USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Manchester > History of the town of Manchester, Essex County, Massachusetts, 1645-1895 > Part 1
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UMASS/AMHERST
312066011530998
LIBRARY
OF THE
ENSE PERITA
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CARD
LIBERTATE
LACIDAM
MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
22239 DATE 8-1901
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F 74 M26L2
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DATE DUE
F 74 M26 L 2
. HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF M ANCHESTER
ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS
1645=1895
By Rev. D. F. LAMSON
" Historie is the memorie of time, the life of the dead, and the happi- nesse of the lyvinge." - CAPTAINE JOHN SMITH.
" A people which takes no pride in the achievements of remote ancestors, will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendants." - MACAULAY.
PUBLISHED BY THE TOWN
1
975 M382 M3
ESTER, MASS 1
* MANCHE
b
USETTS
INC
ED,1645
HISTORICAL STATEMENT.
T HE interest on the part of the people in the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary is due in large measure to the Historical Society, which was formed in 1886, and which has made its object the awakening of interest in the history of the town, and the collecting of- materials in view of the approaching Quarter-Millennial. Regular meetings of the Society have been held, and pa- pers read by the members on various matters of interest connected with the town's earlier or later history. These papers, after being discussed, have in some instances been deposited in the archives of the Society. A few donations have been received from members and others of old books, records, manuscripts, etc., as the nucleus of a Historical Collection. Above all, a stimulus has been given to antiquarian interest and historical re- search, dusty cobwebs have been brushed from the walls of memory, fading recollections and dim traditions have received new freshness and life, and some things of value to the historian have been rescued from the oblivion into which they were fast passing.
The initiatory steps towards a celebration of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary and the preparation of a History of the Town, were taken by the Historical Society in the appointment of a committee to bring the matter before the town at the annual meeting, March 20, 1894. At that meeting a large committee was
iii
iv
HISTORICAL STATEMENT.
chosen to report at the next annual meeting a plan for the suitable celebration of the event, and to publish in connection with it a History of the Town. A Com- mittee on Publication was subsequently appointed by the General Committee, consisting of W. H. Tappan, R. C. Lincoln, D. F. Lamson, D. L. Bingham and A. S. Jewett.
The work of preparing the History was placed in the hands of Rev. D. F. Lamson, and commenced in July, 1894.
The History is published by the Town, and the elec- trotype plates are in the possession of the Town, for its subsequent use.
The publication of the History has been delayed, in order to include a record of the celebration.
PREFACE.
I N undertaking this work, the author was aware that it imposed upon him a difficult and responsible task - that of presenting within the compass of a moderate- sized volume, in a readable manner and yet with scru- pulous regard to historical accuracy, the life of this an- cient town through a quarter of a millennium. There was needed something more than a narration of events. Independent or slightly related and widely separated incidents -incidents in themselves often trivial - were to be brought together and grouped according to the laws of historical perspective, and invested with living interest.
Not the least of the difficulties met with has been to give a proportionate view of the many interests and in- dustries of the community during this extended period. The author cannot hope that the work will altogether escape criticism in this particular. Men will estimate things very much according to their point of view, and their individual training, tastes and dispositions. The claim can only be made that there has been an attempt to hold the balance in a judicial and even hand. For the sake of presenting a consecutive and readable nar- rative, much valuable matter has been thrown into foot- notes, while other matter finds place in Appendixes.
A difficulty has been found, it should perhaps be said, in the scarcity of material at some points for anything
vi
PREFACE.
like a complete narrative. There are picturesque inci- dents and quaint asides, often, where there is little from which to construct a reliable and consecutive history.
Contemporaneous events and events of very recent occurrence have been, in general, very lightly touched upon, or omitted altogether; for the reason that it is difficult in some instances to treat such events fairly, and in others there is often a doubt whether they will attain the dignity of history or are simply passing shadows flitting across the stage.1
The life of a small community is of interest especially as it is seen to be a part of the larger life of the times. The author has accordingly sought to connect the nar- rative with what was taking place upon a wider theatre. It is thought that the picture will not be less attractive because of its framing in the events of the time.
It is well that attention should be called to the fact that there was no standard of orthography in the Eng- lish language in the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- turies. Special confusion exists in the spelling of proper names, the use of abbreviations, capitals and marks of punctuation. It is hardly to be expected that errors have been wholly avoided; but it is hoped that they are but few, and that they do not impair the value of the work.
Due acknowledgment has been made, it is believed, of all sources which have been relied upon for informa- tion. For the rest, the author desires once for all to express his thanks to all who have kindly aided him by their suggestions and reminiscences, which have helped to give the work a local coloring and make the features of actors in the history more lifelike.
It is hoped that the book, upon which much labor has
1 Other omissions may be accounted for by the fact that the work is a History, and not a Business Directory or Advertising Medium.
vii
PREFACE.
been expended for many months, will prove of perma- nent value as a contribution to the literature of town history in Massachusetts. The author, who has been for some years a resident of Manchester, though not " to the manor born," has found his work a pleasant and congenial one, and in taking leave of it commends it to the kind regard of its reader
9.7. Lawson
Manchester, July 4, 1895.
-
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE.
HISTORICAL STATEMENT
iii
PREFACE
V
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY
5
CHAPTER II. BEGINNINGS
15
CHAPTER III. THE FIRST COMERS: Who and What were They? 31
CHAPTER IV. THE EARLY LIFE OF THE TOWN
45
CHAPTER V. THIE REVOLUTIONARY EPOCH 69
CHAPTER VI. THE FISHERIES
99
CHAPTER VII. THE WAR OF 1812
125
CHAPTER VIII. THE CABINET MAKING
143
CHAPTER IX. ANTI-SLAVERY DAYS
. 167
CHAPTER X. THE WAR FOR THE UNION
. 177
CHAPTER XI. THE SUMMER RESORT , 191
CHAPTER XII. THE SCHOOLS . 205
CHAPTER XIII. CHURCHIES AND CHURCH BUILDINGS . 221
APPENDIXES.
A. A SUNDAY IN THE OLDEN TIME . 255
B. A TYPICAL OLD-TIME MINISTER . 265
C. CEMETERIES . 271
D. EARLY HOUSES
E. THE STORES . 285
. 289
G. THE POST-OFFICE
. 303
H. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT
. 309
I. SOME OLD BOOKS
. 317
J. POLICE REGULATIONS
. 321
K. SOME NOTABILITIES
. 323
L. FLOTSAM AND JETSAM
. 343
M. THE WATER WORKS . 363
N. TOWN OFFICERS, ETC.
. 373
SUPPLEMENT.
THE TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY . . 383
ix
. 281
F. THE MILITARY SERVICE
ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. SEAL OF THE TOWN . PAGE. . ii Designed by W. H. Tappan.
2. MAP OF THE TOWN . Drawn by W. H. Tappan.
· Next back cover
3. PLAN OF THE "FOUR HUNDRED ACRES " . 21 By the courtesy of W. Orison Underwood, Esq. ·
4. Low HOUSE and ABBY BAKER HOUSE
. 49 From photographs by J. R. Cheever. .
5. MURRAY HOUSE; third tavern
. 66
From drawing by W. H. Tappan.
6. FORSTER'S WHARF, with "Chebacco boat," "Grand Banker" and " Jigger" . · . 112 From water-color by W. H. Tappan.
7. OLD TOWN HOUSE and TOWN HALL
. . 196 Old Town House from painting by W. H. Tappan; Town Hall from photograph by J. R. Cheever.
S. LIBRARY BUILDING .
. 197
From photograph by J. R. Cheever.
9. STORY HIGH SCHOOL and G. A. PRIEST SCHOOL . . 213 From photographs by J. R. Cheever.
10. THIRD MEETING-HOUSE (1720-1809) . 240 From sketch by W. H. Tappanl.
11. CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH . 242 From photograph by J. R. Cheever.
12. FAC-SIMILE OF LETTER BY REV. BENJAMIN TAPPAN . 227 From the original document.
13. BAPTIST CHURCH . 246 .
From photographi by J. R. Cheever.
14. EMANUEL CHURCH and CATHOLIC CHURCH . · . 250 From photographs by J. R. Cheever.
PORTRAITS. xi
15. "OLD RED HOUSE "
From drawing by W. H. Tappan.
PAGE.
. 244
16. FIRST POST-OFFICE
. 303
From water-color by W. H. Tappan.
17. ENGINE-HOUSE
.
. 309
From photograph by J. R. Cheever.
PORTRAITS.
E. TAPPAN,1 ASA STORY, M. D.,2 JOHN DODGE,3 D. L. BINGHAM 4 . 331
PAGE.
1 From a water-color. 2 From a photograph.
3 From an ambrotype. 4 From a silhouette.
JOHN P. ALLEN, JOHN PRICE, RICHARD TRASK, THOMAS LEACH . . 333
From photographs.
NOTES.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
The illustrations are by Kilburn & Cross, Boston, with the exception of the Map of the Town, which was lithographed by A. W. Moore & Co., Boston.
OLD AND NEW STYLE.
In 1751, an Act of Parliament ordered that the new year be- gin with Jan. 1, 1752. Before this, the year had commenced March 25. It was also ordered that eleven days be dropped, September 3 being reckoned September 14. This attempt to rectify the calendar must be borne in mind in connection with dates previous to March 25, 1752, unless it is stated that they are given in New Style.
A CORRECTION.
In a quotation on page 87, is a statement which should be corrected. The exploit of Capt. Pert, which belongs to the war of 1812, and not to the Revolution, was brought to a suc- cessful termination by the aid of Manchester fishermen with whom he managed to get into communication, near the en- trance to Gloucester harbor, and not " under the guns " of the forts at Boston. Manchester deserves the full credit of this remarkable feat in the history of naval tactics.
GENEALOGIES.
In the circular issued Dec. 20, 1894, it was stated that gen- ealogies of the earlier families would be published, so far as they were furnished for that purpose, and as there should be space for them. To the disappointment of the committee, there have been but nine genealogies sent in, in time for pub- lication, and of these five were more or less defective, one be- ing a mere fragment. The other four have already appeared in print. In these circumstances, the committee deemed it advisable to omit the publication of genealogies altogether. The MSS. have been deposited in the archives of the Histori- cal Society.
xii
HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY.
" Shooting round the winding shores Of narrow capes, and isles which lie Slumbering to ocean's lullaby,-
With birchen boat and glancing oars, The red men to their fishing go."
Whittier.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
INDIAN OCCUPANCY - MASCONOMO - RELATIONS BETWEEN WHITES AND INDIANS - GEOGRAPHY - CLIMATE - SOIL - PRODUCTIONS-OLD AND NEW.
T HE history of America begins with the advent of Europeans in the New World. The Red Men in small and scattered bands1 roamed the stately forests and interminable prairies, hunted the bison and the deer, fished the lakes and streams, gathered around the council-fire and danced the war-dance; but they planted no states, founded no cities, established no manufactures, engaged in no commerce, cultivated no arts, built up no civiliza- tions. They left their names upon mountains and rivers from lordly Agiochook to the mighty Mis- sissippi; but they made no other impress upon the continent which from time immemorial had been their dwelling-place. The record of their past vanishes like one of their own forays in the wilder- ness. Their shell-heaps? and their graves are the
1 Of course, all estimates of the numbers of the Ahorigines are conjec- tural; but they were probably fewer than is popularly supposed. "The pre-Columbian population was astonishingly small as compared with the enormous extent of territory." The United States of America, Prof. N. S. Shaler, vol. I, p. 224.
2 "On the shores of some of the lagoons, or forming small conical islands in their midst, were white heaps of broken clam-shells. When these shell heaps were first explored they contained bones of many kinds of fish and birds, including fragments of that extinct hird, the great auk. They also yielded broken pieces of roughly ornamented pot- tery, bits of copper, and stone implements of the Indians who had made the Ipswich River and its sand-hills one of their principal camping- grounds." Land of the Lingering Snow, Frank Bolles, Boston, 1893, p. 64.
5
6
HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
only remains that are left to show that they once called these lands their own.1 They made no history.
The country was practically unoccupied, when the white man first set foot upon its shores. The vast wilderness, stretching westward for league upon league toward the setting sun, and teeming with waste fertility, was but a hunting-ground and a battle-field to a few fierce hordes of savages.2
Unless, therefore, the imagination be drawn upon for facts, the Indian Period, except so far as Europeans became actors upon the stage, presents almost no material for the historian. It is known that the whole of the eastern part of Massachusetts that is now included in Essex County was inhab- ited, on the arrival of the first colonists, by the Agawams, a tribe of the Algonquins. They are described by Gosnold, who appears to have touched at Cape Anne in 1602, as " a people tall of stature, broad and grym visaged; their eye browes paynted white."3 There is evidence that the Aborigines of this part of New England had been greatly dimin- ished in numbers, not long before the arrival of the colonists. Mention is made of "a three yecres Plague, which swept away most of the inhabitants
1 Indian graves have been discovered in several places in town, but reverently filled up again without disturbing the skeleton remains. Mr. John Lee has left a carefully written account of one of these "finds." Vide p. 345.
2"One might sometimes journey for days together through the twi- light forest, and meet no human form. Broad tracts were left in solitude. All Kentucky was a vacant waste, a mere skirmishing-ground for the hos- tile war-parties of the north and south. A great part of Upper Canada, of Michigan and of Illinois, besides other portions of the West, were tenanted by wild beasts alone." Parkman, History of Pontiac, 148.
8 Strachey's Historie of Travaile into Virginie.
7
INTRODUCTORY.
all along the Sea coast, and in some places utterly consumed man, woman and childe, so that there is no person left to lay clame to the soyle. . .. In most of the rest, the Contagion hath scarce left alive one person of an hundred."1 Hutchinson (I, 38 n.) says that " Some tribes were in a manner extinct "; " the Massachusetts particularly said by some to have been reduced from 30,000 to 300 fighting men." Morton, speaking of the epidemic, says, " The hand of God fell heavily upon them, with such a mortal stroake, that they died on heapes."? No doubt the spirit as well as the power of the tribes was greatly broken.
The chief, or Sagamore, who ruled in a patriarchal sort of way in this region, was named Masconomo.3 His chief camping place seems to have been at what is now Ipswich,-
" large limbed Ipswich brought to eye 'mongst woods and waters cleer." +
He seems to have been a kindly disposed and peaceable neighbor to the whites, rather than a war- like foe.5 It was owing, no doubt, largely to his friendly disposition that no bloody conflicts with the original possessors of the soil stain the early
1 Planter's Plea, London, 1630. 2 New English Canaan, ch. iii.
3 Hubbard, 130. Hutchinson calls him Masconomeo (1, 25, 2.). In the deed given by his grandsons (1700), he is called Masconomo and Masque- nomenit. He received the name from the settlers of Sagamore John. He died in 1658.
4 Good News from New England, 1648.
5 Maskonomett, with four other sachems, signed an agreement, Mar. 7, 1644, "" to bee true & faithfull to the government, ayding to the main- tenance thereof . .. . & to bee willing from time to time to bee instructed in the knowledge and worship of God." Massachusetts Colonial Records, vol. II, p. 55.
8
HISTORY OF MANCHESTER ..
records. No colonists were waylaid and shot in ambush; no glare of burning dwellings, no savage war-whoop, terrified the infant settlement. The new comers planted and builded, went to church and mill, in safety.
Lands were gained by purchase,1 or by peaceful possession, and not by the sword. More honor is due to the first settlers of Cape Anne in this re- spect, from the fact that this principle was not held to by the colonists generally. One thing that made Roger Williams unpopular at Salem, and that led to his banishment, in addition to his claim that magistrates had no authority in matters of con- science, was his position that " the land belonged to the Indians, and title thereto could be acquired only from them, and not by virtue of the king's grant." The final payment for the land, however, was not made until 1700, when the town paid the grandsons of Masconomo, £3, 19s., for relinquishing all right, title and interest in the land then comprising the township.2
1 This indeed was but following the instructions given to Endicott : " If any of the salvages pretend right of inheritance to all or any part of the lands granted in our patent, we pray you endeavor to purchase their tytle, that we may avoid the least scruple of intrusion." Hazard, 1, 263. On the other hand, Winthrop had written before he left England : "That wheb lies comon & hath never been replenished or subdued, is free to any that will possesse and improve it . . . And for the Natives in New England they inclose noe land neither have any settled habitation nor any tame cattle to improve the land by, & soe have noe other but a naturall right to those countries Soe as if wee leave them sufficient for their use wee may lawfully take the rest, there being more then enough for them & us." Conclusions, etc.
2 For a copy of the Deed, see p.345. It was not until half a century after the occupation of Boston peninsula, that the citizens troubled them- selves to obtain a deed of the land from the grandson of Chickataubut. This was in 1708. Memorial History of Boston, vol. 1, p. 249.
9
INTRODUCTORY.
An ancient record is not without a touch of pathos, as showing how early this once independent chief lost every vestige of his power; the date is Oct. 7, 1646. " Upon ye petition of ye sagam" of Aagawam, for librty for one of or smiths to amend his gun, it is ord'ed yt warrant shalbe granted." 1 The Indians in this vicinity, it would seem, were soon reduced to a condition of weakness and vassalage, similar to that of the Israelites in the time of Saul.2
The suggestion has been made, and it is to be hoped that it may sometime be aeted upon, that a native boulder marked with the simple inscription
MASCONOMO,
be placed in some suitable spot, as a memento of the chief who first welcomed the white man to these shores, and of a onee numerous but now vanishing race.3
One other influence, besides the plague already mentioned, no doubt had an effect in cowing the spirit of the Indians, and rendering the work of settlement an easier and less hazardous one. Humphry Woodberye, of Beverly, aged about 72 years, testified upon oath, 16 February, 1680, " When wee setled the Indians neuer then molested vs in our improvements or sitting downe, either on Salem or Beuerly sides of the ferry, but shewed themselues very glad of our company, & came &
1 Massachusetts Colonial Records, Vol. II, p. 163.
2 I Sam. xiii, 19, 20.
3 Schoolcraft estimates their number at the beginning of the settle- ment of the country by Europeans as 1,000,000. It is supposed there are now in the United States, including Alaska, about 280,000.
10
HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
planted by vs, & oftentimes came to vs for shelter, saying they were afraid of their enemy Indians vp in the contry, &c.," i. e., the Tarratines,1 who had terrorized eastern Massachusetts before the arrival of the English. In this our devout forefathers saw a fulfilment of the ancient scripture, " He cast out the heathen before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents."2
MANCHESTER is one of the smaller Essex County towns; its length on the seacoast being about four and one-half miles and its breadth about two and one-quarter miles; and containing something over five thousand acres of land. Its soil is rocky and its surface uneven, especially near the coast. Some moderate elevations rise in the north and west. Without any high hills, its general appearance is picturesque, much of it being well wooded, with fertile fields and rich meadows intermingled with precipitous ledges and bold escarpments. A strik- ing peculiarity of the scenery is the close proximity of verdant foliage and grassy slopes, and the "stern and rock-bound coast." In many places the green- est of fields and woods approach almost to the ocean itself.3 The shore is composed of rugged cliffs and
1 Johnson speaks of this tribe as " a barbarons and crnell people," and mentions a belief that they were cannibals. Wonder-working Providence, ch. 25. Some descendants of this once powerful and warlike tribe encamp every summer on Ipswich River, and gather in money from the whites by the sale of baskets, berries, etc.
2 Psalm Ixxviii, 55.
3 " It sounds like a paradox to state that you may look out from rugged cliffs over a summer sea and inhale its salt fragrance, and yet by a turn of your heel find yourself face to face with a landscape of rustic meadows and stately woods." Scribner's Magazine, article, The North Shore, July, 1894.
11
INTRODUCTORY.
boulders of sienite, Eagle Head being a particularly noble and commanding point, and of deeply in- dented coves and inlets; several small islands, Ket- tle, Crow, Graves, Great and Little Ram, and House, lie at a short distance from the shore:
" a rude and broken coast-line . . .
Wood and rock and gleaming sand-drift, jagged capes, with bush and tree,
Leaning inland from the smiting of the wild and gusty sea."
"Singing Beach"' is widely celebrated as a natural curiosity, as is "Agassiz' Rock " 2 in the depths of the " Essex woods."
The climate is variable, but the nearness of the ocean tempers both summer's heat and winter's cold. The prevailing winds in the warm season, being from the sea, render the summer and autumn weather often delightful.
The soil is chiefly diluvial, and in some places well fitted for cultivation; there is not, however, very much farming carried on, owing in part to the limited areas of arable land, in part to the adoption of other pursuits, as fishing, seafaring and cabinet- making, and in part, latterly, to the high value which land has acquired in many localities since the incoming of the summer population.
There are many wild flowers and ferns in the
1 Hugh Miller describes a phenomenon similar to the " Musical sands " of Manchester in "the loose Oolitic sand of the Bay of Laig" on the island of Eigg, Scotland. Cruise of the Betsey; or a Summer Ramble among the Hebrides, p. 75.
2 A boulder on the east side of the Essex road, measuring about 6,000 square feet. From its top quite a view may be obtained. There is a very much larger houlder in the valley to the north. "It has the body of an aged and much twisted birch tree embedded in a cleft on its side, and a fifty-year-old cedar tree on its top." W. B. in Manchester Cricket, Sept. 1, 1894.
12
HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
fields and woods, and near the Gloucester line, in a swamp not far from the road,
"The white magnolia-blossoms star the twilight of the pines." 1
Some small manufactures are carried on, and a few of the inhabitants subsist by fishing. The town has of late years become a noted resort of summer visitors and residents, and has lost much of its indi- viduality, greatly to the regret of its older inhabitants who remember it as a place which had life in itself.
" The old order changeth, yielding place to the new," and man's wisdom is seen in adjusting himself as best he can to new conditions and environments.
The town has the reputation of being a healthy one, and there is no reason in its location why it should not stand among the foremost in this respect. In former years there have been a large number of aged persons; there are living at present, eighteen between the ages of eighty and ninety, and two be- tween ninety and one hundred. If the present gen- eration is less robust than former ones, the explana- tion may be found perhaps in the hardships, priva- tions and excessive labors of the earlier inhabitants being transmitted in their effects to descendants to the third and fourth generation. The law of heredity is an inexorable one. If nature is overbur- dened, or strained beyond its power of recuperation, the result is sure to appear, if not in the present, in some future age.
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