History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 78

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 78

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Some of the ladies not liking his method of trim- ming the candles, presented him with a large pair of snuffers; but he continued to pluck the burning wicks with his thumbs and fingers, and then leisurely place the sooty mass in the bowl of the snuffers, He did not approve of the "new fangled invention," it was too slow. Upon his death the office was abolished.

"STAYING OVER,"-It was the custom of those living at a distance to " stay over " in the church un- til the afternoon service. This was especially the case in stormy weather.

An old lady who has long since passed to her final rest, used to relate the following experience : One day there were but two of us stayed over. After lunch had been disposed of Lucy went to the pulpit as minister, and 1 repaired to the singing seats as the choir. We managed to get through with a hymn or two, then Lucy began the sermon, but it proved more difficult than she had expected, so she abruptly con- cluded it and began to search about the pulpit. From beneath the cushion an old folded paper was found. As it did not look interesting it was left on the desk.

The preacher was a stranger, and when he resumed the service in the afternoon he astonished us by read- ing this very document. In accordance with the cus-

EMMANUEL CHURCH, MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA, MASS

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MANCHESTER.

tom, it was a note from the widow of the deceased, announcing the death of her husband, and asking the prayers of the congregation, that her bereavement might be sanctified to her.

The effect of this note upon the audience was electrical ; their amazement was beyond measure, for this man had been lain in the burial ground for more than thirty years, and his wife had followed him but a few weeks later, leaving no heirs or kindred ; at so late a date to ask intercession in her behalf was cer- tainly a very unusual proceeding.

For well nigh a generation this note remained an unexplained mystery.

GRAVE-YARDS .- The earliest record we have of a piece of land having been set apart for burial purpo- ses, is in 1650, when the old "burial-ground" at the junction of Washington and Sumner Streets, was de- voted to that purpose. As we have before stated, it extended to the foot of the hill until a more direct way was made to the Cove and beyond, in 1684.

Prior to 1650 tradition tells us that interments were made in the rear of the meeting-house, a little to the northeast of the present church. All traces of graves have long been obliterated, and no record remains to tell whose bodies were placed there.

The oldest monuments remaining in the Washing- ton Street Cemetery are Jacob Woodbury and wife, 1714; George Norton, 1717; Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Lee, gent., 1720; Lieut. William Hilton, 1723; and on a plain piece of granite are the initials E. II., proba- bly those of Edward Hooper. Doubtless there were many older graves with simple inscriptions on the granite blocks, but the tooth of time has obliterated them.

Captain John Marston is buried here, and the fol- lowing ambiguous inscription marks his resting-place :

" Capt. John Marston lies here, who died May 22d, 1754, being 57 years and 3 mo. old. Art thou curious, reader, to know what sort of a man be was? Wait till the final day of Retribution, and then thou mayest be satisfied."

A very aged citizen, whose debut on the stage of life was only thirty years after the Captain's exit, used to say, "When quite young I was curious to know what sort of a man he was, and by diligent inquiry I learned he lived on what is now known as Smith's farm. Until late in life he was a bachelor, and was very eccentric. In the presence of women he was ex- tremely diffident." A young farmer living in his neighborbood had long desired to purchase a certain field belonging to him, but without success, until one day he renewed the proposition, when the usual reply came, "No, I won't sell it ;- but-if you will go to Beverly and get the widow A - to marry me, I will give you a deed of the land on the day of my mar- riage." Thus delegated, the widow was interviewed, and in a few days he drove with her to the farm. She was so pleased with the bashful Captain and his broad acres, that an early day was fixed for the wedding, and when they were made happy by matrimonial

bonds, the proxy rejoiced in the possession of the long-coveted field. He was an excellent citizen, but very peculiar. His epitaph was written by himself, and inscribed on his grave stone hy his direction.

The resting-place of a rugged, old-time mariner bears this inscription :

" Sacred to the memory of CAPTAIN JOHN ALLEN,

who died Angust 27, 1834, aged 59 years.

Though Boreas' blasts and Neptune's waves Have tossed me to and fro, In spite of both, by God's decree, I harbor here below. Now when at anchor I do lie, With many of our fleet ; In hope again for to set sail My Savionr, Christ, to meet."

At the Cove a "burial-place" was made near the junction of the county-road and the road to the rail- road station. This is probably older than that in the village, but the records make no mention of it. With- in the memory of some still living, numerous stones which marked the graves were visible, and one of white marble, bearing the name of Abigail Gilbert. The old wall having been neglected, it became a fa- vorite resting-place for the cattle of the neighborhood, and the slab was broken.

Within this rough enclosure were laid the bodies of that hardy race who aided in laying the foundation of that liberty we now enjoy. Probably John Kettle lies here, with the Hoopers, Allens, Gilberts, Northeys, Kitfields and the Stones, whose descendants are scat- tered all over the country. This old Colonial burial- place should be better cared for.

CHAPTER CIV.

MANCHESTER-( Continued).

Early Houses-Saw-Mills-Grist-Mills - Cabinet-Making - Mahogany Ve weers-Ship- Musters-Cuptain Richard Trask-Captain Thomas Leach- John Carter-Longevity in Manchester-Valuation.

EARLY HOUSES .- We very naturally desire to know where the early settlers of the town made their homes. As the greater part of them were fishermen and gath- ered their subsistence from the sea they built near the coast.

William Allen was a carpenter, and tradition says his dwelling was where the Congregational parsonage now stands, and the old well covered by the side-walk was dug by bim. He built the first saw-mill, and died in 1678.

William Jeffrey appears to have been the most un- settled of settlers. He does not seem to have remained long with Allen after his name had been given to the creek. We hear of him at Ipswich where he gave his name to a tract of land known as "Jeffrey's Neck."

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

In 1680 his name appears as one of the attorneys for | Cheever's Creek, in the pasture north of the High Richard Vine's land on the Saco River, and he also appears at Weymouth as the owner of a lot of land there.

The proprietors of what was called the four hun- dred acre grant constructed their houses in what is now the populous part of the village.

John Kettle's house was at the Cove, near the eastern line of the town. He was here as early as 1638, and that part of the town bears his name, " Ket- tle C'ove," as also the island off Crescent Beach. He died in 1677.

Richard Graves was an inhabitant of Salem in 1637, and was interested in the four hundred acre grant. His home was known as "Graves' Farm," and along it- front was a fine beach that was named for him. This property was purchased by Richard H. Dana, the port, in 1445, as a summer resort, and it still re- mains in his family.

Samuel Friend was here in 1645 and his abode was near the old burial ground, which was a part of his estate.

.lohn Piekworth was granted forty acres of land at " Piekworth Point," in 1667, where he undoubtedly built his house. His father, Joseph Pickworth, was an old settler in the town and died in 1677. This point is now the residence of Mrs. Augustus Hem- ingway and Louis Cabot.

Ambrose Gale built his house at "Gale's Point," in 1670. Ilis cabin was probably near a fine spring which continues to flow, though doubtless with a de- creased volume since the heavy forest trees which at that time fringed the harbor have been cut. He removed from town in 1670, leaving no descendants.

John Codner came in 1786 and made his home in what is called Sandy Hollow. Several old apple trees, probably planted by him, marked the site of the house.

George Norton was here in 16-15, and built his house on a ridge about midway from the okl Forster Mill, and the house at the point, the property of Rev. Dr. Bartol. He died in 1659, leaving a son George, who built a house on county road, which divides the Norton estate. He died in 1716.

Richard Glass came in 1660, and located at "Glass Head," about where Rev. Dr. Bartol has bis summer residence and observatory.

John Black was here in 16-10. Ile lived on what is now the Boardman estate, and probably " Black Cove Beach " was named for him. He died in 1675.

Thomas Chubbs came in 1636, and settled at the western boundary of the town. His house was pro- bably near where the summer house of Dennie Board- man now stands.

William Benbett came in 1637 and made his abode at the foot ot the hill named for him. He built a grist null on the site of the old Forster Mill.

SAW . MILI -.- To the early settler a saw-mill was very necessary, and many were built in different see- tio of the town. One was on what was called

school-house; one still north of that at a place now known as the "old mill dam ;" one on School Street, by the " Saw-mill Brook," which was referred to in the records as the " Old Saw-mill," as early as 1694, when it was sold. There were three other saw-mills at the Cove ; one known as Knight's Saw-mill, stood on the road to the railroad station at the Cove, and one on the stream near the Gloucester line. The only one now standing is known as Baker's, and is just be- yond the junction of the road to Essex and School Street. All three streams are now dry for the greater part of the year, but then they were quite large, and they well illustrate the effect of the thinning out of our forests. Take for instance the vicinity of the Mag- nolia Station, where formerly the heaviest forests in town were situated, and the stream was quite large, flowing the year round. About the time the railroad was completed it was all cut, and soon after a fire swept over it and consumed the deep accumulation of vegetable mould. In this dark wood the snow often lay until June, and the regular flow of water furn- ished an abundant power for the mill. But after the forest had been removed there was nothing to protect the snow, and with the first warm days of April it ran to the sea, leaving the bed of the stream dry through the summer. To strip the trees from the land is to increase the freshets and the droughts.

GRIST-MILLS-Grist-mills are of the utmost im- portance in a new settlement, not only for grinding grain for the food of the settlers, but as gathering places, where, while waiting for their meal, the people discussed the political and religious problems of the day. They were the nurseries where patriots were commended and disloyalty to the new flag condemned. There was one on Chubb's Creek, just where the rail- road now crosses the stream. One where the old Forster mill now stands. One in the central part of the village and one on the estate of T. Jefferson Cool- idge, known as the Gilbert mill.

CABINET-MAKING .- Doubtless the early settlers were quite content with such stools, tables and bed- steads as their unskilled hands could fashion. As the village increased and larger houses took the place of cabins, more and a better class of articles were re- quired. These were satisfactorily supplied by the house and ship-carpenters. But soon something bet- ter was demanded, and Moses Dodge, who had worked somewhat at the trade of cabinet-making in the old country, was induced to open a shop and manufacture articles of this kind. The cost of furni- ture from "over sea" was altogether beyond the means of any but the wealthy of the large towns.

Mr. Dodge lived on School Street, in the house now occupied by John Price. The original house was much smaller than the present one, but it is alto- gether probable one room was used as a work-shop, and here was the germ from which grew an industry that became the leading occupation of the inhabitants,

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MANCHESTER.

and made this beautiful town celebrated through the country for the excellence of its furniture. Mr. Dodge died about the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

With the establishment of peace and the disband- ing of the Continental army, Ebenezer Tappan re- turned to his home and opened a store on Central Street, and in the rear of it he fitted up a furniture- shop. Here he manufactured from birch and maple such chairs, tables, desks and bureaus as the commu- nity required.

In 1805 Caleb Knowlton commenced business and John Perry Allen became his apprentice, but soon after the beginning of the war of 1812, he became so alarmed at the threatening aspect, that he closed his shop and retired to a more peaceful abode among the hills of New Hampshire.

Mr. Allen worked in other towns until 1814 or 15, when he returned to Manchester, hired a shop at the junction of North and Union Streets, and began to manufacture on his own account.

In 1815 Eben Tappan, Jr., who had worked with his father, built a shop on the opposite side of the street and began the business of cabinet-making.

These were the pioneers. Some years after many others opened shops, among whom may be mentioned Larkin Woodbury, afterwards Woodbury & Long; Kelham & Fitz, the latter an apprentice of E. Tap- pan, Jr .; Bingham & Co., Smith & Low, Long & Danforth, Isaac Allen, Cyrus Dodge, a grandson of Moses Dodge; H. P. & S. Allen, Samuel Parsons, Samuel Boardman, Proctor & Godsoe, Jewett & Sever- ance and others.

For a while Mr. Allen employed one journeyman and one apprentice-the very limited home market was soon supplied, and it became necessary to find a new one; to this end he shipped on a fishing vessel two mahogany bureaus and sailed with them to Bos- ton ; there were but three or four furniture dealers there at that time, and none of them would buy the lot at the price he asked, so he sold cheap with the understanding that if a good profit was realized on their sale, orders for more were to be at the larger price. Ready purchasers were found, more were or- dered, and from that time his business steadily in- creased.

In 1822 he went to New York and arranged to send a vessel load to that market to be sold at auction. This experiment proved an entire success, and much larger orders, and better prices were obtained ; the difficulty now was to find skillful workmen enough to keep pace with the increasing orders.

At that time the workmen were obliged to saw their own veneers by hand ; it was a slow and very laborious kind of labor. All attempts to saw the mahogany logs into three thin divisions by machinery had failed. Parties in New York and elsewhere had made the trial, but none had been successful.

Mr. Allen had seen one of these, and being con-

vinced he could improve on it and make it successful, he purchased the "Old Grist Mill," and on its site built a mill for his machine. But upon trial it did not prove a success; the first two or three were all right, but the later ones became uneven and wortlı- less. To discover the cause of this, they worked a long time in vain, until accident, which so often proves the friend and ally of inventors, came to their assistance.

The saw consisted of a heavy cast-iron circular frame, about four feet in diameter, flat on one side, beveled to a thin edge on the other ; thin saw-plates, in segments of about a foot in length, and closely fitted to each other at the ends, were screwed to the flat part of this frame.

In some way the rapidly-revolving saw came in contact with a mass of iron, and the teeth were ter- ribly damaged. After they had been recut the diam- eter was so reduced as to appear to Mr. Allen ob- jectionable, and the only way of remedying it was by moving out the plates, which left an open space be- tween them, which seemed a very serious fault. How- ever, they reluctantly tried it, and, to their surprise and astonishment, it was a complete success, and their troubles were at an end.

It may be profitable to consider the nature of the difficulty that had so long defied the skill of those en- gaged in this enterprise. The running of the saw at the high rate of speed in such hard wood soon heated it, and as there was no room for expansion, it neces- sarily became wavy, and the hotter it became, the more nneven was the cutting. With the separation of the plates, room for expansion was provided, and all went successfully. In those days the effect of heat upon metals was not understood by the average me- chanic. Had the accident above referred to occurred some weeks earlier, Mr. Allen's machine would have been the first successful one in the United States.

With power-cut veneers, furniture was more rap- idly produced, and the market was extended by Mr. Allen until the store-houses of Charleston, Mobile and New Orleans were stocked with it, and the repu- tation of Manchester furniture was fully established. A large trade was grown up in the slave States, but it was well-nigh ruined by unthoughtful packing. The different articles were enclosed in rough cases, and, to prevent chafing, rolls of paper were used. One day a packer, who had exhausted the supply, went home and got a lot of his weekly papers and used them.

The goods arrived at New Orleans and were opened on the sidewalk upon a windy day, and these papers were scattered broadcast over the neighbor- hood. When they were found to be copies of " Gar- rison's Liberator " the excitement was intense, and for awhile the fate of that store was doubtful. The agent was a religious man, but his letter to his prin- cipal at Manchester was so emphatic that no more Liberators were used in packing furniture going South.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

The sawing of veneers became an important branch of Mr. Allen's business ; his mill supplied the greater part of the furniture and piano establishments of the State. It contained two upright saws, four veneering saws, jig saws, turning laths, &c. In 1835 he in- creased his power by the addition of a steam engine.

These saws were capable of dividing a plank four inches in thickness into one hundred veneers, They were kept from public view, under lock and key, and all sorts of subterfuges were used by people from many parts of the country, who desired to see their operations that they might apply the principle to similar purposes.

About one hundred men were employed by this, the most successful cabinet manufacturer of his day.

On the night of the 27th of August, 1836, a little spark fell upon mahogany dust, where it lay smould- ering and spreading until it had gained possession of the room above and forced a tongue of flames through the roof, which aroused the sleeping villagers to their danger.

Mr. Allen was absent at the time, and he returned to find his mill, shops, great piles of pine lumber from Maine, heaps of mahogany logs from Cuba and Honduras, and his own dwelling a mass of ashes.

One of the first acts of Eben Tappan, Jr., was to build a turning lathe, and this was the first with a continuous action ever used in town. Before that all the turning had been done with that primitive con- trivance known as the spring pole lathe. Mr. Tappan did not long continue in the furniture trade, but he built fire-engines, two of which have been in use for more than fifty years in this town. At a later period he manufactured steering wheels for vessels, which were sold by his agent in Boston. He was regarded as a superior mechanic. He retired from business in 1815, and died in 1875, at the age of eighty-two years.

Mr. Allen's losses by the fire was estimated as over sixty thousand dollars, of which there was an insur- ance of only nine thousand and three hundred. He resumed business with a new mill and new shops, but he was not successful; the zenith of the trade had been passed, the West was dividing it and Manchester was loving it. He died in 1875, in his eightieth year. Ile was a man of unusual force of character. Ite took great interest in the affairs of the town, and was always prominent in the advocacy of public im- provement -.

Besides the competition from the west, where cheaper lumber and abundant water power gave them an ad- vantage, those engaged in the southern trade during the rebellion suffered very severely from losses.

The following is a list of the manufacturers at the present time - William E. Wheaton, Cyrus Dodge, 1. -. A G W. Jewett, Claudius Huyt, Rust & Mar- whal, Wildfam Johnson & Son and Leach & Annable. The old time excellence of the work is still fully sus- tained but the quantity is much reduced.

for the great number of navigators she has sent to the ports of New York, Boston and Salem, where they have earned enviable reputations for the energy and skill with which they did their part in extending the commerce of the country to every part of the globe. Many might be mentioned, but we must con- tent ourselves with a very few.

CAPTAIN RICHARD TRASK .- He was born in Salem, July 13, 1788. His father was at that time chief mate of a vessel in the West India trade. He died at Havana at the early age of twenty-one years. The news of his death coming to his young wife shortly after the birth of her son brought on a dan- gerous illness, which resulted in permanent mental derangement. The child being thus wholly deprived of parental care and protection, was placed in charge of a Mr. Lee in Manchester. Good Mrs. Lee sup- plied a mother's place to him, and was rewarded by his affectionate helpfulness through the whole of her long life. Mr. Lee was engaged in the fishing busi- ness, and the lad, at the age of twelve years, com- menced his sea-faring life bv a voyage to the Grand Bank. lle was remarkable for his great physical strength as well as for intelligence and sobriety ; and when he reached the age of eighteen years he was unexpectedly offered a second mate's birth by a ship-owner who was a total stranger to him, but who had heard favorable reports of the young man, and sought him out while he was at work on his vessel. This was his first real start in life. His school ad- vantages, like those of many other village lads of his day, had been of the slightest, but he set to work to supplement them by solitary and diligent study. He procured books on navigation to which he devoted his spare time when at sea, and commenced keeping a pro-forma log-book; practicing writing on the lid of his sea-chest and thus formed a hand that was no- ticeable for clearness and elegance.

Thus, alone in the world, without external aid or encouragement, he fitted himself for and obtained a chief mate's position, and finally secured command of the ship " Adriatic" in the employ of Messrs. Loring & Cunningham of Boston. Here may be said to end the period of struggle against adverse circum- stances. From this time on his career was a more than ordinarily successful one. A life of industry, thrift, temperance and integrity produced its legitimate fruits. He had accumulated the means to purchase an interest in a vessel. About 1828 Mr. Enoch Train ( then the junior partner in the firm of Samnel Train & Co. of Boston) induced him to join with his firm in the purchase of a vessel to be employed in the Russia trade.

The connection thus formed lasted to the end of Captain Trask's life. Their first joint investment was in the brig "Edward," which not long after- wards was lost in the Bahamas. They then purchased the new brig "Oregon," and shortly after the ship ST MASTER- - Manchester has long been noted ! " Forum." This latter vessel Captain Trask com-

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manded for several years, taking his proportionate interest in the cargoes, and combining the functions of ship-master and merchant. The outward cargoes consisted either nf Havanna sugar or American cot- ton; the proceeds of which were invested in St. Pe- tersburg in return cargoes of Russia hemp, cordage, sail-cloth and feathers. The business was skillfully conducted, and was almost uniformly successful.

In 1839 Messrs. Euoch Train & Co. turned their attention to the cotton-freighting business, and Cap- tain Trask joined them in building at Medford the ship "St. Petersburg," of about eight hundred and sixty tons. It is significant of the changes which the last fifty years have brought about in naval archi- tecture that the "St. Petersburg" was the largest merchant ship that had ever been built in Massachu- setts up to that time, and after she was launched it was found necessary to enlarge the draw of the bridge on the Mystic River to let her through. She attracted great attention in Boston and foreign ports, not only on account of her size and carrying capacity, but in her elaborate finish and her luxurious cabins, finished with the most costly woods, and furnished with cut- glass and solid silver-ware-more suited to a pleasure- yacht than to a trading ship.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 78

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