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 37

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 37

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From 1700 to 1730, many families settled here. On the 27th of May, 1730, they petitioned the General Court to be set off as a separate aud distinct precinct or parish. Their petition was signed by forty- two persons, whose names were : -

John Adams, William Adams, John Brocklebank, Francis Brocklc- bank, Jonathan Boynton, Richard Boynton, Jonathan Chaplin, Beney Chase, Richard Dole, William Fisk, Leonard Harriman, Nathaniel Har- riman, Samuel Harriman, Jonathan Harriman, John Harriman, Samuel Hazen, John Hazen, Samuel Johnson, Daniel Kilborn, Jeremiah Nel- son, Solomon Nelson, Richard Boynton, Jr., Thomas Burpee, Ebenezer Burpee, Nathan Boyntou, Jonathan Bradstreet, Jeremiah Chaplin, Joseph Nelson, Aaron Piugrye, Job Pingrye, Thomas Plumer, Daniel Plumer, Jedediah Pearson, David Pearson, David Perley, William Searle, Samuel Spofford, Jonathan Spofford, Benjamin Stickney, Jonathan Stickney, Abner Tod, Jonathan Wheeler.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

They were incorporated October, 1731. The first parish meeting for choice of officers, was held Oct. 5, 1731.

CHAPTER II.

ADVANCE IN AGRICULTURE - ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOLS - INDIAN WARS - FRENCH WAR - THE REVOLUTION.

"In April, 1838, the most of this parish, with the largest portion of Rowley, part of Byfield Parish, were incorporated as a separate town by the name of Georgetown. This town has a central location in the northerly half of Essex County, rendering it, therefore, a con- venient place for holding various public meetings ; the Essex agricul- tural exhibition, when holden in the northern part of the county, has been oftener held here than in any other town.

" There is one large public house, with spacious hall, &e., kept by Col. John B. Savory, and seven trading stores in the place, some of which are doing an extensive business."

This most interesting leaf, from the earliest history of "New Row- ley," supplies the basis for the history of the Georgetown of to-day.

The sufferings of this town from Indian invasion were comparatively light, the principal attack upon this part of the town being Oct. 23, 1692, recorded by Gage, as follows : " In that part of Rowley which is now in Byfield parish, in Georgetown, a Mr. Goodrich and wife, and two daughters, were killed by the Indians. He was shot while praying in his family, on Sabbath evening. Another dinghter named Deborah, aged seven years, was taken captive, but redeemed the next spring, at the expense of the Province. She died in Beverly, as ap- pears by the records of the first church in that town. The entry is as follows : Buryed, March 28, 1774, Deborah Duty, aged 88 years, a widow.' An engraving exists which is an exact representation of the honse in which Mr. Goodrich was shot, as it now appears, it having been altered and addition made to the northern and western parts. It fronts toward the south, and the first. lower window east of the front door, is that through which the fatal ball passed. Mr. Good- rich, his wife, and two daughters, were buried in one grave, a few rods easterly of the house.

The house, becoming dilapidated, was taken down a few years ago. The farm is owned by Capt. Gorham P. Tenney, and was the late residence of Mr. Dudley Lull, deceased, father of said Tenney's wife." The spot where the Goodrich family is supposed to have been buried is now pointed out, and the path through the woods, skulked through by the Indians with their French rifles. is still shown.

During the long and bloody Indian wars, Rowley, it is believed, fur- nished her full share of men, though the records are very imperfect as to names and the number of the men in the service. representing all portions of its territory. Joseph Kilborn, Sr., and Jeremiah Nelson. were slain by the Indians in Dunstable, in 1706, and John Piekard died of his wounds in Billerica. Lient. Thomas Gage was killed at Port Royal, N. S .. in 1707, and Samuel Avers was killed by the Indians at Winter Harbor, at the month of Saco River, in Feb., 1710.

In 1744, Rowley was represented at the battle of Louisburg, on Cape Breton, when James Jewitt was killed by a eannon-ball, and Moses Platts died from his wounds. Moses Davis, Jr., John Platts, Humphrey Woodbury, Joseph Saunders, Samuel Smith, and Richard Harris, all died at Cape Breton in 1745-6.

In 1754, a large number were in the service on the eastern frontier, and in 1755, nearly an entire company served at Lake George, under Capt. Thomas Gage, and Lieut. Israel Davis. The town had soldiers at Fort Edwards, and at Fort William Henry, and was represented in the stirring scenes of Ticonderoga, Crown Point. Niagara, and Quebec. In 1759, Rowley, at different enlistments, furnished fifty-two men for the service. The records of the State show that " nearly one-third of the effective men " were in the service in various ways, thus indicating that they were ruled by a spirit of patriotism and self-sacrifice which, instead of dying out, at the end of the war with the French, only shim- bered till the hour came for an awakening, when the oppressions of the mother country called the patriots once more to arms.

At the close of the war, a reorganization of the militia of the Prov- ince of Massachusetts Bay took place in 1764. Ipswich, Rowley, and Topsfield made one regiment, called the third regiment in Essex County. . On 1st of June, the field officers. Colonel Samuel Rogers ; Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Dennis ; Major John Baker, were com- missioned ; and on the 7th, the officers of the Rowley company were

commissioned as follows : First company -Captain, Thomas Gage ; Lieutenant, Joseph Scott ; Ensign, John Jewett. Second company - Captain, Daniel Spofford ; Lieutenant, Dudley Tyler ; Ensign, Eliphalet Spofford. Livebrook company - Captain, Isaac Davis ; Lieutenant, David Dresser ; Ensign, Abraham How.

The next stirring event was the disturbance with the parent govern- ment, originating in a system of taxation unwarrantable, oppressive, and impolitic. In commou with the other colonial towns, Rowley, through the whole length and breadth of its territory, was stirred to action, and the true-spirited men in all the parishes began to move in the expression of opinions and policy of action, and at once to take the preliminary steps for organization, with a view to forcible resist- anee. As is indicated by an early record, New Rowley, though only a precinct, signified its readiness to send " minute-men " in accordance with the recommendation of the Provincial Congress, when their presence and services were called for.

The next step onward was a declaration, mimerously signed, called a " Whig Covenant," in which they mutually pledged themselves to union, to economy, to fidelity in the support of the patriots of Boston, and that they would not " hereafter use any foreign tea ourselves, or suffer it to be used in our families," until the repeal of the revenue act should take place.

The patriotie sentiment of the town, though strong, was not entirely harmonious ; there were those who favored the Royalists, because they thought the Colonies were too weak to successfully resist the British power. These refused to sign the Whig covenant, the effect of which was, they were at once denominated "Tories" and the enemies of their country. The time for debate had passed, and the number of this class was too small to resist the outburst of publie fervor ; and within a year from the first opening of the conflict, nearly all of these got out of the mirage of their fears, wheeled into the patriotic line, signed and published recantations, and were in full support of the cansc of the Colonies.

By the frequent meetings the town had held, and the work of prep- aration the inhabitants had long been engaged in, they were prepared at any momeut for the note of battle. The news of the battle of Lexington reached Rowley the same day, and Capt. Thomas Mighill, with his company of minute-men, left immediately for Boston. They rendezvoused at Cambridge, on the 20th, awaiting orders, returning home in five days. Capt. Edward Payson, with his militia company, reached there the same day, and returned in three days.

On the 22d of May, 1775, the town voted "That if the Honorable Congress shall, for the safety of the Colonies, declare them independ- ent of Great Britain, that we, the inhabitants of the town of Rowley, do solemnly engage, that with our lives and fortunes we will support them in the measure."

From this time onward, the town voted men and money to the full extent of all calls upon them, and fully bore their portion of the bur- dens of the long struggle. According to the most authentic records, Rowley furnished 448 privates during the war, having an average of about fifty men in the service in each of the eight years of the war. There were also fifteen or twenty officers and musicians, as follows : Captains, Thomas Mighill, Benjamin Adams, Edward Payson : lieu- tenants, Amos Bailey, Dauiel Dresser, Mark Creasey, Thomas Green, Thomas Pike, Benjamin Stickney, Moses Scott, John Tenney, Rufus Wheeler ; musicians : Nathaniel Burpee and Samuel Todd, drummers, and Thomas Stickney, fifer.

The records of the town from 1798 to 1815 contain copies of corre- spondence with President John Adams, together with his reply thereto ; also the opinion of the people in relation to the questions which led to the war of 1812, and also in relation to the justice and expediency of that war. These sentiments appear to have been given form, chiefly, by Parker Cleaveland, Esq., Paul Jewett, Joseph Chaplin, Capt. Ben- jauiu Adams, Jr., Capt. Francis Perley, Joseph Pike. and Dea. Thomas Merrill, and nearly unanimously adopted. As literary and political documents, they were well framed, and ably presented the views they advocated. Their spirit was that of uncompromising hos- tility to the war of 1812, which opinions and judgment did not proba- bly find a stronger or more forcible expression through any legislative body or in any conventions of that time.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAPTER III.

EARLY RELIGIOUS HISTORY - ITS LATER HISTORY - NEW SECTS - MEMORIAL CHURCH - PEABODY LIBRARY, &C. - NEW THEOLOGICAL OPINIONS - REV. CHARLES BEECHER - DESTRUCTION OF THE "OLD SOUTH" - THE NEW CHURCH.

The early history of Georgetown, long known as New Rowley, or the Second Parish, is so interwoven with that of Rowley that a brief record of those remote days becomes necessary, inasmuch as the action and interest in all the events of that period were shared by all the inhabitants of the town. The religious history, however, is a different interest, dating with the incorporation of the Second Parish in 1731, and organized on the 5th of October of that year.

In the second centennial address delivered by the Rev. James Brad- ford, at that anniversary, Sept. 5, 1839, is the following record :

" The second church in Rowley, now Georgetown, was organized Oct. 4th, 1732, ninety-three years after the organization of the first church, and about one year after the parish was incorporated, by the signature of eighteen males to a covenant, to which, not long after- wards, numbers, both male and female, were added. Rev. James Chandler was the first pastor of the church. Having received a call, with the proffer of £300 settlement, and £110 salary, according to the valne of money, and twenty cords of wood, he was ordained on the 20th of October, 1732. William Fisk and William Searle were the first deacons. Mr. Chandler was a native of Andover, born 1706, and graduated at Harvard, 1728. He married Mary, the daughter of Rev. Moses Hale, of Byfield. They had no children. He was a man of sound doctrine, exemplary life and conversation, dignified deport- ment, and greatly esteemed, generally, by his own people ; highly esteemed abroad, and very successful in his ministry. He died April 19th, 1789, aged eighty-three, and in the fifty-seventh of his minis- try, having been in office longer, by seven or eight years, than any other minister of the town. In June, 1729, two years before the church was organized, the frame of a meeting-house was erected by the proprietors, which probably was completed, and became the place of worship not long after. In 1769 a new meeting-house, fifty-five feet by forty, was raised, with a steeple and porch, all in one day. This house was dedicated 1770, and the dedication sermon preached by the eminent Rev. George Whitefield, of England, from 1 Kings viii. 2 : 'The glory of the Lord hath filled the house of the Lord.'" This sermon was delivered near the close of the ministry of this emi- nent divine, his death occurring at Newburyport on the 30th of the same month. He preached in Rowley on the 12th and 13th ; on the 23d in Portsmouth, N. H. ; on the 29th at Exeter ; after which he rode to Newburyport and died the next morning.

" After Mr. Chandler's death, this church was destitute of a pastor more than eight years ; and during that period sixty-four preachers supplied, for a longer or shorter time, three or four of whom received a call to settle. Feb. 14, 1797, the parish concurred with the church in calling the Rev. Isaac Braman, with the proffer of £200 settle- ment, and £80 salary, and, conditionally, an addition of £10, and ten cords of wood, which has been somewhat increased from time to time. Mr. Braman was born at Norton, 1770, graduated at Harvard, 1794, ordained June 7th, 1797. He married Hannah Palmer, of Norton, in 1797 ; and they had five children, three sons and two daughters. He married Sarah Balch, of Newburyport, in 1837. At the com- mencement of Mr. Braman's ministry, there were but twelve resident male members in the church. Instances of special religious interest occurred among his people in the early part of his ministry. Latterly, precious revivals have been experienced, as the fruits of which many have been added to the church. The whole number of additions during his ministry is two hundred and twelve; and the whole num- ber now in the church is one hundred and sixty-three. The 7th of June last completed forty-two years since Mr. Braman's ordination ; and the 18th of October next will complete a hundred and seven years since the commencement of that of his venerable predecessor. A

Sabbath school was organized here in 1817, which contains about two hundred and fifty pupils. The annual donations to benevolent objects amount to $450. The first meeting-house bell was had in this parish since Mr. Braman's ministry, and not until the autumn of 1815. The house was enlarged in 1836. The modern mode of singing was intro- duced into this parish about half a century since."

The ministry of the Rev. Mr. Braman continued till his death, on the 26th of December, 1857, covering a period of sixty-one years, and the two first pastorates extending over one hundred and sixtecu

years. During the late years of his ministry he was assisted by sev- eral colleagues ; the first was the Rev. Enoch Pond ; the second, the Rev. John M. Prince ; and the third, the Rev. Charles Beecher, who was ordained Nov. 19, 1857. The venerable Dr. Jeremiah Spofford, of Groveland, was present at the ordination of Mr. Braman, and now, at the age of ninety-two years, is in good health, and still possessed of considerable physical, and unimpaired mental force.

On the occasion of the centennial anniversary, an invitation extended to the citizens of Georgetown to join in the same, was accepted by them in town-meeting, April 8, 1839, when they appointed the Rev. Isaac Braman, Solomon Nelson, Amos J. Tenney, George Spofford, Jeremiah Jewett, Ira Stickney, David Mighill, Jeremiah Russell, and Benjamin Winter a committee to join with the committee of Rowley in making arrangements for the celebration. At a subsequent meet- ing of the town they declined to make any appropriation for defray- ing any portion of the expenses of the occasion; and although the committee had acted up to that time in the preliminary arrangements, they declined now to further co-operate, and withdrew. The commit- tee of Rowley then extended an invitation, accompanied by a cordial request to the committee, on the part of Georgetown, to continue to act with them as in the beginning. In the absence of an appropria- tion by the town, some of the citizens contributed liberally to the object, and assisted actively in the work of preparation, by means of which the anniversary exercises were generally participated in.

The church established and the covenant adopted by the Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, when the town of Rowley was settled, appears to have long supplied the theology and directed the worship for the people without any disposition being shown to organize for the sup- port of different views, though it cannot be doubted that there early existed conflicting opinions upon matters of religious belief in that town, as elsewhere, but the " standing order" was master of the situa- tion till 1754, when there was a withdrawal from the Second Church, and a new order made its appearance. These people called them- selves " Separatists," yet did not then profess to be a different denomi- nation from the one they had left; but they soon became known as Baptists, accepting that name, and organizing as such. From that movement originated the First Baptist Church in Rowley. Those who withdrew finally joined with others in the vicinity, purchased the old church, removed it to Four Corners near Jonathan Hale's residence in Bradford, where they worshipped for several successive years, Mr. Eliphaz Chapman, a Congregationalist, of Bethel, Me., being their principal preacher. This organization was joined by other residents of neighboring towns, becoming what was termed a branch of the Baptist church at Haverhill ; and the mecting-house was again moved to Rowley, where Baptist worship was established, the subsequent history of which properly belongs to the records of that town.

There does not appear in the early records of this town so much evidence of fierce religions conflicts as occurred about that time in many of the neighboring towns, yet it is evident that the intensely puritanic ideas ruled there, and it is probable the prevalence and strength of those opinions, for a century and a half, contributed to rule out the elements of debate and strife.

The first Universalist society in New Rowley, now Georgetown, was organized in 1829, fifty-nine males becoming members by signing their constitution. In 1834, a meeting-house was built, in dimensions forty-five feet by thirty-five feet, at a cost exceeding $2,000, and preaching instituted every other Sabbath at an annual expense of $200. Sometime after that a Sunday school was established, and sus- tained for several years. The society continued to flourish for a suc- cession of years, but finally became broken and weakened by the " come-outer" movement of the early anti-slavery days, and finally passed out of existence. George Hastings was the most prominent minister connected with the society, who was also a mechanic of con- siderable note, and finally abandoned the ministry, becoming inter- ested in the manufacture of watches at Waltham.

Within a few years the Catholics have established worship here, which has had considerable growth under the pastoral care of the Rev. Father McClure. Their place of worship is the old chapel of the Old South Church, about ten years ago refitted and adapted to that mode of worship. With the exception of the Catholics, there are only three religious societies in this town, and three houses of worship, the Pea- body Memorial Church, the Rev. Mr. Beecher's church, and a Baptist church and society, now without a settled pastor.

About the year 1875, by order of the county commissioners, a street was laid out over a portion of the site occupied by the Old South Church, and that structure, which had stood the storms and tempests of one hundred and five years, with remodelling and improvements,

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

was torn down, and its remains are not now in any building, a portion of the site being laid out in a common. From its fragments were manufactured eanes, rulers, and other mementoes, which have been widely distributed among the sons of this interesting and somewhat " peculiar " town.

The long condition of harmony in the Orthodox Church at length gave indieations of being disturbed by a difference of opinion, in ref- erenee to certain fundamental theological questions, between a portion of the church and the Rev. Mr. Beccher. The theologieal eecentricities of Mr. Beecher --- the leading one being the doctrine of pre-existenee - beeame so prominent in the minds of those who dissented therefrom, that unity in the support of his ministry could no longer be main- tained ; and Jan. 17, 1864, eighty-five members, by consent of a council convened for that purpose, withdrew, and organized themselves under the name of the First Orthodox Society, of Georgetown, estab- lishing worship in the chapel occupied by the Ladies' Benevolent Society.

In 1865, a sister of George Peabody, of London, observing the position of this society, conceived the idea of having a church built for their use, and suggested the idea to her brother of building a church there, which should stand as a memorial to their mother. The suggestion met with the prompt and cordial approval of Mr. Peabody, who at onee signified his purpose to carry out the plan, and a site for the church was selected in 1866, upon which the structure was erected, and dedicated in 1868, at which time the new organization took the name of the " Memorial Church." It is located on Main Street, and is built of brick. In the rear of the church, and npon the same lot, is located the Library Building and the Peabody Lecture Hall.

The portion of the old society remaining with Mr. Beecher rallied to his most cordial support, and was re-enforced by additions from the less conservative portion of the community, who saw in his position, made prominent by the action of the seceders, a new religious depart- ure. Although there appeared a peculiarity and independence in Mr. Beecher's belief in certain things, his position was not regarded as decidedly unevangelical. He retained and still retains the leading evangelieal views of the Congregationalists, blended with his own philosophy, forming a theory, probably, more harmonious to his own mind than it is to the judgment of many others. He is an independ- ent, vigorous thinker and writer, whose suggestions, if followed to their legitimate results, would open into very broad fields.

The old meeting-house had become too dilapidated for agreeable occupaney ; and directly after the erection of the Memorial Church, a new and very beautiful house of worship was erected for Mr. Beecher, on the corner of Andover and Middle streets, fronting on Monument Square.

The ministry of Mr. Beecher has been well sustained, - a large, flourishing, and intelligent congregation having been gathered about him. During some portion of his ministry of twenty-one years in this town, his health has been such as not to withstand the rigors of a northern climate, and he has passed some of his winters in Florida ; but he has been the constant pastor of the society, and in his absence the pulpit has been supplied in such ways as the society devised.

For a time, the Rev. Thomas R. Beeber was settled as colleague with Mr. Beecher, but resigned his office in March, 1875. He was succeeded in 1876 by the Rev. Alfred F. Marsh, who remained only one year. Mr. Beecher's health is now quite improved.

In 1868, the Rev. David D. Marsh became the pastor of the Memorial Church, and still retains the position. The society has flourished under his charge, and the tenth anniversary of his settle- ment has just taken place, under circumstances indicating that strong bonds of union exist between pastor and people.

On the occasion of the laying of the corner-stone of the Memorial Church, Sept. 9, 1866, it was first made known to the public by Mr. Peabody, that it was his further purpose to make Georgetown, the birthplace of his mother, and the home of an endeared sister, the recipient of his bounty by founding a Public Library ; but the letter of gift was not received for some time after, by reason of ill health.

Immediately after the receipt of this gift from Mr. Peabody, the Georgetown Agricultural and Social Library Association,-a corpora- tion having 116 shareholders and about 1,100 volumes of books,- donated the books of their library to the town, to become a part of the Peabody Library, on conditions that the " Annals of Congress shall be kept in the Library for reference, and that shareholders, not residents of the town, shall be entitled to the use of the Peabody Library during their lifetime, under such restrictions as the Trustees may think proper."

To the letter of gift the town responded :- " That with the liveliest

emotions of pleasure we receive from George Peabody his letter of gift, bestowing upon us a valuable Library and Building, with the means to aid in their improvement and perpetuity ; and that we aeeept the proffered gifts on the conditions conferred, and, for ourselves and our posterity, return our heartfelt thanks to the generous donor, who, while persistently refusing rank from royalty, by his vast and numer- ous donations has become among men, by letters-patent from the whole eivilized world, worthy of the title of the Prince of Givers."

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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 37

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