Standard history of Essex county, Massachusetts, embracing a history of the county from its first settlement to the present time, with a history and description of its towns and cities. The Most historic county of America., Part 1

Author: Tracy, Cyrus M. (Cyrus Mason), 1824-1891, et al. Edited by H. Wheatland
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Boston, C. F. Jewett
Number of Pages: 450

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HISTORY OR

ESSEX COUNTY

MASSACHUSETTS,

FIRST GOVERNOR

OF MASSACHUSETT -

SUELE twole to four To: Endicott

STANDARD HISTORY OF

ESSEX COUNTY,

MASSACHUSETTS,

EMBRACING

A HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE PRESENT TIME, WITH A HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ITS TOWNS AND CITIES.

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ET: SOCIE'

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THE MOST HISTORIC COUNTY OF AMERICA.

BOSTON: C. F. JEWETT & COMPANY. 1878.

Rm 1:30

E7 7

ALBERT J. WRIGHT, PRINTER, No. 79 MILK STREET (CORNER OF FEDERAL), BOSTON.

THE COLONIAL SEAL.

The Colonial Seal granted by Charles I., March 4, 1629 (new style), to the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New Eng- land, made provision for the use of a common seal by the Company. One was accordingly prepared in silver, and sent over to Gov. Endicott with the duplicate charter in 1629. It was used by our Colonial authorities till 1686. resumed 1689. and suspended from 1692 till 1780; at which time it was partly revived with the Indian much more civilized in appearance, and with the adjuncts of an English-American arm brandishing a sword, - which arm was also a part of the scal from 1775 to 1780 ;- and, as revived, it has continued to be used to the present day, - the seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts being of substantially the same design, with different inscriptions. A represen- tation of the Colonial Seal, as sent to Gov. Endicott in 1629, appears on the title-page.

PREFACE.

The History of Essex County is herewith presented to the public, with the confidence that it will make a valuable and important addition to the local histories of the State. The County History has been prepared with care ; and the different city and town histories, to which much could have been added had space allowed, are as full and complete as it is possible to make them in the limits of a single volume. The reader will notice a different method of treatment, and a different style, in the various histories, -due to the fact that they are the work of different hands. This variation is not without its advantages; although a greater symmetry might have been given to the work, and a more accurate apportionment of the space given to the historical importance of each town, had it been possible to have secured a single person under whose supervision the whole history could have been written.

The histories are believed to be accurate presentations of the facts connected with the settlement and devel- opment of each of the towns and cities ; and have in all cases, where the writer was not of the town, been carefully read by some local antiquarian or historian, and received his indorsement

The Publishers are under great obligations to Dr. Henry Wheatland, of Salem, the President of the Essex Institute, for his general supervision of the chapters of the County History ; and the authors of the sketch of Salem desire to express their indebtedness to him for his invaluable assistance in the preparation of their work.

Among those to whom the Publishers and the Authors (whose names appear in the table of contents) are indebted for their kind advice and assistance, in the preparation of the Histories of their respective towns and cities, acknowledg- ment is especially due to Joseph Merrill, Esq., of Amesbury ; the Rev. John L. Taylor, of Andover ; Hon. John I. Baker, of Beverly ; the Rev. Charles B. Rice, of Danvers ; Hon. George L. Davis, of North Andover ; Mr. John D. Parsons, Jr., of Newburyport ; Mr. C. F. W. Archer, of Salem ; and Wellington Pool, Esq., of Wenham ; and, in the preparation of the County History, to William P. Upham, Esq., and Prof. John Robinson, of Salem.

The Publishers offer the History to their patrons, assured that it cannot fail to meet their expectations as a work of historical accuracy and merit.

BOSTON, DECEMBER, 1878.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASS., written under the supervision of HENRY WHEATLAND, M. D., President of the Essex Institute, by CYRUS M. TRACY, WILLIAM E. GRAVES, and HENRY M. BATCHELDER.

PAGES.

CHAPTER

Sketch of the History of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1620 to 1692, .

CHAPTER II. Sketch of the Principal Indian Nations of New England - The Tribes of Essex County -- Early Indian Land Grants - The last of 19

the Sagamores,

CHAPTER III. Organization of the County - Settlement of Salem, Lynn, Andover, Ipswich, Rowley, Newbury, Gloucester, and Wenham, 21

CHAPTER IV. Peculiarities of Early Settlers -Freemen - Residents-Titles and Distinctions - Dwelling-Houses - Lights, &e., 24

CHAPTER V. Salem Witcheraft - Brief History of the Delusion, with an account of the Trials, Executions, &c., 25

CHAPTER VI. The Early and Later Means of Communication and Transportation in and through Essex County,

CHAPTER VII. Historical Notice of some of the more Important Public Institutions of Essex County,

TOWN HISTORIES.

CITIES AND TOWNS.

AUTHORS. PAGES.

AMESBURY,

CYRUS M. TRACY, .

ANDOVER, .

BRADFORD KINGMAN,

BEVERLY, .

ELIAS NASON, . .

BOXFORD, .

SIDNEY PERLEY,

BRADFORD,

EDWIN P. HILL,

DANVERS, .

CHARLES F. W. ARCHER,

ESSEX, .

ELIAS NASON, .

115

GEORGETOWN,

EDWIN P. HILL,

121

GLOUCESTER,

JOHN J. BABSON,

130

GROVELAND,

EDWIN P. HILL, 155

161

HAVERHILL,

EDWIN P. HILL,

164

IPSWICH, .

ELIAS NASON, .

199

LAWRENCE,

ROBERT H. TEWKSBURY, .

210 239

LYNNFIELD,

CYRUS M. TRACY, .

262

MARBLEHEAD,

JONATHAN H. ORNE,

264

MANCHESTER,

ELIAS NASON, .

287

MERRIMAC,

W. H. B. CURRIER,

292

METHUEN, .

EDWIN P. HILL, .

294

MIDDLETON,

SIDNEY PERLEY, .

301

NAHANT, .

CYRUS M. TRACY, .

305

'NEWBURY,

GEORGE J. L. COLBY,

308

NEWBURYPORT, .

GEORGE J. L. COLBY,

322

NORTII ANDOVER,

BRADFORD KINGMAN,

340

PEABODY, .

CHARLES F. W. ARCHER,

346

ROCKPORT,

JOHN J. BABSON.

351

ROWLEY, .

ELIAS NASON, .

355

SALEM,

CHARLES S. OSGOOD and HENRY M. BATCHELDER,

360

SAUGUS,

CYRUS M. TRACY, .

398

SALISBURY,

W. H. B. CURRIER,

401

SWAMPSCOTT,

CYRUS M. TRACY, .

410

TOPSFIELD,

SIDNEY PERLEY,

411

WENHAM, .

CHARLES F. W. ARCHER,

416

WEST NEWBURY,

GEORGE J. L. COLBY,

419

HAMILTON,

ELIAS NASON, .

LYNN,

CYRUS M. TRACY, .

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASS.

CHAPTER I. MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY.

1 BRIEF SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY

COLONY - 1620 TO 1692.

INTRODUCTORY.

A good many plans for the construction of the history of Essex County have presented themselves, and we trust that, in our dis- crimination, we have selected one that will meet with general approval. In regard to the arrangement of the subjects treated, a method has been adopted, that best conforms to the logical and chron- ologieal requirements of the work. Some deliberation arose as to what extent this vohune should include a record of those events which, while they may have direct connection with the history of Essex County, are, nevertheless, more essentially a part of a history of Massachusetts, and the course finally decided upon, will lead us to consider matters and events pertaining to the Commonwealth at large, only in so far as will be necessary to write a comprehensive history of the county proper.

The materials before us, - while they are abundant, - arc scattered and fragmentary, presenting but few traces of previous compilers. But while this condition renders our task many times greater than we had expected, it inspires the belief that what we shall do, if well donc, will be the more valuable.

The arrangement adopted, embraces a general history of Essex County, and a history of cach of the towns separately. Preceding these, we have given a brief sketch of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Such a plan has necessarily left us the alternative of using great discrimination in the classification of subjects, or falling into the imperfection of needless repetitions. It has been impossible to ren- der the following pages wholly free from the latter, partly because the important events recorded as peculiar to any of the towns, are, for the most part, the same which, in a general fund, constitute the county history ; but mainly from the reason that the work, as a whole, is the consolidated product of many writers, over whom it was impossible to exercise the control of a managing editorship, that was in some cases desirable.

In cases where one town is the commou ancestor of several adjoin- ing settlements, as, for instance, in the same sense in which Ipswich is the historical parent of Essex, we have not always been success- ful in dividing the honors of early historical records with just that degree of nicety that would conform to our judgment, and meet the ambition of local historians. In this dilemma, we have chosen, as the most expedient course, an occasional repetition of incident ; but, where this occurs, the incident repeated has a garmenting of new associations, so that what might otherwise be considered objection- able, has been, in the present case, so manipulated as to result in a decided gain.

The same conflict which has existed between the county history, as a separate department, and the several town histories, has occasion- ally manifested itself, from our sketch of Massachusetts Bay Colony, towards the early records of the county history, but, happily, with similar results. For any further comments in respect to this vol- une, the reader is referred to the preface on a preceding page.

MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY.

A settlement -the first in New England - had already been made at Plymouth, when, three years later, in 1623, the Dorchester Company, which was dissolved in 1626, established a colony at Cape Ann, near what is now Gloucester. Roger Conant, who superin- tended the affairs of the Company in New England, soon became dis- satisfied with the location and removed to Naumkeag, now Salem, " secretly conceiving in his mind that in following. times it might prove a receptacle for such as, upon the account of religion, would be willing to begin a foreign plantation in this part of the world, of which he gave an intimation to his friends in England."* Conant was a fine man, well qualified for the task before him, but the colony over which he presided did not number over fifty souls. But how- ever small their number, a wonderful interest attaches to this little company, when we think of them as the pioneers of the Massachu- setts Bay Colony.

The Dorchester Company was organized by the Rev. John White, of Dorchester, England, who prevailed upon certain gentlemen of means residing in that place to contribute three thousand pounds. Conant, upon his removal to Naumkeag, at once informed the Rev. Mr. White of the act, and his reasons therefor, and set forth the advan- tages of the new project. The divine replied, that if Mr. Conant, John Woodbury, John Balch, and Peter Palfrey would remain at Naumkeag, he would, as soon as possible, obtain a royal patent, and forward more men and the necessary supplies.

When the letter arrived a consultation took place between Conant and his three selected companions, in which they debated the whole subject with great care. The latter were in favor of removing to Virginia, and for some time refused to enter into the engagement ; but Conant persuaded them to remain, and in this success he secured to them, in common with himself, the distinction of being called, in the language of Bancroft, " the sentinels of Puritanism on the Bay of Massachusetts."

But if Conant succeeded in prevailing upon his comrades to remain with the colony, so did the Rev. Mr. White in executing his promisc. In 1628, he obtained a patent, conveying to six persons - Sir Henry Rosewell, Sir John Young, John Humphrey, Thomas Southcate, John Endicott, and Simon Whitcomb - a tract of country described as " that part of New England lying between three miles north of the Merrimae, and three miles to the south of the Charles River, and of every part thereof, in the Massachusetts Bay; and in length between the described breadth from the Atlantic to the South Sca."

* Hubbard's Hist., 102-107.

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Nor did Mr. White cease his efforts with this result, but labored earnestly to promote the enterprise by endeavoring to interest others. In this he met with only moderate success. At length. Rose well. Young, and Southcate retired, and the others formed a copartnership with certain London merchants. purchased the interests of the three gentlemen who retired, and organized the Massachusetts Company. Of this company John Endicott was made chief representative, and commissioned "to carry on the plantation of the Dorchester agents, and to make way for the settling of another colony in Massachu- setts."

In 1628, John Endicott, with a small company of cmigrants who had left England in June, arrived safely at Naumkeag. Hc at once entered upon the duties of his office as magistrate and governor ; and at the close of the year. according to the records. the colony num- bered about one hundred persons, mostly from Dorchester. and some places adjoining. The rapid increase in the Colony led to plans for establishing some kind of local government. subordinate to the Com- pany in England, to consist of thirteen members. to be styled " The Governor and Council of London's Plantation in the Massachusetts Bay. in New England."

John Endicott was first appointed governor, and twelve represen- tative men of the Colony constituted the council. The local govern- ment could inflict punishment for minor offences, but aggravated crimes could be finally adjudicated npon only in England. Land was distributed judiciously among the colonists, and the policy of kind- ness was adopted in regard to the Indians. Morality was ineuleated, profanity forbidden. idleness discouraged, and drunkenness severely punished. In the following year. the Rev. Francis Higginson reached Naumkeag with a company of English emigrants. Certain of these men, with others in the settlement, hearing favorable reports of a place called " Mishawnm." now Charlestown, commenced laying out a town around an elevation in that vicinity, and within a year the Puritan colony numbered nearly five hundred souls, of whom onc- fifth were living at Charlestown.

A church was soon organized at Salem, disregarding the service of the Episcopal church. This gave offence to certain parties, who were forthwith sent back to the mother country by Gov. Endicott, with the comment that "New England was no place for them," - a course of procceding for which the governor has since been censured. Troubles next arose between the Company in England. under Gov. Cradock. and the Massachusetts Colony. over which Gov. Endicott presided, in regard to a transfer of the charter from English to American residents. A consolidation of the Company and the Colony would involve the election of a new chief magistrate. At this period John Winthrop proved to be the master spirit, born for the occasion. - refined, intelligent. learned in the law as well as in theology, in the full maturity and vigor of forty years. cminent for liberality, and distinguished for his hospitality. In the words of another. he " enjoyed the distinguished honor of being the first gov- ernor chosen by the freemen of the Colony. within its limits. under the charter after its transfer. and the first who was head both of the Company and the Colony established by that instrument."

His associates were gentlemen of influence, professional and other- wise. - a few prominent merchants, and some well-to-do farmers, - all possessing an unconquerable love for freedom, in both church and State. for themselves and for their posterity. Two vessels. contain- ing colonists, had already sailed from England. one reaching Salem in May, 1630. the other arriving at Nantasket ; and, finally. the ffect, under Gov. Winthrop, comprising eleven vessels, sailed for the New World. After a stormy passage of sixty-one days. the admiral of the fleet, the "Arbella." came in sight of Cape Ann, and, on the following day, was near Naumkeag. Early in July, all the vessels were at anchor in Salem Harbor. Gov. Winthrop himself arriving just before the 17th of June. On that day, as he himself says, he " sailed up the Mystic," in company with others, and there found " a good place."

A second party followed the first ; and, as the country around suited them better than the vicinity of Salem, about the 10th of July, 1630, most of the emigrants landed at Charlestown, and set up tents about the town hill. But the length and hardships of the passage, with the want of provisions, brought on sickness and famine. At this time, oceurred the death of the lamented Lady Arbella, wife of Isaae Johnson, Esq., who had come "from a paradise of plenty, into a wilderness of wants," leaving her husband, a "holy man and wise," who died a month later, " overwhelmed in a flood of tears and grief."

Within a year, two hundred had gone to the grave. More than a hundred persons became disheartened, and returned to England. Winter came on, and spring followed ; but the "wolf of famine" faced the feeble remnant of the people at the door. The colonists began to scatter to Watertown, Roxbury, Newton, Lynn, and other places. A number of persons, by invitation of Mr. Blackstone, removed to Shawmut. where was an excellent spring of water. Gov. Winthrop. Mr. Wilson. and others followed, and thus laid the foundation of Boston. Winter set in with great severity. A day of fasting and prayer was appointed ; but the very day before, while the last loaf was in the oven, a vessel landed at Nantasket, laden with provisions, and with twenty-six passengers on board, and the "fast was changed into a thanksgiving, which was celebrated through- out all the Colony with ardent rejoicing." *

The principal new comers to the Colony, in 1631, were the Rev. John Eliot, afterwards the apostle to the Indians, and the wife and family of Gov. Winthrop. At a later day, Thomas Leverett, John Cotton, Thomas Hooker, and Samuel Stone were added to their number; thus, in the words of Mather, supplying three great necessities : Cotton, for their clothing; Hooker, for their fishing ; and Stone, for their building. All this occurred in 1633; and before the end of 1636. the Massachusetts Colony could boast of nine churches. Before 1650, there were twenty-nine, over which were settled "Godly ministers," all of them "burning and shining lights," and all zealous in propagating the "orthodox faith."

In 1634, Gov. Winthrop retired from his office. A new election was held, and Thomas Dudley was chosen governor, holding the office, owing to a want of popularity, but a single year. He was succeeded by John Haynes as governor, with Richard Bellingham as deputy-governor ; and. during their administration, more than three thousand emigrants left England and came to the Colony. Among these were Richard Mather, and the accomplished Sir Harry Vane, the heir of a powerful privy counsellor of England. Brilliant and talented, he had left the splendors of the court and the palace, to become almost an exile in the obscure wilderness of Massachusetts. The freemen of the Colony, flattered that so distinguished a person- age should have joined their ranks, and forgetting, moreover, his youth and want of experience, in a period of intense excitement unwisely chose him governor. He knew little of the people, less of their colonial prejudices, and was embarrassed at every step. It was a period of intense excitement, filled with faction and intrigue. Various disputes and dissensions followed, the red eross in the English flag being viewed as a "relie of Popery, insufferable in a Puritan community."

Close upon these things came the troubles with Anne Hutchinson, wife of William Hutchinson, of Lincolnshire, who had come over to America in the emigration of 1634. The part taken in this contro- versy by Vane, gave quite as much dissatisfaction as his previous conduct, and the result was that, in the annual eleetion of the fol- lowing year. John Winthrop was again chosen governor. Once more in the chair, Winthrop continued in office, with the excep- tion of four years. until his death in 1649. His administration of affairs brought great prosperity to the Colony. Emigrants were

* Barry's History, i, 196.

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

continually arriving, and the progress of settlement was proportion- ally rapid. Hingham was settled in 1634; Newbury, Dedham, and Concord were incorporated in the following year, and from this date to 1643, the towns of Salisbury, Lynn, North Chelsea, Rowley, Sud- bury, Braintree, Woburn, Gloucester, Haverhill, Wenham, and Hull were incorporated. The town of Springfield followed in 1636, and in 1643 four eounties were created, - Suffolk, Essex, Middle- sex, and old Norfolk, each of the first three containing eight towns, while Norfolk had only six, comprising a total of precisely thirty towns. In 1635, according to good authorities, the people began to be straightened for want of room. These complaints were heard particularly from Dorchester and Newton, and the result was the settlement of Connecticut. Troubles followed with the Pequots and the Narragansetts. A rumor was spread abroad that these two tribes were about to unite in exterminating the English, - the Pequots having previously murdered Capt. Stone, and his eompan- ion, Capt. Norton.

The colonists besought Roger Williams, who alone had influence with the Narragansetts, to dissuade them. He had previously been perscented, tried for sedition, and sentenced to depart from the jurisdiction of his judges and accusers ; but, in the winter of 1635. he left Salem, turned his steps to Narragansett Bay, moved to the other side of the water, and, with five others, laid the foundation of Providenec. Putting his life in his hands, he embarked in a frail eanoc, and hastened to the house of the sachem of the Narragan- setts. The result was, that Miantinomoh, and two son of Canonicus, repaired to Boston, and there signed a treaty of peace and alliance. Foiled in their efforts, the exasperated Pequots thirsted for ven- geanec. They seized, burned at the stake, mutilated and flayed alive those whom they took captives, and a sneeession of tragedies spread aların throughout the Colonies. A bloody Indian war followed, and, as the result of a single onslaught, nearly six hundred Indians, - men, women, and children, - perished. The remaining Pequots were driven into a swamp, their wigwams were burned, and Sas- saens, their sachem, was murdered. About two hundred who sur- vived, surrendered to the English, and were distributed by them to other tribes. Thus ended the first Indian war in New England.

It has been said that the five points of a well-founded government are an hereditary monarchy, an established church, an order of nobility, a standing army, and a military police. The rigid Puritans, however, placed more faith in the five points of Calvinism. They made the Goverment subordinate to the Church, securing its very life and welfare by increasing Puritan principles in the basis of all their legislation. By their charter, the lands they held were their own; and, to build up an exclusively Puritan community, they for- bade any person to plant within their limits without permission from the governor and conneil. Later, it was forbidden to harbor persons whose religious views were considered " dangerous." This last statute was opposed by Sir Harry Vane, but rather favored by Gov. Winthrop, who deemed it " lawful and good that the Colony receives no one into its fellowship who would be likely to disturb the same." As the colonists held the key to their asylum in their own hands, another law was passed in 1631, in substanec, that no man should be admitted to the freedom of their body politic who was not "a mem- ber of the church;" ¿. e., of some one of the churches ! It was a bad policy, condemned by the Episcopalians of that day, as well as by Roger Williams ; yet it was copied by the New Haven Colony, by that at Rhode Island for a time, and continued subsequently in force in Massachusetts until 1692, being repealed, in appearance only, after the restoration of Charles II. Possibly it was as much a political regulation as a sectarian seraple ; not intended to bestow privileges on piety, but to guard liberty, - to prevent encroachments upon their infant Commonwealth of chosen people in covenant with God, in which the humblest frecholder, if sound in faith, possessed a power as great, in the election of magistrates and the enactment of laws, as

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Standard history of Essex county, Massachusetts, embracing a history of the county from its first settlement to the present time, with a history and description of its towns and cities. The Most historic county of America., Part 1

Author: Tracy, Cyrus M. (Cyrus Mason), 1824-1891, et al. Edited by H. Wheatland Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Boston, C. F. Jewett Number of Pages: 450

Author: Tracy, Cyrus M. (Cyrus Mason), 1824-1891, et al. Edited by H. Wheatland
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Boston, C. F. Jewett
Number of Pages: 450