USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > History of Saugus, Massachusetts. > Part 4
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > History of Saugus, Massachusetts > Part 4
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HISTORY OF SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS.
In connection with East Saugus the "lower landing" should be mentioned. It was at the foot of what is now Ballard Street, which was built from the old Boston road (Lincoln Avenue) to the Salem Turnpike in 1850. In 1639 there was a ford and ferry at the "lower land- ing," designated on the Lynn side as Needham's Land- ing and on the Saugus side as Ballard's Landing.
Brickmaking has flourished in East Saugus for many years. Frederic Stocker, father and then son of the same name, have carried it on there for at least seventy years.
The legend of Pirates' Glen and Tom Veal (1658) can receive but passing reference in a brief work of this character. Its complete story is found in the His- tory of Lynn, Page 243, and already referred to. Vin- egar Hill and environs also are replete with historical significance. Both merit more attention than we are able to accord them in this history.
Midway between Vinegar Hill and Choose Hill, both previously mentioned, the site of the old garrison house is found. Under date of 1642, Alonzo Lewis writes :
"A great alarm was occasioned through the colony by a report that the Indians intended to exterminate the English. The people were ordered to keep a watch from sunset to sunrise, and blacksmiths were directed to suspend all other business till the arms of the col- ony were repaired. A house was built for the soldiers, and another, about forty feet long, for a safe retreat for the women and children of the town, in case of an
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attack from the Indians. These houses were within the limits of Saugus, about eighty rods from the east- ern boundary, and about the same distance south of Walnut Street. The cellars of both these buildings remain, and near them, on the east, is a fine, unfailing spring."
The garrison house site is now in the possession of the Lynn Historical Society, to be preserved for his- torical and public purposes, and as it is within the present territorial limits of Saugus, it is deemed fitting to refer to it in this paper. Pirates' Glen, Dungeon Rock, Vinegar Hill, Choose Hill, the garrison site, and their accompanying legends and traditions, are, there- fore, all the peculiar heritages of Saugus in this its hour of Centennial celebration. Unfortunately, how- ever, only passing mention can be made of them.
The earliest glories of East Saugus cluster about the mill site and tavern.
"We left the shade; And, ere the stars were visible, had reached A village inn-our evening resting place." -Wadsworth.
SCHOOLS
S AUGUS schools last year (1914) cost $60,000 for thirteen buildings and a school enrollment of 2198.
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HISTORY OF SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS.
The early schools of the West Parish met in various houses hereabouts, sometimes in one and sometimes in another. This plan continued until 1775, when a schoolhouse was erected at the Centre, on the south- east corner of the old burying ground. It served its purpose until 1801, when Richard Shute bought it for $63. He removed it, made some alterations and additions and thereafter conducted it as a grocery store in connection with his house. Fire destroyed it in 1820.
About 1800 five schoolhouses were petitioned for, two at the Centre, one at the "North End" (North Saugus), one at "Boardman's End" (Oaklandvale), and the other in the "South Part" (East Saugus). One was deemed sufficient, however, and the Centre got it, "Southwest of the meetinghouse." It was later used as a shoe shop by William W. Boardman.
Rev. Joseph Emerson of Beverly, previously referred to, established a Ladies' Seminary in Saugus, a plan that was encouraged by the parish. It was con- structed in 1822. Young ladies came to it in consid- erable numbers, but, unfortunately, in the autumn of the second year, an epidemic of typhoid broke out and several of the students died. In 1824, Mr. Emerson's health failed him and he retired, to be succeeded by Rev. Hervey Wilbur, who continued it until 1826, when he abandoned the Seminary. Fanny Fern, the noted authoress, attended, and later, young men being admitted, Cornelius Conway Felton, previously men- tioned, was also a student, and chore-boy.
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The course of study in the Seminary embraced two terms of twelve weeks each, separated by a vacation of a fortnight. The terms were $6, "payable in ad- vance, common price of board from $1 to $1.75 per week, without fuel, lights, or washing." Attached to the Seminary was a preparatory school taught by Mrs. Emerson and Miss Z. B. Cheever at fifty cents a week. The bell of the Seminary, which was a very fine one, was sold in 1854, and soon after, we are informed, Mr. Edwin Jeffers purchased the building and converted it into a dwelling house.
While the typhoid epidemic is generally ascribed as the reason for the cessation of the Seminary's activities as an educational institution, apparently the unfortu- nate religious difficulties of the period also permeated its affairs and undoubtedly played a somewhat promi- nent part in its dissolution.
The old Rock Schoolhouse is appropriately chron- icled under East Saugus, where it played such a promi- nent part in town affairs.
The town now has thirteen schoolhouses, which, to- gether with the land under them, have an estimated value of about $217,000, according to the town's ap- praisal committee.
These schoolhouses are : High, Roby, Felton, Lincoln, Cliftondale, Armitage, Ballard, Mansfield, Emerson, North Saugus, Lynnhurst, Oaklandvale, and the old building at the Centre.
The High School was erected in 1906. At one time
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the High School was held in a large room in the Town Hall. The Lincoln School is named in honor of the martyred President, Abraham Lincoln. The Clifton- dale School was originally called the Bond School, in honor of an old Saugus family, but after an unfortu- nate controversy in connection with it, the name was changed to Cliftondale School, by a vote in town meet- ing. The Armitage School is named in honor of Laura F. Armitage, one of the town's most faithful teachers, who served in that capacity for many years. The Lynnhurst, Oaklandvale, and North Saugus Schools bear their designations in honor of their respective lo- calities, and the Roby, Felton, Ballard, Mansfield and Emerson have already been alluded to. Cliftondale's next school building might appropriately be named the "Sweetser School," in honor of "Sweetser's Cor- ner" and the well-known family of that name.
We are indebted to Hawkes for an interesting re- cital concerning the Oaklandvale School. When the proposition to build it was pending (1848) a general budget was before the meeting. A resident of the Centre, Ben. Parker, desirous of defeating the whole measure, moved to increase the amount for this school from $1500 to $2200. It carried. The voters evi- dently felt exceedingly generous. Probably the tax rate was not mounting skyward then as it is now. The residents of Oaklandvale, to show their appreciation, put up the foundation walls themselves, and the $2200 was utilized for the building alone.
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"The result was that the smallest school in town had the largest schoolhouse," concludes Hawkes, to whom we are also indebted for another interesting thing in connection with our earlier educational facilities, to wit:
"Before the building of the first schoolhouse, the . first detached school of the Third Parish was estab- lished in an apartment of this house" (the old Nathan Hawkes house, on the north side of the road from North Saugus to Wakefield) "a few rods west of the present North Saugus Schoolhouse."
In David N. Johnson's "Sketches of Lynn" is found the first school report made to the Town of Lynn. The outlying districts were Nahant, North Saugus, and Swampscott, thus mentioned :
"Your Committee visited Nahant; found nine pres- ent. Also the school at Nathan Hawkes'; present twelve. All the schools visited were in good order." The date of this report is April 14, 1812.
The Rev. Edward T. Taylor, afterwards founder of the Seamen's Bethel in Boston, received the rudiments of his education in this school of Nathan Hawkes' and also was entertained under the roof of this same house during his itinerancy, which carried him also to the old Rock Schoolhouse at East Saugus.
He was introduced to Saugus by "Ma'am Sweetser," to whose house Taylor came in 1814 as an itinerant peddler, selling his wares. Social evening meetings, for exhortation and prayer, were appointed, and the
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peddler guest took a prominent part therein. People came from mÃles around. Ma'am Sweetser's whole house, parlor and kitchen, soon became too small to accommodate the crowd that came.
B. F. Newhall writes: "To meet this exigency, a few of the neighbors projected the building of a school- house, which would answer the double purpose of teaching and preaching. This, by great effort on the part of a few, was soon accomplished, and the 'North End Schoolhouse,' so renowned in after years, sprang into existence."
During Taylor's administration Methodism took a deep root in North Saugus, and later the First Metho- dist Episcopal Society (East Saugus) was formed.
At the Rock Schoolhouse in East Saugus, Taylor's career was a stormy one, if all reports are correct. B. F. Newhall says Taylor was there "threatened with stones, tar and feathers, the rail, etc., but he is not in the least discouraged or cast down. His staunch friend, Solomon Brown, is always by his side. 'Fight On, Brother Taylor,' were the encouraging words then given, and he did fight on, and his persecutors quailed before him. Such was the beginning of Meth- odism in Saugus, and such was the fortune and treat- ment of the stripling Taylor in its defense," begun in the two earliest schools of Saugus, the one at Nathan Hawkes' house in North Saugus and the other at the old Rock Schoolhouse in East Saugus.
After about two years of labor in Saugus, Father
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Taylor said "adieu" and entered the academy at New- market, N. H., preparatory to entering a wider field of labor, in which he became famous.
The story of Father Taylor in Saugus is very re- plete with historical, educational and religious signifi- cance, and we regret that we must leave it and hurry on.
Hawkes says, in one of his many historical gems: "As early as 1635, our towns established schools, sup- porting them in various ways, by subscriptions, by endowments, by grants of income, by fishing privi- leges, by tuition fees, by direct taxation, and they have been steadily climbing to the top. At no time has the work relaxed. And now, Massachusetts leads the world in educational privileges."
Saugus is one of the towns included in this compli- mentary paragraph. Our earlier schools accomplished much ; our modern ones are doing immeasurably more, and that we are not niggardly in this day and genera- tion is shown by the size of our annual appropriations for the maintenance of our public schools, which, as Lord Maccaulay once said in parliament, deserve "the peculiar attention of the State."
"Say, I taught thee-"
-Henry VIII
FATHER TAYLOR
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HISTORY OF SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS.
SAUGUS AS A SEPARATE TOWN
O F our original Saugus territory, our well-known historian, James R. Newhall, aptly says that down to 1814 no very extensive tract had been severed, and continues :
"In that year Lynnfield, which had been called Lynn End, and having been incorporated as a district in 1782, was set off as a separate town under its present name. Another portion was, by legislative action, taken from the mother town in 1815, and incorporated under the name of Saugus, thus reviving the old name in that detached portion of the territory. In 1852 still another portion was set off, and the new town of Swampscott came into being. The next year, 1853, the pleasant little peninsula was unbound and made a separate municipality. By these facts it will be seen that it is very difficult to treat of those municipal chil- dren of Lynn as having any separate early history."
Thus, in 1814, Lynnfield blazed the way to separate corporate identity which Saugus followed the follow- ing year, 1815, and which our town is now in the midst of celebrating. Your present historian had at first intended to treat Saugus in three periods, the Colonial, from 1629 to 1775; the Revolutionary, from 1775 to 1815; and the Centennial, from 1815 to 1915, but in a brief, running narrative, hastily prepared and of neces- sity limited as to its scope, it has been decided not to attempt any such subdivision of the topic, which is :
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interwoven and closely allied from the beginning until the present year.
Our town, which was for nearly two hundred years the West Parish of Lynn, was set off as a separate town on Feb. 17, 1815, by an act of the Legislature. There were two remonstrants, petitions against it, but they availed nothing.
The following is a copy of the petition asking that the separate municipality be established, and procured at the State House in Boston :
To the Honorable the Senate and the Honorable the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth in General Court assembled.
The Subscribers of the Second Parish in Lynn in the County of Essex,-Respectfully represent that the said parish lies in the western part of Lynn and is bounded westerly on Malden and Reading, northerly on Lynnfield and southerly on Chelsea, being wholly in said Town of Lynn except a small section of land in the Town of Chelsea in the County of Suffolk, which is an- nexed to the said second parish : that it would greatly promote the interest and convenience of the said second parish of Lynn to be set off from a Town; that the travel of the said inhabitants to and from Town meet- ings would be shortened from one and a half to four miles ; that the taxes, now almost insupportable to your petitioners, would be much reduced and would be more equally assessed and distributed, and that many other evils and inconveniences would be remedied. Your pe- titioners, therefore, pray that the second parish in Lynn may be set off from the Town of Lynn and estab- lished as a separate Town, and include all the lands within the boundaries of said parish, except the section of land belonging to the Town of Chelsea, with all rights and privileges belonging to Towns in this Com-
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monwealth, by the name of Westport, if that shall seem to your Honors right and expedient-and as in duty bound will ever pray.
Lynn, June 2, 1814. (Signed) William Jackson, Thomas Mansfield, Daniel S. Oliver, Thomas Mansfield, Jr., Peter Davis, Robert Emes, Richard Mansfield, Na- thaniel Tarbell, John Southwick, Benjamin Wilson, James Johnson, Ahijah Hawks, William Hawks, Ebe- nezer Hawks, John Raddin, Nathan Hawks, John Felch, Abner Cheever, Henry Cheever, William Sweet- ser, Jr., John Butts, Joseph Danforth, Jacob Newhall, J. I. Newhall, Ebenezer Bancroft, Jonathan Makepeace, Thomas Raddin and James Oliver.
The remonstrants had suggested that the town, if established, be named Westport. This plan was aban- doned, however, and the bill, as enacted, incorporated the town of Saugus from the Second Parish of Lynn.
The act was as follows :
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and fifteen :
An act to incorporate the Second Parish in the town of Lynn into a separate town by the name of Saugus.
Section 1-Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by authority of the same:
That all that part of the town of Lynn in the County of Essex lying and being situate within the boundaries of the Second Parish in Lynn aforesaid, together with the inhabitants therein, be and the same is incorpo- rated into a separate town by the name of Saugus, viz .: Beginning at Bride's brook, so called, and continuing as the said brook runs until it meets the river that runs between Chelsea and Lynn, and then by said river until it meets Pines river, and then by said Pines river until it meets Saugus river, and then along Saugus river by the middle of said river to Great bridge, so called, then
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running from said bridge a straight line to the easterly end of the farm now owned by William Sweetser and Ephraim Sweetser, formerly belonging to John Hawks' successors, and then turning and running to the line of Lynnfield to the northern side of the land now be- longing to John Reading, formerly of Isaac Larrabee, thence running by the line of Lynnfield until it meets the line of the town of South Reading, thence running by the line between South Reading and the town of Lynn until it comes to the Three County Mark, so called, thence running on the line between Chelsea and Lynn until it comes to Bride's brook, the place first set out from.
Section 2-Be it further enacted, that the said town of Saugus shall be entitled to hold such proportions of all the real and personal estate now belonging to and owned by the inhabitants of the town of Lynn as the property of the inhabitants of the town of Saugus now bears to the property of all the inhabitants of the town of Lynn, according to the latest valuation thereof, ex- cepting always all rights of common landing places and privileges heretofore possessed by the inhabitants of the town of Lynn, all which shall be held and enjoyed by the towns respectively within whose limits the same may be, except the privileges on Pine beach, which shall hereafter be enjoyed by the inhabitants of the said town of Lynn and the said town of Saugus in common.
Section 3-Be it further enacted, that the said town of Saugus shall be holden to pay their proportion, to be ascertained as aforesaid, of all debts and claims now due and owing from the said town of Lynn or which may hereafter be found due and owing by reason of any contract, engagement, judgment of court or any matter or thing now or hereafter entered into or ex- isting, and shall be entitled to receive their proportion to be ascertained as aforesaid, of all the debts, taxes and monies now due to said town of Lynn.
Section 4-Be it further enacted, that the said town of Saugus shall be holden to support their proportion of the present poor of the said town of Lynn, which
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proportion shall be ascertained as aforesaid, and all persons who shall or may hereafter become chargeable as paupers shall be considered as belonging to that town on whose territory they may have gained a legal settlement, and shall be supported by that town only.
Section 5-Be it further enacted, that nothing in this act shall be so construed as to alter or affect in any way parish privileges of the right or manner of assess- ing and collecting parish taxes within or for either the said town of Lynn or the said town of Saugus, which said rights and privileges shall hereafter be held and enjoyed in the same manner, as if this act had not been made.
Section 6-Be it further enacted, that there shall be and is hereby granted to the town of Lynn the right to tax those inhabitants of the said town who now own salt marsh on the southerly and easterly side of the Salem Turnpike road, but within the limits of the town of Saugus, so long as the same shall continue to be owned by the inhabitants of the town of Lynn or the heirs of said inhabitants who now own the same.
Section 7-Be it further enacted, that the rights and privileges of the fishery shall be held and enjoyed here- after by the towns respectively within whose limits the streams may run, in the same manner as is now provided by law for the town of Lynn.
Section 8-Be it further enacted, that either of the justices of the peace for the County of Essex is hereby authorized to issue a warrant directed to some inhabi- tant of the said town of Saugus, requiring him to no- tify and warn the inhabitants thereof to meet at such convenient time and place as shall be expressed in said warrant for the choice of all such officers as towns are by law required to choose in the month of March or April annually.
"Engrossed in the Senate Feb. 9, 1815.
"Engrossed in the House Feb. 11, 1815."
Thus did Saugus obtain her independence from Mother Lynn.
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HISTORY OF SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS.
LOOKING BACKWARD
O UR people in 1815, when we were set off, num- bered approximately seven hundred. This year occurred our first town meeting, in accordance with the terms of our charter granted by the Legislature.
It was held in the parish church, Saugus Centre, March 13, 1815. In 1837 General Jackson distributed the United States revenue surplus. The share for Sau- gus was $2000. What should be done with it aroused much discussion. Some wanted it distributed pro rata among the citizens ; others wanted it put into a town hall. Finally, after much discussion and heated argu- ment, it was voted to build a "town-house," which was done, the structure being the so-called old town hall, now used for school purposes and the town library.
This "town-house" was used for town meetings un- til 1875, when the present Town Hall was completed and has since been used for our corporate home. The inhabitants of East Saugus were not very enthusiastic over the new town hall program and made an effort to be annexed to Lynn at this time. The effort was not successful, as the bill was killed by the Legislature. To assuage the feelings of the East Saugus people the town voted $5000 to introduce water pipes into that section of the town. This event was celebrated in 1878. The pipes were generally extended throughout the town about ten years later, when an appropria- tion was passed, July 8, 1887, for seven miles of pipe at a cost of approximately $35,000.
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HISTORY OF SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS.
In connection with the town's water supply, it is worthy of note that a large standpipe on Baker's Hill is now nearing completion, at a cost of $25,000. It is 45 feet in diameter, 85 feet high, and has a capacity of 1,000,000 gallons. It will give a much desired addi- tion to our water supply, and increased pressure, which is so much needed. Its actual use is contemplated about Aug. 1, 1915.
The town has always had three post offices, that is, since their establishment. The first one was author- ized at East Saugus in 1832. Henry Slade was the postmaster. In 1858, offices were created at the Centre and Cliftondale. Julian D. Lawrence was postmaster in the former locality, and William Williams at the lat- ter. In those days, these offices were what are called fourth-class offices, where the patrons call for their mail. In 1901, Saugus postal affairs were consolidated with Lynn, and the free delivery of mail established, a privilege which it has since enjoyed, in addition to retaining its local offices of by-gone days. The Saugus post offices now have superintendents instead of post- masters, John E. Stocker being in charge at Saugus Centre, Ernest C. Brown at Cliftondale, and Henry J. Mills at East Saugus. Mr. Stocker has occupied this responsible position since 1870. Ernest C. Brown succeeded Miss Martha S. Fiske, who held the position from 1883 until her death in 1914. Henry J. Mills at East Saugus was appointed in 1885 and is still in the saddle.
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HISTORY OF SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS.
During this change in our postal arrangements what is known as a rural free delivery route was installed for the benefit of the people in the outlying sections of the town. It is still in operation and a great conven- ience to those who are fortunate enough to be upon its line. What such public service would have meant in the Colonial and Revolutionary periods is easily un- derstood, of course, for the rural route, the telephone, and other handmaids of civilization have sent the Sau- gus countryside ahead by leaps and bounds in the last few years alone.
Another interesting fact in connection with the Saugus postal administration is that when the aviation park was in its heyday of threatened success at the Old Saugus Race Track, mail for two or three days was sent by flying machine to the Lynn boundary, where it was dropped to waiting messengers, and by them carried to the Lynn Post Office from a point not far from the foot of Commercial Street, West Lynn, and thence dispatched to the addresses, wherever they might be. Such a letter was dispatched to the late Hon. Curtis Guild, Jr., at the time United States Am- bassador at St. Petersburg (now Petrograd), Russia, who courteously acknowledged its receipt, with com- plimentary references to the unique manner in which it had been dispatched from Saugus. The temporary post office, which had been established at the aviation field, by authority of the national government, was abandoned after two or three days, and was one of the
GUSTAVUS VASA FOX
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HISTORY OF SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS.
first, if not the very first, aerial postal dispatch in the United States.
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