History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 26

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 26

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There were other beliefs as firmly held, which, though equally as superstitious, were much more agreeable and romantic. The young women, on the

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

nights when a new moon was to appear, would con- generally sent their children to the school it soon in- gregate at one of the houses in the neighborhood, and, creased to seventy-five pupils, and the income of the teacher was increased to about fifty pounds per annum in silver money. putting a huge pot of tallow over the fire, would drop " hot nails " into the boiling fat, firmly believing that the young man who should appear while the nails were dropping would be the future husband of the fair damsel who dropped them. At other times the young women would go to an upper window, and, reaching half-way out, throw a ball of yarn into the street, believing that the lucky youth who picked it up would surely come forward with an offer of mar- riage.

Until the ordination of Mr. Cheever nearly all the marriages in town had been solemnized by Mr. Mave- rick, who had been appointed one of the magistrates, and was for many years the only Justice of the Peace in the place. Mr. Maverick was a selectman, town clerk, tything man, and a member of every important committee chosen by the town. Owning a considera- ble portion of the township, and being largely inter- ested in the fishing trade, he was a man of great influence in the community, and his advice, when given, was followed with implicit confidence by the simple fishermen with whom he lived.

The customs of the people at this time, and for many years after, were, some of them, of the most curious nature. A marriage was the scene of the most joyous festivities, and the occasion of a season of merry-making for an entire week in duration. Everybody in the community who chose attended the wedding, and when, at a late hour in the night, the guests were ready to depart for their own homes, the bride and groom were put to bed by their maids and groomsmen, and the entire company marched around their bed, throwing old shoes and stockings, and vari- ous other missiles at them, for good luck, and by way of a parting salute.

As the town increased in importance and pros- perity, the custom, so prevalent throughout New England, of presenting the pall-bearers at funerals with gloves and gold finger-rings, became very fash- ionable among the wealthier families. These rings were often of a very curious and unique design, and there are several of them hell as heirlooms by some of the older inhabitants to-day.

For some years previous to the year 1698 it ap- peared that no school had been kept in Marblehead for any length of time exceeding a few brief months. In November of that year a school was opened by Mr. Josiah Cotton, who came to Marblehead at the urgent request of several of the influential inhabitants. Mr. Cotton was a young man, not quite nineteen years of age, who had but a short time before gradu- ated from Harvard College. He was a grandson of the Rev. Juhn Cotton, and a nephew of the celebrated Dr. Cotton Mather. The town agreed to pay him fifteen pound- a year for his services, and he received "six pener and a wroate a week " frau cach of the scholars who attended the school. Asth . inhabitants

During his stay in Marblehead Mr. Cotton lived for the greater part of the time in the family of the minister, Mr. Cheever, though for a short time he boarded in the families of Captain Edward Brattle and Captain John Browne. While here he studied theology, and preached his first sermon November 23, 1701. In 1704 Mr. Cotton took his final leave of Marblehead, and some years after wrote the account of his life while here, from which we are permitted to extract the following:

"When I came to this place I was raw and young, not 19 years old, and therefore it is not to be wondered at if I gave way too much to that extravagance Intemperance, Negligence in Heligiun and Disorderliness that is too rife in that place. I desire to thank God that it was no more, and to be Immunlled that it was so much, and to be thankful that after so much Vanity God brought me to myself and did not suffer me to be ut- terly rnined. In the latter rid of 1703, I had thoughts of removing from Marblehead, supposing the place (then heing under decay) not likely to afford me a settlement, and accordingly I left it about two months. In that time I went to Sandwich and Dartmouth, in the county of Bristol, to which I had been directed by the Boston ministers. I tar- ried and preached at Boston but one Sabbath.

"After my coming from thence, I had several letters from my brother, Cushing and Sammel Penhallow, Esq., inviting me to keep school at Portsmouth, on the Piscataqua River, towards which I steered my conree ; but calling at Marblehead, and they remaining still destitute of a schoolmaster, I agreed with them again (upon the advancement of my salary from the Town, under the former regulation for particular schol- ars, for they would not make it a free school and tarried half a year longer in ye school, and desire to acknowledge it as a favor that my ser- vives therein as well as before was acceptable and successful.

" The people there being generally if not universally inclined to give their children common learning, the scholars rise but thin amongst them. There was but one that went from thence, whilst I kept school, to the college, and that was the minister's son, Mr Amos Cheever, now minister at Manchester. There was another designed, viz: John Browne son of Capt. Browne, but death put an end to the design. Some of the verses composed on that sorrowi'ni occasion are as follows :-

+ Death is a tribute which by nature we Are bound to pay unto Mortality : A lovely plaint cropt in his tender years Lyes here, a subject not of prayer, but leurs ; A youth who promis't much, but awful death Hath snatched him from us and hath stopt his breath, And now he's gone you'll scarce his equal find,- On all accounts few equals left behind.'

"I have heretofore thought of writing a particular character and de- scription of Marblehead, or rather, history of my observations there, but upon the attempt, finding that I could not do it without too much satyr and reflection (perhaps to some to whom I was obliged) I laid it aside and shall only say that the whole township is not much bigger than a large farm, and very rocky, and so they are fore't to get their living out of the sea, not having room to confound the fisherman with the hub- bandinan, and so spoil both as they do in some places. It has a very gnod Harbour, which they improve to the best advantage for Fishing both Summer and Winter. . . . And, finally, it is one of the best coun- try places to kergeschool in, provided a man be firmly fixt in principle of Virtue and religion, which I hear ily wish were more abundant among them in the life nud power of it.

" My greatest intimacy whulst at Marblehead was in the family of Col. Legg, whose huly was a gentlewoman of grent gravity, integrity and prudence, and with the familles of capt. John Browne and Capt. Edward Brattle, who married Col. Legg's two daughters, -by which means I had some micondortable jarrs with Colonel N. and his lady, who held no great correspondence with other families. And I would, from my own experience, advise all men, and especially young men, upon their first setting out in life, to avoid all meddling too far, and to carry it with an equa hand towards all."

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MARBLEHEAD.

There were days when pirates infested the high seas, and Marblehead from its isolated position be- came a place of frequent resort for this class of out- laws. The simple-minded inhabitants, naturally hospitable, cordially welcomed all who came among them, little dreaming that at times they were harboring some of the most heartless and blood- thirsty villains that ever sailed the ocean. In July, 1703, the Brigantine Charles, Captain Daniel Plow- man, Commander, was fitted out at Boston, as a privateer, to cruise against the French and Span- iards, with whom Great Britain was then at war. When a few days out Captain Plowman was taken suddenly ill, and the inhuman crew. locked him in the cabin and left him to die. His body was thrown overboard, and John Quelch, the lieutenant, assumed command. With the consent and co-operation of the crew Quelch seized the vessel, and proceeded on a piratical cruise sailing to the coast of Brazil. He confined his operations to that locality, plundering several Portuguese ships and brigantines, killing the Captains and taking several negro slaves as prison- ers, besides gold and other booty. In May of the following year, (1704), the brigantine arrrived at Marblehead, purporting to have come from New Spain. The suspicions of the owners had been aroused, however, and a search of the vessel revealed several Portuguese flags and other articles, which con- firmed the evil reports that had been heard concern- ing the vessel. Finding that they were detected. Quelch and his crew attemped to escape, and secret- ed themselves along the shore. They were hotly pursued by the authorities, and were finally captured- Some were found at Gloucester, others at the Isle of Shoals, while Quelch, it is said, was discovered in Marblehead. Twenty men in all were captured, and were subsequently convicted of piracy. Of these, only one, a youth of nineteen years, gave Marble- head as his birth-place. Quelch, with four of his associates, was executed at Boston June 30, 1704.

The town records of this period are very incomplete, and furnish little information concerning the customs or habits of life of the inhabitants.

In April, 1709, the commoners leased all that great head of land on the northwest side of Charles Island in Little Harbor to Edward Dimond, "shoreman," for thirteen shillings yearly. This person was prob- ably the famons "old Dimond," of whom such fabu- lous stories were told and believed. It was said that he was a wizard and possessed the "black art," which enabled him to foretell coming events, to avert dis- aster from his friends, and bring distress upon his enemies. When the night was dark and stormy, and the wind gave evidence of blowing a gale, "old Di- mond " would wend his way to the "burying hill," and there, among the graves and tomb-stones, “ beat about " and give orders for the management of his vessels at sea. In a voice loud and clear, distinctly heard above the roar of the tempest, these orders

would be given, and no one dared question their power to save from shipwreck. The advice of "okl Dimond " was sought by people far and near who be- lieved in his great powers; but woe betide the evil doer who came into his presence. Once, when a guilty fellow, who had stolen wood from a poor widow, came to him for advice, the wizard " charmed " him, and caused him to walk all night with a heavy log of wood on his back. At another time, when a sum of money had been stolen from an aged couple, "old Dimond" told where it could be found, and gave the name of the thief. Let not the reader think that these stories illustrating the superstitiou of our an- cestors are exaggerated in the least. They were told by aged people living in Marblehead but a few years ago, now at rest, who remembered with what faith and earnestness they were told by their mothers and grandmothers.

Of the same class are the stories told of the man who was chased by a corpse in a coffin, and shortly after sickened and died; of the poor fellow who was chased by his Satanic majesty himself, seated in a carriage drawn by four white horses; and of the young fisherman who arrived home in the night, aud meeting the young woman to whom he was betrothed, gave her a few of the fish he had caught only to see her fade away and vanish from his sight. The next morning the heart-broken lover learned that the girl he loved had died during his absence, and became convinced that he had seen an apparition. What the ghost did with the fish has never been satisfactorily explained.

Of the events of the intervening years between 1709 and 1714 little can be ascertained. A few years previous an Episcopal Church had been gathered and a parish organized, and during the year 1714, a church edifice was erected. The funds for the erec- tion of the building were subscribed by thirty-three gentlemen who pledged themselves in various sums to the amount of one hundred and seventy-five pounds. The list was headed by Colonel Francis Nicholson, who subscribed twenty-five pounds, and the remain- der was made up by several captains of vessels in sums varying from two pounds to twelve pounds each. The frame and all the materials used in the construc- tion of the building were brought from England. The first rector was Rev. William Shaw, who arrived and took'charge of the parish on the 20th of July, 1715.

In 1714, the Rev. Mr. Cheever having become very old and infirm, his church voted to settle a younger minister with him as an assistant. Accordingly, a meeting was held, and two candidates were presented for the choice of the church, one of whom was Mr. John Barnard, of Boston, and the other Mr. Edward Holyoke. Mr. Barnard was chosen by a small ma- jority, and at a town meeting convened for the pur- pose, the choice of the church was ratified by the town. This action on the part of the town was far from satisfactory to the adherents of Mr. Holyoke,

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

and occasioned a controversy which resulted in a division of the church and the withdrawal of the disaffected members. The town voted to grant per- mission for the organization of another church and the erection of a new meeting-house, and a charter was obtained from the General Court. The members of the First Church sent an carnest and solemn pro- test to the Governor and the Legislature against the formation of a new church, declaring that as there was already one " church and one meeting-house in the place," the erection of a third place of worship would disturb the peace of the town. They also charged their brethren who desired to form the new church with the grave offense of going about the town and "defaming and vilifying the character of Mr. Barnard." On the 9th of November, 1715, Mr. Barnard entered upon his duties as the assistant pastor of the First Church, and on the 25th of April, 1716, the new meeting-house having been erect- ed, the Second Congregational Church was organ- ized, and Mr. Holyoke was ordained as pastor. The ordination of Mr. Barnard took place on the 18th of July of the same year.

The condition of the town at this time is de- seribed by Mr. Barnard in his autobiography as mis- erable in the extreme. He says: "When I first came in 1714 , there were two companies of poor, smoke dried, rude, ill clothed men, trained to no military discipline but that of ' Whipping the Snake,' as it was called. There was not so much as one proper carpenter, nor mason, nor tailor, nor butcher in the town, nor any market worth naming; but they had their houses built by country workmen, and their clothes made out of town, and supplied themselves with beef and pork from Boston, which drained the town of its money. And what above all, I would re- mark, there was not so much as one foreign trading vessel belonging to the town, nor for several years after I came into it; though no town had really greater advantages in their hands. The people con- tented themselves to be slaves that digged in the mines, and left the merchants of Boston, Salem and Europe, to carry away the gains, by which means the town was always dismally poor in circumstances, in- volved in debt to the merchants more than they were worth ; nor could I find twenty families in it that upon the best examination could stand upon their own legs ; and they were generally as rude, swearing. drunken and fighting a crew as they were poor."

Though the influence of Mr. Barnard the people were finally induced to send their own fish to market, Mr. JA seph sweett being the first man to engage in the enterprise. He titted out a small schooner, which he sent to the Barbados with a cargo of fish, and, being successful was in a few years enabled to build Vesels and send bl- to European markets. In a short time others, encourage I by his success, engaged in the business, and the town enjoyed an era of pros- jenit wach as it had never known before. Good

workmen of every description now abounded in the place, and from their more frequent intercourse with the outside world, the air of isolation which had so long characterized the inhabitants, began to wear off' to a certain extent, and though their manners were somewhat rude, they became noted for their kindness and hospitality to strangers.

At this time, and several generations later, the town was noted throughout New England for the pe- culiar dialect of its people. So broad and quick was their pronunciation, and so strange were the idioms characterizing their speech, that a native of the town was known wherever he went. Nor was this pecu- liarity confined to any class or condition of men re- siding in the town. All showed it alike, of whatever rank or condition in life. The words were clipped off very shortly, and in some sections there was a slight difference in the dialect noticeable. The "Cunny Land" people always dropped the "h "in speaking, and their vernacular was much like that of a Cock- ney Englishman, in addition to that which betrayed them " to the manner born."

Hardly a family in the olden time escaped with the correct pronunciation of its name. So accustomed were many of the inhabitants to the cognomen, by which they were known, that in some instances they did not recognize their own names when called by them. An instance of this kind is related in the " Life and Letters of Judge Story," who was a native of the town.

"Once while he was trying a case in the Circuit Court, in Boston, the clerk called out the name of one of the Jury as Michael Treffery (it being so spelt. Do answer was given. Again he was called, and still there was silence. ' It is very strange,' said the clerk, 'I saw that man here not two minutes ago.' 'Where does he come from ? ' asked the judge. . Marblehead, may it please your Honor,' said the check. . If that's the case,' said the judge, " let me see the list.' The clerk handed it up to him. He looked at the name a miunte, and, handing back the list, said *call Mike Trergo' throwing theaccent on the Inst syllable. ) ' Here !' answered a gruff voice. . Why did you not answer before?' said the clerk. "Treffery is no way to pronounce my name,' suid the jurymau, " my name is Mike Trery, as the judge knows."

Another anecdote to the same purpose is related in the work.

On one occasion, when some of our fishermen were in court to settle a mutiny which had taken place on the Grand Banks (of Newfoundland), one being called upon to state what he knew, said . that the skipper and one of 1 is shipmates had what he called a ' jor of ile.' The presiding Judge in vain endeavored to get a more intelligible answer, and finally Judge Story was called upon, as usual, to act as interpreter to hus towns. man, which he did, telling the court that the 'jor of ile,' in the Marblehead dialect, was a 'jaw awhile,' which, being interpreted, n.cant that the two men abused each other grossly for some time."

Though the dialect once so general among the poo- ple is now almost extinet, there are many words used occasionally, to know the meaning of which would puzzle a stranger. Often when any of the natives feel slightly cold or chilly they will say that they are " erimmy." If they lose their way in the dark and become confused or bewildered, they will say they were "pixelated." In speaking of the ceiling of a room some of the older people still call it the " planch-

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ment." When a lady, on examining of sewing, find- that it is carelessly, or improperly done, it is not un- usnal to hear her pronounce the work "a frogch." When food has been improperly prepared, or is not sufficiently cooked, it is spoken of as " cantch."

When very angry for any reason, it is a common oc- currence to hear some one exclaim " quael'im up ! " " Squael something at him !" or " lle ought to be squaeled up"' which being interpreted, means " Throw something at him !" "Stone him !" or " He ought to be stoned."

A crumb or a small piece of anything to cat, is called a "grummet," and a sulky or ill-natured person is said to he " gruty."

The difficulties against which the fishermen and sailors on board the merchant vessels of the colony, were obliged to contend were for many years greatly augmented by pirates, who infe-ted the waters on the coast of North America. In June, 1722. Edward Low, a noted pirate, while cruising near Cape Fables, took possession of the schooner Mary, of Marblehead, Thomas Trefry, master, and after robbing several other vessels in the vicinity, made prisoners of Nich- olas Merritt, master of the Shallop Jane; Philip Ashton, Jr., master of the schooner Milton ; Joseph Libby, one of the Ashton's crew; and Lawrence Phabens, one of the crew of the schooner Rebekah. These were all active men about twenty years of age, and though they pleaded tearfully to be released, were forced into the service of the pirates. Unfortu- nately no record had been preserved by which the ex- perience of the prisoners can be narrated, except in the case of Ashton. Confined on board the pirate ship, narrowly watched, and continually in fear that liis life would be taken, he was obliged to perform the most menial services. His sufferings from hardship and the cruelty of the crew at length became so un- undurable, that he resolved to make his escape even at the risk of his life. For months, no opportunity presented itself; but in March, 1723, the vessel stopped at a small desolate island off the West Indies to obtain fresh water. Here Ashton was sent on shore to assist in rolling the hogsheads to the water- ing-place. Watching his opportunity, he at length succeeded in eluding the vigilance of his captors, and running to the woods, concealed himself in the thick brush with which the island abounded. Sup- po-ing at first that he had gone to gather cocoanuts. the pirates made no search for him, but finding that he did not return, they made a diligent search, com- ing several times so near his place of concealment that he could distinctly hear their conversation. At length, getting out of patience, they decided to leave without him, and to his great joy, Ashton saw the vessel sail away from the island.

But though liberated from the pirates his hardships were not an end. Alone on a desert island, with no shelter from the weather, and with very seanty means of subsistence, his sufferings at length became very

intense. His feet became core and blistered from ex- posure, and at length. to add to his misfortunes. he was nearly prostrated by sickness.

While in this condition, he was attacked by a com- pany of Spaniards who visited the island, and nar- rowly escaped with his life.

Finally, in March, 1725, nearly three years after he fell into the hands of the pirates, he was taken from the island by Captain Dove, of Salem, who had put in there for water. When released from his peri- lous situation the poor fellow had scarcely a rag of clothing left, and the kin1-hearted sailor, were obliged to clothe him from their own scanty ward- robes.

On his arrival in Marblebead, Ashton wa- received as one from the dead. On the following Sunday, the Rev. John Barnard preached a sermon concerning his miraculous escape, the text being : Daniel iii. 17, " If it be so, our God whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, ( King."

Nicholas Merritt had a similar experience. After being with the banditti several months, he found means to escape, though he did not return to Marble- head for more than a year after.

CHAPTER LAXX.

MARBLEHEAD- Continved).

Turn How Built-Hurages of Small Pas-K . El ard Hol -Prate. in Marblehead- The Story of Agnes Surring -. I Boy's Apprenticeshy. -Fire Department Organized - The French and Intutu War.

Ix 1724, the town having developed into a com- paratively prosperous and enterprising community, various measures of public utility and improvement were adopted. The old meeting-house was enlarged by an addition twenty feet long built at the southeast end. Permission was granted to Nathan Bowen to open a public school, and it was voted to increase the -alary of the schoolmaster and to adopt some " proper method of paying Mr Cheever his salary." The town seems to have experienced great difficulty in obtaining school-teachers, and finally, at a town meeting held March 4, 1727, it was voted to author- ize the selectmen to hire a schoolma-ter at a salary of not more than eighty pounds the first year. At the same meeting it was voted to build a town-house, and the seleetmen were chosen a committee to "treat with some workmen in order for the building said house and make return to ye next town-meeting." It was also voted that "the Town House shall be built on ye land where ye Gale and Cagge now stands on."1 At a subsequent meeting, on the 17th of AApril, the town voted, in accordance with the report of the

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 26

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