History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 79

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 79

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Captain Trask took charge of this vessel at inter- vals for two or three voyages to Liverpool and St. l'etersburg, but about this time he began to withdraw from active service. His old friend, Mr. Train, always relied greatly upon his judgment and advice ; and when "Train's Line," of Boston and Liverpool packets, was established in 1844, Captain Trask took an interest in it which he retained to the time of his death, which occurred at his home in Manchester August 5, 1846, after a brief illness, and in the fifty- ninth year of his age.

He was a man greatly beloved. The flags of the shipping in Boston Harbor were at half-mast on the day of his funeral, and his death was felt as a per- sonal bereavement by all who knew him.

In Trask we have an excellent example of the best type of the old-time "sea captain." They were a class of men that were not only navigators, but they were merchants as well. They rendered invaluable service in the development of commerce; they hon- ored their country at home and abroad. But they are now rapidly passing away with the changes that have come through the introduction of steam.

CAPTAIN THOMAS LEACH was another of the old- time sea captains of cherished memory. He too was a representative of an enterprising, hardy race of men, now almost extinct.

He was born in Manchester in 1807. His father, whose name he bore, was a noted mariner, " who had sailed the seas over " in the employ of William Gray, of Salem.

Young Leach had developed a strong attachment for the sea at a very early age ; and when only nine years old his entreaties prevailed, and he went with

his father as a cabin boy. As the boy had often ex- pressed the wish for making his father's profession his own, his stern instructor determined he should be thoroughly trained in every branch of a seaman's life, and then, if he should be called to command, he would be qualified. Therefore he received no parental favors, and discipline was never relaxed because he was the captain's son.

For four years he served as cabin boy ; then he be- came a sailor; and thus step by step, under various commanders, he worked his way upwards until 1832, when he was made captain of the brig "Oregon," which was owned by Samuel Train & Co., of Boston, and in their employ he made many voyages to Russia ; and subsequently he sailed for Enoch Train & Co., William Ropes and others, until he had made twenty voyages to Russia, three to China, and to many other ports.

For fifty -one years his home was on the ocean. The icy blasts of the north, and the sultry calms of the equator were alike familiar, and every sea had been ploughed by him.

After this long term of service, and feeling that his life of anxiety and exposure was having its almost invariable effect, he left the restless ocean for his home on the land.

But to one of his active, restless temperament, quiet soon became irksome, and he was made one of the Port Wardens for the City of Boston in 1874, which position he filled with rare ability until his failing strength made it no longer possible ; he resigned in November, 1886.

He was a vigorous, self-made, self-reliant man ; a strong reasoner, always ready "to lend a hand " to any one in distress. Everybody knew him, and for all he had kindly words. This cheerful temperament remained to the last. During the few hours he was confined to his room, his feeble, pain-racked body sent forth no words of complaint or despair; but he conversed as of old with his afflicted family until almost imperceptibly his spirit passed to that bourne from whence no traveller returns.

He died in the house in which he was born on De- cember 5, 1886, aged seventy-nine.

Of the one hundred old-time captains this town has sent forth to battle with the winds and waves in the merchant service of the country, only one remains.

Capt. John Carter began his profession in the fish- ing fleet at the age of fourteen. He soon shipped ou a merchant ship and was mate at twenty-two, and at twenty-seven he was promoted to a captaincy ; he was almost constantly afloat, either on the waters of the Atlantic or the Pacific, until he was sixty-five years ald, when he retired to his home and well earned rest. Like the two above mentioned, Capt. Carter's success was the result of patient industry and an un- divided attention to his duties. May his kindly presence be long spared to us.

The training of the young men in former years was

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n t such as would be enjoyed by the youth of the present.

For example When the late Captain Leach was making his first voyage, they had reached the North Fea, and one morning when it was bitterly cold, the hoy, came on deck with a pair of mittens on, which his good mother had made for him.

"Tom," said his father, "what are those things on your hands ? let me see them ;" and holding them in a contemptuous manner, he exclaimed, " Tom, 'aint those nice things for a sailor !" and tossing them into the sea he added, " don't you ever let me see you with anything on your hands."

All through his sea-faring experience of fifty years his hands knew no coverings.

Another instance of the severe training of our ancestors may be mentioned. During the Revolu- tionary War, young Lee, was making his first voyage with his father, whose vessel was being chased, and the shot, becoming unpleasantly abundant in the vicinity of the quarter-deck, the boy became nervous, which the father observed, and seizing him by the collar with a ropes' end belabored him soundly, ex- claiming, " I will teach you to dodge the ballsof your country's enemy."

LONGEVITY IN MANCHESTER .- It is often said the people of the present do not live to so great an age as the carlier generations did ; but statisties prove the duration of life is increasing as our civilization be- comes older.

There are no records of the deaths in this town prior to 1749; but from that time to 1800, a period of fifty-one years, we find but thirty-two who had reached the age of eighty and upwards.

From 1800 to 1850 we find seventy-one; although no record appears to have been kept from 1809 to 1-21.

And from 1850 to 1857, a period of only thirty-seven years, we find no less than one hundred and thirteen.

And Mrs. Lucy A. Roberts, who died in 1881, reached the remarkable age of one hundred and three years and ten months.

V'ALI ATION .- The financial conditon of Manchester appears unusually good, the total valuation being over $5,00),000; and the rate of taxation $4.40 on ~1000

Manchester has not produced any mnen who have win distinction on the literary or scientific or politi- world, but her people have always been patriotic, law-abiding and honest in their dealings.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

MARE I BAFL FORSTER.

Wuor Israel For ter was born in Manchester May 1,79. Having acquired the rudiments of his « lo on in the schools of the town, he was sent to

Phillips Academy, Andover, where he mastered the higher branches of an English education, and returned to his native village with no little reputa- tion as a young man of culture. The advantages of which the people were not slow in appreciating; for in 1804 he was elected one of the selectmen, and was retained on that board for eighteen consecutive years; in all he served in that capacity nineteen years.

In 1808 he was chairman of the committee chosen by the town to draw a petition for the removal of the embargo.

Soon after his return from Andover, he looked about for some occupation, for he sprang from an enterprising race with whom idleness was unknown.

The grist-mills of that period were of the first importance in every community ; those in town were getting old, and seeing that new ones would soon become a necessity, he purchased the Bennett mill property, demolished the old log structure, enlarged the pond, and, under the direction of two skillful mill-wrights, a new mill with all the improvements then known was soon completed. It proved a success, and a great convenience to the people. Adjoining this property he built a wharf, warehouses, and a large area of flakes along the sunny slope for the drying of fish. He also built the schooner " Hannah," secured interest in other vessels and engaged in the fishing business.

With his brother he built on the Merrimac a vessel for the Grand Bank trade, which was launched about the time the battle of Waterloo was fought, and that became the name of the schooner. Her arrival in Manchester was a gala day, for so large a vessel had never before belonged to the fishing fleet of the town. She was about one hundred tons.

It was an innate principle with Major Forster to do everything he undertook thoroughly, and to that end le spared no pains. This habit of his soon gained for him the reputation of curing fish better than his com- petitors, and vessels from Cape Cod and from Maine landed their fares at his wharf that he might prepare them for market. Thus his enterprise soon made the pretty bay about the mill a very busy place.

In 1809 he was made one of the committee for building the present Congregational Church. He took a great interest in the enterprise, and soon became the active member of that board ; and to his habits of thoroughness and excellent taste we are largely indebted for the admirable structure that adorns the village.

Ile represented the town in the Legislatures of 1810 and 1836.

Ile always took an active interest in military mat- ters, and was a major of the militia in 1812.

His residence in the centre of the village is an ex- cellent example of architectural taste of the last een- tury. It is now the summer-home of his grandson, George C. Leach, Esq., of Boston, who carefully pre-

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MANCHESTER.

es every feature of the original structure, and tains the same colors with which it was first painted in 1804.

Major Forster closed his active and useful life on the 5th of April, 1862, at the age of eighty-four. He was first married to Hannah Lee, of Andover, who died in 1805. Ile afterward married Hannah, the daughter of Major Henry Story, of Manchester. He left five daughters, the eldest of whom, Mrs. Han- nah L. Allen, of Boston, is the only survivor.

THE GENEALOGY OF THE FORSTER FAMILY .- John Forster came from Danvers to Manchester about 1684. He was a very prominent man in town affairs; was one of the selectmen for many years; was also town clerk and land surveyor; as such aided in the laying out of the common land. Among his children was

Israel Forster, who was a ship master, and removed to Marblehead, where he became a very successful merchant. lle married Jane Stone, of Manchester, and died in 1818, at the age of eighty-six, leaving property to the amount of $100,000. His son

Samuel Forster was also a ship master. He made his home in Manchester, where he married Bethia Bennett. He died about the close of the Revolution, leaving three sons and five daughters, and property to the amount of $27,000. Israel Forster, the subject of this sketch, was his youngest son.

DR. EZEKIEL W. LEACH.

Dr. Ezekiel W. Leach was born in Manchester July 1, 1809. The foundation of his education was laid in the public schools. Under the tutelage of Rev. Samuel M. Emerson, the village pastor, he studied the classics with such success that at the age of fifteen his instructor declared him fitted for col- lege. Soon after a horse and chaise was hired, his trunk strapped between the springs, the boy bade adieu to home and all its attraction, and commenced his journey to Amherst. The good pastor, wishing to make the advent of his pupil into the busy world as pleasant and profitable as possible, managed to stop at the cheerful homes of his relatives and clerical friends where he and his youthful charge were most kindly received and hospitably cared for ; and not a few of the acquaintances then made ripened into life-long friendships.

Arriving at Amherst he passed a most satisfactory examination, and was admitted to the college Sep- tember, 1824; being a good scholar and of industrious habits he soon gained an excellent standing, and at the end of the first year was a prize speaker.

He continued to advance in scholarship until the morning of July 4, 1828, when, chancing to take up a newspaper, he read, with great surprise and dis- tress, a notice of his father's deatlı at sea some twelve days before; the poor boy was overwhelmed with grief. His great love for his mother, now his only

parent, caused him to abandon all and hurry to her side; and this decision was strengthened by his health, which, never good, had shown a marked de- cline during the last year; and prudence would seem to dictate a period of rest before entering upon the study of his chosen profession.

The fall and winter were spent in Manchester, where he taught a private school and assisted his mother in the care of her estate.

On the 4th of July, 1830, he delivered an oration before the people of the town, and aided in the es- tablishment of the Manchester Lyceum, which may be considered the foundation of the present Public Library. Hle delivered the introductory and several subsequent lectures.

In the autumn he went to Boston and began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. George S. Shattuck, where he labored most diligently ; but the cold and damp atmosphere of the dissecting room proved too much for his feeble constitution.

A long sickness and utter helplessness followed, and it was a year later before he recovered strength enough to embark from Boston on the ship " Fo- rum," Captain Richard Trask, of Manchester, bound for Marseilles.

He reached home the following year, much strengthened, and at once resumed his studies, and received his medical degree in February, 1835.

In the following June he married Miss Charlotte Forster, daughter of Major Israel Forster, of Man- chester.

In the autumn he began the practice of medicine in Boston. Dr. Leach, who, from boyhood, was re- ligiously inclined, was baptized by the Rev. Baron Stowe, and united with his church in February, 1836. He was very active in church and educational mat- ters, and held important offices in several organiza- tions of this character.

He served as one of the Representatives of Boston in the Legislatures of 1839 and '40; was elected for '41, but from illness he was obliged to resign.

His feeble constitution could not endure the labor he imposed upon himself; and in October, 1841, he again sought recuperation from the ocean, and sailed from Boston in the brig "Havre," Captain James Allen, of Manchester, bound for Savannah. But the climate of the South did not benefit him ; in his own pathetic words, "daily we gather hope, and daily meet disappointment-pain is still my constant com- panion."

When the brig had taken in her cargo of cotton she cleared for Havre, and the doctor accompanied her ; but he continued to become weaker, and when ten days from their destination, the spirit passed gently to the better world, where sickness and pain are unknown. Consumption had done its work, and the sea received his body.

Soon after his father's death he wrote the follow- ing :

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

" V. .. ru- (later neatly graven stole, Try fre an rane the , n the deep blue sea ; Ti ro tho. wilt rest, unmarked, unknown, Toy ie und our hearts, thy tablet memory."

On a beautiful monument erected to his memory by his son, in the family burial-ground at Manches- ter, this verse is inscribed.

lle died March 2, 1842, in the thirty-third year of his age, leaving a wife and two children.

To the people of his native town the news of his death was received with the deepest regret; his kind- ly ways and warm sympathies had won for him many friends, and his labors in behalf of the public were not forgotten. He found the records of the town de- tached, unfiled papers, and many had been lost. To collect in a volume the contents of these scattered papers, and to supply the gaps before it was too late was the task to which he applied himself, without hope of reward, and which he accomplished. To him the town is indebted for this great service.

During his residence in Boston he had endeared himself to a host of friends who deeply felt his loss. Of him the Boston Atlas said, "He was an aecom- plished gentleman, a skillful physician, a warm- hearted and faithful friend." His industry and fa- miliarity with the historical records of the State rendered him a very useful member of the Legisla- ture.

THE GENEALOGY OF THE LEACH FAMILY.

Lawrence Leach came to Salem from Devons, Eng- land, in 1628, with his wife and two children. His son, Robert Leach, came to Manchester and settled in the Plains in 1640. His home yet remains in the family. Ile was a proprietor of the "Common lands," and died in 1687, leaving two children ; his eldest son,

Nimue/ Leach, was born in 1655 ; he was one of the -electmen in 1680 and '84, and on the commission for dividing the " common lands." In 1691 he was one of the committee for building the new meeting-house, He died in 1696, leaving five children.

Richard Leach was born in 1690; was for a number of years one of the selectmen. Hle built the school- house in 1723, and died in 1759, leaving seven chil- dren.

Bergumin Leach was born in 1723; he was a ship- master, and died at sea in 1757, leaving four children.

Behjel Louch was born in 1755 ; was in the army of the Revolution, took part in the battle of Prince- ten and in several other engagements. Impaired Branth carved him to enter the Navy, where he soon i me to the rank of heutenant and gained a reputa- ( for galla try I'mon the establishment of peace he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He died in 1-21. Kaybe i ht ch kiret.

The mus lunch was born in 1780; he was a ship- meter, way owner in the big " lhes " and in the 'Stite man," both of Boston. While making a voy- on trom Havana to Hamburg in the latter vessel, in

1828 he died. He had been one of the seleetmen in 1826 and '27. He left nine children.

Ezekiel Il'. Leach, M. D., the subject of this sketch, was the second son of Thomas. Of the doctor's chil- dren only two survived him, and they are now living ; they are George C. Leach, president of the People's National Bank, Boston, and Mrs. Helen F. Hooper, of New York.

CHAPTER CV.

GLOUCESTER.

BY R. EDDY, D.D.

Settlement-Growth-City Government.

IN preparing the following sketch of the history of this ancient town, the writer has drawn very largely from the "History of Gloucester," by the late Hon. John J. Babson, published twenty-seven years ago. Of course, in noticing events which have transpired since the time Mr. Babson's valuable book was is- sued, other sources of information have been sought ; but the industry of that accurate writer in gleaning the field of fact covered by the period embraced in his pages, leaves little to be discovered by others, and shuts up all who may succeed him as narrators of the history of the Cape or any portion of it, to the use of what he then presented to the public. The publica- tion of "Champlain's Voyages," put into English since the date of the completion of Mr. Babson's history, and the different light which some recent discoveries throw upon a few of the events as nar- rated by Mr. Babson, constitute about the only devia- tions made from his narrative, whose general correct- ness is, and will always remain, a fitting monument to his accuracy and integrity in dealing with the facts and traditions of a locality and people whom he loved and served so well. The citizens of Gloucester may well be grateful that one of their own number reduced from oblivion and put in such orderly array, the story of the settlement and progress of the town, and the laboriously obtained genealogieal information which is so valuable a feature of the pages of his history.

The original town of Gloucester included in its ter- ritorial limits what is now the town of Rockport, the whole area forming what is known as Cape Ann. Its northern boundary was Ipswich Bay, its eastern the Atlantic Ocean, its southern Massachusetts Bay, and its western the towns of Manchester and Essex.

Its extreme length was about nine miles ; its width varied from four to six miles. What is commonly called Annisquam River, but which is in reality an arm of the sea extending from Ipswich Bay, first in a southwesterly course and then southeasterly, about four miles towards Gloucester harbor, from which it is separated by a narrow neck of land, but through

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which, for conveniences of navigation, a canal was ent, about 1644, divided the territory into two nearly equal parts.

The surface of the Cape is, for the most part, very uneven, and now presents to the beholder a succes- sion of bald, rocky hills, bold ledges of granite, with many acres covered with boulders of various sizes and some curious shapes. When first discovered by the whites it was, as we shall see from Champlain's account, covered also, wherever there was sufficient soil between the rocks, with a fine growth of various kinds of wood which not only served the settlers with material for their dwellings, ships and fuel, but also furnished a profitable commodity for exporta- tion. Mr. Babson, in his history of the town, notes that "a stray leaf from an old account-book reveals the fact that in about three weeks, in 1711, over five hundred cords of wharf wood were shipped to one firm in Boston." Wherever the soil is cleared it is found to be strong and fertile, well-suited for the rapid growth and sure harvest of the average agricultural products of New England. The chief botanical novelty of the Cape is the Magnolia glauca, not found as a native growth elsewhere in Massachu- setts. It grows to the height of ten feet in this local- ity, and yields a beautiful fragrant flower through nearly the whole of the warm season.

The highest elevation of land is called Thompson's Mountain, situated near the western border of the town, and elevated two hundred and fifty-five feet above the level of the sea. Its summit affords an ex- tensive prospect of land and ocean. Pigeon Hill, on the northeasterly part of the Cape, is the first land which the mariner sees as he approaches the coast from the east.

The principal harbor of Gloucester is on the south side of the town, and is formed by Eastern Point, which extends with unequal width about three miles in a southwesterly direction, and affords on its side towards the land safe anchorage and shelter for hnn- dreds of vessels approaching the town from Massa- chusetts Bay. The harbor on the Ipswich Bay, or northerly side of the town, is at Annisquam. The tradition, as mentioned by Mr. Babson, that the In- dians in giving that name to the locality, compounded it from English Anne, the name of the Cape, and Squam, the Indian for harbor, is worthless, since it would show that the Indian had no name for it till about the time that he left the territory, and because, also, harbor is not the signification of the word Squam. The earliest mention of the name is on Wood's Map, 1634, where it is spelled Wonasquom ; in Winthrop's Journal, under date 1635, it is spelled Anasquam; and in Josselyn's "Account of Two Voyages to New England," the first commenced in 1638, it is spelled Wonasquam. These varieties in spelling may be considered as simply so many differ- ent ways of attempting to express by English letters the sound of the Indian word. What does the word

mean? The diversity of answer is almost equal to the diversity of spelling. James Davis, Esq., a na- tive of Annisquam Village, in his poem entitled " Pleasant Water," says in an appended note : "That it may well be translated pleasant water would appear from the following : In Colton's ' Indian Vocabulary,' many of the names begin with such prefixes as ' Winne,' ' Wonne,' ' Wenne,' and all words so be- ginning have an agreeable, pleasant signification. Thus, on page 163, the name ' Winne tahansha' is said to mean a pleasant laughter, and on page 173 ' Wonnohquot ' is said to mean pleasant weather. . . It is difficult to find authority for translating the In- dian word Squam by the word water. I believe the word does not occur in Cotton's ' Indian Vocabulary,' before referred to. The fact that it was so frequently applied to bodies of water and lands bordering on the water, as in New Jersey and New Hampshire, would seem to show pretty conclusively that such must have been its meaning. . . . A gentleman, said to be good authority in such matters, says that Squam means broken water ; so Wonne Squam would mean ' beauti- ful broken water,' referring, perhaps, to the breakers on the bar ; and Squam Beach, in New Jersey, means 'broken or breaking water beach.'" The Hon. J. Hammond Turnbull, LL.D., the only person living, it is said, who can read Eliot's Indian Bible, favors the writer with the following from his MS. notes on Indian names in Massachusetts: " The name is cer- tainly derived from wanashque-ompsk, 'the top (or ' the extreme point ') of the rock.' Eliot, in Ezek. 26: 14, has this name, with the locative suffix, wanashquompskqut, for " [ at or to] the top of a rock ; " but the prefix literally denotes the 'extreme point ' or 'end' as well as the 'top' of. With the locative suffix, it survives as 'Squanipscot.'" Dr. Turnbull adds that he has little doubt that Wanashquompskqut "originally belonged to the head-land of the Cape, and was transferred to the harbor and river." This would be very natural, especially if, as is probable, those who made the transfer had little or no knowl- edge of the significance of the name, and made more frequent use of the harbor and river than they did of the headland.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 79

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