History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 117

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 117

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1772. Extraordinary amount of snow in March. Storms on the 5th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 16th and 20th. In sixteen days there fell about five feet on a level. On the second Friday in April so violent a storm occur- red that drifts twelve feet deep accumulated.

1775. April 19th. Battle of Lexington; Daniel Townsend, of Lynnfield, killed.

1780. May 19th. The memorable dark day, which extended all over New England, creating great alarm. The darkness was so great that at noon houses were lighted as at night. And the succeeding night was of indescribable darkness, many declaring that it could be felt. The occurrence has never been satisfactorily accounted for. The great astronomer, Herschel, said of it: "The dark day in Northern America was one of those wonderful phenomena of nature which will always be read of with interest, but which philosophy is at a loss to explain." Dr. John Perkins, of Lynnfield, a learned physician and author died, aged eighty-five.

1782. Lynnfield Parish made a district, September 24th. Rev. Joseph Mottey, fourth minister of Lynn- field, settled.

1786. Certain memoranda by Mr. Sparhawk, of Lynnfield, in an interleaved almanac of this year, are of interest in various ways. The mode of reckoning the currency is illustrated in this : "Jannary y" 30th. Bought two piggs by ye hand of Mr. Reed, the barrow weighing 62 pounds, at five pence per pound . . . the other weighing 54 pounds att five pence per pound; " the whole amounting to "two pound, eight shillings and two pence-which is eight dollars and two pence." The following relates to the installation of Rev. Obadiah Parsons over the First Parish of Lynn : "Feb. ye 4th : Then was Installed att ye Old Parish, in Lynn, Mr. Obadiah Parsons. Ye Revnd mr Cleaveland of Ipswich began with prayer, ye Revnd mr. Forbes of Capan preached the sermon, ye Revnd mr. Roby, of Lynn 3d parish, gave the charge, ye Revnd mr. Payson, of Chelsea, made the conclud- ing prayer, and the Revud mr. Smith, of Middleton, gave the right hand of fellowship. The gentleman above mentioned was settled in peace, harmony, and concord." Still another memorandum says: "From ye 14th of June until the 13th of July, a very dry time. And upon y" 14th of July, early in the morn- ing, Jove thundered to the left and all Olympus trembled att his nod. The sun about an hour high ; a beautiful refreshing shower. Again, July ye 15th, the latter part of ye night, Jove thundered to the left, three times, and Olympus trembled. A shower followed." It will be observed that these memoranda were not made by Rev. Nathaniel Sparhawk, the first minister of Lynnfield, as one or two historical writers have stated, as he died more than fifty years before.

1788. John Burnham chosen a delegate to the con- vention for ratifying the Constitution of the United States.

1794. Early part of the winter unusually mild. Thermometer on Christmas day reached eighty de- grees in the open air. Water in the ponds sufficiently warm for boys to bathe.

1800. June 11th, Samuel Dyer, a gentleman from Boston, drowned in Humfrey's Pond.

1803. May. Snow-storm; fruit trees being in blos- som.

1804. July. Snow fell this month.

1806. Newburyport and Boston Turnpike completed at a cost of four hundred and twenty thousand dollars. 1814. Lynnfield incorporated as a separate town.

1815. September 23d, terrific southeasterly gale ; ocean spray driven as far inland as Lynnfield.

1820. Asa T. Newhall elected a member of the Convention for revising the State Constitution.

1824. January 21st, Rev. Joseph Searl, fifth minis- ter of Lynnfield, settled. He was the last preacher of the old Puritanical faith settled over the first so- ciety, his successor, Rev. Luther Walcot, being a Universalist.

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1833. November 13th, extraordinary shower of meteors. It occurred early in the morning, and con- tinued several hours. As computed by Arago, not less than two hundred and forty thousand, some of great brilliancy, were at one time visible above the horizon of Boston. They radiated from a point near the zenith, and shot forth with great velocity, bend- ing their course towards the horizon ; were of various sizes, with well-defined trains. Their bodies were not very dense, and though some explosions were heard, most of them rushed noiselessly onward. The "shower," if so it should be called, extended all over the United States; indeed, over the whole of North America, if not over the whole world, invisible in some places on account of sunlight or clouds. No entirely satisfactory explanation has yet been given. It has, however, been ascertained that similar occur- rences take place periodically, though there is no record of any that approached this in brilliancy.

1837. Surplus United States revenue distributed. Lynnfield received $1328.29, and applied it to pay- ment of town debt.

1840. January 4th, the house of Widow Betsey Newhall, in the South Village, burned.

1842. September 23d, the house of Warren New- hall, in the Ceutre Village, burned.

1843. Splendid comet; first seen about noonday, February 1st.

1850. A son of Joseph Ramsdell, aged ten, killed a rattlesnake in July, measuring five feet in length and having eleven rattles. A tornado passed through the westerly part of the town, about three in the af- ternoon, August 1st, sweeping all in its path. Its track was but a few rods in width, and fortunately no buildings stood thereiu. August 15th, thirteen persons of a picnic party drowned in Lynnfield Pond. August 31st, railroad through South Village opened. December 18th, Asa T. Newhall died, aged seventy- one, and was buried with Masonic honors.

1852. November 26th, first church-bell in Lynn- field raised, on the South Village Church.

1853. James Hewes elected a member of the con- vention for revising the State Constitution.

1854. Railroad through Lynnfield Centre opened October 23d. Boundary line between Lynnfield and Reading established. There was a long and unusually beautiful period of Indian summer, ending October 28th.

1856. October 4, Forest Hill Cemetery consecrated.

1857. Boundary line between Lyunfield and North Reading changed.

1858. Magnificent comet (Donati's) visible in the northwest, at evening, for several weeks, in the au- tnmn. The tail was determined to be, on the 10th of October, fifty-one millions of miles in length.

1859. August 28th, brilliant display of northern lights ; whole heavens covered. November 18th, large barn of John Mansfield, South Village, burned, two yoke of oxen and two horses perishing.

1860. Thomas Woodward, a native of Lynnfield, manufacturer of the celebrated Woodward awls, died, aged eighty-seven years. June 29th, the meeting- house in South Village was struck by lightning dur- ing a severe thunder-storm of three hours' duration. July 18th, muster of Essex County fire companies in Lynnfield.

1861. The great Civil War commenced early in April. Lynnfield furnished sixty soldiers. John P. Mead was mortally wounded at the battle of Bull Run, July 21st. A military encampment was formed in the South Village and a number of regiments there drilled preparatory to leaving for the seat of war. July 2d, a splendid comet suddenly appeared. It was a little west of north, extended from the horizon to the zenith and moved with extraordinary rapidity ; insomuch that it was visible but few nights.

1862. May 4th, Captain Henry Bancroft's barn burned, together with carriage-house and other out- buildings. A horse and several cows perished.

1865. January 17th, Dr. Thomas Keenan, a skill- ful physician and much esteemed citizen, died, aged sixty-one years. He was an Irishman by birth and served as a surgeon in the British army before coming here. The town, at their next annual meeting, passed resolutions of respect for his memory. April 3d, news of the fall of Richmond received. April 15th, news of the assassination of President Lincoln received. During September destructive fires raged in the woods, the weather being very dry and warm.

1866. June 22d, bell on church in Centre Village raised ; weight, eight hundred and thirty pounds.

1867. January 17th, a terrible snow-storm.

1868. During the summer a Lynnfield farmer killed thirteen rattlesnakes.

1869. April 15th, in the evening there was a mag- nificent display of beautifully tinted aurora borealis. During the month of September Captain Henry Ban- croft graded the common land belonging to the First Congregational Society, and known as the " Common," at the cost of about thirteen hundred dollars, bearing all the expense himself. September Sth, severe gale in the afternoon, next in violence to that of Septem- ber 23, 1815. A multitude of trees uprooted.

1870. October 20th, a very perceptible earthquake shock felt at about half-past eleven in the forenoon.

1871. December 18th, old mill on Saugus River, near residence of George L. Hawkes, burned. Tra- dition says the privilege was an ancient grant by the King of England, to ensure the grinding of grain.

1872. The summer of this year was remarkable for the frequency and severity of its thunder-storms.

1873. English sparrows began to make their pres- ence known hereabout this year-probably the progeny of those imported into Boston. It was be- lieved that they would benefit agriculturists by de- stroying ravaging insects, but they did not fulfill ex- pectations, and were soon declared worthless.

1874. March, a Lynnfield lady gives birth to three

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children at one time, making up a family of four in- fants, under the age of thirteen months, and eight children, all under twelve years. The parents, not being in very prosperous peenniary circumstances, were deservedly the recipients of many useful gifts.

1876. The destructive potato bug or Colorado beetle first appears in this vicinity.

1879. December 26th, General Josiah Newhall died, aged eighty-five years. He was Lynnfield's first rep- resentative in the General Court.

1881. September 6th, the yellow day, so called. Early in the afternoon the air assumed a dim, brassy hue. The obscuration was so great that common newspaper print could not be easily read without ar- tificial light; the faces of people were of a light saf- fron hue, and the grass and foliage had a marked golden tinge. The day was close and warm and the smell of smoke very perceptible. September 20th, news of the death of President Garfield received. He was shot hy C. J. Guitean, July 2d.

1882. During the latter part of the summer an ex- traordinary drought prevailed ; crops were almost ruined, and in some places the landscape had a scorched appearance. A splendid comet was visible in the southeast for several weeks in October. It rose two or three hours before the sun; its speed was al- most inconceivable and the nucleus had the appear- ance of partial disruption, as if it had met with some violent collision.

1885. July 23d, President Grant dies. News of his death received the same day.

1886. January 17th, Rev. Jacob Hood died, aged ninety-four years.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

GENERAL JOSIAH NEWHALL.

General Josiah Newhall was born in Lynnfield June 6, 1794, and was a lineal descendant of Thomas Newhall, the first white person born in Lynn, who was himself the son of Thomas Newhall, who came from England in 1630, and was the progenitor of the Newhalls of Lynn.

General Newhall's occupation was a farmer and horticulturist, his interest in these pursuits leading him to become one of the founders of the Massachu- setts Horticultural Society. During the war of 1812 he served in the American army. It was owing, perhaps, to his early experience in bearing arms that he became active in the State militia, In 1824 he commanded a regiment of nine companies which was among the forces reviewed on Boston Common by General Lafayette, at the time of his visit to Boston in 1824. Subsequently, he rose to the rank of Briga- dier-general, and was six years in command of the First Brigade. He was also active in civil affairs.

Under the administration of General Jackson he was several years connected with the Boston custom- house. He was the first Representative elected to the General Court from Lynnfield after the incorporation of that town, and served in the Legislatures of 1826, 1827 and 1848. Ile was prominent in town affairs and served as chairman of school committee twenty- two years.

In November, 1876, General Newhall was elected a member of the Royal Historical Society of London and Great Britain.

General Newhall died December 26, 1879.

JOHN PERKINS.

Captain Perkins was born in the northwesterly part of Lynnfield, on the 18th of July, 1806. His father and grandfather were respectable and thrifty. farmers; and farming has been his own life-occupa- tion.

The Perkins family probably settled here some- where about the year 1650. It is found that Luke Perkins was a soklier in the King Philip War, and marched against the Indians in 1675. He was a pious man, and before departure requested Mr. Cob- bet, then of Ipswich, but previously of Lynn, a min- ister famed for his fervency in prayer, to pray for the safety of the detachment. And it is added, "they all returned in safety."

John Perkins, a later ancestor, married, August 29, 1695, Anna Hutchinson, and had five children,- Auna, John, Elizabeth, Mary and William. Eliza- beth became the wife of' Rev. Nathaniel Sparhawk, who graduated at Harvard in 1715, studied divinity and was settled over the Lynnfield Parish, as its first minister, August 17, 1720. He had four children,- Elizabeth, Nathaniel, Edward Perkins and John. Of these, Edward seems to have become somewhat noted, and was the first person appearing on the Lynn records with three names, the fashion of giv- ing two baptismal names then just beginning. The son John became a physician in Philadelphia.

Another of the family was Dr. John Perkins, who was born in 1695, and lived to the age of eighty- five, having spent much of his lite in other homes. He was a skillful practitioner, but perhaps most widely known by his literary and scientific writings. He was well educated, having studied two years in London. And many years practice in Boston gave him an experience and reputation excelled by few physicians of the period. Some further notice of him appears in the historical sketch of Lynnfield.

It is sufficient, in this connection, to add that the Perkins family of Lynnfield has all along maintained a most respectable position. With few exceptions they have been prosperous and highly regarded.

The present Captain John Perkins, whose portrait accompanies this brief sketch, and who gained his title many years since by being commander of a

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military company, has led a quiet, unostentatious, but useful life. He has been a selectman, assessor and overseer of the poor more than twenty years, and for several years town clerk. He has likewise held a commission as justice of the peace twenty-one years, and represented the town in the General Court. His good judgment and neighborly kindness has always been much in requisition for the guidance and assistance of his less qualified neighbors. And in the settlement of estates of deceased persons, and as guardian of minors, his services and sympathies have been highly appreciated.

Captain Perkins was joined in marriage April 22, 1830, with Catharine S. Sweetser, of South Reading (now Wakefield), and they became the parents of five children,-Catherine E., born May 16, 1832; John H., born December 8, 1833; Mary F., born November 14, 1837 ; Addia J., born September 13, 1845 ; and Clara A., boru July 17, 1849. All the chil- dren are now, 1887, living, excepting Mary Frances, the second daughter.

CHAPTER XXIV.

SAUGUS.

BY WILBUR F. NEWHALL, ESQ.

Situation-Boundaries-Area-River-Settlement-Set off from Lynn-Pop- ulation-Saugus Centre-Cliftondale-East Saugus-North Saugus-Oak- landrale-Geology-Town Meetings-Town House-Almshouse-Cemetery -New Town Hall-East Saugus set off-Water-Pipes-Town Clerks- Representatives-Valuation, Taxation-Polis-Post. Offices.

SITUATION .- Saugus is situated in the very south- ern corner of Essex County.

Should you open before you a map of the county, you will notice that its general shape is a square of about twenty-three miles on each side, with its oppo- site corners or diagonals pointing north and south and east and west. At the very southern corner you will find the township of Saugus. It is five and six- tenths miles long north and south, with a trend some- what west of north, and two and four-tenths miles average width.

BOUNDARIES .- It is bounded northerly hy Lynn- field and Wakefield, easterly by the city of Lynn, southerly by Revere and westerly by Revere, Melrose and Wakefield.

AREA .- Its area is about thirteen and one-half square miles, of which about two and a quarter square miles are salt marsh, occupying the very sonth- ern end of the township, and only separated from Massachusetts Bay by the narrow strip of land known as Revere Beach. Situated only nine miles from Boston, you will see at once that the traffic and travel to and with Boston of the whole county must largely

pass over some portion of its territory. Before A. D., 1800 Boston Street, or the old Boston road, so called, was the only thoroughfare. Soon after this the Salem turnpike and the Newburyport turnpike were built, and in 1838 the Eastern Railroad was opened for travel ; and these now remain the only avenues of communication, through our town, with Boston for the county of Essex.

Saugus is an Indian name, and, as near as can be now ascertained, signifies " extended," suggested, no doubt, by its broad salt marshes.

The Indians applied this name to the whole terri- tory lying between Boston on the south and Salem on the north.

The Indian name of our beautiful river was " Abou - sett," and it is to be regretted that this name was ever dropped ; but the white settlers fell into the custom of calling it the river at Saugus, and finally, very naturally, Saugus River; thus it was we lost the beautiful Indian name of our river.

Our river takes its rise in Quannapowitt Lake, in Wakefield, passes through the broad meadows of Lynnfield and enters midway our northern boundary, when, continuing its southerly course through North Saugus to Saugus Centre, where just below Scott's fac- tory, it meets the tide-water and thence flows in its crooked course through the narrow salt marshes sonth- easterly one mile to East Saugus, where it reaches, and thence becomes, the easterly boundary of the i town for the remainder of its course to the sea.

SETTLEMENT .- The first political status of Sangus is found, October 19, 1630, when John Taylor was admitted freeman to the General Court.

In 1634 Nathaniel Turner, Edward Tomlins and Thomas Willis were Representatives from Saugus to the first Legislature.

In 1636 towns were given authority to choose not more than seven "prudential men" to manage town business.

At that time Saugus not only comprised its present territory, but also that which now forms the city of Lynn and towns of Swampscott, Lynnfield, Reading, Wakefield and Nahant.

But the early settlers, evidently dissatisfied with the Indian name of Saugus, very soon sought to find some more familiar name, and very naturally recall- ing the old English town of Lynn, from which, no donbt, some of them emigrated, it was decided to change the name; and the Legislature granted their petition, for, November 15, 1637, we find on its rec- ords an enactment, said to be the shortest ever passed, as follows : "Saugust is called Lin."

Thus it was that our name was set aside, so to con- tinue until February 17, 1815, when, by a legislative act, onr present territory was set off from Lynn and received again its original name of Sangus. For many years previously it had had a separate ecclesi- astical standing, and was known as the " West Parish."

POPULATION .- The population of the town in 1815

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

was very near 700 persons. April 3, 1815, there were 150 votes cast for Governor. We find by the census of 1820 the population was 748. In 1885 it was 2855. The intermediate years show a pretty constant and regular increase. And although up to 1815 our town had been largely agricultural in its interests and pur- suits, yet it was the approximate period of the in- crease in our manufacturing industries,-shoes and woolen goods in the centre of the town, tobacco in Cliftondale and shoes in East Saugus.

SAUGUS CENTRE .- This brings us to the division of the town into its several villages. Nature provided for these by its isolated sections of territory, suitable for tarmns and dwelling-houses, while separating these sections were, and still are, rocky and wooded hills, rising to no very considerable height and yet sufficient to divert our connecting roads into fixed and almost necessary locations.

Beginning with Saugus Centre, by far the largest section of intervale in the town, we find it located almost exactly in the geographical centre of the town, being bounded on the north by Pranker's mill- pond and on the east by the river. Few villages are so beautifully situated as this, commanding as it does from the top of Round Hill, looking easterly towards the ocean, one of the loveliest views of the river valley.

CLIFTONDALE .- Almost directly south of the Cen- tre, and about one mile distant, is Cliftondale, for- merly known as Sweetser's Corner, reached directly by Central Street alone. Recently this village has taken a wonderful start in the erection of dwelling- houses, there having been built within the past year about forty, mostly by business men and mechanics employed in Boston and Lynn, while some are built by speculators who hope to sell. This section already promises to be a populous portion of the town.

EAST SAUGUS .- Coming back to the Centre again, we shall find southeasterly therefrom, about one mile distant, the village of East Saugus, situated in the river valley, and only reached by one road, now called Winter Street, on the southerly side of the valley. On account of the small area of eligible territory for building purposes, this village is compactly built, and consists principally of two streets-Chestnut Street and Lincoln Avenue-leading up from the bridge to the hill at the south of the village, where stands the village church.

The crooked reach of the river, between the Centre and the East Village, through the narrow strip of salt marsh, is usually kept filled with water by the mill- dam at the East Saugus Bridge, and so serves as a mill-pond, replenished by successive flood-tides and receiving in addition thereto the fresh water from the river flowage.

Almost directly west of East Saugus is Cliftondale, one mile away, and only reached by Lincoln Avenue, formerly called the old Boston road.

Thus we see that these three principal villages of !

Saugus are respectively about one mile from each other, occupying the points of an equilateral triangle, across the interior of which no road passes.

It would almost seem that this triangular district, although made up mostly of rocky hills and hereto- fore neglected, will, some future day, be intersected by winding avenues and dotted with beautiful hillside residences. It remains to mention two smaller villages of our town.

NORTH SAUGUS .- Some more than two miles from the Centre, and in the extreme northerly end of our township, is the village of North Saugus, a section of very excellent farming land. It is reached by Central Street, passing Pranker's factory, and also by the Newburyport turnpike. Saugus River flows beside this village, and its two tributaries, Penny Brook and Hawkes Brook, flow directly through the village. These two brooks have recently been taken for a water supply by the city of Lynn; their waters have been diverted by an artificial canal and carried into Birch Pond, so called, on the eastern boundary of our town.

OAKLANDVALE .- The last village to be mentioned is Oaklandvale. This is situated a mile and a half from the Centre, northwesterly, and is only reached by the road leading to Wakefield and Melrose. This is also an agricultural district, through which flows a stream sometimes called Strawberry Brook, which empties into Saugus River below North Saugus.

GEOLOGY .- The geology of Saugus is a continuation of that of Lynn. The rock formations in both places belong to the east and west system of Hitchcock, as given in his report of the geology of Massachusetts.

Approaching the town from the ocean side, we come to a broad belt of alluvium, beneath which is a thin stratum of sand or gravel, and underlying all is a bed of tough blue clay of unknown depth.

Succeeding this is a broad belt of felsite, generally known as porphyry. It is composed of the finely- comminuted remains of older rocks hardened by heat and pressure to a flint-like substance. It is known to scientists as the Lower Laurentian series, or the rocks that contain the remains of the carliest forms of life.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 117

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