History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 155

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 155

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).

Scores of extended articles in the Danvers Mirror on local history and traditions, running through a series of years, attest his fondness for this sort of lit- erary work. Future historians will find in them a rich thesaurus of materials, historical, biographical and genealogical, carefully collated for their use.

In 1882, under the pressure of his long-continued and laborious pastorate, Dr. Putnam's health began to decline. His robust constitution could no longer resist the strain to which his multifarious cares and engagements subjected it. Promptly and affection- ately, his church voted to give him a year's leave of absence, that he might revisit foreign shores, to con- tinue to him his salary, and to supply his pulpit. He was also generously supplied with funds to defray his personal expenses abroad.

Removing his family for the year to Concord, Mass., the ancestral home of his wife, he sailed for Europe on his birthday, January 10, 1883. After a delight- ful winter in the south of France, where his restora- tion to health and to the natural elasticity of his spirits was, as he thought, assured, he visited London in May, and was a welcome guest at the Unitarian Conferences, then in session in the city. Here, be- fore various bodies, he delivered several addresses, one of which, by special request, was on the Aspects of Unitarianism in America. Its decidedly conser- vative tone awakened at once a profound interest among his hearers, and at its close drew a running fire of criticism, for and against the positions as- sumed, from the eminent scholars and divines who were present. Subsequently, the discussion was taken up by the religious press, on both sides of the Atlan- tic, Dr. Putnam publishing trenchant articles in his own defence.

He sailed from Liverpool for home July 4, 1883. With some misgivings, confirmed indeed by medical advisers, he immediately returned to his pulpit, and re-assumed all the burdens his versatile talents had hitherto imposed upon him. The struggle, however, was in vain. His enfeebled constitution soon admon- ished him that a longer period of rest was impera- tively necessary. Accordingly, early in April, 1886,

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he resigned his pastoral office, with regretful sympa- thy on the part of the church he had so long and so faithfully served, and heartfelt sorrow on his own. A testimonial from his grateful parishioners, accompa- nied by the munificent gift of fifteen thousand dol- lars, fitly expressed their appreciation of his high character, and the esteem and affection in which they held him. Resolutions of similar import were passed by the other organizations with which he was offi- cially connected; and the papers of the city made warm, eulogistic mention of his life and labors in Brooklyn.

The Long Island Historical Society generously put on record " the deep sense entertained by all its mem- bers of the value of the service which Dr. Putnam has cheerfully rendered it for many years, by his wise counsels, by his faithful and intelligent participations in its discussions, and his generous and efficient as- sistance in accomplishing its plans," Rev. Dr. Storrs, president, adding that "the highest regard and es- teem of all the members of the board will follow Dr. Putnam to his future home, wherever that may be, with their best wishes for his speedy and complete restoration to health, and for his continued enjoy- ment aud usefulness in the service which they do not doubt he will render elsewhere, as he has so signally rendered it here, to the cause of good letters, of his- torical enquiry, and of the best social culture."

The opening words of a Brooklyn Eagle editorial were as follows: "The resignation of the Rev. Dr. Putnam, of the First Unitarian Church, will occasion regret beyond the boundaries of the society. He has been a faithful and devoted pastor, and this implies a good deal in a term of service of twenty-two years, including, as it does, not merely the delivery of ser- mons, but the personal work which brings the minis- ter into intimate relations with many people in the sharp crisis of life and death. Dr. Putnam, during that period, has been also an active and useful citi- zen, bearing an interested part in those public enter- prises which in Brooklyn know no denominational lines. An unanimous expression of good will, with hearty hope for his restoration to health and his prosperity everywhere and at all times, will accompa- ny him in his retirement."

The Brooklyn Union closed an article with this: " His name has been connected with many benevo- lent movements. He was an earnest worker for the Union for Christian Work, the Mission School and many other charitable enterprises. He was a con- spicnous figure in helping to relieve the distress of those who were made widows and orphans by the de- struction by fire of the Brooklyn Theatre. He also did much towards familiarizing people of all denom- inations with the life of Dr. Channing in the services which were held in his commemoration. Apart from his ministerial work Dr. Putnam has filled a large space in the public mind by his untiring labor in for- warding the great and growing interests of the city

in which, as pastor and citizen, he has spent the best years of his life."

Rev. Almon Gunnison, D.D., pastor of the All Souls' (Universalist) Church, in Brooklyn, wrote to the Christian Leader, of Boston, of which paper he has long been the regular correspondent :

" We record with great sorrow the resignation of Rev. Dr. A. P. Put- nam, the pastor of the First Unitariau Church in Brooklyn. He has had a long and triumphant pastorate of over twenty years, and gives up a successful work on account of ill-health. He has gone South, and it is expected that freedom from care and rest, will bring complete restora- tion. Dr. Putoam is well-known in our denomination, as he is of Uni- versalist parentage, and has always been in thorough sympathy with our faith and the genius of our church. He has been outspoken in his utterances and fraternal in his fellowships. A preacher of large ability, a gentleman of noble instincts, he has been identified with every good work in the City of Churches, and his strong personality has counted for much iu educational, philanthropic, reformatory and religions work. He has been the most helpful of yoke-fellows, ready always for neigh- horly service, quick in his sympathy in sickness, swift to speak the ap- preciative word and to do the kind act. His resignation will be re- gretted not only by his own people, but by all liberal believers, and, in fact, by all of every faith, who cau appreciate the influence of a strong, sweet-souled, consecrated Christian worker."

Of the various biographical sketches of him which have appeared from time to time, and to which we have been greatly indebted for our materials here, we copy the following extract from J. Alexander Pat- ten's " Lives of the Clergy of New York and Brook- lyn," as showing his character as a preacher and his theological position :

"Dr. Putuam preaches with much effectiveness. There is great com- prehension in his thought, and he is able to give expression to it in terms ef rare couciseness, and not le-sof beauty. All that he says has this vigor of meaning and force of application, and much of it is delivered in the most classic and glowing picturings of eloquence. In his argu- ment, he addresses himself to an elaborate and practical consideration of his subject, and you are led along with him, without tediousness, but rather allured by the attractive interweavings of a warm and chaste fancy. And herein is it that this gifted preacher excels. Your atten- tion is instantly riveted by the smoothness of his periods and the ele- gance of sentiment which usher you to profound discussion and lofty im- agery. He belongs to the Channing school of Unitarianism. Holding to his particular tenets with all the strength of his intellect and his love, he stands prominent among their ahlest expounders, and in a pure, con- sistent life seeks their practical illustration before his fellow-men."

One of his sermons, delivered in Roxbury in 1861, at the outbreak of the civil war, on the Flag of our Country, has become widely known, and is published in text-books, as a model of fine diction aud im- passioned eloquence.

Dr. Putnam received his degree of D.D., from his alma mater, Brown University, in 1871.

In 1877 he was invited to become the pastor of the Unitarian Church in Quincy, Mass., but he declined the call. While in Roxbury he was elected president of the Unitarian Sunday-school Society. After his removal to Brooklyn he was made vice-president of the New York and Hudson River Unitarian Confer- ence, and was also elected as its president, but the latter position he declined. For a time he edited the Liberal Christian, a Unitarian weekly paper, pub- lished in New York City. When, years ago, the project was on foot to remove the Meadville (Pa.) Theological School to Chicago, Ill., and there enlarge

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and endow it, the leading man of the denomination who had charge of the enterprise asked Dr. Putnam to be- come president of the new institution, but the friends at Meadville could not be reconciled to the loss of the school, and the plan was therefore abandoned. Dr. Putnam was a member of the Century Club in New York, and also of the similar organization, of later origin, in Brooklyn, the Hamilton Club, as well as of the Brooklyn Art Associatian. He is also a member of the New England Historical and Genealogical So- ciety, and of the American Historical Association.

In politics Dr. Putnam was an ardent Free-Soiler in old anti-slavery days, and often preached from the pulpit and spoke at political meetings in behalf of the slave and the cause of liberty. While a student in the Divinity School in 1854, he was sent, as a dele- gate from his native town, to the convention at Wor- cester that founded the Republican party and gave it its name. He has generally acted with that party since, but not seldom has on occasion assumed a more independent attitude.

In his pleasant retirement at Concord, whither he has again removed his family, he is-now rapidly re- gaining his health. Surrounded by his books, and hy many beautiful works of art which are the memen- toes of loving friends, or which have been gathered by him in his extensive travels at home and abroad, he is devoting his leisure to favorite literary pursuits.

In person Dr. Putnam is tall and imposing. His well-proportioned form, his cultivated bearing, his classic. intellectual face in which strength and he- nignity combine, make him always a marked man among men.

His voice, sonorous and flexible in a high degree, is also wonderfully sympathetic. It can touch the tenderest chords of feeling, or express in thunder tones, as so often wont to do, hatred of wrong and op- pression. The conrage of his convictions is invinci- ble. No man has hurled more scathing anathemas against intolerance, or held up to public scorn cor- ruption in high places, more fearlessly than he. Courteous, affable, open-hearted, blessed with hosts of friends, he has preserved in its freshness and in- tegrity, through all the vicissitudes of a laborious and useful lite, the charming personality with which nature so richly endowed him.

Dr. Putnam was married to Miss Louise P. Preston, daughter of Mr. Samuel Preston, of Danvers, Janua- ry 10, 1856. She died in June, 1860. For his second wife he married, in 1865, Eliza K. Buttrick, of Cam- bridge, daughter of Ephraim Buttrick, Esq., long a prominent member of the Middlesex bar. Their five children are Endicott Greenwocd, Alfred Whitwell, Helen Langley, Ralph Buttrick and Margaret Ross.

JONAS WARREN.

The man whose portrait accompanies this short sketch, one of the best business men who ever lived in Danvers, was not a native of the town. His an-

cestor, Joshua Warren, emigrated from Dover, Eng- land, and settled in Watertown. Joshna's son, Dan- iel, married Rebecca, daughter of Captain Benjamin Church, the famous Indian fighter. Daniel had fifteen children, and one of his sons, Phinehas had a family of the same number, of whom five sons were in the battle of Bunker Hill. Phinehas' youngest son, Jonas, married, first, Apphia Stickney, and they were the parents of the subject of this sketch, who was born in North Beverly July 29, 1787. In his early boyhood the family moved to Boxford, and there, when he was still quite young, the mother died. He was brought up by his uncle, Ancil Stickney, and when he reached the age when young men struck out for themselves, he came to Danvers, and soon found a place of usefulness in the store kept by Deacon Gideon Putnam in his old tavern, which stood at the corner of High and Elm Streets. Before many years he honght the whole establishment of the late Judge Samuel Putnam, son of Deacon Gideon. "Jonas," said the judge, " here you will live and here you will die." Though the prophecy was not fulfilled as to his death, Mr. Warren did live many years, full of activity and thrift, on the old corner, and he built up there a business more extensive than cau be easily appreciated at this time. Some days, a half a century ago, as many as forty great teams came into Danvers Plains from surrounding towns and far back into the country, to dispose of their produce and take back a season's load of staple groceries. It was chiefly Mr. Warren's fair treatment and broad and far-sighted manner of doing business that transformed a mere country cross-roads into a husy commercial centre. The amount of goods handled thus in the way of sale and barter was enormons, and it was no rare thing for clerks to be obliged to work till midnight, loading these teams, so that customers could start away bright and early in the morning. His policy was to offer such inducements that there was no object to farmers to carry their produce four miles farther to find a market in Salem, and, as a consequence, he and " Uncle Johnnie" Perley, on the opposite cor- ner, so controlled the situation that Salem dealers often had to come to Danvers to buy at second-hand, and, of course, at the seller's price. In all this there was no trickery or meanness on the part of Mr. War- ren. Mr. Joshua Silvester, just deceased, was in his early days a clerk in the old store, and a few weeks before his death he was speaking of Mr. Warren: "For an up and down square dealer he had no superior."

In 1841 Mr. Warren sold out at the Plains and re- moved to the Port, where he became the pioneer of the wholesale flour and grain business, entering into the larger field with the same energy and sagacity which had characterized his previous operations. He was the first to bring grain to this port by water, and from the cargoes of the many vessels in his cm- ployment he supplied a very extensive inland trade.

Eng . . AH.R.

Jonew Warren

Eng ª by A H. Fatihte.

Samuel I Fowler

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Mr. Warren was one of the earliest Unitarians of Danvers, and was always a steadfast supporter of that denomination. Long before the establishment of the church here, he regularly attended the church in North Beverly. Rev. E. M. Stone, long the pastor of that church, has written of Mr. Warren,-" He was a parishioner whose constant attendance on public worship greatly cheered my ministry. During the thirteen years of my pastorate there I do not recol- lect of his being absent from church for a single Sab- bath, unless detained at home by sickness, and I do remember of his being present after heavy snow storms and before the roads were broken, when per- sons living near the church excused themselves from attendance for the same reason. He was an attentive hearer, a devout worshipper, and an unostentatious Christian believer." He was much interested in the building of Unity Chapel in this town, and attended there as long as advancing age would permit, con- tributing always liberally towards its support.

He married Hannah, danghter of Enoch Kimball, of Boxford. She died the year following Mr. War- ren's removal to Danversport. Mr. Warren was himself nearly ninety years old when he died. The date of his death was November 18, 1876, and the place, the home which he built, now occupied by his only daughter, on High Street. Besides his daughter, two sons survived him-Aaron W. and the late Har- rison O. Warren. Mr. Warren was a director of the Naumkeag National Bank of Salem from its organiza- tion to near the close of his life. He was the last survivor of New Mills Alarm List of 1814.

Though Mr. Warren kept aloof from politics, and rarely, if ever, held office, his business relations were such that scarcely any man was more widely known in the county. His strict integrity secured the con- fidence of all. He wronged no man intentionally, and his word could always be depended upon. In his family, too, he was just and kind, a true husband, a wise father. He left to this community the priceless example of the life of an honest man, and to his family the legacy of an unspotted name.

SAMUEL P. FOWLER.

Samuel Page Fowler was born in Danvers New Mills (now Danversport), April 22, 1800. His parents were Samuel Fowler and Clarissa (Page) Fowler. Among his ancestors are to be found the names of men, who, by their patriotism, military genins, bnsi- ness activity and enterprise commanded the respect of their contemporaries, and left their impress upon the times in which they lived.

and attorney, left a good record. He strongly opposed the witchcraft delusion, was employed as attorney by the Village Parish in its lawsuit with Mr. Parris, and in 1692 conducted the proceedings in Court against the lead and front of the witchcraft prosecution." He married Elizabeth Herrick, danghter of Henry and Editha (Laskin) Herrick, and died 1715. Their son Joseph, born August 7, 1683, married Sarah Bartlett, died December 25, 1745. Joseph, born October 9, 1715, married Mary Prince, died February 1, 1807. Samuel, their son, left Ipswich in 1765 and became one of the pioneer settlers of "Danvers New Mills." A shipwright by trade he assisted in building many vessels, both before and after the Revolution, some of which he partly owned; he was a private in Captain Jeremiah Page's company, at the battle of Lexington. He married Sarah, daughter of Archelaus and Mehit- able (Putnam) Putnam. Deacon Putnam, in the spring of 1754 moved a small building used as a cooper's shop from his father's farm, now known as the "Judge Putnam farm," by floating it down Crane River to the bank of the river at what is now Dan- versport. He fitted it up as a home for his family, and here his daughter Sarah was born, September 14, 1775. She was the first white child born in that part of the town, which was then covered with woods, where she was often lost when a child. She lived to see the small hamlet a prosperons village, and died in 1847, aged ninety-two years, having had six child- ren, twenty-seven grand-children and sixty great- grand-children. Deacon Putnam built grist and chocolate mills near his house, which gave to this section of the town its name of New Mills.

Samnel Fowler, the son of Samuel and Sarah (Put- nam) Fowler, was born in Danvers, September 15, 1776. He was a man of large enterprise and carried on the business of his grandfather, having a grist mill, a mill for pulverizing spices, as well as one for grinding bark, besides pursuing the occupation of a tanner. He died February 22, 1859. He married Clarissa Page, the danghter of Captain Samuel and Rebecca (Putnam) Page. "She was greatly endeared to a large circle of relatives and friends by her social and domestic virtnes." She died April 14, 1854. Captain Samnel Page was the son of Colonel Jeremiah Page and Sarah (Andrews) Page, born in Danvers, Angnst 1, 1753. "He enlisted in the canse of his country at the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, and was engaged in the battles of Lexington, Monmouth, and Stony Point. He was with Washing- ton at the crossing of the Delaware, and in the severe winter of 1777 shared in the sufferings of the Ameri- can army at Valley Forge, and he, with his company, was present when Wayne stormed Stony Point. After the close of the war he successfully engaged in com- mercial pursuits." He married Rebecca, the daughter of William and Elizabeth (Putnam) Putnam. William was a son of Lieutenant David Putnam (brother of

The first of the name who came to this country was Philip Fowler, born in Wiltshire, England, in 1590, settled in Ipswich, 1634. Joseph, his son, born in 1629, married Martha Kimball. Philip, their son, born in Ipswich, December 25, 1648, was "a man of superior ability, and as a merchant, deputy-marshal General Israel Putnam) and Rebecca (Perley) Put-

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nam. David was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Porter; Putnam. Joseph the son of Thomas Putnam and Mary Veren. Thomas was the son of John Put- nam, 1st. Samuel Page's father, Colonel Jeremiah Page, was an officer in the Revolutionary War, and was the son of Samuel Page, who was the pioneer settler of Fitchburg, having been found there with his wife and family by the surveyors, sent out by the General Court, to lay out the town in 1719. Captain Page died in Danvers, September 2, 1814.

Descended from so worthy and patriotic an ances- try, we might reasonably expect that Mr. Fowler would inherit their many virtues and worthy traits of character, and in this we realize our expectations. In boyhood he attended the district school, where he read from the well-known books: "The Columbian Orator," and "American Preceptor," also "Jedediah Morse's Geography," then a popular reading book. He learned the rudiments of grammar from the "Young Ladies' Accidence," and mastered the diffi- culties of "Walsh's Popular Arithmetic," but the best advantages the town then furnished its children, were meagre when compared with those enjoyed by the youth of the present day.

New Mills at that time was the home of ship-own- ers and sea-captains, who, on their return from their voyages, would tell their listening townsmen of the lands they had visited, so that the boys of that period were made familiar with foreign countries and the characteristics of their inhabitants. Another factor which helped to develop a desire for knowledge and a taste for reading in the subject of this sketch, was the New Mills Social Library, formed in 1808, with the best books then to be found in the range of Eng- lish literature, selected by Jeremiah Chaplin, D.D., pastor of the Baptist Church.

In the War of 1812 the inhabitants of Danvers shared in the excitement and the patriotic spirit of their more maritime neighbors, and Mr. Fowler, then a lad of twelve years, readily imbibed that love of country, and hatred of oppression, which he has shown through a long life.

He has always manifested a deep interest in every- thing pertaining to the welfare of the town, and has often been chosen to fill important offices, and to re- present his fellow-citizens in many ways. Before the division of Danvers, he held the office of selectman and assessor from the years 1835 to 1840, was auditor in 1833, 1841 and 1842, moderator of town meeting in 1839, was a member of the school committee for seven years, and one of the board of health for three years. He was one of the fire-wards of the town upon the first organization of the fire department, and continued so for several years. He was elected representative to the General Court in the years 1837-38-39, and with the Rev. M. P. Braman and Hon. Alfred A. Abbott, represented the town in the Constitutional Conven- tion held at Boston in 1853. He was one of the com- mittee appointed to make arrangements for the cele-

| bration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of Dan- vers, on the 16th of June, 1852, and at the dinner on that occasion responded to the following toast: "The Women of Danvers in Revolutionary Times-like the staple manufacture of the town-firm, tough and well tanned, but unlike it, as they were not to be trampled upon."

He was, also, one of the trustees elected by the town to hold the surplus revenue funds, and one of the members of the first committee chosen to confer as to the best methods of introducing water into the town. But it is as overseer of the poor, a position which he still holds, that Mr. Fowler's tenure of office has been the longest, extending over a period of forty-four years, with only one year's exception, and a greater part of the time he has been chairman of the board. His knowledge of the poor-laws is complete and exhaus- tive, and his decisions are undisputed in the settlement of the many vexatious questions which arise in the administration of these laws. His faithfulness to the interests of the town, and his kindness and consider- ation to the poor have given him for many years the nomination of all parties. Although taking such an active part in all town matters, Mr. Fowler has never been a politician, was a member of the old Whig party, and has been a supporter of the Republican party since its formation.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 155

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