USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newbury > Ould Newbury: historical and biographical sketches > Part 13
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on several occasions ; and, in consequence of its great age and dilapidated condition, it was cut down ten or fifteen
years ago. Two large elms now standing on the place were planted by Joseph Coffin, one of them in 1792, when his son Joshua, the historian, was born, and the other in 1794, when his son Thomas was born.
Inside the house there are many quaint old relics of bygone days ; and around the fireplace in the front parlor and in the chamber above are some remarkable Dutch tiles, of dark DRESSER IN COFFIN HOUSE. blue and dingy white color, illustrating scenes from the Bible, among them " Jonah and the Whale " and " The Miraculous Draught of Fishes." But the chief glory of all these mementoes and souvenirs is the old dresser, with its stock of pewter plates and platters, as it stands in the kitchen where it has stood for, perhaps, two centuries.
BLUE ANCHOR TAVERN.
Hugh March settled in Newbury previous to 1650. He was by occupation house carpenter and joiner. He sold, with the consent of his wife Judith, March 14, 1651, a small parcel of land near Merrimack River to William Thomas (Ipswich Deeds, book I, page 188 (510).
In 1653, Nicholas Noyes' wife, Hugh March's wife, and William Chandler's wife were each presented to the court " for wearing a silk hood and scarfe" in violation of the law specially made and provided for the suppression of extrava- gance in dress ; but they were discharged on proof that their husbands were worth £200 each.
Sept. 13, 1658, Hugh March sold to Robert Morse "9 acres of land with house, orchard, barn, &c., in the little field next the way to Merrimack River, bounded on the west by land of William Thomas, &c." (Ipswich Deeds, book 2, page 79 (165).
At this date, and for nearly a century after, large quanti- ties of sturgeon were annually taken from the rivers Merri- mack and Quascacunquen. William Thomas was engaged in the business of pickling and packing them for transportation. In 1667, Israel Webster testified "that he carried twenty-two ferkins and kegs of sturgeon from William Thomas' cellar to Boston"; and a petition dated May 7, 1673, to the General Court, signed by William Thomas, and printed in full on page 114 of Coffin's History of Newbury, states that the petitioner, then seventy-four years of age, was still engaged in the business of " boyling and pickling of sturgeon."
In 1670, Hugh March was licensed by the court at Ipswich "to keep an ordinary and to sell strong drink," and every year until 1680 this license was renewed. Other houses of
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entertainment were opened in Newbury previous to this date, but it is impossible to say just where they were located.
As early as Sept. 2, 1635, Francis Plummer was licensed by the General Court "to keep an ordinary." At a later date Edmund Greenleaf, and afterward Tristram Coffin, were granted the same privilege. On the twenty-seventh day of the seventh month of the year 1653 the court held at Ips- wich decided, after due deliberation, that "Steven Swett, being prsented by the Townesmen of Newbury to keep an Ordnarye, is alowed by this court."
Stephen Swett owned at that time a dwelling-house, with several acres of land adjoining the same, on the westerly side of High Street, near the head of Marlborough Street. This property he subsequently sold to Hugh March, reserving a small portion of the land for his own use. This fact is estab- lished by an agreement or certificate duly signed and sealed by Hugh March on the twelfth day of March, 1669-70, in which the reservation is particularly described and acknowl- edged (Ipswich Deeds, book 3, page 215). The dimensions and shape of the land reserved are very nearly the same as the measurements and bounds given in a deed from the heirs of Colonel John March, dated March 31, 1713, conveying to Captain Henry Lyon the house and land that afterward was the property of Isaiah Ilsley. It also appears from a petition presented to the court at Ipswich in 1682 that, when Hugh March began business as an innholder, he bought an " antient tavern," and expended a large sum of money in repairing and enlarging it. In view of these facts it is reason- able to conclude that the place where Stephen Swett kept an ordinary from the year 1653 to 1667 was, in 1670, con- veyed to the newly appointed innholder, although no record of this conveyance can be found in the Registry of Deeds at Salem.
For several years previous to the appointment of Hugh March as innkeeper there seems to have been considerable difficulty in finding a suitable person to serve in that capacity. In 1668, the selectmen and other inhabitants of Newbury presented a petition to the court at Salem, asking that " Cap-
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tain Paul White be licensed to sell wine out of dores by retaile ... until some man be licensed to keep ordinary here." This request was granted at the June term of the court, 1668.
Sept. 28, 1669, the town of Newbury being presented for want of an ordinary to entertain travellers, the court enjoined them to provide one against the next court at Ipswich upon the penalty of a fine of £5.
Captain Paul White, authorized by the court "to sell wine out of dores by retaile," seems to have carried on an exten- sive business. He was an active and enterprising merchant and wholesale dealer in foreign and domestic liquors. He had been engaged in trade for some years at Pemaquid, now Bristol, Me., and came to Newbury in 1653. He bought of Edmund Greenleaf, Aug. 25, 1653, a dwelling-house and one acre of land with a still-house and the fixtures connected therewith, bounded by the street on the north and east, by land of Stephen Swett on the south, and land of Tristram Coffin, Jr., on the west (Ipswich Deeds, book I, page 143 (402). In 1655, the town of Newbury granted him "a parcell of land not exceeding half an acre, about Watts his cellar, for to make a dock, a wharf, and a warehouse." He evidently carried on the business of distilling domestic liquors for twenty-five years or more. As late as March 5, 1677, he petitioned the town "for about a rod of land at the hang- ing of the hill before his still house on the street." His wife, Bridget White, died Dec. 11, 1664. He married, March 14, 1665, for his second wife, Mrs. Ann Jones, a widow, who had an only child, Mary.
At the March term of the court held at Ipswich, in 1670, " Hugh March was licensed to keep an ordinary at Newbury and to draw wine." At the December term of the court held at Salem the same year "Capt. Paul White had his license renewed to sell strong waters, &c., unless the present public ordinary keeper doe sell wine at the rate which the law allows of."
April 17, 1674, Captain Paul White, of Newbury, and wife Ann, on account of a contract of marriage between Thomas Woodbridge, of Newbury, gent., and Mary, the daughter of
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said Ann, formally consummated, conveyed to said Thomas and Mary, and after them to Paul Woodbridge, son of the said Thomas and Mary, the dwelling-house in which Thomas then lived, and the lot of land (three-quarters of an acre) on which the house stood, " bounded betwixt ye land of ye said Paul White on ye north, the highway on ye east, and ye land of Hugh March & now in his possession on ye south and on ye west " (Essex Registry for Deeds, book 10, page 95).
Feb. 26, 1677, Captain White conveyed to Thomas Wood- bridge, for life, and then to Paul and Thomas, sons of the said Thomas Woodbridge, and Mary, "my daughter in law," wife of the first-mentioned Thomas Woodbridge, " the ware- houses, dock, wharf, and land, being the ¿ acre of land at Watts his cellar granted to the said Paul White by the town of Newbury April 25, 1655, and which was laid out May 7, 1656" (Essex Deeds, book 10, page 95). Captain Paul White died July 20, 1679, aged eighty-nine.
At this time Hugh March was greatly disturbed by domes- tic troubles. His wife Judith died Dec. 14, 1675 ; and he married, May 29, 1676, Mrs. Dorcas Blackleach. She died Nov. 22, 1683. For his third wife, Hugh March married Sarah Healey Dec. 3, 1685. His children by the first mar- riage were : -
George, born in 1646. Judith, born Jan. 3, 1653. Hugh, born Nov. 3, 1656. John, born June 10, 1658. James, born Jan. 11, 1664.
Dorcas Bowman, daughter of Nathaniel Bowman, then living in Connecticut, married Benoni Blackleach. Having been convicted of some offence, for which he was liable to severe punishment, Benoni Blackleach suddenly disappeared, and was afterward reported to have died in the South, where he was temporarily residing. Mrs. Blackleach then married Hugh March. Two years later, Hugh March, with his sons Hugh and John and neighbors Thomas Woodbridge and John Taylor, filed affidavits in the General Court, stating that Benoni Blackleach was not dead, but in Virginia at the time
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of this second marriage, and that Dorcas Blackleach knew of this fact, and unlawfully concealed it. Mrs. March met these accusations by a general denial, and attributed the circulation of these scandalous reports to the malice and ill-will of the children of Hugh March. The affidavits and the reply of Mrs. March, numbering nine in all, are on file at the office of the clerk of the Supreme Court in Pemberton Square, Boston. The decision of the General Court will be found under date of Oct. 7, 1678, in volume 5, page 205, of the Massachusetts Colony Records. It reads as follows :-
In the case now in Court, touching Hugh March & Dorcas, his wife, the Court, upon what they have heard alleadged by them both in the case and duly considered thereof, doe judge that the sajd March ought to take the sajd Dorcas & retayne hir as a wife, and to observe & fullfill the marriage Covenant according to his engagement.
Evidently, this decision was not satisfactory to Hugh March. Aug. 15, 1678, he gave to Simon Lynde, of Bos- ton, merchant, a mortgage deed "of his homestead, con- taining four acres of land or upwards, with all the housing both new & old, barns, stables, shop, edifices & buildings, whatsoever upon the same or any part thereof erected, scit- uate, lyeing and being within the towne of Newbury afore- said, neare the meeting house there, and is butted & bounded with the Streete or Highway easterly, with the land of Mr Thomas Woodbridge & Mr. Joseph Hills northerly, with the land of Anthony Morse and John Webster southerly, with the land of Robert Long westerly, ... conditioned to pay the grantee at or in his dwelling house in Boston £110 on Aug. 16, 1679" (Ipswich Deeds, book 4, page 189).
Jan. 31, 1679, Hugh March conveyed to his son John March, then not quite twenty-one years of age, the following described real estate and personal property :-
My now dwelling house in Newbury, with the land lyeing & appteine- ing thereunto, marsh in Plum Island, also in the sd house six beds, with the furniture to them, with all the brass and pewter as it is allredy devided & allredy allotted to him, with the furnace, brewing vessells, and all other utensells whatsoever belonging to housekeeping,
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excepting & reserving to myselfe, & owne use and ppriaty dureing my naturall life, the old parlour with the chamber over it, as also that pcell of ground lyeing to the street, before the old house & betweene the shop and the new house, intirely for my use, as also for free liberty to make use of the midell roome as I shall have occasion, for my owne necessary imploymts, as also liberty to make use of the well, what I shall have occasion for with liberty of Ingress & egress & regress thereunto, as also I reserve liberty to dispose off one of the six beds . .. and lastly I reserve to my own use & propriaty a pcell of ye land behind the barne, fronting to the street betwixt a stake set up for the determination of the land of Hugh March, Jun", and another stake now sett up to determine the bound of the land sould to John March, . conteineing in breth seaventy two foote or therabouts betwixt the sayd stake, and of that bredth running back into the lot one hundred & eighteen foote in length (Ipswich Deeds, book 4, page 309).
Hugh March, having divested himself of all his real estate, with the exception of a small part specially reserved for his own use, was temporarily disqualified from serving as inn- keeper.
At the court held at Ipswich "March 30, 1680, John March was licensed to keepe ordinary at Newbury for a year, also licensed to draw wine & liquors for a yeare." This license was renewed in March, 1681. In the records of the court held at Salem in June, 1680, is the following memo- randum : -
Mrs White of Newbery have liscence granted to sell by retaile wine & liquors, as formerly was granted to her late husband in his life time. Upon further consideration and Hugh March & his son John moveing the court that shee might have rather liscence to keepe a publicke house of entertainment or ordinarye, & to draw wine & liquor, which the court grants her liscence to doe, etc.
Every year for twenty years the license granted Mrs. Ann White was annually renewed.
In 1682, John March, with the approval of the selectmen of Newbury, petitioned for license to keep ordinary there ; " but the Court learning that he has removed from the place where he first lived when his license was granted, & Hugh March complaining that it will be a damage to him to grant the license, John is licensed to sell what stock he has on hand only."
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It is evident from this decision, and from subsequent pro- ceedings relating to the petition of John March, that he had, in consequence of some disagreement or misunderstanding with his father, removed from the old tavern, and desired to set up a rival establishment elsewhere. He was not disposed to accept this decision as final, and made strenuous efforts to reverse the decree. Many of the prominent citizens of Newbury favored his cause, and signed the following petition : *-
To ye honoured Court, hild at Ipswitch ye 28th, March, 1682, wheras the Selectmen of ye towne of Newbury have, as wee vnderstand, upon serious Consideration : of ye Convenecy of the place yt John : march would sett upon keepinge of ye ordinery and ye sutteblenes of ye person : for yt end hath given vnder thayer hands thayer approbation of ye thinge acordinge to Law; yett vnderstandinge yt there is some obstruction : ye thinge beinge not yett granted as wee vnderstand, wee whose Names are vnderwrighten doe humbly request yt your honours would bee plesed to grant ye said John : march a license for his keepinge of ye ordinary, Considiringe not only the Conveincy but the nesesity of ye towne of Newbury || and Naighboring towne | is in, of havinge an ordi- nery in ye place yt John march is now in, in regard: of shipinge & other ocasione of much busnis neare yt place, so shall wee bee obliged to pray for your prospirity & remaine yours humbell Sarvants.
MARCH 31St 1682.
RICHARD DOLE DANIEL LUNT
STEPHEN GRENLEF IUNER
SAMVELL PLUMER
HARRY LUNT
JOSEPH MAYO
SILVANUS PLUMER
WILLM NOYES
JONATHAN WOODMAN
EPHRAIM PLUMER
JOSHUA Moss
PETER GOD FFREE
RICHD DOLE JUR THOMAS NOYES EDMOND MARSHALL
JOSEPH PLUMER
JAMES SMITH
BENJA : LOWLE
JOHN KNIGHT
BENJAMIN ROLFE
JOHN DAVICE
THOMAS HALE
JOHN BADGER
EDWARD RICHISON SENIOR
GEORG LITTLE JOHN KALLY
JOSHUA RICHARDSON :
JOHN ATKINSON
CALEB MOODY
WM: CHANDLER
ANTHONY SOMERBY
JNO DOLE
AQUILA CHASE.
STEPHEN GRENLEFE SEN
In answer to this petition the court at the September term granted to John March a license " to keep an ordinary and draw wine and liquors," although Hugh March appears to have remonstrated with considerable force and vigor, as will be seen by the following paper, duly signed, now on file in the court house at Salem (book 38, leaf 79) :-
* Court Files, book 38, leaf 78.
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To the honderd County Court sitting at Ipswich this 26 of Septoomber I682
The petition of Hugh March of Newbury humbly showeth, That, whereas the towne of Newbury being destitute of an ordinary for neer two yeres, being fined twise, and likely to be fined the 3rd time, and could find no man that would undertack it, divers of the most considerable men of the towne applyed themselves to mee to keepe the ordinary, at which time i had no need of it or inclination to it, being well satl'd upon a farme of my owne which was suffitiant to maintaine me; but by the ofton porsuasions and solicitations of those men I was wiling, provided I might have the free consent of the towne and the aprobation of the Court, which I had freely and fully in a publick towne meting, by way of voate and by this courts free exceptacion, which moved mee to pur- chase at a deare rate that place which was the antient place of an ordi- nary, wch being out of repaire caused me to disburse great sums of mooney in repairing the ould and building new to fit it for the townes and cuntrys benifit, which caused me to sell one good farme and wholy to leave my farm that I lived uppone.
The ordinary that I bought, tho old and out of repayer, cost me 1 201b besids to the valeu of more than 4001b I layd out in building barn, stable, and housing, with bedding, &c., to fite myselfe for giving publick con- veniant entertainment for the country and towne.
This ordinary was by me kept about 12 yeres, and no man had just reason to complaine for want of anything that was conveniant, nor did yt ever I heard. Besides the law saith, page 82, that no man shall lose his licance before he be convicted of some broache of law, which i never was :
Altho I put the ordinary out of my hands for a time, yet it was for my lively hood and that I might live by it as an ordinary.
It hath bene the uisiall custom of courts and townes to put antiant persons into such places and calings to bee a help to them, rather than to turne them out after all thayr cost to yr undoing and that because the present selectmen do not give ye approbation under thayre hands. I had not only the aprobation of the selectmen, but of the towne also, and of this hondred court for 12 yeares together, and tharfor hope yt this hondred court will consider my case, and not to suffer any man to be undon by the by and selfe ends of any selectmen: for, if so, the country will scarsly ever be well provided for with an ordinary to con- tent, wch will be a disgrace to the country in other places in the wourld, for who will lay out such an estate to keepe an ordinary to be at the mercy of the next new selectman whether he shall hould it above one yeare or no ?
This hondred court hauing in some measure understood how i com- mitted my estate to my sone, and the way that he haue had to deprife
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mee of my licanse and likewise of my estate, wch i am depely soncable of my afflicttion, being further agrivated by his execution granted from the hondred court of asistence, wch I presume your honors are not un- sonsable of : he hauing little mercy on his father, I hope you, the fathers of the land, will haufe more mercy upon mee.
In granting yr poore petioner his licence for the ordinary as formerly, wch (under correction) I conceive is but a rationall request, either to my self or som other person yt may be put in, so that i may haue the bonifit of that my estate in that way as formerly, and in so doing you shall oblidg your humble petioner, to pray.
HUGH MARCH.
Mrs. Robert C. Cheney, of Ring's Island, Salisbury, Mass., a descendant of Judith March, only daughter of Hugh March, Sr., has in her possession a copy of the above petition, evi- dently in the handwriting of Hugh March, with deeds and other papers relating to the settlement of the estate of Colonel John March.
It is evident from the preceding statement addressed to the court sitting at Ipswich, by Hugh March, that he was anxious to resume his occupation as innkeeper ; and it also appears that "the hondred court " was not inclined to grant his request. In this emergency Hugh March applied to the General Court, assembled in Boston, for aid and assistance in procuring the desired license. In the court files at Salem is the following interesting order relating to this subject : -
Att A Generall Court at Boston, 11th october, 1682.
An Answer to the peticon of Hugh March. The Court being Credi- bly Informed that the petitioner hath been & is like to be a great Sufferer by being disappointed of keeping a house of publick entertainement, he having been encouraged thereto by the Towne of Newbery & others conseyned, and therefore layd out a Considerable estate to fitt & fur- nish himself for that Imploy, and doe therefore comend it to the Se- lectmen of that Towne and the court of that County to consider of his condition and toe seis him therein, and that he may againe be intrusted in his former imploymt in due time. That this is A true copie taken out of the Court Records.
EDWD RAWSON, Secret.
The court at Salem the 28: 9: 82 prsing the above order, & alsoe the returne from the Selectmen of newbery, doe not se cause to grant the sd Hugh marches desire in granting him liscence.
Attest HILLIARD VEREN, Clr.
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At the April term of the court held at Ipswich in 1683 " Hugh March was licensed to keepe a house of publick entertainment in Newbury for a yeare." His wife, Dorcas (Blackleach) March, died Nov. 22, 1683 ; and he was again at liberty to hold property in his own name without fear of molestation. His license as innkeeper was renewed annually during the remainder of his life.
Dec. 5, 1693, he conveyed by deed to his son John March, of Salisbury, " houses, lands, meadows, fencing, goods, chat- tels, leases, debts, bills, bonds, plate, jewels, and rings ; household stuff, apparrell, utensils, brass, pewter, and iron ; bedding and all other my substance whatsoever"; the said John March to pay to Sarah March, wife of Hugh March, a certain sum annually, "and allow her the use of my old parlor and the chamber over it within my house in Newbury, and commonly called by that name, and the use of the well for necessary uses during her widowhood, ... with liberty of making use of the middle room for household occasions." By the terms of this deed John March is also required to pay over to the children and grandchildren of Hugh March cer- tain specified sums of money (Essex Registry of Deeds, book 10, page 52).
Captain John March, at the date of the above conveyance, was living in Salisbury, where he owned a large farm. He subsequently purchased several tracts of land in Newbury, and among them a farm of nearly one hundred and fifty acres at Birchen Meadow, so called. The boundaries of his estate in the immediate vicinity of the old tavern are somewhat vague and uncertain. It is probable, however, that the westerly limit extended to, and perhaps included, the high land that is known as March's hill.
Oct. 25, 1687, during the administration of Sir Edmund Andros, Captain John March was granted the right to main- tain a ferry over the Merrimack River "from warehouse point, so called, in the town of Newbury, to Ring's Island in the town of Salisbury." For the details of the prolonged con- troversy to which this grant gave rise the reader is referred to the sketch, on pages 55 to 80, inclusive, entitled "The
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Ferry at Carr's Island." Some arrangement was evidently made with Captain Edward Sargent, who was a licensed inn- keeper, to take charge of the newly established ferry. As agent or lessee, it was under his care and control for many years.
July 15, 1690, John March was appointed captain, and ordered to enlist a company for the Canada expedition. In 1697, with the rank of Major, he had command of the forces engaged in the attack on the Indians at Damaris cove, on the coast of Maine. In 1703, he petitioned the General Court to grant him compensation for losses sustained in the defence of Casco fort ; and November 20, of the same year, " the General Court granted to Captain John March fifty pounds in consideration of the brave defence of his majesty's fort at Casco Bay, when lately attacked by the French and Indian enemy, and of the wounds he then received."
A few years previously, April 17, 1700, Captain John March had given a mortgage deed to John Wainwright, of Ipswich, of the following described property, namely, " four acres of land, bounded easterly by the street, northerly by the land of George March, westerly and southerly by land of James Coffin, with house and outhouses conveyed to me by my father, Hugh March, senior, Dec. 5, 1693 " (Essex Deeds, book 14, page 16). This mortgage was discharged May 9, 1704 (book 16, page 16).
During this year or the year following he removed to Falmouth, now Portland, Me. He was evidently engaged in military service, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant- colonel. July 23, 1705, he sold to the town of Newbury the ferry over the Merrimack River, granted to him during the administration of Sir Edmund Andros, described as follows (Essex Deeds, book 19, page 48) :-
Lt. Col. John March of Newbury, now resident in Falmouth, York County, genten for £240, conveys to Lt .- Colo Thomas Noyes, Esq., Majr Dan" Davison, Lt. Joseph Little, Mr William Titcomb, all of Newbury, a committee for the town of Newbury, all the interest and right, &c., which I now have or may have "in or to the ferry comonly called
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