USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newbury > History of Newbury, Mass., 1635-1902 > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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
Commissioners or magistrates, appointed by the General Court, were authorized to join persons in marriage in New- bury, but nowhere in the colony were ministers granted or allowed that privilege.
June 14, 1642 Mr William Bellingham was appointed to see Mar- riages solemnized at Rowley & Neweberry & to keepe record thereof *
Nov 4, 1646 The Corte hath granted comission to Mr Edwd Rawson to see people joine in Marriage in Newberry dury the pleasure of the Corte t
Oct. 14, 1651 In answer to the petition of the towne of Newberry Capt William Gerrish is hereby authorized to marry such there as shall be legally published.#
May 14, 1656 It is ordered, by this court, that from henceforth any one of the three comissionrs for the endinge small causes in the severall townes where no magistrate dwells shall be & hereby are authorized & empowered to solemnize Marriage betweene p'tyes legally published, p'vided two of the sd commissionrs be p'sent & all other comissions in this case are hereby made voyd §
Two years later the above order was modified, and the county courts were authorized to appoint one of the three commissioners for small causes in any town, and allow him to officiate at marriage ceremonies, even though the other commissioners were not present. ||
September 28, 1658 Mr Edward Woodman of Newbury allowed to marry and to take oaths in civill cases T
vol. liii., p. 58.) April 9, 1729, the land was divided, and in 1793 the heirs of Joseph Ilsley deceased, conveyed to Paul Ilsley their right, title, and interest in the property. (Essex Deeds, vol. clvii., p. 204.) The land "surrounding the burying place " is now owned by Mrs. Joseph Ilsley.
· Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. ii., p. 14. t Ibid., vol. ii., p. 166. § Ibid., vol. iv., part i., p. 255.
# Ibid., vol. iv., part i., p. 65.
# Ibid., vol. iv., part i., p. 322.
T Ipswich Court Records, Bock I., p. 60.
61
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
For more than twenty-five years this order continued in force, and appointments were annually made by the county courts at Ipswich and Salem. June 4, 1685, however, the General Court, in answer to a motion made by Richard Bart- lett, who was then a deputy from Newbury, appointed Mr. John Woodbridge "to administer oaths & joyne persons in marriage there who desire it being published according to lawe." *
December 24, 1690, the General Court appointed
. . Mr. John Woodbridge and Capt Daniel Pierce of Newbury to join Persons together in marriage in that Town according to the Direc- tion of ye Laws in that behalf made.t
Under the laws of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, established after the charter of the colony had been annulled, justices of the peace in the counties where they resided, and ministers in the towns where they were settled, were authorized to unite in marriage "any two persons legally published." #
The privilege granted to ministers was enlarged December I, 1716 ; and they were allowed to officiate at weddings be- yond the limits of the towns in which they were settled, pro- vided certain rules and regulations were complied with.§
MEETING-HOUSE.
The first building erected within the limits of Newbury dedicated to the worship of God was probably begun soon after the organization of the church in the summer of 1635, but it was not wholly completed until September or October, 1638. Services, however, were held in the unfinished struct- ure, and a special tax was levied upon the freeholders of the town, on or before October, 1637, for the support of public worship. The earliest votes and orders relating to the as- sessment and collection of this tax are as follows : -
* Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. v., p. 483.
t Massachusetts Archives, vol. xxxvi., p. 260.
# Province Laws, vol. i., p. 61. § Ibid., vol. ii., p. 60.
. .
62
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
It is agreed that all the moneys, goods or chattells that shall bee gathered or distrained for the rate of the meeting house shall bee deliv- ered into the hands of Jo: Woodbridge who shall receive all & pay all & give up account to the towne when they call for it .*
Dec. 11, [1637?] It is ordered that the meeting house rate shall bee gathered at two several & distinct payments the one presently, the other when the towne sees necessary use of it and requires it. *
January 18, 1637-8 It is ordered that Richard Knight, James Browne, & Nicholas Holt shall gather up the first payment of the meet- ing house rate & the towne rate within one fourteenight on the penalty of 6$ 8d a piece." *
March 9, 1636-7, the General Court enacted a law requiring every able-bodied man above eighteen years of age to attend meeting on the Lord's Day "with their musketts, or other peeces fit for servise, furnished wth match, powder, & bullets, vpon paine of 12ª for every default."+ This law was re. pealed May 2, 1638, except the clause " about carrying armes to the meeting house," which was referred to the inhabitants of the several towns in the colony to take such action as they might deem advisable. In the month of June, 1638, all the able-bodied men of Newbury were enrolled and formed into four companies, under the command of John Pike, Nicholas Holt, John Baker, and Edmund Greenleafe. They were re- quired "to bring their armes compleat one Sabbath day in a month and the lecture day following," and " stand sentinell at the doores all the time of the publick meeting." #
At a legal meeting held September 4, 1638, the free- holders of the town ordered
. that a rate of twenty-eight pounds shall be made speedily and gathered within one fourteenight for the finishing of the meeting house. *
The towne appoynted Mr Woodman & Ed: Rawson to make this rate.
The towne appoynted the Constables to gather this rate.
The towne hath appoynted Henry Short & Rich: Kent to receive this rate & survey the worke .*
* Town of Newbury Records, vol. i.
t Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 190.
# Coffin's History of Newbury, pp. 26, 27.
Juno Igo Ist€ 1638
Edund Woodman To Woodbrio ridge Eduard Ba Jawfon William Woody James Browne Josh Knight
Abraham Toppan
9 burt Soums loft it to kyo liberty of parislar lownes to take order & grande according to lyon diforunion for by Bringing of armot toto morning Saufor it is for the purent isguar fit-
& orderid Chat les towns long duded mto 4 hourall & cequall quarto, Das part shall bring compleat urmas according to lo dr. cochon al leggo sosom lyo lowno late appointed to oversee to order & manuor as followory.
dufynofse m
fajn Like Vers Boll John Bukor; & Edmund Groenlofe Going appointed as overfors of too busynelse are awared is follow tous averlo viz "Ojoy shall give notice to be party of porpony undor bevis your all duifiens to bring your armes compleat ono sabbute day in a monats & to lockur Day follow ong rucofsively one after another & 199 portons afiorasaus Shall caufo rory porfon under their Journall divisions to wand sontinall of the doors all the time of yo publick meeting monitor : noformaly every and after another einge Simfolform forson or by a Sufficient substitute to Go allowed by to our four of the ward. TOWN OF NEWBURY RECORDS. €
64
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
LAND GRANTS.
For more than fifty years after the incorporation of the town of Newbury, all votes and orders relating to the grant- ing of land or the management of town affairs by the free- men and freeholders were recorded in a book also used by the "seven men " for a similar purpose. After the election Jof Henry Short as town clerk, March 20, 1685-6, the grants made before and after that date were copied into a separate volume, called the " Proprietors' Book," which is still in a good state of preservation. Most of the early grants consisted of house lots and planting lots of about four acres, each located in the immediate vicinity of Quascacunquen, now Parker river. A few large farms, however, several miles away from the meeting-house, were granted to men of wealth and influence who resided in the town. In 1635 a large tract of land "at the Falls," now Byfield Parish, was laid out to Richard Dummer by order of the General Court; and the next year the freeholders of Newbury made an allotment of five hundred acres in the same neighborhood to Henry Sewall, sr. Other grants, of considerable magnitude, re- corded previous to 1645, are as follows : ---
To Mr John Cutting " a ffarme of two hundred acres be it more or less of upland & meadow as it is laid out in length sixteen score rods & in breadth fifty rods, bounded by the falls River South, the comon on the north, Mr Greenleaf west & Thomas Coleman on the east." *
To James Browne "a ffarme of one hundred and fifty acres of upland and meadow, be it more or less, bounded by several marked trees, by the comon round." *
The location of the last grant is somewhat uncertain. It was evidently surrounded on all sides by common, or undi- vided, land. In 1655, it was sold to Hugh March, and was then bounded, in part, by the " birchen meadow."
There was Granted to Mr Stephen Dumer three hundred acres of upland & meadow at Turkey Hill, that is sixty acres of meadow joyn- ing to the Hill and two hundred & forty acres of upland to enjoy to him & his heyrs forever. t
* Town of Newbury Proprietors' Records, pp. 20, 29, 36. t Ibid., p. 18.
65
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
Laid out to Thomas Browne & George Little in the behalfe of Mr Stephen Dumer two hundred and forty acres of upland at Turkey Hill, joyning to Mr Stephen Dumers meadow called by the name of Birchen Meadow .*
To Richard Kent, jr., " A ffarme lott of one hundred acres of upland and meadow on an Island over the Little River and about it, be it more or less," and several other lots of upland and marsh, making in all about two hundred and forty-eight acres, granted February 7, 1646-7, "at a meeting of ye 8 men deputed to order the Towne Affairs," and de- scribed as follows :-
.. bounded wth ye great River on ye South & South West, wth a . creeke [issuing] out of ye greate River northward & ye little River on ye East & a creeke issuing out of ye said little River Running West- ward meeting ye other Creeke yt Issued out of ye greate River wthin thirty Rods & so making an Iland. t
There is a farm of 200 acres granted to Mr Edward Rawson [both] of up land and meadow [at] the birchen mead [ow] the whole parcell of meadow there to be divided into three equall portions, Mr Rawson to take his choice.#
On the twenty-second day of December, 1637 (?), the fol- lowing vote was adopted by the freeholders of the town : --
It is likewise agreed that Jo : Woodbridge shall have an hundred and fifty acres lying to the northward of Mr Spencers farme, on the right hand of the ridge going to Merrimack & fifty acres of fresh & salt marish to be added more vnto it, in some convenient place, neere adjoyn- ing, to be layd out according to the townes disposing & this instead of his 200 acres formerly granted at the great hill on the south side of the river, to enjoy to him & his heires for ever.§
This grant was subsequently laid out to Mr. Woodbridge, as appears from the following record : -
One hundred and fifty acres of upland as it is laid out, be it more or
* Proprietors' Records, p. 18. May 10, 1648, Mr. Stephen Dummer, then in England, wrote " to his very loving friend, Henry Short, living at Newbury," instructing him to sell the farm at Birchen Meadow. (See Ipswich Deeds, vol. iii., p. 256 (193).)
t Town of Newbury Records, vol. i. ; also, Proprietors' Records, p. 16.
# This grant was made February 24, 1637. For additional grauts to Edward Rawson see "Ould Newbury," pp. 50, 51.
§ Town of Newbury Records, vol. i.
66
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
.less, Bounded by Mr Spencers on the South, John Pike senior and John Moulton on the north, the comon on the west and the Great Street Joyn- ing to Merrimack River on the East .*
In 1636, probably, the freeholders granted to Mr. John Spencer
. . . a ffarme of four hundred acres of upland & meadow, be it more or less, bounded by Mr Woodbridge on the north, Mr Parker on the south, the street of eight rods in breadth next Merrimack River on the east, and the comon on the west, and two hundred & fifty acres, be it more less, lying on the left hand of Merrimack Ridge in breadth of the breadth of that on the right hand of the ridge, in length six Score Rods.
October 20, 1637, Mr. Spencer was granted a mill · lot of fifty acres "at Newbury falls," and November 20, 1637, he was condemned and disarmed, by order of the General Court, for holding erroneous religious opinions. On the eleventh day of December following, Edward Woodman, John Wood- bridge, Henry Short, Richard Kent, Richard Browne, and Richard Knight, having the care and management of town affairs, gave their assent and approval to the following order : -
. . . fforasmuch as it appeared vnto us on sufficient grounds & evident testimony that Mr John Spenser notwithstanding his intention and reso- lution to liue away from us & so to deprive us of his usuall helpe & counsell in managing & ordering or greatest & weightiest affaires yet did so secretly carry things that he gott a promise of the towne of farther enlargement wee thought fit therefore to make this publick dec- laration of or minds & intention in the case that wee judge according to our best light & understanding that he hath no right nor just claime to any more land but what hath been formerly layd out confirmed & the bounds thereof entered into the towne book, seeing that hee desired it in relation to the service which he had & was likely still to doe for the towne & the townes promise was on such [ ] condi- tion which they are defeated off. The present order [ ] there- fore doth declare that the ground lying to the northward of Mr Spensers farme (the bounds whereof are already entered into the book) is at the townes disposing to be given to whom they see fitt & convenient.t
Subsequently this order was rescinded; and, September 4, 1638, Edward Woodman, Abraham Toppan, Richard
* Proprietors' Records, p. 11.
t Town of Newbury Records, vol. i.
67
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
Browne, and John Knight, in behalf of the town, signed the following agreement : -
It is agreed that the lotters shall lay out 150 acres of upland & meadow to Mr Spenser on the north side of his farme lying in manner & order as his farme doth that is allready layd out & 150 acres of land lying next Mr Spensers on the right hand of the ridge to John Wood- bridge, according to former order, to enjoy to them & theirs for euer .*
A farme granted to Mr Clarke of 400 acres next to Mr Sewalls :
The bounds of Mr Clarke his fairme begin at the mouth of Carte creeke thence running easterly ten score rodd abutting on the Mayne river toward the South & thence it runs up sixteene score rodds into the country upon a line north & by west to two birchen trees marked, stand- ing on a banke of rocks, thence it runs in a straight line westerly tenn score rodd to a marked tree on a mount & thence in a straight line east & by South to the mouth of Cart creeke againe, taking in all the meadow on the east side of the Pine Swamp.
the 23rd of the 11th mo. 1637.
EDWARD WOODMAN HENRY SHORT
RICHARD BROWNE RICHARD KENT
JOHN WOODBRIDGE RICHARD KNIGHT
Memoranda : This writing was recorded for Mr John Clarke now of Ipswich, late of Newbury, Sth day of March, 1647.t
The towne being desired to express themselves whether they were willing that Mr Bacheler & Mr Hussy should take the land at ye new meadow lately given to Mr Woodman & Mr Rawson upon their willing resignation of the same & the towne would promise them satisfaction, the towne did generally express themselves willing to both & Hen : Short & Wm: Moody were joyned to the three of the former five to manage the towne busynesse to judge & determine what shall satisfy the sayd Mr Woodman & Mr Rawson for [what loss ] & the land henceforth to remaine as the proper right & inheritance of the sayd Mr [Stephen] Bacheler & Mr [Christopher] Hussey .*
* Town of Newbury Records, vol. i.
t Ipswich Deeds, vol. i., p. 37 (126). Dr. John Clark was an eminent physician. He came to Newbury in 1637, removed to Ipswich in 1647, and two or three years later purchased a dwell- ing-house in Boston, where he resided until his death in the month of January, 1664-5. At a gen- eral town meeting held in Newbury, September 28, 1638,
" It was granted that Mr Clarke in respect of his calling should be freed and exempted from all publick rates either for the country or the towne so long as he shall remayne with us and exer- cise his calling among us."
December 1, 1651. "John Clarke of Boston, Chirurgeon, & Martha his wife, in considera- tion of the house they now accupy in Boston and a certain lot of land adjoining," convey to Mat- thew Chaffey of Boston, shipwright, the farm of four hundred acres at Cart Creeke in Newbury (Ipswich Deeds, vol. i., p. 99 (294), and the same day Matthew Chaffey of Boston and Sarah, his wife, sold the farm " with the housings and buildings thereon " to Richard Thorlay of New- bury. (Ipswich Deeds, vol. i., p. 100 (297).)
68
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
SALISBURY.
September 6, 1638, the General Court granted Simon Bradstreet and Capt. Daniel Dennison, of Ipswich, John Clarke and Christopher Batt, of Newbury, and others, liberty "to begin a plantation at Merrimack." A location on the north side of the Merrimack river was selected early in the spring of 1639, and house lots were laid out and assigned to the new settlers. Christopher Batt, John San- ders, Robert Pike, Thomas Macy, Richard Singletary, and Anthony Sadler, of Newbury, received grants of land "in the first division."
September 4, 1639, the General Court ordered that the "plantation beyond Merrimack shalbee called Colechester", * and October 7, 1640, the governor, with the consent of the Court of Assistants and House of Deputies, declared that " Colechester is henceforward to bee called Salsbury." }
The new name was probably suggested by Christopher Batt, who came from Salisbury, England, with his wife Anne, and five children under ten years of age, in the ship " Bevis," in the month of May, 1638.# .
ROWLEY.
In the spring of 1639, Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, with a com- pany of about twenty families from Yorkshire, England, was allowed to begin a new settlement between Ipswich and New- bury. From the records of the General Court under date of March 13, 1638-9, it appears that " M" Ezechi : Rogers, Mr John Philips & their Company had granted them 8 miles every way into the Countrey, where it may not trench vpon other plantations already setled." §
Several farms that had been granted by the General Court to various individuals in Ipswich and Newbury were pur- chased, for the better accommodation of the new settlement,
* Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 271.
+ Ibid., vol. i., p. 305.
# Drake's " Founders of New England," p. 60.
§ Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 253.
69
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
by the payment of nearly eight hundred pounds; * and the freemen of Newbury voted that the Rev. Ezekiel Rogers and his company should have undisturbed possession of all the common and undivided lands within certain specified limits, as follows : -
The towne being assembled together and being desirous to manifest theyr earnest desires and willingness to give due incouredgment unto the worthy gentlemen who desire to set down between us and Ipswich as to part with such a portion of land as cannot any way be expected from them, or may without endangering their present necessityes afford. Hoping on good grounds it may fully answer their desires and expecta- tions they have determined as followeth :
By the common and general suffrages of the body of freemen, none excepted, there was granted to the said gentilmen all the upland and meadow and marish between us and Ipswich incompassed by the line heer underwritten, namely :
That their line shall begin from the head of the great Creek between the neck over the great river and Mr. Dummers, running due west as we come to the great Creek, being the bounds of John Osgoods farm, which issues into Mr Eastons river and above that creek all the lands south- ward of Mr. Eastons river, and from that river from the path leading to the falls to run a due west line into the country a mile, and afterwards to run on a north west line so as it come not within half a mile of the side line of Mr. Dummers farm. Likewise it comes two miles distant of Merrimack. Provided that if after they have entered by buildings or otherwise on this part of land granted to them and leave off from going on with a plantation or a towne between us, that then the grants above- said shall be void to all intents and purposes and to remaine the pro- prietyes and inheritances of the towne of Newbury in as ample a manner as before the grant hereof in all respects.t
September 4, 1639, the General Court ordered that "Mr Ezechi : Rogers plantation shalbee called Rowley." }
May 13, 1640, the company was released from' the pay- ment of taxes for two years "because of their great losse & charge by purchasing of land & hindrance of planting the last yeare." §
November 13, 1655, the General Court, " with the consent of the deputy of Rowley and Capt Gerrish and Mr Wood-
* Winthrop's History, vol. i., p. 354.
t Proprietors' Records, pp. 7, 8 ; Coffin's History of Newbury, p. 29.
# Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 271. '§ Ibid., vol. i., p. 289.
70
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
man of Newbury," appointed a committee to consider and determine where the division line between the two towns should run. May 14, 1656, the committee agreed upon a line, beginning at a white oak-tree standing upon the north- west side of Easton's river, and thence running westerly one mile to a heap of stones "laid there according to the courts order," and thence in a northwesterly direction to the Merrimack river.
Subsequently the General Court confirmed and established this division line, although an attempt was made to modify it, as stated in the next chapter.
HAVERHILL
March 13, 1640, a petition was presented to the General Court for liberty to begin another plantation on the Merri- mack river. In answer to this petition, the General Court voted that
The desires of Mr Ward & Newbury men is committed to the Gov- enor, Deputy Governor, & Mr Winthrope, Senior, to consider of Pa- tucket & Coijchawick (now Andover) & grant it them, p'vided they re- turne answer wth in three weeks fro the 21th psent, & that they build there before the next Courte.t
Pentucket was selected as the most convenient place for the new settlement ; and, June 2, 1641, the General Court passed the following order : -
Mr John Woodbridge, Matthewe Boyse, John Crosse & George Git- tings they 4, or any 3 of them, are appointed to set out the bounds be- tween Salsbery & Pantucket, ali: Haverell. They are to determine the bounds wch Mr Ward & his company are to inioy as a towne or village if they have 6 houses up by the next Genrall Court in the 8th mo.#
Although the Rev. Nathaniel Ward, of Ipswich, author of " The Simple Cobbler of Agawam," was active and earnest in his efforts to organize a company for the settlement at Pen- tucket, he did not remove there ; but his son, the Rev. John
* Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. iv., part i., pp. 249, 263. t Ibid., vol. i., p. 290.
Ibid., vol. i., p. 319.
71
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
Ward, who was born in Haverhill, Essex county, England, was evidently one of the most zealous supporters of the en- terprise, and ultimately became prominent as pastor of the first church in the town, named " Haverhill," in honor of his birthplace. Among the men who were associated with the Rev. Mr. Ward in organizing the new settlement were William White, Samuel Gile, James Davis, Henry Palmer, John Rob- inson, Christopher Hussey, John Williams, and Richard Little- hale, of Newbury .* Tristram Coffin also resided there for several years, and his name appears as witness to a deed, dated November 15, 1642, conveying to the inhabitants of the town all the land within its limits belonging to the Indian chieftains Passaquo and Saggattew. Mr. Coffin was licensed, May 26, 1647, to keep an ordinary, and also to keep a ferry over Merrimack river in connection with Mr. George Carr. He probably removed to Newbury about the time his license was granted by the General Court.
PUBLIC HOUSES.
March 4, 1634-5 the General Court ordered
... that noe pson whatsoeuer shall keepe a comon victualing howse, without licence from the Court, vnder the penalty of XXs a weeke.t
September 3, 1635, Francis Plumer, who came to New- bury soon after the incorporation of the town, was licensed "to keep an ordinary"; June 6, 1637, John Knight, of "Newebery," was granted liberty "to keepe an ordinary and give intertainment to such as neede "; and, May 22, 1639, " Edmond Greenlyf of Newberry " was permitted "to keepe a house of intertainment."
In order to provide for the accommodation of strangers on special occasions, the law relating to the keeping of ordinaries was modified November 5, 1639, as follows :
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.