History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 147

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 147

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" The selectmen immediately issued a notice for a meeting of the peo- ple, to be held on the same evening. A large number assembled at the appointed time, all anxious to do whatever could be done to exhibit their sympathy for those in painful suspense, and their friends who might be in great suffering. As the information was then meagre, the meeting was adjourned to Tuesday evening.

"The adjourned meeting was a very large one, and the interest mani- fested was most earnest and sympathetic. Facts gathered from your let- ters were announced and listened to with intense eagerness. Appropri- ate addresses were made by several gentlemen, conveying expressions of condolence and tenderness to the afflicted and sorrowful.

" The undersigned were appointed a committee to address to you a letter, and to prepare and report to the meeting resolutions for adoption The subjoined resolutions were reported by the committee, and adopted by a unanimous vote.

"While our attention is at this time more particularly directed to your company and regiment on account of the many killed and wounded of your number, we would at the same time make appreciative reference to our other brave friends, scattered throughout the great loyal army, and, like yourselves, periling all that is dear of earth for the salvation of our beloved country.

" CHARLES SMITH, " JOSIAHI L. CHAPIN, " GEORGE FOSTER, " Committee."

The commissioners found, in the various hospitals in the vicinity of Washington, thirty wounded soldiers from Andover, and ministered to their wants as di- rected. It was afterward ascertained that the entire list of casualties in the company at the first battle at Spottsylvania and the succeeding fights till the 20th of June amounted to eight killed and sixty-two wounded, four of the latter dying from their wounds.

Company H was at first composed of one hundred men, officers and privates, besides two musicians -- all Andover men. When the regiment was changed from infantry to heavy artillery, and the company en- larged by the addition of fifty men to correspond with the requirements of that branch of the service, An- dover furnished the additional number. The larger portion of these soldiers, who were not either killed or seriously wounded, or prostrated by sickness, con- tinued in the company till their terms of enlistment expired, and a moiety of them to the end of the war, fighting their way to Richmond, and partaking in the honor of witnessing the final struggle and collapse of the Rebellion.

Company H was present with the regiment, and performed its full share in the engagements from Spottsylvania to the surrender of Lee, viz .: North Anna River, May 24, 1864; Tolopotomy Creek, May 31, 1864; Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864; Petersburg, June 16, 18 and 22, 1864; Strawberry Plain, July 26 and 27, 1864; Petersburg Mine, July 30, 1864; Deep Bottom, August 15 and 16, 1864; Weldon Railroad, August 25, 1864; Poplar Grove Church, October 5, 1864; Boydton Plank-Road, October 27, 1864; Raid on Weldon Railroad to Bellfield, December 6 to 11, 1864; Hatcher's Run, February 5, 1865; Hatcher's Run, March 25, 1865; Attack on fort, March 31, 1365; Assault of the line, April 2, 1865; Sailor's Creek, April 6, 1865 ; Lee's surrender, April 9, 1865.

Some of those who were wounded at Spottsylvania, and others whose term of service had expired, were in due time sent on to Boston and mustered out of service. These men arrived in town on the 21st day of July 1864, after an absence of three years and a month nearly. They were received at the station by leading citizens of the town, and heartily wel- comed by their fellow-townsmen, neighbors, friends and the dear ones at home.

According to the record, " the members of Phillips Academy, with their band of music, and attended by their teachers, led the escort from the depot to the Town Hall. Next followed the selectmen, ministers of the town and the committee of reception. The soldiers brought home their drummer, George B. Clark, who beat the accustomed march, and the citizens fell in in a long line."

" At the Town Hall a bountiful collation had been prepared by the ladies, to which the tired and hungry soldiers were most heartily welcomed amidst the greetings and sympathies of their friends." After the collation the soldiers were addressed with words of welcome and commendation by Francis Cogswell, Esq., chairman of the committee ou reception.

Company HI, as a company, continued in existence till the close of the war, and those Andover soldiers who continued in the field to the end were mustered out of the United States' service on the 25th of Au- gust, 1865, having been in constant service four years, one month and twenty-one days, The company went

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into the war with one hundred and fifty stalwart men, all from Audover. When mustered out there were Int forty-five men to answer the roll-call. Of the one hundred and five absentees, some had been killed, some taken prisoners, some wounded and discharged, some discharged on account of sickness and others on the expiration of their time of enlistment. This small remainder of Company II, returning singly or in small squads, did not, of course, receive the same popular welcome that awaited their comrades of an earlier re- turn.

But they all, the last as well as the first, almost without exceptior, casily refilled their old places, taking up again, with cheerfulness and vigor, their accustomed duties and vocations before the war.

Nothing of that idleness, prodigality and dissipation that were so bitterly lamented in the case of the dis- charged soldiers at the close of the Revolutionary War, was ever seen among the returned soldiers of this town who fought the Rebellion to its death. As a rule, they settled back into the ordinary pursuits of peace, as if they had done nothing to gain special notoriety. Those who still survive, and reside in town, are among our most respected inhabitants, and many of them among our most prosperous citizens.

The whole number of men furnished by the town for the service of the country during the War of the Rebellion, in both army and navy, including enlist- ments, re-enlistments, representative recruits, assign- ments and substitutes, amounted to five hundred and ninety-nine, or one hundred and sixty-three more than the town's proportion, as determined by the number of inhabitants subject to draft, or military service. These five hundred and ninety-nine soldiers and seamen were distributed among forty-six regi- ments, serving in different sections of the country, and in an unknown number of war vessels.

The town expended for army purposes, including bounties, during the war, $35,623,85.

There was also paid by citizens, in addition, $27,226, 64, including money paid for bounties. substitutes, and. gifts contributed by the ladies' charitable or- ganizations.

No sketch of the War of the Rebellion is complete without an appreciative mention of the unflagging labers of the ladies, old and young, in preparing gar- ments Blankets and other comforts for the soldiers in the field, and cordials and delicacies for those in the hospital -.

warm co-operation of some of the most influential people. The matter was held in abeyance, though not lost sight of, for a number of years.

In July of 1870 a letter was received from Mr. John Smith, then in Dresden, written to his son Joseph, addressed in part to the town, in which he expressed a desire "to commemorate and keep in remembrance the names of those who gave their lives in defending our National Flag, and saving my adopted country to God and liberty." Mr. Smith was born in Scotland. He further declares his willing- ness to give twenty-five thousand dollars for a library and reading-room, to be dedicated to this memorial purpose, on condition that a like sum be given by others, and that only thirty thousand dollars of the fifty be expended for land and building. A town- meeting was called for August 1st, to take into eon- sideration the propositions of this letter. At this meeting it was announced that Mr. Peter Smith and Mr. John Dove, the business partners of Mr. John Smith, would each of them give five thousand dollars to assist in making up the twenty-five necessary to secure Mr. John Smith's offer, but on the additional condition that the proposed building should be erect- ed on the lot at the corner of Essex and Main Streets, recently made vacant by fire,-the lot upon which Memorial Hall now stands. To this amount, Mr. Joseph W. Smith, Mr. Peter Smith and Mr. Dove each added one thousand dollars, making the whole sum in pledge thirty-eight thousand dollars.

The proposition of Mr. Smith was received with many tokens and expressions of satisfaction by the meeting, and the thanks of the town were voted him. For the purpose of complying with the conditions of the proposed donations, a committee was raised to so- licit subscriptions, it being understood that Mr. Smith expected the requisite amount to be raised by individual contribution, and not by town taxation. At a subsequent meeting the committee thus ap. pointed, reported that, after a thorough canvass of the town, they had seeured subscriptions for eight thousand five hundred dollars, in sums varying from three hundred and fifty dollars to ten cents ; and as there appeared to be little likelihood of ob- taining the deficieney of three thousand five hun- dred dollars by subscription, the committee recom- mended that the four thousand five hundred dollars raised by the town to ereet a monument, and still in the hands of the treasurer nnapplied, be appropriated to a memorial building, and thus complete the sum necessary to secure the promised donations. This lat- ter proposition, being acceptable to the donors present, as no further taxation was called for, the town accept- ed the proposition of the committee.

MEMORIAL HALL .. - After the close of the war the matter of creet is some memorial, to keep in perpet- confron abi wer the names of those who gave their Ose loc the solvation of the nation, was freely talked over ly to offers The question was, whether this ob tour de oslo ar onument or a library. At one A building committee was chosen, consisting of William G. Means, Charles Smith, John L. Taylor, David Middleton and Samuel Raymond. Up a morgigenit w.s deere I upon and incipient metal er Misand ph urine one Ent without The Fish votel vue Tholen I five hundred In carrying out the plan of erecting the building dollar this purpose ; set it failed to enlist the on the designated spot, it was found that additional

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land would be required, and further, that an unlook- ed-for outlay of money would be absolutely necessary to render the foundations firm and safe. To meet this additional expense, and to provide for all other contingencies, Mr. John Smith added five thousand dollars to his original gift, and other liberal-minded gentlemen gave sixteen hundred and fifty dollars towards the increased cost.

The corner-stone of the building was laid with ap- propriate services on the 19th day of September, 1871.

The finished building was dedicated, formally opened and delivered into the hands of the town on Memorial Day, May 30, 1873.

The dedicatory prayer was offered by Prof. Ed- wards A. Park, of the Theological Seminary, in front of the Memorial Hall, and the address was delivered in the South Church by Rev. Phillips Brooks, rector of Trinity Church, Boston, a lineal descendant of Samuel Phillips, the first pastor of the South Church.

The building contains ample alcoves for library uses, a reading-room, committee-rooms and a spa- cious hall to be used as a receptacle for mementos of the war, portraits of donors, distinguished officers and others, pictures of battle scenes aud curiosities in general. Its chief object of interest is a marble tablet let into the west wall, containing the names of the pa- triotic dead, who gave their lives for the salvation of the nation.

The building occupies a conspicuous place in the centre of the village, and, architecturally, is an orna- ment to the town. With its well-selected library and inviting reading-room, with its silent tablet ever, through the eye, appealing to the heart of the be- holder, it is a perpetual incentive to patriotism, to a generous enlture of the mind, and, through him who first conceived and most liberally contributed to its erection, to liberal giving for the public good.

The library at the present time contains nearly a thousand books, and the reading-room is well sup- plied with newspapers and the magazines of the day, and is well patronized.

Before the erection of the building Mr. Jobn Byers, a merchant of New York, a former resident of the town, gave three thousand dollars for the benefit of the library as a memorial of his brother, Peter Smith Byers, first principal-elect of the Punchard Free School, who died before entering upon his duties. Since the opening of the library Mr. Byers has added five thousand dollars to his first donation, the money to be kept as a perpetual fund, the income of which is to be used for the increase of the library.

Mr. John Smith, in addition to his other benefac- tions, gave three thousand dollars for the benefit of the library. The following is a copy of the tablet in the Memorial Hall :

TO THE MEMORY OF OUR PATRIOTIC DEAD.

JAMES H. BAILEY, Died of disease at Washington, D. C., Sept. 14, 1861.

ENOCH O. FRYE, Accidentally killed at Fort Albany, Va., Oct. 29, 1×61.

CHARLES H. CALLAHAN,

Died of disease at Chelsea, Mass., May 29, 1862.

AMOS WHITTAKER,

Killed at Gaines' Mille, Va., June 27, 1862. GEUROE M. SMART,

Died of disease at Fort Albany, Va., July 25, 1862. WILLIAM GREELEY,

Died of disease at Carrollton, La., Aug. 22, 1862. BERNARD KAVANAUGH,

Died of disease at Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 2.1, 1862.

EnwAan C. MERRILL,

Died of disease at Carrollton, La., Aug. 27, 1862. WILLIAM H. LUKE,

Died of wounds at Manassas, Va., Sept. 13, 1862. JEFFERSON N. RAYMOND,

Died of disease at New Orleans, La., Sept. 13, 1862. JAMES RUSSELL,

Died of disease at Fort Albany, Va., Oct. 19, 1862. JAMES JAQUITH,

Died of disease at New Orleans, La., Dec. 1, 1862. IlENRY G. KIMRALI,,

Died of disease at Newbern, N. C., Jun. 1, 1863. JAMES W. MERRILL,

Died of disease at Newbern, N. C., Jan. 20, 1863. JOSEPH CHANDLER, JR.,

Died of disease at New Orleans, La., March 10, 1863. NEWTON G. FRYE, Died of disease at Andover, Mass., March 28, 1863. JOSIAH MASON,

Died of disease at Andover, Mass., April 7, 1863. JAMES LOGUE,

Died of disease at Baton Ronge, La., May 11, 1863. NEWTON LOVEJOY,

Died of disease at Vicksburg, Miss., July 9, 1863. WILLIAM H. WARDWELL,

Accidentally killed at Maryland Heights, Md., Ang. 1, 1863. CHARLES A. CLEMENT,

Died of wounds at Gettysburg, Pa., Sept. 30, 1863. WILLARD G. BODWELL,

Died of disease at Fort Strong, Va., March 24, 1864. THOMAS F. PORTES,

Died of wounds Rt Hampton, Va , April 15, 1864. JAMES WARD,

Killed at the Wilderness, Va., May 5, 1864. SAMUEL AIKEN,

Killed at Spottsylvania, Va., May 19, 1864. ISRAEL A. BERRY,

Died of wounds at City Point, Va., April 22, 1865. GRANVILLE K. CUTLER,

Killed at Spottsylvania, Va., May 19, 1864. JAMES H. EASTES, Killed at Spottsylvania, Va., May 19, 1864. EDWARD FARMER,

Killed at Spottsylvania, Va., May 19, 1864. JONATHAN A. IIOLT,

Killed at Spottsylvania, Va., May 19, 1864. JAMES II. ROTHWELL, Killed at Spottsylvania, Va., May 19, 1864. ENOCH M. HATCHI.

Killed near Petersburg, Va., June 16, 1864. BERNARD MeGraK, Killed at Cold Harbor, Va , June 3, 1864. ORRIN L. FARNHAM,

Died of wounds at Bryant's Farm, Va., Jnna 17, 1864. EPAPIRUS K. BRYANT, Died of woundsat Washington, D. C., July 3, 1864. 15 IL.LIAM RUSSELL,

Died of wounds at Washington, D. C., July 11, 1864. THOMAS A. BAGLEY, Died a prisoner Rt Andersonvilla, Ga., Ang. 28, 1861. JAMES B. BLACK,

Died of disease at Fortress Monroe, Va., Ang. 30, 1864. GEORGE W. GRANT, Died of disease in Second Corps Hospital, Va., Sept. 7, 1864.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

GEORGE A. BAILEY,

Killed at Winchester, Va., Sept. 11, 1804.

FRANKLIN HARDY, Killed ut Poplar Grove Church, Va., Oct. 2, 1864.

EDWARD O'HARA,

Killed at Ilatcher's Run, Va., Oct. 27, 1864. CHARLES P. BARNARD,

Died of disease ut Annapolis, MId., Dec. 2, 1x64. JAMES MUCUSKER, DIed a prisoner at Salisbury, N. C., Dec. 2, 1861. THOMAS WARDMAN,

Died a prisoner at Danville, Va., Dec. 20, 1864.

JouN MCCULLOUGH, Died of disease at Andover, Mass, Dre. 14, 1864. WALTER L. RAYMOND,

Died a prisoner ut Salisbury, N. C., Dec. 25, 1864. GEORGE E. HAYWARD.

Died of wounds at Andover, Masy., July 24, 1865. LEONARD W. RYLEY,

Died of disease at Andover, Mass., Aug. 30, 1865. LEWIS G. HATCH,

Died of disease at Andover, Mass., January 4, 1866. SAMUEL P. FARNHAM, Died of disease ut Andover, Mass., Jun. 12, 1966. ANDREW K. PATRICK. Died of wounds at Fredericksburg, Va.

The Andover veterans have an encampment of the G. A. R., called "General William F. Bartlett Post, No. 99," named from the gallant young Massachu- setts officer, who came out of the war with a splen- did record for heroism and a shattered body. Ile died in December, 1876, of physical exhaustion, while in the meridian of his years. The purpose of this organization is to care for its sick or destitute members, by extending sympathy or material aid, as circumstances demand. Its present fund is not far from four hundred and fifty dollars. It appears in publie every year, " on Decoration Day," but with ever-decreasing numbers.

Among the Andover-born men residing in other States or places at the time the Rebellion broke out, who enlisted and distinguished themselves in the war, we find the names of Lieutenant-Colonel Sum- ner Carruth, Lieutenant Frank W. Carruth, Lieu- tenant Samnel F. Tucker, Captain John C. Crownin- shieldl.

CHAPTER CXXXV.

ANDOVER- Continued).

TOPOGRAPHY OF ANDOVER.

Wini.y incorporated, Andover was among the largest w us in the colony in territorial extent. Since a por- topicof its original territory has been taken to form Mudrton a larre sceton on its northern border to create the enty of Lawrence, and the North Parish has been meorperited as a separate town, its limits have been cordially reduced. But still it is a town of 1.ir dumuchsjons, : 4 compared with the average the Shte It has a population of nearly 1 th wood, with a fax list of live million three

hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. It has the Merrimac River and the city of Lawrence on the north, North Andover on the east, North Reading, Wilmington and Tewksbury on the south, and Tewksbury on the west. Its superficial area covers not far from ten thousand acres. It is well diversi- fied with hill and valley, meadow and plain, wood and tillage land. It has a variety of soil from the light sandy to the heavy loam, from the thin covering of the plains to the deep muck of the marshy mead- ows.

For agricultural purposes the township does not compare favorably with many other towns in the State, especially with those bordering upon the banks of the Connecticut River. Market gardening and the production of milk afford the average farmer his principal sources of income. By these products, the owner of a farm of reasonable dimensions can, with industry, thrift and economy, support himself and family in comfort, meet the pecuniary obligations of a citizen, educate his children, and yearly lay aside a small sum for his profit, extraordinaries excepted, for old age, or to give his children a start in life.

That in the topography of the town which is its most significant feature, which has had more to do with its material prosperity than all other things combined, is the Shawshin River. This river takes its rise in the towns of Lexington and Bedford, and, running in a northeasterly direction, in a zigzag course, passes through nearly the centre of Andover, and enters the Merrimac River within the territory of North Andover. In this small stream, within the limits of the town, there are four falls, giving oppor- tunity, by the erection of dams, to use the water as power and for other purposes in the business of manufacturing. Thesc have been utilized, and around them four manufacturing villages have grown up,-BaHard Vale, Abbot, Marland and Frye, named respectively from the men who first owned or made extensive use of the water-power. These villages contain between two and three thousand inhabit- ants. Before the erection of dams, the river must have been a most attractive feature of the landscape, meandering among the hills and through the meadows, sometimes rushing over the rapids, and again slowly creeping through the lowlands.

But the river was destined to be a thing for the creation of wealth and beneficence rather than a thing of taste and beauty. It was the power furnished by this modest stream that supplied the Continental army with powder in its direst need. It ran the paper-mill of Judge Phillips after the close of the war, and was the indirect cause of bringing Mr. Phil- lips to the South Parish, increasing his property, and thus establishing Phillips Academy and the Theo- logieal Seminary in this parish. It was the Shaw- shin River which induced Mr. Abraham Marland and Mr. John Smith to come to this town and here build up their manufacturing establishments. The

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existence of the four villages and their great indus- tries is directly traceable to the coming of these en- terprising men.

We may go further and say that not only are we indebted to the river for these villages and their profitable industries, but, no less, for a home-market for the produets of the farm, employment for a large number of persons, profitable business for not a few mechanics and tradespeople, a large amount of tax- able property to aid in meeting the current expenses of the town, and, above all, for the money which has been so munificently given by the manufacturers for the support of churches and the building up of edu- cational institutions. It is well to notice in this con- nection, as a special advantage enjoyed by Andover, that most of the successful manufacturers on this stream have resided in the town. Their homes and their business have not been divorced. They have built beautiful residences, and otherwise have spent their money in the place of their gains. This gives them a stake in the welfare of the town, and makes them the more careful as to the class of help they employ. As a matter of fact, the employés of the Smith and Dove Company are among our most rep- utable citizens, many of them being Scotch people from Brechin and its neighborhood.

There are at least four elevations, called hills, in the town, worthy of notice. Half a mile northeast of the centre is Carmel Hill, upon which Mr. Bradley has recently built a handsome residence, and from which a very delightful view is had of the valley of the Shawshin River, Abbot and Frye villages, and the hills that stretch up beyond them in the distant hori- zon. Pine Hill rises a short distance north of east of the seminary, upon which Landlord Carter has erect- ed a modern cottage, and from which can be had a very charming prospect of the centre of the town, extending also far over the western hills. The Sem- inary Hill, upon which stand the buildings used for both Phillips Academy and the Theological Semi- nary, and also the residences of the professors and teachers in these institutions,-of less height than some other hills,-furnishes also a fine view in a westerly and northwesterly direction.

But the hill of chief interest and reputation is Prospect Hill, situated about a mile southeast of the seminary. It is four hundred and twenty-three feet above the level of the sea, and is said to be the high- est land in Essex County. It commands an exten- sive panorama of three-fourths of the circuit of the horizon. From its summit, on a clear day, may be seen the ocean, the smoke of half a dozen cities, some thirty church spires,-the Danvers Insane Asylum, Tewksbury Almshouse, and innumerable hills and mountains in the far distance. Half-way up its grassy side, on a small plateau, is an old-fashioned farm-house, weather-worn and solitary, built more than one hundred and seventy years ago, still firm in its timbers, in which have lived and died eight gen-

erations of the Holt family, the proprietors of the hill, some of whom have lived on this breezy height to be more than four-score and ten years of age. The place has passed into other hands.

From all these hills the sunset views are unsurpassed and seldom equaled by those of any other locality known to the writer. The Italian sunsets from the Pincio, at Rome, do not surpass, in bewitching beauty and inimitable coloring, the sunsets of our New Eng- land, as seen from these Andover heights. It is true, however, that the view of Monte Rosa, in Italy, from Lake Lugano, when its snow-capped peak is bathed in the morning sunlight, excels in richness of color- ing and awe-inspiring grandeur anything ever seen here.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 147

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