History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 58

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 58

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He invited all who desired to learn some of its

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

wordime darts Do meet at the school-house on cloudless evening-, when the starry host appeared undimmed; where, without fee or reward, he would, with the aid of a geography of the heavens and celestial maps. pond hours, first in famihar descriptive lecturing, and afterwards out of doors, pointing out the different constellations, explaining their geometric relations to each other and their mythological signification. He also imparted, in the same practical way, a knowl- edge of surveying and mensuration, in which he was an expert. A lady has often recalled how, in happy girlhood, she learned to designate readily every con- stellation above the horizon at any hour or season, and also how she had learned to find with exactness the area of any plat of ground, however irregular its shape or outlines.

His school, in educational advantages, had the status of ah academy. He introduced illustrative apparatu- and other appliances to aid in promoting the advancement of the scholars. His interest in educational matters extended beyond the periphery of his school. Ile was one of the originators of the Essex County Teachers' Association, and for years one of its most efficient members; and white chair- nan of the committee on education in the higher branch of the Legislature, he introduced, and carried through, some beneficial and important educational

.I Remark upon Lightning .- In 1856, two persons having been killed by lightning in this town, in two separate thunder-storms, within one week, a proposi- tion was made in a Congregational parish-meeting, to have a lightning-rod placed upon the meeting-house. measures. He received an invitation to become the ! A very sincere member arose and objected to it, say- prine pal of the State Normal School at Albany, which he declined from apprehension that his im- paired health would not warrant his assuming the charge of so responsible and laborious a position.

As a Writer .-- Mr. Choate was facile and easy, having ready command of the most appropriate words for every occasion. He was never dull nor ob- scure, but always animated and translucent in his style ; and he wrote as well upon one topic as upon another. His contributions to Crowell's completed town history, are favorable specimens of his literary manger. His descriptions, especially of the success- ive efforts and successive failures to proeure railroad facilities, ore pervaded by natural and genuine hu- mor ; and his chapter upon the transactions of the town relative to the late Civil War is, in more than one partien ar, very remarkable. Written when he was considerably past the age of seventy years, there is no falling off from the freshness and vivacity of his earlier days. To collect and methodically ar- rue the statistical details of enlistments and terms of service, ampl accompany them with personal de- written more or less extended, of one hundred and Forty three ofdfer -. Chttined in part from their oral rt te ments, with occasional extracts from their cor- re vocdleno and private journals, and make it all readable spol attractive could not have been a dimi-

-Na Fspeber He was animated sympa- theth ab Jonglere in an la tino's eloquent ; and in in itin. greteal object he could be very

forcible and convincing. A prominent instance of this kind was his speech before the county commis- sinners in behalf of the petitioners for a new road (now Martin Street), which the voters at a town-meet- ing, by a large majority, had refused to lay out, on account of taxation. The writer of this, who was one of the petitioners, heard the speech, and thought it one of the clearest, most compact and telling array of facts and figures, with the most cogent arguments based upon them, that he had ever previously listened to in any discussion of projected public improve- ments, and he had had opportunities of listening to arguments upon practical questions before legislative committees, when the counsel on each side were at- torneys of large experience and much repute.

If Mr. Choate had chosen the profession of the law, and established himself in some large town or city, under the stimulus of varied practice, in attrition with opposing counsel, and in the widened sphere of the courts, he would, I have no doubt, have arisen to distinction as an attorney. He did, in some instances, conduct cases in court as counsel.

ing that it might seem like defying Providence, as he thought that lightning went only where it was sent. Mr. Choate arose and said that the Bible taught that God "sends the rain," but, notwithstanding this, we hold up umbrellas to keep it off our heads.

_18 ('iril Magistrate .-- He served for a long series of years ; first as justice of the peace, then justice of the peace and quorum, and later as trial justice; in the latter office conducting many trials in Gloucester, be- fore the establishment of a Police Court there.

In Agriculture .- In youth and early manhood he had his father's farms to care for, and throughout life retained his interest in agricultural affairs. He wrote essays and reports upon the culture of various pro- ducts, and was for some time vice-president and trus- tec of the Essex County Agricultural Society, attend- ing its meetings and frequently taking part in its dis- cussions. In 1860 he wrote an agricultural and geo- logical survey of Essex County, which was printed among the transactions of the Massachusetts Society for the promotion of Agriculture.

Various Offices .- To the civil and ecclesiastical public positions held by Mr. Choate, at various times, he seemed to have gravitated naturally, being drawn to them by the desire of his neighbors and townsmen, and his associates in the various organiza- tions of which he was a member. He served in both branches of the State Legislature, and the church, of which he was more than forty years a deacon, often delegated him to represent it in councils, at ordina- tions and on other occasions; and he was Superin-

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tendent of the Sunday-School for many years. He was, for some time, a trustee of Dummer Academy, and also of the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary at Hadley, of which latter he was an early and efficient friend and patron. He was in succession corre- sponding secretary, vice-president and president of the Essex County Teachers' Association. He was re- peatedly chosen town clerk and town treasurer, and was for a long time an efficient member of the School Committee, and often its chairman.

As a Musician .- Having a fondness for music, he became a skillful performer upon more than one in- strument, and did much to encourage and promote musical culture in the church choir, and in the town. Those who ever heard him play St. Martin's, on the flute, at the evening meetings in the old chapel, in the years so long gone by, will remember that restful and devotional melody.

Personal and General .- Mr. Choate was free from envy. The success of others, in any walk or sphere of life, seemed always to give him unalloyed pleasure, more especially if they had risen under adverse cir- cumstances and by their own energy and persever- ance. He had an admiration for eloquence, learning and intellectual ability, which he cordially recognized and acknowledged, whether in his own sect or party or in that of another. Horace Mann's educational reports he considered models in that line, and I re- member on one occasion how charmed he was by the brilliant oratory of Burlingame. He was a most agreeable social companion, and enjoyed interchange of thought with those of kindred literary tastes. Once only did I ever know his equanimity to be disturbed or jostled. He was an admirer of the writings of Cowper ; and at the time referred to he had just read, among some literary criticisms by a noted American writer, a depreciatory remark concerning the works of that gentle and contemplative poet. It was unjust, though half jocose, and its author, quite probably, as other brilliant men have done in regard to other authors, made the observation inconsiderately ; for it would seem incongruous that one so tenderly susceptible as the critic himself was, at times, could for once seem to speak indifferently of him who wrote the lines to his mother's picture commencing, "O that those lips had language." Elizabeth Barrett Browning's tribute to him is profoundly and sympathetically appreci- ative.

Mr. Choate always felt a deep and hearty interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of the town. Ile was one of the original projectors of the branch railroad, and performed much gratuitous labor in connection with surveys to ascertain the most practi- cable route and in urging the importance of the en- terprise upon his townsmen, as well as having the subject presented to the Legislature, on applying for a charter. When these cumulative efforts had at length, in 1872, culminated in the successful comple- tion of the road, to no one were the sounds of the bell

and the whistle of the locomotive more welcome than to him. On the 1st of July of that year, when the road was opened to the public, he was able only to ride in his carriage to the Falls station, where he entered a car of the first train from Wenliam, and came in it to the terminus of the road. Although of advanced age and feeble, he was, in relation to this enterprise, the fortunate Simeon, who, while others " died with- ont the sight," had full realization of his long-ex- pectant vision, surviving the event until the 17th day of the following December.

CAPT. PARKER BURNHAM .- This veteran ship- master, who as youth and man sailed the seas for thirty years, and lived until 1871, when he had at- tained the age of four-score and ten, was in one par- tienlar unparalleled,-building, as he did, in 1811, and owning, the largest vessel which at that date had ever been built here, and then sailing in her for five consecu- tive years as captain, making voyages to Lisbon, and to various ports in the Mediterranean, with which he became as familiarly acquainted as with Boston har- bor. He became one of the most skillful and trusted navigators of his time, sailing in the employ of the Sargents and other prominent merchants of Boston. He was never shipwrecked, and never met with dis- aster of any kind, though he experienced many ter- rific gales aud tempests.

His crews attributed his good luck in this respect to the fact that he never procrastinated in his prepara- tions for bad weather, giving orders instantly to reef all sails at the first portent of a violent storm, so that when it reached his ship he was ready for it. This promptness and punctuality continued through his life, enabling him sometimes to turn to advantage what delay might have made a business reverse. As we used to say of him, when on a business errand, he always took passage by the first boat.

His retirement from a sea-faring lite was occasioned or at least hastened by a singular circumstance, which, to himself as to others, was always a wonder and a puzzle. He had been growing somewhat weary of life on the ocean, and had about concluded to be- come permanently a landsman ; but yielding to the earnest solicitation of his employers, he had consented to go one voyage more. He had his sea-chest sent aboard, and the ship waited only for a fair wind. On entering the cabin, however, he felt suddenly a pre- sentiment that if he sailed then he would never re- turn. The impression was so strong that at the last moment, his engagement was, with the reluctant acquiescence of the owners, cancelled. Another cap- tain was procured, and the ship started on her voy- age; but neither she nor the crew were ever after- wards heard from !

After retiring from the sea, he engaged for many years in ship-building. He was the first of the builders in the town to discontinue the custom of furnishing rum to the workmen at luncheon. Ile was led to do this from a single circumstance. He

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

mserved that an apprentice-boy was eager for the luncheon hour, and drank his ration of liquor, each day, with an apparently increasing relish. He pro- pred to the men that if they would acquiesce in the change, he would add the cost of the rum to their wages, and furnish hot coffee as a substitute. They all promptly assented.

Ile was a person of great equanimity, and no losses in business ever deprived him of a night's sleep. One instance will serve as an illustration. He had sold a new vessel, entirely on credit, to Coolidge, Head and Poor, an apparently prosperous business firm, in Bos- ton. Soon afterwards, they made a disastrous failure, unul he lost the entire debt of several thousand dollars. He had then recently bought a horse which had been recommended to him as a first-class steed, with which he started, in a carriage, for Boston, to ascertain if there was a chance of recovering anything. Ile found tout everything was swamped, and his loss was total and absolute. On reaching Salem, upon his return, his horse dropped dead. The first question asked him on his arrival home, was, " What luck ?" He answered, "Coolidge, Head and Poor old horse have nl gone together." He was never known to mention the subject afterwards, unless questioned about it.

He was of the most transparent truthfulness and integrity, and the white line of personal honor in his soul was never even faintly overshadowed. In his religion he was a U'niversalist, in the best sense of that term. An over-zealous but unquestionably well- meaning person once solemnly said to him, "Captain Burnham, have you made your peace with God?" He quietly replied, " I was never at war with Him."!

As an instance of his good will and freedom from resentment, bis compassionate treatment of one who had done him an unprovoked injury, is worth record- ing. A most unwarrantable and vexatious civil suit was brought against him for alleged trespass upon premises which he had sold, but over which, in the express language of the deed of conveyance, he had reserved a right of way. He won the suit, as defend- ant the jury visiting the spot, and having the deed before them. On some technical point, a new trial Was granted, in which he again won the case. The plaintiff then appealed to the Supreme Court, on a pwist of law ; but that tribunal sustained the double session of the lower court.

The plaintiff subsequently had continuous ill luck in bu mess, and finally became dissipated, and re- in volt, Boston, where he lived some years in needy (Fruto tures, Captain Burnham met him in the that there one day, and he looked so forlorn and raunt thet he cord dly invited him to the hotel where ho wo pping and gave him a dinner, which he ate with the avulity of one half-famished. Over-

come by the kindness of the man he had wronged years before, he broke down with emotion, cried like a child, and declared that he would never have brought the suit if he had not been "put up to it." It was the offspring of envy.

That chivalric gentleman, the late Hon. Leverett Saltonstall, who conducted the ease all through as counsel for the defendant, declared to him that the suit was the most outrageously unjust of any that he had known in his practice; and when the captain handed to him his fee, Mr. Saltonstall took from it a considerable sum and returned it, positively refusing to accept the whole amount.

Captain Burnham was a descendant of Thomas, second of the three Burnham brothers, early settlers. He was also descended by two lines of ancestry from John Perkins, first, whose daughter Lydia mar- ried Henry Bennett, ancestor of Captain Burnham's mother, Hannah Bennett; and one of whose later descendants, Elizabeth Perkins, became the wife of David Burnham, first, who was Captain Burnham's great-grandfather.

THE ANDREWS FAMILY .- From all that can be authentically learned, the progenitor of all of this surname in Essex was John Andrews, a first cousin of the original three Burnham brothers and a son of Captain Robert Andrews, who commanded the ship "Angel Gabriel," wrecked at Pemaquid in 1635.

It is not improbable that he may have been a kinsman of another Robert Andrews, who was in Ipswich as early as May 6, 1635, when he was made freeman, and of that still other Robert, at one time living in Topsfield, who was killed in King Philip's war. There were also two persons of the name of John Andrews in Ipswich, who in 1648 subscribed to pay Major Dennison for military instruction, one signing himself John, Sr., and the other John, Jr. What rela- tionship, if any, they may have borne to John, son of Captain Robert, does not appear in any record that I have seen.

John Andrews, of Chebacco, was lieutenant of a military company here in 1683. He was the one who was fined and imprisoned with Rev. John Wise and others, for opposing the usurpation of Governor Andros. He died in 1709, leaving a widow named Judith, with four sons, John, William, Thomas and Joseph; and a daughter Elizabeth, who married .James Giddings. He appointed " William Giddinge of Jebacco" ex- ecutor of his will.

I have a copy of the will of his father, Captain Robert Andrews, dated March 1, 1642, from the original on file at the office of the Registry of Deeds in Salem ; in which he refers to his ellest son John as "yet under age." If he was then twenty years old, he was about fifty-five when appointed on a committee to confer with the authorities of Ipswich relative to being allowed to have a preacher in Che- bacco. On page 46 of Professor Crowell's bi-centen- nial address, his age at that time is given as 60.

m Este lety. Alder Burnham, Jr., ---

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Numerous inaccuracies and discrepancies of this sort are frequent in the early records, where in some iu- stances they are probably given as approximations merely, so that they do not affect any general accu- racy of statement.

THE BURNHAMS .- These are too numerous to be par- ticularized to any considerable extent. The branches of the families of Seth, Josiah, Andrew, the centena- rian, Ahel, &c., are descendants from the first John ; most of the rest are from the first Thomas. In the " Burnham Genealogy " they are given in minute detail.

THE CHOATE FAMILY .- John Choate, the first of the surname in Chebacco, came here, it is believed, in 1645, at the age of about twenty-one years.1 He was from Sudbury, or its neighborhood, in Suffolk, near the boundary of Essex County, England. The tradition is, that his house stood within a few rods southeast of the spot where that of the late John Low now stands or formerly stood. His wife's first name was Anne, but her surname is unknown. He died December 4, 1695, at the age of about seventy- one. His wife survived him till 1729, reaching the age of ninety.

They had several children. Of these, John, the eldest, was a deacon. He had six sons and two daughters. Thomas settled upon Hog Island, where he had four sons and five daughters. Benjamin was a clergyman.

Of Thomas' children, John became very distin- guished ; he was a colonel in the French and English war ; was fifteen years a member of the General Court; was chosen Speaker, but the election was annulled for political reasons by Governor Belcher, under a power that officer then had; but he was, under another Governor, an executive counsellor for six years. His advice was often sought in matters ecclesiastical, as well as civil, being a prominent member of the South Church iu Ipswich. He planned and superintended the construction of the stone bridge, in 1764, at Ipswich Centre, where he resided. He was, no doubt, an uncommon man. It is said that he used to wear a scarlet cloak, and at his side a silver-hilted sword, in accordance, probably, with an old English custom. He was for some years judge of Probate, and judge of the Court of Common Pleas.

Thomas' daughter Mary, who married Parker Dodge, of Hamilton, was mother of John Cleaveland's first wife. Rachel, his seventh child and third daughter, was ancestress of the writer.

Thomas' son Francis was a ruling elder in Mr. Cleaveland's church. His wife was Hannah Perkins, a descendant of John Perkins, (1st.) They had eight

children. Their daughter Hannah Choate married Rufus Lothrop, and it was probably in compliment to him that her nephew, David Choate, (1st), gave his son, the eminent advocate, the name Rufus. Lothrop was living in Connecticut as late as 1795, only four years hefore Rufus Choate's birth, and probably later. He is referred to in Cleaveland's army journal at Ticonderoga, where he says: " I received a letter from my dear friend Rufus Lothrop."

Francis' son William was a sea captain, as well as farmer on Hog Island. He was father of David, (Ist), and grandfather of Rufus. He had also sons George, William and Job. Descendants of Job are living in Washington, D. C., children of Warren, who died there, in 1876, at the age of seventy-seven, leaving a widow, four sons and two daughters. His son, Dr. Rufus, is iu the practice of medicine in Herndon, Va.

Stephen Choate, son of Lieutenant Thomas, Jr., and grandson of Captain Thomas, was for many years a deacou of Mr. Cleaveland's church. He was for several terms Representative to the General Court, and also a State Senator. He married, as his second wife, Widow Elizabeth Potter, my great-grand- mother, who was his first cousin, and by whom he had four children. Her daughter by her first hus- band, Elizabeth Potter, who became the wife of Abner Day, long a deacon of the South Church in Ipswich, was my grandmother; and the fact that here she resided in her girlhood, and here attended church and school, and the circumstance that my mother was born at Ipswich Farms, not very far from the Che- bacco linc, as well as my long residence here, where my children were boru, would seem to identify me personally with this place almost as fully as if I had been a native of Essex, instead of originating in the neighboring town of Beverly.

There are now residing in Essex but four adult males of the name of Choate, viz. : Francis and John C., sons of our late prominent and respected citizeu, John Choate; and Rufus and William C., sons of the late Hon. David. Many of the Choate lineage, how- ever, both male and female, of various other sur- names, are still inhabitants of the town.

THE GOODHUES .- In 1636, Rev. Nathaniel Rogers, who had been a minister in Assington, England, came to Boston, and in 1638 settled as pastor in Ipswich, Mass. ; and soon afterwards he was followed by seven- teen others who had been members of his church in England, including William Goodhue and Robert Lord, ancestor of the late Judge Otis P. Lord.

The former is alluded to in the Ipswich records as " William Goodhue, weaver." He became deacon of the first church in Ipswich, as did also his son Jo- seph. He was married four times : Ist, to Margery Watson; 2d, to Mary Webb; 3d, to Bethiah, widow of Captain Thomas Lothrop, of Beverly, killed at Bloody Brook ; and 4th, to Widow Remember Fisk, of Wenham. The maiden name of his third wife was Bethiah Rea, and she was of the same lineage as

1 There is a tradition (how authentic, I am unable to say) that he came to this country, when a child, with his father, and that they lived awhile in Newbury.

It is supposed that his father was the "goodman Choate " mentioned, as one desiring to emigrate to this country, in a letter to John Winthrop, Jr., sent from England as early as 1633, by Rev. llenry Jacie.

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mv great-great-grandmother Prince, where maiden name was Sarah Rea. As I trace the relationship, the Bethith menti med was her aunt.

WTham Go alhne dle l at the age of eighty-five, in 1629 or 1700, leaving two son-, William and Joseph, und a daughter Mary, who married Thomas Giddings. These children were all by his first wife.

The Ter Growthnex .- The son William settled in Chebacco, and became deacon of the church here. He married Hannah daughter of Rev. Francis Dane, .1 Andover, and granddaughter of John Dane, Sr., who came from England with his sons, John, Jr., and Francis. John Dane, Sr., was an ancestor of the celebrated Nathan Dane : so that all the descendants of Wilham Goodhne, of Essex, are of the same line- age as that of the distinguished jurist. William and Hannah (Dane) Goodhue had five sons and five daughter -. The fourth son, Francis, graduated at Harvard College, and became a clergyman, settling at Jan aica, L. I. Ile died suddenly in 1707, while on a journey, at the age of thirty-five.

This was the William Goodhne who was fined and imprisoned by Governor Andros, with his pastor, Rev. John Wise, and others. Felt, a conscientious and generally accurate historian, is in error in supposing that it was his father, of Ipswich, who was thus per- recente.

This William Goodhne, jr., was selectman, and for several years member of the General Court. He was also a military captain. He lived on what is now the Marshall Farm, on Western Avenue, at the bend of the road, where he died in 1712. llis son JJohn lived till 1773, when he was eighty-seven years and five months old.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 58

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