USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newbury > Ould Newbury: historical and biographical sketches > Part 2
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I7
THE SETTLEMENT AT THE LOWER GREEN
following in order successively one after another," and also to cause every person in their several divisions "to stand sentinell at the doores all the time of the publick meeting, every one after another, either by himself, in person, or by a sufficient substitute."
Notwithstanding the perils and dangers to which they were exposed, the population steadily increased in numbers and gradually improved in worldly condition. Among those who came to Newbury in 1639 were John, Richard, and Per- cival Lowell, who had been merchants in Bristol, England, and Anthony Somerby, who was the first schoolmaster em- ployed by the town. From the records it appears :-
There was granted unto Anthony Somerby in the year 1639 for his encouragement to keepe schoole for one yeare four akers of upland over the great river in the necke, also sixe akers of salt marsh next to Abraham Toppan's twenty akers.
Some years later (May 14, 1653), after the removal of the settlement to the Upper Green, two or three miles farther north, the town "voted to pay £24 yearly to maintain a free school to be held at the meeting-house, the master to teach all children sent to him so soon as they have their letters and begin to read."
Important business enterprises were undertaken at a very early date. Nicholas Easton, afterward governor of Rhode Island, was the first tanner of whom we have any account. He is supposed to have occupied a tan-yard on the banks of the river Parker, and some traces of the old vats are still pointed out on land owned at the present time by Mr. Nathaniel Dole. A few years later John Bartlett started a tanning establishment at Bartlett's Cove, and his descend- ants continued the business for more than two centuries.
From the will of Richard Dole, dated March 25, 1698, and proved July 30, 1705, it appears that he was engaged in mer- cantile pursuits at an early date, and was also a dealer in hides and leather. He came to Newbury from Bristol, Eng- land, in 1639. He settled at the Lower Green, and probably purchased the land owned by Nicholas Easton, who had been
18
OULD NEWBURY
disfranchised by the General Court, and had removed to Rhode Island. The items relating to the disposal of the tan- house and tan-yard read as follows : -
To my son Richard Dole .... Also one half of my bark house & mill & of all my other implements of Tanning. Also one half of my Tan House & tan yard & pitts, with Eighty Rods of Land on the Northerly side of the wharf to be laid out from the Green to the Gutter so as may be most convenient for a Tanning design, the one half of the said Land that the bark house, pits, & Tan house stands on to be part of the Eighty rods of Land, with the proviso that neither he nor his shall have Liberty to set up a dwelling house on the said Eighty Rods or any part thereof. ... Also I give to my said son Richard Dole one half of the hides and leather that belong to me in the pits or elsewhere. I give to my son William Dole, and heirs forever, my Dwelling house that I now dwell in, Together with my barn & other out-houses, with the Lands that they Now Stand on, with the Land next Adjacent, both upland and Meadow, to the heads of the Lots with my Orchard thereon & to the River; & the other end or side is bounded by an easterly line from Bloomfield's old house to the head of the Lots by a west line to the green, together with five lots, four Acres Apiece, be they more or Less; viz., Spencers Lot, Franklin Lot, Nath'l Badgers Lot, & two Lots known by the name of the Moody Lots. ... Also one quarter part of the Hides and Leather that do belong to me in the pit or elsewhere. ... To my son Abner Dole. ... I give him one Quarter part of all the hides and Leather that do belong to me in the pit or elsewhere.
Most of the land conveyed by the above will has remained in the possession of the family down to the present time, and is now owned and occupied by Nathaniel Dole, sixth in descent from Richard Dole.
In the plan of the old town a street is laid down extending from the east gutter, so called, along the bank of the river Parker to the marsh land beyond. This street was doubtless intended to serve as a highway for the transportation of hay, fish, and other products of the land and sea ; but, proving inconvenient, Thomas Silver, who owned ten acres of marsh near the landing-place, was induced to grant the inhabitants of the town liberty to pass and repass over his private prop- erty. In the Proprietors' Records, under date of Sept. 6, 1650, is the following entry :-
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THE SETTLEMENT AT THE LOWER GREEN
In Consideration of Thomas Silver, his receiving a parcell of Marsh about an acre, be it more or less, by a parcell of Marsh he bought of Henry Jaques in the Great fields or Marsh lands below the Lotts at the Old Towne almost rounded by Creeks, which is at the East end of the marsh that was formerly Samuel Scullards Marsh, and now Thomas Silvers, which the said Thomas Silvers doth by these presents engage and give liberty for a way for Carting and Sledding through the ten acres of Marsh that he bought, which was Samuel Scullards, for all those that have neede of a way from the Marsh that is called Jericho or thereabouts, in the most convenient place forever.
ANTHONY SOMERBY.
Some years later a new way was laid out through the land of Richard Dole "which is next to the lane of Thomas Silver," as will appear from the lot layers' reports and other statements, as follows : -
Whereas, upon complaint of the way next Newbury River into the marshes is now not passable, the Townsmen, taking into consideration, have exchanged the said Highway, with all the land that lies common between if and the bank, with Richard Dole, for a more convenient way through the land of said Richard Dole, which is next to the lane of Thomas Silver; and so to go cross the land of Richard Dole, until it come to the old way, as it hath been viewed, and as it shall be staked out, and seen passable by the men appointed.
The breadth of the way in the Ploughlands Shall be a rod and a half. and afterwards two rods all along, but, if it be fenced, then to have it half a rod wider ; and this way is appointed only for a cart or sled.
ANTHONY SOMERBY, Clerk.
ffor a farther explanation and confirmation of the Grant of Richard Dole heer abovesaid, whereas ther is expressed abovesaid that he should have all the land that lies comon between the highway and the Bank, ther is now Granted all the land that lyes in comon to him be- tween his owne land and The River all a Long as farr as the way goes in the upland to the Marsh, The Towne reserving Liberty to any Inhabi- tant in the Towne for fishing, Fowling, landing goods or Hay, Seizing Canooes, or Cutting Creek grass on the Flats or the Like. And, in con- sideration of resigning up into the Townes two acres of land which was Benjamin Rolfes in the aspen swamp, the Towne Granted unto Richard Dole the enlargement of the old way unto the River, and also all the Marsh that Lyes comon adjoyning to the way next John Pike, sen'r, his marsh below Sergeants being about an acre or thereabout, Provided the said Richard Dole give satisfaction to Benjamin Rolfe.
20
OULD NEWBURY
NOVEMBER 29th, 1654.
Acording to the Appoyntment of the Towne we have laid out the way to the neck and through the neck to the marshes on the east side of the old Towne, as followeth : ---
From Merrimack street Downe a long Richard Dole's land at that side which is next to Thomas Silver's lands and joyning unto it to lye one Rod and an halfe while it is unfenced, and to be two rods wide if it be fenced. And so to run from thence athwart the lower end of the Lotts. as it is staked out unto John Emery's lands, uppon the neck at the Southwest Corner, from thence Eastward by the North of Thomas Silver's lands a rod and an half wide while it is unfenced, and two Rod wide if fenced, from thence South Eastward unto the north side of John Pike's meadow, from there northward, as it is marked with Trees and Stakes, by the upper ends of the meadows unto Gyles Cremwels, alias Cromlans, meadow, all Two Rod wide.
Laid out by us RICHARD KNIGHT, JOHN PIKE, JOHN CHENY
pr ANTHONY SOMERBY, Recorder.
This old lane or way is still in use, and extends from near the eastern end of the Lower Green to the old landing-place on the river Parker. During the last ten or fifteen years the erection of summer cottages in that vicinity has greatly in- creased the travel over this ancient thoroughfare.
July 8, 1635, the General Court granted liberty "to M' Dumer & M' Spencer to build a myll & weire att the falls of Newberry, to enjoy the said myll & weire with such previ- lidges of grounds & tymber as is expressed in an agreemt betwixte them & the towne, to enjoy to them & their heires forever." This mill was undoubtedly the first one erected within the territorial limits of Newbury. Governor Winthrop, in his History of New England (edition of 1853, volume I, page 234), says, "a water mill was erected at Salem, and an- other at Ipswich, and another at Newbury " in 1636.
In the town records, under date of Aug. 6, 1638, the fol- lowing agreement is recorded : -
It is agreed wth Mr. Richard Dummer of Newbury by the psons whose names are hereunto subscribed that in case Mr. Dummer doe make his mill fitt to grynd Corne & doe so maintayne the same, as also doe keepe a man to attend the grynding of Corne, then they for their
2I
THE SETTLEMENT AT THE LOWER GREEN
pts will send thither all the Corne that they shall have ground; & doe likewise pmise that all the rest of the Toune (if it lye in their power to p'cure the same) shall also bring their Corne from tyme to tyme to be ground at the said mill; And it is further agreed that (the 'fore men- c'oned condic'on being observed by Mr. Dummer) there shall not any other mill be erected wthin the said Toune.
On the margin of the book containing the above record are the signatures of Edward Woodman, Edward Rawson, John Knight, and Richard Brown.
Sept. 2, 1635, Francis Plumer was licensed by the General Court "to keep an ordinary in Newbury "; and this was, un- doubtedly, the first tavern opened to the public within the limits of the town.
June 6, 1637, John Knight, of Newbury, was licensed to keep an ordinary and give intertainment to such as neede .- Massachusetts Colony Records, volume I, page 199.
The total area of marsh and upland within the limits of the township was nearly thirty thousand acres. The extreme length of the town from the mouth of the Merrimack River to the farthermost western boundary was nearly thirteen miles ; and the width, at the broadest part, was about six miles.
In the first division of this land among the settlers every person who had put £50 into the common stock was granted two hundred acres ; and every person who had transported himself and family to New England at his own expense was entitled to fifty acres. This rule was strictly adhered to, and was evidently intended to encourage immigration and induce men of wealth to settle in Newbury. "Such adventurers as send over any person are to have fifty acres for each person whom they send." In conformity to this agreement the town laid out to Mr. Richard Dummer 1,080 acres, to Mr. Henry Sewall 630 acres, Mr. Edward Rawson 580 acres, Mr. John Clark 540 acres, and so, in proportion to the amount of money each had invested, down to the house lot of four acres with the right of pasturage, which was given to even the poorest settler.
22
OULD NEWBURY
That portion of the land in the southerly part of the town that was not specially laid out and granted to individuals was divided into several sections, known as "the Ox Common," "Cow Common," "Calf Common," and "Sheep Range," while the whole of what is now West Newbury was called the " Upper Woods."
The work of felling forest trees, clearing away the thick undergrowth, and preparing the soil, in favorable localities, for cultivation, was actively undertaken and steadily pursued until the annual crops of barley, wheat, and Indian corn grew more and more abundant. There was no lack of plain and nourish- ing food. The woods abounded with game. The supply of beef, mutton, and poultry, was more than equal to the de- mand. Of fish, especially sturgeon, salmon, codfish, and bass, there was plenty. Home-brewed beer was the common beverage until the growth of orchards and the plentiful sup- ply of apples led to the introduction of cider as a substitute. Tea and coffee, and even potatoes, were unknown in New England until nearly a century later.
-Though living near the ocean, there were but two persons among the original settlers who were acquainted with nauti- cal affairs. One was Mr. Thomas Milward, who owned a shallop, and is styled "mariner" in the records; and the other was Captain John Cutting, "shipmaster." Aquila Chase was induced in 1646 to remove from Hampton to Newbury by a vote of the proprietors, which reads as follows :
Granted to Aquila Chase, anno 1646, four acres of land at the new towne for a house-lott, and six acres of upland for a planting lott, where it is to be had, and six acres of Marsh, where it is to be had also, on condition that he do goe to sea and do service in the towne with a boate for four years.
There is a tradition, says Coffin, in his History of Newbury, that Aquila Chase was the first person who brought a vessel over the bar at the mouth of the Merrimack River. He was undoubtedly a good pilot as well as an experienced fisherman.
The first white child born in Newbury was Mary Brown, daughter of Thomas Brown. She married Peter Godfrey
23
THE SETTLEMENT AT THE LOWER GREEN
May 13, 1656, and died April 16, 1716, in the eighty-first year of her age. Joshua Woodman, son of Edward Wood- man, was the first white male child born within the same territorial limits. He died May 30, 1703, aged sixty-seven, and was buried at Byfield.
Other births recorded in the original book of records are :
Shubael Dumer, sonne of Mr. Dumer, borne the 17th day of Feb- ruary, 1635-6.
Elizabeth Holt, ye daughter of Nicholas Holt, husbandman, was borne the 30th March, 1636.
The names of those who died at this early date were not recorded, or, if recorded, have since been lost or destroyed. Previous to the year 1641 the only entries are, --
Thomas Cromlome dyed 1635; ye wife of Thomas Cromlome, dyed 1635;
and these entries were evidently not made at the time, but interpolated some years later.
The first death where the name and date are given in full is that of John Kent, son of John Kent, who " dyed ye 7th of February, 1641." After this date evidently more care was bestowed upon the records, and the entries are much more frequent ; but still for many subsequent years they are very defective and incomplete.
A short distance from the Lower Green, and near the travelled highway that leads to the bridge over the river Parker, is the ancient burial-ground where those who died during the first few years of the settlement were buried. Many of the graves are marked by stones with inscriptions, but these tablets are nearly all of them lying flat on the ground and covered with the overgrowing turf. Evidently, the earliest burials were not appropriately marked at the time, and cannot now be identified. The oldest inscription that can be deciphered reads as follows : -
24
OULD NEWBURY
HERE LYES ye
BODY OF WILLAM
DOLE AGED 58 YEARS DIED
JANRY ye 29th 1717-8.
A petition to the General Court, to be found in the Mas- sachusetts Archives, volume 10, pages 27 to 30, signed by Edmund Greenleaf, Daniel Thurston, Stephen Kent, and John Poore, remonstrating against the proposed removal of the meeting-house to the Upper Green, has this significant sentence : -
The high way, in part, that served both town and country, and the very places assigned to bury the dead, and where many dead bodys lye, are sold away, as wee are informed, though all things are secretly carried.
In the town records, under date of May 18, 1647, there is a memorandum to the effect that John Emery for £3 was granted "that parcell of land called the greene, about three akers, being more or lesse, bounded by the half acre lotts on the west, the hye way on the South east and his own land on the north, being in a triangle, only the twenty rods [is] reserved in said land for a burying place, as it is bounded with stakes with a way to it from the Street."
This "parcell of land " is now a cultivated field owned by Mrs. Joseph Ilsley, and is still known as the Emery lot. It is probable that the " burying place," specially reserved in the above grant, was the first one that was laid out and set apart for that purpose within the limits of "Ould Newbury."
THE SPENCER-PIERCE HOUSE.
There is considerable doubt and uncertainty in regard to the date when this ancient stone house was built. Some authorities claim that it was erected by John Spencer between the years 1635 and 1637, and others assert that it was built for his nephew, John Spencer, Jr., between 1640 and 1650 ; and still others are of the opinion that its first owner and occupant was Daniel Pierce, who bought the farm in 1651. Careful examination of the records at Salem, made with spe- cial reference to the preparation of this sketch, does not furnish sufficient evidence to determine the question beyond a reasonable doubt ; but it has led to the discovery of some important facts, now for the first time published, that may be of assistance in arriving at the correct conclusion. It would be impossible to give in detail all the deeds, wills, and other legal instruments that have been consulted, without extending this sketch beyond its proper limits; and therefore only a brief outline of these papers will be inserted here, with such quotations and comments as will enable the reader to follow the changes that have taken place in the ownership of this property from 1635 to the present time.
Among the first settlers who landed at Parker River was Mr. John Spencer. He came to New England in the ship " Mary and John" in company with Thomas Parker, James Noyes, Henry Short, John Bartlett, and others, and was at Ipswich in 1634, where he was made freeman and chosen deputy to the General Court. He came to Newbury in 1635 ; and his name appears on the first page of the Proprietors' Records as the grantee of a house lot "next the great river," as may be seen by reference to the plan of the settlement at the Lower Green on page 14 of this book. In 1636, at the
THE SPENCER-PIERCE HOUSE.
27
THE SPENCER-PIERCE HOUSE
May, September, and December sessions of the General Court, he represented the town of Newbury, and was ap- pointed captain of one of the militia companies organized for the defence of the colony.
In the Registry of Deeds at Salem, Mass. (Ipswich Series), book I, page 183, there is
A Transcript of the lands of Mr. John Spenser, of Newbury, as by the severall graunts doe appeare, as theye were graunted by the towne of Newbury, & recorded in the towne booke of Newbury.
There was graunted by the towne of Newbury unto Mr. John Spenser, gent, of Newbury, in ye yeare 1635, one house lott of foure acres, bee it more or lesse, as it was layed out by the appointed lott layers, in bredth eight rods, in length four skore rod, bounded by ye street next the greate river on the south, a lott of William Francklings on ye north, a lott of William Seargents on ye east, & Merrimack Streete on ye west. Alsoe a farme lotte of foure hundred acres of upland & meadow, be it more or lesse, bounded by Mr. Woodbridge on the north, Mr. Parker on the south, ye street of eight rodds in bredth on the west, next Merri- mack river on the east and the comon on the west end, one hundred & fifty acres whereof, be it more or less, lyeth on the left hand of Merri- mac ridge, the same in bredth as that on ye right hand of the ridge, & in length Six score rodds.
And thirty acres of salt marsh beyond Pyne Island, and three acres of upland, be it more or less, on the neck over the greate river.
EDWARD RAWSON. WILLIAM TITCOME. EDWARD WOODMAN. NICHOLAS NOYES.
vera copia.
p. ANTHONY SUMERBY,
Recorder for ye towne of Newbury.
It is probable that the house lot referred to above was sold or exchanged for other property at a very early date, and that Spencer occupied it only temporarily. The farm of four hundred acres remained in his possession until his death, which occurred ten or twelve years later.
In 1637, John Spencer was condemned and disarmed, with sixty other followers of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson and the Rev. John Wheelwright, for holding erroneous religious opinions ; and August I of that year he made a will, and soon after,
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OULD NEWBURY
probably, went to England,* where he died, unmarried, about 1648. This will does not mention house or buildings of any kind, neither does it give the age of the nephew (John Spencer, Jr.) to whom all the lands and goods belonging to the testator in New England are bequeathed. It is evident from a careful perusal of the document, however, that this nephew was a mere youth at that time, receiving daily in- struction from the Rev. John Cotton, of Boston, where he probably resided during his minority. The full text of this will is given in order that all the important facts may have their proper weight and influence. The will was proved at Salem, March 29, 1649, and is recorded in the Registry of Deeds (Ipswich Series), book 1, page 181.
JOHN SPENSER'S WILL.
Know all men by these presents that, if God be pleased to call me out of this life in this single condition, it is my full purpose and will that John Spenser shall inheritt all my lands & goods which God hath given unto me in this Country of New England, to pay out of the same within three years after my discease to his reverent instructor in Christ, Mr. Cotton, ten pounds, to every house hould servant, which is so at the time of my discease, five pounds a peece, to the children of my cosen Ann Knight of Newbery five pounds a peece, and to herself five pound; and unto every child of my brother Thomas Spenser twenty pounds a peece : to Thomas Theacher five pounds; and to mine honored friend Mr. Dane, Mr. Richard Dumer, Mr. Nicholas Eston, Mr. Foster of Ipswich, and Goodman Motte of Hingham doe I comitte the over- sight & execution of this my will & testament, and doe comend the said John Spenser, my nephew, together with his estate hereby given him, to be managed & ordered for his good, & himselfe for his education to be by their care in ye knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that if money be not in their hands to defray the severall legacies heere be- queathed, that then they take as many cowes or heiffers out of the Stock, and share them betweene them at twenty pounds the beast. till every portion be sattisfied ; and my will is that mine honoured and lov- ing friends should, in their accompt unto mine heire, make abatement for all their paines and charges in the following any business therein contayned, whome I desire the Lord to blesse, that the worke may prosper in theire hands. Dated this first of the sixt month, 1637, and signed with mine owne hand.
per Jo : SPEXCER.
* In a suit brought by Anthony Somerby, as his attorney, in the year 1648, Spencer is described as living in London. See Ipswich Court Files, book 28, page I.
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THE SPENCER-PIERCE HOUSE
My will and intent is, that if John Spenser my nephew, should dye without heires of his body lawfully begotten, that then my brother Thomas Spencer & his children shall share the same, a sonne to have three times as a daughter, and, if they should fail by death, that then the children of my brother Nicholas Kidwel, & the children of my sister Rachell Kidwel, to them halfe theirof, and the next of my blood & whole kindred that shall first come over to reside in this country to have the other halfe; moreover I give to my Cosen Gardner's children twentie Shillings the peece.
Witnesse.
pr. Jo : SPENCER.
ROBERT JEOFFREYS THOMAS THACHER.
To the above is added the following statement : -
Left at Newbury 11 cows, 3 heyfers, 4 oxens, I steere, 4 cow calves, 1 bull, 7 steere calves, 1 mare, 3 mare colts, beside swine & poultry, corne, cloaths, clothes apparell, household stuffe.
In the records of the Ipswich court is the following state- ment in relation to the presentation of this will : -
The 29th of March, 1649, there was a will delivered into court by Mr Richard Dumar, being the will and testament of Mr John Spencer Heretofore of Newbery, bearing date the first of the sixt month, 1637, wittnesed by Robert Jeofferyes & Thomas Thacher.
Mr Rich Dumar sworne testified the will above mentioned was de- livered into his hands before Mr Spencers goeing to England.
It is not reasonable, in view of these facts, to suppose that the old stone house now standing on this farm was built during the life of John Spencer, Sr.
When the younger Spencer came into possession of the property in 1649, he could not have been over twenty-one or twenty-two years of age. He was unmarried. He com- menced to sell the land in small lots of eight, ten, and thirty acres each, and finally, Nov. 26, 1651, he conveyed the remainder, consisting of a farm of three hundred acres, to his uncle Daniel Pierce.
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