History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 228

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 228

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Ten years after this was written, not only the woodland and running brooks had disappeared, but all the concomitants of the farm had given place to large manufacturing establishments and the numer- ous streets of a bustling town. It was this farm of which Judge White thus pleasantly wrote, which covered what is at the present day a considerable part of the very heart of the city of Lawrence.

The city is situated on both sides of Merrimac River, embracing within its limits somewhat more than four thousand acres taken in nearly equal parts from the towns of Andover and Methuen. The north- erly portion, which is the most densely peopled, is very pleasantly situated on a gently sloping plain, partially surrounded by hills of considerable eleva- tion-Tower Hill, on the west, Clover Hill, formerly called Graves' Hill, on the north, and Prospect Hill, on the east-all of which are dotted with pleasant residences and from which are fine views of the town, the river and the adjacent towns. The southerly portion, which is quite rapidly increasing in popula- tion, of more level character, was originally covered with pines, and was, in its early days, known as the " moose country."

The early settlers seem to have taken pleasure in bandying epithets, the northern people giving to the portion of Andover lying near the river the.title of "Sodom," while in turn the north side was " Gomorrah," and as far east as New- buryport Methuen was known as "The End of the World," one of its ponds still bearing the name of World's End Pond.

The town is about twenty-three miles from the mouth of the river, twenty-six miles from Boston, ten miles northerly from Lowell and eight miles west of Haverhill. The Merrimack River passes through it, the Spicket through its northerly portion, entering the Merrimac from the north, within the bounds of the city, and the Shawshean River falls into the Mer-

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rimack from the south, forming a part of the south- eastern boundary. The last named furnishes no power within the limits of Lawrence. The Spicket furnishes water to establishments in Methuen, and to the Arlington Mills, Stuart's Dye House, the Wame- sit Mill and the Globe Worsted Mill in Lawrence. The Merrimack is the principal source of power, sup- plemented in seasons of drought by Lake Winnipisi- ogee, whose waters, as well as those of its many tribu- tary streams, are retained as a reserve.

The total length of the Merrimack, from its origin, at Franklin, N. H., to its mouth, at Newburyport, is about one hundred aud ten miles, and the total area drained is about four thousand nine hundred and sixteen square miles, of which three thousand seven hundred and eighty are in New Hampshire and one thousand one hundred and thirty-six in Massachu- setts. The average fall of the stream is two hundred and forty-five feet per mile, or two hundred and sixty- nine feet between Franklin and the sea.

Before the river was harnessed to the cars of indus- try along its banks, it was well stocked with fish. Shad, salmon, alewives and sturgeon abounded in their season, and immense quantities of lamprey eels were to be found-in fact the latter were so abundant that they were sold by the wagon-load instead of the pound.

Hon. R. H. Tewksbury, in his history of Andover Bridge, relates the following story of one of the di- rectors, who was a large farmer and fond of experi- ments,-"A spring freshet brought up great quanti- ties of eels, and subsiding, left them high and dry in pools and hollows. Ile considered the idea of boiling them and feeding to swine, of which he had many. His 'hired man' remonstrated, telling him "twas agin natur to try to fatten pork with fish ; ' 'besides, Deacon,' he said, 'if you succeed, we sha'n't know what we're eatin', pork or lamper eels.' But the deacon had a cart load of eels drawn up to the barn, and filled the great kettles in the back kitchen with eels, Indian meal and water, kindled the fire, and laid down for a doze. But animals that squirm in the frying-pan would not submit to boiling with- out protest ; the hot water revived them, and each one became an agonizing serpent. They covered the floor of the old room, writhing in their agony and knocking the fire brands about the floor. The dea- con nerved himself for the contest and commenced the slaughter of the innocents. An old negro, a new- comer, who lived with a neighbor, and knew nothing of live eels, heard the racket, and, looking in, saw the sea of serpents and fire brands, and the good man ' laying about' him. He ran howling home, saying that more than a thousand devils had the deacon penned up in the kitchen, but he was fighting and prevailing against them, calling mightily on the Lord for help. The deacon owned that though they were not Satanic foes, it was the hardest job of his life to subdue these eels, maintain his standing as a deacon,

and at the same time express himself in language suf- ficiently emphatic."

The eels, however, were not usually given to swine; they formed a staple article of food for the farmers and others all along the river and adjacent territory.

William Stark, in a poem delivered at the Centen- nial celebration at Manchester, thus speaks of them,-

" The fathers treasured the slimy prize, They loved the eel as their very eyes, And of one 'tis said, with a slander rife,

For a string of eels he sold his wife.

From eels they formed their food in chief, And eels were called the Derryfield beef ;

And the marks of eels were so plain to trace, That the children looked like eels in the face.

And before they walked, it is well confirmed, That the children never crept, but squirmed. Such mighty power did the squirmers wield O'er the goodly men of Old Derryfield, It was often said that their only care, And their only wish and their only prayer, For the present world and the world to come, Was a string of eels and a jug of rum."

That the territory now embraced in the limits of Lawrence was once occupied either permanently or temporarily by the native Americans (Indians), we have abundant proof, in the multitudes of Indian implements of almost every variety, which have been found in several localities, and of which some fine collections have been made. One, perhaps the largest of these, in possession of Mr. Charles Wingate, includes arrow and spear heads, stone axes, gouges, pestles and other implements, some rudely and others beautifully finished.

One burial-ground of the red men was within the city limits, in the westerly part of South Lawrence, and quite an extensive one was further up the river in Andover. It is quite probable that the land near the river was occupied in many places as a summer en- cimpment, to which year by year the natives re- turned on account of the abundance of fish and game. Most of the stone implements found, and the chips made in fashioning them, are of material not found in this locality.

While the parent towns, Andover and Haverhill, suffered considerably from Indian raids, Lawrence is not historic ground in that regard. It is said that the Indians once made a foray along the banks of the river, and a man named Peters, who lived about a mile above the dam, refusing to flee with his neighbors, was murdered at his home.

In 1676 a party of savages crossed the river at Bod- well's Ferry (about a mile above the dam), chased the people of Andover, killed a young man named Abbott, and took his brother captive. There is a tradi- tion that old Mr. Bodwell, while standing near the pres- ent site of Mr. Davis' foundry, saw one day an Indian prowling upon the other side of the river, evidently bent on mischief. Mr. Bodwell instantly suspected that he was a spy sent to examine the settlement for the purpose of destroying it. Fortunately, the old

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man had a gun of extraordinary length and range, and he resolved to let the Indian report go no further. As soon as the savage discovered Mr. Bod- well he made an insulting gesture, thinking himself fairly out of the range of the enemy's gun. Mr. Bod- well immediately fired, and the Indian fell. At dusk the same day Bodwell took a boat, crossed the river carefully, and found the Indian dead, lying in the grass. He rolled the body into the river, having first secured a valuable beaver-skin robe.

Possibly another instance of savage hostility may have occurred here. It is related in "Chase's His- tory of Haverhill."

".Feb. 22, 1698, on return from an attack upon Andover the Indians killed Jonathan Haynes and Saml. Ladd of Haverhill and captured a son of each. Haynes and Ladd who lived in the eastern part of the town, had started thet morning with their teams consisting of a yoko of oxen and a horse, each accompanied by their. eldest sons Joseph & Daniel to bring home some of their hay which had been cut and stacked the preceding Summer in their meadow, in the extreme western part of the town. While they were slowly returning, little dreaming of present danger, they suddenly found themselves between two files of Iadiane who had concealed themselves in the bushes on each side of the path. Seeing no hope of escape they begged for quarter. Yonng Ladd who did not relish the idea of being quietly taken prisoner, cut his father's horse loose, and giving him the lash, started off at full speed, tho re- peatedly fired upon, and sncceeded in reaching here and giving an immediate and general alarm. Haynes was killed because he was too old and infirm to travel, and Ladd who was a fierce stern looking man because, as the Indians said ' he so sonr.' "

Young Haynes was carried prisoner to Canada, where he remained several years, and was at last re- deemed by his relatives. A cane given him by his Indian master, came into possession of Guy C. Haynes, of East Boston, and is now in the rooms of the New England Historico-Genealogical Society. As Haynes resided in the western part of Haverhill, and his meadow was in the extreme western part, this must have occurred either within our limits or in Methuen, which was set off from Haverhill and in- corporated in 1725.

Nearly a hundred years had rolled on after the in- corporation of Methuen, and this territory had been converted into peaceful farms, occupied by less than two hundred people. Dams had been built upon the Spicket River, and small paper mills and the mill of the Messrs. Stevens, for the manufacture of piano-forte cases, now the site of the Arlington mills, had been erected, but the Merrimack River flowed in its natural channel unvexed by the arts of man, from its source to the sea.

At this time dwelling-houses were not numerous, and, as in other farming towns, were somewhat remote from each other. Most of those on the north side were located on the road leading from Lowell to Haverhill (now known as Haverhill and East Haver- hill Sts), and on the " Londonderry Turnpike " (now Broadway). One of the oldest houses known to have been built within the city limits was situated on the spot which is now the corner of Newbury and Essex Streets. One of the old houses was removed to make room for the High School building ; another was de-

stroyed to make room for the dwelling which is now 115 Haverhill Street; this was the house in which Hon. Daniel A. White was born. Another stood on the corner of Haverhill and Amesbury Streets. Another was near the spot where No. 264 Haverhill Street now stands. No. 129 Bradford Street, at the corner of Bradford and Broadway, was originally the farm-house of the Methuen town farm. The oldest of all is No. 34 East Haverhill Street, the old house of the Bod- well family, though not their first residence. This house is more than one hundred and thirty-three years old, perhaps more than one hundred and fifty, and is the only monument of early days that Lawrence can boast. "The building has been much changed by successive repairs and alterations, but the founda- tions are made as if to last forever. The chimney is of immense proportions, measuring twenty by thirteen feet at the base; a modern chimney in the city, one hundred feet high, measures at the base only seven by seven feet." 1 There stands in the front yard of this honse a noble old elm tree, which has braved the storms of over a hundred years, and is to day ap- parently vigorous. It is said that Mrs. Bodwell em- ployed a mau to bring the tree, then a sapling, from the woods, and plant it in front of her door. The man was a soldier of the French War, and had just re- turned from the capture of Quebec. In return for his service Mrs. Bodwell rewarded him with a quart of molasses. The ancient house was occupied in recent years by the late William B. Gallison, and is perhaps better known to the present generation as the Gallison House, and it is at present the residence of Miss Emily G. Wetherbee, who pleasantly commemo- rates the ancient tree. in verse :

" I love thee, Oh ! thon grand old tree, Thy towering branches rise, As if they held, in majesty, Deep converse with the skies. Could'st thon but speak, how strange a tale Would be thy theme to-day, Abont the many vanished years That God has rolled away.

" The hand that planted thee is dust,- Thy nurture was its pride, - And many generatione eince Have played their parts and died.

The peltings of nnnnmbered storms, Unnumbered years thon'st braved ; And still we see thee hale and green, Majestic and unscathed.

" From ont your antiquated door, The children oft have etrayed, And trooped along in merriment, To gambol in thy shade ;

When years had flown, and womanhood And manhood, brought ite care, Again they came with burdened hearts. Thy sweet relief to share.

" A trysting place for lovers, too, Thy arching branches made ; When night was silvered by the moon, And dew shone o'er the glade,

1 Rev. W. E. Park.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

And often, when yon brilliant queen Bid thee and them good-night ; Thou'st heard the parting kiss they gave, And shared in their delight.

" A bride, with flowing robes of white, And garlands in her hair, Came forth to leave the dear old home, Another's lot to share. In purity and innocence, She chose another life, And beautiful that summer morn, Appeared the youthful wife.

" The morning fresh and sweet, and clear, Began the quiet day, The birds among the swaying leaves, Trilled out their roundelay. And gladdened by the glorious sight, (Thy branches low did bend ;) Her heart leaped out in ecstacy, Tothee, her childhood's friend.

" From infancy her radiant eyes,- The reflex of her glee, - Had scanned each bough and branch and leaf, Of her familiar tree ; And now like one who sighs to think That separation's near, She turned her saddened face away, And shed a silent tear.

" Alluring scenes of other climes, And nature's grand displays, But made her yearning heart still more Exultant in thy praise. Excitement lent its glowing whirl, Wherever she might roam ;

But with a longing heart she sighed For thee, and dear old home.

" The aged sire and matron too, When life was nearly o'er, Have leaned against thy trunk, and talked Of memories of yore,

And watched the same old sun go down, In splendor in the west, Nor thought how fast the fleeting hours, Were bringing them to rest.

" Oft have I stretched me here and seen, With faith's far-seeing eye,

Thy very counterpart old tree, Implanted in the sky, And wished, when came the silent voice From dread eternity, My failing sight might rest at last Complacently on thee.

" I love thee, Oh ! thou grand old tree, Thy towering branches rise, As if they held, in majesty, Deep converse with the skies. Could'st thou but speak, how strange a fale Would he thy theme to-day, About the many vanished years, That God has rolled away."

Roads were still less numerous than the buildings. The prominent ones were the old Haverhill road, be- fore named, the road at the west part of the town leading to Bodwell's ferry, near the pumping station, the road at the easterly end leading to Marston Ferry, near the present gas works, and on the construction of Andover Bridge, a road leading from the bridge to the corner of Amesbury and Haverhill Streets. On

the south side of the river were the Salem turnpike and the old road to Lowell. Here was a more com- pact settlement-the Shawsheen House, the Essex House, converted into a dwelling, the old pioneer store and the brick building occupied by the late Daniel Saunders and a few others yet remaining.

Prior to 1793 communication between the two towns was by means of the ferries. In that year the Legislature passed an act incorporating Samuel Ab- bott, John White, Joseph Stevens, Ebenezer Poor and associates as a body politic, under the name of "The Proprietors of Andover Bridge," and the act was ap- proved by John Hancock, Governor, March 19th. The charter provided that the building should be completed within three years. It was opened for travel November 19th, just eight months from the date of the charter, and the opening was celebrated with great rejoicing-the clergy of the two towns, the stockholders and the prominent men of Essex and Rockingham Counties being invited, aud an enter- tainment furnished by the directors-the militia, in- fantry and cavalry parading in honor of the event ; it was celebrated still further by killing a boy, who was bayonetted by one of the soldiers for attempting to pass the guard. The bridge was a wooden struct- ure, resting on wooden piers, and after a short life of nine years, went down in ruins during the passage of a drove of cattle. It was rebuilt in 1802-03; again travel was interrupted by the fall of the large central span. This was promptly repaired ; but four years later, in 1807, a heavy freshet again destroyed it. The discouraged proprietors petitioned the Legisla- ture for leave to raise money by a lottery, but were refused.

The bridge was rebuilt upon stone piers, and moved further up the river, having previously spanned the river where the railroad bridge now stands. In 1837 it was rebuilt by the late John Wilson, of Methuen. It was rebuilt again by the Essex Company in 1848, into whose hands the franchise had then passed, and was raised to its present level by Stone and Harris, contractors, and the piers were thoroughly repaired by Stephen P. Simmons.

In 1852 a great freshet carried away the toll-house, south abutment and fishway at the dam. In 1858 it was again thoroughly reconstructed by Morris Knowles. In 1868, by an act of the Legislature, it became part of the public highway. The bridge was in a peculiarly unfavorable location for durability. Situated near the dam where it was alternately ex- posed to a dry and then a moist atmosphere, the tim- bers were constantly decaying, and after many more repairs and partial rebuilding, it was destroyed by fire July, 1881, and a fine new iron-bridge marks the rest- ing-place of almost the only historic structure in the town.

To add to the troubles of the early proprietors, in 1822 other parties petitioned the Legislature for another bridge a little further up the river. In op-

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posing this petition the proprietors made a formal statement that the bridge cost originally twelve thou- sand dollars. In twenty-eight years the cost had been twenty-nine thousand dollars more, with only fifteen thousand dollars of income from tolls ; added to this was the loss of interest and their property consisted of an old bridge just damaged by a freshet to the amount of six thousand dollars.

Had the old bridge been charged from the start with accumulations, interest and expense, and cred- ited with income, the actual cost at the time Lawrence was formed would have been upwards of half a mil- lion dollars-a practical illustration of the rare econ- omy of building bridges of wood.

The first toll-gatherer was Asa Pettengill, with the enormous salary of $33.33. He was required to give a bond of £400, and both he and his wife were sworn to the faithful performance of their duty. After thirty years, the salary was raised to $9.00 and a gallon of oil per month, and the use of the proprie- tors' cooking-stove for $3.00 rental yearly. Under the Essex Company, James D. Herrick was collector for twenty-two years, until the bridge became free. Among the officers and directors of the old corpora- tion were Loammi Baldwin, the first President, a noted engineer; Benjamin Osgood, of Methuen ; Gayton P. Osgood, of Andover; Abbott Lawrence, and Charles S. Storrow. The Treasurers, after 1845, were Nathan W. Harmon, Jno. R. Rollins and Henry H. Hall.

LAWRENCE BRIDGE .- In 1854, for the purpose of better accommodating North Andover and Lawrence, and also for avoiding the railroad crossing, at grade, near the Andover Bridge, a charter was granted for another bridge, at the east end of the city, to George D. Cabot and others. This bridge was built in 1854- 55, and remained a toll-bridge till 1868, when this also, with the other bridges across the Merrimac, became free. George D. Cabot was Treasurer, and Nicholas Chapman, toll gatherer, from the beginning. This bridge was destroyed by fire in 1887, and will be replaced by an iron bridge, now under contract with the Boston Bridge Company.

As early as 1820, the Merrimac Canal Company was incorporated for the purpose of building a canal, to extend navigation from tide-water at Haverhill to the new town then forming at Pawtucket Falls (Lowell); their charter was extended, but nothing was done toward carrying the plan into execution. An attempt was made a few years since to render the river itself navigable from Lawrence to Haverhill, and much money was expended by the United States Government in removing boulders and deepening the channel at the rapids between the two cities. The Pentucket Navigation Company was formed ostensi- bly for the purpose of supplying the Merrimac valley with coal, it being claimed that water transportation could be conducted at much cheaper rates, and con- sequently that great benefit would ensue to the people

from the diminished price of fuel. By the use of light-draught steamboats coal was brought up the river, and a depot for its sale was established in Law- ' rence ; but from the fact that the river remains frozen for four or five months in the year, and that in sum- mer droughts it could not be made navigable without enormous expense, the enterprise was abandoned. The amount of coal actually transported was not sufficient in an entire season to supply the single corporation, the Pacific Mills, which consumes twenty- three thousand tons per year, or little over seventy- five tons per day. It was thought by many that the whole scheme was inaugurated rather for political purposes than with any hope or expectation of bene- fiting the public.

Nothing had been done toward utilizing the power of Merrimac River, until Mr. Daniel Saunders, then a resident of Andover, believing that valuable power could be attained at this point, took steps to interest capitalists in a new enterprise here.

Mr. Saunders, who " had learned the business of cloth-dressing and wood-carding in his native town, Salem, N. H., removed to Andover in 1817, and after working on a farm, entered the mill of Messrs. Abel and Paschal Abbott, where he ultimately obtained an interest in the business, taking a lease and managing the mill,-subsequently returned to his native town and started a woolen-mill there, hut returned to An- dover in 1825, settling in the North Parish, for a time leasing the Stone Mill, erected by Dr. Kittredge, and afterward building a mill on a small stream that flows into the Cochichewick. In 1839 or '40 he pur- chased a mill in Concord, N. H., and carried on manufacturing there, retaining his home in North Andover. About 1842 he relinquished the woolen - mill at N. Andover, sold his house to Mr. Sutton and removed to the West Parish, now South Lawrence, nearly opposite the Shawsheen House.1" Here he passed the remainder of his days, ceasing from the labors of a busy life October 8, 1872, æt. seventy-six. It was quite natural that having thus been engaged in manufactures, that the falls in the Merrimac so near to his residence should suggest to him the pos- sibilities and capabilities of the river. To him, there- fore, must be credited the foresight and sagacity of securing quietly in his own right the falls above the present dam,-known as Peter's Falls,-which virtu- ally gave him control of the water-power of the river at this point. The development of this power would require a large ontlay of money, and further progress must depend upon the willingness of capitalists to embark in such an enterprise. Messrs. J. G. Abbott, a nephew of Mr. Saunders, Samuel Lawrence and John Nesmith, of Lowell, to whom Mr. Saunders had communicated what he had done, readily undertook to interest others, and in 1843 Samuel Lawrence, J. G. Abbott, John Nesmith, Judge Thomas Hopkin-

1 Sarah L. Bailey, History of Andover.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

son, Jonathan Tyler, Chas. W. Saunders, of Lowell, Daniel Saunders, Daniel Saunders, Jr., Gayton P. Osgood, Nathaniel Stevens, Joseph Kittredge, of An- dover, Edmnud Bartlett, of Newburyport, John Wright, Josiah G. White, Joseph H. Billings and Henry Poor (perhaps others), formed the Merrimac Water-Power Association, of which Samnel Lawrence was chosen president and treasurer, and Daniel Sann- ders agent.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 228

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