USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Salem > Ryal Side from early days of Salem colony > Part 3
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JOHN PORTER. JOHN BACHELLER.
Essex Registry of Deeds, book 4, leaf 48.
2 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 5, leaf 109.
3 Records of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, volume I, page 245.
27
LANDS OF LAWRENCE LEACH
Proved in Salem Court 25:4:1662 by the witnesses and Elizabeth wife of the deceased was appointed administratrix.
The inventory mentions 'the howse, with 2 acres of land with the orchard being part of the two acres, a mill,1 20 acres of land not improved on Ryal Side neare Mr. Bacheller, 15 acres of meadow neare John Porters farme bought of Mr Downing and personal property.' The total value of the estate was '138 li: 14 s: 8 d.'
Lawrence Leach was proposed as a freeman at Salem in 1630, and died June 24, 1662. His was a long and honorable citizenship; his last public service was as a juryman, a short time prior to his death.
The farm at Folly Hill remained in the possession of Richard Leach until his death, when it descended to his son, Sergeant John Leach. The farm was included within the boundaries of the lands leased to Sergeant Leach, February 1, 1677/8.2
On April 5, 1716,3 Sergeant John Leach conveyed 'for love to my son, Samuel Leach, all my housing and land and one half my right on Ryall Side cross the end of my farm joining Jacob Barney's farm.' This was a lot of forty acres. On the same date he conveyed to five daughters 'the other one half that I hired of the Town of Salem.' This was a lot of forty-nine acres.4
Samuel Leach died in the winter of 1731/2, intestate, and in the division of his estate there was set off to his widow, Mary, afterward Mary Bayley, two undivided
I The mill referred to was the old Friend cornmill on Elliott Street.
2 Salem Town Records, volume 2, page 269.
3 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 31, leaf 180.
4 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 33, leaf 94.
28
RYAL SIDE
sixths parts of a lot on the northerly side of the highway and also a two-sixths part of land, house, and barn on the opposite side of the road.
On October 15, 1770,1 George Leach, as administrator of the estate of Samuel Leach, sold to Robert Hooper, of Marblehead, the eighteen-acre lot on the south side of the road with the house and barn standing thereon. There was an irregularity in this sale, as apparently George Leach included certain rights of the heirs which he had no power to convey, and as a result an action was brought by Robert Hooper, to satisfy which he claimed additional land on the north side of the road.
It appears that Robert Hooper, in possession of two thirds of the Leach homestead on the south side of the road, conveyed that part to Samuel Sewall, of Marble- head, who, on July 28, 1794,2 bought of Asa Leach, for twenty-one pounds, a two-sixths part of a lot of land on the north side of the road, also a two-sixths part of land, house, and barn on the south side of the road, which were set off to Mary, the widow of Samuel, from his estate.
November 8, 1796,3 Samuel Sewall, of Marblehead, conveyed to Rufus Putnam for the sum of $1386, three tracts of land, one of eighteen acres on the south side of the road with the house and barn, one tract of eleven acres on the north side of the road, and one lot of four acres near Foster's Point. As the record of conveyance does not mention the existence of any building on the
I Essex Registry of Deeds, book 127, leaf 261.
2 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 159, leaf 8.
3 Essex Registry of Deeds, book 161, leaf 78.
HOUSE OF RUFUS PUTNAM Erected about 1800 On the lands of Lawrence Leach
29
LANDS OF LAWRENCE LEACH
north side of the road, the brick house, known as the Putnam farmhouse, was undoubtedly built by Rufus Putnam near the year 1800.
By will, Rufus Putnam gave the use of one third of all real estate, household furniture, etc., to his wife, Mary, so long as she remained his widow; to his son, William, one third, and in case of the death of the widow, her portion shall be William's, and to Rufus, 2d, the re- maining one third.
On petition of Rufus Putnam, 2d, July 15, 1854,1 a partition of the estate was made, and to Rufus there was assigned the 'Westfield, with the brick tenement 17 X 34. with the woodhouse standing thereon.' To Mary was assigned a portion of the homestead on the south side and other land and the use of the west room in the house. To William, all the homestead on the north side not already assigned. William Putnam lived here and carried on the farm for many years.
What are now known as the Bradstreet and Hussey farm lands comprise a large acreage in about the middle of the Leach lands. A large portion of the land leased to John Leach by the Town of Salem, 1677/8, lay be- tween the land leased to John Batchelder and the Northfield men.
I Essex Registry of Deeds, book 498, leaf 108.
LANDS OF JACOB BARNEY
JACOB BARNEY was an early inhabitant of Ryal Side and received a grant of land from the Town of Salem as early as 1636 and several other grants were made to him prior to 1652. December 18, 1650, there was 'Graunted to Jacob Barney 50 acres of land to be layd out of that land next adjoyning unto that wich was Mr. Alfords ffarme or in any other Convenient place at the discretion of the layers out.'
As Mr. Alford's farm included what is now the Cherry Hill property, this assignment probably referred to land adjoining that of Mr. Barney east of Leach's Hill (Folly Hill) and extending on the south side of Conant Street. April 5, 1652, he received a grant of thirty acres which adjoined the land of Pasco Foot and which Mr. Foot conveyed to John Porter, December 18, 1665.1
Mr. Barney served the Town of Salem for many years as selectman and was appointed on many occasions to matters of public service, such as the laying-out of lots to the grantees, the settlement of disputes among the planters, jury service, and the laying-out of public highways.
His house and barn stood in what is now the home- stead lot of Mr. Charles E. Foster, 100 Elliott Street, Danvers, near the 'old rodeway,' a short distance from its junction with Elliott Street. A new barn has been placed on the foundation of the old one and a modern
I Essex Registry of Deeds, book 2, leaf 110.
31
LANDS OF JACOB BARNEY
poultry house covers a portion of the cellar wall of the old Barney house.
In 1651,1 Mr. Barney became possessed of the Inger- soll farm of about eighty acres, and this, with a large acreage he received by various grants, gave him posses- sion of about three hundred acres, extending from Frost Fish River and on both sides of Conant Street easterly to what is now known as the Trask farm.
The town records appear to indicate that the westerly portion of his lands, given under his early assignments, gave him only a small portion of marsh or water- bounded land, and in the testimony of witnesses in vari- ous cases in which he became involved, both as plaintiff and defendant, some of the testimony tended to show that, in order to obtain more land by the water side, he improperly appropriated some of the Ingersoll land. This seemed to be contended by the Ingersoll heirs.
Court held at Salem 14:7;1639. Rich Inkersell V Jacob Barney. Upon motion of Colonel Endicott, Jeffery Massey and others ordered to lay out lands of defendant.
Court held at Salem 29:7:1640. Jacob Barney V Richard Ingersoll. Feeding Cattle in his marsh. Verdict: Two loads of hay at water side as convenient as his own was.
In the court action of March 16, 1668/9,2 Joseph Houlton testified 'that he heard Jacob Barney sr. own that he now had the land that was formerly Richard Ingersalls.'
John Porter testified 'Jacob Barney sr in 1651 mowed
I Testimony of Henry Bartholmew, who paid William Paine, advancing the money to Jacob Barney.
2 Records of the Quarter Courts of Essex County, volume 4, pages 109-112.
32
RYAL SIDE
a parcel of salt marsh south of the little creek which creek lay southward of the basing place 1 and had con- tinued from year to year without molestation.'
The records indicate that for many years a continu- ous dispute was carried on between the Ingersolls and Barneys over land boundaries, which was not termi- nated until Mr. Barney acquired possession of the Ingersoll farm by purchase from William Paine, which was confirmed by a court decision in 1668.
Jacob Barney, Sr., died intestate in 1673, and the Court at Ipswich granted administration of the estate to Eliza, the widow, and Jacob, the son, who were directed to bring in an inventory to the next Ipswich Court. The inventory, which was taken by John Porter and Richard Leach, was allowed and the agreement of the heirs was accepted by the Court, September 30, 1673.
The lands of Jacob Barney descended to his son, Jacob, who sold a large part of the lands of the estate in the latter part of the seventeenth century to various parties, also a large portion which was included in the farm of John Porter, which was situated at Frost Fish Riverhead. This portion, together with the immediate lands of the Barney homestead, comprised a large acre- age, which, at about the middle of the eighteenth cen- tury, came into the possession of Robert Hooper, Jr., of Marblehead, and afterward by William Browne, Esq., of Salem.
On that part of Folly Hill near the southern boundary
I The basing (basin) place was the public fishing place, at the first cove south of Liberty Street, near Danversport Bridge.
BASE OF FOLLY HILL
Jacob Barney's house stood between the 'old rodeway' (Dark Lane) and the Foster house in center
33
LANDS OF JACOB BARNEY
of the Barney farm and on which the Salem Reservoir stands, Mr. Browne erected what has been referred to as a mansion. Passing through these lands at the base of the hill was the 'countrey rodeway,' which is now called Foster Street, and in recent years better known as 'Dark Lane.' This, however, is a rather gloomy designation for what is an attractive ancient highway which passes through territory upon which, three cen- turies ago, were scenes of rural activity and where the homes of the earliest pioneers were established.
From these rude houses of Ingersoll, Leach, and Barney the changes of the passing years brought to this environment, in pre-Revolutionary days, a display of wealth and luxury, exhibited in the imposing mansion and improved grounds of the estate which William Browne maintained on the 'greate hill,' I looking down on the old house of Jacob Barney, the first owner of these lands.
From the time of his boyhood, this locality was one of considerable attraction to Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose attachment for the spot he expresses so well in his 'American Note-Books' (Wayside Edition) :
October 14, 1837. This Browne's Hill is a long ridge, lying in the midst of a large, level plain; it looks at a distance somewhat like a whale, with its head and tail under water, but its immense back protruding, with steep sides and a gradual curve along its length. When you have climbed it
I This statement is made upon the authority of a description of the place, found in the diary of Captain Goelet, a New York merchant, who was a guest of William Browne at his 'country seat,' October 20, 1750. He also states: 'The house is built in the form of a long square, with wings at each end, and is about 80 feet long.'
34
RYAL SIDE
on one side, and gaze from the summit at the other, you feel as if you had made a discovery, - the landscape being quite different on the two sides. The cellar of the house, which formerly crowned the hill and used to be named 'Browne's Folly,' still remains, two grass-grown and shallow hollows, on the highest part of the ridge. The house consisted of two wings, each perhaps sixty feet in length, united by a middle part, in which was the entrance-hall, and which looked length- wise along the hill. The foundation of a spacious porch may be traced on either side of the central portion; some of the stones still remain; but even where they are gone, the line of the porch is still traceable by the greener verdure.
In the cellar, or rather in the two cellars, grow one or two barberry bushes, with frost-bitten fruit; there is also yarrow with its white flower, and yellow dandelions. The cellars are still deep enough to shelter a person, all but his head at least, from the wind on the summit of the hill; but they are all grass-grown. A line of trees seems to have been planted along the ridge of the hill. The edifice must have made quite a magnificent appearance.
In a letter 'The Wayside,' dated August 28, 1860, Mr. Hawthorne writes:1
Along its base ran a green and seldom trodden lane, with which I was very familiar in my boyhood, and there was a little brook which I remember to have dammed up till its overflow made a mimic ocean. When I last looked for this tiny streamlet, which was still rippling freshly through my memory, I found it strangely shrunken; a mere ditch, indeed, and almost a dry one. But the green lane was still there, pre- cisely as I remembered it; two wheel tracks and the beaten path of the horses' feet and grassy strips between; the whole overshadowed by tall locust trees, and the prevalent barberry bushes, which are rooted so fondly into the recollections of every Essex man.
I Essex Institute Historical Collections, volume 31, 1884, page 207.
35
LANDS OF JACOB BARNEY
The life of the great mansion, which was given by its owner the name of 'Browne Hall,' was destined to an unhappy termination. It was so badly shaken by the great earthquake of 1755 that it was removed. Con- cerning this Mr. Hawthorne writes: 1822518
Whether a folly, or no, the house was certainly an unfortu- nate one. While still in its glory, it was so tremendously shaken by the earthquake of 1755, that the owner dared no longer reside in it, and practically acknowledging that its ambitious site rendered it indeed a folly, he proceeded to locate it on humbler ground.
The great house actually took up its march along the de- clining ridge of the hill and came safely to the bottom, where it stood till within the memory of men now alive.
The house remained with all its furniture in its spacious rooms and chambers ... As time went on, however, it began to be neglected and was accessible to whatever vagrant or idle school boy or berrying party chose to enter through its ill-secured windows.
Mr. Stone, in his 'History of Beverly,' states that the mansion was removed by Mr. Browne, in 1761, to a site near Liberty Corner, which Mr. Ezra D. Hines says is the 'corner of Liberty and Conant Streets, Danvers, where the remains of a well and an orchard may still be discovered.'
With the exception of the small number of houses standing on Conant, Liberty, and Elliott Streets, the lands of Jacob Barney are now employed to some extent for farm purposes.
THE SALT HOUSE AND NEWMAN LANDS
IN the Salem town records, under date of June 15, 1638, there is the following entry: 'Item ther is granted to Mr. John Winthrop Jun. liberty to set a Salt House upon Ryalls side wth wood for his occasions about the same house and Comon for 2 Cows to pasture in.' * It is probable that he had begun operations early in the year 1638, as an entry in the colonial records under date of January 22, 1637/8 appears to indicate: 'John Winthrop has liberty from his father Gov. Winthrop to set up salt works at Ryal Side and to have wood enough to carry on the works and pasture for two cows.'
The Salt House was completed within the immediate year, for in the following year, on August 19, 1639, there was 'Graunted to John Winthrop Escr. Junior, a little neck of land adioning to the salthouse built by the said Winthrop contayning about 16 acres thereabouts, more or less lying between a cove wch is on the north side of his said house & a little brooke lying to the west of the said house.' 2
Mr. Winthrop erected his oven and cauldron on the southern extremity of the point as shown in a plan made by Daniel Eppes, attorney for the Winthrop heirs, March 28, 1677,3 and 'carried on ye design of making salt' by the boiling process or evaporation, producing
I Salem Town Records, volume I, page 70.
2 Salem Town Records, volume 1, page 90.
3 On file in the office of the Clerk of Courts at Salem.
.
37
THE SALT HOUSE AND NEWMAN LANDS
the finer grade for domestic use. Mr. Winthrop also erected a dwelling-house on his land and lived there at times with his employee, Robert Hebard, his saltmaker.
Just how long Mr. Winthrop carried on the salt works does not appear in the records, but the fact that he did have 'house and Family there some considerable time' is stated by one of his carpenters, and no record shows the existence of salt works in the Salem Colony at an earlier period.
According to the records, the land granted to John Winthrop, Jr., did not exceed sixteen acres, but in the case of Newman vs. Read, it was brought out that a much larger lot was laid out for him, and the land claimed by the plaintiff lay along the Wooleston River from the Salt House Point to Stoney Cove and measur- ing about fifty-two rods in width at each end.
Within these bounds were also included the two points of land lying to the south of Stoney Cove which had been previously granted to Henry Skerry by the Town of Salem, April 27, 1654,7 and, as those who were appointed to lay out the lot to Mr. Winthrop overlooked this fact, the matter consequently became a subject of legal controversy.
Rev. Antepas Newman, of the Wenham Parish, mar- ried Elizabeth, a daughter of John Winthrop, Jr., and according to a sworn statement of her brother, the lands were given by his father to his son-in-law, Newman, as a wedding gift. Mr. Newman died in 1672, survived by his wife, who afterward married Zerubbabel Endicott, of Salem.
I Salem Town Records, volume 1, page 177.
38
RYAL SIDE
After the death of her husband, Mrs. Newman and her son, John Newman, intending to sell the lands, directed their attorney, Mr. Daniel Epps, to ascertain the true bounds. Assisted by a former employee of Mr. Win- throp, who knew the bounds, Epps discovered a house on the larger point near the cove, in occupation by Abraham Read, who had built the house and had lived there three years without the knowledge of the New- mans, having purchased both points of land from Henry Skerry. The attorney demanded the house and land of Mr. Read, but having title from Mr. Skerry, he refused to comply and the Newmans brought an action of trespass.
The evidence given in court appeared to establish Mrs. Newman's claim, but as no definite bounds had been previously recorded, a settlement was finally made through the intervention of the Town of Salem, a lot of forty-four acres within defined bounds was given in settlement to the Newmans, and Mr. Read's title was acknowledged.
Judging by the extent of the court record, a part of which is here given and the procedure in the final laying-out of the lot, the case was one of considerable interest to the town.
Court held at Ipswich, March 27, 1677.
Writ: Mistriss Elizabeth Newman of Wenham adminis- tratrix and relict of Mr Antepas Newman of Wenham, min- ister, lately deceased V Abraham Reade: for building breaking up, improving and keeping a parcel of land which lay in the land that was in the possession of John Winthrop Esc. and several years since given by said Winthrop to said Newman which land lay on Royal side or in that land known by the
SALTHOUSE POINT, LOOKING WEST FROM THE GREEN LANDS Dixie's Cove in foreground
South.
East
Salom
Wort
For A Rouso
north fords
willinguns R
08ho
8 hours
SKETCH OF SALTHOUSE POINT
Presented to the Court in the civil action of Newman heirs vs. Reid by attorney Daniel Epps, March 28, 1677
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THE SALT HOUSE AND NEWMAN LANDS
name of salt house neck in Salem and which Mr Daniel Epps as her attorney demanded of said Reade and he refused to deliver it.I
Major Wait Winthrop testified: 'that the land above mentioned was given to my brother Newman deceased by my Father after mr Newman marryed my sister and this acknowledg as I am one of the executors to my Father.'
Attorney Epps presented to the Court as evidence: 'A Draft of ye manner of ye lying of ye Land of Mris Newmans on Royalls Neck in Salem Township. p mee Daniell Epps this 28 March, 1677; as neare as I can by ye Poynts of ye Compass.' 2
Nathaniel Pickman, who was one of Winthrop's car- penters, testified that '30 odd yeares past I Built a House for John Winthrop Escr at ye Poynt on Royall neck and yt Mr Winthrops Land went from ye lower poynt unto a Second Brooke called Stonie brooke which runs in to Woolistons River ye sd Woolistons River being ye Bound all along that side and from ye salt house basse river bounded it unto a Cove which cove ran some considerable way into ye land but on ye uper side of ye Cove there was a small strap of Salt marsh & at or near ye end of sayd marsh towards ye mouth of ye Cove there was a great tree marked which was Mr. Winthrops bound. And I ye sayd Pittman doe further testifie that Mr Winthrop did make improvement of a salt house there upon sd Land & kept a familie there a Considerable time.'
I Records of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, volume 6, pages 244-248.
2 On file in the office of the Clerk of Courts at Salem.
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RYAL SIDE
Daniel Epps, the attorney who brought the action for the Winthrop heirs, testified 'that he demanded the house and land of Abraham Reid but he claimed the land was his, that he had possession of it about three years and built the house then upon it.'
Robert Hebard, the saltmaker, deposed 'that about thirty three or four years ago he dwelt with Mr John Winthrope at the salthouse upon Royall side when the lot layers laid out the land and saw the bounds marked.'
William Bennett, also a carpenter employed by Winthrop, deposed 'that 30 odd yeares past yt I having occasion to worke there upon Carpintry worke some times for Mr Winthrop & some times hewing Timber for ship or vessells use upon ye Comon Lands Adjacent Mr Winthrop having a house and Family there some considerable time & carried on ye designe of making salt.'
Testimony of Roger Conant:
I Roger Conant being desired to speake what I could re- member about Mr Winthrops Frame or land att the salthouse on Royals necke, doe testifie hereby that I was one that did lay it out with and by order of Salem Towne, and Old John Woodbery was the second man for the laying it out with me, and as I remember Captaine Traske was the third man for the laying it out, as for the length thereof, it was along Wolostons River sid from the salthouse corner up to a second brooke (called as I remember stonie brooke) towardes Mr Endicots farme on the riuer side that way, and Wollistons riuer was the bound all along on that side from the salt house to the afore sayd second brooke, and wee running a lyne on the other sid next Basse riuer from the salthouse could not goe over the Cove because of the watter or tide that was in the same, the coue running out from basse riuer into the land
4I
THE SALT HOUSE AND NEWMAN LANDS
wee were laying out (most of the length of the coue being in Mr Winthrops land) wherefore wee went about the coue and on the uper or other sid of the coue Insigne Dixie had a strap of saltmarsh lying and there at the head of his marsh we marked a great tree for A bound, the river called basse riuer being the bound from the salthouse to that tree, and from that tree at Dixies marsh at ye west end the line was run to an other tree that was a bound and marked from the mouth of stonie brooke in the wood northward from Woolistons riuer, and to the utmost of my memorie, (it being thirtie and od yeares past) the breadth of the land at stonie brooke was equall with the breadth from the tree at Dixies marsh to Woolistons riuer.
Sworn, Feb. 24, 1678 before Samuel Symonds, Dep. Gov.I
While there were many cases of dispute concerning land boundaries and ownership at Ryal Side in the early days of the Township of Salem, the case of Newman vs. Read undoubtedly attracted considerable public at- tention.
Roger Conant, whose reputation for honesty of state- ment and of purpose was undoubtedly of a character that carried far in his public and private activities, was one of the three men appointed to lay out the Winthrop lands. No statement is made by him, however, as to the source of authority under which he and his associates acted in including so large an acreage in excess of that on the town records, but, although there may have been error on his part, his statement of the lay-out was readily accepted by the Selectmen as being an act per- formed in good faith, and it appears to have influenced the Selectmen in their conclusion, as indicated by the
I Records of the Quarterly Courts for Essex County, volume 6, pages 244-248.
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RYAL SIDE
agreement in settlement, which contains a reference to his work.
His description of the lay-out, though quaintly made, is an accurate statement of the geography of the locality and indicates a retentive memory of a man advanced in years.
' ... meeting of the selectmen 27:2:1654," Mr Curwin, Capt Hathorne, Mr. Conant, Jno Porter, Jeffrey Massey, Mr. Price, and Edmund Batter being present. Graunted to Henry Scerry all yt upland Lying within ye fence of Jno Bachelder yt doth fence in his salt marsh on Ryal Side provided itt must Lye in Com- mon when ye Crop is taken from itt.' Copy made by Jno. Price, recorder.
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