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 28
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35I
HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
COL. THOMAS KNOWLTON.
Mr. Knowlton was born in November, 1740, and was son of William and Martha (Pinder) Knowlton. At the age of eight years he removed with his father to Ashford, Conn. Thomas attended the common schools, whose narrow rou- tine was the limit of his literary education. As he grew older, he developed into a manly form, six feet in height, erect and elegant in figure, and formed more for activity than strength. In addition to his fine appearance, his complexion was light, his hair dark, and his eyes of deep spiritual beauty. He entered the French war when scarcely fifteen years of age, and continued in its service till the war ended, when he left the army in the rank of lieutenant, having been promoted three successive times during the campaign. He was prominent in the battle of Bunker Hill, where he commanded a company, and, with Col. Stark, defended the rail-fence from the trinal attack of Lord Howe. For his gallantry in this engagement, he was promoted to the rank of major. Passing over nu- merous events, in one of which he was promoted to the rank of colonel, we approach the closing scene in the life of the brave Knowlton. At Harlem Heights Col. Knowl- ton was sent to watch the enemy's movements. Two of his soldiers, who were reconnoitring their lines, approach- ing within gunshot, and yielding to a mad desire, fired upon them, and then hurried back to the camp followed by six hundred Britishers. A hot fight ensued, in which Col. Knowlton was mortally wounded, and survived but an hour. His eldest son, a lad aged fifteen years, was in the same battle, and fired several rounds before he received the sad intelligence. When word was brought that his father was dying, he hurried to his side, when he was thus addressed : "You see, my son, I am mortally wounded ; you can do me no good : go, fight for your country." Col.
:
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Reed, an eye-witness of the scene, says, " All his inquiry was, whether we had driven the enemy." In the general orders of the next day, Washington says that Col. Knowl- ton would have been " an honor to any country."
He was the intimate and trusted friend and companion of Gen. Putnam and other leading officers in the army. Col. Burr, a keen judge of men, and a brilliant officer, not- withstanding the odium cast upon him by the later trans- actions of his life, became acquainted with Knowlton, and was singularly captivated both by his military talent, and the qualities of his open and fearless nature.
The possession of an intellect naturally bright, and quick to profit by the experiences and associations of military life, caused his companionship to be sought by the most cultivated. He was courteous and affable in manners, and wholly free from ostentation and egotism. Ever willing to bestow on others the praise due to their merits, he received the applause due to himself without a murmur of dissent. Calm and collected in battle, and, if necessity required, ready to lead where any could be found to follow, he knew no fear of danger. The favorite and superior officer, the ideal of his soldiers and fellow-townsmen, he fell universally lamented. Col. Knowlton was buried with military honors near the road leading from Kingsbridge to the city. A monument, planted by the hand of affection, has been erected to his memory in the cemetery at Ashford, Conn.
REV. STEPHEN PEABODY.
Mr. Peabody was born Nov. 1I, 174I, and was son of John and Sarah Peabody. When about nine years of age, his father removed to North Andover, where Stephen was reared. He graduated at Harvard College, 1769. He was ordained over the church in Atkinson, N. H., Nov. 25, 1772, where he was the first minister. Taking a great interest in the war of the Revolution, he served as chap-
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lain in the regiment of Col. Poor, which was stationed at Winter Hill. He died May 23, 1819, aged seventy-seven years .*
REV. DAVID JEWETT.
Mr. Jewett was born Nov. 6, 1743, and was son of Ezekiel and Martha Jewett. He graduated at Harvard College, 1769. Ordained Sept. 1, 1771. Settled over the church at Candia, N. H. The hard times of the Revolution coming on, and the town being small, they could not pay his salary, and he was dismissed about 1780. He was immediately re-settled as the first minister at Winthrop, Me. He died Feb. 28, 1783.
REV. BENJAMIN CHADWICK.
Mr. Chadwick was born March 26, 1745, and was son of Thomas and Mary (Porter) Chadwick. He graduated at Harvard College, 1770. We know little concerning his life, character, or abilities. He died in 1819.
AARON PORTER, M.D.
Mr. Porter was born March 28, 1752, and was son of Moses and Mary (Chadwick) Porter. He was a physician of eminence. He was first settled at Biddeford, Me., and afterwards at Portland, Me. Died at Portland, June 30, 1837, aged eighty-five years .;
* Mr. Peabody married, first, Polly Hazeltine, Jan. 19, 1773, who died Sept. 19, 1793, at the age of fifty-one years, leaving two children, Stephen and Mary. Stephen was judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Hancock County, Me. Mr. Peabody married, second, Dec. 8, 1795, Mrs. Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. William Smith of Weymouth, sister of the wife of the senior President Adams, and widow of Rev. John Shaw of Haverhill, Mass. She died, at the age of sixty-five years, April 9, 1815.
+ Mr. Porter married Paulina, daughter of Richard King of Scarborough, Me., - and sister of Hon. Rufus King, the first United-States senator from New York, minister to England, &c .; and half-sister of Hon. William King, the first governor of Maine, - April 30, 1777, who was born March 1, 1759, and died Feb. 27, 1833. Their children were : Rufus King; Moses ; Mary
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
MAJOR-GEN. AMOS HOVEY.
Amos Hovey was born May 31, 1757, and was son of Deacon Joseph and Rebecca (Stickney) Hovey. In early life he entered with enthusiasm into the military service of his country during the Revolutionary War, and served in many arduous campaigns with great credit. On the res- toration of peace in 1783, he settled in Salem, and was in the dry-goods business in Neptune Street, and subsequently in the Franklin Building. At one time he was a merchant on Union Wharf. The various offices, both civil and mili- tary, which had been conferred upon him by his fellow- citizens, indicate the high estimation in which he was universally held. He was lieutenant and captain of the Salem Artillery, major and colonel of the Artillery Regi- ment, and brigadier and major-general in the Second Division of the Massachusetts Militia. He died Oct. 17, 1838, at the age of eighty-one years, leaving no issue.
REV. HUMPHREY CLARK PERLEY.
Mr. Perley was born Dec. 24, 1761, and was son of Capt. William and Sarah (Clark) Perley. Entering Dartmouth College at the age of twenty-five years, he graduated in 1791 with the degree of A.M. He studied divinity with Rev. Ebenezer Bradford of Rowley, and Rev. Ebenezer Dutch of Bradford, two eminent divines of his time. He was approbated to preach July 3, 1794, by the Essex Mid- dle Association. On the 2d of December, in the following year, he was ordained over the church in Methuen, where he continued to officiate till his dismission, May 24, 1815. He was next settled over the North Society in Beverly,
(mother of the wife of Rev. Charles Beecher of Georgetown, Mass.) ; Richard King ; Paulina (mother of wife of Rev. Edward Beecher of Brooklyn, N.Y.) ; Isabella Bragdon ; Harriet, married (second wife) Rev. Dr. Lyman Beecher, and became the mother of Rev. Thomas Beecher of Elmira, N.Y .; Almira ; Rufus King; Lucy ; Elizabeth ; and Lucy Elizabeth.
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Dec. 2, 1818, where he had been preaching a while pre- viously. Here he continued in the ministry till he was dismissed, June 13, 1821. This was his last pastorate. He preached in several pulpits at times during the few following years. His abilities were meagre, and his princi- ples of religion rather inclined to Unitarianism. Several of his sermons were published, and are yet extant. He died in Georgetown, May 10, 1838, at the age of seventy- six years.
SAMUEL HOLYOKE, A.M.
Mr. Holyoke was born in the old Holyoke house, Oct. 15, 1762, and was son of Rev. Elizur and Hannah (Pea- body) Holyoke. He graduated at Harvard College, 1789. He was a popular musician, and became renowned as a music-composer. The first of the tunes which he com- posed was Arnheim; and, although he was but sixteen years of age at the time, this is the only one of his pro- ductions that remains popular at the present time.
In 1790 he prepared the copy of his first collection of sacred music, which made its appearance in January, 1791. This book is entitled " Harmonia Americana. Containing a concise Introduction to the Grounds of Music. With a variety of Airs, suitable for Divine Worship and the use of Musical Societies. Consisting of three and four parts. By Samuel Holyoke, A.B." It was " Printed at Boston, Typographically, By Isaiah Thomas and Ebenezer T. Andrews, at Faust's Statue, No. 45, Newbury Street. - MDCCXCI." This book was published by subscription ; and, at the time of its publication, the author had received subscribers for two hundred and sixty copies. In the preface of this volume he discards the general use of fugue in sacred music.
Mr. Holyoke was extensively and favorably known as a teacher and composer of both vocal and instrumental music. In 1806 he published at Exeter, N. H., vol. i. of
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The Instrumental Assistant, a quarto of eighty pages ; and in 1807 was published, at the same place, vol. ii. of that work, containing one hundred and four pages, quarto. In these two volumes were given "rules for learning music, and complete scales of all the instruments used," and about two hundred pieces of music for instruments, ar- ranged in parts from two to eight. In 1809 appeared The Columbian Repository of Sacred Harmony. This was the most extensive collection of sacred music ever published in this country. It contained four hundred and seventy-two quarto pages, and about seven hundred and fifty pieces of music, including the whole of Dr. Watts' psalms and hymns, to each of which a tune was adapted, and some additional tunes suited to the particular metres in Tate and Brady's, and Dr. Belknap's collection of psalms and hymns. The volume is a very good specimen of printing, and from it have been selected a large number of tunes which help to make up the various collections of church music which have since appeared. This work was published by sub- scription, the price per copy being three dollars. Mr. Holyoke was also concerned in the publication of The Massachusetts Compiler, with Oliver Holden of Charles- town, Mass .; and, at the time of his death, was engaged in preparing for publication a third collection of instrumental music. In early life he possessed a remarkably good voice ; but in his latter years it had become so harsh that he was obliged to use a clarionet in his vocal schools.
At a social gathering of his musical friends, at the house of Jacob B. Moore, Esq., in Concord, N. H., Feb. 2, 1820, at the close of the exercises Mr. Holyoke requested them to sing Arnheim, remarking that perhaps he would never meet with a choir on earth so well calculated to do justice to his first composition. It was sung twice, and Mr. Hol- yoke was affected to tears. He never sang again.
He had been teaching at Concord, N. H., during the
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winter, and died Feb. 7, 1820, of an attack of lung-fever, at Lang's Tavern, East Concord, after a short illness of four days. He died poor, but highly respected and esteemed by those who knew him .*
NATHANIEL PERLEY, ESQ.
Mr. Perley was born March 22, 1763, and was son of Nathaniel and Mehitable (Perley) Perley. Mr. Perley graduated at Dartmouth College, 1791, and was a lawyer in Hallowell, Me. ; but was more noted for his wit- which sometimes turned the gravity of the court-room into uncon- trollable hilarity -than for his pleas. He was unsurpassed for sound judgment, and possessed of every personal qual- ity, if properly employed, to have made him one of the great men of our country. He died in 1824.
DR. WILLIAM PEABODY.
Mr. Peabody was born in the old mansion occupied during the summer by William A. Herrick, Esq., of Boston, Jan. 10, 1768, and was son of Richard and Jemima (Spofford) Peabody. He practised the medicamental art for several years at Frankfort, Me., and afterward removed to Corinth, Me. He bore a good reputation as a physician.
SAMUEL PEABODY, ESQ.
Mr. Peabody was born in the old mansion occupied during the summer by William A. Herrick, Esq., of Boston, Jan. 30, 1775, and was son of Richard and Jemima (Spofford) Peabody. He graduated at Dartmouth College, 1803. Was an attorney and counsellor at law. Resided at different times in Sandwich, Epsom, and Tamworth, N. H., and from 1842 to 1859 in Andover, Mass. His death occurred Oct. 17, 1859. He was a gentleman of the
* A part of our information has been gleaned from Moore's Encyclopedia of Music.
.
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highest moral and social qualities, and much general cul- ture and professional attainment .*
JOSEPH HOVEY, ESQ.
Mr. Hovey was born Oct. 31, 1776, and was son of Joseph and Mary (Porter) Hovey. Graduated at Harvard College, 1804. Was a lawyer at Haverhill, Mass. He died in 1816.
GEN. SOLOMON LOWE.
Mr. Lowe was born April 9, 1782, and was son of Nathan and Lucy (Lord) Lowe. He served in the militia of the State many years, and held the office of general of the Second Brigade, Second Division, from September, 1820, until April, 1840, when all the general officers were dis- charged, preparatory to a re-organization of the militia. He represented the town of Boxford in the Legislature of the State during the years 1823, 1827, 1828, and 1841, and was selectman for many years. Lived in Boxford till about 1857, when he removed to West Newbury, where he died April 3, 1861. In 1836 he was vice-president of the Essex Agricultural Society .;
* Mr. Peabody married Abigail, daughter of Jonathan Wood, Oct. 7, 1813, by whom were born Charles A., Abby Hale, William Frederic, George Samuel, Enoch Wood, Sarah Jane, David Wood, John Tyler, Mary Spof- ford, and Ellen Eliza. Charles A., the oldest child, was a lawyer in New- York City, judge of New-York Supreme Court. President of United States appointed him judge of the United-States Provisional Court for Louisiana, at New Orleans, in 1862 ; chief justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, - the appellate court of last resort in that State, - 1863-64 ; and afterwards United-States attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
+ Mr. Lowe married, first, Huldah Kimball of Boxford, 1806, who died Sept. 24, 1808, aged twenty-eight years, having given birth to two children, twins. One died in infancy, and the other was Major William Lowe. Mr. Lowe married, second, Dolly Wood of Boxford, 1813, who died May 10, 1817, aged thirty-one years, having given birth to another pair of twins. One died in infancy, and the other was Mary Ann, who was the first wife of Mr. Edward Howe. Mr. Lowe married, third, May 14, 1849, Martha, daugh- ter of Thomas and Hannah Eastman of Sanbornton, N.H., and widow of
4
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
RUFUS PORTER HOVEY, ESQ.
Mr. Hovey was born Feb. 5, 1790, and was son of Joseph and Mary (Porter) Hovey. He graduated at Harvard Col- lege, 1813. Was an attorney at Lynn, Mass. His death occurred in 1820.
REV. PETER SYDNEY EATON.
Mr. Eaton was born Oct. 7, 1798, and was son of Rev. Peter and Sarah (Stone) Eaton. He fitted for college under the supervision of his father ; and graduated at Har- vard in 1818, and at the Theological Seminary at Andover in 1822. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Londonderry, in the spring of 1822. He was settled over the church at Merrimac (then West Amesbury), Mass., Sept. 20, 1826, and was dismissed May 10, 1837. He retired from the ministry, and for some years resided in Chelsea, where he died March 13, 1863. Those of his former charge who yet survive remember him with sincere respect and affection.
Of his religious life he says : "My attention was first called to an earnest consideration of the subject of religion while a teacher in Phillips Academy, Andover, through the awakening of a favorite pupil, remarkably amiable and intelligent, but who exhibited the most pungent convic- tions of sin. Quite a revival followed. I had been greatly perplexed by the doctrine of man's entire depravity ; but now, after a course of thorough self-examination, am satisfied of its truth."
Fred. J. Merriam of Topsfield ; who died July 24, 1855, aged fifty years. Mr. Lowe married, for his fourth wife, Caroline H. Chase of West Newbury, who survived him, and married, secondly, a Mr. Chase of West New- bury, where she is still living. The remains of Gen. Lowe lie in his tomb in Harmony Cemetery. The tomb has attracted many visitors, because of the pictures of himself and his four wives, which are engraved on marble tablets, and placed upon the face of the tomb.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
HON. IRA PERLEY.
Mr. Perley was born Nov. 9, 1799, and was son of Sam- uel and Phebe (Dresser) Perley. Ira's father was a farmer in not affluent circumstances, though his family was far from being in an indigent condition. When Ira was eight years of age, his father died, and the farm was left to the care of the widow and three sons, aged respectively eight, four, and three years. By the widow's hard labor, with what little help the young children could render, the farm was carried on, and a part of its income laid by. Ira, as well as the doctor, whose biography follows, early evinced a desire for knowledge. At odd hours of the day, when not employed in labor, he would be found with book in hand ; and on the long winter evenings, by the light which the fire on the hearth afforded, he pored over his Latin grammar, and other works which formed the elements of his after-study. At an early age he entered Bradford Academy, when Benjamin Greenleaf was preceptor. At the age of eighteen, in 1818, he entered Dartmouth Col- lege, where he graduated in 1822. He then read law with B. J. Gilbert, Esq., of Haverhill, Mass., and commenced the practice of the profession in Concord, N.H. He also after- wards practised law with great honor at Hanover, N. H. He was a representative to the Legislature of New Hamp- shire from Concord and Hanover, respectively ; treasurer of Dartmouth College; vice-president of the New-England Historic-Genealogical Society for a number of years ; and was for several years chief justice of New Hampshire. In 1866 Mr. Perley delivered, before the Association of the Alumni at Dartmouth College, the eulogy on the death of Rufus Choate, and also of the Hon. Daniel Webster, Dart- mouth's two most distinguished sons. Mr. Perley died in Concord, N. H., where he resided, Feb. 26, 1874, aged seventy-four years.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
A classmate in college has kindly furnished us some prevailing traits of Mr. Perley's character. He says :-
" I entered the sophomore class in Dartmouth College at the com- mencement in the year 1819. I then first became acquainted with Ira Perley. He had been in college one year, and had established, beyond all controversy, his title to the first appointment in his class, which in number was second only to that of 1811. Not only so : I think he was considered, from that time until we finished our course in 1822, the best general scholar in the college. He had not the brilliancy, the imagination, nor the fascinating power of Rufus Choate, who graduated when I entered, nor had he, probably, the same extent of classical learning ; but, after Choate left, no one remained that could compete with Perley in all the college studies.
" Ira Perley was modest and unassuming. Conscious of his own abilities, he had no occasion to assume any factitious importance. . As he was beyond the reach of rivalry in college, he excited no one's envy. The same position he held among his classmates in college, he readily obtained at the bar and upon the bench ; I mean as a learned lawyer and an accomplished judge.
" He was an active and an honest man. He passed a long life in the discharge of various important duties, - civil, professional, politi- cal, and judicial. They were all performed with integrity and ability, without a stain upon his character. Perley was not a marked man, either in his personal appearance, or in his manner of address. He was not a natural orator or poet ; but, as a lawyer, to collect the law of the case, arrange and apply it, he was excelled by few.
" He was not a politician, according to the common acceptation of the word. When the Rebellion broke out, Perley's voice gave no uncertain sound. He sympathized fully with the North, believing that the national life should be preserved ; and, as he felt and believed, so he spoke.
" In the profession which Judge Perley selected, a good memory is of the utmost importance. This faculty he possessed and cultivated to an extent beyond most men. Did a principle of law require to be elucidated or established ? he would readily name the case, quote the book, and frequently the page, where the authority could be found. This faculty made him of great value to the other members of the court. He was, in fact, their legal dictionary. This power of recol- lection was not confined to the law. He was an extensive reader of miscellaneous works of fiction, travel, and the various productions of modern literature ; and he seemed not only to devour, but to digest
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thoroughly, whatever he had read. This faculty was cultivated to such an extent, that, in summing up his cases to the jury, he made little use of his notes of the evidence, and frequently astonished the bar and the jury at the minuteness, accuracy, and fulness of his recollection of the names and testimony of the witnesses.
" Another trait in Judge Perley's character was independence. As he was self-reliant, he was not disposed to accept the results of the investigation of others, without examination.
"His literary labors were chiefly confined to the law. He indeed delivered eulogies upon two of Dartmouth's most distinguished sons, Daniel Webster and Rufus Choate ; but his reputation as a lawyer and jurist must rest finally upon his record in the Reports of the Judicial Courts of New Hampshire." (See Alumni of Dartmouth College, and other documents.)
On the opposite page is an engraving of Mr. Perley's birthplace. It is also of interest because of the gigantic elm-tree. The tree is one of the largest, and the most symmetrical and beautiful, of any to be found in this section of the State. It was set out about 1760, by Major Asa Perley, grandfather of Hon. Ira Perley, whose young sons brought it from the woods when a sapling.
DR. DANIEL PERLEY.
Mr. Perley was born in the house (an engraving of which is here given) where his elder brother, the Hon. Ira Per- ley, was also born, March 24, 1804, and was son of Samuel and Phebe (Dresser) Perley. He prepared for and entered Dartmouth College in 1824, from which institution' he .graduated with honor in 1828. He took up the study of medicine, and began to practise in the Second Parish of Rowley, - now Georgetown, - where he continued several years. He at length removed to Lynn, in which place he continued in the duties of his profession. During twenty- five months of the Rebellion, he was surgeon of the Board of Enrolment of the Fifth District of Massachusetts. He still resides at Lynn, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. (See Alumni of Dartmouth College.)
BIRTH-PLACE OF HON. IRA PERLEY.
-
yours truly, Joseph & Ballett.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
REV. JOHN HUBBARD EATON.
Mr. Eaton was born April 12, 1806, and was son of Rev. Peter and Sarah (Stone) Eaton. He was fitted for college by his father, at the age of twelve years. He graduated at Harvard College, 1827. He preached several years, but, on account of ill health, was never settled in the ministry. He died in New-York City, where he had been engaged with the Tract Society.
JOSEPH ELBRIDGE BARTLETT, M.D.
Mr. Bartlett was born Feb, 16, 1819, on the farm border- ing upon Ipswich River, which had been owned and occu- pied by his ancestors for many generations. He was son of Samuel and Lois (Holt) Killam. He labored upon the farm, and attended the public schools, till eighteen years of age, when he engaged in teaching. Afterwards he attended Topsfield Academy for three years, fitting for, and pros- ecuting the studies usually pursued in, college. He then began the study of medicine with George Cogswell, M.D., of Bradford, Mass. In 1844 he was a member of the medical department of Dartmouth College. In 1845 his surname was legally changed from Killam to Bartlett. In 1845 and 1846 he was a member of the medical department of the University of the City of New York, from which institution he graduated with the degree of M.D. in the last-named year. He began the practice of his profession in Somerville, Mass., and continued it in that town and the adjoining cities of Charlestown and Boston, for eighteen years. In 1853 he was chosen president of the Mystic- river Corporation, a company organized for the purpose of constructing wharves, quays, and docks, and for making other improvements, in Boston Upper Harbor, near the mouth of Mystic River. In 1864 he retired from the practice of his profession, and has since given exclusive
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