USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > The Early history of Newburyport, Massachusetts : which is intended to delineate and describe some quaint and historic places in Newburyport and vicinity > Part 1
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 03015 5268
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The Early history of Newburyport, Massachusetts
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Newburyport
NEWBURYPORT, 1697. Whittier
Up and down the village streets Strange are the forms my fancy meets, For the thoughts and things of today are hid, And through the veil of a closed lid The ancient worthies I see again.
THE EARLY HISTORY of NEWBURYPORT MASSACHUSETTS
Which is intended to delineate and describe some quaint and historic places in Newburyport and vicinity
Sten County Public Library 900 Webster Street PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN 46801-22737
Presented by FOWLE'S NEWS CO. 17 STATE STREET
MADE BY NEWS. 1926
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NEWBURYPORT
T HE history of Newburyport only suggests the wealth of romance centering about the old town, locked up in journals and log books, or fading away in the memories of the few relics of earlier and more picturesque times.
The ideals of today, here as everywhere else, are properly business and progress on the lines of modern opportunities; and this is the same spirit of enter- prise which led our progenitors of one hundred or one hundred and fifty years ago to their undertakings by sea and land, and brought them riches and renown in such generous measure.
Going back still further, to its first settlement in 1635, on the banks of the Parker river, called by the Indians Quascacunquen and renamed by the settlers in honor of their spiritual leader, we see a band of sturdy voyagers giving up the comforts of life in the mother country for the rugged hardships of a wil- derness.
Some of them had the previous summer journeyed from Boston to Ipswich, and traveling by land even for so short a distance was difficult. They were not needy nor driven to this step for a livelihood, as one of their first acts was stock raising on an extensive scale with cattle imported from Holland. They soon established a thriving "plantation," as it was then termed, and were early incorporated and represented by deputy at the General Court held in Boston to administer the affairs of Massachusetts Bay.
That they also recognized the needs of the body as well as the soul, is evi- denced by the license granted by the General Court to one of the settlers within six months of their arrival, to keep an ordinary, or inn for the entertainment of such as needed.
The growth of the town was to the northward, and soon from the shelter of the "Oldtown"' hill the settlement stretched along the bank of the Merrimac, and embracing eagerly the opportunities it offered, encouraged maritime enter- prises in every way. With the building of wharves and the establishment of ship- yards began the era which was to give Newburyport its real power and position.
. Through this commerce came wealth and culture, and many are the evi- dences of magnificent living among the rich merchants, while the numerous ship- masters returned from foreign lands with minds broadened and stimulated by
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contact with other peoples, and tastes were formed which greatly modified the old Puritan customs.
The town furnished many troops for the Colonial and Indian wars. In these troops were officers of high rank whose deeds of valor are national history.
The naval forces were greatly strengthened by ships built here, and from here also numerous privateers sailed with letters of marque and returned with rich prizes to be in turn fitted out on the same errands. Many are the thrilling tales of capture, imprisonment and escape told by returning heroes, and it is small wonder that with the prospect of booty and adventure active young men took naturally to the sea.
Commercial activity suffered a severe blow in the embargo placed on foreign trade by the government in 1807, and while it lasted shipping was at a complete standstill. A few years later, in 1811, came a second misfortune, in the form of the great fire which in one night destroyed sixteen acres of the business district, including nearly all the important public buildings and institutions.
In their place have come mills and factories with their attendant needs and influences, bringing a larger if not a wealthier population, and it is by these that the city must continue to thrive.
The manufacture of silverware is one of these factors, which, having its beginning as shown by authentic records in the modest enterprise of William Moulton in 1689, has steadily developed until it is now one of the most important industries.
It is interesting to note in this connection that here was born Jeremiah Dummer, who in 1659, was apprenticed to John Hull of Boston, one of the early settlers of that place and the first silversmith in America.
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The Chain bridge over the Mer- rimac connecting Newburyport with Amesbury. This is the lo- cation of the old chain bridge, one of the earliest suspension bridges in the country. It has been greatly strengthened and is now held up by cables.
' The Rocks bridge over the Merri- mac connecting West Newbury with East Haverhill, about 10 miles up the river from Newburyport.
The Boston & Maine railroad station in Newburyport. It is interesting that the railroad in approaching the city, in the space of less than a half mile, goes over one highway, under another and then over another, the city being situated the length of a long ridge. From this station going north the railroad runs over the Merri- mac river and thence into New Hampshire
New bridge from the main- land across Plum Island ri- ver to Plum Island, one of the favorite summer resorts adjacent to Newburyport.
Some Water Front Scenery About Newburyport
A view of the salt marshes showing the hay cocks after fall operation in cutting the salt hay, a very picturesque season of the year.
The sand dunes of Plum Island as the shore meets the ocean.
A view of the jetties built by the government for the improve- ment of the channel of the Mer- rimac river.
Plum Island Basin, a sheltered place for boating and bathing between the main land and the ocean.
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THE EARLY WARS
In the foregoing sketch we have briefly touched upon the part of Old Newbury and later, Newburyport, in our country's early wars.
In the early expeditions against hostile Indians, Newbury took an im- portant part, from the Pequod war two years after her settlement, in which she furnished one-fifteenth of the Massachusetts quota; the King Philip war, in which more than one-half her eligible inhabitants were enlisted; the French and Indian war, when a part of her expedition against Cape Breton was cast away and lost, to the war with the Norridgewocks, which was terminated by the killing of Sebastian Ralle, their French leader, by Lieut. Jaques of this town.
During the frequent wars between France and England, while this coun- try was still a colony, many men went from here to fight in England's cause on the Canadian frontier. Chief among those were Col. Moses Titcomb, Capt. William Davenport, and Nathaniel Knapp. The former, serving in many campaigns un- der Sir William Pepperell, took part in the capture of Louisberg and the battle of Crown Point, where he was shot while directing his regiment in most effect- ive operations. Capt. Davenport raised companies and served in two campaigns, being with General Wolfe on the plains of Abraham, and a few days later at the surrender of Quebec.
It was reserved, however, for the thrilling issues of the war of indepen- dence to call forth the universal and unwavering patriotism of the residents of Old Newbury.
As early as 1765 a stamp distributor was hung in effigy, while visiting strangers were subject to rough handling, if they were not quick to proclaim their antipathy to this measure. Such treatment was perforce exercised upon strangers, if at all, as in this town only four persons were suspected of loyalism and of these there was proof against but one, who died before the call to war which would have revealed his position. This was a record perhaps unequalled.
It was eleven o'clock at night on the nineteenth of April, 1775, when the courier bearing news of the fight at Lexington reached this town; but not a mo- ment was lost, and before midnight the first detachment of minute-men was gal- loping over the road, while morning found four companies on the way to the scene of conflict.
Col. Moses Little was in command of a regiment in many important battles
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of the Revolution, beginning with Bunker Hill, where he was officer of the day when Washington took command.
Col. Edward Wigglesworth was appointed to a regiment early in 1776, and served with distinction for three years, when he was retired at his own request. He took a prominent part in Arnold's expedition on Lake Champlain, being third in command, and materially aided the retreat of the flotilla when it was hemmed in by the enemy.
Capt., afterwards Major, Ezra Lunt was another who served at Bunker Hill, and it is asserted that his company was formed in the broad aisle of the Old South church at the close of a sermon, in response to the pastor's appeal for volunteers; and that it was the first volunteer company of the Continental army.
Here formed and embarked the important expedition under Benedict Ar- nold, then a valued officer in the patriot army, which, penetrating to Quebec, assisted Montgomery in his gallant assault.
As it was with maritime affairs that Newburyport was chiefly identified, it is to the sea that we must look for her most brilliant and individual victories.
Congress soon realized that our shipping was being rapidly exterminated by the armed vessels of the enemy, and issued letters of marque to assist the feeble and barely established navy in retaliating for these encroachments; ship owners here were not slow to accept these privileges, and many privateers were fitted out and manned, often by the flower of the town's youth; one of these, the Yan- kee Hero, the second of that name, sailing in 1775 under Capt. James Tracy, with twenty guns and a crew of one hundred and seventy men, including fifty from Newburyport's first families, was never afterward heard from.
The spirit that animated these bold mariners may be judged from the an- nouncement made on the occasion of prayers in church for the success of the Game Cock, the first privateer to sail out of any port, that she hoped to "scour the coast of our unnatural enemies," though she was a sloop of but twenty- four tons. She sailed from Newburyport in August, 1775, and succeeded in bring- ing prizes into port.
It would be difficult to estimate the number of these privateers, but that they were numerous and successful will be understood when it is stated that twen- ty-four ships of which Nathaniel Tracy was principal owner, with a tonnage of 6,330 and carrying 2,800 men, captured from the enemy one hundred and twenty vessels amounting to 23,360 tons, and which with their cargoes were sold for three million nine hundred and fifty thousand specie dollars. Mr. Tracy was also principal owner in one hundred and ten other vessels, twenty-three of which were letters of marque. These vessels were closely allied to the regular navy, which was now gaining strength, and we find the same men alternating between the command of privateers and government vessels, as the fortunes of war per- mitted.
The frigates Boston, Hancock, Protection, and the brig Pickering, were built here, as well as the sloop of war Merrimac which was built by subscription and tendered to the government, when its funds were reduced, to be paid for at
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a very low price when convenient. She was commanded by Capt. Moses Brown of this port, a remarkably gallant sailor, and during the five years that she was in commission made many important captures.
The war ships Alliance and Warren were also built on the Merrimac, just above Newburyport, and fitted out at this place.
The name of Paul Jones, the intrepid and irresistible "Citizen of the World,'' as he later styled himself, whose brilliant prowess was developed in the service of the United States, is connected with Newburyport through two of his ablest lieutenants, Henry and Cutting Lunt.
The Messrs. Lunt, cousins, first shipped in the brig Dalton, Capt. Eleazer Johnson, which sailed with a crew of one hundred and twenty men, November 15, 1776. The Dalton was captured, the twenty-fourth of the following December, by the sixty-four-gun man-of-war Reasonable, of the English navy, and her crew cast into Mill Prison, Plymouth, where they remained and suffered great hardships, for more than two years, and were finally released through the efforts of Benjamin Franklin. During this time Charles Herbert of Newburyport, one of the number, wrote a journal which he preserved in spite of the close inspection to which they were subjected. After his death this journal was published, and forms a most interesting and valuable record of life in an English prison.
Henry and Cutting Lunt, on obtaining their liberty, went to France and enlisted as midshipmen with Paul Jones, on the Bon Homme Richard, then fitting out at L'Orient. They were speedily promoted lieutenants, and served their able commander, whom they greatly admired, in many of his fiercest engagements, including that with the Serapis. It was in this terrible battle, when Commo- dore Jones was fighting against heavy odds, that his success was almost reversed by the traitorous act of his subordinate, the Frenchman Landais. The latter was in command of the ship Alliance before mentioned, and, inspired by jeal- ousy, continued under the presumable excuse of firing at the enemy, to rake the decks of the Bon Homme Richard, in spite of the frantic signals of the latter.
Many Newburyport men were in the crew of the Alliance at the time, and were thus obliged to fire on their friends and townsmen.
When Paul Jones was recruiting for a frigate building for him at Ports- mouth, he came to Newburyport to engage Henry Lunt, and expressed great re- gret when he found that Lieut. Lunt had sailed on the letter of marque ship Intrepid, of this port. He remarked that he would prefer Mr. Lunt to any officer he had ever known.
Many seamen from Newburyport also served under Jones in the Ranger, Bon Homme Richard, Alliance and Ariel.
While men-of-war and privateers carried brave men to seek the enemy abroad, those left at home were far from idle. Ship-building was very active, forts were established and maintained at the mouth of the river, while the Eng- lish ship, Friends, which had mistaken this port for Boston, was captured off the bar, by the stratagem of adventurous spirits who had observed her actions from the town and boarded her in open boats.
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In 1779 the ship Vengeance and the schooner Shark fitted out here and joined the ill-fated expedition by which it was intended to overthrow the British military post on the Penobscot, but which, after entering the harbor, was hem- med in by a large fleet of the enemy's ships, that appeared unexpectedly. Rather than see them fall into the hands of the British, the commander of the expe- dition ordered his ships burned, and the crews found their way home over land.
The war of 1812 found Newburyport just recovering from the great fire of 1811, and the paralyzing embargo of previous years.
Forts were manned at the mouth of the Merrimac and at other points on Plum Island, which served to keep at bay several English ships that hovered around this part of the coast, in the hope of destroying the sloop of war Wasp and gun-boats Number Eighty-one and Number Eighty-three, then building here.
Although privateering shared to a great degree the unpopularity of the war, quite a number were fitted out here, some of which made brilliant records. Chief among these was the brig Decatur, Capt. William Nichols, which during two weeks of one voyage, captured eight vessels, four of which were armed. Earlier in the war Captain Nichols was in command of the merchant ship Alert, which was taken by the British man-of-war Semramis, and ordered to Plymouth under a guard from the latter. Before reaching that port, however, Capt. Nichols and his men regained control of the ship and imprisoned the British seamen in the hold. Unfortunately they soon fell in with another British ship, the Vestal, which again took them and carried them to Portsmouth, England. This may have de- termined Captain Nichols to his later course which was of undoubted service to the national cause.
Privateering, though apparently very remunerative during the war of the Revolution, did not prove so in the end, except as it stimulated business for the time being, and the enormous fortunes gained by individuals were much re- duced by later losses and contributions to the expense of war. In addition to the many merchant ships captured by the English, twenty-two vessels, carry- ing over one thousand men, sailed from here and were never afterwards heard from.
In the eight years from the battle of Lexington to the proclamation of peace, Newburyport raised for current expenses $2,522,500, which was eighty- five times the aggregate of appropriations for an equal period immediately preceding.
Although commerce and ship-building were the chief industrial inter- ests of Newburyport in its early years, invention and manufacturing were by no means absent. In 1824, machinery was invented here for the manu- facture of silver thimbles, and an extensive business was developed in this line, but it has long since ceased to exist.
Many instances might be cited of great ¡men who were trained as gold or silversmiths, but whose talents afterwards enriched other branches of art or science. In the old world, Cellini and Michael Angelo were prominent examples,
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The Clipper Ship Dreadnaught built in Newburyport in 1853. One of the famous ships of the 19th century. She made the trip from Sandy Hook to Queens- town in the unequalled sailing time of nine days and 13 hours.
In its early days Newburyport was noted for its ship building and many famous ships have been built here. A view of the old yards as they looked in the busy days of the water front.
Lighthouse standing on Plum Island. A light was erected here at a very early date in the town's history.
Monument erected at the Lower Green in Newbury to com- memorate the early settlers who came up the river Parker and landed near this spot.
The Corliss Me- morial Y. M. C. A. building. Erected in 1890- 91 ; through the munificence of the late George H. Corliss, the noted engine builder, at one time a resident of Newburyport.
The new George W. Brown School, erected in 1924
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The Wolfe Tavern, Newburyport's leading ho- tel. It has an unbroken history for nearly a century and a quarter. Notables from all over the world have been entertained at this hostelry.
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and, later, Paul Revere arose in this country and rendered important services for the welfare, comfort and prosperity of a struggling people. In like manner Jacob Perkins, the Newburyport silversmith, whose great skill as engraver and die-cutter, as well as silversmith, is elsewhere referred to, was too richly en- dowed with ideas and ambition to limit his efforts to a narrow field.
He was born July 9, 1766, and died July 13, 1849, after a life of versatile activity in the mechanic arts and sciences, where, in the face of triumphs that would have satisfied many, we find him turning from one problem to another, and gaining new laurels from each. One of his most important inventions was a machine for making nails, produced when he was but twenty-four years of age. At that time all nails were forged by hand, and a good workman could produce one thousand a day. With his perfected machines, the daily product of one man was increased to ten kegs, of one hundred pounds each.
He associated with himself Messrs. Guppy & Armstrong of Newburyport, who built the machines, and together they established a factory at Newbury Falls, a part of the town now called Byfield, where water-power was available.
In the following extract from an advertisement in the Impartial Herald, Newburyport, 1795, we catch a glimpse of business methods in those days of quaint customs :-
The patentee would inform the public that they have begun the inanu- facture of brads and will have a considerable number in fourteen or twenty days. As some will naturally think they cannot supply the whole continent and will there- fore order from abroad, they would say that they have three engines which will make thirty-six hundred thousand weekly, and will add one engine each month.
N. B. A few whitesmiths may have constant employ and liberal wages. Proprietors
Jacob Perkins, Inventor. Guppy & Armstrong.
To follow in detail all the enterprises and achievements of Jacob Perkins would unduly extend this article, and we can only briefly refer to the most im- portant.
He invented a stereotype check-plate for the reverse of bank bills, designed for the prevention of counterfeiting. This was very successful, there being no record of an attempt to counterfeit it, whereas the practice had been very com- mon with those previously used.
During the war of 1812, he was employed by the National government in the construction of machinery for boring out old and honey-combed cannon, and he invented a steam gun that discharged one thousand balls a minute.
He made great improvements in hardening and softening steel and particu- larly applied these to the engraving of that metal.
He demonstrated the compressibility of water, inventing the Piezometer for his arrival in London in 1820, he published a treatise on these subjects. He also this purpose, and invented instruments for measuring the depth of the sea. On experimented on new types of the steam engine, in some employing steam at a pressure of 65 atmospheres, or 975 pounds to the square incli.
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To him all phenomena aud conditions seem to have been a challenge, and he applied his powers to the solution of any problem presented. In London he was known as the "American Inventor" and was accorded much distinction.
Another industry inaugurated by Newburyport capital was located at the falls in Byfield. This was the Newburyport Woolen Company, established in 1794, the first company incorporated for that business in the state, and by some au- thorities uamed as the first woolen manufactory in America. The carding and other machines for its equipment were built by Standring, Guppy & Armstrong, in Newburyport, being set up in "Lord" Timothy Dexter's stable; and were the first made in this country.
At Newbury a fulling mill had been in operation since 1687, when it was es- tablished by Peter Cheney, who sold it to John Pearsou, by whose descendants it was operated as a fulling mill and blanket factory until destroyed by fire. It was succeeded by the present mill, established by the Pearsons, who are most prominently identified with this industry.
At Byfield, also, machinery for making wooden shoe-pegs was invented by Paul Pillsbury. This article completely revolutionized the manufacture.
Other industries that at the beginning of this century contributed largely to Newburyport's prosperity, were :- cordage-making, employing fifty hands; boot and shoe making (Newbury and Newburyport together) employing upwards of one hundred and fifty hands, these being scattered in the little shops that dotted the country in that day; comb-making, the product of which was nearly $200,000, aunually; tobacco-manufacture, in the form of snuffs and cigars; tanning; morocco-dressing; wool-pulling; carriage building; and not least of all, distil- ling. Rum was a very important commodity, freely drunk by high and low; and few advertisements of merchandise were seen without the announcement of a choice hogshead of rum, generally in large type at the head of the list.
At the close of the last century there were ten distilleries iu active operation here, contributing to the reputation of New England Rum.
Another notable feature was Newburyport's importance as a publishing centre, and the extent of its retail book trade.
The first newspaper here was established in 1773, by Isaiah Thomas and Heury W. Tinges, who on December 4 of that year, issued the first number of the Essex Journal and New Hampshire Packet.
Only a few of the books published here can be alluded to, but some of these were of much importance.
The first system of arithmetic published in this country was the work of Nicholas Pike, a Newburyport school-master, and was published here in 1787. This was a very comprehensive work, and was an authority for many years.
Blunt 's famous "Coast Pilot " aud other nautical works were published here by Blunt & March, who also issued many other volumes, including medical works, Bibles, Testaments, hymn books, and other religious works, such as "Christ's Famous Titles and Believer's Golden Chain, together with Cabinet of Jewels. "
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