USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Boxford > The history of Boxford, Essex County, Massachusetts, from the earliest settlement known to the present time: a period of about two hundred and thirty years > Part 20
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During the year 1781, Peter Chadwick and William Runnells died in the army.
Ancill Stickney enlisted in Capt. James Malloon's com- pany, Col. Putnam's regiment, to re-enforce the Continental army, serving from Aug. 21 to Dec. 4, 1781.
In 1781 orders to the amount of £1,413 3 s. 2 d. were issued by the town for the payment of soldiers.
The American army was kept together till the third day of November, 1783, when, after suitable preparation had been made, it was disbanded in due form. At New York, Washington, in an affectionate address, first bade farewell to his soldiers, and subsequently to his officers. These last, at parting, he took by the hand separately.
Thus ended the Revolutionary War, of eight years' duration, in which a hundred thousand lives were lost, and hundreds of millions of dollars were expended, and which left the United States in a debt of forty millions of dol- lars. But a new nation had been brought forth, - a nation founded on liberty ; a nation which has for its principles only those that are proper for a perfect republican govern- ment ; one that is cherished by every native, whether at home or abroad ; and one that is most highly conducive to all right, education, and those things that make a prosper- ous and model nation.
CHAPTER XI.
I770-1800.
SECOND CHURCH. - NEW MEETING-HOUSE ERECTED IN SECOND PARISH. - REV. MOSES HALE SETTLED. - HIS DEATH, MINIS- TRY, AND LIFE. - REV. PETER EATON SETTLED. - SINGING IN FIRST CHURCH. - FOSTER'S MILL. - WILDCATS. - FORMING THE STATE CONSTITUTION. - THE RATIFICATION OF THE UNITED-STATES CONSTITUTION. - FIRST CONSTITUTIONAL ELEC- TION. - PRICES OF VARIOUS MERCHANDISE, LABOR, &C. - " SHAYS' REBELLION." - DR. BENJAMIN FOSTER. - DR. WIL- LIAM HALE. - DR. GEORGE W. SAWYER. - DR. JOSIAH BACON. -DR. CHARLES P. FRENCH. - SCHOOLS. - BEQUEST OF HON. AARON WOOD. - TOWN. DEBT. - MUSIC AND NEGROES IN SECOND CHURCH. - FUNDS OF THE FIRST PARISH. - EAST- PARISH CHURCH REPAIRED. - PRESENTS TO DR. EATON. - STOVES PLACED IN THE CHURCHES. - " ESSEX MUSICAL ASSO- CIATION." - WASHINGTON'S DEATH. - TAVERNS, STAGES, AND MAILS.
HE Second Religious Society had now been with- out preaching - excepting what they occasionally hired -for several years. Among the ministers hired to preach to them were Rev. Samuel Web- ster, Rev. Mr. Woodman, Rev. Lemuel Le Baron, Rev. Mr. Cutler, Rev. Daniel Osgood of Andover, Rev. Isaac Mansfield, Rev. John Marrett of Newton, and Rev. Isaac Bigelow of Weston.
The old meeting-house in the West Parish was getting to be in such poor condition that it was thought by the society to be beyond repair. With a view to building a new house of worship, and first wishing to find the centre
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of the parish, in which spot it was desired to be built, a parish-meeting was held Jan. 3, 1774, at which it was voted to find the centre of the parish by measuring the roads ; which was accordingly done, and the centre found to be "four and a half rods to the north of Moses Porter's house." At a meeting held Jan. 10, they voted to set the meeting-house at the spot above named. It was put to vote, to see whether they would build a new meeting-house, or take down and move the old one; when it was voted to build a new one. Capt. Isaac Adams, Nathaniel Peabody, and Lieut. Jonathan Foster were chosen to draw a plan of the new meeting-house. At a meeting held Monday, Jan. 24, Capt. Isaac Adams, Ensign John Barker, and Lieut. Samuel Runnells were chosen a committee to provide materials for building the meeting-house, and to see the work effected. At a meeting held Jan. 31, it was voted to build the meeting-house "according to the same plan by which the meeting-house in New Rowley was built, except- ing a steeple, instead of which we are to have a porch built as at the other end of the meeting-house." March 21 they voted to find the centre of the parish by measuring the land, which was done by Benjamin Stevens of Andover, for which service the parish paid him £2 9s .; and the centre proved to be " six or seven rods to the eastward of Benjamin Foster's house." After considering the centres found by measuring the roads and the land, it was thought best to set the meeting-house "in the corner of Deacon Chadwick's land, near to Rocky Point, so called, being between the centre found by taking a plan, and the centre found by measuring the roads." When spring opened, the work on the meeting-house commenced. The contract for building it was granted to Mr. Stephen Barker. It was probably finished by the middle of the next November. Regarding the ultimate disposal of the old meeting-house, the parish voted in March, 1775, " to sell it for what it will fetch."
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Aug. 19, 1774, Rev. Moses Hale, who had been preach- ing there for about four months, was invited to fill the pastoral office. He accepted their invitation Oct. 16; on the receipt of which the necessary letters of invitation were sent to the neighboring churches to assist in the ordaining exercises. The elders and messengers sent from the vari- ous churches in the vicinity met at the house of Ensign Gideon Tyler on the day of the ordination, Nov. 16, 1774, previous to repairing to the meeting-house, formed into a council, and voted that (at the ordination) Rev. Mr. Noyes begin with prayer; Rev. Mr. Chandler pray, and give the charge ; Rev. Mr. Symmes make the last prayer ; and Rev. Mr. Holyoke give the right hand of fellowship. The Rev. Mr. Hale of Newbury preached the sermon, from 2 Cor. v. 20.
Mr. Hale's regular salary was £80 per annum. By the depreciation of the currency during the Revolution, the value of paper money was reduced almost to nothing. Because of this the parish granted Mr. Hale in 1779 £1,500 more than his stated salary (£80). In 1781 they granted him £6,000 ; but he refused it as insufficient, and asked for more, when it was voted to pay him his regular salary in specie.
Mr. Hale was stricken down in the twelfth year of his ministry ; and he died in the thirty-eighth year of his age, May 25, 1786. He was son of the Rev. Moses Hale of Newbury, and was born Feb. 19, 1749, in Rowley. He married Elizabeth -, by whom he had the following children, viz. : Elizabeth, bapt. Nov. 10, 1776 ; Moses, bapt. Sept. 27, 1778; Stephen, bapt. Dec. 6, 1780; Sarah, bapt. Dec. 8, 1782 ; and Mary Emery, bapt. May 8, 1785. His wife died April 24, 1785 ; and he followed her, as we have said above, about a year afterwards. Mr. Hale graduated at Harvard College, 1771, and soon after preached in the pulpit in which his labors were so soon ended.
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His epitaph is as follows :-
"In the dark caverns of the silent Tomb, The old, the young, the gay, all ages come. Here lies interr'd the Priest in sable Urn ; Here meet his flock & each to dust return. These iron gates no more shall e'er be burst, Till heav'ns command shall wake the sleeping dust, And then Creations vast, immense shall rise, And men with Angels throng th' etherial skies. The God of Nature thus from heav'n hath spoke, Nor Men nor Angels can his word revoke. It must be so ! then let my soul resign, And be prepared for his will divine."
Little is known concerning the character or ability of Mr. Hale; the church records, as well as those of the parish, being silent in the matter. He resided in the house that once stood across the street from the present residence of Mr. Daniel Wood. After Mr. Hale's death the place was owned and occupied by Lemuel Wood.
After Mr. Hale's decease the pulpit was occupied by Rev. Mr. True, Rev. Solomon Aiken of Hardwick, and Rev. Gilbert Williams.
May 12, 1789, the parish concurred with the church in inviting Rev. Peter Eaton of Haverhill to the pastoral office, agreeing to give him £So and twelve cords of fire- wood annually as salary, and a settlement of £160. His letter of acceptance was read before the congregation Aug. 2, when letters inviting their assistance at Mr. Eaton's ordination were sent to the neighboring churches. The ordination took place on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1789. Previous to the ordination on said day, they repaired to the house of Major John Robinson, and made out a pro- gramme of the exercises, which contained the following items : The first prayer by Rev. Mr. Smith ; the ordaining prayer by Rev. Mr. Merrill ; charge to the pastor by Rev. Mr. Holyoke of the First Church ; the right hand of fel-
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lowship by Rev. Mr. Symmes ; the last prayer by Rev. Mr. Peabody; and the sermon delivered by Rev. Mr. Adams. The text was Phil. ii. 29. Thus was Mr. Eaton ordained to the ministry, in the twenty-third year of his age.
Rev. Mr. Eaton erected the residence of Mr. Henry Barker at the time of his settlement, in which he lived during the many years of his ministry here.
In the spring of 1788 the desire to have a parsonage built was prevalent, but not enough so to have it erected.
In the summer of 1777, "by general desire," the First Church commenced to begin the public worship of the sabbath with singing. A few of the leaders of the choir that successively held the office were Nathaniel Perley, Moses Peabody, and David and Samuel Kimball. March 19, 1782, it was voted "that the singers should have the east half of the front gallery, exclusive of the back pew." During the intermission of the services on the sabbath, the "Scriptures and other books of piety" were read as early as 1774. The persons chosen for that pur- pose were members of the church, and they held their office about three months at a time.
In 1777 Jonathan Foster owned a mill in the West Parish.
It seems that as late as 1770 wildcats were yet found here. A few years previous to that date, a bounty had been offered by the town for the capture of dangerous wild animals, agreeable to an order from the General Court. " 24 May, 1770, the town voted, that Samuel Dorman should have pay for a wild-cat's head if it shall appear that he has not had his pay therefor before."
Thomas Perley was chosen to represent the town in a convention to be held at Cambridge, Sept. 1, 1779, for the sole purpose of forming a State Constitution agreeable to a resolve of the General Court; and the town instructed him . to use his influence that the form of Constitution that
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might be agreed upon be printed, and a copy sent to cach town in the State for their approbation or disapprobation, agreeable to a resolve of the General Court, June 15, 1779. The Constitution was formed, and a copy sent to each town, agreeable to the wishes of our townsmen. Accord- ingly a committee * was chosen to examine it, and report to the town, which they shortly did in the following words : -
"BOXFORD, May 30, 1780.
" The committee appointed to inspect the Constitution beg leave to inform the town that as far as we are able, according to the time we have had, we have endeavored to investigate the Constitution, and point out the errors, and shall lay before the town our objections and remarks thereon.
"First objection : As the third article in the 'Declaration of Rights' is rather obscure and ambiguous, we therefore want some further explanation on said article before we can accept it.
" Second objection : We object against the freemen of any town or plantation being excluded from giving their votes for the choice of a representative while they are subjected to pay their proportion of State taxes.
" Third objection : The House of Representatives being intended as the representative of the people, we object against any free inhabit- ant twenty-one years of age being excluded from giving his vote in the choice of a representative.
" Fourth objection : We object that the quorum of the House of Representatives is too small where the House consists of three or four hundred members, and where they are invested with power to levy duties and excises on all wares, merchandise, and commodities whatsoever.
" Fifth objection : We object the Governor's simply acknowledging himself of the Christian religion is not sufficient, -that he ought to declare himself a Protestant.
"Sixth objection : We object against the Legislature's being in- vested with power to alter the qualifications of any officer in the State whatever until this Constitution shall be revised.
" Seventh objection : Fifteen years we think too long for this Con- stitution to stand : we think eight years is long enough.
* This committee were Capt. Jonathan Foster, Capt. Isaac Adams, Capt. · John Robinson, Dr. William Hale, and Thomas Perley, jun.
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" First remark, or addition : That settled ministers of the Gospel shall not have a right to a seat in the Council, Senate, or House of Representatives.
"Second remark : That the House of Representatives shall at least once a month lay before their constituents the several votes that may be determined by yeas and nays in said House, that the people may be able to judge who are friends to their country and who are not.
"Third remark : That the towns may have authority to recall their representatives at any time when they shall act any thing inimical to the liberties of this Commonwealth, and to choose others to succeed them.
" Fourth remark : That the House of Representatives be subjected to a trial by jury for any failure of their promises to the people of this Commonwealth."
On Wednesday, Jan. 9, 1788, the convention of the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts, to ratify the Constitution of the United States, convened in Boston. The representa- tive from Boxford was Hon. Aaron Wood, who negatived its adoption. The result was that the Constitution was adopted by a vote of 187 to 168. The convention con- tinued till the 7th of the following month, when they arrived at the above conclusion. Those who composed the minority acquiesced in the result of the convention, and said they would support the Constitution as much as if they had voted for it, on the ground that a majority had more judgment and wisdom than a minority. The oath of allegiance as prescribed by the Constitution was subscribed to by numbers of the leading men in Boxford. The following names are recorded on the town-records : Capt. William Perley, Broadstreet Tyler, Asa Peabody, Thomas Perley, jun., John Dorman, John Robinson, Capt. Francis Perley, Ivory Hovey, Aaron Perley, and Asa Merrill.
The first "fall-election" under the State Constitution was held Sept. 4, 1780, with the following results, viz. : For governor, Hon. John Hancock, 32 votes; for lieutenant- governor, Hon. James Bowdoin, 22; for counsellors and
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senators, George Williams 16, Samuel Johnson 15, Samuel Holton 20, Aaron Wood 14, Azor Orne 14, Stephen Choate 8, Elbridge Gerry 8, Richmond Derby 5, Jonathan Webster 14, Samuel Osgood S, and Moses Little S. The choice of governor continued to be unanimous for several years.
The first grave-digger in town - John Boswell - was chosen in 1716. March 19, 1776, the East Parish chose Timothy Patch and Joseph Matthews (one for each ceme- tery), to dig graves and attend funerals.
The following is a list of prices agreed upon by a com- mittee appointed by the town to fix prices upon the differ- ent kinds of merchandise, labor, and so forth, in consequence of a recommendation of a convention held at Concord, July 14, 1779 :--
Beef, of the best quality, 6d. per pound, till Sept. I, and after that 5 d. per pound.
Butter, 12d. per pound.
Cheese, 6d. per pound. Indian Corn, 4s. 10d. per bushel. Veal, 4d. per pound.
West-India Rum, 6s. 6d. per gallon.
New-England Rum, 4s. 16d. per gallon.
Breakfast at Taverns, 15d. Dinners at Taverns, of boiled and roast meat, 18d.
Flip, or Toddy, made of West-India Rum, 16d. per mug.
Oats at Taverns, 3 d. per quart.
Lodging at Taverns, 4d. per night.
Horse-keeping at Taverns, at grass, 9d. per night.
Ox-keeping at Taverns, at grass, 12d. per night, per pair.
Barrels, made of sap-staves, 3 s. 6d. per barrel.
Bark, good oak, delivered at the tanner's, 15s. 6d. per cord. Hides, raw, 3d. 8 far. per pound.
Tanned sole-leather, 22 d. per pound, and all other tanned leather in proportion.
Blacksmith's Work. - Horse-shoeing (plain shod), all round, 4s. ; and work of all other kinds in the same proportion.
Cloth, tow (good), 21 d. 4 far. per square yard.
Linen, the same.
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Cloth, woollen, fulled, colored, and made of the best wool, three- quarters yard wide, 5s. per yard.
Charcoal, delivered at the door of the buyer, 6d. per bushel.
Flax, good and well-dressed, 12 s. per pound.
Hay, English, 30d. per cwt.
Horse-hire, horse and saddle, 2d. 6 far. per mile.
Carpenter, house, 53 d. per day.
Farm Laborer, 32 d. per day.
Oats, 25 d. per bushel.
Staves, white-oak barrel-staves, 55 s. per thousand.
Tallow, tried, 12d. per pound.
Shoes, men's best, 6s. per pair.
Tailor's Work, 40 d. per day.
Wood, good oak, delivered, 9s. per cord.
Wool, sheep's, of the best quality, 29d. per pound.
Teaming Work, at Iod. per mile, for every ton's weight.
Weaving, common shirting, at 4d. per yard.
Cider, good, 5s. Iod. per barrel (exclusive of the barrel).
After the close of the Revolutionary War, the people being loaded with a heavy burden of taxation arising from the great expense of carrying on the fearful struggle, many who were willing to go to war with Great Britain, rather than submit to taxation without representation, were now willing to go to war with the government rather than pay their share of the expenses which the war had occa- sioned. In different parts of the State tumultuous crowds assembled, and obstructed the proceedings of courts and other legal bodies. Daniel Shays, who had been a captain in the Revolutionary War, was considered as the head of the insurgents : hence the movement took the name of " Shays' Insurrection." Troops were raised which quickly quelled the insurgents ; and conditional pardon was offered by the Legislature to all the rebels, of which most availed themselves. Fourteen were tried, and received sentence of death ; but were, one after another, finally pardoned. To suppress this rebellion, it is not known that any troops went from Boxford; and the following extracts from the
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instructions that the town gave to Mr. Nathan Andrews, the representative for that year, bearing date May 24, 1787, is all that the public records of Boxford give concern- ing it: "We, your constituents, being chosen by the town of Boxford to instruct you, our representative, think it is our duty to declare our sentiments on the present alarming situation of public affairs. The transactions of the Gen- eral Court this year may possibly determine the fate of this State for many generations ; for now there is such a concurrence of alarming circumstances as our fathers never saw, each singly portending and all jointly conspir- ing the ruin of this State." "That you do your utmost to have the General Court removed out of Boston, to some convenient place in the country." "That you endeavor that all those that are termed insurgents have a free par- don, except those condemned, on supposition that they return to their several places of abode, and become peace- able subjects." "That all officers and soldiers raised in the winter past be dismissed, and put out of pay directly, as an armed force is dangerous to the liberties of a people in time of peace."
After the death of Dr. Wood in 1744, the town appears to have been without a physician for a few years. As early as 1753, Dr. Benjamin Foster was practising the healing art here. He was born in Ipswich, Nov. 25, 1700, and was son of Benjamin and Ann Foster. He came to Boxford with his father about 1720, and married Lydia Burbank, Oct. 2, 1730, by whom he had several children. Jan. 17, 1760, his wife died of the small-pox ; and he mar- ried, the following' year, widow Sarah Low of Ipswich. He died of asthma, Dec. 19, 1775, at the age of seventy- five years. Felt, in his History of Ipswich, says of him : " He had been in the practice of his profession over fifty years, was a distinguished botanist, and a successful and skilful physician." Dr. Foster's residence was in the West Parish.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
Dr. Foster was followed, as the physician of the town, by Dr. William Hale, about 1770. Dr. Hale was born in Boxford, Nov. 9, 1741, and was son of Thomas and Mary (Kimball) Hale. He married, (pub. Oct. 13, 1770), Anna, daughter of Elijah and Dorothy Porter of Topsfield. He erected the Sayward house, in which he took up his resi- dence at the time of his marriage. He died about 1785, leaving two young daughters, Elizabeth and Dorothy. His wife, who survived him, was again married, Capt. William Perley being her second husband.
The next physician seems to have been Dr. George Whitefield Sawyer, who was born in Ipswich in 1770; married Polly Killam of Middleton, 1800; and subsequently settled in Boxford as a physician, on the farm now occu- pied by his son, Mr. Thomas Sawyer. He was acknowl- edged to be a good physician for the times; and his natural bluntness of speech ofttimes amused his patients. After honoring his profession for many years by a life of integrity and trust, he died March 23, 1855, at the age of eighty-five years.
The last settled physician in Boxford, and contemporary with Dr. Sawyer, was Dr. Josiah Bacon, son of William and Mary Bacon, who was doubtless a native of Bradford. He came here with his parents when quite young. He commenced the practice of his profession about 1820, and continued it about a score of years.
Dr. Bacon, it is claimed, was a descendant of Lord Bacon, the distinguished philosopher and scholar of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; and, by the heredit- amental law of Nature, the doctor received a large share of his ancestor's character and qualities. Lord Bacon was the most learned man of his day : so was the doctor skilled in many languages, and the practice of physic, besides being cultured in most branches of education, and he was acknowledged to be an excellent physician. But both
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their careers teach the moral lesson that the tree of knowl- edge is not the tree of life. Lord Bacon held the office of high chancellor, but showed himself morally unfit for it : the doctor, with a good practice, and winning an excellent reputation, was addicted to the use of strong drink, so that he could not attend to his duty, and therefore lost his practice, his reputation, and his character. The family to which he belonged is said to have been very aristocratic and wealthy. He built and resided in the house afterwards owned and occupied by the late Mr. Elbridge Perley. He died March 23, 1855, at the age of seventy years ; it is an uncommon coincidence, that Dr. Sawyer also passed away on the same day. His wife was for many years a housekeeper for Gen. Lowe ; and after the marriage of the general with Mrs. Merriam, Mrs. Bacon built, and till her death lived in, the cottage at the East Parish village, where her daughter Abbie recently died. A son- Edward -of the doctor still survives. John Bacon, so prominent in town-affairs half a century ago, was a brother of the doctor. John Bacon was the author of Bacon's Town-Officer, one of the earliest works of the kind.
Dr. Sawyer getting to be aged, a young and unmarried physician, Charles P. French, came to Boxford, and secured board with the late Major William Lowe, and commenced practice in 1848. Dr. French was born in Lyndsborough, N. H., in 1824, and was son of Isaac P. and Clarissa B. French. Continuing here nearly two years, in 1849 he removed to Topsfield, and continued his professional prac- tice there. The following year he married Miss Mary S., daughter of Oliver T. and Sarah A. Peabody of Boxford, who died a few years since. Dr. French is still in practice, though not in this vicinity. He was much liked for his humorous disposition ; and his medical knowledge was deemed sufficient for good practice.
To return to our schools. In 1791, Nov. 10, the town
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voted to divide itself into six districts, and to have a school- house built in each district, for which purpose six hundred pounds were raised. The Third and Sixth District school- houses were immediately erected ; that of the Fifth District, in 1797; and the remaining districts were supplied with the schoolhouses that were then in use.
The names of the heads of families contained in these six districts in 1791 are found on the town-records, which we transcribe, viz. : -
FIRST DISTRICT. - Nathan Andrews, sen., Nathan An- drews, jun., Jacob Andrews, widow Ruth Curtis, John Dorman, Timothy Dorman, Solomon Gould, Stephen Gould, Capt. Jacob Gould, Jacob Gould, jun., Jacob Gould, 3d, Samuel Gould, Cornelius Gould, John Killam, Asa Peabody, Samuel Peabody, Bimsley Peabody, Benjamin Perley, James Russell, Nathaniel Smith, Isaac Smith, John Stiles, Stephen Symonds, and widow Anna Williams.
SECOND DISTRICT. - James Andrews, Gideon Bixby, David Butman, Isaac Preston Durant, Jacob Dwinnell, Richard Foster, John Giddings, Benjamin Gould, Elisha Gould, widow Anna Hale, Edmund Herrick, Nathaniel Herrick, Rev. Elizur Holyoke, John Kimball, Samuel Kimball, David Kimball, Joshua Rea, William Rea, Asa Riggs, Moses Peabody, Simeon Stiles, Timothy Stiles, Joseph Symonds, and John Towne.
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