USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 41
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Nahant > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 41
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynnfield > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 41
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 41
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynn > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 41
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64
1819.
The winter was unusually mild, with little snow, and the harbor scarcely frozen. Farmers ploughed in every month ; January was like April, and the spring was forward and warm. [The principal snow storm was on the 8th of March.]
The first attempt to form an Episcopal Church in Lynn, was made this year. A few persons were organized as a Church on the 27th of January, and continued to worship in the Academy about four years.
On the 31st of January, Jonathan Mansfield was drowned in the Flax pond. On the 6th of April, William Phillips was drown- ed in the Pines river. On the 4th of September, Asa Gowdey was drowned near the mouth of Saugus river.
[The first Missionary Society of the great Methodist Church was formed in Lynn, on the 21st of February. The General Missionary Society was not organized till the 4th of April.]
Tuesday, July 6, was an exceeding warm day. The thermom- eter rose to 120 degrees in the sun.
A farm of about fifty acres was purchased by the town, and a new poor-house built on Willis's hill. [I do not understand why Mr. Lewis, here and in one or two other places, calls this Willis's hill. No one else appears to have done so. True, one
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ANNALS OF LYNN- 1819.
of the early settlers, named Willis, owned lands hereabout, but the hill does not appear to have been called by his name.
[Isaiah Newhall, a shoemaker, who lived on Federal street, made in three consecutive days, fifty one pairs of ladies' spring heel shoes. The price of making, was thirty-three cents per pair.]
This year the Nahant Hotel was built, by Hon. Thomas H. Perkins and Hon. Edward H. Robbins, at an expense of about sixty thousand dollars.
That singular marine animal, called the Sea-serpent, first made his appearance in the waters of Lynn this year. It was alleged that it had been seen in August, 1817 and 1818, in Gloucester harbor. On the 13th and 14th days of August, this year, many hundred persons were collected on Lynn Beach, by a report that it was to be seen. Many depositions have been taken of: its subsequent appearance. It was represented to have been from 50 to 70 feet in length, as large as a barrel, moving swiftly, sometimes with its head several feet above the tide. I have not seen such an animal, but perhaps it exists ; and it may be one of the mighty existing relics of a buried world. In 1638, Dr. John Josselyn tells us of "A Sea Serpent or Snake, that lay quoiled up, like a cable, upon a Rock at Cape Ann. A boat passing by, with English aboard and two Indians, they would have shot the serpent, but the Indians disswaded them, saying that if he were not killed outright, they would be in danger of their lives."
[It may be thought that so celebrated a wanderer of the sea is deserving of a little more extended notice than Mr. Lewis has afforded. The learned Agassiz says, in a lecture delivered at Philadelphia, 20 March, 1849, "I have asked myself in connec- tion with this subject, whether there is not such an animal as the Sea-serpent. There are many who will doubt the existence of such a creature until it can be brought under the dissecting knife ; but it has been seen by so many on whom we may rely, that it is wrong to doubt any longer. The truth is, however, that if a naturalist had to sketch the outlines of an Ichthyosau- rus or Plesiosaurus from the remains we have of them, he would make a drawing very similar to the Sea-serpent as it has been described. There is reason to think that the parts are soft and perishable, but I still consider it probable that it will be the good fortune of some person on the coast of Norway or North America to find a living representative of this type of reptile, which is thought to have died out." -
[The late prominent Boston merchant and worthy gentleman, Amos Lawrence, under date 26 April 1849, writes, "I have never had any doubt of the existence of the Sea-serpent since the morning he was seen off Nahant by old Marshal Prince,
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through his famous mast-head spy-glass. For, within the next two hours, I conversed with Mr. Samuel Cabot, and Mr. Daniel P. Parker, I think, and one or more persons besides, who had spent a part of that morning in witnessing its movements. In addition, Col. Harris, the commander at Fort Independence, told me that the creature had been seen by a number of his soldiers while standing sentry in the early dawn, some time before this show at Nahant; and Col. Harris believed it as firmly as though the creature were drawn up before us in State street, where we then were. I again say, I have never, from that day to this, had a doubt of the Sea-serpent's existence."
[The Mr. Cabot to whom Mr. Lawrence refers gave a descrip- tion of the animal in a letter to Col. T. H. Perkins, dated 19 August, 1819, from which the following is extracted :
I got into my chaise [at Nahant] about seven o'clock in the morning, to come to Boston, and on reaching the Long Beach, observed a number of people collected there, and several boats pushing off and in the offing. I was speculating on what should have occasioned so great an assemblage there without any apparent object, and finally had concluded that they were some Lynn people who were embarking in those boats on a party of pleasure to Egg Rock or some other point. I had not heard of the Sea-serpent as being in that neighborhood, and I had not lately paid much attention to the evidences which had been given of its existence; the idea of this animal did not enter my mind at the moment. As my curiosity was directed toward the boats, to ascertain the course they were taking, my attention was suddenly arrested by an object emerging from the water at the distance of about one hundred or one hundred and fifty yards, which gave to my mind, at the first glance, the idea of a horse's head. As my eye ranged along, I perceived, at a short distance, eight or ten regular bunches or protuberances, and, at a short interval, three or four more. I was now satisfied that the Sea-serpent was before me, and, after the first moment of excitement produced by the unexpected sight of so strange a monster, taxed myself to investigate his appearance as accurately as I could. My first object was the head, which I satisfied myself was serpent shaped. It was elevated about two feet from the water, and he depressed it gradually, to within six or eight inches as he moved along. I could always see under his chin, which appeared to hollow underneath, or to curve down- ward. His motion was at that time very slow along the beach, inclining toward the shore. He at first moved his head from side to side, as if to look about him. I did not see his eyes, though I have no doubt I could have seen them if I had thought to attend to this. His bunches appeared to me not alto- gether uniform in size ; and as he moved along, some appeared to be depressed, and others brought above the surface, though I could not perceive any motion in them. My next object was to ascertain his length. For this purpose, I directed my eye to several whale-boats at about the same distance, one of which was beyond him, and, by comparing the relative length, I calculated that the distance from the animal's head to the last protuberance I had noticed would be equal to about five of those boats. I felt persuaded by this examina- tion that he could not be less than eighty feet long. As he approached the shore and came between me and a point of land which projects from the end of the beach, I had another means of satisfying myself on this point. After I had viewed him thus attentively for about four or five minutes, he sank gradu- ally into the water and disappeared. He afterward again made his appear- ance for a moment at a short distance. . .. After remaining some two or three hours on the beach, without again seeing him, I returned toward Nahant,
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and, in crossing the Small Beach, had another good view of him for a longer time, but at a greater distance. At this time he moved more rapidly, causing a white foam under the chin, and a long wake, and his protuberances had a more uniform appearance. At this time he must have been seen by two or three hundred persons on the beach and on heights each side, some of whom were very favorably situated to observe him.
[James Prince, Esq., Marshal of the District, to whom Mr. Lawrence also refers, writes as follows to Hon. Judge Davis, under date 16 August:
MY DEAR SIR: - I presume I may have seen what is generally thought to be the Sea-serpent. I have also seen my name inserted in the evening news- paper printed at Boston on Saturday, in a communication on this subject. For your gratification, and from a desire that my name may not sanction any thing beyond what was actually presented and passed in review before me, I will now state that which, in the presence of more than two hundred other witnesses, took place near the Long Beach of Nahant, on Saturday morning last.
Intending to pass two or three days with my family at Nahant, we left Bos- ton early on Saturday morning. On passing the Half-way House on the Salem turnpike, Mr. Smith informed us the Sea-serpent had been seen the evening before at Nahant beach, and that a vast number of people from Lynn had gone to the beach that morning in hopes of being gratified with a sight of him ; this was confirmed at the Hotel. I was glad to find I had brought my famous mast-head spy-glass with me, as it would enable me, from its form and size, to view him to advantage, if I might be so fortunate as to see him. 'On our arrival on the beach, we associated with a considerable collection of persons on foot and in chaises; and very soon an animal of the fish kind made his appearance . .
His head appeared about three feet out of water ; I counted thirteen bunches on his back; my family thought there were fifteen. He passed three times at a moderate rate across the bay, but so fleet as to occasion a foam in the water ; and my family and self, who were in a carriage, judged that he was from fifty to not more than sixty feet in length. Whether, however, the wake might not add to the appearance of his length, or whether the undulations of the water or his peculiar manner of propelling himself might not cause the appearances of protuberances, I leave for your better judgment. The first view of the animal occasioned some agitation, and the novelty perhaps prevented that precise discrimination which afterward took place. As he swam up the bay, we and the other spectators moved on and kept nearly abreast of him. He occasionally withdrew himself under water, and the idea occurred to me that his occasionally raising his head above the level of the water was to take breath, as the time he kept under was, on an average, about eight minutes. . . . Mrs. Prince and the coachman having better eyes than myself, were of great assistance to me in marking the progress of the animal; they would say, " He is now turning," and by the aid of my glass I saw him distinctly in this movement. He did not turn without occupying some space, and, taking into view the time and the space which he found necessary for his ease and accom- modation, I adopted it as a criterion to form some judgment of his length. I had seven distinct views of him from the Long Beach, so called, and at some of them the animal was not more than a hundred yards distant. After being on the Long Beach with other spectators about an hour, the animal dis- appeared, and I proceeded on towards Nahant; but on passing the second beach, I met Mr. James Magee, of Boston. with several ladies, in a carriage, prompted by curiosity to endeavor to see the animal; and we were again gratified beyond even what we saw in the other bay, which I concluded he had left in consequence of the number of boats in the offing in pursuit of him,
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the noise of whose oars must have disturbed him, as he appeared to us to be a harmless, timid animal. We had here more than a dozen different views of him, and each similar to the other ; one, however, so near, that the coachman exclaimed, "O, see his glistening eye !" . . . Certain it is, he is a very strange animal.
[Among the papers left by the late Benjamin F. Newhall, of Saugus - than whom no man in the community stood higher for truthfulness - I find an interesting account of what he wit- nessed of the seeming gambols of the monster, who appeared to him also to be a timid animal. As he approached the shore, at about nine A. M., says Mr. N., he raised his head apparently about six feet, and moved very rapidly ; " I could see the white spray each side of his neck, as he ploughed through the water." He came so near as to startle many of the spectators, and then suddenly retreated. " As he turned short, the snake-like form became apparent, bending like an eel. I could see plainly what appeared to be from fifty to seventy feet in length. Behind his head appeared a succession of bunches, or humps, upon his back, which the sun caused to glisten like glass." .
[And, lastly, the writer well remembers traveling down to the Beach, with other barefoot urchins, on the memorable day, but arrived too late - the serpent had gone and the multitude were dispersing. Boastful boys declared that they could have thrown stones beyond him as he ranged about there in the morning.
[The following is copied as a fair specimen of the pictorial representations of the Sea-serpent which were given at the time. I do not find, however, in the written descriptions, that he was in the habit of carrying his tail in that style. And con- sidering the use that serpents in general put that appendage to, it would seem improbable that if he belonged to the tribe he would have displayed it in that manner, which is much like a ship carrying her rudder above water.
THE SEA-SERPENT.
[A small work, somewhat odd in style but evidently the pro- duction of a person of intelligence and ingenuity, was published at Cambridge, in 1849, under the title, " A Romance of the Sea- serpent, or the Ichthyosaurus." It contains, in the Notes and Appendix, divers interesting matters relating to sea monsters. Two editions were readily disposed of, the author informs me.
[For several years succeeding this alleged visit of the Sea- G2
25
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serpent, accounts were spread from time to time of his appearance at different points on the coast. And so many false reports were made for the transparent purpose of attracting visitors to the marine resorts, that doubts increased as to the existence of this solitary rover of the deep. Little has been heard of him of late years. In 1849, however, John Marston, a respectable and credible resident of Swampscot, appeared before Waldo Thomp- son, a justice of the peace, and made oath that as he was walking over Nahant Beach, on the 3d of August, his attention was sud- denly arrested by seeing in the water, within two or three hundred yards of the shore, a singular looking fish, in the form of a serpent. He had a fair view of him, and at once concluded that he was the veritable Sea-serpent. His head was out of water to the extent of about a foot, and he remained in view from fifteen to twenty minutes, when he swam off toward King's Beach. Mr. Marston judged that the animal was from eighty to a hundred feet in length, at least, and says, "I saw the whole body of the serpent; not his wake, but the fish itself. It would rise in the water with an undulatory motion, and then all his body would sink, except his head. Then his body would rise again. His head was above water all the time. This was about eight o'clock A. M. It was quite calm. I have been constantly engaged in fishing, since my youth, and I have seen all sorts of fishes, and hundreds of horse-mackerel, but I never before saw any thing like this."]
1820.
On the 14th of February, two barns, belonging to Mr. Joseph Breed, in Summer street, were burnt by the carelessness of a boy. The people by a subscription, built him a good barn immediately, which they stocked with hay.
[India rubber over-shoes first made their appearance about this time. They were made much thicker and heavier than at present. Pattens, clogs, and goloeshoes were in use for keep- ing the feet dry, before rubbers were known; but they all, to some extent, failed of their purpose.
[There were six tanneries in Lynn, this year. But before 1833 they were all discontinued, as leather could be procured from Philadelphia and other places at such rates as rendered them unprofitable.]
1821.
On the 25th of January, the thermometer was 17 degrees below zero.
[There was a violent northeast snow storm, on the 17th of April. It was so severe as to prevent the assembling of a quo- rum of the house of representatives, at Boston.]
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ANNALS OF LYNN-1822.
Rev. Joseph Mottey died on the 9th of July. He was born at Salem, May 14, 1756, and graduated at Dartmouth, in 1778. He was ordained over the Lynnfield parish, September 24, 1780. He was characterized by extreme sensibility, and fond- ness for retirement. His manners were affable, and his mode of preaching mild and persuasive. He married Elizabeth Moody and had four children ; Charles, Elias, Charles Edward, and Eliza.
1822.
A considerable disturbance was this year occasioned in the meetings of Friends, in consequence of a portion of that society having embraced different views. On Sunday, the 17th of Feb- ruary, one of these essayed to go into the ministers' gallery, with a sword by his side, which he said was an emblem of the warlike disposition of those against whom he wished to bear testimony ; but before he had reached the seat, he was stopped, and the sword taken away. In the afternoon the disturbance was renewed, by several persons attempting to enter the high seats ; and many people having assembled about the house, the deputy sheriff was called from the First Parish meeting-house, who read the riot act in the street. Four persons were appre- hended, and after an examination, the next day, before a justice, were committed to prison, at Salem, where they remained until the time of their trial, at Ipswich, on the 16th of March. Two of them were then discharged, and the others were fined. A report of this trial was published, with a review in a separate pamphlet.
The first Circulating Library at Lynn was opened this year, by the author of this sketch. [This was a very limited collection, and may have formed the basis of a small circulating library kept by Charles F. Lummus from 1827 to 1832.
[A singular phenomenon was witnessed at Saugus river, in March, and is thus described by the late Benjamin F. Newhall, of Saugus, who was careful in noting unusual occurrences : " The ice in the river had just broken up, and the dam at the bridge was overflowed with a large volume of fresh water. It was in the evening succeeding a very foggy day, and as dark as a foggy night with no moon could possibly be. In looking under the great bridge, where the waters swiftly poured over the dam, my eyes were greeted with the appearance of balls of fire, about the size of a large cannon ball. They made their appearance as soon as the water broke over the dam, and seemed to dance and whirl about upon the swiftly rushing tor- rent for a moment or two, and then disappear, to be succeeded by others. The light of these apparent balls of fire was so great that the whole space under the bridge was illuminated to that extent that all objects were clearly visible. So striking
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and beautiful was the phenomenon, that I summoned several persons from the neighborhood to come and witness it. The balls of fire were continuous that night as long as we had pa- tience to look at them. There was no appearance of that phos- phorescent sparkling that is often seen about the bows of a vessel. There was no light but what seemed to be balls of fire. They were not seen at all on the succeeding evening, and have never been seen since."
The Second Congregational Society [Unitarian] was incorpo- rated on the 15th of June; and on the 25th of November, the corner stone of the first Unitarian meeting-house was laid with an address by Rev. Joseph Tuckerman, of Chelsea.
As some workmen were this year digging a cellar, in Liberty street, they found the skeleton of an Indian. It was more than six feet in length, and the skull was of an uncommon thickness. Two large clam shells were found buried with it.
1823.
The coldest day this year, was the 1st of March. The ther- mometer was seven degrees below zero.
The Unitarian Meeting-house was dedicated on the 30th of April. Sermon by Rev. Henry Colman.
On the 5th of May, snow fell, and the ice was a quarter of an inch thick. Thermometer twenty-nine at sunrise.
A young woman named Sarah Soames, aged 19 years, living at Thomas Raddin's went in to bathe in Saugus river, on the even- ing of June 15, and was drowned.
[The first Methodist meeting-house in Lynnfield, was dedi- cated on the 14th of October.]
1824.>
The tide, during great storms, had for many years been making its encroachments upon Lynn Beach, washing its sands over into the harbor, and sometimes making deep channels, as it ran across in rivulets. In compliance with a petition of the town, the General Court, on the 18th of February, made a grant of $1.500, to which the town added $1.500 more; and by aid of this fund, a fence was constructed, about half the length of the beach, to prevent the encroachments of the tide.
On the 6th of May, the ice was a quarter of an inch thick. Thermometer twenty-seven at sunrise.
On the 21st of June, Rev. Joseph Searl was ordained pastor of the Congregational society in Lynnfield. He continued his connection with that parish, till the 17th of September, 1827, when he removed to Stoneham.
The French General Lafayette, who served in the War of Independence, this year came to America, and was received
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ANNALS OF LYNN-1825.
with general gratulation and welcome. He passed through Lynn on the 31st of August. He was received at Saugus bridge, on the Turnpike, by an escort, consisting of a battalion of cavalry, the Lynn Rifle Company, Lynn Light Infantry, the Salem Cadets, and a large number of officers and citizens, by whom he was conducted to the Lynn Hotel, where an address was delivered to him by Capt. John White, to which he made an affectionate reply. After being introduced to many gentle- men and ladies, with several revolutionary soldiers, he entered an open barouche, and passed through two lines of the children of the town, who threw flowers into his carriage as he pro- ceeded. A salute of thirteen guns was fired, on his entrance into the town; and another of twenty-four, when he departed. On his way he passed through seven beautiful arches, decorated with evergreens, flags, and festoons of flowers, and bearing inscriptions in honor of Lafayette and Freedom. Proceeding through the principal streets, he was received, at the eastern boundary of the town, by another escort, and conducted to Marblehead.
Rev. James Diman Greene was ordained pastor of the Unita- rian Society, on the 3d of November.
[That very ingenious mechanic, Joseph Dixon, lived in Lynn at this time. And here he labored on some of those useful inventions by which he became so widely known. Among other things he directed his attention to the application of steam, and was the originator of combinations that proved the germs of some of the most gigantic and useful contrivances through which that mighty agent works at the present day. The New England Farmer, of 21 February, 1824, thus speaks of one of his inventions: "We have seen some ingenious ma- chinery for heating steam to a high temperature, invented by Mr. Joseph Dixon, of Lynn, Mass., which promises to prove of much utility." And a particular description is added.]
1825.
[The Probate Court was first held at Lynn, on the 4th of Jan- uary. And sessions were continued here for about thirty years.]
For several days, in April, the moon and stars, with the planet Venus, were visible for some hours, in the middle of the day. There were no clouds, and the sun shone with a dim light.
On the 20th of April, a piece of land adjoining the Quaker burial ground, in Lynn, was purchased by several individuals and opened as a free burial ground. This was done because that society had refused to permit a child to be buried in their ground, without a compliance with their regulations.
This year Frederic Tudor, Esq., of Boston, built his beautiful rustic cottage at Nahant.
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ANNALS OF LYNN - 1826, 1827.
On Thursday, the 23d of June, at the commencement of twi- light, a remarkable sungush appeared. It proceeded from the place of sunsetting, and rose perfectly straight and well-defined, to the height of twenty degrees. Its color was a beautiful bright red, and its width equal to that of a broad rainbow ; the clouds around were variegated with the finest colors, and the pageant continued about fifteen minutes. .
[The thermometer rose, 21 July, to 101 degrees in the shade.]
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