USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Haverhill > The history of Haverhill, Massachusetts, from its first settlement, in 1640, to the year 1860 > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
Winthrop,¿ under the date of 1643, says: " about this time, two plan- tations began to be settled upon Merrimack, Pentuckett called Hauerill. and Cochichawick called Andover," Under the date of 1638, he says : " One (plantation) was begun at Merrimack," doubtless referring to Salis- bury, which was settled about that time.
Cotton Mathers makes the date of the settlement of Haverhill 1641, but he, as well as Winthrop, evidently reckons from the time of Rev. John
@ Salisbury. + Colonial Records, 1-303.
# Hist. of New England, 2-121. § Magnalia, 470.
38
HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
Ward's coming to Haverhill, which, as we shall see, was not until some time after the first settlement.
Felt®, under the date of 1640, says: " Mr. (Nath'l) Ward, with some men of Newbury, is conditionally allowed to form a settlement at Haver- hill, or at Andover. This privilege was improved, and the former place was chosen before October. His chief object in obtaining such a grant was to prepare a residence for his son, who became an estimable minister there."
We think that the conditions upon which the petitioners were to be allowed their request, viz: "provided they returne answer within three weeks from the 21st present, and that they build there before the next Courte ; " and the appointing of commissioners at that Court " to view the bounds between Colchester and Mr. Ward's plantation; with the ab- sence of conflicting records, or even traditions, are sufficient to fix the date of our first settlement as 1640.
The first company of settlers in the wild woods of Pentucket were from Ipswich and Newbury, and were twelve in number. The following are their names : -
William White, John Robinson, Abraham Tyler,
Samuel Gile, Christopher Hussey, Daniel Ladd,
James Davis, John Williams, Joseph Merrie,
Henry Palmer, Richard Littlehale, Job Clement.
The last four were from Ipswich.
It has been generally supposed that the Rev. John Ward was the per- son who petitioned to the General Court in the spring of 1640, and that he accompanied the first band of settlers to Pentucket. But we are confi- dent that neither supposition is correct. The historian of Ipswich, in the passage already quoted, and the editor of our Colonial Records; both say that the Ward alluded to in the Court Records, was Nathaniel, (the father of John Ward,) who was, it seems, very anxious to find some good place for his son to settle in the ministry.
That John Ward did not settle in Haverhill as early as 1640 is evident from the fact that he preached at Agamenticus (now York, Me.) in the early part of 1641, and perhaps later. Winthrop, (Hist. 2, p. 34) under date of Feb. 29, 1641, says :
" Mr. Peters and Mr. Dalton, with one of Acomenticus, went from Pis- cataquack, with Mr. John Ward, who was to be entertained there for their minister ; and though it be but six miles, yet they lost their way, and wandered two days and one night, without food or fire, in the snow and wet. . But God heard their prayers, wherein they earnestly pressed him
Hist. Ipswich, 1834. + Dr. Shurtleff.
39
HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
for the honor of his great name, and when they were even quite spent, he brought them to the sea-side, near the place where they were to go, blessed forever be his name."
After diligent search, we have been unable to find the name of any other John Ward to whom the incident could refer; and, to strengthen us in our supposition, no writer except Mirick (in his History of the town) places the date of Mr. Ward's coming to Haverhill earlier than sometime in the year 1641. Mather (Mag. 2, 470) says of him : " The first notice of him that occurs to me, being in the year 1639, when he came over into these parts of America ; and settled there in the year 1641, in a town also called Haveril." Farmer (N. E. Geueo.) gives the date of Mr. Ward's settlement in Haverhill as 1645. He evidently, however, mistakes Mr. Ward's settlement as minister, for his first settlement in the town. Felt, (Hist. Ips.) under date of 1641, says : - " Rev. John Ward, Mr. John Favor, and Hugh Sherratt went from Ipswich to Haverhill; " and Allen, (Am. Biog. and Hist. Dict., p. 571) says " he preached for some time at Agamenticus, but in 1641 was settled at Haverhill, then a new plantation."
We have directed our attention to the history of the church at York, Me., but without receiving any additional light upon the point. Green- leaf (Eccl. Hist. Maine) informs us that " the first preacher at York of whom any account is preserved, was one Burdett, who came hither from Exeter." And, in another place, he says, "no record can be found at this day of the first gathering and embodying of the church in this town, nor the proceedings of the church under the two first ministers. It is presumed, however, that it was organized in the year 1673. In that year, the Rev. Shubal Dummer was ordained at York ; and as the uniform prac- tice had been to gather and organize a church before settling a minister, it is highly probable that the church is to be dated from that year."
The first mention made of Mr. Ward, in the Town Records of Haver- hill, is a note at the bottom of the page, under the year 1643, stating that on the 29th of Sept., 1642, he had " sixteen acres of land laid out to him for a home-lot, with all the accommodations thereunto belonging."
Aside from the almost certain fact that Mr. Ward preached at York as late as 1641, and the weight of written authority that his settlement in Haverhill was in that year, much stress, we think, may be placed on the strong improbability of a person in his circumstances and position accom- panying a small pioneer company of persons to break ground for a new settlement. Such labor was, at least, not usual for a "minister." It
40
HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
would seem more reasonable that he should have waited until the settle- ment had been made, before he took up his residence among them ; and such, we believe was the fact. It is probable he came to the new planta- tion about the fall of 1641. So pleased were the settlers with their good fortune in securing his settlement among them, that they named the place " Haverhill," that being the name of his birth-place, in England.
JOHN WARD, the master-spirit of this hardy band of pioneers, was a son of Rev. Nathaniel Ward," and a grandson of Rev. John Ward, a worthy and distinguished minister of Haverhill, England. He was born in Haverhill, Essex Co., England, Nov. 5, 1606. He received the degree of A. B. in 1626, and that of A. M. in 1630, at the University of Cam- bridge, England. He came to this country in 1639.
Mather; speaks of him as " learned, ingenious. and religious. He was a person of quick apprehension, a clear understanding, a strong memory, a facetious conversation, an exact grammarian, an expert physician, and, which was the top of all, a thorough divine ; but, which rarely happens, these endowments of his mind were accompanied with a most healthy, hardy, and agile constitution of body, which enabled him to make nothing of walking on foot a journey as long as thirty miles together. Such was the blessing of God upon his religious education, that he was not only re- strained from the vices of immorality in all his younger days, but also inclined unto all virtuous actions. Of young persons, he would himself give this advice : Whatever you do, be sure to maintain shame in them ; for if that be once gone, there is no hope that they'll ever come to good. Accordingly, our Ward was always ashamed of doing any ill thing. He was of a modest and "bashful disposition, and very sparing of speaking, especially before strangers, or such as he thought his betters. He was wonderfully temperate in meat, in drink, in sleep, and he was always ex- pressed, I had almost said, affected, a peculiar sobriety of apparal. He was a son most exemplarily dutiful unto his parents ; and having paid some considerable debts of his father, he would afterwards humbly ob-
o Rev. Nathaniel Ward, a son of Rev. John Ward, was born in 1570, and educated at the University of Cambridge. He was, for some time, pastor of a church at Standon, in Hertfordshire, but being driven out of England for his non-conformity, he emigrated to New England in 1634, and settled as pastor of the church at Ipswich, then ealled Agawam. He was bred a lawyer, and, in 1638, was appointed by the General Court to draw up a code of laws for New England. Though a pious man, he was very eecentrie in his conduct. He soon left his charge at Ipswich, was without employment for some time, and returned to England in 1647. He was afterwards a settled minister at Sheffield He died in 1653. He wrote several books of humor, and some learned treatises, but none have come down to ns but the one entitled " The Simple Cobler of Agawam," which he wrote at Ipswich, and which has passed through many editions.
* Magnalia:
41
HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
serve and confess, that God had abundantly recompensed this his dutiful- ness.
" Though he had great offers of rich matches in England, yet he chose to marry a meaner person, " whom exemplary piety had recommended. He lived with her for more than forty years, in such an happy harmony, that when she died he professed that in all this time, he never had received one displeasing word or look from her. Although she would so faithfully tell him of everything that might seem amendable in him, that he would compare her to an accusing conscience, yet she ever pleased him wonder- fully ; and she would often put upon him the duties of secret fasts, and when she met with any thing in reading that she counted singularly agreeable, she would still impart it unto him. For which cause, when he lost this his mate, he cansed these words to be fairly written on his table- board .-
In Lugenda Compare, Vitæ Spacium Compleat Orbus:
And there is this memorable passage to be added. While she was a maid there was ensured unto her, the revenue of a parsonage worth two hundred pounds per annum, in case that she married a minister. And all this had been given to our Ward, in case he had conformed unto the doubtful mat- ters of the Church of England ; but he left all the allurements and enjoyments of England, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God in a wilderness.
" Although he would say, there is no place for fishing like the sea, and the more hearers a minister has, the more hope there is that some of them will be catched in the nets of the Gospel ; nevertheless, through his humility and reservation, it came to pass, that as he chose to begin his ministry in Old England at a very small place, thus when he came to New England he chose to settle with a new plantation, where he could expect none but small circumstances all his days. He did not love to appear upon the public stage himself, and there appeared few there, whom he did not prefer above himself : but when he was there, every one might see how conscientiously he sought the edification of the souls of the plainest auditors, before the ostentation of his own abilities. And from the like diffidence it was, that he would never manage any ecclesiastical affairs in his church, without previous and prudent consultations with the best advi- sors that he knew : he would say he had rather always follow advice though sometimes the advice might mislead him, than ever act without advice, though he might happen to do well by no advice but his own."
@ Alice Edmunds, by whom he had two children, Elizabeth and Mary. His wife died March 24, 1680. 6
42
HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
Pleasant, indeed, is it to be able to point to so amiable and exemplary an individual as one of the founders of our town, and the spiritual and tem- poral adviser and master-spirit of its early settlers. Mr. Ward died December 27, 1693.
Of the previous history of the associates of Mr. Ward in his arduous enterprise, we have been able to glean but few particulars,-which may be found in another place. For the present, suffice it to say, that their descendents have ever been, and yet are, among our best and most prom- inent citizens.
At the succeeding October court, " Mr. Edward Woodman, Mr. Paine, and Mr. Nelson, were appointed to view the bounds between Colchester (Salisbury) and Mr. Ward's plantation,"" from which it would seem that the work of settling had been begun in earnest. The first house was erected near the old burying ground, ; and for some time the principal settlements were made in that vicinity, though land was cleared and broken, and houses built in other parts of the town. It was nearly two years, however, before a house was erected as far from the centre as Little River, about which time one was built near where Winter Street now crosses that stream.
The Indian name of the region included within the present bounds of the town, was Pentuckett, and it was at one time the home of quite a numerous tribe of that name, who were under the jurisdiction of Passa- connaway, chief of the Pennacooks. Their principal village is supposed to have been on the banks of Little River, not far from its mouth ; and the second house on Merrimack street, east from Emerson street, stands upon their ancient burial ground. When the cellar of the above house was excavated, a number of Indian skeletons were dug up, in a very good state of preservation .¿ Heads of arrows, stone mortars, and other Indian relics, have frequently been found in that vieinity, thus confirming the tradition of a settlement thereabouts.
We have now no means of knowing how many of the aboriginees still lived here at the time of Mr. Ward's settlement, but circumstantial evi- dence indicates that they were few in number. In but few of the early accounts of the native inhabitants is any mention made of any tribe or tribes at this place ; and where mentioned, it is as a remnant-the last few-of a once vigorous tribe. On the other hand, the wording of the deed,
Colonial Records-1. 1 Now called Pentucket Cemetery.
# One of the workmen upon the occasion drank a bumper of punch to the memory of the original inhabitants, from one of the skulls thus brought lo light !
43
HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
and the small sum paid for the large extent of territory, strongly favor the conclusion that but two families of the natives then remained.º It is probable that the terrible pestilence of 1613, in its desolating march from the Kennebec to the Narragansett, included the Pentuekets among its vic- tims, and left only a few to await the approach of civilization. The rude mark's upon this deed. are the only memorial we have left of the aboriginal inhabitants of Pentucket. They have faded away. As leaves before the chilling frosts, so have they fallen and withered before the breath of civil- ization, and silently sunk into the graves of their fathers.
Soon after the settlement of the place, it was named Haverhill, in compliment to Mr. Ward, who was born, as we have mentioned, in Haver- hill, Essex County, England.
At the session of the General Court, in the succeeding June, (1641) " Mr. John Woodbridge, Matthew Bayse, John Crosse and George Giddings, they four, or any three of them, are appointed to set out the bounds of Salisbury and Pentucket, alias Haverhill; they are to determine the bounds which Mr. Ward and his company are to enjoy as a towne or vil- lage, if they have six houses up by the next General Courte in the 8th month," [October. ] We must not suppose from this, that six houses had not as yet been erected, because, as we have seen, twelve persons (and probably most of them men of families) had already been here a year, and had, within that time, received considerable accession to their numbers. It would be strange indeed if they had not, by that time at least, double the required number of houses erected. We should interpret the act of the General Court as specifying the smallest number of dwellings that should be reckoned as a town or village, rather than as declaring that so
" To show that Haverhill was not peculiar in this respect, we may refer to Newbury and Ipswich, once without doubt the home of a large tribe of Indians.
Newbury was settled in the spring of 1635, but the first intimation of any Indians, either by record or tradition, is in 1644, when a parcel of land was allotted to one "John Indian." The next mention is in 1630, when "Great Tom, Indian," sold to the selectmen of Newbury "all his right, title, and interest in all the woods, commons and lands in Newbury, together with his three acres of planting land as it is fenced in one entire fence in Newbury, lying near Indian Hill." There is no other notice of either of these Indians. The next intimation of any Indians in that town, is in 1661, when the family of "Old Will" is referred to, which was in 1663 the only Indian family in the town, and consisted of himself, wife, and three daughters.
From a report made to the General Court in 1676, it appears there were then, "at and about Ipswich, eight men and seventeen women and children, Indians, and at Dunstable, Wonolancet's company of about sixty persons."
Coffin, in his valnable History of Newbury, says: - "However large the population of this region might once have been, it is certain that from various causes the race had become nearly extinct, when the white population had determined to occupy the territory, thus providentially vacated; and it was with the " knowledge, licence and good liking" of the few that remained, that the first settlers took possession of this then howling wilderness."
44
HISTORY OF IIAVERIIILL.
many as six houses had not as yet been erected in this new plantation.º At the time the town was first settled, it was covered with the thick, and in many places almost impenetrable woods of the primitive forests, except- ing the lowlands, or meadows. There were no pleasant fields, nor gardens, nor public roads, nor cleared plats. Except where the timber had been destroyed, or its growth prevented, by frequent fires, the groves were thick and lofty, The Indians so often burned the country, to take deer and other wild game, that in many parts of it there was but little small timber. The meadows had been partially eleared by the Indians long before the arrival of the white settlers, and were covered with a heavy growth of grass, which grew remarkably thiek and high. The Indians were aecus- tomed to set this grass on fire each autumn, so that they might the more easily kill the deer which came to feed upon the young grass the succeeding spring. On account of the grass, these lands were prized very highly by the first settlers, as from them they procured hay for their flocks and herds. In the early settlement of this, and other New England towns, these meadow lands were divided into small lots and distributed among the set- tlers. In many eases the " meadow lot " was several miles distant from the house of the owner, and as roads and other conveniences of travel and transportation had not as yet been introduced, we can easily imagine that " haying" was then a much more laborious and expensive matter than now. After being cut and cured, the dried grass was piled in stacks on the meadows, and left until winter, when it was hauled home on sleds, by oxen.
The forests were filled with the various kinds of birds and small ani- mals peculiar to New England. The worst enemy, of the beast kind, to the infant settlement, was the wolf. These gave a great deal of trouble, and at one time had become so bold and troublesome, that a large plat of ground was enclosed near the common, and used as a pasture for the sheep. Shepherds were appointed to watch over them, and at night they were closely folded, as a still greater security. Even after the town had become quite extensively settled, these voracious prowlers did much and frequent damage by their depredations, and the town at various times offered liberal bounties for their destruction.
Though only twelve persons composed the first party of settlers in the town, their numbers were soon increased by the arrival of others. Of those who arrived in 1640 and 1641, we are able to give the names of only
" A newspaper story writer (1832) says, that in the autumn of 1641 there were only six houses in he town. We presume his statement is founded upon the above mentioned vote of the General Court.
45
HISTORY OF HAVERIIILL.
Job Clements (son of Robert), John Favor, and Hugh Sherratt, though we are confident that several others came as early as the spring of 1641.
The winter of 1641-2 was unusually severe. Boston harbor was frozen over so deeply that it was passable for horses, carts, and oxen for six weeks.
The first recorded birth in the town was that of John Robinson, (son of John) who survived but three weeks. The second birth was also a son of the same, in 1642, who lived but one week. The third child born, was Deborah, daughter of Tristam Coffin, in 1642, who lived only six weeks." The simple record of these carly deaths in that little community, consid- ered in connection with the exceeding severity of the preceding winter, and the known cares, anxiety and labor that always attend a first settle- ment, even under the most favorable circumstances, clearly and most touchingly tells of denials. exposures, and life-destroying hardships.
Hardly had the little company commenced life in their new home, when intelligence was received by the Governor, from Connecticut, (September, 1642) that " the Indians all over the country had combined themselves to cut off the English."¡
The time appointed for the massacre, was soon after the harvest. The Indians were to divide themselves into small parties, and visit the houses of the principal men for the professed purpose of trading, while others concealed themselves in the vicinity. At a given signal, those in the houses were to fall upon the owners, slay them, and seize upon their weap- ons, while the concealed party were to rush in and assist in completing the bloody work.
Upon the reception of this intelligence, it was thought advisable, by the Governor and Council, to disarm all the Indians within our jurisdiction. A warrant was accordingly sent to Ipswich, Rowley and Newbury, " to dis- arm Pasaconnaway, who lived by Merrimack."' The next day forty armed men were sent for that purpose, although it was the Sabbath, and a heavy rain was falling. On account of the rain, they could not reach his wig-
" The following gives the number of births and deaths in the town each year, from 1641 to 1661, so far as given in the town records :
BIRTHS.
DEATHS.
1 in 1641
S in 1048
10 in 1655
1 in 1611
1 in 1651
2 in 1658
9 - 1642
9 - 1649
9 - 1656
2 - 1642
2 " 1652
4 " 1659
1 # 1643
7 ** 1650
]= " 1657
1 " 1616
1 = 1653
3 " 1660
1 " 1044
11 " 1651
11 # 1658
1 # 16-17
6 " 1634
1 # 1661
3 " 1645
10 " 1652
8 - 1659
1 - 1648
5 # 1657
8 " 1662
6 " 1646
10 " 1653
11 # 1660
2 = 1650
5 " 1647
10 " 1654
13 - 1661
t Winthrop. 2-78-87
46
IIISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
wam, but came to his son's, and took him and his squaw and child prisoners. On their return, they led the son with a line, for fear of his escape. He, however, eluded their vigilance and escaped into the woods.
Upon learning of this unwarrantable proceeding, the Governor and Council immediately sent a friendly messenger in search of Passaconna- way, to inform him that the capture of his son and his family was without their orders, and also to tell him the reasons why they had disarmed the Indians in their jurisdiction. The woman and ehild were also sent back. The mission proved successful, and in a few days the chief sent his oldest son to deliver up his guns to the English.
No massacre of the kind was, however, perpetrated; but it was after- ward ascertained that such a plot had existed, headed by the chief of the Narragansetts.
Though the town was settled and houses erected in 1640, it was not until more than two years afterward that a title to the land was purchased of the Indian owners. As it was usual for the Massachusetts settlers to buy the land they wished to occupy, we are left in doubt as to the reason why the Haverhill men did not sooner make such a purchase. The most reasonable solution we can give is, that when the white settlers first came to Pentucket there were no Indians living here; and that afterward one or two families, descendants, perhaps. of the original owners, straying back to their old hunting and fishing grounds, and finding them in possession of the "pale faces," had laid claim to the land ; or else that the number of Indians living here was so small that they were not considered worth noticing at all, until the startling intelligence of the intended massacre suggested the purchase as a security against molestation from the Indians near them. At any rate, the fact that the purchase was made within the next month after the above-mentioned information first reached the Colony, would seem to indicate some such a condition of things. The following is a correct copy of the original deed, " of which we also give a perfect fac- similic.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.