separated by such bounds & limits as to this Great & General Court shall seem fitt & that a committee may be appointed to determine the same, or that your Excel- lency & Honors would otherwise relieve your Memorialists as in your great wisdom you shall think fit & they as in duty bound will ever pray.
William Jenkins
Thoms Follinsbe
Henry Titcomb
Enoch Titcomb
John Kent
Benaiah Young
Offin Boardman
Benjamin Davis
Jona Bradbury
John Boardman
Lawrence Furlong
John Stickney
Andrew Joseph Collins
Amos Pearson
Richard Kent
Joseph Warner
Parker Noyes
Richard Kent, Jun.
Nelson Ratcliffe
Nathan Hoyt
Joseph Remick
Richard Lowell
Jona Whitmore
James Carr
Benjamin Crocker
Matthew Pettengell
Nathaniel
Joseph Atkins
Joseph Edwards
George Burrough
Mich : Dalton
Wymond Bradbury
Ralph Cross Jun
Phil : White
Samuel Coker
Abner Greenleaf
Dan1 Farnham
Samuel Navell
Nathll Montgomery
Wm Atkins
Joseph Hoyt
Stephen Wyatt
Thoms Woodbridge
Joseph Moulton
I 7
PETITION FOR NEW TOWN
Jeremiah Dalton Francis Rust
Patrick Tracy
Caleb Toppan
John Sprague
Moses Todd
Cutting Bartlet
Danl Marquand
Samuel Swasey
Obadiah Horton
Ralph Cross
Samuel Shackford
[illegible]
Enoch Titcomb Jun Charles Hodge John Newman
John Harris
Enoch Toppen
Jacob Boardman
Richard Toppan
Ebenezr Lowell
John Toppan
William Hazen
Samuel Bayley
Tristram Dalton
Cutting Moody
William Davenport Samll Tufts
John Stickney Jun
Abell Merrill
Hezekiah Collins
Jonathan Dole Robert Jenkins
James Chase
John Dummer
Samuel Kenney
Wm McHard
Benja Davis
Francis Holiday
Isaac Johnson Jun
Jona Pearson
Benja Dole
John Harbert
Robert Roberts
Jona Dole Jun
Benjamin Pidgeon Sommerby Moody Jos : Greenough
John Rogers
Joseph Sampson
James Jewet
John Donnell
Enoch Moss
Thomas Todd
Nathll Hunt
Benja Pike
Mark Fitts Thomas Beck
Samuel Emerson David Cutler
John Stickney Daniel Somerby
Henry Chipman
John Tarbox
Thomas Bartlet
Moses Nowell
Stephen Sewall
Thomas Merrill Jun
Joshua Greenleaf
Samll Newhall
James Horton
Stephen Cross Joseph Stickney George Goodhue Joseph Goodhue
Joseph Swasey
William Weed
Joshua Norton
Michael Toppan
Clement Kent
Willm Stickney
Parker Titcomb
Hezekiah Coleby
Edmund Bartlet
Bulkley Emerson
John Stone
Abraham Gallashon Benjamin Choate William Moulton Wm Moreland
Samuel Toppan
Edmund Greenleaf
Mayo Greenleaf Samuel Titcomb
Hezekiah Coleby Francis Haskill Ezra Howard
Moses George Moses Dole
Daniel Balch
Robert Rogers
Diamond Currier
Jeremh Pearson Jun
John Sewall
John Titcomb Edward Newell
Daniel Bayley Nehemiah Haskill
Caleb Haskill
Joseph Somerby Joseph Hoyt Jun Moses Hoyt Jun Edmund Morse Samuel Cresey
Francis Greenleaf Joseph Pearson
[illegible] Anthony Gwynn
Joseph Noyes Jun
B. Greenleaf Jun Benja Harris Joseph Titcomb Dudley Atkins Benja Frothingham Ichabod Woodman Makepiece Horton
Adam Cogswell
Joseph Woodbridge
Jona Titcomb
Wm Starkey
Stephen Moody
Jacob Giddins
18
HISTORY OF NEWBURYPORT
John Wood
Makepiece Coleby John Lewis
John Woodman
Joshua Coleby
Francis Cresey
Thoms Wood
Josiah Titcomb
Thomas Pindar
Daniel Coffin
Enoch Plumer
John Butler
Jona March
David Whitmore
John Horton
William Knap Enoch` Pilsbury
Roland Stockman
Daniel Poor
Daniel Collins
Enoch Stickney
Jeremh Pearson
Edmund Morss Jun
Daniel Horton
James Lenox
Theophilus Bradbury
Samuel Horton
Wm Stockman
John Plumer
Henry Sleeper
Paul Noyes
The dividing line prayed for is humbly proposed to begin at Merri- mack river at ye westwardly bounds there of the Third Parish in New- bury and so to run back (as the dividing line of the third & fifth parish- es doth) to a brook in the Great Pasture there & so as the said brook runs toward Pearsons Mills to the Stone bridge & from thence to the river Parker & thence southwardly to the Rowley line
WM ATKINS
DANIEL FARNHAM
In behalf of themselves
MICH : DALTON
& the other
THOMAS WOODBRIDGE
memorialists I
PATRICK TRACY
In answer to this petition the General Court passed the following order, June 10, 1763 :-
A Petition of A number of the Inhabitants in and about that part of the Town of Newbury called the Water side-Setting forth the exten- siveness of the said Town which renders it very proper that it should be divided, and as the Inhabitants of one Part of said Town are mostly Farmers and of the other principally Merchants, Tradesmen, and Sea- Faring Persons : and as the Interests of said Parties are so different, and in some respects opposite, Praying that they may be divided and Sep- arated by such Bounds & Limits as this Court shall think proper, and that they would appoint a committee to determine the same.
In Council Read and Ordered that the Petitioners notify the Town of Newbury by Serving the Town Clerk with a Copy of this Petition that they show cause (if any they have) on the second Tuesday of the next Sitting of this Court why the Prayer thereof should not be granted.
In the House of Representatives Read and Concurred.2
Town of Newbury Records, pp. 155-159.
2 Mass. Archives (Court Records), vol. XXV., p. 48; Province Laws, vol. IV., p. 698.
19
PETITION FOR NEW TOWN
Another petition was presented to the General Court the same day, by some of the inhabitants of Newbury residing at the west end of the town, humbly praying that the terri- tory between the Artichoke river and the Bradford line might be set off and made a separate district.
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