History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 129

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 129

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).

It is believed that there is but one other town of the same name in the country, and that one, in Mc- Lean County, Illinois, is a namesake of the first. The western town was laid out about fifty years ago "and it was agreed to call it Danvers, out of regard to Is- rael W. Hall, who came from Danvers, Mass." A speaking acquaintance is maintained between the two towns through the medium of local papers.

It may be interesting to see the record of the first meeting of the district, verbatim :

"At a Legall Meeting of ye Inhabitants of the District of Danvers, Marchiye 4th, 1752, in ye first Parisb in sd District-

" Voted Daniel Epes, Esqr., Moderator for ed Meeting, Voted Daniel Epes, Junr., Esqr., Clerk, & Mr. James Prince Treasurer.

" Voted to Chuse Seven Selectmen for this present year, viz. : four in ye first Parish & three in ye Second Parish, & to chuse hy written Votes, & chose Mr. Archelans Dale, Mr. John Andrew & Mr. Heury Putnam, to tell ye Votes Chosen Selectmen, Daniel Epes, Junt., Esqr., Captain Sam- nel Flint, Dea Coruelins Tarball, Mr. Stephen Putnam, Dr. Samuel King, Mr. Daniel Gardner, & Mr. Joseph Putnam ; & the above Named Persone were chosen Assessors and Overseers of ye Poor.

" Voted to Chuse four Constables, viz. ; Two in ye first and Two in ye Second Parish ; & Chose Mr. David Goodale for yo West Ward in ye first Parish, & Mr. Samuel White for ye East Ward in sd first Parish, and Chose Mr. Roger Derby Constable in ye East Ward, and Mr. Jonathan Twiss Constable in ye West Ward in yo Second Parish.

" Voted to Chuse five Tithingmen, & Chose Mr. Samuel Putnam, Junt., and Mr. Archelaus Putnam, Junr., for ye first Parish, & Chose Mr. Sam- uel Osbon, Junr., Mr. James Upton & Mr. Timothy Upton, for ye Second Parish.

"Voted Mr. John Andrew, Mr. John Preston, Mr. Francis Nurse, Lient. David Putnam, Mr. Jacob Goodale, Mr. George Goold, Surveyors of High ways for the first Parish.

"Voted Ensn Jobn Procter, Mr. Andrew Mansfield, Mr. Jasper Need- ham, Mr. Jonathan Russell, Mr. James Goold, Mr. James Buxton & Mr. Jobn South wick, Junr., Surveyrs of High ways for ye Second Parish.

"Voted Mr. Jonathan Putnam and Mr. John Osbon Haywards.

"Voted Israel Cheever and Mr. James Uptou, Sealers of Leather.

" Voted Mr. Samuel Holton, Mr. Benjamin Putnam, Mr. John Osbon and Mr. Ebenezer Marsh, fence Viewers.

442

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

"Voted Jonathan Putnam & Mr. David Goldthawyt, Clerks of yo Murkett.

" Voted Mr. Daniel Rea to take Care that ye Laws Relating to yo Pre- servation of Deer be observed.

" Voted Mr. Heury Putnam & Mr. David Goldthawyt Surpr of Lum- ber.

" Voted Mr. James Chapman, Mr. Ebenezer King, Mr. John Brown & Mr. Gideon Foster, to Take care that yo Laws relating to yo preservation of alewives be observed.

" Voted Mr. Walter Smith, Mr. John Vinne, Mr. Georgo; Wiat, Junr. Mr. Israel Hutchinson, Mr. John Oaks, Mr. Ebenezor Goldthnwyt, Mr Daniel Marble, Junt., Mr. Jonathan Oshon & Mr. Jonathan Trask, Juor. Hog Reaves.

" Voted Mr. Hugh Kelly, Mr. David Foster & M". Ebener. Boyce, Pound keepers.

" Voted that yo Selection be llereby fully Impowered to agree with the Town of Salem concerning our proportion of the poor in tho Alms House, & Settle ye Number, and take care of them as they shall think best, and make Report of their doings att the Adjournment of this mect- Ing.

" Voted To mend the High ways in sd District by Days' works, and that Surveyors be chosen in Different parts of yo Distr., & that yo select- men shall uppoint ye surveyors their Respective Wards, and the select- men to Tax ye Polls & Estates, and such persons ns chuse to pay their &d Tax in Labour, shall have free Liberty so to do; and such persons as will not pay their Tax in work on yo sd High ways, shall be oblidged to pay the same in mony, according as they are Taxed, and the Surveyors are Hereby fully Authorized nod Impower'd to Collect and Gather the sd Taxes in there Respective Wards, & to be accountable for ye same, to the Selectmen, & the Allowance shall be, Two Shillings and Eight pence p. Day for n man, & that boys & Teams be Left to ye Surveyors to sett ye Vallue, & yo Surveyors shall give Timely Notice to the Persons Taxed in their Lists, not Less than three days and the High way work shall be done, some time between the first day of April & ye first Day of Novem- ber, and att no other Times, Except in Cases where it may Happen that there may be Necessity.

4. Voted That this meeting he Adjourned to ye 18th Instant, att one of the Clock in ye afternoon, to this Place.

": DANIEL EPES, Jun., Distt. Clerk."

"The Inhabitants met according to Adjournment.

" Voted to Excuse David Goodale from being Constable this yenr.

" Voted John Swinerton Constable in yo room of David Goodale.

" Voted Jonathan Twiss Surveyor of high ways in ye room of James Goold.

" Voted Sammuel Osbon, Juor , Surveyor of high ways in ye Room of James Buxton.

" It being put to Vote whither ye Inhabitants will raise Two Hundred Pounds Lawfull mony, to Defray yo Charges of ye District, & the County Tax, Exclusive of high ways for this present year It passed in yo Af- firmative.

" It being put to Vote whither ye Inhabitants will raise one Hundred & Fifty pounds Lawfull mony, to Defray the High way charges. It past in the Affirmative.

" Voted That yo Swino may go att Large, provided that they are yoaked & wringed, &c., according to Law.

"Veted That Meetings of the District shall be warned for yo future, by posting attested coppys of yo Warrants for Calling sd Meetings, on the Meeting-House in yo first parish, & on yo Meeting-Ilouse in yo second parish.

" Voted That ye Selectmen take yo Care of our Interest in ye Alms- house in Salem.

" Voted That ye Selectmen be Hereby fully Impowor,d to Settle with ye Town of Salem, Relateing to yo School mony, & all other necounts, and to Receive ye Mony that may be Due from sd Salem to 118.

"Voted that ye Selectmen be Impowered & Desired to Agree with nome meet Person to keep n Grumer school in ye District as soon na may be.

" Voted Ebenezer Jacobs Constable iu ye Room of Roger Derby. " DANIEL EPES, Junr., Dist. Clerk."

Within two years boundaries were run between the district and all the adjoining towns, and many other measures taken, but the more the inhabitants acted after the manner of towns, the more impatient they grew to become a town. So on the 3d of February,

1755, they passed a vote "that it be the minds of the Inhabitants that the said District be erected into a seperate Town Ship, & that the said Daniel Epes, Junr., Esq., be and hereby is desired and impowered to prefer a Petition to the Great and General Court, and to use his Endeavours to get the same affected."

The act which conferred the full powers of a town upon Danvers, was not, however, passed until June 9th, 1757, and then only after persistent demands and against the protest of Thomas Hutchinson, Gov- ernor.

The population of the town at its incorporation was not far from 2000. The first State census, 1765, gives it then 2133. Subsequent figures may, for conveni- ence, he given here:

1776 2,284

1840 .5,020

1790

.2,425

1850. 8,106

1800

.2,643

18601 5,110

1810

.3,127

1865 5,114

1820

3,646

1870 5,600

1830

4,228

1880 6,598

In 1759 this memorandum was entered on the town records :

" Recd of Daniel Epes, Jun., & Province Note of twenty pound For supporting the French Neutrals tho year past, Being the Charge the Towa was at for the Same."

It recalls the melancholy event of Longfellow's " Evangeline." The English expelled some thousand of these inoffensive people from Acadia in 1755, and in the scattering a few came to Danvers. The only other mention of the unfortunate people is eight years later, when, on the question of supply, "they being gooing off," these votes were passed :

" Voted : to give the French Neutrals something.

" Voted : that the Overseers of the Poor shall allow the French people what they shall think just, and to be drawn out of tho Treasury, and then the moderator dissolved the meeting."

It is common to find in the town records of a hun- dred years ago assessors' returns of the "Number of Coaches, Chaises, etc., in the Town of Danvers." There is an air of aristocracy in these lists, containing the names of those rich enough to "ride in chaises." But twenty-three persons in the whole town owned these vehicles in 1784. Those owning " fall back " chaises were Hon. Samuel Holten, Israel Hutchinson, Esq., Nathaniel Pope, Arch. Rea, Colonel Jere. Page, Joseph Flint, Widow Mercy Porter, Daniel Jacobs, Jr., Samnel Gardner, Captain Timothy Orne, Widow Elizabeth Poole. Nathaniel Putnam owned two "standing-top " chaises, and the following, one each : Benj. Putnam, Zorub. Porter, Colonel Enoch Putnam, Captain Wm. Shillaber, Jos. Southwick, Jr., John Dodge, Ebenezer Dale, Arch. Putnam, Phinehas Put- nam, Amos Putnam, Gideon Putnam.

Regarding maps of the town, as early as 1794, the selectmen were directed to take a plan of the town in accordance with a Legislative act. No further action was taken until 1830, when the same instructions were repeated, and the next year the selectmen were

1 Town divided in 1855.

443

DANVERS.

authorized to publish a map if they should think proper. After some sixteen years, three lawyers, Northend, Abbott and Proctor, were directed to make a complete survey of the town for the correction of the plate. The maps of the old town of Danvers, now somewhat rare, embellished with cuts of "The Naumkeag House, North Danvers, E. G. Berry," " Moses Black, Jr., Wood and Coal-Yard, Danvers- port," "Third Congregational Church," and a few scenes in South Danvers, are printed from this plate.

For about half a century, commencing with 1816, it was the custom of Danvers people to be reminded of the dinner-hour and of bed-time by the ringing of church-bells. In the year mentioned it was first voted "that the Bells be rung at 12 o'clock at noon and at 9 o'clock A. M. (P. M.), provided it does not cost more than $25 at each Meeting-House."

In 1832 Moses Black and others succeeded in add- ing the music of "the Bell at the Neck." The prac- tice has been discontinued since 1863, except for a single year (1874), when the sextons rang its final knell. The dinner-hour seems likely to take care of itself, but if the later alarm could shorten the average "evening out" it might be well to bring it back again.

There were at least two flourishing local military companies a half a century ago. These were the Artillery Company and the Danvers Light Infantry. Doubtless much of interest might be written concern- ing both. This requisition was found among the old papers in the town-house.

"DANVERS Oct. 4th, 1816.

" GENTLEMEN :

" Having been ordered to parade the company which I command for the purpose of inspection and review of arms on the 10th day of the pres- ent month, it is my duty to request yon, Gentlemen, and I do hereby re- quest you, to provide a quantity of good powder sufficient for 100 men (that being the number born on the company roll) agreeable to the 23d section of Massachusetts Militia Law.

" Yours with respect,

" DANIEL PRESTON. "Gentlemen Selectmen for Danvers."

Captain Felton presented a similar requisition for blank cartridges for his company of forty-five; and Captain Asa Tapley, Jr., for seventy men.

By-laws respecting fires, "better to promote the more populous part of the town " against danger, were formulated as early as 1819.

At the annual meeting of 1840, the need of a more complete system of by-laws was met by the election of Dr. Andrew Nichols, J. W. Proctor, John Page, Eben S. Upton and Elias Putnam as a committee of revision and construction, which committee reported to the meeting which elected them that "on examin- ing the existing by-laws, they find them so imperfect and incomplete as to demand an entire revision and new arrangement. . . They would recommend that a committee of one from each school district, together with the selectmen and clerk prepare such a system of by-laws as in their judgment the interests of the town require, etc.," and that the same be printed, distributed and acted upon the next year.

This committee were: No. 1, John W. Proctor; No. 2, Moses Black, Jr .; No. 3, Elias Putnam; No. 4, John Preston ; No. 5, Jeremy Hutchinson ; No. 6, Nathaniel Felton; No. 7, Daniel P. King; No. 8, Samuel Brown, Jr .; No. 9, John Mansfield ; No. 10, Elias Needham; No. 11, Andrew Nichols ; No. 12, Henry Poor; No. 13, Samuel Preston.

Eight years afterwards the subject was revived, and John W. Proctor, Dr. Nichols, Moses Black, Jr., A. A. Abbott and Nathaniel Pope were appointed to draft a new code. At the first annual meeting after the division of the town, that is, in 1856, it became necessary to take a fresh start, and Moses Black, Jr., Edwin Mudge and Francis Dodge were appointed to perform the duty. In 1874 important revisions were made at the suggestion of a committee chosen for the purpose, namely, Rev. C. B. Rice, Israel W. Andrews and Henry A. Perkins. The last revision, 1883, was made by a committee consisting of Rev. C. B. Rice, D. N. Crowley, I. W. Andrews and George Tapley.

The part which Danvers took in the Revolution which came soon after the incorporation of town has been spoken of separately. During and some time after the Revolution the people of the town were con- cerned about small-pox, which in October, 1773, seemed "to spread in several of our neighboring Towns," and Ebenezer Goodale and Dr. Joseph Os- good were chosen to take preventive measures against its appearing here. Though in some respects an un- pleasant topic to write of or to read of, nevertheless much may be learned from the records of these years, before Jenner's great discovery, of the way in which inoculation, which preceded vaccination, was regarded. In the spring of 1777, Benjamin Porter and others pe- titioned "to see if the town will grant Leave to inocu- late for the Small-pox in that part of the Town called the Neck from the house of Benja. porter to the Bridge By Abel Watterses, the Town inhabitants only unless their should not so many of the inhabitants appear to Be Inoculated as could be convend in that case to take in persons From other towns; also to choose a committee to regulate the affair," and an- other committee to apply to the General Court for their approbation. The record of the meeting which considered this petition is short and to the point :

"At a Leagel meeting of the inhabitants of Danvers, may 19th, 1777, Voted, Dr. Amos putnam moderator ; Voted not to Act on the Request of Benja, porter and others ; Voted to Desolve sd meeting, the moderator Declared sd meeting Desolved."

The next year, measures were taken for suitable quarters "for the reception of those persons belonging to this Town who shall be taken with the Small Pox the natural way." Another move was also made for "Liberty to Inoculate such persons as shall chuse to take the Small Pox that way belonging to this town ;" it had a momentary success :

"Voted to Inoculate in the Town for the Small Pox.

"Voted to reconsider the vote respecting Inoculation.

"Voted to dismiss the clanse in the warrant respecting Inoculation : Voted that this meeting be Disolved."

444

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

In May, 1778, the advocates of inoculation gained more substantial yet temporary success. It was then voted " that Captain Derby's house be set apart for the Inoculation in this Town," and three men, whose names signify the interest taken in the matter, Cap- tain Daniel Jacobs, Major Caleb Low and Major Sam- uel Epes, were appointed "to regulate said affair." In less than a fortnight Ezekiel Marsh and others brought to the selectmen their petition to put a stop to inoculation at the Derby farm, though when the selectmen issued their warrant it contained also an- other petition, of Benjamin Balch and others, for in- ocnlation "in that part of the town called the Neck." The former petition was granted; the latter, refused.

Feeling ran high on the subject. This last meet- ing, held on the Sth of Juue, set the seal of its con- demnation unequivocally upon the new and absurd idea. But it was not enough ; it should be killed and buried beyond resurrection. Therefore, four days later another warrant was posted at the meeting- houses giving notice of a meeting on the 15th of June to take into consideration the desire of Mr. Arch's Dale and others for a final stop of the business, and it seems worth while to quote at length from the rec- ord of this meeting. Mr. Dale was himself modera- tor.

"Voted to put a final Stop to the Small Pox by Inoculation in Capt Derby's House, that was allowed of by the Town dureing their Pleasure ; voted that the Stop take place this Day ; voted no person be allowed to enter into Said Derby's House after the 15th of June, 1778, for Inocula- tion ; voted if any Doctr or any other person after the Said 15th Day of June, 1778, Shall Iooculate any Person whatever with the Small Pox in sd House or Teritories thereto belonging, Shall be liable to pay the Same fine that they would have been liable to have paid had they Inoculated without leave from the Town, and incur the Town's Displeasure ; voted if any Person whatever Shall, after the Said 15 of June, 1778, Enter the Said House or teritories thereunto belonging and be Inoculated contrary to the True Meaning of the Town, Shall pay the Same Fines & Suffer the Same Penaltys, which by Law they are liable to as those Persone that Inoculate in their own Houses.

" Voted that all the votes and orders of the Town respecting the Stop- ing of the Inveulation that have or Shall pass be fairly Copied of by the Clerk and immediately Sent to the Docters and others Concerned ; voted to Choose a Committee ; voted the Committee to Consist of three ; voted Capt William Shillaber, Stephen Needham and Aaron Osborn be Said Committee, whose business Shall be to duly Inspect into and See that every vote and order of the Town respecting the Stoping of Said Inocu- lation be faithfully Complied with, and to prosecnte any and every Per- son (if need be) that doth not Comply with the Same. Voted to Disolve thie Meeting, and the Moderator declared the Meeting Disolved necord- ingly.

" Attest : STEPHEN NEEDHAM, Town Clerk."

Thus the matter remained for twelve years. Not till 1792 was any proposition bearing upon the subject brought before the town, and then public opinion had so far changed as to allow " persons to inoculate in proper places," under the superintendence of another committee of solid men.

At the annual meeting of 1793 the town was asked to consider if any allowance should be made " to some of the Persons that have had the Small pox that are poor ; " and three pounds were voted to Nathan Up- ton, who was an unfortunate victim of the "natural way."

More than twenty years later " vaccination " was for the first time the subject of public action. General Gideon Foster's name was at the head of a petition for a town-meeting, held in July, 1815, for the especial purpose of considering the expediency of accepting certain proposals offered by one Dr. Fansher. They were as follows :

"Dr. Fansher bege leave respectfully to propose to the Town of Dan- vers that he will (in case it meets the approbation of the Town) Vacei- nate at such places in the different Neighborhoods throughout the Town as shall be designed by a Committee for the Children to assemble for that purpose, and attend and examine his patients at the proper time to see that each individual are secure from the danger of the small Pox at 25 cents per head, and he believes that no person can possible do this nico business and do it justice for a smaller fee and be the guiner."

These proposals were accepted with the provisions reserved-there must be some Yankee to the trade- that all above six hundred were to be treated gratis. And if any one doubts that this Dr. Fansher was an important man just at this time, let him read the names of the committee chosen to inspect him, "two from each district and three in the districts where the clergymen reside :" No. 1, Rev. Samuel Walker, Squires Shove, Fitch Pool; 2, Rev. Jere. Chaplin, Nath'] Putnam ; 3, Zerub'l Porter, Eben Putnam, Jr .; 4, Eleazer Put- nanı, Daniel Putnam ; 5, Rev. Benj. Wadsworth, Jo- seph Hutchinson ; 6, Nathan Felton, Jonathan Proc- tor ; 7, Jesse Upton, Asa Gardner; 8, John Marsh, Amos King, 3d; 9, John Mansfield, John Douty ; 10, Jona. Walcut, John Jacobs; 11, Gideon Foster, Eli- jah C. Webster; 12, Rich'd Osborn, Nathan Poor.

The following resolutions passed also at this time are well in advance of the times:

" RESOLVED, That this Town entertain a high opinion of Vaccination, and consider it (when conducted by skilful and experienced hands) a sure and certain substitute for the small Pox.

"RESOLVED, That thie Mecting deems it the indispensable duty of a community to make use of the meane that Divine Providenee has given us to guard against every impending evil to which we are exposed, espe- eiully those which involve the health or the Lives of the Inhabitants."

CHAPTER XXXIII.

DANVERS (Continued).

REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.

Nor long after the incorporation of Danvers, began the muttering of discontent all through the colonies because of the hardness of heart of the Pharaoh beyond the seas, and his oppression of his people. Long, long years was the storm brewing, and only the few saw with prophetic eye in the play of lightning on the distant cloud the ontlines of that fearful word, Revolution. These years sifted out the hearts of men with crucial test, and when from the nearing cloud rolled out the thunder of war, patriotism had heroes for leaders.

The "writs of assistance" were issued in 1761; the

445

DANVERS.

odious stamp act passed in 1765, when Franklin wrote, "The sun of liberty is set," and American merchants agreed to non-importation until its repeal. In that year the Colonial Congress met in New York at the invitation of Massachusetts, which form- ulated the rights of colonists, beginning " No taxation without representation." New taxes and the act for the enforced quartering of troops by citizens in 1767 ; the refusal of Boston to furnish quarters; the order for the arrest and transmission to England of leaders of the opposition ; three years of constant irritation and a massacre in the streets of Boston, March, 1770; the tea-party, December, 1773; the Boston Port Bill; the first Continental Congress ; John Hancock's Provincial Congress at Cambridge and its measures for committees of safety and minute men, 1774; then Lexington, war, independence, the United States of America.

Danvers kept pace with these events. How well its citizens grasped the situation of the times and how forcibly and well they expressed themselves, it has been left on the records for any to read who will. They came together after the passage of the stamp act; Thomas Porter was their representative in the General Court, and these are the words in which they instructed him:

"Sr, we the Freeholders and Other Inhabitants of said Town of Dan- vers, in Town Meeting assembled the Twenty-first of October, A. D. 1765, Professing the Greatest Loyalty to our Most Gracions Sovereign and our Sincere Regard and Reverence for the Brittish Parliament as the Most Powerfall and Respectable Body of Men on Earth, yet being Deeply Sensible of the Difficultys and Distresses to which that August Assembly's Late Exertions of their Power in and by the Stamp Act, must Necessarily Expose us, Thinks it Proper, in the Present Critical Con- juncture of affairs, to give you the following Instructions, Viz : That you Promote and Readily Joyn in Soch Dutifull Remonstrances and Humble Petitious to the King and Parliament and Other Decent Measures as may have a Tendency to Obtain a Repeal of the Stamp Act or aleviation of the Heavy Burdens thereby Imposed on the Brittish Colonies.

And in as Much as great Tumults Tending to the Subversion of Gov- ernment have Lately Happened & Several Ontrages Committed by some Evil Minded People in the Capital Town of this Province, you are there- fore Directed to Bear Testimony against and do all in your Power to Seppress & prevent all Riortoss Assemblys and unlawfull Acts of Vio- lence upon the Persons or Substances of any of his Majesty's Subjects ; And that you Do not give your Assent to any Act of Assembly that shall Imply the Willingness of your Constituants to Submit to any Internal Tax that are or shall be Imposed on ns Otherwise than by the Great and General Court of this Province, according to the Constitution of this Government, and that you be carefull not to give your Assent to any Extravigant Grante ont of the Publick Treasurery.

"Other Matters we leave to your Prudence, Trusting you will Act with Honour & Justice to your Constituants and Dne Regard to the Publick Wellfair.

"Attest : ARCS. DALE, T. Cler.

On the 20th of September, 1768, a meeting was held at the North Meeting-house to "see if the town shall send one or more persons to joyn committies of Boston and other towns in a convention to be holden at Fanueil Hall on the 22nd instant," and by unani- mons vote Mr. Samuel Holten, Jr., was desired to represent the town in the convention. In December following he was voted two pounds and fifteen shil- lings for his service. Dr. Holten was charged "to look well to the rights of the people," and so con-

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 129

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