USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 14
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The First Presbyterian Church was formed January 3, 1746. Nine- teen members of that church had seceded, and for two years had wor- shiped in a small building on what is now known as High street, with Joseph Adams, a graduate of Harvard, as minister. Early ministers were inclusive of these: Revs. Jonathan Parsons, John Murray, Daniel Dana, D.D., S. P. Williams, John Proudfit, D.D., Charles F. Durfee, William W. Newell, Jr., and Charles C. Wallace. The meeting-house occupied by this church was erected in 1756, and the noted Rev. Whitefield was buried in a vault under his pulpit. Further data concerning this church are not at hand.
The Second Presbyterian Church was organized October 29, 1795, by seceders from the First Presbyterian Church, who were opposed to the settlement of Rev. Dana. John Boddely, of Bristol, England, be- came the first pastor here.
"The Fourth Religious Society" was incorporated in 1794, and was made up of the seceders from the First Presbyterian Church, who be- came dissatisfied with the settlement of Rev. John Murray. They erected a church edifice in 1793. Rev. Charles W. Melton was pastor until his death, in 1837, and was succeeded by Rev. Randolph Campbell. The church building was remodeled in 1800.
The Belleville Congregational Church was organized in 1808 in New- bury, and was originally set off as a separate parish in 1761. At first the members used the old Queen Anne Chapel, but in 1763 they erected a church of their own, and it served until destroyed by lightning in 1816, when a new one was erected on its site.
The Immaculate Conception Church. In 1841 Rev. Patrick Can- avan of Dover, New Hampshire, came to Newburyport once a month to celebrate mass and administer the sacrament of the Roman Catholic church. Services were held for nearly two years at the residences of Hugh McGlew and others, but in 1843 the vestry of the First Presby- terian Society was purchased and removed to a lot of land on Charles street, conveyed by Mr. McGlew to the Rt. Rev. Benedict Fenwick of Boston, "in trust for the use and benefit of the Roman Catholic religious society in Newburyport." The vestry, remodelled and repaired, served as a chapel until the church on Green street was completed in 1853. Father Canavan had charge of the parish until the spring of 1848. He was succeeded by the Rev. John O'Brien, who came to Newburyport, where he remained until December, when Rev. Henry Lennon was ap- pointed pastor of the church.
May 6, 1851, Moses E. Hale and John Osgood sold to John H. Nichols of Salem, a lot of land on Green street. On the 12th day of the same month Mr. Nichols sold this land to John B. Fitzpatrick, Bishop of Boston. April 27, 1852, the corner stone of the Church of the Immacu-
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late Conception was laid with appropriate ceremonies. The building, with the exception of the steeple, which was not finished until twenty years later, was completed and dedicated March 17, 1853.
Rev. Henry Lennon died July 13, 1871. He was buried near the southeast corner of the church on Green street, but was afterward re- moved to the Catholic cemetery on Storey avenue. In August, 1871, Rev. Arthur J. Teeling was appointed pastor of the church and entered at once upon the duties of his office. In 1872 he purchased for a parochial residence the house previously occupied by Father Lennon on Court street, and then turned his attention to the work of building a spire to the church, which was completed in March, 1874, and to the hanging in the belfry of a bell from the foundry of Menealy & Co., West Troy, New York. A month later land on Storey avenue was purchased for a ceme- tery. It was laid out with avenues and paths and consecrated by Arch- bishop Williams early in the summer of 1876. The parochial school build- ings on Court and Washington streets were erected in 1879.
In April, 1881, the parochial residence was destroyed by fire, and a new one was built the following year to take its place. April 28, 1884, the school houses and the parochial residence were transferred to the Im- maculate Conception Educational Association, incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and on the 2d day of August following the church and cemetery were incorporated under the name of the Immaculate Conception Society of Newburyport.
In 1886 the house on the corner of Washington and Green streets, built by Hon. Theophilus Parsons in 1789, was purchased for the use of the Sisters of Charity, who have charge of the children in the parochial schools.
In 1893, Father Teeling was appointed pastor at St. Mary's Church in Lynn, and Rev. William H. Ryan was placed in charge of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Newburyport. Under the care of Father Ryan, the parish has maintained its high standard of excellence and steadily developed its religious and educational work. In 1904 the interior of the church was painted and decorated by Italian artists, and a new marble altar, elaborately carved, was placed in the sanctuary. On the 2d, 3d and 4th days of May, 1903, the fiftieth anniversary of the dedi- cation of the church was observed with appropriate religious services. On Sunday, the 3d day of May, mass was celebrated in the presence of the Most Rev. John J. Williams, archbishop, and the Right Rev. Bishop Brady, auxiliary bishop of the diocese, and a congregation that filled all the available seats in the church. A home for destitute children has been established, accommodating 75 children, a home for aged women, and a new church at Plum Island Beach, all under the direction of Rev. William H. Ryan, and all are free of debt. The census of the parish is about 4,000. Rev. Father Ryan has as his assistants Rev. J. B. Moore and Rev. Joseph L. Dunn. The parish is a permanent rectorship and in
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a very flourishing condition, both spiritually and materially.
What is known as the Purchase Street Methodist Episcopal Church had its origin in the labors of Rev. John Adams, who in 1819 collected a congregation which until 1825 was connected with the Salis- bury Conference. In 1825 Newburyport was made a station and placed under Mr. Adam's charge. That year a meeting-house was erected on Purchase street. From that date to this there have been regular services in this church by the Methodist denomination.
Washington Street Methodist Episcopal Church was organized June 20, 1827, at a house on Liberty street, where later a church edifice was erected by these people. Rev. Bartholomew Othman was the first pas- tor. Later its present church was built on Washington street, hence the name. This church is among the active factors in religious circles in the city today.
There have been formed in Newburyport other churches, including the Universalist, organized in 1834; the Christian, in 1840, with Rev. Daniel Pike as pastor. The old Baptist church building was bought and used by this society on Congress street. The Second Advent Church was organized in 1848, and after using other buildings several years built an edifice on Charter street. The Seventh Day Adventists were organized in 1877. The Christian Science believers organized a church a few years since, but no facts were furnished for this chapter. St. Paul's Episcopal Church is in a flourishing condition today, as is also the Roman Catholic, Church of the Immaculate Conception. The French Catholics are also here represented.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX
ILDEN FOUNDATIONS
PEABODY-ABOVE, PUBLIC SQUARE; BELOW, PEABODY INSTITUTE
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE CITY OF PEABODY
Peabody comprises a part of the territory originally belonging to the old town of Salem. Its boundaries are nearly the same as old Middle Parish of Salem, set off in 1710, and continued a part of Salem until the incorporation of Danvers in 1752. In 1855 it was separated from Dan- vers, and the name Peabody was taken in 1868. For its history prior to 1710, see history of Salem, for it was then included in that town. That most graphic and accurate writer on local history of Essex county, Mr. Theodore M. Osborne, of Peabody, many years ago wrote of Peabody as follows :
This town occupies a part of the territory originally belonging to the old town of Salem. It will be seen, therefore, that the early history of Peabody is in many ways inseparable from that of Salem. Its farmers were represented in the Salem town meeting, and some of them at times held office in the town. Its sturdy yeo- manry formed part of the training bands of the old town, and called out to do service in all the frontier warfare of that early period. Its religious interests were centered! in the old First Church, and the records of its proprietary interests is found with that of all the other lands belonging to the town of Salem. There was therefore, during nearly a whole century of the town, no occasion for any separate chronicle of the lives or the interests of the families who lived in this part of Salem, and for nearly half a century after the establishment of Middle Precinct, the people were one with Salem in everything but parish affairs. For more than another cen- tury the parish was a part of the town of Danvers, and its history is largely one with that of Danvers. It has had only about thirty years of independent exist- ence (1887).
As to early settlement, it may be stated that it is not known just when the first men settled here, but it is known that the following con- stituted a part of the pioneer band who invaded these parts for the pur- pose of making permanent settlements: By 1633 there were a few set- tlers here. Before 1635 Captain William Trask, ancestor of all the nu- merous New England Trask family, received a grant of about fifty acres of land at the head of North river, near the present public square in the city of Peabody. Here he erected his first grist mill. Originally, the mill-pond was of considerable extent, and remained in use for some me- chanical purposes until about 1860, when it was filled up and a street laid out across it. This pond collected its water from three principal brooks, from which Brooksby took its name. Near the mill and its immediate surroundings a small village was started. Here, in 1637, Richard Adams had a grant of five acres, and William Hathorne was given a ten-acre lot near the mill at about the same date. Thomas Goldthwaite also settled in this neighborhood at a very early date.
Captain William Trask was among the earliest with Endicott. He possessed great energy and filled numerous public positions. He was a
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prominent military leader and drilled in the training band from the very start. On account of his services in the Pequot War in 1636-37 he was rewarded with more land grants, and at his funeral in 1666 great mili- tary honors were observed by his fellow-countrymen. He it was who helped survey and lay out the lots in the town of Salem and vicinity.
About 1640, Captain Trask built another mill a half mile down stream from the first, near present Grove street, and soon after he moved it and later it was known as Frye's mills. On, March 30, 1640, it is recorded that "Captain Trask hath leave to set up a tyde myll upon the North river, pvided he make passage for a shalloppe from halfe flood to full sea." In October, 1640, the mill was completed, and half an acre was granted him adjoining it. This mill also became the center of a settlement. In September, 1640, while this mill was building or soon after, Captain Trask received a fatherly admonition from the Court "to be more careful about his grinding & Towle taking." Previous to 1663 Captain Trask's mills held the monopoly of this business. John Trask at one time, some complaint being made, agreed in behalf of his father with the town that they would "make as good meale as at Lin, and they when they could not supply the town for want of water or in any other respect," then they would "provide to send it to Lin upon their own charge and have it ground there."
Other pioneer settlers included the following: Colonel Thomas Reed in 1636 claimed three hundred acres, including Buxton Hill. Robert Cole and heirs finally held a large tract upon North Brook. John Thorndike was in the northwestern part of the town, but later left there and be- came a resident in Salem village. In 1652 Robert Goodell had a farm of five hundred acres. William King had a tract of forty acres in the northern part of Peabody which he took in 1636. In October, 1637, a tract of one hundred acres was given to Edmund Batter; he also had twelve acres more in a fine pasture tract. He was a prominent man in his day in this part of Essex county.
Others who had lands granted to them hereabouts included Rev. Edward Norris, Joseph Pope, Mrs. Anna Higginson, Job Swinerton, Captain Samuel Gardner, and John Humphrey, who was a justice of the Quarter Court; in 1642 a considerable portion of his lands were sold on execution to Robert Saltonstall. Others were William Clarke, Joshua Verryn, Francis Johnson, Zacheus Cortis, Robert Moulton, John Brown, Sr., Richard Bartholomew. The Flints, Popes, Uptons, and Needhams all had valuable farms; the Proctors came here from Ipswich in 1660; the Pooles from Cambridge in 1690; the Fosters from Boxford; the Sut- tons from Rowley ; the Jacobs in 1700; the Poors in 1770; and the Pres- tons, Shillabers and other prominent families were early settlers. A part of the farm of Jacobs lay in Peabody.
About February 1st, 1710, a petition was presented to the selectmen of Salem, signed by Captain Samuel Gardner and others, requesting the
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town of Salem to set off as a new precinct that part of the town outside the town bridge and below the line of Salem village. The reason set forth included the fact that many of the residents lived too far from a place of worship. The boundaries of the proposed precinct were defined at a special town meeting March 6, 1709-10. Much stir was created over the proposed new precinct between two factions. It may be of some interest to the numerous descendants in this country at this time to know who the petitioners were that asked for such separation, hence their names are appended in this connection: Samuel Marble, Samuel Cutler, James Gould, Benj. Verry, Richard Waters, John Waters, Nathaniel Tompkins, John Marsh, William Osborne, John Giles, Robert Wilson, Henry Cook, Samuel Goldwaithe, Jr., John Nurse, Ebenezer Cutler, William King, Ezekiel Goldthwaite, Samuel Cook, Israel Shaw, William Osborne Jr., Benj. Marsh, John W. Burton, John Gardner, Eben Foster, Joseph Douty, John King, Abraham Pierce, Samuel King, Ste- phen Small, Nathaniel Waters, David Foster, Jacob Read, John O. Wal- din, Samuel Stacey Sr., Benj. C. Proctor, Geo. Jacobs, Jonathan King, Thorndike Procter, John King Jr., James Houlton, Samuel Stone, E. Marsh, John Jacobs, Nathaniel Felton, John Trask, A. H. Needham, S. Stacey, Elias Trask, John Felton, Skelton Felton, Sam Goldthwaite, S. Endicott.
An animated discussion took place and petitions and counter peti- tions were in order for many weeks and took up the time of the court and selectmen, finally resulting on November 1, 1710, in the report of the legislative committee dated October 31, in favor of setting off the new precinct. The report was read in the council and left upon the board. The next day the report was again read and debated. On the 3rd, upon the question "whether the council will now vote the said report," there was a tie. It was not till the 10th of November that the report was finally accepted. The recommendation of the committee was that: "The said precinct do begin at the Great Cove in the North Field so to run directly to Trask's Grist Mill, taking in the mill to the new precinct; from thence on a straight line to the Mile-stone on the Road to Salem Meeting-House, and so along the road to Lyn by Linday's; and then along the line between Salem and Lyn northward till it comes to Salem village line, & along by that line to Frost Fish River, & then by the Salt Water, to the Great Cove first mentioned and that the Meeting-House be erected on that Piece of land near Gardner's Brook already granted by the towne for that End."
The report of the committee, which was signed by Penn Townsend for the committee, was read and accepted by both houses and consented to by Governor Dudley the same day, November 10, 1710. It seems that although the committee in their report speak of a piece of land as already granted by the town, there had been no location of the grant, which was indeed, by its terms, conditional.
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December 28 a formal vote was passed at a meeting of the select- men, ordering that Captain Jonathan Putnam, Mr. Benjamin Putnam and Mrs. John Pickering, or any two of them, be a committee to lay out the quarter of an acre and make return thereof. It was certainly a shrewd proceedings on the part of the petitioners to obtain the addition- al grant in advance, and then locate it by the recommendation of the committee of the General Court, before the layers out had been appointed. The fact that the land had already been granted may be fairly supposed to have had some weight in the deliberations of the committee.
After having been set off as a separate parish, the next thing to do was to provide a meeting-house. The site chosen was that now oc- cupied by the South Congregational Church in Peabody. It appears that in some way the original quarter of an acre had grown to an acre before the church was erected. The building committee met without much delay and planned for their new church edifice. This committee on the records of the town is always known as "ye grate commity", and the size of the structure was stipulated to be forty-eight feet long by thirty-five feet wide. It was also decided by this committee that "the carpenders have two shillings and six pence a day for so many days as they work, and that men working a Narro Ax to have two shillings a day." The length of the new church building was finally agreed to be fifty-one feet instead of forty-eight feet.
In 1713, the "Unworthy brethren and sisters living within the bounds of the Middle District in Salem" were as follows: Hanna King, Elizabeth Cook, John Foster, Hanna Small, Hanna Foster, Samuel Goldthwait, Jemima Verry, Deborah Good, Susanna Daniel, Martha Adams, Ebenezer Gyles, Ales Shafflin, Hanna Felton, Abel Gardner, Eliz- abeth Verry, Hanna Goldthwait, Robert Pease, Samuel Gardner, Samuel Goldthwait, Elizabeth Nurse, Isabelle Pease, David Foster, Mary Tomp- kins, Elizabeth Goldthwait, Richard Waters, Elizabeth Waters, Judah Mackintire, Sarah Gardner, John Felton, Hanna Southwick, Elizabeth Gyles, Wm. King, Sarah Waters, Elizabeth King.
To show the formality and legal action taken in all that had to do with church affairs, as connected with the civil government of the early New England towns, the following request for and final dismissal of the above named members was issued and is now a part of the town- church records is here given:
At a Church meeting at the Teacher's house, June 25th, the Church having received a petition from our brethren and sisters living in the District, wherein they desire a dismission from us for themselves and their children, in order to be a church of themselves. The Church giveth in answer as followeth: That although we cannot praise or justify our brethren's, proceedings so far as they have done in order to be a church of themselves without advising with or using means to obtain the consent of the Church they belonged to; yet the request of our breth- ren and sisters, for peace sake, we permit them and their children to become a church of themselves; provided they have the approbation and consent of the Elders
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and messengers of some other churches in communion with us, that shall assist in their church gathering and ordaining them a pastor. And until they have so done, they continue members of this church. And so we commit them to the grace of God in Christ Jesus, praying that they may have divine direction and assistance in the great work they are upon, and that they become an holy and orderly and peaceable church, and that the Lord would add to them of such as are within their own limits, many as such as shall be saved. The above was twice distinctly read to the brethren of the church before it was voted upon and then consented to by the vote of the Church.
Rev. Benjamin Prescott was ordained as pastor, September 23, 1713, and the separation of the parishes was at last complete. In all the history of the separation of towns and precincts, of which our legislative and municipal history furnishes many noteworthy instances, down to the eighties, there has rarely been a division more earnestly pursued or more stubbornly resisted than that which resulted in the formation of the Middle Precinct of Salem. After this final separation, the Middle Parish people were generally busily engaged in building up their own interests as a church and community. They were still subject to the taxation for general expenses of the town of Salem, and for school pur- poses. Separate schools of their own, however, were soon demanded and secured. It was in 1714 that the town granted money towards the support of a "Reading, writing and cyphering school" in the new pre- cinct.
While it was not possible at that date to make a new voting precinct in which votes might be cast for representatives to the General Court, it was possible to separate from Salem as a district. This was allowed by the court in 1751-52, and the name given the new district was Dan- vers; the full title being, of course, "Second Parish in the District of Danvers." Soon, however, it was changed to "South Parish in Dan- vers," which continued to be its name for upwards of a century. The church was called "The Second Congregational Church of Danvers."
June 16, 1852, the town of Danvers celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of its separate municipal existence. A pageant represent- ing the early customs of the settlers paraded the streets, escorted by military forces and by the firemen of the town. Also the pupils of the public schools took an active part. An address was made by John W. Proctor, and Andrew Nichols delivered a poem in the old South Church, with music and religious exercises. A dinner was furnished in a canvas pavilion on the Crowinshield estate, at which many inter- esting addresses were given by the invited guests. It was at this din- ner that the first gift of George Peabody to his native town was offered, in a letter acknowledging his invitation to this celebration. He had ordered that an envelope he had handed in was not to be opened until the toasts were being proposed at the dinner. After a toast to Peabody, the letter was opened and read. It contained a sentiment by Mr. Pea- body which has become the motto of the endowments made by him for
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the benefit of education: "Education-a debt due from present to fut- ure generations." Among the paragraphs making up Mr. Peabody's letter are these:
In acknowledgment of the payment of that debt by the generation which preceded me in my native town of Danvers, and to aid in its prompt future dis- charge, I give to the inhabitants of that town the sum of twenty thousand dollars, for the promotion of knowledge and morality among them.
I beg to remark that the subject of making a gift to my native town has for some years occupied my mind, and I avail myself of your present interesting festival to make the communication, in the hope that it will add to the pleasures of the day. That a suitable building for the use of he Lyceum shall be erected, at a cost, including the land, fixtures, furnishings, etc., not exceeding seven thou- sand dollars, and shall be located within one third of a mile of the Presbyterian Meeting-House occupying the spot of that formerly under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Walker, in the South Parish of Danvers.
The same letter above named, also contained a liberal subscription toward the erection of a monument to the memory of General Gideon Foster. Before 1856 Mr. Peabody had increased his donations to make a foundation of fifty thousand dollars. In 1869, on his last visit to his native place, he increased his bequests to the amount of two hundred thousand dollars.
By an act of the legislature, passed May 18, 1855, the new town of South Danvers was incorporated, with boundaries corresponding with those of old Middle Precinct of Salem. About one year later the legis- lature changed the ancient boundary line between Salem and South Danvers and the same exists today. Peabody took its name from the great philanthropist, George Peabody, and was made a city in January, 1917. The United States census in 1920 gives the population of Pea- body at 19,552.
George Peabody, for whom the city is named, was a world-wide benefactor. He was born in South Danvers, (now Peabody), in the house which still stands at 205 Washington street. A suitable tablet in the yard commemorates this event. He left his native town when young, and embarked in business at Baltimore. He later located in Eng- land, where he became one of the world's largest bankers. He gave away millions for charity, and did not forget his native town and its offspring, for two libraries endowed with sufficient money to maintain them were given Danvers and Peabody. Few cities have been so for- tunate as to have such a benefactor.
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