History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 102

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 102

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A sad event occurred near the tavern on a dreary night in February, 1681. Samnel Worcester, a rep- resentative to the General Conrt from Bradford, had walked from that town to attend an adjourned ses-

sion. When he reached Captain Marshall's ever hospitable door he was chilled and extremely weary, and sought shelter and entertainment. But from some cause he could not be accommodated. Think- ing that he might find lodging with a friend farther on, he departed. In the morning he was found in a kneeling posture, in the middle of the road, dead. He was a son of Rev. William Worcester, and dis- tinguished for his public spirit and his piety. No doubt the event caused the Captain hours of keen re- gret.

The worthy Captain dispensed the hospitalities of the famous Anchor for forty years. He was a model landlord, attentive to guests, well versed in the po- litical and religious movements of the time, both here and in old England, and able to intelligently discuss all the stirring questions that then agitated the as- sembly in the village tap-room as well as that in the hall of legislation. And he seems to have had a good share of that sort of suave underflow, so agree- able to the temporary sojourner at the wayside inn. That he had foibles is likewise apparent; but they appear to have been rather attractive than displeas- ing. John Dunton, the London bookseller, who passed through Lynn in 1686, and who was an uucle to the celebrated John Wesley, thus remarks in his journal: " About two of the clock I reached Capt. Marshall's house, which is half way between Boston and Salem ; here I staid to refresh nature with a pint of sack and a good fowl. Capt. Marshall is a hearty old gentleman, formerly one of Oliver's soldiers, upon which he very much values himself. He had all the history of the civil wars at his fingers' ends, and if we may believe him, Oliver did hardly anything that was considerable without his assistance; and if I'd have staid as long as he'd have talked, he'd have spoiled my ramble to Salem." This genial old land- lord died on the 23d of December, 1689, at the age of seventy-three years.

It is not difficult to picture in the mind scenes such as must have again and again taken place in and about the Anchor during the administration of the worthy captain. Being deeply interested in military affairs he could highly enjoy the parades of the colo- nial soldiery ; and when he was himself in command, it cannot be doubted that, on many occasions, the troops were summoned to perform their evolutions upon the green that sloped from his house down to- wards the river bank. We can almost see him there, with drawn sword and commanding voice, ordering movements such as enabled him, with Oliver's assist- ance, to win such victories in the civil wars. And there we see him stationing here and there behind some rock or in a forest confine mock Indian squads, to show the modes of savage warfare and teach his troops to meet the dnsky warrior's strategy.

Again, on occasions when the Colonial Governor undertook his eastern tour, as was customary once a year, importaut was the day of his arrival at the

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Anchor. Early in the morning His Excellency would appear, on horseback, with gilded trappings glistening in the sun, accompanied by his secretary - one who in this day might be called a reporter-and perhaps two or three other dignitaries, the procession flanked by half a score of halberdiers, preceded by a mounted trumpeter, and perhaps followed by a throng of amazed red men.

Arrived at the Anchor, after partaking of refresh- ments, always the best that the cellar or the larder afforded, the Governor, seated in the most capacious chair, announced his readiness to receive all such townsmen as desired to meet him for a free inter- change of views on the condition of public affairs, especially as bearing on their own local well-being. These discussions were dignified, and, no doubt, re- sulted in much good to individual communities, and possibly matters of private interest were sometimes cunningly interwoven to personal advantage.

Another picture might discover an excited assem- bly at the Anchor, perhaps in the stirring time of the Andros administration, the discordant voices of the blustering group in the common room rising above the surly creaking of the signboard that sways in the blast without. Some are urging to immediate and determined acts of violence, clamorously declaring their readiness to join in any uprising that shall hurl every would-be oppressor from power, while the more peacefully inclined and the village sages counsel pa- tience and moderation.

The scene may shift to a winter night, dreary with- out but cheerful within. Before the blazing oaken logs and upon the rude benches that line the wall are seated the worn farmer, the fisherman, the woodsman and the laborer of every degree. Unambitious and void of care, they sit drowsily gossiping, and occa- sionally drawing forth from its concealment the corn-cob pipe for a languid whiff, till the fire burns low and the parting mug goes round.

But a prettier picture is that presented when the bright moonbeams glisten on the crusted snow, and the capacious ox-sled, with its boxed-in freight of happy youth, drives up. Its approach had been her- alded by the wave of maiden laughter that rippled over the white fields, and the captain has donned his best doublet and prepared his best cheer. The sanded parlor is radiant with tallow dips, and savory fumes float from the culinary precinct. It is a time of rare enjoyment with the gallant captain. He is young again, and cannot avoid frequently joining in the merry sports. And then, as he retires to the duties of the snug little banquet-room, behold him beckon a young man aside and slyly and half by signs intimate that up over those winding back-stairs, in the attic hall, there is a bright fire and clean floor, where a little private dance may be enjoyed.

It does not appear certain who the immediate suc- cessor of Captain Marshall, as landlord of the Anchor, WAS.

ZACHEUS NORWOOD, who died February 8, 1756,- if the stone in the old burying-ground bearing the name is erected to his memory,-kept it for many years, and it ceased to be called the Anchor. His wife, Susanna, died January 2, 1747, but he married again, and his widow succeeded him in the management and afterwards became the wife of Josiah Martin. The house was long famous as " Norwood's Tavern."

The matrimonial adventures of Mr. Norwood seem to have been of a varied character. In the record of intentions of marriage, as copied by Mr. John T. Moulton, is to be found these entries, Mr. Moulton remarking that a pen has been drawn across them : "June 2, 1734. This may certify that whereas the intention of marriage betwixt Zacheus Norwood and Mary Richards, both of Lynn, was posted by me the ahove day; that on the 3d day of June, 1734, the above said Mary Richards forbid the hanns." . "December 3, 1734. The above-named Mary Rich- ards came to me and told me she had re-considered her forbidding the banns of matrimony betwixt Zacheus Norwood and herself, and desired me to give him a certificate." Whatever the difficulty was, it appears to have been amicably settled, for on the 13th of the next February they were married. She died on the 6th of April, 1736. On the 27th of October, 1745, was published his intention of marriage with Susannah Dunnell, of Topsfield. They were soon after married, and she died January 2, 1747. His third wife was Lydia Burrage, whom he married April 19, 1750. It was she who survived him, kept the tavern herself for some time, and then married the wayward Josiah Martin.

In 1759 that laborious, worthy and much-suffering frontier Church of England missionary, Rev. Jacob Bailey, on the 13th of December, reached here on his way to Boston, having walked all the way from Glou- cester. He found a rough company, who much dis- turbed his needed rest. "We had among us," he said, "a soldier belonging to Captain Hazen's com- pany of rangers, who declared that several Frenchmen were barbariously murdered by them, after quarters were given ; and the villain added, I suppose to show his importance, that he split the head of one asunder, after he had fell on his knees to implore mercy." Captain Hazen never taught his men any such savage ways, for he was one of the most humane as well as brave commanders. He was a native of Haverhill, and had a command in the Crown Point and Louisburg expeditions in 1758 and '59. It was in one of these, no doubt, that the villainous act of the boastful soldier occurred. Captain Hazen also distinguished himself under Wolfe, at Quebec, and as a commander in the Revolution. He was finally commissioned as a brigadier-general in the Continen- tal forces. Dr. Jonathan Norwood, a graduate of Harvard, was a son of Zacheus, the keeper of the tavern.

It was somewhere about the year 1760 that there

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drifted into Lynn a soldier of fortune by the name of JOSIAH MARTIN. He was supposed to be an Eng- lishman, but little, if anything, was known of his previous life. He, however, found favor in the eyes of Widow Norwood, and she married him. He was very eccentric, and by his waywardness of temper and instability of character is believed to have led her a very uncomfortable life. He evidently knew how to behave much better than he did, for at times he would act well the role of a polished gentleman. At other times he would pretend to be a most humble and devout Christian. Mrs. Martin seems to have continued in the chief management of the tavern, though he was ostensibly the keeper. Many anec- dotes are told of his witty sallies, and he was by no means destitute of humor. He was much given to practical jokes, as well as witticisms. Rev. Mr. Treadwell was minister of the old church at that time, and himself fond of indulging in witty sallies. Mr. Lewis says that on a certain Sunday, observing that many of his audience had their heads in a reclining posture, he paused in his sermon and exclaimed, “ I should guess that as many as two-thirds of you are asleep !" Mr. Martin, raising his head, looked round and replied, "If I were to guess, I should guess there are not more than one-half!" The next day Mr. Martin was brought up for disturbing divine service, but he contended "it was not the time of divine ser- vice; the minister had ceased to preach, and it was guessing time." He was accordingly discharged. It is said that he once rod- two miles to attend meeting on a warm June Sunday, in a double sleigh, with a span of horses, the dust flying and the runners grating horribly and striking fire at every step. And his wife was a forced passenger by his side, wrapped in a heavy bear-skin robe. However, she was not long subjected to his harassing impositions, for on the breaking out of the Revolution he enlisted in the Continental army, marched off, and was never heard from afterward.

John Adams, subsequently President of the United States, but then a young lawyer traveling his circuit, accompanied by his wife, mentions, under date of No- vember 3, 1766, having "oated " at Martin's, on his way to attend the conrt at Salem. And returning a few days after, he again "oated " at Martin's, "where we saw," he add-, "five boxes of dollars, containing, as we were told, about eighteen thousand of them, go- ing in a horse-cart from Salem Custom-House to Bos- ton, in order to be shipped to England. A guard of armed men, with swords, hangers, pistols and muskets attended."

This brings us to another important period in the history of this famous tavern, to wit, the commence- ment of the Revolution. It was now that JACOB NEWHALL became landlord, and for many years on- ward it was known as Newhall's Tavern, as is shown by the newspapers and other dingy publications of the day. Mr. Newhall was a native of the town, and ' be added to what is here given.

a descendant from one of the first settlers, was then about thirty-five years of age, and had previously pur- sued the occupation of husbandman. Being an ardent son of liberty, one of his first acts was to remove the sign on which was pictured the British emblem of the lion and unicorn, that had swayed for some years from the post in front, and substitute the hopeful emblem of a rising sun. He was a most liberal pro- vider, and unwearied in his endeavors to make his house a real "traveler's home." During the war his en- engies were often taxed to their utmost to make snit- able provision for the unexpected descent of a squad or even an entire company of hungry soldiers. So vigilant was he that it is said he did not for some years retire to bed, but obtained fitful rest in an arm- chair. To be ready for emergencies, he kept on hand fatted cattle that might be promptly slaughtered, and their flesh hastily cooked in the great boilers he had set. His kitchen garden comprised six acres, and under his skillful management yielded au inex- haustible store for summer use, as well as a surplus to be added to his field crops for use at other seasons. He was extremely benevolent toward his needy neighbors, and especially to the families of soldiers who had marched to the war. Even the vagrant

tramp was not sent empty away. Among other nota- ble guests during the administration of Mr. Newhall was President Washington, who paused here in Octo- ber, 1788, as he was proceeding eastward. And four years before, 1784, Gen. Lafayette made a halt there.

Mr. Newhall continued landlord till 1807, a period of more than thirty years; and then, the infirmities of age having somewhat impaired his physical powers, he retired. But he still continued to labor to some extent as a fariner till near the end of his life, which took place on the 18th of June, 1816,at the age of sev- enty-six. One of his generous disposition could hardly be expected to accumulate much, and he ap- pears to have died in rather reduced circumstances, though not in penury.

It is evident from contemporary accounts that this tavern was, during the Revolution, one of the most notable in these parts. Being on the great road along which flowed the travel from all places east of Boston, and having established an unimpeachable name for hospitality, it was never disregarded by the marching soldier or the traveling civilian.

Under various names and different landlords for some time after the retirement of Landlord Newhall the house continued to dispense its hospitalities. But a cloud came over its prospects. The turnpike from Salem to Boston-the portion in Lynn being what is now known as Western Avenne-was opened in 1803, and rapidly diverted the travel from the old road.

As the " Anchor" was situated just within what is now the town of Sangus, then a part of Lynn, its his- tory will not be overlooked in the sketch of that town, and doubtless many racy and captivating details will

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From quite early times there had been other houses of entertainment in different parts of the town ; but none of them came to be of much account. There was " Ward's Tavern " (which possibly may have been the old "Anchor," bearing another name for a short time before Mr. Norwood assumed the keepership). It was in 1750 that a New York merchant stopped here while traveling eastward. He remarks that he put up at Mr. Ward's, in "Lyn, which is a small country town of about two hundred houses, very pleasantly situated, and affords a beautiful rural pros- pect." He arrived at about one o'clock and " dyn'd .on fryd codd." After dinner, being refreshed by a glass of wine, he pursued his journey to Salem, " through a barren, rocky country," and the next day, after visiting Marblehead, returned to Boston, stop- ping again at Mr. Ward's, where he " dyned upon a fine mongrel goose."

Timothy Tomlins was licensed in 1636 to " keepe a house of intertainment." He was a farmer and a man of probity, but bis house did not attain much celebrity as a stopping-place for travelers, it being somewhat remote from the great traveled road. He was among those who commenced the settlement of Southampton, L. I., in 1640, but did not remain there. He was also one of the Cambridge land pro- prietors. The extensive range of low forest land and tangled bog lying a short distance northwest of Dungeon Rock, in our Lynn woods, and still known as Tomlins's Swamp, was a part of his estate. He was thirteen times a representative in the General Court, and in other positions faithfully served the town. In 1634 he was appointed overseer of the "powder and shott and all other amunicon " of the plantation.

In 1664 Theophilus Bayley was licensed to keep a public-house.

In the early part of the Revolution there was a tav- ern kept in the old house at the corner of Federal and Marion Streets. The landlord was Increase Newhall, and it was used as an alarm station-that is, a place at which, when an alarm occurred, the enrolled men in the district instantly reported for duty. At one time, in 1776, there was a midnight alarm that the English bad landed at King's Beach. There was presently great commotion throughout the town, for the meeting-house bell and the drums had spread the alarm to all quarters. At the tavern station here spoken of the men promptly rallied, but the com- mander was not visible. They, however, quickly marched under other orders. It proved to be a false alarm, and they all returned safe. And then, to their amusement, the pusillanimous commander emerged from an oven in which, panic-stricken, he had been concealed. It was during this alarm that Frederick Breed, who lived in the vicinity, displayed so much courage and tact in rallying the men and marching them to the supposed point of danger that he re- ceived a commission in the army, and finally rose to the rank of colonel.

We now come down to the time when the old LYNN HOTEL was erected. This establishment be- came quite as famous as had been the Anchor in its palmiest days.

It was in 1803 that the Turnpike leading from Sa- Jem to Boston was opened, making the shortest and most direct route for the eastern travel to reach the metropolis. Then old Boston Street, which had so long been the chief highway through Lynn, was doomed to lose its prestige, its honors and much of its thrift. When the building of the Turnpike was projected there was much croaking and head- shaking, as there always is when great improvements are proposed. One good man, for instance, testified that at some point where the route lay over the salt marshes, he had run a pole down twenty-five feet ! It was an expensive road, but was soon made a very good one. By the charter it was to revert to the commonwealth when the proprietors had received the whole cost, with twelve per cent. interest. Ac- cordingly, in 1869, legislative action being had, it be- came a public highway. That part lying in Lynn is now called Western Avenue, and affords a fine, level driveway of several miles, say from the hills of old Chelsea to the Floating Bridge in Lynn, with the ex- ception of Farrington's Hill. In the old days of horse-racing, the portion lying over the marshes southwest of the hotel was the scene of some famous races. It was there that Major Standpole's "Old Blue " won his vannted victory, trotting three miles in eight minutes and forty-two seconds. This was on the 6th of September, 1816, and is said to have been the first horse-trot in the country. Of late years equine contests of a different sort are held in the por- tion of the avenue lying immediately northeastward from the hotel. On every pleasant day in winter, when there is good sleighing, numerous gay turn- outs, drawn by the fleetest steeds of which the town can boast, and many from other towns, may be seen there in friendly trials of speed. And a merry time have the excited spirits, young and old.

Immediately after the opening of the Turnpike the post-office, which had been kept on Boston Street, near the corner of North Federal, was removed to the southern end of Federal Street, where it joined the turnpike, as the mails would come that way, and business began to gather in the same quarter.

LYNN HOTEL was built during the year in which the Turnpike was opened-1803. The most exten- sively known landlord was Andrew S. Breed, the elder. He took the house in 1813, and under his supervision it attained an enviable reputation, especially for the excellence of its table and the promptness with which the largest demands of guests would be met. He was a very stirring man and recognized by every one in the streets, as he sallied forth on his brawny roadster, in his yellow top-boots and coat of sporting cut. In addition to his large business at the hotel he did a good deal of farming, and many of us can well re-

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member the jolly husking-parties which in harvest- time assembled at his bidding to divest the yellow ears of their rustling robes, and at evening received our reward in the banquet of baked beans and Indian pudding, with relays of apples and cider. He was not a man who could pass noiselessly through the world, or who could yield much to what he deemed the unreasonable demands of those about him; in short, he was of what is called an arbitrary disposition, rather boisterous in language, and strict in his re- quirements of those in service under him. No lazy man's excuses ever weighed with him. Mr. Breed was father of the fifth mayor of Lynn.

It was to this hotel that True Moody, the colored out-door servaut, so long and so well known to trav- elers by his alert attentions, and so much esteemed for his obliging disposition, was attached for some forty years. In person he was stout, and possessed in a well-developed form all the physical peculiarities of the African race. His mouth was capacious and answered the novel purpose of a temporary savings- bank, for in it he was accustomed to deposit the pecuniary gratuities that were sometimes lavishly be- stowed by guests, till he could find time to remove them to a more suitable place, or till he required his mouth for a more legitimate purpose. And there is an account of a wager by some young men as to the amount of silver change in his mouth at a given time. To determine the bet, he consented, with his usual good nature, to discharge the deposits into a bowl, when they were found to amount to a little more than five dollars, the whole being in small pieces. By his gains in this humble way he was enabled to secure a comfortable home and respectably support a family. By the failure of the Nahant Bank, in 1836, he lost some hundreds of dollars. And by the East- ern Railroad, which was built soon after, diverting the travel from the hotel quarter, his income was greatly reduced. It is said that at this depressing period he was accustomed to retire to a corner of the deserted stable and weep. He died on the 17th of June, 1855, at a rather advanced age, though proba- bly far below that of ninety-seven years, as some of the newspapers asserted. It is not likely that be or any one else knew his exact age.

The history of old Lynn Hotel, which remained so long in such high repute, is, perhaps, more full of stirring incident than that of almost any other es- tablishment of the kind in this quarter of the country. The leading men of the nation-Presidents and Governors-traveling statesmen, scholars and men of leisure from other lands, were here entertained, as well as the roving multitude of tradesmen and others of every calling and profession. Many a great states- men, military hero and orator has addressed the assembled multitudes from the little balcony over the southern door, and the writer of this sketch, by memory's aid, plainly sees the commanding form of President Jackson firmly poised, as he addresses the

enthusiastic throng, his sententious oratory more than half drowned by the prolonged cheering. From that modest balcony, too, has many and many a time irradiated the choice eloquence of the ambitious local politician.

An idea of the extent of the travel by stage at about this time may be gathered from the fact that in 1836 twenty-three stages left Lynn Hotel for Bos- ton daily, and there were also usually several extras. They belonged to the Salem and Eastern lines. These were the brightest days of the old stage-coach, and the gaudy ones of the Salem Line and the more lum- bering ones from the east drew up at those hospita- ble portals at all hours, that the passengers might alight for the relief of their cramped limbs, and, per- haps, for a little convivial entertainment at the bar, the jolly drivers shouting their brief orders with diplomatic unction. Private carriages, baggage- wagons and teams of all descriptions, too, were con- stantly passing and pausing. And for baiting and protection from inclement weather, an unbroken line of horse-sheds extended along the whole eastern side of Centre Street, from North Common to the Turn- pike, and sometimes every one of them was occupied, with an overplus hitched to posts on either side of the house.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 102

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1 Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1538

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538