USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Gloucester > Notes and additions to the history of Gloucester : second series > Part 15
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18
I have the honour to be with great respect, your obedient, humble servant,
ROBERT MAGAW, Major Rifle Bat. Con. Service.
General Gates.
24. Gloucester is abated one-quarter of its province tax for 1775.
Sept. 27. General Court appropriates £140 to Capt. Joseph Foster, to pay Capt. John Lane, his two lieutenants, and forty-nine men, who have not received advanced pay.
Capt. John Lane, who was of Buxton, Me., was soon appointed a captain in the American army, and was succeeded in his command here by Daniel Giddings. In a petition to the General Court in 1776, he represented that he had been in commission upwards of twenty years, that last year he was stationed with a company at Cape Ann, and being again appointed to the same service, prays he may rank according to his services and commission.
Sept. A brig from Canada bound to Boston, with live stock and other necessary articles for the ministerial troops, was taken by the people of the town.
Oct. 3. General Court resolves that the Committee of Safety of the Town of Gloucester deliver the master of brigantine Dolphine, his wear- ing apparel and cabin furniture, and deliver the mate and foremost hands any small property or adventure they may have on board the brigamine to be apprised by three men, and delivered to General Washington for him to improve her as an armed vessel in defence of the country. The captain to be allowed out of the public treasury such sum as the court may determine.
147
EARLY RECORDS.
30. General Washington sends a letter to the House of Representa- tives about affording some necessaries of defence at Cape Am.
Nov. 4. General Court resolves that his Excellency the General di- rect Major Mason to proceed to Concord, Worcester, Lancaster and Leicester to view the cannon now in those towns, and such as he shall judge fit for use and necessary for the defence of the town, the town of Gloucester have leave to remove to that place. Major Mason or Select- men of Gloucester have liberty to procure on credit of the colony, from any person or town, 2 bbls. of powder, said Gloucester to be accounta- ble to General Court therefor.
10. Gloucester is allowed £206.5s for billeting 75 men 11 weeks from Aug. 16 to Nov. 1 at 5s a man per week.
Nov. 26. A sloop laden with fish and train oil, taken by privateers, was brought into the harbor.
28. Capt. Manly brought into the harbor a brig laden with military stores, valued at £30,000 sterling.
30. John Stevens, Chairman Committee of Safety and Correspond- ence of Gloucester, petitions the General Court for cannon, ammunition, more soldiers, a number of artillery men, with a field officer to command the troops stationed there, and the militia men necessary for the further defence of the harbor.
Dec. 2. Considering the importance of the harbor of Gloucester and the exposedness of the same to the enemy, General Court resolves to raise two companies of 50 men each to continue in service till April 1, unless sooner discharged.
Dec. 19. A sloop laden with wood for the British troops in Boston was brought in.
20. Four Quaker gentlemen from the South arrive in town to relieve the poor.
21. General Court resolves to station 250 men at Gloucester.
30. For four companies at Gloucester the General Court chose Jo- seph Foster, colonel.
1st Company-Daniel Warner, Capt. ; John Low, jr., 1st Lt., declined ; Solomon Gorham, 2d Lt., appointed 1st.
2d Company-John Lane, Capt. ; Jabez Lane, 1st Lt. ; Moses Atkin- son, 2d Lt.
1776 .- Jan. 1. 3d Company-Bradbury Sanders, Capt. ; Isaac Somes, 1st Lt., declined ; John Chandler, 2d, appointed 1st, March 14.
148
HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER :
4th Company-Wm. Pearson, Capt. ; Joseph Lane, 1st Lt. ; James Hayes, 2d Lt.
Major Samuel Whittemore was unanimously chosen commissary.
Feb. 20. Died Thomas Smith, Esq., merchant of Falmouth (Port- land), son of Rev. Thomas Smith of that place, and brother of the wife of Hon. Thomas Sanders, Esq., aged 40. A gentleman of unblemished character.
Theophilus Lane, being out on the fishing ground in the spring of this year, was taken by an English vessel and employed as a pilot to bring her into the bay. He assured the captain that Gloucester was in the hands of the British and thus induced the latter to run into this port. Our people went off to her, and, being in sufficient number to overpower the crew, took possession of the vessel.
March 16. Difficulty has arisen with regard to rank of officers at Gloucester, whereupon the General Court vote that they shall be ranked in the following manner :
Daniel Warner, First Captain ; Bradbury Sanders, Second Captain ; William Pearson, Third Captain ; Daniel Giddings, Fourth Captain.
April 16. General Court resolves that a beacon be erected at Cape Ann on Governor's Hill, one at Marblehead, one at Boston, in the usual place, and one on the Blue Hills in Milton. Selectmen and two com- missioned officers nearest the beacons to have charge of them, and when an enemy's fleet is discovered shall fire three alarm guns, set the bells ringing and cause the beacons to be fired with all expedition.
June 7. On petition of Peter Coffin, Esq., and Mr. John Low, the House of Representatives resolve to supply the Town of Gloucester with four 24-pounders, four 9-pounders and four 6-pounders, properly stocked with necessary apparatus for each cannon, 40 rounds of shot for each cannon and ten barrels of gunpowder. A company of matrosses of fifty men to be raised to manage the cannon stationed there, to be under the command of Col. Foster, to be enlisted to serve until the last of December.
June 26. In House of Representatives. The petition of Selectmen of Gloucester for payment of a muster roll of Capt. Daniel Warner for the service of himself and 46 men, at that town, from Dec. 31, 1775, to June 10, 1776, also of several accounts for supplying men stationed there, was presented.
The following order and one of a little later date, emanating from
149
EARLY RECORDS.
one of the most distinguished revolutionary patriots of Gloucester, seem to be worthy of preservation here.
GLOUCESTER, March 24, 1776.
Sir - As our enemies' fleet is now lying in Broad Sound in Boston, and the wind fair for them to come to this place if they are so minded. It is therefore necessary that we stand on our guard and as your regiment is at so great a distance it will not be pru- cent to wait till the enemy appears in sight before notice is given you.
I have taken the advice of the committee in this town and considered the difficulty that would attend your sending your whole regiment to this town unless the enemy were actually landed.
I have therefore thought it best that you send one company of seventy-five men, of- ficers included, to my assistance, well armed and accoutred with one week's provisions each, to morrow morning as soon as possible, which may prevent a general alarm, and this will be your sufficient warrant for so doing.
I am your humble servant, JOSEPH FOSTER.
To Col. Jonathan Cogswell.
GLOUCESTER, May 9, 1776.
Lieut. Lane :
Sir-You are hereby ordered and requested forthwith to march with the party of five men under your command whose names are as follows : Daniel Haraden, John Atkins, Caleb Lane, Joseph Somes and Joseph Davis to 'Squam, where you are to keep a watch at the entrance of the harbor night and day, which watch is to be properly released at your discretion, you are to give said watch orders to inform you if they discover any vessels or boats that attempt to land on that shore, or that appear to be an enemy, af- ter you have inquired into such information as you may receive from the watch, if you judge it needful you are to fire three guns to alarm the inhabitants there and send one of your party to me with an account of what occasioned the alarm, after which you are to endeavor to prevent the enemy from landing. You are furthermore to visit the watch at the Cape and Chebacco side under Corporals Brown and Emerton once a week or oftener, and see if they keep a good watch agreeable to the orders they have received from me, which you are to demand when you visit said watches and see if these men attend their duty and make a return to me every Tuesday when you send for your al- lowance of provisions. Fail not.
JOSEPH FOSTER.
N. B. You are to practice your party in ye manual exercise all opportunities.
The following is the letter of Rev. Eli Forbes, addressed to Winthrop Sargent, Col. Foster and others, in reply to theirs to him, endeavoring to dissuade him from accepting the call of the First Parish to become its pastor, alluded to in the History, page 402.
GLOUCESTER, April 8, 1776.
Gentlemen-I thank you for your kind and seasonable address of the 4th inst., and assure you that I feel as sensibly as most of you can, for the public calamities of the present day, and am deeply impressed with that part which falls with distinguishing weight upon ye first parish of the town of Gloucester, and shall not intentionally or understandingly do anything which may have a tendency to increase their burdens, but
150
IHISTORY OF GLOUCESTER :
shall aim (as I have done since I have been among them) to alleviate. I have received the votes of the church and parish which contain an invitation to me to settle with them in the work of the ministry. When I shall receive their votes which may provide for my support, I shall, I hope, discover the path of duty, which is always the path of honor. I beg leave to observe, that I can't think that ye first parish in Gloucester is in such a deplorable situation as forbids the settlement of the gospel among them, and it has been an observation founded in scripture and supported by facts that the gospel aiways carries its own reward and a blessing along with it, and those places that have neglected the settlement of ye gospel and its ordinances fell a prey to every deceiver. I am, gentlemen, with tender concern for the good of my country and the safety and happiness of the first parish in Gloucester,
Your most obedient, humble servant, ELI FORBES.
1777 .- Feb. 18. Died, Dr. Samuel Rogers ( Hist. 414). His chil- dren were Elizabeth, who married Charles Rogers ; a son who died in in- fancy ; Mercy, who married John Gorham Rogers; and Sarah, who married Capt. Nathaniel Smith.
Sept. 18. The selectmen petition the General Court that the inhab- itants of the town may be supplied with salt, and have leave to with- draw. They also petition that the poor inhabitants thereof may be supplied with corn. This was read and committed.
John Morgan died at Halifax this year in captivity.
Samuel Leach died of small-pox on his passage from Bilboa.
1778. - Died this year Joshua Avery, privateering, by means of a fall. April. Isaac Haskell was killed on board of a privateer.
Sept. 18. Died Mrs. Mary, wife of Capt. John Somes. She was Mary Smith, and was married to Capt. Somes Aug. 18, 1770.
Nov. 14. Died James Dike, son of Richard, an early settler, aged eighty-six. Ile married Sarah Dolliver, Feb. 4, 1713, and a second wife, Miriam Rust, in 1771. She died Dec. 10, 1778, aged nearly ninety (see Hist. 81).
In this year died "old Hannah Stanwood."
1779 .- Jan. 2. The Second Parish votes unanimously that they will not have the small-pox brought into it by inoculation, but they also vote that "if any persons suspected they had catched the small-pox or were resolved to inoculate," they should remove to Benjamin Herrick's, Dan- iel Herrick's, or widow John Haskell's house ; they themselves to pay the charges.
Feb. 24. The Parish desires that the selectmen make use of their power to have the houses and inhabitants of this town cleared from the infectious distemper of the small-pox, and likewise to forbid any more to be inoculated, unless the town give liberty to inoculate in hospitals.
151
EARLY RECORDS.
Jan. 3. Died in the Second Parish, widow Trask, nearly eighty years old ; probably widow of Jonathan.
July 22. Ruth Andrews, widow of William, died of small-pox, aged fifty-five.
Dec. 31. The town votes to send an earnest memorial, already pre- pared, to the General Court, praying for abatement of a very large tax imposed upon it that year. It represents the taxable polls to have been reduced from 1053 in 1775 to 696 in 1779; that at the commencement of the war all the most active, wealthy inhabitants moved from the town to places of greater security ; that there are but 856 acres of arable, orcharding, and mowing land in the whole town, which do not produce enough of the necessaries of life to support the people two months in the twelve ; that their privateering adventures had been very unsuccess- ful; that of 5000 tons in fishing schooners, merchant vessels and boats, belonging in the town in 1775, the whole amount, improved or not, is now only 2,040 tons-690 tons having been lost since the last fall, and that all their interest in merchant vessels consisted of one-half of a small ship ; that they had a very numerous poor to support-upwards of 750 of that class that lived chiefly on charity ; in short that the town was very poor, and that they believed that all the money in the town, collected in one sum, would be insufficient to meet the tax set upon it.
Moses Bray and John Herrick died this year in captivity.
Ebenezer Pool, Caleb Pool, Mrs. Abigail Rowe, widow Elizabeth Clark and some others died this year of small-pox, at Sandy Bay, and were all buried near the seashore, west of Whale Cove.
Of a state tax for £1000, county of Essex pays £56.6.5; Salem, highest in the county, £20.4.5 ; Gloucester, seventh town in the county, £8.6.6.
John Burns and William Webster supposed to be lost in a privateer commanded by John Colson.
1780 .- May 19. "About twelve o'clock, noon, came on an uncom- mon darkness. Sometime previous to it the clouds arose about south- west, remarkably black, which soon overspread the horizon. The dark- ness increased to that degree that it was necessary to light a candle to dine by. The darkness continued till near the sun's going down. The moon fulled the 18th, yet was it so dark about nine P. M., that in a room where were three large windows, not a glimpse of light could be perceived ; no more than in a dark cellar."-Private Record.
The remarkable phenomenon by which this day was distinguished,
152
HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER :
gave it the name of "the Dark Day." An attempt to account for this extraordinary darkness may be found in Mass. Hist. Soc. Collections, 1, 95.
1781 .- Thomas Michel and Benjamin Smith died in Halifax in cap- tivity.
Robert Wheelwright, of Cape Ann, is a prisoner in Mill Prison, Eng., taken from ship Beaver.
1802 .- Jan. 11. Thirty-two prisoners of other towns are landed here sick from a cartel from Halifax, and taken care of by the selectmen, whose charge against the commonwealth for sundries supplied to them was £132.13.9.
Feb. 28. Died, Jerusha Woodbury, aged about seventy-three, widow of Abel, who died on board a prison ship in 1778.
1803 .- April 23. Died, at Gloucester Alms House, Humphrey Morse, who came from Salisbury.
1804 .- Sept. 18. In the storm of Tuesday night, the Sch. Sicard of Gloucester was lost near Cohasset Rocks, and all hands perished.
Nov. Died, William Murphy, aged seventy-six.
Dec. 18. Died, Rev. Eli Forbes, D.D. A few additional particulars relating to the marriage connections of this minister may be here given. His first wife was Mary, not Lucy Parkman, as stated in the History. His marriage to Mrs. Sanders, widow of Hon. Thomas Sanders, took place Sept. 15, 1776, and was not pleasing to the numerous offspring already blessing the home to which the bride brought her new husband ; but the union, whether happy or otherwise, was terminated by her death in June, 1780, when she was placed by the side of her first husband, in the old burying ground. Mr. Forbes was married to his third wife, Mrs. Sarah Parsons, Sept. 13, 1781. She had had two previous hus- bands, Dr. Enoch Sawyer and Capt. Thomas Parsons, of Newbury. She died, by one account, 19th, and by another, 26th Sept., 1792, aged fifty-three. The bereaved husband was married to his fourth wife, Mrs. Lucy Baldwin, Nov. 13, 1793. She died March 13, 1804, aged sixty- eight. An obituary notice in the Salem Gazette, of the 20th of March, tells the sad story of her sickness and suffering, and mentions the vir- tues which adorned her character. Her first husband was Jeduthun Baldwin of Brookfield, one of the first in that town to enlist in the Rev- olutionary war. She left two children, both by her first husband, one of whom, Elizabeth, or Betsey, as she is called in Dr. Forbes' will, mar- ried Wheat Gilbert of Brookfield, and having been left a widow, came
153
EARLY RECORDS.
to Gloucester to reside with her mother, and here married for second husband the rich merchant, David Pearce. She died Dec. 6, 1823, aged sixty-two, leaving an only child, Harriet Gilbert, who, as her liv- ing daughter, Mrs. J. C. Calef, informs me, found a happy home in her early years, first in that of Dr. Forbes, and next in that of Mr. Pearce. She married Capt. John Haskell.
In a severe northeast gale, this year, a boat belonging to Caleb Nor- wood, jr., drifted from her moorings at Lobster Cove, and upset near Gee's Point. Joseph Parsons, Bennett Haskins and Ambrose Thurston, jr., were drowned.
The three largest tax payers in town this year were William Pearce, taxed for $93,370 ; David Pearce, for $87,134, and Timothy Rogers, for $34,676.
1788 .- Feb. 7. The delegates from the town to the convention for ratifying the Federal constitution, having returned home, were invited to a generous entertainment provided for them in the evening at Capt. Somes' tavern, by the principal inhabitants of the town, as a testimony of their approbation of the part they took in the important business on which they had acted, and to give a social opportunity to reciprocate congratulations on the decisions which had taken place.
September 11. Capt. Daniel Pearce presented to the Gloucester ar- tillery a very elegant stand of colors, with the insignia of peace obtained by the sword, being an Indian at full length enclosed in a laurel wreath, ovate, crest, an arm with a drawn sword ; motto : "Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem;" on the reverse, two cannon with column, and this motto : "Stat immeatum aut impela præcedit." The company re- ceived the flag at Mr. Pearce's house, where they partook of an ample and generous refreshment at his invitation.
September. A new dwelling house, almost complete, belonging to Mr. Daniel Knight, then absent at the Banks, was consumed by fire. Through the charity and efforts of C. Pearce, another house was erected on the same spot and given to the sufferer.
1790 .- A state tax of £239 10s. 3d. was apportioned to the several parishes of the town, as follows : First Parish, West Ward, £74 11s. 11d. ; East Ward, £65 11s. 6d .; Second Parish, £23 1s. 11d. ; Third Parish, £24 15s. 10d. ; Fourth Parish, £23 14s. 6d. ; Fifth Parish, £25 14s. 7d.
Sept. 30. Madam Jaques, widow of Rev. Richard Jacques, died, aged eighty-eight years.
17
154
HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER :
1792 .- A small boat, bound from Sandy Bay to Salem, was lost on Milk Island bar this year, by which accident Daniel Young and Isaac Jacobs were drowned.
1795 .- Dec. 20. Died, Solomon Gorham, aged forty-seven. He was a son of Col. John Gorham, of Barnstable, and came to Glouces- ter with his mother on her marriage to Col. John Stevens of this town. Ile married here, Nov. 29, 1772, Sarah Giddings, who survived him. The records give him one child, a daughter Judith, who married Sewall · Lancaster, son of Rev. Thomas Lancaster of Scarborough, Me., and died here Dec. 20, 1864, aged eighty.
1797 .- Sept. 23. A Cape Ann fishing boat with three men attempted to go over Newbury bar just before low water, but was drifted into the breakers when she filled, and two of the men were drowned. The other, after being in the water two hours, was taken up by a boat sent out by persons who had witnessed the disaster.
Dec. 15. Ship Renown, Capt. Burns, from St. Johns, N. F., for Boston, was wrecked on Milk Island. The crew got on shore, but the captain was drowned while making an ineffectual attempt to secure some of the property.
1798 .- William Fears, John Elwell, son of John, and Isaac, son of 'Zebulon Elwell, were washed overboard this year in a gale of wind, from a schooner commanded by Capt. William Allen, coming from the Banks.
1805 .- Feb. died, about the first of this month, Capt. Benjamin Somes, the same who kept the tavern ou Front street for many years ; April, widow Eunice Haskell, aged about eighty ; Aug. 20, Daniel No- ble, lost at sea ; Sept. 14, Mary Ellery, aged seventy ; Nov., Enoch Boynton, aged about seventy-eight.
1806. - Jan. 13, died, Naomi Gilbert, aged seventy-eight ; 19, Mr. Atkins, aged eighty ; April, Aaron Stanwood, drowned at sea ; May 5, Mary Gardner, aged seventy-five ; 26, Joseph Griffin, fell overboard on his passage from Europe and was drowned ; Nov. 9, Thomas Jeff's, aged seventy-eight : 13, Joseph Millet, aged seventy-seven : 23, Daniel Par- sons, aged seventy-three : Dec. 10. Elizabeth Andrews, aged ninety- two.
1807 .- Feb. 15, died, Mary Rowe, aged ninety-one : Feb., Samuel Clark, jr., fell from the yardarm of a ship in the Gulf Stream and was drowned, aged twenty: March 12, Elizabeth Gordon, aged seventy : May 1, Susanna Elwell, aged eighty-four : 5, Mary Lane, aged eighty- seven : July 21. Capt. Coas Gardner, aged about sixty-four.
155
EARLY RECORDS.
1808 .- March 17, died, Abigail Glover, aged seventy ; Nov. 6, Sa- rah Elwell, aged eighty-four; Joseph Jumper was drowned this year by falling out of a boat, two miles from Halibut Point, aged about twenty-three.
1809 .- Jan. 14, died, Mr. Grover, aged eighty; Feb. 16, Eliza- beth Parsons, aged eighty ; Aug. 31, Deacon Stephen Haskell, aged about seventy-three.
1810 .- Jan. 10, the day of which tradition still tells as the ." Cold Friday," Rachel Pool of Sandy Bay, housekeeper for her aged grand- father, Caleb Norwood, after she had built a fire in the morning, had occasion to go out of doors a few moments, and upon her return was so chilled that she went to the fire to warm herself, and immediately fell forward into the flames. She soon got upon her feet again but her eyes were so badly burned that she was ever afterwards blind. She was about twenty years old.
1810 March 9, died William Taylor, aged seventy-five ; Aug. 24, Mary Tarr, aged ninety-four; Mary Davis, aged eighty-tive; Oct. 19, Sarah Wallace, aged eighty ; May 3, Joseph Haraden, deacon of the Third church, was buried.
1811 .- Sept. Died, Eldad Prindall. He and Keturah Smith were married in 1768. She died July 31, 1825, aged seventy-six. He left sons Eliakson and Daniel, both of whom had families in Gloucester. Eliakson, born Aug. 23, 1769, died in Dedham woods, by suicide, Nov. 9, 1823. An Olive Prindall died in May, 1806.
Dec. 9. Died, widow Mary Woodbury, aged eighty-four.
1812 .- Sept. Died, widow Ann Hough, aged eighty-tive. Benja- min Hough (Hist. 562) was her son. She also had a son Ebenezer who came to Gloucester when quite young, and entered upon a seafaring life. He sailed upon a foreign voyage in command of a vessel, and was never heard from after leaving home. This occurred, probably, about 1792, as his widow, was appointed administratrix of his estate July 1, 1798. He had three daughters, Anna Watts, Eliza Plummer and Mary Sanders. The widow Ann Hough also had a daughter Hannah, who married Capt. Wm. Reddin. He died at sea, of small-pox, about 1801, leaving a son and daughter, still living. Another daughter of the widow Ann, Betsey, married James Sawyer in 1786.
Half a township of land, granted by the General Court for building a harbor at Pigeon Cove, was sold at auction in Boston, this year, for twenty cents an acre.
1813 .- March 7. Died or was buried, Mrs. Mary, widow of Col.
156
IHISTORY OF GLOUCESTER :
Peter Coffin, aged ninety-one. The only son of Col. Coffin's son Peter that married, was Charles, who is said to have left a widow and two sons in Baltimore, Md.
Oct. 31. Died in Freeport, Me., Zebulon Lufkin, aged ninety-one. He was a son of Benjamin Lufkin of Gloucester, and here married, July 22, 1745, Sarah Haskell, by whom he had seven sons and three daughters. He removed to Freeport, probably about 1780, with four sons, Aaron, Benjamin, Joseph and Samuel, all of whom died in that town. Joseph was a shipmaster and acquired wealth. He was much esteemed by his fellow townsmen, who elected him selectman, treasurer, and representative. He died May 20, 1835, aged seventy-eight.
James Robinson and James Morgan, soldiers in the U. S. army, died in Vermont, this year.
1814 .- April 25. Arrived boat Ograbme, 34 days from Elizabeth City, N. C., and with Capt. Pew, Capt. Sargent and others, who left their vessels on account of the embargo and came home in an open boat, a distance of 1000 miles, hauling their way, fifty-six miles, across capes and headlands.
June. A committee made a report to the town on the growth of in- temperance, in which they recommended an enforcement of the license laws, and the appointment of a committee of twenty-five citizens to give notice and inform of all who should sell ardent spirit contrary to the laws of the Commonwealth.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.