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 2

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 2

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a peer of the realm, or the proudest lord spiritual, in the land of their birth.

Still another order was passed in 1634, whereby every male resi- dent, twenty years old and upwards, not a freeman, was compelled under oath to acknowledge subjection to the Colonial Government, and to promise abidance to the same. The object of all these laws was to secure the allegianec of all not entitled to the immunities of citizenship. It was not a retaliatory, but a defensive policy which they adopted ; and as the colony grew in strength and wisdom, these laws, necessarily temporary, were in due time changed or abrogated, as their own circumstances, or those of the English Church, gave them opportunity.

The terms of the colonial charter required the principal govern- ment officers to be chosen directly by the freemen. At first, in 1630, the freemen chose the assistants, and the assistants, from among themselves, the governor and deputy-governor. This kind of elec- tive aristocracy, with no limit to the tenure of office, was too anti- Republican for the masses; and the next spring, May, 1631, an order was passed making it lawful for the " commons " to propose - or, as we say in modern times, to nominate, - such persons as they wished to be chosen. Later in the same month, to limit the tenure of office, it was agreed that the governor, his deputy, and the assist- ants (officials probably similar to the governor, lieutenant-governor, and council of the present day) should all be chosen anew every year, by the whole court, " the Great General Court," or House of Representatives, which comprised twenty-four delegates. The arrangement made a few years later, that a portion of the magistrates should be chosen for life, awakened jealonsy, and was soon aban- doned. Morcover, in some of the carlier disputes concerning the relative powers of the officers and the delegates, the people of New- town became disaffected, requested permission to remove to Con- neeticut, were refused, and a political controversy ensued, lasting many years. It was finally settled by a compromise which " divided the Court into two branches, and gave to each (like our modern House and Senate ) a negative upon the other." This conflict of his- torical opinion is worthy of note as a remarkable feature in the his- tory of New England, that, from the ontset of its career, the two necessary elements of a proper government have ever been promi- nent.

Previous to 1635, the Colony had no regularly framed body of laws. The population was increasing, and the want was felt of positive statutes. In that year, four magistrates were deputed to frame a code of laws, bearing some "resemblance to a Magna Charta." This " Body of Liberties," as it was called, comprising one hundred laws, compiled mostly by the Rev. Nathaniel Ward, of Ipswich, was adopted in December, 1641, and subsequently revised at different periods. These laws were collected and published in 1648, 1660, 1672, and at other times. Bancroft says of their author, "he is the most remarkable among all the carly legislators of Massachusetts ; he had been formerly a student and practiser in the comts of common law in England, but beeame a Nonconformist minister, so that he was competent to combine the humane doctrines of the common law, with the principles of natural right and equality, as deducted from the Bible." The colonists have received much ridicule, however, for adopting those laws, and some have described them as a " literal transcript of the laws of Moses." Admitting this, it is well known that their predilection for the Mosaic policy was neither confined to Massachusetts, nor was it peculiar to the Puritans. The Presbyte- rians of Seotland asserted the obligations of the judicial laws of the Pentateuch, at least in criminal cases, and deduced therefrom the duty of executing idolaters, adulterers, witches, and Sabbath-break- ers. Our Puritan fathers were undoubtedly familiar with Magna Charta, and, taken as a whole, it is a question whether the Body of Liberties which they promulgated, may not fearlessly challenge comparison with the cotemporary legislation of England, or any

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

other land. And well might they say, in 1646, in repelling the charge of arbitrary government. illimited oaths. unjust taxes, illegal commitments, and others of a like nature : "Let them produce any Colony or Commonwealth in the world. where more hath been done in sixteen years. Let them show where hath been more care and strife to prevent all arbitrariness, and to bring all judgments to a cer- tain rule so far as may be." Comparing their laws with those of Eng- land, we find, in the " judicials " of Mr. Cotton. nineteen offences are capital ; in the " Body of Liberties." twelve ; while in England, at. the same time. one hundred and fifty offences were punishable with death.

In the Puritan code, slavery was prohibited. except in the case of "lawful captives taken in just war. and such strangers as willingly sell themselves. or are sold to us." Wife-whipping was forbidden. and " inhuman. cruel, or barbarous " punishments were not allowed. "No true gentleman. nor any man equal to a gentleman, was to be pimished with whipping, unless his crime was very shameful, and his course of life vicious and profligate. It is true, cropping the ears. slitting the nosc. branding the cheek, and whipping at the cart's tail were permitted, though. if contemporary history is to be credited, such inflictions were less frequent here than in England. The rights of the widow were respected. and the shield of the law was thrown around orphans. Profane swearing, drunkenness, and beggars were rare. In fact, the inspectors. in their official report to Charles II .. in 1673, stated, "there are no beggars. and not three persons are put to death annually for theft." And Vincent. in closing his account of the Pequot war, says : "The air of New England. and the diet. equal, if not excel, that of Old England ; besides. their honor of marriage. and careful preventing and punishing of furtive congression. giveth them and us no small hope of their future puissance and multitude of subjects. Herein, saith the wise man, consisteth the strength of a king, and likewise of a nation or kingdom."

It would be hardly fair, says Barry, to contrast with this picture the contemporary condition of down-trodden Ireland, which James I. considered as a "masterpiece." But, at the risk of being considered a little invidions, one extract may be furnished from the journal of the faithful Evelyn, relating to England itself. "Ang. 2. 1664. Went to Uppingham, the shire town of Rutland ; pretty and well- built. of stone, which is a rarity in that part of England, where most of the rural villages are built of mud, and the people living as wretch- edly as the most impoverished parts of France, which they mueh resemble. being idle and sluttish. The country (especially Leicester- shire ) much in common : the gentry free drinkers."

Meanwhile trouble was brewing. Charles was at first inclined to treat the colonists and their infant commonwealth with benevolent platitude. But the stern discipline of their leaders in expelling some, and punishing by whipping others. set a thousand eyes over them to "pick a hole in their coats." Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Capt. John Mason, who had spent many thousand pounds in fruit- less attempts at colonization. grew jealous of the Massachusetts Colony, and, envious of its success, they complained to the lords of the Privy Council of "disorders and distractions in the Colony." demanding a recall of its charter. They alleged that the colonists were opposed to Episcopacy and the Anglican Church; but Charles had discretion enough to see where the truth lay. To be sure. offend- ers had been punished. not because they were Episcopalians, but because they were insubordinate to the Colonial government. So cer- tain able defenders of New England in the mother country, Sir Rich- ard Saltonstall, Mathew Cradock, and others, were assured by the council that "his majesty did not intend to impose the ceremonies of the Church of England " upon the colonists, as it was considered that it was " the freedom from such things that made people come over to the Colony." The news reaching Boston. in May. 1633, a day of thanksgiving was ordered, in which Plymouth was requested to join. An answer to the objectionable memorial was prepared, signed by the

governor, and sent to England by Capt. Graves, with a certificate from the " old planters." certifying the loyalty of the colonists. After this. emigrations increased to an alarming extent. " many of the best, both ministers and Christians," leaving England for America. The dignitaries, both of church and state, became alarmed, and a warrant was issued. in 1634, to stay several vessels then in the Thames ready to sail for New England. Further, by royal decree. the archbishops of York and Canterbury, with ten others, or any five of them, were empowered to govern the plantations of New England. temporally and spiritually ; and three days later, on the first of May, a governor was selected, and vessels provided to convey him to the Colony. The intelligence of this royal edict received by the colonists caused great excitement. The sum of six hundred pounds was appropriated for the erection of a fort at Boston, and another at Castle Island. with entrenchments at Dorchester and Charlestown; and in the fall of 1634. Mr. Edward Winslow, of Plymouth, was sent to England in behalf of the Colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts, to obtain a commission to withstand the "intrusions of the French and the Dutch." He pointed out a way by which this might be effected with- ont charge to the Crown. Ilis petition was favorably received by the lords, but Archbishop Laud was not so easily baffled. Mr. Winslow was accused of exercising the functions of the ministry, by marrying people as a justice of the peace, without being episcopally ordained. He frankly confessed that "about marriage, it was a civil thing. and he nowhere found in the word of God that it was tied to a minister." and the result was Mr. Winslow's commitment to the fleet. where he was confined four months before he was liberated.

Notwithstanding the vigorous policy of the Crown, emigrants eon- tinned to flock by hundreds to America. Efforts were made to stop " promiscuous and disorderly departing out of the realm." In 1636 a warrant was issued against the Massachusetts Bay Company. its "liberties, privileges, and franchises," were "taken and seized into the king's hands," though its charter was by no means revoked ; but in May, 1637, an order of council directed the attorney-general to call for the Massachusetts patent. No result, however, followed ; and the subsequent appointment, in July, of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, as gov- ernor-general of the country, was "passed over in silence." At this period troubles in Scotland so completely engrossed King Charles's time and the attention of his council, that he had " neither heart nor leisure to look much after New England's affairs." In the following year, 1638, orders were issued to stay eight ships then in the Thames which, certain parties said and believed, had on board Hampden, Cromwell. and others afterwards conspicuous in the annals of the Long Parliament. All these troubles terminated at last in the death of Charles, and the storm that would have compelled the eolo- nists to bend or break was thus averted.

The confederacy of 1643. among the New England Colonies. is justly claimed as an important event in its history. The idea of such a union had been conceived in 1637. soon after the Pequot war. During the following year. 1638, the General Court at Newtown had declined to accept articles of confederation : but, in May, 1639. Gov. Haynes, of the Hartford Colony. visited Boston to renew the treaty, and, about this time, the people of New Hampshire, vexed by proprietary claims, were anxious also to come under the government of Massachusetts. Already, four distinct governments, including one at Kittery, were formed in 1640, near the Piscataqua. In 1641, the "lords and gentlemen." at Dover and Strawberry Bank, who held patents, resigned their jurisdiction to Massachusetts. for the sake of safety. and in the following year, 1642. Exeter followed their example. Troubles ensued at this period with certain French immi- grants, including some Jesuit priests sent over by Cardinal Richelieu. They lind settlements near Cape Sable ; and their governor, La Tour, claimed all the land from Cape Sable to Cape Cod, under authority given him by the king of France. When asked for his patent. he said "his sword was his commission." Now the people of Massachu-

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

setts had, as early as 1632, entertained the idea of establishing a plantation at Ipswich, and it is not surprising that they regarded the French as "ill neighbors."

A glance at the condition of the Colonies at this period may prove to be of interest. The Puritans, like the Pilgrims, when they came over to America, knew that success meant hard work, patience, and economy. Poverty stared them in the face, and for several months they lived on Indian corn. Fish, to be sure, were plentiful. and seeds were sown for future harvests. Before the beginning of 1643, fifteen thousand acres were cultivated for grain purposes, and there were not less than a thousand acres of gardens and orchards. They had, more- over, twelve thousand neat cattle, and three thousand sheep. Hun- dreds of laborers, who "had not enough to bring them over," were now worth scores and hundreds of pounds invested in lands and stock. Citizens began erecting buildings of brick in Boston, markets were established, wharves constructed, and vessels sent to the West Indies and to the Madeira Islands, returning with sugar, cotton, aud tobacco ; and these, with the furs and the products of the fisheries at the Cape and at the Banks, including moose teeth and oil, procured iu trips further to the north, were sent to England to pay for the manufactured goods needed for their wants. The resources of the country were rapidly developed. Forests were converted into masts. planks, boards, staves, shingles, and hoops, all of which were of value in commercial exchange. Before 1650 glass works were commenced, and iron foundries established at Lynn and Braintree in the Massachusetts Colony, and at Raynham in Plymouth. Mills were erected, and shipyards established ; and, as wool, flax, and hemp were plenty, manufacturing commenced. But changes in England checked the flow of emigration from the Old World to the New, cansing an immediate reduction in the market value of cattle ; and as manufactures assumed an increased importance, they were prosecuted with more vigor.

It is well known that many early settlers of the Massachusetts Col- ony, particularly the clergy, were graduates of English universities. AAs a matter of course they felt an interest in the cause of education ; and, when a sufficient degree of prosperity had been reached, it be- came a law that children and apprentices should be taught " so much learning as might enable them perfectly to read the English tongue." Every township of fifty householders was required to appoint one to teach all children to read and write ; and every town of one hundred families was ordered to establish a grammar school, with a master able to fit them for college. In 1636, six years after the settlement of Boston, the General Court voted the sum of four hundred pounds - equal to a year's rate of the whole Colony - towards the erection of a "publie school or college." The next year, 1637. the college was " ordered to be at Newtown ; " and the following spring. in 1638. it was further ordered that "Newtown shall henceforward be called Cambridge," in honor of the English alma mater of many of the emi- grants. Before the end of the year, John Harvard, a minister settled at Charlestown, and a lover of learning, who died of consumption after a year's residence in the country, bequeathed one-half his whole property and his entire library to the college. This benefaction was so timely, and the sum so generous, that the college owns him as its earliest founder, and continues to wear his name. During the same year, 1638, a regular course of academical instruction was com- menced; and, in 1642, there were nine graduates, all of whom received degrees. Gov. Winthrop commended the young men for their proficiency : and this was the first commencement in the history of Harvard College. At this date, a charter for the college had been granted, and a board of overseers established. The seminary was under the charge of President Dunster, a man of eminent talents and singular worth, who continued at its head, discharging with fidel- ity the duties of his office for a period of nearly fourteen years ; and, before the grant of the province charter in 1692, the office of presi- dent had been held by a succession of distinguished men. That the

college moulded the character of the country, there can be little donbt. Its influence alarmed the commissioners of Charles II., and the Marquis of Wellesley is reported to have said to an American, many years later. "Establishing a seminary in New England at so carly a period of time, hastened your revolution half a century."

In 1639, the first printing-press in New England was set up at Cambridge. Both the press and the pressmen were brought over from England by the Rev. Joseph Glover. "The first thing printed," says Winthrop, in his journal, was " The Freeman's Oath." The press afterwards became the property of Samuel Green, who followed the printer's trade in Cambridge for more than forty years. He published " The Cambridge Platform" in 1649; "The Laws of the Colony" in 1660 ; the "Psalter " in 1685, together with Baxter's " Call," and the Bible in the Indian language - publications now rarely met with. The literary attainments of the time were not extensive, but the period was pleasing for its patriarchal simplicity and freshness, and by some this was termed the golden age of the Colony.

" For them each evening had its shining star, And every Sabbath day its golden sun."

At this time, about 1643, the population of New England was not far from twenty-five thousand ; while that of Massachusetts was about eighteen thousand. And now the people talked, and the General Court discussed the subject, of a confederacy of the Colonies. No one doubted that such a union was necessary, even for common safety ; and, May 19, 1643, the first step was taken. Commissioners from four of the Colonies met at Boston, and agreed upon the terms. These were signed by the delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Haven ; but the Plymouth commissioners, having no author- ity to sign, reported to the General Court, which submitted the mat- ter to the several towns, and on the 7th of September, in the same year, after complete ratification by the people, was formed the con- federation of "The United Colonies of New England." justly termed the prototype of the North American Confederacy of 1774. The articles of confederation were twelve in number, containing every proper provision for the welfare and security of the league. It was simple, but strong in its purpose, and was virtually an assumption of the sovereignty of the people.

But the fortunes of the Colonies were influenced in no small degree by the revolution in England which dethroned and sent Charles I. to the scaffold. There were always difficulties within the Colonies ; and at this particular period, those who were hostile to the govern- ment of Massachusetts sought redress for their grievances in England. Cromwell had always manifested great love for the Colonists ; and, after his suceesses in Ireland, he tried to introduce Puritanism there, by inviting thither people of Massachusetts, who persistently declined the offer, preferring their own land as the "happiest and wisest this day in the world." In the words of Baneroft, "English history must judge of Cromwell by his influence on the institutions of England ; the American Colonies remember the years of his power as the period when British sovereignty was for them free from rapacity, intolerance, and oppression. He may be called the benefactor of the English in America ; for he left them to enjoy, uushackled, the liberal benevo- lenee of Providence, the freedom of industry, of commerce, of relig- ion, and of government." During these years the Puritans and the Pilgrims worked harmoniously together to build up a mighty Com- monwealth ; and, as evil is always found following the footsteps of good, we come now, with regret, to another display of the persecut- ing spirit which pervaded the people of Massaehsetts.

In 1656, the first Quakers arrived in Massachusetts, and their doe- trines were deemed " another assault of Satan upon God's poor peo- ple here." The poor immigrants were subjected to all manner of atrocities. They were banished, whipped, transported ; and a fine of one hundred pounds was imposed on every shipmaster who brought Quakers within the jurisdiction. Other severe laws prohibited any

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

person from harboring " the pernieions seet." Plymouth and Con- neetieut shared the sentiments of Massachusetts ; while Rhode Island alone, under the wise guidance of Roger Williams, looked with favor upon those persecuted people. For a season, men, women, and chil- dren were either seourged or fined, while some were imprisoned, others banished, and four were sent to the seatfold. Tidings of this inhumanity reached England, and came to the ears of Charles II .. then on the throne of his father. The king finally put a stop to these persecutions in a summary way, and, on the part of the Quakers, the matter was finally compromised. From this hour the rigor of the Colonial laws abated, and the principles of toleration began to sur- mount the evils of bigotry. Says a writer : "Let us not censure too harshly the eonduet of men to whom we are so largely indebted for the blessings we enjoy. Candid minds will not be indisposed to east over their errors the mantle of charity. We have no disposition to eoneeal those errors ; neither would we magnify them to an undue extent. Future ages, perhaps. in considering the laws of the middle of the nineteenth century, will look baek with wonder to our days, and may find it as difficult to conceive how we should have strayed so far from the spirit of the gospel as then understood, as we find it diffi- cult to eoneeive how our ancestors should have strayed so far from that spirit as we understand it. Let each age be judged by its own light, and let due credit be given for all that was good in the past."

In December, 1660, news reached Massachusetts that Charles II. had mounted the throne of his ancestors. - a piece of intelligence not wholly unexpected in New England. The General Court of Mas- sachusetts met, prepared addresses to the king and parliament, solie- iting their favor towards the Colonies, and urging Mr. Leverett, their agent, to nse his utmost endeavors "for the renewing that ordinanee that freed us from eustoms, 10th March, 1642." The king's reply, received in the following May, 1661, was gracious, but not enough so to quiet the fears of the colonists. At a special meeting of the Court in June. "a declaration of natural and chartered rights " was issued, affirming their rights to choose their own governor, deputy-governor. and representatives ; to set up all sort of offieers, superior or inferior, and determine their powers and places ; to exereise, by their annually elected magistrates and deputies. all power and authority. legislative. executive and judicial ; to defend themselves by foree of arms against every aggression ; and to rejeet as an infringement of their rights any parliamentary or royal imposition prejudicial to the country. It was a year before the restoration of Charles II. was publicly recognized in Boston. While Old England had weleomed his return with riotous festivity, and even Plymouth had readily acknowledged his authority. Massachusetts delayed as long as was prudent. Hitherto New Eng- land forbade even the drinking of his health ; but now a few formali- ties were observed in Massachusetts. The troops were paraded ; and, on the whole. the people behaved with deeorum and discretion. A letter had been received from the Court of St. James forbidding fur- ther persecution of the Quakers, and ordering those who disobeyed to be sent over to England ; and. soon after, orders were received for commissioners to be sent to answer aeeusations against the Colony. Finally, Feb. 10, 1662, after mueh agitation and opposition, and arrangements for their departure which required twelve meetings at the " Aneor Taverne " to perfect, the Rev. John Norton and Simon Brad- street sailed, with an address eommending them to the king, and another solieiting the favor of the Earl of Clarendon. Friends in England had prepared the way for them. and they were courteously received by King Charles ; and finally, June 28, 1662, the eommis- sioners obtained a confirmation of their charter, and an amnesty for all past offenees. A day of thanksgiving was appointed for the safe return of the messengers. and for a time matters wore a pleasing aspeet. But some were dissatisfied. The king had rebuked the colo- mists for the irregularities which had been complained of. He had ordered a repeal of all laws derogatory to his authority ; the oath of allegianee was to be taken by all; persons of honest life, exeept

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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 2

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