USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Haverhill > The story of a New England town; a record of the commemoration, July second and third, 1890 on the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Haverhill, Massachusetts > Part 13
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In 1826. under the inspiration of a gift of half an aere of land E, 1h . Mises Lydia and Abigail Marsh, native, and resi- deils of Haverhill, the Academy building on the north id of Winter Street was erected. This was the beginning of higher education in the growing village. At the dedication of the substanti. I structure to its noble office, in 1827, the Hon. Ley- erett Salonstall of Salem, a son of Haverhill of the lineage so pronha ot in the early annals of the town, was the orator, and " a distinguished looking but bashful youth of nineteen," a pupil of the school, John Greenleaf Whittier, whose divine gift of poesy was then beginning to be recognized. was the poet. Until 1841, - the year of the establishment of the High School, -- the Academy continued to be one of the cherished institutions of Haverhill. Yielding gracefully, then, to the new organization, the - Oll Academy " became the Haverhill High School, which now found shelter within its memory-hallowed walls until the erection, in 1873, of the imposing High School building upon the site where Hariet Newell was born. Foramately. however, the old building, with its green lawn in front and spreading elms, still remains, despite the changes that have levelled so many other ancient landmarks, an unfailing reminder to mmy hearts of the happy serne, and tender associations of early .: bool di .
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The year 1827 was rendered memorable by the rise of the temperance agitation. The use of liquoc. and especially of rum and cider, was so prevalent among all classes as to be almost regarded as the staff of life. It was the stay of the stricken motorner at the funeral, as well as the inspicy of mirth at the marriage feast; served out at every raising, and went with the funner into the field, so that the question was gravely asked, What have the agitators to offer as a substitute ? To Isae R. How, William Savery and A. W. Thayer, then the able editor of the Esser Gucette, belong the honor of this are vement, and it was by no means slight, for the excitement was intense and the opposition most bitter. Deacon Ezra Antes, one of the later champions of the cause, ludicrously caricatured. was borne in (fligy through the streets ; and Mr. Thayer, who bravely offered the columnus of the Gazette to the advocacy of the principle of tot.d abstinence, - the first political paper, it is said, ever known to take this position, -- saw it's weekly circulation decline from one thousand to six hundred copies Opposition did not dismaten these conrageons men who had set the battle against a terrible social evil. A "Society for the Promotion of Temperance " was formed. in which Caleb LeBosquet, Benjamin Emerson, 21, and I'vekiel Hale - names now well known -- were officers ; and in 1831 followed the " Youths'Temperance Society,' of which our town-man Elias T. Ingalls was chosen president. Nor was effort in vain. When the movement began, there were twenty-nine places where liquor was sold ; in five years there was but one in which it could be procured, and there only clandestinely. In 1936 the last rum distillery was sold to Alfred Kittredge, Esq., its fires at once put out, and on the site were built the stores now known as Kittredge Block. In 1812 the town meeting instructed the selectmen not to grant any more licenses for the sale of ardent spirits.
Evidence of the growth of the town now appears in the muncher of new streets laid out and accepted. The year 1821 saw what are now well known as How, Pleasant, Spring and Stage Streets opened for public use. A beginning was also made in the grading of Summer Street, which it ledo was ex-
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tended to Mill Street, fulfilling a long-cherishet hope, that a read parallel to the river might be constructed on the brow of the hill, thus rendering accessible to all. the enjoyment of a pleas- ing and extensive prospect.
The progress in wealth and culture was also manifest in the organization of the Haverhill Institution of Savings in 1829, and the Haverhill Lyceum, of which James H. Duncan was presi- dent, James Gale recording, and Isaac R. How corresponding, secretary. The object of the Lyceum was to promote intelli- gence and culture in the community, by providing annual courses of lectures upon literary and scientific subjects, and otherwise stimulating study and thought. Merged into the Haverhill Atheneum in 1852, - afterwards the Haverhill Library Asso- ciation, -to this early organization our generation is indebted more than it knows, not only for the intellectual savor, the liter- ary enthusiasm that is a marked excellence of Haverhill society to lay, bur doubtlas hor also must we look if we would discover the initial germe of our present admirable Public Library
At this time, too, was coming to the front, what has since become the main industry of the town, the manufacture of shoes. No attempt can here be made to search out the secret springs, or trace the progress to its present grand proportions. of this pros- persus business. The proximity of Haverhill to what was then a gien centre of the leather production, Salem ; the presence of a large rial population, able to supplement the labors of the farm by the making of shoes, must not be overlooked. Nor should we fail to render due honor to the sterling honesty, the inflexible perseverance, the high degree of business capacity of the early pioneers, -such men as Phineas Webster, Manuel Chase, Tappan Chase, Daniel Hobson, Davil Homon, Caleb Husey, Moses Nichols, the Whittiers, the Noyeses, the Kim- balls ; and later, Moses How, and others, who tenaciously battled with obstacles that always confront new enterprises. And while we honor the e. we must not forget the loyalty and devotion to their native town of the Atwoods and Paul Spofford, Thomas Tileston an t Moses Moody, Charles Hotline and Aroet Hatch, who, beginning business here, moved to New York, and Philadel-
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phia, and Charleston, and in these great centre, opened channels for the early distribution of our products, and encouraged Haverhill manufacturers by their liberal patronage. Yet even these advantages, that fostered the industry in its infancy, could not have secured its later and present wonderful growth in the face of the financial catastrophes of 1837 and 1860, the conflagrations of 1873 and 1882. and the sharp com- petitions of the hour, were it not for the high ideal, the un- tiring energy and fertility of resource which the manufacturers of to-day, true to the traditions of their predecessors, carry into their pursuits. Nor should we forget in our review the worth of the men and women by whom the mechanical work is done, who in point of sobriety, intelligence, and interest in the well- being of the town, are unsurpassed by any in the land.
Let it not be thought that this is the sole industry of which we may justly be proud. The manufacture of hats in Haverhill white lies that of shoes It is a growth among us of more than a century, and is associated with such names as fadd and Nathan Webster, and Ayer and Crowell and How. From humble beginnings it has become a strong and stable busmess, and in the keeping of such able corporations as those of William B. Thom & Co., the Gilmans, and the Haverhill Hat Company is not likely to suffer any decline.
In 1832 occurred a division in the old parish, which has significance for us to-day mainly because with it the union between civil and ecclesiastical affairs that had existed for upwards of two hundred years came to an end. It had its root in theo- logical differences that it is not our purpose to discuss.
The causes of the division probably must be looked for far back in the ministry of Mr. Barnard, which lasted from 1713 to 1774. He was more or less affected by the changes in religious opinion that were becoming manifest in other parts of New Ragland. Rev. Abiel Abbott, who followed him in the pastoral office in 1795, went even farther, and though he never publicly renounced Trinitarian views he was regarded at the time of his resignation in 1803 as a Unitarian. As the result of the instruction from the pulpit, taken in connection with the ten-
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deney of the times, many in the parish, some of them persons of influence, had come to dissent from the doctrines held and preached in the pulpits of the standing order. An open out- break, however, might not have occurred had the Rev. Dud- ley Phelps, who became minister of the parish in 1828, been a little less rigid in his theology, and less positive in his convictions and teachings touching the evils of intemperance and slavery.
He preached with all plainess what he honestly believed, and doubtless in a somewhat uncompromising and controversial spirit Opposition was soon aroused, and those who hitherto hel quietly discented, now openly arraying themselves against Him, made a strong buc unsuccessful attempt, in the parish meet- ing, to pass a vote requesting his resignation. Both parties pre- przed for the contest that had now become inevitable, by each increasing the number of their adherents among those in the paish at large, entitled to vote. In the end. the opponents of M. Phelps were successful; the orthodox members, so termed, of the parish, finding themselves in a minorhy, wuhdrew and formed the Independent Congregational Society, since known as the Centre Congregational Church. The question as to who maigin legally retain the parish property under such circum- stone 's hal already been decided in the courts. It fell to those who remained behind, irrespective of religions tenets. These were divided in sentiment between what we now know as Uni- versalists and Unitarians, with a preponderance on the side of the former. A Universalist Society, formed in 1823, was then worshipping on Summer Street. For a time it was really doubtful which of these two societies would become the parish. A compromise was effected at last, by which soon four thousand dollars of the parish funds were vored to the Universalists, who withdrew and concentrated in the society on Summer Street, leaving the parish organization and the balance of the funds with the Unitarians, and this society remains the First Parish to this day.
A short time before this division, the parish voted to change the town thirty dollars annually for the use of the meet-
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ing-house. The town was not disposed to acquiesce in this ac- tion after a free use of the property from time immemorial, and accordingly passed a resolution to hold their meetings elsewhere. This turn of affairs aroused the inquiry in town meeting as to the ownership of the land upon which the meeting-house stood. A committee was still wrestling with this knotty problem, when overtures came from the parish, which had decided to build a new house, to quitclaim to the town this land, to be kept as a "Common" forever, in exchange for the Maish Jot, where the present Unitarian Church now stands. This proposition, sub- mitted to the town meeting in 1837, met with favor, and an ap- meniation of $1000 was made towards carrying it into effect. Considerably mor, was required for the purch ise of the " Marsh lot," but through the exertions and liberality of James H. Dun- can. chairman of the committee, to whom the whole business was entrusted, the requisite sum was raised by subscription, and "the Common " became the exclusive property of the town. Ten yer. liver, through the care t and wall-directed efforts of the women of Haverhill, Funds sufficient for its ruitad lo fencing and adomment were raised, and thus to these putme-spirited ex- ertions at various times we are indebted for our beautiful City H:all Park.
This effort of the women of Haverhill suggests a service of kindred nature rendered about this time by the " Shenstones." The society was formed with the manselfish parpose of making the town more beautiful, by the preservation of its ornamental trees and the planting of others. To the Rev. Arthur S. Train, for twenty years the sagacious and diligent pastor of the First Baptist Church, as much as to any one man. is justly due the conception of this society and its large success. Hle gave it a minne from Thomas Shenstone, an Englishurm who had earned the gratitude of his countrymen by similar labors throughout England. An acknowledged leader in everything that would contribute to the well-being of Haverhill, Dr. Train's public ad dresses and notiring personal efforts, ably seconded by public- spirited citizens like James IF Carleton, Thomas M. Hayes, and others, aroused general enthusiasm in the work of the society.
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Its annual levees for raising lands were eagerly anticipated and minnerously attended. The fraternity, after a few years of be- neficent activity, closed its labors and ceased to exist. Most of the men and women who were associated in this loving work for future generations have now passed from earth, but their monu- ments are all about us in the hundreds of shade trees planted by their eare, which in rich maturity remain to beautify our streets and public squares. May our city fathers jealously preserve them, not only from thoughtless injury, but from an intemperate and misdirected zeal for public improvements.
In the summer of 1833, when President Jackson was prepar- ing for his tour in New England, a special town meeting was called to extend to the hero of New Orleans a suitable invita- tion to accept the cordial hospitality of Haverhill. The invi- tation was graciously received, and the town soon became ablaze with excitement in anticipation of the expected visit. But alas ! triumphal arches, flags, bannerets, and elaborate prepara- lion- were all for naught, save as evidences of the public spirit anl patriotism of the community ; for, almost at the last hour, sudden illness compelled the President to abandon this part of his proposed journey.
With the opening of the railroad to Boston came a new epoch in the history of Haverhill. The project of a branch road from Andover, to connvet at Wilmington with the Boston and Lowell road, had aroused our publie-spirited citizens. Why should not the road be still farther extended to Haverhill? he- came a pressing question. A meeting upon the matter was held at the Eagle House in 1834, of which James Il. Duncan was chairman, and Alfred Kittredge secretary, and energetie measures were adopted for its immediate construction. By October, 1837, the iron rails had touched the Merrimack at Bradford, and the road was formally opened for traffic. The event brought unbounded rejoicing to Haverhill. Again the eloquence of Saltonstall was invoked to fitly commemorate it ; a publie collation followed, and mmunerous congratulatory speeches voierd the feelings of the hour
In 1831 was organized an anti-slavery society in town, one
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of the first children of the American anti-slavery movement. John Greenleaf Whittier, then editor of the Essex Gazette, was chosen corresponding secretary. Those born since the events of our Civil War smote the shackles from millions of slaves at the South, ean scarcely realize the intense and fierce opposition in this hitherto staid community which this movement evoked. Almost the first attempt of the society to hold a publie meet- ing, with no less distinguished a philanthropist than Samuel J. May as the principal speaker, was the occasion of the assem- bling of an infuriated mob. The meeting was appointed for a Sabbath evening, in the Christian Church, which then stood in Washington Square. The andienec-room was reached by staircases on the outside of the building. The exercises had scaredly commeneed when the voice of the speaker was drowned by the noise of pebbles thrown against the windows, and the angry howlings of the mob without. A cannon had been planted in the square, and the proposal was even made to tear away the staircases, that upon the dis leage of the cannon the terrified people within, seeking to escape, would be precipi- taited to the ground. This project was frustrated by the brave conduct of Rufus Slocomb, well known as the proprietor of the Haverhill stage line, whose promptness and daring overawed the mob. Notwithstanding this bitter feeling against those who favored abolition, the town sent Whittier the very next year to the Legislature. While a member of this body his heroic moral tibre was exhibited by his paying a visit to William Lloyd Garrison, at that time sheltered in the jail in Boston, to save him from the violence of a mob.
These events naturally suggest the famous petition of 1812, without mention of which no story of Haverhill would be complete. Several times in its history the town had sent com- munications to the General Goverment -- in 1796 it was a letter of confidence in President John Adams; in 1808 a peti- tion for the suspension of the Embargo Act. At this time there was intense excitement in Congress, growing out of the agita- tion of slavery. Petitions on the subject had exasperated the South. The dissolution of the Union was threatened if these
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were repeated. The right of petition, even, was denied. In part to rebuke these hollow threats of disoh tion, and partly from abhorrence of a seeming complicity with the crime of human slavery, a petition was drawn up and signed by Benja- min Emerson, 2d, and forty-four others. praying for a peace- able dissolution of the Union .*
The presentation of this petition by John Quincy Adams raised the wildest storm in the House of Representatives. For Your entire days a resolution on his expulsion, for having offered the deepest indignity to the House, the gravest insult to the American people, and as guilty of high treason, was angrily debated. The tempest at length sub-ided and nothing was done. Haverhill Gad at least made her voice heard in the national councils. There were no more threats of dissolution for years after. Most of the signers of this famous petition have ere this passed from earth. A few still linger among ns, to rejoice in the perpetuation of the Union, no longer sullied with the foul tale of shively
The petitioners at the time were regarded by the majority of their follow-citizens with aversion, and stigmatized as extrem- ists if not fanatical disturbers of the peace. As a striking illus- tration of the change that a few years had wrought in the public sentiment on the subject of slavery, the action of the town in 1854 is deserving of mention. The resolution for the repeal of the Missomi Compromise had been introduced into Congress. Mingled feelings of surprise and indignation throughout the free Stati , greeted this audacious proposal to violate a solemn compact which had been held sacred for thirty-four years. The old town could not be silent when such an issue was before the nation. Her voice was heard upon the first fitting occasion,
* The petition was as follows : " To the Congress of the United States, . - fue pelosi ned, citizens of Haverlull, m the Corimnonweadi of Massachusetts, pray that you will immediately adopt measures, peaceably to dissolve the union of the s . States . First, because no union can be aureeat le or permanent, which does not que ene proper of reciprocal benefit ; second, bude a vast proportion of the resources of one section of the union is annually drained to sustain the views ,a course of another section without any adequate return Bul. because judg- mig rom history of pust nations) this union if persisted in, the the present course of this will certainly overwhelm the whole natten in utter destitu tion "
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the annual town meeting, - in the adoption, with remarkable unanimity, of a comprehensive preamble and resolutions, pre- sented by the Hon. James Il. Duncan, reciting the facts, de- nouneing the proposition of repeal as a breach of public faith and the perpetration of a great moral and national wrong. The Hon. N. P. Banks, who then represented the district in Congress, was instructed to use his utmost efforts to defeat the passage of this odious measure.
This mention of Mr. Duncan calls ap memories of one who, through a long life, was prominently identified with the best interests of Haverhill and an important factor in her pros- printy. Through his mother, Rebecca White, he was a direct descendant of William White who signed the Indian deed. His father, a successful merchant in Haverhill at the beginning of the century, was allied with the Scotch-hish colony that settled Londonderry, N. H .; the grandfather, James Duncan, having o moved thence to this town in 1710. After graduation at Harvard and the completion of his law studio,, in 1815 he began the practice of his profession in Haverhill. He possessed rare talents for public service, which were early recognized, and the employment eagerly sought by his fellow-citizens. Previous to his admission to the bar. he was elected major in the Haverhill Light Infantry, continuing in the militia service until he reached the rank of colonel, by which title he was after- wards commonly addressed.
He was repeatedly elected to both branches of the State Legislature, and two years he was a member of the Council. In 1839 he was elected a delegate to the convention that nomi- nated General Harrison to the presidency, and in 1848, entirely without effect on his part, was chosen to represent the dis- trict -- then the largest manufacturing district in the United States --- in the National Congress, and was re-elected in 1850. During the four years of Mr. Duncan's congressional life, Con- gross was agitated by the exciting questions relating to slavery that have become historie. Of him, at this period, John G. Whittier wrote: " His congressional career was a highly honor- able one, marked by his characteristic soundness of judgment,
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and conscientious Faithfulness to a Ligh ideal of duty." Haver- hill has reared no son more keenly alive than was Mr. Duncan to the growth and honor of his native town. For a period of fifty years he was a conspicuous figure in the annual town meet- ings. Hle took a leading part in the erection of two town halls, making, at the dedication of each, historical addresses. He had a rich, ringing voice, and great elegance and readiness of ex- pression, that gave him rare power over an audience, and in the Legislature won for him the cognomen of the "Silver-tongued member from Haverhill." During the Civil War his labors for the Union were abundant. One of the earliest adherents of the new Republican party, he was active with voice and pen in strengthening the hands of the Goverment, and devoted constant personal effort to caring for the families of the sokliers who were standing at the post of danger and duty. His ser- vices in connection with education, and with the great religions andI philanthropie movements of his time, were extensive. llis milence till standing, a stately Fundatark of the past, was a centre of a refined and generous hospitality. profited not to cherished friends, merely, but in any way that weald contribute to the good name of the town. Upon the occasion of his death, though bolling no office at the time, such was the appreciation of his service in the past, that the town adopted memorial res- olutions " expressing grateful remembrance of him as a pru- deat counsellor and common friend, and uniting publie sorrow with private grief over the event, which was declared to be a public loss as well as a private, heartfelt bereavement."
For a series of years after the doors of the First Parish were closed against it, the town meeting led a migratory existence, visiting in turn each of the outlying parishes and the various meeting-houses in the village. Wearied with this state of things, after considerable agitation of the subject, in 1847 the first. town house was built, the building occupying very nearly the south half of the present site. The erection of this hall was regarded a great achievement in its day, and though not a sue- vess from an architectural point of view, it served well the pur- poses of the town. The rapid growth that followed 1850 soon
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made it wholly madequate, and in 1861, when the country was convulsed with the War of the Rebellion, the present handsome structure was completed .* Had not the work been actually connneneed at the outbreak of the great struggle, n would, doubt- loss, have been postponed. As it was, its prosecution proved a priceless boon to many who otherwise, by reason of the war, would have been deprived of the means of livelihood.
I have referred to the growth of the town about 1850. This was in part a result of the large emigration from Ireland, thien suffering from a distressing famine in 1815 Hitherto the town had known little of citizens of foreign birth, of whatever nationality. The sey traditions of Magh Tallam, an fishman, who planted the sycamores in 1715, still happily lingered. Now his countrymen joined us in large numbers and with their strong arms and patient toil gave a new impetus to every industry. In 1852, under Father MeDonald, their first church clifice was dedi- rated. which has recently been superseded by the noble struc- tme which now ornaments our city. They have entered heartily into the life of the town and of the nation. In our terrible war thousands of them, from all parts of the land, laid down their lives for its defence.
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