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 21

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 21

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The town was incorporated Oet. 14, 1668, and probably received its name from Beverley, a town of about 9,000 inhabitants in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The following is the aet of ineorpo- ration : "The court on perusal of this return judge it meet to grant that Bass River be henceforth a township of themselves, referring it to Salem to accommodate them with lands & bounds suitable for them and that it be called Beverly."

The first town-meeting occurred November 23d of the same year, when Capt. Thomas Lothrop, William Dixey, William Dodge, Sr., John West, and Paul Thorndike were chosen " townsmen," or seleet- men.

A fast was observed Aug. 4, 1669, " because of immoderate rains, blasting mildew, eold & storms, to find out the canse and desire the removal of God's frown." Another followed, August 16, " for great sins abounding and breaking forth scandalously in this country, & for deaths of five ministers in about half a year." On November 17,

a public thanksgiving was held "for the harvest the Lord hath given."

As some of the people were dissatisfied with the name of the town, which in derision was now and then pronounced Beggarly, Roger Conant, then over eighty years old, with thirty-four others, petitioned the General Court, May 28, 1671, to change its name to Budleigh. As the paper is not only eurious in itself, but of some historical inter- est, we insert it here in its original form :

" To the honored General Court, consisting of Magistrates and Deputees, (the 28th of the 3ª month 1671). The humble petition of Roger Conant of Bass river, alias Beverly, who hath bin a planter in New England fortie yeers and upwards, being one of the first that resolved and made good my settlement under in matter of plantation with my family in this collony of Massachusetts Bay, and have bin instrumental, both for the founding and carriing on of the same ; and when in the infancy thereof it was in great hazard of being deserted, I was a means, through grace assisting me, to stop the flight of those few that then were heere with me, and that by my utter deniall to goe away with them who would have gon either for England, or mostly for Virginia, but thereupon stayed to the hassard of their lives.

"Now my umble suite and request is unto this honorable Court, onlie that the name of our towne, or plantation may be altered or changed from Beverly and be called Budleigh. I have two reasons that have moved me unto this request. The first is the great dislike and discontent of many of our people for this name of Beverly, because (we being but a small place) it hath eaused on us a constant nickname of Beggarly, being in the mouths of many, and no order was given, or eonsent by the people to their agent for any name, until we were shure of being a town granted in the first place.

" Secondly. I being the first that had house in Salem, (and neither had any hand in naming either that or any other town,) and myself with those that were then with me, being all from the western part of England, desire this western name of Budleigh, a market towne in Devonshire, and neere unto the sea, as wee are heere in this place, and where myself was borne. Now in regard of our firstnesse and antiquity in this soe famous a collony, wee should umblie request this small preveledg with your favors and consent, to give this name above said, unto our town. I never yet made sute or request unto the Generall Court for the least matter, tho' I thinke I might as well have done, as many others have, who have obtained much without hazard of life, or preferring the publiek good before their own interest, which, I praise God, I have done.

" If this my sute may find acceptation with your worships, I shall rest umbly thankfull, and my praises shall not cease unto the throne of grace, for Gods guidance and his blessing to be on all your waightie proceedings, and that justice and righteousness may be everie where taught and practiced throughout this wilderness, to all posterity, which God grant. Amen.

" Your worships umble petitioner and servant, ROGER CONANT."

The Court replied, June 1, 1671, that " the magistrates having perused and considered this request, see no eause to alter the name of the place as desired ; their brethren, the deputies, hereto consenting," and so the beautiful name of Beverly, signifying Beaverley, or Beaver- field, was continued. The Court this year granted Mr. Conant 200 aeres of land.

It appears that the interior of the meeting-house was finished by degrees, just as the seats were needed, since liberty was granted in 1671 to certain women to build three of them at their own expense. Richard Braekenbury and Samuel Corning, Sr., "had leave to make a seat at the north end of the pulpit," and Mrs. Hale, wife of the min- ister, " to make a seat where she now sitteth." In 1672, Mrs. Lothrop was permitted " to make a seat convenient by the chief pillar."

The town, ever alive to the interests of education, contributed, Feb. 14, 1672, £13 to Harvard College. On the 18th of March the bounds were fixed between Beverly and Manchester. John Stone

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

was this year allowed to keep an ordinary, or tavern, and one barrel of powder was granted to the town by the General Court. The population of the town at this time is supposed to have been about six hundred.

On the 5th of October, 1674, it was voted to build a school-house near the meeting-house, twenty feet long, and sixteen feet wide. It was to serve also as a watch-honse. Owing to the Indian disturb- ances, this project seems to have been delayed for several years, and the meeting-house continued to be used for educational purposes. Samuel Hardie was, so far as the records show, the earliest school- teacher. As late as 1667, he used the meeting-house as a school- room, and his salary was £20 per annum. He also practised physic.

In the early part of 1675, the whole Colony were thrown into con- sternation by the assaults of the Indians, under Philip of Pokanoket, on the frontier settlements. Four garrison-houses were erected in Beverly, one at the meeting-house, one at Bass River, another at Mackerel Cove, in the easterly part of the town, and another " near the house of John Dodge, Senior," near Wenham line.

Soldiers from this town enlisted patriotically, for the common de- fence. The following were engaged, in 1675, under Capt. Joseph Gardner, of Salem, at Fort Narragansett; viz., William Balch, Wil- liam Bonner, Lot Conant, Christopher Read (wounded), William Ferryman, Christopher Browne, Moses Morgan, John Traske, Wil- liam Allen, John Clarke, Richard Hussband, Thomas Rayment, Ralph Ellingwood, Henry Bayley, Thomas Blashfield, John Ellingwood, Jo- seph Morgan, William Dodge, Jonathan Biles, William Rayment, Elias Picket, Samuel Harris, and John Dodge. John Ellingwood,(wounded), Thomas Parlor, and Samuel Collins, served this year at Wells, Me.

Capt. Thomas Lothrop, then about sixty-five years of age, was ap- pointed to the command of a company raised in this town and vicin- ity, and styled " The Flower of Essex," which was ordered to the western frontier. He was one of the early settlers, and had served in 1654 as a captain, at the capture of Port Royal. Lieut. Thomas Whittredge, Lieut. Edward Rayment, William Woodberry, Hum- phrey Woodberry, and Peter Wooden, of Beverly, were with him in that expedition ; and from the " new Friary," at Port Royal, he se- cured a bell for the Beverly meeting-house.

In September, 1675, the headquarters of the English were at Had- ley, and on arriving at this place, Capt. Lothrop was despatched with his company to Deerfield, for the purpose of transporting some grain, which had not been destroyed in the conflagration of that town by the Indians, to the encampment at Hadley. While returning with his loaded teams, and, it is said, delaying by the way to gather grapes, he was suddenly attacked by a body of about seven hundred of the ene- my, who had been lying in ambuscade, and, after a desperate strug- gle, he himself, and all but seven or eight of his brave followers, fell. Of those killed, Capt. Lothrop, Josiah Dodge, Peter Woodberry, and John Balch, belonged to Beverly. The scene of this sanguinary en- gagement was at Muddy Brook, near Sugar-loaf Mountain, in the sontherly part of Deerfield. In 1835, it being the 160th anniversary of the battle, an address was given by Edward Everett, and in 1838, a marble monument was erected over the remains of the slain. It bears the following inscription : -

" On this ground Capt. Thomas Lothrop and eighty four men under his command, including eighteen teamsters from Deerfield, conveying stores from that town to Hadley, were ambuscaded by about 700 Indians, and the Captain & seventy six men slain, Sept. 18th, 1675 (old style)." The soldiers who fell, were described by a contemporary historian, as "a choice company of young men, the very flower of the County of Essex, none of whom were ashamed to speak with the enemy in the gate."

" And Sanguinetto tells you where the dead Made the earth wet, and turned the unwilling waters red."

"This monument erected August 1838." The estate of Capt. Loth-

rop was at Maekerel Cove, a part of the now beautiful estate of Mr. Benj. F. Burgess, and a street, in 1837, was named "Lothrop," in perpetuation of his memory. His sister Ellen inherited his property, and became the second wife of the celebrated Ezekiel Cheever, the most noted schoolmaster in the Colony.

In 1690, the town was visited by the small-pox, and it afforded relief to Lawrence Dennis and family, afflicted with that disease. It also borrowed this year £48 10s. "to buy great guns & ammuni- tion," and also to erect a fort. Andrew Elliott was elected this year as the first town clerk, and his salary was fixed at thirty shillings per annnm. He died March 1, 1703-4, and was succeeded by Robert Woodberry, " who discharged his duties with great fidelity."

In the unfortunate expedition against Quebec, this year, Beverly was represented by a company under Capt. William Rayment. It suffered greatly, and was subsequently remunerated for its services by the grant of a township of land. The Rev. Mr. Hale served as one of the chaplains in this campaign. Soon after his return, he found the church and state distracted with the witchcraft delusion, which commenced in the family of his friend, the Rev. Samuel Parris, of Salem Village, early in 1692, and spread as wild-fire through the towns of Essex County.

Dorcas Hoar, Sarah Morell, Susanna Rootes, and Job Tuckey, of Beverly, were accused of being in confederation with the devil, tried, condemned and imprisoned ; but finally restored to liberty. It was charged against the latter that he could "as freely discourse with the devil" as with his accuser, John Landers, that he had "afflicted " Mary Warren, Mary Walcot, Betsey Hews, and that he caused the death of Andrew Woodberry. Mr. Hale, in common with the nota- ble men at that period, countenanced the delusion ; but in October, of this dark year, his own wife was accused of witchcraft. His opinion in respect to it then suddenly changed, and he subsequently wrote a treatise against the delusion. In it he says : "I have had a deep sense of the sad consequences of mistakes in matters capital, and their impossibility of recovering when completed ; and what grief of heart it brings to a teuder conscience to have been unwittingly encouraging of the sufferings of the innocent." He is said to have been the first to resist the tide of fanaticism in respect to diabolical possession.

In 1696, Beverly had four soldiers, viz., John Burt, Benj. Carrill, John Pickworth, and Israel Wood, in the service at Fort St. Mary, near Saco, Me. ; but it does not appear that any of them were lost.

The town had at this time become somewhat noted for ship-build- ing, and many of its people were engaged in the fisheries.

On the 2d of May, 1700, many cattle were lost in a great rain and hail storm, which continued three days; and on the 15th of the same month, the town was called to deplore the death of Mr. Hale, its beloved minister. He was born in Charlestown, June 3, 1636 ; graduated at Harvard College, in 1657; married for his first wife Rebeccah Byles, for his second, March 3, 1684, Mrs. Sarah Noyes, of Newbury, and for his third, Aug. 8, 1698, Mrs. Elizabeth Somerby. Mr. Hale was a man of good abilities, generous and patriotic. The inscription on his gravestone is : " Here lies the body of the Reverend Mr. John Hale, a pious & faithful minister of the gospel, and pas- tor of the First Church of Christ in this town of Beverly, who rested from his labors on the 15th day of May, anno domini, 1700, in the 64th year of his age."

A grammar school was established in 1700, and Mr. Robert Hale was appointed master. He was succeeded the next year by Mr. Danicl Dodge, the ancestor of the Hon. William E. Dodge, of New York. James Hale and Pyam Blowers, sons of the first two ministers, subsequently taught the school, which continned in operation, with but slight interruptions, for 124 years.

The town chose, December 5, 1676, two constables, "by reason of the difficulties of the times, on account of the Indian war."

But the war soon closed, by the death of Philip, and prosperity again prevailed. The town, at this period, and still later, was much

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

infested with wolves ; and for killing three of them, in 1678, John Edwards was allowed three pounds from the public treasury. In the year following, March 29, John West gave a flagon to the church, " as a token of his love."

In 1680, Wenham claimed 600 acres of land, as promised by Salem. before Beverly was set off, and, after controversy, had that quantity added to her territory from Beverly, thus changing the boundary line from Miles River to substantially the present line.

In 1682, a new meeting-house was erected, fifty feet in length, by forty feet in width, at a cost of £370 in silver. The tower from which the bell-rope depended, rose from the centre of the building ; and an hour-glass, for measuring the length of the sermon, stood upon the pulpit.

On the 22d of September, 1700, Miss Emma Leach, fifty-two years old, and only twenty-five inches high, visited Salem, and awak- ened great curiosity.

The Rev. Thomas Blowers, born in Cambridge, Aug. 1, 1677 (Har- vard College, 1695), succeeded Mr. Hale, and was ordained pastor of the church, Oct. 29, 1701, his salary being £80 per annum, and £100 being allowed him for a " settlement."

The population of the town, in 1708, had arisen to 1,680, and noth- ing for some time occurred to agitate the public mind.

In 1711, Mihil Sallows and Joseph Gray were slain by the Indians at Winter Harbor ; and three or four years later, Benjamin Dike lost his life the same way, at Cape Sable.

In 1713, the town granted land on which to erect a school-house at the Farms, and in October of the same year, the Second, or North Parish, was incorporated, and a plain meeting-honse, fifty feet long and forty feet wide, was erected. A church was organized December 28, 1715 ; and on the same day, the Rev. John Chipman, born in Barnstable, and a graduate of Harvard College in 1711, was ordained as pastor. The original members of the church were, John Chipman, Edward Dodge, Jonathan Rayment, Joseph Dodge, Jonathan Dodge, Josiah Woodberry, Elisha Dodge, Nehemiah Wood, John Dodge, Senior, John Leach, Joseph Herrick, John Crecy, Jacob Griggs, John Brown, and Moses Fluant.

The people were seated in the meeting-house by persons appointed for this purpose, who were " to show respect to ye aged people amongst vs, as allso to have a speciall regard unto persons that have dou service for ye benefit of ye precinct, and have contributed high in building of ye hous for ye publick worship of God, and purchasing land for ye use of ye people of sd. precinct, and are Likely to pay considerable in ye Charge of ye ministry amongst us ; as allso not to seat above two thirds so many persons in any seat, as ye seats will comfortably hold." It was voted, March 29, 1715, that the front seat in the east gallery " be parted in ye middle," for the accommodation of the young unmarried women.

Robin Mingo, a negro slave, owned by Thomas Woodberry, was admitted to the First Church, July 15, 1722. He married Deborah Taylor, an Indian, and died in 1773. His name is perpetuated in " Mingo's Beach."

On the 29th of October, 1727, a great earthquake occurred, which so alarmed the people. that many here, as in the neighboring towns, made a profession of religion, and nnited with the church.

On the last day of this year, Mr. Chipman wrote, in respect to this event : -

" Soli Deo Lans qui et terram violenter exagitavit et super populum suunı spiritum suum effudit."

" Praise be to God only, who hath shaken violently the earth, and also poured out his Spirit on his people."

As many as twenty-five were added to Mr. Chipman's church during the year.

The physician of the town at this period, was Dr. Robert Hale, Jr., born Feb. 12, 1702-3 (Harvard College, 1721), and, after holding many offices, civil and political, died in 1767. He represented the town thir-

teen years in the General Court, and was, in 1740, appointed man- ager of the scheme for the relief of the Colony, known as the Land Bank. In the expedition against Louisburg, under Gen. Wil- liam Pepperell, 1745, he commanded a regiment, and was subse- quently a sheriff for Essex County.

The Rev. Mr. Blowers, of the First Church, died, much lamented, June 17, 1729, and fifty pounds were appropriated to defray the expen- ses of his funeral. A monument of granite was erected over his remains, in 1818, with this inscription : " In memory of Rev. Thomas Blowers, obt. June 17, 1729, in the 28th year of his ministry." His successor was the Rev. Joseph Champney, whose ordination occurred Dec. 10, 1729, and whose salary was £140, in province bills of credit, his " set- tlement " being £200 of the same currency. He continued in the pastorate until his decease, which took place Feb. 23, 1773, when the Rev. Joseph Willard, who had been settled as a colleague the preced- ing year, became the sole minister of the church and parish.

In 1730, a disagreement arose in the Second Parish, in respect to singing in church, some persons being desirons of continuing the prac- tice of " lining out " the hymns, and singing by rote, while others pre- ferred to sing by note. A compromise was made, and Mr. Joseph Cresey was desired to set the tune whenever they sang by note. It was voted, moreover, that no psalm-tune, not in common use with them, should " be speedily introduced, set, or sung in this congrega- tion, excepting the tune called St. Maries, or Hackney, and the tune called Commandment tone." On the 28th of October, of the year following, it was however, voted " that they would for the future time, sing at all times of singing in public worship, the psalm tunes by rule, according to the notes pricked in our psalm books." The Bay Psalm Book was then in nse, and a few engraved tunes were appended to this version of the Psalms as early as 1696.

In 1752, when Danvers was made a town, all that territory between Bass River and Bass River brook on the east, and Frost Fish brook on the west, was annexed to Beverly, most of the families there already belonging to the Second Parish here. And in 1857, the village that had grown up on that territory, near Danversport, comprising some 330 inhabitants and 1,500 acres of land, including the memorable Brown's Folly Hill, was annexed to Danvers.

In 1753, the population was 2,023. This year, Robert Hooper, Jr., of Marblehead, presented a bell to the Second Parish, which, in token of its gratitude, granted a pew to the donor, and also voted, " to lath and plaster over-head, over the above said pew upon the parish's cost." In 1754, the whole number of slaves here was twenty-eight.

In 1757, the town hired a part of a house for the use of two fami- lies of the Acadians, over whom it had supervision, and whom it was ordered by the government to support. These unfortunate people were industrious, and supported themselves in part by making wood- en-ware, brooms, and baskets,

In 1765, the population was 2,163. This year, Widow Priscilla Trask was appointed pound-keeper ; and, two years later, a powder- house was erected, on the south side of the common. Anterior to this, the stock of ammunition had been kept in a room in the meet- ing-house of the First Parish, which was taken down June 27, 1770, for the erection of a new editiee. This was erected at a cost of about £1,300. The Psalms and Hymns of Dr. Watts were introduced, against strong opposition, into the Second Church, in 1770. So strong was the feeling, that one man, rising one day in the midst of the ser- vice, declared that, had Solomon seen what was going on that day, he never would have written, "There is nothing new under the sun."

The sentiment of the town, as that of Manchester, was equally set against inoculation for the small-pox.

On the 1st of May, 1771, Mr. Enos Hitchcock, born in Spring- field, and graduated at Harvard College in 1767, was ordained as colleague of Mr. Chipman, then in declining health, at a salary of £60 per annum. Mr. Chipman died March 23, 1775, at the age of eighty-five years, and after a pastorate of nearly sixty years, and Mr.

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Hitchcock, then with an increase of salary, became the sole pastor of the Second Church.

In the great struggle for American independence, Beverly bore a conspicuous and patriotic part.

In its instructions, May 22, 1769, to Henry Herrick, representative, it says : " We apprehend that no power on earth can justly deprive us of our essential rights, & that no man can be safe, either as to his life, liberty or property, if a contrary doctrine should prevail ; there- fore, we recommend to you a firm, but prudent opposition to all unconstitutional measures." A committee of correspondence was appointed at the close of 1773, consisting of John Leach, Benjamin Jones, Henry Herrick, Samuel Goodridge, and Josiah Batchelder, Jr. The latter gentleman was chosen representative to the General Court, Sept. 26, 1774. As the times darkened, and a resort to arms ap- peared inevitable, the militia companies were called to frequent drills, the arms and ammunition put in order, watchmen were appointed, and four watch-houses built.

On the reception of the news of the battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775, Capt. Joseph Rea, and Capt. Caleb Dodge, repaired, with most of the male population capable of bearing arms, to the scene of the conflict, and assisted in driving the British troops back to Boston. In the skirmishes, Reuben Kennison was killed, and Nathaniel Cleaves, Wilson Dodge, and Samuel Woodbury were wounded. The fort on Woodberry's Head was put in order and manned by forty soldiers. The women of Beverly exhibited a patriotism not inferior to that which moved their husbands and their brothers to take up arms against the enemy. They cheerfully prepared garments for the soldiers, and lent in every possible way their aid for carrying on the war.

There were several fortifications erected in town during the Revoln- tion, and, in accordance with the habits of those days, forty-seven gal- lons of rum were used while building the breastwork at Woodberry's Head.

In the antumn of 1775, a little scene occurred in the harbor, not without dramatic interest. The British ship of war, "Nauti- lus," twenty guus, discovered and chased a privateer of Beverly up towards the town, until it grounded on the flats. As the tide was too low for the " Nautilus" to secure its prize, it began to fire upon the town. One shot struck the shed of Thomas Stephens, and destroyed his chaise. Seizing his gun, he ran to the beach and returned the fire. Col. Henry Herrick, in his military costmne, fol- lowed him. Others hurried to the landing, opening a fire upon the " Nautilus," which, by reason of the ebbing of the tide, carcened so as to be unable to use its guns. The cannon from Hospital Point, in Salem, now opening a fire on the unlucky vessel, it received shots, fore and aft, until, the tide arising, it was enabled to make sail for Boston. For its defence, the town raised a second breastwork on Paul's Head ; and in January, 1776, hired twenty-four men as a night- watch on West's Beach, and also near the dwelling-house of Benjamin Smith. Col. Glover's regiment was stationed at the fort. The town, June 13 of this year, pledged " their lives & fortunes to support " the Continental Congress, in the event of its declaring the Colonies independent of Great Britain ; and, in its subsequent action, it re- deemed its pledge. In almost every battle of the Revolution, Bev- erly was bravely represented.

The Rev. Enos Hitchcock served as a chaplain of Col. Ebenezer Francis's regiment in 1777, and subsequently of Gen. Patterson's brigade. Of the clothing of the army at Valley Forge he wrote, May 15, 1778 : " Numbers of our brigade are destitute even of a shirt, and have nothing but the ragged remains of some loose garments as a partial covering."

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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 21

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