USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Standard history of Essex county, Massachusetts, embracing a history of the county from its first settlement to the present time, with a history and description of its towns and cities. The Most historic county of America. > Part 103
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The next sanguinary conflict of any note was that of-the battle of Bunker Hill, on the 17th of June following, in which the records also show Methuen was represented by a company which bore an im- portant and perilous part. The following is a copy of the original muster-roll on file at the State House.
CAMBRIDGE, Oct. 5, 1775.
Return of the men's names, when they enlisted, and where they be- longed. Belonging to Capt. John Davis's company, in Col. Frye's regiment : -
Capt., John Davis ; Ist Lieut., Nathaniel Herrick ; 2d Lient., Eli- phalet Bodwell; Maj., Jonathan Barker; Sergt., Ebenezer Carleton, Sergt., Richard Hall, Sergt., Francis Swan, Sergt., Peter Barker ; Corp., Jonathan Baxter, Corp., William Stevens, Corp., Joshua Emer- son, Corp., John Davison ; Abraham Enness, John Asten, Silas Brown, Parker Bodwell, David Bailey, Dudly Bailey, Timothy Chellis, Da- vid Corlis, James Ordway, Samuel Parker, Thomas Pace, Nathan Russ, John Swan, Nathan Swan, Jeremiah Stevens, James Silver, Simeon Tyler ; Drummer, Amos Gage ; Fifer, Samnel Barker ; James Campbell, James Davison, Mitchell Davis, Amos Harriman, Lazarus Hubbard, Ebenezar Herriek (died June 17), Joseph Hibbard (died
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
June 20), James Ingalls (died July 8), Dudly Noyes, Aaron Noyes, Peter Webster, James Woodbury, Ebenezer Sargent, Ebenczer Pin- grief, Joshua Bodwell (in train June 17), Solomon Jennings (in train June 17) - 47.
The tradition is that the company came near being surrounded toward the end of the battle, and that as the enemy came up on cach hand a Brit- ish soldier ran up to Capt. Davis, saying, "You are my prisoner." Capt. Davis, who was a resolute, powerful man, replied, "I guess not," at the same time running the soldier through with his sword.
" The blood spurted over his breeches as he drew it back, and he made his escape. It is also said that he took one of his wounded men upon his back, just after escaping from the redoubt, and carried him out of the reach of danger. As he was crossing the hollow between the hills, which was exposed to the fire from a British vessel, he saw before him a board fence. Capt. Davis, exhausted by excitement and the weight of his comrade, said : 'I don't see how we can get over this fence.' In an instant after, a cannon-ball knocked it in pieces and left the way clear."
A story is told by Mr. Asa M. Bodwell, of James Ordway, who afterwards lived on the west side of Tower Hill ; we copy from Howe's Historical Sketch.
" Mr. Ordway was in poor circumstances in his old age, and had a bad ulcer on his leg. Mr. Bodwell says his father sent him one day to Mr. Ordway with a gallon of rum to bathe his lame leg, and with it a message saying that the rum was sent to pay for throwing stones, at the battle of Bunker Hill ! The story being, that when the ammu- nition gave out, at the close of battle, Ordway laid down his gun and threw stones at the British until driven out."
Tradition also records that the roar of the artillery could be plainly heard in Methuen on that day, which must have intensified the inter- est in the contest by those so far away from the smoke and carnage of battle. In the action of that day Methuen lost three men; Ebenezer Herrick, killed in battle ; Joseph Hibbard, wounded, died June 20; James Ingalls, wounded, died July 8.
A committee of safety and correspondence was yearly chosen, which kept the people fully posted on every question of interest. The ques- tion of entering into a " perpetual union," in accordance with the re- solve of the Continental Congress, for all the United States of Amer- iea, came before the town in February, 1778. The matter was re- ferred to a committee consisting of Maj. Bodwell, Capt. James Jones, Col. Thomas Poor, Lieut. John Huse, and Mr. Enoch Merrill, who reported favorable thereto, and the meeting voted to "receive and ac- cept the Articles of Confederation and perpetual union," which was a voice for the Union as it was and is, instead of a " Confederacy," as the disunionists of 1860 desired to make it.
From the ancient records, which is also corroborated by an abun- dance of traditional history, it appears that the currency question was quite as troublesome then as it has been in later times. In April, 1778, the town voted, " that those who refuse to take the Continental currency shall be treated as enemies, and published in the Boston newspapers." The immense depreciation of currency at that time is shown by the fact, that, while the town voted £30 to repair highways in '77, it required £6,000 for the same purpose in '81.
In 1780 the town was called to act under the new Constitution of the State of Massachusetts, in the choice of governor, State officers, senators, &c., at which time John Hancock received sixty-four votes for governor, and James Bowdoin, two, which indicated the choice was without division by party feeling.
The records of the town show that equipments were furnished to soldiers from time to time, and that, when volunteers could not be oh- tained, men were hired to fill the quotas under respective calls, for which purpose sixteen were hired at one time, and twelve at another. The town also responded to calls of the government for the supply of beef for the army. In 1778, 8,780 pounds of beef were furnished. The close of the war was unattended by excitement, and the soldiers quietly returned to the pursuit of the peaceful arts of life. The only record is, a vote of the town to sell its entrenching tools, in the hope, without doubt, that they should no more be called to " Icarn war."
In the war of 1812, all that was required of the town was supplied, the verbal record of Mr. George W. Pecker, one of the veterans of that war, being that the number of men called for was not large, and they were mostly placed in the forts along the coast. A small com- pany went from Methuen to Canada and witnessed the surrender of Hull.
The next most interesting and thrilling page in the history of this ancient town, is that on which is recorded the part taken in the great
War of the Rebellion against the preservation of that " Union " which, in 1778, by deliberate and solemn vote, the inhabitants had declared they would maintain and defend as a " perpetual " one. In its politi- eal action its voice had ever been for union, justice, and liberty. By the utterances of a generally able, broad-minded, and liberal ministry, its pulpit teachings had led a willing and true-hearted people up to a high standard of moral discrimination concerning the principles which pertain to the common welfare, and the proper development of univer- sal man ; and when the hour came when blows must be struck for the maintenance of the institutions the fathers had planted, and which were intended should be measured by the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence, they were ready for the work of the trying hour. The sentiment had been planted in their hearts; it had been nurtured into luxuriant and sturdy growth ; and when the occa- sion came to test the temper of their spirits, -
" Then Freedom sternly said : 'I shnn No stripe nor pang beneath the sun, When human rights are staked and won.'"
In 1860, when the deep, hoarse rumbling of the distant thunder began to be heard, and when dark and threatening clouds began to gather in the national sky, their thoughts began to concentrate upon the duty of the hour, and their purposes began to ripen for the part they were expecting to take in the impending crisis. As they were ready at a moment's warning in 1775, so were they in 1861; and immediately after the call to arms, in that year, the town was called together for deliberation.
On the 30th of April the first legal town-meeting was held, and they voted to appropriate five thousand dollars "for arming, equipping, and furnishing volunteers "; and the selectmen, Eben Sawyer, I. P. Flint, John C. Webster, and Daniel Currier, were constituted the commit- tce "to disburse the money." It was also voted that each citizen of Methuen who had entered the military service, or who should thereafter volunteer, " be paid, from the time he enlists until he is discharged, a sum of money sufficient to make the whole amount received by him equal to twenty-six dollars a month "; and that "the sum of fifteen dollars be paid to each citizen of the town who shall become a mem- ber of the volunteer company recruiting in Methuen, and hold himself in readiness to be mustered into the United States service, in addition to his monthly pay." Following this, on August 26th, the town voted to pay State aid to the families of volunteers, according to law.
On the 21st of July, 1862, it was further voted to pay a bounty of one hundred dollars to each volunteer who should enlist in the mili- tary service, and be mustered in and credited to the quota of the town. On the following 2d of August, it was voted to pay, to cach of the forty-seven volunteers required to fill the quota of the town, two hundred dollars " in addition to that already voted," and " to discon- tinue the payment of all bounties after the 9th of the present month." On the 19th of August, it was also voted to pay a bounty of one hun- dred and fifty dollars to each volunteer for nine months' service, when mustered in and credited to the town.
On the 2d of November, 1863, in response to the call of the Presi- dent, Oct. 17, 1863, it was voted to fill the quota of the town, and pay the families of the men who might be drafted the same State aid that was paid to the families of volunteers.
On the 20th of May, 1864, with a view to filling the quota of the town, the bounty to volunteers for three years' service was fixed at one hundred and twenty-five dollars, to be paid to cach enlisted man when mustered in and credited to the quota of the town. In connec- tion with the selectmen, Charles E. Goss and Eben Sawyer were chosen to assist in recruiting men, and in the payment of bounties. This was in anticipation of a call of the President for more men. The volunteers from Methuen were scattered through several regi- ments, but the largest number were in Company B, 1st Heavy Artillery, Leverett Bradley, captain.
The heaviest blow received by Methnen men was in the battle of Spottsylvania, where fifteen were killed and a large number wounded. The intelligence that the Methuen company had suffered heavily in that battle caused great excitement through the town, and a meeting of citizens was immediately called, at which a series of sympathetic resolutions were passed, and an agent despatched to look after the wounded.
Iu addition to these were two other resolutions, completing the series ; one being complimentary to the First Regiment of Heavy Artillery, in which so many Methuen men were members, and the other was congratulatory to those who had bravely, and without harm, faced danger in the battle-field.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
To ensure the filling of the quota of the town, on September 12th the selectmen were authorized to deposit money with the treasurer of the Commonwealth to obtain twenty-five recruits to fill the quota of the town, "or to proeure them in any other manner at the same rate."
In the call for men for the field, Methuen furnished three hundred and twenty-five soldiers for the war, which was a surplus of fifty-one in excess of all demands. Fifteen of the number were commissioned officers.
The whole amount of money appropriated and expended by the town on account of the war, exclusive of State aid, was thirty-eight thousand six hundred and fifty-one dollars and seventy-three cents ($38,651.73). In addition to this. seven thousand five hundred dol- lars were gratuitously contributed, by individual citizens, to aid soldiers' families, and for the encouragement of recruiting.
In the payment of State aid to the families of volunteers, during the four years of the war, the amount of money raised and expended by the town, which was afterwards reimbursed by the Commonwealth, was twenty-three thousand four hundred and fifty-six dollars and eighty-five cents ($23,456.85). This sum was divided as follows : In 1861, $1,625.42; in 1862, $5,494.79; iu 1863, $7,044.26; in 1864, $6,392.38 ; in 1865, $2,900.
The noble work of the ladies during this long and desperate strug- gle can never be fully estimated. Their labors were constant and unceasing, and their services well directed and efficient. The work at home in preparation for kind ministrations to the sick and wounded, and the remittance of tokens of favor to the absent ones, was the chain with golden links which united hospital, camp, and tented field, with home, keeping fresh the memories of the past, and inspiring new and pleasing visions of the future. At a time when the distressing news of carnage came from a fresh and bloody battle-field, it appeared to over-stimulate the lively competition existing between the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, which led to a local rupture in the ranks of the workers in the noble cause of relief, without, apparently, more faithfully serving the sufferers with that which their necessities really required, or increasing the usefulness of the noble system of relief which so faithfully served the soldiers through the long and bloody war. The event was only one of those incidents attendant upon associations where the aggregate judgment shapes the action.
The number of Methuen men who fell during the war was fifty-two, exclusive of those serving in the navy. They were often called to take part in the hardest of the fight ; and the Methuen company, in the regiment of eighteen hundred men, held an honorable position. At the battle of June 16th, the regimental color-bearer was twice shot down, after which the colors were transferred to comrade Albert L. Dame, who took the post of danger in the regiment, and had the fortune and the honor of bearing them till the close of the war, after which he delivered them to the State, where their burnt and tattered folds supply the evidence of the carnage of that now fast-receding day of conflict.
Following the return of peace, those who had borne a part in the great war, and had survived the slaughter on bloody fields, contrary to the expectations of some, quietly and silently dropped back into the peaceful walks of life to join their fellow-citizens once more in pursn- ing the arts of peace, and to enjoy the protection and the blessings flow- ing from the institutions they had so nobly defended and so successfully preserved.
Succeeding this, came a successiou of prosperous years, scarcely equalled in the history of any people, and in which Methuen has most generously shared. At that time new manufacturing enterprises made their appearance, while most of those already established were ani- mated with fresh vigor, in the operation of which wealth has been much increased and the population of the town rapidly multiplied. The largest establishments are the cotton and jute mills of David Nevins & Co., in the name and style of the " Methuen Company "; the Methuen Woolleu Company ; three hat factories, and three large shoe factories, all of which are owned and operated by Methuen men.
By the operation of these manufacturing enterprises, the manufact- ures of the town have beeu nearly quadrupled within the last ten years, aud the population increased sixty-four per cent., a percentage of gain greater than that of any other town in the Commonwealth. The census of 1875 shows the population of Methuen Village to have been 3,000, ,
while that of the agricultural portion of the town had not materially changed. The entire population is 4,205. The valuation, real and personal, was $2,310,770 ; the aggregate of manufactures, $2.115,942, and the value of domestic and agricultural products, $230,802, The aereage of the town is 13,283. While this growth has been rapid. it has not been ruinously vitiated by speculation. but has shown solid- ity and substance in the inerease, as tested by the pressure of the present hour. This prosperity has been attended by many important changes, involving a recent expenditure of something like $10,000 for public improvements. The connection of the village with the city of Lawrence by a horse railroad, which was effected in 1867, has been found of substantial advantage, as well as a great public convenience.
On the 7th of September, 1876, the town of Methuen celebrated the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its iucorporation. The day was fine, and all its hours, from early morn to latest eve, were given to a century and a half anniversary day, certain never to return for a second greeting from those who then welcomed its dawn. The morning was ushered in by an artillery salute from the heights, and the bustling village soon assumed an appearance of festivity. Flags, banners, streamers, and decorations were everywhere visible, and the town was full of rejoicing.
Gov. Rice and Surg. Gen. Dale were present, as were mauy strangers from abroad ; and former citizens of the town made it an occasion for a visit to the euterprising and picturesque village. A pro- cession, with numerous bands of music, passed through the principal streets. The president of the day was Jacob Emerson, Esq. ; the chaplain, the Rev. Lyman H. Blake ; the orator, Hon. John K. Tar- box : and the chief marshal, Adjt. James Ingalls.
A banquet was served under a mammoth pavilion, at the conclusion of which speeches were made by the Rev. Dr. A. A. Miner, of Boston ; Hon. Allen W. Dodge, treasurer of Essex County ; Maj. George S. Merrill, of Lawrence ; Hon. J. K. Jenness, of Haverhill ; Hon. J. C. Blaisdell, of Fall River ; the Rev. Moses How, of New Bedford, whose record is that he has preached 8,000 sermons, attended 2,265 funerals, married 1,904 couples, and distributed 5,211 Bibles, and 15,000 testa- ments to seamen, and at the age of eighty-seven years was still a vigorous man. The other speakers were Hon. Joseph S. Howe ; Hon. Carroll D. Wright ; William M. Rogers, Esq., and David Nevins, Esq.
The most rapid advance of this town in wealth, population, and busi- ness importance has been made in the last half-century. an outline of which, blended with its carlier history, is presented in these pages. Much of its history remains unwritten, which will supply the material for a future record.
The fire-department of the town is in good condition, having a pow- erful steamer, the " E. A. Straw," together with other necessary fire apparatus. The situation is now in striking contrast with that of 1826, when a small hand-machine, the "Tiger," was owned and oper- ated, half by the Methuen Company, and half by Maj. Osgood, John Davis, Thomas Thaxter, George A. Waldo, and J. W. Carleton.
The fraternal and benevolent institutions, together with the reform)- atory organizations, are well sustained. The earliest organization of the Masonic order was that of Grecian Lodge in 1825, which sur- rendered its charter in the days of anti-Masonry, but after the incor- poration of Lawrence it was reorganized under the old charter within the limits of that town. John Haneock Lodge was constituted in this town in 1860, and now has a membership of nearly 150, holding its convocations in Currier's buildings.
Hope Lodge of Odd Fellows. instituted in 1844, surrendered its charter in 1855, but was reinstated in 1869, and is now flourishing, with a membership in the vicinity of 125, meeting in Corliss's building. The Reform Club and other temperance instrumentalities are in active operation, and the various benevolent organizations, chiefly under the direction of the ladies, are constantly engaged in labors of love.
In 1833, Edwin Harriman, of Haverhill, established the "Iris," the first newspaper ever printed here, removing it from Haverhill, where it was first published as a campaign paper in the interest of Caleb Cushing ; but it was soon discontinued. It was succeeded about 1835, by the " Methuen Falls Gazette," of which S. Jameson Varney was editor and proprietor. The " Methuen Transcript and Essex Farmer" was established in 1876, by C. L. Houghton & Co., edited by C. E. Trow, who soou became its proprietor. It has a circulation of 500.
MIDDLETON.
At the rising of the sun, in the beginning of the seventeenth een- tury, if an explorer had been travelling through what is now "Mid- dleton village," and around the Great Pond, the light of day would have revealed to his gaze a far different seene than is now presented to the eyes of the visitors of Middleton. The valleys and hills, brooks and poud, all lie as in their primitive state. The giant oaks and pines, the lesser growth of birches on the poorer soil, and the alders and shrubbery, common to low lands, lying along the streams, and in the swamps, eover the uneven surface of the landseape with their verdancy ; or, perchanee, an autumn day, the yellow and ver- milion maple-leaves would tip the rising hills and swelling knolls with glorious colors prepared from Nature's laboratory. But, lost in thought of the ages gone, when the savage horde, perhaps, rode over these hills, and through the trackless forests, he stands upon the shore of the crystal lake, the merry dance of whose sparkling waters aids in holding him spell-bound. Away over the tops of a clump of trees of some lesser growth, the sight of smoke slowly rising on the still morning air, and eireling in the heavens above, dis- pels his pensive mood. Hastening toward the smoke, he soon finds himself eneroaching upon an Indian plantation. The enltivated land lies in front of numerous wigwams, and the settlement appears to be in keeping with the character and customs of the Agawams. A well- beaten path leads to the pond where several birch eanoes are stowed away upon its plaeid waters beneath the overhanging alders. Another path leads to the river, and helps to form the great highway of the Indians, in this section, when they travelled from one tribe to another .* One of the Indians that resided here was called " Old William." He owned the present Will's Hill, from whence it derived its name. One of the last (perhaps the last) survivor of this company, he at length died, and was buried on the northerly brow of the hill. Some fifty years ago, the old residents could point out his grave ; but, since that time, all traces of it are gone, and the site is unknown to the present inhabitants. Not uninteresting though sad is the thought, that, in this place, there once dwelt a different race of men. Here they hunted, here they fished, here they had their council fires ; but now, supplanted by the whites, they have forever passed away.
The first mention made of this seetion is found in the Colonial Records in the year 1639. About 1635, the original town of Andover was settled under the supervision of Richard Bellingham, Esq., and others, of Boston, and Middleton was probably explored at this time, or shortly after ; as we find, a few years later, that Mr. Bellingham desired the General Court to grant him a farm there. This the Court agrees to, and accordingly grants him the traet he desires, if it is not already in the bounds of any town, in the follow- ing words, Nov. 5, 1639 : "The place desired by Mr Bellingham for his farme is on the head of Salem to the north west from the towne, there being in it a hill, wth an Indian plantation, & a pond, & about a hundred or 150 acres of meadow, viewed by Mr Willi : Hanthorne & Rich : Davenport. . This is granted if it bee not in Rowley nor any other towne." This traet of land contained about 1,200 acres, and extended from the pond to near Andover line, a long, narrow strip. The original bounds of Salem were six miles from their meeting-house. Bellingham's grant lay between this and the bounds of Andover. In 1659, he sold this land to Bray Wilkins and his brother-in-law, John Gingell. The following year, Wilkins moved from Lynn, where he was living, and settled down upon his new purchase; thus becoming . the first English settler in the present village of Middleton. Mr. Wilkins was son of Lord John Wilkins, of Wales; emigrated from England with Gov. Endicott in 1628, so says tradition ; settled in Lynn, and died in Middleton, in 1702, at a good old age. At his request, this traet was annexed to Salem at an early date.
Maj. Gen. Dennison procured a grant east of Bellingham's, run- ning from Pierce's Brook, north, and parallel with Bellingham's, though containing a less number of aeres. This brook passes in front of the house of the late Abijah Fuller. This grant of land was sold,
* The place where this path crossed the river is now covered by the "Old Indian Bridge," near the residenee of Mr. Noyes.
in 1663, to Thomas Fuller, of Woburn, the emigrant aneestor of the above-mentioned Abijah Fuller. He was a blacksmith by trade, and, in after years, made himself useful to the inhabitants of the vieinity. Mr. Fuller came from England, in 1638, ou a visit of observation, intending to stay one year and return ; but, while here, was converted under the preaching of the Rev. Thomas Shepard, of Cambridge, Mass.
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