USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Manchester > History of the town of Manchester, Essex County, Massachusetts, 1645-1895 > Part 11
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When slaves were first held in Manchester, there are no means of determining. They are mentioned
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HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
under the designation of " servants " and " servants for life," in the Assessors' books, as early as 1760, but they were doubtless here before. It is not sup- posed that there were ever more than seven or eight slaves at one time in town. They are known to have been owned by only two or three families. Their condition, no doubt, was rather that of in- dented servants than slaves.
As early as 1775, a lecture on " The Beauties of Civil Liberty, and the Horrors of Slavery " was given in town by some one whose name has not come down to us. It is a tradition that the right of liberty was claimed for all men irrespective of color or race. It would seem that this address must have been an effective one, for we find no mention of slaves, or " servants," as taxable property in town after this date. An anti-slavery sentiment may thus early in its history have found place in the town.
In all the momentous events of the first half of the century, including the Missouri Compromise, the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law and the Kansas- Nebraska Bill, Manchester people took a lively interest, and watched the veering political weather- cock with eagle eye. The seeds of anti-slavery sen- timent, which for years had been liberally sowed, brought forth their fruit. It is now matter of his- tory, though then known to but few, that there were men in town belonging to a secret organization, pledged to the shielding and defending of fugitive slaves, in any and every extremity. In 1853, the following resolutions were adopted in town meeting: " WHEREAS, The action of the United States Senate, in
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the introduction and passage of the Nebraska bill, which contains a provision for the repeal of the Missouri Compro- mise (by the terms of which slavery or involuntary servi- tude was forever excluded from all the vast territory ac- quired by purchase of France), thereby prostituting the patrimony of Freedom to the detestable purposes of slavery: therefore
" Resolved, That we view with alarm and indignation, this attempt of the slave power to enlarge the area of slavery, by the violation of compacts and trampling on the rights of man.
"2d, Resolved, That we hold the Representatives of the North, who may vote for the violation of the Missouri Com- promise, as false to the glorious cause of Freedom and recreant to the dictates of Humanity.
"3d, Resolved, That the Town Clerk be instructed to forward a copy of these Resolutions to our Representative in Congress, Charles W. Upham."
The strong Free Soil sentiment of the town showed itself also in another direction. In 1853, Manchester did itself the honor to elect Richard H. Dana, Jr., delegate to the Constitutional Convention. That Mr. Dana was highly gratified is shown by the entry in his Diary, March 8:
"I had the compliment of being elected from Manches- ter by a clear majority over all others on the first ballot. I have also the satisfaction to know that I was elected with- out a coalition, and am therefore under obligations to no party to which I do not belong. The Free Soil party nomi- nated me, and I accepted the nomination in a letter. The Democrats refused to unite in this nomination, and ran a separate candidate. The Whigs also had a separate candi- date. But there were enough of the old parties to vote for me voluntarily to secure my election." 1
1 Richard Henry Dana, A Biography, by C. F. Adams, vol. I, pp. 229, 230.
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Mr. Dana was one of the acknowledged leaders and hardest workers in the Convention.
On Sept. 11, 1856, the Free Soilers of Essex County held a mass convention in Manchester, in the interest of Fremont, as candidate for the presi- dency. The gathering was held at Gale's Point, and not less than eight thousand were present. Mammoth tents were erected, in which distinguished speakers addressed the crowds. Henry Kitfield was chairman of the committee of arrangements. Hon. Charles W. Upham of Salem was president of the day. Among the speakers were Edwin P. Whipple, Richard H. Dana, Jr., Senator Wilson, Ex-Governor Kent of Maine, and Hon. John Z. Goodrich.
The town was early astir with the arrivals from various directions and by various modes of convey- ance. Large delegations were present from many of the towns of the County, with bands, banners and various mottoes, watchwords and devices. Many of the inhabitants showed their interest and zeal by handsomely decorating their residences and erecting arches at several localities.
The Anti-Slavery people held frequent meetings in town, employed the best speakers, and exerted a deep and widespread influence. The National Era and the Liberator had many readers, and contributed much to the education of the community in the principles of Abolitionism. The movement met with much opposition, especially from the Whigs, who feared the loss of votes more than the Demo- erats. " Leading abolitionists were subjected to a sort of social and religious ostracism, by some who
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prided themselves on their wealth and high social position. They were talked about as enemies of religion, dangerous to the peace and good order of society, likened to the worst of the French Revo- lutionists." But the friends of freedom were not to be daunted, and while some of the earlier adherents fell away, others took their place, and the society had enrolled on its list of membership over one hundred names.
At the time of the Fugitive Slave Law excite- ment, a meeting was held at which strong resolutions were presented, denouncing the Law as "most un- righteous and oppressive," and as a "monstrous stride backward from the progressive and Christian civiliza- tion of the age." The adoption of the resolutions was opposed by Mr. John P. Allen, " then wielding considerable influence and power in town." Mr. Allen was replied to by some of the leading aboli- tionists ; Elder P. R. Russell, Baptist minister, "made a powerful speech against the Law." The resolutions were passed almost unanimously. The resolutions were drawn up by Rev. O. A. Taylor, but Mr. Taylor soon after " weakened in his opposi- tion to the Fugitive Slave Law." It was a time when many flinched and failed. The Whig-party leaders cracked the whip, and multitudes cowed before it.
One of the most remarkable developments of the Anti-Slavery movement in town, and one which was almost without a parallel, was the organization and maintaining of an " Anti-Slavery Prayer-meet- ing." " In some respects," says one of the survivors,
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"it was one of the most singular prayer-meetings formed in Manchester or anywhere else." "The services of the meetings were prayer, sacred songs, readings from Anti-Slavery publications and brief discussions." " It could not be urged that this was an anti-church meeting. It was organized and con- trolled by church-members, and the services were always of a serious and religious character."
After the formation of the Republican party, the work of the Abolition Society, so far as politics was concerned, was in a great measure transferred to the Republican Town Committee, and the Manchester Abolition Society ceased to be. But during its existence it exerted a great influence, and it left behind it a worthy history. It did much to mould public sentiment ; it ploughed deep furrows and sowed much good seed in the moral soil of the com- munity. The great leaders of the movement were frequently heard ; 1 the meetings were large and en- thusiastic. The principles which were set forth in pungent and powerful sentences on the platform were discussed through the week in the shops and stores ; and so general a response did the arguments and appeals for Freedom against Slavery meet with, that Manchester was classed among " the banner towns of Essex County." A few of the " old guard " still remain to rehearse the story of those stirring times. But for the most part, the scenes are fast becoming dim, and the heroic struggles and sacrifices of the
1 Among them were W. L. Garrison, J. M. Buffum, S. S. Foster, Parker Pillsbury, Fred. Douglas, C. C. Burleigh, Lucy Stone, C. L. Remond, Theodore D. Weld.
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pioneers of the cause of Emancipation will soon remain but a tradition among us.
One romantic incident, at least, belongs to this period. The time is not precisely known - it was " sometime in the fifties"; these men who were making history were careless about writing it. The dramatis persone were a hunted fugitive from Southern slavery, and two or three friends of free- dom, who were willing to risk something to befriend a fellow-being in distress and danger, even though his skin was a few shades darker than their own. The fugitive appeared in the village on a dark, rainy, chilly evening in the spring, having missed the main track of the Underground Railroad at Salem. There was one home to receive him, there was one friend to help him : wet and cold and trembling, he took him to his own house, fed, warmed and clothed him. The next day, which was Sunday, the poor man's habiliments were re- paired and put in order by the good wife of another leader in the Anti-Slavery ranks, a little money was collected, and early on Monday morning, the grate- ful but still fearful stranger was guided on his way toward the next " underground " station. He was afterwards heard from in Canada, safe beneath the protection of the British flag. The names of the men who sheltered and befriended the fleeing bond- man, at such personal risk, are worthy of being en- rolled among the benefactors of the human race. They are Daniel W. Friend, Delucena L. Bingham, Thomas W. Gentlee. Others sympathized and helped, but these stand easily as "the first three."
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The time was one not only of earnest thought and discussion, and of unselfish devotion, but of manful and heroic action. It was an education in itself of no mean value. It was an experience which prepared the people for the stern scenes which were to follow. It lifted the moral sense of the commu- nity to a distinctly higher plane ; it purified and energized the public conscience ; it magnified and made honorable the "higher law." It was one of the great historic periods in the life of Manchester, worthy to be classed with the strenuous times of the Revolution and the Civil War.
It is difficult for us to conceive the odium which attached to the early Anti-Slavery movement. We have at last reached the time when, so far as the negro is concerned, "'tis prosperous to be just." But fifty years ago, to be suspected of sympathy for the slave was to be ostracized socially, politically, and, in some cases, religiously. Mr. Eminent Respectability regarded the whole thing as low and vulgar. The friends of Liberty were anathematized as pestilent fanatics and disturbers of the peace. To oppose the slave power was to confront mobs, perse- cution, and, sometimes, death. To attend Anti- Slavery meetings placed one outside the pale of polite society. According to every just estimate, the men and women of fifty and sixty years ago, who braved public opinion to espouse the cause of the slave, are to be ranked among the heroes of the race. Their names
" On Fame's eternal bead-roll are worthy to be filed."
CHAPTER X. THE WAR FOR THE UNION.
" The hero's deeds and hard-won fame shall live."
Ovid.
" A war to preserve national independence, life and honor, is a war just, necessary, manly and pious, and we are bound to persevere in it, by every principle, human and divine, as long as the system which menaces them has an existence."
Edmund Burke.
" Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword ;
His truth is marching on."
Battle Hymn of the Republic, Mrs. Julia Ward Howe.
CHAPTER X.
THE WAR FOR THE UNION.
THE AWAKENING - THE MUSTERING OF THE NORTH - MAN- CHESTER'S WAR RECORD - HIEROISM AND SUFFERING - THE CLOSE OF THE WAR-JOY AND SOR- ROW -WAR MEMORIALS - WOMEN IN THE WAR - COMPENSATIONS.
T HE causes of the War for the Union must be sought in the "irrepressible conflict " between Freedom and Slavery, that had long been going on, both North and South. We were in " a place where two seas met." Following the election of Lincoln in 1860, came the secession of State after State from the Union, the removal of troops, ships, and military and naval stores to Southern cities. arsenals, forts and dock-yards; while the North looked helplessly on, drifting into the vortex of civil strife. The winter of 1860-61 was one of great anxiety and suspense. There was the gravest doubt in the minds of many, in this country as well as in Europe, whether the Great Republic would " disap- pear from the roll of nations, or whether it would survive the storm that had gathered over its head."
But when the first gun was fired on Fort Sumter, there was at once a wonderful uprising throughout
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the North. Men of all shades of political com- plexion became as one; old-school Abolitionists, Free Soilers, Democrats and " Conscience Whigs," forgot their differences and ceased their contentions. There was for a time but one party at the North, and that was the party of the Union. A flame of patriotic fire ran through the loyal States, and men of all parties and creeds rallied to the defence of the old Flag.
Who that lived at that time can ever forget those memorable days - the intense excitement, the ex- pectations often followed by disappointment, the ardor often succeeded by hope deferred, the sorrows, tragedies, triumphs and joys, the sad tidings of defeat, the glad pæans of victory, the long-drawn contest, evoking every generous and patriotic im- pulse, overshadowing all private and mercenary interests, ending at last in the overthrow of treason, the abolition of slavery, the preservation of the Union ?
Manchester was not wanting in those great days. The town met every call, kept its quota full, and was represented on almost every battle-field of the War.
The whole number of men furnished by the town for the Army and Navy was one hundred and fifty-nine; of whom twenty-four reënlisted and were counted a second time to the credit of the town, making a total of one hundred and eighty-three men, furnished under different calls, besides the town's proportion of the State naval credits at large.1
Five enlisted on the first call for 75,000 men for three months.
1 A classified list of names of all in the service will be found in Ap- pendix F.
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THE WAR FOR THE UNION.
Sixty-eight enlisted to serve for three years or during the War, and for no bounty.
Twenty-one enlisted for three years, receiving a bounty from the town and State.
Seven were drafted, July 10, 1863, for three years, and served until discharged at the end of the War, excepting one who died in the service.
Twenty-three enlisted and served for nine months, and received from the town a bounty of one hundred dollars each.
Twenty-three enlisted for one year, who received a bounty from the town of one hundred and twenty-five dollars each.
Fourteen enlisted for one hundred days, and received no bounty.
Three paid commutation money, and one furnished a substitute.
Eleven enlisted and served in the naval service.
Sixteen died in the military and two in the naval service.
Four were killed in battle.
Two died from wounds received in action.
Seven were taken prisoners, of whom three were ex- changed, and four died in prison.
Twenty-six were discharged by reason of disease con- tracted in the service, and wounds received in action.
Forty-eight were discharged by reason of expiration of term of service.
Sixty were in service at the close of the War, and were discharged under General Order of the War Department.
Eighteen served through the War, first enlisting in the summer and fall of 1861, reënlisting at the end of two years, and of these, two were among those who responded to the first call of the President, April, 1861.
The number of commissioned officers was four.
Eighty-four of these men were natives of the town, one hundred and thirty-nine were natives of the United States, twenty were foreigners, and three negroes.
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HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
Twenty, at least, and probably more, natives of the town residing elsewhere, were actively engaged in the War, eight of whom died in the service, three of them in Rebel prisons. Two of them were commissioned officers, one a Captain and one a Lieutenant Colonel.
The whole amount of money paid by the town for boun- ties and expenses of recruiting was seven thousand eight hundred and eighty-five dollars ($7,885). The whole amount of aid furnished soldiers' families to March 1, 1866, was seventeen thousand four hundred and ninety-eight dol- lars ($17,498).1 Besides this sum, two hundred and forty- seven dollars ($247) was paid by the town, not to be reim- bursed by the State. The estimated increase of the town debt by reason of the war was ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
Manchester can look back upon her war record with gratitude and honest pride.
" Few towns of a like population can show a better record as regards the number of her own citizens sent into the conflict, there being one hundred and fifty-three who were citizens of the town out of one hundred and fifty-nine -the whole number sent. The town may well congratu- late herself on the record she has made in the great work of preserving the unity, integrity and freedom of the nation, inasmuch as so many of her own sons went forth to do and to die for the common weal." 2
Their deeds are their monument, more lasting than marble or brass, in the hearts of their grateful countrymen. The Records of our Soldiers and Sea- men 3 in the Rebellion, as preserved in a sumptuous
1 Reimbursed by the State.
2 Special report of the Selectmen, March 19, 1866.
3 While we oftenest speak of the Army and the Soldiers, we should never forget the part borne by the Navy in the Great Conflict. If it had not been for the efficiency of the blockade service, the operations on the Carolina coast, at Mobile and New Orleans, and the opening and holding of the Mississippi, a fatal blow to the Confederacy, the history of the War would liave been very differently written.
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volume 1 in the archives of Post 67, G. A. R., fur- nish a mine of information and a noble memorial of Manchester in the War.
These men went forth from the fireside and the workshop, from the plough and the tiller, from the mill and the counting-room, not to carry on a war of aggression, but to defend the honor and liberty of the Country, and maintain the Constitution and the Laws. They were citizen-soldiers, bearing with them to the camp, the bivouac and the field, the best influences of a Puritanic ancestry, and of training in the town meeting, the church, the home and the com- mon school. They were surrounded and followed by the anxieties and hopes, the prayers and blessings of parents, brothers, sisters, sweethearts, wives and children. They were overshadowed and environed by all the loving and patriotic wishes and aspira- tions of friends and kindred, and by the memories and traditions of a hundred years. When they fell, they were borne tenderly to their resting-place with prayer and dirge. When they returned, worn, sick and dying, they were received with flowing tears and open arms. When at last the survivors marched home from Appomattox and the honors of the Grand Review, the welkin rang with plaudits, and every heart gave welcome to the returning heroes of the Union and the Flag.
On the conclusion of the War, the town took suit- able action in view of the quickly recurring events, which is still fresh in the memory of many still liv- ing. For those whose lives have been lived since
1 The gift of Russell Sturgis, Esq.
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HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
those momentous times, a brief record is here in place. In the Town Records is found the fol- lowing :
" MANCHESTER, 1865.
" Monday, April 3d, of this year, was a day of great re- joicing. In the morning we heard our army had achieved a great victory over the enemy, but none of us dared to be- lieve Richmond would fall so soon, if at all. So in the afternoon when the dispatch announcing the occupation of Richmond by our forces was received, the people mani- fested their joy by triumphant shouts, excited congratula- tions and the ringing of bells. So long had we hoped for this event and so long had our hopes been deferred, our faith had grown weak, but now great joy fell upon us and we celebrated.
" April 10th, 1865."
One week later the news was received of Lee's surrender. The enthusiasm of the people was im- mediate and intense. Arrangements were at once made for a day of public rejoicing. The date was April 11, 1865. The following account is from the Salem Register :
" Yesterday was a day long to be remembered. At an early hour we were aroused by the ringing of bells and the glad shout, ' Lee and his whole army have surrendered.'
" Col. T. R. Tannatt and Lewis N. Tappan had made haste to ride from your city with the joyful tidings. The people of the town were soon astir, flags were unfolded and flung to the breeze, drums and fifes brought out, a procession formed and marched to the depot, where short speeches for the occasion were made by Rev. E. P. Tenney and Rev. Mr. Thayer, author of the 'Bobbin Boy.' These speakers leaving in the early train, the procession returned to the common, where a stage was erected at the foot of the flag-staff, from which Rev. F. V. Tenney read the despatch announcing the surrender of Lee.
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THE WAR FOR THE UNION.
" Several citizens addressed the people, setting forth in befitting terms the glories of the day. Col. Tannatt and Mr. Tappan also favored us with remarks pertinent to the glorious realities of the occasion.
" Loud and repeated cheers were given for the speakers, President Lincoln, his generals and the heroic soldiers of the army. 'America,' ' Rally round the Flag, Boys,' and 'John Brown ' were sung with thrilling effect. Allusions were made by most of the speakers to that 'monster sin ' which had well-nigh been our ruin. One of them was pleased to read an extract from ' Helper's Impending Crisis,' the same being a warning found in Jeremiah 34 ch. 17 verse. To make his point stronger the speaker read the following extract from a letter written in May, 1847, by a former clergyman of this town (Rev. O. A. Taylor) while journey- ing in the border States:
"' Slavery must and will be destroyed. It is inconsistent with the spirit of our institutions. Freedom frowns upon it from every quarter of our land. The world is against it. God's curse rests upon it. If let alone it will sooner or later poison itself to death, as do some serpents under the very malignancy of their own venom.'
"The speaker had carried this prophecy in his pocket for eighteen years, and for the most part of the time, with but faint hopes of ever witnessing its fulfillment, but to-day he was glad, and thought the prophecy of an orthodox clergyman equal to that of Jeremiah. After other congrat- ulatory exercises the procession re-formed and marched through different sections of the town.
" In the afternoon the fire department turned out and with the citizens escorted four wounded soldiers, three of whom had lost a leg and one an arm, through the principal streets amid the waving of flags and the ringing of bells. Notwithstanding the rain the enthusiasm was unabated, and at an early hour in the evening the Baptist Church was filled with joyous people of both sexes.
" John Lee was elected as the presiding officer and Rev. F. V. Tenney invoked the divine blessing. The exercises
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were all of a very interesting character, consisting of singing by the choirs of the several religious societies, joined in part by the assembly, and of congratulatory addresses from the several clergymen of the town, and from other citizens, intermingled with cheers for the different speakers and for the great successes we celebrated - not forgetting the brave boys now absent and the equally deserving who have re- turned, nor the 20 of our heroic dead, 5 of whom died on the field of battle, 3 in rebel prisons, and the rest in hospitals or at home. Tears were in many eyes in memory of those departed heroes.
" A collection for the Christian Commission was taken up. Altogether it was a day of Jubilee, and one we may all rejoice to have been permitted to see. E. R. N."
Four days later, April 15, the heart of the nation was plunged in grief and consternation, by the news of the assassination of its Chief. From the Town Records the following extract is made :
"' The President is shot,' and ere we could comprehend or believe the first despatch, another said, 'Our beloved President, Abraham Lincoln, is Dead.'
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