History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 63

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 63

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Leverett Saltonstall.

Ward 2. Holton J. Breed.

Ward 4. N. L. Rogers.

Nathl. Silsbee, Jr.

J. T. Andrew.

Michael Shepard. Eben Symonds.

The town at that time had been divided into dis- tricts or wards under the provisions of law now con- tained in the thirty-fourth chapter of the General Statutes.

At the adjonrned meeting held on the 15th of Feb- ruary it was voted in accordance with the report of the committee that it was expedient to adopt a city form of government, and that the committee with six added, be instructed to draw up and submit to the Legislature an act for that purpose, which shall not take effect nnless accepted by the people. Joseph Peabody, Benjamin Merrill, Gideon Barstow, Eben Shillaber, Isaac Cushing and Nathaniel J. Lord were added to the committee.

An act "to establish the city of Salem " was ap- proved by Edward Everett, Governor, March 23, 1836, and warrants were at once issued for a town-meeting to be held April 4th. At this meeting Benjamin Merrill was chosen moderator, and on the question of the acceptance of the charter eight hundred and

two votes were cast, of which six hundred and seven- teen were in the affirmative. On the 25th of April an election was held for mayor, six aldermen and twenty- four members of the council. Of 1104 votes for mayor Leverett Saltonstall received 752; Perley Putnam, 260; George Peabody, 56; and David Putnam, 36. The organization of the government took place in the Tabernacle Church, on Monday, May 9th, when, after a prayer by Rev. Dr. Brazer and the administer- ing of the oath of office by David Cummins, one of the justices of the Court of Common Pleas, the mayor delivered his address. Thus the second incorporated city in the Commonwealth entered upon its career. Boston had been incorporated only fourteen years be- fore, February 22, 1822, and Lowell, the third city, was incorporated less than a month afterwards, on the Ist of April, 1836.

It is not proposed in this chapter, somewhat dis- jointed and fragmentary in its character, to enter into any details of the history of the city. It is intended merely to supply such deficiencies as other chapters covering various specified departments necessarily leave.

It was not until December, 1837, that any move- ment was made towards the adoption of a city seal. On the 18th of that month an order was introduced into the Board of Aldermen, providing for the ap- pointment of two members with such as the Council might join to cousider and report upon the expedien- cy of procuring a seal. The Council concurred, and on the 19th of February, 1838, at a meeting of the Aldermen an ordinance was introduced providing that a device should be adopted with the word Salem in the centre, inclosed in au olive wreath, and in a circle round the margin the words "Founded Sept., 1628. City Incorporated, 1836." This ordinance was passed by the Aldermen on the date of its introduc- tion, but in the Council it was referred on the 5th of March to its committee on the seal, who on the 12th reported a recommendation which was adopted that the further consideration of the ordinance be referred to the next City Council. On the 9th of April, 1838, the ordinance was taken from the files and referred to a joint special committee, consisting of Aldermen Peabody and Holman, and Councilmen Oliver, Put- nam and Hunt. Mr. George Peabody submitted a de- vice to the committee of which he was the chairman, which with some alterations was approved. On the 25th of February, 1839, the committee through Henry K. Oliver, chairman, on the part of the Council re- ported to the Council "an ordinance to establish the City Seal." Be it ordained by the City Council of the city of Salem that the following be the device of the seal of said city, to wit: In the centre thereof a shield bearing upon it a ship under full sail, approaching a coast, designated by the costume of the person stand- ing upon it and hy the trees near him, as a portion of the East Indies ; beneath the shield this motto, " Divitis Indiæ usque ad ultimum sinum," signifying

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

"To the farthest port of the rich east," and above the shield a dove bearing an olive branch in her mouth. In the circumference encircling the shield the words:

" Solyma condita, 1628. Salem founded, 1628."

" Civitatis regimine donata, 1636. Incorporated as a City, 1836."

The ordinance was recommitted with instructions to ascertain the correct date of the settlement of the city, but finally adopted after substituting 1626 for 1628, and changing Solyma to Salem. The commit- tee to whom the date of settlement was referred re- ported that they had "investigated the subject and do not find any reason for changing the date as at present affixed to the proposed seal. As the history of the settlement of the town is so well known, they do not think it necessary to bring forward all the facts in relation to it. The whole question seems to turn upon the point whether the settlement is to date from the time when Roger Conant, Peter Palfray and others came here in 1626, and built a few houses, but with- out the means of remaining, or the time in 1628, when Endicott came out with colonists, and all the means necessary for founding a colony. The subject may admit of some argument, but the committee are of opinion that it would be better to fix the period of foundation of the town as it has been generally re- garded, and will be found stated in many of our val- uable gazeteers and other similar books in 1628, as this was undoubtedly the first permanent settlement." . This report was signed by George Peabody, chairman, but notwithstanding its recommendation the date was changed as we have seen to 1626, and the seal was finally adopted March 11, 1839, nearly three years after the incorporation of the city.

The introduction of water into Salem, and the final evolution of its present water system cover a period of more than sixty years. The first practical scheme for the supply of water for the inhabitants of Salem and Danvers was conceived in 1796. About that time a wave of excitement swept over the State con- cerning the supply of water to towns, and during the last five years of the last century a number of water companies were incorporated. Luther Eames and others, of Boston, were incorporated Feb. 27, 1795; Lemuel Stewart and others, of Williamstown, Feb. 26, 1796; Theodore Sedgwick and others, of Stockbridge, June 15, 1796; John Bacon and others, of Richmond, November 24, 1796; Calvin Whiting and others, of Dedham, June 15, 1796 ; Chandler Robbins and others, of the South Parish of Hallowell, then in Massachusetts, February 9, 1797; Eli Stearns and others, of Lancaster, February 14, 1797; and Wm. Davis and others, of Plymouth, February 27, 1797.

A meeting of those interested in the scheme was held December 30, 1796, at the Sun Tavern, and those present were Abel Lawrence, William Gray, Jr., Samuel Gray, Joshua Ward, Ichabod Nichols, Wil- liam Orne, Jerath Pierce, William Lang, Nathaniel

West, Jacob Ashton, Squiers Shove, John Jenks, Ed- ward Southwick, Jonathan Dean, Joseph Fenno, Benjamin Carpenter, Abner Chase, Philip Chase, Aaron Wait, Jacob Crowninshield, Joseph Aborn, James Bott, Edward Pulling, Folger Pope, John Gardner, Jr., Samuel Derby, John Norris and John Daland. Mr. Ashton was chairman, and John Jenks clerk, and a committee was appointed consisting of Edward Southwick, of Danvers, William Gray, Jr., and Joshua Ward, of Salem, to procure an act of in- corporation. A charter was accordingly obtained, dated March 9th, 1797, under the style of the " Pro- prietors of the Salem and Danvers Aqueduct." The charter provided that the towns of Salem and Dan- vers should have the privilege of placing conductors into the pipes for the purpose of drawing such water therefrom as might be necessary "when any mansion house or barn or other building" should be on fire, without paying therefor.

The proprietors organized April 7, 1797, by the choice of William Gray, Jr., president ; Jacob Ash- ton, vice-president; John Jenks, treasurer ; Joshua Ward and John Norris, of Salem, and Edward South- wick, of Danvers, directors. Thomas Nichols was chosen agent. The capital was fixed at ten thousand dollars, divided into a hundred shares of one hundred dollars each. The plant of the company consisted at first of a large hogshead sunk into the spongy ground in the neighborhood of Brown's and Spring Pond, of pine logs with a three inch bore, and a res- ervoir on Gallows Hill, ten feet deep and twenty-four feet square. The works were completed in the spring of 1799, and water was supplied to families at a yearly rate of five dollars. This rate was raised the next year to sixty cents per month. In 1802 a new foun - tain was built on land bought of William Shillaber to the southwest of the old one, and the supply was sufficient to enable the company to lead a pipe to Gray's Wharf and sell water to the shipping at twelve and a half cents per hogshead.

In 1804 the old logs were replaced by new ones with five-inch bore and paid for by assessments on the shares which, up to 1807, amounted to two hun- dred and sixty-five dollars per share, or twenty-six thousand five hundred dollars in all. In 1805 a new tariff' of rates was adopted similar to that of the Bos- ton company, to wit :-

For a family of five persons

.Eiglit dollars.

For a family of six and less than twelve. .. Ten 4

For a family of twelve or upwards Twelve

For a public or boarding house. Twelve

For a West India Goods Store, from. Eight to Twelve

For a mansion house and West India Goods Store under the same roof, to be supplied from one tube .. Sixteen dollars.

Up to November, 1807, the company had expended on their works, including lost dividends, forty-four thousand one hundred dollars, making the cost of the shares four hundred and forty-one dollars each. In 1810 William Gray, Jr., resigned the presidency, and was succeeded by Jacob Ashton. In 1816, owing to

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a deficiency of water, all branches leading to manu- factories, bathing houses and stables were cut off, and precautions were taken against waste. At a date not far from 1817 another reservoir was built on Sewall Street with a capacity of twenty-two thousand gal- lons, and up to 1818, from 1807, regular divideuds, with three exceptions, were paid. In 1819 an ar- rangement was made with the Salem Iron Company to erect a boring mill, and for the first time the logs were bored by machinery. During the period ex- tending from 1818 to 1821 the earuings of the com- pany were expended in laying new yellow pine logs, and very soon after arrangements were made with a view of connecting the pipes by iron castings. Up to this time it is presumed that in Salem as in other places one end of the log was tapered down and driv- en into its fellow log, the bore of which had been reamed out to receive it. An iron band encircled the butt of each log to prevent splitting when driven into. The iron connections were tubes tapered slightly on the outside at each end and with a flange in the middle. This flange served two purposes, pre- venting unequal entrances of the two ends of the tube, and when settled in the body of the wood by the operation of driving the logs home, lessening the danger of a leak.

In the winter of 1829-30 Mr. Ashtou, the president, died, and Joseph Peabody took his place. From 1821 to about 1834 the affairs of the company went on smoothly, and for the most part regular dividends were paid. Little complaint was heard of a scarcity of water, but this was owing less to the abundance of supply than to the low standard of people's wants compared with those of to-day, and to the free use of pumps and wells owned either by individuals or the town. In 1855 there were no less thau sixty town pumps in various streets, of which the following is a list :-

Two in English Street. near Derby Street.

One in Derby Street. .. near Turner Street.

Two in Derby Street. .near the Custom Honse.

Two in Essex Street near Herbert Street.

Two in Neptune Street. Dear Elm Street.

Two in Liberty Street.

near the Centre.

Two in Derby Square.

Two in Washington Street. corner of Essex Street.

near Pleasant Street. Two in Bridge Street.

Two at foot of Central Street.

Two in East Street near Essex Street.

Two in Essex Street. near Daniels Street.

Two in Bath Street near Newbury Street.

Two in Brown Street

near Winter Street.

Two in St. Peter Street near Brown Street.

Two in Marlboro Street near the Court House.

Two in Mill Street .near Norman Street.

near the Centre. Two in High Street.

One in Crombie Street near the Centre.

Two in Essex Street near Summer Street.

Two in Essex Street. near Hamilton Street.

Two in Essex Street. Dear Flint Street.

Two in Essex Street.

.near Buffum's Corner.

One in Sewall Street.

.near the Centre.

Two in Federal Street .near North Street.

Two in Federal Street. near Beckford Street. Two in Federal Street. .near Dean Street.

Two in Boston Street. near Federal Street.

Two in Boston Street .... near Smith's Store.

Two in North Salem.

One in South Salem. near Peabody Street.

Two in South Salem, .near Putnam's Store.

In 1834 an act of incorporation was obtained by another company, but its operations were successfully checked by a reduction of the tariff, and no action was taken under its charter. In the same year a six- ich irou pipe was laid in Essex Street from North to Newbury Streets, at a cost of five thousand dol- lars, which snm was paid out of the earnings of the company. At various other times new pipes were laid, old lines of pipe extended and the fountain res- ervoirs improved and enlarged, so that in 1844 it was estimated that the company had expended one hun- dred thousand dollars on their works. In 1849 the condition of the company had become so perplexing, owing to increasing demands for water without ade- quate means of supplying it, that its stockholders be- came somewhat discouraged. At this juncture the steam cotton mill felt greatly the need of water, and its proprietors conceived the project of buying up the shares of the Aqueduct and securing control of the corporation. The result was a revolution in the or- ganization of the company and the election of a new board of management, consisting of William D. Wa- ters, president; Ebenezer Sutton, vice-president; and Joseph S. Leavitt, John Lovejoy, William Lummis and C. M. Endicott, directors. Under the new man- agement the number of shares was increased to oue thousand at one hundred dollars each, a line of pipe was laid to Spring Pond; the capital was again in- creased to two hundred thousand dollars and before the summer of 1850 an iron main pipe of twelve inches bore, measuring sixteen thousand one hundred and sixty-five feet, was completed, with a reservoir capable of holding six hundred and fifty-two thou- sand gallons. From this time on until 1860 improve- ments and extensions were constantly going on, iron pipes replacing the decayed wooden ones and sources of supply being enlarged to such proportions that at the last mentioned date a statement of the affairs of the company showed a capital stock of two hundred thou- sand dollars, forty miles of pipe including branches, thirty-six hundred takers, and reservoirs and fountains of one million one hundred thousand gallons capacity besides Spring Pond of fifty-nine acres as a reserve. But still the supply was inadequate to meet the de- mand, and in 1865, with a view to defeat the move- ment then going on to build city water-works, a con- nection was made with Brown's Pond, and a sixteen- inch main laid as far as the head of Federal Street. But the movement on the part of the city could not be checked,-it went successfully on, and the result was the retirement of the old company and the use of its pipes for the supply of the adjoining town of Peabody.

It is not necessary to give a detailed history of the present water system. A brief sketch will be suffi-

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

cient. On the 12th of October, 1863, John Bertram and ninety-three others petitioned the City Council "to take the necessary measures to procure from the Legislature power to establish city water-works." On the 23d of November, 1863, the City Council chose in convention, Stephen H. Phillips, James B. Curwen and James Upton, a committee to collect evidence showing the necessity of a larger supply of water and submit the same to the Legislature in support of the petition which the mayor had been directed to pre- sent when action was taken on the petition of Mr. Bertram. The petition of the mayor, supplemented by a second petition, asked for authority to take water from Humphrey's, Brown's and Spring Ponds and Wenham Lake. At the hearing before the Commit- tee of the Legislature, on the 29th of February, 1864, the petitioners were represented by Robert S. Ran- toul, and were opposed by the Aqueduct Company. On the 13th of May, 1864, an act was approved which provided that the city might take water from either Wenham Lake, or Brown's and Spring Ponds, and that the City Council should determine by joint ballot at least fourteen days before the first Monday in Decem- ber, 18644, which source they would select, the act to be void unless accepted by a majority of the voters at a meeting to be held on that day. On the 14th of November, 1864, the City Council decided by a vote of twenty-two to five to select Wenham Lake, and on the 5th of December, the citizens voted to accept the act by a vote of ten hundred and twenty-three yeas to one hundred and fifty-one nays.

On the 22d of May, 1865, Stephen H. Phillips, James [B. Curwen and James Upton, were chosen water commissioners, and on the 26th of June, Frank- lin T. Sanborn and Peter Silver were chosen in the places of Messrs. Cnrwen and Upton, who declined to serve. Mr. Phillips was made chairman, James Slade was appointed engineer, Charles A. Swan as- sistant engineer and Daniel H. Johnson, Jr., clerk. After many vexatious delays, on the 12th of Febru- ary, 1866, the commissioners advertised for propo- sals for the construction of a reservoir on Chipman's Hill, in Beverly, and on the 18th of May the work was begun, by Collins & Boyle, the contractors. In July a Worthington pumping engine was bought at a cost of forty thousand dollars, and in the same month Willard P. Phillips was chosen commissioner in the place of his brother, Stephen H. Phillips, who had resigned. In October, contracts were made with J. W. and J. F. Starr, for six thousand feet of thirty inch, and twenty-five thousand feet of twenty inch iron pipe, and in the following April, with Boynton Brothers, for a pipe bridge and syphon at Bass River.

On the 3d of February, 1868, a contract was made with George H. Norman, of Newport, R. I., to fur- nish and lay the iron and cement distribution pipes, and to set hydrants and gates. On Wednesday, De- cember 2, 1868, the filling of the distribution pipes

commenced, and on the 25th the houses and citizens were supplied. On the 19th of November, 1869, Mr. Phillips, on the part of the commissioners, transferred the charge of the works to the City Council, up to which time the amount expended was one million dollars.

Wenham Lake is situated in Beverly, and Wenham has an area of three hundred and twenty acres, with an extreme depth of fifty three feet and a level of thirty-one feet above mean high tide. Its distance from City Hall is four miles and six-tenths, and it is capable of supplying two and a half millions of gal- lons of water daily. The reservoir on Chipman's Hill is four hundred feet square, with a capacity of twenty million gallons, and a level, when filled, one hundred and forty-two feet above mean high tide.

The works are in the charge of a board of five members, one of whom is chosen annnally by concur- rent vote of the City Council for the term of five years. Up to December 1, 1885, the total cost of the works was $1,423,783.48, and the income from rates for the year 1885 was $62,886.47. The number of takers is at present about 8000.

THE WITCHCRAFT DELUSION .- The extraordinary delusion concerning witchcraft which prevailed in Salem during the latter part of the seventeenth cen- tury must not be omitted in this narrative. It fur- nishes material for a sad chapter in the history of the town, and one which every lover of his kind pitying their infirmities, and sympathizing with their woes, would gladly see expunged and forgotten. It was no new delusion, and in Salem was only peculiar in the extent to which it possessed and influenced the minds of men. It was a part of the theology of the times, and had been handed down from generation to gene- ration, from the earliest days of Christian history. In the 18th verse of the 22d chapter of Exodus it is written, " Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." In the 27th verse of the 20th chapter of Leviticus it is also written, " A man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death ; they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall be upon them," and in the 18th chapter of Deuteronomy are found these words : " There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter or a witch; or a charmer or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer, for all that do these things are an abomination nnto the Lord ; and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee."

A belief in witchcraft was nniversal, for it rested on what was thought to be divine authority. It was con- fined to no class, no order of minds, no degree of edu- cation. It was as much a matter of fact as the fires of hell and infant damnation. Nor was the punishment of death judged by the standards of the day excessive or unjust. As early as 1646 the Massachusetts Gene-

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SALEM.

ral Court, following scriptural command, passed a law that "if any man or woman be a witch, that is, hath or consulteth with a familiar spirit they shall be put to death." At the same time thirteen other offenses were made punishable by death in accordance with quoted passages of Scripture ; nor does this seem so strange when we reflect that the only lingering ar- gument for capital punishment in our own day rests on the Old Testament books of Exodus and Numbers and Leviticus, which declare that "he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death."

So far was obedience to Scripture authority carried in dealing with actual or constructive offenses that after the defeat and death of King Philip, in 1676, most of the ministers of the Massachusetts and Ply- mouth Colonies who were consulted as to what dispo- sition should be made of his innocent son quoted from the Bible to justify their opinion that he should be put to death. Among those consulted were Rev. Jolin Cotton of Plymouth, Rev. Samuel Arnold of Marsh- field and Rev. Increase Mather of Boston. The two for- mer, in a united opinion, said " they humbly conceive on serious consideration, that children of notorious traitors, rebels and murderers, especially of such as have been principal leaders and actors in such horrid villanies, and that against a whole nation ; yea, the whole Israel of God may be involved in the guilt of their parents, and may Salva republica be adjudged to death, as to us seems evident by the Scripture in- stances of Saul, Achan, Haman, the children of whom were cut off by the sword of justice for the transgres- sions of their parents, although concerning some of these children it may be manifest that they were not capable of being co-actors therein."

Mr. Mather said : " It is necessary that some effec- tnal course should be taken about him. He makes me think of Hadad, who was but a little child when his father (the chief sachem of the Edomites) was killed by Joab ; and had not others fled away with him I am apt to think that David would have taken a course that Hadad should never have proved a scourge to the next generation."

This incident is quoted to show how potent in the witchcraft age what was believed to be literally the word of God was in its control over the judgments and actions of men.

Nor was the delusion confined to New England. It prevailed wherever the Scriptures were read and were recognized as authority. Chief Justice Matthew Hale, in his charge to the jury, on the trial of Rose Cullender and Amy Deering for witchcraft, in 1665, said : "That there were such creatures as witches he made no doubt at all. For first the Scriptures had affirmed so much. Secondly, the wisdom of all na- tions had provided laws against such persons, which is au argument in their confidence of such a crime. And such hath been the judgment of the Kingdom, as appears by an Act of Parliament which hath provided punishment proportionate to the quality of the offence."

The expression of such an opinion by the highest legal authority in England, and the existence of the statute to which he refers are sufficient to illustrate the universal prevalence of the delusion and the be- lief in the necessity of the severest punishment of the guilty.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 63

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