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 68
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The relative importance of Ipswich in 1703 may be seen from the fact that it then paid a higher State and county tax than any other town in Essex County. The Rev. Jabez Fitch (Harvard College, 1694) was ordained Oct. 24th of this year as colleague of Mr. Rogers. He re- mained here until Dec. 13, 1724, and was subsequently installed over the church in Portsmouth, N. II. He married Elizabeth, a daughter of Col. John Appleton, June 10, 1704, and died Nov. 22, 1746.
The town voted May 11, 1704, to erect a town-house with a school- house under it, on Meeting-house Hill.
On Oct. 14, 1713, the south-western section of the town, known as "The Hamlet," was incorporated as a parish, and a meeting-house was built the same year. This parish was incorporated as the town of Hamilton, June 21, 1793, and under that head its history may be found. It is noted for its beautiful, rounded hills and ponds, and for the excellence of its soil. The early settlers bore the name of Whipple, Dodge, Poland, Brown, Goodhue, Knowlton, Patch, Safford, Lamson, Appleton, Annable, and Lummus. Many of the present citizens occupy and till the lands cleared up, fenced in, and planted by their remote progenitors. The pastorates of the first three ministers, the Rev. Samuel Wigglesworth, Dr. Manasseh Cutler, and Dr. Joseph B. Felt, alike eminent for their virtues and abilities, extended over a period of more than 115 years.
On the 27th of January, 1716, a committee was chosen by the pro- prietors of the common and undivided lands of the town, to divide these lands into eight parts, and this committee in their report say : " We have measured the said commons and find it to amount to 7,335 acres and we have divided it accordingly." One-eighth was laid out convenient for the proprietors of Chebacco.
" We are informed, from Ipswich," says the "N. E. Journal," Oct. 16, 1727, "that on Wednesday night last, a young woman of that place being more merry than wise, dressed herself in man's apparel, intend- ing a frolic at some distance off; but as she was riding through a river or pond, her horse, in all likelihood, threw her into the water, where she was taken up the next day drowned."
The Rev. Nathaniel Rogers, son of the Rev. John Rogers, and born March 4, 1702 (Harvard College, 1721), was ordained pastor, Oct. 18, 1727. He was a man of marked ability, and after a successful pas- torate died, May 10, 1775. His assistant was the Rev. Timothy Symmes (Harvard College, 1733), who began to preach in Ipswich in 1752, and died April 6, 1756, in his forty- first year.
A township, six miles square, was granted to Lieut. Abraham Til- ton and others, of Ipswich, June 10, 1735. It was divided into sixty- three equal shares, three of them being for the support of the ministry and a school. The preference in the shares was given to the descend- ants of the soldiers who served in 1690, in the expedition against Canada. At first the place bore the name of Ipswich-Canada, but on being incorporated as a town, June 14, 1764, it took the name of Winehendon.
John Wainwright and John Choate received a grant of a township of land, Jan. 15, 1735, for the service of men from Ipswich in the ex- pedition to Canada in 1690. Several families from this place removed thither, and the town was called, from that circumstance, New Ipswich. Its history has been well written by Frederick Kidder, Esq.
The celebrated George Whitefield visited Ipswich on the 30th of
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September, 1740, and addressed the people in front of the First Con- gregational meeting-house. In his journal he says : -
" Preached at Ipswich about ten in the morning to many thonsands. The Lord gave me freedom and there was great melting in the con- gregation."
This year, Maj. Ammi Ruhamah Wise, of Ipswich, commanded a company of troops in the unfortunate expedition against Cuba. He was a noted merchant, and died in Boston, July 6, 1749. The State furnished about 500 men for that ill-managed war, and but few of them ever returned.
Thomson, in his " Summer," touchingly alludes to the horrors of the disease by which so many brave men perished, in the lines commencing, -
You, gallant Vernon, saw
The miserable scene ; you, pitying saw To infant weakness sunk the warrior's arm : Saw the deep-racking pang, the ghastly form, The lip pale quivering, and the beamless eye No more with ardor bright ; yon heard the groans," &c.
In 1744, a meeting-house had been erected in the westerly part of the town, about four miles from the principal settlement, and public worship commenced. The parish was organized Jan. 27, 1747, under the name of Linebrook, and a church, consisting of sixteen male members, was formed Nov. 15, 1749, when the Rev. George Leslie was ordained pastor. He was the son of James Leslie, of Topsfield ; was graduated at Harvard College, 1748, and was considered a good scholar. Ile fitted several young men for college, and also for the ministry. He attended, July 2, 1788, Ezra Ross, one of his parish- ioners, eighteen years of age, to the gallows, and prayed with him at his execution. He was hung at Worcester, for the murder, with others, of JJoshua Spooner, of Brookfield. Mr. Leslie was dismissed, Nov. 30, 1779, and was succeeded by the Rev. Gilbert Tennant Wil- liams (Dartmouth College, 1784), who was ordained in August, 1779. Ile continued in this pastorate until May 6, 1813, when, for want of adequate support, he was dismissed. From 1823 to 1830, the church was under the charge of the Rev. David Tullar, and on the 1st of January, 1831, the Rev. Moses Welsh was employed to preach here, his salary being $300. A second meeting-house was built in 1828. After a few years, Mr. Moses Welsh was followed by the Rev Francis Welsh, who was the pastor in 1840. The Rev. J. W. Neally was the pastor in 1856.
The Rev. Alvah M. Richardson was ordained Nov. 14, 1866, and dismissed Sept. 3, 1870. The Rev. Benjamin Howe, born in Ipswich, Nov. 7, 1807 ( Amherst College, 1839), the present pastor, was installed May 3, 1871. This church has (1877) sixty-seven members.
John Choate was appointed, June 1, 1745, colonel of a regiment in the expedition against Louisburg, under Pepperell. Many soldiers from Ipswich were in this service.
The South Parish was organized Aug. 22, 1747, and the Rev. John Walley, of Boston, ordained as pastor. He had received an invitation to settle over the First Church ; but the Rev. Mr. Rogers objected to him, because he had declined to exchange with a seceding minister in Boston. His friends, therefore, organized this new society, and his ordination took place on the 4th of November. Mr. Walley was the son of the Hon. John Walley, and was graduated at Harvard Col- lege in 1734. He was a good writer and speaker, and of a kindly disposition. He was opposed to the office of ruling elders, and prevented those who had been elected by his church from being ordained. His health was precarious ; and for this reason he asked and obtained a dismission, which took place Feb. 22, 1764. He was subsequently settled in Bolton, and died in Roxbury, March 2, 1784. He married Elizabeth Appleton, and says, in his will : "I give, as a token of my love, to the South Parish in Ipswich, £13 Gs. 8d., the yearly income to be by them given to such persons in the parish as they shall judge to be the fittest objects of such a charity." He was of light complexion, and bore the marks of the small-pox. A house of worship was erected by the South Parish during the first year of Mr. Walley's ministry, on the right bank of the Ipswich River, below the bridge. The environs are deeply shaded with ancient elm- trees,
An earthquake, Nov. 18, 1755, caused much alarm to the people. The Rev. Mr. Leslie, of Linebrook, made this note of it in the records of that parish : "Between the hours of four and five in the morning there happened a most surprizing shock of the earthquake which was afterwards succeeded by several others, tho' none equal to the first. In the town of Ipswich much damage was done to many houses ; yet, through the gooduess of God, no hurt was done, either
to the lives or limbs of any persons." He adds : "Nov. 19, several shockes were heard, tho' but small compared to the first." It was on the first of this month, 1755, that the city of Lisbon was destroyed by one of the most terrible earthquakes of modern times.
Through the whole of the French war Ipswich was largely repre- sented both by officers and privates, of whom we have space only for the following notices.
Dr. John Calef was surgeon under Gen. John Winslow in the expedition eastward, from June 3 to Sept. 30, 1754, at £5 6s. 8d. per month. Some of the privates had £1 14s. 11d. per month. Dr. Calef was ordered Jan. 22, 1755, to attend the sick at Fort Halifax on the Kennebec River. He rode to Falmouth (Portland ) on horseback in three days, and made the rest of the journey on foot.
In the expedition against Crown Point in 1756, Benjamin Grant, John Davison, David Kilborn, and Joseph Lord lost their lives. In 1758 Nathaniel Knowlton and Caleb Kimball were taken prisoners, Lieuts. Burnham and Low were mortally wounded, and Capt. Stephen Whipple badly wounded at Lake George.
Capt. Gideon Parker and company went into the expedition against Canada in 1759.
The town voted Nov. 21, 1757, £20 for assisting the Acadians, twenty-three of whom had been sent to live here. They consisted of two families named Landry (Landeré) and Breau. They wore sabots, and had a priest with them, who used to sell wooden ware. They left the town in 1766. As described in "Evangeline," they were simple in manners, industrious, and devotional.
In 1762, a curricle or mail-chair, for the mail from Portsmouth to Boston, commenced running through the town. It was drawn by two fast horses, making the distance and returning in five days, and was the sensation of the period. The fare through and back again was $6.20.
It was voted by the First Parish, Jan. 5, 1764, that the pastor in- vite the congregation to consult with the church "about choosing some person or persons to set the psalm when Capt. Averill is ab- sent," and on the 13th of March following, "Mr. Moses Perkins, and Mr. Jacob Kimball, were by the brethren of the church, and also by the congregation, chosen to set the psalm." They were to sit in the elder's seat.
The bridge over the Ipswich River was this year rebuilt at an expense of £1,000, half of which was paid by the town, and half by the county. It has two arches, and is well constructed. As the Hon. John Choate was one of the committee of construction, it still bears the name of "Choate's Bridge." In that day it was deemed a great achievement, and Mr. Choate was really the pontifex maximus, or the greatest bridge-builder of the town.
The small-pox was prevalent in 1764, and Nov. 13th of that year the town agreed to erect a pest-house, thirty feet long and twenty-four feet wide, and costing £82, on Wolfpen Plain.
The Rev. Mr. Walley was succeeded in the South Parish, Nov. 7, 1765, by the Rev. Joseph Dana, born at Pomfret, Conn., Nov. 13, 1742 (Yale College, 1760), and for some time preacher at the Sonth Society in Boston. He continued in the pastorate until his death, Nov. 16, 1827, at the age of eighty-five years. His salary was £100, with £160 for his settlement. Dr. Dana was a good scholar, an able writer, and a faithful preacher. Few ministers ever had so long a pastorate. When a boy, in Pomfret, he saw the wolf which Israel Putnam dragged from its den. He cordially sustained the cause of American liberty, and left many publications, among which is one on the " Death of Washington " (1800), and another on the " Calamity at Richmond " (1812). He had three wives : first, Mary Staniford ; second, Mary Turner ; and third, Elizabeth, widow of the Rev. Ebenezer Bradford, of Rowley.
On the completion of the sixtieth year of his ministry, Nov. 6, 1825, he preached a sermon to his people, in which he says : - " Between May 1798 and May 1801, fifty were added to the communion ; twenty-five since : and that the whole number of additions since 1765 is 121." He adds : " When I look around, I am struck with the ab- sence of almost all, who were heads of families, at the commencement of this sacred relation : all except five, if I am correct, and of these, one man only. What numbers beside, have retired, of younger per- sons ! Part of my minutes is mislaid : but 15 to a year, - which seems to have been our average number, - amount to 900. What a gloom this sheds on the state of society." Dr. Dana was something of a poet, and was fond of writing hymns, one of which was sung on this occasion ; and the stanzas following will show his vein : -
" Ye lovely hills and plains, And thon, soft-flowing stream,
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Where God our lot ordains ; Where Jesus is our theme : Be lovely still ! and witness here The parting sigh, the falling tear.
" Grant us, O God of love To meet, and part no more : May Christ and things above, Till this frail life is o'er, Employ our thoughts, our hearts refine, And train ns to a life divine."
The town had, in 1755, sixty-two slaves above the age of sixteen years. Bondage here, as elsewhere in New England, was always alle- viated by a strong public sentiment against oppression, and, on the adoption of our State Constitution in 1780, which deelares "that all men are born free and equal," the system of human servitude was entirely discontinued. The number of colored people in the town, in 1765, was 101; in 1790, 79; in 1800, 57; in 1810, 55; in 1820, 17 ; in 1830, 8; in 1840, 11; in 1850, 9; in 1860, 10, and in 1875, 7. They are now treated with the same civility as other citizens.
The lining out of the hymns in the publie worship of the First Church was discontinued, and a choir formed about the year 1773. In that year two seats, "back on each side of the front alley," being set apart for the singers. The choir in 1781 began to sit in the gallery.
In the Revolutionary War, the town of Ipswich bore an honorable part. The number of its inhabitants in 1765 was 3,743; in 1775, 4,508. Of these a large fraction were engaged in active service.
When the vote was taken in the General Court, June 30, 1768, in respect to the circular inviting union among the Colonies, Dr. John Calef, representative from Ipswich, voted to rescind the resolution for the eireular. On the 11th of August following, the town expressed its thanks to the ninety-two gentlemen who sustained the resolution ; and Dr. Calef, making a publie confession, regained the confidence of his townsmen. Michael Farley was then sent to represent the town in the convention for redress of grievances, which met in Boston on the 23d of September of the same year.
On the 19th of March, 1770, the town, "taking under considera- tion the excessive use of tea which has been such a bane to this eoun- try, voted, that we will abstain there from ourselves and recommend the disuse of it in our families until all the revenue acts are repealed."
The general sentiment then was that every kind of manufacture, for which they had hitherto been dependent on the mother country, must be encouraged. The deer must be protected, as their skins furnished clothing ; the number of sheep must be increased, and the wool spun and woven in our families.
On the 28th of December, 1772, the town took decided measures against British aggression, and chose a committee of correspondence to communicate with that of Boston.
On the reception of the news in 1773 that the cargocs of tea in Boston Harbor had been thrown overboard, the town held a meeting, and, among other things, voted, "that every person who shall import tea while the Act for duty on it continues, shall be held as an enemy, and that no tea be sold in town while this act is in force."
On the 29th of August, 1774, the town generously voted £100 to the inhabitants of Beston, then suffering from British tyranny.
Oct. 3, 1774, Dr. John Calef gives the town permission to have it published in the "Essex Gazette," that "he regretted voting, June 30th 1768 in favor of the royalists." Minute-men were this year enrolled.
Michael Farley was chosen, Jan. 3, 1775, a delegate to the Provin- eial Congress, to be held in Cambridge.
Capt. Nathaniel Wade, with his company of minute-men, number- ing fifty-one, Joseph Hodgkins being lieutenant, and Aaron Parker ensign, was hotly engaged in the battle of Bunker Hill. This com- pany formed a part of the regiment of Col. Moses Little. Three com- panies, of which Capt. Wade's was one, came to the field before the action commenced. These companies divided, one fighting in the redoubt, another in the cartway south of it, and another at the rail- fence. Capt. Parker's company was at Ipswich at the time, awaiting orders. It is known that the following Ipswich men, under Capt. Wade, were engaged in the battle : Nathaniel Baker, who was wounded, John H. Boardman, Nehemiah Choate, Solomon Coleman, Jabez Far- ley, Nathaniel Farley, John Fowler. Isaac Giddings, Joseph Hodgkins, Abraham Knowlton, John Lakeman, Philip Lord, Jr., Abraham Per- kins, Aaron Perkins, Moses Pindar, Benjamin Ross, Joseph Wise, and Jesse Story, who was killed by a eannon-ball.
A committee of correspondence was chosen March 11, 1776.
On the 10th of June, the town voted "that the representatives be
instructed, if the Continental Congress should, for the safety of the Colonies declare themselves independent of Great Britain the inhabi- tants here will solemnly pledge their lives and fortunes to support them in the measure."
When the Declaration of Independence was received, it was read in all the churches and recorded in the town book.
Thomas E. Cole, Jonathan Cogswell, 3d, William Jones, David Goodhue, Joseph Marshall, Jr., and Joseph Lufkin, were killed, or died this year in the army.
About twenty-five friendly Indians were placed this year in and about Ipswich for their safety.
The whole amount of money paid by the town for soldiers, from June 17th to Jan. 21, 1777, was £1, 737 5s. The town paid bounties (1777-78) to about 143 soldiers in service. It also furnished 152 pairs of shoes and stoekings, and the same number of shirts, for the army. It also paid, in 1778, £800 to the families of soldiers.
June 8, 1779, the town was ordered to raise 22 men, and on the 29th, it voted £12,000 (okdl tenor), for recruits. In June, 1780, 110 recruits were called for, and 12 horses ; and in December, 52 recruits and 61,058 lbs. of beef. In June, 1781, 42 recruits, 25,234 lbs. of beef, 105 pairs of shoes and stockings, as many shirts, and 53 blan- kets were required ; and in March, 1782, 19 more men were raised. The sum of £440 was voted for the pay of sokliers and others. Almost every great battle-field of the Revolution witnessed the valor of sol- diers from Ipswich ; while many of her sons performed noble service on the sea. Capt. Moses Harris and William Rust died on board the prison-ship, in New York, in 1783.
The news of the proclamation of peace this year was received with universal delight, and from the depression caused by the war, the town slowly and steadily regained its wonted prosperity.
A post-office was established here, May 4, 1775, and a distillery for making rum was set up in 1778, which continued in operation until 1830.
The successor of Mr. Rogers was the Rev. Levi Frisbie (Dartmouth College, 1771), and for some time missionary to the Indians. He was installed at Ipswich, Feb. 7, 1776, and took an active part in the cause of liberty. On the declaration of peace, in 1783, he delivered an oration, which was published. He also published an culogy on the death of Washington, and some other discourses. He died in the pastorate, Feb. 25, 1806. It is said of him that he " was of light com- plexion, above the common height and rather large ; " and also, that " he had great tenderness of conseience."
For the suppression of the insurrection under Capt. Daniel Shays, the town furnished twenty-five men, who were absent sixty days.
For the preservation of fish in Ipswich River, a stringent Act was passed March 28, 1788, one section of which is, "That every person who shall after the 20th of April which will be in the year of our Lord 1788, presume to take any fish of any kind in the said river, or its branches, or any of the ponds emptying themselves into the same, with seines or drag nets of any kind, shall forfeit for every such offence the sum of twenty pounds to be recovered in any court of record proper to try the same, one moiety to him who shall sue for the same, the other moiety to the poor of the town where the offence is committed." The saw-mills on the river were also forbidden to cut any wood or timber from the last day of April to the first day of June, under the same penalty, as it was supposed that the sawdust floating on the water prevented the ascent of the fish. Many other later regulations on this subject have been made by the General Court.
As the town was, by reason of the war, at this time heavily involved in debt, the commoners generously made to it, June 9, 1788, "an absolute grant of all their interest, real and personal, as com- moners, for the purpose of relieving it from embarrassment," and thus this corporation, if so it may be called, became extinet. The amount given was about six hundred pounds.
The town was honored by the presence of George Washington, Oct. 30, 1789. He remained about three hours, dining at Mrs. Homan's hotel, and reviewing a regiment of soldiers. Multitudes assembled to behold the Father of his country.
Ipswich had, in 1793, one brig, nine schooners, and three sloops, the tonnage of all being 1,344 tons. A new county house of corree- tion was opened here at the close of the year.
At this period, large quantities of thread and silk lace were made here. Referring to Ipswich, in 1692, a writer says : " Silk and thread lace of an elegant & lasting texture are manufactured in large quan- tities by women and children & sold for use & exportation,"
Dr. John Manning set up a woollen manufactory here, for making coarse cloth, in 1794, which continued in operation about six years.
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The number of inhabitants in 1800 was 3,305.
A Baptist Society was formed in February, 1806, and the first preacher was the Rev. H. Pottle. The society was dissolved in 1823.
Mr. Frisbie was followed, in the pastorate of the First Parish, by the Rev. David Tenney Kimbell, born in Bradford Nov. 23, 1782 (Harvard College, 1803), and was ordained here Oct. 8, 1806. He was a faith- ful and well-beloved pastor, magnifying, in every possible way, his office. He took a deep interest in the cause of education, and was punctilious and exact in the discharge of every duty. During his pastorate, a Sabbath school was established (1816) and a new and beautiful church erected.
In 1813, seventeen British prisoners were committed to the Ipswich jail. They were released at the close of this year, and in March of the year following.
A new probate office building, of brick, and fire-proof, costing the county $3,700, was completed Dec. 15, 1817. The records had been kept in the court-house from 1722 till 1815, after which they were preserved two years in the dwelling-house of Nathaniel Lord, Esq., register of probate. The office was subsequently removed to Salem, where it is now kept.
The population in 1820 was only 2,583. This great reduction in number arose from the loss of Chebacco, which was incorporated as the town of Essex, Feb. 18th of the year preceding. On the 16th of October, 1820, the Hon. John Heard and Mr. Nathaniel Wade were appointed as delegates to the convention for the revision of the State Constitution.
A Methodist society was formed in March, 1822, and it erected a meeting-house which was dedicated Dec. 22, 1824. The Rev. Aaron Wait was the preacher from 1822 to 1824. The society was formed, in part, of a Baptist society, which was commenced here in 1806. Among its pastors, have been the Revs. N. S. Spaulding, B. R. Gifford, Frederick Woods.
The Marquis de Lafayette visited the town Aug. 31, 1824, and was addressed in the church by Nathaniel Lord, Esq., to whom he made a brief, but pertinent reply. Ile spent the night at the inn of Nathaniel Treadwell, and was visited by several soldiers of the Revolution. When introduced to the venerable Col. Nathaniel Wade, the Marquis grasped his hand and said : "My dear sir, I am rejoiced to see you ; it is just such a stormy night as we had when I met you in Rhode Island ! "
The Rev. Daniel Fitz succeeded the Rev. Dr. Dana as pastor of the South Church ; was ordained June 28, 1826, and continued in the pastorate until his death at Ipswich Sept. 2, 1869. He was the son of Currier and Sarah Fitz, and was born at Sandown, N. H., May 28, 1795 (Dartmouth College, 1818, and Andover Theological Semin- ary, 1825). He was a man of excellent spirit, greatly beloved by his people and all who knew him. His salary was $650 per annum. He was honored with the degree of doctor of divinity, and well deserved the title.
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