USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Salem > Reminiscences of Salem, Massachusetts : embracing notices of its eminent men known to the author forty years ago > Part 15
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We find upon a careful examination of the deeds of land in that vicinity that this two acre lot, which belonged originally to John Alderman, extended across Boston street, the eastern line of it beginning at a point on the North River about fifteen rods east of the Town Bridge, and running nearly south, crossing Boston street near the
* This highway was probably Brick-kiln lane, see p .. 6
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corner of Fowler street, so that a triangular piece of land - was afterwards made by this line on the west, the Brick- kiln, or a continuation of Essex street on the south, and Boston street on the north-east. This triangular piece of land, which came to a sharp point near the present cor- ner of May street and Boston street, was owned very early by William Beans and his wife Sarah, who was a daughter of Robert Buffum, and, no doubt, it originally belonged to the homestead of Robert Buffum, being cut off from it when Boston street was laid out. That part of the Alderman homestead which was south of Boston street, about one acre, was sold by Giles Corey to Edward Flint in 1682, and was between the Southwick lot on the west and the triangular piece of land above described on the east, and extending south to the Brick-kiln field. In 1659 Giles Corey conveyed to John Norton that part of the Alderman homestead north of Boston street, together with his own house and land adjoining, describing the premises as "two dwelling houses in Salem, one of them being the now dwelling house of the said Giles Corey, and is the corner house next the bridge, and the other being the house wherein Mr. Alderman formerly dwelt, and near adjoining unto the said dwelling house of the said Giles Corey" with one acre and a half of land "altogether within fence near unto the bridge." John Norton con- veyed to Jeremiah Meacham, in 1670, the same, except the Alderman house, which with about twenty poles of land on which it stood, a little to the north-west of Fowler street, appears to have been previously sold to Robert Wilson. In 1680 Jeremiah Meacham conveyed to his daughter Bethia, wife of George Hacker, "fourteen poles of land (on which said George Hacker has lately built a small dwelling house), lying at the townes end near the bridge or causeway, without the fortification, and bounded
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on the North River with a highway north-west, by my land north-east and south-east and on the highway or street south-west." In the division of Meacham's estate in 1696 this was increased to half an acre, and in 1731, it came into the possession of Isaac Hacker, who in 1719 had bought a piece of land next south-east with a house on it; which latter house was perhaps the same now standing on the corner of Federal street, in which Jere- miah Hacker afterwards lived.
The history of the Buffum estate which was next east is particularly interesting as it furnishes the only clue we have as to the time when Boston street was first laid out. The homestead of Robert Buffum, who died in 1669, con- sisted of about four acres next east of the Alderman lot, and extending from the North River to Essex street, and probably, as we have shown, including the triangular piece of land south of Boston street where his son-in-law, Wm. Beans lived. This homestead came into possession of his sons, Joshua and Caleb Buffum. On the Common- ers Record is entered for Caleb Buffum "two common rights for his house and for his father's cottage right in the same place ;" also for Joshua Buffum "two rights for his house, and for old Moulton's, in the same place." This, as we have already explained, shows that Robert ·Buffum had lived, before 1661, on the same site upon which his son Caleb afterwards lived, and also that "old Moulton," that is Robert Moulton, lived, before 1661, where Joshua Buffum afterwards lived. Joshua lived in a house which was taken down in 1807, about five rods south-east of the corner of Fowler and Boston streets ; Caleb's house was a few rods farther east, and about eight rods west of Buffum's Corner.
This Robert Moulton was the same mentioned in the letter to Gov. Endicott from the Company in London,
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Apr. 17, 1629, "We have sent six shipwrights, of whom Robert Molton is chief." He appears to have lived in Charlestown, in 1634 and 1635, but returned to Salem, and was one of the Selectmen, and also one of the three Deputies to the Gen. Court in 1637. He died at an ad- vanced age in 1655, and in his will left his farm, which was where Brookdale * is now, to his grandson Robert Moulton. He also gave to "Goodwife Buffum 20s," and "to Joshua Buffum 10s." His inventory mentions "his farm 35£-his houses and ground in the town 10£." In what manner his house came into the possession of Robert Buffum, and afterwards Joshua Buffum, we have not been able to ascertain. In another letter to Endicott, May 28, . 1629, "our barke that is already built in the Country" is mentioned. This was the first vessel built in the Colony, and was perhaps built under the superintendence of Robert Moulton, at the head of the North River, where the above evidence shows that he lived. This would have been a very convenient place for the purpose, and in fact, was afterwards for many years used for shipbuilding. Its proximity to the common lands, which were then no doubt covered with woods, may have led to the selection of this place for a shipyard, on account of the facility for bringing the timber to the water side.
The following order of the town, Nov. 29, 1642, is the only evidence we can find of the first laying out of Bos- ton street : "Its ordered that the highway by the bridge shall be laid out through the lots of goodman Moulton, &c., not round about."
Next east of the Buffum estate was a house-lot of about an acre upon which Henry Reynolds lived in 1655; it was one hundred and seventy feet wide on Essex street,
* The brook which runs through Brookdale was called " Moulton's Brook," in 1649.
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beginning at a point one hundred feet east of Buffum's corner, and extending back two hundred and forty feet. Henry Reynolds sold it to John Pickering, jr., in 1689; Timothy Pickering sold the eastern half with the house to Henry Williams in 1739. The old house, which was taken down about twenty-five years ago, stood where the dwelling house of Thomas Nichols, jr., now stands, next west of Fowler street.
Next east of the Reynolds lot was an acre of land which the heirs of Philip Veren conveyed to Wm. Lord in 1655, and he to his son in 1658, who in 1664 conveyed it to Edward Flint. Edward Flint, in 1679, conveyed the western quarter part of it to Ann, wife of Anthony Need- ham, who, in 1696, conveyed it to Caleb Buffum, and he, in 1718, gave it to the Society of Friends, they having, as the deed says, "built and finished" on the front part of it "a House for the Public Worship of God, and the other halfe of the said ground the Donor hereby freely gives to the Society aforesaid for a burying place." The Quaker meeting house stood on the front part of this lot for more than a century, and then was sold to Samuel Brown and removed to his land where the Lynnfield road crosses the old Ipswich road in Peabody.
North of the two lots last described was the homestead of William Bacon, about three acres, where he lived in 1640. He also owned an acre of land between the Veren lot, just described, and Dean street, on which Roger Morey had a house before 1644, and north of which was another acre of land which Elizabeth Spooner conveyed to Edward Flint in 1668, and which was probably the homestead of Robert, or John Pease in 1644. The house of William Bacon appears to have stood on the bank of the North River about two hundred feet west of Dean street. He left his house and one acre to his son Isaac,
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and the other three acres to his wife Rebecca. In her will, in 1655, she gave the house and acre adjoining, or the use of it, to her "brother Robert Buffum" and the three acres to "my cossen Ann Potter, and my cossen Richard Cherlcraft." Ann Potter* married Anthony Needham, who, in 1679, conveyed the three acres to Ed- ward Flint. Robert Buffum also, it seems, conveyed to Edward Flint, in 1667, the acre on which Bacon's house had stood, in exchange for another acre adjoining his own homestead. Thus Edward Flint became possessed finally of about five acres on the west side of Dean street, which he left, in 1711, to his son Benjamin, among whose heirs it was divided in 1734. Edward Flint's house was on the western corner of Essex and Dean streets. In 1721 Benjamin Flint was allowed three "rights" for "Mory, Pease and Bacon's cottage rights on his father's home- stead."
On the east side of Dean street was a lot of seven acres, the eastern boundary of which was parallel with Beckford street, and ran from a point on Essex street about seventy feet west of Munroe street to the North River. This was owned before 1664, by Thos. Spooner ; and he and Thomas Gardner, Sen., and Samuel Shattuck, Sen., had houses there as early as 1640 .. John Simp- son built a house in 1672, on the south-east corner of this land, which, in 1772, was conveyed by Jane Ropes to John Higginson, and by Joseph Sewall to Miss Caro- line Plummer in 1846.
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* It appears by several depositions, recorded in the Registry of Deeds in 1695, book 10, fol. 186-9, that Wm. Bacon was living in Dublin in 1639, and came here soon after, and that his wife Rebecca was a daughter of " Thomas Potter, Esq. who had been Mayor of the City of Coventry" in Warwickshire, England, and that her brother, Humphrey Potter, who was the father of Ann Potter, afterwards the wife of Anthony Needham, was the only son of said Thomas, and " was slain in that great and general massacre that had been in Ireland; " and that thereupon Ann Potter's aunt, Mrs. Rebecca Bacon, sent to Ireland for her to come and live with her in Salem.
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Next east of this was a two acre house-lot, nine rods wide, where Richard Bishop lived before 1660, his house being near the river. On the south-west corner of this lot Roger Derby built a house, and lived there till his death, in 1698. The site of his house was about three rod's west of Munroe street, where the house of Mrs. Wallis stood which was recently removed, and it now forms part of Capt. Bertram's estate.
Between Richard Bishop's land and Beckford street, Thomas Trusler owned four acres, in 1653. This appears to have been originally two house-lots, each nine rods in width, one of which was owned by William Bound, whose house was near the river. Thomas Trusler's house was on the west side of the north end of Beck- ford street. His widow left it to her son Edward Phelps, who, in 1657, conveyed it, with three acres and a half of land adjoining, to Thomas Robbins, from whom it de- scended to his niece Rebecca, wife of William Pinson, who afterwards married Joseph Bubier of Marblehead, and conveyed the same homestead to Rebecca, wife of John Beckford, and only child of William Pinson. They conveyed the house, and a small part of the land adjoin- ing, to their son John Beckford, in 1739, and it remained . in that family for many years. Between Thomas Robins' land and Essex street there were four dwelling houses before 1680. On the corner was the "Kitchen House " (see p. q ) which was probably built in 1664; and next west a house where George Dean lived in 1674; and west of that one which Thomas Maule built in 1674, and west of this another which John Kitchen sold to Richard Croad, in 1664.
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East of Beckford street were three house-lots running from the river to Essex street, and each seven rods in width, the first owned before 1661, by Thomas Cole, and
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the next by Samuel Belknap, both of whose houses were near the river. The third from Beckford street was the homestead of Allen Kenniston as early as 1640. His widow married Philip Cromwell, who sold it to William Hirst in 1680. Dr. George B. Loring now lives on the same' estate. East of this, Hilliard Veren owned three- quarters of an acre, in 1665; and next to that were two other house-lots, each seven rods in width, and both owned by Philip Veren, in 1662, who lived where Mrs. S. F. Orne now lives, opposite Cambridge street. On the southeast corner of this land, where the entrance to the North Church is, Richard Sibley built a house in 1662. The rest was conveyed to Mary, widow of Nathan- iel Veren, who became the wife of Thomas Putnam, and conveyed the eastern half to his son Thomas Putnam, and the western half to his son Joseph, the father of Gen. Israel Putnam. Thomas' part came into the possession of Benjamin Gerrish in 1713, and remained in that family for many years. Joseph's part was sold by him in 1718, to Mrs. Mary Lindall, a daughter of Mary Veren; who also bought the land to the west that had been owned by Hilliard Veren ; and the whole was conveyed by the heirs of Samuel Barnard to Nathaniel Ropes, in 1768. On the West side of North street was the homestead of Roger Williams in 1635-6, of which we shall give a more extended account hereafter. All these lots ran through from Essex street to the river.
The house-lots, between North and Summer streets on the west and Washington street on the east, all of which ran from east to west, have been already described. We will only add that on the eastern corner of Essex and North streets, on land which was conveyed, in 1670, by Edmond Batter to his brother-in-law Hilliard Veren, Sen., was built a house which Timothy Hicks conveyed
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to Deliverance Parkman, in 1673, and which was taken down about twenty years ago. On the south side, from Summer street to Washington street, there were four houses before 1661, in what was called "Fogg's Row ;" but we do not know who occupied them.
East of Washington street and next the North River the earliest houses were those of Reuben Guppy, John Smith, Wm. Comins and John Symonds. South of that was the homestead of Gov. Endicott (see Essex Inst. Proceedings, Vol. V, p. 131). Where Dr. Cate lives now was the house of Thomas Oliver, whose wife, Mary, was a noted character in the earliest Colonial history. Thomas Oliver's second wife, Bridget, who afterwards married Edward Bishop, was the first victim of the Witchcraft delusion of 1692.
On the north corner of Essex and Washington streets lived Walter Price ; and next east lived John Woodbury* one of the Old Planters. He died in 1641, leaving a widow, Ann, as appears by our County Court records, who, in 1660, conveyed the house to Capt. George Cor- win. It stood just east of Browne's Block. Next east of this, where Hon. Richard S. Rogers lives, was a house and half acre of land, in which lived Thomas Weeks be- fore 1655. For reasons which will be stated hereafter, we believe that this was originally the house of Roger Conant, who, as he himself said, erected the first house in Salem.
Where the Mansion House lately stood, was the Ship Tavern, kept for many years by John Gedney. And be- tween that and St. Peter street, was the homestead of Peter Palfrey, another of the Old Planters. After his removal to Reading, about the year 1648, this estate came into the possession of Wm. Browne.
* Wrongly conjectured in a former article (Hist. Coll. Vol. 8, p. 253) to be Nicho- las Woodbury, whose Will. dated 1685, we find is on the Suffolk Records.
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From St. Peter street to the Common, and between Essex street and Brown street was all, in 1640, the homestead of Emanuel Downing. His house was after- wards the home of Joseph Gardner who married his daughter, Ann; and she afterwards married Gov. Brad- street.
North of Brown street were house-lots extending to the river, and occupied before 1660, by Christopher Waller, Joseph Miles, Isaac Page and Rev. Edward Norris. East of where Williams street is, lived George Williams, who left his homestead in 1654, to his eldest son, John Williams. Between that and Winter street, was the homestead of Thomas Watson. He gave his estate, in 1668 and in 1672, to Jacob Pudeator, whose wife, Ann, was executed as a witch in 1692.
The Common, until 1660, extended south to Essex street, and also included the land between Winter street and Pleasant street. On the east side of Pleasant street the earliest houses were those of Thomas Rootes, whose house was on the north side of the cove at the east end of Forrester street ; and Josiah Rootes, Edward Giles, Phile- mon Dickenson and John Borne, who lived in the vicinity of where Pickman street is now, their houses having dis- appeared in 1655, when John Gedney owned the land, afterwards known as the Gedney Pasture.
For an account of the square between Washington street and Central street, see Hist. Coll. Vol. 8, p. 250. Where the Charter street Cemetery is now was the ancient, and probably the first, burying place. Near it
* We propose. in an appendix, to give an account of the first houses on the neck of land through which Bridge street runs, and of the Planters Marsh, so called; and will only remark here. that the interest which the Old Planters had in the land there. does not appear to have been as a place of residence. but simply to have arisen from a very early use of it, in common, on account of the great importance to them of the salt marsh. We also intend to give a further account of the houses of Roger Conant and Roger Williams.
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John Horne had a windmill in 1637. Among the earliest houses between Central and Elm streets, may be men- tioned those of John Holgrave (Downing Block), Henry Bartholomew (Pickman house and E. I. Marine Hall), and Wm. Hathorne (west corner of Liberty street). On the west corner of Elm street lived Wm. Allen, one of the Old Planters. East of Elm street was the homestead and wharf of Elder John Brown.
From there to the Neck, the house-lots were mostly occupied by merchants, seamen, ship-builders, and others connected with maritime affairs.
APPENDIX.
THE only place in Salem which is associated, by name, with the Old Planters of 1626, is the large open field on the right of the northerly end of Bridge street, which was for many years known as the "Planters Marsh." This has naturally led some to suppose that the first settlement of Salem, in 1626, was in that vicinity. We fail, however, to find anything in published accounts, or in the records, to support such a belief, except in the following statements by Rev. Dr. Bentley, and by Hon. Robert Rantoul, Sen.
Bentley, in his Description of Salem (Mass. Hist. Coll. Vol. 6, p. 233), says :- "Salem, considered as within its present bounds, was first settled upon North River. Shallop Cove (now Collins Cove), open to Bev- erly harbour, was then much employed." Again, p. 231, " When Francis Higginson arrived, in 1629, there were only six houses, besides that of Gov. Endicott, and these were not on the land now called Salem." He also says
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO
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(p. 228), "The first fort was on Beverly side, and erected by Conant's men, before Endicott arrived. It was called Darbie or Derby fort." This latter statement, that Darby fort was on Beverly side, and was built by Conant before Endicott's arrival, explains why he thought the first houses were not where Salem is now ; and proves that in this part of his history he must have relied upon false tradition or incorrect information, for there is abundant evidence which shows conclusively that Darby fort* was on . Marblehead side; and the depositions of Richard Brackenbury and Humphrey Woodbury, in 1681, made for the purpose of proving an early possession of the land on Beverly side, in opposition to Mason's claim, show us that when the Old Planters removed from Cape Ann (Gloucester), they came "to the neck of land since called Salem," and built their first houses there ; and that they took possession of the land on Cape Ann side (Bev- erly), sometime after the arrival of Endicott. (See
Thornton's Cape Ann, Appendix).
In the Account of Beverly by Mr. Rantoul (Mass. Hist. Coll. 3 Ser. Vol. 7, p. 254), he states that "Roger Conant, John Balch, John Woodbury and Peter Pal- frey, first settled, in 1626, on the neck of land be- tween Collins Cove on the south, and the North River on the north, in Salem." "Their first houses were near to the margin of the river, and their lots running from the river, across the neck to Collins cove." No authority is given for this statement, and it is most likely that it rests upon some tradition derived from the name "Planters Marsh." We have carefully traced the history of the house-lots on the neck of land above described, and though we can show who owned and occupied them back
* Thomas Oliver, in 1658, conveyed to John Bradstreet ten acres "on Marblehead Neck, butting upon Forrest River, and having in the south end an old Indian Fort.'
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to a very early date, we find no evidence that any of them were ever owned by the Old Planters.
Let us now see whether any of the descriptions by the early writers will throw any light upon this question.
In "New England's Plantation," written by Rev. Fran- cis Higginson, and printed at London in 1630 (see Force's Tracts, Vol. 1), the writer describes the soil as being sandy "all about our Plantation at Salem, for so our Towne is now named, Psal. 76, 2." "When we came first to Neihum-kek, we found about halfe a score houses and a faire house newly built for the Governour. We found also abundance of corn planted by them very good and well likeing."
In Wm. Wood's "New England Prospect," p. 50, we find, "Four miles north-east from Saugus lies Salem, which stands on the middle of a neck of land very pleas- antly, having a South River on the one side, and a North River on the other side; upon this neck where most of the houses stand, is very bad and sandy ground, yet for seven years together it hath brought forth exceeding good corn, it being fished but every three years; in some places is very good ground, and good timber, and divers springs hard by the sea side."
Wm. Wood left New England, Aug. 15th, 1633, there- fore corn had been planted on the sandy neck of land in 1626. His description would seem to apply to the central portion of the present city.
In "Planter's Plea," London, 1630 (Force's Tracts, Vol. 2), we find it stated that the first planters removed from Cape Ann (Gloucester) "to Nahum-keike, about foure or five leagues distant to the south-west from Cape Anne."
In the "History of New England" (Mass. Hist. Coll. 2 Ser. Vol. 5, p. 102), written by Wm. Hubbard, who was
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well acquainted with Roger Conant, he says, "After they had made another short trial there (Cape Ann), of about a year's continuance, they removed a third time a little lower towards the bottom of the bay, being invited by the accommodations which they either saw, or hoped to find on the other side of the creek near by, called Naum- keag, which afforded a considerable quantity of planting land near adjoining thereto. Here they took up their station upon a pleasant and fruitful neck of land, invi- roned with an arm of the sea on each side, in either of which vessels and ships of good burthen might safely anchor. In this place (soon after by a minister that came with a company of honest planters) called Salem, from that in Psal. lxxvi, 2, was laid the first foundation on which the next Colonies were built." He also says that Roger Conant had previously examined this place, "secretly conceiving in his mind, that in following times (as since is fallen out) it might prove a receptacle for such as upon the account of religion would be wil- ling to begin a foreign plantation in this part of the world, of which he gave some intimation to his friends in England."
As Collins Cove is almost dry at low tide, it would be impossible for "ships of good burthen to safely anchor" there. Indeed it seems to us quite evident that the neck of land which these early writers refer to, must mean that upon which the main part of the town now stands, between the North River and the South River.
We propose now to show who were the occupants of the land near what is now Bridge street, at the earliest date to which we have been able to trace its history.
Where the Gas Works are now, was called Neal's Point ; the Cove south of it was called Waller's Cove, and that to the north of it Massey's Cove.
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On the north-west side of Bridge street, and south- west of Skerry street, was the homestead of Francis Skerry, and adjoining it on the north-east, was the home- stead of Jeffry Massey, both of whom were for many years prominent in town affairs. Between that and Rob- bins Lane, which was where the school house is now, was a two-acre lot on which lived Richard Brackenbury, be- fore he removed to Beverly, which was before the year 1640.
On the land north-east of Robbins Lane, lived at about the year 1640, James Smith, Michael Sallows, Thomas Read, John Tucker, Thomas Robins and George Ropes ; and near them also Francis Nurse, Wm. Bennett, [Wm.] Waller, Thomas Edwards, and George Wathen. At the point just east of the Salem end of Beverly Bridge was the Ferry landing place, and there lived John Stone, who, in 1636, was appointed to keep the ferry from that point across to Cape Ann side, as Beverly was then called, John Massey, who kept the Ferry after 1686, lived on the same site.
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