USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 2
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"If any persons who have gained a legal settlement in said town of Chelsea by a residence on said terri- tory, or by having been proprietors of any part thereof, or who may desire such settlement from any such residents or proprietors, shall come to want and stand in need of relief and support, they shall be relieved and supported by the said town of Saugus in the same manner as if they had gained a settlement in said town."
Essex County, of which Salem, Lawrence and New- buryport are the shires, is situated in the northeast corner of Massachusetts, and is bounded on the north- east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by Mas- sachusetts Bay, on the southwest by Suffolk and Middlesex Counties, and on the northwest by New Hampshire. It contains about five hundred square miles of territory, traversed by the Merrimac River, which enters the county between Andover and Me- thuen and flows into the ocean at Newburyport; the Shawsheen, which enters the Merrimac at Lawrence; the Parker River ; Bass River, navigable to Danvers- port; and the Ipswich River, which is navigable to Ipswich. The business of the county is chiefly that of manufactures and the fisheries, though a by no means insignificant portion of its inhabitants gains a livelihood from agriculture and general commerce. Statistics relating to these industries will be included in the town histories. The following table shows the population, valuation and number of schools in each town according to the last published returns :
PUBLIC
POPULATION, VALUATION. SCHOOLS.
Amesbury
4,103
$1,569,835
20
Andover
5,711
5,053,079
Beverly
9,186
10,170,780
35
Boxford
840
655,285
6
Bradford
3,10G
1,338,230
10
Danvers.
7,048
3,761,596
20
Essex
1,722
963,121
9
V
INTRODUCTORY.
PUBLIC
POPULATION. VALUATION, SCHOOLS.
Georgetown
2,299
1,018,494
10
Gloucester.
21,713
9,897,446
80
Groveland
2,272
SS0, 771
10
Hamilton
$50
662,433
4
Haverhill.
21,795
11,918,280
75
Ipswich
4,207
2,097,482
16
Lawrence
38, 845
26,670,644
104
Lynn ...
45,861
25,056,583
116
Lynnfield.
766
564,496
3
Manchester
1,638
3,827,635
7
Marblehead
7,518
3,964,927
15
Merrimac.
2,378
1,169,368
14
Metlinen
4,507
2,777,610
19
Middletou.
899
527,771
4
Nahant
637
6,524,446
4
Newbury
1,590
1,059,405
7
Newburyport.
13,716
8,321,954
29
North Andover
3,425
2,620,179
16
Peabody
9,530
7,188,290
33
Rockport
3,888
2,077,044
14
Rowley.
1,183
545,095
7
Salem
28,084
27,765,824
84
Salisbury
4,840
2,227,043
21
Sangus.
2,855
1,368,602
13
Swampscott
2,471
3,955,202
10
Topsfield.
1,141
766,875
5
Wenham
871
540,277
5
West Newbury.
1,899
1,159,471
11
Total
263,694 $180,665,573
328
It has been already stated that at the time of the formation of the counties, in 1643, judicial power was vested iu the General Court, the Court of Assistants (or Great Quarter Court) the Quarter Courts (held in specified towns) and the Strangers' Courts. After the formation of the counties the above courts con- tinued, though the Strangers' Courts were modified, and the Quarter Courts, in their respective counties, were called County or Inferior Quarter Courts. It had also been provided by an act passed September 9, 1639, that records be kept of all wills, administra- tions and inventories, of every marriage, birth and death, and of all men's houses and lands. It had, be- fore the above date, been provided by a law passed April 1, 1634, "that the constable and four or more of the chief inhabitants of every town (to be choseu by all the freemen there at some meeting there), with the advice of some one or more of the next assistants, shall make a surveying of the houses, backside, corn- fields, mowing-ground and other lands improved or inclosed on, granted by special orders of the court, of every free inhabitant there, and shall enter the same in a book (fairly written in words at length, and not in figures), with the several bounds and quantities by the nearest estimation, and shall deliver a transcript thereof into the court within six months now next ensuing; and the same so entered and recorded shall be a sufficient assurance to every such free inhabitant, his and their heirs and assigns, of such estate of in- heritance or as they shall have in any such houses, lands or frank tenements. The like course shall be taken for assurance of all houses and town lots of all such as shall be hereafter enfranchised, and every
sale or grant of such houses or lots as shall be, from time to time, entered into the said book by the said constable and four inhabitants or their successors (who shall be still supplied upon death or removal), for which entry the purchasers shall pay six pence and the like sum for a copy thereof under the hands of the said surveyors or three of them."
A further provision of law had been made on the 7th of October, 1640, as follows :
"For avoiding all fraudulent conveyances and that every man may know what estate or interest other men may have in any houses, lands, or other hereditaments they are to deal in, it is therefore ordered that after the end of the month no mortgage, hargain, sale, or grant, here- after to be made of any houses, lands, rents, or other hereditaments, shall he of force against any other person except the grantor and his heirs, un- less the same be recorded as is hereafter expressed; and that no such bargain, sale, or grant, already made in way of mortgage, where the grantor remains in possession, shall be of force against any other bnt the grantor or his heirs, except the same shall be entered as is hereafter expressed, within one month after the end of this court, if the party be within this jurisdiction, or else within three months after he shall re- turn. And if any euch grantor, &c., be required by the grantee, &c., to make an acknowledgement of any grant, &c., by him made, shall refuse so to do, it shall be in the power of any magistrate to send for the party so refusing and commit him to prison, without hail or mayneprise, until he shall acknowledge the same.
"And the grantee is to euter his caution with the recorder, and this shall save his interest in the meantime ; and if it be doubtful whether it be the deed or grant of the party, he shall be bound with sureties to the next court and the caution shall remain good as aforesaid.
"And for recording of all such bargains, &c., it is further ordered that there shall be one appointed at 1pewich, for which Mr. Samuel Symonds is chosen for that court, to enter all such bargains, sales, &c., of all lands, &c., within the jurisdiction of that court ; and Mr. Emanuell Downing is chosen in like sort for the jurisdiction of the court of Salem ; and all the rest to he entered by Mr. Stephen Winthrop, the recorder at Boston."
The recorder was the clerk of the court. In 1641 it was provided that in every town "a clerk of the writs" should be appointed, and a part of his duties was to record all births and deaths, and yearly de- liver to the recorder of the court a transcript thereof. It was also provided that every married man shall bring a certificate, under the hand of the magistrate who married him, to the clerk of the writs, to be re- corded and returned by him to the recorder. Thus it will be seen how extensive the jurisdiction of the County Court was made. Aside from its ordinary judicial powers, it had charge of the records of deeds of probate matters and the laying out of highways, and included the departments now held by the judge and register of probate, the register of deeds, the clerk of the courts and county commissioners.
With regard to treasurers, their duties, up to 1654, were performed by the treasurer of the whole colony or of the country, as he was called. In that year it was provided "that henceforth there shall be treas- urers annually chosen in every county, provided that no clerk or recorder of any County Court shall be chosen treasurer of the county." The officer now called sheriff was, in the days of the colony, called marshal. There was a marshal of the General Court alone up to the formation of the counties, in 1643, and after that date each court apparently appointed
vi
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
its own marshal, though it is possible that even be- fore that time every Quarter Court had its own of- ficer bearing that name. So far as Essex County is concerned, it is proper to state that the present regis- try of decds contains the entire records from 1638, and that the original probate records prior to 1671 are to be found in the office of the clerk of the courts, where they were originally kept. The registry of probate was located in Ipswich until 1851, when, un- der general powers conferred by law, the county com- missioners removed it to Salem.
There is another court which should be mentioned to complete the colonial judicial system so far as it concerned the county. On the 6th of September, 1638, it was ordered " that for avoiding of the coun- try's charge by bringing small causes to the Court of Assistants that any magistrate in the town where he may hear and determine by his discretion all causes wherein the debt, or trespass, or damage, etc., doth not exceed twenty shillings, and iu such town where no magistrate dwells, the General Court shall, from time to time, nominate three men; two thereof shall have like power to hear and determine all such ac- tions under twenty shillings ; and if any of the parties shall find themselves grieved with any such end or sentence, they may appeal to the next Quarter Court, or Court of Assistants. And if any person shall bring any such action to the Court of Assistants be- fore he hath endeavored to have it ended at home (as in this order is appointed), he shall lose his action and pay the defendant's costs." The jurisdiction of this petty court was afterwards extended to matters involving a sum not exceeding forty shillings.
It should be added, however, concerning this petty court, that the selectmen of a town were authorized to try offences against their own by-laws where the penalty did not exceed twenty shillings, provided the by-laws did not extend to anything criminal. They were also competent to try cases where only one magistrate lived in a town and he was an interested party, and where there was no magistrate and one or more of the commissioners were concerned.
Up to 1685 the judicial system of Massachusetts Colony and its counties remained as has been traced above, as follows : 1st, the General Court with legisla- tive powers and a limited appellate jurisdiction from the Court of Assistants ; 2d, the Court of Assistants or Great Quarter Court, with exclusive jurisdiction in all criminal cases involving neither life, limb nor banishment, and concurrent jurisdiction with the County Courts in civil cases involving not more than one hundred pounds, and appellate jurisdiction from the County Courts; 3d, the County Courts or Inferior Quarter Courts, with jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases, except
cases of divorce and crimes involving life, limb or hanishment, having power to summon grand and petit jurors, and to ap- point their own clerks and other necessary officers, to
lay out highways, license taverns, to see that a proper ministry was supported, to prove wills, grant admin- istration and have general control of matters in pro- bate, and have appellate jurisdiction from the Commis- sioners' Courts ; 4th, Strangers' Courts, held at first by the Governor or Deputy-Governor and two magis- trates, or, in the absence of the Governor and deputy by three magistrates with the same jurisdiction as the County Courts so far as strangers are concerned, where judgments were final; 5th, Petty Commissioners' or Selectmen's Courts in the various towns.
On the 18th of June, 1684, a judgment vacating the colonial charter was issued, and a copy was received hy the colonial secretary, Edward Rawson, on the 2d of July in the next year. Joseph Dudley was there- upon appointed, by the King, President of Massachu- setts Bay, Maine, New Hampshire and the Narra- ganset country, and received the commission May 15, 1686. The Council appointed by the King were Simon Bradstreet, Robert Mason, John Fitz Win- throp, John Pynchon, Peter Bulkley, Edward Ran- dolph, Wait Winthrop, Richard Wharton, John Usher, Nathaniel Saltoustall, Bartholomew Gedney, Jonathan Tyng, Dudley Bradstreet, John Hicks and Edward Tyng, of whom Simon and Dudley Brad- street and Nathaniel Saltonstall declined. The Governor and Council possessed no legislative power, except to establish such courts as might be necessary. They were a court of themselves for the trial of causes, and had authority to appoint judges. They estab- lished a Superior Court, with three sessions a year, at Boston, and " Courts of Pleas and Sessions of the Peace " in the several counties. The President assumed probate jurisdiction, but in some counties appointed judges of probate. William Stoughton was appointed to preside in the County Courts of Middlesex, Suf- folk and Essex, and John Richards and Simon Lynde were appointed his assistants. These appointments were made July 26, 1686. Appeals could be taken from these courts to the President and Council.
But the administration of Dudley was of short du- ration. Governor Andros arrived in Boston ou the 19th of December, 1686, and as Governor assumed jurisdiction over the whole of New England, includ- ing the Plymouth Colony, which was not included in the commission of Dudley. He appointed thirty-nine members of his Council, and the Governor and Coun- cil possessed the exclusive power of making and exe- cuting the laws, subject to royal approval. He gave to justices of the peace civil jurisdiction in cases not affecting lands and not involving a sum exceeding forty shillings. He established next the "Quarterly Sessions Court," held by the several justices in their respective counties, and next an "Inferior Court of Common Pleas," to be held in each county by a judge assisted by two or more justices of the county. Their jurisdiction was limited to cases in which not more than ten pounds were involved and no question of
vii
INTRODUCTORY.
freehold, except in Boston, where the limit was twenty pounds. Above these courts was the Superior Court of Judicature, in which no action could be com- menced involving less than ten pounds, unless it re- lated to a question of freehold, and which was to be held in Boston, Cambridge, Charlestown, Plymouth, Bristol, Newport, Salem, Ipswich, Portsmouth, Fal- mouth, Northampton and Springfield. Joseph Dud- ley was appointed chief justice of this court.
In 1691 a new charter was issued, embracing Mas- sachusetts, Plymouth, Maine, Nova Scotia and the intervening territory in one government, under the name of the " Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England." This charter reached Boston May 14, 1692, and under its provisions the government consisted of a Governor, Deputy-Governor and secre- tary appointed by the King, and assistants or Coun- cilors chosen by the General Court, and a House of Representatives chosen annually by the people. The Governor had the power of veto, and all acts and elections by the General Court must be transmitted to England and approved or disallowed by the King. The General Court was authorized "to erect and constitute judicatories and courts of records or other courts," and the Governor and Council could appoint udges, sheriff's, justices of the peace and other officers of the courts. The regulation and management of probate matters were given to the Governor and Council, and delegated by them to judges in each county. Under this charter the General Court no longer possessed judicial power. The first court es- tablished under the charter was a special Court of Oyer and Terminer, organized by Governor William Phipps, the first Governor of the province, before any aw had been passed authorizing it, for the purpose of trying, chiefly in Essex County, persons charged with witchcraft. On the 2d of June, 1692, the Gov- ernor issued his commission appointing Wm. Stough- ton chief justice, and Nathaniel Saltonstall (who de- clined and was succeeded by Jonathan Curwin), John Richards, Bartholomew Gedney, Wait Win- throp, Samuel Sewall and Peter Sergeant associate justices ; Stephen Sewall, clerk ; Thomas Newton, attorney-general (succeeded July 22d by Anthony Checkley) ; George Corwin, sheriff. The first meet- ing of this court was held at Salem on the 2d of June, 1692, and its last meeting on the 17th of Sep- tember following, after which the court was dissolved. During this time the expense of the court to Essex County was one hundred and thirty pounds, and nineteen persons were tried, condemned and hung, and one was pressed to death.
On the 25th of November, 1692, a law was passed establishing Courts of Justices of the Peace, four Courts or Quarter Sessions of the Peace in each county, an Inferior Court of Common Pleas for each county, a Superior Court of Judicature for the whole province, and a High Court of Chancery for the province. This act
was disallowed. On the 19th of June, 1697, another act was passed establishing County Courts, which was also disallowed. On the 26th of June, 1699, three acts were passed, establishing in each county a Court of General Sessions of the Peace and an Inferior Court of Common Pleas, and a Superior Court of Judicature for the province. The Court of General Sessions of the Peace was authorized to be held at specified times and places "by the justices of the peace of the same county, who are hereby empowered to hear and determine all matters relating to the conservation of the peace and punishment of offenders." The Infer- ior Court of Common Pleas was to be held at specified times and places "by four substantial persons, to be appointed and commissionated as justices of the same court in each county, who shall have cognizance of all civil 'actions arising or happening within such county, provided that no action under the value of forty shillings shall be brought into any of the said Inferior Courts, unless where freehold is concerned or upon appeal from a justice of the peace." The Su- perior Court of Judicature was to be held at specified times and places in the province, by " one chief jus- tice and four other justices, to be appointed and com- missionated for the same, who shall have cognizance of all pleas,-real, personal or mixt,-as well as all pleas of the Crown and all matters relating to the conservation of the peace and punishment of offend- ers," etc. This court was ordered to be held for the county of Suffolk, at Boston, on the first Tuesdays in November and May; for the county of Essex, at Salem on the second Tuesday in November, and at Ipswich on the third Tuesday in May ; for the county of Middlesex, at Cambridge on the last Tuesday in July, and at Charlestown on the last Tuesday in January ; for the county of Hampshire, at Spring- field, on the second Thursday in August; for the county of York, at Kittery, on the Thursday before the Ipswich court; for the counties of Plymouth, Barnstable and Dukes County, at Plymouth, on the last Tuesday in March ; and for the county of Bristol, at Bristol, on the second Tuesday in September.
Jurisdiction in probate matters had, during the colonial period, been exercised by the common law courts. During the administration of Andros it was exercised by the Governor, but, by the charter of the province, it was conferred on the Governor and Coun- cil. Claiming, however, the power of substitution, the Governor and Council appointed a judge of probate in each county, reserving to themselves appellate juris- diction.
The judges of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for Essex County were as follows :
Appointed December 7, 1692 .- Bartholomew Gedney, Samuel Apple- ton, John Hathorne, Jonathan Corwin.
1696 .- Wm. Browne, in place of Samuel Appleton.
1698 .- Daniel Peirce, in place of Bartholomew Gedney, deceased. 1699 .- Same appointed.
viii
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
1702 .- Nathaniel Saltonstall, in place of Jonathan Corwin ; Jonathan Corwin, in place of John Huthorno.
1701 .- John Appleton, in place of Daniel Peirce.
1707 .- Thomas Noyes, in place of Nathaniel Saltonstall.
1708 .- John Higginson, in place of Jonathan Corwin, appointed to the Superior Court.
1715 .- Samuel Brown, in place of his father, Wm. Browne.
1720 .- Jolin Burrill, in place of John Higginson.
1721-22 .- Josiah Wolcott, in place of Johu Burrill.
1729 .- Timothy Linall and Jolin Wainwright.
1733 .- Theophilus Burrill and Thomas Berry, in place of Samuel Brown and John Appleton.
1737 .- Benjamin Marston, in place of Theophilus Burrill.
1739 .- Benjamin Lynde, in place of Jolin Wainwright, deceased.
1745-46 .- John Choat, in place of Benjamin Lynde, transferred to the Superior Court ..
1754 .- Henry Giuhs, in place of Timothy Linall, resigned; John Tasker, ju place of Benjamin Marston, deceased.
1756 .- Benjamie Pickman, in place of Thomas Berry, deceased.
1759 .- Caleb Cushing, in place of Henry Gibbs, deceased.
1761 .- Stephen Iligginsoa, in place of Benjamin Pickman ; Nathaniel Ropes and Andrew Oliver, in place of Stephen Higginson, deceased, and John Tasker, deceased.
1,66 .- William Bourn, in place of John Choat.
1770 .- William Browne, in place of William Bourn, deceased.
1772 .- Peter Frye, in place of Nathaniel Ropes, transferred to the Superior Court.
1775 .- John Lowell, Caleb Cushing, Benjamin Greenleaf and Azor Orne.
1779 .- Caleb Cushing, Benjamin Greenleaf, John Pickering, Jr., Samuel Holten.
1782 .- Samuel Phillips, in place of Caleh Cushing.
1798 .- Ebenezer March, in place of Benjamin Greenleaf.
1799 .- John Treadwell, in place of John Pickering.
1808 .- Samuel Holten retired, and was appointed chief justice of the General Court of Sessions.
The Inferior Court of Common Pleas continued un- til July 3, 1782, when the Court of Common Pleas was established, to be held within each county at spec- ified times and places, with four judges appointed by the Governor from within the county.
Those in the above list, after 1779, were judges of this court. This court continued until June 21, 1811, when an act was passed providing that the common- wealth, except Dukes County and the county of Nantucket, should be divided into six circuits, as fol- lows : the Middle Circuit, consisting of the counties of Suffolk, Essex and Middlesex; the Western Cir- cuit, consisting of the counties of Worcester, Hamp- shire and Berkshire ; the Southern Circuit, consisting of the counties of Norfolk, Plymouth, Bristol and Barnstable; the Eastern Circuit, consisting of the counties of York, Cumberland and Oxford ; the sec- ond Eastern Circuit, consisting of the counties of Lincoln, Kennebec and Somerset; and the third Eastern Circuit, consisting of the counties of Han- cock and Washington. It further provided that there shall be held in the several counties, at the times and places now appointed for holding the Courts of Common Pleas, a Circuit Court of Common Pleas, consisting of one chief justice and two associ- ate justices, to whom were to be added two sessions justices from each county, to sit with the court in their county. The history of this court is so mingled with that of the General Court of Sessions that bothi should be sketched together. The Court of
General Sessions of the Peace remained substantially the same during the provincial period, and up to June 19, 1807, when it was enacted that it should consist of one chief justice, or first justice, and a cer- tain number of associate justices for the several coun- ties, to be appointed by the Governor with the con- sent of the Council. These justices were to act as the General Court of Sessions in the place of the justices of the peace in each county. On the 19th of June, 1809, the powers and duties of the General Court of Sessions were transferred to the Court of Common Pleas, and two years later, on the 25th of June, 1811, it was enacted, "that from and after the first day of December next, an act made and passed the 19th day of June, 1809, entitled ' an act to transfer the powers and duties of the Courts of Sessions to the Courts of Com- mon Pleas,' be and the same is hereby repealed, and that all acts, or parts of acts, relative to the Courts of Sessions which were in force at the time the act was in force which is herehy repealed, be and the same are hereby revived from and after the said first day of September next."
Again, on the 28th of February, 1814, it was en- acted that the act of June 25, 1811, above quoted, " be repealed, except so far as it relates to the coun- ties of Suffolk, Nantucket and Dukes County, and that all petitions, recognizances, warrants, orders, certificates, reports and processes made to, taken for or continued or returnable to the Court of Sessions in the several counties, except as aforesaid, shall be re- turnable to, and proceeded in, and determined by the respective Circuit Courts of Common Pleas," already referred to as having been established on the 21st of June, 1811, in the place of the old Court of Common Pleas. It further provided, "that from and after the first day of June next, the Circuit Courts of Common Pleas shall have, exercise, and perform all powers, authorities and duties which the respective Courts of Sessions have, before the passage of this act, exercised and performed, except in the counties of Suffolk, Nantucket and Dukes County; and it was further provided that the Governor, by and with the advice of the Council, be authorized to appoint two persons in each county, who shall be session justices of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas in their respective counties, and sit with the justices of said Circuit Court in the administration of the affairs of their county, and of all matters within said county of which the Courts of Sessions had cognizance." The management of county affairs was controlled by this court until February 20, 1819, when it was enacted, "that from and after the first day of June next, an 'act to transfer the powers and duties of the Courts of Sessions to the Circuit Courts of Common Pleas,' passed on the 28th of February, 1814, be hereby re- pealed ; and it was further provided, that from and after the first day of June next the Court of Sessions in the several counties shall be held by one chief jus-
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