History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 182

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 182

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1802. Ship Nancy. 235

Atlas

1834.

1713. " Adventure 15

1713. Brigantine Elizabeth and Hannah 70

1713. Sloep Elizabeth 30 1713. " Mary and Sarah ... 20

1713. Brigantive John and

1714. Ship Marlborough Gal- ley .. 130

1714. Sloop Flower de Luce ... 40

1714. « Burlington. 35

1714. Brigantine Adventure ... 40

Tens.

Toes.

1713. Sloop Thomas. 30

1827.

Warren

18_8.

Mercy & Hope 56

Mary Buutin .. 76

1795. " Diana. 125

1807. Ship Edward 246

1800. Schooner Mary Ann 101

Joppa

Cyrus,

1829.

1817. Schooner Wasp 4 | 1788. Schooner John 90

Three Friends 43 1789. Ship William. 277

1802. Schooner Regulater 94 1810. Ship Packet, 281

1732

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Tons.

1811. Brig Dolphin .. 198 1825. Schooner Herald. 74

1811. " Gen. Stark. 230

1812. Sloop Angenoria

1812. Brig Essex 204

1812. Schooner Yankee

1826.

Duck.

1812. Brig 1ves ..

100

1813. Schooner Mary 108

1814. " Sally *264

1814. " Happy Jack.

1814. Boat Maria

1827. Brig Elizabeth

218

1814. Brig Hope.

195

1814. " Indus

262

1827.

" Vesper.

321

1814. Schooner Essex, 100

1815. Ship Aristides.

278

1815. Schooner Peace

110

1815. Brig Alert

262

1815. Sebooner John 87 1829. " Powhattan 263

1815, Brig Copernicao. 119

1815. Schooner Success 75

1815. Brig Olive 157

1815. " Now Leader

271

1815. " Syren. 182

1815. " Brahmen

242

1815. Ship Caroline.

322

1815. Brig Ann

134

1831. Bark Tasso

286

1816. Schooner Paragon. 83

1816. Strong. 8. 1832. " {'oncord 391

1816. Sloop Harvard.

1816. Ship Draper. 291

1816. Brig Caspian. 194

1817. Schooner Constitution S6 1832. Wave 58 46

1817. Alexander. 103

1817. Brig Packet. 128

1817. " Dove. 145

1817. Ship Atlantic 323

1817. Schooner Wasp.

1817.

.. Democrat 47

1818. Brig Rajalı. 250 1818. Schooner Gen. Putnam. 113

1818. Ship Herald

302

1818. Brig Formax

110

325

1819. Ship Glide

282

1819. Schooner Plauet. 123

1819. Tom 50

1819. Ship Henry. 259 1834. " Spartan. 475

1819. Schooner Essex 43

1819. Constellation .. 46

182'). Hannah and 4

Susan .... 67

1821.

Borneo ...

1821. Maid of the

Mill. 76

1821. Ship Delta. 314 1836. Bark Allioth 330

1821. Schoouer Ann. 61 1836. Ship Angelo .. 417

1821. Haytian. 38

1821. Ship Florida. 300

1821. Schooner Dennis. 39

1822. Brig Argus 156 1822. Ship Pioneer 319

1822. . Clifford Wayne. 305

1823. Schooner Mechanic .. 50 1838. " Genevn. 458

1823. Ship Francis. 328

1839. Ship Washington. 372 1823. Brig Mars, 270

1823. Schooner Falcon. 60 1839. " Forrester 4:28 1823. Brig Ilampton 221 1839. " Flavio. 69% 1823. Ship Tally Ilo. 120 1839. " Navigator. 417

1823. « Bowditch 399 1839. Ilzaide. 411

1824. " Shylock 278

1824. " Plutarch 357

1824. Schooner Lady Iloward. 64

1825. Brig Henry 161 1825. Schooner La Fayette. 76

1840. Essex. 273

1840. Schooner Petrel. 83

1840. Ship Gen. Harrison. 410

1840. Brig Zotoff. 920

1840. Ship Rosalind,

398

1826. Schooner Minerva

1840.

Delia Walker

4:27

1846. Bark Gypsey.

295

1840.

Virginia

400

1841. Brig Athen.

300

1841. Bark Apollo, 319

1841. " Chusan

24"

1841. Brig Massachusetts,

300

1841. Bark Wessacumcon.

321

1841. " Mary Broughton .. 323

1841. Brig Chenamus 202

1841. Sbip Hannah Sprague ... 410 1842. " James D. Farwell .. 699

1842 Bark John Caskie.

1842. Brig James Gray 300

1842. Ship Ashburton ..

449

1842.

Courier

380

1847.

Amaranth

666

1842.

Euphrasia

487

1×48.

Nestorian

698

1848. “

Hadnga,

587

1848. 44

Buena Vista

547

1848. Steamboat Lawrence 142

1848. Brig Elizabeth And

128

1818. Ship Masconoma.

824

1848. " Franchise.

700

1848. Bark Henry Rangs,

197

1844. "

Amazon

741

1848. 44

Tyringham.

609

1844. " Radius

517

1844. 4

Rambler

399

1844. "

Java.

1844. " Jolin R. Skiddy

980

1844. Brig Salisbury

296

1841. Ship St. Patrick.

896

1832. Brig James Caskie.

283

1844. " Brutus.

550

1849. “

Icargo.

578

1832. Ship Caravan.

330

1844. " Joshua Bates

620

1832. " Republic.

399

1845. Bark Edward Koppisch, 250

1945. Ship Nebraska

516

1845. Schooner Wave.

1×45. Ship Huguenot.

935

1845. " Howard

493

1845. Brig Keying.

300

1845. " Monseratte.

170

1846. Bark Fredonia

800

1846. Brig Almira,

176

1851.

Racer.

1669

1831. “

Astrao ...

749

After the year 1851, when the territory on the river between Newburyport and West Newbury was an- nexed to Newburyport, the Newbury ship yards were within the city limits and ship-building in Newbury ceased.

In connection with the industries of Newbury may be mentioned the inventive skill of its people. At the factory at the Falls Jacob Perkins first set up the machine for cutting nails, which, though adding little to the prosperity of the town, made its inventor one of the benefactors of the industrial world. In New- bury, too, Pant Pillsbury lived at the old Pillsbury homestead in Byfield, the inventor, among other things, of shoe pegs and the revolutionizer of the business of making shoes. Mr. Pillsbury was born in what is now West Newbury in 1780 and died in 1868. He was one of seven brothers, of whom Enoch and Phineas were clergymen, Parker a blacksmith, Oliver a mechanic, and Samuel and John farmers. Oliver was the father of the late Abolitionist, Parker Pillsbury. Panl, the subject of this sketch, went, when a boy, to live with Paul Lunt, of Newbury. As he grew to manhood he established himself at Ames-

Tons.

1846. Ship Far West. 598

1846. " Annie.

572

1846. 4

Laura.

219

1846. "

Wenhanı

524

1846. Ship John Currier. 697

1847. Schooner Maria Theresa 119

1847. Ship Naomi

547

1847. 44

Capital

687

1847. " Fanchon.

969

1847. Bark Chilton

278

1847. " Kate Hastings. 448

1847 Ship Richard Cobden

6.5

1847. " Lebaoon

697

1847. Bark Francis.

460

1847. Ship Ocean Queen. 824

1848. Schooner Margaret Aon 100 1849. Bark Crusoe 342

538

1819. 4

Helen Augusta.

242

1849. "

Lyman ..

369

1849. 44

Domingo.

230

1819. Ship Charles Hill

700

1849. 44

Florida

64+7

18-19. Bark Hollaoder

499

1850. Ship Castilian.

1000

1850. Bark Annie Blackman .. 530

1$50. 4

Dragon

290

1850. Schooner Pearl

1850. Bark Said Ben Sultan ... 302

1×51. Ship Edward.

675

1851. 4

Clarissa Currier. ... 1000

1833. " Surat 340

1833. Brig Ark 208

1834. Ship Newburyport 341

1834. Brig Corinth, 299

1834. Ship St. Clair

414

1835. « Persia.

332

1×35. " Mary Kimball

373

1835.

" Leonone

370

1835. Schoouer Columbia 62

1836. Hammet 94

1836. " Columbus 594

1837. Brig Pallas. 102

1837. " Nathaniel Hooper. 427 1837. Schooner Peru 69

1837. Ship Talbot 624

1837. Brig Shawniut.

205

1838. Bark Byron. 34G

1839. Schooner Burlington 97

1839. Brighton 90

1839. Ship Huntress, 547

1839. Bark Strabo. 420 1825. Fairy 82

1827. Ship Fredonia. 406

1827. " Science.

388

1827. " Parachute.

331

1828. Brig Wayland.

217

1828. Schooner Convoy.

1829. Brig Czarina

218

1830. Schooner Nile.

1830. Brig Pocahontas.

282

1830. 66 Alice. 281 1831. Schooner Heraldl. 49

1832. Ship Brenda ... 343

1832. Brig Palos.

277

1832. Ship Franklin

302

1832. Schooner Leo

1812. Ship Medora. 314

1×33. Bark Thalia

291

1833. Brig Carthage,

296

1833. Ship Merrimac. 414

1833. " Emerald 435

1833. Bark Oberlin 331

1833. Ship Jacob Perkins 379

1833. " Saladia. 25G

1831. Brig Aquila ..

288

1843.

" Pacific.

531

1831. Ship Levant.

382

1843. Schooner Nassau.

107

1831. Brig Angola,

137

1843. Bark Talisman

347

1843. Ship Amity

499

1843.

Augustine Ileard ... 491

1843. Schooner Win. C. Ellison

1843. Ship St. George.

845

349

1827. Schooner Mans.

106

1827. Ship Londou

357

1827. Schooner Caroline. 84

Tone.

1826. Ship Meridian. 208

1826.

Rufus.

128

1825. Ship Golconda. 359

Tone.

1846. Ship Gen. Taylor.

597

1846. " Roman, 619

1819. Ship Meteor ..

الجديد

1733

NEWBURY.

bury as a shuttle-maker, but after a short time he returned to Byfield, taking possession of the home- stead bequeathed to him by his uncle, and made shuttles and machines for the cotton factory there.

Ilis first invention was a coru-sheller, for which he received a patent in 1803, and which was the first ad- vance made on the old style of hand-work. In 1808 be received a patent on the bark-mill which was the prototype of all the bark, cob, coffee and spice-mills now in use. The old method of preparing bark for the vats, which his mill superseded, was by rolling it with a grind-stone fitted to an axle and drawn by a borse.

His next and chief invention was that of shoe pegs, and the machinery for their manufacture. The man- ufacture of pegged boots and shoes at once began and Mr. Pillsbury had the monopoly of the peg trade. He ran his mill with closed doors, and carried on for a time a profitable business. His profits, how- ever, were soon reduced by competition, which he had no patent to prevent, and only a portion of the trade at reduced prices was retained by him.

Among other inventions of his were a rotary fire- engine, a seed-sower, churn, a gold-washer and sifter, coffee-burner, coffee-mill, window-fastener, bee-hive, and others too numerous to mention.

But this imperfect sketeh of the old town of New- bury must be brought to a close. The story, though half told, must yield to the necessary limitations of space. The semi-eentennial celebration of 1885 has not been alluded to, nor the mineral regions, nor the historical society ; and the various rich and historic farms, occupied generation after generation by de- scendants of the first settlers, have been passed by unnoticed. Nor have the historic families of the town received the attention they deserve. The Parsons, Longfellow, Sewall, Moody, Noyes, Coffin, Plummer, Gerrish, Tenney and Pierce families, with others equally distinguished, must find their historian and eulogist in one who has ampler space at his com- mand, and who is better equipped for the performance of his task. Of individual lives which have distin- guished Newbury, including those of Chief Justices Sewall and Parsons, and some of lesser fame, sketches may be found in the chapter on the "Bench and Bar," and in the "History of Newburyport," in another place in these volumes.

NOTE .- The writer wishes to express his indebtedness to the valuable files of the Newburyport Herald, to the scrap books of the late Ben : Perley Poore, to the " History of Ship-Building on the Merrimac," hy Ilon. John J. Currier, to Coffin's " History of Newbury," and to Mr. Ferguson, the town clerk of Newbury, for materials which have ren- dered even this imperfect sketch possible at his hands. W. T. D.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

LEONARD WITHINGTON.1 Leonard Withington was born in Dorchester (now

a part of Boston), August 9, 1789. His parents were Joseph Weeks and Elizabeth (White) Withington, the family having been of the original settlers of the town, respectable and respected, holding offices in the town and in the church, his great-grandfather, Ebenezer Withington, having had a commission from the King as a captain in the French War. IIis mother was a woman of genius and force of charac- ter, though of little book-learning, except what she had read after her marriage, which occurred while she was very young, and she had much influence over ber eldest son, who was so near her own age that they were frequently taken by strangers to be brother and sister. The father was considerably older, had served as a soldier in the War for Inde- pendence, and was a man of solid sense, but not of brilliant talents.

The schools of those days were not very good, and in after-years Mr. Withington told the story of how he inquired of the mistress of the Dame school as to the meaning of a punctuation mark, and was told by her that if he looked at all the fly-dirts in the book, he would never learn to read. Ile did, however, learn with extraordinary facility, and from a very early age displayed a great avidity for books. One of the first which fell into his hands, as was to be expected in a Puritan family, was Bunyan's wonder- ful allegory of "The Pilgrim's Progress," which took such a powerful hold upon his imagination that he set out on a pilgrimage when a very small boy, and contriving a burden for his back, like that of Chris- tian, took the gate of a pasture for the wicket gate at which Bunyan's hero sought admission. It was a characteristic of his life, the vividness of imagination which transformed the homely realities into poetic dreams, and made him see more in sensible objects than appeared on the retina of the eye.

Though the schools were poor, and the springs of learning ran low in them at that time, he was aided in his struggle to gain instruction by an uncle, who was rather a bookish man for that community, and he had read a good deal for a boy in his circum- stances, when, at the age of fifteen, he was appren- ticed to the late Joseph T. Buckingham, of Boston, to learn the printer's trade. This part of his life he thoroughly enjoyed. It opened to him a new world. He had greatly larger opportunities for reading, the association with men of culture and education, the company of aspiring young men, the advantage of a debating society, in which there were several youths of talent, and the theatres of Boston, which opened to him a new world, and where he witnessed the per- formances of the great lights of the stage at that time. He was a favorite with Mr. Buckingham, who gave him the best opportunities and printed some of his writings in the later years of his apprenticeship, and a regard grew up which ripened into a friendship which continued as long as the master lived.

The young man became ambitious of a literary

1 By Nalban N. Withington.

1734

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

career, and especially of becoming editor of a maga- zine or review, and to this end was desirous of a liberal education. Mr. Buckingham gave him most of the last year of his apprenticeship, and Mr. With- ington attended Phillips Academy at Andover for one year, fitting for college in that time. The next year he studied at home, and he then was admitted to the sophomore class at Yale, having been induced by Rev. John Codman, D.D., of Dorchester, to enter at the orthodox college, rather than at Harvard, which was nearer home. The family had attended the church of which Rev. Dr. Harris was pastor; but it was at a time when the division was taking place in the churches, and Dr. Harris' church was liberal, and they left it for Dr. Codman's, the orthodox, church, with which Mr. Withington united in 1810.

From the beginning he took a high stand in his class at Yale, and was expected to take the highest honors ; but a serious illness interrupted his studies, and for a while his life was despaired of, so that he took the second place at graduation, and as a writer he was considered the first in college of his time. During the college course, through the influence of Dr. Codman and President Dwight, of Yale, Mr. Withington changed his plan of a literary career, and decided to study theology. Accordingly, after graduation in the class of 1814, he studied first with President Dwight, and afterwards with Dr. Codman, and was approbated to preach in 1816 hy the Union Association of Boston and vicinity, at the house of Rev. Dr. Morse, in Charlestown, and before his death he was the oldest surviving graduate of Yale and the oldest Congregational minister in the United States.

Soon after he was licensed to preach he received two simultaneous invitations from churches to be- come their pastor. One was from the First Church in Newbury, and although the salary was but one- third of that offered by the other, the larger salary being from the income of a fund, he felt that there would be little interest on the part of the parish which did not pay for its own preaching. Accord- ingly, he accepted the call from the church in New- bury, and was ordained its pastor on the 31st of Oc- tober, 1816, and remained with it until his death, on Wednesday, April 22, 1885, a pastorate of over sixty- eight years, the longest of any in the record of a church remarkable for the long life of its ministers, and the long continuance of their service with the same church.

Mr. Withington, as a pupil of President Dwight and of Dr. Codman, was a Calvinist, and the parish to which he was called was ranked among the liberal, or Arminians, and his first sermons were not such as to disturb the people who had been accustomed to the preaching of Rev. Dr. Tucker and Dr. Popkin, who resigned to accept the Professorship of Greek in Har- vard University. But many of the Calvinists were drawn into the society, and the association with liberal churches was gradually dropped, and under

the pastorate of Mr. Withington the church became thoroughly identified with the orthodox Congrega- tionalists, the covenant was changed into a creed, and while at the ordination Rev. Dr. Andrews, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Newburyport took part, fel- lowship with that church was discontinued.

From the first of his pastorate Mr. Withington made himself felt as an active force in the vicinity. He was a scholar, and he inspired the Essex North Association of Congregational Ministers with the con- tagion of scholarship. They read the Scriptures in the original Hebrew and Greek, so that throughout New England this body became noted among the clergymen of the denomination as a scholarly body of men. He interested himself in the first libraries, in the first lyceum, in schools and academies, and was made a trustee and officer of several of these institu- tions.

Very soon after his ordination, January 17, 1817, he was married to Sophia, youngest danghter of William Sherburne, Esq., of Boston, and he estab- lished his family in the home where all his children were born, in the house built by a predecessor in the pastorate, Rev. Abraham Moore, and which still stands on High Street, opposite the head of Marl- borongh Street. His first wife died April 1, 1826, leaving three sons, one of whom died in infancy soon after his mother, and the other two dying before their father, in young manhood, the second, bearing his father's name, leaving issue of daughters. On May 28, 1827, he was married to his second wife, Caroline, daughter of Hon. Nathan Noyes, M.D., of Newbury- port, by whom he had five sons and four daughters, of whom the daughters and two sons survive. The second wife died in August, 1860, and from that time he remained a widower till the close of his life.

Mr. Withington had a dislike for college titles of honor, which was understood at Yale, so that such were not offered him from that college, but in 1850 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Bowdoin, an honor which he deserved by his scholar- ship and his writings, which were numerous. Among his published addresses were the election sermou, preached before the Massachusetts Legislature in 1831 ; a poem before the Phi Beta Kappa at Yale, September 11, 1821; an address to the alumni at Yale in 1846 ; an address to a society in Dartmouth College in 1837, besides numerous lectures before lyeenms, and addresses to various bodies. He con- tributed to newspapers and magazines until nearly the close of his life, and published many sermons and pamphlets upon public topics, and to the Biblio- theca Sacra he contributed after he was consider- ably past eighty years old. He published two books. One of these was "The Puritan," a collection of essays and sketches with a slight thread of narrative running through the whole. This book was puh- lished in 1836. The other book was "Solomon's Song," translated and explained in three. parts, and

Todes Colmune

1735

NEWBURY.

published in 1861, of which one of the theological reviews said it was "the ablest exposition ever pub- lished of the wrong theory of explanation of Solo- mon's Song." Dr. Withington's own estimate of his work after it was published was always extremely modest, and he did not like to hear his books men- tioned. The publishers wished to issue a second edition of the "Puritan," but, though there was a good demand for it, he positively refused to con- sent.

Dr. Withington was a preacher, a scholar, a wit, a brilliant conversationalist and a vigorous thongh uneqnal writer. He had a critical knowledge of English literature, and was thoroughly familiar with the best writers. Literature was his delight, and it was that he might devote himself to it that he pre- ferred to remain in a country parish on a small sal- ary, where he had leisure for study, and for such writing as he liked, though he had many calls to more Incrative positions. As a preacher he was strik - ing and impressive, though not elegant nor eloquent. He was original in thought and in speech, and his sermons and addresses were characterized by force of expression and aptness of illustration. This was especially to be noticed in his extemporary Tuesday evening lectures to his people, which were illustrated by the freshest readings and observations of the speaker, who would often be carried away from his subject and carry his people with him. At these lec- tures the chapel was always filled, and they were an intellectual stimulus which was felt by all who heard them. They were not formal discourses, and often the speaker did not know when he began where the inspiration would lead him, but they were delightful talks of a pious scholar, wit and humorist, which at- tracted many besides the members of the parish. In his faith he described himself as "a modified Cal- vinist."'

In conversation Dr. Withington excelled, and in his family he delighted in relating stories to his chil- dren of pathos or terror which he wove out of his fertile imagination, and in composing for them little poems on events in the family. He was an indulgent father, who desired that his children should read and think for themselves, and he had a habit of asking them questions in order to set them to studying to find the answers, which he did not give. His learn- ing and brilliant conversation attracted many distin- guished men and women to the house, so that there was always intellectual entertainment for the house- hołd.

Dr. Withington's life was a complete whole, and it can hardly be said that he died, but his life was fin- ished after nearly ninety-six years' continnance, and its close was a gradual failure of the vital forces, bodily and mental, like a fire which had burnt out the material upon which it fed. Although not of a robust frame, and in early life of rather feeble health, he grew to be more healthy as life advanced, and his

old age was one of calm happiness. Indeed, his life was a happy one. He had become convinced that it was his duty to become a minister, and the duties, not disagreeable to him in the beginning, became his pleasure. He was contented in the country parish in which he had settled, and he had there the leisure for the literary labors which were his delight. He retired from the pastorate while his mental powers were in full vigor, leaving no impression upon his people of their decline, so that they would gladly have retained his active services, and his serene old age was passed in the companionship of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who admired his genius and were devoted to his comfort. At the last his only desire was to be at rest, and his only complaint that he remained, while others, younger than he, had laid down the burden of life, and he laid it down as one falls asleep, peacefully and un- consciously.

MOSES COLMAN.1

Moses Colman has sprung from one of the oldest families of the town of Newbury, or the county of Essex, and a family that has lost nothing of the vig- or of heart and mind in the lapse of years.

He is now seventy years old, showing no more marks of age than he did at fifty. The first of the family in America was Thomas Colman, a native of Marlboro', England. He arrived in Boston in 1635, and at once joined the first settlers of the town, whose piety did not prevent their appreciating the beauties of the location, the fertility of its uplands and the ability of its widespread meadows and marshes to furnish support to horses, cattle and sheep.

Religious liberty and civil rights they desired, but the Dummers, Sewalls, Saltonstalls and other wealthy men did not lose sight of this grand emigration to and colonization of this section of the New World. Thomas Colman was a very valuable man, for at home he had gained a reputation for knowledge in the breeding of horses and cattle, which was as much their object as to-day it is of the settlers in Montana, Colorado and Texas, or the men locating on the wide prairies and vast plains of the West.

He had come over the seas on their invitation,- they needed his skill, and he at once entered upon the duties for which he had been engaged. He be- came one of the proprietors of the town, of which the whole number was one hundred and thirteen, and had lands assigned him in Byfield, which, in part, are in the possession of Mr. Moses Colman to-day, for there upon the ancient homestead dwelt Thomas Colman for seven years. Then he removed to Hampton, N. II., and finally, in 1680, with a part of his children, he made a new home on Nantucket, more desirable on account of the milder climate ; and

1 By George J. L. Colby.

1736

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 182

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