USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 59
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Nahant > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 59
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynnfield > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 59
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 59
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynn > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 59
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HISTORY OF LYNN.
that of Mr. Lewis, it seems as if, in its full acceptance and effect, it must have been an inexhaustible source of comfort.
There was nothing particularly striking in the personal ap- pearance of Mr. Lewis; yet he would generally have been noticed as one of marked character. He was of medium height, good form, and erect carriage. His head was large, his fore- head high, his eye bright. He had a pleasant smile, but seldom indulged in a hearty laugh. During most of his manhood, he closely shaved his beard; but for his last few years that digni- fied appendage was allowed to take its natural course, with now and then a slight trimming. Up to middle life he was rather more than ordinarily careful in the matter of dress, though never foppish. But in his latter days he hardly paid that attention to exterior appearance becoming one in his posi- tion. He never, however, appeared in a garb that the fastidious need call unseemly. Black, the more genteel color of the day, he seldom chose, preferring gray or some other modest mixture. A cloth cap or low-crowned hat usually adorned his head.
He was thoughtful, but not abstracted; and whether in com- pany or in the street, nothing worthy of remark was liable to escape his notice. He was fond of attending scientific, philan- thropic, and other lectures, and often, when a fit occasion presented, took the opportunity to express his approval or disapproval of what was uttered. And he was not opposed to any rational amusement.
His constitution was naturally good, and capable of great endurance, as the severe tests to which he was subjected in his surveying excursions, during the inclement seasons, abundantly proved. About two years before his decease, he greatly failed in health, though he kept about, and to a considerable extent attended to his ordinary duties. His supposition was that he had been poisoned, while surveying in the woods, His final disease, however, was softening of the brain. It is not likely that he suffered much pain, and his last hours were passed in an unconscious state.
In his picturesque little cot by the sea side he breathed his last, on Monday the 21st of January, 1861 - the little cot, reared partly by his own hands, which had been his home for many years; where he loved to study and to muse; to watch the
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. - ALONZO LEWIS.
serene light that proclaimed the peace of nature, or the weird mist that heralded the roaring storm; where the spent waves, whispering beneath his window, calmed his spirit for nightly repose, and the solemn pulsations of the mighty deep swelled in majestic harmony with the lone throbs of his poetic soul; where the wail of his ocean dirge may still be heard; and where he penned these entreating though unheeded lines.
O, bury me not in the dark old woods, Where the sunbeams never shine ; Where mingles the mist of the mountain floods With the dew of the dismal pine!
But bury me deep by the bright blue sea, I have loved in life so well;
Where the winds may come to my spirit free, And the sound of the ocean shell.
O, bury me not in the churchyard old, In the slime of the doleful tomb!
Where my bones may be thrust, ere their life is cold, To the damp of a drearier gloom!
But bury me deep by the bright blue sea, Where the friends whom I loved have been ;
Where the sun may shine on the grass turf free, And the rains keep it ever green!
SAGAMORE COTTAGE - (RESIDENCE OF ALONZO LEWIS.)
Mr. Lewis was buried from the Central Congregational meet- ing-house, in Silsbe street, on Wednesday, the 23d of January. The day was cloudy, damp and chill, and there was a singu- V2
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HISTORY OF LYNN.
larly small attendance. The house was cold, the services were brief, and attended by no special solemnity. Some passages of Scripture were read, the choir sang a few appropriate strains, and an extemporaneous prayer was offered. But no eulogy or dis- course of any kind was uttered. The remains were exposed to view, for a short time, in the porch, and thence conveyed to their last resting place, in the Old Burying Ground near the west end of the Common, where his father and mother lay.
And so passed from earth ALONZO LEWIS, the historian and bard of Lynn - a man who labored much for the good of others, and especially rejoiced in the prosperity of his native place - who in life was often called to drink of a bitter cup, but who, God grant, may have an overflowing cup of joy in the world to which he has gone.
DANIEL COLLINS BAKER. - 1816-1863.
Mr. Baker was born in Lynn on the 12th of October, 1816, and was a son of Elisha Baker. His parents were Quakers, and he was a pupil at the Friends' Boarding School, in Providence, R. I. On the 19th of December, 1838, he married Augusta, a daughter of John B. Chase, the ceremony taking place accord- ing to the custom of the Friends; but he did not continue in the faith of his fathers. He had three children - William E., Helen, and Sarah E.
Mr. Baker was a man of great activity in business, and stood so well at the time the Howard Banking Company, of Boston, went into operation, that he was chosen its president. Good fortune, however, did not always attend his operations; and particularly by the disastrous termination of the great Nahant Hotel project he met with considerable loss.
For some years he was a zealous politician, and frequently in office. In, 1849 and '50 he was elected to the Senate ; at the organization of our first City Government he was chosen Presi- dent of the Common Council; and in 1853, he was elected Mayor. As a presiding officer, he stood high, disposing of busi- ness with facility and demeaning himself with great courtesy.
Mr. Baker was a little inclined to display, and joined heartily in public entertainments and political demonstrations. He was
.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. - BENJAMIN F. NEWHALL.
liberal in sentiment, free in expenditure, convivial in habit, and had a kind heart. He built the fine residence on Franklin street, opposite Laighton, and resided there for a number of years. His death took place on the 19th of July, 1863, at New Orleans, where he had been doing business for some months.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN NEWHALL. - 1802-1863
Mr. Newhall was born in that part of Lynn now constituting Saugus, on the 29th of April, 1802. He was a son of Jacob, who was born November 1, 1780, and was a son of Jacob, known as Landlord Newhall, who was born May 3, 1740, and was a son of Locker, who was born November 12, 1708, and was a son of Jacob, who was born March 27, 1686, and was a grandson of Thomas, the first white person born in Lynn.
The circumstances of Mr. Newhall's father were such, that he was early taught the necessity of self-dependence ; and naturally possessing an inclination to accumulate, he soon formed habits of industry and frugality. But in his first labors he had a higher incentive to diligence than the selfish one of mere accu- mulation. The necessities of a loving mother with other help- less children, stimulated him to the most strenuous exertion.
Some time before his death he prepared a sort of autobiogra- phy, in which many of his early struggles and experiences are detailed in a manner always interesting and often affecting; and an occasional passage from it will add much to the value of this sketch. The following, which is found under date 1815, and relates to his mother, can hardly fail to be read with emotion. And who will not be ready to say that with such a mother, a child who would not do his best must be hopelessly perverse. . The growth of the religious element, which was so conspicuous in his character throughout all his active life, and which often attracted the attention of his business associates, is easily ac- counted for. He says :
How well do I remember in the late hours of night, when father was away and her dear ones were sleeping, that she would come to my bed-side, and kneel- ing with overflowing heart pour out her soul in prayer that God would pre- serve her darling boy from the snares so thick around him. She thought I 'was asleep, but I was awake and the silent tear moistened my young cheek,
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HISTORY OF LYNN.
and I avowed before God, that a mother's prayers should not be in vain. How often she thus kneeled at my bed-side when I was asleep, I know not, but doubtless quite often.
How many times I wished that I were older, and had some good work so that I could support her. I frequently entreated her for work, but not shoe- making, as I could not like that. I often used to go into the chocolate mill, and soon learned to handle the pans, paper the chocolate, and do other light work. I liked it, and begged her to get me a chance in the mill. But she told me that only men worked there. I was sorry, but not disheartened.
He however got a chance in the mill, and then commenced his first regular work, though he had previously assisted his father a little in the shoemaker's shop. But he had a great dislike for shoemaking. At this time he was thirteen years old.
Autumn came, and the chocolate making commenced early and promised well. I implored my mother to get me work. She went to Mr. Childs and told her story. He said if I could work well I might come in. Well! I knew what I could do, and never was a boy better pleased than I when I heard the decision. My mother made me a frock of a cocoa bag, and I was proud as a king. Never shall I forget the day when all arrayed I marched to the mill and went to work. Old - and - were the men. [The names are all given in the manuscript, but for obvious reasons should not all appear in print.] - drank a great deal of rum, and was cross and ugly ; but I was determined to please him, for I knew that there all my hopes depended; he was master, and what he said was law; even Mr. Childs dared not dispute him. When he spoke, I sprang, and ran, obeying his every nod. Besides that, I did the very work he wished me to do, and no other. I soon got his good will, and he was always kind to me.
But to come back to the work. I, a boy not fourteen years old, and the business requiring labor night and day, found it hard. To go to work at sunset and continue till sunrise, four nights in the week, I could scarcely endure, and sometimes declared -"This shall be my last night." But when the beautiful sun shone in the morning I felt better, and encouraged to go on. I hated shoemaking, and was yet determined to earn something for my mother. If I could earn eighty-three cents a day by working night and day, it was to me a great sum. I now think that such labor for a boy was too much; but I was ambitious. My mother often wept at my exposure and extreme labor; and perhaps I am now reaping the harvest grown from the seed then sown. Sometimes she would say that the work was too hard, and I had better quit it ; but I could not think of it; work I must, and work I would. Mr. Childs would stand and look with astonishment to see me paper the chocolate so much faster than was ever done before. From the beginning to the end of a week I did not get into a bed. When the tide was over we would spread the hot cocoa, and throwing a bag over it make it a bed. In cold weather, the steaming cocoa was inviting; but I now think its effects were bad. But with all the hard work and suffering, I got through my first winter at the mill ; how
569.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. - BENJAMIN F. NEWHALL.
I bore the fatigue God only knows; some unseen hand supported me ; and when I was just on the point of giving up, several times, some impulse of mind forbade it. God helped me.
Passing on to 1818, when he was sixteen years old, we find him still persevering in labor, stimulated by the same high motives.
In the spring of 1818, having got through with mill work, my mother en- gaged me to go to work for Jesse Rice, on Nahant. So the next morning I started for my new field of labor. I was pleased with the idea, and thought how pleasant it would be to work at Nahant in summer. My labor was farm- ing I went to work with earnestness, but soon found that Mr. Rice needed an experienced farmer and a strong man. I could not hold a heavy plough, with two yoke of oxen ; I had not learned to, and was not stout enough ; Mr. Rice saw it and was sorry; and so was I. After a week's trial, he told me that the work was beyond my strength, and I had better seek some lighter labor. He said that when I grew older and stouter I might come again. I thanked him, he paid me well, and I returned home.
This season I learned to blow rocks; and the work being new, I took hold in earnest. For a while I did not charge the rocks, but before long I learned to, and could do it as well as any body.
I think it was in June [1818] that Mr. Smith sent for me to go up and tend the " chipper." This was a machine to cut up the small blocks of cam-wood, to chips, so that they could be ground. It was a dangerous machine, and several had already been injured by it. Smith cautioned me to be very careful; and the caution was well given. I have often wondered how my mother dared to risk me at such dangerous work. All went on well enough for a while. I thought myself master of the business and grew heedless. One day in care- lessness I put my left thumb under the axe, and cut it off. I started, and could hardly believe my thumb was lost, having scarcely noticed the accident by the pain ; a pin's prick would have hurt me more. I took the severed member, put it on its place, and started for the house, holding it on. Smith saw me coming; I saw him, and remembering his caution, laughed. He said, " You have cut off your fingers." I went in, sat down, and he took a good sized needle and thread and sewed it on. 1 bore it pretty well, and after it was done started for home. My mother was sorry, and wept, and at once sent me down to Dr. John Lummus, that he might look at it. He examined it and expressed some doubt about saving the thumb, but said he would try. The night following was dreadful, I slept none, and in the morning went down to the Doctor's again, repeating my visits to him for several successive days. Finally the severed thumb was cast into the fire, and the wound dressed ; and it was nearly two months before I got well.
The foregoing is sufficient to give an idea of the early strug- gles of this more than ordinary man. And we must pass on again, till we reach the year 1825, when he was twenty-three V2*
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HISTORY OF LYNN.
years of age, about which time, in company with another, he commenced a small trading establishment in Canada. Thither he made two or three journeys. But on the whole they were unsuccessful, and the enterprise was abandoned. After various other trials, successes, and mishaps, he arrives at the age of twenty-eight. He had now, 1830, just returned from Canada, having closed up there, and goes on to speak of his condition, prospects, and determination, as follows :
I reached home in safety the next day, and found all well as usual. I was glad to get once more where I was known, though I hardly knew what to do with the debts which I owed on the store business. However, by the assist- ance of my uncle Makepeace I paid up the small debts, and got one or two of the largest creditors to wait. The next step was to get into some business, that I might support my family. The shoe business presented the fairest prospect, as I thought ; so I hired a small room in the upper part of what is now the Henry Nichols house, got trusted for one bundle of leather from Isaac Bassett and a dozen of kid from John Lovejoy, and hired of John Emerton fifty dollars, giving him a mortgage on my horse and wagon for security. With this small outfit I went to work, fully determined that nothing on my part should be wanting to ensure success. I kept an exact account of all I bought and sold, so that I might at any time know whether I was making a profit. Every thing in business was as dull as could be and workmen were hard to be got. But perseverance and prudence were my motto. After three months of close application, I found a little had been made. This was to me encouraging, and I labored on. Never shall I forget how hard it was to sell shoes in Boston. The seller had to beg, and be insulted besides. But no discouragements deterred me ; and I now look back and see a kind and over- ruling Providence in all.
I considered this the beginning of life with me, and felt determined to sue- ceed, if prudence and economy would ensure success. I began with the determination not to give a note if I could avoid it. So, buying as I did, on a credit, I let accounts run six months, and then contrived to settle them either by giving some business note which I took, or making the payment in cash. After a short time I made my plan work well. The first of January and the first of July, in every year, were to be my settling times with every one. Most of my accounts would then have run six months, and I was entitled to three months more clear credit on a note. When the first of January came I had passed all my fall sales, and had notes or cash for the same. When the first of July came I had made all my spring sales, and had cash and notes for them. So the advantage of fixing on these dates for settlements will be seen. I could then endorse the business paper that I had taken and thus settle all my bills, or could get notes discounted and pay the cash. 1 got this machinery of business well established, and never deviated from it in all the time that I followed the business. Thomas Raddin had then got into a fair business and
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. - BENJAMIN F. NEWHALL. 571
1
had established a good credit at the Commercial Bank, in Salem, and he intro- duced me to the president, Willard Peele, Esq., and thus I obtained the advantage of getting a discount as often as I wanted one. This was every thing to me, as money matters were then situated. I was very punctual in all my payments, and so my credit grew better and better.
It would be instructive as well as interesting to follow him in his business operations all the way up till the time when he became firmly established as one of the most successful, shrewd, and wealthy business men in the vicinity, and speak more at large of his integrity, promptness, perseverance, and industry ; but allotted space will not permit. His projects were often bold, but never characterized by that reckless adventure so often seen among those who make haste to be rich. He by no means confined himself to one kind of business, but com- monly, to use an expressive phrase, had several irons in the fire at the same time ; yet he was so active and watchful that none appeared to suffer for want of attention.
Mr. Newhall's education was procured at the common school, with the exception of a short attendance at the New Market Academy, and the more important exception of his own private application. He was qualified to teach in the common schools of the time, when he was a young man, and did teach, for one or two brief periods, before he became settled in business.
The religious element was always strong in his mind. He became a professing Christian while a youth, joined the Metho- dist connection, and preached a little before he had attained his majority. He however, some years afterward, swerved from the faith he first professed and became a Universalist. He was a man of strictly moral life and a friend to all enterprises calculated to promote morality and education. In public affairs he took a warm interest, and originated a number of beneficial projects.
On the 25th of April, 1825, he married Miss Dorothy Jewett, of Hebron, Ct., and had six children - Benjamin, Charles J., Herbert B., Wilbur F., Ellen M., and Alice A.
He was a man of medium stature, and in the prime of life was active in his movements, and capable of enduring much fatigue and exposure. But for two or three years before his death, he suffered greatly from chronic rheumatism, which reduced him to the sad condition of a cripple. He kept about as long as
1
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HISTORY OF LYNN.
possible, but for many months was almost the whole time con- fined to his room, and much of the time to his bed. It was a sore trial to him, for his mind was as vigorous as ever. Yet he bore his affliction with a patience and resignation seldom wit- nessed, though his pains were at times excruciating. He often sat up in bed to write down his thoughts, to read, or arrange those worldly matters which he knew were soon to pass into other hands. He died on Tuesday, the 13th of October, 1863.
It now remains to speak of Mr. Newhall as a writer. He wrote a great many articles, in prose and poetry, which ap- peared in the newspapers; some of which attracted considera- ble attention. If all that emanated from his prolific pen could be gathered together, volumes might be filled; and among it would be found much of sterling value. But it must be said that he wrote too much to do full justice to himself - that he did not always take sufficient time to investigate and consider his subjects. But a great portion of what he wrote was elicited by occurrences of temporary interest, and not expected to pos- sess an enduring value. He however wrote many pieces that were never published, some of which would undoubtedly do credit to his memory, should they appear in print.
The most valuable of his published prose writings were his Historical Sketches of Saugus, which appeared in numbers, in the Lynn Weekly Reporter, commencing in December, 1858, and continuing on through two or three years. They did not claim to be a connected history, but were rather a collection of facts, traditions, and reminiscences, interspersed with descrip- tive passages, reflections, and suggestions. They were exceed- ingly interesting; and had he been more exact in his statements, instead of so frequently referring this or that event to about such a time, would have possessed greater value. But that exactness is just what requires the greatest labor at the histo- rian's hand ; and he had not the time to spare in such gratuitous service.' He did more than could have been expected, and has furnished a vast number of hints and much useful matter for some future historian.
He commenced a dalliance with the Muses at an early age, and became quite a skillful versifier. Under date 1819. at which time he was seventeen years old, he says :
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. - BENJAMIN F. NEWHALL.
There was in the neighborhood an old maid called Betty Brown. She was a great tattler, or at least had the reputation of being one. And so I wrote my first verse :
Betty Brown is of renown, Throughout the neighborhood, Tells all she knows, where'er she goes, But never tells no good.
It will be observed that I had never studied grammar, to understand it, and did not then see that in my first verse I was violating a very important gram- matical rule. But no matter ; it was my first effort.
He wrote on all subjects and had a happy faculty of adapting his style to his matter- being grave or gay as occasion required. But he had too much natural kindness of heart often to be severe. His rhymes were usually good, and at times showed considerable ingenuity. In some pieces there ran a pleasant vein of quiet humor which now and then broke up in a flash of satire.
The religious element so conspicuous in his character, has been referred to. It produced in the weary and painful hours of his last sickness much comfort; making him patient under his sufferings, and inspiring a confident expectation of a happy issue out of all afflictions. The following pieces bear evidence of a devotional, trusting, and thankful spirit, and are, I think, fair specimens of his poetry. The one entitled "Lines on My Sixtieth Birth-day," I believe he considered his best piece. There certainly are some passages in it worthy of being read and re-read. But it should be remarked that authors are not usually the best judges of their own productions. Circumstances un- known or unappreciated by the reader may give them a ficti- tious value in the mind of the writer. The other piece - that entitled " Answered Prayer," was dictated when prostrate upon his bed, a few days before his death. It was his last piece.
LINES ON MY SIXTIETH BIRTH-DAY. [APRIL 29, 1862.]
How noiselessly the wheels of time have rolled along their way, And brought once more - perhaps the last - my cherished natal day, Which on the dial-plate of time, counts up the three score years, Some brightened by a sunny smile, and some bedewed by tears.
Just three score years have passed away, since I, a baby boy, First pressed that dear maternal breast, and gave a mother joy
. And made a father's heart rejoice, with pure paternal love.
But those warm hearts have ceased to beat- their home is now above.
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I yet remain ; but oh, how changed; the child of three score years I cannot recognize at all in that which now appears; And were it not for consciousness that I am still the same, I should suppose the change complete in all except the name.
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