USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 33
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Fred H. and W. A. Harriman, sons of H. E. Harriman, in 1919-20, under the firm name of Harriman Brothers, began and are today manu- facturing a popular priced shoe for children.
And lastly, in the matter of manufacturing, the Georgetown Wood Heel Company began the making of wood heels in the old Doctor Carter building, on East Main street. As this business permits of the payment of large wages, the business adds greatly to the general welfare of the town.
Cigar making was discontinued by Lewis H. Bateman in 1865; but it was taken up by Thomas B. Masury in the same year, and continued in a large way up to 1890, since which time no cigar making has been
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done here. A large apple-evaporating business was conducted on Main street from 1870 to 1880. The first to "take pictures" in town was W. H. Harriman ("Uncle Has"), who opened his "saloon" in 1859, and "took" ambrotypes, tintypes and photographs up to 1872, when he sold his "saloon" to Selwin Reed, of Newburyport, who "ran" the business up to 1884. Since that time no picture studio has been opened in town. The first known wheelwright, carriage builder and repairer was Joseph Currier, who begun business here in 1840. He was followed by Robert Boyce; he by James Messenger, who did this work up to 1917. Today what little of this work is done is performed by E. S. Sherburne and Phillip Nolin.
The only local junk dealers in the history of the town have been Paul Pickering and his grandson, Charles S. Pickering, from 1869 to 1921.
Livery stables were maintained here for more than one hundred years. In the early days, three large stables could scarcely take care of the patronage. The business was carried on by such men as Savory, Boynton, Nelson, Adams, Rogers, Hood and Pingree, Charles A. Pin- gree being the last one to "hitch-up" a "livery team", in 1917.
Our first public soap maker was Elisha Hood; then came Charles Smith, and later his son, James R., 1887-1895; John T. Hilliard, 1886- 1892; and the last was Clark Wilkins, who closed up soap making in our town in 1894.
Historically our harness makers have been Benjamin Wallingford, 1780; next one Delaney; Edward Dorney, 1842; followed by Robert Savory, Thomas F. Hill, Isaac McLain and Jacob Hardy, the last to retire from the business in 1919. The cold garage has taken the place of the warm and cozy harness shop. In the town's early history, and for several generations, the Spoffords and Hazens were the leading carpenters and builders of the town.
The making of wooden shoe-boxes was begun here first by Joseph P. Folsom in 1860, and the same business was carried on successively by William Sawyer, Bansfield Brothers, George B. James, M. Frank Carter and for the past thirty years by Williard C. Hardy.
Heel making, as a separate and distinct business, was first done here by John P. Coker & Son (Robert A.) and was carried on with a fair degree of success for several years. From 1910 to 1913 Charles E. Cartwright and Horace E. Harriman manufactured heels by a process invented by Mr. Cartwright. The heel met with instant success, being ordered in large quantities, but its very success killed the business local- ly, because great monied interests, seeing huge possibilities in the mar- keting of the Cartwright process of making heels, placed the same pro- cess made heel on the market at a cheaper price.
The cutting of ice, commercially, was begun here by Little & Ten- ney in 1853; by M. L. & C. N. Hoyt, 1880-1893; by Abbott Brothers in 1882, and the business was continued by Andrew M. Abbott up to 1919,
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when he sold out to Pope & Butler; in 1893 the Middlesex Ice Company took over the Hoyt Brothers business.
For a number of years the Middlesex Company and the Porter-Mil- ton Company, continually enlarging their house, did an enormous busi- ness up to 1918 and 1920, when all of the houses belonging to these com- panies were destroyed by fire. At this time no ice is being cut except for local trade by Adams & Bailey.
Concerning the professions: The lawyers of the past were Jere- miah P. Jones, Jeremiah P. Russell, William A. Butler. Those now living here, all native born, are Robert F. Metcalf, Harry E. Perkins, C. Ather- ton Holmes and Dennis F. Buckley. Of the other Georgetown "boys and girls" who have attained to pre-eminence in the professions in other fields we shall mention Lyman K. Eliot, who became a leader at the bar in California; Boyd B. Jones, today one of the great leaders of the bar in New England; Dr. Francis D. Donohue is today recognized as one of the greatest surgeons and cancer specialists known to the medical world; Charles M. Spofford is a noted authority on civil engineering, has been since 1909 Hayward Professor of Civil Engineering and head of the de- partment of Civil and Sanitary Engineering at the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology, also a member of the firm of Fay, Spofford & Thorn- dike, civil engineers of Boston; Miss Marion D. Weston, Ph.D., is a noted botanist. For eleven years identified with the Rhode Island Col- lege of Education, she is today a professor of botany in that celebrated institution of learning. Forrest P. Hull is a noted writer, for several years on the editorial staff of the "Boston Transcript", is a graceful writer of special articles.
To the foregoing we may add the names of Moody Spofford, the greatest American civil engineer of his time. It was this Mr. Spofford who built the first bridge across the Merrimac River, built in Haver- hill in 1794. Paul Spofford, the "merchant prince," was born here in 1792. Going to New York City early in life, he amassed in a few years a great fortune as the head of the firm of Spofford & Tileson, who were the largest jobbers of boots and shoes in the country at that period. Two years after the birth of Paul Spofford, another boy was born here -Nathaniel Savory; and while, perhaps, his story may not add any great lustre to the town's annals, it does give variety and scope to the doings of its sons. Early in life this young man Savory became a sailor and in due time qualified as a noted navigator. In 1841, on his becom- ing marooned on Peel Island, one of the Sandwich Islands (now the Ha- waiian Islands), he fell in love with a native, a princess, the daughter of the king. When the old king died, Savory (our "Nat"), by right of his wife, became the king, or, we will say, the governor.
As matter of history: A member of Commodore Perry's staff rec- ords that when on their voyage to "open up Japan's 'closed gates,' in 1853, they 'called' at Peel Island, and there saw our Yankee 'King'-
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living in ease and comfort, raising with but little labor abundant har- vests of sweet potatoes, corn, onions, pineapples, bananas and water- melons." So far as we know, neither "King Nat" nor any of his descen- dants ever visited the land of his ancestors. He died in 1878. An- other of our noted men was the Hon. Moses Tenney, State Treasurer from 1856 to 1860, the full legal term. Another was Charles S. Tenney, the first superintendent of the old Haverhill-Georgetown-Newburyport and Danvers railroad, which office he held until the line became a part of the great Boston and Maine railroad system.
As to taverns: The first building used as a public house in our "parish" was built by Captain Samuel Brocklebank in 1670. It was occupied by him as a dwelling up to the time of his death in 1676, when he was killed by the Indians on April 21, at Sudbury, Mass. This dwelling, then as now, faced "Old South Green," and soon after the Cap- tain's death became a tavern. Who the first landlords were the records at hand do not show, but for a good many years previous to 1775 it was known as "Wolf's Tavern," and as early as 1750 it was "run" by Dudley Tyler. For the five years previous, and up to 1775, the landlord was Solomon Nelson, Jr. The second public house was known as Pillsbury's Tavern, and though, no doubt, many and many a glass of "hot rum toddy" was quaffed under its roof in its time, its general story needs no telling here. The third public house was Savory's Tavern, built by Col. J. B. Savory in 1825. Savory was an ideal landlord of the old fashioned type. He possessed in a high degree the art of "welcoming the coming, and speeding the parting guests," and so was a popular inn- keeper for a great many years.
After Savory's death, his house was renamed the Pentucket House, and was so called under various landlords up to 1895-6. In 1840, James T. Dunbar opened "Dunbar's Hotel" in what is now the residence of George H. Wilson, and it was used as a hotel until about 1860, when it became a private residence. But in the long history of the town, of all the taverns, inns, houses and hotels that have given food, shelter and entertainment to the friend and stranger alike, the present famous house, standing on the heights of "Old Baldpate," and known for its splendid hospitality from one end of the country to the other, is the Baldpate Inn. This ancient and historical property was taken over by William Bray in 1895. The old dwelling place of the pioneer Mighills and Spof- fords has been enlarged by him several times, and as each succeeding year comes and goes, more, and still more guests find good cheer under its roof.
Farming among us as compared with early times is insignificant. Where once could be seen several score pairs of oxen on the farms of the town, today not one pair can be seen here. Mr. Flint Weston, more than twenty years ago, owned and "worked" the last pair to be seen in yoke or in barn. To many (and the writer is one) it is the belief that the
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glory of New England farming departed when oxen were no longer "raised" and kept on her farms. Cows only are kept today, kept for "making milk" for village and city consumption. Our farmers here, as elsewhere in the East, are even buying for their own tables butter, cheese, pork and lard; whereas the old-time farmer, from the milk he produced, made (1) butter and cheese, and (2) with the buttermilk and whey so made, he, in a large measure, raised pigs and hogs for fresh pork, bacon, ham, lard and for salt pork. From his large fields of corn he fattened his oxen, sheep and lambs for the market. These creatures being "raised and kept" on the farm, they made the kind of fertilizer that enriched its soil-incomparably so, as compared with the chemical fertilizers used by the farmers today. Now, except milk, eggs, potatoes and a few vegetables, the average farmer raises nothing; hence, as no general farming is being done in New England, so there is no money made in farming in our part of the country.
The Carlton Home is a home-like institution. It was established in 1901 and it was made possible through the munificence of the late George H. Carlton, who, by his will, left $20,000 to provide, and per- petually maintain, as he said: "A home for respectable people of both sexes who shall have reached the age of seventy years, and unable to support themselves in comfort." The management of the "home" is in the hands of a board of nine trustees-five of whom, under the terms of the will, shall be women. The funds of the institution have, from the beginning, been in the hands of trained financiers, with the result that today the treasurer has in his hands nearly double the amount of funds originally donated by Mr. Carlton.
Express forwarding business between here and Boston, and other points, was established here first in 1840 by George Spofford. In 1848- 49 the business was taken over by Rutherford Martin and "run" by him up to 1873, when it was purchased by Charles W. Tenney. In 1896 he sold the business to his son-in-law, Henry L. Adams, who continued the business until 1918, when he sold it to Frank T. Maguire, Jr., who now carries on the business in conjunction with local business of the Ameri- can Railway Express Company.
In 1849 George Spofford was appointed the first Boston & Maine railroad station agent here. The most celebrated was William E. Hor- ner, a natural wit and philosopher, who held the position for thirty years. The present agent is Mr. Herbert C. Reed.
The Haverhill, Georgetown & Danvers street railway was opened as far as Georgetown on October 25, 1896. Instead of building the road to Danvers, as planned, its promoters, two years later, built and opened the line to Dummer Academy, and there connected it with the Ipswich & Newburyport line. This change of route gave great joy to our people, especially to those living in the lower part of the town, and in the Byfield district; and therefore, when the company two years ago ceased to
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operate cars below Georgetown Square, dismantling its power-house and car-barns in Byfield, it brought great hardship and universal regret to the inhabitants living in the district through which the cars formerly ran.
The Bell Telephone Company opened its lines here in 1898, with eleven subscribers. Today it has 265 subscribers. Electricity for heat, light and power was brought into town from the Haverhill Electric Company's plant in 1912. Street lighting was installed in that year. To- day there are 375 families and plants using electric lights, and 25 plants using electric motors for manufacturing purposes.
Our fire department, as early as 1838, was noted for its efficiency. In the old days of the fireman's muster, our "boys" with the old hand- tubs-the "Pentucket" and the "Watchman"-won many a first or near "first prize." But when it came to "dinners" and the "fireman's ball" in the evening, Georgetown always won first honors. The old Hook & Ladder Company was organized in 1872; the Steamer No. 1 Company in 1875. These two companies were, by a vote of the town in 1920, merged into one company, the Combination Chemical & Hose Company.
Our fine old town hall, built in 1854-5, was destroyed by fire Dec. 14, 1898. For several years, up to 1916-7, the public meetings of the town have been held in various halls and church vestries, but in that year the town came into the possession of the old Memorial Church, and converted it into (or rather made use of it) as a town hall. This noble building, having also been destroyed by fire (in 1920), the town is again without adequate-sized rooms for public meetings. The concensus of opinion seems to be that the town will in the very near future erect a public building, with a large auditorium, and with offices suitable to the needs of the town.
Our first post-office was established in 1824, and our first post- master was Benjamin Little, who served twenty-seven years up to his death in 1851. His successors in the order of their service were: Joseph P. Stickney, Samuel Wilson, Joseph Hervey, Jeremiah P. Jones, Richard Tenney, Charles E. Jewett, Rev. O. S. Butler, Sylvester A. Donoghue, 1878-86; Jos. V. Noyes, 1890-94; Albert B. Comins, 1894-98 ; Stephen Osgood, 1901-05; Thomas F. Hill, 1904-08 ; T. Allan Hill, 1908-13. In 1913 our post-office became a branch of the Haverhill office, with T. Allan Hill as superintendent.
The first town meeting in Georgetown was held on April 28th, 1838. At this meeting Robert Savory was chosen moderator; George Foot, town clerk; John A. Lovering, Sewell Spofford and G. D. Tenney, selectmen and assessors; James Peabody, Moses Thurlow and Jeremiah Clark, overseers of the poor; Benjamin Winter, collector and treasurer; Moody Cheney, Charles Boynton and Robert Savory, constables.
The officials of the town at this time (1921) are as follows: Moder- ator, Eugene L. Parker; town clerk, Justin F. White; selectmen, Jacob
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Hazen (chairman), William Bray, Martin E. Murphy ; assessors, J. Wini- fred Yeaton (chairman), Henry P. Poor and Leonard M. Dresser; over- seers of the poor, Leon S. Gifford (chairman), William Bray, Jacob Ha- zen; treasurer, Justin F. White; collector of taxes, Henry Hilliard; auditor, Herbert C. Reed; school committee, Albert C. Reed (chairman) Cornelia B. Adams, Frederick W. Perkins; constables, Thomas F. Welch (chief), George N. Moffitt, H. Sherwood Hardy; tree warden, Harry K. Kinson; trustees of the Peabody Library, John F. Jackson (chair- man), Louis K. Osgood (secretary), George W. Noyes, John W. Perkins and Allan H. Wilde.
In 1921 this town had real estate valuation of $1,255,000; personal property valued at $274,087. The United States Census of 1920 gave Georgetown a population of 2,004.
THE CHURCHES OF GEORGETOWN.
A history of the religious life of Georgetown is interwoven with that of the Mother Church of Rowley (formed in 1639), to which be- longed the first settlers. The Spoffords, who were the earliest settlers in what is now Georgetown, transferred their membership in 1692 to the church in Bradford, organized ten years earlier. In 1702 the inhabi- tants near the Mills on Parker river, including a part of Rowley, and a part of Newbury, formed a parish called at first Rowlbury, afterwards Byfield. This parish included all the people living northwest of a line drawn over Long Hill to the road which now goes to Haverhill, by way of East and West Main streets to the Great Rock boundary on the pres- ent Groveland line.
The church building was erected on the spot now occupied by the Byfield church, on the line between Georgetown and Newbury. The first pastor was Rev. Moses Hale, a worthy, devoted and successful minister. He was born in Newbury, in 1678, graduated from Harvard in 1699, and was ordained in 1706; he died in 1743. His successor was Rev. Moses Parsons (father of Hon. Theophilus Parsons, the eminent jurist). He was born in Gloucester in 1716, graduated at Harvard in 1736, and was ordained in 1744. He died in 1789, at the age of 73. The present pas- tor of this church is Rev. Cyrus L. D. Younkin, and the present member- ship is 70.
The Second Parish in Rowley, long known as New Rowley (since 1838 as Georgetown), was incorporated October 5, 1731. In this parish the first Congregational church was organized, October 4, 1732. On that day eighteen men stood together, while Rev. Moses Hale of Byfield read the simple covenant (still in use), to which they assented by rais- ing the right hand. Mr. Hale then declared them to be a Church of Christ, regularly constituted.
Rev. James Chandler, of Andover, born in 1706, graduated at Har- vard in 1726, was called to be their pastor. He was ordained October
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31, 1732, on a settlement of £300 and an annual salary of £110 (about $500), and twenty cords of wood. He married Mary Hale, daughter of Rev. Moses Hale, of Byfield. Mr. Chandler was an able and devoted minister. He died in 1787, at the age of eighty-three, after a faithful service of fifty-eight years.
The church building stood on the site of the home of the late David Brocklebank, with the parsonage nearby, on the spot where now stands the residence of the late Humphrey Nelson. This structure remained in the same place until 1768, when it was sold to the Baptist Church for a trifle, taken down, and rebuilt at Hale's Corner, Bradford. Later it was removed to New Rowley, near Dole's Mills.
The Old South Meeting House was built on the corner of Main and Elm streets, where it remained standing for over a century. This was a much more pretentious building than its predecessor, being 45 by 55 feet, surmounted by a tower and tall steeple, and topped by a weather cock 105 feet from the ground. This frame was raised in one day, July 25, 1769, and from its timbers the celebrated George Whitefield preached one of his powerful sermons. The building was sold and taken down in 1875, a new one having been erected in 1874, at the corner of Clark and Andover streets-the present First Congregational Church.
Owing to the bitter controversies between those of the Calvinistic and Arminian faiths, a successor to Mr. Chandler was not easily found. In the interval of eight years there were in all sixty-four candidates. Rev. Isaac Braman was finally chosen. He was born at Norton, 1770; graduated at Harvard; and ordained in 1797, on a settlement of £200 and an annual salary of £80 (and ten cords of wood), with an addition of £10 when corn was more than four shillings a bushel. He continued sole pastor until 1842, when Rev. Enoch Pond, Jr., of Bangor, Maine, was appointed colleague. Mr. Pond served very acceptably in this capacity for some four years, and died, much lamented, in 1846. His successor as associate-pastor to Mr. Braman was Rev. John M. Prince, ordained in 1846. Mr. Prince resigned in 1857 because of ill health.
The Rev. Charles Beecher, son of Lyman Beecher, was installed as third colleague in 1857. Upon the death of Mr. Braman in 1858, he be- came sole pastor, and so continued till 1873, when a colleague for him was chosen, Rev. Thomas Beeber.
In 1863, eighty-five members of the First Congregational Church withdrew from its membership and formed the Orthodox Church. At this time George Peabody, the London banker, presented the church or- ganization with a beautiful brick building (erected near the centre of the town at a cost of about $100,000) in memory of his mother, Mrs. Judith Peabody, a native of this parish. From now on the church was known as The Orthodox Memorial Church. The first pastor was Rev. David Dana Marsh, who was ordained in 1868. Mr. Marsh served accept- ably for twenty years, and was succeeded by a series of pastors until
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the year 1908, when after forty-five years of faithful and fruitful ser- vice the members deemed it wise to disband and reunite with the Mother Church-the First Congregational Church. The present pastor of this united church is Rev. Hugh Penney, and the present membership is 180.
What is now the Baptist Church in Georgetown dates its origin from about 1754, the time of the withdrawal of a number of the members of the Congregational Church. These people styled themselves Separatists, and were soon joined by others of similar faith. In 1781 they became a branch of the Baptist Church of Haverhill, with Elder Samuel Harriman as leader. But in 1784 they were set off as a distinct church of the Bap- tist faith. Their house of worship was removed to the Mills in New Rowley, near the old Baptist parsonage. In 1829 a new church was built on the parsonage grounds ; this was removed in 1837 to its present location, corner of North and Pleasant streets. It has since been en- larged and remodelled. The first pastor of this church was Elder Will- iam Ewing, of Shutesbury. Elder Shubal Lovell became pastor in 1797, and continued so for thirteen years. The present pastor is Rev. Freder- ick L. Brooks, and the present membership is 132.
The Universalist Society was organized in 1829 with 59 charter members. The church was built on the site of the present Central School, at a cost of over $2,000. Meetings were held with many emi- nent preachers. Rev. Joseph Morse was the first minister. The build- ing was sold to the town in 1855. That the Town Hall might be erected on its site, the church was at this time removed to the opposite corner and changed into a dwelling house.
The first Roman Catholic service in Georgetown was held in 1849, in the apartment of James McLain in the house of Nathaniel Nelson, corner of Andover street and Nelson avenue. Services were afterward held in various places up to 1870, when the Congregational Chapel, cor- ner of Main and Elm streets, was purchased. St. Mary's Church on Cen- tral street was dedicated in 1907. Among the early priests were Rev. Richard Cummings and Rev. John Cummings of Newburyport. The present pastor is Rev. John J. McGrath, and the present membership is 250.
All Saints' Church (Episcopal) was established in 1916, on the cor- ner of West Main and School streets, by Rev. Glenn Tilley Morse, the present rector. The present membership of this church is 60.
In a town of independent thinkers, like Georgetown, it was inevitable that a number of organizations should be formed, of longer or shorter existence. Soon after the establishment of the Baptist church, a Free Will Church was started, but was of short duration. About 1840 a Union Church divided for a year or two the religious forces of the town, but this was neither the time nor the place for church union.
The Oberlin Perfection Movement disturbed the harmony of the religious sphere for a season. But the rising sentiment in favor of re-
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form in the question of temperance and the abolition of slavery caused a more serious and lasting disturbance. The Liberty Party here was made up of strong men and women, and although not exactly a church, the Come-Outer Element was very much in earnest.
It is said that a branch of the Mormon Church existed here for a season. The leader in Georgetown was Elder Nathaniel Holmes. This church had a much larger following over the line in East Bradford, from which neighborhood there was quite an emigration to Utah. It should be said in justice to Elder Holmes and some others of that faith that they were strongly opposed to polygamy.
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