USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Essex > History of the town of Essex : from 1634 to 1868 > Part 29
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
" Even he, however, left seven children-Zaecheus (born November 13, 1797, died July 28, 1856) ; John Story ; Hannah (born October 8, 1801, died February 2, 1858) ; Mary (Mrs. Luke Burnham) ; Robert Woodbury ; Edith (Mrs. Eli Burnham), and Elizabeth (Mrs. Caleb Cogswell). Deprived of their father at such an early age, these children, the eldest being less than four- teen at the time of his death, were fortunate in their mother, who trained then, and who lived to see the results of her tuition and solicitude. She was Hannah Story, the daughter of John and Hannah Perkins Story; was born October 10, 1775, and died May 18, 1847. Iler father was a son of Elder Seth Story.
" The grandchildren of Skipper Westley have numbered eighty-one. His favorite employments have, to a great extent, been adopted by his descend- ants, though few of them have had as much experience of a sea-faring life and so many nautical adventures to relate as his son Samuel. One of his most memorable voyages was made when he was about twenty-two years of age. In January of the year 1809 or 1810, he sailed in a top-sail schooner, Capt. Jacob Woodbury commanding, from Beverly to Baltimore, Md., thence to Oporto, Portugal, and from that port to Archangel, Russia. There the vessel lay frozen in the harbor from September 21st until the following May.
315
COL. WILLIAM ANDREWS.
1820-1868.]
On the passage home, they kept " off shore " in order to avoid the French cruisers, and sailing across in from 730 to 75º north latitude, they saw the sun for six days and nights in succession. Their return cargo was invoiced at $80,000. It consisted of iron, hemp, linen diaper and mats.
" The life at sea of one of the grandsons-the late Mr. Zaccheus Burn- ham-was also marked by incidents of interest, and escapes from the dangers common to those who 'do business in great waters.' Sailing from Salem, in November, 1821, he made a voyage to the port of Batavia, in the Island of Java, thence to Samarang on the Malay coast, back again to Batavia, and thence to Boston, arriving September 4, 1822. Off the Cape of Good Hope-as appears from his log-book-the ship encountered a gale of wind which lasted six days. . She was also struck by lightning, and several of the crew were stunned, but no one was killed. On the homeward passage, 'Sep- tember 9, 1822, in latitude 12º north, longitude 40° west, saw a sail ahead, judged to be a pirate. Bore away for her, and made preparations to engage her ; knocked open our ports, (the Delphos was a heavy ship, and showed ports like a sloop-of-war) ; showed our teeth-quaker guns and all-and gave her a gun, when she immediately clapped on all sail and steered to the westward.'"
1836. This year the town appropriated $800 for school purposes. From the incorporation of the town to 1823, the sum of $400 per annum had been raised for schools ; from 1823 to 1834 inclusive, the sum of $600 annually, and in 1835 the sum of $750.
April 23. Died, William Andrews, Jr., aged sixty-two, after a very short illness. "His death has occasioned not only a severe and irreparable loss to his relatives and friends, but is also a public calamity to the town in which he lived, and of which he was a most worthy and valuable citizen. He was an industrious and thriving member of one of the most universally industrious and thriving com- munities. He was a good husband, an obliging and esti- mable neighbor, a courteous and social companion. Many offices of trust and honor have been bestowed upon him by his fellow-citizens, all of which he has executed with sin- gular zeal and fidelity. His friends and fellow-townsmen will long deeply feel that in the death of Col. Andrews* they sustain the loss of one of the most respectable, in- telligent and useful citizens, cut off in the midst of his
* Col. Andrews was a son of Jacob Andrews. His brothers were Jacob, Ebenezer, Tyler, Daniel, Samuel and Moses ; and his sisters, Mary and Sally.
316
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 6.
days, in the midst of his hopes. What shadows we are, what shadows we pursue."*
A UNIVERSALIST CHURCH,
Was erected this year, by proprietors, on shares of $50 each. Its dimensions are as follows : length fifty-six feet, width forty-two feet, height to the bell-deck forty-five feet, height to the vane seventy-five feet. The building com- mittee were Jacob Story, Oliver Low, John Dexter, Parker Burnham, 2d, and Samuel Hardy. The cost of the house and land was $4,500. More than this amount was received from the sale of the pews-fifty-six in number-at auction. The church was dedicated "to the worship of God and the purposes of religion " on Wednesday, December 14.
" After a night of severe storm, the day was not inauspicious. Many from neighboring towns gathered together. The dedicatory services were as follows : 1, Anthem ; 2, Reading of the Scriptures by Rev. J. M. Austin of Danvers ; 3, Introductory prayer by Rev. J. H. Willis of Stafford, Ct. ; 4, Anthem ; 5, Dedicatory prayer by Rev. S. Brimblecom of Danvers ; 6, Hymn ; 7, Sermon by Rev. Thomas Whittemore, from Acts xvii. 19, 20; 8, Anthem ; 9, Benediction. In the afternoon a sermon was preached by Rev. Thomas Starr King of Charlestown, from I. John iv. 16. In the evening a conference was held, to which Christians of all denominations were most cordially invited. The services even to the last were attended by overflowing congregations, more being present than could be seated. The house is a very neat edifice. It is the handsomest in Essex and has a very fine location in the center of the population." +
In 1866-67 the interior of the church was thoroughly repaired, and furnished with a new pulpit and new pews, and upholstered, at a cost of $3,500. An organ was also purchased, the cost of which was $1,000.
The pastors or preachers to the Universalist Society, have been the following :
April, 1838, to 1840, Rev. Augustus C. L. Arnold; May, 1840, to November, 1844, Rev. John Prince ; June, 1845, to April, 1849, Rev. H. H. Baker; July, 1849, to 1850, Rev. Willard Spaulding; March, 1851, to 1853, Rev. C. H. Dutton ; May, 1852, to July, 1856, Rev. John Prince ; October, 1856, Rev. Emmons Partridge ; March, 1858, Rev S. Goff; April, 1859, to May, 1861, Rev. J. H. Tullec.
* Salem Gazette.
+ Universalist Trumpet, Boston.
317
DR. NEHEMIAH CLEAVELAND.
1820-1868.]
In 1844, the society received a legacy of eighteen acres of land, valued at $3,000, from Mrs. Betsey, wife of Jacob Story. Her will was dated December 18, 1844. This property has since been sold.
1837. February 26, died at Topsfield, Nehemiah Cleaveland, M. D., aged 76, the youngest son of Rev. John Cleaveland, late of this place.
" He was born in Chebacco, August 26, 1760. After his service in the army of the Revolution, he spent some time at home, taking upon himself during that critical and distressing period, almost the entire support of the family. The importance of his services there, and the want of means, pre- vented him from obtaining a collegiate education.
" Having studied physic with his brother and with Dr. Manning of Ips- wich, he entered on the practice at Topsfield, in 1783. Together with his employment as a physician, his services were often required in various public offices. A zealous Federalist in politics, he was for five years a useful mem- ber of the Senate, and his weight of character, knowledge, judgment and good sense were felt and acknowledged by his associates at that board,- among them some of the first men in the State. In 1814, he was appointed a Session Justice of the circuit court of common pleas. From 1820 to 1822, he was Associate Justice of the Court of Sessions, and from 1823 to 1828, he was Chief-Justice. For this station, he was well-fitted by his knowl- edge of business, his sound discretion, and his unyielding firmness in all questions of principle and duty. In 1824, he received from Harvard Col- lege the honorary degree of Doctor in Medicine.
" Dr. Cleaveland was nursed in the Puritan strictness of earlier times. His character, early formed and invigorated under the pressure of hardship and stern necessity, and amid the thrilling scenes of the Revolution, exhibited in his maturer years the strength and firmness which might be expected from such training. There was no effeminacy about him. He regulated his life with the closest regard to principle. If his strictness sometimes bordered on severity, his severity was of the wholesome kind. With all this, his natural sensibilities were quick and tender.
" In public affairs and political questions, he took, from his first entry into active life, a lively interest. Of his political opinions, his children will never feel ashamed, for they can say they were those of Hamilton, Jay and Wash- ington. As a physician, he was much esteemed by those who had opportunity to learn his worth. He made, indeed, no pretensions to extensive medical lore-he attempted no difficult surgical operations. But he had-what all the schools of medicine of themselves cannot supply-an observing mind, a retentive memory, a good judgment, and a high sense of responsibility. Nor did he, like too many country physicians, neglect the reading of medical books and journals. His practice was always prudent and cautious-quali-
318
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 6.
ties which young and ardent physicians are not apt sufficiently to admire. He was punctual in attending calls, and kind and cheerful in the sick-room. He possessed, in a high degree, the qualities which ensure to a physician the confidence and attachment of his patients. But the country doctor finds many opportunities and calls to do good, for which the faculty, as such, give no prescriptions. Happy he, who has the power and disposition to meet such calls. During the fifty years of his practice in Topsfield, few days probably passed, when his opinion or assistance was not sought in some matter aside from his profession. There were few occurrences or questions, incident to common life, in regard to which he had not formed an opinion, or could not . give judicious advice. Indeed, the mere fact that through so long a series of years, confidence continued undiminished-the oracle being consulted to the very last-proves that the responses had not been found unsafe or fallacious. The happy influences of so long a course of beneficent action are not to be esti- mated. How many quarrels have been arrested-how many lawsuits prevented -how much needless expense and trouble saved, in a thousand instances, by the timely, the un-feed advice of a judicious and peace-making neighbor.
" Trained in the orthodoxy of primitive times, his early opinions were con- firmed by the personal and careful investigation of his maturer years, and he was abundantly able to give a reason for his faith, as well as his hope. Opin- ions so decided-so cherished-could not be without their influence ; they moulded his character and shaped his conduct. The diffusion of truth-the suppression of vice in every form-the spread of religion, pure and unde- filed-were objects for which he loved to pray-for which he labored, and to which he contributed liberally of his substance. Yet after a long life em- ployed in doing good, his hopes, his dependence, were in Christ alone. Thus soothed, ' faded his late declining years away.' Thus sustained, from the midst of the affectionate circle, which had learned of him to venerate true worth, with undisturbed serenity and undiminished hope, he sunk gently to the tomb.
" His form was well-proportioned and he was of large stature, erect and of commanding aspect. His constitution was vigorous and his health unbroken until his fiftieth year ; from that period he suffered much from one of the most painful of maladies."*
His first wife, who died childless in 1791, was Lucy, the daughter of Dr. Manning. His second wife, the mother of nine children, was Experience, the daughter of Dr. Elisha Lord, of Pomfret, Ct. She died in 1845, at the · age of eighty-one. Five of her children were living in 1856-William N. Cleaveland, Esq., now of Boxford ; Nehemiah Cleaveland, Esq., of Brooklyn, N. Y., (now of Topsfield,) a distinguished teacher and scholar, a graduate of Bowdoin College ; John Cleaveland, Esq., a lawyer in New York city, a graduate of Bowdoin (since deceased) ; Rev. Elisha L. Cleaveland, D. D., pastor of a church in New Haven. also a graduate of Bowdoin (now also de- ceased) ; and Mary, the widow of the late Rev. O. A. Taylor of Manchester.
* Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.
.
319
THE LIGHT INFANTRY.
1820-1868.]
April. The town voted that its proportion of the "sur- plus revenue " of the United States should be applied to the payment of the town's debt. The first three install- ments amounted to $2,835.26.
This year, in accordance with a provision of law, the Light Infantry company was disbanded. Its last officers were John S. Burnham, Captain, Asa R. Andrews, Lieu- tenant, Uriah G. Spofford, Ensign. The militia company, which included. all males between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, except the " uniform company " and persons especially exempted by law, had its last "May training " and was also disbanded. It numbered, at this time, about sixty members. Its last officers were Isaac Farnham, Cap- tain, Nathan Burnham, Third (afterwards First), Lieuten- ant, Seth Story, Acting Ensign and Clerk. After this time the militia were merely enrolled.
The powder-house, still standing, was built in 1820 by the town for the use of the Light Infantry and the militia, at a cost of $95.
August 23. Graduated at the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Ct., Thomas Sewall, Jr. :
He was born in this place, April 28, 1818, and received his academic education at the Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Phillips Academy, Ando- ver, and the Wesleyan Seminary, Readfield, Me. His orations at the "Senior exhibition," November 29, 1836, and on " Commencement day," when he closed his connection with the university, are still remembered for their re- markable excellence and power, by some who were his teachers then. In the year 1838, having completed his theological studies, Mr. Sewall entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church ; and has been engaged in duties of his profession since that time, with the exception of five years. One of these was spent in a tour to Europe and the East. During the other four, he was compelled by symptoms of pulmonary disease to retire from the pulpit, and visit the South. By President Taylor he was appointed United States Consul to Santiago de Cuba, and remained there ten months, but was not permitted to exercise the functions of his office because he was a Protestant clergyman. Returning home, he was appointed to a desk in the Department of the Interior at Washington, and was afterwards transferred to the Depart- ment of State under Daniel Webster. Resigning this position in 1853, he resumed the active work of the ministry. Most of his professional life has been spent in Maryland and Virginia. He is now (June, 1868,) pastor of a
320
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 6.
church in Brooklyn, N. Y. In 1864, Mr. Sewall received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa.
1838. The town appropriated the sum of $1,000 for school purposes. A committee of three was also chosen "to make improvements in the grave-yard, and to enlarge it."
1840. Town statistics : Population, 1432; number of polls, 465; town valuation, $439,906.
1841. By vote of the South School District, a lot of land south-east of the old school-house lot, consisting of five rods, was purchased, and a new school-house erected on it, at an expense of $589.82. The building-committee were Jeremiah Cogswell, Warren Low, and Winthrop Burnham, Jr. They were authorized by the district to sell the old school-house.
REMODELING OF THE CONGREGATIONAL MEETING-HOUSE.
1842. The Congregational meeting-house was changed and improved in structure and appearance :
At a meeting of the First Parish, held February 7th, " John Choate, Samuel Procter, Capt. Francis Burnham, Caleb Cogswell, Col. H. C. Cogs- well, William H. Mears and Issacher Burnham were chosen a committee to consider the subject of making any repairs or alterations in the meeting-house, to sketch a plan of such alteration and the probable expense of it, and report at the adjournment." On the 18th of the same month this committee re- ported a plan for remodeling the meeting-house, which, with some changes made at a subsequent meeting, was adopted. Soon after, Caleb Cogswell, William H. Mears, Adam Boyd, Capt. Francis Burnham and Nathan Burn- ham, 3d, were appointed a committee to carry the contemplated alteration into effect, and were instructed to complete the work on or before the first of October following. The pews in the old meeting-house were appraised by a committee consisting of John Punchard, Esq., of Salem, Dea. John Saf- ford of Beverly and Dea. Jabez R. Gott of Rockport, chosen by the parish for this purpose.
The contract for remodeling the church was taken by Mr. Uriah G. Spofford. The master-mason was Mr. Whipple of Hamilton, and the master-painter Mr. William Moseley of Ipswich. The floor of the audience-chamber was laid sixteen inches below the old " gallery. girth," giving a hight of seventeen feet for the audience-chamber, and of eight feet for the lower story. The pulpit was designed by the contractor, and was built by Mr. David C. Fos- ter, formerly of Essex. During the alteration of the house, the church and
·
321
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
1820-1868.]
congregation worshiped in the " basement," the old pulpit standing on the floor directly under the place where it had previously been.
October 31st, the parish voted that the pews in the new meeting-house be rented for the purpose of raising money to support their minister, and to de- fray the other parish charges, and that the rent of the pews be paid quarterly in advance ; that Winthrop Low, John Burnham and Dr. Josiah Lamson be a conimittee to apportion the rent on the several pews according to their loca- tion in the house, and to let the pews at auction on Friday, November 4th ; and that the money which may be received for the choice of said pews shall go towards paying for the old pews.
The church was dedicated on Thursday, November 3d. The sermon on this occasion was preached by the pastor, from the text, " Make not my Fa- ther's house a house of merchandise ;" John ii. 16. Other clergymen present, most of whom took part in the exercises, were Rev. Messrs. Kimball and Fitz of Ipswich, Gale of Rockport, Nickels of Gloucester, O. A. Taylor of Manchester, aud Kelley of Hamilton.
The improvements which have been made since in the meeting-house have been as follows : In 1846-7 the north porch was removed, and the north end repaired, which, with painting a part of the outside, cost $200. In 1849-50, the sum of $450, the net proceeds of "Fairs," conducted by ladies of the parish, was expended in fitting up and furnishing the " basement " and pro- viding blinds for its windows. In 1852, the upper part of the tower was thoroughly repaired, a new spire erected, the corners each side of the tower filled out, the gallery moved back, and four flights of stairs built in the space thus gained, two chimneys built, and three sides of the exterior painted, at an expense of $1,425. The frescoing and graining of the interior, in 1853, cost $335, which sum was raised by the "Female Benevolent Society," chiefly by means of a "Fair." An organ was purchased by subscription in 1854, the cost of which was $700.
The cost of remodeling and furnishing the house, and of all these improve- ments, exclusive of the organ, was $4,550. Of this sum, $1,700 were ob- tained by the sale of the parish lands, the parish having voted, July 4, 1842, to sell them for this purpose, and having appointed " Winthrop Low, David Choate, Francis Burnham, Caleb Cogswell and Samuel Procter a committee to sell and convey all of the parsonage pasture, tillage-land, wood-land and marsh, and in the name of the parish to give deeds thereof, and also to signify by said deeds the assent of the parish to the conveyance of said lands by their minister, which assent is hereby given." These parish lands were origi- nally " commoners' land," and amounted to about fifty acres in all. Be- nevolent associations and individuals, at different times, contributed $1,392, and the parish raised $1,458 by tax. The old pews were appraised at $367, while the " choice-money " for the new pews amounted to $210. " The Ladies' Sewing Society " contributed the carpets and pulpit-furniture, and the Sabbath-school gave the clock.
41
322
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 6.
This year also was organized the "Essex Washington Total Abstinence Society." The objects of the society, as stated in its constitution, were "to reclaim those who are unfortunately addicted to habits of intemperance, and to banish from the community the sale and use of intoxi- cating liquors as a beverage, by the use of moral suasion, and by exerting an individual as well as associated influ- ence in all laudable ways." The condition of member- ship was " the signing the pledge of total abstinence from everything that can intoxicate, except for medicinal pur- poses." The pledge also contained the following clause. " And above all, the members of this society, agree that they will use their utmost endeavors to reclaim and re- store to temperance those that are unfortunately addicted to drunkenness." " It shall be the duty," adds another ar- ticle of the constitution, " of every member of this society to cheer and encourage those who have reformed, and to endeavor by a well directed and proper personal influence to induce others to "go and do likewise." The pledge has the names of 385 persons affixed to it. The first officers were Uriah G. Spofford, president; Humphrey C. Cogswell, secretary and treasurer; Thomas H. Griggs, Sylvanus Hardy and Capt. Winthrop Low, managers. The last entry in the records of this society is dated, February 21, 1849.
1845. Died, April 10th, in Washington City, D. C., in the fifty-ninth year of his age, Thomas Sewall, M. D.
" Dr. Sewall was born April 16th, 1786, in Augusta, Me. He received his academic education, and began the study of medicine, in his native place. His professional studies were continued with Dr. Jeffries of Boston, and in the medical college there. After practicing medicine a few years in Chebacco, he attended the lectures of Rush, Barton and others in Philadelphia, in 1811, received the degree of M. D. at Harvard College, August 26, 1812, and immediately resumed his professional work. In 1819, he removed to this city. His practice soon became extensive and lucrative ; and it is believed has not been exceeded, în either respect, by that of any other of the local faculty, several members of which rank among the most eminent physicians in the Union. In 1821, he was appointed Professor of Anatomy in the Na- tional Medical College, connected with Columbia College, in Washington,
323
DR. THOMAS SEWALL.
1820-1868.]
and retained a chair in it as he did also his membership, during the residue of his life. From the year 1825, when the school went into operation, till the close of the season next preceding his death, he was punctual in deliver- ing the periodical lectures, and in discharging the other duties appropriate to his professorship. His professorship at the time of his death was that of the " Theory and Practice of Medicine in the Columbia College." Amid the pressure of official engagements, and an onerous professional business, he was enabled by a methodical arrangement of his time to gain leisure for composi- tion. Several of his works, especially the Essays on Phrenology and the Tract on Temperance, the latter of which was translated into the German lan- guage, obtained a wide circulation, as well in Europe as in this country, and fixed the reputation of the author as a profound and exact inquirer, and as an accomplished writer. The professional merits of Dr. Sewall are too deeply felt in this community, and too diffusively known abroad, to need illustration. Though endowed by nature with a bold and penetrating genius, and though rich in all the learning of his science and vigilant in marking its progress, he never allowed his judgment to yield to the fascination of theories, or to the authority of systems ; but founded his practice on the solid basis of experi- ence. Ever mindful of the maxim of the great master of medical philosophy, that the physician is only the minister of nature, he rested on this safe moni- tor with a confidence which was fully vindicated by his long and successful practice. As a conscientious and faithful servant of the public, it is believed that he could not have been surpassed. His constitution was feeble ; several of his organs were chronically disordered ; and for the last twenty years of his life he was fighting off the fatal consumption. But these considerations could never persuade him to turn a deaf ear to the call of sickness, though made often in the most inelement weather and often in the dead of night. Such a call, at all times, and under all circumstances, he promptly obeyed ; and with the skill of a physician, carried to the bed of the sick or the dying, the tenderness of a friend. It was in a course of long and self-sacrificing at- tentions to a patient that he contracted the disease which was the proximate cause of his own death.
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.