History of Newbury, Mass., 1635-1902, Part 18

Author: Currier, John J. (John James), 1834-1912. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Boston : Damrell & Upham
Number of Pages: 1518


USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newbury > History of Newbury, Mass., 1635-1902 > Part 18


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MERCHANDISE LOST AND FOUND.


The General Court, in a law passed June 15, 1698, pro- vided that any person finding horses, sheep, cattle, money, or goods " shall give notice thereof in writing unto the clerk of the town in which they were found, to be entered in a book to be kept for that purpose : and shall also cause the same to be cryed by the constable or publick cryer in such town, on three several days, at a publick meeting of the inhabitants thereof ; and to be posted up in some publick place." }


A few of these legal notices, recorded by the town clerk of Newbury, are as follows : -


In the month of April, 1714, Peter Coffin reported having found " a sword or rapier."


May 16, 1715, Mr. Fawn Clement found a lot of ship timber "to ye number of about seaventy sticks which are hewed and suitable for fuddocks and naval timbers and knees."


June 15, 1715, Major D. Davison reported having found "a wallet with about nine pounds of cotton wool in it & a small bag with about eight pound of sugar in ye sd bag."


March 30, 1718, Joseph March reported as found "in September last a cannoo of about twelve foot in length and about three foot in wedth with a bolt and Ring in ye hed of sd cannoo and a piece of plank across ye stern : ye cannoo was very much shaken."


* Records of the Selectmen of Newbury.


t Province Laws, vol. i., p. 326.


218


HISTORY OF NEWBURY


October 15, 1719 Mr. Joseph Boynton of Rowle informed of his finding three pounds, one shilling & six in paper money.


November 30, 1727 a gold ring was found in the town of Newbury by John Bradbury of Salisbury.


April 20, 1728 a little before sun sett found in ye Towne of Newbury a wash leather deerskin by Enos Bartlet without any mark.


. April 18, 1736 Found by Mr John Noyes one silver seal in ye Town of Newbury with the letters H. I. marked in said seal.


January 12, 1736-7 Joseph Lunt informed that he & John Moodey Junr found a pine mast of about fifty three foot long on plumb Iland.


November 30, 1760 taken up by Richard Kent one barrell of Cyder supposed to be Drove on Shore near his house, by stress of weather, no owner as yt appears.


MORTGAGE LOANS AND BILLS OF CREDIT.


September 20, 1721, the town of Newbury voted to receive its proportion of the bills of credit issued by the treasurer of the province of Massachusetts Bay, under the act passed by the General Court July 13, 1720; and Deacon Nathaniel Coffin, Ensign William Titcomb, and Lieut. Henry Rolfe were appointed trustees to take charge of the same.


They shall also let out & improve sd money for ye benefit of sd Towne at five per cent per annum to settled substantial inhabitants of our Towne & they shall lett to no person less than ten pounds & shall lett to no one person more than thirty pounds at one time & that upon good personal security & they shall not lett sd money for longer time than one year at a time,- and we do allso give sd trustees or ye major part of them full power to receive and gather in all ye money which they shall so lett out with ye interest which shall become dew for ye same & they shall pay into ye Towne or their order, yearly ye interests of sd money as it shall become due & shall render to ye Towne yearly a faire & Just account of their doings in this afaire in writing under their hands, so long as they are continued in sd office of Trustees : allso ye Towne reserves liberty to Release sd trustees & chuse others when they se cause to do it: & sd Towne reserves liberty to give sd trustees other instructions to act by in this business which sd Trustees shall conform to : when given .*


November 22, 1727, the General Court provided for another loan of sixty thousand pounds in bills of credit to the various towns in the province. April 16, 1728, " Maj' Joseph Ger-


* Town of Newbury Records.


219


THE SETTLEMENT AT MERRIMACK RIVER


rish, Deacon Abiel Somerby and Deacon Caleb Moody " were chosen trustees by the town of Newbury to receive and take charge of bills of credit to the amount of £1,328, 15s., and to manage and invest the same upon the following terms and conditions : -


I. They shall let to no one man more than thirty pounds or less than ten pounds of our bills of credit.


2. They shall take good & substantiall sureties or personal security according to ye province act.


3. They shall let out none of sd Bills of Credit for a longer time than one year & shall let none of said Bills of Credit out of this Towne.


4. They shall gather in & pay in unto ye Treasurer of ye province four per cent annually according to ye province act.


5. That no man be taken as a surety for more than one man at a time.


6. The said Trustees shall act in this afaire as they shall receive in- structions from ye Towne.


7. They shall give to ye Towne a plain, just & true account of their doings herein under their hands from time to time when it shall be called for .*


February 25, 1729-30, the inhabitants of Newbury voted " that one hundred pounds of this Towns bills of credit which are in ye hands of Henry Rolf, Esq, Ensign William Titcomb & Nath11 Coffin (as they are a committee imployed by sd Town, ect.) for & toward ye paying of Francis Wilks, & Jonathan Belcher, Esq. for what cost & charge they have been, or may be at, in doing business (at ye court of great Britain) for & in behalf of his Majesties province of ye Massachusetts Bay in New England ; ye selectmen are hereby ordered to draw said money out of ye hands of said committee & send it to ye speaker of ye House of Representatives to be by him disposed of for ye use & servis above mentioned if ye selectmen se cause to do it." ¡


Subsequently a part of the interest received from these bills of credit was used to defray the expenses of the Third Parish Church in Newbury.#


* Town of Newbury Records.


t Ibid. " Passed in the affirmative, and not one man was known to vote against it."


#"Ould Newbury," p. 433.


220


HISTORY OF NEWBURY


PLUM ISLAND.


For nearly fifteen years after the incorporation of the town of Newbury the General Court retained possession of the low, narrow island that extends from the mouth of the Ipswich river to the mouth of the Merrimack. The following order was passed March 13, 1639 :-


Plum Island is to remaine in the Courts power only for the present Ipswich, Newebury, and the newe plantation (Rowley) between them may have the use of it, till the Court shall see cause otherwise to dis- pose of it .*


At a meeting of the freemen of Newbury held March 6, 1648-9, " ... there was chosen Mr. William Gerrish, John Saunders, Daniel Pierce, Henry Shorte, Richard Knight, Robert Coker, William Titcomb, Archelaus Woodman and John Merrill, to bee a committee for the towne to view the passages into Plum Island and to informe the courte by way of petition concerning the rights the towne hath to the sayd island and to have full power with M' Edward Rawson to draw forth a petition and present it to the next general courte." }


Mr Edward Rawson, Mr John Spencer and Mr Woodman was chosen by the towne to joyne with those men of Ipswich and Rowley, that was appointed to bee a committee about Plum island.t


At the next session of the General Court, Thomas Parker, Percival Lowle, John Spencer, John Saunders, James Noyes, William Gerrish, Edward Woodman, Henry Shorte, and Richard Knight (or Kent?) presented a petition "in the name of the whole town," in which they set forth the claims of the inhabitants of Newbury to the free and unrestricted use of the whole island. The General Court, however, granted October 19, 1649, "two parts to Ipswich, two to Newbury, and one to Rowley." #


September 23 and 26, 1661, all the marsh land in New- bury bordering on Plum Island river was divided among the


* Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 252.


t Town of Newbury Records, vol. i.


# Coffin's History of Newbury, pp. 30, 51 ; Massachusetts Archives, vol. cxii., pp. 24, 25.


NEWBURY MARSIIES. " Where merry mowers, hale and strong, Sweep, scythe on scythe, their swaths along The low green prairies of the sea."


222


HISTORY OF NEWBURY


freeholders of the town .* The first division extended from Rowley bounds to Sandy beach, in lots of four acres each numbered from one to fifty-one, and the second division from one to thirteen, inclusive ; also, about one hundred acres " be- ginning at the upland next Merrimack Barre and so extend- ing to Sandy Beach," seventeen lots in all, of varying size, from four to ten acres each; "also the marsh land in the neck over the Great River," fourteen lots of five acres each.t


The incoming tide, with the salty flavor of the sea, fre- quently overflowed the low, level marshes and rendered them productive and valuable. Large crops of salt hay were cut from them every year without fear of impoverishing the soil. Mowing machines and horse-rakes had not then been invented, and hand scythes were used in cutting, and small wooden rakes in turning and making the hay that was piled in cone- shaped stacks or ricks until it could be removed.


Although the northerly end of Plum island is only a suc- cession of sandhills, with a few straggling bushes and thin patches of coarse grass scattered here and there, the southern extremity is more fertile. Horses and cattle belonging to the inhabitants of Ipswich, Newbury, and Rowley, were pastured there during the summer months ; and sometimes the number was so large that the scanty herbage growing there was in- sufficient to support them. In answer to the petition of the selectmen of Ipswich, the General Court ordered, May 30, 1679, " that no horses or cattle be put upon said island with- out the consent of the major part of the proprietors of the said island." }


At that date all the land on the northerly side of the Rowley line, on Plum island, was held in common by the in- habitants of Newbury, except about eighty acres previously granted Richard Dole and Henry Jaques in exchange for a certain number of acres of marsh land.


"June 10, 1662, there was laid out unto Richard Dole &


* The statement in Coffin's History of Newbury, p. 64, and in " Ould Newbury," p. 213, that the island was divided at that time, is incorrect, as the division evidently included only the marsh land along Plum Island river.


t Newbury (Proprietors') Records, vol. i., pp. 67-74, inclusive.


# Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. v., p. 232; also, " Ould Newbury," p. 213.


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THE SETTLEMENT AT MERRIMACK RIVER


Henry Jaques a parcell of upland in plumb island joyning to Rowley bounds on the south and Newbury marsh on the west " * by Richard Knight, John Knight, William Titcomb, Archelaus Woodman, and Hugh March for the town of New- bury. November 12, 1675, the same persons, with the ad- dition of John Emery, sr., consented to a revision of the bounds and limits of the above-described land .;


April 5, 1714, the town of Newbury "voted to grant liberty to M' Benjamin Woodbridge and M' Henry Somerby to cut timber on Plum Island to finish two wharfs with." # It was also voted May 8, 1717, "that all neat cattle and horses shall be kept off Plum Island from May first to Octo- ber first every year." § In 1739, the General Court passed an act to prevent horses, cattle, sheep, and swine from run- ning at large on Plum island. This act was renewed from time to time until the year 1792.


March 25, 1755, the proprietors of that portion of the island lying within the limits of Newbury met at the town- house in Newbury. A committee was chosen to prosecute all persons trespassing upon the property of the proprietors, and the same committee was instructed to take charge of all merchandise thrown upon the beach by the force of the wind or the action of the sea. Similar committees were appointed at meetings held in 1756, and subsequently.§


At a meeting of the proprietors, held September 2, 1827, the standing committee, consisting of Daniel Adams, 3d, Anthony Davenport, and Josiah Little, were instructed to sell at public auction " all the lands belonging to the said Proprie- tors in the town of Newbury "; and December 29, 1827, "as agents for the Freeholders & Proprietors of common and un- divided land in Newbury, West Newbury, and Newburyport," they sold and conveyed by quitclaim deed for the sum of six hundred dollars to Moses Pettingell, of Newbury, "That part of Plumb Island lying & situate in said town of Newbury, containing twelve hundred acres, more or less," "reserving for public use the public buildings and the way leading to the


*Town of Newbury Records, vol. i., p. 89. t Ibid., p. 67.


# Coffin's History of Newbury, p. 185.


§ Town of Newbury Records.


224


HISTORY OF NEWBURY


same : also a privilege for the dwelling house & for the light houses belonging to the United States." *


SMALL-POX AND OTHER CONTAGIOUS DISEASES.


Stringent rules and regulations were adopted by the town of Newbury to prevent the introduction of contagious dis- eases.


March 10, 1690-1, the selectmen were ordered to see that all persons infected with small-pox were removed to some isolated place, and provided with nurses and attendants. They were also ordered to supply food and clothing to the persons so removed, and to the families of those who were unable to take care of themselves.f


March 24, 1729-30, the selectmen were instructed " to use their utmost endeavors to prevent persons & goods being brought from Boston into this Towne whereby we may be in danger of having ye small-pox brought among us." t


March 10, 1751-2, a committee was chosen to inspect all vessels that came into the Merrimack river, "to see whether there are any cases of small-pox on board "; and the same committee was instructed to give immediate notice to the selectmen if they found any person sick with small-pox in any dwelling-house within the limits of the town. On the twenty-seventh day of March following, the selectmen were authorized to prohibit the passing and repassing of boats over Parker river containing goods liable or supposed to be in- fected with small-pox. They were also instructed to build a dwelling-house on Plum island, "near the upper end of said island," for the town's use; to order all vessels coming into Merrimack river "to anchor below Hook's Point until they are Properly examined ; and to publish the substance of these votes in the newspapers of the day." f


Bills for labor, glass, and lumber "for ye house on Plum Island," were charged in the account of disbursements ren- dered by the selectmen for the year 1752.


In November, 1759, several cases of small-pox were re-


* Essex Deeds, book ccxlvi., p. 270. t Town of Newbury Records.


--


225


THE SETTLEMENT AT MERRIMACK RIVER


ported in the West parish, "near the plains "; and, before the disease could be stayed, thirty-six persons, all but two of them adults, died.


March 28, 1763, the inhabitants of the town appointed a committee to select a convenient place for a " Pest House," and ascertain the cost of building the same; and May 12, 1763, they voted " to build the Pest House in the great pas- ture, to be 38 feet long, 28 feet wide and one story high." *


January 27, 1763-4, the selectmen were authorized to pro- vide gates for the old-town bridge and Thorley's bridge, and also gatemen, or guards " to prevent any person infected with the small pox from coming into the town." *


May 15, 1764, the town voted that the selectmen of New- buryport be notified that the guards appointed to prevent the spread of small-pox had been discharged, and that travellers could pass the gates at the bridges without inspection .*


AMMUNITION AND POWDER-HOUSE.


The selectmen of Newbury were required to provide powder and ammunition for the militia, and were instructed to keep a reasonable supply on hand at all times.


September 2, 1670, John Bartlett, William Chandler, Ed- mund Moores, Samuel Plummer, and Caleb Moody, selectmen, " received of Nathaniel Clarke a barrell of powder for the Townes use for which they agree to pay ten pounds." *


January 9, 1676, the selectmen ordered " that a barrel of powder be purchased & also fifteen hundred flints." *


Under the law enacted by the General Court November 22, 1693, every town in the province of Massachusetts Bay was required to provide " a barrel of good powder, two hun- dred weight of bullets and three hundred flints for every sixty listed souldiers." +


In 1722, the selectmen of Newbury had on hand seven bags and two casks, containing five hundred and forty-three pounds of bullets, and eight casks, containing three hundred and fifty-seven pounds of powder.#


* Town of Newbury Records.


+ Province Laws, vol. i., p. 131.


# Coffin's History of Newbury, p. 192.


226


HISTORY OF NEWBURY


. May 15, 1741, the inhabitants of the town voted to divide, in equal proportions, among the organized parishes all the ammunition belonging to the town, and to instruct the select- men to see that it was safely stored and kept .*


May 16, 1743, the selectmen were authorized to agree with some suitable person to build a convenient house "in which to keep the town's stock of ammunition"; but they evidently did not avail themselves of the privilege granted them, for the inhabitants of the town voted, October 30, 1745, that the selectmen provide a suitable place "in which to keep the Town's stock of powder," and, March 12, 1753-4, ordered the selectmen " to build a powder house." *


February 19, 1754-5, the selectmen paid Abiel Somerby £6, 5s. 4d. "for bricks for ye Powder House"; and a few weeks later they paid several small bills for shingles and rocks and for labor on the building.


SECOND PARISH.


As early as 1685 the inhabitants of the west end of the town, living four or five miles from the meeting-house, asked permission and help to enable them to establish and maintain the public worship of God near their own dwellings. Three or four years later a few individuals erected a meeting-house on land at or near the place where "the way to the mill, at the mouth of Artichoke river " crosses the road leading to Bartlett's cove, marked X on the map on page 239. They invited Mr. Edward Thompson to officiate as minister there ; but the town objected to his coming, and protested against his being allowed " to set up a lecture and preach."


After a long and bittter contest between the zealous friends and vigorous opponents of Mr. Thompson, a compro- mise was effected, and a committee appointed December 21, 1694, "to draw up articles and proposals in order to setting off part of the west end of the towne " as a separate parish.


January 1, 1694-5, the town voted


. . . that Pipe Stave Hill, near Daniel Jaques' house shall be the place for the meeting house, and those that live nearest to the place *Town of Newbury Records.


227


THE SETTLEMENT AT MERRIMACK RIVER


shall pay to the ministry there, and those that live nearest to the old meeting house shall pay there: the inhabitants of the west end to choose a minister for themselves, only Mr Thompson excepted. The meeting house to stand where it do until the major part of them see cause to remove it.


It is not to be understood that any of those that are usually called the ffarms, or those lands commonly called the ffalls are to belong to the west part of the Towne as to the maintaining of a minister but the dividing line shall be from the middle way between the proposed place on pipe stave hill to the old meeting house and from the sd midle way in the Rode to run on a streight line to ffrancis Brownes house neer birchen meadow & so streight to the Little pond .*


The dividing line between the First and Second parishes shown on the map on page 239 extends from A to C, and thence to a point on the Merrimack river, nearly opposite Deer island, numbered 25.


During the summer of 1696 the building erected by the inhabitants of the west end of the town in 1689 or 1690 was enlarged and repaired. About an acre of land adjoining was enclosed with a stone fence or wall, and is now known as " the burying ground at Sawyer's hill." }


May 17, 1700, Deacon Benjamin Morss was instructed to prepare a petition to be presented to the General Court for authority to levy taxes and to elect assessors, collectors, and other officers necessary to carry on the work of the parish ; } and January 25, 1710-II, Sergt. John Ordway and Sergt. Joseph Pike were appointed a committee "to desire ye town of Newbury to choose men to join with them to run ye line between ye Town & ye West precinct and also to settle ye bounds according to the Towns vote." §


March 13, 1710-11 Major Henry Somerby and the two lot layers chosen a committee to run the line between ye Town and the West precinct. ||


Samuel Sewall states in his diary, under the date of May 10, 1709, that he "visited cousin Jacob Toppan and laid a stone in the foundation of ye meeting house at Pipe Staff hill." The building of this new house of worship created


*Town of Newbury (Proprietors') Records, vol. i., p. 23.


t "Ould Newbury," pp. 363-367.


# Newbury (Second Parish) Records, p. 15.


§ 1bid., p. 29.


Il Town of Newbury Records.


228


HISTORY OF NEWBURY


considerable dissatisfaction in the parish; and some of the inhabitants living in the vicinity of Sawyer's hill, by the advice and with the assistance of Mr. John Bridger, of Ports- mouth, N.H., erected in 171I " Queen Anne's Chapel." On Sundays and holy days they held service there "according to the rubrics and ritual of the established Church of England " until the close of the year 1766. The land upon which the chapel stood now forms a part of Belleville cemetery, New- buryport .*


November 11, 1734, the inhabitants of the First parish in Newbury, in answer to the petition of Lieut. Joseph Pike and others, voted to enlarge the Second parish (which had been reduced by the incorporation of the Fourth parish), and make some changes in the dividing line, as follows : -


Beginning at the midway between the two meeting houses in said parishes, in the road near where John Chace formerly dwelt, thence running to the westerly end of Thomas Browns house, formerly called John Browns upper house, and on the same line to the way on ye southerly side of said House, and thence by said way running south- easterly to the way leading from John Coffins to the way called Ash street and thence to run westerly by said way to the way by which Dea. Thomas Chace dwells, called Wheat street, being the bounds between the second and fourth parishes : on condition said second parish abate the money which they have assessed on Andrew Downer as to poll and estate within said line, and the said Downer and his estate, Real and personal, are reserved to the first parish during their pleasure, which is to be abated if accepted by said second parish and entered in their Records as accepted on the aforementioned conditions. t


December 31, 1734, the inhabitants of the Second parish voted " to accept the addition which the first parish in New- bury granted to the second parish by their vote on the IIth day of November 1734." #


As originally laid out, the parish covered a large area, and included many picturesque hills within its limits. Crane Neck hill, Ilsley's hill, Turkey hill, and Archelaus hill lifted their dome-shaped summits above the level of the surround- ing country, while Indian hill and Pipe-stave hill were con-


* "Ould Newbury," pp. 363-390. t Newbury (First Parish) Records, p. 24.


# Newbury (Second Parish) Records, p. 75.


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THE SETTLEMENT AT MERRIMACK RIVER


spicuous landmarks often mentioned in the early records of the town. *


Only a few months after the organization of the parish the. inhabitants were greatly alarmed by an attack on the house of Mr. John Brown, then standing on the southwesterly side of Turkey hill. October 7, 1695, a party of Indians, who had secreted themselves in that vicinity, seized and carried away nine captives, all women and children .;


BYFIELD PARISH.


At a meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants of New- bury, held December 9, 1701, "Upon ye request of Mrs Elizabeth Dumer, M' John Dumer, Mr Joshua Woodman, Mr William Moody, John Tricomb, Nathan Wheeler, Mrs. Jane Gerrish in behalf of her Tenant M' Richard Dumer, John Smith, Philip Goodridge Joshua Woodman, M' John Cheney, rollen ffraiser, Philip de-lane, Robert Mingo yt the one half of their ministry rate heere may be abated for the next rate that is to be made," # it was voted to grant their request, as the petitioners were then living at "the falls," on Parker river, four or five miles away from the First Parish meeting-house, and somewhat farther from the recently organized church in the Second parish. December 16, 1701, about the same number of persons residing in the adjoining town of Rowley asked and obtained an abatement of one-half the tax imposed upon them for the support of the minister in that town. In 1702 a few individuals, owning property in the vicinity, erected a meeting-house on or near the dividing line between New- bury and Rowley, and invited Rev. Moses Hale to become their pastor. He accepted the invitation, and a parsonage was built for him in 1703.


At a legal meeting of the inhabitants of Rowley, held March 16, 1702-3, it was voted :




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