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 90
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The place at this time was called a " Plantation," and its affairs were directed by the authorities of Salem. In 1636, it was voted, " that the rights of fishermen to land at Marblehead should be limited to a house lot and garden lot, or ground for the placing of their flakes, according to the number belonging to their families, and the largest families were to be limited to lots not exceeding two acres, with the common rights to the woods adjoining for their Goats and Cattle." It was further ordered, that no one should establish a residence here without " the authority of the General Court or two of the Magis- trates." Mr. Isaac Allerton, an active and enterprising merchant, who had finally settled here, and, with five sail of fishing vessels, was prosecuting the business with great energy and success, was banished from the place by a vote of the General Court, in March, 1635, and, two months after, conveying "all his houses buildings and fishing stages " to Moses Maverick, he obeyed the mandate of the authori- ties. The offence that provoked this resentment of the General Court is not mentioned ; four years after, he petitioned for the privilege of returning ; and, as his name appears in the records some years after, it is probable that his prayer was finally granted.
The adjacent waters were teeming with cod, haddock, mackerel, herring, bass, and other varieties of fish; and in a letter written in 1629, it was stated, "that sixteen hundred bass were taken in one draught, while the schools of mackerel were so numerous as to extort exclamations of astonishinent from all bcholders." Statements like these attracted the attention of enterprising merchants in England, and Matthew Cradock, the governor of the Massachusetts Company, and others, had houses and fishing stages at Marblehead, as early as 1633, and annually sent their vessels and men to catch and cure the fish here during the summer months, and return with their cargoes later in the season.
In the early records, that part of the town situated near the coves and harbor was designated as the " Main"; between " Naugus Head " and "Peach's Point" was called "John Peach's Neck"; from the junction of the Lynn and Salem roads to Forest River and the western limits of the town was mentioned as the "Neck," or " Plains," while the peninsula now designated by that name was called the "Great Neck "; and from " Naugus Head " to the "Lead Mills" was known as the " Forest Side."
A knowledge of these geographical divisions at that time, aids us somewhat in locating the habitations of the earlier settlers.
In 1638, the following grants of land were made or confirmed to inhabitants of the " Plantation " : -
On the " Main": William Walton, eight acres ; Moses Maverick, ten acres ; Rosamond James, four acres.
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On "John Peach's Neck": William Keene, three acres ; Nicholas Listen, five acres ; and John Bennett, number of acres not stated.
On the "Neck": John Gatchall, six acres; Samuel Gatchall, six acres ; John Coit, three acres ; John Wakefield, four acres ; Thomas Sans, three acres ; Widow Blanchor, six acres ; George Ching, three acres ; Ralph Warren, two acres.
Location not designated : Richard Seeres, four acres ; John Lyon, four acres ; Phillip Beare, three acres ; Robert Wheadon, ten acres.
The year before these grants were made (1637), George Wright was granted " half an acre on the Neck for a house lot, and five acres on the Forest Side for planting, and to keep a ferry 'twixt Bull Point and Darby Fort."
By a vote of the Salem anthorities, a portion of the land now em- braced within the limits of Marblehead was selected as a site for the future seat of learning, which the founders of the Commonwealth had resolved to establish. Mr. John Humphrey, one of the patentees, and a gentleman of distinction and influence, had joined the colonists, and in 1636 had received a grant of land of 300 acres, on what was then designated as the " Neck," near Forest River. It was this land that the authorities desired to reserve for college purposes, and for this object Mr. Humphrey was induced to surrender his title and receive a grant in some other locality. This grant was located in the western part of the town, and embraced some of the most productive farming lands in the county. The death of John Harvard, at Charles- town, in 1638, and his generous bequest, fixed the location at Cam- bridge, and thus defeated the purpose of Endicott and his associates. One of the conditions of the charter issued to the " Massachusetts Company " provided that Englishmen should have all necessary facili- ties for taking fish in adjacent waters, and for curing them, and obtain- ing water and provisions, Marblehead was most favorably situated for the prosecution of this business, and its rapid increase secured the importation of a cargo of salt in a " Dutch ship," as early as 1635. This event was considered of so much importance that the General Court appointed a person to superintend the discharge of the cargo, with authority to "impress the services of others " if necessary. With a view to encourage this branch of industry, the General Court, in 1639, ordered that vessels, stock, and fish should be free from all taxation, and that the men employed should be exempt from military duty. As early as 1646, the value of fish taken by vessels at Marble- head was estimated at a sum equal to $20,000; but the larger part of this was secured by those who came here during the summer months, and returned to England on the approach of winter.
The extravagant consumption of wood by these visitors finally became a subject of complaint by the inhabitants, and the General Court, in 1639, ordered that no wood or timber should be taken by these fisher- men at Marblehead without compensation to the legal proprietors, and the owners were authorized " to oppose such encroachments with forcible resistance if necessary."
The officials of the company in England encouraged the colonists to construct their own vessels from the abundance of timber at their com- mand, and at an early day secured the emigration of a few shipwrights to promote this object. Two small vessels were built : one at Salem, in 1631, and another at Boston, in 1633 ; but the third was built and launched at Marblehead, in 1636. This vessel was named the " Desire," and was 120 tons burden, but the particular place of her construction in the town is unknown. Employed for two years in the fishing business, she was despatched, in 1638, to the West Indies on a commercial voyage, and, returning, brought " Salt, Cotton Tobacco and Negroes"; the last item of the manifest is supposed to have been slaves, and the first that were brought to the New England Colonies. This vessel, the achievement of the early colonial shipwrights, appears to have proved creditable to their genius and skill, for it is claimed, that in 1640, she made the voyage from Marblehead to England in twenty-three days.
The time when religious worship and instruction commenced in Marblehead cannot be fixed with certainty. In 1635 (the very year of his banishment from the Colony), Mr. Allerton sent one of his ves- sels to Ipswich, to convey the Rev. John Avery " to Marblehead to dwell with the people " and become their religious teacher. With his wife, and family, consisting of eight children, he embarked, accom- panied by Anthonie Thatcher, with his wife and nine children ; but during the passage, the vessel was wrecked on an island near the coast, in a severe storin, and all perished except Mr. Thatcher and his wife. The next year the General Court granted the island to the mourn- ing survivor of this terrible disaster, and it has since been known by his name.
Deprived by this sad event of a religious teacher, the want was not
supplied till William Walton became a resident and householder in 1638, or the year following. It is a matter of record, that in 1648 he was preaching regularly, and that provision was made annually for his support. One of the early historians states in 1642, " that though the people of Marblehead had prophesying" the church members par- took of the sacrament at the church in Salem. Possibly it may have been as early as 1640 that the foundations of a plain little church were laid on the bleak, barren hill that tradition indicates as its site.
Offences against temperance and morality, like drunkenness and its kindred vices, were considered, and penalties pronounced against in- dividuals by the General Court, but the day on which the offence was perpetrated had considerable influence with the magistrates in fixing a proper penalty. This discrimination is noticed at a session of that august body, held at Boston, July 20, 1633, when it imposed a fine of ten shillings on John Bennett for being drunk at Marblehead, while James White for committing the same offence at the same place on the Sabbath day was ordered to pay a fine of thirty shillings.
The personal tastes, habits, and fashions of individual members of society were often made the subjects of severe criticism, and when a case was peculiarly offensive, the general indignation would find ex- pression in some public manner. This was the case with John Gatchall of Marblehead, who was accused of wearing long hair. On the twenty-first day of June, 1637, at Salem town-meeting he was charged with building on town lands without authority, and a fine of ten shillings imposed for the offence, but it was agreed to abate one- half of the fine in case "he shall cntt off his long hair off his head." It is feared that he paid his fine, and adhered to his own fashion of wearing his hair, while others followed his example ; for twelve years after this event, Gov. Endicott and others protested against the cus- tom "as detestable, uncivil and unmannerly, whereby men deform themselves, offend sober and modest- men, and do corrupt good manners."
The statement has been made that a grant of land was made to George Wright in 1637, as an inducement for him to establish a ferry between Marblehead and Salem, and it is probable that regular com- munication was thus established between the two places about that time. The landings were fixed at what is now known as the termina- tion of the "Ferry-road" in Marblehead, and the lower end of " Tur- ner Street" in Salem. In March, 1643, the General Court ordered the deputy governor to appoint " some able and honest man " among the inhabitants of Marblehead to act as constable, and the next year ordered the inhabitants to choose some person "to exercise them in martial discipline that they may be ready on special occasions."
With a population now of about 200 inhabitants, composed mostly of fishermen, whose unpretending homes were built near the coves and beaches of the northern part of the town, Marblehead was still recognized as a "Plantation." Without a church organization, yet they had erected a plain barn-like structure on the crown of the hill where the " Seaman's Monument " now stands, and they gathered there on each returning Sabbath to listen to the prayers and exhortations of William Walton. Remembering that near the village churches, where they had worshipped in their native country, the bodies of their an- cestors now mingled with the dust, they reverently adhered to the ancient custom, and with loving care made the graves of those they mourned in the shadows of the little church. Thus, as they followed the rugged path that led to the house of prayer, the sweet memories that clustered around the dead were recalled to banish earthly thoughts and cares, and bring their souls in close communion with God and heaven.
With about forty families in 1647, the question of a separate town organization was earnestly agitated. On the 12th of March, 1648, a " general town meeting" was held at Salem to consider the subject, and it was voted that " Marblehead, with allowance of General Court be a towne, and the bounds to be the utmost extent of that land which was Mr. Humphries farme and solde to Marblehead, and so all the neck to the sea reserving the disposing of the ferry and appointing of the ferryman to Salem."
Thus authorized to act, the inhabitants assembled at an early day to " make provision for Mr. Walton the minister," by an equal rate of taxation, and appropriated forty pounds for that purpose. At a subsequent meeting an annual tax of ten shillings per man was im- posed on "all strangers obtaining wood, flake stuff and other conven- iences for the prosecution of their business." At the same meeting " John Stacie the elder and John Bartoll the younger" were appointed as " herdsmen " for the ensuing season of seven months, commencing on the first day of April. At sunrise of each morning they were to be at " Chillson's crossing " and blowing a horn as a signal, the inhabitants
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
were to deliver their cattle to them at that place, within half an hour ; they were charged " to be with the herd beyond first bridge before the sun was an hour high ;" to return with them to the same place an hour before sunset ; give prompt notice to those whose cattle were missing, assist to recover them, and " exercise a special care in wet weather." For this serviec Stacie was to receive a weekly compensation of six shillings and Bartoll four shillings. "Way wardens " were also ap- pointed, and all persons who neglected the "careful warning" of these officers, to labor on the highways (unless sickness should prevent ), were to be fined ten shillings each, and the fines were to be expended for refreshments, for the benefit of those who performed the labor.
The plantation at this time contained forty-four families, and it was claimed that the common lands would not furnish pasturage for more than fifty cows. In view of this statement it was deemed advisable to fix the rights of each family, estimating "one horse as being equal to two cows, two ycarlings as one cow, and four goats or sheep as one cow." The division was made as follows : James Smith and Row- land, 1 cow; Mr. Walton, 2 eows ; Abra. Whitehaire, 1 cow ; Samuel Doliber, 1 cow ; John Lyon, 2 cows; John Peach, 1 cow; John Gateball, 11 cows; Edmund Nicholson, 13 cows; Henry Stacie, } cow ; John Bartoll, 1 cow ; William Barber. 1 cow ; David Thomas, J cow ; Will Chichester, 1 cow ; Joseph Doliber, 1 cow ; John Legg, 1 cow ; Sam. Carwithen, 3 cow ; Robert Knight, } cow ; Peter Pett- ford, ¿ cow ; David Carwithen, 1 cow ; John Bennett, 1 cow ; Eras- mns James, 1 cow ; Thomas Bowinge, } cow ; Thomas Gray, 1 cow ; Francis Johnson, } cow ; John Stacic, 1 cow; Richard Norman, 1 cow ; John Normau, 1 eow ; George Chine, 1 cow ; John Northcy, 1 cow ; John Peach, Jr., 1 cow; William Suckis, 1 cow : Nicholas Merret, 2 cows ; Rich. Curtice, 1 cow ; Walsingham Chillson, } cow ; Thomas Pitman, 1 cow ; Timothy Allen, 1 cow ; John Hart, 2 cows ; Cris Salmon, - cow ; Thomas Lane, 1 cow ; Arthur Sanden, 1} cows ; William Charles, 2 cows; for Jona. Govt, 1 cow ; Isaae Allerton, 2 cows ; Moses Maverick, 3 cows ; John Deveraux, 2 cows.
Doubtless these names, or the most of them, were attached to the pe- tition presented to the General Court, requesting the separation of Mar- blehead from Salem, and its incorporation as a town. This prayer was granted May 2, 1649, in the following language :
" Upon the petition of the inhabitants of Marblehead for them to be a town of themselves, Salem having granted them to be a town of themselves, and the bounds of their towu, which the Court doth grant."
For six or seven years after this important event, no record has been preserved of the transactions of the town, with the exception of au occasional grant of land to new settlers.
In 1653, Francis Johnson, who had served as the first eonstable for a few years, was appointed as a lieutenant by the General Court, and the male inhabitants were urged to study and drill for military pro- fieiency.
The few officers charged with the administration of public affairs up to this time had been designated as "Townsmen," and an examination of the aceonnts in 1656 showed that the town's indebtedncss amounted to nearly thirty-seven pounds. The statement that the town was in debt moved the citizens to promptly provide the means to meet every obligation, and Lieut. Francis Jounson was instructed "to collect the taxes and satisfy all debts against the town up to date." Changing name of their principal board of town officers from that of " Towns- men " to selectmen, they voted with a remarkable confidence in official discretion and integrity, that " the Selectmen should not be limited in anything that is for the good of the town"; but it was also ordered that a strict account "be kept of all receipts and expenses." Franeis Linford was employed to " warn the town, ring the bell and keep the meeting house clean," at an annual salary of forty shillings ; and the next year Edward Read became his successor, for the same compensation, with the additional duty of " finding nails for the glass of the mcetiug house."
Mr. Walton had now performed the duties of minister for several years at an annual salary of forty pounds, and the fidelity with which he had discharged the service moved some of his friends at this time to propose an increase to his salary of twenty pounds, but the proposi- tion would have been defeated, had uot several of his friends sub- seribed the amount in open meeting, which was to be levied and col- lected of them as tax-payers. And yet the good minister saw but few and handled less of the gold and silver coins of his native country. An investigation at this time, covering a period of four years, showed that he had received as portions of his salary during that time, " half of a cow," valued at two pounds two shillings and sixpence ; " half ton of mackerel," valued at five pounds ; a "quautity of pork," at two
pounds ; a " quantity of cheese," at two shillings ; and "a quantity of liquor at fifteen shillings."
With matters of importance now coming before the town for con- sideration, it was regarded as the duty of every one qualified to vote in town affairs, to be present; and when, on one occasion, it was found that twenty-two men were absent from the meeting, a fine of two shillings was imposed on each of the absentees.
The little meeting-house was the only public building in the place, and as the towu increased iu population, propositious to improve the structure, for the better accommodation of the public, were readily adopted. Wheu first erected, it was doubtless a plain building, with a huge fire-place on one side, rough, and uncomfortable benches, a small platform, and a table for the accommodation of the minister, and a few small windows, the glass of which was kept in place with nails, which made a merry clatter with every passing breeze. The first improvement ordered was to seal the walls inside, which Richard Norman agreed to do for nineteen pounds.
The next year, a committee was appointed to see that seats were provided for the accommodation " of all the inhabitants of the town both men and women," and soon after twenty-seven pounds were paid for the construction of a gallery. At a later period, a contract was made " to board the western end of the meeting house and the fireside of the same," and still moved by the spirit of public improvement, three years after, a contract was made with Robert Knight, Francis Collings, and Jeremiah Neal, " to build a gallery in the north-east end of the meeting house, with five seats, with columns, a board at the bottom and to be arched sufficient to strengthen the house; with stairs and all other necessaries similar to the other gallery"; and they were to receive twenty-seven pounds for the fulfilment of the contract.
The fishing business steadily increased, and its production for home consumption and foreign commerce was so considerable as to now require laws for its proper regulation, and officers for their execution. Samuel Ward and Samuel Morgan were appointed "Paekers and Gaugers," and Christopher Lattimore and John Bartoll were chosen " Cullers of Fish," while the " master of every boat" was ordered " to brand his name on every barrel or cask of mackerel he packed," and a penalty of twenty shillings was fixed as a fine for neglecting to com- ply with this regulation.
The forest-trees were rapidly disappearing, to supply the wants of the inhabitants, and those who came here annually to prosecute the fishing business. With a view to prevent the prodigal waste of what was so necessary for the comfort of the inhabitants during many months of the year, the town ordered " that no trees should be sold for fencing or building unless authority should be first obtained of the Sclectmen, and that no trees should be felled for firewood until the old wood should be burnt, under a penalty of five shillings for each offence."
The scarcity of money to facilitate public and private transactions has been mentioned ; and town taxes, private contracts, the salaries of the minister and public officials, were paid in fish, the produce of the farms, or other forms of merchandise. Benjamin Parmeuter was employed as herdsman, at the annual salary of seventeen pounds, and he was to receive his compensation "in money, coru, butter or neces- sary clothing." A few years later the General Court adopted the most stringeut measures to prevent the exportation of coin, and offi- cers were appointed, with authority " to break open any chest, trunk, box, eabin, tross or any other suspected place or thing, where they may conceive money to be concealed, and to seize and hold moneys thus taken, subject to the decision and judgment of the Courts." Unable to procure money, the inhabitants paid their public taxes in fish, and the selectmen, who were charged with the duty of collecting and disbursing the public funds, were compelled, in their annnal state- ment of receipts and expenses, to enter one item as " loss on fish," to balance their accounts.
These officials, however, were not always successful in their efforts to make it appear that they conducted the-financial affairs of the town with entire fidelity to the public interests, and, like scores of unfortu- nate successors, who have trod the same thorny path for the last two centuries, they learned that in the eye of the public, sometimes, pri- vate worth, integrity, and sagacity, were elements of character not inconsistent with inefficiency and raseality, when engaged in the public service.
The annual expenses of the town had now reached the sun of £150, including the minister's salary, but the selectmen presented the account of receipts and expenses in a form not at all satisfactory to the pub- lic. Their refusal to make a more definite statement provoked the
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indignation of the inhabitants, and they instructed a committee of threc, who were appointed for the purpose, "to make one more demand," and if they still refused to comply, they were ordered to sue the disgraced officials " before the next Court at Ipswich," and the committee were threatened with "a fine of thirty pounds and the costs of prosecution " if they neglected to perform this duty.
During the early autumn days of that same year, an event occurred that silenced all further controversies and contentions. The good minister, William Walton, after years of faithful service, closed his earthly labors, strong in the faith and hope he had so earnestly com- mended to others.
Samuel Cheever, son of the minister at Manchester, became the successor of Mr. Walton. A graduate of Harvard College at the age of twenty, he came to Marblehead nine years after, and com- menced the duties of his chosen profession with zeal and ability.
The population appeared to increase more rapidly from this time, and numerous grants of land were made to new settlers, and duly recorded. Less than four years after the settlement of Mr. Cheever, it was found necessary to build a " lean-to " or addition " on the back side of the meeting house forty feet long and twenty feet wide with thrce gable ends."
The minister's salary was fixed at eighty pounds, but soon after his settlement he was authorized " to use the land on the back side of the meeting house during his life, for a pasture," and subsequently it was ordered "that a horse pasture be laid out for him on the common lands, and that it be fenced at the expense of the town."
To encourage the inhabitants to erect a suitable fortification for the defence of the harbor, the town was released from the obligation to pay the county tax, and " two or three guns" were promised when the works were in a proper condition to receive them. This liberal action of the General Court secured the object desired, and during that year the works were erected and the guns mounted. As a further encour- agement, the county tax was abated for another year ; and, two years after the commencement of the work, " sixty great shot " were ordered to be furnished " for the guns in the fort at Marblehead."
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