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 140
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Cemeteries. - The Charter Street Cemetery is the oldest burying- ground in Salem, and was occupied before 1637. Among others interred there are Hilliard Veren, Martha Corey, Richard Derby, Warwick Palfray, Benjamin Lynde, William Browne, Simon Fores- ter, and Deliverance Parkman. The Broad Street Cemetery was com- menced about 1655. Capt. George Curwin, the sheriff of witchcraft days, is buried here. The Howard Street Cemetery was commenced about 1801. A part of it was originally reserved for colored people, and a part for strangers. The Orne Street Cemetery was originally laid out in 1807, and contained about two and a half acres. In 1864 about six acres were added to the former reservation. A soldiers' lot of eight thousand feet were set apart in 1872. Harmony Grove, near the Peabody line, is the largest and newest resting-place for the dead. It contains sixty-five acres, and is a beautiful spot, kept in the nicest order. It was commenced in 1840. Many fine monuments and beau- tiful enclosures are here to be found. The Roman Catholic burying- ground, in North Salem, was laid out a few years since. The Quaker bnrying-ground, on Essex Street, occupies a lot of land adjoining the site of an old Quaker church.
" The Willows" is a portion of the north-eastern point of Salem Neck, and derived its name from the fact of there being there some large willow-trees. It has always been a favorite resort for picnic par- ties, and is now a publie pleasure-park, controlled by the city. It is neatly laid out, and one large and several smaller pavilions have been erected. Its situation is a beautiful one, and the view of the harbor, the north shore toward Cape Ann, and the peninsula of Marblehead, is a rare bit of scenery. The tracks of the Naumkeag Street Railway extend to The Willows, conveying people thither in twenty minutes from the centre of the city.
Juniper Point, or "The Juniper," lies east of the Willows. Its historic features have been traced in an account of the early forts. It is now the locality of a large summer settlement of cottagers, mainly from Lowell and Nashua, but including some Salem people. The cot- tages extend all along the shore toward the Willows. Streets are laid ont, and the little settlement is as regularly visited by the butcher, baker, and milkman as the city itself.
The Islands of Salem Harbor. - The principal islands of Salem Harbor are Baker's, Misery, and Lowell. The first-named was so denominated as early as 1630. It lies about four miles off the Salem shore, and contains about fifty-five acres. The United States govern- ment maintains two light-houses on this island. Misery Island was first called Moulton's Misery. It contains about sixty-four acres, and is connected by a bar with the "Little Misery." Lowell Island was granted, in 1655, to Gov. Endicott by the General Court. It was bequeathed in 1684, by Z. Endicott, to his daughters, under the name of Cotta Island. It was later known as Cat Island, and received the name Lowell when a party of Lowell people built a hotel there, a few years ago. In 1774, a small-pox hospital on the island, owned by the town of Marblehead, was burned by a mob. The chief of the smaller islands are Cony, Eagle, the Gooseberries, Rain and Tinker, the three last owned by the city.
Distinguished Visitors. - Salem has entertained a large number of distinguished visitors. Lafayette was here Oct. 29, 1784, and at- tended a public dinner at Concert Hall, and a ball in the evening. He was at Salem again Aug. 31, 1824. On the 29th of October, 1789, George Washington visited Salem, and was entertained at the residence of Joshua Ward, on Washington Street, being the brick house now occupied by Dr. J. E. Fiske. James Monroe was in Salem July 8, 1817 ; Andrew Jackson, June 26, 1833 ; James K. Polk, July 5, 1847 ; and Ulysses S. Grant, Oct. 17, 1871. These comprise all the presidents of the United States who have been in Salem during their official term.
Celebrations. - The landing of Gov. Endicott has twice been fitly celebrated in Salem. The 200th anniversary was observed Sept. 18, 1828. A procession, under the escort of the Cadets and Mechanic Light Infantry, marched to the North Meeting-House, and there were held commemorative exercises, the Hon. Joseph Story delivering the oration. The Rev. Dr. Prince and the Rev. Mr. Emerson offered prayers, and the Rev. Mr. Brazer read scriptural selections. At Hamilton Hall a dinner was spread, to which the company adjourned
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from the church. The venerable Dr. E. A. Holyoke presided, assisted by Judge Story, the vice-president of the Essex Historical Society, the Hon. William Reed, Willard Peele, Pickering Dodge, and the Hon. Gideon Barstow. Among the distinguished guests pres- ent were, Gov. Levi Lincoln, Lieut. Gov. Winthrop, the Hon. Dau- iel Webster, the Hon. Edward Everett, the Hon. B. W. Crowninshield, the Hon Josiah Quincy, Col. Aaron Ogden of New Jersey, Senor M. L. de la Vidanrre of Peru, William Shaler, consul at Algiers, Judge Davis, Gens. Sullivan and Dearborn, and Profs. Farrar and Ticknor.
The 250th anniversary of the landing of Gov. Endicott * was observed Sept. 18, 1878, under the anspices of the Essex Institute. At Mechanic Hall, at 11 A. M., there were appropriate exercises, and at 2 P. M. a lunch was served at Hamilton Hall, and this was followed by speeches from distinguished guests. The forenoon programme was as follows : Reading of Scripture, by the Rev. R. C. Mills, chaplain of the day (the Bible used was printed in 1758) ; prayer, by the Rev. Dr. Mills ; singing of an original hymn, written by the Rev. Jones Very ; poem, by the Rev. Charles T. Brooks of Newport, R. I. ; original ode, by the Rev. S. P. Hill ; oratiou, by the Hon. W. C. Endicott, judge of the supreme court, and a lineal descendant of Gov. Endicott; singing of Mrs. Hemans's hymn, "The Breaking Waves Dashed High," by Mrs. J. H. West; poem written for the occasion by W. W. Story, and read by Prof. J. W. Churchill of Andover ; singing of the 100th psalm ; benediction, by the chaplain. At Hamilton Hall, Dr. Henry Wheatland, president of the Essex Institute, presided, and a distinguished company sat at the tables. After the lunch, which was one better entitled to the name of banquet, a number of toasts were offered by the Rev. E. C. Bolles, who was toast-master, and they were replied to by the following gentlemen : Gov. A. H. Rice, Mayor H. K. Oliver, the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, president of the Massachusetts Historical Society ; the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, president of the New England Historic Genealogical Society ; the Rt. Rev. Dean Stanley, of Westminister Abbey ; the Hon. W. C. Endicott, orator of the day; the Hon. Leverett Saltonstall ; Prof. Benjamin Peiree, of Harvard College ; the Rev. Fielder Israel, pastor of the First Church ; B. H. Silsbee, Esq., president of the East India Marine Society ; and J. H. Choate, Esq., of New York.
CHAPTER VIII.
THIE SALEM OF TO-DAY - HER PLACE AMONG THE CITIES OF THE COMMONWEALTH.
Though not as exhaustive and detailed as the authors might wish, yet the chapters that have preceded have given an insight into the history of the good old city of Salem. Her progress has been traced from the day on which Conant and his associates landed and founded Nanmkeag, through two centuries aud a half - each one of the two hundred and fifty years adding something to her fair name. Not that there have not been dark passages in her annals ; but uo city cseapes some records that is not regretted when it has been engraved by time on the page of history. More than any other place in the county of Essex, Salem has attracted attention from the students of local history. Within her borders was commeneed the first perma- nent settlement of the county. In her early days she ranked with Boston in importanee, and had her location been as well adapted, she
* A complete account of this noteworthy celebration may be found in a volume of 200 pages, published by the Essex Institute. It contains the oration, the poems, and a stenographic report of the speeches.
would have been the capital of the State. Within the old town limits centred the terrible witcheraft delusion of 1692 - the history of which forms the one dark page in the chronicle of her progress. Her commercial record is more brilliant than that of any other port in the country. Here assembled the first Provincial Congress, and in Salem was shed the first blood of the Revolution.
A quaint old city, Salem is often called ; but she is not quaint to that degree that she might be deemed a disagreeable place to those who abide within her walls. Her antique features serve rather to furnish a pleasing variation, and an added attraction to the general modernness. Salem is no deerepit, tumble-down city. Modern structures are the rule, not the exception. Her publie buildings are substantial and ornamental; her business blocks well built aud of pleasing architectural design, aud fine houses adorn many streets in the residence portion of the city. Salem is withal beautifully situated, lying in a section of country which abounds in the loveliest natural scenery, and bordered by a harbor that is one of the most picturesque on the Massachusetts coast. Her people are cultivated and social, and no pleasanter community could be desired for a home.
Salem has been a progressive place - progressive in that stronger sense, that means real advancement. Her growth has not been faba- lous, or even rapid, but a steady pushing forward, till the Salem of to-day holds a high place among the cities of the Commonwealth. Though her commerce has fled, business of other and many sorts fur- nish life to the municipality and employment to her citizens.
Purity and progress have always been her aim; and she has so nearly lived up to her aspirations that her record is almost an unblem- ished one. Her literary and scientific societies are numerous and prosperous, and her benevolent and charitable institutions are many ; and all ou the most liberal and stable basis. Salem has always afforded the best means of education for the young, and her school- system to-day is unsurpassed by that of any city of the Union. Salem's sons have won distinction and hovor in all lands, and many who have made her the home of their adoption, have added to her already wide- spread honors. Few cities can point to such names in their annals, as those of Bowditch, and Hawthorne, and Prescott, and Story, and Choate. To do the city justice in chronicling the acts and deeds of her noted sons, would alone fill a volume. The list includes statesmen, mer- chants, scientists, and philanthropists ; and to-day she can take just pride iu men doing their full part in sustaining and perpetuating her good name. Her record in the councils of nation and State has been a worthy, one ; and she has to-day, for the fourteenth time, the honor of furnishing the representative of the Essex District in the National Congress. Of legal talent, Salem has always had the best of the time, and to-day, three judges of State courts reside within her borders, - Judges Lord and Endicott of the supreme beneh, and Chief Justice Brigham, of the superior court, - cach of them honored graduates from service at the bar. Judge George F. Choate, of the probate court, and Judge J. B. F. Osgood, of the district court, also reside here. Eminent divines have filled her churches with their clo- quence, and there always have been among her citizens, noted literary men, scholars, and orators. Salem has ever been deeply interested in scientifie progress, and has attracted to her institutions many of the prominent men of their time. Not many cities can point to such literary institutions as Salem has ; and in art, as well as liter- ature and science, she takes high rank. Her artists have contributed worthy tributes to her honor, and the sculptors, Story and Rogers, revere her as their birthplace.
Of Salem, the old and the new, her citizens are alike proud ; and their earnest desire for a bright and honorable future for their beloved eity, is fully shared by her sons and daughters abroad, though they have long been dwellers without her gates.
SAUGUS.
This interesting town lies upon territory that originally formed part of Lynn ; and some of the most ancient settlements of the latter place are now within its borders. For the first ninety years, there was no thought, apparently, of any kind of division from the parent stock ; but when, in 1720, the men of Lynnfield succeeded in gathering a church of their own, on account of distance, those who lived west of " the river" soon caught the same infection, and never rested after- ward till they had a church, parish rates, and at last a town, all to themselves.
The town of Sangus, as now found, has an oblong form, its greater axis lying N. W. and S. E. It is bounded cast by Lynn ; south, by Revere ; west, by Melrose ; and north, by Wakefield and Lynnfield. Its length is greatest from the west corner of Lynnfield to the angle of Chelsea River, being 53 miles ; while its breadth, which averages about 21 miles, runs up to its maximum between the west corner with Lyun and the west corner with Wakefield, where it measures 22 miles across. In its most southerly section are found very extensive salt marshes, such as abound along the coast ; but at some two miles from the shore these are terminated by a hilly territory, that stretches northward through all the rest of the township. A fair proportion of good arable land and intervale is distributed ; but the broken character in general is conspicuous, though there are no hills of great height or peenhar character. Castle Hill, in the north-west, is indeed to be remarked as a prominent station of the coast survey ; and Baker's Hill, close upon the marsh, is noticeable for its isolated position. Neither, however, is very high. The water system of the town is quite ample : it consists of the Sangus, River, which, rising in Wakefield Pond, works to the south-east by a very crooked course ; and, meeting tide-water at the Centre Village, goes thence to the sea at " Pines Point," through an estuary of considerable breadth, but great irregu- larity. This last is capable of light navigation as far as the East Vil- lage, though rarely used for the whole distance ; but whale-ships and other good-sized vessels have been easily brought at high-water as far as Fox llill Bridge, where the stream is crossed by the Salem Turn- pike. Several small streams appear as useful tributaries of Saugus River; of which Shutes' and Cranberry brooks, on the west, and Hawke's Brook, on the east, are the principal. Valuable water-power is enjoyed along this stream : it makes rather a rapid fall just before reaching tide-level ; and this is occupied by the modern privilege of Scotts's Mills, and the very ancient one of Pranker's a little above. Still further up, in the northern section, are Howlett's Mills ; and between them and the others are several old privileges, now disused, where some carly manufactures were attempted. The various creeks opening into the lower estuary give room for excellent tide-mills ; one such, just above Fox Hill Bridge, is very valuable. The main stream is intercepted at the East Village by the dam and gates of Goulds' Mills. These are very ancient, having been bought in 1738, by Joseph Gould, of Thomas Cheever, who, with Ebenezer Merriam, had established a corn-mill here in 1722.
The tributaries of the river afford some minor facilities of the same sort, mostly utilized for saw-mills in the carly time, but now either disused, or converted to more modern purposes. The considerable amount of the small streams may be said to compensate for the singu- lar want of natural bodies of water; of which, curiously enough, the township contains but one, and not the whole of that. This is called Long Pond, though its length is only about a fourth of a mile ; and it lies at about the centre, north and south, of the western boundary, the line of which crosses it in the middle, leaving about one-half in Mel-
rose.
. This is one of the numerous ponds of the country, so analogous
to swamps in character, with deep, muddy bottom, and low, sphagnous banks, covered with dense thickets. Its original outlet was toward the south-west, where the little stream crept through several grades of meadow by a very crooked course, trending slowly north-east, and finally reaching Saugus River. This, however, is now quite obscure ; for the surplus water all passes off by an artificial canal, which enters the pond on the north-east angle, and conducts them very directly to the valley of Shutes' Brook. This canal was ent, with much skill and
great labor, through ridges and ledge's, abont 1800, by Judge William Tudor, father of the late Frederick Tudor, of Nahant. Judge Tudor then had a country-seat on the site of the present almshouse, beside the newly contrived Newburyport Turnpike. The premises were adorned in many ways ; among others, by an artificial lake, for the replenishing of which this new channel was cut, and the waters of Long Pond brought at least a mile, no doubt with much satisfaction to the proprietor.
The geology of Saugus is in the southern portion decidedly felsitic, belonging to the large formation which includes the porphyries and other argillaceous rocks of Lynn. In the neighborhood of Sangus River, this material appears extensively as a series of conglomerates of various age ; but, westward from this, it takes the style of a uni- form, compact, and very hard felsite, which style continues nearly or quite to Melrose. In the south-west, adjacent to Revere, may be found some instances of diorites, possibly intrusive, and often carry- ing calcite freely ; while, to the north, the aluminous rocks are sharply succeeded by a series of sienites, which occupy most of the remaining territory. These rocks do not in any case afford associated minerals in any considerable variety. Asbestos is found near East Saugus, and fine epidote is occasional near the almshouse ; also, pretty specimens of a brilliant magnetite have been obtainable at a place called the " Lime- kiln," near " Pleasant Hill" station. Several good specimens of purple fluorite, long thought to be amethystine quartz, have been found in the " School-house Ledge," in East Saugus. Two other discoveries of minerals, neither of equal reality with these, have been sources of much fame for Saugus. The first is the " antimony mine," generally called after its chief character, Asa Cheever .. Many people confidently assert that he used, for a good while, about 1818, to give away fine specimens of sulphuret of antimony, or stibuite, which he said he obtained in the woods near Long Pond. Others believe it to have been nothing but " black lead," or graphite ; and the formation of that local- ity favors this opinion, which is probably correct. The rock tends clearly toward the production of graphite, but seems not likely to bear so rare a mineral as the other. We only add that the locality has never since been identified. The " blue sand" of East Saugus deserves to rank with " Asa Cheever's antimony." It was found about 1833, forming a mass of some eight quarts, as Lewis says, in giving a glowing account of it. A great mystery was made over it on account of its fine blue color and even grain ; but the whole yielded to com- mon sense, when, in 1850, Mr. S. D. Poole, of Lynn, showed, by a simple analysis, that it was only a parcel of common sign-painter's blue smalt, lost or buried in some olden time at the point of discovery.
A worthier note has been gained for the so-called "jasper," which is a beautiful, fine- grained felsite, deep-red in color, and almost hard enough for jewelry. This is found in a small ledge called the " Jasper Rock," on the west bank of the river, half a mile above Boston Street. Also, the very excellent style of green amygdaloid, that is abundant at Round Hill, a furlong or so further up. This is suspected of being chloritie in composition ; thus furnishing the instance of nearest ap- proach of the serpentines of Lynnfield and Newbury to the felsite of the coast. This possibility is thought to bear strongly on the relative age of the three great formations of this region.
After having existed as a parish of Lynn for almost eighty years, or from 1736 to 1815, the ecclesiastical liberty before enjoyed was completed in the civil independence and incorporation of the town, which took place on the 17th of February. And now, as Lynn had been called Saugus for the first seven years of her existence, and after- ward this town had been included under the new name of Lynn for more than a century and three quarters, so now the fluctuating terms were finally settled, and the young town took the old name of her own, then and thereafter.
From this time the purely civil history of the place presents bnt few changes worthy of note. For the last sixty years it has continued as a quiet, charming, semi-suburban town, with its chronicle only stored with the facts of its industrial and religious progress. At present it is divided, by a kind of natural gravitation of its people, iuto five vil-
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lages, of unequal population and prominence, only two of which are within sight of each other. The first, or Centre Village, had its origin about 1643 ; when, through the enterprise of Robert Bridges and Thomas Dexter, the first iron foundry was here established that was seen in the United States. The fall of the river, from the meadows to the marshes, is about fifty feet. The iron works were placed at almost the lowest point ; and the highest, nearly, was occupied with a dam, that flowed a large area for a pond behind it. A canal of about a fourth of a mile conducted the water to the wheels; of this the upper end is still open, and other portions are traceable. For a long period these works were remarkably successful. They employed the most skilful workmen to be brought here ; and, in 1648, were said by Gov. Winthrop to be making eight tons of bar iron per week, "as good as Spanish." At these works were done three very remarkable things, The first " ingine to carrye water in case of fire " was built for the authorities of Boston by Joseph Jenks, the ingenious mechanic of the works. This was in 1654. Two years before, he had cut and sunk the dies for striking the famous " Pine-Tree Shillings," which were the first coinage in the country. And in 1655, he obtained the first patent ever issued here, being for an improved scythe ; to wit, the long, light, and service- able blade now universally employed, but never known before that time. Three such exploits in mechanics, occurring by the skill of one man, and within the space of four years, should be distinctly credited to the soil on which they were accomplished.
The iron-works were supplied with ore from the extensive meadows above the dam and pond, using the soft limonite that there abounded. But it seems to have been mostly exhausted. It might well be so, since the furnaces ran almost steadily,- certainly till 1683, and perhaps in some sort much longer. Lewis makes them last near a century ; but this is a rather strong estimate. The evidence of their great activity is yet visible in the great heap of slag, ashes, and scoria, by the river- side, known far and near as the "Cinder Banks." All the latter part of their existence, they were encumbered by lawsuits, which finally crushed them out of being. After their decadence, no use was made of the privilege, till about 1770, when Ebenezer Hawkes repaired the dam slightly, and started agrist-mill and saw-mill just below it. From him, through several owners, it finally passed to Benjamin Sweetser, an enterprising manufacturer of chocolate, in 1794, He had used horse-power ; but bringing his business to this spot he applied water- power to it, with great success. He died in 1819; but the business went on for a long time after. Meanwhile Robert Emes had leased the grist-mill, and introduced the grinding of dye-woods ; and this, too, was continued for many years. In 1822, the celebrated William Gray brought thither the manufacture of cotton duck ; but this did not last long. Brown & Baldwin, of Boston, followed with bleaching, and then with calico-printing. This went on till 1825, then declined, was revived again by True & Brodhead. Under their ownership, the flannel business was introduced by Brierly & Whitehead, in 1829. At this period a large brick factory was built, and the woollen business seemed firmly established. . In 1834 the whole went over to Whit- well, Bond & Co., who added the cleaning and sorting of foreign wool. They sold in about a year to Livermore & Kendall ; but these also broke up in 1836, and removed to Framingham. After two years idleness, the property was purchased by Edward Pranker, who con- tinued the flannel business in it, making great improvements in the premises, from time to time, till his death, which happened a few years ago. The business was afterward continued by his son, George Pranker ; but, not remaining profitable, was, after his decease, discon- tinued, and the now extensive mills became again a scene of idleness.
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