USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newbury > Ould Newbury: historical and biographical sketches > Part 31
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2. The quantity of lightning that passed through this steeple must have been very great, by its effects on the lofty spire above the bell, and on the square tower, all below the end of the clock-pendulum.
3. Great as this quantity was, it was conducted by a small wire and a clock-pendulum, without the least damage to the building so far as they extended.
4. The pendulum rod, being of a sufficient thickness, conducted the lightning without damage to itself; but the small wire was utterly destroyed.
5. Though the small wire was itself destroyed, yet it had conducted the lightning with safety to the building.
6. And from the whole it seems probable that, if even such a small wire had been extended from the spindle of the vane to the earth before the storm, no damage would have been done to the steeple by that stroke of lightning, though the wire itself had been destroyed.
B. FRANKLIN.
The letter from which the above extract is taken will be found in the second volume, pages 405 to 409 inclusive, of the Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin, edited by John Bigelow, and published in 1887.
In 1755, when Colonel Moses Titcomb, and others, enlisted in the expedition against the French at Crown Point, were ordered to report for duty, a crowded congregation assembled in the Third Parish meeting-house to listen to a sermon by
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Rev. John Lowell, from the text, "For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you." And a few months later, in the same place, services were held to commemorate the courage and heroism of Colonel Titcomb, who was slain in battle Sep- tember 8th of that year. In 1759, Quebec was captured, and the citizens of Newbury had a day of rejoicing. An ox was killed, properly dressed, and broiled on a huge gridiron on the vacant land on the northwesterly side of this meeting-house.
Rev. John Lowell died May 15, 1767 ; and May 11, 1768, Rev. Thomas Cary, of Charlestown, was ordained pastor of the Third Parish. At this time some members of the con- gregation were in favor of inviting Rev. Christopher B. Marsh, of Boston, to take charge of the parish, but, being in a minority, were outvoted, and finally withdrew and formed another religious society with a house of worship on Titcomb Street, opposite Brown's Square.
Under the pastoral care of Rev. Thomas Cary the Third Parish was prosperous and active, especially during the War of the Revolution. Soon after peace was declared efforts were made to repair and improve the old meeting-house. A committee, appointed to consider the subject, reported as follows : -
APRIL 21, 1785.
The Committee appointed by the proprietors of the house of worship where the Revd Mr. Cary is Pastor, to examine said house & consider of the expediency of Repairing it, do Report that they find the House in so defective a State thro every part that they cannot advise to any further Repairs than what may be found necessary to prevent the water from Droping into the Seats & pews, as any Further Repairs in their Oppinion would be Money badly appropriated on Said House ; they also Recommend to the proprietors to have the Spire Taken Down as Low as the Top of the Ogee Roof, it being Unsafe in their Oppinion to stand any Longer. With Respect to the Means proper to be Taken for Building a New Meeting-house, they beg Leave to refer the matter to the Further Consideration of the proprietors. The Committee being unanimous in the Above Report affix their Signatures.
STEPHEN HOOPER, SAM'L BACHELDOR. MOSES FRAZIER, & others.
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On Sunday, March 9, 1788, after morning service, Rev. Thomas Cary was stricken down with paralysis, and never fully recovered from the attack. He was able occasionally to attend to his clerical duties, but it became necessary to furnish him with a colleague; and Rev. John Andrews, of Hingham, was ordained as associate minister Dec. 10, 1788.
At this time many of the prominent citizens of the town were members of the society, and deeply interested in its religious work. Hon. Theophilus Bradbury, afterward justice of the supreme court of Massachusetts, having removed from Portland, Me., was admitted to membership in the church Sept. 23, 1788 ; and Theophilus Parsons, the distin- guished lawyer and jurist, was for many years one of its strongest and most influential friends and supporters. At a later date the name of Hon. Caleb Cushing is found among the worshippers in the Third Parish meeting-house, and for three or four years in succession he was elected proprietors' clerk.
During the year 1794, the records of the parish indicate that some needed repairs were made on the old and some- what dilapidated house of worship; and at the same time it was " voted to make such alterations in the front gallery as may be necessary for the Reception of the organ." *
Oct. 19, 1798, the parish "voted that Hon. Theophilus Bradbury, Hon. Benjamin Greenleaf, and Capt. James Kettell be a Committee to enquire into the Proprietors' title to the land under & adjoining their meeting house, and report thereon together with the evidences of that title"; and on the same day James Prince, Theophilus Bradbury, Jr., and Gilman White were appointed a committee "to see what place or places can be obtained whereon to build a meeting house and on what terms, and what sum may be obtained for the old meeting house and land under and adjoining the same provided a Title with warranty be given by the Proprietors."
In December of the same year the committee report that
* Caleb Cushing, in his History of Newburyport, page 51, says, " It is mentioned in the news- papers of the day that Nov. 6, 1796, the church organ, built by Dr. Josiah Leavitt, of Boston, was put up in the meeting-house of this society."
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" they find no vote or grant respecting the land covered by the meeting house, but the Proprietors have been in quiet and peaceable possession of the same for more than sixty years, they have acquired a good, lawful, and complete title thereto. The triangular piece of land adjoining the north- westerly side of said house was purchased by the Proprietors of Jeremiah Pearson and others on the 21st day of August, 1765, as by their deed of warranty appears."
The deed to which reference is made in the above report was recorded in the Essex Registry of Deeds, book '134, page 26, and reads as follows :-
Jeremiah Pierson, Joiner, Samuel Gerrish, Joiner, William Daven- port, innholder, & uxor Sarah, Anthony Gwynn, merchant, & uxor Mary, & Abigail Stapleton, widow, all of Newburyport for {22 138 4ª, paid by the proprietors of the Meeting house in Newburyport where the Revd Mr. John Lowell now officiates, convey to Thomas Moody, maltster, Cutting Bartlett, cordwainer, & John Newman, physician, all of s'd Newburyport, being a Committee of said Proprietors, " a certain triangular piece of land lying on the back of said meeting house & containing six rods of land, be the same more or less, bounded by a two rod way northerly measuring four rods & by a two rod way south- westerly measuring four rods, & on the other side by the aforesaid meeting house there measuring seventy six feet."
This land was conveyed to Jeremiah Pierson and others Nov. 19, 1750, by a deed recorded in book 97, page 17, substantially as follows : -
John March, Joseph Lunt, and John Brown, Junior, committee of the Proprietors of Common lands in Newbury, by a vote passed at the meeting of the Proprietors held May 13, 1743, convey to Capt. Moses Gerrish, Jeremiah Pierson, Jacob Noyes, and Samuel Gerrish, all of Newbury, for a public use, six rods of land in Newbury, to set or build a school house and watch house upon or any other public use that they shall see cause to put said land to.
After a prolonged conference with the authorities of the town, and with citizens who were interested in securing the parish land for a public square, the proprietors under date of April 24, 1800, voted as follows : -
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As the Meeting House belonging to this Propriety is ancient and defective and incapable of suitable Repairs ; and as this Propriety are seized in Fee simple of the land under and adjoining the said House. the same land being in a Triangular Form, and Bounded Southeasterly on State Street, Northerly on Merrimack Street, and Westerly on a street leading from State Street by the Westerly corner of the said House to Merrimack Street, and the same land being inconveniently situated for the erecting of another Meeting House, therefore it is
Voted, that this Propriety will sell and dispose of the said House and land, reserving the cellar Wall and Underpinning of the said House, the Materials of which the Pews are built, the Bell, Clocks, Organ, Electri- cal Rod and Weathercock.
At the same meeting they appointed a committee, consist- ing of Hon. Theophilus Bradbury, Captain James Kettell, and Mr. Leonard Smith, to select a suitable lot of land for the new meeting-house, and report at a future meeting of the proprietors. This committee was also authorized to draw up a plan and make estimates of the probable cost of the building completed, and Theophilus Parsons was requested to apply to the legislature for an act to confirm the doings of the meeting and to vest in the proprietors certain rights and powers petitioned for. Ebenezer Stocker, Nathan Hoyt, and Joshua Carter were appointed a committee to take a deed of the land when purchased and to superintend the building of the new meeting-house.
May 22, 1800, this last-named committee was directed to purchase of Miss Elizabeth Greenleaf a lot of land on Pleas- ant Street in Newburyport, measuring nine rods in front and nine rods and thirteen links in depth, containing about eighty-two rods, commonly called the Rock lot, on the best terms obtainable, not to exceed £6 15s. per rod ; and June 5 this committee was directed to build the meeting-house according to the plans submitted, "with a cellar, a Portico or Piazza, and a handsome Belfry and Spire," and the mem- bership of the committee was enlarged by the appointment of John Greenleaf.
In 1764, the town of Newburyport was incorporated, and the Third Parish in Newbury was subsequently known as the First Parish in Newburyport. Feb. 22, 1794, several
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societies in the town were, by an act of the General Court, made corporations for the purpose of holding real estate and other property ; and the proprietors of this meeting-house were authorized to provide for the support and maintenance of public worship, under the name of "The First Religious Society of Newburyport." By an additional act passed June 12, 1800, the members of the society were authorized to sell their old meeting-house, purchase land, and erect a new build- ing. "The sale of the old meeting-house and land shall not in any manner affect the existence of the first religious society of Newburyport as a corporation, nor its powers, rights, or duties ; but the same corporation shall be deemed and holden in the law to have the same existence and continuance with the same powers, rights, and duties it now has, whether the members thereof attend the public worship of God in the old meeting-house aforesaid, or in the new meeting-house to be erected as aforesaid."
July 10, 1800, the town of Newburyport voted to purchase the land under and adjoining the old meeting-house, and July 17 the proprietors of the Third Parish " Voted that the said Proprietors do hereby grant and agree to and with said Town that their, the said Proprietors land, under and adjoin- ing their said House of Public Worship, shall and may be laid out in manner as the Law directs as and for a Town Way to and for the Use of said Town forever, the said Town paying or securing the payment of the sum of eight Thou- sand dollars to said Proprietors within thirty days from this date .... And it is further provided that said Proprietors do reserve the right of keeping said house on said land for the purpose of Public Worship therein until the first day of November, 1801, and shall be allowed a reasonable time afterward to remove the same, with the cellar wall, &c."
The deed conveying this property for a consideration of $4,400, from "The Proprietors of the First Religious Society in Newburyport " to the town of Newburyport, was dated July 18, 1800, and recorded in the Registry of Deeds, book 167, leaf 20. The balance required to make up the sum of $8,000 was raised by voluntary contributions and by an assessment on the owners of land in that vicinity.
INTERIOR OF MEETING-HOUSE BUILT BY FIRST RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF NEWBURYPORT IN 1801.
L
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THIRD PARISH IN NEWBURY
Sept. 21, 1801, the parish appointed a committee to pur- chase a lot of land adjoining the new meeting-house, on the northwesterly side, provided it can be obtained at a reason- able price ; and the same day authorized Ebenezer Stocker, Nathan Hoyt, Joshua Carter, Jacob Perkins, and Gilman White, " to dispose of the old bell and purchase a new one, not exceeding fifteen hundred pounds' weight, either at Boston, London, or elsewhere as the committee may think best."
Services were held in the old meeting-house for the last time on Sunday, Sept. 27, 1801. On that occasion Rev. Thomas Cary preached an interesting sermon that was after- ward printed at the request of his parishioners. The next day the building was taken down; and the land under and adjoining the same became public property, and is now known as Market Square.
The new meeting-house on Pleasant Street was dedicated Oct. 1, 1801, with appropriate religious exercises, Rev. John Andrews preaching the dedicatory sermon from the text, " Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise : be thankful unto him, and bless his name " (Psalm c : 4).
On the twenty-third day of December, 1802, a resolution of thanks was adopted and entered upon the records in acknowledgment of the faithful and important services ren- dered by the committee specially appointed to superintend its erection.
Rev. Thomas Cary died Nov. 24, 1808. Funeral services were held in the new meeting-house, Rev. John Andrews preaching a sermon appropriate to the occasion, which was afterward printed by order of the parish.
During the next ten or fifteen years there was considerable uneasiness and dissatisfaction among the members of the society, aggravated and intensified by the political opinions and doctrinal views occasionally uttered in the pulpit. While this condition of affairs lasted, the Sunday worshippers gradu- ally diminished in number. It became necessary, however, for those who desired to dissolve their connection with the
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parish to notify the clerk in a legal manner, in order to escape taxation ; and frequent communications like the fol- lowing are entered upon the records : -
NEWBURYPORT, 8th March, 1809.
To the Clerk of the First Religious Society in Newburyport.
Presuming that I may be better and more particularly acquainted and instructed in the principles of the gospel of our Lord, under the pastoral care of the Rev. John Giles than elsewhere, I have, for that and other special reasons, thought proper to attend to devotional wor- ship in his society in preference to that of the First Religious Society in Newburyport. You are therefore notified that I am no longer a member of that society, and request in future not to be taxed there as such.
ABEL STANWOOD.
NEWBURYPORT, 29 April, 1814.
To the Clerk of the First Religious Society in Newburyport.
Sir, Joseph Marquand, being aggrieved at Mr. Andrews Pulpit being a Vehickle of Slander on the 22nd February and 4th of July annually against the Government of the United States, wishes to withdraw his name from the Books of the First Religious Society in Newburyport, and does hereby give notice that he is no longer a member of said Society.
Jos MARQUAND.
Jacob Gerrish, Esq.
NEWBURYPORT, April 27, 1816.
Sur, I wish my name to be wihdrawn from the reckods of the First Religious Society in this Towne as I can gow where I can hear preach- ing that sutes me & my famyly better. JOSEPH GRANGER.
NEWBURYPORT, April 13, 1817.
To the Clerk of the First Religious Society.
Sir, this will inform you that I attend public worship at St. Paul's Church under the Pastoral charge of the Revª James Morss, and wish not to be taxed at your meeting.
STEPHEN HODGE.
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THIRD PARISH IN NEWBURY
Rev. John Andrews remained in charge of the parish until May 5, 1830, when, on account of ill-health and the infirmities of age, he resigned his pas- toral cares, but did not sever his con- nection with the society. He continued to reside in Newburyport during the rest of his life, and died there August 17, 1845. He was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.
Rev. Thomas B. Fox, of Boston, was ordained pastor of the society Aug. 3, 1831, Rev. Charles Lowell, a descend- ant of Rev. John Lowell, the first pastor, preaching the ordination sermon. He remained in active service until April 1, 1846, when he resigned, and removed to Boston. During his pastorate "the Proprietors purchased the lot of land with the buildings thereon lately owned by Robert Laird, contiguous to and on the north side of the Meeting House."
Since that date the following clergy- men have been settled as ministers in the Third Church of Newbury, now or- ganized and incorporated as " The First Religious Society of Newburyport," namely : -
Rev. Thomas W. Higginson from Sept. 15, 1847 to Sept. 16, 1849. Rev. Charles J. Bowen Nov. 29, 1850 " June 10, 1853.
Rev. Artemus B. Muzzey Rev. Joseph May
Sept. 3, 1857 “ Nov. 1, 1864.
". July 21, 1868 “ Dec. 15. 1875.
Rev. George L. Stowell
April 12, 1877 “ Sept. 8, 1879.
Rev. Daniel W. Morehouse " April 8, 1881 “ Dec. 5, 1887.
Rev. Samuel C. Beane April 14, 1888.
SPIRE OF MEETING-HOUSE BUILT IN 1801.
LOWELL HOUSE.
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LOWELL HOUSE.
Rev. John Lowell was regularly ordained and settled as minister of the Third Parish in Newbury Jan. 19, 1726, although he practically assumed its duties several months earlier. Judge Samuel Sewall, in a letter, dated Boston, Jan. 15, 1725-6, to his cousin Henry Sewall, at Newbury, writes with reference to this event : -
'Tis a great thing to be a Foundation Stone in such a Spiritual Building as is now to be erected at Newbury. Am glad your proceed- ings are so far prospered as that you have a prospect of having your Pastor (Mr. John Lowell) ordained next Wednesday. My love to you, your wife and children, and to cousin Abraham Toppan and his family. Pray for me that God would not forsake me now that I am old and Gray-headed.
Your Loving Unkle
SAMUEL SEWALL.
Rev. Mr. Lowell married, Dec. 23, 1725, Sarah Champney, daughter of Noah and Sarah (Tunnell) Champney, and prob- ably commenced housekeeping in a house built about the year 1710 by Edmund Greenleaf on Greenleaf's lane, now State Street.
From a deed recorded in book 21, leaf 192, of the Essex Registry of Deeds, it appears that Stephen Greenleaf sold, for £75, March 2, 1709, two acres of land to Edmund Greenleaf, no house being mentioned. June 10, 1723, Ed- mund Greenleaf conveyed to John Cheyney house, barn, land, etc., valued at £1,400 (book 41, leaf 86).
Sept. 14, 1724, John Cheyney conveyed the land, with the buildings thereon, to Thomas Brown, Jr. (book 47, leaf 31).
May 23, 1726, Thomas Brown, Jr., of Newbury, yeoman
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1
and butcher, for and in consideration of £320, conveyed to John Lowell, clerk, of Newbury, house, barn, and two acres of land in Newbury, described and bounded as follows : east- erly by Greenleaf's lane, southerly by land of John Coffin, westerly by land of Benaiah Tittcomb and land of Parker Greenleaf, deceased, and northerly by land of Ambrose Berry (book 48, leaf 207).
Rev. John Lowell was born in Boston March 14, 1704. He was a son of Ebenezer Lowell, who was a lineal descend- ant of Percival Lowle (as the name was originally written), who came with his wife Elizabeth and three children, John, Richard, and Joan, to Newbury in 1639. He was seven- teen years old when he graduated at Harvard College in 1721, and less than twenty-two when he was ordained minister of the Third Parish. By his first wife he had two sons, one of whom died in 1736, when only eight months old. The other was the distinguished judge, John Lowell, born June 17, 1743. His wife, Sarah (Champney) Lowell, died June 28, 1756, aged fifty-two. For his second wife, he mar- ried, in 1758, Elizabeth, widow of Rev. Joseph Whipple, pas- tor of the church at Hampton Falls, N. H. He had no chil- dren by this marriage. Mr. Lowell was a man of scholarly tastes and liberal theological views. He was inclined to con- sider life and character as of more importance than creeds, and his writings indicate great magnanimity of thought and sentiment. He owned and occupied the house on Green- leaf's lane until his death, which occurred May 15, 1767. He was buried in the Old Hill burying ground; and the people to whom he had ministered for forty-two years erected a monument that still " testifies to the world their grateful remembrance of his faithful services." His son, John Lowell, counsellor at law, married Sarah Higginson Jan. 3, 1767. After his father's decease he occupied the house until March 9, 1771, when he sold, for £920, "the house in which I now live " to Patrick Tracy, merchant, of Newburyport. By the same conveyance Elizabeth Lowell, widow, and Sarah Lowell, his wife, released their rights of dower (Essex Registry of Deeds, book 128, leaf 257).
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LOWELL HOUSE
Through the influence of Patrick Tracy, and other land owners in that vicinity, Greenleaf's lane was widened and called Fish Street. The Lowell homestead was removed to Temple Street, and the brick building now used for a public library was erected on the site thus made vacant.
A communication published in the Newburyport Herald fifty years ago gives the following interesting description of an old painting that formerly occupied an honored position over the fireplace in the old Lowell mansion : -
The first house (now the second) on the right hand side of Temple Street as you enter it from State Street was formerly the residence of Rev. John Lowell, the first pastor of the Third Church in Newbury, now the First Church in Newburyport. This house originally stood in State Street, where the Tracy house now stands. It must be more than a century old. In a back room, supposed to have been the study of Mr. Lowell, on a large panel over the fireplace, is a curious old painting, more remarkable certainly as a curiosity than as a work of art. About two-thirds of the panel is taken up with what seems to be a representation of some volcanic mountains. The other third contains a picture of a " Ministers' Meeting." Seven divines, most of them with countenances indicative of a good deal of the odium theologicum, with huge white wigs, gowns, and bands, are sitting on high-back chairs, around a table, in solemn conclave. On the table are a Bible, a candle, a bowl of tobacco, and a lot of pipes. They seem to be listening to or criticising a manuscript, probably some heretical utterance of the new views of their day. These worthies are in a sort of alcove, over the top of which runs this motto, -- " In necessariis, unitas ; in non- necessariis, libertas ; in utrisque, charitas,"-which may be translated thus : In essentials, unity ; in non-essentials, liberty ; in both, charity. Who painted this picture, and whether the faces are likenesses or not, is more than we can tell. The work is rude enough. The artist seems to have had a sovereign contempt for the laws of perspective. The Bible stands inclined a little, without any support ; and the most natural things about the whole affair are the pipes and the wigs. The painting must be very old, as Mr. Lowell was ordained in 1726 and died in 1767. We hope this ancient relic will be carefully preserved. It furnishes a curious contrast to the present times. Such formidable ministers' meetings have passed away, and white wigs have lost their power. " Tempora mutantur, et nos muttamus in illis."
Some years after the publication of this communication, Rev. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, then a resident of New-
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buryport, bought, for James Russell Lowell, this curious old panel, and, with the consent of Mr. George Fitz, who owned the house at that time, had it carefully removed, and sent to Cambridge, Mass.
The house is still standing on Temple Street. A two-story L has been added to the southeast corner, but otherwise no material changes or alterations have been made in its outward appearance since it was removed to its present site. This addition cannot be seen as one approaches the house from State Street, and is not visible from the point of view chosen for the photo-engraving on page 448.
PEABODY LIBRARY 1852. PE ABODY, MAS S.
OLD HILL BURYING GROUND.
The Third Parish in Newbury was organized in 1725. Rev. John Lowell was settled as minister Jan. 19, 1726. In order to provide suitable accommodation for the instruction of children and the burial of the dead within the limits of the parish, a committee, consisting of William Johnson and Will- iam Titcomb, was chosen Nov. 26, 1729, to select a place for a school-house and also for a burying place. The parish voted, March 17, 1729-30, to set the new school-house by Frog Pond, between Fish Street (now State Street) and Queen Street (now Market Street) ; and the assessors were authorized to enclose with a board fence, for a burial place, the lot of land in the rear of Frog Pond, then known as Snelling's hill.
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