History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 147

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 147

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" I therefore propose to. make a donation of Ten Thousand Dollars for the purpose of establishing a Brauch Library, to be located as before mentioned provided the suggestions and conditions hereinafter stated are satisfactory to all the parties interested.

" First, the Library shall be called and known as the BRANCH LIBRARY of the PEABODY INSTITUTE, Rod shall be under the direction and control of the Trustees of the Institute, in the same manner and to the sume ex- tent as are the funds of the Institute and its library at South Danvers.

Second, Three Thousand Dollars of the amount to be expended at once for the purchase of books, and the fitting up a room or rooms for their reception ; the remainder, Seven Thousand Dollars, to be safely in- vested by said Trustees, and the income thereof to be used by the Lyce- um and Library Committee of the Institute for the increase of the Li- brary, the payment of rent, and for defraying such other expenses as may be incurred in the proper care and management of the same ; the whole income to be used for the exclusive benefit of the Branch Li- brary.

"Third, the inhabitants of Danvers are to be still entitled to the full enjoyment of ull the privileges and advantages of the Parent Library und of the Lycemu, and the inhabitants of South Danvers are to have the right of participating equally in the privileges of the Branch Libra- ry. if, however, it should be found hereafter that this arrangement ought to be modified for the better accommodation and the greater ad- vantuge of all concerned, then this lust provision, as also either of the others, may be altered by general consent ; Buch Alteratien being subject to my approbation.

" It is my desire, gentlemen, that you will, as soon after the receipt uf this as convenient, confer with some of our friends in Danvers, in which conference it is my wish that the Lycom and Library Committee of the Institute should take part, as in all proceedings relating to this matter.

" Very respectfully and truly yours,

" GEORGE PEABODY."

Mr. Peabody designated Rev. Milton P. Braman, Samuel Preston, Joshua Silvester, James D. Black, Matthew Hooper and William L. Weston, to act in the conference, suggested by the above letter, with the trustees of the Institute and the Lyceum and Li- brary Committee. Appropriate resolutions were passed at a town-meeting held Jannary 12, 1857 ; and at the same time it was voted to offer to the trustees for the use of the branch library certain rooms in the Town-House over the selectmen's and town-clerk's offices. And here the library was situated for abont a dozen years. The first delivery of books from the branch library was September 5, 1857. It then con- tained two thousand three hundred and seventy vol- umes.

But as early as the March meeting of. 1857, the town took action towards seenring a suitable lot on which some time to erect a library building. The matter was referred with full powers to a committee consisting of the selectmen and Matthew Hooper and Wm. L. Weston at large; and, by districts, Joshua Silvester, Moses Black, Jr., Aaron Putnam, Francis P. Putnam, James Goodale, Israel W. Andrews, George Tapley and Frederick A. Wilkins. This committee purchased, for four thousand dollars, about four and a half acres, fronting on Sylvan Street, of land formerly a part of Judge Samnel Putnam's estate. Mr. Silvester, Mr. Hooper and Augustus Mudge were appointed to lay out the ground in a suitable manner. This latter committee expended $347.13 in grading, laying out walks, etc., and they set ont two hundred and sixty-one rock-maple trees. In their report they say :

"When Mr. George Peabody was riding through these grounds last August, he seemed to inquire with much interest, what grounds they were; he was answered that it was Peabody Park, a lot purchased by the Town for the Branch Library Building site, and as there is no name sanctioned by the Town, the Committee would Rdvise the adoption of Peabody Park as the future name of this lot. . . The committee would also express their appreciation of the valuable services of one of their number who has been removed by death, Mr. Matthew Hooper, and add their testimony to his worth RS R member of the committee and the high estimation in which he was justly held by citizens of the town."

Ten years passed, long, trying years ; and after the war was over, in the spring of 1866, it was known that Mr. Peabody intended to visit this country again. At a special town-meeting, April 23, 1866, Rev. Milton P. Braman and Daniel Richards were sent to meet Mr. Peabody at New York, and in concert with a delegation from South Danvers to tender him a cordial welcome in behalf of both towns.

This visit was especially auspicious to Danvers. Not contented with the generous gift of the branch library, Mr. Peabody had come prepared to make a far more notable donation. The endowment of the PEABODY INSTITUTE of DANVERS is contained in the following letter :

" To Rev. MILTON P. BRAMAN, JOSHUA SILVESTER, FRANCIS PEABODY, JR., SAMUEL P. FOWLER, DANIEL RICHARDS, ISRAEL W. ANDREWS, JACOB

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F. PERRY, CHARLES P. PRESTON and ISRAEL II. PUTNAM, EsQRS., all of Danvers.

"GENTLEMEN :- In a letter to the Trustees of the Peabody Institute at South Danvers, bearing date of tho 22d of last month, I expressed to theni my purpose of giving, in addition to the Ten Thousand Dollars formerly giveu by me to them for the foundation of the Brauch Library in your towu the sum of Forty Thousand Dollars, making in all Fifty Thousand Dollars for the foundation of a separate and distinct Institu- tion in your town ; and with the understanding that by the necessary muncipal action on the part of South Danvers aud Danvers, ench towu should formally relinquish all rights and privileges in the Library, Lec- tures or other benefits of the other ; and I theu also stated that it would be necessary that the fund heretofore placed in the hands of the Trustees of the Institute at South Danvers for the especial use of the Branch Lib- rary should be transferred to those who should hereafter have it io charge.

"The Town of South Danvers having taken the municipal actiou indi- cated in the letter to which I have referred, I now, with the understand- ing that the Town of Danvers has taken or shall take like action, desig- nate you, gentlemen, as the persons to whom the funds heretofore held by the said Trustees for the benefit of the Branch Library, shall now he transferred, and give you in addition the sum of Forty Thousand Dol- lars; which with the amount thus transferred to you, shall be by you held in trust, or expended under the provision of such Trust, for the establishment of an Institute, for the promotion of knowledge and Mo- rality, in the Town of Danvers, similar in its general character to that which now exists at South Danvers.

"Of the amonot, I direct that the sum of thirty thousand dollars be and always remain permanently invested as a Fund, of which the annual iocome shall be expended, noder the direction of yourselves and your successors for the maintenance, increase, and care of the Library, and the delivery of such Lectures or courses of Lectures, as shall be con- ducive to the purpose proposed in the establishment of the institution.

" The remainder of the amount I have placed in your hands as above, shall be used for the erection of a suitable building for the Library and other purposes of the said Institute, which shall be completed within two years from the date hereof. In the event of any and all the vacan- cies occurring in the number of you, my Trustees above named, by resig- nation, by death, or in what manner soever such vacancy shall occur, I direct that such vacancy shall be filled by the choice of the Inhabitants of the Town of Danvers legally qualified to vote at Towu-meetings, who shall, at a Town-meeting to be called for the purpose as soon as conven- iently may be after such vacancy occurs, make such choice; and I further direct that my said Trustees shall annually make and print a Report, which shall be made public and published setting forth the cou. dition of the Library and of the funds invested.

"And wishing as I do to promote both now, and for all coming time a spirit of Peace, noity and brotherly love, I enjoin upon you and your successors forever the same principles and directions for your guidance in relation to party politics or sectarian theology, or any allusion to them whatever in any of the lectures, meetings or transactions of the In- stitute, which I have already enjoined upon the Trustees of the Peabody Institute at South Danvers, in my letter September 22, 1866, and I beg to refer you specially to that letter, for the rules to be observed in rela- tiou to your future course.

"I have further to ask, that you will communicate the contents of this letter of trust to a town-meeting of the citizens of Danvers at as early a day as convenient.

"I am with high respect your humble servant, " GEORGE PEABODY. "Oakland, Md , October 30, 1866."

RULES REFERRED TO IN MR. PEABODY'S LETTER.

" My earnest wish to promote at all times a spirit of harmony and good will in society, my aversion to intolerance and party rancor and my enduring respect and love for the happy institutions of our prosperous republic, impel me to express the wish that the Institute I have pur- posed to you shall always be strictly guarded against the possibility of being made a theater for the dissemination or discussion of sectarian theology or party politics; that it shall uever minister in any manner whatever to infidelity, to visionary theories of a pretended philosophy which may be aimed at the subversion of the approved morals of society ; that it shall never leud its aid or influence to the propagation of opin- ions tending to create or encourage sectional jealousies in our happy country, or which may lead to the alienation of the people of one state er section of the Union from another.

" But that it shall be so conducted, throughont its whole career, as to

teach political and religious charity, toleration aud benelicenco, and prove itself to be, in all conditions and contingencies, the true friend of our inestimable Uniou, of the salutary institutious of our free govera- ment, aud of liberty regulated by law."

Some question arose as to the best location for the New Institute. At the annual meeting of the town, 1867, the matter was referred to a committee, of which Wm. L. Weston was chairman, who reported, " There are many considerations which would make it desirable that a building such as is proposed should be more centrally located ; but, after conferring with the Trustees, they are nearly unanimous in the con- clusion that the interests of the town will be best promoted by its location on the spot originally se- lected. They therefore recommend the passage of the following vote: That the Selectmen of the town be and they are hereby authorized to transfer to the Trustees of the Peabody Institute the lot known as Peabody Park, for the purpose of erecting thereon, at such time as the Trustees may deem expedient, a Ly- ceum and Library building."

These recommendations were accepted. Time adds each year to the beauty of the grounds and empha- sizes the wisdom of the choice.

Plans for a building were laid before Mr. Peabody and approved by him. On the 10th of February, 1868, a contract was made with Charles H. Smith, of Newburyport, for its construction, for the sum of $18,500. The institute was completed in January, 1870, at a total cost of $29,241. It is a wooden build- ing, inclined to the Gothic style of architecture, eighty-six by fifty-two feet, and contains on the lower floor the Peabody Public Library, and on the second floor a large lecture-hall.

Mr. Peabody was ag.tin expected from England during the summer of 1870. The formal opening of the institute was deferred to the 14th of July, when he, him-elf, was present. A permanent record of the events of that memorable day was made by the gra- phic pen of Dr. Braman.

A few months later, and the world received in sad- ness the news that George Peabody was dead. He died on the 4th of November, 1870, in London. Once more he was borne across the Atlantic, and the canuon of a noble ship of the Queen of England an- nonneed to his native land the arrival of his body-

According to his dying request he was buried from the place where he was born, aud the funeral pomp was such as when a king dies.

The citizens of Sonth Danvers had already honored and perpetuated his name by the acceptance of an act passed by the Legislature April 13, 1868, that " the town of Sonth Danvers, in the County of Essex, shall take the name of Peabody."

The people of Danvers hold Mr. Peabody's name very dear. His gift to them was especially generous, for, were his only motive to remember his birth-place, that might well have been satisfied by his original gift to the old town. The Peabody Institute of Dan-

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vers is a potent influence for education, which, in the words of the donor, " is a debt due from the present to future generations."

Of the original life Trustees Francis Peabody, Jr., Samuel P. Fowler, Israel W. Andrews and Is- rael 11. Putnam are still on the board.

The first vacancies occurred in 1871, when Mr. Braman and Mr. Preston resigned. It was then voted that the term of office of trustees elected by the town should be four years ; and Mr. Preston and Melvin B. Putnam were elected. In 1875 Mr. Preston and Ezra D. Hines were elected. In 1877 Mr. Perry resigned, and Dr. W. W. Eaton was elected in his place. In 1879 Mr. Preston and Mr. Hines were re-elected. At the expiration of Dr. Eaton's term, in 1881, J. Peter Gardner was elected. In 1883 Lucius A. Mudge and William T. Damon were elected. In 1885 Mr. Gard- ner was re-elected. In 1887 Mr. Mudge and Mr. Damon were re-elected, and Joseph W. Woodman was also elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Daniel Richards.

A course of free lectures, concerts, etc., have been annually provided since the winter of 1867-68, at an average expense of about $500.

By an act of the Legislature, March 16, 1882, the trustees were incorporated to hold property to the ex- teut of $300,000.

The list of librarians since the opening of the Branch Library,-April 1, 1857, Nathaniel Hills ; June 24, 1865, S. P. Fowler, pro tem. ; October 9, 1865, Wm. Rankin, Jr .; January, 1867, A. Sumner Howard; April, 1882, Lizzie M. Howard ; January 3, 1885, Emilie K. Davis. A few summers ago the library was closed and the books classified and eata- logued according to modern scientific methods. The special committee were Dr. W. W. Eaton and Rev. W. E. C. Wright, of the Maple Street Church. A contemporaneous report says that "upon the latter rested the heaviest burden of gratuitous work which he has shouldered, although it was a labor of love, and carried through almost without stopping to rest for six months. With what assistance the doctor could find time to give, Mr. Wright has directed and superintended every detail of its preparation, and per formed himself a large part of the most responsible and difficult work."

The whole number of volumes now in the library, 12,024; number of borrowers' cards issued, 2300; average number of books delivered each day, 185.

CHAPTER XXXVIII. DANVERS-(Continued).

INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS-SOCIETIES-PHYSICIANS, ETC.

AGRICULTURE .- Farming has of necessity been most developed within recent years in the line of

market-gardening. Probably nowhere in the county can finer cultivated fields be seen than in this town. Sun and rain, bugs and worms, remain as ever uncer- tain elements, but there has been a wonderful ad- vance in the application of scientific principles. Very much of that broad plain, up which swept the tide of original settlement, is devoted to this sort of farming. The land here is rich and level, and every acre is worked for all it is worth. The Danvers onion is famous everywhere. Hundreds of barrels are raised within half a mile of the Collins House. Much of this land is comparatively new, "Turkey Plain," as it used to be called, having been covered with bushes within the memory of some living, and a hundred years ago thought to be the poorest land in town. The older farms are generally under thor- ough and enterprising management. Many of them make a specialty of producing milk.

An article by the editor of the Massachusetts Ploughman, in that paper November, 1880, is author- ity for the statement that the reputation of Danvers exceeds that of Weathersfield, Conn., for the cultiva- tion of the onion, and, further, that "no town in the State is so distingnished for its superior oreharding." This statement will not here be challenged. If it be true, it is well, and fits well to the fact that here on the " Orchard Farm " of Governor Endicott the first fruit trees of any account in New England-perhaps the whole country-were raised. A hundred years ago pear-trees were to be seen near every farm-house. Some had a few plum and peach-trees. These bore abundantly. Most of the apple-trees were then of natural fruit, and the apples were largely consumed in the shape of cider. An old cider-mill which stood on the General Putnam place was thus constructed. A trench was dug, fifteen inches wide and fifty feet in circumference, and flat stones were placed on the bottom ; the sides were of brick, eighteen inches deep. Apples were thrown in this circular trench, and a heavy stone wheel, drawn by horse-power and re- volving about a central upright, did the squeezing. The apparatus was taken down about 1819. Deacon Joseph Putnam, who owned and carried on this mill, and Abram Dodge, of Wenham, were the first in the county to plant apple orchards of improved varieties for growing winter apples for market. This was soon after the Revolution. At that time farms were val- ued not so much for their location as for the amount of stock they would keep. The Clark farm was then considered the best farm in Danvers, so Wm. R. Put- nam has written. Before the discovery of the uses of coal relieved the fear of a scarcity of wood, every well-appointed farm included one or more peat lots. Here and there peat sheds are still seen in the mead- ows, but it is not common, as formerly, to see about the farm-buildings carefully piled blocks of this sort of fnel. Its most general use was from about 1780 to about 1830.

The Essex Agricultural Society has from the first

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been warmly supported by the farmers of Danvers. Among the incorporators of the society, June 12, 1818, were Frederick Howes and Jesse Putnam. The Dauvers men have always taken a good share of premiums at the annual exhibitions, and they now stand at the head of membership. Charles P. Pres- ton was for twenty-five years secretary of the society, resigning in 1885. Some minutes of the exhibition of 1848 show that Elijah Pope received the first pre- mium for ploughing with double team, and Francis Dodge the second. For working oxen, Orrin Putnam, fourth ; Francis Dodge, fifth. Working steers, Elijah Pope, second. Fat oxen, Perley Goodale, first. Bulls, Orrin Putnam, seeond. Milch heifers, Eben Putnam, third. Yearlings, Franeis Dodge, first. Sheep, Elijah Pope, gratuity, no premiums given. June butter, Charles P. Preston, first ; same, second for September butter.

Jonathan Perry cameto Danvers in 1803, when he was twenty-one years old. In 1815 be bought the Towne farm of some fifty aeres, which has remained in the family since that time. Mr. Perry was the first farmer in Essex County to raise strawberries and dandelions for the market, and for over thirty years he drove a vegetable wagon to Salem. His sons, Horatio and James, followed the same business, and will long be remembered and missed. Shortly before the death of the former, a few months ago, he furnished the writer with some information in regard to his father, who was a most excellent citizen. In the cause of temper- ance and liberty he was first and foremost; he was one of the five who first signed the total abstinence pledge and stood alone for more than a year; he labored earnestly to start the first temperance store in town; he was one of the twelve Liberty Party voters in 1840; was captain of the militia company for a num- ber of years.

SHOE BUSINESS .- All over this part of the country, outside of the thiekly settled villages, a peculiar type of building may be noticed. It has grown dingy from lack of paint, and cob-webs and old hats have not uncommonly usurped the glazier's work. Here a hospital for deerepit plows and rusty guns, there converted into sleeping apartments for poultry, now freshened up into quarters for a "hired help," again abandoned altogether, sitting cozily by the roadside and near by the home, equipped with a chimney and well supplied with windows, the observing stranger- and it must be considerable of a stranger not to know all about it-struck by the number of its duplicates, eould not fail to conelude that it was originally de- signed for some use to which it is not now put.

The little building is a monument to the departed days of the industry here spoken of. It is a shoe- maker's shop. Here, for many years, the "stock" was brought from some one of the manufacturers, and in the intervals between farm chores was made up. It was a family work shop, the boys learning early to use hammer and awl, and the girls " elosing"

and " binding." It was, too, a sort of educational and political exchange. While the pegs flew in at the swift strokes or the black-ball stiek coursed round the freshly trimmed edge, ears were open to some one who read aloud what Horace Greeley said in the last Tribune about Kansas. Town topics and national legislation were here freely discussed, and the forever unsettled questions, which no man will solve until the mystery itself comes, were likewise earnestly and thoughtfully debated. Pair by pair the finished shoes went back into the stock box, and when the sixtieth completed the "set," the hinged lid was fastened down and the old horse took a trip to town for pay and fresh work. Business was steady, pretty much the year round, and there was always the little land to fall back upon,-no fear of slaek times between trades, and no labor troubles.

Machinery has closed the little shops. First a sim- ple roller replaced the old lap-stone. That made no difference. Even when the pegging-machine was successfully introduced "gangs " were formed, and for a time the shops struggled against steam. But -team conquered, and here, as elsewhere, shoes have been made by the hands of many men and women, from cutter to packer, all working under one roof, and, so far as possible, by the aid of power machin- ery.

Danvers was a representative shoe-town in the days of the old regime, and much business is here done in the modern way. The first shoe manufac- turer in town was Zerubbabel Porter, and a little shop at the foot of Porter's Hill, standing until with- in a few years, was the cradle of the business. Mr. Porter was a tanner by trade, and he commenced making shoes in order to work up leather unsaleable for custom trade. This was about the time of the Revolution. That little shop, which was raised from its first condition so that tanning was carried on in the basement and shoemaking above, hecame a sort of normal school in the latter art, from which many graduated to success. About the time young Elias Endicott married Nancy Creasy, of Beverly, in 1791, be, likewise a tanner and currier by trade, built a little shop for that business. That shop now forms the parlor of the present residence of Elias Endicott Porter, above Putnamville. The young man pres- ently added a second story, moved into it, and kept at his business beneatlı.

More additions were made, and about the com- mencement of this eentury, in a small shop still used as a woodshed, he too, following the example of his brother-in-law, began to manufacture shoes. Both found markets in Baltimore and other southern ports, paeking their goods in barrels and shipping them from Salem on board of coasters.

Jonathan Porter worked for his cousin Zerubbabel as early as 1786, and among his apprentices was Caleb Oakes, who commenced to manufacture in the little shop, and later built up a large and prosperous busi-

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ness at Danversport. His widowed mother, who was a Putnam, came here from Portsmouth when he was but two years old. He was brought up by Colonel Enoch Putnam, married Mehitable, daughter of Na thaniel Pope, and is buried with her in the old Pope burying.ground. He was the father of William Oakes, the distinguished botanist.

About 1789 a young boy of fourteen went to Jona- than Porter, to learn his trade, and when he became of age he took out work a year for Caleb Oakes. One day, when he returned a set of shoes and found no stock ready for him, Mr. Oakes sold him a little leather and told him he might cut it up himself. The next set of shoes he made he put into saddle- bags and took them to Boston on horseback. From this beginning Moses Putnam continued with patient industry and sagacity until he became, in the neigh- borhood which bears his name, the chief shoe manu- facturer of the town. He followed the business steadily for fifty-seven years, surviving two sons and a son-in-law, all of whom had been associated with him.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 147

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