USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Topsfield > An address delivered at Topsfield in Massachusetts, August 28, 1850 : the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town > Part 4
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It would be a work of deep interest and of high
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advantage, to trace genealogically, and topographically, and (may I add ?) locomotively also, the history of those families which first settled the town. And by this, I mean-to follow them through all their wanderings, and to pursue them in their minutest ramifications. What a picture of progress, of growth, of vast results from small beginnings, would such a labor unfold ! But a work like this is one of time, of patience, of persevering industry, and of consider- able expense. It is a singular fact-and one not alto- gether creditable to the town,-that the little which has been done in this way for Topsfield names, has been accomplished by individuals, who are not resi- dents of the place.
From the scanty materials within my reach, I have gathered a few facts of this description, some of which I will present. You will perceive that I am, by com- pulsion, limited to those families whose history has been more or less investigated.
The earliest recorded name among the Topsfield settlers, is that of Zacheus Gould. This appears in a petition to Ipswich in 1644, for aid to make a village about his farm. Zacheus Gould is represented by his descendant, Rev. Daniel Gould, as having come from Great Messingham. This is a town in the county of Lincoln. It seems far more probable that he was from Messing in Essex. He is supposed to have come to America in 1638, and to have settled here in 1643. His original grant of several hundred acres was in what is now the western part of Topsfield. By subse-
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quent purchase he added largely to this, until his do- main had swelled to nearly three thousand acres. This large tract lying partly in Boxford, descended to his only son, John,-who was, for many years, a prominent per- son in the town. He often represented his fellow-citi- zens in the General Court, and, for a long time, com- manded the military company-when such an office was no sinecure. I have already given you a touch of his quality, as displayed in the time of Andros. This rural magnate divided his noble farm among his five sons. Of them, John, and afterwards, Joseph, succeeded to his offices and honors, both civil and military. Another John-son of Zacheus, and grandson of John the Patriarch, became a man noted and useful. He re- presented the town at the breaking out of the Revolu- tion, and continued in that responsible station until 1778, when he died on his post, at Watertown, of the small-pox. His brother Zacheus was also an exceed- ingly capable, useful, and benevolent man. Of the last named John's two sons, one is yet well remembered here as " good Deacon John." The other was Captain Benjamin Gould. He held commissions in the militia, and afterwards in the Continental Army. He saw his first service on the day of Lexington Fight, and to his latest hour, an honorable scar bore testimony to his bravery on that occasion. On the 17th of June he was one of the reinforcement so unaccountably delayed, and which reached the Hill too late to save the Redoubt, and in time only to join with its gallant defenders in their retreat. (12) At the time when Col. Wade, of Ipswich, then at West Point, received that note from Washing- ton, which apprized him of Arnold's defection, and
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charged him to maintain the fortress at all hazards, Cap- tain Gould commanded a company in his regiment. In the events which preceded and compelled the surrender of Burgoyne, he bore his share. But let me tell the story of Captain Gould's Revolutionary services in his own language. It was recorded by a filial pen, in words, which have been read, and felt, and admired by thou- sands,-and which will continue to be read, till poetry and patriotism shall no longer touch the heart. His little grandson sits upon the veteran's knee, and begs that he will tell him that story of "the wars."
" Come, Grandfather, show how you carried your gun, To the field, where America's freedom was won, Or bore your old sword, which you say was new then, When you rose to command and led forward your men ? And say how you felt, with the balls whizzing by, When the wounded fell round you, to bleed and to die !" The prattler had stirred in the veteran's breast, The embers of fire that had long been at rest ; The blood of his youth rushed anew through his veins ; The veteran returned to his weary campaigns ; His perilous battles at once fighting o'er, While the soul of nineteen lit the eye of four-score ..
" I carried my musket, as one that must be But loosed from the hold of the dead or the free, And fearless I lifted my good, trusty sword, In the hand of a mortal, the strength of the Lord : In battle, my vital flame, freely I felt, Should go, but the chains of my country to melt."
" I sprinkled my blood upon Lexington's sod, And Charlestown's green height to the war drum I trod, From the fort on the Hudson our guns I depressed, The proud coming sail of the foe to arrest ; I stood at Still-water, the Lakes and White Plains, And offered for Freedom, to empty my veins."
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"This good and brave man long survived the stir- ring and trying scenes of his youth and manhood. He lived to see his children prosperous and honored. The cradle of his declining age was gently rocked by hands of affection, until, on his ninetieth birth-day, he fell asleep. (13 )
Major Joseph Gould, who must be still remembered by some of the living, was another grandson of the stiff old patriarch John. He is said to have been a man of moderate intellect, but brave as forty lions. On the ever memorable and ever glorious 19th of April, the news from Lexington, spreading like wild- fire in every direction, reached this place at about 10 o'clock in the forenoon. The farmers were busy in their fields ;- but there was no hesitation. The plough was stayed in mid-furrow-and within an hour, many were on their way to the scene of conflict. Joseph Gould commanded one of the Topsfield companies. When and where, exactly, they came up with the re- treating enemy, I do not know. Somewhere, they found them, and from behind a low wall or dyke, began their murderous fire. But their heroic Captain disdained such shelter. He thought it, perhaps, un- dignified for an officer to lie down. So he stood bolt upright-gave his orders-faced the enemy and the bullets, and, as good luck would have it, came off unhurt.
You must very generally remember the Rev. Daniel Gould,-his triennial visits to this, his birth-place,-and his pathetic farewell sermons, begun, when he seemed
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quite an old man-but continued and repeated from year to year, until they used to excite anything but tears. This worthy man, who was a great grand-son of the oldest John Gould, and a lineal possessor of the original homestead, has left a manuscript history of the Gould family in Topsfield. It contains some valuable information, but is more remarkable for its pious spirit, than it is for statistic accuracy or com- pleteness. At the close, he gives a brief sketch of what he considers the characteristic qualities of the Gould race. As many of the name now here have, perhaps, never seen this document, they may be pleased to hear themselves described by this learned " clerk," this
" Clansman born-this kinsman true."
Having, in the course of his narrative, mentioned one of the Zacheuses-a favorite name among them, he says, "I know little of him, except that he was a man very much set in his way," which, adds the old gentle- man, "is peculiarly characteristic of the family." "I would observe," he says, "generally, that the Gould family are as steady a set of people as are any where to be found, and are good and peaceable members of society. They have been, in all their generations, in- dependent farmers, and live by their industry, without troubling or disturbing others. They are warm and steady friends, and kind and benevolent to all men. They are not greatly enterprizing, but live in a state of mediocrity, nor are they much given to literature or reading. It is not so hard to appease as to provoke them. They content themselves with their own private affairs, highly esteeming their own ways, customs, and
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habits; without looking much beyond themselves to be benefited by the improvements or vain philosophy of others. They are deliberate in laying their plans, and not hasty in the execution of them. In a word, impli- cit trust and confidence may be placed in them; for they despise truckling, fraud, and deceit. Honesty, justice, and truth, are the characteristics of the family."
From a very early period in the history of this town, the Peabody name has been identified with it. Thanks to the spirit of family pride or of antiquarian curiosity, great pains have recently been taken to dig out the roots and follow out the branches of the old Peabody tree. Old, it may well be called, since it has already attained to a growth of nearly two thousand years. Boadie, it seems, was the primeval name. He was a gallant British Chieftain, who came to the rescue of his Queen Boadicea, when "bleeding from the Roman rods." From the disastrous battle in which she lost her crown and life, he fled to the Cambrian mountains. There his posterity lived and became the terror of the lowlands. Thus it was, that the term PEA, which means "mountain," was prefixed to BOADIE, which means " man." There was a Peabody, it seems, among the Knights of the Round Table, for the name was first registered, with due heraldic honors, by command of King Arthur himself.
But leaving camps and courts, and dropping down through a few centuries of time, we find ourselves at a small place in Hertfordshire, about seventeen miles from London, and called St. Albans. A young man, now
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just of age, is about leaving his birth-place and country for a distant land. He has called on the Minister and obtained a certificate of good character, and the Justices of the Peace have borne similar attestation. The parting scene is soon over-and next we find him embarked in the ship Planter, Captain Trarice, and bound for New- England. This was in 1635. Three years afterwards this young adventurer-whose name is Francis Pabody, is living at Hampton, now in the S. E. corner of New Hampshire. (14) After spending a few years in that place, where he makes himself, at once, active and use- ful, he removes, finally, to Topsfield, and this place con- tinues to be his residence from 1657 to 1698, the year of his death.
At the period when the business transactions of this town begin to appear on record, Lieut. Francis Pabody was evidently the first man in the place, for capacity and influence. And such he continued to be, until the infirmities of age, we may presume, withdrew him from the activities of life. He owned much land in Tops- field, in Boxford, and in Rowley. The first mill in this place was set up by him, on the stream which flows by the spot where he lived. His wife was a daughter of Reginald Foster, whose family, Mr. Endi- cott, in his genealogy of the Peabodys, informs us, is " honorably mentioned" by Sir Walter Scott, in Mar- mion and the Lay. What was the exact connection of our Reginald and his daughter Mary, with those moss- troopers of the Border, who rode so hard and so fruit- lessly in the chase of Young Lochinvar, does not appear.
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Of their large family, three sons settled in Boxford, and two remained in Topsfield. From these five pa- triarchs, have come, it is said, all the Peabodys in this country. Among those of this name who have devoted themselves to the sacred office, the Rev. Oliver Peabody, who died at Natick, almost a hundred years ago, is honorably distinguished. Those twin Peabodys, now alas! no more-William Oliver Bourne and Oliver William Bourne, twins, not in age only, but in genius and virtue, learning and piety, will long be remem- bered with admiration and regret. The Rev. David Pea- body of this town, whom you well knew, and who died while a Professor in the College at Hanover, deserves honorable mention. A kinsman of his, also of Tops- field, is at this moment, laboring, a devoted missionary in the ancient land of Cyrus. The Rev. Andrew T. Peabody of Portsmouth, and Rev. Ephraim Peabody of Boston, are too well and favorably known to require that I should more than allude to them. Professor Silliman, of Yale College, is descended on one side from a Peabody.
Like the Goulds, the Peabody name has abounded in brave and patriotic spirits. Among them we find a general, three colonels, seven captains, five lieuten- ants, and one cornet. Many of these served in the French and the Revolutionary wars. One of them fell with Wolfe and Montcalm, on the plains of Abraham. Another assisted at the capture of Ticonderoga and of Louisburg, and in the siege of Boston. Another was among the most gallant of the combatants on Bunker Hill. Another commanded a company in the Conti-
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nental army, and sent his sons to the war as fast as they became able. One more, Nathaniel Peabody, of Atkinson, N. H., commanded a regiment in the war of the Revolution, and subsequently represented his state in the Continental Congress.
In medicine and law, the reputation of the name rests more, perhaps, on the quality, than on the num- ber of practitioners. In commerce, too, this family may boast of at least one eminent example-one archi- tect of a princely fortune. . I need not name him.
The Perkinses, a name more frequent here than any other, are descended in distinct lines, from two indivi- duals,-John and William, who were probably cousins. John Perkins came, it is supposed, from Newent, England, where he was born in 1590. He was a fellow passenger in the ship Lyon, with the great Roger Williams, and arrived at Boston in 1631. Two years afterward, he settled in Ipswich. The island at the mouth of our river, long called Perkins', but now Giddings' Island, belonged to him. His house was near Manning's Neck, and close to the river. This patriarch represented Ipswich in the General Court, and was evidently a man of mark in that highly respectable community. Thomas Perkins was his second son, and, at the age of fifteen, came with his father, from old England. He settled, early, in Topsfield, where, in 1660, he had become a large proprietor. He is the Dea. Thomas Perkins, sen., of the Topsfield records, where we find honorable mention of his name. His wife was daughter of old Zacheus Gould, thus
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blending with that ancient and honorable name, all the Perkinses here of Thomas' line. His house stood near where Thomas Perkins now lives-hard by the Newburyport Turnpike. He died in 1686. Dea. Thos. Perkins' second son was named Elisha, and his wife was Katharine Towne. Thomas, their eldest son, with Mary Wildes, his wife, removed in 1719 to Arundel, in Maine. Of this place,-afterwards called Kenne- bunk Port-he was one of the principal inhabitants. For a minute and interesting account of the Perkins family, now numerous in that place, the readers of Bradbury's History of the Town are indebted to Horatio N. Perkins, Esq., of Boston :- a direct de- scendant, through the above-named Captain Thomas of Kennebunk, from Dea. Thomas Perkins of Topsfield ;- and one, who has done, I believe, more than any or all others of his lineage, to rescue from oblivion the name and virtues of his ancestry.
John, a house-carpenter, was the third son of Dea. Thomas. Of his five sons, Moses was the youngest, and married Anna Cummings. The humble cottage in which he lived and reared a numerous family, has been converted into a repository for fuel, and still stands by the road-side, on the River Hill, just below the mansion, which was built by his greatly prospered son. The life and character of Capt. Thomas Perkins are too well known to need description here. The ambitious spirit which drew or drove the young cooper from his father's workshop, to encounter the hardships and hazards of the sea; his subsequent thrift and en- terprize ; his long association with Captain Peabody ;
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his retirement from active business, and his protracted sojourn on the hill-side where he was born; the quiet habits of the secluded old bachelor, and the frugal, simple life of the seemingly unconscious millionaire,- are all fresh in the memory of many who now hear me.
We cannot claim, as of Topsfield origin, that great mechanician, to whose ingenious and useful discove- ries and inventions, Europe as well as America, paid the tribute of a willing admiration. Yet it may be interesting in this connection to learn, that Jacob Perkins, formerly of Newburyport, and late of Lon- don, was directly descended from the same John Per- kins of Ipswich, to whom so many of the Topsfield Perkinses have now been traced.
But there was another Perkins even more distin- guished than Dea. Thomas, in the early annals of the town. The Rev. Wm. Perkins was a native of Lon- don, and was born in 1607. In 1633 we find him associated with the illustrious John Winthrop, jun., and eleven others, the first settlers of Ipswich. The following year he removed to Roxbury, where he married Elisabeth Wooton. In 1640 he revisited his native country. Soon after his return, we find him representing Weymouth in the General Court, acting as leader of a military company,-and one of the An- cient and Honorable Artillery Company. From 1650 to 1655, he was preaching to the inhabitants of Glou- cester. From that place he came to Topsfield. Here, after having preached a few years, he spent the re-
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mainder of his life in the calm pursuits of husband- ry. Among the early settlers of the town, Mr. Wil- liam Perkins was, probably, the most accomplished person. He was a scholar and a man of business,- a farmer, a clergyman, a soldier, and a legislator. In each of these relations,-so unlike, and, according to present notions, so incompatible,-he bore himself, so far as we can learn, with ability and discretion. His children appear to have been all well married; and their social position, in those days of aristocratic dis- tinctions and manners, must have been on the top- most level,-since one of his daughters married a son of Gov. Bradstreet, and one of his sons, a daughter of Major-General Denison.
A written, and it is supposed an autograph account of the births and baptisms of his children, their mar- riage, &c., has been preserved. This interesting docu- ment is interspersed with ejaculatory expressions, which breathe a spirit of humble piety as well as of paternal affection. He died in 1682. This useful and good man transmitted to his sons a large portion of his own willingness and capacity for public business-if any judgment can be formed from the prominence of their names among the official agents of the town. Among these names-that of Tobijah, who passed suc- cessively from the rank and title of corporal to that of captain, is specially distinguished. Another Tobijah of a later period, was also a military leader. At the time of the Revolution, there was probably no man here, more prominent or efficient, than Capt. Stephen Perkins, another of the same descent. It is sufficient
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to point, as we can, to-day, to the pulpit, the bar, and the bench, to show, that migration has not im- paired the virtues of the race.
Joseph Herrick, the first of that name who settled in Topsfield, was a grandson of Henry Herrick, of Sa- lem, the patriarchal head of a vast family. Joseph resided on Mine Hill, where Nathaniel Porter lately lived. His name appears often in the Records, as a person of note. The burying-ground in that vicinity was given by him, in 1739, to a number of Topsfield and Middleton families. His grandson, Israel, lived awhile in Topsfield and Boxford; but finally died in Lewiston, Maine. He entered the army as a lieutenant, in 1745, and was out in nineteen campaigns. In 1763, he left the service a major, by brevet. The war of Independence again called him to the field, and he was among the defenders of Bunker Hill .- Nehe- miah Herrick was another grandson of Joseph, and inherited and occupied the homestead. After serving the town long, and in various capacities, he removed to Cavendish, Vermont.
Those of the name now resident here, are descen- dants in the seventh and eighth generations from John, of Beverley, the seventh child of the patriarch above named. Though their migration hither is of recent date, they are still, in part, of Topsfield origin, having sprung from Mary Redington, who was a Topsfield girl, nearly two hundred years ago.
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The Porters, now almost extinct in the place, were for many years among the first in talent and respec- tability. Nathaniel and Elijah Porter were probably among the earliest settlers in what was long called Blind Hole-an epithet, derived, it is supposed, from the extreme density of the forest in that spot. The ground which they occupied is still partly in the Por- ter name, and partly forms the fair fields and luxu- riant orchards of the old Cummings place. Elijah sold his interest in Blind Hole, and purchased the house and land afterwards owned by Dr. Cleave- land. He was evidently a capable and ready man, useful in the church, and active in town affairs. He was more than once a representative to the General Court, and when he died, held the office of town- clerk and treasurer. A cousin of his, the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Porter, was educated at Cambridge. The Revolutionary War was not over when he was settled in the little town of Conway, New-Hampshire. Here, almost beneath the shadow of Mount Washington, he lived in usefulness and peace to the great age of ninety-two. (15)
Among the names early found here, and long re- spectable, but which have passed entirely away, there was, perhaps, none more worthy than that of Reding- ton. Elizabeth Redington, daughter of Abraham, was born in 1645, and hers is the first recorded birth. John, a brother, doubtless, of Abraham, seems to have settled here at the same time. They were together on a committee to run the line between Topsfield and Salem, in 1659. From this date, for nearly or quite
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a hundred years, the name of Redington is prominent among those who were selected as representatives, jurymen, schoolmasters, and municipal officers. Of this scattered family, I have been able to trace the mi- grations and present abode of but a single branch. Early in the 18th century, Thomas Redington appears to have removed to Boxford. Abraham, one of the sons, went into Maine. Of his children, who were among the first settlers of Vassalboro' and Waterville, one still lives in vigorous and venerable age. I refer to Samuel Redington, now of Hampden, Maine, who was for many years an efficient and highly esteemed member of the Massachusetts and Maine legislatures. A son of his is, at this time, the Adjutant-General of Maine, and Mayor of the city of Augusta. His ne- phew, Judge Asa Redington, is the Law Reporter for that State. If the other Redingtons, who sprung from Topsfield sires, and who are living,-I know not where,- be doing as well as those just named, it is fair to conclude that there is no degeneracy among them.
My endeavors to ascertain the precise antiquity of the most ancient dwelling-houses here, have been attended with but small success. The honor of being "the old- est house in town" is claimed for three or four; and it is a question of precedence, which, for want of po- sitive evidence, seems likely to remain open. The Ca- pen house-so called-erected by the minister of that name, is undoubtedly very old. It was standing at the beginning of the 18th century, we know; how much earlier it is impossible to tell.
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The house in which Col. Bradstreet lately lived, belongs, it is supposed, to the first quarter of the last century. If actually of that date, it was built with an attention to looks and comfort, by no means usual at the time. The cottage which bore the name of the Governor, and which he is believed to have erected, stood more to the west, upon the opposite side of the road.
There has been a traditionary opinion, that the house formerly owned by Rev. Daniel Gould, and now on the land of Captain Elliot, is extremely ancient. This opinion is not wholly without confirmation. A few months since, the chimney of this house was taken down. Between the wood work and the bricks was found an ancient paper in good preservation. Its date is Feb. 1, 1675. It is an account presented by John Ruck and John Putnam, to the Proprietors of the Iron Works in Rowley Village,-with the doings of a meeting of said Proprietors. It is not strange that such a paper should have been in this house, for Za- cheus and John Gould are known to have been in- terested in those works. The house may be,-proba- bly it is, quite as old as the paper. If so-rude and rejected as it is, it should strongly interest every bearer of the Gould name. It is the rough but ho- nest cradle of their race. There, probably, lived Za- cheus, the first,-there, undoubtedly, lived their brave and pious ancestor, Capt. John Gould.
The cottage, which once held within its coarse oak walls and ceiling the germs of all the Peabodys in
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