USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Haverhill > Some memories of old Haverhill in Massachusetts > Part 4
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Prim Prissy Wingate made my bonnet, But Mercy put the flowers on it.
It looked so very, very nice, Mama quite gladly paid the price.
In flowered band-box home I bore it, And Sabbath day to meeting wore it.
A little late I reached my pew That all might see my bonnet new.
The dear old parson preached of love, With eyes that gazed on realms above.
But when he mentioned "Fair-I-see," I really thought he might mean me-
Six summers only had I seen, And that excuses much, I ween,-
He spoke of Mercy and of bliss; I thought of Mercy and of Pris.
"The hand of Mercy giveth grace,"- "Iwas true she fixed the flowers and lace,
But somehow it seemed quite unfair To leave unmentioned Prissy's share, ---
So when he said,-thinking alone Of love divine to mankind shown, --
With look intent and gesture neat That pointed straightway towards my seat,
"The hand of Mercy rested on it,"-
"True!" cried I, "but Pris made the bonnet." [65]
Some Memories
If some one shall remind me that the name of the elder was not Mercy but Mchetabel, I shall answer in the spirit of an old colored mother who expressed surprise that she had named her little ebony baby Lily White,-"She's jest Lily White to her ma, but you can call her Vi'let if you like." Apropos of making the name fit poetic demands I recall that when Kenoza lake was formally named in 1859, a local poet wrote some verses in honor of the event. Thinking that Kenoza was the Indian name for trout, he sang-
" Tales of Kenosha, the trout, Swimming in thy depths about, In the beds of flag leaves deep, 'Mong the lily-pads asleep,-"
but learning that the musical Indian word meant "lake of the pickerel," he restrung his lyre, and sang
" Of the pickerel, Kenoza, Clear the gravelled bottom shows her,-
a facile change, and a most ingenious rhyme.
One old building of the near neighborhood ought not to go unsung,-the little schoolhouse which stood north of the Common and which until 1834 was the public one of the village. Over its threshold with ink-horn and book must have gone many a
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youth whose name is writ large in the history of the town, to be taught in the stern way of old the three R's, including "stops and points, notes of affection and interrogation, accenting and Emphasizing,"- this referring to nothing more sentimental or serious than reading. An early teacher of this school was Master Parker. He was as sharp of wit as he was quick of temper. To a father who had complained that he taught his son nothing he replied, "Sir, I can instruct brains, but I cannot create them."
" Old Master Parker's inky, oaken rule Sent terror through his tired, listless school As from his hand with lightning speed it flew, And left on luckless heads marks black and blue; Or, swift descending on the truant's back, Made every cringing nerve and muscle crack."
Another master was one about whom "Dan" Carleton, an older brother of the late James H. Carleton, wrote, when he was a pupil, the squib,-
" Old Doe's a very ugly man; He licks his pupils all he can; May the good Lord shut off his breath Before he licks us all to death."
It certainly needed the Christian virtue of pa- tience to keep school in a building designed, as an early report said of this one, "to keep as large a
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number of pupils in as small a space as possible;" and the fact, also noted in an early report, that "three boys must sit together in each seat," did not make the master's task the easier. There were teachers here, however, who won by the gentler methods,-Greenwood, who died in 1841, as the school report said in his praise, "with the dew of youth fresh upon him, rendering his virtues the more fragrant;" Smiley, who had ever a train of youth following him, the genial book-seller later, and, later still, the third mayor of the city; Ham- mond, whose somewhat sterner rule was trans- ferred to the Winter street school; and Miss Ann Kimball, who was in her earlier years the model of primary teachers, and who reluctantly gave up her work only when, after long years of service, age stole from her the keenness of hearing and vision.
After a full century-and-a-quarter of existence as a schoolhouse the building was moved in 1874 first to the corner of Locust and Winter streets, and being there unwelcome, to Primrose street. Like the house that "stood on the hill,-If it isn't gone, it stands there still."
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XVI
One might teach almost the whole history of Haverhill in connection with the little triangle of land that never had an individual owner, so long known as the Common, but now-embellished and adorned-called City Hall Park,-the very centre and heart of the city. It lay in early times at the divergence of the Highway leading to Thomas Dus- ton's mill (Main street) and the Highway leading to ye West Bridge (Winter street). The first meet- ing house of the town was built in 1648 "on the lower knoll of the Mill lot,"-that is, on the knoll that rises from Water street in Pentucket Cemetery. The second meeting house was built, after much and bitter discussion, in 1698-9, in this little Common, and placed nearly opposite where Pleas- ant street enters Winter street. The land south- west of the Common was the property of Captain John Wainwright, and his house, on the site of the present City Hall, became in 1781 the possession of Joseph Harrod, and was kept as an inn called from the painting on its sign-board, The Masons' Arms. A long tract of land on the east of the Common be- longed to Samuel Emerson. This land with the house and barn was bought in 1700 by the Reverend Benjamin Rolfe for fifty pounds of silver. After
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the massacre of Rolfe the town bought the estate as a parsonage. The new church had been built ten years when, early on the morning of August 29, 1708, just as daylight first flushed the east, the dis- charge of John Keezars' gun and the blood-curdling yells of the Indians on their murderous foray aroused the inhabitants. The savages scattered over the little village, killing the minister Rolfe in his house, burning, murdering in fiendish fury, and taking flight before the sun was fully risen, leaving not only grief for the sixteen victims slain but deep- er sorrow and fear for the captives borne away.
Here in 1743 was hung the first bell in the town, one imported from London, and here a year later a whipping post and stocks were erected nearly opposite the present site of the Hotel Bartlett. In 1766 a new meeting house was built just north of the old one.
The Common was the training field for the militia. From it marched one hundred and five minute men to the scene of action on the day that the news of the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord reached Haverhill. This number was almost half of the entire military force of the town. And that night, in terror lest the British should make an attack on Haverhill, the citizens, men, women and children, brought their goods packed to the Common, and in
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anxiety waited in readiness for flight at the first alarm. In the battle of Bunker Hill fifty-four of the thousand men engaged in the redoubt were from Haverhill.
Here should be told the story of William Baker of Haverhill, to whose action the ride of Paul Revere was due. He was a youth of twenty, em- ployed in a distillery owned by Mr. Hill in Cole's Court, now Portland street, in Boston. A woman quartered with the Forty-Third British regiment went to this place and, being partially intoxicated, unwittingly communicated to the owner of the dis- tillery the design of the British to march to Con- cord. Baker volunteered to carry this information to General Warren. He passed the British guards and sentries and reached Warren's headquarters. There he gave the information to Adjutant Devens, General Warren being absent. Having performed this mission Baker proffered his further services, and to him was entrusted the duty of reaching Charlestown and having ready the horse on which Paul Revere made his historic ride.
XVII
George Washington, elected President of the United States March 4, 1789, and inaugurated on the 30th of April following, wished to become per-
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sonally acquainted with the state of feeling towards the new government. He therefore visited New England in the autumn of that year, going as far east as Portsmouth. Colonel Tobias Lear, Wash- ington's secretary, who accompanied him on this journey was a native of Portsmouth, a graduate of Harvard College in 1783, and on terms of mutual affection and respect with his great chief. The citizens of Haverhill desired the President to visit them on the return journey, but hope and dis- appointment rapidly alternated until, on the after- noon of November 4, a solitary horseman rode frenziedly adown the street past the Common, blowing a trumpet and crying "Washington is coming! Washington is coming!" The bell in the meeting-house steeple rang as never before, the children in the town school at the head of the Common were immediately dismissed, and every- one hurried forth. Soon Mr. Lear appeared, mounted on a white horse and followed by a carriage drawn by four white steeds, in which sat General Washington and Major Jackson. He re- mained over night at the Masons' Arms, rode through the village, and by his graciousness and pleasant compliments greatly honored the town. He reviewed the village militia, drawn up on Water street, before continuing his journey. The morn-
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ing after his arrival he crossed the river by the ferry opposite Kent street, leaving behind the town whose beauty he had praised and enriching her traditions by the memory of the courtesy of the Father of his Country. In honor of his visit Wash- ington square and Washington street received his name.
The meeting-house on the Common saw the organization of the first Sunday school in the place, the inspiration of two ladies, Miss Gibson and Miss Pagett, of Charleston, South Carolina, who were then visiting Mrs. Atwood in the great house north of the Common. In the parlors of the Atwood house the Haverhill Benevolent Society was organized in January, 1818, through the in- fluence of these Southern guests.
The town had used the church as its meeting place for many years without payment, but in 1827 the Parish decided to make charge for such use. The town refused to pay such charge, and hence- forth until the building of the Town Hall in 1847 held its meetings in various places, even as far dis- tant as the churches in the East and the West parishes. A controversy then arose between the town and the parish as to the ownership of the Common. This difference was settled in 1837 by the action of the town in buying the claim of the
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parish to the land and laying it out as a common forever. For this release by the parish the town purchased as a site for their church the Marsh lot, north of the Common, paying for it $2,750. The vote of the parish, passed June 5, 1837, shows under what conditions the Common is held :-
" Voted, That the Parish will sell, by quit-claim deed, to the Town of Haverhill, for the use of the Town, as an ornament- al common, not to be built on, the land of the Parish hereto- fore used as their meeting-house lot; reserving all the stone and brick on the same, on full and plain conditions, expressed in the deed, limiting the use of the said land for the purpose of an ornamental common, and providing for the said deed being void, and the land reverting to the Parish, if any building or buildings whatever, shall, either by the said town or any per- son or body, ever be placed or suffered to remain on said land, or on any of the said land situate between any part of the said land and the Marsh lot, so called, lying a few rods northerly of the land so deeded to the Town."
The parish in the same year built a new church on the Marsh lot. This new edifice was destroyed by fire on January 1, 1847, despite the energy of the ladies in forming a line and passing the fire- buckets filled with water while the men looked on. The present church was then built, facing for many years the Common, but finally being turned to its present position.
The Common to which the Town thus acquired complete title was a rough and uneven patch, with
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buttonwood trees upon it that had been planted by Judge Sargeant in 1790. In 1844 the ladies raised money for its grading and improvement, and in 1846 the elms that since have formed its arboreal beauty were set out. In this year the town scales were removed from it to a place south of the Common, neighboring to the old town pump-an institution dear to those who remember it and the iron gourd from which all drank its waters-that might have rilled as interestingly of the habits of the town and its people as did the one immortal- ized by Hawthorne.
XVIII
When the secession of the Southern states threw the shadow of the Civil War over the country, Haverhill prepared to render its service. In compli- ance with an order of Governor Andrew of Massa- chusetts, Captain Messer of the Hale Guards called a meeting of the company under his command, at the armory in the Town Hall, on January 23, 1861. When by roll call each member was asked if he was ready to respond to the summons of the Governor to defend the Union, every mother's son of them answered, "Yes!" That summons came on April 19. The old guard, the surviving members of the
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Haverhill Light Infantry, some of them veterans of the war of 1812, assembled to act as escort to the departing company. The firemen lent their pic- turesque presence to the procession, and the throng of citizens filled the walks. Thus accompanied the Hale Guards-Company G-marched in mid- afternoon to the Common. Alfred Kittredge there placed in the hands of the officers the sum of $1,500-the gift of citizens-to be distributed to the men; Thomas F. Barr presented a beautiful silk flag; Dr. Raymond H. Seeley made an inspiring and patriotic address, bidding them in the name of their fellow-citizens "God speed;" the Honorable George Cogswell brought them the message of cheer and blessing from Bradford; and then, the band playing patriotic airs, the whole concourse moved through Main and Merrimack and Washington streets to the railway station. There were cheers and tears, fer- vent prayers and fond farewells, and the playing of America by the band as the train moved off. The tragedy of war had touched the town. The Tiger Engine Company honored the ten of its members who were in Company G by retaining them on the roll list, exempt from all assessments, and framing their names to be hung on the walls of its hall.
When news of victory came, the boys built the , bonfires of rejoicing in the wide spaces of Main
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street below the Common; when word of defeat came, the silence of gloom and sadness lay over the whole village.
The name which the G. A. R. Post of Haverhill bears-Major How-is that of a hero who fell in the fearful six days fighting before Richmond. Henry Jackson How, killed June 30, 1862, by a musket ball in the breast, a graduate of Phillips Academy of Andover and of the class of 1859 of Harvard College, left to his native town the splen- did picture of pure manliness as well as the glorious memory of a fearless soldier. Tall, well-propor- tioned, bluff but hearty, the personification of truthfulness, he united kindness with firmness so flawlessly that he held love while he exacted obe- dience. "I did not come to this war hastily," he said; "I counted the cost;" and his last words were, "I know I must die. I am willing to give up life in so good a cause. Let death come here on the field of battle,-it is more glorious so. And let me be wrapped in the flag given me by my dear friends in Haverhill."
His sword is the precious possession of the Post that bears his name; his picture is there to bring back memories and arouse inspiration; but no re- cord of the Haverhill of his generation would be complete that did not bear, at least, in simple lines,
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the story of his devotion and death. "So that the life be brave, what though not long?"
XIX
For more than a full century and a quarter- from the time when Parson Rolfe bought from Samuel Emerson, in 1700, the house at the back door of which he was massacred, until Dr. Moses Nichols purchased the estate in 1831-the success- ive ministers of the First Parish dwelt on the present site of the High School building. The house of the Indian tragedy of 1708 was torn down and a new parsonage erected in 1773. This later parsonage was the house so recently removed to make room for the school edifice. Its first occupant was one who had lived in the older house for thirty years, the Reverend Edward Barnard, pastor of the church from 1743 to 1774. More interesting than his scholarly and elegant sermons are the manuscripts of his which form a sort of a diary and shine like a little light on the customs and manners of his times. These manuscripts have now mysteriously disappeared but before their vanishing Miss Harriet O. Nelson fortunately examined them and made excerpts from them. From her delightful essay on.
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this Old-Time Haverhill Minister I borrow the fol- lowing paragraphs :-
"Two other manuscripts comprise what is called 'an ac- count of benefactions' for ten years beginning with 1762, and is a careful list of gifts received, with the donors' names, many of which are still familiar in this vicinity. The record of good things makes one's mouth water, even after this lapse of time. There are beef and veal, geese and turkeys, and a long procession of 'roasting pigs,' while the return' of spring never failed to bring salmon, 'shadd' and 'Pickarel' of the 'first catching.' At Thanksgiving time it might be said of this good and gifted parson as of Chaucer's Franklin-'It snewed in his house of meat and drink.' Then came turkeys, pigeons and geese, bisket and oranges, 'Mince pye,' 'cranbrie tart and fine pudding,' with no end of 'sparrib.' On another occasion there are sent from 'Mrs. Ayer, lady of ancient Deacon, a cheese new, part of an old cheese, and Diet Bread to assist in the entertainment of our quilters,' while again, generous soul, she is credited with 'cabbage, spare-rib, chop of Bacon, Turnips, small legg of Pork,' and still again, 'Half old sheep.' Gifts of brandy, rum and 'cyder' show that the days of prohibition had not dawned, while pipes and tobacco are not unmentioned.
Nor were the donations confined to supplies for the inner man. One was after this wise: 'Mrs. Sally MeHard, genteel toothpicks to myself and lady,' while a rather puzzling memo- randum runs thus: 'Mr. Marsh, tutor at college, half a ticket to my wife, 3 dollars.' A new saddle from nine donors is men- tioned in impressive capitals, but the smallest favors seem always to be noticed, such as an orange or two now and then, or'a Mugg from Mrs. Steele and a little Mugg to Sally from her negro girl, Kate.' The minister occasionally acknowledges the free use of a chaise for a visit to Andover, Chester, or even remote Boston.
The somewhat promiscuous character of these 'benefactions' reminds us not a little of Barkis's offerings of affection to Peg-,
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gotty,-'a double set of pig's trotters, a huge pin-cushion, half a bushel or so of apples, a box of dominoes, some Spanish onions, a canary bird and cage, and a leg of pickled pork.'
Certain brothers Cary were evidently good geniuses of the Barnard household. Brother Richard Cary is credited on one occasion with the gift of 'six gallons of Rum,' and 'Brother Daniel Cary, quam plurima.' Again there is acknowleged from the Reverend Thomas Cary 'a gown for my son Nedd, one side fine Plaid, other handsome Calliminco.' Oh, if we could only have a picture of Master Nedd on his first appear- ance in that smart new garment and find out its precise cut! If his younger brother felt any envy of Master Nedd's finery, perhaps he was consoled by a gift from Mr. Osgood of two chickens and some gray squirrels.'"'
As a foil for the smile caused by the quaint gift to Master Nedd, comes a tear for his death. This lovely boy, Edward, born December 3, 1747, died September 6, 1752, not quite five years old. The father, "a grave, meek, peace-loving man," saddened by his bereavement, thought perhaps of the beau- tiful Greek youth stricken in his beauty, imaged in the brook as was his son in his heart. So he wrote the following touching and beautiful poem :-
NARCISSUS
Narcissus was a lovely boy, Around his parents smiled, Added to every rising joy, And all their cares beguiled.
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Health sat upon his smiling cheek, Life sparkled in his eye, Genius conspired in what he spake To raise our prospects high.
So have I seen the infant rose Beneath the genial ray Its blushing beauties half disclose, And gladden every day. i
Anon I hear the stormy wind, Cold night attends its shades; Withers the flower with head inclined, Its blushing beauties fade.
No more to me the spring appears To bless the teeming earth; No more the birds salute my ears To hail the fruitful birth.
The plants in ample order rise, Exult in various forms ;- But in the grave Narcissus lies, Nor seeks my longing arms.
The sense in mournful strains repines, But faith corrects my tongue; Truth in my breast serenely shines, And thus inspires the song.
When heavenly souls by death forsake This frail, obscure abode, Upward an active flight they take, And find their rest with God.
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There bright as cherubim, they stand Before their Savior's face; A verdant palm shall fill each hand, And crown each temple's grace.
No more of pain or thirst they know Through everlasting years! My God commands the streams to flow, And wipes the falling tears.
XX
When the first Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Haverhill Academy appeared in 1827, printed on a single large sheet of pink paper, the name of John G. Whittier appeared in the list of pupils, and the name of Miss Arethusa Hall ap- peared as Preceptress. She who was Whittier's teacher for a brief while, filled the measure of Words- worth's description of a perfect woman in She was a phantom of delight. The record of her long life reminds me of Ben Jonson's lines,-
" Where'er she went the flowers took thickest root, As she had sow'd them with her odorous foot,-
and the flowers were religious thoughtfulness, in- tellectual culture, sympathy, compassion, love. One of her pupils wrote in the old fashion of the acrostic this picture of her :-
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" Mark you that lady who, with gracious air, Instructs the young committed to her care? See how by firmness and benignity She brings all hearts to own her sovereignty.
Happy indeed are those who travel on, Attaining knowledge with her benison! Love guards her action, duty points the way : Long may she live to exercise her sway."
This prayer for her long life was granted, for, born in 1802, she was released from earth in 1890. No worthy picture of her exists. Tall, stately, gracious,"her noble spirit shining in her noble face," she wrought with ceaseless activity and in all the fields of woman's work from the humble household duties to the writing of books.
" Queen of the tub, I merrily sing While the white foam rises high, And sturdily wash and rinse and wring, And fasten the clothes to dry ; And out in the free, fresh air they swing, Under the summer sky."
Two months before her death she wrote me a delightful letter describing the school and the town when she came to Haverhill in 1827 :---
"Some days before the opening of the academy I went to Haverhill, and was received at the house of Madam Duncan, a lady of the old school of gentility, whose home was a model of neatness, order, and the elegance of the day. Her son
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whom I had met resided with her and was then unmarried. Here I remained a few days until a permanent boarding place was found for me. This proved to be the home of the vener- able Mrs. Atwood, mother of the lamented Harriet Newell, wife of one of the missionaries to India.
The dedication of the new academy soon took place with much ceremony, the principal citizens of the town taking great interest in the new institution. The school consisted of two departments, one for young men and the other for young ladies, each having a distinct head. The apartments for the two were on the same floor, separated by the entrance hall. The whole school assembled in my room for morning prayer. In the male department I recollect John G. Whittier, who about that time by his poetical effusions had awakened the interest of some of the best educated citizens. He was an earnest student and attracted much notice, young ladies think- ing it an honor to receive contributions from his pen for their albums. . I remember with pleasure the polite attentions I received from the cultivated society of Haverhill. In all my later teaching I recall no place where social intercourse was so enjoyable."
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