USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 49
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The name of Joseph Jenks deserves to be held in perpetual re-
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membrance by the people of Lynn for his accomplishments in iron and brass in the days of the infant Colony.
The many other industries of Lynn have been exhaustively studied by Mr. Warren M. Breed. They consisted of tanning, iron works, salt works, shipbuilding, fisheries ; mills for various branches of industry, as corn mills, chocolate and spice mills, "tide mills", saw and shingle mills, mills for the grinding of snuff, spice, tobacco and coffee, mills for hair pulling, silk working, bleaching, dyeing and fabric printing; silk indus- try, India rubber manufacture, bakery, wall paper printing, whaling, steam heating and power, falming, malting, glue making, friction matches, stove polish, lead pencils, stoves, sash blinds, bedsteads, arti- ficial stone, spinning, weaving, making soap and candles, and many other industries, which have all or largely passed by, leaving a city that has earned the reputation of being "first in shoes and second in electrical equipment" among the cities of the world. (Some Abandoned Indus- tries of Lynn, Lynn Historical Society Register, 1910).
Many instances are recorded of arbitrary regulations established by town and colony. Smoking was prohibited out of doors within five miles of a habitation. In 1633 it was ordered that no one should "take any tobacco publiquely, under pain of punishment," and the penalty was set at "one penny for every time he was convicted of taking tobacco in any place." In 1637 it was ordered that no person should make any cakes or buns "except for burials, marriages, and such like special occasions." 1639. "No [woman's] garment shall be made with short sleeves; and such as have garments already made with short sleeves shall not wear the same, unless they cover the arm to the wrist; and hereafter no per- son whatsoever shall make any garment for women with sleeves more than half an ell [221/2 inches] wide."
Antinomianism and the teachings and beliefs of Mistress Ann Hut- chinson found an echo in Lynn, as was shown by the fasts ordered by the churches, and in 1642, Lady Debora Moody, who resided in Lynn, and retained her church affiliation in Salem, together with Mrs. King and the wife of John Tillton, was presented at the Court "for houlding that baptising of Infants is noe ordinance of God." Sleeping in church or being a "common sleeper" was a punishable offence which often came before the Quarterly Court.
In 1642 Edwin Tomlins was arraigned before the Court for ex- pressing an opinion against singing in the churches ; but having recanted, he was discharged. In 1652 Esther Jenks, the wife of Joseph Jenks, Junior, was presented at Quarterly Court "for wearing silver lace." The witchcraft delusion only touched the borders of Lynn, when in 1680 Dr. Philip Read of Lynn complained at the Court in Salem of Mrs. Mar- garet Gifford as being a witch. Nothing materialized of this complaint; but some persons were cast into prison and others "cried out against" as witches during the period of excitement.
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CITY OF LYNN
Momentous in the history of the onward progress of independence and liberty was the first act of rebellion, or of treason, which occurred in Lynn. The scarcity of small currency in the Colony led to the establish- ing of a mint in Boston, in 1652, for coining silver. Again quoting from Woodbury's "Priorities": "The first act of independence was not by resolution or rebellion, but by the issuance of coinage without the essen- tial reference to the King by Grace of God." The dyes for the Pine Tree coinage were made at the Saugus Iron Works, from designs furnished by Esther Jenks, the wife of the Superintendent."* This coinage bore on one side the word Massachusetts, with a pine tree; on the other side the letters N. E. Anno. 1652, and III, VI or XII, denoting the number of pence. The dies were made by Joseph Jenks, superintendent of the Sau- gus Iron Works. Of such precarious nature was the coining of the Pine Tree currency that the date was never changed on the dies, although the coining continued for some fifty years.
In a community whose population was approximately 2000 people, where there were no newspapers, no places of entertainment in our modern acceptance of the word, few books, only primitive schools, where travel was slow and perilous, and settlements and neighbors were far apart, small matters assumed the importance of large affairs. A whale 75 feet long cast up on King's beach December 9, 1655, a 400 pound bear killed in Lynn Woods a year later, and a catamount killed there in 1658, became matters of historic record. Now such events would receive a headline and a short write-up in the daily press, and become "dead mat- ter" in a day or two.
The ordering of a fire engine by the town of Boston in 1654, to be built by Joseph Jenks at the Saugus Iron Works, is a record of import- ance, as marking the beginning of certain progress in community life ; and the purchase of a fire engine in 1796 for public use in Lynn shows the growth and the growing necessities of the town. The rending of Dungeon Rock by an earthquake in 1658, and the entombing of Thomas Veal, the pirate, with treasure, afforded thrills that lasted through many years.
Making Lynn a market town in 1646, the order of the court in 1681 allowing Lynn to have two licensed public houses, the building of the Old Tunnel Meeting-house in 1682, were indications of growth and develop- ment. The Old Tunnel Meeting-house, built in 1682, was the successor of the first meeting-house, built in the early days of the settlement at the present north-east corner of Summer and Shepard streets. That earlier structure was typical of the primitive buildings, as the floor was below the level of the ground, and entrance was gained by descending several steps. The "Old Tunnel" was a more pretentious structure, fifty feet long by forty-four feet wide, and was erected upon the Common, op-
*Elizabeth was the name of the wife of Joseph Jenks, as previously stated, and Esther was the wife of Joseph Jenks, Jr.
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posite the present location of Whiting street. It was not only the re- ligious, but the civic center for many years, and in it were held the town- meetings until 1806-long after the separation of the Church and the town had taken place.
The deed given by the Indians in 1686 to confirm the act of Saga- more James in granting land to the settlers was of importance to the Colony and the town, and is set forth in detail by Lewis and by Newhall in their histories; the second division of the land in 1706 gave title to the settlers in the lands that had been held in common.
The first mill on the Saugus river, built at Boston Road crossing, in 1723, denoted industrial progress, and the award of £13.15 to Nathaniel Potter as a premium or bonus for three pieces of linen manufactured in Lynn indicated further industrial development. The dark day of 1716 and of 1780, when the houses were lighted during the day as at midnight, have been fruitful causes of conjecture as to their cause. Potato rot, plague of grasshoppers, comets, northern lights, earthquakes, snow in July (1804), severe winters, dry summers, terrific storms, all serve to fill the pages of the history of the town. Repeated epidemics of small pox were a real peril to the community. The coming of John Adam Dagyr, skilled shoe-maker, in 1750, marks an epoch in the industrial history, not only of Lynn, but also of the Colony. The establishing of a church in 1635, the building of a town house and establishing a bank in 1814, the holding of the first dancing school in 1800, the establishing of the first Masonic lodge in 1805 (Mt. Carmel), the chartering of the Light Artillery in 1808, with two brass field pieces, and the formation of the Lynn Light Infantry in 1812-all are steps in the stair of progres- sion. The linking of centuries and events was well illustrated in 1830 in the death of Donald McDonald at Lynn, October 4th, at the age of 108 years. Born in Scotland in 1722, he was present at the battle of Quebec, when Wolfe fell, was with Washington at Braddock's defeat, passed through the period of the French and Indian War, the Revolution and the War of 1812. Born at the time that Lynn was a little hamlet, he died when her population was 6,138. During the period of his life, Massachusetts as a Colony and a Commonwealth had been under the ad- ministration of twenty-four governors.
Having narrated something of the progress and development of Lynn through nearly two centuries, it seems appropriate that we present. the pen picture of the town as seen about one hundred years ago by Timothy Dwight, S.T.D., LL.D., once president of Yale College. In 1821, he published his observations gathered in his extensive travels through the Eastern States. These journeys of observation commenced in 1796, and were continued through a series of years, and were given to the public in the form of a series of letters. Some of the letters in- dicate that the place was visited more than once. Passing through Essex county, he says : "Essex (County) may be considered as an ancient
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CITY OF LYNN
settlement, and no county in Massachusetts except Suffolk, which is composed almost wholly of Boston, is equally populous. In 1790 it con - tained 7644 dwelling-houses, 10,883 families and 57,913 inhabitants. There are about 453 square miles in the county * *
* Of every . thousand pounds raised by a State tax, this county pays £193 13s 7d; al- most a fifth part of the whole; * *
. No County in the United States is believed to be more friendly to literature; and perhaps none is more distinguished for its morals." Referring to Lynn, he writes:
On Friday, October 14th, at 11 o'clock, we set out from Salem for Charlestown, through Marblehead, four miles; Lynn, eleven; to Charlestown, eighteen. By turn- pike road, since made, the distance is thirteen miles. The road, which we travelled, was tolerably good *
* * Lynn is a pretty town, situated about nine miles from Boston, at the head of a bay. That part of it, which borders upon this piece of water, is a beautiful slope, limited on three sides almost entirely by hills, and open on the fourth to the ocean. The smooth surface, and elegant declension, of this ground, its cheerful meadows, and neat habitations, form a very pleasant con- trast to the rougher scenery of the neighborhood. In another view, this town be- came still more interesting. The houses, with scarcely an exception, appear to be the abodes of industry, competence and thrift. Few of them were large, or expen- sive; but almost all were tidy, and well-repaired. At the sight of them a traveller could scarcely avoid concluding, that a peaceful and comfortable fire-side must be found within the walls. By the side of almost every house stood a small, neat shoe- maker's shop. These boxes originate the prosperity of Lynn; and usually contain two hundred master-workmen, and six hundred apprentices, employed continually in manufacturing women's shoes. The number, annually made, is calculated at three hundred thonsand pair; and has amounted to four hundred thousand. These are sold in the neighbouring commercial towns; particularly, in Boston; and probably yield to the inhabitants from $200 to $250,000 a year. Few towns through which we passed left a more pleasing impression on our minds, than Lynn. A beach, extending a mile from the shore, called Lynn-beach, connects Nahant point, the northern extremity of the harbour of Boston, with the main. This beach is a favorite resort for parties of pleasure from the surrounding country. It has, also, been employed as a race-ground; and is one of the only two spots, which, so far as my knowledge extends, is used for this purpose in the State of Massachusetts. Lynn includes two Presbyterian Congregations, a society of Friends, and another of Methodists. It was incorporated in 1637 ( ?) and in 1790 contained three hundred houses, and two thousand two hundred and ninety-one inhabitants; in 1800, 2,837 inhabitants; and, in 1810, 4,087. (From Travels in New England and New York.)
Dr. Dwight further stated : "From Lynn to Malden the road is good." From these observations it is evident that he traversed the entire extent of the town from east to west and his pen picture is an illuminating sup- plement to the description of the same territory given by William Wood nearly two hundred years earlier, in the days of the first settlers and quoted in an earlier section of this narrative. This journey was taken, evidently, before the building of the Boston-Salem Turnpike in 1803.
The observations of Doctor Dwight, made over one hundred years ago, are worthy of repeating today. Relative to the religious aspect of New England, he says:
In New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut, the public worship of God
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has always been established by law, and for a long time, without the communication of peculiar privileges to any class of Christians. Here only, in the history of man, has this experiment been made. The first practical answer, therefore, to the great question, whether such a thing is consistent with the public peace, good order, and safety, has been given in these States. Speculations on this subject have never satisfied the understanding, or the fears, of inquisitive men. An experiment was absolutely necessary. Here the experiment has been extensively made; and to say the least, has gone far towards proving, that Christians of different classes can live together harmoniously under a government which confers on them equal privileges.
The same conclusion had evidently been reached by the citizens of Lynn nearly a century earlier, when on March 5, 1722, there was an amicable separation of the affairs of the town and the parish. This is believed to be the first record of the separation of church and State in history to be carried out without struggle or controversy, and its far- reaching effect was presented in masterly form by Judge Nathan Mor- timer Hawkes at the two hundred and seventy-fifth anniversary of the First Church of Lynn.
There are twenty-one beaches along the shore of Greater Lynn. Of these, commencing at the east, are Phillips', Whale, Swampscott (Fisher- man's) and Humphrey's (King's) in Swampscott; Lynn, Nahant, Stoney, Bass, Canoe, Bathing, Pea Island, Joseph's, Curlew, Crystal, Dorothy's, Pond, Lewis, Coral, Reed, Johnson's and Black Rock. The above is the enumeration given by Lewis and Newhall, and the extent of the beaches is about nine miles. The most of the beaches are of smooth sand and well adapted to the sea bathing for which this section of the "North Shore" is famous in summer. King's Beach is, in part, within the limits of Swampscott and in part in Lynn, but its entire length, as well as a part of Lynn Beach, forms the outer border of the Lynn Shore Drive, which borders the ocean front of Lynn and is famous for its beauty. Interspersed between the beaches are sections of rock bound shore, precipitous, picturesque and wonderfully attractive, and adorned with names to appeal to the fancy and the imagination: Black Will's Cliff, Red Rock Point, Sliding Rock, Dread Ledge, Shag Rocks, Pulpit Rock, Irene's Grotto, Swallow's Cave, East Point, Natural Bridge, The Cauldron, Castle Rock, Cedar Point, Roaring Cavern, Pea Island, Swal- low's Cliff, Castle Rock, Spouting Horn, Iron Mine, Dashing Rock, John's Peril; and out in the Bay, its cliffs of dark rock rising 86 feet above the water, yet so proportioned that it bears a striking resemblance to a crouching lion, Egg Rock bears aloft at night its flashing beacon and keeps watch over all.
The establishment of the first post office in Lynn on Boston street, near the junction with Federal street, indicated the central part of the town in 1793, and the building of the turnpike and the opening of the Lynn Hotel in 1803 indicated that the vicinity of Federal street was still central. The opening of the Eastern railroad in 1838 brought about a
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CITY OF LYNN
change in the center of population and the business center. The rail- road was opened for travel from Boston through Lynn to Salem, August. 28, 1838, and it rapidly supplanted the stage coaches that had furnished transportation along its line. Travel was stimulated to the extent that for the first three months the road had an average patronage of 348 persons each day. Following this successful demonstration of its prac- ticability, it was rapidly extended to Portland. The stage coach business, which accommodated the traveling public previous to the opening of the railroad, may be summed up at the figures given by James R. Newhall, who says: "In 1836, twenty-three stages left Lynn Hotel for Boston daily, and there were likewise numerous extras." The Lynn Academy was opened in 1805 and appears to have been the first school in Lynn of superior grade. Lynn had been settled almost 200 years before its first newspaper was published. It was called the "Lynn Weekly Mirror," was first issued September 3, 1825, by Charles Frederick Lummus, and bore only nineteen lines of editorial matter.
The distribution of surplus United States revenue in 1837, whereby Lynn received $14,879, was an example of the frugality then practiced in the affairs of the National Government, and must have gladdened the citizens of Lynn, as it was applied to reducing the indebtedness of the town. At the commencement of the Mexican War in 1846 Lynn fur- nished twenty volunteers. In the same year Congress boots were first manufactured in Lynn. The carriage road over the harbor side of Long Beach was built in 1848, giving better access to Nahant, and Lynn Com- mon was fenced. In 1849 occurred the great exodus to California, in which about two hundred from Lynn joined in the frenzied rush for the gold fields, some by water and some overland. In the same year the Lynn Police Court was established, a step toward making Lynn a muni- cipality. Thus briefly do we attempt to portray some to the steps of progress which Lynn took in passing through its township days, in preparation for assuming the civic responsibilities of a city.
Lynn is unique among the commercial cities of the Atlantic sea- board. While other cities are sheltered at the bottom of harbors or on navigable rivers, the residential part of Lynn is upon the direct ocean front, where the waves of the broad Atlantic break unimpeded along the magnificent Lynn Shore Drive, which forms the ocean border of this "Jewel of the Third Plantation." Back of the Shore Drive is the long, low elevation of Sagamore Hill, which has been, since the remote days of Indian occupation, the chosen dwelling place of Sachems, Sagamores and citizens appreciative of the beauties of nature. Indeed, Sagamore Hill has been interpreted by some as "the Hill of Kings."
While the glories of sunrise have never been so popular with poets or people as the beauties of sunset, yet from this hill the beauty of the morning is quite as inspiring as the glow of declining day. We seldom
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associate New England with the Mediterranean, yet the same parallel of latitude cuts both. One who has viewed the sunrise from the Lynn Shore Drive, or has witnessed such gorgeous sunsets as that of Novem- ber 20, 1921, from the shores of Lynn, and has seen the wonderful colors of the sky reflected in the waters of the bay, cannot wonder that the comparison has often been drawn between the waters adjacent to Lynn and the Bay of Naples. Longfellow, in his extensive travels, often al- luded in his journal to the sunsets in the lands where he sojourned, but never in a descriptive manner in any other place than at Nahant, his summer home, where he viewed the sunset across the waters of Lynn harbor. Into his "Departure of Hiawatha" he has written the glories of a sunset seen across the harbor and the low-lying hills of Lynn and Sau- gus. The peculiar miragelike effect so frequently seen here at sunset is also beautifully portrayed :
And the evening sun descending Set the clouds on fire with redness, Burned the broad sky, like a prairie, Left upon the level water, One long track and trail of splendor, Down whose stream, as down a river, Westward, westward Hiawatha Sailed into the fiery sunset, Sailed into the purple vapors, Sailed into the dusk of evening. And the people from the margin Watched him floating, rising, sinking,
Till the birch canoe seemed lifted High into that sea of splendor, Till it sank into the vapors Like the new moon slowly, slowly, Sinking in the purple distance.
Allusion has frequently been made to the fact that Lynn possessed no deep harbor for maritime commerce, and no rushing water courses to give power for manufactures, yet in its first four years of settlement it outstripped Salem in population, and has maintained its position as the metropolis of Essex county. The lack of the natural advantages of deep harbor and water power brought to Lynn in the beginning a class of people who were seeking desirable locations for homes. The same attractions have brought in later years the same class of people to a great extent. Homes were first established and the industries grew up around the home. Edmund Ingalls, the first settler, built his malt house near his home. In later years, the home makers of Lynn built their shoe shops adjacent to their houses, and established the reputation of Lynn as the City of Shoes long before the days of the concentration of industry and the building of great factories. In later years, when a great industry seemed on the point of withdrawing from Lynn, many of its employees and some of its officials refused to leave their homes.
ABOVE, CLASSICAL HIGH SCHOOL, LYNN. BELOW, ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL
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CITY OF LYNN
Therefore, whatever may be said of Lynn's great industries, the fact remains that this is a City of Homes, and that the industries have fol- lowed the homes rather than that the homes been made to follow the in- dustries.
While the adoption of the charter making Lynn a city brought about changes in political affairs, the adoption in the same year of "the ten-hour day" was revolutionary in its economic significance. The presence of small pox in the town, fires in the city and in the woods, one hundred days of east wind, the fixing of physician's fees at seventy- five cents per visit instead of fifty cents, a tornado, a robbery, the potato-rot, and the drowning of thirteen members of a picnic party from Lynn at Humphrey's pond in Lynnfield furnished thrills of ex- citement and material for conversation, yet the incorporation of the city, adoption of the "ten-hour system" and the strong opposition to the "Fugitive Slave Law" passed by Congress stand out as the three salient points of general public interest. The consecration of Pine Grove Cemetery and the first burial therein, the dedication of the Cen- tral Congregational meeting-house on Silsbe street, and the anti-slavery discussion, have left their impress. October fifth a large and enthusi- astic meeting, at which Mayor Hood presided, and Jonathan Buffum, Daniel C. Baker, Charles Merrie and William Bassett were vice presi- dents, passed strong resolutions condemnatory of the Fugitive Slave Act, which was quite in keeping with the liberty-loving sentiments in- herited from pioneer ancestors who had sought these shores for liberty and for homes. With a population of 14,257, the total number of deaths in the year was 262, of which forty-three occurred from tuberculosis.
In 1850 Lynn became a city. A charter was granted by the Legis- lature on the tenth of April, and on the 19th of the same month the inhabitants voted to accept it. The population had reached 14,357, of which 3,379 were pupils in the thirty-four public schools, and there were nine male and thirty-four female teachers employed. The or- ganization of the first city government was effected Tuesday, May 14, 1850, at Lyceum Hall. Before a large assemblage of men and women of the newly-chartered city, George Hood took the oath of office as mayor, Daniel C. Parker as president of the Common Council, and William Bassett as city clerk. The inauguration of the new city gov- ernment was followed in the evening by a banquet at the old Town Hall, which was enjoyed by the city officials and citizens. The pro- gress of Lynn as a municipality is indicated by the accompanying tabu- lation in decades :
Years
1850
Population ..
13,613
1860 19,083
1870 28,246
1880 88,284
1890 55,727
1900 68,513
1910 89,336
1920 99,148
Tot. Val ....... $4,835,000 $9,649,000 $10,819,000 $23,400,000 $40,730,000 $51,655,186 $73,000,000 $101.554,572
Tax Rate ......
9.00
8.80
17.20
17.60
15.00
18.00
20.00
27.40
Indebtedness
71,400
123,100
910,000
705,100
1,745,000 9,051,000
1,580,838 4,835,450
2,049,161
4,820,000
Appropriat'ns
45,000
110,507
525,000
2.169,000
4,425,100
4,131,059
Essex-26
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Following is a list of incumbents of the Mayoral office from the time of incorporation through the year 1921:
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