USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Gloucester > In the heart of cape ann, or, the story of dogtown, 1906 > Part 4
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).
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The " old castle " is a restored gambrel roof, and seems likely to remain for another century as a good sample of the better class of Dogtown dwellings.
It seems probable that Hetty Balch lived in this vicinity, but of this I would like further proof. Pos- sibly she lived in the village. It is but five minutes walk from " Johnny Morgan's Boo," and the Castle to the electrics in Riverdale.
CHAPTER VIII.
CONCLUSION.
IF it happens that one has not turned off from the
main Dogtown road, at Granny Day's swamp, he will keep on over a slight elevation, past the cross- ing of the Pigeon Cove path, which really is for some distance in the road, until he reaches the Whale's Jaw.
Soon after passing Whale's Jaw, the road, almost obliterated by time and changes of ownership in the pastures, reaches Revere street, the old Sandy Bay road already referred to. On the Pigeon Cove path, a little distance beyond the Whale's Jaw, are the graves of old Mr. Blanch and wife, marked by rude head and foot stones picked out from the rocks which bestrew the Commons. This cellar is near Pigeon Hill, on the path from Pigeon Cove to the Whale's Jaw. It was known as " Blanch's" to two genera-
74
The Story of Dogtown.
tions. The cleared land made a fine place for the boys of fifty years since to go from Lanesville and Pigeon Cove on Fast Day to play ball.
In Dogtown, just after passing the bars of the vil- lage street beyond Granny Day's swamp, is the cellar of the house in which Col. William Pearce, one of the wealthiest men of old Gloucester, sought refuge from marauding expeditions in war times. He kept great numbers of sheep. Mr. Chard, almost a cen- tenarian, picturesquely described a scene of his boy- hood, during the war of 1812. He woke one morn- ing and was summoned into the garden of the house on the banks of Lobster Cove, in which he was born. Secured to a rock directly across the cove, still to be seen, were several British barges, belonging to a war vessel anchored by the bar in the harbor of Anni- squam. Coming down the hill towards the boats was a negro, bearing on his back his booty in the shape of one of Col. Pearce's black sheep. This is in many ways the best preserved cellar in Dogtown, with its cellar steps still in place.
I have speculated somewhat concerning the reason of Babson's reticence in his history concerning Dog- town and its people. His history was published fifty years ago. The village degenerated as it grew old, and the Dogtown familiar to him in his younger days
75
The Story of Dogtown.
was not a place to inspire great enthusiasm. At the time he wrote less than twenty years had passed since " Black Nell," Molly Jacobs, Annie Carter and oth- ers had died. Many of their connections were still living, and to speak as freely as one can to-day of the village would have caused more or less strife. Had my friend Pringle had more time, he might have in- cluded the story of Dogtown in his interesting centen- nial history, but the omission was quite excusable when the magnitude of the task he set himself is con- sidered.
I find that I have omitted the story of Peg Wesson from this narrative, though her name has been men- tioned. She lived in the "Garrison House" on Prospect street, opposite Dale avenue. It now stands on Maplewood avenue. She is the only reputed witch of Cape Ann of whom it can be alleged, with history to endorse the allegation, that she rode on a broom- stick. Shortly before departing for the siege of Louisburg, Babson says, several of Capt. Byles' com- pany visited Peg, and so exasperated her that she threatened to visit them in wrath at Cape Breton. While camping before Louisburg, the attention of the Gloucester men was attracted by the peculiar performances of a crow which circled just above them. Several unsuccessful efforts were made to
. 76
The Story of Dogtown.
shoot the bird of ill omen. Finally a soldier suggest- ed that it must be Peg, supernaturally transformed into a crow. If it was the witch, nothing but a bullet cast from silver or gold would be sufficiently potent to puncture her. A silver sleeve button was rammed into a gun, and fired, the bird falling with a hurt leg. On their return to Gloucester, the soldiers were in- terested to learn that at the precise time the crow was wounded, Peg fell (of course from her broomstick) , with a fracture of her leg, and the doctor on dressing the wound, extracted the identical silver button there- from. Many of the inhabitants of Gloucester of those days believed this tale.
The writer has at different times examined about 60 cellars which can be found in Dogtown. Of these he has identified many more than he believed was possible when he began the work. He is more grat- ified than he can express at the general interest that has been awakened by the first publication of these notes. As aged Mr. Thurston quaintly remarked, " In old times if a person sawed a barrel in two and made two tubs, they called him a witch. This seems to be as much foundation as there is in the stories of many of the witches of Dogtown. Gloucester should cherish this ancient spot for what it has been. It is practically the only ruined city in America. I can-
77
The Story of Dogtown.
not close these sketches better than by following the example of Babson, and quoting Goldsmith :
" Here, as I take my solitary rounds, Amidst thy tangled walks and ruined grounds, And, many a year elapsed, return to view Where once the cottage stood, the hawthorne grew, Remembrance wakes, with all her busy train, Swells at my breast, and turns the past to pain.
But now the sounds of population fail, No cheerful murmurs fluctuate in the gale, No busy steps the grass-grown footway tread, For all the blooming flush of life is fled."
1
T
F
I
N
I
S
| Copyright 1896 by PROCTER BROTHERS, Gloucester, Mass.]
NOTE.
On page 10, in the story of the "Beginnings of Dogtown," which follows this, the distance of the Nehemiah Stanwood (or Lurvey) house should be 2 miles, 2 quarters and 7 rods from the church green.
NHALES JAWS
BEECH PASTURE.
MENEMIAN STANWOOD ·
BENJ. ALLEN.
widow RICE .
JOSHUA ELWELL
JABEZ HUNTER
WH HILTON.
·WIDOW DAVIS.
WTHOMAS RIGGS
THIS
WIDOW CANNABLE ( THIS CANNEBY)
JAMES DEMERIT
·NATHAN NEL WHARF
.
.
JOHN WHAFF
· STEPHEN BENNETT.
DAVID STANWOOD
JEREMIAH MILLET
MA ** DAVIS
NATHANIEL DAY
· JONATHAN
STANW ...
JOB DAVIS
JAS DAWS
. JOHN BRUCE.
MAP OF
THE
TOWN PARISH
RIVER
. JOSEPH STANWOOD
· SAMUEL ALLEN
ELDER COIT
. THOMAS ALLEN
CHARLES E. MANN.
HURCH · SCHOOL HOUSE.
SQUIRE JOGALLEN JOHN LOW
ANDREW ELWEUS
ELLERY
COLO
ROAD TO REV JOHN WHITE
GLOUCESTER HARBOR.
COPY FROM MASS ARCHIVES VOLUME 245.
HODGKINER
FERRY
WM JEFFORAS
ABRAHAM DAVIS
. DANIEL EMMONS
MILL PONU
JOHN STANWOOD
POLES
BENJ. FOSTER
ANTHONY BENNETT
DOGTOWN VILLAGE
IN 1742.
ANNISQUAM
WM STEVENS
SHOWING
ABRAHAM · MILLET
M'M. TUCKER
BENJAMIN KNEWCOMBE
PHILIPS "ANH
. JOSEPH CLARK JR. .
ADAMS. AD GAIL BENNETT.
JOSEPH WHISTON ( WINELOW) JOSEPH CLARK ER. . JAMES STANWOOD
· JOSEPH
JAMES MARSH. "ASTER" WHARF.
STEPHEN ROBINSON JR.
WIDOW JANE (GRANNY ) DAY.
. JOSEPH INGERSOLL
ANVISQUAM PARISH LINE.
· PHILIP EWKO
BEGINNINGS OF DOGTOWN
DATA FROM DAYS BEFORE THE
VILLAGE WAS DESERTED
BY
CHARLES E. MANN
GLOUCESTER, MASS. : THE PROCTER BROTHERS CO., PUBLISHERS IOS MAIN ST. 1906
BEGINNINGS OF DOGTOWN.
CHAPTER I.
flad the First Parish remained content with its ancient meeting house on the Green in Riverdale it is probable that no story of the beginnings of Dogtown could ever have been written, and its antecedents would have therefore remained an unsolvable mystery. Hon. John J. Babson studied the problem and gave it up, as his History of Gloucester states. In telling the story of the division of the parish, he was limited as to space by the necessity of discussing other subjects of equal or paramount importance, and keeping the whole within the pages of the ordinary volume of its class. When he prepared his " Notes and Additions " to the history he availed himself freely of the important genealogical material furnished by the different petitions relating to the parish controversy in the ar- chives of the general court, but curbed his curiosity as to Dogtown. When the writer's friend, Mr. Fred N. Day of Newton, went hunting for facts relating to the Day family, he recognized the value of the papers, and called them to my attention.
Ata certain point in the controversy over the division of the First Parish it became im- portant for the members of the General Court to know just how far the " Up in Town " petitioners each lived from the old church on the Green, this church being a mile from the new church which had been
4
BEGINNINGS OB DOGTOWN.
built at the harbor, and that mile, added to the long walk from Wheeler's Point or Goose Cove, being the bone of contention. So in 1740 or 1741 the distances were measured, and Joseph Batchelder, a surveyor, drew a map of the upper part of the parish, showing ev- ery road and the location of each house, the owner or occupant's name being indicated by a number. The map, now in the archives of the Commonwealth, includes the two now grass-grown Dogtown streets, and from it we are able to learn just who was living in the village 150 years ago. It also furnishes hints as to the builders of many of the Dog- town houses, and data as to the probable time when other roads and houses were con- structed.
It is customary to write the introduction to a story last, and I need hardly say that it is a matter of intense satisfaction to me to be able to write this series of articles, which are properly an introduction to "The Story of Dogtown" ten years after the publication of that modest book. That volume was found- ed largely on tradition, the memories of our elderly people being its basis. Many of them (including my indefatigable friend, Eben Day, who spent many hours in search for me) have since died. The present work will be based entirely on ancient records, and will therefore have a basis of authority that was absent in the early study. We shall never be able to exactly verify every tradition concern- ing "Easter" Carter, Judy Rhines, Tammy Younger and Black Neil, but the earlier his- tory of Dogtown is no longer based on tradi- tion, for the facts are at our command. As the facts concerning the separation of the Fifth Parish from the First vitally concern
5
BEGINNINGS OF DOGTOWN.
the story, and many of them have never seen the light in print, it is proper that they first be given.
Rev. John White, whose parsonage is known to Gloucester people generally as the old Ellery house, had spent a lifetime and service in the First parish, had seen it divid- ed twice, and had reached the time in 1738, when a large number of his parishioners had made their homes in the Harbor village, while as many others were as near the har- bor as to the meeting house green. He had himself built a house down the main high- way in the direction of the harbor and sold the old house to Capt. William Ellery, who was using it as a tavern where the regular meetings of the selectmen were held, the town business being transacted to the accom- paniment of so large an amount of solid and liquid refreshment that finally it became nec- essary to put a limit on the municipal ex- penditures for entertaining the town fathers, by a vote passed in town meeting.
Naturally, the more prosperous people at the harbor grew weary of the mile walk or ride to meeting and when they became nu- merically strong enough to control the action of the parish, they resorted to a skillful coup in order to carry their design into effect. A self-constituted committee proceeded to erect a new church building, about where the First Parish church now stands, and in due time this building was offered to the parish, on condition that the committee be reimbursed for their expenditures from the money re- ceived from the sale of pews. The offer was accepted, despite the protests of a vigorous minority, led by Elder Nathaniel Coit, Joseph Allen, Esq., and his brother William.
6
BEGINNINGS OF DOGTOWN.
The futility of all attempts to secure preaching in the old church led to an appeal to the General Court, Nov. 29, 1738, signed by Nathaniel Coit and 84 others, asking that they be set off as a distinct parish. This petition is copied in full in the Babson his- tory, but succeeding petitions are omitted. These plead with the Court to take the dif- ferent circumstances of the petitioners under its wise consideration. Many of them, it is stated, are too poor to own conveyances, and must therefore walk a mile and a half to the old meeting house, and if obliged to go to the new meeting house, must go more than a mile further. The petition, which was ad- dressed to "His Excellency Jonathan Belcher, Esq., Captain General & Governor in Chief in and over his Majesties Province of the Massachusett Bay in New England, to the Honorable His Majesties Council & House of Representatives in General Court As- sembled," reached the body early in Decem- ber, the record showing that by Dec. 29 it was "read again, together with the answers of the town and of the First Parish and other papers in the case, and Ordered, that Ebenezer Burrlll & Benj. Lyde, Jr. Esqs. and such as shall be joined by the Hon'ble House of Representatives be a committee to repair to the First Parisli in Gloucester, view the same, as well as such other parishes as they shall judge necessary and hear the par- ties concerned and report their opinion of what may be proper for the court to do there- on at the next May session ; and all other proceedings on said affair are hereby staid in the meantime." In the House of Represen- tatives on Dec. 30 John Wainwright, Esq., Mr. Roland Cotton and Capt. Gyles Russell were joined to the committee.
7
BEGINNINGS OF DOGTOWN.
Ebenezer Burrill was of Lynn, a brother to John Burrill, long the speaker of the House of Representatives, and usually known in the Third Plantation as "Honorable Eben- ezer." Because of the distinguished ser- vices of members of the family to their na- tive town, the Burrills were for generations called the "royal family of Lynn." What the Burrilis were to Lynn the Lyndes were to Malden. Burrill wrote and signed the report of the committee, which was submit- ted May 25, 1739:
" 'The committee appointed on the petition of Capt. N. Coit, Joseph Allen, Esq., and others of the Hon'bl General Court have re- paired to said parish, taken a careful view of the same, as well as of other parts of the town, heard the parties in their pleas and al- legations as well in support of as against the prayer of the petition, and having maturely considered the same humbly report as their opinion that the prayer of the petition ought not to be granted. But forasmuch as the pe- titioners and such as may be desirous to as- sociate themselves in order to be formed into a separate society or precinct may be able to carry on and defray the charge of support- ing the gospel ministry in the old meeting house in the said first parish the committee are further of the opinion that it would be of great ease and advantage to them to be crea- ted into a distinct society or precinct and for
that purpose that such petitioners and their associates be allowed six months to leave their names in writing and distance of habi- tation from the old meeting house with the sum of their last rate to the ministerial sup- port with Joseph Allen, Esq., who is here- by empowered and directed to receive the
5
BEGINNINGS OF DOGTOWN.
same and make a return thereof to the Hon- orable Court for their consideration and aid in the premises," etc.
On June 30, 1739, the House of Represeil- tatives dismissed the petition, and two days later the council occurred, though Ebenezer Burrill's suggestion bore fruit later. On October 8, 1739, Elder Coit and his friends put in another petition, arguing the case further. The answer of the First Parish was submitted by a committee, Epes Sargent and Daniel Witham, together with certified copies of notices and votes in connection with parish action, to prove the regularity of the proceedings. The remonstrants urged the bad consequences, if not destructive, to the whole town, and much more to that particu- lar parish, if the prayer should be granted, "Nothwithstanding which, with not any new state of facts so much as pretended, the parish is again within so short a space as about nine months obliged to answer." "Consider the difficulty of the times," the remonstrants say, "the scarcity and want of money, the decay of fishing and trade, whereby we mostly subsist, the poverty of most of us, the extraordinary charges we must be involved in by the war and the smallness of the difficulty the petitioners will meet with if they come to the new meeting house, we humbly conceive that the granting of the petition will prove harmful to the town in general.'
Among the exhibits is the record of the parish meeting, held March 5, 1739-40, with Sanmel Stevens, Jr., moderator, where Jo- seph Allen, Esq., made an answer and in- sisted that the petition be granted in full with- out any abatements, to which the rest of the petitioners present consented by silence, ex-
9
BEGINNINGS OF DOGTOWN.
cept Mr. Thomas Allen, who said he would have either all that were willing or all that were nearest, whereupon they proceeded to choose Col. Epes Sargent and Daniel With- am to answer. Before this, however, Elder Coit and his friends had made another ap- peal to the general court. This contained 13 names, and on December 19 a postscript was sent in, adding 11 names. On March 21, 1739-40, the council order was adopted for measurements and plan, names to be left with Samuel Lee of Manchester, instead of their being left with Joseph Allen, as at first pro- posed. Lee's report, submitted in October, 1740, follows, showing the distance of each petitioner from the old church, it being taken from Vol. 243, Massachusetts archives :
In obediance to an act of the Great and General Court passed March ye 21st 1739-40, relating to the petitions of the northerly part of the First Parish in Gloucester for leaving their names with their associates in writing with the distances of their respective habita- tions from the old meeting house in said par- ish, together with the list of the assessments of the last parisli tax, with Samuel Lee of Manchester, Esq., who is empowered to re- ceive the same and to make return to the sd court, are as followeth :
Miles Qrs Rods
Elder Nicholas Coit.
60
Joseph Allen, Esq
35
Willianı Stephens.
53
Eunice Allen, widow 67
Zerubabel Allen. 5 1
Nehemiah Harvey
1
Samuel Hodgkins, Sr.
2
59
William Jeffords. 2
70
Samuel Hodgkins, Jr. 2
3
10
BEGINNINGS OF DOGTOWN.
Miles Qrs Rods
Jonathan Stanwood, associate. 1
1-4 8
Philip Tuxbury 1 64
David Stanwood, Esq 1
2 2
Philip Stanwood 2 1 14
Nicholas Kintvil. 2
32
David Plumer
2
52
John Millet.
3
20
Samuel Allen
3
25
Abraham Davis 1
9
Daniel Emans.
3
59
William Ring ... .
3
68
Mary Davis, widow
3
68
William Tucker
1
1
6
John Wharf.
1
1
59
John Stanwood
1 24
Nehemiah Adams
1
1 65
Nathaniel Wharf
1
2
11
Eliakim Smith
1
72
Thomas Riggs.
1
3
3
Andrew Riggs
1
3
37
Stephen Bennet
1
1
55
Jolın Bennet. 1
2 72
Lydia Canaby, widow 1
3
59
William Hilton, Sr
2
17
Anna Davis, widow
2
47
Arthur Wharff. 2
63
Joshua Elwell 2
1
14
James Marsh.
2
1
47
Benjamin Allen
2
2
32
Nehemiah Stanwood
M
M
A
Anthony Bennett
1
28
Benjamin Foster
1
1
Joseph Millet
2
15
John Brewer
2
56
Solomon Davis.
2
64
Mary Day, widow
2
78
Nathaniel Day
3
31
Abraham Millet
1
27
Jeremiah Millet
1
33
11
BEGINNINGS OF DOGTOWN.
Miles Qrs Rods 1 1 42
Benjamin Cunningham
Joseph Clark. 1
1 62
James Stanwood
1
1 58
Joseph Winslow
1
1 69
James Dermerit.
1
2
2
Joseph Ingersoll 1
2
51
Abigail Day, widow 1
3
1
Stephen Robinson, Jr
1
3
32
Joseph Riggs. 1
3
58
Mr. William Ellery, associate .
7
Stephen Robinson, Sr
10
John Low.
13
Andrew Elwell
21
William Allen.
13
Deborah Low, widow
49
Rufus Stacy
1
77
James Wallis.
2
8
Mr. James Davis
3
37
Mr. Thomas Allen
48
Thomas Elwell.
Joshua Riggs.
1
3 3
Joseph Whiston
William Riggs
Joseph Ingersoll
Thomas Wharf
1 2
11
John Huse.
Richard True.
1
48
Jacob Lurvey 1
48
Nathaniel Bray
Ambrose Allen
67
David Hodgkins 2
15
· Ebenezer Lurvey, associate.
Caleb Elwell. 10
Jonathan Brown 1 2
17
William Hilton, Jr 2 0
17
Joseph Clark, Jr 1
1 68
Isaac Elwell. 3 25
Rachel Day, widow
Jane Day, widow 1 38
12
BEGINNINGS OF DOGTOWN.
Miles Qrs Rods 1 1 68
Isaac Davis.
James Davis ye 3d.
1
1 65
Joseph Lurvey . 1 33
Jeremiah Robinson
Andrew Grimes 1 3 59
Joseph Stanwood.
Walter Stanwood
1
Andrew Stanwood
John Ingersoll
Johnathan Hodgkins. 49
Charles Stockbridge
49
Samuel Eliot.
67
Samuel Stockbridge
2
15
Jonathan Stanwood, Jr.
3-4
57
Thomas Foster.
1
21
Ebenezer Merchant.
1
27
John Clark
1
1
62
Bemsley Woodward
49
Nathaniel Rust.
Morris Millett 10
Isaac Bray.
Martha Bray, widow
Martha Bratham
John Ealing, associate
Daniel Stone
Walter Fear.
Jonathan Stanwood
I have omitted the assessments as unneces- sary to the story, but it may be said that Thomas Allen, a leading petitioner, whose house stood on what is now Poplar street, near the Green, paid two pounds, 12 shillings and sixpence annually, the largest tax, while many Dogtown people were not assessed.
CHAPTER II.
Those familiar with Manchester history need not be told that Samuel Lee was a per- son whose reputation made him a reliable person to trust with his delicate mission. The penmanship of liis report shows that he was a gifted man. But there was more trouble, nevertheless, for on Nov. 17, a pro- test reached the General Court from Sargent and Witham, who asked that the "platt" be rejected, on the ground that the order of the Council did not expressly say that the chain- men should be under oath, merely the sur- veyor, so the petitioners employed a surveyor to take said "platt," but by turns carried the chain themselves, and there was suspicion of the distances. This was met by a certificate before Samuel Lee, J. P., of Thomas Allen, Andrew Riggs, Samuel Hodgkins, James Stanwood and Daniel Allen, that they car- ried the chain, and that they offered to swear that they measured the distances as near as they could. A number of the opposite party were present, they say, and nothing had been produced by them to the contrary.
Matters remained quiescent until 1741, when another petition came in from the peo- ple in the north end of the parish, headed, in a feeble hand, by Elder Coit, who was soon to leave the activities and controversies of earth. They asked a further hearing, and Samuel Danforth and John Read of the coun- cil with Mr. Fairfield, Mr. Wiswall and Mr. Little of the house were made a committee, which heard the parties and reported the de- cision reproduced by Mr. Babson, recommend- ing the parish to secure the services of a
14
BEGINNINGS OF DOGTOWN.
learned and orthodox minister as an assist- ant to Mr. White, and to meet by turns in the two churches. This is dated July 24, 1741, and within a week, the revered pastor of the church, Rev. John White, appears for the first and only time in the role of a partic- ipant in the discussion. His letter, which is written in a fine, clear hand, is just such a deliverance as one would expect from an aged saint who had given his life's service for the parish. It is a pleasure to rescue froni the oblivion of the archives this letter, re- vealing as it does to the children's children of the controversionalists the pacific spirit of the fine old man. The letter is addressed to the residents of the north part of the first parish, and reads as follows:
"Gloucester, July 30, 1742.
"Honored and beloved brethren :
"There has been too much of an aliena- tion and prejudice (I fear) against me for leaving the old meeting house and I am not without fears that my return to it (all cir- cumstances considered) will not abate, but increase the same. To prevent which I am at the pains to write this letter, and commu- nicate it. In the first place these signify to you that I have looked upon it as a matter of prudence for me, to be slow in managing the affair of chusing a person to preach in order to the church's choice and settlement. I have not voted in the affair, there being no necessity for it in order to the validity of the church's act. And Mr. Parsons (who is the first person the church has pitched upon to preach in a probationary way) is as slow to ingage in this work.
"But that you may be prevailed with to at- tend with a christian temper on our ministry please duly to consider that when the Gen-
15
BEGINNINGS OF DOGTOWN.
eral Court shall approve of your christian condescention, submission, and self denial, in so tender a case, it will be no grief of heart unto you, and I am fully persuaded that your conduct herein will be approved by all, whether the sense of the General Court's or- der be as you, or as we take it. If as we take it, then your acquiescing in what the church has done, will be an acceptance of the relief the General Court has proposed and an happy issue of a long and unhappy debate. And if as You take it, the Court will applaud your peaceable and submissive temper; and will declare that none of the things proposed have been complied withall, according to the true intent and meaning of them, and will according to their promise to you, constitute you a parish. And will it be accounted by you a burden intolerable, to hear your Old Pastor a few Sabbaths, and Mr. Parsons, who has had more seals of his ministry before ordination than any that I know. Weigh these things, I earnestly be- seech you, and by a cool temper and chris- tian frame, comply till the Court sits with what the church thinks they have directed them unto, as an expedient for public good, mutual edification.
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