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 91
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At this time provision was first made for public education, when, by a vote of the town, a small lot of land was granted to a Mr. Leach, on condition " that he should teach five of the poor children to be chosen by the Selectmen." A few years after this, Mr. Edward Humphreys opened a school, and the town voted him " five pounds for his encouragement." From the first settlement of the place, the people had depended on the physicians located at Salem for medical advice and skill ; but finally Richard Knott, a young physician, was induced to make his home here, the town granting him a lot of land, " to him and his heirs forever on condition that he live and die in the town and follow his profession as a doctor."
The highway between Marblehead and Salem had been laid out and built, but not entirely completed, till this time, when the town voted four pounds and five shillings, as its proportion of the cost for the bridge across Forest River.
For several years an exciting controversy had been maintained in relation to the rights of the inhabitants to the "common lands." While the town was a part of Salem, the authorities of that placc made several grants of land to different individuals in Marblehead ; and when the town was incorporated, all the lands not included in these grants were designated as "common lands." In 1648, the value of these lands was estimated for pasturage, and the rights of each family fixed by mutual agreement. At that time the rights were divided among forty-four families. Twelve years after, only fifteen or sixteen families had joined their fortunes with the original settlers ; but during the next twelve years the population increased rapidly, and with this increase the controversy waxed warmer, exciting dis- cord and contention between families, and dividing the community into hostile factions. Those who were inhabitants of the town at the time of its incorporation, together with their heirs, claimed the exclu- sive right to all the common lands, and styled themselves "common- ers"; while those who became residents of the place after that event insisted with equal pertinacity on their right to use these lands for pasturage, but were designated as " non-commoners." This contro- versy finally became so violent that an appeal was made to the Gen- eral Court to settle the conflicting claims ; and this was done with apparent satisfaction to all parties. The decision, as recorded, divided the inhabitants into three classes ; confirming certain rights to those who became residents from 1660 to 1674, but more important privileges to those who became inhabitants between the years 1648 and 1660, and still more important rights to those whose claims were derived from the residents of 1648. In this settlement the names of
one hundred and seventeen householders and heads of families are recorded, indicating a population of about 500 at that time.
Greater care was now observed in the management of town affairs ; moderators were chosen to preside at town-meetings, and a fine of twelvepence fixed as a penalty for offensive and disorderly conduct at such meetings. The services of a herdsman, to take charge of the cattle, were dispensed with ; Nicholas Marritt was appointed as meas- urer of salt, and John Legg as sealer of leather ; while a more liberal provision was made for Mr. Humphreys, the school-master. Persons in needy circumstances were not permitted to become inhabitants of the town, unless satisfactory bonds were given that they would not become papers ; and "Phillip Welsh formerly of Topsfield " was notified that this requirement must be observed in his case, or he could not remain in town. A "great gun was mounted on the Fort," and a watch-house built.
A committee was appointed, with authority to lay out and sell house-lots from the common lands; and their transactions, as recorded, describing boundary lines, were often indefinite, and gave hopeful promise for future disputes and trouble. Thus, before the first year of their official service had closed, they described a lot sold to Thomas Candish as being "bound on the east with William Wood's wall, with two briar bushes at the westward and two briar bushes at the southward and from that briar bush eastward to William Woods wall."
Ensign Norman and John Brimblecom were chosen " to look after the youth and boys on the Lords day and see that they behave themselves well and orderly."
A highway was laid out between Marblehead and Lynn.
The salary of Mr. Humphreys, the school-master, made up of the small appropriation provided by the town and the income derived from private tuition, was doubtless insufficient to meet his necessary wants ; and so, when the inhabitants voted to have the little church bell signalize the evening hour of nine o'clock, he promptly accepted the situation of public bell-ringer, at an annual compensation of forty shillings.
The annual expenses of the town at this time were one hundred and thirty-nine pounds and sixteen shillings, of which Mr. Cheever received seventy pounds and six shillings. But the good minister, like his predecessor, received the larger part of his salary in mer- chandise ; and it was finally resolved that he should be paid " seventy pounds in money." Those refusing to pay the tax for the support of the minister in coin, were to have twenty-five per cent. added to their tax, which was to be paid in good merchandise, and the value thereof fixed by two impartial persons.
It has already been noticed that, in the earlier days of our local history, drunkenness was severely punished, as a gross immorality and crime; and yet few, doubtless, had reflected on the evils of intemperance sufficiently to recommend total abstinence as a wiser rule of life. Exposed to uncommon perils and peculiar hardships in the prosecution of their business, every man considered the use of intoxicating liqnors as absolutely necessary, and it was universally held that no occasion of public or private joy could be properly cele- brated without a little indulgence in this direction. For some years public sentiment sanctioned the custom of providing brandy, at the expense of the town, for use on town-meeting days. The cost of this article for this purpose, as recorded in the financial accounts for 1677, was eleven shillings, and as brandy was then sold for about seven shillings per gallon, the quantity used to refresh and inspire the freemen engaged in public affairs that year was about six quarts.
At this time, also, the last vote is found in the public records designed to protect and save the forest-trees.
It has been mentioned that a contract was made, in 1668, with Robert Knight and two others, to build a gallery in the meeting-house. The work had been completed, and Robert Knight appears to have been the architect, under whose direction it had been performed. Other changes and improvements had been made in the little church, but none seems to have given the pleasure afforded by the gallery, which the genius of Knight had designed and executed. For ten years they had admired this structure as the grandest achievement of his workmanship and skill; and, grateful to the man whose triumph had extorted the praise of citizen and stranger alike, it finally found expression in a vote of the town " that Robert Knight shall be released from paying his town rates during his life for his workmanship done in the meeting house in building the gallery."
Encouraged by this recognition of his services, Knight soon after erected a grist-mill. At the north-east part of the town a brook erosses the highway, and during the early spring, when the snow is
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
melting on the hill-sides, a rapid stream follows its ancient channel across the beach to the ocean beyond. When the extensive swamps west of this locality were covered with trees and brushwood, the flow of water was doubtless considerable during a large portion of the year. Near the highway at this point Knight erected his mill, and the town authorized himn " to overflow the ferry swamps for the benifit of his mill, and this right to continue during the town's pleasure." Four years after, the mill and privileges had passed into the possession of John Pearll, who was authorized " to pen the water which flows into the great swamp called Wolf Swamp, and that swamp which. lyeth going to the ferry for seven years, provided the said Pearll keeps a water mill in repair when he hath water to grind the towns corn and in case he shall see cause to lay down his mill then the privileges of said swamp shall return to the town."
Moses Maverick, Ambrose.Gale, and Samnel Ward were appointed as the first magistrates of the town "to hear and end small causes ac- cording to law," and Mr. Maverick was authorized to "administer oaths in both civil and criminal cases, and to join persons in marriage where no legal impediment appears." Samuel Ward was, soon after, commissioned as a captain, and elected the same year as the first rep- resentative of the town in the General Court. At this time he was also authorized, with John Legg, to meet the town officials of Salem and Lynn and establish a boundary line for the town. He again represented the town in the General Court the following year, and for three weeks' service in that office was paid three pounds from the town treasury.
After sixteen years of patient service, Mr. Cheever was enabled to organize the First Congregational Church of Marblehead, and secure his own ordination as a minister of the gospel. We have only a brief notice of the occurrences of that eventful day ; but the ministers who were present and officiated on that occasion were Messrs. Higginsou, Hale, and Hubbard, and the leading members of the church were Samuel Ward, Erasmus James, Christopher Lattimore, and Ambrose Gale, the latter the most enterprising merchant in the place at that time. The church was organized with fifty-four members,-fifteen males and thirty-nine females.
The town steadily but slowly increased in population, and while the industry of the fisherman and farmer secured the substantial com- forts of life for his family, and the busy hum of the good-wife's spin- ning-wheel proclaimed the nature of her service for the common good, yet neither manly energy nor womanly skill could provide for every requisite comfort, and many articles of necessity could only be pro- cured from stores beyond the sea. London merchants readily sup- plied such articles on credit till the close of the fishing season, when it was agreed that the surplus fish not required for their own use should be sold in England, and the proceeds applied to cancel debts thus contracted. This was the practice when an event occurred that excited the alarm of the whole population. Sir William Phipps, then governor of the Province, planned and organized an expedition against the French Provinces ; and among the ships seized for this service by the ambitious leader was the armed vessel commanded by Andrew Caty, then at Marblehead and preparing to take on board a cargo of fish for London. The ship was well manned, and, being armed with ten guns, was an important acquisition to the expedition; but the selectmen, with seven of the most influential citizens, earnestly peti- tioned the General Court to release the vessel. They represented that the fish ready for transportation was "the accumulation of nine months' labor and expense ; that it was perrishable as an article of commerce," and, if left on their hands, would become worthless ; that. their creditors would thus be prevented from receiving their just dues, and their credit would thus be destroyed ; that their families would suffer for the necessaries and comforts of life; that their credit as citizens at home would be impaired, because it would deprive them of the means to pay their public taxes ; and that the ship was not only requisite for their wants, but the "armament she carried " also, as this was necessary to secure insurance on their merchandise against the perils of the seas. The result of this petition is unknown, but the facts are instruetive as showing the manner in which the inhabitants procured such supplies as could not be purchased in the country at that time.
Intelligence was now received that the good people of a neighbor- ing town were threatened with a peril that filled every home with in- describable fear and dread. Long before the settlement of the country, the statutes of England had recognized the possibility of iu- dividual compacts with Satan, by which supernatural powers were acquired ; and the penalty for such offences was death by the public hangman. The children of a Salem clergyman were now suffering
from some mysterious affliction, and this was attributed to the wicked influence of an old Indian woman living in the family. Charges of a similar character were soon made against others, and in a few months the jail was full of men and women accused of this imaginary crime.
It is a matter of pride to record the fact that only one inhabitant of Marblehead was charged with this wickedness, and in the final jail- delivery found relief and liberty.
It is not claimed, however, that the inhabitants of this town were entirely free from peculiar superstitions ; and one, which held the public confidence for more than a century, demands notice in this con- nection. A traditional story represents that when the place was a small fishing hamlet, and the commerce of maritime nations was ravaged by the "Free Rovers of the Ocean," a vessel bearing the black flag of the pirate entered Marblehead harbor. Soon after a boat was observed approaching the shore, containing the boat's crew and a female, who was evidently a prisoner, and landed on the beach of a small inlet, now designated as " Lovis' Cove." A swamp adjoin- ing the cove, and covered then with small forest-trees and brushwood, prevented any further observation of the movements of the party ; but, shortly after, the appalling screams of the helpless victim were heard, and earnest appeals, in the language of the terrified listeners, in the words : " O merey ! merey ! Lord Jesus Christ, save me ! save me !" Her cries finally ceased, and the monsters, leaving their murdered victim where the cruel outrage had been perpetrated, hastily embarked for the vessel, which soon after left the harbor. As time rolled on, it is claimed that, for a period of a hundred years or more, the cries of despair uttered by this woman in her dying hour would be heard nearly every year on the anniversary of her violent death. The screams were heard apparently from the same spot, near the margin of the swamp, during the silent hours of night, and were described as being " so superhuman and superlatively dreadful as to excite inde- scribable feelings of horror." In later years, when men of education and courage, free from the superstitious fears of earlier generations, heard the cries and diligently searched for the cause, they were unable to discover any human agency in their production, and the long-con- tinued screams of the "Screeching Woman " were therefore pro- nounced to be a strange and solemn mystery.
A community largely composed of fishermen, and following a busi- ness often subjected to such reverses as to require an abatement of the province and county taxes, could only make limited provision for public education, and yet a resolution had been recorded some years before to secure the services of a teacher " competent to teach the Latin language." This design does not appear to have been accomplished till Mr. Josiah Cotton, a young graduate of Harvard College, was engaged for this office. The grandson of John Cot- ton, an eloquent minister in Boston, and nephew of Increase Mather, the president of Harvard College, he assumed the responsible duties of school-master in Marblehead when he was only nineteen years of age. With a salary of fifteen pounds from the treasury of the town, and with a school that "sometimes numbered seventy three pupils," for which he received, from parents and others, "a six- pence and a groat per week for each scholar," his annual income amounted to " fifty pounds in silver money." He remained in the town six years, following his profession with credit to himself and satisfaction to the inhabitants, making his home in the school-house at times, and occasionally boarding with the minister or other prominent residents of the place. He became warmly attached to some of his young pupils; and one of these, whose early death filled a home with grief, extorted the following pathetic lines from his pen, as a tribute to his memory, and which were doubtless de- signed for the headstone of the young man's grave ;-
" Death is a tribute which by nature we Are bound to pay unto mortality : A lovely plant cropt in his tender years Lyes here : a subject not of prayers but tears : A youth who promist much, It awful death Hath snatcht him from ns & hath stopt his breath : And he's gone : you'll scarce his equal find, On all accounts few equals left behind."
The town was described at the time " as not much bigger than a large farm and very rocky," while the fishing business almost exclu- sively engaged the attention of the inhabitants, being prosecuted with great industry during the entire year.
The ferry continued to be the principal means of communication between Marblehead and Salem. In 1678 it was leased by the Salem authorities for an annual rent of five shillings ; in 1699, for eighteen
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
shillings ; in 1704, for three pounds, and, after that time, for five pounds. The fare for inhabitants of Salem was fixed at twopence, and for others "what the Court of Sessions" may designate. The boat was of sufficient capacity for the safe transportation of horses and carriages, and the income derived from the lease was given to the grammar school-master at Salem.
The population of the town at this time was about one thousand, and the principal public house was located on the eastern slope of the hill now known as "Bailey's Fort," near the corner of Beacon and Orne streets, and was called " The Fountain Tavern."
The greater portion of the houses of the inhabitants were built near the coves, along the sea-shore, from " Peach's Point " to the " Upper Wharves," and on the publie ways now known as Beacon, Orne, Franklin, Washington, and Front streets. The cove now ocenpied by the " Upper Wharves " was called " Nick's Cove," and that where the "Lower Wharves" are built was "Codnar's Cove." On the shores of these coves were several " fishing stages," or structures for the landing of fish. Josiah Codnar occupied the north side of the cove bearing his name, while a man named Northey had a " fishing stage " on the south side. The beach at the foot of the public way, now known as State Street, was given to the town by a vote of the " Commoners " in 1662, as a public landing-plaec for the free use of the inhabitants. Very few mechanics or tradesmen were located in the town, and the inhabitants depended mainly on Salem to supply calls for skilful workmen in the different departments of human labor.
For more than thirty years, Mr. Cheever had served as the ordained minister of the "First Church," and for nearly fifty years he had faith- fully labored among the people as their pastor. The church had been removed from the " Old Burying Hill" to a lot opposite the lower end of Washington Street, and the population had so increased as to reu- der the duties of the minister too exaeting for his strength and years. It was therefore resolved to secure a colleague for Mr. Cheever, and among the candidates who sought for the position were two young men, even then distinguished for piety, zeal, and eloquence, and both giving promise of that great distinction which each attained.
John Barnard was thirty-three years of age ; had visited Europe, and had served as a chaplain in the English army ; was clear, logical, and forcible as a speaker; a close observer of men, eminently practi- cal in his suggestions and investigations, and earnest in his devotion to the great work to which he had consecrated his life.
Edward Holyoke was twenty-six years of age ; was a graduate from Harvard College ten years before, and had prosceuted his studies with great industry while serving as a tutor. He was distinguished for his love of literature and mathematics, was personally attractive, and remarkably eloquent as a preacher.
Both earnestly desired to win the office, bringing into requisition all the powers of their genius and learning, to secure success, and cach won zealous friends among their listeners ; but Barnard secured a majority of the votes and promptly accepted the invitation.
The minority were disappointed, and, resolving to withdraw, organ- ized another church and invited the defeated candidate to become their pastor. The invitation was accepted, and thus was the " Second Con- gregational Church " established in Marblehead. Both were ordained and commenced their labors at nearly the same time, a new house being erceted for the church of Mr. Holyoke on the site now occu- pied by that of the present society.
While the controversy raged between the rival factions in the old church, Mr. Francis Nicholson, a temporary resident of the town and a gentleman of wealth and education, being a zealous member of the " Church of England," circulated a paper for subscriptions to a fund to be used for the ereetion of a church for the accommodation of those who adhered to that form of worship. Mr. Nicholson secured £173 in this manner, and, contributing £25 from his own means, the church was erected and the Rev. William Shaw installed as the first rector.
The choice of John Barnard, as the colleague of Mr. Cheever, proved a wise step, not only for the church, but for the town also. His practical mind was constantly seeking for knowledge, and sug- gesting measures to improve the material prospects and fortunes of the inhabitants, as well as to elevate the moral and spiritual condition of the people under his charge. Winning the friendship of foreign captains visiting the town for cargoes of fish, he learned the secrets of their traffic, the markets they sought, and the profits that rewarded their enterprise. These faets he communicated to some of his friends and neighbors, and he labored earnestly to induee them to export their merchandise in their own vessels. He was unsuccessful for a time, but at last Joseph Swett, "a young man of strict justice, great indus- try, enterprising genius, quick apprehension and firm resolution, but
of small fortune," listened to his statements and resolved to follow his advice. He was successful beyond his most sanguine expectations, and the prosperity that attended his enterprises induced others to fol- low his example, till a trade with foreign countries was established that, in a few years, made the town one of the most enterprising and successful commercial ports in the New England Provinces.
The popularity of Mr. Barnard soon attracted a congregation that filled his church, and, in a few years, it was found necessary to build an addition to the south-cast end of the "old meeting-house." It was designated by this name to distinguish it from the " new meeting- house " occupied by Mr. Holyoke and his parishioners.
Full of years and honors, Mr. Cheever was at last called upon to separate from his loving people and gifted colleague, and receive the rich inheritance his years of faithfulness had so justly won. Blessed with a vigorous and enduring constitution, which a long life of active and laborions duty hardly impaired, he preached for fifty years with- out the loss of a single Sabbath; and when, at last, weary and ex- hausted, he lay upon his dying bed, strong in the faith he had com- mended to others, the spirit passed away without a single sign of grief or pain. Near the site of the ancient church, they made his grave, where now a time-worn slab of slate briefly tells the story of his virtues and Christian service.
The cloquence, learning, and zeal of Mr. Holyoke soon attraeted a large and admiring congregation, and his fame as a preacher steadily increased with his years of faithful service. After twenty-one years of devoted labor with his first and only parish, he was elected presi- dent of Harvard College, and, accepting the high trust, performed its responsible duties with honor and distinction for more than thirty years.
While Mr. Cheever was the only minister in the place, every fan- ily was taxed for his support; but, with the division of the ancient Congregational Church, the town was divided into two parishes, the inhabitants making their own choice of parish and pastor for the pur- poses of taxation, while it was agreed, by a vote of the selectmen, to exempt those who worshipped at the Episcopal church.
All three churches were provided with bells, and the clock in the tower of the " new meeting-house " noted the passing hours with a fair degree of accuracy. With the increase of population and busi- ness, more liberal provision was made for the education of the young.
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