USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Essex > History of the town of Essex : from 1634 to 1868 > Part 31
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* Appendix to the Address delivered at the Consecration of the Cemetery.
333
DEDICATORY ADDRESS.
1820-1868.]
" If Mr. Cogswell, who was the original owner of this spot of ground, were with us, to-day, in his venerable form, with what pious benignity would he look upon the scene before us : a portion of ground once his own, enclosed, arranged and prepared, with a simplicity, neatness, convenience and orna- ment, so well becoming the sacred use for which it is designed. With what satisfaction and delight, too, would he lift up his eyes, and survey the whole prospect around,-the beautifully cultivated fields, instead of the dark and dense forests, which, in his day, covered hill and dale ; the cheering hum of business, instead of the howl of wild beasts and savage men ; the comfortable and ornamented dwellings, the beautiful churches and school-houses, and the many fruits of industry, frugality and temperance, marking the temporal prosperity of the place. Would that he could witness an equal degree of moral prosperity among us ; the fear of God, the observ- ance of his Sabbaths, the reverence of his name, and obedience to his word. Would not the good man's joy in these respects be much abated ? But our hope and our prayer is that better days will come, when this whole people shall be as distinguished for righteousness, godliness and truth, as they are now for intelligence, industry, economy and thrift.
1
" It is a fact of much interest that one or more families of the Aborigines once dwelt on this now consecrated ground and buried their dead under this soil. In preparing the ground, the remnants of the bones of two adults and a child, as is supposed, were discovered, all lying in the same direction, with a sea-shell by their side. Not far from this, the remnants of wood-ashes and clam-shells gave indubitable proof that an Indian wigwam had been there lo- cated. The inference that these bones are the remains of those Indian fami- lies seems unavoidable. In all probability they have lain there not far from two hundred years. We look upon them with interest and veneration, not only as the bones of human beings, but as mementos of a race once living and active on this soil, but now wholly passed away. 'Tread lightly on the ashes of the dead,' is a venerated maxim. They were owners of the ground under which they laid their dead. Shall we not acknowledge their title, and give these sacred remains a resting-place, near where they were found, with some simple monument that shall tell the interesting fact ?
" During the hundred and seventy-one years that our ancient cemetery has been in use, not less than two thousand persons have been buried there, ac- cording to the nearest estimate that can be made from the Parish Records .* " Truly we may say, in view of this fact,-' How populous is the grave.'
*Among these were the first three ministers, whose pastorates together cover a period of one hundred and eighteen years. The oldest grave-stone in this burial- ground, whose inscription is legible, bears the date, 1710. The inscription is as follows :
ADAM COGSWELL, SON OF
LIEUT. ADAM COGSWELL AND MRS. ABIGAIL COGSWELL, Died February ye 4th, 1709-10, AGED 19 YEARS.
334
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 6.
More lie buried on that one acre of ground than are now living and active in their daily concerns, in the whole town. How striking the fact, that all this busy population may be gathered under the sod of a single acre. In that silent house lie our fathers and mothers, our brothers and sisters, our children and grandchildren. Once they were full of life and activity. Their voices were heard in these dwellings, in accents of friendship and love. They walked these streets ; they trod these fields, and their hands were diligently employed in their several pursuits. They were subject, also, as we are, to the sorrows and afflictions of life. Nearly all of them, we may suppose, fol- lowed their dead to that ancient yard, and with tears of anguish looked for the last time into that narrow house, the grave, soon to be their dwelling and resting-place for the body. In view of the more than two thousand burials there, each spreading sorrow and grief through many hearts, we see that our ancient cemetery has been truly a place of weeping. There have been buried, not only the dead, but along with them many cherished hopes, many fond ex- pectations, many comforts and joys, leaving the heart desolate and sad, to be relieved, sustained and cheered only by the sweet promises and animating hopes of holy writ. That cemetery will still be dear to us. It will not be forsaken. It will be visited by the living, though it can contain but few more of the dead. Tears of grief will still be shed there in the recollection of those who have been taken from our affectionate embraces, and whose faces we shall see no more on earth.
" What that ancient field has been, so will be this, which we now consecrate to the same mournful and hallowed purpose. Here provision is made for more than four thousand graves, which in process of time will all be filled. In the interval of less than two centuries, judging of the future from the past, there will enter this field of the dead more than four thousand funeral pro- cessions. What a picture of grief is here for the imagination to contemplate ! Each single procession, as it approaches with slow and mournful step, indi- cating the heart full of sadness and sorrow, is an affecting and impressive rep- resentation of human woe. What, then, must the whole be, when you have brought to your view one hundred such mournful scenes, yea, a thousand, and even four thousand ?
" But this is not a theme for the imagination only. It will soon be matter of bitter experience to many of us, as one loved friend after another is taken from us, and we bear his remains to this hallowed ground. Let us bless the God of providence and of grace, that in the midst of such scenes of sorrow which await us all, we have so many sources of consolation and support set before us; that when called to bury our dead, we have so safe, commodious and desirable a resting-place for their remains. Here we may come and indulge in many tender recollections and profitable medi- tations. Here, as in the ancient ground, we may learn the frailty of man, the uncertainty of life, the vanity and emptiness of earthly things, and the value of the Bible, in the light which it sheds on the darkness of the grave. Here, from the Christian epitaphs that will be inscribed on the monuments of
335
TOWN STATISTICS.
1820-1868.]
the dead, we may gather wholesome instruction, and find the cemetery a school of morals, and piety, as well as a resting-place for our departed friends. Here, as in the ancient yard, we will cherish the Christian hope of a general resurrection, and direct our thoughts to that final scene. How solemn and eventful that great day, when all that are in their graves shall come forth, and all that are alive upon the earth shall have their bodies made immortal, and the innumerable throng be caught up together with the Lord in the air, to receive from the lips of their Judge their final destination. 'Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness ; looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God.'"'
1855. A new road was laid out by the county commis- sioners from the Falls to the Central Village. Its cost was $1,961.88.
The town statistics were as follows :
Number of inhabitants, 1,668; paupers, 7; persons over ninety years of age, 5 ; persons of foreign birth, 128 ; negroes, 12; number of polls, 430. Of the legal voters, 96 were of the name of Burnham; 46 of the name of Story ; and 45 of the name of Andrews. Number of families, 383; dwell- ings, 294. Pupils in the Winter schools, 351 ; in the Summer schools, 294. Value of real estate, $548,685; of personal estate, $297,358; total, $846,043. Value of the town's property, $6,494. Town debt, $1,039.14. Cost of main- taining paupers per annum, $262. Expended upon highways, $1,456. Ap- propriated for schools, $1,500.
1856. Rev. James M. Bacon was installed pastor of the Congregational Church and Society, July 9th. The public exercises were as follows : invocation by Rev. Jere- miah Taylor of Wenham; reading of the Scriptures by Rev. Mr. Mordough of Hamilton ; sermon by Rev. Edward N. Kirk, D. D., of Boston; installing prayer by Rev. R. Campbell of Newburyport; charge to the pastor by Rev. Daniel Fitz, D. D., of Ipswich ; right-hand of fellowship by Rev. J. E. Dwinell of Salem; address to the people by Rev. L. Withington, D. D., of Newbury ; concluding prayer by Rev. D. T. Kimball of Ipswich.
There were frequent and destructive thunder-storms this year. Mrs. D. W. Bartlett was killed by lightning, June 30th ; also, Mr. William Burnham, July 4th. The lightning struck in twenty or more places in town.
336
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 6.
Several cattle, also, were killed by it during the Summer. Such was the frequency with which the lightning struck in Essex, while nothing unusual of the kind occurred in neighboring towns, that it became an object of interest- ing and scientific inquiry in the Essex Institute, a society of literary gentlemen in the county, whose central place of meeting is Salem.
1860. The town statistics were as follows :
Population, 1,701. Value of real estate, $597,508; of personal estate, $357,598; total, $955,106. Town debt, $1,536. Amount of money raised by taxation, $5,920.93, viz: State tax, $280; county tax, $1,047.05; for schools, $1,500 ; for highways and overlaying; $1,122.15; other town charges, $1,800 ; overlaying, $171.73.
ROPE-WALKS.
This year a rope-walk-the fourth in town-was built by Mr. John Mears, Jr.
Prior to 1820 the rope-making business had been carried on at the Falls by Capt. Nathaniel Burnham and Mr. Jonathan Burnham in company, and at the North End, by Mr. Samuel Hardy. A son of the last mentioned, the late Mr. Daniel Hardy, was the first manufacturer of fishing-lines on any considerable scale. In 1836, he removed his factory from the Hardy farm to its present location in the Central District. The late Mr. John Mears, Sen., entered upon the same business about the year 1825, also at the North End. In 1840, his sons, Messrs. David and William H. Mears, formed a partner- ship for the manufacture of lines, leasing for this purpose a part of their father's " walk." After the dissolution of this partnership, Mr. William H. Mears' rope-walk, on the hill, was built in 1845, and Mr. David Mears, a few years later, purchased his father's " walk " and moved it to a spot near his house. For several years he employed steam-power for spinning cotton and laying lines, but the work is now wholly done by hand. The number of workmen employed in the factories averages from ten to fifteen.
Some hemp has been worked since 1820. But the stock used at the pres- ent time, and for many years past, is cotton warp or yarn-to the amount of about twenty-five tons a year on the average. Mackerel-lines were made to a considerable extent during the first part of this period (1820-1868), but since then, cod lines principally. The length of a cod line is twenty-six fathoms or one hundred and fifty-six feet. About three thousand five hun- dred dozen of these are now made yearly-chiefly in the Winter and Spring ---- and are sold in the market for $15,000, on the average. They are marketed chiefly in Gloucester, Boston, Beverly and Marblehead.
337
QUARTERLY FAST CENTENNIAL.
1820-1868.]
MUSICAL PRECOCITY.
A rare instance of the early development of musical talent is exhibited, this year, in a child three years old- Martha S. P. Story, a daughter of Mr. Andrew Story, 2d. The following account is chiefly condensed from a " Bio- graphical Sketch by Miss Hannah C. Marshall," published this year :
In 1859, Martha, then only two years and nine months old, startled her parents by playing a part of a familiar psalm-tune on the melodeon. Miss M taught her the air and bass of a few simple tunes ; and soon after, she began to imitate what she heard others play. Before the close of the year she could play eight tunes. In May of this year, she could play more than fifty different pieces, with both hands, in perfect harmony of two, three or four parts, in good time, with ease and with great expression at the first at- tempt. In February, she played for the first time on the piano. She also played the organ at one of the churches in town one Sabbath. The little musician was not merely an imitator, however, but composed several tunes which were written down in musical characters, while she was playing them, and two of which were published. April 6th, she gave a concert in town, playing fourteen pieces. Not long after, she gave several concerts in Glou- cester, Salem and Boston, which were attended by large audiences. " Her performance," wrote B. P. Shillaber, Esq., in the Boston Saturday Evening Gazette, "is not the mere child's play of picking out a tune by the single finger, but she gives the expression of the whole harmony, and all without the least apparent effort. She is an artless and simple child, and plays with as much natural ease and unconsciousness as a bird sings." In the judgment of Mr. Paine, a musical critic, " for a child of her age, her performance upon the melodeon and piano forte were absolutely marvellous, for no indications of rote playing or automaton execution were observable." According to the reporter of the Daily Bee " she played the Prairie Flower, arranged as a schottische, in an admirable manner ; also Sweet Home, Hamburg, Old Cabin Home, Lightly Row, The Troubadour, and several other tunes, which were heartily applauded, especially Hail Columbia."
December 31st, occurred the centennial observance of the "Quarterly Fast," by the Congregational Church :
" In the forenoon a sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Fitz of Ipswich, on the subject of unused talent, from Matthew, 25: 25. The afternoon was oc- cupied by the pastors present-Rev. Messrs Bacon, Fitz and Mordough-and Deacons Francis Burnham and David Choate, in giving reminiscences of for- mer ministers of this ancient church, particularly of Rev. Mr. Cleaveland, as the existence of the Quarterly Fast depended so much upon that veteran 43
338
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 6.
preacher and patriot. A large delegation from the South church in Ipswich was present, strongly reminding many of the former years, when the fullest meetings of the year were on the Quarterly Fast day."
1861. In March, Dr. Josiah Lamson closed his practice as the physician of the town. A native of Topsfield, he was fitted for college at Bradford and Dummer Acade- mies-his preceptor at the latter school being Benjamin Allen, LL. D. In 1814, he graduated at Harvard College. The three years following he spent in the study of medi- cine with Thomas Kittredge, M. D., of Andover. He also attended the medical lectures of the Harvard College Medical School in 1816 and 1817, and in the Autumn of 1817 received the degree of M. D., from the Censors of the Massachusetts Medical Society. Soon after, he was invited to Chebacco by a committee of the parish, and began the practice of medicine here in 1818.
Dr. John D. Lovering began the practice of medicine here immediately after Dr. Lamson's retirement from the active duties of his profession.
Dr. William H. Hull began his practice in town, Janu- ary 29, 1859.
1862. Hon. John Prince, after a residence in Essex of more than twenty years, removes to Washington, D. C. Mr. Prince was born in Beverly, April 18, 1820. His great- grandfather, Dr. Jonathan Prince, was the first resident physician in Danvers, and of extensive practice through- out a wide circuit. His grandfather, Capt. Asa Prince, was an officer in Col. Mansfield's regiment in the War of the Revolution. His mother was a daughter of Abner Day,* for more than thirty years a deacon of the South Church in Ipswich, and a man very highly esteemed. In his boyhood, Mr. Prince learned the printer's trade, and worked as a journeyman for several years. At the age of nineteen, having availed himself of such opportunities
* The maiden name of Mrs. Day's grandmother was Choate. She married a Mr. Martin. After the death of Mrs. Day's father (Potter), her mother was married a second time to Dea. Stephen Choate, her first cousin. The late Amos Choate, Esq., register of deeds, was their son.
339
1820-1868.]
HON. JOHN PRINCE.
as were afforded for cultivating his powers as a writer and speaker, he commenced preaching. In May, 1840, he be- came the stated minister of the Universalist Society in Essex, and continued in that relation until November, 1844. While in this position, he was a member of a con- vention of anti-slavery Universalists in Lynn, in the Au- tumn of 1841, and as chairman of a committee appointed for that purpose, wrote an address to the denomination on the subject of slavery ; which was adopted by the conven- tion. This was published the same year in the Christian Freeman, Boston, and in the National Anti-Slavery Stand- ard, New York, and was the first anti-slavery document issued by any assemblage of the Universalist denomina- tion. For four years from the close of his pastorate in Essex, Mr. Prince had charge of a society in South Dan- vers. The next four years he spent in lecturing before lyceums, upon temperance and upon political subjects ; while preaching, also, in various places-at Meredith Bridge, N. H., in 1850 and 1851. In May, 1852, he again became pastor of the society in Essex, which office he finally resigned, July, 1856, after a pastoral service of nearly nine years in all. While in this relation, he offici- ated at more than a hundred and fifty marriages. During his residence in Essex, Mr. Prince was an active supporter of the temperance cause, and devoted much time to edu- cational and literary matters. Of the town school com- mittee he was a member fourteen years-nine of them in continuous succession, and during several of them officia- ted as chairman. In 1843, he established a printing office-the first in town. Besides "job work" of vari- ous kinds, he published for a few months, "The Essex Cabinet," a weekly newspaper of medium size, neu- tral in politics and theology. Subsequently for some months, he printed a smaller paper, entitled “The Uni- versalist Cabinet." Besides the entire labor of editing, the larger part of the work of setting the type and of the press-work was done by his own hands. In the field
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HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 6.
of authorship, Mr. Prince's productions have been as follows :
Rural Lays and Sketches, a small sized volume of versification, printed by the author for circulation among personal friends and acquaintances only ; Lectures on the Bible, originally delivered in South Danvers, an 18 mo. vol- ume of 464 pages, published in 1846; A wreath for St. Crispin, being Sketches of eminent Shoemakers ; also, in pamphlet form, An Address deliv- ered at a Temperance Celebration of the anniversary of Washington's birth- day, February 22, 1844, in Annisquam Parish, Gloucester; and a Valedictory Discourse, delivered in the Universalist Church in South Danvers, in 1848.
Mr. Prince entered political life in 1843, when at the age of twenty-two, he was elected to represent the town in the State Legislature. He was also a member of the House of Representatives in 1853, 1855 and 1860, and a member of the State Senate in 1858. In the course of these official terms, he served on the standing committees on towns, public buildings, parishes and religious societies, and fisheries. In 1860, he was commissioned justice of the peace by Gov. Banks. An article in the Hingham Journal of March 2, 1860, written by a man of another political party (from which source, indeed, many of the facts already mentioned have been derived), contains a sketch of him, of which the following is an extract :
" Mr. Prince is generally and favorably known as a preacher and a politi- cian, having been several times in the Legislature, and during political cam- paigns one of the most zealous and efficient speakers that has taken the stump. He was originally a Democrat, though always a decided and zealous anti- slavery man. He joined the Liberty Party soon after its organization, at the time when it cast less than a dozen votes in his town in a poll of about 400, and continued a member of it until, in 1848, it was merged into the Free Soil Party, and he was merged with it. In 1854, he was active in the " Know Nothing " movement. which prepared the way for the ascendancy of the Republican party. At the session of the Legislature in 1855, he was assiduous by voice, personal effort and tactics, in securing the elevation of Gen. Wilson, to the United States Senatorship. Mr. Prince is a man of quick, keen perception, takes a broad view of men and questions, and is ever in- domitable and unwearied in defending what he regards as the right. He takes an active part in debate, speaks with energy and point, and is often im- passioned in his manner. Among his colleagues he is noted for his wit and humor as well as for his oratory. Of the specimens of both, which might be mentioned, the following are conspicuous."
341
SPEECHI OF MR. PRINCE.
1820-1868.]
" In 1855, Mr. Prince, being a member of the House, spoke thus on the ques- tion of adopting an amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting any person to vote, or hold office, unless he was born within the jurisdiction of the United States. " None but Americans should rule America is the motto of the party now in power in this State ; and this has been many times and emphatically reit- erated here during this discussion. I accept it as expressive of sound doc- trine. But what is it to be an ' American,' in the sense of a qualification or fitness to rule ? Is it merely to be born on the soil, designated by the geo- graphical name of America, and so narrowed down in interpretation as to signify just what is now included, neither more nor less, within the United States of America? I know some persons born in Massachusetts, who are far from being American in feeling and in character, if by American you mean anything akin to sympathy for freedom, justice, republicanism, or faith in human improvement. Some natives of our own State, are ingrained aris- tocrats, downright monarchists, to all intents and purposes,-having little sympathy for mankind, and little trust in the capacity of the people for self- government. I would not vote for such Americans to legislate or administer, either in our Commonwealth or anywhere else. By an American I mean one who is such in character-one who is American or republican in princi- ple, feeling, sympathy, and impulse. A man's birthplace cannot determine anything in this respect.
" Mr. Speaker : Does the gentleman intend to intimate, that I am not an original, genuine native American? I am half disposed Sir, to branch forth in a regular, spread-eagle, Bunker Hill, Fourth-of-July speech, full of star- spangled banner allusions ! I not a true native! Why, sir, I was born on American soil, (at least so they tell me,) and so were my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather before me. Moreover, I sprang from Revolutionary stock. I am the grandson, nothing shorter, of a man who served as a cap- tain all through the eight years of the Revolutionary war-who was at Bunker Hill in the thickest of the fight-who ran across Charlestown Neck, following the lead of General Putnamn, while a British frigate in the river was sweeping the Neck with cannon balls, and who while running, accidentally dislocated his ankle, and sitting down immediately slipped the bone back into the socket, and then resumed his flight, hearing distinctly all the while the whizzing of the balls through the air! He shared the deprivations and suffer- ings of the army during the hard winter of 1777. The muster roll of his company, the paper yellow with age, may be seen in this very building, in the Secretary's office. I not a genuine, truc-blue, original, thorough-going, out-and-out native American ! The idea is preposterous, Mr. Speaker !"
After leaving the Legislature, Mr. Prince was employed a year in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and then a year in the Custom House at Salem. In May, 1862, he was appointed to a clerkship in the Treasury De-
342
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 6.
partment at ·Washington, D. C., and he has since resided in that city. November 7, 1841, he was married to Miss Mary Parker, daughter of Capt. Parker Burnham. Of three children now living, two daughters are married and reside in town, and a son is with his parents in Washington.
1863. Died, on Sabbath evening the 18th of October, John Choate, Esq., aged seventy-four years and six months. The Essex Statesman of November 18th contained the following obituary :
" Mr. Choate was so widely known in our community for his integrity and sterling value as a public man, as well as by the virtues which adorned his private life, that it would be unpardonable to allow him to pass away without some tribute to his memory. His entire life was spent in this, his native vil- lage ; and his departure, in the midst of his usefulness, after a sickness, rapid and violent, has produced a deep sensation upon every mind. A newspaper sketch must of necessity be short, but a word may be said upon a few of the leading traits of his character, though, after all, it is life as a whole that we look at in making up our estimate of mnen.
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