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 7
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JOHN PERLEY was living here as early as 1683. He was born in 1636, and was the first Perley born in America. He was brother to the preceding settler, and by trade a carpenter. He was a prominent man in the town, which he twice represented in the Legislature ; many other posi- tions of trust he also filled with fidelity. He was made a freeman October, 1690. About 1661 he married Mary, daughter of Thomas and Rebecca Howlett, who died 21 Oct., 1718, at the age of seventy-six years. He died 15 Dec., 1729, at the great age of ninety-three years. The bodies of himself and wife lie interred in the cemetery near the Third-District schoolhouse, their gravestones being well preserved. His lineal descendants have been resi- dents of the town until within half a century. His chil- dren were: I. Sarah,2 b. about 1662; m. Joseph Andrews. 2. Samuel,2 b. 1664; d. in Rowley, 24 Oct., 1746, aged eighty-two years. 3. John ; 2 m. (?) and resided here. 4. unm., 16 Jan., 1822. 11. Moody,4 b. 16 March, 1760. 12. Phebe,4 b. 14 Jan., 1763; m. Solomon Wood of Boxford. 13. Eliphalet,4 b. 17 Nov., 1765; d. unm., 17 March, 1846.
Moody4 m. Abigail, dau. of John and Elizabeth (Bradstreet) Gould of Topsfield, 10 Dec., 1793, who d. 23 Jan., 1851, aged eighty-one years. He d. 23 Sept., 1833. Ch. : I. Betsey Gould,5 b. 24 March, 1796; m. Daniel W. Perkins of Topsfield ; live in Georgetown. 2. Moody,5 b. 15 April, 1798 ; d. 7 Nov., 1803. 3. Hiram,5 b. 18 July, 1800; m. Ruth Ann Smith ; d. 23 Feb., 1865. 4. Abigail,5 b. 19 March, 1803. 5. Fanny,5 b. 4 April, 1806. 6. Moody,5 b. 26 March, 1809. 7. Stephen,5 b. 8 Feb., 1811; d. unm., 23 March, 1867. 8. Leander,5 b. 14 Nov., 1815; d. 11 Oct., 1864, unm.
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Thomas,2 b. 1669; m. Ist, Abigail (Towne), widow of Jacob Peabody of Topsfield; m. 2d, Hannah Goodhue ; lived first in Topsfield, and removed to Boxford about 1713. 5. Nathaniel.2 6. Isaac.2 7. Jeremiah,2 b. 1677; m. three times ; no issue ; was a prominent man, a captain in the militia, &c. 8. Mary.2
THOMAS HAZEN was born in Rowley, 29 : II mo. : 1657, and was son of Edward (the immigrant) and Hannah (Grant) Hazen. He probably resided near the "great meadows," in a pasture where an ancient cellar is still visi- ble .* He came here immediately after his marriage with Mary, daughter of Thomas Howlett, I Jan., 1683-84. He was made a freeman 22 March, 1689-90. He was select- man for several years, and also regularly served in other town offices. In 1711, with most of his family, Mr. Hazen removed to Norwich, Conn., where he died 12 April, 1735, aged seventy-seven years. His wife died 24 Oct., 1727. His children were: I. Hannah,2 b. 10 Oct., 1684; m. John Symonds of Boxford, 13 Feb., 170 -. 2. Alice,2 b. 10 June, I686; m. Jeremiah Perley of Boxford, 20 Dec., 1710. 3. John,2 b. 23 March, 1688; m. Mercy, dau. of John and Sarah (Perkins) Bradstreet of Topsfield ; lived in Norwich, Conn. 4. Thomas,2 b. 7 Feb., 1690; m. Sarah Ayer of Norwich, Conn., where he lived. 5. Jacob,2 b. 5 Dec., 1691 ; m. Abigail -; lived in Norwich. 6. Mary,2 b. I Sept., 1694; m. Increase Moseley, 4 July, 1711. 7. Lydia,2 b. I Sept., 1694, twin with Mary; m. Benjamin Abell of Norwich, 17 March, 1713-14. 8. Hephzibah,2 b. 22 March, 1697; m. Nathaniel Perkins, 15 Nov., 1716. 9. Ruth,2 b. 3 Oct., 1699; d. in Norwich, Conn., 18 Feb., 1739-40. 10. Jeremiah,2 b. 4 Jan., 1701-02. II. Ednah,2 b. 25 Dec., 1704; m. Joshua Smith of Norwich, 21 Oct.,
* Since the above was in type we have discovered documents indicating that Mr. Hazen's residence was near Reyner Pond; which is no doubt correct.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
1724. Several years elapsed before Jacob Hazen settled here, about 1760. The old place spoken of above was last occupied about seventy-five years ago, by the above-named Jacob, the father of Hannah Hazen, who, it will be remem- bered by the older residents in that section of the town, created quite a sensation by doing works which were ascribed, at the time, to the power of Satan. The descend- ants of Thomas Hazen have been many, and of a dis- tinguished character. Among them are Rev. Hervey Crosby Hazen, lately a missionary in India, and now a minister in Spencer, N. Y .; Hon. Abraham D. Hazen of Pennsylvania, now Third-Assistant Postmaster-Gen- eral ; Rev. Austin Hazen, pastor in Hartford and Berlin, Vt .; Rev. Allen Hazen, for many years a missionary in India ; Rev. Jasper Hazen, one of the oldest and most honored ministers of the Christian denomination ; Gen. William B. Hazen of the United States army, who distin- guished himself under Sherman in the war of the Rebel- lion, and particularly by his brilliant capture of Fort McAllister, near Savannah, on the "March to the Sea;" Rev. Henry A. Hazen of Billerica; Rev. Timothy Allyn Hazen of Goshen, Conn .; Rev. James King Hazen, Secre- tary of the Board of Publication of the Presbyterian Church (South) at Richmond, Va. ; and many others, mostly dis- tinguished as divines.
In 1678-79, March, Topsfield made a rate for procuring powder and bullets. The total amount of the rate was £41 6s. 6d., of which the Villagers' share was £4 19s., to be paid in money, or Indian corn at two shillings a bushel. John Cummings was the gatherer for the Village.
The following order was passed by the General Court, Oct. 15, 1684 : "Ordered, that all persons liuing in Rowley Village, neere to Topsfield, who are liable to attend mili- tary service on fout, shall attend their duty vnder the comand of the cheift officer at Topsfeild, & be one company
.
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wth respect to military service." The following May, the General Court ordered that the above order should " be null & voyd, & that the villagers be excercised by such officers as the major generall shall appoint, till farther order." The reason why these orders were called into existence is unknown. Farther orders, intimated above, were not needed, as the Village was incorporated as a town three months later, and from that time the Villagers comprised a company of their own.
Mr. Hobart's course in Topsfield was no smoother than that of his predecessor. The people accused him of im- moralities, and withheld his pay. He, in his turn, sued the people, and obtained judgment. 7 May, 1680, Topsfield voted "that thay wars not Willing mr Hubbord should Continue in ye work of ye miniftry here at Topsfeild with- out mr Hubbord and ye Towne Can agree in a more Chrif- tan way then thay bee in at pefent." Mr. Hobart was accordingly dismissed from the ministry before the season was out. Mr. Hobart was again settled at Hempstead, L. I., where he staid a number of years ; but after a while, finding that his congregation was fast leaving him, he con- cluded to go also. He was next settled at Haddam, Conn., and there he staid till his death, at the age of eighty- eight years. Although little sanctity seems connected with this early pastor of Topsfield, he is, however, closely related to several noted divines; and Mr. Brainard, the celebrated missionary, was his grandson.
In this year (1680) considerable discussion was carried on about petitioning the General Court to have the Vil- lagers and the Linebrook * people joined with the Tops- field people, "for ye Cariang one ye miniftry." Topsfield went so far as to appoint a committee to meet with the others to compose a petition. None was sent, probably.
* Linebrook was a small settlement in the west end of Ipswich, near to Topsfield. It was incorporated as a parish in 1749.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
In 1678 a gallery with seats in it was built in the meeting-house, one-third of which was sold in 1681 to the Villagers, for them to sit in.
No pulpit had, up to this time, adorned the church. In 1682 one was built by Samuel Symonds of the Village, ten feet long. The cost was ten pounds without the material, which the town furnished. The old meeting-house was used for the purpose of worship until a new edifice was erected in 1703. The old one was then sold for five pounds to John Gould, who moved it down to the turnpike, and used it for a barn. It was afterwards removed to the "river meadows," where some of its decayed timbers could be seen a few years since.
After several unsuccessful calls to the ministry there, one was accepted by Rev. Joseph Capen of Cambridge ; and a committee (Thomas Perkins of Topsfield, and Joseph Bixby of the Village) was appointed "to goe to Cambrig to pilot m Capen to Topsfeild to Liut Pebodyes house." Another committee was chosen - among whom was Sam- uel Buswell, sen., of the Village-"to discorse with mr Capen to ftay and preach here with us at Topsfeild a while." A salary of £65-£20 payable in silver, and £45 in pork and beef per year - with the use of the par- sonage-house, was voted to be given him. After preaching there one year, he was given an invitation to settle, which was accepted Sept. 18, 1682 : he was settled soon after.
Mr. Capen was a native of Dorchester, and a graduate of Harvard College. He continued in the ministry there for many years after the Villagers had withdrawn from the Church. He was a preacher of moderate abilities, as appears from one of his sermons which was published. His wife was Priscilla, daughter of Capt. John Appleton of Ipswich, a distinguished man in his day ; and through their daughter Elizabeth, Mr. Capen's blood flows in the veins of the writer.
CHAPTER IV.
INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN, &C.
INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN. - DIVIDING-LINE CONFIRMED. - NAMING THE TOWN. -- THE TOWN RECORDS. - FIRST CEME- TERY. - HOUSES, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. - SETTLERS, 1685-1700.
ST is the highest ambition of every community to have a government of its own, and to be recog- nized by its own voice in the higher halls of legis- lation. Grand! must the inhabitants of our early New-England settlements have been, when they were rec- ognized by the General Court as independent communities, and took their places with the neighboring towns, possess- ing like power in conducting the affairs of the body poli- tic. And, indeed, it was no false pride; for they could look back upon the past, and observe that the acts of their lives, being for the good and for the advancement of the place, all culminated at last in their independent condition.
The Village having now increased to about forty families, the inhabitants turned their attention to procuring a town charter. While in their existing condition they had no power to settle a minister, or to raise money to support one if settled. Rowley had encouraged them to proceed in this direction ; and it was on the 18th of May, 1685, that the inhabitants of the Village met together, in a lawful
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and general meeting, and voted that they would petition the General Court for a town charter, and that Abraham Redington, sen., should be the bearer of it. Nine days later, the General Court convened, and this petition was placed before them. The following is a literal transcript from the original :-
" To the honoured General Court, held at Boston, the 27 : 3 mo. 1685. The humble petesion of the inhabitants of Rowley village to the honoured General Court, wee being sensaball of the great need of having the publick word of God preached amongst us, which wee cannot have in the condesion that wee bee in at present, wee lying so far remote from Rowley that wee cannot comfortably atend God's public worship for the greatest part of the year, it is therefore the general desire of the inhabitants of Rowley vilage to bee a preparing to settle a minnester amongst ourselves as soon as convenantly wee can, thearfore wee desiar, that the honoured General Court would bee pleased to grant us township prevelig, that so wee might the more comfortably cary on so needfull a work, for the betor edication of our children that cannot gooe fouer mieles to meting : severall of our towne of Rowley have incoureged us to gooe about this work several years agoen, teling of us that the vilag was laied out for that eand, and it doth contaien a bought eaighteen thousand acores of land, which wee think will comfortabully setuate one hundred families ; this vileg or tract of land was obtained of the General Court by Rowley men to bee an adesion to thear concern, which suen after they had mead it suer to them saelves, they laied it ought to thear own townsmen, every man according to his hoaes lote (saving a few mistakes), and also laied ought a ministours farem in it, for a ministor to live on as suen as the vileg should be capaball to maintaien a minnistor, and now wee bee increased to the nuember of a bought forty famelies and more, may bee a preparing satelment, ouer desiour is fierst to maek the min- nister's farem to be fet and sutabull to entartain a minnister in, and then to call a minister if wee can find 'on willing to come, and teall then we shall bee willing to contrebut to those plases that wee doe hear the word of God preached at, as formerly we have doaen, severall of ouer ouen towen of Rowley have incoreged us to call a minnester first, but wee havinge no power amonst our salves eather to call a meeting, or to agree how much to give a minnester, or to com- pel any persun to doe his dewty if he will not doe it of himself, there-
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fore we dooe humbaly desair the honored Genaral Court would bee pleased to grant us ouer petesion herin.
" ABRAHAM REDDINGTON, Sen. JOSEPH BIXBEE, Sen. SAMUEL BUSWEL, Sen. WILLIAM FOSTER, JOHN PEABODY.
" These in the name and with the consent of the reast of the vileg." *
In answer to this petition, the General Court order, that, " In ansr to the petition of Abraham Reddington, Joseph Bixbee, Samuel Buswell, Wm Foster, & John Peabody, in the behalf of the inhabitants of Rowley Village, the Court inclines to grant their request, prouided it may be with the consent of the selectmen of Rowley."} Rowley readily consented, and on the 7th of July their committee met with a committee appointed by the Village, and agreed upon a dividing-line. The session of the General Court held when the petition was acted upon had come to an end ; and at the next Quarterly Court, which convened on the 12th of August following, Rowley sent in their consent, accompa- nied by a description of the parting line. Their consent is as follows : -
" The inhabitants of Rowley Village desiring to be a touneship, wee, whose names are vnderwritten, being a comitte chosen by ye toune of Rowley, haue consented that they should be a touneship, prouided the honord Court see cause to grant their request. Wee, desiring also that the honnored Gennerall Court would be pleased to confirme the lyne wee haue agreed vpon betwixt the toune of Rowley & the village ; and so your humble servants remajne, yors, &c.
" DANIEL WYCOM, JHº TRUMBLE, STEPHEN MIGHILL, EZEKIEL JEWET, JHº HOPKINSON, JOHN LIGHTON."
* This petition is copied from Gage's History of Rowley.
t Gage, in his History of Rowley, says that this order was passed June 5. Where he got his information we do not know.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
These documents were accepted by the Court, and the line, as agreed upon, was confirmed. This line was nearly the same as that which now divides the two towns. A few slight alterations have been made by the perambulators in after-years ; and by an Act of the General Court in 1808 a small piece of land in Georgetown, on which was situated the Samuel Spofford house, was set off from Row- ley to Boxford, and afterward to Georgetown. The "forked oak " mentioned in the agreement stood across the street from the cigar-manufactory of Mr. T. B. Masury, at which place a split stone now stands, marked with the letters "G" and "B." The report of the committee that run the dividing-line, as it was copied into the town records of Boxford about fifteen years later, by Capt. John Peabody, the town-clerk, is as follows : -
"Wee whoes names are vnder written being chosen by the Town of Rowley on the one part and by the village of Rowley on the other peart to a gree about a parting liene betwixt the Town of Rowly and the Villiag being meet to gather the Seventh of July 1685 : do agree as foloweth that the middel bound shall bee whear the foout Path Esueth out of the Cart path not far ofe the bridg going ouer the great medow and from the said middel bounds to a forked whit oack neear the medow formerly layed out to Elder Rainer being a bound of that peart of the said medoo that feall to Captin whippel one a devision and is also the corner bound of a persil of land layed out to Ezecal northen being by Estemation a bout forty acors, and so going on the same liene straight to Ipswich lien and from the a bove said tree of a straight lien to the South weast corner of the three thowsand acors which is a whit oake marked with . R . and . t . : and so from the said tree north ward on a lien betwixt the three thowsand acors and land layed out to mistris Rogers and John pickard teall you come to a whit oake marked with . S . K .t . being the corner bound of John pick- ards land standing in the lien betwixt bradforth and the vileg : we forther agree that the inhabitance of the village shall bee free from all Reats for time to come to the Town of Rowly Exsepting twenty shillings in silver to bee payed by Josaph Bixbee sener John pebody william foster Samuell Simonds and mosis tiler yearly to anney of the Commety whiel thay have no orthodox minister setled in the village
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
and forther it is agreead that all the Coman land lying with in the village undeuided shall Remaien to belong to the town of Rowly Exsepting the fearm commenly called the minnisters farme with in the villeag : and anney thing that is dew to the Country for land lying in the villiag is to bee paied by the in habitants of the villeage in Con- formation of what is a bove written both pearties have seat tow thair hands the day and year a bove spesified
" EZECAL JUEAT
JOHN HOPKINS JOHN LAYTON
ROBART EAMES
"this is a trew Copey taken out of the Enstru- ment of a greement between Rowly and the villiag in the day that Rowly seat the villaig thair bounds a cording as the general Court did order as attest John pebody Town Clark for Boxford"
JOSAPH BIXBEE JOHN JONSON
JOHN PEBODY
SAMUEL PLATES JUENR
SAMUEL SIMONDS
EZECALL NORTHEN WILLIAM FOSTER
DANIELL WICOM
MOSIS TILER
JOHN TRUMBOLL
STEEPHEN MYHEALL "
The twenty shillings mentioned in this agreement as an annual acquittance of the Villagers was paid by them for eighteen years, or until the first minister was settled here, in 1702. The oldest record on the town-books is a copy of the receipt for this sum for the first year.
Boxford, at the date of incorporation, probably contained about two hundred inhabitants. These, in general, were enterprising, industrious, and well-to-do people. At this time agriculture was the principal business. Most of the farms had large tracts of land under cultivation. Corn was the main crop.
In selecting a name for the new town, recourse was made to the Old Country. Perhaps some of the early settlers who were natives of the towns of the same name in England, "loving the old town at home, wished to preserve its name in the new country." Rev. Mr. Phillips, the min- . ister in Rowley at this time, was born in Boxford,* Berk-
* Boxford, Berkshire, England, is laid out in pleasant farms ; and char- acteristic of its American namesake, its quietude is peculiar. It is about
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
shire, in England ; and perhaps he persuaded the inhabit- ants of the Village to call it Boxford, or they did it out of respect to him. However, it was from that time called Boxford ; and with the Village we have no longer any thing to do.
Several pages of the earliest records of the town have become loose, and some of them have undoubtedly been lost, as the records do not appear to be arranged in regular order until several years are passed. The list of officers chosen in 1686 are not to be found on the existing records of the town, but from other contemporary records we have obtained the names of the following, viz. : constable, Robert Stiles ; town-clerk, John Peabody .*
From 1690 the town-records have been well preserved. The transactions of the town are given in as minute a man-
thirty miles out from London, on the Great Northern Railway. The chief feature of the place is the large tunnel through which the above railroad passes ; it is seven miles in length, and the largest tunnel in England. - Rev. Hilary Bygrave.
The following are descriptions of the two Boxfords in England, extracted from Moules' Counties (Eng.) : -
" In the county of Suffolk in Babergh Hundred is Boxford, on a branch of the river Stour, five miles west from Hadleigh, sixteen miles west from Ipswich, and ten miles north from Colchester in Essex; contains one hundred and seventeen houses, and seven hundred and forty-three inhabitants. The village is pleasantly situated in a fertile valley, between two brooks, which unite a little below it. Here is a manufactory for dressing sheep and deer skins ; and a considerable trade in malt is carried on. The annual fairs are on Easter Monday and 21st December. The church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is a rectory, value twenty pounds, in the patronage of the crown : it is a spacious edifice, with a spire. Here is a free grammar-school, founded by Queen Elizabeth. Coddenham Hall, an old seat of the Bennet family, is now a farmhouse. Hadleigh is a hamlet of this parish." - Vol. I., p. 254.
"In the county of Berkshire, in Faircross Hundred, is Boxford, four miles from Newbury, and sixty from London ; contains one hundred and eight houses, and five hundred and sixty-three inhabitants. It is a rectory, value twenty pounds, with Westbrook, in Kintbury Hundred." - Vol. II., p. 4.
* For list of town-clerks and selectmen to the present time, see Ap- pendix A and B.
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
ner as could be expected ; the style of recording remaining about the same to the present time. The first volume of records of town-meetings is about half in the chirography of the first town-clerk, Capt. John Peabody ; the rest of the volume was written by various clerks who served only a few years at a time. This volume comes down to 1743. Five volumes are all there are of town-meeting records. There are several volumes of " tax-books" which contain the doings of the assessors back to the year 1711 .* An old " commoner's book" is also in existence, dating from 1683; the land of which it contains the record is that now occupied by the East Parish village, and eight hundred acres of Zaccheus Gould's on the south side of Fish Brook. The earliest births, marriages, and deaths, to 1740, were recorded with the records of town-meetings; since that time they have been recorded in separate volumes. The death record is very deficient, but that of births and marriages is very full.
The ancient cemetery near the residence of Mr. Walter French, in the East Parish, was undoubtedly the first place which the people used for the purpose of burying the dead. Prior to the date of which we are writing, and perhaps after, some of the settlers were interred in the cemeteries of the neighboring towns. The space used as a burial- ground was much larger than would be supposable from present appearance. This land was originally a part of the property of Abraham Redington, the first known white settler of the town. It was mentioned as "the burial- ground " as early as 1693. The oldest headstone now
* At the end of the first volume of tax-lists, which comes down to the year 1745, is inscribed the following (probably from the pen of Solomon Wood, and written about 1750) on its dilapidated state : -
" All old things are not done away, But some old things do much decay; As you may see by this old book If you from end to end should look."
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HISTORY OF BOXFORD.
standing there, and which is also the oldest in the town, bears the following inscription : -
HERE LYES BURIED THE BODY OF SARAH WOOD Ye
WIFE OF DEACON DANIEL WOOD WHO DIED SEPTEMBER 27 1714 & IN THE 57 YEAR OF HER AGE.
This cemetery was used as one of " God's acres " until the beginning of the present century, when, the graves being so numerous that a new one could not be excavated with- out digging into another, it was abandoned. Mrs. Ruth Trask, who died in 1829, was the last person interred there. The cemetery was originally a corner of a mowing-field, we should judge, that had been set apart for that purpose ; in which the shrubbery has become so dense as to screen most of the dozen remaining monuments from the sight of the passer-by, and in which the stray cattle graze. It would seem as if Whittier had this old cemetery in view when he wrote :-
"Our vales are sweet with fern and rose, Our hills are maple-crowned ; But not from them our fathers chose The village burying-ground.
" The dreariest spot in all the land To Death they set apart ; With scanty grace from Nature's hand, And none from that of Art.
" A winding wall of mossy stone, Frost-flung and broken, lines A lonesome acre thinly grown With grass and wandering vines.
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