USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Salem > The history of Salem, Massachusetts, vol 2, 1924 > Part 23
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MARBLEHEAD
Felt says that when Marblehead became a town it contained forty-four families. A list of the grantees of the common lands in Marblehead probably gives a fair representation of the free- holders at that time. The following names are given: James Smith, Richard Rowland, Samuel Doliber, John Gatchell, Edmund Nicholson, William Barber, David Thomas, John Legg, Peter Pittford, Erasmus James, Thomas Bowing, John Stacy, George Chin, John Northey, Nicholas Merritt, Thomas Pitman, Timothy Allen, Thomas Lane, Arthur Sanden, Isaac Allerton, Moses Maverick, William Walton, John Lion, Henry Stacy, William Chichester, Samuel Carwithin, David Carwithen, Thomas Gray, Richard Norman, John Peach, jr., Richard Curtice, John Hart, William Charles, John Deverox, Abraham Whiteare, John Peach, sr., John Bartoll, Joseph Doliber, Robert Knight, John Bennet, Francis Johnson, Walsingham Chilson, John Norman and John Goyt.
Robert Knight moved from Salem to Marblehead, where he lived from 1644 to 1653. He then removed to Manchester. He had a daughter Marie. Mary Hill lived in Marblehead, 1643- 1645. Timothy Allen lived there from 1645 to 16541; and re- moved to Lynn before 1660. George Pollard died in Marblehead in 1646. In his will, he mentioned no relatives.2 Henry Pease lived there from 1646 to 1653; and had wife Gertrude in 1651. Mathew Gillett (Jellett) was a boy servant of George Williams in Salem in 1641; and lived in Marblehead in 1646. Henry Trevett lived in Marblehead from 1646 to 1654. He was born about 1623; and had a wife in 1664. George Tucker was of Marblehead in 1647, and removed to the settlement at Gloucester about 1650.
The map of Marblehead as it was when the town was set off from Salem has been made from the records of grants and con- veyances, and is as nearly correct and complete as it can be made. The following is a list of the owners of the tracts of land which are numbered. Those portions of the town which are not numbered constituted the common and undivided land, being very ledgy and rough and unsuitable for planting or other im- provement.
I. Coy Pond Land. This tract of land is the fifty-acre game preserve of Emanuel Downing, and has ever since been known as the Coy Pond land.3 This was conveyed by John
1Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, volume I, page 91.
2Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, volume I, page 106.
See chapter two of this volume.
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HISTORY OF SALEM
Humphrey to Mr. Downing Sept. 6, 1638,1 and the latter died possessed of it about 1657. This was the northwestern end of the grant of five hundred acres made by the town of Salem to John Humphrey May 2, 1636. Mr. Downing granted. it to his grandson, Solomon Stoddard of Boston, and he conveyed it to Moses Maverick and Richard Rowland, both of Marblehead, May I, 1667.2 This tract was later claimed by Salem, and is still a part of it.
2. The Plain Farm. This tract of four hundred and fifty acres of land was the balance of the grant of five hundred acres of land made by the town of Salem to John Humphrey May 2, 1636, after his sale of fifty acres to Emanuel Downing, Sept. 6, 1638. Mr. Humphrey leased both this and the Pond farm to Zacheus Gould for ten years from Sept. 29, 1640. Sept. 6, 1642, in the Boston court, Mrs. Lydia Banks recovered a judgment of one hundred pounds, and probably levied an execution upon the land. Sept. 24, 1645, she conveyed it to Moses Maverick, David Corwithen, Arthur Sandin, William Charles, John Peach, the elder, and "others the inhabitants of Marblehead, all that farm called ye Playnes farme," etc.3 It was subsequently divided into fourteen or more parts. Mr. Humphrey had a house on this land, which had been built by Nathaniel Pickman in 1639, and kept servants there ; and when he went to England, in the autumn of 1641, he left his son-in-law, Adam Oatly, at the house, which the latter finished. As agent for Mr. Humphrey, Oatly sold the house and land to John Friend of Salem ; but this did not stand against the execution of Mrs. Banks, apparently.
3. Hugh Peter Grant. This tract of land, containing three hundred and fifty acres, was granted by the town of Salem to Hugh Peter about 1636; and he conveyed it, by his agent, to John Devereaux of Marblehead, fisherman, July 1, 1659. Mr. Dev- ereaux built a house upon the lot, on or near the site of the Devereaux residence which is now standing, and died possessed of the estate in the spring of 1695. Mr. Peter died as a regicide, and his only daughter and heiress, Mrs. Elizabeth Barker of London, England, claimed the title to the farm sometime after the decease of Mr. Devereaux. She released her interest therein to his son Robert Devereaux June 29, 1704.
4. John Ruck owned this ten-acre lot about the time that Marblehead became a town, and conveyed it to Richard Rowland before 1672.
1Essex Registry of Deeds, book I, leaf I.
2See The Essex Antiquarian, volume XIII, page 132; and Historical Collections of the Essex Institute, volume 46, page I.
3Essex Registry of Deeds, book I, leaf 29.
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MARBLEHEAD
5. This lot consisted of three ten-acre lots, which were owned very early by Moses Maverick; and he conveyed it to Richard Rowland Aug. 25, 1672. In this lot are the famous dungeons or kettle holes made by the glaciers.
6. Thomas Oliver, a calander, owned this ten-acre lot early, and conveyed it to John Bradstreet of Salem in or before 1658. The ancient Indian circular palisaded fort was located at the extreme southerly end of this lot.1
7. James Underwood, a baker, owned this ten-acre lot very early, and conveyed it to John Gatchell, a planter, before 1651.
8. Abraham Williams owned this lot of ten acres very early, and conveyed it to John Gatchell in or before 1651.
9. Richard Temple owned this lot of about thirty acres of land, and conveyed it to Moses Maverick in or before 1650.
IO. Richard Hollingworth owned this lot when Marblehead became a town, and he died possessed of it in 1654.
II. William Dixey conveyed this lot of land to Henry Har- wood of Salem April 20, 16402; and Mr. Harwood died in the spring of 1664, possessed of it.
12. This lot of land was granted by the town of Salem to Henry Harwood, who conveyed it to William Stratton, "master of ship of Bristow that then used this country," July 10, 1649.3 Captain Stratton sold it to William Payne and Richard Russell, who immediately erected at the brook in the cove the first grist mill in Marblehead. William Beale of Marblehead hired the mill until it was sold to Joseph Jewett of Rowley, and even after Mr. Jewett bought it. Jewett conveyed the property to John Brad- street of Marblehead June 28, 1658.ยช The mill was gone in 1674
I3. The town of Salem granted this lot of land to Thomas Tuck in or before 1657; and he conveyed it to William Beale Nov. 25, 1657.
14. This lot belonged to William Beale in 1658.5
I5. Richard Hide of Salem early owned this lot, and con- veyed it to Thomas Pitman of Marblehead, fisherman, Nov. 4, 1657.6
I6. Francis Collins owned this lot in 1657, and died possessed of it in 1689. 17. John Legg early owned this lot and died possessed of it in 1674.
1See volume I, pages 27 and 28.
2Essex Registry of Deeds, book 6, leaf 39.
3Essex Registry of Deeds, book I, leaf 7.
4Essex Registry of Deeds, book 2, leaf 3I.
1 5Essex Registry of Deeds, book 2, leaf 82.
6Essex Registry of Deeds, book 4, leaf 4.
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HISTORY OF SALEM
18. The western half of this lot of land early belonged to Richard Hollingworth, and the eastern part to William Hunter of Salem, mariner, in 1658. Mr. Hunter died in 1691, possessed of his part of the lot.
19. Samuel Friend of Manchester, planter, conveyed this lot to John Peach, jr., of Marblehead, a fisherman, Dec. 3, 1658.1
20. This lot of land belonged to John Legg of Marblehead in 1658, and he died in 1674, having devised it to his wife Eliza- beth.
21. This lot of land belonged to John Peach as early as 1658.
22. The owner of this lot at about the time of the incor- poration of Marblehead has not been learned.
23. This lot belonged to Joseph Grafton of Salem, mariner, in 1649; and he conveyed it to Thomas Dixey of Marblehead, the ferryman, Aug. 30, 1658.2
24. This lot belonged to Thomas Edwards, a shoemaker, very early, and he conveyed it to David Corwithen, sr., July 9, 1649.3
25. This lot of land belonged to Joseph Younges of Salem very early, and he conveyed it to David Corwithen Sept. 24, 1649.4
26. This lot of land and the house thereon belonged to , William Luckin of Marblehead in 1643, when the land and houses were in the occupation of William Chichester. The houses were gone a few years later.
27. This was the ten-acre lot of Abraham Whitear of Marblehead, a fisherman, in 1652, when he sold it.
28. Robert Knight of Marblehead owned this lot in 1652. He removed to Manchester, and sold the land to Richard Reith of Marblehead in 1686.
29. This lot is the ancient cemetery among the ledges. In the midst of it stood the meeting house, and at that place marked with a dot on the map was "Walton's Spring," from which water was obtained in later years for church purposes.5
30. This minute houselot belonged to John Peach, jr., very early. He sold it to John Norman of Manchester, and the latter conveyed it to Robert Knight of Marblehead Sept. 28, 1651.6
31. This lot of land belonged to Capt. Isaac Allerton, and he conveyed it to his son-in-law Moses Maverick very early.
1Essex Registry of Deeds, book I, leaf 43.
"Essex Registry of Deeds, book 2, leaf 51.
3Essex Registry of Deeds, book I, leaf 6. 4Essex Registry of Deeds, book 2, leaf 64.
"See volume I, page 297.
"Essex Registry of Deeds, book 5, leaf III.
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MARBLEHEAD
32. This was the property of Matthew Cradock, the gover- nor of the Massachusetts Bay Company in England, in 1629. A house stood upon it in 1638, and it was occupied by Rev. William Walton. Mr. Cradock died, and his widow Rebecca, who had married Richard Glover of London, gentleman, conveyed it to Mr. Walton June 6, 1650.1 He died in 1668, and this became the homestead of his son Samuel Walton, who lived in it. He con- veyed it to Ambrose Gale of Marblehead, merchant, Sept. 20, 16862 ; and Mr. Gale to Joseph Gallison of Marblehead, a fisher- man, Dec. 31, 1706.3 Mr. Gallison died in 1754, and the estate descended to his grandson John Gallison. The old house was gone soon afterward.
33. Peter Petford owned and lived upon this lot in 1641, and erected a fishing stage there. He owned the house, stage and land until his death, in 1659.
34. Arthur Sandin was granted land in Marblehead in 1638, and was one of the earliest inhabitants of the town. He lived on this lot, and was the first innkeeper in the town, being first licensed therefor in May, 1640. He died in 1667, possessed of the house and lot.
35. This lot early belonged to Thomas Pitman, and was the property of Francis Johnson in 1655. 36. Walsingham Chillson of Marblehead owned and lived in this lot, and July 13, 1655, conveyed the house and land to Francis Johnson.4
At the northwesterly end of this lot stood the town stocks.
37. This lot was owned by Timothy Allen in 1648. He re- moved to Lynn, and conveyed it, with the house thereon, to Elias Hendley of Marblehead Sept. 28, 1660.5
38. This lot early belonged to John Coit, who lived in the house situated on the extreme eastern point of the land. About 1635, this cove at the foot of State Street was agreed to be a place of public use for the town, and John Coit built a stage on this lot, it being one of the first, if not the first, in the town. Mr. Coit removed to Cape Ann, and conveyed the house, stage and land to William Pitt Feb. 9, 1647.6 When he was of Boston, merchant, Mr. Pitt conveyed the whole estate to his son-in-law Christopher Lattimer of Marblehead, mariner, who was then living upon the premises, Feb. 2, 1659.7
1Essex Registry of Deeds, book I, leaf 24.
2Essex Registry of Deeds, book 7, leaf 115.
3Essex Registry of Deeds, book 19, leaf 127.
4Essex Registry of Deeds, book 13, leaf 242.
"Essex Registry of Deeds, book 8, leaf 177.
6Essex Registry of Deeds, book I, leaf 6.
"Essex Registry of Deeds, book 4, leaf 4.
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HISTORY OF SALEM
39. Thomas Taynour owned this lot as early as 1661.
40. This lot of land and house thereon belonged to Henry Pease of Marblehead in 1656.
4I. This lot belonged to Henry Pease in 1656.
42. John Gatchell of Marblehead, planter, owned and lived on this lot in 1652.
43. This lot belonged to Francis Johnson in 1666.
44. This lot early belonged to Emanuel Clarke, who con- veyed it to Joseph Bowd in or before 1664.
45. Erasmus James of Marblehead owned this lot, with the house thereon, very early. He died, and his widow Jane James conveyed the house and lot to James Smith of Marblehead Aug. 6, 1660.1
46. This was the homestead of Richard Rowland of Marble- head, planter, as early as 1648, and he died, possessed of it in the summer of 1685.
47. William Barber of Marblehead, a fisherman, owned this lot in 1651.
48. Samuel Doliber of Marblehead owned this lot of land, with the house thereon, very early, and conveyed the estate to John Waldron of Marblehead, a fisherman, June 20, 1651.2
Though William Walton was never ordained to the ministry, he continued to preach to the people of Marblehead until his death, in October, 1668. A meeting house had been built on burying hill, and the usual troubles which arose from seating the people came to the inhabitants. Until a church was organized, in 1684, the members of the Salem church who lived in Marble- head attended the services of the church in Salem on days of the sacraments of the Lord's supper and baptism, and on other Sun- days were found in the little meeting house amongst the ledges and the graves on the hill. The members of the Salem church who lived in Marblehead in 1684 numbered fifty-four.
1Essex Registry of Deeds, book 4, leaf 130.
"Essex Registry of Deeds, book 4, leaf 67.
CHAPTER XIV.
FORT ON WINTER ISLAND
T a meeting of the seven men, Jan. 21, 1649-50, there was granted to William Robinson sixty acres of land, which was formerly granted, and his son twenty acres; to John Tucker1, James Patch2, Edmond Grover, John Hill3 and Philip Verin forty acres each ; to Josia Roots about two acres of land adjoining to his ten-acre lot on the John Zurfer northeast side, and to Robert Morgan's
GoRn. at the other end; to William Scuder thirty acres. by Mr. Bartholmew's ; to Mr. Bacon one hundred acres beyond the great river; to John Lovett twenty acres more in the swamp and upland ; and to Henry Cooke forty acres beyond the river "or on this side by Henerie Bartholmew."
1John Tucker was in Salem from 1642 to 1647; was called father-in- law to a boy, under eighteen years of age, named John, son of John Beaumont, who died in or before 1647. Mr. Tucker probably married the widow of the deceased.
2James Patch lived near Mackerel Cove, Beverly, from 1648 to the autumn of 1658, when he died, leaving wife Hannah and children, James Patch, Mary Patch and Elizabeth Patch. In his will, he mentions his brothers Nicholas Woodbury and John Patch.
3John Hill, born in Bristol, England, about 1635; wheelwright; lived on the easterly side of Aborn Street and southerly of Glasshouse field, and later in Beverly; married, first, Miriam Gardner; and, second, Lydia
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HISTORY OF SALEM
At a meeting of the seven men, Feb. 21, 1649-50, there was granted to Robert Molton, jr., the thirty acres formerly laid out to him.
Ralph Fogg, the first clerk of the court in Salem, had before this date lost the prestige he had had in the town for a number of years, and, Feb. 28, 1649-50, made his final appearance in the court to answer for a charge of lying in the face of the open congregation on a Lord's day, slandering the church, and after the meeting was ended complaining to Governor Endecott of wrong that he had done him, both in church and court, saying that the governor was the grand jury and the grand jury, the governor. The court ordered that Fogg should confess his error in the meeting the next Lord's day, as follows: "I Ralfe Fogge do acknowledge that I did very wickedly and sinfully in that I did in the face of the Congregation deny that the Church or any particular member did ever make known to me any one pticular for the which the Church proceeded agnst me the which in saying I did very falsely slander the Church of Christ and that I did very sinfully in saying that the Governour had done me wrong and that he was the Grand Jury and the Grand Jury was him for all which I am very sorry." If he should refuse to make this confession, it was ordered that he stand at the whipping post half an hour after lecture with a paper in his hat on which in capital letters should be written: "For slandering of the Church and for abusing the Governor." Mr. Downing and Captain Hathorne were ordered to see it done, and in case he "stands not quietly with his back to the post that then the constable is to bind him to it."
At a town meeting, March 16, 1649-50, it was "Ordered that all the land lying on Cape Ann Syde from Mr. Blackliech his farm unto Rich Dodg his farm and all between the old planters farm and Mackerel Cove and so to the head of the ten acre lots on Cape Ann Side that is undisposed of and lieth in common shall be reserved for common, and none of it disposed provided such grants as have been made before this order to particular per- sons shall be made good unto them." This great tract of rough country, of great ledges, boulders, hills and swamps, contained up- wards for four thousand acres. Two or three small lots had been granted to individuals out of it, but generally it was wild and
Buffum Aug. 26, 1664; died in the autumn of 1680; she married, second, George Locker; children: I. Miriam, born March 24, 1658; married William Haskell May 1, 1679; 2. Susanna, born July 31, 1660; 3. Lydia, born March 30, 1666; 4. Elizabeth, born Dec. 15, 1667; 5. John, born Jan. 22, 1670-I; married Elizabeth Oaks April 27, 1696; 6. Robert, born Sept. II, 1676.
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primeval, and most of it is still untamed. Snake Hill, Pride's mountain, Cat swamp, Burnt hills, Turtle Hill, Beaver Pond, Bald Hill, Rattlesnake Hill, Beverly rock, Red rocks, Prospect Hill, Grindstone Hill, Standley's grove, etc., are found therein. This common land was afterward divided into several commons, by the town of Beverly, in the territory of which it is situated. The last great division was the sheep pasture, which contained about eleven hundred acres, and is in that section known as Egypt. A walk or ride through Wood, Witch or Common lane will give some idea of what it was like in the early days.
At the meeting of the seven men, July 10, 1650, there was granted to Job Swinerton "that strip of meadow sometime in the hands of Mr. Phillip Verin and lately granted to Richard Stile- man until he should remove his dwelling which we conceive Richard Stileman hath done, but if he continue with us then he is still to enjoy it according to his grant, otherwise Job Swinerton is to enjoy it."
At this time, there was in existence no highway leading northerly towards Topsfield from what is now Danvers Square. At this meeting of the seven men, July 10, 1650, William Dodge, Jacob Barney and Nathaniel Putnam were appointed to lay out the highway "from the further side of that farm that was Mr. Bishop's, now in the hands of John Porter, unto Crane River." The town of Topsfield had probably planned a road from the hamlet there to the Salem line, and Salem laid out its continuation to Danvers Square. The course adopted being practically North, Locust and Maple streets. At the Square it followed the old Ipswich and Boston road to Crane River, and thence by the ordinary way to Salem through Peabody.
Thomas Duch alias Arden lived in Salem in 1650, and had a wife and daughter. Thomas Rix,1 a barber, was living in Salem in Chomd. that year, and had a shop near the meeting house.
'THOMAS RIX1 married, first, Margaret, widow of Miles Ward in 1650; she died July 24, 1660; married, second, Bridget (Muskeet), widow of William Fiske Nov. 3, 1661; she was his wife in 1680; he married, third, Susanna (Skelton), widow of John Marsh; he died in 1684; she survived him; children: I. Remember2, baptized Oct. 13, 1650; 2. Sarah2, baptized June 29, 1651; married Richard Prince; 3. Hester2, baptized June 5, 1653; 4. Thomas2, baptized Aug. 26, 1655; 5. James2, baptized Oct. 18, 1657; 6. Theophilus2, baptized Aug. 13, 1665; married Hannah -; they were living in 1724.
JAMES RIX2; carpenter and shipwright; removed to Preston, Conn., in 1702; children : I. James3, baptized April -, 1685; 2. Sara3, baptized Aug. -, 1688; 3. Thomas3, baptized Feb. - , 1693-4; 4. Lydia3, baptized March 8, 1696; 5. Mary3, baptized April 2, 1699; 6. Elizabeth3, baptized Aug. 31, 170I.
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HISTORY OF SALEM
At a meeting of the seven men, Aug. 12, 1650, there was granted to Francis Skerry a little spot of ground at the end of his ten-acre lot at the Great Cove, between his lot and the marsh of John Small ; and November 9th, the selectmen granted to Robert Hiberd twenty acres of ground at the upper end of William Dodge and Roger Haskal's ground, next to the swamp, for commonage and wood.
Nov. II, 1650, at a town meeting, there was delivered to Richard Greaves and Zacheus Cortis a corselet apiece of the town's, being in good repair, in which condition they were to keep them and return them to the town upon demand.
On the twelfth, the selectmen granted to William Browne two hundred and fifty acres of upland and twenty-five acres of meadow to be laid out near Ipswich River. December 21st, they granted to Lawrence Sothwick a quarter of an acre of meadow adjoining to his four acres ; and, a week later, to Jacob Barney fifty acres of land at Long Hill adjoining the farm which was Mr. Alford's; to Thomas Robins three acres of meadow in the great meadow beyond Wenham, of that meadow that was supposed to belong to Mr. Payne, "provided there be so much recovered from Ips- wich of that meadow"; and to Job Swinerton forty acres of land near Richard Huchinson's in lieu of twenty acres granted to him.
At the Salem court, Jan. 2, 1650-1, Humphrey Woodbury and Hugh Woodbury were sworn . freemen ; and Nicholas Patch was freed from training on account of his age, and John Stone on account of age and infirmity in one of his arms.
Feb. 8, 1650-I, the selectmen allowed John Batcheller to fence in a little neck of land to save a parcel of his marsh on Rial's Neck, provided that he should leave bars in the midst of it for any one to cart down to the water, and return the land to the town upon demand.
Feb. 25, 1650-I, at the Salem court, Salem was presented for want of some bridges. First, for want of a cart bridge at Stony Butts brook, and was ordered to build one sufficient to lead a horse over, a cart bridge not being considered necessary ; second, for want of a foot bridge at Crane River, and was ordered to make it; and, third, for deficiency in a bridge at Mackerel Cove creek. To this last presentment, the town answered that it was ready to make a new bridge when the highway should be laid out, and also promised to perfect the highway to Manchester.
The western portion of Ipswich was incorporated as a town under the name of Topsfield Oct. 18, 1650. It included, on the south side of Ipswich River, what is now East Middleton and extended from Nichols brook easterly as far as the Wenham meadows.
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At a town meeting, March 24, 1650-1, "Captain Hathorne and Jefferrie Massey are appointed to run the line and perfect it between Ipswich and Salem and have liberty to choose such as they judge meet to assist them in it and the town to bear the charges." Nothing resulted from this vote apparently, and June 20, 1653, the seven men appointed Jeffery Massey, Lieutenant Lathrop and Sergeant Porter to meet with Ipswich men for the perfecting of bounds "between them and us towards Topsfield" the next Friday. Then, two years more elapsed, and, March 8, 1654-5, the selectmen desired Mr. Corwine to get an "Artist" to come to Salem and run the line and appointed Mr. Corwine, Lieutenant Lawthrop, Jeffery Massy and Edmond Batter to treat with the Ipswich men and empowered them to perfect the division line. Again, March 25, 1657, the selectmen of Salem ordered Major Hathorne, Mr. Corwin, John Porter and Jefferie Massey to meet with Topsfield men April 9th and treat with them about the bounds between the towns. September 22d following, the selectmen "entreated" Major Hathorne, Mr. Corwin and Jacob Barney to meet some of the inhabitants of Topsfield and treat with them as to their mutual bounds. At a town meeting, March 8, 1657-8, a request of Topsfield men was presented to settle the line by a decision of the general court, and it was voted that Maj. William Hathorne move the general court to give the sense of the several grants relative to the bounds of the towns. At a town meeting, April 26th, at the request of Topsfield, the town chose two men to agree with them about the line, with full power to decide the same, and Maj. William Hathorne and Henry Bartholmew were so appointed and empowered. Still, Jan. 29, 1658-9, the selectmen appointed another committee to perform this service, namely, Jeffery Massey, Thomas Putnam, Nathaniel Putnam and Joseph Hutchinson. This attempt to run the line was successful, and for the entertainment of the men that ran the line Thomas Putnam was paid twenty shillings and Joseph Gardner, thirty shillings. The following agreement was drawn and signed by representatives of the two towns :-
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