USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 50
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Nahant > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 50
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynnfield > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 50
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 50
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynn > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 50
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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
WHEREAS, The country has been plunged into civil war, by the rash, tritor- ous, and unjustifiable action of the leaders in the so-called Confederate States ; therefore,
1. RESOLVED, That we, in the hour of peril to the nation, to free institutions, to life, liberty, and social well-being, unite as one man to uphold our govern- ment, and to defend our country.
2. RESOLVED, That as our fathers pledged to each other their "lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor," to establish the institutions under which we have lived, so we now renew this pledge, to maintain those institutions, and to hand them down, intact, to our children.
3. RESOLVED, That the present crisis has been forced upon us, lovers of peace and of the Union ; and that there is left for us nothing but to rally about the government, which has shown itself forbearing, and whose efforts for a peaceful settlement have been met with bravado, insolent contempt, and war- like opposition.
4. RESOLVED, That it is the duty of every citizen to stand ready for the performance of every work which the government requires at his hand, till the traitors shall desist from their unhallowed purpose, and peace be restored to our distracted land.
5. RESOLVED, That Governor Andrew, General Schouler, and the civil and military authorities of the state, have acted in an able, prompt, and patriotic man- ner, in this trying crisis ; and that their efficient action is deserving of all praise.
.
Sweetser, George W. Taylor, Henry 'Thompson, Samuel Tufts, William F. Tutt, Benjamin Webster, Samuel White, George H.
Harriden, Oscar Harris, Edward Hiller, Edward Hunnewell, Francis Ingalls, Abner Johnson, Nathaniel Kelley, Daniel Kimball, Josiah F. Kimball, Moses
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6. RESOLVED, That the action of our City Government, in making an appro- priation for the support of the families of our brave and devoted volunteers, meets the exigency of the hour, and receives our hearty approval.
7. RESOLVED, That the prompt response of the Eighth Massachusetts Reg- iment, to which so many of our citizen soldiers are attached, together with the dispatch "We have more men than guns- what shall we do?" proves the loyalty of our citizens, and inspires us with the belief that the glorious old flag shall not be trailed in the dust, nor be wrested, by traitor hands, from its right- ful guardians, an acknowledged majority of American citizens.
Enlistments now went rapidly on. The whole community seemed fully awake to the demands of the calamitous exigency. The ladies applied themselves diligently in the preparation of clothing and other things necessary and convenient for the departed and the constantly departing soldiers. Flags were kept flying in every direction, and drums were beating at all hours. And those other places, the offspring of good old Lynn, which are named in the title-page of this work, manifested the same zealous and patriotic spirit. It would be an exceed- ingly agreeable task to give in these pages a circumstantial history of events here, as connected with the war, and to record the name of every one who went out from among us to battle for the honor of his country. But it will be at once seen that such a thing would be impossible. The most that can be done will be to note the more prominent occurrences. God grant that all who survive may have a reward here commensu- rate with their labors and sacrifices, and that all who perish . may receive a reward in the better land.
On the morning of May 4th, the grocery store of Robert Collins, corner of Franklin street and the Turnpike, was con- sumed by fire, with all its contents. The adjacent out buildings were also consumed, and the dwelling of Mr. Collins was some- what damaged. Loss, about $2.500.
The ship Abælino, Capt. Ammi Smith, of Lynn, was captured by a rebel privateer, 20 May, while on her passage from Boston to New Orleans, with a cargo of ice. This was one of the first of such seizures in the war. The officers, crew, and vessel, were, however, soon released.
On the first day of June, the Lynn horse cars began to run to Boston.
On Sunday, 2 June, Julia, aged ten years, a daughter of John Fitzpatrick, an overseer in one of the Saugus woollen factories, died of the terrible disease of hydrophobia. She was slightly bitten by a small dog with which she was familiar ; but little or nothing was thought of it at the time. Six weeks after, while at school, she was taken with spasms and soon died, in great agony.
The brick school-house, on the west side of Franklin street, was dedicated on Monday afternoon, 24 June.
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A great comet suddenly appeared in July. It was first seen on Tuesday evening, the 2d, and was very bright. I was stand- ing on the slope of the hill, near Sadler's Rock, at dusk, con- versing with a friend. On looking up, as one or two of the brighter stars began to appear, he remarked, " Why, there is a strange looking star." As the darkness increased, the propor- tions of a magnificent comet became developed. On the follow- ing evening the celestial stranger made a still more imposing appearance. Its position was a very little west of north and it was finely delineated, from the tail which spread out into a silvery light at the zenith, to the bright nucleus at the horizon. Observation determined that it was moving with extraordinary rapidity ; and it was soon beyond the vision of the unassisted eye. One remarkable fact about this comet is that its tail, which was upwards of ninety degrees in length, actually came in con- tact with the earth. In the report of the visiting committee of the Cambridge observatory to the overseers of the college - which report, by the way, was signed by our eminent townsman, William Mitchell, as chairman -it is stated that the comet was subjected to a rigorous examination and its path marked with great care, its position being determined at forty-nine periods. And the report adds that as soon as its real motion was ascer- tained, it became evident that its train had swept the earth ; and subsequent observations, both in this country and Europe showed that only three days previous to its sudden apparition in our heavens a part of the train must have been in actual con- tact with the earth. It is an ancient superstition that · comets portend dire calam- ities to mankind ; particu- larly wars. And that of 1858 and this of 1861, com- ing so opportune for the terrible civil war, will be likely to confirm the appre- hensions of some unculti- COMET OF 1861. vated minds.
The Lynn soldiers who so promptly responded to the call of the President, and on the 16th of April hastened southward, returned on the first of August, their three months term of ser- vice having expired. And they had a very enthusiastic and gratifying public reception. The City appropriated $500, and individual liberality contributed a large additional sum, to make the occasion one of uncommon display. Not a man of the whole regiment had died during its absence. Col. Munroe had re- signed, 12 May, and returned home, and Lieut. Col. Hinks had succeeded him. The reception was quite imposing. There
NAHANT HOTEL. Destroyed by fire on the night of September 12, 1861. (See page 469.)
1
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ANNALS OF LYNN- 1861.
was a large escort of military and fire companies, and public and private places were profusely decorated, business was sus- pended, and the large body of the population were in the streets. The procession was something more than an eighth of a mile in length, and moved through the principal neighborhoods, the bands playing, church bells ringing, and guns firing. At about seven o'clock a collation was had at Exchange Hall; and when the hungry stomachs had been supplied the patriotic tongues were loosed. And the whole furnished a notable instance of the liberal bestowment of well-earned honors.
The Union street Methodist meeting-house (St. Paul's) was dedicated on Thursday afternoon, 1 August.
On Thursday night, 12 September, the spacious building known as Nahant Hotel, was destroyed by fire. It was an immense structure of wood, with the exception of the small part built in 1819, which was of stone; was in some parts three and in others four stories in height; was something more than four hundred feet in length, and contained three hundred rooms. It was sufficient for the accommodation of a thousand visitors at a time ; six hundred could be seated together in the dining hall ; magnetic telegraph wires connected it with Boston; and it had every appliance of a first class public house. The conflagration made a striking display as seen from Lynn and the adjacent places. And it was observed from vessels a great distance at sea.
In September the little green in Washington Square, at the junction of Nahant street and Broad, was enclosed by a neat iron railing, and otherwise improved. The ladies held a fair, on May-day, to raise funds to defray the expense. The cost was $550.
An encampment was formed at Lynnfield, at which a number of regiments were drilled, preparatory to leaving for the seat of war.
Thursday, 26 September, was observed as a national fast.
In October, Miss Mitchell, whose astronomical observations and discoveries at Nantucket had made her name familiar to the scientific world, removed with her accomplished father, William Mitchell, to Lynn. Besides several smaller instruments, used at her former residence, she brought with her a beautiful equa- torial telescope, which she has since constantly applied to vari- ›us original researches, the principal and perhaps the most important of which are observations on the phenomena of the double stars or binary systems. The telescope was the gift of a few friends of both sexes, and no pains were spared in its construction. It was made by Alvan Clark and Sons, of Cam- brigeport, and is unquestionably among their best productions. The telescope is furnished with all the appliances belonging to N2
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the largest class of instruments, measuring circles of right as- cension, and declination, has clock-work, and micrometer. It has six eye-pieces of powers from fifty to three hundred. The telescope and equatorial apparatus are connected to a heavy iron tripod resting on a firm piece of solid masonry, whose base is sufficiently below the surface of the ground to be secure from the effects of frost and the tremor of passing carriages in the street at a distance of two hundred feet. The observatory is a circular building of great simplicity, with an ordinary roof revolving by means of iron balls running in grooved circular plates, thus enabling a narrow scuttle in the roof to be turned to any part of the heavens.
On Tuesday afternoon, 26 November, Phipps Munroe, a mas- ter carpenter, and much respected citizen, aged fifty-one, was instantly killed by a revolving shaft, at the morocco factory of Souther and Blaney, on Market steet. The shaft was making a hundred and eighty revolutions a minute, and it was supposed his clothing was caught, and he dashed against the beams, which were but about fourteen inches above the shaft.
1862.
On Saturday morning, 22 March, the dry goods store of S. J. Weinburg, on Market street, was a good deal damaged by fire.
On Monday morning, 7 April, Sagamore Cottage, which had been the home of Mr. Lewis, for nearly twenty of the last years of his life, was partially burned. It was at the time occupied by Mrs. Lewis and her little boy of four years. They were aroused in time to make their escape, by a dog kept on the premises. Most of the movable property was saved. The building, though much damaged, was soon repaired.
At Pranker's factory, in Saugus, 8 April, a steam copper cyl- inder, weighing about two hundred pounds and being a foot and a half in diameter and four feet in length, used for drying, suddenly burst, while revolving with great rapidity. Mr. Tobin, the man in charge, was thrown some ten feet and considerably injured. The force of the explosion was so great that several large windows were broken, and the iron frame that supported the cylinder was snapped to pieces, and thrown about with great violence.
Capt. Henry Bancroft's barn, in Lynnfield, was burned early on Sunday morning, 4 May, together with his carriage-house and other out buildings. A horse and several cows, were burned. Loss, about $4.000.
On Monday evening, 14 July, a large and enthusiastic war meeting was held at Lyceum Hall. And on the evening of Tuesday, 22 July, another was held on the Common. And on Saturday. 26 July, still another was held on the Common. Sim-
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. ilar meetings were likewise held in August. The places of busi- ness were closed at two o'clock in the afternoon of Tuesday, 26 August, and on each day for the remainder of the week, that the afternoons might be devoted to obtaining recruits.
On the afternoon of 30 July, during a thunder storm, George L. Hanson of Portland street, was seated near a window, in his house, when he was suddenly thrown a distance of nearly ten feet, receiving such a shock as rendered him apparently lifeless. His wife immediately closed his nostrils and breathed into his mouth; other restorative means were applied, and he soon returned to consciousness. It was not known that the lightning struck any where in the vicinity. And Mr. Hanson neither saw lightning nor heard thunder.
On Sunday afternoon, 31 August, an enthusiastic war meeting was held on the Common. Religious services were omitted at all the churches excepting the First Baptist, and the clergy very generally attended and took part in the meeting. The day was pleasant, and a very great crowd assembled, including a body of soldiery. Stirring speeches were made, and national pieces sung and played by the military band. There was like. wise an interspersion of religious exercises. During the latter part of the evening, there was a large gathering in front of the City Hall. And the result of the movements of the day was the securing of a considerable number of enlistments.
On Thursday, 4 September, a grand pic-nic party under the auspices of the Spiritualists, was held at Dungeon Rock. Some two thousand persons of both sexes and all ages were present. There was speaking, music, and dancing. Mediums were in attendance, and divers revelations made. The day was pleas ant, and the proceedings went forward with spirit. No more delightful or romantic place could be found for such a gathering. This was the first of a number of similar assemblages in that attractive locality.
The 8th of October was the warmest October day since 1807, the thermometer reaching ninety degrees, in the shade.
On Sunday afternoon, 19 October, the funerals of two de- ceased soldiers-John C. Dow and Solomon Martin - both victims of the battle of Antietam -took place; that of the first named from the Christian Chapel, on Silsbe street, and that of the last from the Second Universalist meeting-house. They were attended by a large concourse, including the principal city authorities.
The house of William Cheever, in Saugus was burned on the night of 3 November.
The Swampscot Library Association was formed this year. '
On the 5th of November, the bodies of two brothers - Charles J. Batchelder and George W. Batchelder. were buried from the
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First Methodist meeting-house. Both were in the service of their country. Charles, who was a lieutenant, died at New Orleans, of fever, and George, who was a captain, was killed at the battle of Antietam. There was a very large attendance, embracing the city authorities and a considerable body of mil- itary ; and the services were peculiarly impressive and affecting. This, and the other military funerals mentioned under this date were the first of a large number, which would be separately noticed did space permit.
There was an extraordinary yield of fruit this year, in this vicinity, and it was more than usually excellent.
During the autumn of this year, a Soldiers' Burial Lot was laid out in Pine Grove Cemetery. The City appropriated five hundred dollars for the object. The lot is on the corner of Lo- cust and Larch avenues, is square, contains three thousand and six hundred square feet, and is surrounded by a border of twelve feet, for trees, shrubs, and flowers.
As evidence of the patriotism of some of our families, it may be mentioned that Otis Newhall, superintendent of Pine Grove Cemetery, and Edmund Waitt, of Strawberry avenue, each had five sons in the war, this year; and John Alley, 4th, had four.
The most atrocious murder ever committed in Lynn was perpetrated early in the evening of 23 December. Nathan Breed, jr., an estimable citizen, aged thirty-eight, who kept a grocery store on Summer street, corner of Orchard Court, was killed by terrible blows from a small axe, inflicted chiefly on the head. The horrid deed was consummated in a most daring and merciless manner. He was in his store, and it was an hour when customers were especially liable to call. The murderer must have watched his opportunity, and done the deed with fearful expedition. The assault was made between six and seven o'clock, and Mr. Breed lingered till three in the morning. He had his senses, and declared that his murderer was a young man named Horace L. Davis, who lived in the neighborhood, and whose age was about seventeen. Davis was arrested and tried for the murder, but the jury could not agree on a verdict, being divided on the question of mental capacity ; but he sub- sequently pleaded guilty to the charge of manslaughter, and was sentenced to the state prison for twenty years.
1863.
Rev. Charles W. Biddle was installed pastor of the First Uni- versalist Society, on Thursday afternoon, 5 February.
On the morning of 12 February, the Sash and Blind Factory, on Essex street, near the Swampscot line, was destroyed by fire,
The little fishing schooner Flying Dart, of Swampscot, with a crew of twelve men, on the 25th of February brought in 14.000
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pounds of fish, caught by them that day. The fish were readily sold at an average rate of two cents a pound.
There was an interval of severe cold, near the middle of March. On the 14th, the thermometer reached twelve de- grees below zero. The winter had been quite open, hereabout, but it was judged to have been very severe at the north, from the number of arctic birds that visited us. Four large arctic owls were shot during one week, at Nahant and on the beaches, and several eagles appeared on the marshes.
The Kerosine Oil Factory of Berry and Hawkes, on Hawkes's Hill, in East Saugus, was burned, 20 March.
Capt. John B. Hubbard, of Gen. Weitzel's staff, was killed in battle at Port Hudson, in May. He was principal of the Lynn High School at the time of his enlistment. He was a son of a former governor of Maine, a graduate of Bowdoin College, and highly esteemed, while here, as a teacher and a man.
The large steam bakery, of Thomas Austin and Company, on Water Hill, was burned on the morning of 29 May.
The Boston and Lynn Horse Rail-road commenced running cars to Chelsea Beach, on the 1st of June.
Extraordinary numbers of caterpillars appeared in the summer of this year. So numerous were they that in many instances trees had to be abandoned to their ravages. Canker worms were also very abundant and destructive.
The barn of Nathan Breed, on Broad street, was burned, June 2, the fire being occasioned by attempts to destroy, by fire, the caterpillars on the fruit trees near by.
Lieut. Col. Charles Redington Mudge was killed at the battle of Gettysburg, 3 July. He was the eldest son of E. R. Mudge, of Swampscot, and twenty-three years of age; was an officer of great promise, and at the time he was killed was in command of the regiment, gallantly leading on a charge. He graduated at Harvard, with the 1860 class.
The church bells were rung, cannon fired, and bonfires lighted, on the 7th of July, in rejoicing over the fall of Vicksburg.
Liberty Hose House, on Willow street, was burned 30 July.
An enthusiastic reception of the Lynn soldiers belonging to the Eighth Regiment, took place on the 30th of July, on the return from their nine months' service. There was a very long procession of military, firemen and citizens ; bells were rung, cannon fired, and welcoming speeches made; many dwellings and public places were decorated ; and a collation was served on the Common.
Thursday, August 6, was observed as a day of national thanks- giving, in view of the successes of our arms.
The dwelling house of Frank Fiske, in Cliftondale, was burned, September 15.
N2*
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1864.
A war meeting was held at Lyceum Hall, on Sunday evening, January 3, which was largely attended and enthusiastic.
Frederic Tudor died at his residence, in Boston, on Saturday afternoon, February 6, aged 80. He was born in Boston, in a house which stood on the site of the present Tudor's Building, in Court street, on the 4th of September, 1783. His grandfather, John Tudor, emigrated from Devonshire, England, to Boston, and his father, William Tudor, was born in Boston, and served during the Revolution as Judge Advocate General of the army under Washington. Daniel Henchman, who planted the cele- brated old elm on Boston Common, was his maternal ancestor, and perhaps from him he inherited that taste for the culture of trees which is evidenced by the groves now flourishing on Na- hant. And this Daniel Henchman, by the way, was grandfather of Rev. Mr. Henchman who was settled over the Lynn church from 17.20 to 1761.
Mr. Tudor married, in 1834, Miss Euphemia Fenno, a native of New York city, and left six children, the eldest of whom was born in 1837, and the youngest in 1854. Their names are as follows : Euphemia, now a naturalized French lady, the Countess Kleezkowska; Frederick ; Delia J .; William ; Eleonora ; Henry.
Mr. Tudor is justly entitled to be called the father of the great New England Ice Trade, which was commenced as early as 1805. In 1834, he sent his first cargo to the East Indies, and soon found himself in a highly lucrative business. He early became charmed by the beauties of Nahant, and in 1825 built his stone cottage and laid out his picturesque grounds there. And he continued, from year to year to reside there during the warm season, and expend large sums in beautifying the peninsula and adding to his possessions. There is unquestionable autho- rity for stating that during the last thirty years of his life he expended not less than $30.000 dollars annually - making $906.000 for that period alone. Previously he had spent large sume in building, improving roads, and planting trees. He was a man of great decision of character, promptness in action, and impatience of interference with his plans. Towards strangers he manifested great courtesy and did much to render their visits to Nahant agreeable. The inhabitants, at their annual town meeting, 12 March, 1864, unanimously adopted resolutions expressive of their sense of loss and appreciation of his worth and generosity.
On the evening of February 8, Henry Neill, aged 49, was killed at the Central Rail-road Station. He jumped from the platform of a car and fell in such a manner that the wheels passed over his neck, nearly severing his head.
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ANNALS OF LYNN- 1864.
Rev. Parsons Cooke, D. D., minister of the First Church of Lynn, died on Friday afternoon, 12 February. He was born in Hadley, 18 February, 1800, was the son of Solomon Cooke, a respectable farmer, and a descendant from Capt. Haron Cooke, conspicuous among the early settlers of that vicinity.
Mr. Cooke graduated at Williams College, in 1822, and studied theology under 'Dr. Griffin, president of that institution. In June, 1826, he was installed over the East Evangelical Church in Ware, which was his first settlement. There he remained till April, 1835, and then accepted a call from a society in Ports- mouth, N. H. In the latter place he continued about six months, and in 1836 accepted the call of the church at Lynn, and remained its pastor to the end of his life. On the 5th of June, 1826, he married Hannah Starkweather, who died July 2, 1852, and by whom he had no children. His second wife, whom he married July 20, 1853, was Mary Ann W. Hawley, of Bridge- port, Ct., and by her he had one son, born 27 October, 1855.
Mr. Cooke early displayed a love of controversy, which it may be said grew with his growth and strengthened with his strength; so his life' was not distinguished by that pacific course which many believe is most strongly inculcated in the gospel of peace. His mind was of such an order that he rapidly arrived at conclusions, tenaciously held to them, and was not remarkble for his gentle bearing toward those who differed from him. His perceptions were quick, and he had an abundance of natural wit, which, unfortunately, was liable to exhibit itself in the degenerate form of sarcasm. His reasoning powers were evidently good; but yet he possessed such an unaccountable vein of credulity, that their best fruits seemed sometimes never to ripen. A reference to his work entitled "A Century of Puritanism and a Century of its Opposites," will be sufficient to satisfy any one acquainted with our history, of the truth of these remarks. Some of the honest individuals who supplied him with information would, doubtless, have been more guarded in their expressions, had they observed this peculiarity of his mind. But it is difficult not to conclude that others deliberately imposed upon him. It cannot be supposed that he made any of the remarkable statements without a full belief of their truth ; and it is surprising that he forbore the slight examination neces- sary for the detection of some of the more patent errors. He was often boldly charged, in the newspapers, with wilful misrep- resentation ; but I see no necessity for the charge of wilfulness, and apprehend that he was simply ensnared in the way indicated. His style of composition was not what rhetoricians call elegant, but was well adapted to controversial purposes. The sentences were short, direct, and without any waste of words. He evi- dently thought more of what he was saying than how he spoke.
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