History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 80

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 80

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).

He retired from the sea in 1791, when thirty-four years of age, and married in that year Catherine Smith, the daughter of the minister of Middleton, under whose care a portion of his education was con- ducted. In two years his wife died, and in 1795 he married her sister, Elizabeth, with whom he led a happy life of nearly fifty years. From this time for- ward, with the knowledge he had acquired, in the va- rious ports he had visited, of the methods and opportu- nities of profitable trade, his business rapidly increased. With his business he increased the number of his ves- sels, and during his whole career built eighty-three ships, which he largely freighted himself, and for which, at different times, he shipped more than seven thousand seamen. After the year 1811 he promoted to captaincies thirty-five who had entered his employ as boys. It is stated that in these vessels, before the War of 1812, thirty-eight voyages were made to Cal- cutta, seventeen to Canton, thirty-two to Sumatra, forty-seven to St. Petersburg, ten to other northern European ports and twenty to the Mediterranean.

230

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

The West Indies, the Spanish Main and the northwest coast came also within the range of his enterprises.

The business of Mr. Peabody always had Salem for its headquarters, and from and to that port all his vessels sailed, and from there was distributed in coasting vessels the merchandise which they had brought from all paris of the world. His ships were built and equipped there, and it may be easily imag- ined how much employment he gave to his townsmen and how fargely he promoted the prosperity and growth of the town.

At various times he had as partners in business Mr. Thomas Perkins, who sailed with him in his early privateering voyages, and Mr. Gideon Tucker, both of whom, though men of great business capacity, reaped abundantly the benefit of the master-mind of their partner.

The career of Mr. Peabody sufficiently indicates, without a definite analysis, his character. To have accomplished it he must necessarily have possessed certain qualities, without which it would have been a failure instead of a remarkable success. His temper- ament was cool, his judgment was unerring, his esti- mate of men was almost infallible. He was cantious and careful in making his calculations and reaching conclusions, but his calculations when made were always correct and from his conclusions no argument or obstacles could swerve him. But underlying and supplementing all his qualities as a business man was the experience of his early life at the lowest round in the commercial ladder, which made his steady progress comparatively easy and sure.

Mr. Peabody died on the 5th of January, 1844, at the age of eighty-six years. His widow died on the 28th of February, 1854, at the age of eighty-seven years.

COL. FRANCIS PEABODY.

Colonel Francis Peabody was the son of Joseph Peabody, of Salem, and a lineal descendant from Lieutenant Francis Peabody, of St. Albans, Hert- fordshire, England, born in 1614, who came to New England in the ship "Planter " in 1635 and first settled in Ipswich. In 1638 Lieutenant Francis Peabody re- moved to Hampton, in the old county of Norfolk, but in or about the year 1650 took up his permanent resi- dence in Top-field. He married Mary, daughter of Reginald Foster, and had children.

Joseph, one of his descendants, was born Dec. 12, 1757, whose sketch is included in this volume ; mar- ried, first, August 28, 1791, Catherine, and second, October 24, 1795, Elizabeth, daughters of Rev. Elias Smith, of Middleton.

Colonel Francis Peabody, one of the sons of Jo- seph, born December 7, 1801, was placed, at ten years of age, in Dummer Academy, at Byfield, under the care of Rev. Abiel Abbott. At the age of twelve he was placed in a select private school kept by Jacob Newman Knapp, in Brighton, where he remained

four years. Here ended his academic education. His predilection for scientific pursuits was so strong that a collegiate career was abandoned, and his time and energies were devoted to the study of mechanics and chemistry. In 1820, at the age of eighteen, he took passage in the ship " Augustus," belonging to his father, to Russia to re-establish his health, which had been seriously impaired by a fever which, during its ravages, threatened his life and had left him somewhat enfeebled. From Cronstadt, the port of destination, Mr. Peabody made a tour into the interior of Russia and returned home in the " Augustus" with renewed health and a zeal for his chosen work strengthened and matured. During the next two winters he at- tended courses of scientific lectures in Boston and Philadelphia, in the latter city forming an acquaint- ance with the distinguished scientist, Dr. Hare, which proved of special benefit to him in his course of study.

Nor was his enthusiasm confined to scientific pur- suits. His attention was turned to military matters, and as whatever subject he applied his mind to he studied with earnestness and easily mastered, he was soon in command of a battalion of artillery and was rapidly promoted to a lieutenant-colonelcy of a regi- ment. In 1825 he was transferred to the infantry as colonel of the First Regiment, First Brigade, Second Division of the Massachusetts Militia, and ever after- wards bore the title which he then acquired. Hon. Charles W. Upham, an intimate and devoted friend of Colonel Peabody, in a memoir, to which the writer of this sketch is indebted for much of its material, says that, " having exhausted the activities of a mili- tary life, it had no charms for Francis Peabody, and he forthwith gave himself back to his predominating tastes and to the inexhaustible satisfactions they afforded him. Yielding again and now once for all to the spirit of the place, he renewed his philosophi- cal and inventive operations and engaged in branches of business, manufacturing and commercial, to which they led him, remaining always on hand, however, to bear his part in movements for the general welfare."

Colonel Peabody was among the first to introduce the system of public lectures on scientific and literary subjects, which did so much to instruct the last gen- eration and spread intelligence among the people. In 1828 he gave a free course of lectures in Franklin Hall, in Salem, on the history and uses of the steam- engine, and the next season gave a similar course in Concert Hall, in the same city, on electricity. These lectures awakened in the community a sense of the value of knowledge, which took form in the estab- lishment of lyceums not only in Essex County, but throughout the commonwealth.

Colonel Peabody had, in 1826, connected himself with the establishment of the business of the " Forest River Lead Company," but in 1833 he built the paper- mills in Middleton. At a later date he began on an extended scale the business of refining sperm and

Eng by / H Ritchie

hinweis Peuboly -

Dudley A. Pickmany.

231

SALEM.

right whale oil and the manufacture of candles, and also erected at Middleton linseed oil mills. As Mr. Upham says, "The application of science to practical and useful arts was not only the unwearied labor, but the happy entertainment of his life." The establish- ments projected by him were carried on by machinery which owed their perfection to his inventive skill.

He was a member of the Academy of Arts and Sci- ences, and during many visits to Europe made it his business as well as pleasure "to explore whatever illustrated the application of philosophical principles to the useful arts." His services in the introduction of aluminium in dentistry and in the preparation and use of flax are well known to persons of the last gen- eration interested in these branches of science and industry.

In 1865 Colonel Peabody succeeded Asahel Hunt- ington as president of the Essex Institute and con- tinued in office until his death, which occnrred Octo- ber 31, 1867. On the 7th of July, 1823, he married Martha, daughter of Samuel Endicott, the seventh in descent from John Endicott, the governor of the plantation in Essex, and had children.

This inadequate sketch of the career of Colonel Peabody suggests the prevailing traits in his charac- ter. He inherited wealth, but neither permitted it to lessen his activities and paralyze his usefulness nor used it for display or personal aggrandizement. The diffusion of knowledge, the elevation of public taste, the establishment of pure morality, the happiness of his home and the prosperity of his children were the ends he sought, and to these ends he lavishly devoted his time and means. He was universally respected and beloved by the community in which he lived, and the memory of his warm heart, his open hand, his cheerful spirit, his unsullied purity, his untar- nished integrity and his irreproachable life is still fresh in the homes of his native city.

DUDLEY LEAVITT PICKMAN

Was born in Salem on the 4th day of May, 1779. He was the fifth in descent from Benjamin Pickman, who came to Salem from Bristol, England, about the year 1666. His grandfather, also named Benjamin, was a successful and public-spirited merchant, and it was he who built, and occupied the fine old house on Essex Street, next to the present East India Marine Hall. William, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a man much respected and esteemed, although, being a younger son, he inherited but little wealth. Washington appointed him naval officer of the port of Salem, which position he held twelve years, until, on the election of Jefferson, he was re- moved to give place to a Democrat. He married a daughter of the Rev. Dudley Leavitt, minister of the Tabernacle Church, in Salem. Mrs. Leavitt was a sister of that sturdy old Federalist, Colonel Timothy Pickering. William's eldest son, a young man of

great promise, bearing his father's name, was lost at sea, and his only daughter, Elizabeth, married Daniel Abbott, a distinguished lawyer of Dunstable, (after- wards Nashua), New Hampshire. The second son, Dudley Leavitt Pickman, after receiving a common- school education, was for a time clerk in his father's department at the Custom-House; then, like so many of his fellow-townsmen, he followed the sea for about ten years, acting as supercargo and agent for several well-known commercial houses in Boston and Salem. Soon after the War of 1812 he commenced business in Salem, associated with the brothers Nathaniel, William and Zachariah F. Siisbee and Robert Stone. This partnership continued for more than thirty years. Their business was extensive, and their ves- sels made voyages to all quarters of the world. They were among the first to engage in the trade with Zan- zibar and Madagascar, since so successfully carried on from Salem, but their principal business was with Sumatra, Java and the Philippine Islands. The ship " Endeavour," owned by them, was built by Christo- pher Turner, near Frye's Mills, in Salem. The brig "Persia," which was afterwards lost on Eastern Point, Cape Anu, with all on board, was launched from near Phillips' Wharf, and the ship " Borneo " from South Salem. The "Friendship," another of their vessels, was attacked by Malay pirates off the coast of Sumatra, and after the first officer and several of the crew had been killed, was captured and plun- dered. In addition to foreign commerce, Mr. Pick- man took a strong interest in manufacturing enter- prises. Unlike most of the merchants of that time, who were free traders, Mr. Pickman was an early advo- cate of a protective tariff, believing that the introduc- tion of manufacturing industries was of vital import- ance to the prosperity of the country. He was a member of each of the companies which purchased the land and water-power where the cities of Lowell, Manchester and Lawrence now stand, and also a large stockholder in many of the early cotton and woolen- mills in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Later, he took the same strong interest in railroads, then a novelty and an experiment. Probably, in the records of a majority of the railroads first built in New Eng- land his name would be found as an original subscriber.

He performed valuable services in the Massachu- setts Legislature, to both branches of which he was several times elected, though not a seeker after polit- ical office. Always ready to give his time and service to public or charitable institutions, the unfor- tunate and needy were sure to find in him a willing friend. In politics an ardent Federalist and great admirer of Alexander Hamilton, he acted, after the extinction of that party, with the National Republi- cans and Whigs.

He was an active member of the North Church of Salem, and took a deep interest in the rise and spread of Unitarianism, many of the clergymen of

232

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

that denomination being among his most valued friends. Strong good sense, sound judgment, great clearness of perception and statement were his most striking characteristics. Eminently just and honora- ble in all his dealings and despising everything false or tricky, he was nevertheless a man of strong prejn- dices, but he did not allow them to betray him into injustice. Mr. Pickman was not only an accom- plished merchant, familiar with everything relating to accounts, the laws and usages of insurance, bank- ing and exchanges, but extensive reading, aided by an excellent memory, had given him a vast fund of general information, particularly on historical and geographical subjects and the politics of Europe and this country, as well as a good knowledge of the best English and French literature. He was a large man physically, fully six feet two inches in height, of striking presence, with a fine head and expansive forehead, indicating decided brain-power. His man- ners had all the dignity and courtesy of the old school. The brick house on the corner of Chestnut and Pickering Streets, built in 1819, was occupied by him until his death, which occurred in 1846. He was married, in 1810, to Catherine, daughter of Thomas Sanders, of Salem. Three children survived him : Catherine Sanders, married to Richard S. Fay, of Boston; Elizabeth Leavitt, to Richard S. Rogers, of Salem ; and William Dudley, to Caroline, daughter of Zachariah F. Silsbee, of Salem.

A son of the last, born in Salem in 1850, and a grandson, born at Geneva, Switzerland, in 1885, botlı bear the name of Dudley Leavitt Pickman.

RICHARD S. ROGERS.

Richard Saltonstall Rogers was born in Salem Jannary 13, 1790, and was a lineal descendant, not from John Rogers, the martyr, as has been supposed by some, but from another John Rogers, a contem- porary of the martyr, living in another part of Eng- land. This John Rogers had two sons,-the Rev. Richard Rogers, of Weathersfield, and John, who lived in Chelmsford. The latter son, John, was the father of Rev. John Rogers, of Dedham, England, who was the father of Rev. Nathaniel Rogers, who was born in Haverhill, England, in 1598, came to New England in 1636, and was settled at Ipswich in 1637. The Rev. Nathaniel Rogers married Margaret Crane, and was the father of Rev. John Rogers, of Ipswich, born in Coggeshall, England, in 1630, who graduated at Harvard College in 1649, and was its president from April 10, 1682, until his death, July 2, 1684. The Rev. John Rogers, the president, married Eliza- beth Dennison, and was the father of another Rev. John Rogers, of Ipswich, who was born in Ipswich in 1666, and graduated at Harvard in 1684. The last John married Martha Whittingham, and was the father of Rev. Nathaniel Rogers, of Ipswich, born Septem- ber 22, 1701, and a graduate at Harvard in 1721.

The Rev. Nathaniel Rogers married, first, December 25, 1728, Mary, daughter of John Leverett, presi- dent of Harvard College, and widow of Colonel John Denison, of Ipswich, and second, Mary, daughter of Thomas Burnam, and the widow of Daniel Staniford. By his second wife he had Nathaniel, born March 11, 1762, and a graduate at Harvard in 1782. The last Nathaniel married Abigail, daughter of Colonel Abraham Dodge, and had Nathaniel Leverett, August 6, 1785, who married, October 24, 1813, Har- riet, danghter of Aaron Wait, of Salem; John Whittingham, who married Austin, daughter of Colo- nel Benjamin Pickman, of Salem; Richard S., the subject of this sketch, Jannary 13, 1790 ; William Augustus, who graduated at Harvard in 1811; and Daniel Dennison, who died in infancy.

About the year 1790, after the birth of his two oldest children, Nathaniel Rogers removed from Ips- wich to Salem. . Richard Saltonstall, with his brothers, was educated at the common schools, and in early manhood entered with energy and enthu- siasm npon a business career. At that time Jerath- mael Peirce, the father of Benjamin Peirce, librarian of Harvard College from 1826 to 1831, and grand- father of the late Benjamin Peirce, professor of astronomy and mathematics at Harvard, was, with Aaron Wait, under the firm name of Wait & Peirce, largely engaged in Salem in the foreign trade. Na- thaniel Leverett Rogers, the oldest brother of Rich- ard, married, in 1813, Harriet, the danghter of Mr. Wait, and through his influence Richard obtained large consignments of merchandise to Russia, and spent several years in that conntry engaged in the management of the affairs of that enterprising house. In 1816 he sailed as supercargo in the ship "Friend- ship," belonging to the same house, on a voyage to Lisbon and Calcutta, and after successive voyages in that capacity, and one voyage on the ship " Tartar," as master, he, with his next oldest brother, John Whittingham Rogers, was taken into partnership by his oldest brother, Nathaniel Leverett Rogers, who had already established himself at Salem in foreign trade, under the name of Rogers Brothers. The three brothers, all of whom were quick-sighted, quick- witted and quick to act where shrewd calculation and clear judgment led the way, started at once on a career which, during twenty years, overcame every obstacle in the way of its success.

The older readers of this sketch will remember the vessels in their employ and the captains who commanded them,-the "Grotius," " Augustus," " Tybee," "Clay," "Nereus," "Quill" and "Charles Daggett," will be recognized as names of vessels of which not a timber-head remains, while the names of their masters-Woodbury, Ward, Skerry, Neal, Far- ley, Vanderford, Kinsman, Lamson, King, Mngford, Bowditch, Brookhouse and Drevin-only recall the past and its busy days of active commercial life. With these ships and masters the Rogers Brothers

4. :

Rut Kay

Eny da - F Patchre

John Bertram

233

SALEM.

were the pioneers in the Zanzibar and New Holland trades, and besides numerous voyages to South America and various European ports, there were per- formed by them more than one hundred and twenty voyages around either Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope.

Those who are familiar with the facilities which ocean cables afford to the merchant who sends his ship to-day into distant seas find it difficult to appreciate the judgment and skill and heroic courage without which no man could successfully engage in foreign commerce fifty years ago. Now the owner communi- cates with his master in every port, and orders are postponed to meet the exigencies as they arise. Then a one or two or three years' voyage was planned at the start, and its successful termination was a triumph of business skill. Of this skill the Rogers Brothers were largely the possessors and until unexpected and undeserved reverses met them, in 1842, their career was smooth and prosperous.

But the reverses were not sufficient to discourage or depress Mr. Rogers. He met them with the same undaunted courage which he had always exhibited when perils threatened and disaster was nigh. He again adopted the occupation of his early life and sailed as supercargo to Australia in the ship "Ianthe," Captain Woodbury, opening with hope a new chapter in his life. He afterwards became engaged in com- merce to some extent with his brother-in-law, W. D. Pickman, of Salem and Boston, and never permitted himself, as long as health and strength remained to fall away from active and absorbing pursuits.

Mr. Rogers married, May 14, 1822, Sarah G., danghter of Hon. Jacob Crowninshield, and had Wil- liam Crowninshield; Richard Denison, who married Martha Endicott, daughter of Colonel Francis Pea- body; Jacob Crowninshield, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel Francis Peabody; Sarah and George, who died early; and Arthur Saltonstall. He mar- ried, second, March 17, 1847, Elizabeth L., daughter of Hon. Dudley L. Pickman, of Salem, and had Dudley Pickering; George Willoughby, who married Jose- phine Lord, of Peabody ; and Elizabeth P., who married Mr. Pound, and resides in England.

Mr. Rogers was a man who never sought popularity nor office. His individuality was strong, his opinions were his own and not easily changed, his will was indomitable, and for many years his influence in political and civil life was marked. He was at various times a member of the Common Council of Salem and of the Legislature, but the methods of modern politicians were distasteful to him and he had no ambition to keep them company. He died June 11, 1873, at Salem, at the ripe age of eighty-three years.

CAPTAIN JOHN BERTRAM.

Among the names which Salem holds in loving and lasting remembrance, there are few, if any, which are I5}

more highly esteemed than that of John Bertram. He was a notable representative of a class of men who, as civilization advances, grow more and more important in their influence upon society. In a bus- iness age like our own, a great merchant is pre-emi- nently a factor of force. He and his work touch the community at an infinite number of points. His honest successes are an inspiration to the multitude of workers, the patience and industry by which he wins his wealth and standing are a rebuke to the idlers who take life easily and hope to find short cuts to fortune, his methods are suggestive and healthful, and his history is a school book for beginners to study. In the record of human activities there is nothing finer than the story of the career of a truly great and honorable merchant.

And both as a great and honorable merchant John Bertram was exceptionally eminent. He owed noth- ing to fortune. Born in humble circumstances with no friends to push him, and no capital with which to begin the world, he shouldered himself to the first rank of successful business men by sheer force of will and patient endurance. He first saw the light in the Isle of Jersey, February 11, 1796. His family were residents of the Parish of St. Saviour, to which parish his ancestry as far back as he was able to trace it had always belonged. The Bertram

family belonged to the middle class, in the somewhat peculiar society of the unique island which is both French and English. The ancient parish church is still standing, and in later life Mr. Bertram had the pleasure of revisiting the very local- ity where, as a boy, he had played, and of entering again the old church in whose very shadow he had perhaps in his earlier years nursed ambitions and hopes that were to be realized in his later life. Be- yond question, that old church and its surroundings had something to do with imparting a permanent tinge to his thoughts and feelings, for through a long life he showed a profound reverence for and interest in religious matters, and a sketch of the old church procured in his later years was one of the most highly esteemed of his household treasures.

The family came to America in 1807, and settled in Salem. Like all adventurous Salem boys of that day, John conceived a grand passion for the sea. The shop where he worked was within hearing of the lap- ping of the waves, and through the windows he could catch sight of the lines of masts and the white gleam of the canvass and the songs of the sailors outward or homeward bound, seemed to invite him to become a wanderer on the ocean. At last a decision was reached, and in December, 1812, Captain Bertram, then sixteen years old, shipped for his first voyage on board a vessel bound for Alexandria and Lisbon, rated on the ship's lists as a "boy " with a pay of five dollars a month. Then came the exciting times of the War of 1812, and after his return from his first voyage he followed the adventurous life of a privateer

234

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

until he found himself a prisoner on board the prison ship " Alicant," at Bermuda, and in 1815 one of the unhappy captives confined in the prison ship at Plymouth, England.

The close of the war released Captain Bertram from his captivity, and he found himself at home again, with very little to show for his years of hard service. But the boy's romance had become the purpose of the man, and he was soon afloat again, serving in vessel after vessel, voyaging to all parts of the world, rising from grade to grade, until he found himself in command, retiring from the hard life of the sea in 1832, after twenty years of tasking and faithful ser- vice. From thence on he continued in the ordinary routine of commercial business until 1848, when the discovery of gold in California set the world on fire. Captain Bertram was quick to discern the value of this new opening for business, and sent out the first vessel from the States after the discovery of gold, and the third vessel which arrived from . any port. He, with others, subsequently built a number of ships for the trade, most of them clippers, some of them very large. From 1852 to 1858 he gradually narrowed the range of his commercial business, until at last he confined it to trade in the Indian seas. In 1856 he became interested in Western railroads, and carried into the new business the same energy and caution and foresight which had characterized him in other departments of activity. There, as elsewhere, his ability commanded success, and his faculty for organ- ization enabled him to spend his last years with his business so well in hand, that he was free from anxiety and relieved from overburdensome labor. At the same time he did not intermit his vigilance. Useful occupation was his delight, and he devoutly believed that if a man wished to be well served, he must serve himself. His quiet office was an observa- vatory, whose windows looked north, south, cast and west, and he kept watch of what was going on that concerned him, both on the far shores of Zanzibar and beyond the roll of the Mississippi. Wherever the business was the man was, to plan and oversee and superintend.

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 80

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