USA > Massachusetts > Historical collections, being a general collection of interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, &c., relating to the history and antiquities of every town in Massachusetts, with geographical descriptions > Part 25
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LYNN.
The foregoing view was taken at the western entrance of Lynn. The entrance to the common is seen on the right. This is a level tract of about twenty acres. A handsome circular pond has been recently dug near the center, and other improvements have been made. The village is principally built on a plain, back of which are hills composed of rough rocks, partially covered with bushes and trees. On the side next the ocean and on Saugus river are salt marshes. To the south-west of the village the turnpike from Bos- ton to Salem passes over an extensive tract of marsh land. There are 8 churches in this place, 3 Methodist, 2 Congregational, 1 for Friends, 1 Baptist, and 1 Universalist. There are two banks, the Lynn Mechanics Bank, incorporated in 1814, and the Nahant Bank, incorporated in 1832, each with a capital of $150,000. There is a savings bank, incorporated in 1826, and three insu- rance companies. The Lynn Academy, an incorporated institution, was first opened in 1805. A newspaper is published here. Lynn is 5 miles from Salem, and 9 from Boston. Population, 9,323. In 1837 there were manufactured in this town 2,220 pairs of boots, 2,543,929 pairs of shoes; value of boots and shoes, $1,689,793; males employed, 2,631 ; females, 2,554. There were 6 morocco leather manufactories ; value of leather manufactured, $153,000; males employed, 90; females, 16. There were 5 vessels employed in the whale fishery, and 14 in the cod and mackerel fishery. A manufactory of India rubber cloth has been recently established.
"Nahant is a peninsula on the south of Lynn. In the beauty and sublimity of its scenery, combined with its peculiar advantages of health and pleasure, it is not sur- passed by any place on the coast of America. It consists of two, elevated, rock-engir- dled islands, called Great and Little Nahants, united together by a beach, half a mile in length, and connected to the main land by another beach, one mile and a half in length. From the center of the town, the Long beach projects directly into the sea, and is washed by the waves of the great ocean on the eastern side, and on the western by the waters of the harbor. It is a gently curving bar, of fine, silvery, gray sand, rising so high in the center as generally to prevent the waves from passing over it, and almost imperceptibly sloping to the water on each side. It is unbroken by land, or rock, or shrub, for its whole extent, and the broad ridge of dry sand, which passes through its center, is interspersed with shells, and pebbles, and fragments of coral and other substances, which the storms have cast upon it, among which the white gull lays her spotted eggs, in little cavities scooped in the sand, and, soaring overhead, startles the traveller by her shrilling shriek. The portion of the beach which is left by the tide, is broad enough for fifty carriages to pass abreast, and presents a perfectly smooth surface of pure, fine sand, beaten hard and polished by the constant breaking of the waves, on which the horse's hoof leaves no print, and the wheel passes, with- out sound or trace, like a velvet roller on marble. The hard sand frequently retains sufficient water, for an hour after the tide has left it, to give it the appearance of glass, in which objects are reflected as in a mirror.
*
" Little Nahant is a hill, consisting of two graceful elevations, rising eighty feet above the sea, and defended by battlements of rock, from twenty to sixty feet in height. It is about half a mile in length, and contains forty-two acres, seventeen of which are in good cultivation. The outer portion of the peninsula, called Great Nahant, is about two miles in length, and in some parts half a mile broad, containing four hundred and sixty-three acres. The surface is uneven, rising into elevations, from forty to one hundred feet above the level of the sea. The shores are extremely irregular, being composed, in many places, of huge precipitous rocks, in some places resembling iron, rising from twenty to sixty feet above the tide, with a great depth of water below; and in others, stretching out into beautiful beaches, or curving into delightful recesses and coves, filled with pebbles, of every variety of form and color,
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from burning red to stainless white. The whole outline presents the most agreeable interchange of scenery, from the low beach, that glistens beneath the thin edge of the wave, to lofty precipices, and majestic cliffs that rise
Like moonlight battlements, and towers decayed by time.
Nahant Hotel, Long Beach, Lynn.
"Nahant is much visited by persons for the improvement of health, and by parties of pleasure, from the neighboring towns, for whom it furnishes every accommodation. Two steamboats are constantly running from Boston during the pleasant season, but a ride by land, over the beaches, is much more delightful. A spacious and elegant hotel has been erected, of stone, near the eastern extremity. It contains nearly a hundred rooms, and is rurrounded by a double piazza, commanding the most delight- ful prospects. Several other hotels and boarding-houses are situated in the village, and about twenty beautiful cottages, the summer residence of gentlemen of fortune, are scattered over the peninsula. There is also a neat stone building erected for a chapel, which serves for a library and school-room."-Lewis' Hist. of Lynn.
The church at Lynn was gathered in June, 1632, and was the fifth in Massachusetts. The first meeting-house was a plain small building, without bell or cupola, and stood on the eastern side of Shepard street. It was placed in a small hollow, that it might be the better sheltered from the winds, and was approached by descend- ing several steps. Before this, part of the people of Lynn attended public worship at Salem. Rev. Stephen Batchelor, the first min- ister, on his arrival in Lynn in 1632, immediately commenced the exercise of his ministerial duties, without installation. About four months afterwards a complaint was made of some irregularities in his conduct. He was arraigned before the court at Boston, Oct. 3d, when the following order was passed : "Mr. Bachelr. is re- quired to forbeare excerciseing his giftes as pastr. or teacher pub- liquely in or. Patent, unlesse it be to those he brought with him, for his contempt of authority, and till some scandals be removed." This was the commencement of a series of difficulties which agi- tated the unhappy church for several years.
The Rev. Samuel Whiting arrived from England in June, and was installed pastor of the church in November, 1636. The next year Rev. Thomas Cobbet who also came from England, was
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installed a colleague pastor with Mr. Whiting. Mr. W. was styled the pastor, as being the principal, and Mr. Cobbet was called teacher, an office in some degree subordinate, though his talents were superior. Rev. Jeremiah Shepard was the first minister of Lynn who was born and educated in America. He was ordained in. 1680, and died in 1720, having preached at Lynn forty years. He was distinguished for his unaffected piety and his untiring exertions for the spiritual welfare of his people. The following epitaph was transcribed from his grave-stone with difficulty ; hav- ing become greatly obliterated by the hand of time, for a period of more than one hundred years.
Elijah's mantle drops, the prophet dies, His earthly mansion quits, and mounts the skies. -- So Shepard's gone. His precious dust, death's prey, indeed is here, But's nobler breath 'mong Seraphs does appear ; He joins adoring crowds about the throne,
He's conquered all, and now he wears the crown.
LYNNFIELD.
THIS town was originally called Lynn End, having been granted to Lynn soon after the settlement of the town. A meeting- house was built in 1715. It was incorporated into a district in 1782. In 1814 it became a separate town. The town abounds with wild and romantic scenery, its surface being broken and uneven, and its hills clothed with dense forests. Farming is the principal employment of the inhabitants. In 1837 there were 100 pairs of boots and 54,000 shoes manufactured, valued at $40,250; males employed, 93; females, 80. Population, 674. Distance, 12 miles from Boston.
The Congregational church in this place was the second of Lynn, was formed 1720. The first pastor, Rev. Nathaniel Spar- hawk, settled here at the formation of the church; he resigned 1731. He was succeeded by the Rev. Stephen Chase in 1731, and resigned 1755. His successor was the Rev. Benjamin Adams, who was settled in 1755, died 1777. He was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph Motley in 1782, who died in 1821. The next was the Rev. Joseph Searl, who was settled here in 1824, resigned in 1827. There is also a society of Methodists in the town.
The following is from the inscription on the monument of Mr. Daniel Townsend in this place, who was killed in Lexington, April 19th, 1775. He was born in 1738.
Lie, valiant Townsend, in the peaceful shades, we trust Immortal honors mingle with thy dust. What though thy body struggle in its gore .? So did thy Savior's body long before ;
And as he raised his own by power divine,
So the same power shall also quicken thine, And in eternal glory mayst thou shine !
e
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MANCHESTER.
MANCHESTER.
MANCHESTER was once known by the name of Jeffrey's Creek, and formed a part of Salem. Upon the petition of several of the inhabitants it was incorporated, in 1645, by its present name. The surface of the township is rocky and uneven, and in many places is covered with extensive forests. Here is found the Mag- nolia, a low tree, bearing many beautiful and sweet-scented flowers. Here is a variety of soil, which is in a good state of culture. The fishing business was commenced at this place at a very early pe- riod, but of late years this business has somewhat declined. Some of the most enterprising ship-masters of Boston and vicinity are natives of this town. There is about 1000 tons of shipping em- ployed. The vessels are of small size. The depth of water will not allow vessels exceeding 120 tons to come up to the town. The harbor is good, and affords anchorage for vessels of any size.
South-western view of Manchester.
There is a Congregational society here, which was gathered in 1716, under the ministry of the Rev. Amos Cheever. Before this year no church records of Manchester are found. The Universal- ists have a small society, which was organized in 1820. The busi- ness of making cabinet furniture is carried on here with great activity, employing 150 men or more. In 1837 there were 12 manu- factories of chairs and cabinet ware ; value of articles manufac- tured, $84,500; hands employed, 120. There were 14 vessels employed in the cod and mackerel fishery, employing 65 hands. Population, 1,346.
The above shows the appearance of Manchester village as it is entered from the south-west upon the Beverly road. Coasters from 60 to 70 tons burthen can come up to this village, which consists of upwards of eighty dwelling-houses, built compactly together. Dis- tance, 7 miles from Gloucester, 9 from Salem, and 23 from Boston.
The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the grave-yard in this place :
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MARBLEHEAD.
In memory of Benjamin Tappan, late pastor of the church in Manchester, who ex- pired May 6, 1790, in the 70th year of his age, and 45th year of his ministry. He was a sincere and exemplary christian, a tender husband and parent, a judicious and sound divine, a prudent and faithful minister.
Oh ever honor'd, ever dear, adieu, How many tender names are lost in you. Keep safe, O tomb, thy precious sacred trust, Till life divine awake his sleeping dust.
Colo1. Benja. Marston lies here, who died May 22, 1754, being 57 years & 3 mo. old. Art thou curious, reader, to know what sort of man he was? Wait till the final day of Retribution, and then thou mayest be satisfied.
Sacred to the memory of Capt. John Allen, who died Aug. 27, 1834, aged 59 years. Though Boreas' blasts and Neptune's waves Have toss'd me to and fro,
In spite of both, by God's decree,
| Now here at anchor I do lie, With many of our fleet, In hope again for to set sail
I harbor here below.
My Savior Christ to meet.
MARBLEHEAD.
MARBLEHEAD was originally a part of Salem, from which it was detached and incorporated as a distinct town in 1649. At this time it contained 44 families, the heads of which were of the fol- lowing names :
James Smith, Thomas Bowinge, John Stacie,
Rowland Smith,
Samuel Doliber,
George Chine,
Edmund Nicholson, John Northy,
Francis Nicholson,
John Gatchell,
William Barber,
David Thomas,
John Legg, Arthur Sanden,
Peter Pitford,
Isaac Allerton, Moses Maverick,
Mr. Walton, John Lyon, Henry Stacie,
Samuel Corwithen, Thomas Gray, Richard Norman, John Peachy, Richard Curtice, John Hart, William Charles,
John Deveroe, Abrm. Whitcare, John Bartoll,
Joseph Doliber Robert Knight, John Bennett, F. J. Walsingham, John Norman,
William Luckis,
Erasmus James,
Nicholas Merrett, Thomas Pitman, Timothy Allen, Thomas Sams,
William Chichester,
Christoph. Lattimore, John Goyt.
The township is a rough and very rocky* peninsula, extending between three and four miles into the sea, and it is inhabited prin- cipally on account of its convenience as a fishing port. The first settlers made their pitch on the eastern side of the town, taking advantage of a very good harbor, running north-east and south- west, and towards half a mile on an average. "At the south-west end of the harbor the town is connected with the Great Neck, so called, by a very narrow isthmus, separating the waters of Lynn bay from those of the harbor. About the year 1728, it was found that the sea was fast encroaching on the south-west side of this isthmus, so as to endanger the preservation and security of the har- bor. The government of the province at that time attended to the subject, as it respected not only the town in particular, but the trade of the province in general ; and ordered by an act the sum
* As the celebrated Mr. Whitefield was entering the settlement late in the autumn, when no verdure was to be seen, he exclaimed, "Pray where do they bury their dead ?" It may be observed, that, notwithstanding the rough and forbidding aspect of the soil, it is very productive when cultivated.
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MARBLEHEAD.
of £1,328 to be paid out of the public treasury for necessary re- pairs. It seems that about the year 1762 some necessary repairs were made. In the year 1790, although the town had carefully endea- vored to secure, support, and keep the same in good repair, the go- vernment of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, considering the preservation of the said harbor was a matter of public concern, &c., granted a sum of £1000 to be raised by a lottery" for this purpose. About 1742 this town was authorized to erect a fortification for the defence of the place; the government, it seems, having granted £690 for this purpose. In 1794 it was ceded to the United States by a vote of the town. The fortification which defends the har- bor is now called Fort Sewall.
North-eastern vien of Marblehead from Fort Sewall.
The above is a north-eastern view of Marblehead taken from Fort Sewall. The harbor in front of the town is a mile and a half long from north-east to south-west, and half a mile wide. It is formed by a narrow isthmus at the south-west that separates it from Lynn bay, and connects the town with Great Neck. It is deep and excellent, capable of being entered at all times by ships of the largest size, and would be one of the finest in the country, were it not for its exposure to storms, which often render its anchorage unsafe. In 1837 the town of Marblehead contained 5,549 inhabit- ants : with the exception of about twenty farmers and their families, they are comprised within the limits of one mile by one quarter. The village is quite novel in its appearance, being compact and very irregularly built, owing to the very uneven and rocky surface of the ground on which it is built. There are five handsome churches in this place, viz. 2 Congregational, 1 of which is Unita- rian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, and 1 Baptist. There are two banks, the "Marblehead Bank," incorporated in 1803, capital $120,000, and the "Grand Bank," incorporated in 1831, capital $100,000; there are two insurance companies, each with a capi- tal of $100,000. 'There is an academy, incorporated in 1792, and
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MARBLEHEAD.
has ever been a respectable and useful institution. Distance, 4 miles from Salem, and 16 from Boston. The shipping owned here amounts to more than eight thousand tons. In 1837, there were 55 vessels employed in the cod and mackerel fishery, the tonnage of which was 4603; codfish caught, 49,403 quintals ; mackerel caught, 243 barrels ; 500 hands employed. In the same year were manu- factured 97 pairs of boots, and 1,025,824 pairs of shoes, the value of which was $367,780; males employed, 503; females, 655.
In the Rev. Mr. Barnard's diary,* (early in the century, or before 1720,) when speaking of this town, gives the following statement : " There was not a carpenter, a tailor, nor mason, nor butcher in the town ; nor any thing of a market worth naming. They had their houses built by country workmen, and their clothes made out of town, and supplied themselves with beef and pork from Boston, which drained the town of its money. Some years after, the town abounded with artificers, good workmen of every description, and the market had a full supply. At the time before mentioned, there was not one foreign vessel, although the town always possessed every advantage for a free and extensive navigation. The people contented themselves to be slaves to work in the mines, leaving it to the merchants of Salem, Boston, and Europe, to carry off the gains, by which means the town was poor and in debt :- so much were they involved in debt to the merchants of other places, that very few families, not more than twenty, were independent in their circumstances. They were generally a rude, swearing, drunken and fighting crew ; but as they increased in numbers they made improvements in social life, in virtue and good morals. By the middle of the century, the manners of the people were so much cultivated, as to be remarkable for their civilities, and especially for their hospitality to strangers. There were not only gentle- manlike families, and pious and well-behaved people in the town, but the very fishermen rose superior to the rudeness of former gene- rations. When they were persuaded by individuals of public spirit to send their fish to foreign markets, they soon became conver- sant with the mysteries of trade, they soon became sensible of the advantage they should reap by it. And while individuals grew rich, the town also received the benefit."
" Mr. Joseph Swett, a young man of strict justice, of great indus- try, enterprising genius, quick apprehension, and firm resolution, but small fortune, was the first man who engaged in it. He sent a cargo to Barbadoes, and from the profits of the voyage found that he increased his stock, and went on building vessels, till he was enabled to send vessels to Europe, loading them with fish, and pointing out to others the path to riches. The more promising young men of the town followed his example; and from this small begin- ning, Marblehead became one of the first trading towns of the Bay. In the year 1766, there were between thirty and forty ships, brigs, snows, and topsail schooners engaged in foreign trade."
* Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., vol. viii.
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MARBLEHEAD.
About 1770 Marblehead was supposed to contain a greater num- ber of inhabitants than any other town of the province, Boston ex- cepted. During the revolutionary war this place suffered severely, and the business of the place was almost wholly destroyed. The inhabitants were firm in the cause of American liberty, and this place alone furnished, of its own inhabitants, for the public service, one entire regiment, completely officered and manned. The value of this regiment at that trying period, composed of men inured to fatigue and danger, and not wasted by sickness in any one instance, is best determined by a recollection of their patience, bravery, and effective service. Captain James Mugford, an inhabitant of this place, rendered an important service to the American army during the Revolution, by capturing, at a critical juncture, a British ship just arrived in the vicinity of Boston, richly laden with arms, am- munition, and other warlike stores. He was killed the same day he made the capture, January 12th, 1776, in attempting to return from Boston to Marblehead, while defending his little privateer from the attack of some boats sent from the British men-of-war riding at Nantasket road. Their object was to take him at the moment his vessel run ashore on a point of land, which makes the entrance of Pudding Point Gut. Captain Mugford fought for a considerable time. At length, one of the boats attempting to board him, he sprung to the railing of his vessel in order the better to repel the enemy ; he was mortally wounded by a pistol-shot. Falling back, one of his crew anxiously inquired if he was wounded. He said, " Yes, but don't let the enemy know my situation, and if I die act as if I were alive and were still commanding;" after which he immedi- ately expired. His brave seamen made dreadful havoc of the limbs and lives of the enemy, beat them off, and got into Marblehead, where great respect was shown to the remains of Capt. Mugford.
The Rev. Samuel Cheever, the first minister of Marblehead, was ordained in 1684, having preached here sixteen years previous to his settlement. He died in 1724, aged eighty-five. He preached upwards of half a century without being taken off from his labors one Sabbath; when he died, the lamp of life fairly burnt out, for he felt no pain even in his expiring moments. He was succeeded by Mr. John Barnard, who had been previously an assistant pastor with Mr. Cheever. He died in 1770, and was succeeded by Mr. William Whitwell. Mr. Ebenezer Hubbard succeeded Mr. Whit- well, was ordained in 1783, and died in 1800. Mr. Samuel Dana was ordained pastor in 1801. The second church in Marblehead was formed when Mr. Barnard was assistant pastor with Mr. Cheever. Mr. Edward Holyoke, afterward president of Harvard college, appears to have been the first minister. He was chosen president in 1737. His successor in the ministry at Marblehead was Mr. Simon Bradstreet, who was ordained in 1738. Mr. Brad- street was succeeded by Mr. Isaac Story, in 1772. One of the first Episcopal societies in Massachusetts was planted in Marblehead. Their first minister was Mr. William Shaw ; the next Mr. David Monsam, who was succeeded by Mr. George Pigot and Alexander
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MARBLEHEAD.
Malcolm. Mr. Peter Bours, their fifth minister, was highly es- teemed by Christians of all denominations. He was succeeded by Mr. Joshua Wingate Weeks. For several years after the Revolu- tion, the church was destitute. Mr. Thomas Oliver was their next minister; he was succeeded by Mr. William Harris. The next clergyman was Mr. James Bowers, who was ordained in Trinity church, in Boston, May 25, 1802, by the hands of the Rev. Bishop Bass. In 1789 a number of the inhabitants of Marblehead erected a meeting-house for those "whose opinions differed from the opinions of their neighbors." In 1800 a meeting-house was built for the Methodist denomination. The Baptist society was estab- lished in 1803.
John Glover, a brigadier general in the American army in the revolutionary war, was a native of this town.
He had the command of a regiment from the beginning of the revolutionary contest. He had the honor, with his brave officers and soldiers, of forming the advance part of the army which, in a bold and intrepid manner, crossed the Delaware in the night of the 25th of December, 1776, at a most inhospitable and hazardous juncture, and added much to the martial glory of the American forces by capturing, at Trenton, a thousand Hessians, under the immortal Washington. This propitious event inspired the conti- nental army with confidence of the final happy result, and was followed with victories in every quarter, till Heaven sanctioned the justice of the American appeal with the dis- comfiture of the enemy and the freedom of the United States.
General Glover had the honor of conducting Burgoyne's army, after its surrender, through the New England states ; and, in various instances, during the war, he had the warm approbation and unqualified applause of his commander-in-chief. A want of documents prevents the author of this work from paying a more full tribute of res- pect to the memory of one of the most brave, bold, and persevering officers of the revolutionary army. He, therefore, cannot better close this article, than with an extract from a letter, addressed to General Glover by General Washington, dated Morris, 26 April, 1777, soon after his appointment to the command of a brigade.
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