USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > History of Newburyport, Mass., 1764-1905, Volume I > Part 3
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1 History of Newburyport (Cushing), p. 89.
2 Essex Gazette, Aug. 11, 1772 (Essex Institute), and Essex Journal and N. H. Packet, Dec 4, 1773 (Am. Antiquarian Society, Worcester).
3I
PIERS TO MARK THE CHANNEL
It is also evident from the following advertisement, and others that might be quoted, that the social assemblies of that day were not neglected and that dancing was not abso- lutely prohibited :-
Edward Hackett of Newbury Port begs leave to inform the Public that he opens his Dancing School on Tuesday the IIth instant, in the afternoon, at the Assembly Room. Said Hackett likewise continues his school at Portsmouth and Haverhill. Such Ladies and Gentlemen as please to send their children to him may depend upon his utmost care to have them well instructed. And likewise those Ladies and Gentlemen that chuse to be instructed privately may depend upon his utmost care and diligence.I
PIERS TO MARK THE CHANNEL OF MERRIMACK RIVER.
March 1, 1773, a committee, consisting of Stephen Hooper, Nathaniel Carter, and Ralph Cross, was appointed by the town of Newburyport to obtain liberty to build a pier or piers on the sunken rocks in Merrimack river.2 This committee reported September fourteenth, as follows : -
That as said Rocks are a grevous Impediment to the Increasing Nav- igation on sd River, your Committee think it advisable to Build one or more Piers on them if even at a large expense, and as the Benefits are supposed to Affect the Interests of some more than others, and as rais- ing money is the most Essential Requisite in this Affair, your Commitee have procured subscriptions to the amount of about one hundred & thir- ty pounds payable to such Person or Persons as shall be chosen by the Town of Newbury Port to receive the same, and as the Building sd Piers may be beneficial to the other Towns on said River, your Committee think it advisable to make application to some of those Towns for their Approbation & Assistance.3
Patrick Tracy was appointed treasurer of the fund raised for the purpose of building these piers which were probably completed during the summer of 1774; the inhabitants of Newbury, Salisbury, Amesbury, Bradford and Haverhill con- tributing liberally toward the cost of labor and materials.
1. Essex Journal and Merrimack Packet, April 27, 1774 (Boston Athenæum).
2 Newburyport Town Records, vol. I., p. 166.
3 Newburyport Town Records, vol. I., p. 174.
32
HISTORY OF NEWBURYPORT
DIVISION OF TOWN PROPERTY.
At a meeting of the inhabitants of Newburyport, held March 15, 1764, a committee was appointed to confer with the selectmen of Newbury and make the necessary arrange- ments for a division of the public property belonging to both towns.
Voted that Mr Ralph Cross, Daniel Farnham, Esq., Dudley Atkins, Esq., Richard Greenleaf, Esq., and Capt Robert Roberts, be a committee to settle and adjust Accts with the Select Men of Newbury (who have hitherto acted as Town Treasurers) this Towns Part and Proportion of the monies heretofore raised by the Town of Newbury when undivided, and also with respect to the Buildings, Town Stock of Ammunition, belong- ing to the Town of Newbury before divided and with respect to every other matter and thing the said Select Men in any capacity whatsoever are obliged to acct with the town for : In pursuance of the late act of the General Court for the Division of the Town of Newbury.I
The committee were unable to agree with the selectmen of Newbury in regard to the valuation of the property and the estimated indebtedness of the undivided town. At a meeting of the inhabitants of Newburyport, held May 25, 1764, a satisfactory settlement of the questions in dispute was declared to be improbable and a motion was made "to petition the General Court to re-unite the towns of Newbury and Newbury- port." The motion, however, was defeated, fifty-four voting in favor, and two hundred and sixty-two against the measure ; but at the same meeting the demand for more territory was vigorously supported and ultimately received the following unqualified endorsement :-
Voted that Daniel Farnham, Esq. Representative for this Town apply to the Great & General Court in their approaching Sessions to have the Limits and Bounds of this Town of Newbury Port enlarged.2
For some unknown reason, however, the subject was not brought to the attention of the General Court. No reference to it can be found in the legislative records and it is certain that no change was made until nearly a century later.
1 Newburyport Town Records, vol. I., p. 15.
2 Newburyport Town Records, vol. I., p. 26.
33
DIVISION OF TOWN PROPERTY
In August, 1766, the selectmen of Newbury brought a suit, in the inferior court of common pleas, to recover from the town of Newburyport its proportion of the unsettled bills and unadjusted claims of the undivided town of Newbury. Mr. Ralph Cross, Daniel Farnham, Esq., Dudley Atkins, Esq., Richard Greenleaf, Esq., and Capt. Robert Roberts, members of the committee previously appointed by the inhabitants of Newburyport, were instructed to defend the suit at the court " to be holden at Newburyport the last Tuesday in September."' Daniel Farnham, Esq., attorney for the com- mittee appeared at the time and place appointed, and upon his motion the suit was dismissed for lack of proper notice in serving the writ.
Another suit, commenced on the fourteenth day of Novem- ber following, was dismissed by agreement December 26, 1767.
Moses Little Saml Gerrish
John Brown
Daniel Farnham Robert Roberts
Ralph Cross John Lowell
Agents for Newbury Agents for Newburyport 2
A small minority of the inhabitants of Newburyport still continued to agitate for a repeal of the act of incorporation. At a town meeting held March 16, 1768, "the Desire of Oliver Moody & others for a reunion of the Towns of New- bury & Newbury Port " was considered but failed to secure the approval of a majority of the voters.3
When the Bill incorporating the town was reported to the General Court, in 1764, the name " Newbury Port " was left blank and was not inserted until after the Bill had passed to be engrossed.4 Later, there was evidently some objection to the name selected, and subsequently a change was proposed and an attempt was made to bring the subject to the attention
1 Newburyport Town Records, vol. I., p. 88.
2 Docket and Court Files, at Salem, for December term, 1767.
3 Newburyport Town Records, vol., I., p. 119.
4 Mass. Archives, vol. CXVIII., pp. 14-19.
34
HISTORY OF NEWBURYPORT
of the General Court. One article in the warrant issued for a town meeting to be held January 1, 1773, reads as follows :-
To see if the Town will instruct their Representative to prefer a pe- tition to the General Court in their Behalf praying that the name of this Town may be altered from Newburyport to the name of Portland.I
This article was favored by a majority of the voters who attended the meeting on the day above named, and Jonathan Greenleaf, Esq., was instructed to prepare a suitable petition to be presented to the General Court at its next session. After further consideration, however, the advocates of the proposed change were convinced that it could not be accomplished with- out a long struggle, and consented to postpone further action until a more convenient season. Jonathan Greenleaf evident- ly did not consider it advisable to bring the subject to the atten- tion of the General Court, and no further action was taken in regard to it by the legal voters of the town.
STRANGERS.
Adult persons of either sex, removing from other towns in the province, were not allowed to obtain a legal settlement in Newburyport unless they were known to be industrious and frugal. Owners of dwelling houses, renting them to strangers and neglecting to notify the selectmen or town clerk were liable to a fine of forty shillings.2
May 30, 1764, the Selectmen gave notice to ye Inhabitants not to take into their Houses any strangers without informing the selectmen.3
Edmund Morse, Jr., one of the constables of Newburyport, was ordered, April 29, 1765, to notify several men, women, and children, "who have lately come to dwell within this town, to depart and leave it ; "3 and two years later the names of strangers temporarily residing in the town were care- fully taken down and recorded by the selectmen. Notices
1 Newburyport Town Records, vol. I., p. 162.
2 History of Newbury (Currier), pp. 215-217.
3 Newburyport (Selectmen's) Records.
35
STRANGERS
were sent to those who for various reasons were considered objectionable or likely to be burdensome to the town "that they depart the limits thereof with their children and others under their care, if such they have, within fifteen days."
Similar notices were sent from time to time, until the be- ginning of the nineteenth century, to improvident and objec- tionable persons who came into the town "for the purpose of abiding there."
1136726
WEIGHT OF BREAD.
November 4, 1646, the General Court of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay ordered "that every baker shall have a distinct marke for his bread & keep ye true assise thereof." With wheat at three shillings per bushel the weight of the penny loaf was fixed at II I-4 ounces " for ye white," 17 1-4 ounces "for wheaten " and 23 ounces " for household bread." When wheat advanced in price an equitable reduction was made in the weight of the loaf.I
In 1681, liberty to choose, in every town in the colony, three persons to fix the price of wheat and bread, was granted by the General Court.2 The provincial government, under the new charter, signed by King William and Queen Mary, super- seded the colonial government in 1692, and soon after that date the law regulating the price and weight of bakers' bread was re-enacted.3
After the incorporation of Newburyport, the selectmen were required to post notices once in six months, or oftener, giving the variations in the weight of bread according to the condi- tion of the wheat market.
At a meeting of the Selectmen of Newbury Port, ye 26 April 1764, first gave order to the Bakers & Clerks of the Market for the assise of Bread by putting up notifications of the weight of Bread.4
The notice issued June 1I, 1764 fixed the weight of bread as follows :___ 3
1 Mass. Colony Records, vol. II., p. 181.
2 Mass. Colony Records, vol. V., p. 322.
3 Province Laws, vol. I., p. 252.
Newburyport (Selectmen's) Records.
36
HISTORY OF NEWBURYPORT
I penny white loaf o. lbs. 8 oz. o. dr.
2 penny white loaf I. o. o. 4 penny white loaf 2. o. o. 4 Brick loaf I. 14. o.
A Copper Bisket well baked o.
5.
o.
January 1, 1765, the selectmen ordered the bakers "to mark their Bread & Bisket with the first letter of their Chris- tian & the first and last of their sir name, as all Bread & Bis- ket will be seized for want thereof ", and the same day gave notice that the weight of bread would be as follows :- 1
I penny-white loaf lbs. 7 OZ. 8 dr.
2 penny white loaf o. 15. 0
4 penny white loaf I. 13. 14.
4 penny Brick loaf I. II. O
A. Copper Bisket well baked o. 5.
o.
April 4, 1769, John Berry, Edmund Bartlet and William Atkins, three of the five selectmen, met the bakers of the town, " Messrs Wood, Tell and Kettle," and after conferring with them in regard to the law regulating the baking of bread placed the following statement on record :-
That the Selectmen give it as their opinion that the Clerks of the Market weigh seven Biskets which, if they weigh as much as the 4d loaf, allowing for the Drying of the Biskets, is agreeable to other Towns. We desired the said Bakers to get as soon as may be the assise & custom of Bread in Boston & Charlestown which they promised to do.2
ACADIANS.
In " Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie," Longfellow has de- scribed the sufferings and privations of the Acadian farmers
1 Newburyport (Selectmen's) Records.
2 Newburyport (Selectmen's) Records.
Capt. Thomas Tannatt was one of the wardens and vestrymen of St. Paul's church, Newburyport, from 1743 to 1753. He died in the summer of 1759 leav- ing a son, Thomas Tannatt. A sign on which was printed an heraldic device, or coat of arms, and the words : " All sorts of Bread made and sold by Thomas Tan- natt, 1772," was displayed at a fair held in city hall April 22, 1858, but diligent enquiry has failed to elicit any further information in regard to it. Thomas Tan- natt removed to Boston and sold his dwelling house, bake-house and land in New- buryport Nov. 12, 1793. Essex Deeds, book 157, leaf 59.
37
ACADIANS
who were taken, with their wives and children, to the num- ber of six thousand in all, from their homes, in 1755, and sent, "friendless and hopeless," to towns and villages along the sea coast from Massachusetts Bay to Georgia. Some of the Acadians, or French Neutrals, as they were called, were placed under the care of the overseers of the poor in Newburyport when the town was incorporated in 1764.1
A plan for the removal of these unhappy exiles to Canada was submitted to the General Court in 1766 by Francis Ber- nard, governor of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay in the fol- lowing message :-
COUNCIL CHAMBER, June 9, 1766.
Gentlemen of the House of Representatives :
According to the desire of the House last session I sent two Acadians, in Feby last, with letters to his Excellency Gov. Murray. One of them is since returned & has brought letters from Govr Murray, expressing his readiness to receive the Acadians if they shall be transported thither, but signifying his inability for want of a proper fund to make any provis- ion for them upon their arrival. The Acadians are willing to go & have given in lists of those who are ready to the amount of 890 persons. They have also given in another petition praying some provision may be made for supporting them for a little time after their arrival. All of which I lay before you that you may do herein as you shall think most proper.
FRA BERNARD.2
In the discussion that followed the reading of the message some of the minor details of the plan were severely criticised and after prolonged debate the subject was indefinitely post- poned. The Acadians, residing in Newburyport and vicinity, anxious to return to their friends and countrymen, were not disheartened by the failure of the General Court to provide funds for their support in Canada. Early in the year 1767 Joseph Dorsett, in behalf of himself and family, sent the fol- lowing communication to the inhabitants of Newburyport :-
1 History of Newbury (Currier), p. 554.
2 Mass. Archives (French Neutrals), vol. XXIV., p. 571.
38
HISTORY OF NEWBURYPORT
NEWBURY PORT, March 23, 1767.
Gentlemen :- I Joseph Dosset of Salisbury do humbly Petition to you my Fathers for Help or Support for my Family. We are poor Prisoners and we hope by the good Providence that we shall return this spring. I have four children belonging to this Town. Hope, sirs, you will help me as we are poor & nothing to help ourselves with in a strange land. We must have supply or we must suffer together with all my family & I also must take care of my aged mother & three sisters. One of them is very sickly & can do nothing for a living this many years, & one that is in a poor state of health often times. All look to me as I am all the Son & Brother that can do for them. A heavy charge without help.I
In answer to this petition the overseers of the poor were authorized "if they consider it advisible,"I to furnish Joseph Dorsett with money sufficient to pay for his transportation to Canada with his family.2 A few weeks later another petition was presented to the selectmen of the town by Peter Dorsett for himself and others. The petition was as follows :-
NEWBURY PORT, May 12, 1767. To the Gentlemen Selectmen for the Town of Newbury Port:
The Petition of us the Subscribers being some of the People known by the name of Neutral French in behalf of ourselves & Familys humbly sheweth :- That by the Providence of God being brought from our native country into this Province & by the authority of the same put more imme- diately under your Care & Protection, having Liberty and opportunity of Removing ourselves & Familys to one of His Britanick Majesties Gov- ernments in Canada do most gladly accept the same, But being in very poor & low Circumstances of Life and not able to pay our Passage and lay in Necessarys for the Support of ourselves and Families (being in number fifteen) for said voyage most humbly pray that you would be pleased to use your Interest & Influence in our Behalf with the Town that they may Grant unto us such reasonable Help in Money as that we may be enabled to pay our said Passage and lay in Necessaries for said Voyage, and as in Duty bound we shall ever pray
his PETER X DORSET in Behalf of himself wife & ten Children mark her PHILLIS X BALLAVEN in Behalf of herself & two Children3 mark
' Newburyport Town Records, vol. I., p. 102.
2 Newburyport Town Records, vol. I., p. 101.
3 Newburyport Town Records, vol. I., p. 107.
39
ACADIANS
Mr. Ebenezer Little, Capt. James Hudson, Tristram Dal- ton, Esq., Mr. Jacob Boardman and Mr. Stephen Hooper were appointed a committee, May 19, 1767, to consider the prayer of the petitioners " and confer with all the neutral French in Town and if it appears needfull to make Provision for their Transportation to Canada & support on their Passage, they are to provide for them as they shall think proper."1
The petitioners were granted the assistance asked for and during the following summer most of the Acadians found their way to Canada.
SMALLPOX AND OTHER CONTAGIOUS DISEASES.
A few weeks after the incorporation of Newburyport strin- gent measures were adopted to prevent the spread of small- pox and other contagious diseases in the town. March 17, 1764, the selectmen applied to Michael Dalton and Daniel Farnham, justices of the peace, for a warrant which was prompt- ly granted, "to take possession of Johnson Lunt's sloop and Francis Haskell's sloop lately come from Boston where ye small pox is prevalent."
April 16, 1764 the selectmen agreed that the constables should stop all vessells, coming from Boston, below the half tide rocks, and order'd the sd Constables to see that the sloop Mairmaid that lately came from Boston with Freight goods, go below the sd half tide rocks & lay there till further orders 2
Two days later the inhabitants of Newburyport voted that Mr. Ralph Cross' vessel, " recently come from Boston," should be ordered by the selectmen to go below the half-tide rocks, also voted to keep up the guards at the bridges over Parker river, " provided the town of Newbury pay their proportion of the charge."3 The selectmen promptly ordered Benjamin Gerrish and William Morgaridge, guards at the Old Town bridge and David Greenleaf, "guard at Thorlo's bridge," to continue " to inspect all persons coming from Boston where the small pox is prevalent."2
' Newburyport Town Records, vol. I., p. 107.
2 Newburyport (Selectmen's) Records.
3 Newburyport Town Records, vol. I., p. 22.
40
HISTORY OF NEWBURYPORT
At a meeting of the selectmen, held May 3, 1764, at Wolfe Tavern, Capt. William Davenport, landlord, Henry Chipman, one of the constables of Newburyport, was ordered to go to the new hospital recently erected in the great pasture in New- bury to see if Joseph Marquand and Henry Hudson, who had been inoculated with the smallpox, were in a condition to return to their families.' At three o'clock in the afternoon of the same day the constable reported that he had examined the persons named and found them restored to health and thorough- ly disinfected. They were therefore granted permission, by the selectmen, to leave the hospital without further examina- tion.
On the eighth day of May following, the constable reported that Joseph Greenough, John Lowell and Beniah Titcomb, who had been inoculated with the smallpox in Boston, could return in safety to their families, and the selectmen gave them liberty to do so.1
Subsequently, Capt William Friend, Samuel Tufts, Tristram Dalton, Moses Titcomb and others who had voluntarily taken the disease in its most virulent form, were examined, disinfec- ted, and allowed to return to their homes.
May 25, 1764 the selectmen gave new Directions to Messrs Benja- min Gerrish & Willm Morgaridge, as gards at the Bridge over the river. Parker, not to let any Person come into Town without examination & if any Person coming from any place that is Infected with the Small Pox, not to let them come through before they are thoroly smok't & what they bring with them, agreeable to this Towns resolve this Day.2
On the twenty-sixth day of June following the guards at the bridges over the Parker river were notified that their ser- vices would be no longer needed, and the selectmen voted, August fourth, to build a fence, enclosing the space of about eight rods, all around the hospital, and to provide a guard to keep cattle, cows, boys and men from coming within ten or fifteen rods of the enclosure.2
1 History of Newbury (Currier), p. 225.
2 Newburyport (Selectmen's) Records.
4I
EVENTS CULMINATING IN THE REVOLUTION
March 19, 1765, a committee, consisting of Ralph Cross, Daniel Farnham, Dudley Atkins, Richard Greenleaf and Capt. Robert Roberts, was chosen by the voters of Newburyport " to settle with the town of Newbury for the new Hospital lately erected in the Great Pasture."I
For the convenience of shipmasters and sailors, who were much exposed to contagious diseases, a committee was appoint- ed, June 26, 1769, to see if the selectmen of Newbury would agree to pay their proportion of the cost of building another hospital on Plum Island, provided the proprietors of undivided lands would grant them permission to build one there.2
The proposal was favorably received by the selectmen, as well as by the proprietors of Newbury, and the building was erected during the summer of 1769.
EVENTS CULMINATING IN THE REVOLUTION.
In 1765, parliament imposed a stamp tax on deeds of con- veyance, contracts for labor, certificates of appointment to public office, and other legal instruments. This attempt to raise a revenue for the payment of salaries and other expenses of the royal governors in North America was exceedingly ob- noxious to the inhabitants of the provinces of Virginia, New York and Massachusetts Bay.
Early in the evening of the twenty-sixth day of August, 1765, a riotous mob surrounded the house of Lieut .- Gov. Thomas Hutchinson, in Boston, broke down the doors, seized and carried away all the silver ware with nine hundred pounds in money, burned the furniture in the street and destroyed everything of value, from cellar to attic, including a large col- lection of books, manuscript papers and important public doc- uments.
A month later, a boisterous crowd of men and boys hung, from a large elm tree, near the foot of Federal and Water streets, in Newburyport, a rude representation, or effigy, of a
1 Newburyport Town Records, vol. I, p. 44.
2 Newburyport Town Records, vol. I., p. 131.
42
HISTORY OF NEWBURYPORT
well-known citizen who had been appointed and had consented to serve, as stamp distributor. This effigy was allowed to remain exposed to public view for twenty-four hours or more. Tar barrels were then collected, a bonfire made, the rope cut and "the man of straw" dropped into the flames. Noisy demonstrations continued through the night. Men armed with clubs paraded the streets and compelled those who were suspected of favoring the stamp act to condemn it uncondition- ally, or in case of refusal to submit to kicks and bruises and perhaps a severe beating.
The liberal use of "punch and toddy," ordered by Joseph Stanwood and others, and delivered gratuitously to those who found it necessary to resort to the tap room of Wolfe Tavern for something stimulating, evidently contributed to the excite- ment of the occasion.1
These disorderly proceedings were vigorously condemmed by the law-abiding citizens of Newburyport. At a meeting held September 30, 1765, the spirit and temper of the people found expression in the following resolutions :-
Resolved that the late act of Parliament, called the Stamp Act, is very grievious and that this Town, as much as in them lies, will endeav- our the Repeal of the same in all lawful ways :
That this Town absolutely disapprove of all riotous & tumultuous assemblies either in the day or in the night :
That this Town will to the utmost of their Power endeavour that the laws of this Province, made to prevent Disorders of every kind, be put into execution :
That in case of any riotous & tumultuous assembling, the Town will meet together and assist the magistrates & Peace officers in the execution of their duties in suppressing such unlawful Proceedings :
That it is the Desire of the Town that no Man in it will accept of the office of distributing Stamp Papers as he regards the Displeasure of the Town, and that they will deem the Person accepting of such office an enemy to his country.2
On the twenty-first day of October following, Dudley At-
1 The bill for liquor furnished by William Davenport, landlord of Wolfe Tavern, is printed in full in " Ould Newbury : Historical and Biographical Sketches," p. 499.
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