USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Manchester > History of the town of Manchester, Essex County, Massachusetts, 1645-1895 > Part 6
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1 Paper read at celebration in Salem (Monday), July 5, 1852, by John Lee.
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the Northern States is as abject as that of slaves "; 1 but no doubt it was one of great poverty and hard- ship; so much the more credit is due to them for the many noble and manly qualities which they devel- oped. They were men, at all events, in whom was an inextinguishable love of freedom; they believed, " Better is a dinner of herbs where liberty is, than a stalled ox and slavery therewith." ?
The following extracts from an Assessors' Book, preserved in the Town Treasurer's Office (supposed date about 1760), a little pamphlet of 32 pages, note size, date and names of Assessors wanting, give an idea of the taxable property of that time:
Dea. Jona Herrick: Polls rateable 3. Dwelling Home 1. Annual worth $28. Money at Interest £20. 2 Horses. 6 Oxen. 6 Cows. 5 Sheep. 2 Hogs. 100 acres Pasturing. 10 acres Tillage, 150 bushels Grain, 10 barrels Cyder, etc. The Honble Daniel Edwards Esqr. 2 Polls. 1 Dwelling Home & Shop. 1 Warehouse. 2 Fish houses. 165 ton of Vessels. Trading Stock £146.13,4, 2 horses, 4 oxen, 5 cows, 70 acres of pasture, 10 acres Engh mowing, 25 B: grain, etc: John Lee Esqr. 1 Poll Rateable. 1 dwelling home. 2 warehouses. 5 Fish houses. 130 Feet wharf. Annual worth £30. 3 Servants for Life.3 261 Ton Vessels. £130 Trading Stock. Interest money $53,13,4. 52 acres pasture, 4 acres Marsh, 9 acres English mowing, 100 B: Grain, 3 Barrels Cyder, 5 Tons produce, etc. Richard Day 12 Poll not Rateable. 1 Servant Negroe. 1 Mare. 1 Cow. 2 acres Tillage. 216 acres English mowg. 25 B: of grain, 112 Barrel Cyder 112 Ton hay; etc.
1 Papers of James Madison, Mobile, 1842, vol. I, p. 20.
2 Prov. XV, 17.
3 Samuel Lee was also an owner of slaves, one of whom, a waiting maid, he bequeathed to his wife " and her heirs forever."
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These were among the largest taxpayers. The majority of the inventories show very modest in- comes and estates. In many instances, one-half, one-third, or one-fourth of a dwelling-house is as- sessed. The "annual worth" is rated in some cases as low as 20 shillings. Here were certainly no bloated bond holders or millionaire overlords; there was a comparative equality, presenting few temptations to anarchistic uprisings and few oppor- tunities of avaricious and domineering oppression. There was no impassable gulf between the lowest and the highest. There was no severe strain upon the relations between employer and employed. And yet there were distinctions, and no doubt some com- plained of the inequalities of rank and wealth, and de- clared that the rich were becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer. Each century and generation fancies that the golden age was in the past; if we take heed to the voice of history and experience, we shall " seek one to come."
The War, as it dragged its slow length along, had its stirring and romantic incidents. The situation of Manchester on the seaboard, and the employment of many of its men in the naval service and in coast defence, gave to its history its full share of the ad- venturous and sometimes tragic element. Some of these incidents have been preserved and make a part of the history of the period. A bit of local color is thrown upon the dark background of the first years of the War, by an incident related by Mr. D. L. Bingham, who heard it when a boy from his grand- mother who was a witness of the event. When the
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Continental Army was at Cambridge, recruits were sometimes landed at Cape Ann and marched through the town to camp. On one occasion, three hundred Virginians, on their way to join Washington's com- mand, passed through Manchester, encamping near the site of the present Parsonage. They were sup- plied with food by the people, and for their amuse- ment displayed their skill with the tomahawk. Their soldierly appearance, their green frocks, their rifles and their general bearing, representing as they did the patrician blood of the South, were well fitted to impress a young girl of sixteen, accustomed to the plain accoutrements, motley arms and untrained step of the farmers and fisher-folk who had rallied at the sound of war. The stay of these gallant South- rons appears to have been too short, however, for them to win the hearts of any of Manchester's fair daughters.
Among the most serious disasters to the town dur- ing the War was the loss of the privateer " Glouces- ter," a new brig from the port for which she was named, which put to sea in July, 1776, with a crew of one hundred and thirty men. Shortly after sail- ing she captured and sent in two prizes; after that nothing was heard of her; perfect mystery shrouds her fate.
"The loss of this vessel cast a deep gloom over Man- chester, and made widows and orphans in many homes. The surgeon was Dr. Joseph Whipple, who had won an en- viable reputation as a physician in the town. He left a widow and seven children. He was an ardent patriot, a safe counselor, and greatly beloved by his fellow-citizens, eighteen of whom shipped with him, and with him sank to
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their eternal rest." Among them were Daniel Morgan, Daniel Ober, Nicholas Babcock, James Pittman, John Allen, John Carter, - Tucker, Amos Allen, David Brown, Andrew Brown, Jacob Lendall, Simeon Webber, Azariah Allen and James Morgan.
Andrew Leach and ten others belonging to the town, were also lost in the privateer " Barrington," of Newburyport.
As illustrating the spirit and readiness in meeting an emergency of many of the hardy sons of the ocean of this period, the following incidents in the lives of Manchester men, gathered from different sources, may here find place.
" It is related of Captain Daniel Leach who was a mate under Captain Tuck : their vessel was cap- tured, and a prize crew placed on board to take her to Halifax. While on her way they put into a small harbor on the Nova Scotia coast. Captain Tuck was a fine conversationalist and of most excellent address, and he so ingratiated himself into the good graces of the prize captain, that he was invited to accompany that officer to visit some of his British friends on shore.
" During their absence, Leach, who was on deck, was watching the doings of the prize crew, who were all in the rigging, making some repairs and shaking out the sails, that they might dry. In this, Leach thought he saw his opportunity, and with him to sce was to act. Some of the prisoners were on deck, and soon comprehended the plan. Leach loi- tered towards the arm-chest, and, seizing an axe, burst the cover open; and this being the signal
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agreed upon, the Americans were quickly armed, and the crew in the rigging were at their mercy. Leach and his former crew were in charge, and the English crew were his prisoners.
" After a pleasant visit on shore, the prize captain and his polite friend were rowed alongside. Leach received them courteously, and surprised the English captain by ordering him below as his prisoner, and Captain Tuck was informed that the ship was his again, and his old crew were awaiting his orders. Under his direction the vessel was taken safely to Boston."
From the Salem Register of July 30, 1838, we copy the following:
" At an early period in the great struggle for Independ- ence, Mr. William Kitfield, when only 21 years of age, with John Girdler, of this town, and a young man by the name of Lawrence, of Gloucester, shipped at Boston with Captain Smith, of Salem, on a voyage to Bilboa. On their return voyage they were taken by a British ship of war, and car- ried to England and thrown into prison, from which they managed to escape and find their way to a sea port, where, as Englishmen, they shipped on a vessel bound to Jamaica and Halifax. While at the former place Kitfield proposed to the other two a plan for taking the vessel while on her way to Halifax. They agreed to it, and the next day, while on shore, each bought a sword. When they were well to the northward, about midnight, when all three were in the same watch, Girdler, armed, was placed at the cabin-door; Kitfield went to the second mate, who was at the helm, and told him the anchor was off the bow. Thus they got charge of the deck, and the officers were prisoners below. The crew, being promised a share of the prize, readily joined them and assisted in working the vessel. The next day they ran alongside an American privateer, and were taken
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into Salem, where the vessel was given up to the three dar- ing youngsters. The Captain cried bitterly, and said he would not care so much about it if it were not the first time he had been Captain."
" Captain William Pert was so unfortunate as to have his ship captured by an English cruiser when he was quite near Boston. A prize crew was put on board and she was headed for Halifax.
"Among the cargo of the captured vessel was a large amount of provisions and excellent liquors. For the first day the wind was very light, and but very little progress was made. The English officers had already discovered the merits of the food, and they very fre- quently refreshed themselves with the liquors. As the sun was setting there were indications of more wind. The prize officers, not feeling sufficiently familiar with the difficult navigation of this part of Massachusetts Bay, asked Captain Pert to work the ship, to which he very cheerfully agreed. But occa- sionally he found time to go below, and added zest to the festivities by bringing to their notice some untried varieties of brandies and wines, which were greatly relished.
" The night set in very dark with a strong breeze. Captain Pert being pilot, managed to gradually change the course of the ship, and by daylight the following morning, the bewildered officers found themselves, with bad headaches, under the guns of the fort in Boston Harbor, and that they were pris- oners."
The return of peace brought great relief to the dis- tressed and impoverished people. The little hamlet
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by the sea shared to the full in the general joy. The old cannon that had stood in front of the church was taken in charge by two war-worn vet- erans, Benjamin Leach and Joseph Kelham, and taken to every part of the town, followed no doubt by the inevitable crowd of jubilant youngsters, and fired off again and again as an expression of the popular rejoicing ; powder and refreshments were everywhere furnished, and the town "rested from war."
As a few men from Manchester were engaged in putting down what is known as "Shay's Rebellion," a famous emeute in its day, and bearing some resem- blance to the labor uprisings and anarchical demon- strations of the present time, a brief account of it is here subjoined :
Following the War of the Revolution, scarcity of money and a derangement of the business of the country resulted in a very widespread disaffection, which assumed the form in Massachusetts of an insurrection called " Shay's Rebellion." A body of about 1,500 insurgents, led by Daniel Shay, assem- bled at Northampton, and prevented the sitting of the courts. In December, 1786, they took posses- sion of the court-house at Springfield. In January, 1787, an army of 4,000 men was raised by the State to suppress the insurrection. The mob of insurgents, for it was nothing more, was dispersed on its retreat at Petersham, 150 were taken prisoners and the rest fled. Among the men who were called into service to put down this insurrection, which threatened to become serious, were eleven men from Manchester.
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They were enlisted January 17, 1787, in "Capt. John Rowes' Company, Colo Wades Regt."1 They were discharged Feb. 23, 1787, their whole time of service being one month and fifteen days ; distance marched from home, 173 miles ; pay, Sergeant, &3, 12s. ; Corporal, £3, 6s. ; Privates, £3 each. The original Roll contains the names of 61 men ; the following men are credited to Manchester : Sam. Ayrs, Sergt, Joseph Badcock, Corp., Samuel Tuck, Jacob Dowe, Benj" Craft, Pharoch Miller, Emkins Woodbery, Eben" Phelps, William Osbon, Eben" Craft, William Dowe, Privates.
The condition of things in Manchester at the close of the War, as in the country generally, was dispiriting. The fishing interest had been almost destroyed, the people were poor and embarrassed by debt, and the general outlook was far from cheering. But the native pluck, energy and self-reliance, nur- tured by a century and more of hardship and toil, soon helped them to rally from the depressing in- fluences of the long and wasting contest. With the improving condition of the country, the revival of maritime interests, the opening of new markets, the increase of trade, and the hopeful feeling that began to prevail, the town entered upon a new era. New fishing stations sprang up, new vessels were built, new warehouses, wharves and " flakes " appeared where the old had fallen into decay. and the stir of pros- perity took the place of idleness. The state of things resembled on a small scale that which
1 Original Roll, signed by Captain Rowe and sworn to by him before Peter Coffin, Just. Peace, July 9, 1787. Attest, Daniel W. Low, Gloucester.
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marked the close of the English Revolution in 1688, and the accession of the Prince of Orange, as William the Third, to the throne. " The cheer- ful bustle in every seaport and every market-town indicated, not obscurely, the commencement of a happier age."1
One more cause of local trial and sorrow remained to throw a pall over the closing years of the century. In the year 1794, an epidemic, probably a severe type of typhus fever, swept off about seventy per- sons in a few months. Great want and suffering ensued. The heart of one of Salem's honored mer- chants responded to the cry of distress, as shown by the following letter, preserved in the town archives.
SALEM, 15 April, 1795.
Gentlemen : Considering the great calamity your town has suffered by sickness and death, I think you must have many who are objects of charity, which has induced me to ask your acceptance of the inclosed, which request you will please distribute to such deserving objects as have claims to the sympathy of the Humane. I request no publick notice to be taken of this.
Cash $100.
Order for 100 bush. corn.
I am gentlemen, with respect, your most obedient servant, William Gray, Jr.2
To the Selectmen of the Town of Manchester.
1 Macaulay, History of England, cxxii.
2 Beginning at the lowest round of the ladder, at the time of his death in 1825 Mr. Gray was the largest ship-owner in America. At one time lie owned 60 square-rigged vessels, whose sails whitened every sea. Heis said to have been an early riser, performing much of his work before breakfast. He was affable in intercourse, unostentatious in manner, and a man of practical benevolence. He was elected lieutenant-governor with Elbridge Gerry, in 1810. Mr. Gray's old homestead in Salem afterwards became the Essex Coffee House, now the Essex House. (Old Landmarks of Boston, p 201.,
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A picture of the time would not be complete without some notice of its superstitions and beliefs. In addition to the real causes of fear and suffering, were others which were no less potent because they were imaginary. Our forefathers believed in an all- surrounding atmosphere of mystery, and lived in a kind of border-land of vagueness and fear. It was easy on a dark and stormy night to hear the death groan of a murdered mariner in the creaking of the giant trees of the forest,1 and the cry of a belated and waylaid traveller in the lone wolf's howl or the trumpet of the loon. Wood declares, "Some being lost in the woods [at Cape Ann] have heard such terrible roarings as have made them much aghast, which must be either lyons or devils, there being no other creatures which used to roar." It required little stretch of the imagination to see in the morning mirage ships in the clouds sailing against the wind, or dropping to pieces in the air. Such portents were familiar in the daily life of our ancestors, and were seriously chronicled. Among the alarming occurrences which are recorded are comets,2 electric storms, earthquakes, and especially mysterious, the "dark day," 3 when there fell " over the bloom and sweet life of the Spring a horror of great darkness," when lamps were lighted at noon- day, and cattle came home to the barnyard and
1 History of Essex County, vol. 11, 1259.
2 People are still living among us who remember hearing old people speak of comets with fear and dread, as presaging war or other calamities; and no wonder, for it was not so many years before that they were the terror of governments, "with fear of change perplexing monarchs."
3 May 19, 1780.
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fowls went to roost ;1 a phenomenon which has never been satisfactorily accounted for,2 although it has been partially repeated as in the " yellow day" of 1881. It is a matter of interest that we have a reference to this occurrence in the life of an inhabi- tant of Manchester, Edward Lee; it is said that " when the darkness came on, the neighbors all flocked around [him] begging his prayers. While every face but his was pale with fear, he was as happy and joyful as ever." A nephew, who was then a little boy, said "he got as near his good uncle as he could, and then thought, if the judgment day had come, he was safe." 3
The town, like most other towns, had its " witch" in the last century, a poor, harmless imbecile, named Molly Sennitt, who lived in a little house, still remembered by some of the older inhabitants, near the site of Mr. W. H. Tappan's house, on North Street. The story is told of the boys of the period playing a practical joke on the poor old creature one night by slyly depositing a bag full of felines inside her door and " letting the cat out of the bag," in a wholesale manner, in her domicile. As no cruelty was intended or inflicted, it may be supposed that the juvenile prank was
1 " We were obliged to have a candle to eat dinner by ; it lookt very melloncaly indeed." Diary of Col. Samuel Pierce, Dorchester, Mass. See Whittier, Abraham Darenport.
2 Elizabeth Crafts White, of Brookline, Mass., who died Oct. 7, 1839, a woman of remarkable character, familiarly known as " Aunt White," wrote an account of the " Dark Day," in which she gives " various opinions of the darkness " prevalent at the time. The Crafts Family, p. 168.
3 The Apostolic Fisherman: A Tale of the Last Century. By an Aged Relative. Am. S. S. Union, pp. 21, 22.
-
Mộc
OLD TOWN HOUSE.
(196)
NEW TOWN HOUSE.
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winked at and hushed up by the authorities ; though it may have brought down in private some solemn reprimands from grave elders upon the thoughitless offenders. Such escapades were regarded by many as a sort of safety valve for the effervescence of youthful spirit, although frowned on and highly disapproved by the general moral sentiment of the community.
The Revolutionary Period, covering the closing half of the eighteenth century, was a period of general upheaval. The country was poor, the finances were almost hopelessly deranged, business was paralyzed, families were scattered and broken up, schools closed and meeting-houses in some instances left to decay. The early part of the century had been one of formal- ism, growing out of causes which lie within the prov- ince of the ecclesiastical historian to discuss ; the "living faith of the settlers old " had almost died out, or had been repudiated by their descendants. Then came the "Great Awakening," under Whitefield, Edwards and others, which passed over the churches of New England like a thunder-storm, clearing the air, but leaving uprooted trees and broken branches in its track. It produced a profound and lasting effect ; notwithstanding the fanaticism with which it was accompanied, it broke up a reign of indiffer- entism and left a "result of holier lives."'
" The tide of spiritual life rolled down
From inland mountains to seaboard town."
It reached Ipswich, where Whitefield preached to assembled thousands on the hill " before the meet-
4
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ing-house " ; it resulted in the foundation of a "New Light" church in Chebacco (now Essex), but the afflatus was scarcely felt on this side of the Cape.1
The events of the Revolution have been cast into the shade by those of the later strife for Freedom. The former conflict was " a war of skirmishes and outposts," as compared with that which a generation ago shook the Continent as if the Titans were at war again. But the deeds of bravery in the War for the Union ought not to make us forget that ear- lier struggle for Liberty, marked by acts of heroism as splendid as those that have made illustrious our later story. The spirit of the men who fought at Ball's Bluff, and Gettysburg, and Lookout Mountain, was but the rekindling of that which has invested the names of Bunker Hill, and Trenton, and Yorktown with undying glory.
NOTE A [p. 76 ante].
There should be something "read into" the record. The bare statement of the town's neglect to fill its quota needs explanation. The following Memorial addressed to " The Honourable the Coun- cil and the House of Representatives of the State of the Massachusetts Bay," puts the matter in quite a different light :
The Petition of the Inhabitants of the Town of Man- chester - Your Petitioners begg Leave humbly to Say - We Think our selves hardly treated -in having a fine of two hundred pounds Requir'd of us -as we take it -For
1 For some account of the relations of Rev. Benj. Tappan and the Man- chester church to the " Whitefield movement," see Appendixes A and B.
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not Complying with an order of Court upon April 20, 1778: by which the Town was ordered to Send Five men to Serve in the Continental army for Nine Months. - For we assure your Honours that we took Unwearied Pains in Endeavours to obtain the Five; But Yet Could procure no more than three. - But though we would have furnished the five, we yet think that, If other Towns had furnished the Seventh part of their Numbers - First Called for, the three we fur- nished would Have been our full Proportion, for when the Continental Army was formed, Twenty Nine were a Seventh Part of our Numbers: and that number we Compleated to a Man: and all of them, Saving two, are still in the Field.
We also think ourselves hardly treated, in that so Large a Proportion has been Demanded of us by a late act of the Court -for Apportioning and Assessing a Sum and sums of Mony for Defraying publicke Charges, and satisfying Rep- resentatives for the Expences of their travell, And their at- tandance in the General Court, in the year 1778. For, we begg Leave to Certifie you, that, Since we furnished men for the Continental Army, our Numbers have been so Di- minished, by Deaths - Captivities And Removals out of town, that we are now, at Home, But about half so many, as we were then. - Besides, several of those that have left the town were some of our more wealthy members of soci- ety.1 And the Proportion Demanded of us, according to our Valuation Return is about the fifteenth Part of the In- terest of the whole town. And our Internal Charges amount to more than our External .? We have great Numbers of Poor to relieve, Tho' but a Small town, yet we have four
1 This was an evil, it appears, from which the seaboard towns specially suffered. A petition of the inhabitants of Salem, May 27, 1778, mentions among other "unnatural mischiefs," as "Vessels taken," "fishery de- stroyed by the Enemy," "stores, Warehouses, distilhouses, & wharves, generally unimployed and useless,"-" that some inhabitants of this town who have Acquired great Riches, and who pay one sixth part of our taxes, have already removed, while others are daily removing to the Country," etc.
: The " Want of Tents " in the Continental Army was " help'd out by a Collection of now useless sails from the Sea Port Towns." Washington's Letter to the President of Congress, July 10, 1775.
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Score widows in it, and far more Fatherless Children. Our trade & Commerce is but very inconsiderable. And De- mands made for the Necessaries of Life, of which we are almost universally Purchasers, are high to astonishment, and Continually rising .- In short. There are many among us, who, we think, Cant be rationally thought able, at pres- ent, to Do anything more towards Defraying publick Charges. And others of us see not how we shall be able to do more than Provide Necessaries for our families, and re- leive the Distresses of the poor, widows & fatherless; if so much.
We therefore pray your Honours will please to take our Case into Consideration, and take off the fine. And abate, at Least, a part of the Sum Lately Requird of us-as our Proportion for Defraying the Publick Charges, &c. And we shall, as in duty bound, Ever Pray &c. -
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