USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Haverhill > The history of Haverhill, Massachusetts, from its first settlement, in 1640, to the year 1860 > Part 2
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valley of the Little River, (or Indian River, as it was also once called) of which the section just mentioned forms a part, is liere seen in all its beauty, as it stretches with its charming succession of hill, and dale, and meadow, from the Merrimack far back among the granite hills of our sister State. This view alone is well worth a visit to the broad summit of Silver Hill.
Turkey Hill, or, rather, the "Turkey Hills," is the irregular group of hills, near, and north of, the East Parish meeting-house. From the south- eastern brow of the principal hill, a fine view is had of the valley of the Merrimack, for several miles. From the summit of Job's Hill, which is situated a short distance directly north of the Turkey Hills, a charming view of the East Meadow river and valley is obtained. These meadows were the most valuable, as well as most extensive in the town, and were highly prized by the carly settlers.
Brandy Brow Hill, -so named from the accidental breaking of a bottle of that traditional liquor upon its summit, -is a hill of moderate elevation in the extreme northern part of the town. Upon the brow of this hill is a large rock, which stands at the corner of four towns, - Haverhill, Plaistow, Amesbury and Newton. The vicinity of this hill was long noted for the abundance and excellence of its pine timber.
Great Hill is the name applied to the highest elevation of land in the town, and is situated one mile north of Kenoza Lake. This hill, which rises three hundred and thirty-nine feet above the level of the ocean, and is the second highest land in Essex County, is the most prominent of a group of hills, which, as seen from the west and north, appear quite near each other, and were carly known as The Great Hills. The view from the summit of this hill is the most extensive and interesting of the many similar views to be obtained in the town. Portions of more than twenty towns in Massachusetts, and nearly or quite as many in New Hampshire, are easily distinguished by the naked eye. To the east stretches the broad Atlantic, whose deep blue waters, dotted with the white wings of com- merce, are plainly scen, from the Great Boar's Head to Cape Ann. Near its edge, and partially hidden from our sight by Pipe Stave Hill, in New- bury, are seen the spires, and many of the houses of the city of Newbury -. port. To the right, the eye can distinctly trace the outline of Cape Ann, from Castle Neck to Halibut Point. £ With the aid of a glass, several villages upon the Cape are made visible. As we sweep around from east to south, nearly all the most prominent hills in "Essex North" can be distinctly seen, and easily identified. To the south and south-west, por- tions of the villages of Groveland, Bradford, Haverhill, North Andover,
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Andover, and Methuen, and the city of Lawrence, can be seen, peeping above the intervening hills. To the south-west, the Wachusett; to the west, the Monadnock ; and to the north, the Deerfield mountains, are easily distinguished. To the north-west, the village of Atkinson, with its cele- brated Academy, is spread out in bold relief. To the north-east, is seen the top of Powow Hill, in Salisbury - so named from its having been the place selected by the Indians for their great "pow-wows," long before a white man gazed upon the waters of the Merrimack from its summit. Turning again to the south, we notice, almost at our feet, the beautiful Lake Kenoza, glistening in the sun like a diamond encompassed by emer- alds. Once viewed, the memory of this lovely landscape scene will never be effaced,-
" the faithful sight Engraves the image, with a beam of light."
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY VOYAGES. - DISCOVERY OF MASSACHUSETTS.
THOUGH the Western Continent bears the name of a later voyager, the honor of its discovery has been generally conceded to Christopher Colum- bus. But, from the evidence published by the Northern Antiquarian Society, at Copenhagen, in 1837, and which seems entitled to confidence, it would appear that the Western World was discovered by the Northmen, several centuries before the time of Columbus.
About the year 986, one Biorne, or Biarne, a Norwegian, in sailing from Iceland to Greenland, lost his reckoning in dense fogs. When the weather became clear, he found himself sailing northeasterly, with low and wooded land on his left. Continuing the same course nine days, he arrived at Greenland, reaching it in an opposite direction from that in which he commenced his voyage.
Fourteen years afterwards, Leif, with a single vessel and thirty-five men, sailed from Greenland in quest of the land discovered by Biorne. He found it and named it Helluland. Proceeding southwardly, he came to a land well wooded and level, which he called Markland. Thence sail- ing northeasterly two days, he reached an island, where he landed, built huts, and wintered. Having found grapes in its woods, he named it Vin- land, or Wineland.
On his return to Greenland, Leif gave over his vessel to his brother Thorwald, who sailed in 1003, to explore the new country. He win- tered at Vinland, and the next summer found several uninhabited islands. After another winter, he sailed to the eastward and then to the north, where he was killed by the natives. After passing a third winter at Vinland, his companions returned to Greenland,
In 1007, Thorfinn, with three vessels and a hundred and sixty men,
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HISTORY OF IIAVERHILL.
sailed from Greenland to Vinland to found a colony. He touched at Hell- uland and Markland, and, steering south, came to a bay extending into the country, with an island at its entrance. Southwesterly from this Island, they entered a river and passed up into a lake upon whose banks wheat and vines grew wild. Here they found natives, of a sallow com- plexion, with large, ill-formed faces, and shaggy hair, who came about them in canoes. Several conflicts with the savages caused Thorfinn to give up his project of colonization and return to Greenland.
There are also accounts of two more voyages to Vinland within the next three or four years, and it is claimed that communication between the two countries was not entirely discontinued before the middle of the fourteenth century.
The name Helluland is supposed to have been given to what is now called Labrador, or to Newfoundland; Markland to Nova Scotia, and Vinland to Rhode Island and the southeastern part of Massachusetts.
There are also traditions, with important corroberation, of a voyage in 1170, by Madoc, a Welshman ; of the Venitian brothers Zeni, in 1390; of John Vas Cortereal, a Portugese, in 1463 ; and of Szkolney, a Pole, in 1476.
The existence of this continent may possibly, therefore, have been known to the civilized world before the voyage of Columbus, in 1492; but by him conjecture and doubt were converted into certainty, and all illu- sions dispelled. The news of his discovery of a " New World," and the glowing descriptions of its wealth, awakened the liveliest enthusiasm throughout Europe, and gave a fresh impulse to maratime adventure.
In 1497, John and Sebastin Cabot sailed from England with three hundred men, in two ships,-touched at Iceland,-and, sailing west, came unexpectedly upon the coast of Labrador, or Newfoundland. After sail- ing along the coast as far south as Maine, and perhaps Massachusetts, they returned to England. These discoveries of the Cabots gave to Eng- land her claims to this part of North America ; but, for various reasons, only a few voyages were undertaken by the English for the next half century.
In 1524, John Verazzano, a Florentine, in the service of France, sailed along the shore from the 34th to near the 50th degree of north latitude. He entered Hudson's River, sailed up Narragansett Bay, for fifteen days lay at anchor in the harbor of what is now called Newport, where his ves- sel was freely visited by the natives; kept the coast of Maine in sight for fifty leagues, and visited as far north as Nova-Scotia.
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
Before the voyage of Verazzano was known in Spain, Stephen Gomez had sailed for the new world. He made the coast of Newfoundland and sailed along the country southwardly, as far as the capes of the Delaware, passing through Long Island Sound.
In 1535, Jaques Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence, and, in 1540, he built a stockade on the hill at Quebec.
Fifty years after the discovery of America by Columbus, no permanent settlements had been made in New England or to the north. The French had commenced a lucrative fur trade in Canada, and the cod fisheries of Labrador and Newfoundland were already extensive, (in 1577 they em- ployed nearly three hundred and fifty vessels), but in all New England not a white family was settled-not a white child had been born.
But, by the opening of the seventeenth century, the thirst for dis- covery was fully enkindled, and colonization efforts were more seriously entertained.
In 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold sailed from Falmouth, in England, with thirty-two men in a small bark, and in forty-nine days made the coast of New Hampshire, or perhaps Maine. The next day, he discovered a " mighty headland," which, from the large quantity of cod-fish caught in the vicinity, he named " Cape Cod." Here he landed and explored the coast to the south. On a "rocky ilet," in the western part of what is now Cuttyhunk, he resolved to make a settlement; and, after three weeks' labor, a cellar was dug and house erected"; but scarcity of provisions and troubles with the Indians, induced him to abandon the idea of a set- tlement, and he sailed for England.
Gosnold's favorable descriptions of the country were incentives to further enterprise, and the next year William Brown, with two vessels and forty-two men and boys, made land near the mouth of the Penobscot, and ranging the coast to the southwest, they passed the islands of Casco Bay, the Saco, Kennebunk, York and Piscataqua rivers, sailed by Cape Ann, crossed Massachusetts Bay, and, rounding Cape Cod, came to an- chor in what is now Edgarton or Oldtown harbor.
In 1605, George Weymouth arrived on the coast near Cape Cod, and sail- ing northward about fifty leagues, anchored at Monhegan, or vicinity, where he remained several weeks trading with the natives and exploring the country. Before he left, he kidnapped five of the natives, whom he hurried into bondage. About the same time, Poutrincourt, a Frenchman,
" The spot where Gosnold erected his house was identified by a party of Antiquarians in 1817 .- "N. Am. Review ": V .- 313.
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HISTORY OF HAVERIIILL.
examined the shores of Maine and Massachusetts as far as Cape Cod, but the unfriendly disposition of the natives discouraged him from further undertaking.
In 1606, Sir John Popham, Sir Ferdinando Georges and others, having procured a grant from King James for two plantations on the Atlantic coast, formed two companies - the London and the Plymouth - and soon after, the London company sent three ships with one hundred and five colonists to the coast of Virginia, where they effected a settlement which they called Jamestown. About the same time, the Plymouth company sent two ships with over one hundred landsmen, under Raleigh Gilbert and George Popham, but the result was an unfortunate colony at the Sag- adahoc, which continued only until the next year. This checked, for a season, the ardor of the company.
Meanwhile, discoveries had been made, under the auspices of the Dutch, of the Housatonic, Thames and Connecticut Rivers. and upon the Hudson, and a trading house had been established near Albany.
The earliest notice we find of the river Merrimack, is through the Sieur De Monts, who wrote from the banks of the St. Lawrence, in 1604, thus : " The Indians tell us of a beautiful river, far to the south, which they call the Merrimack." Its abundant fisheries, and fertile planting grounds, were the scenes of Indian story, and the theme of Indian praise, at that early date. The next year, the Sieur De Champlain discovered the Mer- rimack. Its position was marked out for him with a coal, upon a board, by some Indians whom he met upon the beach, near the point of land at the west mouth of the Piscataqua river. This was June 16th. The next day, Champlain sailed along the coast to the southward, and discovered the river, as the Indian had laid it down. He named it " Riviere du Gas." The same Indian gave him to understand that there were six tribes of Indians on the coast, or on the river, under as many chiefs.
The river was called Merrimack by the northern Indians; probably from Merruh (strong), and Auke (a place)-a strong place ; or a place of strong currents. The strong and rapid current which met them at the mouth of the river, as they entered it with their frail canoes from the northward, would naturally be the most prominent thing to excite their attention, and lead them to couple it with the name of the river. The Massachusetts Indians called the river Monomack, from Mona, (an island) and Auke (a place)-the Island Place, or A Place of Islands. By some, the latter name is derived from sturgeon, large quantities of which were taken by the Indians, and also by the early English settlers.
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HIISTORY OF IIAVERHILL.
But a new cra in the annals of New England begins with the voyage of Captain John Smith, in 1614. With two vessels and forty-nine men and boys, he sailed from London, in March, and in a few weeks arrived at Monhegan. While his men fished, Smith ranged the coast in an open boat making noted discoveries. In this voyage, the coast was explored from Penobscot to Cape Cod, within which bounds, he says: "I have seen, at least, forty several habitations upon the sea coast, and sounded about twenty-five excellent good harbors." He speaks of the coast of Massa- chusetts as " planted with gardens and cornfields, and so well inhabited with a goodly, strong, and well-proportioned people, * * * I can but approve this a most excellent place, both for health and fertility. And of all the four parts of the world I have yet seen, not inhabited, could I but have means to transport a colony, I would rather live here than any where. º Here are many isles, all planted with corn, groves, mulberies, salvage gardens" and good harbors; and the sea coast as you pass, shows you cornfields, and great troupes of well proportioned people." Smith acted honorably with the natives, but his companion, Hunt, whom he left behind, copied the vile example of Weymouth, and kidnapping upwards of twenty of the natives, sailed for Malaga, where a part (at least) were sold as slaves. This barbarous act, says Mather, " was the unhappy occasion of the loss of many a man's estate and life, which the barbarians did from thence seek to destroy ; and the English, in consequence of this treachery, were constrained for a time to suspend their trade, and abandon their project of a settlement in New Eng- land."
In 1618, Georges, who was still anxious to settle a colony, sent out a vessel in charge of Capt. Thos. Dermer, and also sent with him one of the natives who had been carried to England, and who had acquired a smatter- ing of the language. After sending his vessel back laden with furs, Dermer embarked in an open pinnance of five tons, taking with him Tis- quantum, or Squanto, ¡ the native above-mentioned, and " searching every harbor, and compassing every capeland," he arrived at what is now called Plymouth. This was his " savage's native country," and near here he held a friendly conference with two native kings from Pockanokit. From this place Dermer, passing the Dutch settlement at Manhattan, con-
· Savage gardens.
t Who subsequently became the friend and interpretor of the Pilgrims.
# Massasoit and his brother Quadequina, who soon after extended a hospitable reception to the Ply- mouth colonists.
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
tinued on to Virginia. This journey of Dermer preceded the landing of the Pilgrims but little more than a year, and was an important addition to the knowledge of the country.
No colony had as yet been planted upon the territory of Massachusetts, though colonics were established in Canada and Newfoundland, and the Dutch had established trading posts in the "New Netherlands," where they were conducting a lucrative trade in furs. It was left for a religious impulse to accomplish what commercial enterprise had attempted without success. Civilized New England is the child of English Puritanism, and a history of its early settlement involves, at least in part, a history of Puritanism in England.
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HISTORY OF HAVERIIILL.
CHAPTER II.
HISTORY OF PURITANISM. - THE PILGRIMS.
AT the time Columbus discovered the New World, nearly all Christian Europe was under the dominion of the church of Rome. The pope was the recognized head of that church, and the fountain of all power, both spiritual and temporal.
England was Catholic, and for hundreds of years had been the vassal of Rome. When Luther kindled the fires of the Reformation, the reign- ing monarch of England denounced him as the chief of heretics ; wrote in defence of the seven sacraments ; and was rewarded with the flattering title " Defender of the Faith."
But in twenty years from the day Luther burned the bull of pope Leo before the gates of Wittemberg, his view had spread over a large part of Europe, and Protestantism had assumed its distinctive position. The reformation had gained a foothold; the assumptions of Rome had been publicly spurned, and a host of determined opponents of the supreme and unlimited authority of the pope had sprung into existence. Even the " Defender of the Faith " had experienced a change, and when Clement VII refused to decree his divorce, the monarch renounced his allegiance to the Roman See, abrogated the authority of the pope in his realm, and assumed the title of " Supreme Head of the Church of England."
But it was only a transfer of the tiara from the Tiber to the Thames : and, in four years after, an act was passed " abolishing diversity of opinion,"" making the king's form of ortherdox doctrine a standard of be- lief, and punishing all teaching to the contrary, even to forfeiture of goods and burning at the stake. The king could burn as heretics the favorers of Protestantism, and hang as traitors the supporters of the pope.
The accession of Edward VI opened a brighter prospect. The thunder of The Bloody Statutes died away ; prisoners for heresy were set at lib- erty ; fugitives allowed to return; the Bible in English was placed in every church, and soon The Six Articles werc repealed. But soon fol- lowed the requiring of uniformity in public worship, by using the prescribed liturgy. All innovations were prohibited, under severe penal- ties, even to imprisonment for life.
" Known as the " Bloody Statutes," and the " Six Articles."
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HISTORY OF HIAVERIIILL.
The accession of Mary still further eclipsed the star of Protestantism. Educated a Catholic, and filled with bigotry and pride, she re-established Catholicism with all its pageantry and creed, and let loose the fierce winds of persecution upon the favorers of Protestantism. The fires of Smith- field were kindled, and hundreds perished at the stake, while hundreds more, fortunate enough to escape, found in various places on the Continent an asylum from the violence raging at home.
Happily, the career of Mary was of short duration, and when Elizabeth ascended the throne, in 1558, the kingdom was once more, and perma- nently, severed from the Papal see. The exiles returned, and those who had hid emerged from their concealment. But the Puritans, as they were now called, were soon satisfied that there was very little hope of a further reformation in religious affairs. The Act of Supremacy required an oath of renunciation of the authority of any foreign priest or prelate, and a recognition of the supremacy of the sovereign in all causes, ecclesias- tical and civil; while the Act of Uniformity forbid the conducting of public worship otherwise than according to the rubric. Two hundred Catholics suffered death, and hundreds were imprisoned, and large num- bers of ministers were punished for Non-conformity. But, instead of destroying, opposition only served to radicate their principles and increase their power. In all classes of society, Puritans were found; and before the close of this reign, they began to return a majority in the House of Commons.
The accession of Whitgift to the primacy, in 1583, was a severe blow to the dissentients. In one week, instructions were issued forbidding preaching, catechising and praying in any private family in presence of persons not belonging to it; and to silence all preachers who had not re- ceived orders from episcopal hands, or who refused or neglected to read the whole service, or to wear the prescribed habit, or subscribe to the queen's supremacy, the " Thirty-nine Articles," and the " Book of Com- mon Prayer." In one year, two hundred and thirty-three ministers were suspended in six counties. A " Court of High Commission " was organ- ized, with power to " visit, reform, redress, order, correct and amend all errors, heresies, schisms, abuses, contempts, offences, and enormities what- soever." The law of England virtually declared England to be uninhabitable by non-conformists.""
" Puritanism, as an element of church politics, dates from the time when Hooper refused to be con - seerated in the ecclesiastical vestments, in 1550. In like manner, Non-conformity takes its date from the refusal of Bishop Coverdale and others to subscribe to the Liturgy and other ceremonies. in 1563. Separatism soon followed, when several deprived ministers broke off from the public churches, and separ- atedin private houses.
.
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
But the High Commission Court did not admit of opposition, except from such as were prepared for ruin. Many such appeared. Some suf- fered death, and many others long imprisonment and ruinous fines. But the seed scattered grew rapidly.
In 1593, there were four religious classes in England: 1. The Catho- lics, who adhered to the Church of Rome; 2. The members of the English Church ; 3. The Puritans ; and 4. The Separatists, or Independents. Of the third class were the founders of the Massachusetts colony, and to the fourth belonged the settlers of Plymouth.
The Puritans were simply non-conformists. Connected with the national church, they questioned chiefly the propriety of some of her ob- servances. They submitted to her authority as far as they could, and acknowledged her as their Mother in all matters of doctrinal concern ; and. up to the date of their removal to America, they made no open seces- sion from her communion. Had liberty been allowed them, they would probably have continued in the land of their nativity and in the bosom of the Establishment.
The Plymouth colonists were not of the national church. Years before their expatriation, they had renounced her communion and formed churches of their own. Between them and the Massachusetts colonists, however, the differences were in matters of policy, rather than in articles of faith ; and, on their arrival in the New World, apart from the influen- ces of their native land, and under far different circumstances, a few years intercourse assimilated their views and cemented their union.
Such was the origin of Puritanism and Independency. We now pass to a brief notice of the church of the Pilgrims.
The church of the Pilgrims was first organized at Gainsborough, about 1598, and was afterward formed into two bodies, the junior of which met at the house of William Brewster, in Scrooby, In July, 1604, a procla- mation was issued, commanding the Puritan clergy to conform before the last of November, or to dispose of themselves and families in some other way. In consequence of this edict, and the persecutions which followed it, the Independent churches at Gainsborough and Scrooby resolved to escape. The former was the first to depart, fleeing to Holland. The other tarried a little longer, hoping for a lull in the fierce storm ; but, finally, after many troubles, and two unsuccessful attempts to escape, in August, 1608, they arrived safely in Holland. For a few months, they sojourned at Am- sterdam, when they removed to Leyden, about forty miles distant. Here they lived in comparative peace. Others, from time to time, joined them, until they numbered about two hundred persons. 4
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
But eight years residence in a land of strangers, satisfied this little band that Holland could not be for them a permanent home; and after long and anxious consideration, they resolved to remove to America. A grant was finally obtained from the Virginia company, and after many delays and perplexities, one hundred and twenty persons sailed from South- hampton, in two small vessels, - the Speedwell and the Mayflower. The former vessel proving leaky, they were obliged to abandon it, and one hundred and two embarked in the Mayflower. Their destination was to some point near Hudson's River ; but after a stormy passage of sixty-four days, they came in sight of the white sand-banks of Cape Cod, when they tacked to stand to the southward. Becoming "entangled among roaring shoals," they retraced their course, and the next day came to anchor in what is now the roadstead of Provincetown. After a brief exploration of the adjacent country, the voyagers landed and commenced a settlement, which they called New Plymouth. The landing was made on Monday, December 11th, Old Style, upon what has long since been called Fore- fathers' Rock.
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