USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 48
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Nahant > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 48
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynnfield > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 48
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 48
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynn > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 48
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The first Methodist meeting-house at Swampscot, was dedi- cated on Monday, June 30. Bishop Simpson preached the sermon.
As an instance of the quick work of one of our Lynn shoe- makers, it may be stated that Francis D. Rhodes, in fifty days, made, in a good, workmanlike manner, seven hundred and ninety-two pairs of ladies' shoes, at twenty-two cents a pair, thus earning, in less than two months, $174.24. They were, of course, made entirely by hand.
On the evening of 26 June, a Mrs. Brazil, visiting at the house of John Regan, South Common street, attempted to fill a lamp with burning fluid, when an explosion took place, setting fire to her clothes. A child ran toward her, the fire was communicated to its garments, and it was so much burned that it died. Mrs. Brazil was not fatally injured. This was one of many accidents that took place about this time from the explosive burning fluid then in such common use.
The new school house in the centre district of Lynnfield was dedicated on the 11th of July.
On the 16th of July, Capt. William T. Gale, fell down a flight of stairs in the Bay State Building, Central Square, and so in- jured himself that he died the next day, remaining insensible during the mean time. He was for a number of years commander of the Lynn Artillery, and was buried with military honors.
A horse-mackerel, nine feet in length, and weighing nearly a thousand pounds was captured off Nahant, 16 July.
On the 26th of July the thermometer stood at from ninety- seven to a hundred degrees, in the shade, in different parts of Lynn; and for the preceding five consecutive days it had stood above ninety during some part of the day.
A colored youth named Francis P. Haskell, aged 20, was drowned in the Flax pond, on the 3d of August. He rode a horse in to water, and not loosening the martingale the animal became restiff, threw his rider over his head, and with his fore feet thrust him under water.
There was a severe drought this summer. It ended on the night of August 5, when a copious rain commenced, continuing in almost unbroken torrents till Wednesday noon. On the next Friday there was a violent thunder storm. The house of Dr. Asa T. Newhall, on Olive street, was struck and damaged to the amount of $250. A house on the opposite side of the same street was also struck; likewise a brick house on Sea street, the latter having every pane of glass, in one window, broken.
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ANNALS OF LYNN - 1856.
Two gentlemen were riding over Long Beach, when the pole of their carriage was struck and shivered into innumerable splinters. The house of John Blaney, in Swampscot, was also struck. Indeed the lightning struck in some twenty places, within a circuit of ten miles. The storm was extraordinary for its duration, raging, with very brief intervals, for full fourteen hours. Between five and eight o'clock in the afternoon it was very severe; but from half past eleven to half past one in the night it was really appalling-the thunder jarring the most substantial fabrics, the lighting gleaming with blinding intensity, the rain pouring down in equatorial torrents, and the wind roaring furiously.
Out-door services were held in Lynn, this year, by several of our clergymen. Dr. Cooke, of the First Church, preached his first field sermon on Sunday, 7 September, on the Common. But the experiment, on the whole, was not successful, the wea- ther often interfering with the arrangements. The groves are indeed beautiful temples, but in a climate so variable as that of New England not so convenient for fashionable worshipers.
Egg Rock light was shown, for the first time, on Monday, night, 15 September. The cost of the building was $3.700. It was built by Ira P. Brown .. On the 8th of July, a company of gentlemen from Lynn and the neighboring places visited the rock and held a jovial celebration.
Patrick Buckley, the "Lynn Buck," ran five miles in twenty- eight minutes and thirty-eight seconds, at the Trotting Park, September 19, for a belt valued at $50. And on the 4th of December, William Hendley ran the same distance in twenty- eight minutes and thirty seconds.
The schooner Shark, Captain Carlisle bound from Bristol, Me. for Boston, with wood, was wrecked on Long Beach, 30 Sep- tember. The cargo was strewed along the shore and the vessel went to pieces; but no lives were lost. The disaster was occasioned by the Egg Rock light being mistaken for that on Long Island.
Forest Hill Cemetery, Lynnfield, was consecrated October 14. Addresses were delivered by Rev. E. R. Hodgman and Rev. A. P. Chute.
" Some of the Swampscot fishermen were very successful about the close of the year. During the week ending Decem- ber 13, the schooner Flight, Captain Stanley, with thirteen hands, caught 62.700 pounds of cod fish. And a short time before, the crew of the Jane caught in one day, among a large quantity of cod fish of the ordinary size, twelve which weighed on an average fifty-six pounds each. Captain Nathaniel Blanchard caught one cod fish which weighed ninety-four pounds, gross, and seventy- eight pounds dressed.
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1857.
A very violent snow storm commenced on Sunday, January 18. It had been extremely cold. On Friday, the thermometer sank to twenty-two degrees below zero, and on the morning of the day on which the storm began, it was from twelve to twenty below. The wind was high, and the snow drifted furi- ously. So great a quantity fell that almost all travel was sus- pended for one or two days. Three powerful engines were required to force the formidable snow plough along the rail-road track. It was not till Tuesday afternoon that trains were able to reach Lynn from Salem and Boston; at which time one arrived from each place, drawn by four engines. The way being thus opened, other trains followed, and there were eleven engines at the Lynn station, at one time. Much damage was done on the coast and the beaches bore melancholy evidence of the perils of the sea.
The bark Tedesco was totally wrecked in the terrible storm spoken of in the foregoing paragraph. She was commanded by Captain Peterson, of Portland, and was from Cadiz, with a cargo of wine and salt. She was driven ashore at Long Rock, Swampscot, below the Ocean House, and soon went to pieces. All on board, twelve in number, perished. Six of the dead bodies were buried from the Methodist meeting-house in Swamp- scot, at one time. The vessel was valued at $15.000, and the cargo at the same. The captain had been married, at Cadiz, immediately before sailing, but his wife was not on board.
From the 7th day of January to the 20th, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter were all visible in the western hemisphere, and Saturn in the eastern. Uranus was also visible by glasses. Such an occurrence, it is said, Copernicus longed to witness, but did not. Neptune was likewise, at the same time, visible by telescopic aid.
James H. Luscomb, a youth of the age of fifteen, while driving a cow across Long Beach, 19 February, fastened one end of a rope around her neck and the other end around his own body. The cow suddenly turned and rushed back toward Little Nahant, dragging him three quarters of a mile and killing him. His skull was fractured and his back broken in two places.
Goold Brown, aged 65, died at his residence on North Com- mon street, March 31, after an illness of nine days. He early directed his attention to studies connected with the science of language and became widely known as a grammarian. Many years ago he published a grammar which was extensively intro- duced into the schools of the United States. And he taught a seminary in New York city, long and acceptably. His last and great work, which was completed but a short time before his L2* 29
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death, was entitled the Grammar of English Grammars. He was a native of Providence, R. I., and a descendant of the founder of Brown University ; was a member of the Society of Friends and a much respected citizen. He left a widow and two adopted daughters.
Haddock appeared in great numbers, at times, during the early part of the year. On the thirteenth of March, about one hundred of the Swampscot fishermen, in twelve boats, caught, in some six hours, 160.000 pounds of fish, almost entirely had- dock.
Fisher Kingsbury, a respectable citizen of Saugus, aged 70, was instantly killed on the Saugus Branch Rail-road, at Malden, 17 March. Both his legs were cut off, and he was otherwise injured, by a passing train.
A number of respectable shoe manufacturers early this year joined in forming a board of trade. It was thought that bene- fits would accrue from the association, particularly through the adoption of rules regarding credit to customers and for the security of greater uniformity in the trade generally. But all the good that at first seemed promised was not realized, owing perhaps in a great measure to the diversity of interests and the unwillingness of some to yield to any regulation that might appear to restrain the largest freedom in trade. The associa- tion did not long continue in active operation.
Trawl-fishing began to be practised by some of the Swamps- cot fishermen this year.
A team load of goods, while passing over Long Beach, from Nahant, May 6, took fire, and was damaged to the amount of sixty dollars.
On the evening of May 26, the shoe manufactory of Albert B. Ingalls, on Union street, was burned, with a considerable amount of stock.
John E. Gowan, a native of Lynn, arrived at Sebastopol, Russia, June 3, to undertake the raising of the ships sunk in that harbor, during the Crimean war, under a contract with the Russian government. His enterprise was successful, and honors were bestowed upon him.
The barn of Captain Fuller, in Humfrey street, Swampscot, was burned, June 13. The fire was set by two little boys who were playing with matches, in the barn. One of the boys, a son of J. A. Knowlton, aged four and a half years, was burned to death.
The color of Egg Rock light was changed from white to red, June 15.
On Sunday morning, 21 June a dwelling-house in process of completion for Mrs. Raddin, widow of George W. Raddin, near the Saugus line. was burned. Loss, about $1.200.
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ANNALS OF LYNN- 1857.
Widow Mary Wiggin, died June 20, aged 95 - the oldest person in Lynn, at the time.
Independence was celebrated in Lynn, this year. A long procession marched through the streets, consisting of a caval- cade in fancy costumes, fire companies, bands of music, and numerous carriages, beautifully decorated, and filled with school children, bearing mottos, flags, and other insignia. An enter- tainment was provided, on the Common, for the children. In the evening there was a display of fireworks. It was called a juvenile temperance celebration.
At Swampscot, July 4, Henry Scales and John Draper were seriously injured while firing a salute. Scales was badly wound- ed in the bowels, and had an arm broken; and he soon after died, at the Massachusetts Hospital. Draper had an arm broken, an eye destroyed, and was otherwise injured. He was also taken to the hospital, and in about two months died of lockjaw.
On the 15th of July, a pleasure party from Nahant, while fishing, captured a shark twelve feet in length and weighing nearly twelve hundred pounds.
Much excitement took place this summer, in many places, concerning the discovery of pearls in fresh water muscles and clams. Many small ones were found in shell fish taken from the Floating Bridge and Flax ponds, in Lynn, but not enough to render the search more profitable than regular labor. It was quite amusing occasionally to observe some venerable and de- mure citizen, who never in his life had been guilty of imagining that there was such a thing as amusement in the world, wending his way toward the ponds, and fancying his real object entirely concealed by the rod and line, and other sporting gear with which he had so cunningly encumbered himself.
The African Methodist meeting-house, on Hacker street, was dedicated on the 1st of August.
On the 14th of August, at about one o'clock, in the afternoon, while the thermometer was standing at ninety-eight degrees, in the shade, an interesting little child of five years, a daughter of Nicholas Mailey, living on Green street, who was playing in the garden, was sun-struck, and died the next day.
On Tuesday, the 8th of September, the Fifth Regiment of Infantry, Col. Rogers, went into camp, at Nahant, remaining till Thursday. The weather was fine, and the attendance of spec- tators large.
The Franklin Trotting Park, chiefly in Saugus, was laid out this year.
A small comet was visible, to the naked eye, in September, in constellation Bootes.
The different fire engine companies of Lynn had a grand trial of power, on the Common, on Saturday afternoon, September
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ANNALS OF LYNN- 1858.
26. A great multitude assembled, and much good-natured rival- ry prevailed. Money prizes were contended for, the highest being twenty-five dollars.
Blue fish were very plenty off our shores in the early part of autumn. They are great enemies to the menhaden; and for several days such a war raged that the beaches were strewn with dead fish, chiefly of the latter species. Mr. Lewis, the historian, said that in two tides, he picked up nine bushels, and buried them in his garden, for manure.
The Congregational meeting-house in Lynnfield, south village, was dedicated November 11.
Great financial embarrassment prevailed throughout the coun- try this year and affected all classes. In Lynn there was a larger amount of suffering among the poor, than had been known for a long period. Numbers were out of employment, and many of the necessaries of life were dear. Public meetings were held, in the fall and winter, to devise means for the relief of the des- titute. Many benevolent hearts were stirred, and individuals of means contributed liberally ; and on the whole the cloud passed away with less distress and disaster than might reasonably have been anticipated. Very few business men failed, and not many of the poor suffered long.
The boundary line between Lynnfield and North Reading was changed this year.
The number of marriages in Lynn during this year was 209.
1858.
The first Congregational Methodist meeting-house, on Ches- nut street, near Broad, was dedicated on the 1st of January. It afterward became the property of the Calvinistic Society known as the Chesnut street Congregational Society.
The first vessel ever built at Nahant was a schooner of sixteen tons. She was built by J. and E. Johnson, and launched on the 11th of February.
Joseph E. Watts, of Marblehead, froze to death on the Eastern Railroad track, near Oak Island, on the night of the 16th of February.
On the morning of February 19, the rosin oil factory, near the Lynn Common Depot was destroyed by fire. The building was of brick, and the loss of that, together with the stock, amout- ed to $6.000. On the evening of the same day a barn, belong- ing to Oliver Ramsdell, in Gravesend village, was burned.
The " Lynn Buck," so called, walked a plank, at Lowell, in February, a hundred and five consecutive hours and forty-four minutes, without sleep, and with but twenty-nine minutes' rest. A strict watch was kept on him.
Joseph L. Hill, aged 20, while at Swampscot, gunning, on the
453
ANNALS OF LYNN- 1858.
afternoon of March 3, was instantly killed by the accidental dis- charge of a fowling piece.
The sun-dial, on the Common, was set in April. The granite pillar was furnished by the city, and the instrument was pro- cured by private subscription and adjusted by Cyrus M. Tracy.
Telegraphic communication between Lynn and Boston was commenced on the 4th of May.
On the 5th of June, two small boys, while fishing, fell into the basin above Scott's woolen factory, in Saugus, and were drowned.
On the afternoon of June 8, the schooner Prairie Flower, Capt. Brown, left Salem for Boston, with a party on board. When off Nahant, she suddenly capsized and seven were drowned.
Davis's barn, in Saugus, was struck by lighting, during a show- er, June 20.
The Eighth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia para- ded in Lynn, on the 23d of June, in compliment to Col. Coffin. Eight fine companies of infantry were present, and many guests of dignity ; among them Gov. Banks. Dinner was served in a spacious tent, and some five hundred partook. This was the celebrated "Eighth" that gained such plaudits in the early stages of the war of the Great Rebellion.
The month of July was found, by observation, to be the cold- est that had occurred for fourteen years.
On the afternoon of the 6th of August, a barn in Swampscot, belonging to Jonathan F. Phillips, was struck by lightning and burned, with fifty tons of hay. The well-known trotting mare Lady Lawrence, valued at a thousand dollars, being in the barn, was killed by the lightning.
On the evening of the 14th of August the barn of Jacob Jack- son, on Essex street, was burned, with sixteen tons of hay. One cow perished, and another was so badly burned that it was necessary to kill her ..
There was an impromptu " cable celebration " in Lynn, on the 17th of August - a firing of guns, waving of flags, and divers similar demonstrations - on the occasion of the transmission of Queen Victoria's message to President Buchanan through the Atlantic cable, the instrument of high hopes that were to be disappointed. At Federal Square, in the evening, there was quite a display.
During a heavy shower, on the afternoon of September 11, two schooners, lying at the west part of the town, were struck by lightning. The whole length of the foremast of one was splintered. The other was not much damaged.
A splendid comet appeared in the autumn of this year. It was one of the most striking and beautiful celestial objects ever witnessed. For many evenings it descended in the northwest
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ANNALS OF LYNN -- 1858
with its immense tail curving toward the north. The tail was determined to be, on Oct. 10, fifty-one millions of miles in length ; and to the observer it appeared clearly delineated for a length equal to something more than half the distance from the horizon to the zenith. On the 13th of September it was a hun- dred and twenty-two mil- lions of miles from the earth; and on its nearest approach it was fifty-two millions of miles distant. It is known as the comet of Donati. A faithful rep- resentation of this beauti- COMET OF 1858. ful wanderer is here given.
The meeting-house of the Second Baptist Society, on High street, was dedicated on the 7th of October. -
On Thursday, the 13th of October, the completion of the elec- tric telegraph to Swampscot was celebrated., Flags were dis- played and guns fired at morning, noon, and night.
John B. Alley was elected, November 2d, Representative to the United States Congress, from this district. He was the first Lynn man, who received the honor of a seat in that august assemblage.
The Catholic Cemetery, was consecrated on Thursday, the 4th of November, by Bishop Fitzpatrick, assisted by six other clergymen. On account of the violence of the storm the ser- vices were chiefly held at the church, where the rite of con- firmation was administered to about two hundred persons. The cemetery contains eight acres.
The tide rose to such a height on the 23d of November that the Lynn and Saugus marshes were so deeply submerged as to occasion detention of the rail-road trains. All the trains were for a time forced to run over the Saugus Branch.
Benjamin Luscomb, aged 46, while examining his fowling piece, preparatory to going on a gunning excursion the next morning was instantly killed by the explosion of a charge, on Sunday evening, December 12. Not supposing the piece to be loaded he had taken the barrel from the stock and was blowing in it, near a lighted lamp.
There were landed in Lynn, during the year, 5.950.000 feet of lumber; 16.034 tons of coal; 5.820 cords of wood; 5.877 casks of lime and cement; and 79.600 bushels of grain. The number of vessels bringing the same, was 337. What was landed on the Saugus side of the river is not included in the statement. And it should be borne in mind that Lynn has no back country to look to her for supplies.
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ANNALS OF LYNN-1859.
Cyrus M. Tracy this year published an octavo pamphlet of eighty-eight pages, entitled "Studies of the Essex Flora : a Complete Enumeration of all the Plants found growing naturally within the limits of Lynn, Mass., and the Towns adjoining, ar- ranged according to the Natural System, with copious Notes as to Localities and habits." The title fully expresses the char- acter of the work, and Mr. Tracy performed his task in a very . creditable manner. As it will be interesting to those who occupy this soil in the far future, when population and art have driven nature from her present footholds, to know what forest trees grew and wild flowers bloomed where then will be busy streets, this modest work will be valued long after many more pretentious things are forgotten.
There was very little cold or tempestuous weather, in the winter of 1858-9, before the middle of February. The evenings of January, as regarded temperature, were generally more like those of April, than any other season. The cumulous clouds, on several occasions, like immense fleeces of wool, rose to a great height, and in the moonlight made a very beautiful appear- ance. After the colder weather set in, one of the chief amuse- ments, not only of the school boys but the school girls and not only of the young, but of the mature, of both sexes, was skating. On moonlight evenings, the ponds were vocal with the merry voices of those engaged in the exhilarating recreation.
1859.
Judson J. Hutchinson died, January 11, age 38. He was one of the favorite band of singers known as the Hutchinson brothers. He committed suicide, by hanging, at the wooden dwelling on the west of the stone cottage, at High Rock. The act was no doubt done while he was laboring under mental aberration. For several years he had at times been insane, and his mind occasionally seemed to incline to self-destruction. Many months before the melancholy event took place, he very pleas- antly and as was supposed jocosely assured the writer that nothing but lack of courage had for a long time prevented his destroying his life. He was an enthusiast, and possessed many eccentricities in manners and modes of thought; but he was genial in disposition, affable in manners, intelligent, and much beloved. He was a spiritualist, and could see no evil in taking the abrupt road that he did to join his friends in the spirit land.
There was a "Calico Ball" at the Sagamore House, on Wednesday evening, January 19. All the ladies appeared in calico dresses, which at that time were the cheapest style of dress. . A hundred couples were present. The prize of a gold bracelet was awarded to the lady who in the judgment of a committee was arrayed in the most neat and becoming manner,
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ANNALS OF LYNN- 1859.
personal charms also being taken into account -and Miss Nellie Clapp was the fair winner of the prize. It was a very pleasant gathering ; and the prevalence of silks and satins could not have added to its attractiveness.
Early on the morning of the 21st of January, the commodious grammar school-house, in Woodend, with its contents, was totally destroyed by fire. The building was valued at $6.000, and was built in 1851.
On Wednesday night, February 2, during a violent storm, the Vernon, a British bark of 265 tons, bound from Messina for Bos- ton, with a cargo chiefly of fruit, was driven ashore on Long Beach. The wind was very high and the sea in terrific commo- tion; but by great courage and the skillful management of a life boat all the crew were saved. Most of the cargo was also saved. At low tide the vessel was left almost out of water; but on Sunday morning, 13 February, she was got off and towed to Boston, in a crippled condition. A spirited lithographic print, illustrating the scene at the wreck, was soon after published.
There was a total eclipse of the moon early on the morning of February 17. The sky being very clear, an unusually strik- ing effect was produced.
On Friday morning, February 25, the tin ware and stove store of Brawn and Morrill, on Broad street, near Newhall, was burned. Loss $3.000.
A large humpback whale was several times seen near the Swampscot shore in the latter part of February.
The New England Mechanic, a weekly newspaper, of good size, was commenced on the 19th of March, by Alonzo G. Dra- per as an advocate for the interests of the journeymen shoe- makers.
The New England Conference of the Methodist Church com- menced its annual session in Lynn, on Wednesday, April 6, Bishop Ames presiding.
On Saturday night, 28 May, the Catholic church, on Ash street, was burned, and one or two small buildings standing near, were considerably damaged. The value of the church property destroyed was $6.500.
William F. Mills and Charles A. Forbes, while on a pleasure sail some two miles outside of Egg Rock, on Sunday, May 29, were overtaken by a squall which overset the boat. Mills was drowned and Forbes was taken up, in an insensible condition, by a passing schooner, and carried to Boston.
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