Essex County, Massachusetts - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 18 of those read), 1888

Military Affairs

Early HUtory, with Sietchea of Some of the Commanders - Ancient and Honorable Artillery, with List of Lynn Members and Notices of Some Achievements - Lynn in the Indian Wars, in the Revolution and Subsequent Wars, and in the Great Civil War - Her Present Military Organizations.

Though the Indians in this immediate vicinity manifested but little hostility towards the settlers, there were constantly disturbing apprehensions.

Perhaps the promptness in military preparation did much to prevent any serious attacks, though the small number here, and their inefficient weapons, could not give them much encouragement in aggressive attempts. But it was not so in some other quarters, and Lynn soon put herself in a condition to succor any neighbor that might stand in need. The Indians quickly learned the use of firearms, and there were enough among the settlers whose base cupidity led them, without scruple, to furnish muskets and ammunition to the dusky warriors in exchange for furs and wampum currency. Even as early as 1630 the Court found it necessary to order that " noe person whatsoever shall, either directly or indirectly, imploy or cause to be imployed, or to their power permit any Indian to vse any peece vpon any occasion or pretence whatsoever, under pain of Xs. ffine for the first offence, and for the 2 offence to be ffyned and imprisoned at the discretion of the Court." This was the next year after the settlement began.

Military skill and personal bravery were naturally in high repute. Plymouth had her Miles Standish, and Massachusetts, though perhaps destitute of a leader as conspicuous as he, could boast of several commanders of experience and tried valor. Lynn was remarkably fortunate in this respect, as she had within her borders two or three well skilled in the tactics of the field. The first major-general of the colony was John Humfrey, who settled here in 1634. His dwelling was on the east side of Nahant Street, and overlooked the sea, Nahant and the Beach, and was but a short distance from the spot on which the habitation of Montowampate, or Sagamore James, the Indian ruler, stood. The writer is well aware that Mr. Hunifrey's residence is thought by some to have been at Swampscott, but careful research has shown that to be an error. He indeed owned an extensive tract of land thereabout, but assuredly did not live in that then lonely place. Some even suppose that the " Farm House" on the estate, so highly improved and embellished by the late Hon. Enoch Redington Mudge, was the identical residence of Mr. Humfrey. But it is thought that even a slight examination would be sufficient to convince any one that such a house could not have been built at that period. It is in the style of a later day. He possibly had cultivated acres in the vicinity, and may have erected some rude structure for the temporary shelter of laborers. He also had a land grant in what is now Lynnfield, including the beautiful little lakelet still knowm as Humfrey's Pond. This latter grant was made in 1635, the year after his arrival, and in these words, - "There is 500 acres of land and a freshe pond, with a little ileland conteyneing aboute two acres, granted to John Humfrey, Esq., lying betwixte nore & west from Saugus [Lynn], provided hee take noe part of the 500 acres within 5 myles of any towne nowe planted. Also, it is agreed, that the inhabitants of Saugus [Lynn] & Salem shall have liberty to build stoore howses upon the said ileland, and to lay in such provisions as they judge necessary for their vse in tyme of neede."

Mr. Humfrey was one of the most eminent men in the colony, was an original Massachusetts patentee, and, before the removal of the patent to New England, was chosen Deputy-Governor. It being, however, thought best for the interests of the company that he should for a time remain in England, Thomas Dudley was chosen to serve in his stead, and came over with Winthrop's company in 1630.

When Mr. Humfrey came over he brought with him, says Winthrop, " more ordnance, muskets and powder." He was accompanied by his wife and six children, and it is pretty certain would not have returned so soon had it not been for the disconsolate yearnings of his home-sick wife, who was a daughter of the Earl of Lincoln. But he had restless ambition, and perhaps felt that New England was too limited and uncertain a field for his aspirations. From his feverish dreams of advancement, however, he finally awoke. But it was the chilling pressure of disapapointment that awoke him. And when meditating on the defeat of his most cherished schemes, a gush of tenderness and even deep religious feeling overwhelmed him. Not much can be said of his exploits in the field, but as a counselor and home director, in planning, ordering and providing, his services were of inestimable value. He returned to England in the fall of 1641, and there died in 1661.

A military company was organized in Lynn as early as 1630. Richard Wright was appointed captain ; Daniel Howe, lieutenant ; and Richard Walker, ensign. They were provided with two iron cannon. In 1631 there was a report that some Indians intended an attack on Lynn, and Walker, with a suitable number, was detailed for the night guard. He at one time, while on duty, had an arrow, shot from among some bushes, pass through his coat and " buff waistcoat," and afterwards another arrow was shot through his clothes. It being quite dark, after a random discharge or two of their muskets, the guard retired. The next morning the cannon was brought up and discharged in the woods, and nothing more came of the attack. After that the people of Lynn suffered little or no molestation.

At the breaking out of the Pequot war, in 1636, Captain Nathaniel Turner, of Lynn, commanded one of the companies detailed to serve in the first campaign. The expedition did efficient service at Block Island, New London and thereabout. The next year, 1637, a second expedition was undertaken, and the town furnished twenty-one men. In one respect Lynn was a loser by this war, for Captain Turner became so enamored of the country through which he marched that he permanently pitched his tent there, becoming, as Trumbull says, one of the principal settlers of New Haven. But his fate was mysterious and melancholy. He was one of the five men of " chief note and worth " who sailed for England in 1647, in the little vessel commanded by (^aptain Lamberton, which was never heard of after; unless the "phantom ship" which appeared in the Sound after a great thunder storm the next year, and which beholders declared was an exact image, is taken as her representative.

Captain Turner received his commission as " Captaine of the military company att Saugus," in March, 1633, from the General Court. He became a near neighbor of his superior officer, John Humfrey, and the two no doubt often conferred together on military affiiirs. Humfrey's action, as already intimated, was in the Council, while Turner's was more in the field, and one of the first orders the latter received was the rather ignoble one to march to Nahant on a wolfhunt. What luck he had in destroying his four-footed foes does not appear ; but when he was called to meet more worthy enemies, he was brave and triumphant. His moving from Lynn at that formation period in her history was a great loss to the place, probably quite as great as that of the departure of his neighbor Humfrey.

Among the Lynn soldiers in the Pequot war was Christopher Lindsey. He was a laboring man, and kept the cattle of Mr. Dexter, at Nahant. The elevation on the peninsula, called Lindsey's Hill, received its name from him. He was wounded in the war, and in 1655 petitioned the court for an allowance, saying that he was " disabled from service for twenty weekes, for which he never had any satisfaction." He was allowed three pounds. His only daughter, Naomi, married Thomas Maule, of Salem, the famous Quaker, whose doctrinal book, together with its supplementary "Persecutors Mauled," created quite a sensation. In it he remarks they five times imprisoned him, thrice took away his goods and thrice cruelly whipped him.

It was in 1638 that the Ancient and Honorable Artillery was organized. Six Lynn men were among the first members, namely, William Ballard, Joseph Hewes, Daniel Howe, Edward Tomlin?, Nathaniel Turner, Richard Walker. Daniel Howe was chosen lieutenant. A word in relation to one or two of these early members of that ancient organization may not be inappropriate. In relation to Mr. Tomlins, it appears pretty certain that he was one in whom great tru-5t was reposed in civil matters, as well as military. Yet it is evident that he had decided opinions, which were not always expressed in ways the most wise or gentle. On the 3d of September, 1634, the court ordered that he, " or any other put in his place by the Commi-sioners of War, with the help of an assistant, shall have power to presse men and carts, for ordinary wages, to helpe towards makeing of such carriages and wheeles as are wanting for the ordinances." His brother, Timothy Tomlins, was the same year appointed overseer of the " powder and s^hott and all other amunicon " of the plantation. In 1643, being then a member of the House of Representatives, he was "ordred and appoynted, by both Houses of the Courte, to go iippon a messuage to ye Narragansett sachems," and dismissed from the " howse for ye present to prepare himself for ye jurney." He went in company with the celebrated Indian negotiator, General Humphrey Atherton. And it is represented that one of their first acts was to catechise the benighted Narragansetts on the Ten Commandments. It is probable that he had not much of an ear for music other than martial, for, in 1641, he was arraigned for expressing opinions against music in the churches. He, however, retracted, and was discharged.

Nathaniel Turner, who also joined the Ancient and Honorables at the time of their organization, has already been spoken of. The sword which he wielded against the Indians is still preserved by the Historical Society of Hartford, Conn. A picture of it may be seen in Harper's Magazine, volume xvii. page 3. The same weapon also did service, in other hands, in the old French War and in the Eevolution.

Richard Walker has also been mentioned as ensign of the first military company of Lynn, formed in 1630. And the duties of the soldiers of those days, in time of peace even, must have been burdensome, for it was ordered, in 1631, " that every Captaine shall train his companie on saterday in every weeke." In May, 1679, a new troop was formed in Lynn, consisting of forty-eight men. They petitioned the General Court that Captain Richard Walker might be appointed commander. Ralph King, who was a son-inlaw of the veteran, was made lieutenant. If this is the same Richard Walker, he must then have been eighty-six years old, for he was born in 1593. He appears, however, to have been blest with a most vigorous constitution, for he lived to the great age of ninety-five years. And he is probably the same hero to whom Johnson, of Woburn, refers in the following lines, touching an encounter with some Indians :

" He fought the Eastern Indians there, Whose poisoned arrows filled the air, And two of which these savage foes Lodg'd safe in Captain Wallier's clothes."

The venerable organization now known as "The Ancient and Honorable Artillery," but which in its charter is called " The Military Company of the Massachusetts," at its formation, in 1638, was designed for discipline in military tactics. For many years it, no doubt, served an excellent purpose, but of late years it has come to be regarded as rather a holiday institution. Lynn has furnished a fair share of members, and a list is deserving of space here:

Of the first six, those who joined at the time of the organization, enough has perhaps been said. But some of those who subsequently joined are worthy of brief notice.

Samuel Bennett, who became a member in 1639, was one of the first settlers, and located in what is now the westerly part of Saugus. He owned considerable woodland. " Bennett's Swamp," so called to this day, in old Dungeon Pasture, was owned by him. His residence was not far from the ironworks, and in that vicinity he also had lands. He had a good deal of independence of character, not to say wilfulness. At the Quarterly Court, in 1645, he was presented " for saying, in a scornful manner, he neither cared for the Town nor any order the Town could make." In 1671 he sued John Gifford, former agent of the ironworks, and attached property to the amount of four hundred pounds, for labor performed for the company. On the 27th of June, the following testimony was given : "John Paule, aged about fortyfive years, svvorne, saith, that living with Mr. Samuel Bennett, upon or about the time that the ironworks were seased by Capt. Savage, in the year 58 as I take it, for I lived ther several years, and my constant imployment was to repaire carts, coale carts, mine carts, and other working materials for his teenies, for he keept 4 or 5 teemes, and sometimes 6 teemes, and he had the most teemes the last yeare of the Iron Works, when they were seased, and my master Bennett did yearly yearne a vast sum from the said Iron Works, for he commonly yearned forty or fifty shillings a daye for the former time, and the year 53, as aforesaid, for he had five or six teemes goeing generally every faire day." In 1644 he was presented by the grand jury as " a common sleeper in time of exercise," and fined two shillings and sixpence. There was a law forbidding the .*ale of commodities at too great a profit. And for a breach of this law he appears to have once or twice suffered prosecution. On the colony records, under date of May 15, 1657, may be found this entry : " In answer to the petition of Samuel Bennett, humbly craving the remittment or abatement of a fine imposed on him by the County Court, for selling goods at excessive prizes, the court having perused, and by theire committee examined, the papers in the case presented, together with the allegations and pleas of the peticoner and others, by him produced, understanding by what appeared, the peticoner received of George Wallis about forty pounds or upwards meerely for the release of the bargain made betwixt them, . . . see it not meete to graunt the petition in whole or in part." Mr. Wallis had also been fined "fivety pounds" for

" selling goods at excessive prizes," and petitioned for a remittal, and the same court judged it " meete to remit the fine all to tenn pounds," which remittal was made in consideration of his being necessitated "to be at the losse of about forty pounds or more to attayne a release of the bargain betwixt him and Samuell Bennett." It seems to have been a mere game of sharps between Bennett and Wallis, but shows the care taken by the court to prevent a circumvention of the wholesome law forbidding one to sell at an excessive profit. The maxim so prevalent in the bargainings of our day - caveat emptor - seems then to have been unheeded. Not much is to be found respecting Mr. Bennett in his military capacity.

Thomas Marshall, who was a soldier under Cromwell, and without whose assistance, John Dunton says, "if we may believe him, Oliver did hardly anything that was considerable," has been spoken of somewhat largely in another connection.

EoBEET Bridges, or Captain Bridges, as he was generally called, was a man of substance and marked traits of character. He was admitted a freeman in 1641, and joined the Ancient and Honorables the same year, being then captain of a militia company. He was a good deal in civil authority, was Speaker of the House of Representatives, an assistant, an acting magistrate and a member of the Quarterly Court. In 1645, accompanied by Richard Walker and Thomas Marshall, both already spoken of as Lynn members of the company, he went as commissioner to negotiate between Lord de la Tour and Monsieur d'Aulney, the governors of the French provinces on the north of New England. The embassy did good service and the court appropriately recompensed them.

That Captain Bridges possessed rigidly Puritanical characteristics is abundantly evident. He was one of the five who, in May, 1645, were appointed by the court to draft bills for "positive lawes" against lying, Sabbath-breaking, profanity, drunkenness and kindred vices. And in 1649 was one of the assistants who, with the Governor, on the 10th of May, signed a protestation against the wearing of long hair, "after the manner of ruffians and barbarious Indians."

It was Captain Bridges who, in July, 1651, granted the magistrate's warrants against Clarke, Crandall and Holmes, the Baptist missionaries from Rhode Island, concerning which affair it is proposed to say something in the sketch of Swampscott.

In the Essex Court files may be found the following record of Captain Bridges's official action in the case of Thomas Wheeler, who appears to have been a man of character and some estate : " 4th mo., 1654. Thomas Wheeler bound over to the Court by the worshipful Captain Bridges, for sinful and offensive speeches made by him in comparing the Rev. Mr. Cobbet to Corah. It being proved by three witnesses, sentence of Court is, that he shall make public acknowledgment upon the Lord's day, sometime within a month after the date hereof, according to this form following, and pay the three witnesses £12 2s. Qd. and fees of Court : [I, Thomas Wheeler, having spoken at a town meeting in February last, evil, sinful and offensive speeches against the Reverend Teacher, Mr. Cobbet, in comparing him unto Corah, for which I am very sorry, do acknowledge this my evil, to the glory and praise of God and to my own shame, and hope, for time to come, shall be more careful.] The constable of Lynn is to see it performed." Mr. Wheeler removed to Stonington, Ct., in 1664, and became the largest la- dholder in the place, was an honored member of the church, and died there in 1686, at the age of eighty-four.

It is not found that Captain Bridges made much of a mark in a military way, but as a business man he certainly, by his enterprise and prudence, added much to the reputation and prosperity of Lynn. He may almost be called the father of the iron works. It was in 1642 that he took specimens of the bog ore found here to London, and succeeded in forming a company which soon after commenced operations by setting up the bluomery and forge. And although the works proved pecuniarily disastrous, the country at large reaped great ulterior benefit through some of the skilled workmen, the best that England could afford, who removed to other places and engaged in works, which, under better management, grew to great importance.

Taking all points of character into view and making due allowance for the characteristics of the time, it must be conceded that Captain Bridges furnishes a fair specimen of the noble class of men who so faithfully labored in laying the foundations of the social fabric which has become our inheritance - men honest, religious, iiersevering, hopeful and brave. Yet it must be admitted that he was not of a sjiecially genial disposition ; nor could he have been very popular in some of his relations. He had hard points of character; was arbiti'ary, exacting, unyielding in the smaller concerns of daily intercourse, and perhaps not sufficiently regai'dful of the minor rights of those about him ; for we all love to have our rights respected, even when they are of little value. In those days of difficulty and doubt, minds were trained to meet the trials of life with a fortitude that amounted to heroism. Indeed, it was a favorite idea that the afflictions men were called to endure were disciplinary ; that souls were purified by such means. This, however, was probably quite as much theoretical as otherwise, for the best of us would prefer to secure by observation, rather than experience, the good that might be derived from pain and suffering.

John Wood, who joined the company in 1642, was one of the earliest comers. He settled in that part of Lynn since known as Woodend, the local name being derived from him. He is supposed to have been father of William Wood, the author of " New

England's Prospect," published in London in 1684, a book giving such lively and graphic descriptions of the Bay settlements that it has ever been held in high repute. Little or nothing seems to be known of Mr. Wood's military accomplishments. Perhaps he joined the artillery as a sort of apprentice at martial tactics.

Clement Coldam, made a member in 1645, appeared here as early as 1630. And his recollection of matters pertaining to our very early days seems to h.".ve been much relied on in after-years, his testimony having great weight in several important lawsuits. Not much is known of his military achievements. A record says that on April 14, 1691, " Clement Coldam and Joseph Hart were chosen cannoners, to order and look after the great guns." If that means him, he must have been a very old man - about ninety - but he had a son Clement, who was supposed to have removed to Gloucester many years before.

Thomas Baker had experience in the field during the great King Philip War, 1675, being one of the Lynn company. He was in the great swamp fight at South Kingston, R. I., in which Ephraim Newhall was killed.

This member of the artillery, who is usually called Captain Thomas Baker, appears to have been a grandson of Edward Baker, who came to Lynn as early as 1630, and from whom " Baker's Hill," in Saugus, received its name, behaving settled near it. From him a line of respectable descendants has reached down to the present time. Daniel C. Baker, our third mayor, was of the lineage. And in several other places descendants have become conspicuous.

The life of this Captain Thomas Baker was so illustrative of the vicissitudes to which the people of that period were exposed, and withal so tinged with romance, that space may be allowed for a glimpse or two. He was taken captive by the Indians at Deerfield on the terrible night of February 29, 1704, and carried to Canada. He, however, the next year, succeeded in effecting his escape. In or about the year 1715 he married Madam Le Beau, whose name figures somewhat in the history of that period. She was a daughter of Richard Otis, of Dover, N. H., who, with one son and one daughter, was killed by the Indians on the night of June 27, 1689, at the time they destroyed the place. She was then an infant of three months, and was, with her mother, carried captive to Canada and sold to the French. The priests took her, baptized her, and gave her the name of Christine. They educated her in the Romish faith, and she passed some time in a nunnery, not, however, taking the veil. At the age of sixteen she was married to a Frenchman, thus becoming Madam Le Beau, and became the mother of two or three children. Her husband died about 1713. And it was very soon after that her future husband, Captain Baker, appears to have fallen in with her. He was attached to the commission detailed by Governor Dudley, under John Stoddard and John Williams, for the purpose of negotiating with the Marquis de Vaudreuil for the release of prisoners and to settle certain other matters, and went to Canada. From Stoddard's journal it appears that there was much trouble in procuring her release, and when it was obtained, her children were not allowed to go with her. Her mother was also opposed to her leaving Canada.

After her return, Christine married Captain Baker, and they went to reside at Brookfield, where they remained till 1733. They had several children, and among their descendants is Hon. John Wentworth> late member of Congress from Illinois. She became a Protestant after marrying Captain Baker, and substituted the name Margaret for Christine, though later in life she seems to have again adopted the latter. In 1727, her former confessor. Father Siguenot, wrote her a gracious letter, expressing a high opinion of her and warning her against swerving from the faith in which she had been educated. He mentions the happy death of a daughter of hers who had married and I'ved in Quebec, and also speaks of her mother, then living, and the wife of a Frenchman. This letter was shown to Governor Burnet, and he wrote to her a forcible reply to the arguments it contained in favor of Romanism. And there are, or recently were, three copies of the letter and reply in the Boston Athenjeum. The mother of Christine had children by her French husband, and Philip, Christine's half-brother, visited her at Brookfield.

All the children of Captain Baker and Christine, seven or eight in number, excepting the first, who was a daughter, bearing her mother's name, were born in Brookfield. There is no reason to doubt that the connection was a happy one. They held a very respectable position, and he was the first representative from Brookfield. He was indeed once tried before the Superior Court, in 1727, for blasphemy, but the jury acquitted him. The ofiense consisted in his remarking, while discoursing on God's providence in allowing Joseph Jennings, of Brookfield, to be made a justice of the peace, " If I had been with the Almighty I would have taught him better."

In 1733 Captain Baker sold his farm in Brookfield. But this proved an unfortunate step, for the purchaser failed before making payment, and their circumstances became greatly reduced. They were a short time at Mendon, and also at Newport, R. I., but finally removed to Dover, N. H. Poor Christine, in 1735, petitioned the authorities of New Hampshire for leave to "keep a house of ijublic entertainment" on the " County Rhoade from Dover meeting-house to Cocheco Boome." To this petition she signs her name " Christine baker," and mentions that she made a journey to Canada in hope of getting her children, " but all in vaine." A license was granted, and it seems probable that she kept the house a number of years. She died, at a great age, February 23, 1773, and an obituary notice appeared in the Boston Evening Post.

There seems, at first sight, to be a little confusion of dates in the foregoing, or possibly some mistake in personal identity, if the dates in the following deposition are correct. The deposition is in favor of a fellow-soldier, and bears the date June 8, 1730 :

"The deposition of Thomas Baker, of Lyn, in the county of Essex, aged about 77 years, Testifieth and saith. That I, being well acquainted with one Andrew Townsend of Lyn aforesaid for more than Sf) years since, and do certainly know and very well Remember that the s* Andrew Townsend was a soldier in the Expedition to the Narragansett under y° Command of Capt. Gardner, and that he was in ye s* Narragansett fite and in s* tite Eec'd a wound, in or about the year 1675."

The deponent styles himself of Lynn, but it rather appears that he was then of Brook field. Perhaps, however, he was proud to still call himself of Lynn, or merely meant that he was of Lynn at the time of the "fite." It is evident that he was somewhat of a rover.

The King Philip War, that last great struggle of the red men, commenced in 1675. It was a period when all the energy and all the patriotism were put to the test - a period, as it appeared to many, of life or death. And our people, though not apparently exposed to immediate danger, responded with a promptness worthy of all praise. The then captain of the military company of I^ynn was Thomas Marshall, who had been a resident here for some forty years, though in the mean time he had been back to England, where he gained, by his bravery in the parliamentary army, a commission as captain from Oliver Cromwell. He was a man of some eccentricities, but yet must have had the confidence of the people. He kept the tavern near Saugus River for many years, and appears to have been in some respects a model landlord. He is spoken of in other connections.

It would not be easy to ascertain the exact number of men furnished nor the amounts raised in response to the public calls in this great struggle ; but Lynn did her full share.

Our limits will not allow of much detail regarding the diflerent wars that have, from time to time, spread their alarms through the land - the French and Indian Wars, the Revolution and the subsequent contests down to the great Rebellion. Nor is the little that could be given necessary, as the public records and local histories abundantly supply all needs in that direction ; to say nothing of the numerous warlike events incidentally spoken of in other parts of this sketch, as the participants came under notice. A few facts, however, should be stated.

During the French and Indian War, 1754-63, some two thousand French Catholic neutrals were sent to Massachusetts to be quartered in diflferent places. Lynn's share was fourteen. Their provisions were supplied by Thomns Lewis, and among his items of charge were four hundred and thirty-two quarts of milk at six pence a gallon. A company marched from Lynn for Canada, May 23, 1758, and two were killed.

Then we come down to the Revolution. Several Lynn men were at the battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775, the opening battle of the war, and four were killed, - namely, Abednego Rarasdell, William Flint, Thomas Hadley and Diiniel Townsend. On the 23d of April Lynn chose a Committee of Safety, consisting of Rev. John Treadwell, minister of the First Parish, Rev. Joseph Roby, minister of the Third Parish and Deacon Daniel Mansfield ; others were afterwards added, among them Dr. John Flagg. An alarm company was formed, and three night watches established. The memorable battle of Bunker Hill was fought June 17, 1775. The Lynn regiment was under command of Colonel John Mansfield. It mustered, but did not reach the ground in time to take part in the conflict. For his "remissness and backwardness in the execution of duty," the colonel was ordered before a court-martial, consisting of twelve field-officers, presided over by Gen. Greene, found guilty and ordered to be cashiered. The patriotic people of Lynn were greatly mortified at this untoward occurrence, which, however, had rather the effect to stimulate their zeal and determination. Lynn furnished for the war two colonels, three captains, five lieutenants, five sergeants, six corporals and about a hundred and sixty privates, which, considering the then small population, was doing remarkably well. She was poor, and her business prostrated during the war ; nevertheless, in 1776, she voted fifteen pounds each to the company of soldiers furnished for the expedition to Canada, and ten pounds for every enlisting volunteer. She also, in 1780, granted as much money as would purchase two thousand seven hundred silver dollars to pay the soldiers. This was liberal, considering the losses by the depressed condition of the currency. Within two years she had granted for war purposes seventy thousand pounds, old tenor. Mr. Lewis remarks, "A soldier of the. Revolution says that, in 1781, he sold one thousand seven hundred and eighty dollars of paper money for thirty dollars in silver." By this, something may be seen of the town's liberality. In the procession at the celebration of the Fourth of July, at Lynn, in 1828, were over forty who had served in various capacities and for various terms in the armies of the Revolution ; among them four pensioners. The government at that day was not so able to grant pensions as it at present is, and hence comparatively few were on the lists. That was the last procession in which most of them ever appeared - excepting the great procession which knows no counter-march, in which we are all moving on, and from which every one of them soon dropped out.

Concerning several of the more prominent Lynn soldiers who served in the Revolution, it would be agreeable to say something; but the allotted space is so limited that it is necessary to be chary of its use. So deserving a commander as Colonel Ezra Newhall, however, should not be passed over in entire silence.

Lynn

He was a great-great-grandson of Thomas Newhall, the first white person born in Lynn, and was captain of the Lynn Minute Men at the opening of the war ; but, in consequence of the delay of the troops from Salem, was not present at the battle of Lexington. Nor was he present at the battle of Bunker Hill, as he was attached to Colonel Mansfield's regiment, as senior captain, and by the " remissness " of that ofl5- cer was kept from joining the gathering squadrons. In earlier life Colonel Ezra was an officer in the French War under Colonel Ruggles. Subsequently to the battle of Bunker Hill he was major, then lieutenant-colonel in Colonel Putnam's Fifth Massachusetts Regiment, and so continued to the end of the war. He served in the campaign that sealed the fate of Burgoyne, was at Valley Forge and at the battles of Trenton and Princeton. After the war he was appointed by President Washington collector of internal revenue, and retained the office till his death, on the 5th of April, 1798, at the age of sixty-six years. There is abundant evidence that while in the army he was very popular with his companions-in-arms. While the regiment was encamped at Winter Hill some dissatisfaction was manifested concerning the rank of the captains and other officers, as they stood on the brigade major's books. The captains, therefore, on the 27th of August, 1775, held a meeting and voted to "settle the rank of officers by lot, and abide thereby," at the same time voting that Captain Ezra Newhall should rank as first captain. Indeed, he seems always to have been spoken of as a brave and prudent officer, and a man much beloved. He lived in the house still standing on Boston Street, at the southwest corner of the recently opened Wyman Street. After the Revolution he removed to Salem, purchased an estate on Essex Street, and there died at the time above stated. The Salem Gazette, in an obituary notice, said : " He served his country in the late war with fidelity and honor; and in civil and domestic life the character of an honest man, faithful friend, tender husband and kind parent was conspicuous in him. Society suffers a real loss by his death."

The warlike events of later years are, or should be, so familiar to every reader that any attempt at details which space would allow would be far from satisfactory, and we must content ourselves with little more than bare allusions.

The War of 1812 was essentially a naval conflict, but there was much suffering and business depression, and above all, sharp political dissension. At times there were sudden alarms in the seaboard settlements arising from threatened descents and bombardments from the enemy's ships in the bay. The gallant contest between the English frigate " Shannon " and the American frigate " Chesapeake," on the 1st of June, 1813, was witnessed by crowds of the people of Lynn, who not only climbed the hills, but clung to the housetops. And when the American flag was seen to strike, 19i many a sorrowful eye was turned away. Watch station.s were established upon several heights, and two or three alarms occurred which hastily called out the soldiery and excited the people, but no serious conflict took place.

Soon after the close of the first quarter of the present century the military interest began to fall into popular disrepute. It had, indeed from the frequency of exercise required and other exactions, become quite burdensome. The opposition developed especially in the shape of ridicule. And had it not been for the saving efforts of the uniformed or, as they were called, the volunteer companies, it is hard to tell where the matter would have ended. There were at this time three handsomely uniformed and welldrilled companies, - namely, the Lynn Artillery, organized in 1808; the Light Infantry, organized in 1812 ; and the Rifle Company, organized in 1818.

Sometimes totally unfit persons were designedly elected as officers, and the district " companies of the line" at times amounted to little more than tattered and jeering assemblages. One man who was elected an officer in a West Lynn company is well remembered. He was a fellow of good information and bright wit, but extremely low habits. For a supply of liquor he could be induced to play in any role. On a certain parade day he appeared mounted on a gaunt roadster wrapped in a long cloak decorated profusely with conspicuous and ridiculous badges. And so he capered around as long as he could retain his seat. Yet the fires of patriotism had by no means been extinguished, for every one saw the necessity of a properly organized militia. The disaffection was only towards the existing requirements. And the result of the popular manifestations was a radical change in the laws. And from that time to this the laws have been modified as circumstances required.

The Seminole or, as it was often called, the Florida War, commenced in 1835 and continued nearly eight years. It cost the United States some ten million dollars and several thousand lives. There were romantic as well as bloody features pertaining to this war. Its precipitating cause seems to have been some indignities offered the wife of Osceola, a chief of the Seminoles. He was the son of an English trader who married the daughter of a chief, and was of a most determined and persistent character. So prolonged was the war that the people became very impatient, and with their complaints and censures mingled ridicule, notwithstanding some of the best and bravest army officers were detailed for the service. A sharpshooting poet in 1839 thus delivered himself: most nearly touched the people of Lynn was the loss of Robert R. Mudge, a young officer, promising and much beloved. He was a son of Benjamin Mudge, a native of Lynn and for many years one of her most prominent citizens. Lieutenant Mudge graduated at the West Point Military Academy in 1833, and in 1835 was ordered to Florida to take part in the Seminole War as lieutenant under Major Dade. He was killed at Withlacoochie, together with the whole company of one hundred and seventeen, with the exception of three.

The Mexican War commenced in 1846. Lynn furnished twenty volunteers, no special call being made. In 1832 the threats of revolt in South Carolina and her apparent determination to break the integrity of the Union, the zeal and oratorical vigor of her statesmen, the drilling of her troops, all tended to create serious apprehension in every quarter. And had it not been for the unflinching determination of President Jackson, his warnings and declarations, especially as embodied in his famous proclamation, there is little doubt that a rebellion would then have been precipitated. But that extremity was reserved for the next generation. And it came.

The history of the great Rebellion, the first overt act of which was the bombardment of Fort Sumter on the 12th of April, 1861, is so familiar that we need only refer to a few facts specially pertaining to Lynn. In five hours after President Lincoln's first requisition for troops arrived Lynn had two full companies armed and ready for duty. And early the next day, April 16th, they departed to meet the foe. The two companies formed a part of the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, and were Company D, the Lynn Light Infantry, commanded by Captain George T. Newhall, and Company F, commanded by Captain James Hudson, Jr. The regimental officers belonging to Lynn were Timothy Munroe, colonel ; Edward W. Hinks, lieutenant-colonel ; Ephraim A. Ingalls, quartermaster ; Roland G. Usher, paymaster ; Bowman B. Breed, surgeon ; Warren Tapley, assistant surgeon ; Horace E. Munroe, quartermaster sergeant. Many volunteers stood ready and would have gone had there been time for equipment. Company D marched off' with sixty privates, and Company F with seventy-six. The zeal thus early kindled did not abate during the whole war. Every call for troops was quickly and fully responded to, and everything done that could add to the comfort of the brave ones upon the field. Lynn furnished three thousand two hundred and seventyfour soldiers, which was two hundred and thirty more than her full quota. Enthusiastic war meetings were from time to time held. And the principal victories were celebrated by the ringing of bells, by bonfires and other joyful demonstrations. Many of her gallant sons fell on the field ; others lost their lives by diseases contracted during the campaigns, and still others have passed away in the common course of nature since the alarms of war have ceased. Many peacefully lie in the Soldiers' Lot in the beautiful Pine Grove Cemetery, while others rest in more secluded sepulchres, or with their fathers in the older burial-places, their graves being strewn on every returning " Memorial Day" with fresh flowers by surviving comrades and loving kindred. By far the greater number, however, still sleep upon the battlefield. A stately Soldiers' Monument was erected in City Hall Square in 1873. It is an allegorical and classic work of art in bronze, cast at Munich, in Bavaria, and cost $30,000.

The Grand Army of the Republic in Lynn. - Gen. Lander Encampment, Post 5, is said to be the largest in the country. But its ranks are thinning out as member after member is drafted into that army which marches on with ceaseless step, and knows no countermarch.

As population increases, the laws governing our State military affairs are constantly undergoing changes, and it would be useless to attempt here anything like a historical account of the alterations even during the last forty years. The organizations have come to be essentially voluntary rather than compulsory. And the people have never been backward in sanctioning the most liberal provision for the discipline and comfort of her soldiery.

Our present military organizations are the Light Infantry (Company D) and the Wooldredge Cadets (Company I), both in high repute. There is also the Lynn City Guards Veteran Association.

It is quite within the recollection of the writer that the newspaper reader often saw at the close of an obituary notice the phrase " He was a soldier of the Revolution." But it is never seen at this day. It is said that the last person to whom a pension was paid on account of the Revolutionary War died at Woodstock, N. H., early in 1887, at the age of ninety-seven. She was a widow by the name of Abigail S. Tilton. Is it not a solemn thought that all of the brave ones who fought for our liberties at that trying period have lain down to that prolonged rest from which they will be aroused only by the sound of the trumpet that summons them and all of us for final review and inspection? And is it not, too, a solemn thought that the remnant of the Grand Army of our day, who took the field for the maintenance of those liberties, are fast joining the throng of their martial fathers ? A few years more, and the last soldier will have marched away, and the "Grand Army of the Republic" survive in memory only as a vestige of the heroism of the past.

Burial-Places

The Old Burying-Ground, with Epitaphs and Notices of Some Who Lie Ihere - Other Burial-Places atid Cemeteries - 3Iemorial Day - Ancient Ftineral Cnstoma.

" It is wise for us to recur to the history of our ancestors. Those who do not look upon themselves as a link connecting the past with the future, in the transmission of life from their ancestors to their posterity - do not perform their duty to the world. To be faithful to ourselves, we must keep our ancestors and posterity within reach and grasp of our thoughts and affections - living in the memory and retrospection of the past, and hoping with affection and care for those who are to come after us. We are true to ourselves only when we act with becoming pride for the blood we inherit, and which we are to transmit to those who shall soon fill our places." So wrote Daniel Webster, and who will not subscribe to its truthfulness and wisdom ? No apology is needed for the introduction of an extended notice of the burial-places of Lynn, for such consecrated grounds always possess a touching interest - to the old, because there lie the departed kindred and friends of earlier years ; to the young, because there they see, fast gathering around, the loved ones from the broken household and the charmed circle of glad companionship. In these often-shunned retreats lie those who have made the history of the jilace; and who could be more worthy than they of grateful remembrance ?

One of the first objects in commencing a settlement was to select a suitable place for the burial of the dead, as all realize that such a place will surely be needed, whatever other seeming necessities may be dispensed with. True, the dead would rest just as quietly by the stony wayside or in the weedy bog, as in a flowery bed or beneath a marble monument ; but to the sorrowing kindred there is something rejjugnant in thinking of them as resting in a dreary, uncaredfor spot. The Indians, even, had great regard for the remains of their departed ancestors; and woe betide the daring enemy who would desecrate the rude necropolis upon the sunny hillside.

But yet with what difierent feelings do the living think of the last resting-place they are destined to occupy. Some would lie in a sequestered spot, where the soothing dirge of sighing trees is ever heard ; some would lie on the ocean shore, where the spent waves murmur a ceaseless lament ; some would lie in the art-adorned cemetery, whither the steps of pensive wanderers may tend at thoughtful hours ; some would lie in the centre of the busy life they loved so well, but which no longer can disturb or charm ; and some would have their mortal remains dir^solved in the crucible of cremation. Says John Anster:

" If I might choose where my tired limbs shall lie When my task here is done, the oak's green crest Shall rise above my grave - a little mound Raised in some cheerful village cemetery. And I could wish that with unceasing sound A lonely mountain rill was murmuring by In music through the long soft twilight hour. And let the hand of her whom I love best Plant round the bright, green grave those fragrant flowers In whose deep bells the wild bee loves to rest. And should the robin from some neighboring tree Pour his enchanted song - Oh ! softly tread, For sure if aught of earth can soothe the dead, He still must love that pensive melody."

The early settlers, with most unaccountable irreverence, had little regard for the resting-places of their dead, often allowing rank weeds and brambles to flourish, and wandering animals to roam at will over the reserved acres. Whittier alludes to this in these touching lines :

But these later generations of their children have in a measure atoned for their strange remissness by consecrating beautiful cemeteries, in which sometimes appear monuments so costly and decorative that the mind is liable to be led from meditation on the virtues of those they commemorate to admiration of them as works of art or disapprobation of them as monuments of ostentation and extravagance.

The Old Burying-Ground of Lynn is in the westerly part of the city. It is not known with certainty when the first interments were made there. The stones are no certain index, for the oldest one bears the date 1698, and multitudes must have been buried there before that time. There rest the early fathers and mothers of the place, and many whose talents and virtuous deeds made them conspicuous in their own day and generation.

The first burial in this ancient place, so far as is certainly known, was in 1637, when the remains of John Bancroft, ancestor of the distinguished historian and statesman, George Bancroft, were laid there. And it was on the 1st of April, 1687, that the remains of Thomas Newhall, the first white person born in Lynn, was buried there. He had died at the age of fifty-seven years. The oldest stone bears this inscription : "Here lyeth ye body of lohn Cliflbrd. Died lune ye 17, 1698, in ye 68 year of his age." The figure nine, by some sacrilegious intruder, was, eighty years ago, altered in a rough way, so as to resemble a two, and that has led some to the erroneous belief that there was a burial here as early as 1628.

For some two centuries no complete record of interments here seems to have been kept, but since the law so required, the town and city clerks have been faithful in recording.

Mr. John T. Moulton, a worthy native, a few years since had all the inscriptions copied and published in the Peabody Institute Collections, - a labor of love for which he is deserving of the highest commendation.

A few of the epitaphs in this ancient gatheringplace of the dead will be given ; but it will be borne in mind that it very often happens that the name of one of the most worthy and useful is not so perpetuated, while that of another, whose memory elicits no sentiment of reverence, is blazoned on a pompous monument. It should be borne in mind, too, that many, inspired by ardent love for their native place, were overtaken by the fell destroyer when far away, never again to meet those of their generation till the sea gives up her dead.

Churchyard lore is not usually very refined in diction, however tender in sentiment, and the simple, unlettered record is sometimes more touching than the studied and stately. But a countless multitude, of whose names even there is no record, are there at rest, among them, perhaps, " some mute, inglorious Milton," or some heroic Washington. Certainly a host of the godly men and women of the early days are sleeping there, to be aroused only at the last trumpet's sound ; and theirs must be the brightest dreams, should dreams come in that night of centuries.

" Sure the last end Of the good man is peace. How calm his exit ! Night dews fall not more gently on the ground Nor weary, worn-out winds expire so soft."

Few ever had the capacity to so win the esteem of the young peojile of his generation as did this youthful clergyman. He posse.«ised uncommon talents and an uncommonly felicitous way of. expressing his views and convictions. He mingled freely with those of all denominations, was neither bigoted nor heterodox, and his early death was deeply felt as a serious loss to the community.

Mr. Atwill was a Revolutionary soldier. At one time he lived in the ancient house that stood on the centre of the Common, a little west of the pond, but now stands on the easterly side of Whiting Street and which is the oldest building in Lynn of which the date of erection is positively known. It was built in 1682 for the residence of the parish sexton. Mr. Atwill kept the almshouse for many years before its removal, in 1819, from the corner of Essex and Chestnut Streets to Tower Hill. A son of his, Zachariah, Jr., was a sea captain, and, it is said, crossed the Atlantic some fifty times without the loss of a seaman,

Mr. Baker was drafted November 13, 1675, to serve in King Philip's War, and was in the Narragansett fight. In 1694 he was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery, and is spoken of more at large in other pages of this sketch.

"In memory of Amos Ballard (son of Mr. .John Ballard, of Boston), who was deprived of his life by the accidental discharge of a musket in a canoe in Lynn River, on the 25th of August, 1798. ^tat 77.

" The grave hath eloquence, its lectures teach In silence louder than divines can preach ; Hear what it says, ye sons of folly, hear; It speaks to you ; lend an attentive ear. "

But he who conquered all diseases must Find one who throws him down into the dust A chymist near to an adeptist come, Leaves here, thrown by his caput mortuum Reader, physicians die as others do ; Prepare, for thou to this art hastening too."

Oft do we see the tender bud of hope, Opening its beauties to the morning light, When lo! a frost cuts down the tender plant, And levels all our prospects with the dust."

" Alas ! our patron's dead ! the country - court - The church - in tears, all echo the report ; Grieved that no piety, no niasteiing sense, No counsel, gravity, no eloquence, No generous temper, gravitating to Those honors, which they did upon him throw. Could stay his fate, or their dear Burrill save From a contagious sickness and the gravp, The adjacent towns this loss reluctant bear. But widowed Lynn sustains the greatest share: Yet joys in being guardian of his dust Until the resurrection of the just."

The residence of Mr. Burrill was on the western slope of Tower Hill, and there he died, leaving no children. The "contagious sickness" which proved fatal was small-pox. He was well known throughout the province, was much in public life, and sustained a high reputation as a legislator. He was ten years Speaker of the House, and greatly respected for his ability and urbanity in conducting public business.

Mr. Downing was one of Lynn's most promising young men. He was a son of Elijah Downing, a cabinet-maker, who lived on North Common Street, corner of Park. He graduated at Brown University, and at first intended to pursue the profession of law, but becoming converted, he joined the Methodist Conference, and soon became one of the most acceptable preachers in the denomination, insomuch that at the time of his decease he was in charge of one of the oldest and most opulent churches of the order in New England, - the Bromfield Street Church, in Boston.

"This monument is inscribed to the memory of John Flagg, Esq., in whom remarkable temperance, uniform prudence, unaffected modesty, affectionate humanity and diffusive benevolence snone conspicuous among the virtues which graced his character, endeared him to his family and friends, and secured him the respect and love of all who had the happiness to know bim.

"To Death, whose triumph he had so often delayed and repelled, but could not entirely prevent, he at last himself submitted on the 27th of May, 1793, in the 5()th year of his age.

Dr. Flagg graduated at Cambridge in 1761, and eight years after settled as a physician in Lynn, where he soon, by his integrity, affability and skill, won the esteem and confidence of all. He was active and patriotic during the trying Revolutionary period, was a member of the Committee of Safety in 1775, and commissioned as a colonel. Dr. James Gardner, for many years a public-spirited and highly-respected practitioner here, married liis only daughter. Dr. Flagg lived at the eastern end of Marion Street, in the same house in which the famous merchant, William Gray, was born some twenty years before.

This eccentric individual lived alone for many years in what was, at the time of his appearance, a retired and forlorn retreat, little better than a brambly bog, though near a public road. Further notice of him appears elsewhere.

"Farewell to friends, to science & to time, God bids me leave you all, though in my prime. Parents, mourn not, though I'm the fourth young son That God hath called, he still doth leave you one. Grieve not for me, but for the living grieve, 'Tis they who die, it is the dead who live."

The writer of this sketch well remembers hearing in early childhood, a sister of the deceased often speak in the most affectionate terms of his lovely character, especially of his amiability. He seems to have been ambitious of leaving the toilsome occupation of farmer, and preparing for usefulness in some learned profession, and was a student - in Harvard College, it is believed - at the time of his death. The family greatly mourned his loss, and the whole neighborhood partook in the sorrow. The epitaph refers to three brothers who had gone before him, leaving him the last but one of all the sons of the stricken parents. The epitaphs of the.se three follow, and they are all uncommonly impressive in sentiment and tenderly expressed :

"These lovely youths resigned their breath, Prepared to live & ripe for death ; You blooming youths who view this stone. Learn early death may be your own. The Lord, w-ho hath all sov'reign power, Cut short the lovely opening flower. The sister's joy, the parent's hope. Submit to death's relentless stroke."

Proof of those thousands which were still conceal'd, Tlie loveliest flow'r in nature's garden plac'd, Permitted just to bloom and pluck'd in haste, Angels beheld him ripe for joys to come, And call'd by God's command their brother home."

Joseph Hart, the afflicted father of these promising youths, was a farmer, and lived in the ancient house that stood on Boston Street at the corner of North Federal. He owned all the land on the west side of the street up to Walnut, and raised corn, potatoes and the usual products for family consumption, together with large quantities of flax, which was wrought into a durable though not elegant kind of cloth. Mrs. Eunice Hart, mother of the deceased youths, was a granddaughter of Hon. Ebenezer Burrill, who occupied the extensive farm at Swampscott, a portion of which was lately owned by the Hon. E. R. Mudge, deceased; The ancient farm-house in which Mr. Burrill lived is still standing near the elegant stone villa of Mr. Mudge.

" To the memory of Deacon Ezra Hitchings, who was born April 15, 1766, and died Nov. 26, 1829. This stone is erected by the members of the Second Congregational Church in Lynn, of which, from its formation, he was an able and efficient officer, as a testimonial of the profound respect and love for his integrity and benevolence, his piety as a Christian and his worth as a man.

The Second Congregational Church of Lynn was the first Unitarian, and to the present day remains the only society of that denomination here. Major Hitchings, to use the military title by which he was popularly known, was a native of that part of Lynn which is now Saugus. His wife, who was a woman of much force of character, was a sister of Colonel James Robinson, a soldier of the Revolution, and first postmaster of Lynn. They had no children of their own, but adopted one or two, whom they reared with the watchful care of true parents. Mr. Hitchings kept a West India goods store on Boston Street, corner of North Federal, and did a fair village business, though it yielded nothing beyond a comfortable maintenance.

" Reader, a moment pause before this stone ; It tells a husband, father. Christian gone ; These sacred names he bore ; but oh, how well Must faithful memory, not the marble, tell ; Enough, if in this hard white stone you see His strong, firm will - his spotless purity."

The loss of Mr. Massey to the community was seriously felt. He was an active, useful citizen, his services being in constant demand wherever strict personal integrity and prudence were required. He took an important part in the management of public affairs, and filled several of the higher offices of public trust. At the organization, in 1828, of the Lynn Mutual Fire Insurance Company, that still remarkably successful institution, he was chosen secretary, and held the office till his death. He was an industrious

This is the resting-place of Mr. Lewis, the poet and historian. In the neat little burial inclosure are two or three chaste marble stones, unpretentious but strikingly appropriate. As Mr. Lewis is spoken of somewhat at large in another place, nothing further need be said here. The other inscriptions in the inclosure, however, should be given, -

Zachariah Lewis, Born 1765. Died 1810. Mary, his wife." (Five Generations.) " Here lyes buried y« body of Ensign Joseph Newhall, aged 47 years. Departed this life January y« 29, 1705."

This Mr. Newhall was a man of some note and much respected. In 1696 the town granted him liberty to " Sett up a pewe in y* east end of y" meetinghouse Between y* east dowre & the stares." He was, at the time of his death, a member of the General Court, and perished in a great snow-storm while on his way from Boston. It was a violent storm, continuing two daj's - the 29th and 30th of January. He was a son of Thomas Newhall, the first white person born in Lynn, and the father of eleven children, all of whom survived him. Many descendants of his are yet remaining in Lynn.

These two stones are in memory of father and son. Zacheus, the father, was keeper of the old Anchor Tavern, which, as "Norwood's Tavern," augmented in fame to the close of provincial days. He is spoken of elsewhere in these pages. Dr. Jonathan, the son, was a well-educated physician, and lived on the north side of the Common, between Mall and Park Streets. He graduated at Harvard in 1771. His death, March 16, 1782, was occasioned by injuries received by a fall from his horse.

" In memory of Mr. Isaac Orgin, who died May 29th, 1831, Mt. 70. " Afflictions sore long time I bore, Physicians strove in vain. Till God did please to give me ease. And take away my pain."

" Here lies buried the body of Mr. William Perkins, a gentleman of liberal education. He was bred at Harvard College, and commenced Master of Arts in ye year 1761. He was justly admired for his uncommon abilities, natural and acquired ; his literature, exemplary piety, modesty, meekness, and many other humane and Christian virtues which rendered him lovely in every relation of life. He died of a fever Ocf ye 9, 17G5, and in the 28"' year of his age." " Mary Pitcher. 1738-1813."

This simple inscription on a neat headstone perpetuates the name of one who attained a world-wide reputation as " Moll Pitcher, the fortune-teller of Lynn." A somewhat extended notice of her may be found elsewhere in these pages.

" The First Church of Christ in Lynn erected this monument to the memory of their faithful and much esteemed brother. Deacon Nathaniel Sargent. He died September 23, 1798, aged 38 years.

His precious dust, death's prey, indeed is here. But 's nobler breath 'mong seraphs does appear ; He joins the adoring crowds about the throne. He 's conquered all, and now he wears the crown."

" How uncertain are human enjoyments ! "From gratitude, respect and endearing recollection, this stone is erected in remembrance of Mrs. Jane & Sally Tufts, consort & daughter of Mr. David Tufts, who died Nov. 15th & 16th, 1795, aged 28 yeara, the infant 1 day.

"Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Tufts, & dau', wife and dau' of Sir. David Tufts, who obt. Aug. 2oth & 22d, 1801. She aged 32 years, the child Aet 5 hours.

This Mr. David Tufts, whose singularly severe and affecting visitations are here commemorated, lived in a comfortable two-story frame dwelling which stood on what is now Western Avenue, at the northeast corner of Federal Street, the site being now occupied by huge brick business buildings, and his land extended nearly to Centre Street. His barn was opposite the west wing of Lynn Hotel. As stated upon the stone, he was a soldier of the Revolution, and must have been in service while a mere boy. He drew a pension during the latter part of his life, for though in the way of gaining a comfortable livelihood by farming and expressing, in a small way, he was yet obliged to exercise industry and economy. He kept his sword hanging above the head of his bed as a memento of his early heroism. His last wife was Eunice, a daughter of Jo.seph Hart, of Boston Street, and she survived him more than forty years. He left three sons, one of whom was Deacon Richard Tufts, so long conspicuous for his rigid principles as a temperance reformer, and so highly respected for his unswerving moral integrity. He was a deacon of the First Congregational Church for many years, and died an octogenarian. Col. Gardiner Tufts, whose efficient services in the interest of the Massachusetts soldiers, during the Civil War and subsequently, were highly appreciated, and who is yet doing efficient service under State appointment, was a son of the deacon.

" He was ordained Oct. 1827, Pastor of the 2'* Baptist Church in Cambridge, and at the time of his death was pastor elect of the Baptist Church, Nashua, N. H. It was while on a journey to Nashua to preach on the ensuing Sabbath that he was drowned in Sandy Pond in Wilmington. This sudden and afflictive event occurred in consequence of a deep bank near the edge of the pond, from which, unperceived by him, he was precipitated with his carriage and sank in death.

" Thus died a most excellent husband and Father, a devoted and humble Christian, an able and energetic minister, beloved by all, and bearing the noble features of that Saviour whom he delighted to honor."

In this venerable resting-place of the dead repose the remains of three early ministers of the First Church - Whiting, Shepard and Henchman - as well as the countless host of other worthies - fathers and mothers of past generations - some of whom have elsewhere come under notice.

The Friexds' Burial-Place. - This seems to have been set apart for its sacred purposes early in the last century, probably in or about the year 1723, as is found that Richard Estes conveyed to the Friends Society an eligible lot of land at the corner of the present Broad and Silsbee Streets, " in consideration of the love and good will " he bore "to y^ people of God called Quakers, in Lyn," by a deed dated the "seventeenth day of the tenth month, called December, in y" ninth year of the reign of King George, in the year of our Lord, according to the English account, one thousand seven hundred and twenty-two." The land was given " unto y** people aforementioned to bury their dead in, and to erect a meeting-house for to worship God in: I say those in true fellowship of the gospell unity with the njonthly meeting, and those are to see to y' Christian burying as we have been in y* practice of." In 1826 the remains of a hundred and nine persons were removed from the old Friends' Burying-ground in Boston, and deposited in this at Lynn, the reason being that the society at Boston had become virtually extinct and their ground disused. Considerable feeling, however, was manifested by some, and Joseph Hussey refused to permit the removal of the remains of his two sisters to Lynn, preferring to have them deposited in King's Chapel ground. This burial-place is conveniently and pleasantly situated, near the house of worship, and has a number of neat memorial stones, without costly or gairish display. And in it rest a goodly number of Lynn's most prudent and worthy sons and daughters. Adjoining this ground is another, opened in 1825, as a Iree burial-place; the reason for the proceeding being that the society refused to permit the interment of a child in their ground without a compliance with their regulations.

Pine Grove Cemetery was consecrated on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 24, 1850. The weather was warm, but the sky was clear, and a great concourse attended. The exercises, conducted amid such picturesque and inspiring surroundings, were extremely impressive. The address was delivered by Rev. Charles C. Shackford, minister of the Unitarian Society. Several other clergymen took part in the exercises. An original ode, by G. W. Putnam, and original hymns, by Mr. Joseph W. Nye, Miss Anna H. Phillips and Miss Annie Johnson, were sung. This beautiful burial-place is surpassed by very few in the country for its picturesque natural features, its stately trees, fine shrubbery and flower-studded iaclosures, as well as for its graceful and noble monu ments. The first burial took place on Sunday, October 13, 1850 ; and the total number of interments up to January 1, 1886, was nine thousand six hundred, four hundred and sixty-five having taking place during 1885. As to the pecuniary receipts and disbursements, it may in brief be stated that for the year 1885 the City Council appropriated -$8000; to that was added, from sale of lots, $5176.50 ; from interments, $1480.50 ; from care of lots, $2673.59 ; and from various other sources sufficient to make a total of $19,509.86. The expenditures for labor, grading and the numerous other needful purposes were $19,310.99.

St. Mary's (Roman Catholic) Cemetery, which comprises eight acres, is situated on Lynnfield Street, near the suburban village of Wyoma. It was consecrated on Thursday, November 4, 1 858, by Bishop Fitzpatrick, assisted by six other clergymen. A violent storm prevailed on the day of consecration, and the services, so far as they properly could be, were held in the church, where the rite of confirmation was administered to some two hundred persons.

St. Joseph's (Roman Catholic) Cemetery, on Boston Street, in the northeastern outskirts, was consecrated by Archbishop Williams, in the afternoon of Thursday, October 16, 1879. A number of clergymen from neighboring places were present. Eighteen burials had taken place there before the day of consecration. In the forenoon of the day of the ceremony the rite of confirmation was administered in the parish church, by the archbishop, to about a hundred and twenty-five children.

Almshouse Ground. - A small lot was set apart on the Almshouse grounds for the burial of deceased inmates. But no burials are now made there.

At the present time the burials are chiefly made in the three cemeteries, the whole number in 1886 having been as follows: In Pine Grove Cemetery, 375 ; in St. Mary's, 207 ; in St. Joseph's, 46 ; in the Eastern ground, 58 ; in the Old, or Western ground, 3; in the Friends', 5 - making a total of 694. But the number of deaths during the year was 836, the remains of 142 being taken out of town for interment. In 1885 the number of deaths was 828, of which 148 were by consumption, 21 by diphtheria, 14 by typhoid fever, 70 by pneumonia, 34 by cholera infantum, 9 by scarlet fever. Of children under five years, 278.

It may be added that the old burying-ground at Lynnfield was opened about the year 1720, and that at Saugus about 1732, both of those towns being then a part of Lynn.

The interesting ceremony of strewing with flowers the graves of soldiers who fell in the Civil War has been devoutly observed in Lynn. Once a year - on the 30th of May, which has been established as a legal holiday and called Memorial Day - under the auspices of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, the surviving comrades proceed in procession, with appropriate music, to the various burialplaces, and there, upon the graves of the departed companions-in-arms, reverentially deposit their floral offerings. The custom began here in 1868, in accordance with the manifesto of General Logan, commander-in-chief of the association, issued at Washington. The occasion calls out crowds of people, old and young. A patriotic address by a comrade, delivered in some convenient place, follows the ceremony.

Did our limits allow, it would not be impertinent to say a few words touching what may be called modern extravagances at funerals. The expenditures for casket, floral decorations and carriages have become really burdensome to persons of limited means. Many seem to think it mean not to follow the fashion in these matters, and mean al<o to question any charge of those who furnish essentials or decorations. Can ostentatious display relieve a truly grieving heart? Can gairish pomp and glitter at the grave give joy to the departed? It would, indeed, be heath- enish to avoid a proper manifestation of respect and affection for deceased friends ; but is it not sometimes the case that respect and affection are marked by over- wrought display? In early New England times the dead were committed to their last resting-places with very little ceremony beyond the procession of mourning friends; the coffin was rude ; and seldom was a prayer offered, an omission which it seems hard to account for, excepting on the ground of anxiety to avoid anything that approached the Romish custom of praying for the dead. Lech ford, writing in 1641, says, " At burials nothing is read, nor any funeral sermon made, but all the neighborhood, or a good company of them, come together by tolling of the bell, and carry the dead solemnly to his grave and there stand by him while he is buried. The ministers are most commonly present." As to prayers at funerals, Drake, in his " History of Boston," in speaking of the funeral of the wife of Judge Byfield, who was a daughter of Governor Leverett, and died December 21, 1730, remarks: "At her funeral a prayer was made, which was the first introduction of the practice in the town." And a Boston paper, speaking of the same funeral, says : " Before carrying out the corpse, a funeral prayer was made by one of the pastors of the old church, which, though a custom in country towns, is a singular instance in this place." So much for the religious exercises at burials. And now a word touching some peculiar extravagances at times indulged in.

Before the beginning of the last century some strange customs began to appear, and expenditures were made for purposes much more reprehensible than any extravagance of the present day. Indeed, funerals were sometimes made seasons of absolute jollification. Spirituous liquors were provided in abundance, and scarfs, gloves and rings presented. The General Court, in 1724, prohibited the giving of scarfs on such occasions, " because a burdensome custom." At the funeral of Rev. Mr. Gobbet, who preached in Lynn nineteen years (1637-56), were expended one barrel of wine, £6 8.s. ; two barrels of cider, lis. ; 82 pounds of sugar, £2 Is. ; half a cord of wood, 4s. ; four dozen pairs of gloves, " for men and women," £5 4s.; with "some spice and ginger for the cider." It was not Lynn, however, that had the honor of providing thus liberally for the obsequies of Mr. Gobbet, for he had left here a number of years before, and settled in Ipswich. But in 1711 Lynn paid for half a barrel of cider for the Widow Dispaw's funeral. It was generous of the town to see that even a poor widow's remains should not be laid away without some inducement for neighbors to attend the last rites, if no feeling of bereavement existed. And there is a temptation to add the account of expenditures at the funeral of Rev. Mr. Brown, of Reading, in 1733, partly for the purpose of showing the cost of some things required in those days on such mournful occasions :

The old burying-grounds embody a history of the early settlements. The " cemeteries " of modern time exhibit the taste and wealth of later days. But it would be unkind to assume that either is not the bourn of true human sympathy and affection. The remains of high or low, rich or poor, wherever and whenever committed to the keeping of mother earth, occasion pangs of sorrow in some surviving breast ; there are none so poor or miserable as to be void of this. To the indigent mourner there is substantial consolation in the thought that at the grave all earthly distinctions end ; but far greater consolation in the conviction that for a virtuous life passed here a great reward awaits upon the other side of the dark vale. To the true duty-doer, as he draws near the bourn that cannot be repassed, the words of the great poet of our own Essex come as a refreshing breath from that other land, -

And among them, in peaceful rest, are the good and great, the beautiful and buoyant. What is there doleful in such company? Meditations of the most cheerful kind may well be entertained. And soothing would it be to many a tired spirit could it occasionally respond to the poet's sentiment and say :

Yes, indeed, to a mind so touched, many a rough passage of life would be made smooth, for step by step more fully would be perceived the utter hollowness of all mere earthly promises, and the emptiness of earth's bubbles, wealth, honor and fame. The pursuit of wealth especially, which is with us so marked a feature, would soon appear like senseless phantom-

" The sexton shall green sods on thee bestow ; Alas, the sexton is thy banker now ! A dismal banker must that banker be, Who gives no bills but of mortality."

" He that could once have half a kingdom bought, In half a minute is not worth a groat. His coffers from the coffin could not save, Nor all his interest keep him from the grave."