USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant, Vol. II. 1864-1893 > Part 14
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant, Vol. II. 1864-1893 > Part 14
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynnfield > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant, Vol. II. 1864-1893 > Part 14
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Nahant > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant, Vol. II. 1864-1893 > Part 14
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynn > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant, Vol. II. 1864-1893 > Part 14
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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
FULLER, MARIA AUGUSTA - poetess and prose writer - was born in Lynn, Dec. 9, 1806, and died January 19, 1831. A bio- graphical notice, with specimens of her writing may be found in the 1865 edition of the History of Lynn. A fac-simile of her signature follows.
Maria A Fuller
GARDNER, Dr. JAMES-a physician of high standing, and much respected for his good judgment and benevolence. He died December 26, 1831, aged 69. His residence was on Boston street, near Bridge. See Annals, 1831.
GARDNER, JAMES H. - was born in Lynn. July 29, 1796, and died in Richmond, Va., September 10, 1877. He was a son of Dr. James Gardner, just named, and a grandson of Dr. Flagg, who occupied the " Billy Gray" house. He became a resident of Richmond in early life, and for many years carried on a large
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Gates. Gillow.
and successful business there, maintaining a character for integrity and liberality attained by few. The Richmond Despatch, in an obituary notice, said of him, "There was no man who was more worthily loved and respected, and no man whose life was more exemplary." He always entertained the highest regard for his native place, and until the infirmities of age overtook him, made an annual visit, encouraging her public enterprises and liberally bestowing in charity, from his large means, which, however, became sadly reduced by the calamities of the civil war, an occurrence which he deeply deplored. He was an active member of the Protestant Episcopal communion, and even as far back as 1819, when the first attempt was made to establish a church here he looked hopefully forward to the time when her benign influence would pervade the community ; was a strong and help- ing friend to St. Stephen's in her darkest hours, and happily lived to see her in comparative prosperity. A memorial window has been placed in the church at Richmond, where he worshiped, and in which he was a vestryman and Sunday school superin- dent many years.
GATES, ISAAC-a shrewd but eccentric lawyer. His office and residence were on Market street, that street then being chiefly occupied by residences. He died Nov. 9, 1852. See Annals, 1852.
GILLOW, JOHN. There were several Gillows here at an early period, but it does not appear that any of their. descendants remain. The John whose autograph is to be seen on the Armi- tage Petition, page 106, was doubtless the shrewd individual who so successfully turned the tables on a pestilent fellow who sued him for the loss of a cow. The case occurred in 1638, and is thus related by Winthrop : " A remarkable providence appeared in a case which was tried at the last Court of Assistants. Divers neighbors of Lynn, by agreement kept their cattle by turns. It fell out to the turn of one Gillow to keep them, and as he was driving them forth another of these neighbors went along with him, and kept him so earnestly in talk, that his cattle strayed and gate in the corn. Then this other neighbor left him, and would not help him recover his cattle, but went and told another
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Gould. Gray.
how he had kept Gillow in talk, that he might lose his cattle. The cattle getting into the Indian corn, eat so much ere they could be gotten out, that two of them fell sick of it, and one of them died presently ; and these two cows were that neighbor's who kept Gillow in talk. The man brings his action against Gillow for his cow (not knowing that he had witness of his speech;) but Gillow, producing witness, barred him of his action, and had good costs." Mr. Gillow died in 1673.
GOULD Dr. ABRAHAM - A skillful physician, of large practice. His residence was on Boston street, a furlong east of Tower Hill, and he died February 27, 1866, aged 58. See Annals, 1866.
GRAY, GEORGE- the Lynn Hermit -lived on Boston street, nearly opposite the entrance to Pine Grove Cemetery, and died February 28, 1848, aged 78. See Annals, 1848.
It was natural enough that many wonderful stories touching the career of such a mysterious personage as Mr. Gray should have gained currency. The writer had occasional interviews with him, and knew that he was well aware of the gossiping indulgencies of his neighbors. But he was shrewd enough never to admit or deny the truth of anything that was said about him. Among the most interesting incidents in his veritable or imagin- ary history was his alleged connection with the fate of the French Dauphin, Charles Louis, son of Louis XVI and Maria Antoinette. It is easy enough to see how in a fertile imagination such an alluring connection may have been suggested by the following facts : A number of years ago the Rev. Eleazer Williams, a respectable clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church, who had for a considerable period been laboring as a missionary among the St. Regis Indians visited Lynn. An article had about that time appeared in Putnam's Magazine, a periodical of high standing, presenting quite an array of evidence tending to show that this Mr. Williams was in truth the scion of royalty whose death history had all along informed us took place in 1795, through the cruel treatment of Simon, into whose relentless custody the revolutionary miscreants had resigned him. There were many, however, who did not feel assured that history, in this instance, spoke the exact truth.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Gray.
Mr. Williams, during his visit to Lynn, which was brief, called on the writer, for the chief purpose of obtaining a specimen of the handwriting of the Hermit ; and no doubt he had interviews with others. That he felt confident that he really was the Dau- phin may not be disputed, the theory being that he had become well nigh demented by the heartless treatment of Simon - his memory and power of observation almost extinguished - and in that condition was secretly taken from that austere custody, brought to the wilds of America, and given in charge of a woman of the St. Regis tribe, who nurtured him lovingly. He believed that he had always been kept in sight by French partisans, and mentioned the fact that the Prince de Joinville, when in this country sought him out and had an interview at Green Bay, but was shy about stating the object or result of the interview. The magazine article, however, intimated that the Prince had enjoined conditional secresy, and added that Louis Philip himself, after the return of his son, wrote to Mr. Williams. The almost idiotic condition to which the Dauphin had been reduced was urged as a reason why Mr. Williams had no clear recollection of things that happened before he attained the age of thirteen or fourteen - only a few dream-like catches. It was likewise mentioned as a significant fact that in the reign of Louis XVIII the name of the Dauphin was omitted in the funeral solemnities for the deceased Bourbons. The Indian woman was said never to have claimed that the child was her own ; and it is asserted that when Professor Day placed before him a portrait of Simon, he gave a shudder ; and further, that he recognized a portrait of Madam Elizabeth as the likeness of one whom he had seen. It was also said that the ambassador Genet declared that the Dauphin was alive, in New York state, in 1817, though it is not known that he located him in St. Regis, which is in that state, and that a Frenchman named Boulanger, who died in New Orleans, in 1848, on his death-bed declared that he had a hand in bringing the royal child to America.
These circumstances, in connection with the fact that Mr. Williams was so anxious to obtain a specimen of the handwriting of the Hermit furnished a basis for a very interesting superstruc- ture. And it was soon claimed-on what authority we have yet been unable to determine - that Gray was in France, a red
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Gray.
republican, during the most sanguinary days of the revolution, and was one of those who brought hither the ill-fated boy.
What the truth in this mysterious matter is, it is now probable will never be known ; and though it may detract something from the romance of the narrative, we feel bound to add a few facts of a different aspect touching the identity of Mr. Williams. The name Williams has been long known in the St. Regis tribe, for it will not be forgotten that the minister of Deerfield who with his family was taken captive among others on the terrible night of the savage attack on the settlement, in 1703, was the Rev. John Williams. The captives were, with a few exceptions, finally redeemed. But his daughter Eunice had become so enamored of Indian life that she could not be induced to return to civiliza- tion, though she occasionally visited her early friends. Now we find it stated in the Historical Collections of New York, that this very Eleazer Williams was a grandson of Eunice who ad- hered to the surname of her father, and that he was educated by her Christian friends. For many years he was a devoted mission- ary in the tribe, and did much to ameliorate their condition. A late chief of the tribe bore the name of Williams, and was, no doubt, another descendant of Eunice. Assuming that these state- ments are all authentic, they would preclude a belief that Mr. Williams was the French Dauphin. But there is no conclusive evidence on the point, his own recollection being entirely at fault. He possessed one physical feature which was quite observable, namely, an unmistakable Bourbon nose.
We remarked that when here Mr. Williams was anxious to obtain a specimen of the handwriting of the Hermit; but he seemed to desire it for use in efforts then being made to secure the property left by Gray, who had lately died, for a claimant in whom he felt an interest, but whether one connected with old French affairs is not known. The following is a fac-simile of the Hermit's signature.
George Gray
GRAY, WILLIAM- best known by the inelegant sobriquet "Billy Gray" - an eminent merchant, and Lieut. Governor
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Halsey.
of the State. He was born in the Dr. Flagg house, Marion street, and died in Boston, November 3, 1825, aged 75 years, leaving many descendants. Rev. William Gray Swett, who was installed minister of the Unitarian society, January 1, 1840, was a grandson of his ; and Chief Justice Gray, of our Supreme Court, and later an Associate on the Supreme Bench of the United States, was likewise a grandson. For biographical notice see 1865 edition of History of Lynn.
HALSEY, THOMAS. Not much will be found in our Annals, relating to this individual, though he was allowed a hundred acres in the land distribution of 1638, for he became interested in the Long Island enterprise, and was one of the settlers of Southampton. In his new location he became prominent and comparatively wealthy. Among his numerous descendants, scat- tered all over the country, several have won their way to distinc- tion and useful positions. Among the few from the eastern part of Long Island who joined the Continentals on the opening of the Revolution, was Jesse Halsey, who, on hearing of the battle of Lexington, started for the scene of conflict. He left his horse at Sag Harbor, crossed in a boat to New London, and after a tedious journey reached Boston just too late for a part in the battle of Bunker Hill. He became a Captain in the Continental forces, and as is stated by Mr. Howell, in his History of South- ampton, was standing near General Lee, at the battle of Mon- mouth, when Washington rode up, foaming with indignation, and demanded, "In the name of God, Lee, what do you mean ?" and these, he ever afterwards declared, were the exact words of Wash- ington as distinctly heard by him on that momentous occasion. Daniel Halsey, another descendant, was born in the latter part of the last century, on the estate of his fathers, and became of some note as a poet. He had a good education, and enjoyed a high reputation as a teacher. The following opening stanza of a spirited ode written by him for a fourth of July celebration will remind some of our more elderly readers of the lyrical fire and patriotic sentiment pervading the productions of Enoch Curtin, furnished for similar occasions :
When the Goddess of Liberty found not a place
Where the sole of her foot in the old world could rest,
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Handford.
She directed the daring Columbus to trace A path to the new world unknown in the west ; In the wilds which she chose An empire arose, As by magic, of freemen redeemed from their foes, Redeemed from the hand of oppression and wrong, To the rights which by nature to all men belong.
There is preserved another effusion of Mr. Halsey, written at the request of a tavern keeper for an appropriate inscription to be put upon his sign-board. It is rather suggestive, and reads as follows :
Rum, whisky, brandy, cordial, porter, beer, Ale, applejack, and gin, are dealt out here, Diluted, raw, or mixt, in any measure, To all consumers : come and act your pleasure, The above specifics will, in time, God knows, Put to a period all your earthly woes ;
Or would you bring life to a splendid close, Take double swigs, repeating dose on dose ;
A panacea this for every ail ; "T will use you up ; 't was never known to fail ;
Use up your property, ere scarce you know it, Use up your character, or sadly blow it, Use up your health and strength, and mind repose, And leave, mayhap, your carcass to the crows.
And the following fragment, smooth in expression, and charged with wholesome truth, may be well worth the space it occupies :
Hear when the widow and the orphan cry, And with a liberal hand the poor supply ; Nor with an envious eye the rich behold ; None are the better for their sums of gold. A virtuous mind should be our only test ; He is the worthiest man who is the best. Wealth can no real happiness bestow ; How few in higher life contentment know ; Then to the will of Heaven be thou resigned, Enjoy thy fortune and contentment find.
HANDFORD, NATHANIEL. This is the " honest old man " who saw the wonderful apparitions in the air on a Sunday evening in March, 1682, when looking for a new moon, after a violent storm of wind, hail, thunder and lightning, as noticed under that date, in our Annals. From the account given by Rev. Mr. Shepard it is concluded that he was of an apprehensive and superstitious cast of mind ; but perhaps not more so than was
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Handford.
common in those days. And that in his latter years he felt like retiring from life's combats, its cares and vexations is evident from the fact of his conveying the chief part of his estate to his kinsman Nathaniel Newhall, on condition of his providing a suitable home for him and his good wife Sarah, for their closing years. And we hope the trust was more faithfully executed than is sometimes the case at this day. Some passages in the deed of conveyance exhibit a meek, pious and trustful spirit, though a little weak withal, and may interest the reader : "To all Chris- tian people to whome this present Deed of Gift shall come, Nathaniel Handford of Lynn in ye County of Essex, Gentlm and Sarah his wife doe send greeting : Know ye that wee ye said Nathaniel Handford and Sarah his wife being well stricken in yeares and thereby waxen weake and not fitt to continue alone and dwell by ourselves as wee haue done for a long space nor able to doe one for another as wee should in duty & loue would still bind us and should did not our natural strength faile us which we belieue ye Lord our good God and Sauiour in Jesus Christ will accept in and through him and not impute sin unto us but ye consideration of ye premises and duty bindeth us to take ye most effectuall course that wee can for our more easy and com- fortable liuing while our time is appointed which wee willingly wait on God for: And Seeing it hath pleased god to raise up our beloved kinsman Nathaniel Newhall of ye same Towne and County aforesaid a ship-carpenter who had his name Nathaniel giuen to him in his Infancy for our sakes by his parents now Serjeant John Newhall Secundo and his now wife and our neer kinswoman and this said Nathaniel Newhall hauing shewed us kindness already and hath taken as wee Trust a good wife and hath obtayned a good and comfortable house to entertaine us and a convenient roome for us to liue in our old age together where wee shall not be troubled with too much company and our said cousins are very willing to haue us to leaue our solitary place and condition and to remoue our selues into our Cousin Nathaniel Newhall aforesaid his house where he and his wife now dwelleth. . . . . Wherefore for and in consideration of ye premises and being willing to free our selues of ye Troubles and cares of ye world and ye better to prepare our selues for our great and solemn change wee doe therefore accept of ye kind
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Hannibal. Hart.
loue of our cousin Nathaniel Newhall and Rest his now wife."
. . . And then follow the proper terms of conveyance for the purpose shadowed forth in this excursive preamble. The instru- ment bears date March 31, 1687.
The Nathaniel Newhall to whom the conveyance was made removed to Boston, a few years after, probably because his busi- ness as ship-carpenter was better there, and there he died, in 1731. His grave-stone may yet be seen in Copp's Hill burying ground. He was born in 1658, and was a grandson of Anthony Newhall, brother of Thomas, from whom most of the present Newhalls of Lynn descended.
Mr. Handford was a haberdasher from London. See Annals, 1635 and 1682.
HANNIBAL - sexton of the Old Tunnel - a pious and worthy man - once a slave. See Annals, 1780.
HART, SAMUEL. Some uncertainty exists as to the precise time when this individual first appeared in Lynn ; but he prob- ably came in or about 1643, and was employed at the iron works. The Harts became a noted family. Among the descendants of this sturdy settler not elsewhere spoken of, was Captain Ralph Hart, for many years a prominent and influential resident of Boston. He was born in Lynn, June 12, 1699, and was, we think, a grandson, though he is in some genealogical accounts set down as a great-grandson, of Samuel. In 1742 he was commissioned by Governor Shirley as "Lieutenant of the foot company of the Town of Boston," and in 1754, as Captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery. He married Mary Hudson of Lynn, Nov. 27, 1722, and she died August 2, 1733, aged 34. His second wife, Lois, died November 5, 1751, aged 46. Their grave-stones are still to be seen in Copp's Hill burying ground, in Boston, bearing little or no mark of injury by the ravages of the British soldiers during their occupation of the town. A daughter of his married Joshua Bowles, who belonged to a highly connected family, and was brother-in-law of Benjamin Lynde, Chief Justice of the Province. Their son, Captain Ralph Hart Bowles, served faithfully during the whole of the Revolution ; and after the war was over, settled on the outskirt of civilization near the Maine
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Hart.
frontier. His wife was distinguished for refinement, elegant manners, and true dignity and strength of character ; and her influence in molding the social condition of the little wilderness community was excellent and enduring. She died in 1847, at the age of 82, and her remains were entombed at Mount Auburn, in the lot of her son Stephen J. Bowles. Samuel Bowles, so long conspicuous and influential as editor of the Springfield Republican was a descendant.
Then there was Edmund Hart, the skillful naval architect, a native of Lynn, who lived in the Lois Hart house, on Boston street a few rods west of Federal. The famous frigate Constitu- tion was built at his ship-yard, in North End, Boston ; and as a good view of the yard could be had from Noddle's Island, now East Boston, hundreds went over from the town to see the launch. But the land which the ship-yard occupied does not seem to have been well chosen, as it was found that the ways were liable to sink. Two unsuccessful attempts were made before the frigate took kindly to her destiny. Sometime before the Revolution, Admiral Montague favored the project of having a British navy yard at the island, remarking that " the devil had got into the government when they fixed the navy yard at Hali- fax," for "God Almighty made Noddle's Island on purpose for a dock yard." But if it was preferable to Charlestown why did not our own government establish the navy yard there? Had a British dock yard been established there, in provincial times, instead of at Halifax, how different would probably have been the series of events that followed, and how different the condition of the whole country at this day.
The Hart family is extensively distributed over the country ; and it seems quite certain that they did not all come from one family of immigrants. There was a John Hart, a Quaker preach- er, who came with William Penn, and settled in Pennsylvania, having purchased a thousand acres of land before coming over. He left male descendants, one or two of whom, having abjured the faith of their fathers, became conspicuous as military leaders in Indian conflicts and in the Revolution. The similarity of christian names, however, rather indicates that all came from the same stock, not many generations back. "Honest John Hart," a well-to-do New Jersey farmer, whose name appears on that
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Hart.
world-famed instrument, the Declaration of American Independ- ence, and who for his temerity in thus employing his autograph, was subjected to great hardship and loss, will never be forgotten. And a grandson of his, living in West Virginia, had five sons in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion.
A neat volume of six hundred pages, embracing a genealogical history of Deacon Stephen Hart and his descendants evidently prepared with a good deal of care by Alfred Andrews of New Britain, Ct., was published a few years since ; and in the intro- duction is given a roving view of the family at large, which embraces some gatherings of much interest. In it are found the names of thirty-one authors, with the titles of their principal works ; among them Francis Bret Harte, the rollicking humorist, author of "Luck of Roaring Camp," &c. Then there are the names of twenty-seven physicians, twenty-five clergymen, and of soldiers who have served their country in various wars, two hundred and thirty. Few families can show a better record than the Hart. The earlier and more prominent of those in Lynn, seem to have located along Boston street, especially in the vicin- ity of Federal. Joseph Hart, a farmer, owned and occupied the ancient Richard Haven house that stood on the south-west corner formed by the two streets just named, and was for many years noticeable from the huge buttonwood standing in front. This house was the same that disappeared in a patriotic blaze on the morning of July 4, 1876, the centennial anniversary, as noticed in our Annals under that date. And upon the lot next west was the home of Edmund and Ralph Hart. There too lived their near kinswoman, Lois Hart, a strong-minded woman of the rougher sort - rough in speech and manners - made so, perhaps, in some degree, by the hard fortune to which she was subjected.
There is some doubt as to when the first person of the family name appeared in Lynn. There was an Isaac Hart here in 1640, who is said to have afterwards removed to Reading. And if, as seems probable, he was the individual referred to in the following entry found on the Colony Records under date July 30, 1640, there was some reason for his removal, and no cause for lamentation at his departure : " Isaack Hart bound himselfe in 20/. to bee of good behavior, and Mr Robt Saltonstall bound
10
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Haven. Hawkes.
himselfe in 10/. for the said Isa : Hart his good behavior, till he dept out of the plantation, or bring a note from . that he is free from fear." It does not appear what the rogue had done or left undone; but it looks as if he was put under bonds for some sort of a threat. For genealogical tracings see Annals, 1650. The name has prevailed to some extent in Lynn for considerably more than two hundred years. And if there is an ambition to connect it agreeably with old-world associations, it may be mentioned that Shakspeare's sister Joan married a Hart, and that the illustrious bard left legacies to his three nephews, her children, the bequests being in these words : “ Item : I give and bequeath unto her three sons William Hart, [Thomas] Hart and Michael Hart, five pounds apiece, to be paid one year after my decease."
HAVEN, RICHARD. Mr. Haven was ancestor of the large family of the name now scattered all over the country. His wife, Susanna, was a sister of Thomas Newhall, the first white person born in Lynn, and they had twelve children. He lived in the old house that stood till 1876, on the south-west corner of Boston and Federal streets, when it was consumed in the centennial bonfire, on Reservoir Hill. Bishop Gilbert Haven and his cousin Bishop Erastus O. Haven, of the Methodist church, were lineal descendants of his. Samuel F. Haven, LL. D., a son of Judge Haven, who died in Worcester, September 5, 1881, at the age of 75, having served forty-three years as librarian of the American Antiquarian Society, was also a descendant ; and a son of the latter, a surgeon of great merit, who was attached to the Fifteenth Massachusetts Regiment, in the civil war, was killed in the battle of Fredericksburg. See Annals, 1640, and other early dates.
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