USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > Truro > Truro-Cape Cod; or, Land marks and sea marks > Part 31
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dropped into a consumptives grave. He was called " old- fashioned," but a truer heart never beat.
REV. OSBORN MYRICK.
I have mentioned that the Christian name of the Dublin scholar and Eastham minister, Rev. Samuel Osborn, upon whom sat the ten churches, for heresy, became one of the popular names of Cape Cod, It has never been better repre- sented than in the Rev. Osborn Myrick, of whom the accom- panying engraving is an excellent portrait. Mr. Myrick needs no introduction to Cape Cod readers of this day and generation. The Myricks are an old Cape family. Deacon John was among the early settlers of Truro, bought pew Number Six in the new meeting-house in 1721, and was ordained a Ruling Elder in 1727. Rev. Osborn belongs to the old line : was born in Orleans, August 27, 1816; is a brother of the mother of Franklin and B. S. Snow. He graduated at Middlebury Col- lege ; received his first license to preach by the Brewster Asso- ciation ; was called to supply the Union Church at North Truro, October, 1842. Strictly, was the first Congregational pastor ; remained till March, 1845, when called to the pastorate of the Congregational Church at Provincetown. Ordained February, 1846. January 12, married Joanna C. Mills of Truro. The Congregational Church for many years had been greatly reduced ; was without a regular minister, and in charge of the Home Missionary Society. Under Mr. Myrick's faith- ful and capable pastorate, a quite vigorous church and full congregation were gathered. Mr. Myrick is not only a good preacher and pastor, but, like the old Eastham minister, he is a valuable citizen ; is not only interested in all that builds up and benefits community, but initiates the underlying process. He resigned, and was dismissed from the church, 1866. October of the same year called to the pastorate of the Con- gregational Church at Middleton Springs, Vermont, which he is now filling with great acceptability.
He is still fresh and active in his calling; his twoscore years of service have neither bent his form, clouded his brow,
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nor soured his heart. His excellent wife is still sharing in the responsibilities and enjoying the privileges of a pastor's wife. May his next score find him still at his work. One of the most impressive sermons to which I ever listened, was from the Rev. Bartholomew Othemen, in the sixty-fourth year of his ministry, at the little church in Truro, 1878. The children of Mr. Myrick are Jane Josephine, November 5, 1846, died September 20, 1849. Joseph, July 22, 1851, died July 19, 1 864. Osborn Jr., August 9, 1853, resides in Boston.
1840- UNION CHURCH, NORTH TRURO-1883.
It was understood when the new Orthodox house was built, that the society at North Truro was to be continued under the same pastorate. Mr. Bailey first lived at the Pond Village. As all the Methodists went to the Centre, a small congregation was left to gather in the old meeting-house,
UNION CHURCH, POND VILLAGE.
which was inconvenient, in poor repair, and difficult of approach in bad weather. These considerations led to the sensible plan of abandoning the old connection, and uniting all the north part of the town in a Union Society, and build- ing in the Pond Village in 1840, a Union Church. Amos Sellew, of the village, afterwards of Boston, whose untimely
THE REV. OSBORN MYRICK
THE MODERN CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 383
death will be found in another place, was the architect and builder. Though then a young man, there was probably not in New England at that day, a church building combining such architectural design, harmony of taste, and superior workmanship, as this little village chapel that cost com- pletely finished, nineteen hundred dollars. All the workmen engaged belonged in town, and were practical builders, any one of them capable of building a church edifice. The accompanying engraving is from a photograph taken since the alteration, which undoubtedly has led to the convenience, but not to the external beauty, of the original. The old meeting-house was taken down the same year the Union Church was built. The white oak timbers, cut on the spot more than a hundred years before, were sound as when framed. Many canes were made from them.
It was the basis of agreement in forming the new society that the pulpit should be supplied by ministers from the Con- gregational and Methodist Churches. I have heard of only peace and harmony during the forty-two years of united worship. Perhaps it would be hard to tell whether they are more Con- gregational or Methodist. The following list embraces the ministers who had served this society :
Seth H. Beals, 1840-41, M .; Benjamin M. Southworth, 1842, C., preached three months, died of typhoid fever, buried at Truro, a young man of promise ; Osborne Myrick, 1842-5, C .; John D. King, 1846-7, M .; Arnold Adams, 1848, M .; Thomas Smith, 1849, Advent, three months, the society being without a pastor, and Mr. Smith being on a visit, supplied till another minister could be obtained ; George W. Rogers, 1849-50, M .; Samuel J. M. Lord, 1851-4; C .; Franklin Sears, 1855, M., six months ; Job Cushman, 1856-7, C .; Abram Hol- way, 1859, M., six months, preached at the Centre, 1829; Malcolm D. Herrick, 1860, M .; Joseph A. Bartlett, 1861-2, M .; Philander Bates, 1863-5, C .; Charles Stokes, 1866-8, M .; Jacob M. Price, 1869-70, M .; Henry W. S. Packard, 1871-2, M .; Joel Martin, 1873, M .; Isaac Sherman, 1874-7, M .; Charles Mor- gan, 1878-81, M. the first two years, C., the last, having joined that church; Samuel Morrison, 1882-3, C.
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HL.HAYES
CLIMBING UP TOWARDS THE GREAT BEAR.
CHAPTER XXII.
SEAFARING AND LANDFARING.
Seafaring. Daniel Webster's Letter. A Cardinal Point. Dr. Dwight. Capt. Obadiah Rich. Capt. Benj. Rich. The Good Samaritan. Dr. Young. The Humane Society. Letters of Sympathy. The Hill-top Groves. Rev. Charles Rich. Capt. John Collins. A model Sailor. E. K. Collins. The Dramatic Line. The Collins' Steam Line. From the Pinkey to the Ship. Capt. Richard Baker. Richard Baker Jr. Capt. Elisha Baker. The Atkins Family. Lombard. Isaac Snow Gross. Capt. Levi Stevens. Isaac Rich. Matthias Rich. Capt. Edmund Burke.
This is your uncle Charles come home from Spain.
S EAFARING" is the term applied to the Cape men. Their youth and manhood are mostly spent on the ocean or in distant ports. Every breeze swells their white sails, and their swift keel cuts the waters of every sea. Wherever com- merce opens the door, there they shape their course, and there the old flag floats : now climbing up towards the Great Bear, now burning under Orion. Now the Polar Star is exchanged
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for the Southern Cross, and the Northern Lights for the Magellan clouds. Better than the astronomers, these voyagers answer Job's sublime interrogation of guiding Arcturus and his sons, binding the sweet influences of Pleiades, and loosing the bands of Orion.
A stately ship Of Tarsus bound for the isles Of Javin or Gadire.
The great cities of the world with their babel tribes, and the sunny isles of the sea, are as familiar to these rovers as the cottages on their native sands. It sounds like a romance to hear such old sea-travellers compare notes when gathered around their own hearthstones.
Calcutta, Manilla, Pedang and Hong Kong, Melbourne, Good Hope, the Horn, and Chincha Islands, Valparaiso,
VAN VLECK
PASSING THE GOLDEN GATE TO 'FRISCO.
'Frisco, the ports of Europe and the cities on the Mediter- ranean, are discussed with a freedom quite appalling to landsmen, and carries the conviction,-
They as comes to go to roam, Thinks light of they as stays at home.
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In 1837 one hundred and fifty masters of vessels belonging to the little town of Dennis sailed from various ports of the Union. In 1850 it was reported more masters and mates of vessels sail on foreign voyages from Brewster than any other town in the country. A late report states that Cape Cod has thirty young men under twenty-three masters of ships.
Daniel Webster once wrote a letter to his friends in Dennis, from which I copy a few sentences in harmony with our subject : -
On the Cape and on the Islands, I have frequently conversed with persons who seemed as well acquainted with the Gallipagos, the Sandwich Islands and parts of New Holland, as with our counties of Hampshire and Berkshire. I was once engaged in the trial of a cause in your district, in which a question arose respecting the entrance into the harbor of Owhyhee, between the reefs of coral rock guarding it on either side. The council for the opposite party pro- posed to call witnesses to give information to the jury. I at once saw a smile which I thought I understood, and suggested to the judge that very probably some of my jury had seen the entrance themselves. Upon which seven out of the twelve arose and said they were quite familiarly acquainted with it, having seen it often.
* * * * * *
Whatever latitude you travel, upon whatever distant billows you are tossed, let your country retain her hold on your affections. Keep her in your hearts, and let your carol to her ever be,-
Lashed to the helm should seas overwhelm I'll think on thee.
I have said economy was a cardinal point in Old Colony doctrine. The typical Cape Codder keeps an eye to the windward, and a grip on his hard-earned dollars and - dimes. But fast moored in their comfortable little homes, and among their friends and neighbors, their freedom and hospitality are proverbial. There, they enjoy as such men know how, the sunshine of life. Perhaps characterized by a bluff heartiness, not " black-browed and bluff, like Homer's Jupiter," but frank and natural, that disarms criticism, and makes ready friends. Travellers have always been attracted by this equality of feeling.
Rev. Dr. Dwight writes in 1807: "As there were no inns in Truro, I sought lodging at hazard. There are always
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SEAFARING AND LANDFARING.
those, where there are no public houses, who will lay them- selves out to give entertainment. It was my fortune to apply at the house of Captain Obadiah Rich, an obliging, industrious, and apparently thriving mariner, with a large family, a house of which the dimensions were increasing, and a good tract of land." Captain Rich was the father, and this was the house of the late Captain Michael A. His death, which occurred in 1810, will be noticed in another chapter. The Cape people have always drawn their principal support from the ocean : -
Sterile her soil - not hers the grain Waving o'er hill and lea ; What matters while her gallant sons Are tillers of the sea ?
While the fisheries have been the main industry, the mer- chant marine has depended largely upon the good right arm of Massachusetts. Truro has always maintained a creditable representation in this department. Doctor James Free- man wrote: " The merchant service has been from the first indebted to Truro for some of its most able ship- masters." A long list might be enu- merated of those who have been well and favorably known, and not a few who have sig- COMFORTABLE HOMES. nally distinguished their profession. Although of widely differ- ing experiences, yet mainly they are through the same chan- nels, and individual references would be a repetition, and might seem invidious, We shall therefore mention those
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only who have gained some noticeable distinction. History is mostly a description of people; to describe the people has been our purpose in this book. All along we have referred to men of strong personalities, who represent certain phases of the people, regardless of the best or worst, if these com- parisons are admissible. We have no great or overtopping men ; they do not grow on every bush.
Among the names within the memory of the living who have added to the good name of their native town, stands Cap- tain Benjamin Rich. He was born in 1775. In early life was a shipmaster. For fifty years was a successful merchant in Boston ; for many years under the name of Benjamin Rich and Son. He lived near Church Green, on Summer street. From a sermon preached by his pastor, Alexander Young, D. D., of Church Green, upon the Good Parishioner, I select a few passages :
You must have perceived long ere this that the subject of my discourse has been suggested by the recent death of one of the oldest and most valuable members of this society. You must have felt that in describing the character of the " good parishioner," I have been insensibly sketching the portrait of that worthy man, whose animated countenance and manly form we are no longer to behold in our Sabbath meetings. You all feel that we have sustained a great loss in the departure of our lamented fellow-worshipper. For more than fifty years he has worshipped God in this place - his house, as you remember. standing hard by the synagogue -and for more than thirty years he has been a communicant. He loved holy times and places. He loved the Sabbath and the sanctuary. He loved to hear the "bells knoll to church." He loved to join with his brethren in social worship. He loved to hear the great truths of religion expounded and enforced. He loved to commune at the table of the Redeemer. To his foresight and decision mainly, seventeen years ago, we owe the preservation of our beautiful spire, which is not only an ornament to the church but to the city ; and to him solely are we indebted for raising the nec- essary funds to erect the graceful iron fence by which our church green is now protected and adorned. As long as it stands it will be his monument. But Mr. Rich was not only a good parishioner, he was also a good citizen. His singular energy, decision, perseverance, were ever ready to be embarked in the cause of humanity and philanthropy.
He was born to command. He had by nature an executive will. He had a way of appealing to the generous sympathies of his fellowmen that was per- fectly irresistible. The word fear, too, was not to be found in his dictionary. He was a bold, brave man, of an impetuous spirit and a firm, resolute will. In the performance of duty he was perfectly fearless of consequences. When in the month of May, 1818, the Canton packet blew up in our harbor, Mr. Rich
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was the first to leap upon her blazing deck to rescue the crew, utterly heedless of another explosion. On the third of October, 1841, eight of the fishing vessels of his native town were lost in a storm. Mr. Rich forthwith went round with his subscription paper among the merchants of Boston and obtained between tive and six thousand dollars for the distressed widows and orphans.
For twenty-three years he was a trustee and fifteen years the president of the Humane Society of Massachusetts. He superintended the building and loca- tion of the eighteen life-boats stationed along our coast.
The committee of this society in replying to his letter of resignation in 1844, expressed their highest appreciation for his executive ability and unselfish generosity. They say -
You have been instrumental in providing for the wants and relief of the needy and shipwrecked mariners. You have superintended the building and the locali- ties of our life-boats. To yourself and to the lamented Oxnard belong emphatic- ally the praise of this grand scheme of relief to the brave mariner in the hour of dreadful peril. Enjoy the high estimate you hold in this community, as a mer- chant and a philanthropist. Accept our best wishes for your future happiness and usefulness; and, when your sun sets, may it be in the serenity of a green old age.
Mr. Rich died in Boston in 1851. Upon the steep hilltop. northwest of Ebenezer Freeman's house, in a little enclos- ure, are buried two members of his family who died in Bos- ton of small-pox. The white stones still gleam in the sum- mer's sun, and seem to have bleached a purer white in the storms of more than threescore years.
His son Charles was a Congregational clergyman. In 1862 he was living in Springfield, Ill. He visited St. Louis at that time with his wife, an accomplished lady, when I made his acquaintance ; I was then connected with a large mission school, which he addressed with marked ability. I found him a cul- tivated Christian gentleman, social and genial. He died in Springfield not later than 1864. Of other sons, Samuel H., known as " Gentleman Sam, tall and fine," died in Calcutta. Benj., partner with his father, died of consumption in the West Indies. A daughter married Mr. Larkin, the late firm of Larkin & Stackpole. As President of the Humane So- ciety, Mr. Rich wrote the following letter, which will be read with interest:
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Boston, January 15, 1834.
MRS. PAINE, WIDOW OF ELISHA PAINE, JR.
DEAR MADAM :- The case of your unfortunate husband with that of Mr. John Grozier and Thomas F. Small in endeavoring to rescue the people on board the Russian brig Emeline Charlotte, in October last, by which your husband lost his life, has been represented to the Humane Society, and a vote passed, placing at my disposal fifty dollars for the relief of yourself and children. You will have the goodness to acknowledge this letter and authorize some person to call on me and receive the money. It is more than is usually granted by the Society to any one, but this is considered a painful case, and although the sum is small, it would be gratifying to the Society if it could in any way be placed towards the future support of yourself and children. But on this subject you can act as you think proper. Wishing you all the consolation that our Holy Religion can afford in your widowhood,
I am, with Respect, your Obt. Servant, BENJAMIN RICH. President of the Humane Society.
Prominent among the men distinguished in their profession was Captain John Collins, who was born in Truro, 1794. During the war of 1811-13, he with others ran fishing boats from Truro and Provincetown to Boston and New York. The bay was infested with British cruisers who were ready to give chase and seize the boats. Many young men stung by this robbery, entered privateers, and retaliated by preying upon British commerce. Young Collins soon found his way on
board a privateer. Before many days they attacked a ship of war, supposing her to be a merchantman, after a hard running fight of an hour, they were taken prisoners and carried to Eng- land. Returning at the close of the war, he entered the mer- chant service and soon became master of a ship running between New York and Mexico, next to New Orleans in the ship Shakespeare. He then took an interest in the New York and Liverpool Dramatic Line. For several years he com- manded the ship Roscius, the largest and finest merchant ship of her time. While in this command he distinguished himself not only as a remarkably successful shipmaster, but for his gallantry, skill and humanity in assisting disabled vessels. For these signal services he received repeatedly gold and silver medals from the Liverpool and London humane societies and by the British and American governments. Notable among the wrecked vessels relieved were the bark Scotia, the Erin go Bragh, and the schooner Garnet of Truro. The particulars
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of the last will appear under the account of the October gale of 1841. Captain Collins superintended the building of the largest merchant ships of his day, and when his nephew Edward K. Collins began his unfortunate Steam Line, intended as a great rival to the English lines, he gave up the Roscius, be- came a joint agent in the great enterprise and superintended the building of these famous ships. He was a man of fine phys- ical proportions, of light complexion, muscular and compact, with a full face expressive of quick emotions and decision.
The above is partly from a notice in Freeman's Cape Cod, accompanying which is a fine engraving of Captain Collins, which I hoped to present here. Miss Freeman very kindly offered the plate, supposing it could be readily found, which, I regret to say, we have not been able to do. Captain Collins died in New York, November 21, 1857, aged sixty-one years. He was the son of Captain John and Delia, or Dilla (Gross). He married first Mary, daughter of Captain Caleb and Jemima (Dyer) Knowles. The elder Captain John used to be called Mark Anthony, referring to a brig he used to command, to distinguish him from others of the same name. An elder son was Captain Israel Gross, who married in London, or Liverpool, Anne Knight, and brought her a bride to his father's house in Truro. In Mr. Damon's Register I find, " January 31, 1803, Mary Ann Collins, in the 21st year of her age, wife of Captain Israel Gross Collins - a person of an amiable disposition and of good education. "
She is represented to have been a beautiful and accom- plished lady, a clever performer on the spinet, an instrument she brought with her. She left an only child, Edward Knight Collins, born in June, 1802. His father sailed from New York, where the son went when a young man. In about 1835 he established the famous Dramatic Line of New York and Liv- erpool packets, among which were the Roscius, Garrick, etc., the best and largest merchant ships of that day on the ocean. In 1850-51 the "Collins' Steam Mail Line," the first At- lantic Steam Line in America, was established. The Atlantic, Pacific, Baltic, Arctic, and others of this fleet, were the largest and best equipped vessels then ever built.
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The history of this unfortunate line of packets, in which the American people were so much interested, which Government had subsidized, and the ill-fated career of the Arctic and Pacific, are still fresh in the public mind. It has thus far proved the death-knell to American ocean steam navigation. Mr. Collins died in Brooklyn, January 22, 1878, He was the first vice-president of the Cape Cod Association, organized in 1856. His son, or a son of Captain John, E. B. Collins, was president in 1860.
In Gleason's Pictorial of 1854 there appeared a fine wood engraving of Mr. Collins, also of the Atlantic, all of which were destroyed by the great Boston fire of 1872, or I should here have reproduced the same.
Captain Joshua Atkins, born in Truro in about 1785, was early engaged in the Labrador fishing, making a market in Europe. He thereby formed business acquaintances in New York which ultimately led to establishing himself there in about 1835. He became a successful merchant. Died in Brooklyn, his home, in 1858, leaving a handsome estate. His wife was Sally, daughter of Deacon Anthony Snow. Relig-
iously, Captain Atkins was Unitarian. His sons Joshua and Edwin were at one time his partners. Joshua is dead. Ed- win is a resident of Brooklyn, retired from active business Another son, Elisha Atkins of Boston, is well known in busi ness and in the management of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Captain Isaiah M. Atkins, for many years port warden of Boston, was a brother of Captain Joshua. He died in Chel- sea in about 1865. His son, Isaiah Malcolm, who died a few years since at his home in Chelsea, was an annual visitor to Truro ; cultivated old associations. He was a man of great fidelity in business trusts, and had a large circle of friends.
Captain Ebenezer, for several years alderman from East Boston, John, known as Squire John, and Isaiah, all of whom lived in adjoining houses in East Boston, were sons of Cap- tain Ebenezer, and were born at the old home in East Har- bor. Captain Ebenezer Jr., was in early life a successful whaleman in command of the Imogen, through which he en- gaged in the oil business.
DAVID LOMBARD.
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SEAFARING AND LANDFARING.
Captain Joseph Atkins was among the first of the active business men of Provincetown ; I think founded the Central Wharf Company. His family was large and influential. Many others of the name have been prominent business men and good citizens.
BAKER.
In 1816 a young man of twenty-one was skipper of a pinkey. He was engaged to a young woman and was ex- pecting soon to be married. When the fishing season was over he took the young lady to Boston in his little fishing vessel, for the marriage outfit, as was the custom. As they were hauling into the dock, a fine ship, the captain of which belonged to Truro, was passed. Calling the lady's attention to the ship, he jokingly said, " I would like just such a craft." " Why don't you, then ?" she archly replied. That was his last fishing voyage. A few weeks later he was a sailor on the same ship, and after a few voyages had his ship, and for many years was one of the successful shipmasters of Boston. Captain Richard Baker was every inch a true sailor and a man. His son Richard, born in Truro, of the house of Weld, Baker & Company, died a few years since at fifty-two, leaving the largest estate, it is stated, ever left in New Eng- land not inherited. From the Boston Daily Advertiser : -
Captain Richard Baker, who died in Charlestown last Sunday, was the last of the old sea captains of Boston, who made for the merchant service of the country a name and fame. For the past twenty years he has been retired from active ser- vice, and upon this retiring he was unanimously appointed a marine inspector for the port of Boston, a position which his long experience eminently fitted him for. He was a bold sailor, a skilful navigator, and an accomplished, modest captain, and it may be said of him that he gave to the world the most successful merchant of the present century, Richard Baker Jr., who died two years since, after accomplishing what few men dared aspire to, and what few men could have brought to a successful issue.
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