History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 139

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 139

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In 1866-67-68 he gave extensive credits. Seldom, if ever, did he refnse credit to an industrious, honest man. By his genial manners, and the liberal meth- ods hy which he conducted his business, he gained the confidence of his patrons, and many of them be- came his firm friends. In 1874 he removed his busi- ness from South to West Amesbury (now Merrimac), and associated with him as partner, Samuel Scofield, his son-in-law, determining to limit his business and take life easier. He enjoyed the fruits of a well-earned competency during the remainder of a long and useful life. Being himself in a measure relieved from the perplexities of business, he took pleasure in assisting many less fortunate than himself. Only those who knew him most intimately were aware of his many kind deeds and acts of friendship. Intensely inter- ested in the organization of the National Bank of Merrimac, he was chosen one of its directors, con- tinuing until his death, which occurred very suddenly, January 2, 1879.

Mr. Gunnison was a man of prepossessing appear- ance, naturally a good conversationalist. A great reader, well versed in the current topics of the day, and seldom failed to interest. From the resolutions adopted by the Carriage Makers' Convention, of which he was a member, we copy the following : " For over a half a century he has been identified with the carriage trade, and his good works have been so various and important that his long and use- ful life, recently closed, may be said to form a part of the history of the trade in this country.

" A tribute to his memory : We hold dear the memory of the numerous excellencics which charac- terize him,-his candor, his honor and unflinching devotion to duty, which made him a friend to every man, and every man a friend."

Hle had eight children. His widow and six chil- dren still survive him. The eldest daughter remained

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

at home, enjoying his companionship to the last. Two daughters and two sons married, and are resi- dents of Merrimac. Belinda married Samuel Scofield, of Yorkshire, England. He was the one referred to as partner. Lydia MI. married Bailey Sargent (busi- ness, insurance; also holding the office of town clerk and treasurer of Merrimac). The two sons- William W. and Charles E. are both interested in the carriage business. C. E. Gunnison is one of the leading manufacturers of Merrimac.

Sarah A., the youngest daughter, married Asa F. l'attee, M.D., of Warner, New Hampshire, then a practicing physician of Merrimac ; some of his anees- tors were of Merrimac origin.

Successful here, during the war he had charge of the Alexander Hospital, Second Division of the Army of the Potomac. IFe returned to Merrimac in 1865, resuming practice for a year, and then removed to Boston, 1866, where at the present time he resides, a successful practitioner, and a large contributor to medical literature, and from 1881 to 1886 was pro- fessor in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, lecturing on diseases of the nervous system.

WILLIAM HENRY HASKELL.

William Henry Haskell, the subject of this sketch, was born in Newburyport September 21, 1810, and obtained his early education in her public schools. In 1824, at the age of fourteen years, he went to West Amesbury, where he learned the trade of silver- płating, then a very important trade in connection with the manufacture of carriages, which was the principal business of the locality.

In 1831 he engaged in the manufacture of car- riages, continuing also his silver-plating. In 1850 he entered into co-partnership with Wm. P. Sargent and W'm. Gunnison, under the firm-name of Sargent, Gunnison & Co.

This firm had a repository in Boston for the sale of their carriages, and a manufactory and store in West Amesbury, Mr. Haskell having charge of the store, which was connected with the business of the com- pany, for the sale of carriage findings, together with the usual variety of goods to be found in a country store at that time. This firm was very successful, do- Sig the largest business of any in the town.

Mr Haskell continued a member of the firm until its di solucion, in 1-60. In his business life he devel- [" I a de idol talent for financial pursuits, which found expression in his efforts for the establishment be The First National Bank of Amesbury, which was valor de hur lant with a capital of fifty thousand dot cool of wight he became the first cashier, serving Ta de mye ty until 1559, when he was chosen as preobe . whodige cion he still hohls.

The Bulk has been very succesfully managed, and has is capital tock Dressed from $50,000 to

In 1871 the Merrimac Savings Bank was chartered, and in this movement he also was actively interested. He was its first treasurer, and subsequently, on the death of its first president, he was elected to fill that office, which he acceptably fills at the present time.

Mr. Haskell was also prominently connected with the building of the West Amesbury Branch Railroad, owning largely in its stock. He was made president of the company, which position he still occupies.

He was actively interested in the division of Ames- bury and the incorporation of the town of Merrimac, serving on the committee which presented the matter to the Legislature, and doing much for the success of the movement.

He was one of the contributors for the purchase and presentation to the town of the land upon which the Town Hall stands, and his service was recognized by his fellow-citizens in his election as chairman of the first Board of Selectmen in the new town.

Mr. Haskell has always been an active participant in public affairs, serving on the Board of Selectmen of Amesbury. In politics a Republican, he repre- sented that town in the Legislature of 1869 as a mem- ber of the House of Representatives, where he was an efficient member of the Committee on Banks and Banking. Subsequently his name was presented as a candidate for the office of Senator.

In 1847 he received a commission as justice of the peace from Governor George N. Briggs, which he held for twenty-eight years, declining further service.

Early in life he identified himself with the temper- ance cause, and was one of thirteen who organized the first temperance society in Amesbury. In 1828 he united with the Congregational Church in West Amesbury, has been actively interested in its work, and a faithful contributor to its support.

Mr. Haskell's connection with the growth and prosperity of the town has been intimate and active during all the years of his residence in it, and he still holds important trusts and fills a large place in the confidence and esteem of his fellow-townsmen.

Mr. Haskell has been twice married. His first wife was Clarissa Whittier; his present wife is a daughter of the late Edmund Whittier, of West Amesbury. Ile has had eight children, five of whom are still living.

FRANCIS SARGENT.

Francis Sargent is a descendant in direct line from Richard, of England, who was an officer in the royal navy; he had a son William (first generation), born in 1602, who came to this country early in life and set- tled at Ipswich, Mass .; from there he went to Newbury, then to Amesbury, where he died in 1675, aged seven- ty-three years. He married Elizabeth Perkins and had Thomas (second generation), born April 4, 1643. Thomas married Rachel Barnes January 2, 1667, and had a son Thomas (third generation), born November 15, 1676; he married Mary Stevens December 17, 1702;

Um He Haskell

Francis argent.

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MERRIMAC.

their son was Moses (fourth generation), born Ang. 21, 1707; he married Sarah Bagley July 14, 1727, and had a son Orlando (fifth generation), born April 21, 1728, who married Betty Barnard and had Orlando (sixth generation ), born January 20, 1769 ; he married Han- nah Welsh, of Plaistow, N. H .; they had a son Francis (seventh generation), the subject of this sketch, who was born November 10, 1810, in the old homestead, West Amesbury (now Merrimac), built by his grand- father Orlando at an early day; he was a farmer, as was his son Orlando, the father of Francis.

The grandfather, Deacon Orlando (fifth generation ), was prominently identified with the early history of Amesbury, and his name frequently appears on the old records of the town. He often related to his chil- dren and grandchildren stories of the Indian troubles and about the old corn-house, which was used for the storing of powder.

Francis Sargent had but limited advantages for an education. When quite yonng he attended the little district school, and later on the academy at Ames- bury, being obliged to walk daily three miles each way. When seventeen years of age he went to learn the house-carpenter's trade, or, as it was called in those days, joiner's trade. After serving four years, it was but a step to take up the making of chaise-bodies. Car- riage-making at that early day being a prominent feat- ure of the locality, he closely followed this calling evenings, and sometimes far into the night, and teach- ing in the same district school, daytimes, where he had once been a pupil.

Mr. Sargent married for first wife Hannah Atkinson, August 28, 1836, sister of Dr. Atkinson. They had two children,-Francis Augustus (eighth generation), born September 9, 1842, and died December 3, 1877; Elmer P., born Angust 11, 1844. Francis Augustns, married, May 30, 1867, Sarah J. Wood ward, of Bangor, and had three children,-Abram W. (ninth generation), born, June 23, 1868; Louise, born June 13, 1872; and Frank A., born October 26, 1877.

Elmer P. married for first wife Louisa Bartlett of Amesbury, Mass., October 18, 1865 ; they had two sons, -Francis (ninth generation), born December 17, 1866, and Elmer P., Jr., born July 3, 1869. The first wife of Elmer P., Sr., died February 14, 1872, and he mar- ried for second wife Judith B. Follansbee, of West Newbury, November 23, 1876 ; they had two children, -Edith H., born May 17, 1878, and Fanny A., July 25, 1879.

In June, 1881, Mrs. Francis Sargent met with an accident, which resulted in her death July 1, 1881, in her sixty-seventh year. She was a woman of rare strength of character, and thoroughly devoted to all who were near to her, and a most exemplary mother. She was for many years a member of the Congrega- tional church, of which her husband has been a mem- ber for more than fifty years.

In 1836, Mr. Sargent, in partnership with the late A. E. Goodwin, commenced the manufacture of shoes,

which continued until 1840, when, in connection with the grocery business (in which they were in the . meantime interested), commenced the sale of car- riage-trimmings, exchanging goods for carriages finish - ed ; but during all this time, and since 1833, Mr. Sar- gent had been drawing carriages through the conntry for sale, which was the custom in those days. In 1852 the concern of Sargent, Harlow & Co. was formed, one of the largest manufacturing firms in the country at that time. They opened a repository in Haymarket Square, Boston, and soon became widely known. Since 1852, Mr. Sargent has been in continuous bus- iness in Boston, and on the retirement of Mr. Harlow in November, 1862, the firm-name was changed to Francis Sargent & Co., and, with different partners, has been carried on under that name.

Mr. Sargent, in January, 1885, finding that his cus- tomers were demanding a better grade of work, mov- ed to his present location, and under the same firm- name has been constantly gaining a class of trade who appreciate a first-class carriage, at a reasonable price. Mr. Sargent is vigorous in mind, and possesses great en- ergy, and although still living at Merrimac, he goes to Boston every day, and notwithstanding the ride of nine- ty miles, is able to do more work than many younger men, and we see no reason why he may not live to the advanced age of so many of his ancestors, as quite a number have reached well into the nineties. His sis- ter living in Merrimac is in good health and in her eighty-ninth year. Mr. Surgent married for second wife Mrs. Sarah Patten, of Kingston, N. H.

JOHN S. POYEN.

John S. Poyen was born at East Haverhill, October 12, 1818. His father, Joseph Rochemont de Poyen, was a direct descendant from the Marquis Jean de Poyen, who emigrated from France to the Island of Guadaloupe, one of the West Indies, in the year 1658. He was a stanch royalist and an ardent de- fender of Louis XVI.

In 1792 a large number of the inhabitants of Gua- dalonpe were obliged to flee, on account of the revo- lution. Many lost their lives, but among the fortu- nate ones who escaped were the grandfather and father of John S. Poyen. A Newburyport merchant vessel being in the harbor of Point-a-Pitre at this time, they concealed themselves on board of her, and were landed at Newburyport in March, 1792. The grandfather died the same year of his arrival, October 14, 1792, aged fifty-two years, and was buried in Newburyport, in the old graveyard on "Burrial hill."

His son, Joseph Rochemont de Poyen, finally set- tled at Rock's Bridge, East Haverhill, where he met and became enamored of, and married Sallie, daugh - ter of Thomas Elliot, in spite of the protest of her parents, who did not really like the idea of their daughter marrying a foreigner whom they had hot

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS

known for very long. However, they were married | laborious efforts the road was constructed and leased and lived happily together. She was a handsome, to the Boston and Maine Railroad corporation for brilliant girl, and made him an excellent wife. Ile ninety-nine years. He was chosen president, which was an active, genial man, with a little of the French office he also held at the time of his death. impatience, but a good man and a good husband. He died at the age of eighty-four. Nine children were born to them, John S. being among the young- Cat.

Mr. Poyen received the customary common-school education of those times, with the additional advan- tage of a short course of instruction from the distin- guished mathematician, Benjamin Greenleaf.

When fourteen years okl he came to Merrimac (then West Amesbury) and entered the grocery and carriage supply store of Stephen Patten, who had married his eldest sister, Elizabeth J. Five years later he became a partner, and after ten years of part- nership he purchased the interest of Mr. Patten. In the mean time they had begun the mannfacture of carriages, in which he continued until 1867, when he sold out the manufacturing business. From that time until his death he continued the business of car- ringe supplies alone.

In 1871 he gave Mr. Il. O. Delano, who was a clerk with him at the time, an interest in the business, and the firm, under the name of John S. Poyen & Co., entered a career of great prosperity and success, and became one of the most prominent of its kind in New England.

He was always ready pecuniarily, and by his per- sonal influence, to promote the public interests of the town, and many times a helping hand was given to young men when he felt they deserved his confi- dence. He was always liberal in helping those whom he saw trying to help themselves.

The rapid growth in the business of the town, re- quiring better facilities for banking purposes (the nearest bank for depositors being in Amesbury, five miles distant), he was foremost in promoting the or- ganization of a bank in Merrimac, and in May, 1864, as a result of his efforts, the First National Bank of Merrimar opened its doors for business, with a capi- tal of fifty thousand dollars, which, in July of the same year was increased to seventy-five thousand O Mars, and in November to one hundred thousand dover -. In May, 1875, it had a capital of two hun- Ir % thousand dollars. From its first organization note bis death he was a prominent director and its W - - tocklolder.

& look later an institution for savings was estab- YURI of which he was made president. Ile was Is trustee of the Public Library for a

ICH DTV vostra road was six miles dis- SatBan , lo ool and connections ; and the romanen worm nes demanding bet- 0 0 h., Mr. P ven used his aUnce or & afford which should Aber ou-dde centres. After

During the years 1870 and '71 he was selectman and advocated the division of the town of Amesbury, believing it would be an advantage to the old and new towns. In 1876 the village of West Amesbury became an incorporated town, and by legislative sane- tion it took the name of Merrimae.

Various other offices of trust were held by him at different times, and during his business life of forty- two years he served faithfully the best interests of his fellow-townsmen, and by his sudden death Merrimac lost one of its most active and respected citizens.

On the 7th day of December, 1843, he married Miss Elizabeth B., eldest daughter of Dr. Timothy Kenison, a highly-esteemed physician of East Haverhill, and Abagail Longfellow, his wife.

From this marriage were born six children, four of whom are still living. Ifis two sons, John S. and Edward A., still continue in the business established by their father.

In January, 1880, Mr. Poyen, while visiting his father's relatives, for the second time, who were living in Guadaloupe, one of the West India Islands, was at- tacked by yellow fever, and after a very short illness, died, at Point-a-Pitre, February 22, 1880. A year later he was buried in the family burial-lot at Merri- mac.

CHAPTER CXXVII.

ANDOVER.

BY REV. CHARLES SMITH.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

THE precise date of the first settlement of the town cannot now be ascertained. In 1634, we are told, "Newtown men, being straitened for ground, sent some men to Merrimack to find a fit place to trans- plant themselves." Moved thereto, doubtless, by these Newtown men, the General Court in the same year " ordered that the land about Cochichewiek shall be assessed for an inland plautation, and whosoever will go to inhabit there shall have three years' immunity from all taxes, levies, publie charges and services whatever, military discipline only excepted." A committee of three-John Winthrop, Richard Bel- lingham and William Coddington-was appointed to license such persons as might desire to avail them- selves of the benefits of this order. And it was ex- pressly provided that no person should "go thither without their consent, or the major part of them."

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ANDOVER.

But it appears that the "straitened " men of Newtown did not avail themselves of this liberal inducement to remove to the banks of the Cochichewick. They may have found a more inviting location, or they may have been thwarted in their intentions by others, in a like straitened condition, who had fixed a longing eye upon the meadows and forests of Cochichewick. In 1639 we find Rev. Nathaniel Ward, of Ipswich, writing repeatedly to the Governor, with whom he was connected by marriage, and to whom he was coun- selor, urging him not to "give any encouragement concerning any plantation att Quichichaeke or Pen- ticutt (Haverhill) till myself and some others either speake or write to you about it."

Mr. Ward claimed to have gathered a company of " more than 20 families of very good Christians," a portion of whom were "Newbury men." The solici- tations of Mr. Ward were so far heeded that in May, 1640, he secured the coveted grant for his company, but, on the express condition, " that they return an- swer within three weeks from the 27th p'snt, and that they build there before the next Courte." These con- ditions were not complied with, and the grant lapsed. Whether this failure was owing to a more favorable opening, to discouragement growing out of the haz- ards of the enterprise, or to the intrigue and opposi- tion of others covetous of the grant, does not, however, appear.

The following year Mr. John Woodbridge, of New- bury, afterwards the first minister of Andover, pre- sents an urgent request for the township forfeited by the Newtown men, in behalf of certain men of New- bury and Ipswich, some of whom " have sold them- selves out of house and home, and so desire to be set- tled as soon as may be." Perchance these men who had " sold themselves out of house and home" were somehow mixed up in the scheme of the Newtown men. However this may be, the new effort, under the wise and persistent direction of Mr. Woodbridge, led to a happy issue.

Though there is no record of the month or year when this company of Ipswich and Newbury men planted themselves on the banks of the "Cochiche- wick brook," they must have located there before the beginning of 1643. The evidence of this is in the fact that, on the 10th of May, of that year, in an order passed by the General Court for a division of the whole plantation into four shires, Cochichawicke is mentioned as one of the eight towns comprising the shire of Essex. Very soon after the first settlement of the towu its name was changed to Andover, at the desire, most probably, of some inhabitant who had emigrated from Andover, iu Hants County, England, though we have no direct testimony to that effect. In accordance with the practice uniformly observed by the Puritans, who made the first settlements in New England, Mr. Woodbridge purchased the land in- cluded in the township of the Indians. Cutshamache, the Sagamore of Massachusetts, was the chief with

whom the bargain was made, and the price paid was £6 and a coat.

This purchase and the preceding grant were confirmed by the General Court in 1646, when the town was incorporated with its present name. The act of incorporation is as follows :

" At a Gentall Corte, at Boston, the 6th, 3th mo., 1616, ' Cutshamache Sagamore of yo Massachusetts, came into ye Corte, & acknowledged yt for ye sume of £6 and a coate, w'ch he had already received, wee bad sould to Mr. John Woodbridge, in behalfe of ye inhabitants of Cochicha- wick, now called Andiver, all his right, interest, & privilege in ye laud 6 miles southward from ye towne, two miles eastward to Rowley bounds, be ye same more or lesse, north ward Merrimack Ryver, p'vided to yt ye Indian called Roger & his company may have librty to take Alewifes in Cochicha- wick River, for their oune eating; but if they either spoyle or steale any corne, or othr fruite, to any considrable value, of ye inhabitanttes there, this librty of taking fish shall forever cease; & ye said Roger is still to enjoy foure acres of ground where he now plants. This pur- chase ye Corte alowes of, & have granted ye said land to belong to ye said plantation for ev'r, to be ordred & disposed of by them, reserving liberty to ye Corte to lay two miles square of their southerly bounds to any towne or village yt hereafter may be erected thereabouts, if so they See cause.'

"Cutshamache acknowledged this before ye magistrates, & so ye Corte app'veth thereof, & of the rest in this bill to be recorded, so as to pr'udice no former grant."

We find this spelling Audiver as late as 1648, in the records of the colony. Andiver "was originally bounded by the Merrimack, Rowley, Salem, Woburn and Cambridge, which formerly ineluded Billerica and Tewksbury." Andover in 1829 extended, on its northwestern border, along the banks of the Merri- mack River for nearly eleven miles; on its north- eastern limits, it was bounded for one hundred and forty-six rods by Bradford, and seven miles, two hun- dred and forty-one rods by Boxford ; on the southeast, three miles and sixty-six rods by Middleton; on the south, four miles by Reading, and two miles and two hundred and eighty-five rods by Wilmington ; and on the southwest, six miles and one hundred and ninety- seven rods by Tewksbury, containing thirty-seven thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight acres of land. Territorially, this was one of the largest towns in the county, if not in the State.

The first settlement was made in the North Parish, (now North Andover). The grantees, or proprietors, for convenience, mutual protection, social intercourse and to enjoy the better their religious worship and teaching, settled near each other, around their meet- ing-house, on "home lots," containing from four to ten acres each, according to the wealth and import- ance of the occupant. To the owner of a home lot was assigned meadow, tillage and wood-land in the more remote parts of the town. This allotment was in proportion to the size and value of the village lot. These outlying farms were gradually built upon and lived upon by their owners. But not for many years was such occupancy common. For a long time liv- ing away from the village was discouraged ; and, on one occasion, the town went so far as by vote to for- bid any inhabitant's building a dwelling-house in any part of the town other than that which had been set apart for such houses, except by express leave of the

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

town. The penalty for a disregard of this order was a fine of twenty shillings a month for the time the disobedient person should live in such prohibited place. But, as the population increased, and the roads became more passable, and danger from hostile Indians was largely diminished, people removed to their farms in the present South and West Parishes.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 139

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1672

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672