History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 107

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 107

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

LYNN REGIS .- It is within the knowledge of the writer that some good people of the ancient borough of King's Lynn now take a lively interest in what pertains to our own Lynn, which, during its compara- tively short life, has so far outstripped its prototype, in population at least. They appear to regard us as a sort of vigorous child, a little presumptuous, per- haps, but one in whose prosperity they may delight, as if in some mysterious way it contributed to their honor. It is but a few years since they learned any- thing of us. Less than fifteen years ago a lawyer there assured the writer that to him our Lynn was only known through Longfellow's "Bells of Lynn."

The celebration of our Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary, to which some of the authorities there were invited, had much to do with rendering our name familiar. And then the Christian sympathy engendered by the giving and receiving of the stone from the ancient wall of stately old Saint Margaret's, to be wrought into the rising wall of Saint Stephen's, was a significant occurrence.

It is true that not a large number of our early set- tlers came from that place ; but there were one or two of more than ordinary family connection. It is not necessary to here speak of the eminent Whiting, through whose instrumentality the names of the places were made identical ; nor of some others else- where named. But it may be interesting to note in passing, that Richard Hood, ancestor of George Hood, our first mayor, who settled on Nahant Street, was from Lynn Regis. Several old names common in both places conld be mentioned -- a fact which, though not conclusive evidence of near family connec- tion, are yet strongly indicative of kinship. For in- stance: There was a Thomas Laighton, mayor of Lynn Regis in 1476 ; and one of our most active and enterprising settlers was Thomas Laighton, who lo- cated near Saugus River in 1635. Edward Baker was mayor of the borongh in 1550; and from Edward Baker, who came hither in 1630, Daniel C. Baker, our third mayor, descended. Benjamin Keene (a later name with us) was mayor of old Lynn in 1683. In 1737 "Charles, Lord Viscount Townsend, was Lord High Steward of Lynn Regis." He undonbt- edly belonged to the same Townsend family with Thomas Townsend, who came from Norfolk and set- tled as a farmer at an earlier date, and of whom many

descendants remain here and elsewhere in New Eng- land. And by the way, at that date, 1737, the chief officials under Townsend were a recorder, thirteen aldermen, eighteen Common Councilmen, a town clerk, treasurer, chamberlain, sword-bearer, four sergeants at mace and five musicians, with blue cloaks trimmed with gold and badges, a jailer, two beadles and a bellman. Our city government is not organized ex- actly after that dignified model, which is here pre- sented merely for comparison by the curious. Such genealogical and municipal connections are really of little importance, but the latent interest that all pos- sess in such tracings give them a sort of charm. In the case in hand, it is thought they are sufficient to justify the occupation of space enough to recount a few prominent facts in the history of our ancient pro- totype.

Lynn Regis, King's Lynn, or, as it is commonly called by its own people, simply Lynn, is an interest- ing old place on the river Ouse, in Norfolk, a mari- time connty that has ever maintained its reputation for loyalty and aristocratic pride. Many illustrions Englishmen have been born there, and a long list of distinguished men have represented her in Parlia- ment-several of them statesmen of world-wide repu- tations. Sir Robert Walpole was elected for Lynn, in 1702. He soon became Secretary of War, then Secretary of the Navy, and finally, after a brief period of eclipse, attained positions of still greater dignity ; and, as has been remarked, for a series of years "his life may be said to be the history of England." Can- ning, too, sometimes called the most eloquent and sagacious statesman of his day, was elected to repre- sent Lynn. Lord George Bentinck was returned for Lynn, in 1826, and continued her representative till his death. The Catholic Emancipation and Reform Bills had his support. He subsequently became the acknowledged head of the Conservative party, and was what we now call a protectionist. But he was never an over-strict partisan. On the death of Lord Bentinck, Stanley, Earl of Derby, was elected for Lynn. To his great ability in the management of public affairs is largely attributed the surrender of the East India Company to the crown. During his colo- nial secretaryship the great Sepoy revolt was brought to a close. On the decease of his father, in 1869, he entered the House of Lords. The able and accom- plished Governor of Madras at the present time, 1886 was for many years Lynn's representative in Parlia- ment. Other eminent representatives of old Lynn might be named, but the list need not be extended. What has been said may not be of great interest, but it affords ground for the question, When will our own Lynn be represented by such men in the councils of the nation ? By the presentation of worthy examples a spirit of noble emulation may be stimulated.

From this ancient borough and its vicinity came some of the most valuable New England immigrants. And descendants from old Norfolk families are now

22%

346

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

found in every direction, though, as just remarked, not a large number came to our own home. In Win- throp's company, which arrived at Salem in 1630, were a number of substantial Norfolk farmers. Says the careful Mrs. Jones : " It is not alone the relations of Coke and Roger Williams which have given to some spots in New England and elsewhere a flavor of this island's eastern shore. If it were sought to trace such international links, Norfolk would be found to have thrown out many threads across the water, which have attached it invisibly but absolutely to American ground."

Sandringham, the seat of the Prince of Wales, to which he retires for needed rest, is in Norfolk, almost within the territorial limits of Lynn. It consists of something more than eight thousand acres, and is in a high state of cultivation and adornment. It was in this princely abode that the royal heir so long lay be- tween life and death when stricken by typhoid, in the dreary weeks of November, 1872. It was there, too, that the joyous event of the arrival of his sou, Albert Victor, at the age of twenty-one, was recently so en- thusiastically celebrated. There, likewise, was the last Christmas, 1886, celebrated in right royal style. The Prince and Princess were both present. To the laborers and cottagers on the estate were prime joints of beef distributed to the amount of nine hundred and eighty pounds. How much English beer and other nsual Christmas adjuncts were added must be left for the imagination, as nothing appears in the account at hand of the entertainment.

A brief chronological statement of events during an interesting portion of the history of our venerable archetype must close the present record.

A. D. 1100. St. Margaret's Church founded by Her- bert, the first Bishop of Norwich, in expiation of his simony. It was from the wall of this ancient temple that the stone which, with its friendly inscription, now rests in the vestibule of our own St. Stephen's was taken. It was presented by the authorities of St. Margaret's when St. Stephen's was in process of erecton, 1880, and brought over by Col. R. G. Usher. The inscription reads, "St. Margaret's Church, Lynn, England, to St. Stephen's Church, Lynn, Mass., U. S. A., 28th June, 1880."

1204. Lynn made a borough town with burgesses, in this, the sixth year of the reign of King John. And in 1268 it was made a mayor-town.

1469. King Edward IV. came to Lynn with a great retinue, took shipping and went to Flanders. One of the most interesting relics now remaining in Lynn is the ruin known as the Chapel of " Our Lady," pic- turesquely situated on an elevation in the beautiful " Public Walks." The visible parts, those above ground, which were built under a license granted in 1482, form a superstructure to the lower, underground parts, which were built at an unknown and much earlier period. The structure is small, but bears evi- dence of having originally been an elaborate and |

richly-adorned shrine; and was probably established for the entertainment of wandering pilgrims, and as a sacred asylum from all secular intrusion-a sanct- uary. It was in this retreat that King Edward is said to have lodged when he reached Lynn on his way to Holland, in 1469, his retinue finding quarters else- where. It will be remembered that these were the times of the bloody strife between the houses of York and Lancaster, and that he was son of the Duke of York. While here, in the asylum of "Our Lady," he was safe.

1458. Mention is this year made of a boy choir in St. Margaret's Church.

1498. King Henry VII., his Queen and Arthur, Prince of Wales, visited Lynn, and were entertained by the Augustine Friars. He came in state, with a numerous retinue. The Augustine Friars were a mendicant order, much of the character of the Jesuits of the present day ; were a learned body, and min- gled more in society than most other orders. They settled in Lynn about 1275, and continued till 1539.

1519. Cardinal Wolsey visited Lynn, attended by many lords and gentlemen. It was now that the cel- ebrated prelate was in the zenith of his glory, held the Sees of Bath and Wells, of Worcester and Here- ford, together with the rich Abbey of St. Alban's. Bnt disappointment in his ambitious yearnings soon overtook him; his downfall came; and in about ten years after his visit to Lynn death closed his event- ful career.

1531. A maid, for poisoning her mistress, is boiled to death.

1535. A Dutchman is burnt in Lynu market-place for heresy.

1536. The Carmelites, the Dominicans, the Augus- tines and the Franciscans, four orders of friars, totally suppressed in Lynn.

1546. All the streets of the town paved. The guilds and chanteries all suppressed, and the lands belonging to them forfeited to the King, Henry VIII.

1549. Several rebels executed at Lynu.

1553. Lady Jane Gray proclaimed Queen of Eng- land, at Lynu, by Lord Audley.

1561. Popish relics and mass-books burnt in the market-place at Lynn.

1566. The first ehime of bells placed in the tower of St. Margaret's Church. This seems to have been a set of five bells, the largest of which could be heard ten miles off. Some years after the number was increased to eight, and in 1887 to ten, the Mayor, on the occasion of the Queen's jubilee presenting one, naming it " Victoria," and the mayoress one, naming it " Albert." They were first rung on the jubilee day , June 21.

1567. A Dutch ship, then lying in the harbor of Lynn, shot down the spire of St. Margaret's Church and several crosses.

1568. Popish vestments, relics, crucifixes and beads burnt in the Lynn market-place.

347

LYNN.

1574. The plague prevailed in Lynn.

1575. A severe earthquake felt in Lynn.

1576. Queen Elizabeth visited Norfolk in August. The corporation of Lynn presented to hier a beautiful purse, wrought with pearl and gold, and containing a hundred old angels, the whole value being two hundred pounds. On the 16th of the month, in her progress through the country, she dined at Bracon- Ash Hall, being entertained there hy Thomas Town- send, Esq., who, no doubt, was grandfather of Thomas Townsend, who came over to our Lynn, in 1636, and settled as a farmer, near the iron-works. He was a cousin of Governor Winthrop. The wife of Thomas, the entertainer of the Queen, received from Her Ma- jesty the gift of a beautiful gilt bowl in acknowledg- ment of the hospitality she had received. Daniel Townsend, one of the four Lynn men killed at the battle of Lexington, was a lineal descendant. Some- thing more relating to the Townsends may be found in the sketch of Lynnfield.

1588. The "Feast of Reconciliation," so called, es- tablished in Lynn. This was a meeting of the mayor, aldermen, Common Council and ministers, " in order to settle peace and quietness between man and mau, and to decide all manner of controversies." It seems as if some such institution might in our day settle more satisfactorily such controversies as fester in our inferior courts. And perhaps labor troubles might come in for adjustment.

1590. A womau named Margaret Read burnt at Lynn for witchcraft. In 1598, Elizabeth Housage ; in 1616, Mary Smith ; and in 1645, Dorothy Lee and Grace Wright were hanged for the same offense.

1605. A great fire occurred in High Street, Lynn, a man, his wife and three children perishing in the flames.

1621. A man, while ringing the great bell of St. Margaret's, was drawn up by the rope and killed.

1626. Lynn received from London several large cannon for the defense of the town, and St. Anu's fort was built.

1629. A stool for weighing children was this year erected at the charge of the corporation.

1636. Fourteen vessels belonging to Lynn were this year lost by the violence of storms. The plague also prevailed, insomuch that no market was held. Temporary erections were prepared for the afflicted ones of the poorer classes under the town walls.

1642. Lynn received seven pieces of brass canuon from London, for the more effectual armament of the fortifications. In August the town was besieged by the Parliamentary forces and suffered occasional bombard- ment till September 16th, when it was surrendered by agreement, only four having lost their lives and a few being wounded. The town was required to pay to the Earl of Manchester's army three thousand two hundred pounds. It soon became a Parliamentary garrison town, and so continued till 1652.

1643. Puritanism having gained the ascendency,

the " curious painted glass " in St. Margaret's Church was ordered to be taken out and plain glass substi- tuted.

1654. Cromwell renewed and enlarged the charter of Lynn. And in the churches the arms of the Com- monwealth were substituted for the royal arms.

1655. Lynn again made a garrison town.

1660. The restoration celebrated. Three hundred young maidens, tastily arrayed in white, parade the streets. There was great rejoicing in Lyuu at the restoration, for the place had always remained essen- tially loyal. The oaths of allegiance and supremacy were readily taken by the leading citizens, and the train-bands indulged in musters and military shows. Many of the former customs and observances were revived ; among them the early divine service at St. Margaret's-five A. M. in summer and six in winter -which had been suspended for ten years.

1682. Two new May-poles set up in Lyun.

1686. Great rejoicing in Lynn at the erection of a statue of King James II.

1745. February 8th, Eugene Aram, that remarkable individual whose learning and fate have made him historical, commits the murder for which he was finally executed and his body hung in chains. He lived in Lynn, was teacher in the academy there at the time of his arrest, in 1759, and so much beloved by his pu- pils that many tears were shed when the constables,

" Two stern-faced men set out from Lynn, Through the cold and heavy mist, And Eugene Aram walked between, With gyves upon his wrist."

The school is still flourishing. Upon the leads of Gray Friars' Tower, which yet remains one of the most conspicuous objects in Lynn, and which is near the school, may yet be seen the name of Aram, scratched, it is said, by his own hand. Bulwer's novel, entitled " Eugene Aram," was probably suggested by the familiarity of the author with the legends and surroundings of Lynn, he having an auut residing there.

The foregoing will be sufficient for a glimpse at the history of our ancient prototype, with some of the vicissitudes to which she has been exposed and some of her doings characteristic of the times. But to oc- cupy space with events of later date would hardly be justifiable.

CLOSING REMARKS .- In bringing this imperfect sketch of Lynn to a close, it may be remarked that the several topics introduced have been as fully treated as the allotted space would allow. And in the choice of topics it has been the endeavor to select such as on the whole would prove most interesting and best fitted to illustrate the principal object in view.

Glimpses of its situation, its beautiful surroundings and natural resources, have been given ; the labors, sacrifices and sufferings of the people in its earliest days, their leading characteristics, hopes, enjoyments and expectations, have been touched upon ; and the

348

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

progress onward to the present day of comfort, thrift and attainment in wealth, education and the higher arts of life, has been traced-all according to the pre- scribed limits and the ability of the writer.

Something of the character of the people in the different periods is to be found in the numerous per- sonal notices scattered through the pages. And the employments on which the prosperity of the place has grown have not been overlooked. Considering the condition in which we now find ourselves, a little self-gratulation may be pardonable. The aspect of things as they now exist may be called reasonably au- spicious, and the prayer is that they may ever contin- ue so, while generation succeeds generation as wave succeeds wave upon our shore, ceasing only when those waves cease to roll.

Could one of the old settlers arise-for instance the intelligent Sadler, whose modest habitation nestled at the foot of the hill by which the writer is penning these closing lines-what would be his astonishment ! The natural features of the surroundings, the rocky ravines, the green hills, the meadows, the placid river, the sunny isles have undergone but little change. But the plain which he then overlooked, stretching from his feet to the sea, with the smoke of its few rude structures curling upward among the trees, now bears a wide-spread city. And the great waters beyond, which then presented an unbroken field of blue, are now traversed by floating craft of all de- scriptions, from the huge steam-puffing leviathan that bridges the watery way to his old home on a far-off continent, to the tiny pleasure-boat. Over the then silent hills and through the lonely valleys now echo at early morning the awakening whistles summoning to labor in the numerous factories, at evening repeat- ing their shrill notes as the hours of labor close.

It can well be imagined that he often seated him- self upon the mossy crest of the cliff that still hears his name, and which towered above his lonely habi- tation, at evening twilight,

"When every sound of day is mute And all its voices still, And silence walks with velvet foot O'er valley, town and hill,"

and when

" The music of the murmuring deep Sooths e'en the weary earth to sleep,"

there to meditate till the darker hours of night drew on, the primeval stillness disturbed only by the rust- ling of the breeze in the leafy woods, or haply at in- tervals by the bark of the fox, the howl of the wolf, the loot of the owl or the melancholy note of the whip-poor-will. Could he then in dreamy forecast have imagined a time like the present-a time when

" Over the marshes mournfully Drifts the sound of the restless sea,"

forming an eternal foundation harmony to the hum of a busy city, the ceaseless rumbling of railroad trains speeding along with fiery wake and echoing shriek,

and the many other then unknown sounds that now succeed the feverish palpitations of bustling day ? As his eye scanned the dark horizon, then unrelieved even by the glimmer of a coast light, could he have imagined that a hrightly-lighted city, with its central electric illuminations and its outposts of lambent gas, would ever appear within those murky borders ?

But after all our boasted privileges, inventions, prog- ress and attainment-after all the revelations in phil- osophy, science and mechanics-after all our steam- driven machinery, telegraphs, telephones, gas and electric lights-are there better, wiser, nobler men and women-better rulers, statesmen, philanthropists -better fathers, mothers, children-than there were in days of yore? Probably not. Mankind preserves about the same old average, and very likely will, to the end of time. While we look with compassion upon what we call the unprogressive state of the races below us, are we sure that those above us do not look with pitying eye upon our own condition ? Yet to come down to our own limited case, there appears reason for congratulation in that the great rank and file of the community are at this day in a physically better condition than at any former period ; better fed, clothed and sheltered ; better provided with the neces- saries, conveniences and comforts of life. Some pseudo-philosophers are wont to boast that this gen- eration has reached a higher plane in all respects than any before known. Let them take comfort in the be- lief; but the true moralist may well maintain that the plane of perfection is yet a great way off. So let us heed the words of the old dramatist :

" Fascal. How, now, Sir Francis ! Knowest thou not there is a niche, A blessed niche, provided for each one ? The virtuons and diligent will gniu it ; The vicious and the slothful, never ! "

BIOGRAPHICAL.

ALONZO LEWIS.1

The Lynn Bard was born at Lynn, Mass., on the 28th day of Angust, 1794, and the house in which he was born is yet standing in Boston Street, on the corner of Robinson. He was descended on his fath- er's side from an old Welsh family, a family that traces its lineage, through generation and generation, back to the native princes of Wales, princes that reigned years anterior to the conquests of the Angles and Saxons, and even before the Romans made their appearance in Britain. As the Angles and Saxons absorbed the ancient Briton, so did they, in their turn, become absorbed by the later Normans, and the old Welsh Llewellyn got, in the course of time, to be translated into the more modern Lewis. The first of

1 By Ion Lewis.

Monto Lawy

349

LYNN.

the family to appear in this country was William Lewis, who came here from Glamorganshire, South Wales, in 1636. There is more or less French-prob- ably Norman French-influence in the modern family, that undoubtedly crept in at the Norman invasion, and is manifest in the family motto, "courage sans peur." And the evidence of a participation in the crusades under Richard is seen in their crest, a Sara- cen's head. The Lewis coat of arms is a lion ram- pant on a field azure. The descendants of this Wil- liam Lewis are not very numerous, most of the name in this country being of English descent. Governor Morgan Lewis, of New York, son of Francis Lewis, a signer of the Delcaration of Independence, was of the same family, although the latter came to this country a century later than William Lewis. In the matter of genealogies, however, anything ante-dating the Norman conquest, or even the fourteenth centu- ry, is liable to dispute.

Mr. Lewis received a sound and thorough educa- tion, but not content with the mere instruction of the schools, he pursued his studies, and with vigor, through the whole extent of his life. As a linguist he acquired considerable proficiency in the commoner modern and ancient languages. He had an evident delight for study, and loved to teach, being at one time head-master of Lynn Academy, and at others, of one or two grammar schools in Lynn. In 1831 he established a young ladies' school in Boston, but does not seem to have continued it long. In 1835 he abandoned the profession of teacher.

From his early yonth he evidenced a strong poetic temperament, and several of his poems were written at an early age, some bearing the date of 1811, Mr. Lewis being then but seventeen years of age. In 1823 he collected and printed his first volume of poems, a book of two hundred pages, but, as he says in the preface, more for private than for public circu- lation. This volume contained many of his best poems, including "Farewell to my Harp." In 1829 was published the first edition of the History of Lynn, a work of immense labor. The work was the first in the field of local histories, and is called to this day by good authorities one of the best local histo- ries ever written. Two years later, in 1831, appeared another volume of poems, containing many of the 1823 edition and others written in the interval. An- other edition of the history was published, and in 1834 appeared the last volume of poems, which im- mediately became very popular and went through fourteen editions, being most favorably received by the critics both in this country and in England.

In addition to the above Mr. Lewis published a small English grammar, and another small work on geometry, beside a descriptive sketch called, “ A Picture of Nahant." During his whole life he wrote much for the newspapers and magazines of the time, both in prose and poetry. He edited an anti-slavery paper in Lynn before the appearance of the Libera-

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 107

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