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 138

Author: Tracy, Cyrus M. (Cyrus Mason), 1824-1891, et al. Edited by H. Wheatland
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Boston, C. F. Jewett
Number of Pages: 450

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 138

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The Mercantile Bank was organized May 8, 1826, with a capital of $200,000, which has never been changed. It first occupied a room with Mr. John W. Fenno, a broker, in the Central building, Central Street, the room now occupied by J. B. Osborn as a barber-shop. The bank was moved into its present rooms early in 1827. Its presi- dents have been Nathaniel L. Rogers, David Putnam, John Dwyer, Aaron Perkins ; and Charles Harrington, the present holder of the office. The cashiers have been John A. South wick ; Stephen Webb ; and Joseph H. Phippen, the present cashier. The bank entered the national system Jan. 10, 1865.

The Mechanics' and Traders' Bank was incorporated March 10, 1827, and allowed a capital of $200,000. It, however, never commenced 'business.

. The Naumkeag Bank was incorporated March 17, 1831, with a capital of $200,000, which was subsequently increased to $500,000. It commenced business in the store of Benjamin Dodge; thence re- moved to the Manning building, now Bowker Place; from there to the East India Marine Building ; and then to its present location in the Asiatic building, Washington Street. It became a National Bank in December, 1864. Its presidents have been David Pingree, Edward D. Kimball, Charles H. Fabens, and William B. Parker; its cashiers, Joseph G. Sprague and Joseph H. Towne.

The Bank of General Interest was incorporated March 17, 1831, with a capital of $200,000. It ceased business in 1842.

The North American Bank was incorporated March 31, 1836, and was allowed a capital of $300,000. It never went into operation.

The Salem Savings Bank was incorporated JJan. 29, 1818, and was the second institution of its kind in the State. It commenced business April 18th, in the old bank-building, on Essex Street, originally oc- cupied by the Salem Bank in 1803. Its presidents have been Dr. Edward A. Holyoke, 1818; Joseph Peabody, 1830 ; Nathaniel Sils- bee, 1844; Daniel A. White, 1851; Zach. F. Silsbee, 1861; John Bertram, 1864; Joseph S. Cabot, 1865; Benjamin H. Silsbee, 1875 : its treasurers, William P. Richardson, 1818; William Gibbs, 1820; William Dean, 1821; Peter Lander, Jr., 1822; Daniel Bray, 1823 ; Benjamin Shreve, 1837 ; Henry Ropes, 1839; William Wallis, 1861; Charles E. Symonds, 1865. In 1855 the bank removed to its pres- ent location, on Washington Street, in the Asiatie building, of which it is now the owner. In 1846 over $900,000 was on deposit in this bank. In 1878 the number of depositors was 15,095, and the assets were $6,011,440.36.

The Salem Five Cents Savings Bank was incorporated in 1855. Its presidents have been Edward D. Kimball, 1855 ; Edmund Smith, 1861; Henry L. Williams, 1862 : its treasurers, J. Vincent Browne, 1855 ; Charles II. Henderson, 1868. The bank was originally located on Essex Street, opposite St. Peter's; then, in the second story of Downing block ; from which it removed to its present location in the Northey building, corner of Essex and Washington streets. The number of its depositors is 7,049 ; amount of assets, $2,139,160.48.

The Salem Board of Trade was organized in 1866, and opened a reading-room. Meetings were held for several years; but in 1876 the interest in the association had so far abated that it was deemed inexpedient to longer continue the reading-room, though an organ- ization is maintained.

Insurance Companies. - The Essex Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany was incorporated June 11, 1829. Its risks are confined to buildings, dwellings, and furniture. "The Mutual Fire Insurance Company in Salem " was incorporated April 16, 1838. Its risks are buildings, dwellings, household furniture, and stocks of goods. The Holyoke Mutual Fire Insurance Company was incorporated in 1843, and is to-day the leading insurance company of Essex County.

CHAPTER VII.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF DISTINGUISHED MEN, AND VARIOUS HIS- TORICAL NOTES IN REFERENCE TO SALEM.

Any sketch of Salem, however limited, would be incomplete with- out some reference to the distinguished men without whom there would have been no history to write. Her ministers and merchants have already been alluded to, as have also her prominent city officials ; but the names of others not included in that list deserve some passing notice.

Many prominent members of the legal profession have made their home in Salem. Some have already been referred to. Rufus Choate and Joseph Story, both identified with Salem, are sketched in the his- tories of their native towns, -Essex and Marblehead.

Benjamin Lynde was born Sept. 22, 1666. He graduated at Har- vard in 1686. He was appointed chief justice of the superior court of judicature of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1729; and died in office Jan. 28, 1745. Benjamin Lynde, his son, was appointed chief justice of the same court in 1769, and left the bench in 1771. He was born in Salem Oct. 5, 1700; graduated at Harvard in 1718; and died in 1781.

Timothy Pickering was one of the most distinguished. citizens of Salem. He was born in Salem, July 17, 1745 ; and graduated at Har- vard in 1763. In 1774 he wrote the address of the people of Salem in regard to the closing of the port of Boston. In 1775 he was chosen colonel of the first regiment of militia ; and was present with part of his command at North Bridge, Feb. 26, 1775, where Col. Leslie was successfully prevented from seizing the Provincial cannon. He was about this time a elerk in the office of the registry of deeds for Essex County. Later in the same year, he was appointed a judge of the court of common pleas, and judge of the prize court for Suffolk, Middlesex, and Essex counties. In the fall of 1776, he commanded'a regiment of 700 men. He was adjutant-general at the battles of Germantown and

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Brandywine; member of the Continental board of war, iu 1777; and a quartermaster-general in 1780. At the elose of the Revolutionary War he settled in Philadelphia, and went into business as a commis- sion merchant. When the convention was held for remodelling the Constitution of the State of Pennsylvania in 1790, Mr. Pickering was present as a member. Washington appointed him postmaster-general in 1791; and he held the office till 1795, when he was transferred to the position of secretary of state.

Upon his retirement from the latter office in 1800, or soon thereaf- ter. he returned to Massachusetts. and in 1803 was elected to the senate of the United States. Retiring from that position in 1811. he turned his attention to horticulture and agriculture, in which he took a great interest. He was again called to participate in public affairs, and was chosen in 1814 the member of Congress from this district. In 1817 he again retired to his farm, and devoted the rest of his life to rural pursuits. He was the founder and first president of the Essex Agricultural Society. His death occurred in Salem in January, 1829. Energetie and faithful in publie office, plain and simple in private life. pure and unblemished in character, he was a man whom his native Salem and the nation delighted to honor.

Daniel A. White was born in Methuen June 7, 1776, and graduated at Harvard in 1797. He commenced the practice of law at Newbury- port in 1804, was a State senator from 1810 to 1814; and was chosen a representative to Congress in 1814, but resigned iu 1815, before tak- ing his seat, to accept the office of judge of probate for Essex County. He made an admirable judicial officer. and continued to hold the posi- tion till July, 1853, when he resigned. He came to Salem to reside in 1817 ; and from that time till his death he contributed largely to build up the literary and charitable institutions of the city. Harvard conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. iu 1837. He was president of the Salem Lyeenm ; of the Essex Historical Society ; of the Salem Athenæum ; of the Salem Dispensary, and of the Salem Savings Bank. When the Essex Institute was established, he was its first pres- ident ; and his interest in that society never wavered nor grew cold. He donated to the institute. at different times, a library of 8.000 volumes, and contributed money freely to advance the work of the institution. His death occurred in Salem, March 30, 1861.

Physicians. - Dr. Edward Augustus Holyoke was the son of Pres. Edward Holyoke of Harvard College. He was born Aug. 1, 1728, and graduated at Harvard in 1746. He commenced the practice of medicine in Salem in 1749. He was the first person on whom the degree of doctor of medicine was eonferred by Harvard College, and he afterwards received the degree of doctor of laws. He was the first president of the Massachusetts Medieal Society, and was among the original members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and at one time its presideut. He was at the time of his death the president of the Salem Athenaeum, of the Essex Historical Society, of the Salem Savings Bank, and of the Salem Dispensary. A public dinner was tendered to him. by his associate physicians of Salem and Boston. on his hundredth birthday. He was still so vigorous at that extreme age that, when the morning came, he rose, dressed, and shaved himself without assistance, and walked to the Essex House, where the diuner was given. He died in Salem, March 31, 1829.

Dr. B. Lynde Oliver was born in 1760, and died in Salem, May 14, 1835. He was a distinguished physician and learned theologian. He was noted for his aequirements in several branches of natural philos- ophy, particularly in that of optics.

Arts and Artists. - While Salem has fostered her literary and sci- entific institutions, she has also been ready to aid in the development of the fine arts. A number of painters and seulptors of no ordinary merit have been born within her limits, and have received encourage- ment at her hands.

Charles Osgood was born in Salem, Feb. 25, 1809. At the age of sixteen he entered the Asiatie Bank as a boy, and continued there about a year. He early developed a taste for painting, and in 1827 he opened a studio in Boston. In 1828 he came to Salem, where he has resided ever since, with the exception of the year 1840, when he was established in New York City. His portraits hang upon the walls of the historieal societies of Boston and Worcester, the Memorial Hall at Cambridge, the Peabody Institute at Peabody, and the City Hall. East India Marine Hall. Essex Institute, and Athenæum at Salem. Felt. in his "Annals of Salem." writing iu 1849, says of him : "His labors have been extensive and his success unsurpassed. He is deservedly ranked among the first painters of our republie."

George Southward was born in Salem, and died Feb. 19, 1876. at the age of seventy-two years. While pursning his studies in Rome he contracted a severe eold, and his health was feeble ever after. He

possessed considerable merit as an artist, but his extreme modesty and love of retirement prevented him from becoming so well known as his merits deserved. The coloriug of his pietures was especially good, and his copy of Guido's "Aurora" was an admirable piece of work, aud much admired.

William W. Story was born in Salem. Feb. 12, 1819, and was a son of Joseph Story. He graduated at Harvard in 1838, and was admitted to the bar in Boston. He soon turned his attention to sculpture, and has given the world some fine specimens of his taleut in this direction. Among his prominent works may be mentioned his statues of "Cleopatra" and "Semiramis." He has also made some famous portrait busts. He is a poet of good repute, and wrote the ode on the occasion of the celebration at Salem of the 250th auniver- sary of the landing of Endicott.

John Rogers, the famous modeller of the small character groups which are now so deservedly popular, was born iu Salem, Oct. 30, 1829, and was in early life a machinist.

Representatives to Congress and others. - Benjamin Goodhne was born in Salem, Oct. 1, 1748, and died July 28, 1814. He graduated from Harvard in 1766; State senator from 1784 to 1789; elceted representative to Congress, 1789; and United States senator, 1796. While in the National Honse of Representatives he was one of a com- mittee who formed the code of revenne laws, and as senator was chairman of the Committee on Commerce. He resigned his seat in the Senate in 1800. and retired to private life.

Nathan Reed. of Salem, where he was born, a graduate of Harvard in the class of 1781, represented the Essex District in Congress frou 1800 to 1803. He tried the effect of steam, in propelling a boat on Wenham Lake, before the invention of Fulton's steamboat. He died in 1849.

Jacob Crowninshield was born in Salem, May 31. 1770, and died in 1808. He was a representative to Cougress from 1803 to 1805, and at the elose of his term was offered a seat in the Cabinet of President Jefferson, a position which he declined, preferring the comforts of private life to the toils and trials of office.

Benjamin Piekman was horn in Salem, Sept. 30. 1763, and gradu- ated at Harvard in 1784. He was a merchant, and represented the town iu the Legislature in 1800, and was State senator in 1802, '3, '4, and '5. After a number of years' service iu the executive council, he was chosen a representative to Congress iu 1809, serving till 1811. He was president of the board of directors of the Theologieal School at Cambridge, and died Aug. 16, 1843.

Nathaniel Silsbee was born in Salem, Jan. 14. 1773. He was first a master-mariner. commanding the ships of E. H. Derby, and after- wards a sneeessful merchant. He was chosen a member of Congress in 1816, served in the House uutil 1820, aud in the Senate from 1826 to 1835. In 1823, '24, and '25, he was president of the Massachusetts Senate. He died in Salem, July 14, 1850.

Gideon Barstow, of Salem, who died at St. Augustine, Fla., where he had gone to recruit bis health, March 26, 1852, aged sixty-nine, was a member of both branches of the State Legislature, and repre- sentative in Congress from 1821 to 1823.

Benjamin W. Crowninshield was born in Salem. Dec. 27, 1772. He was secretary of the navy. under President Madison, from 1814 to 1818. and a member of the State Senate for several years. begin- ning in 1811. He was a representative in Congress from 1823 to 1831. He built and lived in a house on the site of the present Home for Aged Women ou Derby Street. He died in Boston, Feh. 3. 1851.

George B. Loring was born in North Andover, Nov. 8, 1817. aud graduated at Harvard in 1838. He received the degree of M. D. at the Harvard Medical School in 1842; was surgeon of the Marine Hospital at Chelsea in 1843, and of the 7th Regiment, M. V. M .. in 1842, '43, and '44; was postmaster of Salem in 1853 ; was a member of the Massachusetts Honse of Representatives in 1866-67 ; was pres- ident of the Massachusetts Senate in 1873, '74, '75, and '76 ; was United States Centennial Commissioner for Massachusetts in 1872 ; and was elected a representative to Congress in 1876. and re-elected in 1878. being the present member from this district.

Nathaniel Bowditch was born in Salem. March 26, 1773. His early life was spent in Danvers and Salem, in which latter place he was for several years employed in the ship chandler stores of Ropes & Hodges. and S. C. Ward. At the age of twenty-one. he made his first voyage to sea. Having a natural taste for seientitie research, he early devoted much time to the study of scientifie works, and in 1788, at the age of fifteen, he made all the caleulations of an almanae for the year 1790. He translated Newton's " Principia " from Latiu into English, while in the merchant office of S. C. Ward. His first voyage

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

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was in the ship "Henry," Capt. Prince, to the Isle of Bourbon. He made four other voyages, the last in the "Putnam," of which he was master and part owner. His sea-voyages covered a period of nine years. Before the close of his nautical career, he had received the degree of Master of Arts from Harvard University, and had been chosen a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Immediately after the close of his scafaring life, he was elected president of the Essex Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and held the office about twenty years, till his removal to Boston in 1823. He was a member of the Salem Marine Society, and also of the East India Marine Society, a proprictor in the Social and Philosophical libraries, and a trustee of the Salem Athenaeum. He declined a professorship in Harvard College, also one in the University of Virginia, a third at West Point, and the presidency of a Boston insurance company, preferring to remain in Salem ; but in 1823, he was persuaded to become the actuary of the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company, in Boston. After his removal there, he completed and published a translation and commentary on "Mécanique Céleste." This was in four volumes, and it fixed his fame on a most substantial basis at home and abroad. The " London Quarterly Re- view " gave it a flattering notice, and it became at once a standard work. Bowditch produced a fine chart of the harbors of Salem, Mar- blehead, Beverly, and Manchester; contributed largely on astronom- ical subjects to the "Transactions " of the American Academy ; pub- lished (1802) "The New American Navigator," and contributed many articles to the "North American Review " and "Recs' Cyclopedia." While at Boston he became a trustee of the Boston Athenaeum, pres- ident of the American Academy, and a member of the corporation of Harvard College. He died March 16, 1838.

Robert Cowan was a man whose rare inventive genius has seldom been equalled. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, about 1762, he was brought to this country in a prize vessel during the Revolutionary War. When Capt. Joseph Peabody, afterwards an eminent Salem merchant, was engaged in privateering, Mr. Cowan made several cruises with him ; and he was present with that distinguished naval hero of the Revolu- tion, Jonathan Haraden, also of Salem, in the privateer "General Pickering," in his memorable fight with an English privatcer near the coast of Spain, on June 4, 1780. After the war he settled in Salem, and became distinguished for shrewdness, industry, and ingenuity. He cither invented or introduced the art of varnishing carriages and furniture, and in 1796 articles of furniture were sent from Boston to Mr. Cowan to be varnished. He also manufactured without assistance from others, organs, pianofortes, and drawing pencils, among the first to be made in this country. His establishment was on the corner of Essex and Beckford streets. He died in Salem, Aug. 24, 1846, at the age of eighty-four years.

Francis Peabody was born in Salem, Dec. 7, 1801. He was the founder of the Forest River Lead Company, and built the paper-mills at Middleton. He was one of the founders of the Salem Lyceum and Harmony Grove Cemetery Corporation, and was president of the Essex Institute. He was colonel of the 1st Regiment of the State militia, and was one of the leaders in organizing a famous sham-fight that took place, Oct. 6, 1826, in Danvers. Col. Peabody introduced in Salem the system of miscellaneous courses of public lectures. It was largely through the instrumentality of Mr. Peabody that the old First Church structure was removed from the place of its discovery, near Witch Hill, to the grounds in the rear of Plummer Hall. Mr. Peabody died Oct. 30, 1867.

Historical Notes. - There are many interesting facts relating to the history of Salem and its surroundings which are not mentioned in the preceding chapters and which should find some place in this sketch. The most prominent of them have therefore been introduced into this chapter.

The Common. - In the year 1714 the commoners voted that the spot " where the trainings are generally kept before Nathaniel Higgin- son's house shall be forever a training field for the use of Salem." This common was for a long time unenclosed, and was little else than a swamp where the townspeople gathered berries and cut flags and hoops. The surface of the land was very uncven, and there were several small ponds included within its limits. Portions of the com- mon were at various times leased by the town to individuals, and in 1770 the town voted to build an almshouse on the north-eastern por- tion of it, which was opened for occupancy about 1772. The common remained in this condition .till 1801, when Elias Hasket Derby, having been chosen colonel of the militia, raised a subscription of about $2,500 for levelling the common and filling up the ponds. This was done, and rows of trees, chiefly poplar, were.planted along the

walks, and in 1802 the selectmen changed the"name to Washington Square. In 1817 the poplar-trees gave place to the present elms, and a substantial wooden railing was built to enclose the mall. In 1850 the present iron fence was substituted for the wooden railing.

First Houses in Salem. - The four meeting-houses of the First Church have all occupied the same spot ; the first was built in 1634, and the " unfinished building of one-story," which had been previously used for worship, was no doubt in the same vicinity. The dwelling- house of the Rev. Francis Higginson, who died in 1630, was on ground now covered by the Asiatic Building, and faced towards the South River. The Rev. Samuel Skelton's house was near where the police station now stands, on Front Street. Skelton dicd in 1634. Samuel Sharpe, who was sent over from England in 1629 to take charge of military affairs, lived in a house where is now the corner of Wash- ington and Lynde streets. Next south of Mr. Sharpe's house stood one once owned by the Rev. Nicholas Noyes. This was just south of the present residence of Robert Brookhouse, Esq. Where the new Price Bloek now stands was a house owned by the Rev. Hugh Peters, pastor of the First Church from 1636 to 1641. South and west of this stood a honse which was the homestead of Ralph Fogg, the first town clerk, and afterwards owned by John Hathorne, one of the judges in the witchcraft trials. South of that was a house occupied for a time by Lady Deborah Moody, and next south was the homestead of the Rev. Hugh Peters, afterwards occupied by Judge Corwin,* another justice in the witchcraft trials. On the corner of Norman Strect lived Dr. George Emory, here as early as 1637. South of Sweet's Cove (now Creek Street ) was a lot of land laid out to the Rev. Samuel Skelton in 1630. Next south of this was the " Broadfield," originally owned by Gov. Endicott. The almshouse stood on the present site of the State Normal School.

The first Quaker meeting-house was built by Thomas Manle in 1688. "The town bridge, on Boston Street, was built probably about 1640. Next east of the bridge, and north-east of Boston Street, were two houses owned in 1659 by Giles Corey, who was crushed to death in witchcraft days for refusing to confess. Robert Moniton, the "chief" ship-builder, sent over to Gov. Endicott in 1629, lived near the head of the North River, where possibly was built the first vessel constructed in the Colony. The homc- stead of Gov. Endicott was east of Washington Street, and sonth of the North River. Where Dr. S. M. Cate now lives on the corner of Washington and Church streets, was the house of Thomas Oliver, whose wife, Mary, was a noted character in early colonial history. Thomas Oliver's second wife, Bridget, who afterwards married Edward Bishop, was the first victim of the witchcraft delusion. Where the West Block now stands, the site of the late Mansion House, was the old Ship Tavern, kept for many years by John Gedney. Between that and St. Peter's Street was the homestead of Peter Palfray, one of the old planters. On the north corner of Essex and Washington streets lived Walter Price, and next east, John Woodbury, another of the old planters.

The exact location of the house of Roger Conant, the first built in Salem, has never been settled; but the strongest evidence is that it stood on the site of the present Maynes Block, opposite the market, on Essex Strect. The house on the north-west corner of Essex and North streets, known as the " Witch House," was originally owned by Roger Williams in 1635 and 1636, and afterwards by Capt. Richard Davenport, whose administrators sold it to Jonathan Corwin in 1675. Judge Corwin lived here, and one of the rooms was used for prelim- inary examinations of those charged with witchcraft in 1692. Hence its name of " old witch house."t

Other Salem Houses .- The house in which Dr. E. A. Holyoke lived is now occupied by Israel Fellows as a furniture warehouse. William H. Prescott, the historian, was born May 4, 1796, in a house which stood on the site of Plummer Hall. This house was built by Nathan Reed, member of Congress from this district, and was afterwards occupied by Joseph Peabody. The house in which Joshua Ward lived when he entertained President George Washington on his visit to Salem, in 1789, still stands on Washington Street, and is now occupied by Dr. J. E. Fiske. Nathaniel Bowditch was born in the house formerly numbered fourteen on Brown Street, and which has recently been moved back into the garden formerly attached to the house. The house numbered twenty-one on Union Street was the birth-place of Nathaniel Hawthorne. On Broad Street, in the house uow occupied by his grandson, John Piekering, Col. Timothy Pickering was born.

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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 138

Author: Tracy, Cyrus M. (Cyrus Mason), 1824-1891, et al. Edited by H. Wheatland Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Boston, C. F. Jewett Number of Pages: 450

Author: Tracy, Cyrus M. (Cyrus Mason), 1824-1891, et al. Edited by H. Wheatland
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Boston, C. F. Jewett
Number of Pages: 450