USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The story of Essex County, Volume II > Part 31
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5. "History of Newburyport, Massachusetts," Vol. II, p. 156. John J. Currier, Newburyport, 1906.
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THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
In 1803 the Essex Fire and Marine Insurance Company, of Salem, and the Merrimack Marine and Fire Insurance Company of Newburyport were established. The Salem company was organized by William Gray and others, Nathaniel Bowditch serving as presi- dent for many years. The Newburyport company, organized by John Pearson and associates, operated successfully for several years until war losses and the depression in maritime commerce caused it to be discontinued in 1814. The Union Marine and Fire Insurance Company of Newburyport, organized in 1807, met a similar fate. The Social Insurance Company, of Salem, which was organized in 1808, continued in business until about 1830.
James Prince, William Russell, David Richards, and Joseph Wil- liams, all of Newburyport, launched an ambitious undertaking in 1809, when the Phenix Marine and Fire Insurance Company, capi- talized at $100,000, was established. Misfortune dogged the foot- steps of this concern, however, for the great fire of 1811 caused the company, as well as the community, serious loss. An attempt was made to settle the affairs of the company in 1812, but further serious losses occasioned by the capture of Newburyport merchant ships dur- ing the war caused the final settlement to be dragged out over a number of years. It was as late as 1835 when the claims against the company were finally disposed of.
Marine insurance from this time forward took a secondary posi- tion to fire insurance in Newburyport, because of the decline of ship- ping in that town, although two or three new companies took care of the needs of the port at various times during the next forty or fifty years. Salem, however, staged a recovery after the war of 1812. The Salem Commercial Insurance Company, organized in 1818 by Nathaniel Silsbee, Joseph Story, and others, did a highly successful business for many years, with George Cleveland serving as president. The Oriental Insurance Company, established in 1824, and the Mercantile Insurance Company, incorporated the following year, with John Winn, Jr., as president, also helped to serve the need of Salem's commerce. Probably the last Salem concern to specialize in marine insurance was the Salem Marine Insurance Company, founded in February, 1856. This enterprise was still in operation in 1888, at which time it was the only Salem company writing marine insurance. That year William Northey was president and F. P. Richardson was secretary.
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Newburyport companies established after 1820, which wrote marine insurance, included the Newburyport Mutual Fishing Insur- ance Company, founded in 1828; the Union Mutual Marine Insur- ance Company, organized by Samuel Hale, Moody A. Thurlo, and others, in 1852; and the Merchants' Mutual Marine Insurance Company, founded by Isaac H. Boardman, Samuel Hale, and others, in 1857. The Merchants' Insurance Company, incorporated in 1831 by William Bartlet, and others, wrote both fire and marine insur- ance, but, after suffering heavy losses, was dissolved in 1836.
Besides accommodating the needs of maritime commerce, the marine insurance companies of Salem and Newburyport played an interesting part in the social life of these towns. In the later decades of the eighteenth century, it became customary for the merchants, shipowners, and shipmasters to gather in the evening at the various insurance offices to transact business, to discuss the fortunes of their recent voyages, to read the papers, and to hear the gossip of the day. At these nightly gatherings tall yarns were told and nationally important political problems were thoroughly examined and settled, according to the lights of those present. As the maritime commerce of the towns declined, first in Newburyport and later in Salem, the men who had long frequented the insurance offices continued to gather there. Many offices were kept open for years after their economic justification had passed and served more as societies for old merchants and sea captains than as insurance offices. In these later days many a hand of poker was dealt and many a glass of rum was quaffed by blue-nosed old salts in these office-clubrooms. The passing of the marine insurance offices and of the maritime genera- tion which accompanied them brought an end to these highly pic- turesque impromptu societies, and modern society is the poorer for it.
Although outside companies have for years supplied all the life insurance, nearly all the liability and casualty insurance, and a great deal of the fire insurance sold in Essex County, several domestic companies are worthy of mention. At present there are nine insur- ance companies with headquarters in Essex County, eight of them writing fire insurance and one writing liability insurance. All are on the mutual plan.
Among the first concerns to specialize in fire insurance in Essex County were the West Newbury Mutual Fire Insurance Company
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and the Groveland Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Both were established in 1828 and are still in operation. The officers of the West Newbury Mutual are: Robert S. Brown, president, and Dan- iel Cooney, secretary; while those of the Groveland Mutual are: Charles H. Pike, president, and John A. Marshall, secretary. Both of these companies do a good business in their respective territories.
The Newburyport Mutual Fire Insurance Company, since its establishment in 1829, has been an important factor in its own and nearby communities. The incorporators were Ebenezer Mosely, Luther Waterman, John Greenleaf, William Bartlet, Moses Daven- port, William Davis, William C. Williams, Aaron Davis, Enoch Osgood, Samuel Newman, and Thomas M. Clark. The company was authorized to insure buildings, furniture, books, and merchandise against loss by fire. The charter, received February II, 1829, was for a term of twenty-eight years. At the end of that time it was renewed, and for many years the Newburyport Mutual has been among the most respected of domestic companies. At present Frank B. Hubbard is president and S. A. Johnson is secretary.
Three insurance companies which were established in Essex County in the 'forties have survived to the present day. In 1843, the Holyoke' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Salem was founded, and at present is the largest of the domestic fire insurance companies. Carlos P. Faunce is president of the Holyoke Mutual, and Louis O. Johnson is vice-president and secretary. In 1847, the Annisquam Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Lynn was incorporated. The present officers are: James J. Lemmon, president, and John H. Mad- den, secretary and treasurer. That same year the Gloucester Mutual Fishing Insurance Company was formed. This enterprise is now unique among Essex County insurance companies. It has served the particular needs of Gloucester admirably for eighty-seven years. The officers of the Gloucester Mutual are: E. Archer Bradley, presi- dent, and William E. Parsons, secretary.
There were, in 1931, four mutual fire insurance companies which had their headquarters at Andover, and which were under the same management, although three were originally established elsewhere. The oldest of this group, also one of the three oldest surviving Essex County companies, is the Merrimack Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany, founded in 1828. The second oldest of the Andover group,
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originally a Middlesex County concern, is the Cambridge Mutual Fire Insurance Company, founded in 1833. The remaining two Andover companies were of more recent origin. The Lynn Manu- facturers' & Merchants' Fire Insurance Company was established in 1907, while the Bay State Mutual Fire Insurance Company was formed in 1919. Since 1931 the last two companies have been merged with the first two, and the business is carried out under the names of the Merrimack Mutual and the Cambridge Mutual. At the start in 1828, before the nearby city of Lawrence was settled, the business of the Merrimack Mutual was confined almost solely to farm policies. At present the two Andover companies do a Nation- wide business, and in 1933 alone wrote insurance in excess of $213,- 000,000. Burton S. Flagg is president of these two companies, and John A. Arnold is secretary.
The Electric Mutual Liability Insurance Company of Lynn is the only one of its kind with headquarters in Essex County. It is of recent origin, being established in 1927. The present officers of this company are : William W. French, president, and Thomas N. Foynes, secretary.
The great majority of the people to whom insurance constitutes an occupation, however, are engaged in its retail sales. In thirty- four Essex County towns and cities there were, in 1931, about 1,554 insurance agencies, in which almost every description of insurance could be obtained. Lynn had the largest number of agencies, with three hundred and fifty-five, while Lawrence had three hundred and four. Haverhill and Salem also ranked high, with one hundred and seventy-six and one hundred and forty-four, respectively.
Banking and insurance, both essential to security and to the normal conduct of business, have a long and honorable history in Essex County. For over a century the banks and insurance agencies have been adequate to meet the needs of commerce, and more recently, life and casualty insurance have been available, making per- sonal security more easily attainable.
BIBLIOGRAPHY-A. Barton Hepburn: "History of Coinage and Currency in the United States." Macmillan, New York, 1903.
D. Hamilton Hurd : "History of Essex County, Massachusetts," J. W. Lewis & Co., Philadelphia, 1888.
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THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
Benjamin F. Arrington : "Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts." Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York, 1922.
Charles H. S. Douglas : "Financial History of Massachusetts." New York, 1892.
John J. Currier : "History of Newburyport, Massachusetts." Newburyport, 1906.
Albert Bushnell Hart: "Commonwealth History of Massachu- setts." States History Company, New York, 1929.
Andrew McFarland Davis: "Currency and Banking in the Prov- ince of the Massachusetts Bay." American Economic Association, Cambridge, 1901.
The Press and Publications of Essex County
Essex-58
CHAPTER XXII
The Press and Publications of Essex County
By K. J. Barrows
Salem can be proud of the fact that Samuel Hall, formerly of Medford, was the first person in Essex County to conduct a news- paper. He was a practical printer who had learned his trade in New Hampshire from his uncle, the first printer in the State. Evidently his migration to Salem resulted from the promise of sympathy and prob- ably of financial backing from a group of enthusiastic young patriots, for Mr. Hall was interested in the possibility of a future independence for the American colonies of Great Britain. He opened his office in Salem in April, 1768. At the time this settlement was a town of about five thousand inhabitants who were largely engaged in the fisheries and the West India trade. It was an ideal community in which to start a newspaper, since there were many wealthy and cultured people, some of whom occupied important positions in the royal colonial service.
Proposals were issued by Mr. Hall for publishing a paper to be entitled the "Essex Gazette," to be issued weekly on Tuesday at six shillings, eight pence per annum. The prospectus illustrates the spirit in which the enterprise was started :
"I shall exert myself to obtain as general and fresh a Collection of News as will lay in my Power, both Foreign and Domestic, and insert it with accuracy and in due order; and I shall at all times assiduously endeavor to procure and care- fully publish, as I. may have room, any compositions that may have a tendency to promote Religion, Virtue, Industry, good Order, a due sense of the Rights and Liberties of our Coun-
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try, with the Importance of true and genuine principles of patriotism, and whatever may serve to enliven and animate us in our Known Loyalty and Affection to our gracious Sov- ereign. In short, any Pieces that may be productive of Pub- lic Good or contribute to the innocent Amusement and Enter- tainment of my Readers, will be inserted with Pleasure; and any writings of a Contrary Nature will, if offered for Inser- tion, be instantly rejected."
The first number appeared in August, 1768, printed upon a crown sheet folio, ten by sixteen inches, three columns to the page, being less than one-third the size of the newspaper of today. Its head was adorned by a rude woodcut, comprising the figures of two Indians, with a codfish overhead, and a dove with a sprig in its bill in the center. The design bears some resemblance to the Essex County seal and was probably intended to be emblematical of peace, the fish- eries, and successful emigration. The reader was assured by the headline that the sheet contained "the freshest advices, both foreign and domestic." Political news from various parts of the world, domestic news under the headings of different towns within the Colony, a few legal notices, and advertisements made up the paper's contents. Hall's salutatory to the people of Salem was :
"I now commence the publication of the 'Essex Gazette'; and return by sincere thanks to every Gentleman who has, in any manner, patronized and encouraged my undertaking. Relying on the Candour of the Publick, my utmost Care and Diligence shall be exerted to render it, in some Measure, worthy of publick Notice.
"Although the Printing Business is but just introduced into this Town and County, and consequently this Paper is the first Publication of the Kind that has been printed here; yet there can be no Doubt but that every Inhabitant is sufficiently sen- sible that the exercise of this Art is of the Utmost Importance to every Community; and that News Papers, in particular, are of great publick utility :- The miscellaneous Productions, and the advices from different Parts of the World, which are usually inserted, form such an engaging Variety, as naturally attracts the attention of People in general; so that the most
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useful knowledge to mankind, tending to preserve and pro- mote the Liberty, Happiness, and Welfare of Civil Society is, at a trifling expense, imperceptibly diffused among the inhabi- tants of an extensive Country,-But what is the Boast and Glory of British subjects, and what these periodical Publica- tions greatly tend to perpetuate is the inestimable Privilege of 'thinking what we please and speaking what we think,' as Tacitus expressed it, and which he had the Fortitude to incul- cate even in an Age of Slavery.
"As the impartial Publick must form their respective opin- ions of the 'Essex Gazette' from their own observations, it is needless, by any present assurances, to endeavor to anticipate their Ideas of its future character, and therefore would only beg Leave to observe, That I shall studiously avoid inserting any Pieces that can justly give offence to Societies or Indi- viduals and with regard to the Publishing of malicious per- sonal Interviews, calculated to disturb the Peace and good Order of Society, or unjustly to injure the character of any Individual, it is so repugnant to the Dictates of Justice, that no One, it is hoped, will be in the least apprehensive of its being practiced in this Gazette.
"If in the Course of my Publication, I should be so fortu- nate as to gain the approbation of the Gentlemen who have favored me with their subscriptions, I shall esteem myself under peculiar Obligations if they will recommend this Paper to the Notice and Patronage of their Respective Friends and Acquaintances ; which Favour will be very gratefully acknowl- edged and every Endeavor to increase its character will be exerted by
"The Publick's very humble and most obdeient Servant "SAMUEL HALL."
Among the contributors to Hall's paper was Colonel Timothy Pickering, then a rising young man, and afterwards Secretary of State of the United States. He published a series of able and elaborate articles upon the importance of a reorganization of the militia, which greatly influenced public opinion upon increasing the efficiency of that branch of the public service. His father, Deacon Timothy Picker-
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ing, frequently rebuked in print some of the growing evils in the community. Subscribers to the "Gazette" were obtained not only in Salem, but in most of the principal places in the Colony, since there were then but five papers in the State and none at all eastward except in Portsmouth. Delivery was made by a post-rider who left the office on publication morning for the towns between Salem and Newbury- port. To obtain the most recent news from Boston, the expense of a special messenger was incurred. The news from New York was a week old, from Philadelphia a fortnight, and from London, two months.
The "Essex Gazette" was published nearly seven years during a period which included the most important events that immediately preceded the Revolution. All the great problems that agitated the colonies were discussed in its columns. The odious taxes imposed by the King, the non-importation agreements, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Port Bill, the tea troubles, the action of the people in their town meetings and assemblies, the popular hatred of the officers of the crown were all narrated to the paper's readers in the order of their occurrence. For example, an article in 1770 said :
"Though some may pretend that Liberty is a mere Flight of Fancy or the wild chimera of an infuriated Rabble; yet when we contemplate the History of our own, as well as other Nations, we are at once convinced of the Sacred Reality. I need not remind you, my Countrymen, of the infa- mous attempts made to reduce us, the free born Inhabitants of this Country, to a State of Slavery. You that have visited the Capital have been eye-witnesses of the vast Resourse of base, ignorant Despotism, you have seen there an armed Force introduced with a view of Protecting a set of Myrmidons, sent to pillage us of our Property, and to insult us with the most insufferable Haughtiness. But, thanks to that all- gracious Being, who confounds all councils of the wicked, and brings their desires to nought, that he has inspired the Inhabi- tants of this Continent with such an universal Spirit of Patriot- ism. The measures now persuing, if persevered in, must effec- tually tend to the Restoration of our invaluable Rights. May every Individual, as far as he is able, aid and promote the
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united, generous Efforts of the worthy merchants on this Con- tinent : And, that we may be sufficiently sensible of the Impor- tance of what we are contending for; let these Truths be indelibly impressed on our Minds-that we cannot be happy without being free-that we cannot be free without being secure in our property, if, without our consent, others may, as by Right, take it away-that Taxes imposed on us by Parlia- ment do thus take it away-that Duties laid for the sole Pur- poses of raising money as Taxes-that attempts to lay such Duties should be firmly opposed, and that this opposition can never be effectual, unless it is our own united Efforts."
The printing office was burned out by the great fire of October, 1774, which destroyed much property in Salem. Hall transferred the publication of his paper to Cambridge. For about five years during the Revolutionary War, Salem had no newspaper, but in 1780, a Mrs. Mary Crouch, widow of a printer in North Carolina, arrived with press and type and issued the Salem "Gazette and General Adver- tiser," which contained stories, tales, and other entertaining articles to be appreciated about the home and fireside. Financially the paper was a failure, Mrs. Crouch giving as the reason, "the want of suffi- cient assistance, and the impossibility of obtaining house-room for myself and family to reside near my business.".
Just a week after the close of the Crouch paper, Samuel Hall was back again as a publisher in Salem, buying the equipment of the former office. The new paper, the Salem "Gazette," was printed until 1785, when once'more Hall left town because the Legislature had injured his business by a tax on advertisements which, together with a decline in trade, deprived him of any income. He complained, "No printer can now advertise even in his own paper any books or pieces of piety or devotion, not excepting the Holy Bible, without paying a heavy tax for it. How this accords with His Excellency's late 'Proclamation for the encouragement of Piety, Virtue, Education and Manners' let the framers of the act determine. Were it not for the tax upon advertising good books, the Printer hereof would inform the Public that he has just published: 'Extracts from Dr. Priestly's Catechism,' which he sells at five coppers single, and two shillings the dozen."
The Salem "Gazette," under the new management of John Dab- ney and Thomas C. Cushing, commenced publication in October,
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1786. The excited and violent political feeling at various times between 1802 and 1815, embracing the events of the war with Great Britain, was fully exhibited in the columns of the "Gazette." Although Mr. Cushing himself was of a mild and peaceable disposition, he allowed a pretty free use of his columns by writers who did not emu- late his own virtues. The Republican party was assailed in violent and often extremely personal language. Sarcasm, ridicule, and severe denunciation were freely employed. In the fall of 1802 a violent contest arose between the Federal and Republican parties, concerning the election of a member of Congress. The result was favorable to the Republicans. When it was over, the editor of the "Gazette," now Mr. Cushing alone, was called upon to answer for the tone of his paper by a libel suit. He was visited by some gentlemen who claimed they had been maliciously slandered and who threatened to shoot him if he continued to publish such things as they had complained of. Mr. Cushing replied that it had been his endeavor to keep his paper free from undue personalities, though he considered public characters and public conduct as proper subjects of reproof; and as for the future he should give no pledges, but should be governed by his regard for decency, and endeavor to give no just cause of offense. The conversa- tion became so loud and boisterous that it alarmed the ladies of Mr. Cushing's family, who called a number of persons into an adjoining apartment, as listeners; and thus, the whole affair became a matter of public notoriety. The excitement which ensued was so great that Mr. Cushing was obliged to publish a full account of the interview.
One of the most conspicuous cases of the full use of Mr. Cush- ing's columns was occasioned by the passage of the Embargo Act in 1807, which proved a fatal blow to the commercial interests of Salem and caused the merchants to look with great disfavor upon Jefferson and his party. The "Gazette" referred to the measure as the "Dam- bargo" and designated all who favored it as Embargoroons. Articles written in nautical lingo, supposed to have come from the much abused sailor, but probably concocted by Federalist sympathizers, found their way into the columns of the "Gazette," of which the following is a good example of campaign literature of 1808 :
"SHIPMATES AHOY !
"I fear, d'ye see, that we are bamboozled. You recollect, I say, at 'lection times and town-meeting days, how that the 'republicans,' as they called themselves, used to tell us what
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friends they were to us sailors, how they used to give us a double allowance of grog on such days and send us away from our work to steer a trick on board the brick ship. Now, tho I say it that shouldn't say it, I think I can see breakers on our lee as soon as anyone that has no more learning, for I was always a hardworking man, and I used to tell you I was afraid 'twas for no good. Well 'now don't you see that my words are come true?' These kind of folks got command of the ship, and they don't care for us an end of a spun yarn. They have been trying to get away our employ and give it to foreigners and deserters and now they are starving us with an Embargo. Now, hark ye, if its necessary at any time to go upon short allowance, here's the man that won't flinch nor grumble, as long as he can lift a marling spike. But, for all I can see, this here embargo was laid on without any consid- eration for us that plough the salt sea, and because we are not willing to starve, merely to please I don't know who, these republicans call us Tories ! Shipmates, is it not too much for the spirit of an American Sailor to be thus treated by a set of runaway fellows that come to this country to get bread out of our mouths ? Must we starve in silence at the command of these freshwater 'republicans'? No, no, we read in the good book that republicans and sinners are no better than they should be.
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