History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 205

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 205

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).

Of the generations which followed the first two in Beverly, most of the members were sailors. As Haw- thorne picturesquely says of his own ancestors, "From father to son for above a hundred years they followed the sea; a grey-headed shipmaster in each generation retiring from the quarter deck to the homestead, while a boy of fourteen took the heredi- tary place before the mast, confronting the salt spray and the gale which had blustered against his sire and grandsire. The boy also, in due time, passed from the forecastle to the cabin, spent a tempestuous man- hood and returned from his world-wanderings to grow old and die and mingle his dust with his natal earth."

762

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Nicholas Thorndike, the father of the subjects of the present sketch, was born in 1764. He began his seafaring life early enough to be captured in the Revolution by a British cruiser, and to have a short experience of the Jersey Prison Ship. He passed his youth as a sailor and shipmaster, retired in middle life with a moderate competency and spent the re- mainder of his days in mercantile pursuits in Bever- ly. Except that he commanded a volunteer company of artillery during the War of 1812, and that he occa- sionally represented Beverly in the General Court, he held no public office. He was a man whose strong sense and sound judgment in affairs commanded the respect of the community. He was, moreover, like many shipmasters of his day, not without a smack of literary cultivation. The deck of a ship in the trade winds gives great opportunity for general or special reading, and one is sometimes astonished at discover- ing the sort of books which accompanied our sailors on their voyage.

Captain Thorndike's wife was Mehetabel Rea, whom he married in 1789. She was the daughter of Captain Joseph Rea, a man of some local note in the Revolution, an efficient member of the Committee of Correspondence and the commander of a company from Beverly and Lynn, sent to the aid of Washing- ton in New Jersey. Mrs. Thorndike passed the quiet, uneventful life of a sailor's wife, occupied at home with the care and education of her children, while her husband was employed abroad. She lived until her youngest son was nine years old, and died at the early age of forty. She was little known beyond her own family, but the remembrance of her pure relig- ious character, her love and her many virtues, con- stantly appears in the affectionate allusions of her children. Of this marriage there were four children, of whom two were daughters; Hitty, who married Thomas Stepliens, Jr. (Harvard 1810), a well-known lawyer and town officer of Beverly, and Clara, the wife of Asa Rand (Dartmouth 1806), a clergyman of some prominence as a preacher and editor, and of more as an early Abolitionist and friend of Garrison and George Thompson.

William Thorndike, the oldest son of Nicholas and Mehetabel, was born in Beverly January 22, 1795. His earliest book learning was obtained in the excel. lent schools of his native town. In the formation of his character, kindly and manly, and at the same time of a certain strictness which sat upon him not ungracefully in after life, one may trace the precepts and example of his excellent mother. From Beverly he passed to Phillips Exeter Academy in 1807, where he spent three years under the tuition of the famous teacher, Dr. Benjamin Abbot. He entered Harvard College as a Sophomore in 1810, and was graduated in 1813. He was faithful in his studies as in all things, took an excellent rank in his class and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, whose rib- bon was then, as now, a badge of scholarship. But he

was also of social disposition, and his name appears on the rolls of several of the clubs devoted to good fellowship and conviviality. On leaving college he entered his name as a student in the office of the emi- nent jurist, Nathan Dane, and was admitted to the Essex Bar in 1816. While a law student he gave some attention to military art, and was the first cap- tain of the Light Infantry Company, which succeeded in 1814, the Artillery Company, commanded by his father during the war. In 1816, the year of his ad- mission to the bar, he delivered in Beverly, the Fourth of July oration. In the autumn of that year he opened an office in Bath, Me., and commenced the practice, so often discouraging, of a young lawyer. Maine was not a wealthy State, commerce was dull and there were more lawyers than business. But he persevered, and probably had a fair share of what business there was. He also applied himself to the study of politics, history and political economy, wrote articles for the newspapers, delivered, in 1818, the Fourth of July oration at Brunswick and published a series of essays upon the constitutional struggles in the Pyrenæan Peninsula and Italy. The death of his father in 1821 left him in comfortable pecuniary circumstances, and in the autumn of that year he married Nancy Stephens, a sister of his brother-in- law, Thomas Stephens.

His wife, a most lovely person, to whom he was de- votedly attached, died in less than two years from their marriage. Her death was followed by a period of depression, during which he was completely un- fit for active life. He abandoned his profession, never to resume it, and in the autumn of 1823 re- turned to his old home in Beverly.

Here his interest in affairs gradually revived. With the means inherited from his father, he pursued with success various mercantile enterprises. He was upon the board of the banking and insurance corporations of the place and active in its charities. He also gave much time to town affairs, as selectman, overseer of the poor, moderator of town-meetings and the like. In matters of education he was especially earnest, did much good work upon the School Committee and was one of the early promoters of the Debating Society and Lyceum, before which he delivered several care- fully prepared lectures.

In 1826 and 1827 he represented the town in the General Court. In the House he rarely spoke, but his intelligence, clear judgment and familiarity with business, made him valuable as an adviser and as a member of committees. In 1828 he was chosen Sena- tor for Essex, and was re-elected in the four following years. His popularity in the County, as in his own town, was very great, though he was by no means a good politician in the way of strict party allegiance. In the Senate he joined in debate oftener than in the House, and always spoke and voted from his own judgment and conscience, rather than from regard to the expectations of his friends or his constituents. In

763

BEVERLY.

short, as his distinguished contemporary, Mr. Choate, once said of him, "He was not able enough to agree with any set of men to succeed in politics." But his steadfast integrity aud purity of motive cer- tainly carried him a great way towards success. In National affairs, which got into the debates and reso- lutions of the Legislature more frequently than now, he probably would have called himself a Federalist, but still he was heretical upon some of the old Fed- eralist articles of faith. His name was upon the Na- tional Republican ticket after that party was formed, but he refused to subscribe to the tenet of protection, which was its criterion of orthodoxy, and remained a free trader to the end. And upon the question of re- moval of the Cherokees beyond the Mississippi, he drew down upon himself a storm of indiguatiou be- cause he believed, as afterwards proved true, that their removal was not only for the good of the coun- try, but for their own good. In 1830 there was talk in the County of sending him to Congress, but he was too poor a politician for this, and the contest fell be- tweeu Mr. Choate and Mr. Crowningshield, the for- mer being triumphantly elected and beginning at this time his brilliant public career. In 1832 he was elec- ted president of the Senate, and filled the chair with great ability, dignity and impartiality. His public life ended here. In the same year he was made presi- dent of two Boston corporations, the Hamilton Bank and the National Insurance Company, and to the du- ties of these offices he devoted with his wonted faith- fulness and industry the brief remainder of his life. He died of consumption on July 12, 1835, at the early age of forty.

It remains only to speak of his religions character and relations. Brought up by a mother who was a Puritan of the Puritans, he retained through life a certain spirit of that stern faith. His mind always tended towards independence in things spiritual of all human authority, implicit reliance upon Divine Revelation, constant regard for moral and religious principle and the reference of every daily action to the tribunal of conscience. Further than this he was no Puritan, or rather he carried the Puritan spirit to its logical outcome, and threw off the authority of that church in matters of dogma, as that had rejected the authority of its predecessors. On his return to Beverly he took prominent and active part in the af- fairs of the First Parish, and spent much time and pains in bringing those affairs into a satisfactory fi- nancial condition. His interest in the church be- longing to that parish was constant and unflagging, and he heartily sympathized with its tendency to- wards Unitarianism under the pastorate of Dr. Ab- bot, and its open profession of the Unitarian faith at the settlement of Mr. Thayer. The Sunday-school of that church he found a most congenial sphere of la- bor and usefulness. His zealons services as teacher and superintendent are gratefully acknowledged in the appreciative memoir of his life, contributed by

Mr. Thayer to Revereud Mr. Stone's History of Bev- erly.

Albert Thorndike, the younger brother of William, was born March 18, 1800. He, like his brother, re- ceived his early education at home, and afterwards, in 1813, went to Exeter. He had a desire to go to college, but did not wish to become afterwards either a lawyer, a doctor or a minister. His father had the old notion that college is a place to learn Latin and Greek, and that Latin and Greek are of little use except in the three so-called learned professions. The idea that a college education has less to do with earning a living than with the true life which lies beyond and apart from getting means to live, is of later growth. So Albert spent his three years under Dr. Abbot, and then returned home to commence a business life. At first he assisted his father and kept his books. In 1819 he took a clerkship in the Beverly Bank, and was promoted, in 1822, to the office of cashier, which he retained for twenty-four years. During this time he did many things beside, at first in connection with his brother William and afterwards with the late Samuel Endicott. They owned shares in coasting and fishing craft and in larger vessels -for foreign trade, sent adventures to India and the Mediterranean and engaged in the manifold enterprises open to the iuhabitants of a thriving sea-port town ; for Beverly, as a part of the port of Salem, had then much more to do with the world beyond the ocean than now.

In 1823 he married Joanna Batchelder Lovett, daughter of John and Hannah (Batchelder) Lovett. Her parents had died in her infancy, and she had grown to womanhood in the home and under the pa- ternal care of her uncle, the late Robert Rantoul. Of this marriage there were born nine children, of whom two are still living, Samuel Lothrop Thorndike, of Cambridge, and Charles Francis Thorndike, of Bev- erly. There are also living three sons of another child, the late Dr. William Thorndike, of Milwaukee. Mrs. Thorndike survived her husband sixteen years, and died in 1874.

In 1846 Mr. Thorndike took the presidency of the Bank, which he kept until 1853. In addition to its local transactions, the Bank did a considerable husi- ness with Boston, of which, during his cashiership and presidency, he had entire charge. This carried him often to the city, and after the Railroad made communication easy, he spent much of his time there.

For the routine of the affairs of the town Mr. Thorn- dike was too busy a man, but he always found time for its charities and for its higher interests. He was an early officer of the Lyceum, and always an active member of the Fisher Charitable Society.

From 1845 to 1847 he represented Beverly in the General Court, and in 1850 was a member of the Sen- ate. He seldom took the floor, except to make a re- port or a motion. Oratory was not one of his gifts. But his familiarity with commerce and with financial

764

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

matters in general, made him an important member of the Mercantile Committee, as well as of the State Valuation Committee of 1850.

During this period he was a director of the Eastern Railroad, and spent much time upon its affairs; and in 1852 he was elected to the presidency. In the du- ties of this office, which he held until 1855, and that of auditor, to which he was afterwards appointed, he passed the rest of his vigorous business life. Into these duties he put, as was his wont, his whole ener- gy, not content to be simply the head of a board, but familiarizing himself with, and actively directing, all the operations of the road. More than one important reform in railway management was either originated by him or received early adoption upon his line. He was esteemed and beloved by those under him, and with his associates he formed warm and lasting friend- ships. But a shadow fell upon his term of office from the crime of a trusted subordinate. Honest himself, as a matter of course, and beyond the conception of be- ing otherwise, he had little suspicion of the possibility of dishonesty in another ; and the blow which he re- ceived saddened the whole remainder of his life.

Mr. Thorndike's religious feelings were strong, his faith liberal, his charity universal. He succeeded his brother William as superintendent of the Parish Sun- day-school in 1833, and for several years carried on the good work his brother had begun. From 1842 until his death he was one of the deacons of the church.

His favorite recreation was music. He was a sing- er from boyhood, and kept his fine bass voice to the end. A pupil of Keller, one of the first German in- structors who came to this country, he was no mean proficient upon the organ and piano. He attended all the concerts far and wide, was a member of the various musical societies of the neighborhood and led the parish choir for thirty years.

If space permitted, it would be pleasant to speak at length upon Mr. Thorndike's disposition and tastes, as they showed themselves at home,-his fondness for children, his love of books and pictures, his admira- tion of the beauties of nature, his skill in horticul- ture, his deft handiness as an amateur mechanic. But with all this a brief public record has little concern.

He died after a half year's illness, which he bore with patience and fortitude, June 14, 1858, mourned by all who knew him, and affectionately remembered by those who knew him best.

CAPTAIN JOHN E. GIDDINGS.

John Endicott Giddings was born in Danvers, Mass., October 6, 1794. His father was Solomon Giddings, born in Ipswich in 1767, a descendant of George Giddings, who settled in Ipswich in 1635; and his mother was Anna Endicott, born in Danvers in 1769, and a descendant of Gov. John Endicott. His family removed to Beverly when he was about

eleven years of age, and he soon after commenced sea life, accompanying his father to the West Indies. During the War of 1812 he enlisted in a privateer, and was captured by an English sloop of war, off Halifax, and he was taken to Dartmoor Prison, in England, where he was confined for nearly two years. After his release he entered the employ of the Hon. Wm. Gray, of Salem, and soon rose to the position of captain. Entering the employ of Joseph Peabody, of Salem, he had command of the noted ships, " Car- thage " and "Augustus," making voyages to China and Bombay. After the death of Mr. Peabody he commanded the ship "Duxbury," owned by Mr. John L. Gardner, of Boston, in the Cuha and Russia business until he retired from active sea service.

As a shipmaster he was prudent and skilful, never meeting in his long sea life with any disaster entail- ing loss upon the Insurance Companies; and he was a worthy representative of that remarkable class of men justly termed "merchant captains."

He married, in April, 1824, Martha Thorndike Leach, descended from Lawrence Leach, one of the first settlers of Beverly. He had five sons,-two of whom died in infancy. His oldest son, Charles Stephens, died February 9, 1856.

Two sons, John E. and Edward L., are still living. Capt. Giddings died April 28, 1849, and is buried at Beverly.

DR. INGALLS KITTREDGE, SR.

Ingalls Kittredge, who was born at Amherst, N. H., on the 10th of December, 1769, and died at Beverly June 17, 1856, was one of the sixth generation in descent from John Kittredge, of Billerica, who re- ceived grants of land in 1660, and in 1663 in Biller- ica, and in 1661 in Tewksbury, where his descendants were located.

He was the son of Solomon and Tabitha (Ingalls, of Andover), who removed about 1766, to Amherst, N. H. (now called Mount Vernon), and was one of twelve children. He married Sarah Conant, daugh- ter of Jonathan and Mary Conant, who was in direct descent (of the sixth generation), from Roger Conant, the first settler and founder of Salem, which at that period (1626) was called Naumkeag, and included the territory between Portsmouth and Salem.

Their children were Ingalls, who was born at Townsend May 30, 1798, and Sarah, born at Town- send October 1, 1800. Ingalls, Jr., who followed the profession of his father, was a graduate of Harvard College of the class of 1820, and studied medicine (in company with Dr. D. Humphreys Storer), with the celebrated Dr. John C. Warren. His children were seven in number (all daughters), the eldest of whom, Sarah, married Charles W. Galloupe, Esq., of Boston (a native of Beverly), and another, Susan, married Captain Edward L. Giddings, of Beverly.

Dr. Kittredge's opportunities of an early education were exceedingly limited, but a hereditary genius for

١١

١٠١

1. 12.2

Eng by AH Ritchie

Ingalls Patridge

765

BEVERLY.

the practice of medicine seems to have existed in the Kittredges for generations, and the tendency is still a remarkable one in the family, the name of Kittredge being almost synonymous with doctor.

Dr. Benjamin Kittredge, of Tewksbury, had eight sons who were doctors, and Ingalls had four brothers who practiced the healing art, the eldest of whom, Dr. Zephaniah, who lived in Mount Vernon, was a man of famous skill, and with him, no doubt, Ingalls studied.

The name of Ingalls Kittredge first appears in the tax list of 1803, but as no poll tax was included, he probably did not become a resident until August 6, 1804, when his first poll tax was asse-sed, indicating him at that date a citizen of Beverly. It is said that he occupied the so-called " Asa Woodbury " house, lately demolished, which stood upon the site of the house since built, and now owned and occupied by Mr. Mark B. Avery.

In April, 1803, in consideration of the sum of four- teen hundred and fifty dollars, he purchased of " Si- meon Brown, Gent," a tract of land consisting of nine acres, bounded by the county road, a portion of the grant of two hundred acres, made by the Colonial Government to the "Old planter," Roger Conant (Mrs. Kittredge's paternal ancestor), upon which he erected a large mansion house, with suitable outbuild- ings for agricultural purposes. It is a portion of the well-known "Kittredge Farm," and through the present proprietor, Mr. Charles W. Galloupe, still re- mains in the family.

In the deed of purchase of the nine acres, he is mentioned as "a physician of Townsend, Middlesex Co.," and his superior intelligence and ability soon gained for him in his new home a large and successful practice, particularly in surgery, which extended widely to the surrounding towns, where he was well known, as the most skilful surgeon of the vicinity. His early visits were made on horseback, but a largely increasing practice, soon compelled a more convenient means of communication, and he adopted the so- called " Sulky," a narrow, high-hung, old-fashioned "Chaise," barely two feet in width and only capable of holding one person, furnishing scanty enongh accommodation for even a single person of ordinary size. The quaint old vehicle was known as the " Doctor's Snlky," and was soon as familiar to the people of the surrounding towns as was the face of the sturdy doctor himself. After his death the vehicle speedily fell intodisuse, and bnt few of the present day are aware that it ever had an existence.

In his practice Dr. Kittredge did not hesitate to de- part from the established regulations of the "Facul- ty," whenever, in his judgment, the condition of his patients could be improved by such treatment. This course subjected him to the unfavorable, and often nn- kind criticism of his contemporaries, but his remark- able successes sustained and secured to him the public confidence, which during his whole lifetime, he never

forfeited. He was often urged to accept membership in the " Medical Faculty," but his independent na- ture could brook no rules inconsistent with his own conclusions, and during the length of his active pro- fessional life, he declined associating himself with any society. Later in life, however, after repeated solici- tations, he consented to permit his name to be pre- sented for membership.

The death of his esteemed wife, which occurred October 7, 1833, and his marriage in April, 1836, in- duced him to change his residence from the upper part of the town to a more central location, and he purchased the "Chapman Estate," one of the finest and most elegant of the old Colonial mansions, which was situated at the corner of Federal and Cabot Streets. Here, with a constantly increasing practice, he lived until the month of June, 1844, when a most disastrous fire occurred, which reduced the beautiful building to ashes, entailing a heavy and discouraging loss upon its proprietor ; but under his indomitable will and perseverance, the ashes were hardly cold be- fore he commenced the erection of the sightly and ele- gant mansion which still stands upon the same site, one of the finest and best residences within the limits of the town, and a fitting monument to his energy and enterpri-e.

Dr. Kittredge was a man of ideas greatly in ad- vanre of the times in which he lived. A man of deep and penetrating thought, with clear convictions ba-ed upon reasonable deductions, upon which he acted so frequently without consulting the opinion of others, that, as a natural consequence, he was often upon the unpopular side of the public issnes.

As a temperance man he advocated total abstinence from the first, and devoted his best energies to recov- er society from the abuses of unlimited liquor selling, which in that day required no small amount of moral courage.

In politics he was an outspoken adherent of the "Anti-Slavery " party, a companion of Sumner, Gar- rison, Phillips, Whittier and other notable men, and, though not an active public advocate, he was always ready with his purse, and an ever generons contributor to its treasury. He was an indefatigable manager in the so-called "under-ground railroad," and his house as well as his purse, were always open to the unfortn- nate refugees, in their attempts to escape from the servitude of the South to the freedom of the North.

The well-known escaped slaves, George Latimer and the since famous Fred. Donglas, were both aided by him, and by him introduced to a public audience in Beverly very soon after their escape from slavery. George Thompson, the noted English philanthropist, Member of Parliament and Abolitionist, found in him a friend, who, without fear or favor, esponsed his then unpopular cause and gave him substantial support and efficient aid. Actuated by a desire that the citi- zens of Beverly should hear the distinguished man speak, the doctor applied to a religious society of which

766

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

he was a prominent member, for the use of their edi- fice for a public lecture. The favor was refused. Later on the society had a meeting, and, anticipating some trouble from the doctor, in order to propitiate him, chose him moderator of the meeting. He never failed to improve his opportunities, and before the adjournment he had secured the adoption of a series of Anti-Slavery resolutions, which, much to the cha- grin of the officers, but greatly to the satisfaction of the members of the audience, committed the society to the support of the unpopular " Anti-Slavery party."

A descendant of two eminent families, he was a vigorous representative of New England character. Quick in his decisions and as quick to act, fearless in the discharge of all his duties, prompt and punctual in all his professional engagements, exact in his dealings, somewhat imperious in his manner, he quickly decided between the good and the evil, al- ways extending a hearty encouragement to the right, and administering to the wrong a deserving rebuke. He was a man of activity in the pursuits of human life, and reverent in his relations to the Deity. The citizens of the town heartily accord to him an emi- nent place in their history.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 205

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