USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Nahant > Some annals of Nahant, Massachusetts > Part 15
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The prominent Boston merchant, Amos Lawrence, is quoted as writing in a letter in 1849:
I have never had any doubt of the existence of the sea serpent since the morning he was seen off Nahant by old Marshal Prince through his famous masthead spyglass. For, within the next two hours I conversed with Mr. Samuel Cabot and Mr. Daniel P. Parker, I think, and one or more persons besides, who had spent a part of that morning in witnessing its movements. In addition, Col. Harris, the commander at Fort Independence, told me that the creature had been seen by a number of his soldiers while standing sentry in the early dawn, some time before this show at Nahant; and Col. Harris believed it as firmly as though the creature were drawn up before us in State Street, where we then were. I again say, I have never, from that day to this, had a doubt of the sea serpent's existence.
Samuel Cabot, who is mentioned in this letter, was an early summer resident of Nahant and the great-grandfather of Senator Lodge. He wrote to Colonel T. H. Perkins under date of August 19, 1819:
I got into my chaise about seven o'clock in the morning, to come to Boston, and on reaching Long Beach, observed a number of people collected there, and several boats pushing off and in the offing. I was speculating on what should have occasioned so great an assem- blage there without any apparent object, and finally had concluded that they were some Lynn people who were embarking in these boats on a party of pleasure to Egg Rock or some other point. I had not heard of the sea serpent as being in that neighborhood, and I had not lately paid much attention to the evidences which had been given of its existence; the idea of this animal did not enter my mind at the moment. As my curiosity was directed toward the boats, to ascer-
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tain the course they were taking, my attention was suddenly ar- rested by an object emerging from the water at the distance of about one hundred or one hundred and fifty yards, which gave to my mind, at the first glance, the idea of a horse's head. As my eye ranged along, I perceived, at a short distance, eight or ten regular bunches or protuberances, and at a short interval, three or four more. I was now satisfied that the sea serpent was before me, and, after the first moment of excitement produced by the unexpected sight of so strange a monster, taxed myself to investigate his appearance as accurately as I could. ... After remaining some two or three hours on the beach, without again seeing him, I returned toward Nahant, and in crossing the small beach, had another good view of him for a longer time, but at a greater distance. At this time he moved more rapidly, causing a white foam under the chin, and a long wake, and his protuberances had a more uniform appearance. At this time he must have been seen by two or three hundred persons on the beach and on the heights each side, some of whom were very favorably situated to observe him.
Marshal Prince, named in the Lawrence letter, was James Prince, marshal of Massachusetts, and he wrote a letter to Judge Davis, under date of August 16, 1819, from which the following is taken:
I presume I may have seen what is generally thought to be the sea serpent. I have also seen my name inserted in the evening news- papers printed at Boston on Saturday, in a communication on this subject. For your gratification, and from a desire that my name may not sanction any thing beyond what was actually presented and passed in review before me, I will now state that which, in the presence of more than two hundred other witnesses, took place near the Long Beach of Nahant on Saturday morning last.
Intending to pass two or three days with my family at Nahant, we left Boston early on Saturday morning. On passing the Half- Way House on the Salem turnpike Mr. Smith informed us the sea serpent had been seen the evening before at Nahant Beach, and that a vast number of people from Lynn had gone to the beach that morning in hopes of being gratified with a sight of him; this was confirmed at the Hotel. I was glad to find I had brought my famous masthead spyglass with me, as it would enable me, from its form and size, to view him to advantage, if I might be so fortunate as to see him. On our arrival on the beach, we associated with a considerable collection of persons on foot and in chaises; and very soon an animal of the fish kind made his appearance.
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His head appeared about three feet out of water, I counted thir- teen bunches on his back; my family thought there were fifteen. He passed three times at a moderate rate across the bay, but so fleet as to occasion a foam in the water; and my family and self, who were in a carriage, judged that he was from fifty to not more than sixty feet in length. . .. The first view of the animal occa- sioned some agitation, and the novelty perhaps prevented that pre- cise discrimination which afterward took place. As he swam up the bay, we and the other spectators moved on and kept nearly abreast of him. He occasionally withdrew himself under water, and the idea occurred to me that his occasionally raising his head above the level of the water was to take breath, as the time he kept under was, on the average, about eight minutes. ... I had seven distinct views of him from the Long Beach, so called, and at some of them the animal was not more than a hundred yards distant. After being on the Long Beach with other spectators about an hour, the animal disappeared, and I proceeded on toward Nahant; but on passing the second beach, I met Mr. James Magee, of Boston, with several ladies, in a carriage, prompted by curiosity to endeavor to see the animal; and we were again gratified beyond even what we saw in the other bay. .
Then, for another example, comes Benjamin F. Newhall of Saugus, a man of high standing and reliability, who said:
As he approached the shore, at about nine A.M., he raised his head apparently about six feet, and moved very rapidly. He came so near as to startle many of the spectators, and then suddenly retreated. I could plainly see what appeared to be from fifty to seventy feet in length.
An odd little volume, entitled "A Romance of the Sea Serpent or the Ichthyosaurus," was published at Cambridge in 1849, which gave information on various sorts of sea monsters. During succeeding years there came reports of his appearance at different points on the North Atlantic coast. Some were so obviously fabricated to attract visitors to shore resorts that doubts multiplied, and more and more the existence of this great sea rover was discredited. In 1849 a Swampscott man, a credible and respectable citizen, went before a justice of the peace and swore to a statement that while walking on Nahant Beach he saw this monster on
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August 3 in the early morning. In later years little has been heard of him, and the story today brings only a smile, which may only be a reminder that the farmer said of the circus giraffe before his eyes, - there was no such animal. To go into the newspaper accounts of the visitation would add little further information, and the excitement of the time is vividly shown in a writing by J. L. Homer published in 1848, the same publication which has been used elsewhere for other citations.
In 1817 his majesty the sea serpent appeared for the first time in Massachusetts Bay. I remember this fact well. His advent at Nahant produced an intense, a fearful excitement, among all classes in Boston. The late Marshal Prince seized his masthead spyglass and took several observations, the result of which he published in the "Columbian Centinel," then edited by his friend Major Russell. Mr. Prince was a most worthy and estimable old gentleman, a little near sighted, and at times somewhat passionate and enthusiastic; in a word, he was just the man to see the sea serpent. He discerned the teeth and tongue of the monster most distinctly, almost with the naked eye; but when he brought his telescope to bear, oh, ye gods, what discoveries he made. The eyes of the serpent were dis- tinctly seen; and when his majesty condescended to extend his tongue for the purpose of lapping his large and illustrious jaws, after eating a barrel of mackerel, there were no bounds to the ecstacy of Marshal Prince's delight. The bumps on his back exceeded those on the back of the cruel Richard, of English history, some dozen or twenty.
I shall never forget the excitement produced by the first accounts received in Boston of the arrival of the sea serpent in our lower har- bor, nor the consequences which grew out of that excitement. The whole story, at this distant day, now almost thirty years, would be deemed incredible. Salem witchcraft was no touch to it, in one respect. There was not an old lady at the North End who did not shake in her shoes, and some of the clergy and many respectable citizens, partook of this unamiable and childish feeling. It was even feared, by some of the most timid, that, if he once condescended to leave his native element, as the shipbuilders and their accommodat- ing scribes call simple salt water, he would overtop all the houses in the city, occasionally peeping into the scuttle of some gentlemen in the vicinity of Mount Vernon Street, for the purpose of getting a tidbit, or spiriting away some Irish maiden lady, of fair proportions and good face. Depend upon it, there was a terrible excitement in
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Boston and vicinity when the sea serpent first visited these shores. The affidavits published at the time on the subject, from fishermen and the crews of Eastern coasters, would fill a volume of five hundred octavo pages. Expeditions to capture the monster were fitted out, without number, from Boston, Salem, Marblehead, Gloucester, and other places on both the North and South shores. The prices of whaleboats and harpoons fluctuated, like those of railroad and other fancy stocks of the present day.
Captain Rich, an enterprising and experienced seaman, com- manded the first boat that was fitted out. Much was expected of this expedition; but it turned out to be a dead failure, notwithstand- ing a temporary shed, of extensive dimensions, was put up in the vicinity of Faneuil Hall for the reception of his majesty and the accommodation of the universal public. Since that time he has been seen on our coast and elsewhere, periodically; but though frequently pursued, he has never been taken.
The sea serpent first made his appearance on our coast in 1817, which was the great year for seeing him. He moved about Boston Bay, in almost every direction, sticking chiefly to the North Shore, the waters near Cape Ann, Half Way Rock, Nahant, etc. Sharks and horse mackerel were constantly in attendance on his majesty. Bulletins in relation to him were issued from Gloucester during the travelling season, and published in the "Boston Gazette," "Cen- tinel" and "Palladium," then the leading journals of the city, but now all defunct, and their editors all dead.
In 1818 his snakeship made his appearance again, and was seen by hundreds of respectable individuals, who described him, very minutely, as he looked to them, and partly under oath. In 1819 he appeared again, and continued on the coast throughout the summer. About this time the infidels of the South began to laugh at the Yan- kees, and to insinuate that they were too credulous on this subject. The "Centinel" resented the insult, and threw back in their teeth the burning words, southern scoffers, in the following paragraph from a September issue: "It is perhaps owing to his established harmlessness that he has not long since been taken. Had he ex- hibited the ferocity at first attributed to him, or occasioned the death of a single seaman or fisherman, the whole coast would have been alive with his adversaries, and our southern scoffers, if they pleased, have long since seen his skeleton decorating the hall of our Linnæan Society."
This citation has a word or two altered in order to preserve continuity where some parts are omitted. Homer himself
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seems to have been a bit of an advertising agent, for he admits a part in trying to induce "unsuspecting people to flock to Nahant, to see the monster wag his tail and eat mackerel, while they themselves ate chowder and drank wine."
It is time to say again that there is no such animal and never was nor ever will be any such animal. It was only a couple of big mackerel sharks, or more likely a school of porpoises, perhaps consciously arranging themselves in single file while they disported, in order to provide entertainment for summer visitors and profits for seashore summer hotel keepers. Some of the proprietors of the old Nahant Hotel were canny and diverted their patrons with amusements much varied. Did they impose this on the public as a grand hoax? Doubtless they did not discourage rumors of the arrival of this great marine attraction. But was there a sea serpent? His story seems to have been handed down a couple of generations, for people have asked of Nahanters now alive when they were going to see him again. Seriously, too many people are unable to enjoy and appreciate what they cannot understand, and the skeptic's non-belief is no particular source of content or comfort. To disbelieve a thing too definitely may be a sign of narrowed vision, for it is to be commonly observed that those who know most are least dogmatic upon new material brought to their notice. Quoting the words of Truherne, in his "Centuries of Meditation," it may be said that "you will never understand the world aright until the sea floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars." To reach this condition may seem superhuman, and yet any consideration of the great men of the world's ages convinces one that intellectually or spiritually they did achieve it.
Returning to the sea serpent, the subject of his career may be closed with a couplet from Sir Walter Scott:
And better had they never been born
Who read to doubt or read to scorn.
CHAPTER XII
PUBLIC LIBRARY
THE age of public libraries is reckoned in so many different ways that some definitions are needed. Most early libraries were subscription libraries, similar to present-day circulating libraries, although in towns the initial payment may have been omitted. The impetus given the public library move- ment probably was due more to Benjamin Franklin than to any one else. In 1732, while he was a young man, he was chiefly instrumental in setting up the "Philadelphia Library Company," mother of subscription libraries in America. The later actions establishing libraries supported by taxation are not the beginning of the public library movement. From the first the earlier institutions were for the benefit of the many, and the fees were usually small and supposed to be no deterrent to joining. Later experience showed that fees hinder library progress, and today the great public library movement is almost wholly with free public libraries.
The earliest public library in Massachusetts appears to be that of Franklin, which was established in 1785 through the generosity of Benjamin Franklin for whom the town was named; then came Harvard, in 1808; and the third oldest public library in the State is at Nahant, founded in 1819. It was started through the efforts of William Wood, mentioned elsewhere as a man establishing many libraries. Unlike many other friends of such institutions, he was interested to set up a collection of books rather than erect a building. He was also interested in tree planting at Nahant, as the following letter, of which the original is owned by the library, clearly shows. He seems to have mixed up the Hoods and Johnsons somewhat in his address, which is to Joseph Johnson, Abner
Entrance to Maolis Gardens Barge in foreground
Barge at Lynn Station Byron Goodell in barge
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Hood, Richard Hood, Caleb Johnson, Benjamin Johnson and Ebenezer Johnson:
BOSTON, April 8, 1819.
SIRS: - I have collected from various quarters about ten hundred volumes of books, for the purpose of forming a library at Nahant under the following conditions, viz .: These books, and all others that may hereafter be given to the School and Library there, shall be placed under the immediate trust of yourselves, and the teacher of the school shall be empowered to hire them out to any respectable person, who will deposit the value of the work, at four pence half for the small volumes and nine pence for the larger, and the said teacher shall render a weekly account of money received, and at the expiration of each month the amount collected shall be deposited in the Savings Bank, in Boston, to remain there until the month of April, then, the amount shall be expended in forest trees, and shrubs, annually to be planted in such parts of Nahant, as the committee shall judge most proper, in order that your pleasant abode may be rendered delightful by shade. As soon as you agree to the above conditions the books will be forwarded by
Your Obt. Servt.
WILLIAM WOOD.
This document betrays more or less unfamiliarity with Nahant on the part of William Wood, because Benjamin and Ebenezer, addressed as Johnsons, seem to have been Hoods. The paper agreeing to these terms is signed by six men, - four Hoods and two Johnsons. It reads as follows:
Mr. WILLIAM WOOD.
SIR: - We the inhabitants of Nahant have received your letter of the 8th inst, with the books collected in Boston to form a Library at this place, we jointly and severally agree and pledge ourselves to appropriate any and all moneys that may be received by loaning the Books to the purchasing Forest Trees and Shrubs, annually, and plant them in such situations in this place as shall be most proper to give beauty and shade to Nahant.
JOSEPH JOHNSON, Jr. ABNER HOOD BENJA. HOOD RICHARD HOOD EBENEZER HOOD CALEB JOHNSON
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Note the opening phrase, "We the inhabitants of Nahant," and then the six signatures. William Breed had moved away and Jesse Rice seems to have been considered a newcomer, not enough of a Nahanter to participate in such a matter as responsibility for tree planting and a public library.
This library was housed in the "old stone schoolhouse," which was finished in this same year 1819. The school teachers acted as librarians. The success of this enterprise, either as a public library or a tree planting scheme, seems doubtful, and no record or memory tells about it. The books were apparently whatever any donors chose to give, which meant some rather useless volumes, although very many were of excellent quality and fit for any public library at any time. Perhaps the most notable gift was a prayer book used in the Court of Queen Anne, and described as "once the property of George IV of England." It was presented by the wife of Christopher Gore, Governor of Massachusetts in 1809, and United States Senator from Massachusetts a few years later. It is bound in full leather with the royal monogram in gilt all over the covers. Another reason for a lack of success in this undertaking was the neglect to provide means for its maintenance. Wood cannot be blamed for this, as doubtless it is often well to let people do something for themselves rather than do all for them. Almost anything will work if the people will. Too much reliance on others resembles the flea on the dog. Then it may be said that public libraries were new and their use not a habit - indeed, neither was much reading, for average people.
In any event, some years later this public library is found languishing. In 1851 the "old stone schoolhouse" was torn down and replaced by a wooden building, and the library was moved into it. Cases were provided for it, one of which is still in existence in the office of Thomas Roland. Probably the library never wholly stopped circulating, but it fell into extreme disuse. Carelessness lost many books, which were taken away and not returned. A book is a peculiar article in this respect, and very dangerous to lend. Its loss is so
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probable that many book lovers never offer to lend books and regret requests to do so. It takes extreme care to avoid care- lessness by misplacement and forgetfulness. An attempt was made, at the time of this removal, to collect these books from about town. A committee was appointed by the school district and many missing books were found. They were identified by the words "Nahant Library" written across each title-page. This resurrection was brief and the library was mostly forgotten. All of the books had become old, though not worn out, and many were wholly out of date. In 1853, when the town was incorporated, it assumed ownership of this library and gave it in charge of the school committee. Until 1870 it remained unnoticed and probably to many unknown, though occasionally a book was taken out, and often never returned.
The transition from subscription libraries to free libraries was gradual. The first movement in this country for estab- lishing free public libraries was in 1847 and was made by Josiah Quincy, mayor of Boston. In that year Boston, by special act of the State Legislature, was empowered to estab- lish a free public library and support it by taxation. The first State to pass a general law legalizing such libraries was New Hampshire in 1849. The town of Peterborough, New Hamp- shire, claims to have the first free public library organized in this country. In 1833 Peterborough voted to use a certain sum of money for this purpose. In 1851 Massachusetts passed a general law permitting all towns and cities to use ' money from taxation for public libraries. The movement became popular, and by 1894 over two hundred towns had free public libraries of over a thousand volumes each, with a total of about two million volumes. This was nearly as many as were in all the public libraries of all the other States. Private gifts and bequests have done much to aid the public library movement.
In 1870 some public-spirited citizens proposed that Nahant should support a free town library, and at the annual town meeting in March, 1871, three of these men - Edward J.
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Johnson, Alfred D. Johnson and Joseph T. Wilson - were chosen a committee to organize and equip such a library. Fifteen hundred dollars was appropriated for the purpose. The library was then moved from the schoolhouse to a room in the Town Hall, which was fitted up for its use. On February 17, 1872, the Nahant Public Library was opened. H. H. Scott, master of the grammar school, the highest school in town, was first librarian. The library committee pur- chased the books and the selectmen managed the library. In 1872 Dr. J. Nelson Borland was added to the original committee, making four members, who served until March, 1876. During this time the town appropriations were lib- eral, amounting to over $9,500 for the five years. At the end of this period of building up a public library, there were about four thousand eight hundred volumes. Dr. Borland was a well-known summer resident, lover of Nahant, who subsequently moved to Connecticut, so that few people now living remember him. His daughter married James Jackson, who was a member of a prominent firm of bankers in Boston. A grandson is James Jackson, who was recently State Treasurer of Massachusetts. Dr. Borland was very popular on Nahant, and the town lost a good citizen in his removal elsewhere.
At the annual town meeting in March, 1876, the first Board of Public Library Trustees was elected, and according to the town's instructions had full control of the institution. The same library committee were chosen trustees, - Dr. J. N. Borland, E. J. Johnson, A. D. Johnson and J. T. Wilson. In 1877 H. C. Lodge replaced Dr. Borland as trustee, and began the forty-seven years of service which ended only with his death in 1924. In 1878 H. Shepard Johnson replaced Edward J. Johnson. H. Shepard Johnson is mentioned elsewhere as Shepard H. Johnson, which is according to the records. He was always known, latterly, by the former name. He was a son of C. Hervey Johnson and grandson of Caleb Johnson, and served several years on the school committee of the town as well as upon the Board of Library Trustees. These four trustees were elected annually until 1879. At the annual
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meeting in 1878 new by-laws were adopted under which the public library trustees were to be chosen one each year for a term of three years. At the next annual meeting, accord- ingly, Joseph T. Wilson was chosen for three years, Henry Cabot Lodge for two years, and H. Shepard Johnson for one year. Johnson was re-elected in 1880 for a three-year term, and William S. Otis succeeded him in 1883, serving two terms, or until 1889. Otis lived on the southerly side of Nahant Road, nearly across from the present post office block, in a house still standing and owned and occupied by Miss Kate Reynolds. It was sold to Otis by C. Hervey Johnson, as mentioned elsewhere. In 1889 Albert G. Wilson succeeded Otis as a library trustee, and served on this Board until his death in 1927. No further changes came in the trustees, consisting of H. C. Lodge, J. T. Wilson and A. G. Wilson, until J. T. Wilson's retirement in 1897 after serving twenty- six years. Herbert F. Otis was elected to fill the place but did not desire the office, and at once resigned. Fred A. Wilson was chosen to fill the vacancy, was elected in 1898 for the two remaining years of the term, and has served ever since. The Board continued from 1898 to 1924, a period of twenty-six, nearly twenty-seven years without a change. Senator Lodge died in November, and the vacancy was not filled until the annual March meeting in 1925, when Mrs. Wallace D. Williams was chosen for the unexpired one year of the term, and re-elected in 1926 for the full three-year term. A. G. Wilson died just before town meeting in 1927, and Winthrop T. Hodges was elected for one year. These long terms of service make various members of this Board the deans among Nahant office holders. J. T. Wilson served twenty-six years, Senator Lodge nearly rounded out forty-eight years, A. G. Wilson served thirty-eight years, and Fred A.Wilson, thirty-one years, to 1928.
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