History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 17

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 17

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REPRESENTATIVES AND TOWN OFFICERS .- By the act of incorporation of South Danvers, the new town was to remain a part of Danvers for the purpose of electing State officers, Senators and Representa- tives to General Court, Representatives to Congress and Electors of President and Vice-President of the United States, until the next decennial census should be taken, or until another apportionment of Repre- sentatives to the General Court should be made. A new apportionment was made in 1857, and in that year the first election for State and Federal officers was held in South Danvers.

The following is a list of the Representatives to the General Court from South Danvers and Peabody :

Richard Smith, .1857

Robert S. Daniels 1868-70

Eben S. Poor.

.. 1858

Charles V. Hanson. 1871-72

Jolin V Stevens. 15. 9-60

Stephen F. Blaney. 1873-74

D Welster King .. .1861

James E. T. Bartlett .. .1875-77

William H. Littte .. 1862-63

Ilenry Wardwell 1578

Caleb Warren Osborn.

1864-65

Edward Trask. 1879

Capt. John W. Stevens.

1866-67

llenry Wardwell .1880

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PEABODY.

.John Pinder.

William H. Brown ... 1884

Cyrus T. Batchelder. ..... 1885-8G Aaron F. Clark. .. 1X82-83

The following are lists of some of the principal town officers of South Danvers and Peabody since the incorporation of the town, those marked with an as- terisk (*) still holding office :

SELECTMEN.

Lewis Allen .. .1855-56

Geo. W. Taylor. 1876-78

Nathan H. Poor *.. ... .. 1855-62, '71

Charles F. Goodrich .1876

Daniel Taylor, 1855-58

Lyman Osborn. 1879

Kendall Osborn. 1857, '50

Otis Brown 1810

William Wolcott 1858-61

S. Ang. Southwick .1881-80

Miles O. Stanley. 1860-62

John E. Herrick 1881-86

Joseph Poor 1863-70

Thomas J. Relihan ...... .1x82-86

Alpheus W. Bancroft .. 1863-64

Willard Spaulding 1886

Dana Woodbury 1863-6G

Charles Il. Goulding* 1887

Geo. F. Sanger. 1865, '73-75

Albert A. Messer* 1887

Anos Merrill .1806, '69-75

Philip H. Coleman* 1887

Jas B. Foster. 1867-72

Warren A. Galencia* 1887 Levi Preston 1876-85

ASSESSORS.

Same as selectmen through. .. 18 5

John C. Herrick 188

Willard Spaulding* 18 6

Thos. II. Jackman* 1887

Lyman Osborn* 1886

Alonzo Raddin *. 1887

Nathan H. Poor. 1886

Nicholas M. Quint* .1887 Thos. J. Reliban 1886 1

TOWN CLERK.

Nathan H. Poor* .1855

TREASURERS.

Francis Baker, 1855-70 | Nathan H. Poor *. 1871

COLLECTORS.

Wm. Wolcott 1855-77 ; Levi Preston. .1878-86

Lyman Osborn* .. 1886

OVERSEERS OF THE POOR.

Wingate Merrill .... 1855-64. '66-68

Alpbeus W. Bancroft .... .1866-80

Henry A. Hardy . 1855-58

Amos Osborn, 2d. 1869-74

James P. King* 1855

John S. Walcott 1875

Wm. Sutton 1859

Caleb F. Winchester. ,1876

Moses A. Shackley. 1860

Samuel Swett. 1877-78

Stephen Blaney 1861-62, '65

Geo. F. Sanger* 1879 Mayhew S. Clark .1863, '65

James Fallon* .1881 Alerson Galencia 1864

SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS .- There are many organizations now existing for social improvement, and for mutual care and protection of members.

The Holten Lodge of Odd Fellows, originally insti- tuted in January, 1846, was reinstituted February 22, 1878, and is now a flourishing and important lodge.

The Exchange News Room, instituted in 1855, and the Essex Club, instituted in 1860, are social clubs.

Among the societies for mutual insurance and be- nefit, are the American Legion of Honor, Fitch Poole Commandery, founded 1881; the Peabody Mutuol Benefit Association, founded 1880; the Improved Or- der of Red Men, Masonomos Tribe No. 11, founded 1886 ; the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters, Emerald Conrt No. 53, founded 1883; the Equitable Aid Union, founded 1879; the Ancient Order of United Workmen, George Peabody Lodge, No. 18, or- ganized 1879.

The Peabody Woman's Suffrage Club was organ- ized in 1879.

The American Hibernian Benevolent Association was organized in 1858, and reorganized in 1871.

The West Peabody Farmer's Club was instituted in 1881.

Among the literary and dramatic associations are the Brooksby Club, connected with the South society, the Peabody Dramatic Club, and the Cushing Debat- ing Society.

NEWSPAPERS .- In 1859 The Wizard, a weekly newspaper edited by Fitch Poole, was established. Mr. Poole continued to be editor only for a few years. In 1869 the name was changed to " The Peabody Press." It was at first a folio sheet, but since 1877 has been an eight page paper.

The Peabody Reporter, originally publi hed in 1876, and then wholly printed out of town, was print - ed partly in town about 1879, under the management of Mr. Thomas McGrath. Under its present man- agement, the paper is wholly printed in town, and contains generally two pages of original matter.

The rivalry between these two principal papers is probably for the benefit of the community, as each is incited to continually renewed enterprise and plans of improvement.

FIRE DEPARTMENT .- The first fire-engine in South Danvers was one of two purchased by the town of Danvers about 1800. It was kept at Eagle Corner, by the Bell Tavern. In 1822 the " Niagara " was bought, and it was kept in an engine-house on Main Street, where Sutton's Block is now located. In 1830 a Fire Department was organized in the town by legislative act, and the "Torrent" was bought. It was at first kept near the square, on Central Street ; afterward at Wilson's corner. The "Torrent" was the first suction engine in town. In 1836 the " Eagle " was purchased, and it was kept at the same place as the "Niagara." In 1844, the year after the great fire, the "General Foster" was purchased; it was kept at first near the location of the present steam fire-engine house on Lowell Street, and afterward on Washington Street. Shortly afterward the "Volunteer " was bought, and kept at first on the corner of Main and Grove Streets, and afterward on Pierpont Street. The "Volunteer" was originally the private property of General William Sutton, and was manned by a private company.

At the separation of South Danvers in 1855, the fire engines which the new town owned were the Niagara, No. 1; the General Foster, No. 2; the Tor- rent, No. 3; the Volunteer, No. 4; and the Eagle, No. 5. These were all hand engines, and with the hose carriages belonging with them, a sail carriage, and with five hydrants connected with the Salem and Danvers Aqueduct, and a number of reservoirs and pumps, constituted the resources of the town in case of fire. The "Niagara" was placed in the western part of the town.

John C. Burbeck 1862, 67-68

Wyman B Richardson. .1881

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

In 1865 the first steam fire engine was bought; it was a Button engine, and cost three thousand five hundred dollars.

In 1874 another steamer was bought, and both were placed in a new engine-house, near the Square on Lowell Street, built the same year. It was a But- ton engine.

In 1876 a new hand engine, the S. C. Bancroft, was bought for South Peabody ; it was also a Button ma- chine.

In 1882 the organization of the fire department was changed; the increased head given to the water by the building of the stand-pipe made it possible to use the hydrants in many cases without an engine, and the old hand engine companies were organized as hose companies, occupying the same locations as the former companies. In 1887 a new steamer was bought from the La France Fire Engine Company.

The chief engineers have been as follows :-

Stephen Osborne, Jr. 1×55

John V. Stevens. 1856-57,59

Jonathan E. Osborne 1858

Win, 11. Little.

1860-67

Geo. C. Pierce.

1ST8-70

D. S Littlefield 1871-85

1 Win. J. Roomie

1885

John 11. Tibbetts.

1885

Samuel Buxton

1886

Daniel B Lord.

1887

BURIAL GROUNDS .- The oldest burial ground in the South parish was Gardner's Hill, which was situ- ated a little west of Grove Street. The remains of about one hundred and fifty persons were removed from thence to Harmony Grove, when the latter was established. Among the stones removed at that time is the oklest grave stone in Danvers. It bears the inscription :

1669. R. B.

It is probably the grave stone of Robert Buffum.

The old burying ground, or Old South burying ground, is on Poole's Hill, next to the Salem boun- dary. It was originally given by Lydia Trask, to the South Parish. The oldest stone, that of Thomas Pierpont, M.A., bears date of 1755. It contains a very large number of graves, including those of Rev. Nathan Holt, buried in 1792, and Rev. Samuel Walker, in 1826. Dennison Wallis is also buried here; and for many years the sentimental pilgrim visited the place to view the last resting-place of Eliza Wharton, the heroine of the famous old time novel, " The toquette."

The Friends' burial ground, nearly opposite the old burying ground, was in Salem until the change of houndgry. It took the place of a half acre of land on the " mill plain," acquired in 1713, and was obtained some vairs later.

Monumental Cemetery, on Wallis Street, was laid

out in 1833. It is divided into one hundred and twenty-two lots, thirty-two feet by sixteen, with regu- lar avenues, and is owned by proprietors. The old- est stone, removed from another place, bears the date of 1805. The grave of Schoolmaster Benjamin Gile, above which is inscribed "I taught little children to read," is one of the most noteworthy of the early interments. The cemetery is well kept, and contains many fine stones and monuments.

Harmony Grove Cemetery, though now in Salem, is largely owned in Peabody. It was purchased in 1839, for about six thousand dollars, and then con- tained thirty-five acres. It has since been consider- ably enlarged. The proprietors were incorporated in 1840. Its extensive grounds are finely kept, and it contains a great variety of monumental stones, some of them exceedingly artistic and impressive.

Emerson Cemetery, in South Peabody, on the corner of Washington Street and Allen's Lane, has been in use abont fifty years.

Cedar Grove Cemetery, in South Peabody, contains one hundred and thirty-three acres. It was pur- chased by the town in March, 1869, when five thou- sand dollars was appropriated for the purpose. It is held for the town by seven trustees, chosen for five years. Lots are sold to individuals, and the grounds have been greatly improved, and the location is fine. It is reached by a road from Lynn Street.

Oak Grove Cemetery, in West Peabody, near the school-house, contains abont ten acres. It was bought in 1886, by the town, and is held by a board of trustees similarly constituted to that of Cedar Grove Cemetery.

There are many private burial grounds in the town, some of them of a very early date. The King family have a cemetery of this kind on Lowell Street, which contains a number of finely built tombs.

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES,

SOUTH PARISH (SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH) .- The early history of the " Middle Pre- cinet " has been embodied iu another part of this historical sketch.

The Rev. Benjamin Prescott, a graduate of Harvard College in the class of 1709, was settled as the first min- ister of the parish in February, 1712, at a salary of £80 "in Province bills or in silver money as it passes from man to man So long as he continues to be our minis- ter." Afterward it was agreed to give him one-half of the money contributed by strangers. In consider- ation of repeated deaths and extraordinary changes in Mr. Prescott's family, his salary was increased £20 in 1723. Besides his regular salary and the "strangers money " he was allowed all the proceeds of voluntary quarterly contributions.

About 1727, there began to be difficulty between Mr. Prescott and the parish on account of his salary. The growing depreciation of the paper currency of

this self in town during the year.

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PEABODY.

the province made the sum given him less and less adequate to his needs. From time to time an in- crease of salary was voted him, but the increase was hardly sufficient to keep pace with the deterioration of the paper money, and, moreover, even the pay- ments voted him seem to have been always in arrears. In 1735 his salary was increased to £150, and in 1738 it became £200, old tenor. In 1741 it was voted to cart for Mr. Prescott twenty-five cords of firewood for his year's use from Hart's farm or nearer, " Mr. Prescott finding the wood ready cut." It would seem that the carting was the larger part of the ex- pense of firewood in those days, for this act of the parish, continued for several years, is spoken of as " finding Mr. Prescott's firewood."

In 1742 he was voted £240, old teuor, and in 1743 £270; these sums did not represent more than the original salary granted him.

The long controversy with Mr. Prescott, extending over more than twenty-five years, is interesting chiefly as showing the different and more lasting nature of the tie that bound together pastor and peo- ple in those days. It seems to be assumed through- out all this unfortunate affair that the relation was one which was made for life, and which was so far mutual that it could not be broken except by consent of both parties.

In 1747 the parish upon the question whether they would dismiss Mr. Prescott if he would not give the parish a discharge, voted no. In 1748 they increased his salary to £500 old teuor, and in 1749 to £640 old tenor.

In September, 1749, Mr. Prescott addressed a letter to his parish, in which he sets forth the loss that he has suffered by his payments falling short in value of the original grant to him, and offers to accept two- thirds of the actual amount found due to him since 1727 in full satisfaction. If this offer should be ac- cepted, he goes on to say "it shall be in your Power (when you please) to call or settle another minister of sound knowledge and a good Life among you, and the Day his Salary shall begin, mine shall cease, and upon your Discharging me of my Obligation to Min- ister to you in holy things, I will discharge you of all Obligations thenceforward to Minister any thing to me for my support." This language clearly shows what his view of the pastoral relation was. This offer was declined, and three men were deputed to treat with Mr. Prescott; but negotiations failed, and in 1750 he brought a law-suit against the parish for his arrears. The parish met and appropriated £20 to de- fend the suit. This suit appears to have been dropped, and a new one was begun in December, 1751, which came to trial in September, 1752, and resulted in a judgment for Mr. Prescott in the sum of £594 19%. 9d. At a meeting in December an effort was made to in- duce Mr. Prescott to settle for a less sum, without success; and it was voted to pay Mr. Prescott no salary and to dismiss him. Up to this time the

parish had regularly voted a salary to the pastor every year. In January, 1752-53, they voted him his salary for the past year, and in accordance with the order of court they proceeded to tax the parish for the large amount of the judgment against it. But it was not easy to make up the amount; Mr. Prescott still insisted on performing the duties of the minis- try, and in 1754 they tried to settle with him for £100, which he refused.

In December, 1752, Mr. Prescott made an offer on condition of a satisfactory settlement for the years 1749-5I, to leave the pulpit for three months, and if in that time a minister was settled, he would relinquish his pastorate. "Tho," as he says, "Quitting my min- istry over you is nut so light a matter in my under- standing as perhaps it may be in some of yours." This offer was renewed in March, 1754, and accepted.

In July, 1754, a call was given to Rev. Aaron Put- nam to settle over the parish, but he declined, probably on account of the difficulties prevailing. In September another attempt was made-this time by the parish-to arbitrate the matter, but without suc- cess. Mr. Prescott still continued as minister, until in September, 1756, an ecclesiastical council consid- ered the whale matter, and decided that the parish ought to pay Mr. Prescott £405, besides, as Hanson says, the costs of the council, amounting to £118, 148. The parish voted to accept the advice of the council, provided Mr. Prescott would immediately ask a dis- mission from his pastoral office of the church and the council, and give a full discharge. But the money was not forthcoming, and it was not till November, 1756, that Mr. Prescott, on receiving a bond for the balance due him, signed by six of the responsible men of the parish, finally discharged the parish and ceased to be its pastor. Agreeably to the advice of the council, he was excused from all parish dues for life.

So ended this unhappy controversy, which greatly hindered the Christian work of the parish for a long time, and gave rise to much bitterness of feeling.

Mr. Prescott, who was born September 16, 1687, married, as his first wife, in 1715, Elizabeth, daughter of John Higginson. His second wife, married in 1732, was Mercy Gibbs, and his third wife, married in 1748, was Mary, sister of Sir William Pepperell, who built a house for Mr. Prescott. He lived on the road to the village (now Central Street), near Elm Street. He was a man of ability, and faithful and conscientious in the performance of his pastoral du- ties. Among other pamphlets, he published a " Let- ter to the First Church in Salem in 1735, and " Right Hand of Fellowship," delivered at the ordination of Rev. J. Sparhawk, in 1736. In 1768, at the age of eighty-one, be published " A free and calmi consider- ation of the unhappy misunderstanding and debates between Great Britain and the American colonies." Ile died May 28, 1777.

The Rev. Josiah Stearns was called as pastor in the fall of 1757, by the church on September 27th, and

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the society on October 18th. He was offered £80 in lawful money, a parsonage with land and barn. He desired more, and finally declined.

On August 4, 1758, the church called the Rev. Na- than Holt as pastor, which was concurred in by the parish, on the 13th. lle was offered a salary of £80 and a settlement of £150, payable £50 a year for the first three years; also a house and garden. lle was ordained January 3, 1759.

There is no record of any difficulty with Mr. Holt, who was greatly beloved, and was prominent for his patriotism during the Revolution.

In June, 1763, it was voted " that there be two seats on the easterly side of y broad ally in the mecting- house be sett apart for a Number of persons to sett in for the better accommodating singing in ye Meeting- house, and that the same be under the regulation of the Parish Committee from time to time as there shall be occasion for carrying on that part of divine service." In October, 1765, the singers were given a place in the front gallery. In May, 1784, the front seat in the women's gallery, on the eastern end of the house, was given to the singers.

In 1764 some difference arose between the North and South Parishes in reference to the inhabitants of New Mills, who wished to be set off to the North Par- ish. The Legislature decided that the boundary of the Village Parish established in 1700 must be adhered to. This left the New Mills in the South Parish. Some of the inhabitants of New Mills petitioned the South Parish to be set off, but their petition was re- fused, "hecause we think yt ye North Parish is as able, if not abler, to maintain their minister without said petitioner's assistance, as we are in ye South Par- ish with s" Petitioners' assistance, Because we have a considerable Number of the People called Quakers, some Churchmen and some Baptists, &c."

In 1764 certain members of the parish were anthor- ized to increase the size of the house lengthwise, in order to make more room for floor pews. In April, 1771, John Procter, Jr., Robt. Shillaber and others were authorized to widen the house fifteen feet, by moving out the back side, " the wall pews to be wall pews still." The persons who made the addition were to have the additional floor space for pews. The increased width added three seats on each side to the galleries.

The bell was originally hung in a "turret " or cupola, probably like that of the Village meeting-house, on the middle of the building. In 1763 some effort was made to have a steeple built ; and in 1774 a steeple, or rather tower, was built on the western end of the house; it was a tall square tower with a belfry roof. The house as finally enlarged bad three rows of windows; it was placed with the length running nearly eset and west, on the ground in front of the present location of the South Church in Peabody ; there were two doors on the southern side, near together. The general arrangement of the interior

was preserved in a similar manner to that of the origi- nal house.

The parish was very zealous in sustaining the Revolutionary War, constantly furnishing men and money. In 1777 a bounty of £20 per man was paid to those serving in the quota of the parish, and £1200 was raised. In 1778 about £400 was raised, and in 1779 £8000. These last sums were probably in paper currency.

In 1780, a suit of clothes, consisting of "coat, jacket, breeches and hat" was given to Mr. Holt to make up the deficiency of his support.

In 1790 three pews were added to the house, and a part of the meeting-house land was let to the " Pro- prietors of the duck manufacture." The Artillery Company had leave in September, 1791, to erect a gun-honse on land belonging to the parish.

Mr. Holt died August 2, 1792, and the parish voted to continue his salary to the end of the year for the benefit of his family, besides assuming the expenses of his sickness and funeral.

In March, 1793, the house was thoroughly repaired. September 28, 1793, the old parish was dissolved, and the society was incorporated by the Legislature as "The Proprietors of the South Meeting-House in Danvers."

Rev. Samuel Mead was settled as pastor October 31, 1794, and continued till 1803. In August, 1805, Rev. Samuel Walker was settled as minister. He labored in his pastorate for twenty-one years, and died July 7, 1826, after a painful illness of three months. He was interested in all the affairs of the town, and was prominent in temperance and other reforms. His public spirit and his eminent piety made him highly respected and beloved. His uncompromising adher- ence to the severe doctrines of the theological faith in which he had been educated made his preaching un- welcome to some, and it was during the last years of his pastorate that the movement to establish other re- ligious societies began.

In 1813 the society was much vexed by some per- son who "sacriligiously and repeatedly robbed this house of God of the tongue of its bell," and a reward of twenty dollars was offered for his apprehension. In 1814 a new bell was purchased and erected at an expense of six hundred and seventy-five dollars. In 1819 the land in the rear of the meeting-house was leased to the proprietors of a chapel, and certain per- sons were authorized to erect sheds around the house. The house was repaired in 1824, at an expense of four hundred dollars.

On September 12, 1827, Rev. George Cowles was settled as pastor. It was voted to exclude all wines and spirituous liquors from the councils and ordina- tion services. Mr. Cowles was dismissed in Septem- ber, Is36, at his own request, and travelling south in pursuit of health was lost in the wreck of the " Home."

It is recorded in a memorandum in the records of

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PEABODY.

the society "that while ringing the Bell on the - of April, 1829, at noon, said Bell did crack, to that extent, as to destroy Its usual Pleasant and Har- monious sound, and was thereby rendered useless." It was soon afterward replaced.

In September, 1830, the school-house, No. 11, on the society's land just west of the meeting-house, was ordered to be removed, and after some contro- versy and the threat of legal proceedings the house was removed to a piece of land in another place offered by the society for a trifling consideration.

In 1835 it was voted to build a new church, and measures were taken to effect that object. The Uni- tarian Society offered the South Society the use of its house during the time it was without one, but the offer was not accepted, and services were carried on in a hall while the new house was in process of con- struction.

In 1836, the old edifice, the greater part of which had been standing one hundred and twenty-five years, was taken down. The last service held in the old meeting-house was very crowded; the galleries had been shored up, and during the services a thin piece of wood used as a wedge cracked with a loud noise. A panic at once followed, persons jumping from the windows, and some being injured in the con- fusion.

Rev. Harrison G. Park was invited in December, 1836, to succeed Mr. Cowles. The new church, which cost twelve thousand dollars, was dedicated February 1, 1837, and on that day Mr. Park was installed. In October, 1838, he resigned the pastorate.

In June, 1840, Rev. Thomas P. Field was unani- mously invited to take the pastoral charge, and he was ordained October 1, 1840. In 1843 the church was sold to the Methodist Society for two thousand five hundred dollars, and a new church was begun. It was only partly finished when it was consumed in the destructive fire of September 22, 1843. The loss was about seven thousand dollars, and there was an insurance of five thousand dollars, effected only the day before the fire. It was determined to go on at once with a new house, and the present edifice was finished and dedicated August 10, 1844, at a cost of one thousand three hundred dollars.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 17

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