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 8
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Nathaniel Porter, Harr. 1768 ; see Address, p. 65. Sylvanus Wildes, Harv. 1777. Samuel Balch, Harv. 1782. He became a teacher, and lived in Amesbury .- Daniel Gould, Harv. 1782 ; referred to in the Address. He was settled in
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Bethel and in Rumford, Me .- Jacob Kimball, Harv. 1788, see Address .--- Isaac Averill, Brown, 1795. Mr. A. died young and suddenly, just as he was on the point of being settled in the ministry .- David Cummins, Dart. 1806. Mr. C. was, for many years, a successful practitioner of law in Salem. For many years more, he was an honored and acceptable Judge in the Circuit Court of Common Pleas. He is now a resident of Dorchester .- Royal A. Mer- riam, Dart. 1808; vid. Address .- Asa W. Wildes, Dart. 1809; for several years Master of the Newburyport Grammar School, but now and for a long time past, one of the Essex Con.missioners for Highways .- Israel Balch, Dart. 1811 ; physician în Salisbury .--- Nehemiah Cleaveland, Bowd. 1813 .- Ebenezer Perkins, Dart. 1814 ; long a Clergyman in Royalston, and still living there .---- Josiah Lamson, Harv. 1814 ; physician in Essex .- Elisha Huntington, Dart. 1815; physician. Dr. H. was for several years Mayor of Lowell, which, during his abode there, has grown from a mere village, to be the second city in the state .- Asahel Huntington, Yale, 1819; a successful Advocate in Salem, and for many years past, County Attorney .- John Cleaveland, Boud. 1826, Counsellor at Law in the city of New-York .-- Jonas Merriam, Bowd. 1826 ; now a preacher in Barnard, Me .-- David Peabody, Dart. 1828 ; see Address. -- Elisha L. Cleaveland, Bowd. 1829 ; pastor of a Congregational Church in New-Haven, Ct .- Josiah Peabody, Dart. ; now at Erzroom, in Turkey, as a mis- sionary to the Armenians .- Cyrus Cummings, Dart .; Counsellor at Law, Boston.
Jacob Batchelder and John Batchelder, of Lynn; Daniel P. Galloup, of Salem ; Perley Balch, of Lowell ; are natives of Topsfield, and successful teachers of public schools in the cities where they reside.
In my short account of the medical men, I omitted the name of the late ' DOCTOR' PIKE. I hasten to repair the unintentional injury. When, how, or where, the "'Doctor' practised, I never exactly knew. It is certain that he had given some attention to the important science of Hygieine,-for his opinion in regard to the diet which is, at least, safc for swine, is still remembered and quoted, and has never been controverted. Judging from his courtly demeanor, it seems not improbable that he was, in some early, and now unknown period of his life, the Physician in Ordinary at the Palace of King Perkins.
SMITH-that multitudinous name, occurs in the first enumeration of Topsfield Commoners. During the second third of the last century, it was illustrated by an individual of some note. SAMUEL SMITH, ESQUIRE, was a justice of the peace, and often held the place of town magistrate or agent. But the Smiths gradually died out, or departed-and this universal name is no longer of Topsfield. Among the latest lingerers was one ASAHEL SMITH, who removed, about 1793, to Tunbridge, in Vermont. This man, like "Ammon's great son, one shoulder had too high ;" and thence usually bore the significant and complimentary de- signation of "CROOK-NECKED SMITH.". He was so free in his opinions on re- ligious subjects, that some regarded his sentiments as more distorted than his neck. When he went to Vermont, a son, Joseph, then 8 or 10 years old,
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accompanied him. In process of time, Joseph was married, and had children, among whom was one bearing his own name, and destined to make no small noise in the world. When Joseph Smith, allured by the star of west- ern emigration, left Tunbridge, with his family, he little suspected that he had a young Mohammed in that omnibus wagon, which conveyed him and his household. The wagon stopped at Potsdam, in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y .- then a new settlement. Here, upon the banks of the noisy river Raeket, whose spirit seems to have entered into his soul-grew up the celebrated founder of the Mormon faith.
I shall not pursue the story of JOE SMITH. Famous, or infamous, he was no common man. His name is inseparably connected with the origin and history of a numerous and remarkable seet. When Biography shall hereafter seek to trace him to his souree, among the thousand genealogieal lines of Smithdom, it may save her some trouble, to be told that Joe's ancestors were Topsfield people-that his father was born there-and that some of the Goulds and the Balches of this old town, still elaim kindred with the "Prophet."
The rise of Mormonism is one of the wonders of our day. What, but strong enthusiasm, impelling from within, and a fiery persecution, pressing from without, could have driven a people numbering many thousands, to seek a safe home, in the far-distant, and almost impenetrable wilderness ? When we were told that they had pitched their pilgrim tents upon the remote bor- ders of the Great Salt Lake, how little did we dream, that they had gone thither to build-unwittingly indeed-a half-way house-a grand caravansery-for the refresliment of a hundred thousand of our countrymen, soon to be on their way to the Paeifie shore ! Who will deny that there were an oversight and a wisdom here, far beyond the reach of mortal ken ? Let us not despair, even of the Mormons. Left as they are to themselves, may we not reason- ably expect that the developed absurdity of a wild fanaticism will prove its own corrective ? May we not confidently hope that the strong native sense of the Anglo-American will, at length, prevail, and bring back to the faith and practice of a pure Christianity, these vietims of delusion ?
HooD has been a Topsfield name sinee 1712. In that year, Nathaniel Hood eame from Lynn, and settled in the N. W. angle of the town His father, Richard, was from Lynn, in England. They were Quakers, and sometimes suffered in consequence of their religious seruples-though I am not aware that any of them were hung. John was the youngest son of Nathaniel, and the father of John and Samuel, whom we all knew so well.
The name of TowNE oceurs conspicuously, though with a melancholy in- terest, in the Address, (p. 21.) The descendants of William Towne, still some- what numerous in Topsfield, have also spread themselves far and wide. John, son of Jacob. s. of William, is the earliest ascertained emigrant. At the first own-meeting held in Framingham, 1700, he was chosen a select-man. Thir-
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teen years later, he and his sons, Ephraim and Israel, are found among the thirty families that began the settlement of Oxford. Here, too, he was a select- man, town-clerk, and deacon. The Hon. Salem Towne, of Charlton, in Wor- cester Co., who died in 1825, and his son, Gen. Salem Towne, who, in the war of 1812, commanded the militia ordered out for the defence of Boston, descended from the Oxford settler. Another Salem Towne, well known in Western New-York,-and honorably distinguished in the cause of education ; --- the Rev. Josiah Towne, of Batavia, Ill. ; Rev. Abner Towne; and the late William M. Towne, Esq., are of the same good stock .- Jesse Towne, born in Topsfield, 1697, became in 1725 one of the proprietors of Arundel, in Maine. His younger brother Amos was with Sir Wm. Pepperell at the first capture of Louisburg, and from him have sprung some of the best families in the town -(now Kennebunk Port.)-Elisha Towne, born 1706, removed to Boxford, and was the ancestor of the Rev. Joseph H. Towne, a popular clergyman, formerly of Boston, now of Lowell. Josiah Towne, born 1701, went to Killingly, Ct., and from him came Ithiel Towne, of New-Haven, well known as an architect and virtuoso .- Individuals of this name from Topsfield, were among the early settlers of Amherst, Keenc, and Rindge, in New-Hampshire, and of Stur- bridge, Sutton, and Adams, in Massachusetts. In fact, the Topsfield Townes have actually been tracked into two thirds of the states in this Union. Mr. William B. Towne, of Boston, has an account of two hundred families, very few of which belong to the present generation .- I should do injustice to this name, if I should oniit to mention here, the late Jacob Towne, Esq., of Tops- field. For ycars-I know not how many-this excellent individual held the offices of town-clerk, select-man, and representative to the General Court,- until he came, at length, to be regarded as a sort of personification of his be- loved Topsfield. He was the calmest, the mnost deliberate, the most cautious of men. If he ever uttered a hasty word, or did a rashi act, I never heard of it. If ever there were a true conservative, it was Jacob Towne, jun .- He, alas ! is gone. But it is some consolation, that, faithful to the ancient rule and privilege of primogeniture, he transmitted so large a share of his own careful spirit to the present custodian of the Topsfield archives.
I made, last summer, several unavailing efforts to obtain some authentic account of the CUMMINGS family. Its founder, Isaac, was among the thirty commoners. Judge Cummins, in his dinner speech at the Celebration, gave a conjectural explanation of his own descent, which, if not convincing, was, at least, amusing. One individual of the name. CAPTAIN JOSEPH CUMMINGS, de- serves special mention. He was born in Woburn, in 1692, and at the age of twelve went to Ipswich, near the border of Topsfield, to live with an uncle. This uncle, whose name was Howlet, was an extensive land-owner, and gave his nephew, when of age, 500 of his unsubdued acres. The land proved to be excellent, and became exceedingly valuable. Here the fortunate and industrious possessor lived to extreme age, and, long before his death, had seen the family
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and the property of his kind patron all scattered to the winds. Captain C. and several of his neighbors, in consequence of their remoteness from Ipswich Village, early sought to be annexed to Topsfield. In this, they were opposed by Ipswich, and it was not until after many years of disappointment, that they succeeded. With physical energies scarcely impaired, and with a mental vigor not perceptibly abated, Captain Cummings lived to the age of one hun- dred and two. Even after he had completed his 'orb' of years, he could mount his horse, unaided, from the ground, and ride many miles. To the last, his memory was strong and exact-his judgment clear and sound-his retorts, equally quick and keen. He had a son and a daughter. The latter married a Lamson and removed to Exeter, N. H., and gave rise to a numerous posterity. Through the son, the old man had eleven grand-children, and one hundred and two great grand-children : the most of whom he lived to see. Among the latter, is my friend of earlier days, the Rev. Asa Cummings, of Portland, Me., -the well known and widely esteemed Editor of the " Christian Mirror."
I regret that I have not the means to give some account of several other families-old in standing, and, for the most part, as respectable as they are old. I can only allude to the long-familiar names of Andrews, Averill, Balch, Baker, Batchclder, Bixby, Boardman, Clark, Conant, Hobbs, Kimball, "Lamson, Lake, Rea, Wildes, &c. It is to be hoped that some of these ancient fam- ilies will become so far imbued with the new-awakened spirit of genealogical inquiry, as to look up, and place on record, before it is too late, their own history.
The present CONGREGATIONAL MEETING HOUSE was erected in 1842,-occupy- ing the same site with that of its predecessors of 1703 and 1759. It is a smaller cdifice than the one which it replaced-but comfortable, and good-look- ing, with tlic exception of its steeple. In 1759, the town passed a formal vote, that the building then to be crected should have " a perportionable spire." This laudable example does not seem to have been followed.
The Indian name SHE-NE-WE-ME-DY, was given at the time of the Celebration with a slight difference of spelling-the second and third syllables having changed places. I so put the word on the authority of the Rev. Mr. Felt, who assured me that he received it from Mr. Coffin. I give the present ortho- graphy on the authority of Mr. Coffin himself. Ipse dixit ..
The town of TOPSFIELD occupies the centre of Essex County. The road from Salem to Haverhill passes through it, as does, also, that obsolete affair, the Newburyport Turnpike. Hills of considerable magnitude, rising on the north and north-cast-the south and south-west-enclose a pleasant valley of mod- erate dimensions. From any of these licights, and especially from that called River Hill, the cye may rove over a landscape of considerable extent, or may repose, with pleasure, on the quiet scene immediately below. The Topsfield vale presents a simple picture of rural beauty. Its little hamlet of white tenements not ungracefully disposed, wears that air of cheerfulness and com- fort, which characterizes a thriving New-England village. The summits and
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declivities around, effectually redeem the scene from tameness, but would cer- tainly be more pleasing if still adorned, in part, with their old garniture of trees. The bright, meandering river skirts the northern base of the hills, and binds, as with a silver braid, the green mantle of the plain.
The soil of the Topsfield hills is generally strong and good, but rather hard to work. The more easily tilled plains have lost, to some extent, their original fertility. Meadows of varying width, which are sometimes overflowed, border on the river, and produce a coarse grass, generally of little value. Ips- wich River rises in Wilmington. Through its entire course in Topsfield it has no available fall, but it is made to do the work of Peabody's Paper Mill, just before it enters the town, and of Manning's Woollen Mill, almost as soon as it leaves it.
The population of Topsfield, according to the census just taken, is 1169. Of its 266 voters, 28 bear the name of Perkins,-20, that of Gould, and 17, that of Towne. There are 170 dwelling-houses. The present valuation is $545,800. The town appropriated this year, $700 for the support of schools ; -the whole tax being $2,998 79. Its aggregate of agricultural products is not large. .
It raises about 5000 bushels of maize, and about twice as many of potatoes. Rye, barley, oats, and pulse, are produced in small quantities. The hay amounts to about 2,000 tons. Of butter, the annual product is 26,000 lbs. ;- of cheese, 4,500 lbs. More than 20,000 animals-mostly sheep and calves- are annually killed in Topsfield, and sent to Salem, Lynn, and other markets. One hundred and five thousand pairs of shoes, valued at $85,000, are made in Topsfield in the course of a year.
There is no rail-road, as yet, within the limits of Topsfield, althoughi more than one of these iron tracks approaches so near, that the steam-whistle is daily heard in the village. Incipient steps have, I believe, been taken towards uniting, by the way of Topsfield, some of these neighboring lines. It is not likely that this thriving town will much longer remain destitute of a conve- nience, which is everywhere coming to be regarded as essential. When it shall thus be brought within an hour of Boston, one more charming retreat will be opened for that increasing multitude of sensible persons, who, while they continue to do business in cities, prefer to live in the country. There is little hazard in predicting that this beautiful township,-thus made known, and accessible, too,-will soon become a favorite resort. A spot more pleasing in aspect, more quiet, or more salubrious,-cannot easily be found within twenty miles of the metropolis. The mechanic's cottage, the tradesman's snug tenement, and the merchant's tasteful villa, will yet add new beauty to that fair plain, and those fairer hills. The professional man, or the scholar-who, amid the sultry heats and stunning noises of the pent-up town, classically sighs,,
O qui me gelidis in vallibus
Sistat !
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will forthwith take his seat in the car, and soon find himself in a vale, which in coolness and beauty, Thrace itself could scarce surpass.
I must bring these notices to an end. Will not some son. of Topsfield take up and complete the work, which I have hardly begun ? A careful history of the town, judiciously compiled, would assuredly be valued by the inhabitants. The time is favorable,-for attention has been turned to the subject,-while each year of delay will make the task more difficult.
Che Bi-Centennial Celebration of 1850.
For the purpose of preservation, and as a matter of future interest, I have compiled from the published accounts, a brief sketch of what was donc on this occasion. The 28th of August had been selected-not as the day on which the act was passcd-but as being sufficiently near, and as more convenient than a later period. Fortunately it proved to be remarkably finc. At 10 o'clock a procession was formed on the Common, and marched to the house of Capt. Munday, where it was joined by the President and Orator, the Clergy, and other invited guests. Having passed under a ncatly ornamented arch, the pro- cession advanced through a green lane, and over an open lawn to “ Centen- nial Hill." The side of this verdant and shady mound was found already covered to the summit, with a vast throng of men, women, and children. Rude but comfortable seats accommodated a portion of the assembly, while the rest stood or reclined upon the green-sward. "In front of this great assem- blage, stood the speaker's rostrum, upon a small stage. This little structure was a most interesting object. Its verdant decorations, beautifully relicved upon a ground of spotless white, could be the work only of delicate fingers, guided by woman's unerring cyc. A scroll above, bore the words .Ncw Meadows, 1639-Topsfield, 1650.' Directly below, stood an object of no com- mon interest-an old oaken pulpit. A white tablet in front, told its story. Upon this was written in letters of bright, purple amaranth, the names 'Capcn' -' Emerson,' and the dates '1703'-' 1759.' " Behind it stood a high-backed chair of oak, which had once been its companion piece.
After an anthem of Kimball's had been sung by the choir, the Rev. Mr. Atkinson, of the Methodist Church in Topsfield, read appropriate selections from an ancient Bible. The following psalm, composed by Rev. Geo. Hood, of Southport, N. Y., and sct to music by his brother, Mr. Jacob Hood, of Salem-both of them natives of Topsfield, was read by Rev. J. A. Hood, of Middleton :
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O all ye people, praise the Lord, For all his matchless love and grace ; For true and faithful is his word, To all the tribes of Adam's race.
Amid the bold adventurous host, Our Fathers sought this distant land, And chose this spot, our pride and boast, As home for their true-hearted band.
With prowling beasts, and savage men, In faith and hope, they dauntless stood ; Then sung their anthems yet again, And rear'd their altars to their God.
Nerv'd by a living faith, they rose O'er ills, and toils, and dangers dire ;
Disease, nor death, nor savage foes, Could quench the fervor of their fire.
They toil'd and prayed; we Lord are blest, To Thee, O God, shall praise be given. Prepare us now, by Sovereign Grace, To meet our sainted Sires in Heaven.
There we will render ceaseless praise, To Thee our father's, and our GOD : To Thee, blest SPIRIT, chant our lays, And Thee, Divine, Incarnate, WORD.
The Rev. Mr. McLoud made a short and appropriate prayer. An ode writ- ten for the occasion by Miss Hannah F. Gould, was read by her brother B. A. Gould, Esq., and was sung to Kimball's tune of "Topsfield."
The wilderness was decp and drear, And mind a savage wild ;- Chaotic darkness brooded here, O'er man, the forest-child. The Spirit, by our fathers, moved Upon the face of Night ; When dawned the Day, that since hath proved Two hundred years of light !
Then did a new creation glow With Order's primal rays, While here the sons of God below First sang Jehovah's praise. The desert opened like a flower Unfolding to the sun : And great the work, for every hour, Two hundred years have done !
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The earth, beneath the genial sway Of Culture's wand, unsealed The wealth that in her bosom lay, -- Her quickening powers revealed. But richer-purer-unconfined To time or earthly sphere, The spirit gems-the wealth of mind With lineal birthright here.
Behold the civil beauty shed In wide survey around ;- The fields, with summer's bounty spread ;- The hills with harvest crowned ! While finite eye must fail to trace The shining marks of soul, That, dating this its starting-place, Has fixed in Heaven the goal !
To-day upon the spot we stand Where kneeled our Sires of yore, Imploring blessings for the land When they should be no more. To this they bore the ark of God, And left it to their heirs : They left our Priest the budding rod That blossoms now, and bears.
And while in yonder quiet graves Their hallowed ashes rest, Their children, moving as the waves, Still guard their dear bequest. And lo ! in joyous bands we come, Our votive wreaths to twine- As brethren to a father-home- Round Memory's sacred shrine.
We come their honored names to bless,- Their story to prolong, Who startled here the wilderness With Zion's pealing song ; While, bending o'er the battlement Of Heaven, they now behold The spot whereto their footsteps bent In earthly days of old.
To that illustrious ancestry We'll sing aloud our claim, While marching to eternity In their Redeemer's name.
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Two hundred years of Gospel-beams, Diffusing joy and peace, Have here been poured in swelling streams Of glory ne'er to cease !
The long address which followed was heard with a degree of attention and patience, which could be accounted for only by the good nature of the audience, and their interest in the subject.
The Rev. E. L. Cleaveland, of New-Haven, Ct., read the following hymn, composed for the occasion by his brother, N. Cleaveland. It was sung, more majorum, by the whole assembly, to the majestic measure of Old Hundredth :
Here, mid the dense, brown, sylvan shade, Humbly the banded exiles stood ; Here, to the One Supreme they prayed, Here, with loud anthems shook the wood.
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Stout were their hearts, and strong their hands, And fast the towering forest fell ; Soon gleamed the day on cultured lands, Soon waved with corn each upland swell.
Then came the pious task to rear Meet shrines, Benignant Power, for Thee :
Schools free as air were founded here, And Law and sacred Liberty.
O Thou, whose arm, all-powerful, bore Those pilgrims o'er the storm-swept sea, And helped them plant along this shore, These homesteads of the brave and free :
Here, where our fathers hymned Thy name, List to their grateful children's praise, And still be ours the heavenly flame, That warmed their hearts in olden days.
The benediction was given by Rev. Samuel Gould, a native of Topsfield, now of Boothbay, Me.
During these exercises, the venerable Messrs. Braman of Georgetown, Dana of Newburyport, and Kimball of Ipswich, were seen gracing the stage with their snowy locks,-while below and around it, were many Essex men of honored name, both clerical and lay.
The procession was again formed, and now became, in part, a cavalcade.
"The long line of respectable citizens, with their wives, and sons, and daughters, was garnished near its centre by a singular spectacle. There were
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three young men on horseback, dressed in the costume of 1600, each having on a pillion behind him, a comely companion, similarly arrayed. Others fol- lowed in tri-cornered hats, with vast, bushy wigs, and other articles of anti- quated garb.
One individual seemed to be on his way to mill, for he had on his horse's back two large bags, apparently of corn. Another was evi- dently bound for market, being mounted, and having on either side, a large pannier. We saw one lady, whose costume of antiquated splendor, and whose immensely deep bonnet, drew much observation. This antique cavalcade was succeeded by an old dobbin of a horse driven by Mr. Edward Hood, draw- ing a wagon-load of relics. It contained a side-board, said to have belonged to Governor Bradstreet, an ancient oak chest made in 1685, with the original date upon it, an old winnowing fan, a large samp mortar, several snow-shoes, some of the implements once used in the dressing of flax, and various agri- cultural tools, of the most ponderous and uncouth character.
"The dinner tables were set beneath a pavilion erected on the common. Though provision was made for about 800 guests, nearly every seat was oc- cupied. This festal board was brightened by the faces of several hundred ladies. Directly over the President's chair, we noticed the old Indian name of the place,-She-we-ne-me-dy. Beneath this were arranged several articles, suggestive of the times, when wild beasts and savages were the sole tenants of the Topsfield woods. Two pairs of moose horns ; numerous arrow-heads and stone tools of the aborigines-lent by Major Poore of Indian Hill-and a long halberd, once carried by a Topsfield officer, in the Indian wars, and brought down from Amherst. N. H., by Mr. Peabody, who is one of that officer's descendants.
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