USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newbury > Ould Newbury: historical and biographical sketches > Part 19
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be favorably indulged. Praying God to assist and prosper your Honor, the Honble Board, and the whole General Court, I take leave to subscribe myself your Honors most humble, and most obedient Servant
SAMUEL SEWALL.
I got Mr. Gerrish to write it out fair, and carry it to the Council Chamber, between 10 and II oclock mane .*
Judge Sewall died Jan. 1, 1730, and was buried in the tomb of his father-in-law, John Hull, in the Granary burying ground in Boston.
In a sketch of the life and character of Judge Sewall, pub- lished in the American Quarterly Register, February, 1841, Rev. Samuel Sewall says,-
Judge Sewall's principles in religion were strictly Calvinistic and Con- gregational. He was warmly attached to that system of faith, and to those forms of worship and government in the church, which were em- braced and practised by the Puritan settlers of New England. Occa- sionally he employed his pen in their illustration and defence ; and was strongly opposed to all innovations in doctrine, as well as very jealous of any ceremonies or usages in divine service that savored of prelacy or were of human invention. And yet he abhorred persecution; did not confine religion or his charity to persons of his own denomination; and could be candid and forbearing to men who, while they conformed to the generally received standards of Congregationalism both in doctrine and church government, manifested occasionally some difference of re- ligious sentiment ; or who, on account of some novelties in their modes of worship and discipline, were regarded, for a season at least, with aversion and suspicion by the great body of the people. With many Episcopalians, for instance, he lived on terms of intimacy and friend- ship, though, from conscientious objections to the burial office, he would seldom, if ever, enter the church at their funerals. And, though he had a strong dislike to prelacy and the book of common prayer, yet he would speak of individual bishops in terms of great respect and commenda- tion, and held portions of that standard of conformity in public worship in high reverence and esteem. Among the last authors whom he ap- pears to have read or consulted were Bishops Jewell and Pearson; and one of his last efforts on his dying-bed was to repeat that favorite formula of belief in the Episcopal service, the Apostles' Creed.
There are several good portraits of Judge Sewall in exist- ence. Miss Henrietta B. Ridgeway, of Boston, the sixth in
* Letter Book, volume 2, page 183.
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SAMUEL SEWALL
descent from Samuel Sewall, Jr. (son of Judge Sewall), has in her possession the original painting from which the photo- engraving accompanying this sketch was taken. The canvas measures four feet by six, and the picture is evidently the work of an accomplished artist.
Other portraits similar in style and workmanship are owned by Mr. Samuel Sewall, of Burlington, Mass., and by Dr. Daniel D. Gilbert, of Dorchester, Mass. A copy of one of these old portraits hangs in the library of the new court- house at Salem.
THE TOPPAN HOUSE.
THE TOPPAN HOUSE.
Toppan's Lane, or Street, as it is now called, was probably laid out previous to Aug. 5, 1650. On that day Edward Woodman sold to Henry Sewall forty acres of upland, with house and barn thereon (Ipswich Deeds, book I, page 68 (212).
In the conveyance of a portion of this land to Jacob Toppan, twenty years later, the lane is called Woodman's Lane, and is evidently the same way or street that, in the first-mentioned deed, is said to lead down to the Aspen Swamp.
The house now standing on this lot of land was built by Jacob Toppan at or about the time of his marriage to Hannah Sewall, daughter of Henry Sewall. Among the interesting papers and documents in the possession of the Historical Society of Old Newbury is the original contract or agree- ment providing for the transfer of this land. Apparently, only one of the contracting parties signed this agreement ; and for this reason, probably, it was not acknowledged before a justice of the peace or recorded with other important papers at Ipswich. It reads as follows : -
This Indenture made the twentieone of June One thousand Six hun- dred and Seventie, Between Mr. Henry (and his wife Jane) Sewall, on the one partie, And Jacob Toppan, of Newbury, on the other partie Witnesseth that the sayd Henry Sewall for and in consideration of a marriage (by God's Grace) intended & shortly to be had and solemnized between the said Jacob Toppan and Hannah, the daughter of the said Henry and Jane Sewall, and other considerations ; him the sayd Henry Sewall moving thereunto: hath Given, Granted, Assigned, and Con- firmed, and by these presents doth give, grant, assigne, and confirms fully, clearly, and absolutely unto the sayd Jacob and Hannah a certain parcel or tract of land, lying, situate, and being in Newbury aforesaid,
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at the northerly end of his house-lott; as this day staked out, by Abra- ham Toppan himself and the sayd Jacob Toppan, conteyning sixteen acres, be it more or less, bounded or abutting easterly by a Lane called Woodman's Lane, Southerly by his the Sayd Henry Sewalls own land, Westerly by some . Land of Will Millburies (?) and Will or Caleb Moody's, and Northernly by the countrie highway. To Have And To Hold the sayd sixteen acres of land, be it more or less, with all and every the Trees, fences, priviledges, liberties, and appurtenances thereto belonging. . . . In Witness whereof the sayd Henry Sewall hath hereunto set his hand and seale and the sayd Jacob Toppan also interchangeably the twentie first day of June one thousand six hundred and seventie.
Sealed and delivered in presence of SAMUEL SEWALL. JACOB TOPPAN.
Although the "sixteen acres of land, more or less, on Woodman's Lane," were not legally conveyed by the incom- plete agreement quoted above, it is evident from the follow- ing clause, taken from the will of Henry Sewall, dated Aug. 17, 1678, and proved May 24, 1700, that Jacob Toppan built a house there previous to 1678 : -
I give to my sonne in law, Jacob Topan, & my daughter, Hannah Topan, his wife, sixteen acres of land, be it more or less, whereon his house now standeth, as it lyes already bounded, being a part of the forty acres purchased of Mr. Woodman, during their natural lives ; ... and after their decease I give both the upland and meadow to the heire or heirs begotten or to be begotten of the body of my sayd daughter, Hannah Topan, &c.
Abraham Toppan, father of Jacob Toppan, also made a conveyance of real estate on the twenty-first day of June, 1670. The original deed is in the possession of the Newbury Historical Society. An exact copy may be found in the Essex Registry of Deeds (Ipswich Series, book 3, page 157 (118). It reads as follows : -
To all people to whom this present writing shall come to be read or understood know yee: that I, Abraham Toppan of Newbury in ye county of Essex in N: E: yeoman, in consideration of a marriage shortly by God's mercy to be solemnized between my son Jacob and Hannah, ye daughter of Mr. Henry Sewall of Newbury aforesaid ; and for other good just causes and considerations me thereunto moving
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THE TOPPAN HOUSE
Have Given, Granted, Assigned, Made over, Conveyed and Confirmed either one half part or moity of my home lot, consisting of 26 acres of Orchard, plow-ground & pasture land, wt ye one half of all my other Lands dividend, meadow & marish in Newbury aforesaid, wt ye cleare half of all ye liberties, priviledges and appertinances to ye same belong- ing, wt one half of ye barn & outhouses which were in my possession ye 30 day of July, 1661 : or ye full value of ye premises aforementioned into ten shillings; wt my hay lot by me purchased at plum-island of Richard Dole & other estate, goods & chattels, wt my dwelling-house as expressed in my will, signed and sealed in presence of Mary Lunt, Joseph Hills & Henry Sewall, bearing date ye 20 day of June, 1670; as in my said will is more at large expressed : ... in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seale ye 21 of June 1670, And in ye twenty second yeare of our sovereign Lord Charles ye II., by ye grace of God, of England, Scotland, France & Ireland King, Defender of ye faith, &c.
Sealed & delivered in ye presence of MARY LUNT HENRY SEWALL JOSEPH HILLS
ABRAHAM TOPPAN.
June 22nd, 1670, Abraham Toppan did acknowledge this writing to be signed & sealed by him as his act and deed before me.
JULY 5th, 1670.
DANIELL DENISON.
Recorded among ye records of Lands for Essex at Ipswich in ye third book folio : 157 per me ROBERT LORD, Recorder.
Abraham Toppan, who signed and executed the above deed, was born in England about the year 1608. He mar- ried Susannah Goodale, daughter of Elizabeth Goodale. He sailed from Yarmouth with his wife and two children May 10, 1637 ; and the same year, October 16, he was admitted to the rights and privileges of an inhabitant of the town of Newbury in New England.
When the meeting-house was removed to the new town in 1646, it was set up "in or upon a knowle of upland by Abraham Toppan's barne," near the northerly line or limit of the burying-ground at the "trayneing green." Mr. Toppan owned at that date twenty-six acres of land on the easterly
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side of High Street, extending from the lot where the meet- ing-house was erected to Muzzey's Lane (now known as Marl- borough Street), with dwelling-house, barn, and outbuildings thereon.
July 30, 1661, he conveyed to his son Peter one-half of this land, house, barns, etc., by a deed recorded in Ipswich Series, book 3, page 159 (119). This deed also provides that, after the decease of the testator and his wife Susanna, the other half of this estate shall become the property of "the said Peter Toppan."
Abraham Toppan died Nov. 5, 1672, aged sixty-four. His children were as follows : -
Peter, born in England in 1634; married, April 3, 1661, Jane, daughter of Christopher Batt, of Boston.
Elizabeth, born in England; married Samuel Mighill, of Rowley, March 21, 1657.
Abraham, born in Newbury in 1644; married Ruth, daughter of John Pike ; died (leaving no issue) in 1704.
Jacob, born in Newbury in 1645 ; married Hannah Sewall, daughter of Henry Sewall.
Susanna, born in Newbury June 13, 1649.
John, born in Newbury April 23, 1651 ; married, first, Martha Browne Sept. 1, 1681, and, second, Mrs. Ruth Heard in 1717.
Isaac, born in Newbury; married, first, Hannah Kent Sept. 29, 1669, and, second, Mary March, March 27, 1691.
In the will of Abraham Toppan, dated June 20, 1670, and proved March 25, 1673, there is a clause which reads as follows : -
Yet forasmuch as my son Jacob is shortly by God's permission to enter marriage with Hannah, the daughter of Mr Henry and Jane Sewall, and to live in the house with myself and wife, &c., as long as my wife & self live, ... my full mind and desire is that my son Peter be content to let fall his clayme unto the other half part of the housing, lands, and other the premises before expressed, menconed in the sayd, covenant to the end my son Jacob may inherit the same.
Some complications and disagreements seem to have re- sulted from this attempt to annul the deed of conveyance made in 1661. When the will was presented for probate,
-
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THE TOPPAN HOUSE
Peter Toppan filed a caveat, stating " that my deare ffather Abraham Toppan did give unto me one half his estate, . . . and put me (or us) in possession of the other half in some sort by our making use of it together with them soe long as we dwelt together." There are also several depositions of personal friends and relatives who testify to certain facts and circumstances connected with the first conveyance of the property to Peter Toppan. It is somewhat uncertain how the question of ownership was finally settled ; but appear- ances seem to indicate that Peter Toppan retained possession of the old homestead. In the records of the town of New- bury, under date of July 8, 1698, is the following entry : -
Whereas Dr. Peter Toppan hath fenced in a part of the highway between the meeting house and Muzzie's Lane, the town do desire and appoint the men hereafter named to be a committee to find where the bounds of sª Dr. Toppan's land is, at his charges, and to bring report to the town at their next meeting concerning the way against said land between it and Merrimack river. Ye persons appointed for sd committee are Coll Daniel Pierce, Esq., Major Davidson, Esq., Capt. Henry Somerby, Corporal George Merrill & Henry Short.
Meanwhile the house in Toppan's Lane had been built, and was occupied by a large and growing family.
Jacob Toppan, son of Abraham Toppan, married Hannah Sewall Aug. 24, 1670. Their children were as follows :-
Jacob, born May 20, 1671 ; married Sarah Kent.
Samuel, born Sept. 30, 1672 ; died Aug. 18, 1691. Jane, born Sept. 28, 1674.
John, born Jan. 29, 1677 ; married Judith Moody.
Hannah, born March 4, 1679.
Elizabeth, born Dec. 20, 1680 ; married Cutting Noyes.
Abraham, born June 29, 1684; married Esther Wigglesworth, daughter of Rev. Michael Wigglesworth.
Anne, born May 16, 1686; married Nathaniel Rolfe.
Judge Samuel Sewall says in his diary, under date of Aug. 19, 1691, with reference to the illness of Samuel Toppan, ---
Sent Jane to Newbury by Tim" Burbenk to help tend her Brother Sam. Toppan, who is there taken ill of the Small Pocks.
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And under date of August 28, Friday, he writes of his death as follows : -
Fast at Charlestown where I am. After my coming home, when tis almost dark, Jane Toppan comes in from Newbury and brings the very sorrowfull News of the death of Cous. Sam Toppan last Tuesday night about nine of the clock; buried the Wednesday night following because of the Heat. No minister with him; Mr. Shove prayd not with him at all, went not to him till was Just dying; Suppose might be afraid 's school.
Samuel Toppan was only nineteen years of age at the time of his death. Mr. Shove was undoubtedly his teacher. It is evident from this brief extract from Judge Sewall's diary that Mr. Shove's conduct on this occasion was not looked upon with approval, and that he was expected in case of sickness, however dangerous or contagious it might be, to visit the suf- fering pupil, and offer him spiritual food and consolation. That his labors were onerous and his compensation exceed- ingly meagre is apparent from the following vote, passed at a general town meeting held in May, 1691 :-
The town grants Mr. Seth Shove thirty pounds for the year ensuing, provided he will be our schoolmaster and so forth as followeth ; namely, to teach readers free, Latin scholars sixpence per week, writers and cypherers fourpence per week, to keep the school one third part of the year at the middle of the new towne, one third part at the school house, and the other third part about middle way between the meeting house and old town ferry.
Judge Sewall often mentions "Brother Jacob Toppan and sister Hannah Toppan" in his diary. He was a frequent visitor at the house in Toppan's Lane, and often lodged there for a night. In 1701, on his way from Exeter and Ports- mouth to Ipswich, Salem, and Boston, under date of July 12, he says : -
Bairsto and I alone goe to Newbury betime, over Carr's bridge. Dine at Bror Topans, visit Arch. Woodman ; Lodge at sister Gerrishes.
The bridge to which reference is made in the above quota- tion was the floating bridge that has been described in con-
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THE TOPPAN HOUSE
nection with Carr's Ferry, and was the only route by which travellers could reach Newbury from the east.
John Sewall, brother of Judge Sewall and Hannah Toppan, lived near the Toppan house in Toppan's Lane. He died Aug. 8, 1699. Hannah Toppan died Nov. 11, 1699; and Jacob Toppan married, for his second wife, Mrs. Hannah Fessenden Sewall, widow of John Sewall.
The pleasant and friendly relations that existed between the families of Jacob Toppan and Judge Sewall were not interrupted by this event, and the interchange of hospitalities occurred with even more frequency during the next ten or fifteen years. In his diary, Judge Sewall often notes the arrival in Boston of some member of " brother Jacob Top- pan's family "; and many of the references in that journal to Newbury contain items of local interest, like the following : -
May 12, 1716, Go to Ram Island with Bror Topan and Capt. Green- lef. Dine at Bror Topan's. Visit my Relations.
Jacob Toppan died Dec. 30, 1717, aged seventy-three. His widow died April 4, 1723. The house in which he lived is still standing, and has remained in the possession of his lineal descendants from the day of his death to the present time.
MILL AT THE MOUTH OF ARTICHOKE RIVER.
MILL AT THE MOUTH OF ARTICHOKE RIVER.
John Emery was born in England Sept. 29, 1598. He sailed from Southampton April 3, 1635, with his wife and children, accompanied by his brother Anthony Emery and family, and arrived in Boston June 3, 1635.
A few weeks later he came to Newbury, and was granted half an acre of land at the Lower Green for a house lot. He was made a freeman in 1641, and in 1642 his name appears in the list of ninety-one proprietors who are " acknowledged to have proportionable rights in all the common and undivided land within the limits of the town."
Under date of Dec. 18, 1645, Coffin, in his History of Newbury, says a committee of seven men were appointed to make arrangements for the construction of a grist-mill in the town ; and this committee agreed to give John Emery and Samuel Scullard £20 in merchantable pay, with ten acres of upland and six acres of meadow, and also to make the mill free from all taxes for the first seven years, and a freehold to them and their heirs forever, provided they would agree on their part "to set up said mill between Nicholas Holt's point and Edward Woodman's bridge ready for the towne's use to grind the town's grists at or before the twenty ninth of September, 1646."
Notwithstanding the urgent need of a grist-mill in that locality, and the liberal offer made in behalf of the town, the conditions of the proposal were not complied with, and the mill was not built until thirty years later.
May 18, 1647, the town granted John Emery about three acres of land in the vicinity of Old Town Hill, reserving twenty rods for a " burying place." This lot of land is still
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known as the "Emery Lot," and is more fully described in the preceding pages in connection with the settlement at the Lower Green.
In 1663, he was presented to the court at Ipswich for en- tertaining travellers and Quakers. From the evidence sworn to by several witnesses it appears " yt two men quakers wr en- tertained very kindly to bed and table, & John Emmerie shok ym by ye hand and bid y™ welcome." Also "that the witness heard John Emery and his wife say that he had entertained quakers and that he would not put them from his house, and used arguments for the lawfulness of it." He was fined £4 and cost of court. He died Nov. 3, 1683.
John Emery, Jr., was born in England about 1628, and came to Newbury with his father in 1635. In the town records, under date of April 10, 1644, is the following state- ment : -
There was laid out unto John Emery, junior, four score akers of upland, bee it more or lesse, joyneing unto Merrimacke river on the north and running from the mouth of Artichoke river unto a marked tree by a swamp on the northwest corner, being about one hundred and thirty two rods long at the head of the cove, thence about an hundred rods to the Southwest Corner, thence running on a strait lyne about an hundred and fifty six rods to Artichoke river on the east about eighty rods broad.
Rev. Rufus Emery, in his genealogy of the Emery family, says : ----
Forty acres of this land was a grant of the town of Newbury to John Emery, Senior, and by him given to his son in consideration of love and affection. The remaining forty acres were bought of Archelaus Wood- man for thirty pounds, being a town grant to him.
This land has remained in the possession of the descend- ants of John Emery from 1644 to the present time. It is now owned by Mrs. Mary Hale Emery, widow of Rev. Samuel Emery, D. D., and daughter of the late Eliphalet Emery, of West Newbury.
John Emery, Jr., married, Oct. 2, 1648, Mary Webster, daughter of John and Mary Webster, and probably built the
27I
MILL AT THE MOUTH OF ARTICHOKE RIVER
first dwelling-house on this land, and commenced housekeep- ing there about that date.
At a legal meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Newbury Nov. 22, 1678, the town
Granted to John Emery, Jun'r, twelve acres of land on the west side of Artichoke River adjoyneing to his owne land, Provided that he build and maintaine a corne Mill to grind the Towne's corne from time to time, and to build it within one yeare and an halfe after the Date hereof, And the Inhabitants of the Towne to have their corne ground according to their Turnes before any of another Towne.
And March 3, 1678-9, the following vote was passed :-
Whereas there is some dafficulty about John Emery his grant above- said about the mill, It was referred to Capt Daniel Pierce, Richard Bartlet, and Tristram Coffin to treat with John Emery & to perfect the said Bargaine both for place and other conveiniances belonging there unto & bring it to the Towne the next meeting.
The report submitted by this committee was not recorded, or, if recorded at that time, has since been lost or purloined from the records. It is evident, however, from subsequent developments that satisfactory arrangements were made for the construction of a dam and the erection of a mill at the mouth of the Artichoke River, and that the work was under- taken during the ensuing summer and carried through to its completion. Dec. 13, 1686, the town appointed a committee "to lay out a convenient highway of such breadth as they shall see meet thro' the plaines to Sergeant Emery's mill." Under the care and supervision of John Emery the mill was put in operation and did efficient service for many years.
April 18, 1693, being in failing health, John Emery made an agreement with his son Stephen "to tend the said mill or provide one that hath skill to doe it, & to be att half the charges to maintain and keep in good repair all the running geers & Iron work of the said mill." And " the said Stephen Emery is for his pains to have half of the income of the mill & his father, John Emery, the other half during his natural life, & after his decease the said mill to be to the said Stephen
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Emery as his own free and proper estate " (Essex Registry of Deeds, book 9, page 146).
This agreement to convey the mill and other property to Stephen Emery was confirmed by a deed dated May 19, 1693, and recorded in book 9, page 119, and also by the will of John Emery, dated Aug. 3, 1693, and proved Sept. 26, 1693.
Stephen Emery, who came into possession of the property on the death of his father, was born in Newbury Sept. 6, 1666, and married, Nov. 29, 1692, Ruth, daughter of Henry and Anna Jaques. He had charge of the mill, and " attended to the grinding of the town's corne" for more than fifty years.
In confirmation of a grant of land made to John Emery, of which no record could be found, it was voted at a legal meeting of the town of Newbury March 8, 1696-7, that
Whereas there was three acres of land lying on the east side of Arte- choak River granted formerly to Serj. John Emery towards the building his corne mill, and it was formerly laid out and bounded as it is now fenced together with the stream of Artechoak River; but there being no record to be found of the same the Towne now by theyr vote do confirm the said three acres of land as it is now fenced and the privilege of the said demeane unto the lawful heyrs and of the said John Emery, late of Newbury, deceazed, they keeping and maintaining a good & sufficient Corne mill on said stream on the tearms and conditions mentioned in a grant of the Towne, of November 22, 1678, as also of a Deed of a way for passing & repassing for the inhabitants of Newbury on the west side of said Artichoak River bearing date ye fourth of february, 1696-7.
Vera Copia Taken out of the Records of Newbury this 24th day of March, 1698-9.
Attes HENRY SHORT, Towne 'Cle. for Newbury.
Stephen Emery died Feb. 1, 1746-7, leaving a family of eleven children. His only son, Stephen, born July 16, 1710, came into possession of the mill property. He married Hannah, daughter of Henry and Hannah Rolfe, May 5, 1732. Sept. 28, 1761, he sold the grist-mill, and also a saw-mill ad- joining the same, to Jonathan Bagley, of Amesbury (Essex Registry of Deeds, book 120, page 144).
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MILL AT THE MOUTH OF ARTICHOKE RIVER
It is a tradition in the family that Stephen Emery sold this property in order to raise money for the purpose of estab- lishing his son Benjamin in business at Rumford, now Concord, N. H. The purchaser, Jonathan Bagley, was re- quired to give a bond in the sum of one thousand pounds sterling "to faithfully perform the conditions with Respect to grinding corn for the inhabitants of the Town of Newbury agreeable to the Conditions in which the said Stream was granted to John Emery." This bond is in the possession of Mrs. Mary Hale Emery, a lineal descendant of Stephen and John Emery.
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