History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 272

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 272

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It would appear that Robert IIaseltine, the pioneer, was the first man to keep an inn at Bradford, from the order of the General Court, September, 1655 : "Ye Court being informed yt there is no terry over Merri- maek River, at Haverhill, the Court orders Robert Ilaseltine to keepe a fery over the said river : and to have of strangers 4d. a person if they pay presently : and 6d. if bookt: and to keepe entertaynement for horse and man, for one yeare, unless the General Court take further orders."

pendence, July 4, 1876, the residence of Jacob Kim- ball, near the common, the "Old Tavern," was appro- priately decorated.

During the present century the Washington Hotel was kept by D. C. Knowles for more than forty-five years, for thirty-three of which it was conducted on temperance principles.

It has been remarked, and it is certainly remark- able, that in a town like Bradford, with over three thousand inhabitants, there should be only one church and only one house for religious worship. With all allowance for the fact that many of its inhabitants attend public worship in Haverhill, it is yet a circum- stance worth noting. In the sketch of Ilaverhill in this volume, a somewhat extended account has been given of the advent of the Reverend Hezekiah Smith, which resulted in the organization of the First Bap- tist Church. Before visiting Ilaverhill, Mr. Smith had preached at New Rowley (now Georgetown), in 1764. He seems to have excited interest there, and a few years after some people in that place hecame Bap- tists, evidently under Mr. Smith's influence. The movement probably extended into the easterly part of the town of Bradford. Perhaps the most severe entry in Mr. Smith's diary is the following : "June 13, 1765: I went to the Fast, kept at Bradford, and heard Mr. Flagg and Mr. Tucker (Newbury) preach. And in my opinion, souls are to be pitied who sit under their preaching. Then went home, and expected to have more stones thrown into my chamber that night, after the ministers had heen reflecting so much upon myself and the people who separated from them. The night before, they threw one stone through the glass into my chamber, soon after I got into bed." That outrage was in Haverhill. The stone-a large one-is said to be in the possession of one of MIr. Smith's descendants.

" January 15, 1766. I went to Bradford, and preached at Mr. Pike's from Acts 17: 6, 'Those that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.' It was a very solemn meeting. Thursday, 16th, I went to Solomon Kimball's, in Bradford, and preached from, ' I will arise, ete.' But before service, Milliken, the sheriff, and several of the head men of the Parish, came to prevent my preaching, and threat- ened me very much, should I proceed. At last, when they were engaged in their opposing talk, I began service, upon which they held their peace and went out, leaving us to carry on the service without any more disturbance." In 1774 Mrs. Martha Kimball, in a letter to Reverend Isaac Backus, the Baptist histo- rian, gave an account of this meeting. She says : " The Rev. Hezekiah Smith was shamefully treated by many of the people of Bradford, who came, headed by the sheriff, Amos Millikin, at a time when Mr. Smith was to preach a sermon in our house at the request of

When Bradford celebrated the centennial of inde- my husband, and warmly contended with him, and

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

threatened him if he did proceed. However, Mr. Smith went to begin service by singing, notwithstand- ing the noise, clamor and threats of the people. But one of their number snatched the chair behind which Mr. Smith stood, from before him; upon which my husband desired Mr. Smith to tarry a little till he had quelled the tumult; but all his endeavors to silence them were in vain."

Mrs. Kimball adds the following account: "In the year 1768, in a very cold night in the winter, about nine or ten o'clock in the evening, I was taken prisoner and carried by the collector in the town where I live (Bradford) from my family, consisting of three small children, in order to be put into jail. It being a severe cold night, I concluded, by advice, while I was detained at a tavern some hours in the way to jail, to pay the sum of about £4 8s. legal money, for which I was made a prisoner, it being the minis- terial rate. The reason why I refused paying it before was because I was a Baptist, and belonged to the Baptist Society in Haverhill, and had carried in a certificate to the assessors, as I suppose, according to law. After I had paid what they demanded, then I had to return two miles to my poor, fatherless chil- dren through the snow, on foot, in the dead of the night, exposed to the severity of the cold."

May 4, 1781, Mr. Smith "formed a branch of the Church (Haverhill) in Rowley-Georgetown." So says his diary.

After the controversy in the East Parish of Brad- ford, about the alleged Arminian heresy of Mr. Balch, some or all those dissatisfied with the decision of the church and council " separated " themselves from the parish, bought a meeting-house of the Second Parish in Rowley, then building anew, and removed it into the East Parish in Bradford, where they set it upand held meetings without a settled minister. People con- verted by Mr. Smith to the Baptist way of belief joined them, and Mr. Smith mentions preaching from time to time, in the " North " meeting-house in Brad- ford. Those who frequented this meeting were prin- cipally residents of Bradford, Rowley and Newbury. After Mr. Smith formed the Rowley branch of his Haverhill Church, this meeting-house was taken back to Rowley and rebuilt there. This was about 1782. About 1785 this branch was set up as an inde- pendent church, Mr. Smith preaching a sermon on the occasion.

What was called "The Reformation in Haverhill and Bradford," began December 1, 1803, by a meeting at the house of John Marble, in Bradford, when Elder Elias Smith, of Portsmouth, preached. In 1805-6 forty-three persons were baptized in Bradford by Elders Smith and Jones. But when the church was organized it was established in Haverhill. Out of this movement grew the Christian Church of llaverhill.

The agreement in 1803 to build Bradford Academy had about thirty signers, who subscribed $1218.80 to !

put up the building. At the first term there were fifty-one pupils. In 1804 there were eighty- seven, of whom sixty were females. Afterwards one thonsand four hundred and fifty dollars was subscribed in aid. The principal was not paid over, but the annual interest was guaranteed. Abont 1807 a subscription was also made, which was intended to yield an income of seventy-two dollars a year for twenty years. The amount was only paid, however, for five years, when the school became self-supporting. In 1817 there were one hundred and forty-seven pupils-sixty males and eighty-seven females. The high degree of intelligence and public spirit of the women of Brad- ford must largely be ascribed to the founding of this academy.

Daniel Noyes, who was preceptor in 1814, was afterwards a well-known druggist in Boston and al- ways a warm and helpful friend of the academy.

The Merrimae Academy, established in 1821, in the East Parish, by the excellent Dr. Spofford and others, would certainly appear to a stranger to be an unwise and unnecessary movement, an excellent school being already in successful operation so near and in the same town. How much of the indisposi- tion in that part of the town to support the Bradford Academy may have been due to the traditional fric- tion and rivalry between the two sections of the town, it is not necessary to speculate. It is wonder- ful that both schools were sustained so long, and yet more wonderful that one has survived and grown strong. But the Merrimac Academy, also, did much good and was comparatively successful until about 1870, when it was merged in the Groveland system of public schools.

It is rather a curious than an important circum- stance in relation to the early industries of Bradford, that there is said to have once been a pottery in op- eration on the Highlands, where common earthen- ware was made for a time.

In 1837, when the Andover and Haverhill Railroad was opened to Bradford, its leading shoe manufactur- ers are stated to have been Josiah Brown, Leonard Johnson, Samuel Heath, William Day & Company, J. P. Montgomery & Company, George K. Montgom- cry, Ordway & Webster, Humphrey Iloyt, Warren Ordway, Pressey & Fletcher and Guy Carleton, Jr., with Kimball Farrar in the leather business. These able business men gradually moved their plant to Haverhill, continuing to reside in Bradford, and this precedent has been followed ever since by the shoe manufacturers here.

After the Rebellion a small number of colored people settled in Bradford and organized a little church. Their location was soon changed to Haver- hill, where they are known as the Calvary Baptist Church, on Ashland Street, and have recently settled the Rev. Mr. Roberts, formerly of Liberia.

In 1871 an organization was formed now known as the Bradford Farmers' and Mechanics' Institute.

was dann

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BRADFORD.

The first president was Warren Ordway; Secretary, William Ililton ; Treasurer, George W. Ladd. The president in 1888 is Lieutenant E. E. Bradbury. Its lectures and meetings for discussion are well sus- tained, and its annual supper and reunion are con- ducted with a liberality and unanimity worthy of and expected from a place so characterized by the public spirit as the fine old town of Bradford.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

HON. GEORGE COGSWELL.I

The story of this family has been told by Jameson in his elaborate work, "The Cogswells in America." The ancestor, John Cogswell, of Westbury Leigh, Wilts, England, a manufacturer of woolens, embarked at Bristol, May 23, 1635, with his wife and eight children, on the ship " Angel Gabriel." He was ship- wrecked at Pemaquid, Maine, August 15th, but soon after was at Ipswich, where large grants of land were made to him at Chebacco (now Essex), for more than two hundred and fifty years cultivated by his descendants. Nathaniel Cogswell, great-grandson of John, born January 19, 1707, in Chebacco Parish, was in Haverhill early in life, and became a prosperous merchant on Water Street and a prominent citizen. He married, January 31, 1740, Judith, daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Peaslee) Badger. Joseph Badger descended from Giles, of Newbury, was also a mer- chant of Haverhill, who married a daughter of Colonel Nathaniel Peaslee. Nathaniel Cogswell had nineteen children, all of whom, according to Chase, were baptized in the meeting house of the First Parish in Haverhill. About 1766, Nathaniel Cogswell retired from business and went to live at Atkinson, where he gave the site for the first meeting-house, and was active in the business of the infant town. He had eight sons in the Revolutionary Army, who, in the aggregate, fulfilled a service of thirty-eight years-claimed as the longest rendered by any family in the country.

William, his tenth son, born at Haverhill, July 11, 1760, was a student in the family of his brother-in- law, Rev. Jonathan Searle, of Mason, New Hampshire, when the Revolutionary War broke out. Though not yet sixteen years old, he served from January 1, 1776, to January 1, 1777, in the company of his brother, Cap- tain Thomas Cogswell, of Haverhill, Colonel L. Bald- win's regiment of Continental Infantry, and was at the siege of Boston. From January 1, 1777, to July 19, 1781, he was engaged in the study of medicine with Dr. (and General) Nathaniel Peabody, of Atkin- son. Upon the last date he was appointed surgeon's mate and assigned to the hospital at West Point, where he was subordinate to Surgeon William Eustis, afterward Governor of Massachusetts. January 5, 1784, he was promoted to be surgeon-in-chief in

charge of that hospital and, June 20, 1784. upon the reorganization of the army by Congress, under the direction of General Washington, he was made sur- geon in-chief of the regular army of the United States, holding that position until August 12, 1785, when he resigned it and commenced the practice of medicine at Atkinson, New Hampshire. He had thus attained the rank of surgeon-general (or its equivalent) when less than twenty-four years of age, and given it up at twenty-five. July 22, 1786, he married his cousin Judith, daughter of General Joseph Badger, first of Haverhill and after of Gilmanton, New Hampshire. She attained her ninety-fourth year. Dr. Cogswell died at Atkinson, January 1, 1831. Ile was one of the founders of Atkinson Academy.

George Cogswell, his sixth son, was born at Atkin- son, February 5, 1808. He received his early eduea- tiou at Atkinson Academy and studied medicine with his father. Dartmouth College, in 1830, gave him the degree of M.D. with the highest honors of his cla-s, and in 1865 the honorary degree of M.A. He was also a private student with Professor Muzzey, of Dart- mouth, and Dr. John D. Fisher, of Boston. In Au- gust, 1830, he commenced the practice of medicine at Bradford, continuing it successfully for many years, till obliged to retire from it by ill health. In 1841-44 he visited Europe, attending leetures in Paris, and studying in the hospitals of Paris and London. lle had many medical students at Bradford and was con- sidered a thorough anatomist. Within a few years he has performed capital operations. In 1844 he de- clined a medical professorship tendered him. lle was active in forming the Essex North Medical Asso- ciation, now merged in the Massachusetts Medical Society, under the title of the " Essex North District Medical Society," in which he not only retains his membership, but his interest, regularly attending its meetings and participating in its discussions. Dr. Cogswell had undoubtedly great natural gifts for his profession. A leading physician of Haverhill says : " He was the first physician in Essex North who made intelligent use of auscultation and percussion in the diagnosis of disease."

Dr. Cogswell was early active in the temperance and anti-slavery movements, and has been consistent in his devotion to the principles then adopted. He was a member of the Chapman Hall meeting in Boston, which organized the Republican party in Massachu- setts, and is still contented to remain its adherent. Hle was a member of the Electoral College of Massa- ehusetts in 1852 and 1868, which gave the vote of the State to General Scott and General Grant, respec- tively. In 1860 he was a member of the Massachu- setts delegation in the National Republican Conven- tion at Chicago, which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency. In 1858 and 1859 he was a mem- ber of the State Executive Council, Nathaniel P Banks being Governor. In 1862, President Lincoln ap- pointed him collector of internal revenue for the Sixth

1 By John B. D. Cogswell.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

District of Massachusetts. President Johnson re. moved him in 1866, and President Grant reappointed him in 1870. He held the position till 1875, when the office was consolidated with other districts. It was one of the most important districts in the coun- try, and Dr. Cogswell administered it with marked fidelity and accuracy.

He has been a member of the First Parish Con- gregational Church, in Bradford, since 1831, and has been constantly ready and active in upholding it and promoting its usefulness and prosperity.

He was one of the original members of the Haver- hill Monday Evening Club, organized in 1860, for literary and social purposes. lle was chairman at its first meeting and at its twenty-fifth anniversary, November 19, 1885.

Dr. Cogswell has been many years a trustee of At- kinson Academy, and he is a trustee of the Peabody Academy of Science at Salem. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and of the New England Historic-Genealogi- cal Society. When the Union Bank, in Haverhill, was organized, in 1849, he was elected its president, and when it became the First National Bank, in 1864, he was chosen to the same position, still holding it in 1888. He has long been vice-president of the Hav- erhill Savings Bank, and was for a while actively en- gaged in railroad affairs and president of a railroad in Essex County. Indeed, for many years and in many different departments he has been much em- ployed in public and private trusts.

In 1878, when seventy years old, Dr. Cogswell made an extended tour in Europe, visiting the World's Fair in Paris, and traveling in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Holland, as well as the rural districts of England, Scotland and Ireland. IIe had visited Italy in the spring of 1841. Notwithstanding his advanced age, he was still an energetic traveler, and an active and enthusiastic sight-seer. With all his other occu- pations, he has in his life time found leisure to indulge the taste for farming, conceived when living upon the New Hampshire farm in youth, and during his second visit to Europe found much to enjoy in this depart- ment. He has done good work as an agriculturist in former years in Bradford, at his home property and in other parts of the town, particularly on the high lands at " Riverside," sloping down to the Mer- rimac. Almost contemporaneous with his citizenship in Bradford was Dr. Cogswell's connection with Bradford Academy, of which he has been a trustee for more than fifty years. He was a warm friend of Benjamin Greenleaf, its former distinguished precep- tor. Treasurer for the larger part of the time, he has been constantly and intimately associated with its administration, even within the last year or two. The excellent condition of its finances must be ascribed to his successful management during years of doubt and struggle. The institution is now out of deht, and well equipped. An extended account of its

history is given elsewhere, but in this place may properly be claimed that Dr. Cogswell and his associ- ates of the board, past and present, have given Brad- ford Academy fresh life, and have placed it upon an enduring foundation. He has been for some years, and still is, president of the board of trustees.

August 4, 1831, Dr. Cogswell married Abigail, daughter of Peter Parker, Esq., of East Bradford (now Groveland). She was born September 6, 1808, and died July 23, 1845. Their children were Abby Par- ker, born September 25, 1832, graduated at Bradford Academy, who married George F. Choate, of Salem, judge of Probate and Insolvency for the county of Essex. George Badger, born September 15, 1834, edu- cated at Bradford and Gilmanton Academies, Dart- mouth College, Harvard Medical School, was surgeon during the war, and for many years a successful physi- cian at North Easton, Mass. His son, Charles H. Cogswell (Dartmouth College, 1880), is port physician of the city of Boston, being the third in regular medi- cal descent from Dr. William, of Atkinson, and it is worthy of note that Dr. George Cogswell has several other grandsons, now prosecuting their studies with a view to increasing the ranks of the profession.

William Wilberforce, born January 22, and died August 5, 1837.

William, born August 23, 1838 ; educated at Phillips Academy, Dartmouth College and Dane Law School ; lawyer at Salem and Boston ; colonel Second Massa- chusetts and brevet brigadier general in 1864; re- peatedly mayor of Salem and member of both branches of the Legislature ; at present, Representa- tive in Congress.

Sarah Parker, born March 23, 1843; graduated at Bradford Academy. In 1846, Dr. Cogswell married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Hon. Elisha Doane, of Yarmouth, Massachusetts. Their children were : Elisha Doane and Susan Doane, born Sept. 22, 1847. Susan died Nov. 29, 1847; Elisha died April 6, 1850.

Doane, born April 29, 1851; educated at Phillips Academy, (Andover,) Dartmouth College and Boston Medical School ; at present farmer at Riverside.

Caroline Doane, born August 2, 1852; graduated at Bradford Academy.

Dr. Cogswell was naturally a man of great energy, and through life has been remarkable for accuracy, promptness and punctuality. He has doubtless taken just pride in fulfilling his engagements, of every character, as a son, husband, father, friend, citizen, public servant and private trustee. In all matters of public concern he has been liberal, both of time, thought and money. As a friend and associate, he is reliable. One of his neighbors frequently says : " The doctor always does better than he agrees."

As a host, he has always been hospitable and genial.

Few men can look back upon so long a life of uninterrupted usefulness, and tew, upon the very verge of four-score years, are so much relied upon in public and parochial business, and social affairs.

APPENDIX.

SALEM.

GIDEON BARSTOW.

Gideon Barstow, son of Gideon and Anna (Mead) Barstow, was born at Mattapoiset, September 7, 1783; died in St. Augustine, Fla., where he had gone for the benefit of his health, March 26, 1852; married Nancy, daughter of Simon and Rachel (Hathorne) Forrester, who is now residing in Boston. He de- seended in the sixth generation from William Bar- stow, who, at the age of twenty-three, embarked for New England with his brother George in the "True Love," John Gibbs, master, probably from the West Riding in Yorkshire; he was in Dedham in 1636, a freeman in Scituate in 1649, and the first settler in the present territory of Hanover,-a noted man of his day and a great land-holder; died in 1668, aged fifty-six; through William2, Benjaminª, Gideon4, Gid- eon5. Three or four of the later generations lived in Mattapoiset, and were largely engaged in ship-build- ing. He first settled in Salem as a practicing phys- ician, where he was considered skillful in his profes- sion and attentive to its duties ; afterwards a merchant engaged in foreign commerce; a member of both branches of Massachusetts Legislature; a Represent- ative in United States Congress, 1821-23.

GAYTON PICKMAN OSGOOD.

Gayton Pickman Osgood, son of Isaac and Rebecca T. (Pickman) Osgood, was born in Salem, July 4, 1797 ; removed with his parents in early life to An- dover, which was afterwards his place of abode; graduated at Harvard College, 1815; studied law with Benjamin Merrill, of Salem, where he began the practice of the profession; soon after returned to North Andover. He lived a retired life, and his range of study and reading was very extensive; sev- eral times elected a Representative in Massachusetts Legislature; Representative in United States Congress one term, 1833-35; married, March 24, 1859, Mary Farnham, of North Andover. He died June 26, 1861, aged sixty-four years.

JACOB CROWNINSHIELD.

1770; died at Washington, May 15, 1808; married June 5, 1796, Sarah, daughter of John and Sarah (Derby) Gardner (born 1773, died May, 1807). A brother of Benjamin W. Crowninshield see ante. A merchant in connection with his father and brothers at Salem; Representative United States ('ongress, 1802-08. In 1805 he was appointed United States Secretary of the Navy by President Jefferson ; de- clined the position on account of ill health. In Con- gress he was specially valued for his knowledge of marine and commercial matters, which was extensive and accurate. He was prompt and diligent in the performance of his duties, and possessed amiable manners, an open disposition and a liberal heart.

LITERATURE.

The Rev. Daniel Dorchester, D.D., who was pastor of the Lafayette Methodist Church from 1869 to 1872, has published many volumes of rare merit and value in addition to his work in the parishes over which he has been settled : "Concessions of Liberality to Orthodoxy," 1878; " The Problem of Religious Pro- gress," 1882; "The Liquor Problem in all Ages," 1884 ; "The Why of Methodism," 1884; "Christianity in the United States from the Settlement to the Pres- ent Time," 1888. His works are extensively read and quoted.

As an illustration of the literary taste of Salem and its intellectual activity, the list of lecturers employed by the Lyceum is very significent, and is a proper conclusion to this subject. The Lyceum was founded in 1830, and was opened by llon. Daniel A. White, In the list of lecturers from that time to 1878 we find John Brazer, Stephen C. Phillips, Henry Colman, Alexander IF. Everett, Henry K. Oliver, C. W. Up- ham, Edward Everett, Rufus ('hoate, John Pickering, Leverett Saltonstall, William Sullivan, James Walker, S. G. Ilowe, Caleb Cushing, Charles T. Jackson, James Flint, W. B. (). Peabody, George S. Ilillard, Ralph Waldo Emerson, (twenty lectures), Charles T. Brooks, Nehemiah Adams, Wm. M. Rogers, Alex- ander Young, Horace Mann, Jones Very, Oliver Wendell Holmes, George Bancroft, Henry Ware, Jr., Geo. Catlin, Jared Sparks, Samuel Osgood, Orville Dewey, A. P. Peabody, Convers Francis, Geo. E.

Jacob Crowninshield, son of George and Mary (Derby) Crowninshield, was born at Salem, May 31, Ellis, Charles Francis Adams, John G. Palfray, John

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APPENDIX.

Quincy Adams, R. H. Dana, Jr., Ezra S. Gannett, HIenry Giles, O. A. Brownson, Alonzo Gray, George Putnam, Wendell Phillips, E. P. Whipple, Theodore Parker, Henry W. Bellows, James T. Fields, John S. Dwight, Mark Hopkins, Samuel Johnson, Jr., Charles Sumner, Anson Burlingame, O. B. Frothingham, Louis Agassiz, Daniel Webster, Henry D. Thoreau, Lant Carpenter, Sylvester Judd, Jr., George Vanden- hoff, Frances Ann Kemble, Thomas Starr King, G. P. R. James, Leonard Wood, E. H. Chapin, T. W. Ilig- ginson, Charles E. Norton, Charles H. Davis, George Sumner, W. H. Hurlbut, George W. Curtis, Henry Ward Beecher, Bayard Taylor, Prof. Guyot, John Pierpont, James Russell Lowell, Park Benjamin, F. D. Huntington, Moncure D. Conway, Frederick H. Hedge-a most illustrious list, whose influence was felt for many years on the mind and heart of the town. When we consider that the Lyceum Hall would con- tain but about six hundred persons, we are the more surprised at the distinguished characters of its courses, and in the absence of any considerable remuneration for the lecturers, the success of the institution must be attributed to responsive culture and mental activ- ity of the community. Many of the ablest lecturers contributed many addresses, conspicuous among whom was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who appeared on that platform twenty times in his brilliant career.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 272

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