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 131
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On the first day of January, 1869, the city government made an inspection and examination of the works at Wenham, and after return- ing to the city hall the hydrants were tested, and seven of them, all in sight from the corner of Washington and Essex streets, were opened ; and to each of the seven six lines of hose were attached, so that forty-two streams were playing at once, and the trial was entirely satisfactory. During 1869, the reservoir was sodded, fences were built, and the works completed, and on the 19th of November, 1869, Mr. W. P. Phillips, chairman of the water commissioners, formally trans- ferred the charge of the Salem Water-Works to the city council, and delivered an address upon the occasion, from which most of the fore- going facts and figures are taken. The amount expended up to the date of transfer was about $1,060,000.
Wenham Lake, the source of supply, is situated partly in Beverly and partly in Wenham, and has an arca of twenty acres. Its extreme depth is fifty-three feet, and its distance from the city hall by the pipe line is four and six-tenths miles. Its capacity is from two to three million gallons per day, and its level thirty-one feet above mean high tide. The reservoir, situated on Chipman's Hill, Beverly, is four hundred feet square, and has a capacity of twenty million gallons, and when filled the surface of the water is one hundred and forty-two feet above mean high-tide. The supply main can deliver five million gal- lons in twenty-four hours, and retain a head of eighty-eight feet, or three million gallons, with a head of one hundred and twenty-two feet. At first merely nominal rates were established for the use of water, but in 1873 regular water-rates were prescribed. In 1877, the num- ber of Wenham water-takers was 6,895, and water was supplied to sixty-seven tanning and currying, besides numerous other manufac- turing, establishments. The receipts from water-rates in 1877 were $35,646.
The history of the introduction of Wenham water has been recited somewhat at length, because it is the most extensive and important work that the city ever accomplished. The plan at the outset met with determined opposition from a portion of our citizens, and the municipal elections, when the water question was at issue, were hotly contested. The project has now stood thic test of time. It is ten years since the water from Wenham Lake first flowed through the streets of Salem, and to-day those most bitterly opposed to the plan in the beginning are willing to acknowledge the benefit derived from the copious and bountiful supply of pure water which Salem now enjoys. The works are substantially built, and will compare favorably with any in the country.
The Fire Department .- The introduction of Wenham water worked
an entire revolution in the methods employed for extinguishing fires. The fire department previous to this time had consisted of three steam fire-engines and five hand-engines, and there were between four and five hundred members of the department; now there are two steamers, six hose-carriages, and one hook-and ladder carriage, with a total foree of less than two hundred men, and no city is better pro- tected or less liable to extensive fires. The first fire-engine used in Salem was bought by Richard Derby and others, March 20, 1749, and in the old days of Salem most householders hung in the entries of their houses a number of leather buckets, to be ready to render prompt assistance in case of fire.
Great Fires .- Salem has suffered at different intervals from severe fires, the first of importance occurring Oct. 6, 1774, when the Rev. Dr. Whitaker's meeting-house, the custom-house, eight dwellings, and fourteen stores were burned. The town-house eaught, but was saved. An aged lady was burnt to death in one of the houses. At four o'clock, on the morning of Aug. 22, 1816, a fire broke out on the corner of Liberty and Water (now Derby ) streets, aud sixteen build- ings were burned and three badly damaged. No very destructive tire occurred again until Dec. 18, 1844, when, shortly before eleven o'clock at night, a fire was discovered which destroyed twenty buildings, including Concert Hall, seven being on Front, four on Lafayette, and nine on Fish (now Derby ) streets. The loss was $100,000, the largest loss by fire that ever occurred in Salem. At one o'clock, on the morning of June 8, 1859. a fire broke out in the stable of the Mansion House, on Essex Street, and fourteen horses and the hostler, I. L. Hatch, perished in the flames. Twelve or fifteen buildings, including the Mansion House, were destroyed, the total loss being $68,400. The Franklin Building was consumed by fire, Oct. 21,1861. The loss was $20,000, the insurance having expired the day previous to the fire. The last great fire occurred on May 14, 1866, when the Lynde Block, on Essex Street, and eight or nine other buildings, were destroyed, the total loss being about $70,000.
Police Department .- With the government of a eity or town there must always be connected a police department. John Woodbury was appointed constable at Salem in 1630, and, in early years, the inhabitants watched by turns. A contract was made, Nov. 10, 1676, with Arthur Hughes " to be bellman and to walk the streets from ten o'clock until day break and to give notice of the time of night and what weather according to custom." About 1817, the custom of call- ing the hour and weather was abandoned. In 1666, the meeting- house was used for a watch-house, and afterwards a building, used for that purpose, stood in the middle of Washington Street, about as far north as the north end of the Stearns Building. It had a soldier in full uniform on the top of it. In 1725, it received a coat of paint,-a rare covering for those days. The present police force consists of a marshal, assistant-marshal, captain, sergeant, and thirty-eight men. The bellman just mentioned, not only acted as a watchman, but it was his duty, by an order made in 1673, to ring the bell at five o'clock in the morning, and nine o'clock in the evening, "as an admonition to improve the light of day and keep good hours at night." After 1774, the bells of the North and East churches were rung at one and nine o'clock, P. M.
Police Court .- The Salem Police Court was established June 23, 1831, and the Hon. Elisha Maek was appointed justice, which office he resigned four or five years afterwards, and was succeeded by the Hon, Joseph G. Waters, who held the office until the abolition of the court in 1874, at which time the First District Court of Essex County was created, and the Hon. J. B. F. Osgood was appointed justice. The new court includes in its jurisdiction Salem, Danvers, Beverly, Hamilton, Middleton, Topsfield, and Wenham, and its sessions are held in the Flint Building on Washington Street.
Population. - Salem has gradually increased in population since the first settlement of the town. In 1638, there were about 900 inhabi- tants ; in 1776, 5,337; in 1800, 9,457; in 1810, 12,617; in 1820, 12,731; in 1830, 13,886; in 1840, 15,082; in 1860, 22,252, and in 1875, 25,958. By the census of 1875, the valuation of Salem was $26,312,272, of which $11,988,627 was personal cstate.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
CHAPTER III.
HISTORY OF THE FORMATION OF THE CHURCHES, AND THE ORGANIZA- TION OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The preceding chapters have briefly sketched the history of Salem, under its town and city government ; and it is the purpose of this chapter to give, as succinctly as possible, an account of the different churches and schools, the history of some of them being a part of the history not only of Salem, but of the State and country. The First Church of Salem was the first Protestant church organized in Amer- ica, and the honor is claimed for Salem of establishing the first public school.
The First Congregational Society of Salem dates its organization from the year 1629, and was the first Protestant church organized in America. There had previously been meetings for religious worship, but no attempt to form a regularly constituted church-organization. On the 20th of July, 1629, Samuel Skelton was chosen pastor, and Francis Higginson teacher. On the 6th of the following August, which day was observed as a day of fasting and prayer, they were duly ordained in their respective offices. Gov. Bradford, of Plym- outh, and some others, "coming by sea were hindered by cross winds that they could not be there at the beginning of the day, but they came into the assembly afterward and gave them the right hand of fellowship wishing all prosperity and a blessed success unto such good beginnings."
The original covenant of the church is as follows : " We covenant with our Lord, and one with another and we do bind ourselves in the presence of God to walk together in all his ways, according as he is pleased to reveal hinself unto us in his blessed word of truth; and do explicitly, in the name and fear of God, profess and protest to walk as followeth, through the power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The original meeting-house, a small, single-story structure, stood on a portion of the site now occupied by the present church edifice, on the south-eastern corner of Washington and Essex streets. There is a tradition that the exact location of this building was on the cor- ner of the lot at the opening of Higginson Square. The original building was erected in 1634. In 1639, it was enlarged by the addi- tion of a second structure. The original building was discovered some years since on the premises of David Nichols, in the rear of the taumeries under the brow of Witch Hill, through the active agency of the late Francis Peabody. The length, breadth, and height of this building correspond exactly with the recorded measurements of the first structure. It is stated that it had been used at one time as an inn on the old " Boston Road." The subject was investigated by the Essex Institute, and all doubts as to its being the original church were subsequently removed. The original meeting-house was twenty feet long, seventeen wide, and twelve feet in the height of its posts. It consisted of a single room, with a gallery over the door, and an aisle five feet in width leading to the pulpit at the opposite end of the building. The frame of the church was carefully removed to the rear of Plummer Hall, and covered in, where it is preserved as an interesting relic.
The Rev. Franeis Higginson was educated at Jesus College, Cam- bridge, England, and received his first degree in 1609. He was settled over one of the parish churches in Leicester, where he proved a very popular preacher. It is said of him, that "He was a good scholar, of a sweet and affable behaviour, and having a charming voice, was one of the most acceptable and popular preachers of the country." He was ejected from his living, and forbidden to preach in England, on his adoption of the doctrines of the non-conformists. He was well qualified to be a chief agent in the great enterprise for which he was sought ; and, though his career was brief in the New World, be accomplished his work, and lived to secure the foundation of his church. He died Aug 6, 1630, exactly one year after his ordina- tion.
The Rev. Samuel Skelton, the first pastor, was educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge, England, taking his first degree in 1611. He survived his colleague about four years. He died Aug. 2, 1634. He received a grant of land at the "New Mills," near the "Orchard Farm," which was at one time known as "Skelton's Neck," and is now comprised in Danversport.
The Rev. Roger Williams was first settled as Mr. Skelton's col- league or "teacher," upon the death of Mr. Higginson. He was born in Wales, in 1599. He was a thorough non-conformist, and landed at
Boston in February, 1631. He accepted an invitation extended to him by the Salem church to become its teacher, and was settled on the 12th of April, 1631. His settlement was so strongly opposed by the governor and magistrates that he was induced to leave Salem before the elose of the summer, and to become the assistant of Mr. Ralph Smith, in Plymouth. In 1633 he returned to Salem and again became the assistant of Mr. Skelton. After the latter's death he was sole minister of the church, until November, 1635, when the renewed opposition of the magistrates drove him from Salem into exile, and he went forth into the wilderness to found the future State of Rhode Island upon the basis of civil and religious freedom. He died in that Colony in 1683. The cause of his offending was the divulging of obnoxious opinions, declaring that the ministers of Boston had con- formed in a sinful degree to the English church, and ought to deelare their repentance, and that the royal patent could give them no title to lands without a purchase from the natives ; that the civil power eould not rightly punish breaches of the Sabbath, nor in any way interfere with the rights of conscience.
The Rev. Hugh Peters was the successor of Mr. Williams. He was born at Fowey, in Cornwall, in 1599, and received the degree of A. M. from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1622. He was afterwards lecturer at St. Sepulchre's, in London. In 1629, when Laud com- menced his persecutions of the Puritans, he went to Holland, and was pastor of an independent church at Rotterdam. He came to this country from Holland, arriving Oct. 6, 1635. He was for a time in Boston, but finally settled in Salem, Dee. 21, 1636. He speedily took a prominent part in the town affairs, aiding in reforming the police, stimulating industry and encouraging the spirit of improve- ment. During his administration as pastor, a water-mill was erected, also a glass-house and salt-works. The planting of hemp was com- menced and a market was established. Commerce received earnest attention. The pastor planned the mode of conducting the fishing business, the coasting and the foreign voyages, and the building of vessels. One of three hundred tons was undertaken under his influence. Mr. John Fisk, of King's College, Cambridge, assisted him in the ministry. Mr. Peters returned to England in 1641 to represent the Colony upon the matter of excise and trade. He rose in high favor with Cromwell, and fell a martyr to his cause, after the Restoration, Oct. 16. 1660.
The Rev. Edward Norris came to Salem in 1639, and joined the church in December of that year. He was ordained colleague to Mr. Peters, March 18, 1640. After the latter's departure, he was sole minister for eighteen years. He died Dec. 23, 1659, at the age of seventy.
The Rev. John Higginson, the son of Franeis, was born at Clay- brook, England, on the 6th of August, 1616, and came to New Eng- land in 1629. He was educated in the Colony, was chaplain at Saybrook from 1636 to 1640, and was located at Guilford and Hart- ford, Conn., at different periods. He left Guilford with the inten- tion of returning to England in 1659, but, being driven into Salem by stress of weather, he left his ship and accepted an invitation to settle over the church there. He was ordained in August, 1660, and con- tinued in the ministry until his death, Dec. 9, 1708. During his ministry (July 4, 1667), the brethren and sisters on the Bass River side applied for dismission to form a church by themselves. Sept, 20, 1667, the new organization was effected, and the Rev. Mr. Hale was ordained as their minister. The church at Marblehead was formed Aug. 13, 1684, its members having formally withdrawn from the mother church the 6th of June previous. Nov. 10, 1689, the members of the church from Salem Village presented their petition for dismission to form a new society. On March 8, 1703, brother John Massey was presented with the old worn-out great Church Bible, he being considered as the first "town born child."* It was given to him and delivered to him before the brethren. A new church editice had also been built in the year 1670.
The Rev. Nicholas Noyes was born in Newbury, Dec. 22, 1647; took his degree at Harvard in 1667; was ordained teacher of the First Church, Nov. 14, 1683; and died Dec. 13, 1717. He was a fine scholar and able preacher, but was swept away with others by the witchcraft delusion, for which he afterwards confessed his error.
The church at the middle precinct withdrew and was dismissed June 25, 1713. Mr. Noyes was the last-ordained teacher under the old title.
The Rev. George Curwin, son of Hon. Jonathan Curwin, was boru in
* Whether Massey was the first born in the town has since been questioned.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Salem, May 21, 1683 ; graduated at Harvard in 1701; was ordained pastor and colleague, May 19, 1714, and died Nov. 23, 1717.
The Rev. Samuel Fisk was the grandson of John Fisk, the assistant of Hugh Peters. He was born in 1689; graduated from Harvard in 1708, and was ordained pastor over the First Church, Oct. 8, 1718. Ou this occasion the assembly met in a new house of worship ou the same site as the others. This latter house was commenced May 21, 1718, and was opened for public worship July 13. The settlement of Mr. Fisk caused another division, and Nov. 14, 1718, the members living in the east part of the town applied for dismission, which was granted Dec. 25, and the company withdrew to form the present East Church.
Nov. 4, 1727, a public meeting was held to take proper observ- ance of a terrible earthquake which visited the town on the "Lord's day night previous, at half an hour after ten ; October 29, 1727." Both parishes met on this occasion, and there was a vast assembly.
Mr. Fisk introduced so many new practices in church management differing from those of his predecessors as to cause great disaffection and uneasiness in the parish. He refused to call regular church meet- ings and held them only when he stayed the church after the religious exercises. His course finally led to bis expulsion from the church and pulpit in 1735. He and his followers claimed to constitute the First Church after their dismission. Mention is made by the pastor in his records of the house of Joseph Orne, as being "the dwelling house where the First Church met and worshipped God for several Lord's days after it was (with its Pastor) driven together from the public meeting house, on Lord's day, April 27, 1735." A ficree con- troversy continued for some time after this event in regard to the matter. The church thus formed at Joseph Orne's, subsequently became the Third Church. Mr. Fisk died in Salem, April 7, 1770.
After Mr. Fisk's expulsion the members remaining in the old church proceeded to reorganize. Aug. 5, 1736, the brethren adhering to the ancient principles of the church, met at the house of Benjamin Lynde and renewed the ancient covenant. Mr. John Sparhawk was chosen at this meeting to be the minister. He was born in September, 1713 ; graduated at Harvard in 1731; died April 30, 1755.
The Rev. Thomas Barnard was born at Andover, Aug. 16, 1716; graduated at Harvard in 1732; installed pastor of the First Church Sept. 17, 1755 ; died Aug. 5, 1776. The North Church withdrew upon the settlement of Mr. Barnard's colleague, the Rev. Asa Dunbar, and organized July 19, 1772.
The Rev. Asa Dunbar was born in Bridgewater, May 26, 1745; graduated at Harvard in 1767 ; ordained as colleague with the Rev. Thomas Barnard, July 22, 1772 ; resigned April 23, 1779. He died in Keene, N. H., June 22, 1787.
The Rev. John Prince, LL. D., was born in Boston, July 22, 1751; graduated from Harvard in 1776 ; ordained pastor of the First Church Nov. 10, 1779. In 1817 the church received a legacy of $3,000 from Charles Henry Orne, which when accumulated to $5,000 was to form a permanent fund for the support of the minister. The church was at the same time incorporated as the "First Congregational Society in Salem." In February, 1824, a meeting was called to settle a colleague. Mr. Henry Colman having preached as a candidate, a number were in favor of his settlement, but the majority were opposed, and his sup- porters withdrew and formed the Barton Square Church. Dr. Prince died June 7, 1836.
The Rev. Charles W. Upham was ordained as colleague Dec. 8, 1824. He continued in the pastorate until his resignation in December, 1844. The Rev. Thomas T. Stone was installed as pastor, July 12, 1846, and his ministry terminated by vote of the church in February, 1852.
The Rev. George W. Briggs was installed as pastor Jan. 6, 1853, and continued in the ministry until March, 1867, when he resigned to accept a pastorate in Cambridge. He was the second minister who came to the church from the ancient church of Plym- outh.
The Rev. James T. Hewes succeeded Dr. Briggs, remaining with the society till 1876. The present pastor is the Rev. Fickdler Israel. The society will observe its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary in August, 1879.
The Friends Society. - In 1688 Thomas Maule built the first Friends meeting-house, which stood on the south side of Essex Street, next east of the late Rev. Dr. Emerson's dwelling-house. This was sold to Maule for £25 in 1716, the Friends having built another meet- ing-house ou Essex Street, on a part of the site of the Quaker burying- ground. The Quakers now worship in a brick church on Pine Street. This sect has no settled ministry, their ministers, like Paul in his day, working with their hands, or pursuing some lawful occupation, to
provide for their own support and that of their families. Women, as well as men, are acknowledged as ministers. Among the ministers acknowledged and recorded as such, from time to time, by the Salem monthly meeting of Friends (comprising the meetings of Salem and Lynn), are the names of Micajah Collins, Mary Newhall, Moses II. Bedee, Avis Keene, Elizabeth Breed, Jane Mansfield, Benjamin II. Jones, William O. Newhall, Abigail Bedee, Sophronia Page, Henry Chase, Hannah Hozier, Lydia Dean, Mary Chase, Daniel Page, Ruth Page. Three of these, Micajah Collins, Moses II. Bedec, and Sophro- nia Page (all now deceased) travelled very extensively in the ministry, attending meetings of the society, and preaching publicly otherwise, through New England and at the South and West.
The Eust Church was the result of a movement which commenced on Nov. 14, 1718, when the brethren and sisters residing in the eastern part of the town applied to be released from their covenant obligations in the First Church, that they might organize a church of their own, and settle the Rev. Robert Stauuton as their pastor. This is the first mention on the records of any desire on their part to leave the parent church, but prior to this time steps had been taken to establish a new church organization, and a new house had been built. This house was raised Aug. 27, 1717, and had been opened for pub- lic worship in May, 1718. For a long period before this efforts had been made for a separation, but the First Church opposed it. The old records tell us, that for a long time before the new church was built, those members of the old society residing in this eastern dis- triet had neglected to attend the meetings at the First Church on the Lord's Day, and some of them had pretended to be members of the Church of England in Marblehead, and had made a practice of going back and forth in boats " across our harbor, until it appeared more like a day of frolicking than the Lord's day." The new church stood on "Grafton's Lane," upon what is now the corner of Hardy and Essex streets. This house was used for public worship until the erection and dedication of the present edifice, in 1846. Mr. Wiggles- worth preached at the first opening of the church, in May, 1718. There continued to be trouble between the people and the First Church about a separation, and an appeal was made to the General Court. Dec. 25, 1718, the First Church finally voted the desired dismission, and on the 8th of April, 1719, the Rev. Robert Staunton was ordained as pastor of the new church, the third within the pres- ent limits of Salem, which from its location was known as the East Church. The Rev. Cotton Mather, of Boston, preached the ordination sermon on this occasion. The first pastor was ordained April 8, 1719, and died May 3, 1727. William Jennison, his successor, was a native of Watertown; graduated at Harvard in 1724; ordained over the East Church May 27, 1728 ; dismissed at his own request, Sept. 13, 1736; and died April 1, 1750. James Diman was born Nov. 29, 1707; ordained over the East Church May 1, 1737 ; and died the 8th of Oct., 1788. He was a native of Long Island, graduated at Har- vard in 1730, and was librarian of the University from 1735 to 1737. William Bentley, the famous divine of 1812, was born June 22, 1759. He was ordained over the East Church, as colleague to the Rev. Mr. Diman, Sept. 24, 1783, and continued in the ministry until his death, in Salem, Dec. 29, 1819, at the age of sixty-three. He graduated at Harvard in 1777, and was tutor at the University for three years. He took an active part in the politics of the day, and was editor for several years of the "Essex Register." He was the author of a his- torical sketch of Salem. Ile took strong Arminian grounds, aud under his lead the church became practically Unitarian in 1785, and was one of the first churches in America to adopt that faith. In the war of 1812, on one occasion, when the frigate "Constitution" was chased into Marblehead by British frigates, this patriotie pastor locked up his church, and at the head of his people, in full ministe- rial garb, hastened to Marblehead to aid in the defence of the town and frigate. Dr. Bentley died in December, 1819, and Edward Everett preached his funeral discourse. James Flint was born in Reading, Dee. 10, 1779; graduated at Harvard in 1802; installed over the East Church Sept. 19, 1825; dismissed Dec. 17, 1851, and died March 4, 1855. During Mr. Flint's pastorate the old church was abandoned, and the present freestone edifice was erected on Browu Street, opposite Newbury. It was dedicated Jan. 1, 1846. Dexter Clapp was boru June 15, 1816 ; installed over the East Church Dec. 17, 1851, and died in its pastorate July 27, 1868. Samuel C. Beane was born Dec. 19, 1835 ; installed over the East Church Jan. 1, 1865 ; resigned Dee. 8, 1877. George II. Ilosmer, of East Bridgewater, accepted the invitation to become the pastor of the East Church, Nov. 17, 1878.
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