USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Topsfield > History of Topsfield Massachusetts > Part 37
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
389
THE FRENCH ACADIANS IN TOPSFIELD
of those towns be ordered to procure work for them or, should they be unable to work, to support them as if they were pro- per inhabitants of the town and send their bill of charges to the office of the Secretary. Among the number thus distrib- uted was Michael Dugoy who, with his wife and five children, was sent to the town of Topsfield. Numerous reports and papers relating to this family are preserved in the archives and from them it is possible to picture in outline the life of this family of Acadians while resident in Topsfield, which no doubt may also answer as well for other towns in Essex County.
It was in the latter part of October, 1756, nearly a year after the Dugoy family had landed in Boston, that Nathaniel Por- ter and Thomas Baker, selectmen of Topsfield, sent a yeoman to Boston to transport the French family to town in accord- ance with the order of the Province. For this service £2. 13s. 4d. was charged, but the committee of accounts deemed the amount exorbitant and disallowed the 13s. 4d. On receiving notice from Boston that a French family had been allotted to Topsfield, the selectmen engaged John Gould to provide a house for them. He went to David Balch, who was a tanner, and rented from him at 4s. 8d. per month, the old William Towne house, then over 100 years old. The house long since has disappeared. It formerly stood beside what is now South Main Street, and near the lone apple tree by the bars in the field formerly belonging to William H. Walsh, now the prop- erty of John L. Saltonstall. Several times Mr. Walsh plowed up bricks upon the spot and at one time he uncovered anew the old chimney foundation. The house was built in 1651 and here lived, at various times, three victims of the witchcraft delusion, Rebecca, Mary, and Sarah, daughters of William Towne. Rebecca, married Francis Nurse. Mary, "the self forgetful," married Isaac Esty, and her sister Sarah married for her second husband, Peter Cloyes. To this house the Acadians were carried and at a town meeting held November 9th, Jacob Robinson, was chosen to take care of them. On their arrival, the selectmen served them with scanty supplies, eight feet of wood cut & carried to their house, 8s .; a Bushel of Indian meal, 3s .; a cheese wt 10 pounds, 2s. 8d .; four pound halfe of Salt pork, 1s. 11d .; 111/2 lb. lamb, 1s.9d .; 1/2 bushel Rie meal, 1s. 10d. and bushel Potatoes 1s. 1d. This accord- ing to the voucher on file, together with one bushel of meal and a quart of rum furnished at the beginning by John Gould, was supposed to supply their needs until November 10th, or for twenty days after they had arrived in town. A bedstead
390
THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
and cord were not charged on their account until the following month. Probably the children slept on the floor.
The following spring the selectmen certified regarding the family as follows: "The man is 43 years of age, his state of health sence he came to This towne has been such that he has not been able to Labour but a vary little and for some time past he (has) not been able to Labour any att all. His wife (Elizabeth), as she saith, is about ye age of her husband. She has had Several ill Turns which has held Som time but She is Something better att present. They have two male children, ye Eldest (Armont) is 13 years of age Last April, ye youngest (Joseph) is 5 years of age, the females are ye eldest (Mary) 10 years, 2nd is (Modesty) 7, the 3rd (Annie) is 3 years of Age it being the best Account we can get as to their Age."
Jacob Robinson, during the first half year, supplied them with many articles, notably, meal, "biskit" wood, sugar, pork, rum, veal, dry fish, molasses, butter, rice, fowls, candles, beef, mutton, salt, "oyle," milk, a bedstead & cord, a lamp, 2 meat barrells, 2 pairs small shoes at 1 s. each, sheets, a spinning wheel, an earthen pot, 2 bread pans, 2 pounds of flour, turnips, a wash tub and 2 barrels of "cyder," that necessity of New England life. There was also a charge for medical attendance and an item of expense for purchasing and transporting pro- visions. David Balch, the landlord, also supplied cow-beef and butter.
The first article in the warrant for a town meeting held June 28, 1757, reads as follows: "To Consider and come into some proper Measures for taking care of the French family in said Town and to act any thing the Town shall think proper re- specting sd family Being provided for."
The question was discussed without result for no action is recorded, Jacob Robinson's next quarterly bill has supplies as enumerated before, also a pair of cards for carding wool, additional visits by the Doctor, and nine pints of rum. David Balch in the mean time advanced the rent to 5 s. per month.
In November 1757, the selectmen wrote that "the sd french- men still continues in a vary poor State of health, he has not been able to Do one days work for eight months past." A town meeting held the same month took no action on the following article inserted in the warrant: "To see what measures the Town will Come into for to have the french family in said Town supported under their Difficult Surcomstances."
John Balch now appears in charge of the family and among other items in his account is noted, a bed blanket, for it was in December, 9 yards of cloth for a bedtick, a new coverlet, a new
391
THE FRENCH ACADIANS IN TOPSFIELD
sieve, 4 pairs of shoes, an earthen pitcher, and beef "sewit."
John Lefavour soon followed John Balch and remained in charge of the family for two years. His bills contained items similar to those already enumerated. On one occasion he sup- plied a "dung hill fowl." At another time the family dined on a "calfs head & plock." Green fish, gingerbread, an oil barrel to make wash tubs, wine for the sick man, 3 pairs of shoes for the girls, and a beer barrel, are among the items. During the month of July they were supplied with 62 quarts of milk. Jan. 4, 1759, the selectmen again make report to the authorities :- "Michael Dugoy the man himselfe is now very weak and poorly and hath been so for a year and halfe and is obliged to keep his bed for some time together very often."
As must be expected the doctor's services were in frequent requisition. Dr. Richard Dexter was the local physician and lived on what is now known as the Agricultural Farm, in the present house and near where the Dugoy family were housed. In 1756, poor Michael Dugoy had charged on his account, 13 professional visits, "Hystarick pills & powders," 3 purges, "Stumatick mixter," blisters, and "purgatine powders," all being supplied for the magnificent sum of 18s. But Dr. Dex- ter was not permitted to possess a monopoly of the business of healing Acadian French, for Dr. Sawyer was called in from Ipswich, and in John Lefavor's account for the quarter ending March 1st appears the following item. "To the French Doc- tor's bill for Doctoring the french family, £1. 4. 0." Where this French physician resided does not appear.
After living in Topsfield for nearly four years, Dugoy was allowed to remove to Newbury, where two families of Acadians were already located. In a bill rendered to the Committee of Accounts, Sept. 1, 1760, appears the following item : "To Time spent to Settle & Come into meassures with Middleton for to have the French family Supported that was Signed to Tops- field and Middleton & by reason of there Sickness we have been obliged to Transport ye whole of ye family to Newbury and we pay money there for their support at ye rate of £26-13-4 per year. "
It will be noted that the transfer was made to Newbury be- cause of continued sickness. Possibly the French physician may have lived there. At any rate, association with others of their race was medicine for these homesick exiles. The trans- fer was made Aug. 6, 1760 and regularly thereafter, every quarter until April 1767, the town contributed to their support in their new location.
392
THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
In 1767, the Massachusetts Legislature enacted a law im- powering towns to remove by constables, any persons not natives, who were undesirable as residents. Such persons were to be conveyed by the constable of the town to that official in the next town and so on until the town was reached where the individual belonged. It would seem that some construc- tion of this enactment was made to apply to the Acadian French, for many of them began to leave for the land of their birth. The three families located at Newbury, thirty persons in all, petitioned the town to be allowed to return to Canada. The petition, most pathetically worded, was granted and the exiles were furnished with money and supplies. Topsfield at a town meeting held April 24, 1767, "voted to give the French family (that was assigned to Topsfield and Middleton to Main- tain) Thirty two Dollars to pay their passage to Canada and Support them on their voyage." Topsfield, first and last, had paid £185. 11s. 9d. on their account. And so the Frenchman with his family sailed away, not to his old home on the Basin of Minas, for that was occupied by others, but to a new loca- tion in Claire, to the westward of the former settlement.
CHAPTER XXV
THE POST-OFFICE AND EARLY POSTMASTERS
The first mention of a "post-rider" for Topsfield, is in the Essex Gazette, - under the date of July 19, 1774, and is as follows: "Robert Davis Now rides as Carrier from Salem to Haverhill. He setts off from S. and E. Hall's Printing office at nine o'clock every Tuesday morning, and will carry letters, Packets, and mail Bundles at a reasonable Rate."
No doubt it created some excitement in the town, when that first postman drew up at the tavern door, to refresh himself, as he undoubtedly did, with some good home-brewed beer, his "portmantles" (portmanteaus) filled with letters and small portable goods, the letters which he had brought being car- ried to the tavern table to be well thumbed until called for. In the Salem Gazette, under date of May 31, 1785, we find that "Nathan Peabody, Haverhill Post Rider, Informs the Pub- lick, that he sets out from Boston for Haverhill on Thursdays, and from Haverhill to Salem on Mondays, and returns on Tuesdays. Those gentlemen who may please to entrust him with the conveyance of letters, etc., may depend upon their being delivered with punctuality and on very reasonable terms." That these riders did not carry all the letters is shown from the numerous items in the Salem newspaper, ad- vertising certain letters as being at the post-office for Topsfield people. The Gazette, under date of April 1, 1796, advertises a letter for Dr. John Merriam of Topsfield, and Samuel Smith writing February 2, 1782, from Boston, says that "he writes this letter in great haste as Mr. Perkins is going to Topsfield."
October 20, 1801, A friend from Topsfield, writes to the Salem Impartial Register that, "In the County of Essex, at the present time, the mail traverses only two sides of it, - that is, on the sea board, and on its northern boundary. All the central parts of this populous country, must communicate with distant places, through one or other of these lines of post from which they are about equally distant. The mail from Boston passes through Wilmington and Andover to Haverhill - and on the sea coast through Salem and Ipswich to Newburyport,
This account is taken in part from an article by Henry F. Long in Topsfield Hist. Coll., Vol. XIII.
(393)
394
THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
thus describing two lines which embrace the body of the county between them. There is already an excellent road which inter- sects the county leaving the present post line at Salem, and re- joining it at Haverhill. This road possesses great capabilities. The greatly increased, and daily increasing travel on this road, from Canada, Cohoss, and all the back country, through Haverhill to the sea coast, and from Boston and Salem thro' Danvers, Topsfield, Boxford, and Bradford to Haverhill, Ex- eter and Portsmouth, as well as the back country, entitles it to the consideration of the Post Master General as a post road."
In the Salem Gazette, under date of June 29, 1802, it is stated that "The want of the means of intercourse between this town and the northern parts of the county of Essex, has long been felt, and we are happy to see, in the Post Master General's proposals for carrying the mails that one is to pass every Fri- day from this town to Haverhill and back, through Danvers, Topsfield, Boxford and Bradford. This it may be hoped will be a prelude to the improvements of the roads to the north- ward of us."
The demand for a post-office in Topsfield began when this mail road was put into operation. In a diary kept by Rev. William Bentley, of Salem, he records under date of Sept. 16, 1801, "A new Tavern has been opened on the road from An- dover to Boxford & Dr. Cleveland in Topsfield has converted the mansion house of Porter into a very convenient tavern, be- low the meeting house in Topsfield." In this tavern probably was located the first post-office in Topsfield, for Nehemiah Cleaveland was appointed January 1, 1803, the first post- master. This tavern was located where the Stanwood-Jack- man-Bond house now stands on South Main Street. The old Robinson-Porter house was remodeled and enlarged by Dr. Cleaveland. In 1873 Joseph E. Stanwood moved a portion of the house to the corner of Central and Summer Streets, where it is now owned and occupied by Robert I. Woodbury. The remainder of the Cleaveland tavern was then torn down.
In the Salem Register of January 7, 1805, is the following notice concerning the mails :- "Post Office Salem, Mass. Win- ter Arrangement of the Mails. Haverhill and Topsfield, - arrive every Thursday at 10 o'clock A.M. Depart same day at 2 o'clock P.M. Letters must be left one-quarter of an hour previous to the period of departure." In the same paper, un- der date of June 15, 1807, is printed the following :- "Summer course of the mails, from Salem, Mass. Topsfield and Haver- hill mails arrive every Saturday, at 11 o'clock A.M. Depart at 2 o'clock P. M. on the same day."
395
THE POST-OFFICE AND EARLY POSTMASTERS
Cyrus Cummings who was born on July 30, 1772, followed Dr. Cleaveland as postmaster, receiving his appointment Aug- ust 13, 1813. He probably kept the post-office in the Topsfield Hotel on the Newburyport and Boston Turnpike, as he was landlord of that famous tavern. The post-office may have been removed to the tavern on the hill at an earlier date, for begin- ning with 1818, the Eastern Stage Company carried the mails and stopped at the Topsfield Hotel. He appears to be the first postmaster to receive any pay from the government for his services, for in 1816, it is recorded that he was paid $4.82 for the year. He died April 26, 1827.
The second postmaster William Neal Cleaveland born April 6, 1798, was the son of Dr. Nehemiah Cleaveland. Mr. Cleave- land served but two years as postmaster, and was succeeded by his father, whose second term of service began May 5, 1829. Dr. Cleaveland was at this time President of the Eastern Stage Company, which ran its stages over the turnpike. For the year 1829, Dr. Cleaveland received $17.42 for his services. He held office until just previous to his death, Feb. 26, 1837.
On February 14, 1837, John Rea was appointed postmaster. Mr. Rea was the son of Israel and Lois (Lamson) Rea, and for some years was the proprietor of the Rea Tavern which was burned in October, 1836. As John Rea was taxed as an inn- holder in 1837, it is reasonable to suppose, that after his fire he conducted the Topsfield Hotel on the turnpike. Probably he was assisted by the people, in obtaining the postmastership, and without doubt carried on the clerical work, during the ill- ness of his predecessor. About 1838, he and his wife moved to the British Provinces.
In the March 1838 town meeting, an effort was made to have the post-office removed to the village. John Rea served as postmaster but a few months after this meeting, for on Aug. 25, 1838, Edward Hood received his appointment. He, there is reason to believe, kept the office in the store of Samuel Gould, which was a portion of the house occupied by the late Wm. Pitman Gould and Mary E. Gould. For the year of 1839, he was paid for his labours, the sum of $87.76, more than double the sum paid to John Rea, the year before. He was the son of Samuel and Lydia Hood, and was born May 1, 1799. He was a farmer by occupation and died Aug. 21, 1852.
April 17, 1841, William Esty Kimball, received the appoint- ment as postmaster. He was the son of Benjamin and Deb- orah Kimball, and was born in Topsfield, January 22, 1805. In his earlier years he carried on a blacksmithing business in a shop located on the site now occupied by the house of Harlan
396
THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
M. Greaves. He afterwards removed the shop, and built a store, where he engaged in the grocery and East India goods business, in partnership with Andrew Gould. He was post- master for only a short time and on November 3, 1848, Richard Phillips Jr. was appointed.
Richard Phillips owned and occupied the land at the corner of Main and Washington Street now owned by F. Percy Smerage. A shop located near the present stable, was used as a shoe shop, and as a grocery store. William Briggs Reed kept the grocery store as early as 1838. Very likely the post-office was removed to this store, but there is no direct evidence as to the location of the office at this time. Mr. Phillips served as postmaster to July 29, 1846, when B. C. Orne, was appointed.
Benjamin Crosby Orne born in Wolfborough, N. H., March 11, 1800, was a farmer and shoemaker by occupation. He
kept the post-office in three different locations. Probably the first place, was in the store of John Merriam and Ariel H. Gould, which was located in a portion of the house now owned and occupied by Charles F. Shirley, but which at that time was on land now occupied by Mrs. Otto E. Lake. The office was also located in the store of Benjamin P. Adams, and also in the store of William E. Kimball. Mr. Orne was the first to introduce into the office, the post-office box. When he took the postmastership, all letters were exhibited in a kind of frame. Strips of wood being covered with small pieces of tape, into which the corners of the letters were placed, where they re- mained, until called for by their owners. Mr. Orne held the office a little more than three years. He died, March 23, 1869.
Benjamin Perley Adams, who held the office for the longest term of years, was appointed postmaster on December 26, 1849. He located his office in his own store, on the site now occupied by Poor & Co. Here, for twenty-six years, he faith- fully served as postmaster. He was born in New Rowley, Sept. 5, 1806, and was the son of Benjamin and Lois (Perley) Adams. He was graduated from the Merrimack Academy about 1830 and in 1831 came to Topsfield from Georgetown. Until about 1835, he was clerk or landlord at the hotel on the turnpike. July 9, 1833, he married Mary Ann, the daughter of Cyrus Cummings, who kept the Topsfield Hotel until his death in 1827, and who was postmaster from 1813 to 1827. Mr. Adams afterwards went into the grocery store of N. P. and Frederick Perley which stood on the site of the store of Poor & Co., and served them as clerk until 1841 when he pur- chased the store.
Many stories are told of Mr. Adams' term of office. On a
397
THE POST-OFFICE AND EARLY POSTMASTERS
Sunday, he would fill his pockets with letters, to be handed to the owners, as he saw them in church. In the windows at the right of the southerly door leading into the store formerly were displayed the letters addressed to those people who did not rent a post-office box. This enabled anyone to see the let- ters without entering the store.
In October, 1875, John Bailey, whose appointment was dated July 30, 1875, moved the Post-office to his own building across the street, in that part occupied of late by the First National Store. The new post-office contained approximately three hundred regular boxes and fifty-three lock boxes, and this served for over sixty-five years. In place of the former method of showing letters for people not owning boxes, was in- troduced a wheel or revolving cylinder on which the letters were held by means of brass clips. The observer could turn the wheel at will and inspect the letters which were protected by a glass partition. The wheel was used for a number of years, or until the present system of writing the names upon sheets of paper was brought into use. The office remained in this location until 1884 when it was removed to the drug store of Benjamin P. Edwards.
John Bailey was the son of John and Nancy (Doe) Bailey, and was born in Parsonsfield, Maine, June 21, 1830. He came to Topsfield in 1863, and began the manufacture of shoes which he successfully carried on for many years. June 17, 1866, he was married to Sarah Jane Gould. He died in Topsfield, Jan. 28, 1902, after a short illness. Mr. Bailey was postmaster for eleven years, but Joseph Bailey Poor was acting postmaster most of the term. Mr. Poor carried on a grocery and dry goods business in the store occupied as a post-office, and at- tended to the duties of a postmaster in connection with his regular business.
Salmon D. Hood was appointed postmaster March 25, 1886. He served until Jan. 23, 1890, when Benjamin P. Edwards was appointed. With the advent of the second Cleveland ad- ministration, Mr. Hood was again appointed postmaster, his commission bearing date of June 18, 1894. Salmon Dutton Hood was born in Topsfield, Feb. 17, 1830, his parents being Capt. David and Phoebe (Foster) Hood. On March 31, 1850 he was married to Perthena Calista Pearson of Albany, Vt. and their banns were the last that were published in Topsfield under the old puritanical law.
Benjamin Punchard Edwards, appointed postmaster Jan. 23, 1890, was born in Salem, Jan. 7, 1853. He came to Tops- field Aug. 13, 1877, having purchased the druggist business
398
THE HISTORY OF TOPSFIELD
previously carried on by Charles S. Wiggin. John Bailey, the postmaster, desiring better accommodations, removed the post-office to this location in the fall of 1884. Mr. Edwards was at once appointed assistant to the postmaster, and served as acting-postmaster or postmaster since that date. He died Jan. 14, 1924. Mrs. Elizabeth A. Herrick, succeeded Mr. Edwards but after a short time was obliged to resign on ac- count of ill health. Alfred N. Andrews removed the Post Office across the street to the lower right hand room in the Topsfield Grange building. The Office remained here until November, 1937 when removal was made by Postmaster John R. Walsh to the present location. The Office is now a third class office with a rural delivery for the convenience of out- lying districts. There are two mails in and two mails out of town daily. In the month of July 1807 the weight of letters passing through the Office amounted to 1291/2 pounds. Dur- ing the month of December, 1938 the outgoing mails contained 47,456 pieces of mail, and the incoming mails, 44,398 pieces.
TOPSFIELD POSTMASTERS
Names
Dates of Appointment
Nehemiah Cleaveland
Jan. 1,1803
Cyrus Cummings
Aug. 13, 1813
William Neale Cleaveland
May 10, 1827
Nehemiah Cleaveland
May 5, 1829
John Rea
Feb. 14, 1837
Edward Hood
Aug. 25, 1838
William Estey Kimball
Apr. 17, 1841
Richard Phillips, Jr.
Nov. 3, 1841
Benjamin Crosby Orne
July 29, 1846
Benjamin Perley Adams
Dec. 26, 1849
John Bailey
July 30, 1875
Salmon Dutton Hood
Mar. 25, 1886
Benjamin Punchard Edwards
Jan. 23, 1890
Salmon Dutton Hood.
June 18, 1894
Benjamin Punchard Edwards
Dec. 27, 1897
Elizabeth Adams Herrick
-, 1923
Alfred Nelson Andrews
Sept. 28, 1923
John Reginald Walsh
May 5, 1928
CHAPTER XXVI THE TURNPIKE AND THE STAGECOACH
At the beginning of the 19th century, commerce was mak- ing rapid strides in Massachusetts.1 Better communication between the inland towns was needed, and the first step towards a closer relation was the building of toll bridges over the large rivers, thus doing away with the slow, dangerous, and expensive system of ferries. Soon after came the de- mand for better roads. As the towns were not able to expend the large amounts of capital required to construct such roads, and as the cost was greater than any single individual cared to assume, a corporation for each enterprise was created by legislative authority. Frequently these turnpikes proved to be poor investments for capital, but without doubt, some of the earlier turnpikes turned out to be paying investments, as they opened up a large part of the country not before in direct communication with the centres of trade. These roads were such an improvement over the old town ways, that the people not only willingly paid toll to be allowed travelling privileges, but in a great many instances gave assistance by grants of land. The usual width of the roads was four rods or sixty-six feet. It is interesting to note that the subject of wide tires, as road improvers, was then considered, and tolls were only half as great for vehicles having tires six inches or more wide, while with tires three and one-half inches wide and carrying a load of forty-five hundred pounds a toll three times the regular sum was demanded.
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.