Essex County, Massachusetts - Beverly, 1888 (part 1 of 5)

Beverly

The centre of this township (which has a length of about six miles and an average breadth of three) is in north latitude 42° 34' 38^', and west longitude 70° 54' 5''.

Within its boundaries are included surface, soil and vegetation, in greater variety perhaps than within the limits of any other section of equal area in the State. Though greatly diversified, the general aspect is hilly, with no elevation approaching the altitude of mountains, yet without any considerable tract of level land. The general trend of the surface towards the ocean gives a southerly exposure to its slopes and valley-lands, of material advantage to its agriculturists.

Geologically considered, Beverly lies very close to the primitive rock; diorite in the western portion, and its eastern half the granite structure that forms the hills of Cape Ann, beginning here and culminating in the headlands of Gloucester and Rockport. Its geological structure, then, is granitic, with a few shore strips of older and more thoroughly crystalline rocks.

Some of the numerous out-cropping ledges contain rare specimens of columbite polymignite, green feldspar and ore of tin ; but the mineralogical field is necessarily a restricted one, though exceedingly interesting. A peculiar feature of the scenery are these denuded ledges, as well as the great superimposed boulders, giving character to the hills and headlands. These furnish a coarse quality of granite, which has been extensively quarried and utilized in the construction of the best buildings.

Although there is much rocky land, there is very little absolutely sterile within the limits of the town. Even the rocky pastures, though often discouraging to an ambitious ruminant, are rich in multitudinous examples of the indigenous flora.

Valuable strata of clay give much material for brick and pottery, while even the sand of the seashore has been - anciently, at least - a source of profit to those who engaged in shipping it to other parts. On the beach near Hospital Point is a deposit of "black sand," which was at one time much sought after, for a purpose explained by one of the writers on New England, two hundred years ago, the curious Josselyn :

" There is likewise a sort of glittering Sand, which ia altogether as good as the glasse powder brought from the Indies, to dry up Ink on paper newly written."

This deposit lies near the present railroad station of Montserrat, and is to-day only indicated by a chalybeate spring, locally famous as " Iron-Mine Spring," whose waters are sufficiently impregnated to be nauseous without being positively medicinal.

But one other mineral spring is known to occur in Beverly, though the subterranean flow of water is copious and pure, and can be reached by wells with an average depth of thirty feet.

Beverly's woods and water are its chief attractions, although its ponds and streams are few and small. The largest body of water, lying partly within its boundaries, is Wenham Lake, about one-third of which pertains to this township. The purity of its water and the crystal clearness of its ice, have made this beautiful lake famous, even beyond the seas. It is some three hundred and twenty acres in area, lies at an elevation of thirty-four feet above the sea, and supplies Beverly as well as the city of Salem with water. It is known in the early chronicles as the " Great Pond,'' and figures prominently in deeds and grants. A lesser sheet of water, though in some respects more interesting, is Beaver Pond of twenty acres, which is still secluded within the embrace of the pine woods, not far from the Wenham line.

Its outlet, a small stream, winding through the woods, connects with Norwood Lake, a submerged meadow-tract of some forty acres additional, which gives a large head of available water-power at a point formerly occupied by the old "Conant Mill." Both Wenham and Beaver are stocked with fish, though not to an extent to make them famous. Their shores are in places well-wooded, delightfully adapted to out-door recreation, and hence much frequented by the inhabitants of the adjacent territory. Round Pond, in North Beverly, and Little Pond, not far from Beaver, are the only others, and scarce worthy of mention.

To its abundant supply of pure water and to its perfect surface and subterranean drainage, Beverly owes much of its reputation for healthfulness. Its streams, though neither numerous nor large, are excellently adapted for the carrying away of the surplus Avater.

In the western part of the township is Bass River Brook, which flows into the arm of the sea known as Bass River. Another, which pursues a course nearly parallel with the main line of the railroad, and empties into Bass Rivei', is Tan Yard Brook, while yet another flows along the Gloucester Branch Railroad, and was formerly known as Job's Pond Brook.

A region lying near the base of Brimble Hill, known as Cat Swamp, and adjacent territory, is drained by a bi'ook variously called Cedar Stand and Sallow's Brook, which enters the extreme head of Mackerel Cove ; a meandering stream, forked and branched.

running through alder swamps and open meadows, alternate, locally famous for their wild flowers. A tradition of trout lurks about its deeper and gloomier portions, and it was once a stream of importance enough to support a grist-mill at its mouth, though in latter times it is prone to withdraw within itself and disappear almost entirely from sight, during the heated months of midsummer. Farther to eastward is Patches' or Thissell Brook, where one of the earliest settlers, Nicholas Woodbury, had a grist-mill. Some distance beyond is a streamlet, crossing Mingo's Beach and another flowing into Plum Cove, while the largest is near the eastern border of the town ; Sawmill Brook, where trout are said to have been caught within the memory of people now living. No one of these streams is of sufficient importance to claim the attention of a stranger, yet, collectively, these watercourses play an important part in giving the coast that diversity of aspect which is its most attractive feature.

Of the elements of the landscape those natural features most prominent are, of course, the hills, which, though of moderate elevation, afford the observer from their summits views unsurpassed of their kind.

One of the finest water views, perhaps, is that spread below and beyond " Josh's Mountain," near and to the west of the bridge connecting Beverly with Salem ; from the summit of Brown's Hill (the crown of which, however, is now in Danvers) the most extensive view is afforded, though equally good may be obtained from the crests of Chipman and Brimble Hills, especially from the latter. All, indeed, of the numerous hill-tops favor a visitor with charming scenes, such as are afforded by the contiguity of wooded hills and valleys with the ocean.

Flora and Fauna. - To obtain an adequate conception of this region as it existed prior to the visit of the first settlers, one should become acquainted not only with its geological and topographical features, but with the leading types of its flora and fauna. These are, to a great extent, interdependent, and collectively throw light upon the subsequent actions of the settlers themselves. It was not a barren country, this, when first seen by civilized man ; for the primitive rock was covered with a rich soil clothed in an attractive and exuberant vegetation. Many plants and fruits were found here indigenous, while nearly everything brought by the settlers from their own country took root and flourished spontaneously.

The principal native trees and those which give color to the woods and a distinctive tone to the masses of foliage (especially as seen from the sea) are the pines, variously intermixed with oaks, maples, hemlocks and birches. These compose mainly the masses or "bulks" of trees, while there are numerous other natives, such as the elm, butternut, ash, cherry, red and white cedar, and a host of shrubs and bushes of lesser growth.

The remarks of Captain John Smith upon the coast productions of New England in general are particularly applicable here: "First, the ground is so fertill that, questionless, it is capable of producing any Grain, Fruits or Seeds you will sow or plant, growing in the region afore-named; but it may be not eviry kinde to that perfection of delicacy, or some tender plants may miscarie, because the summer is not so hot, and the winter is more cold, in those parts wee have yet tryed neere the Seaside than wee finde in the same height in Europe or Asia. . . . The hearbes or fruits (native) are of many sorts and kinds, as alkermes, currants, mulberries, raspices, gooseberries, plummes, walnuts, chestnuts, pumpions, gourds, strawberries, beans, pease and mayze; a^kind or two of flax (wherewith they make nets, lines and ropes, both small and great). Oke is their chief wood ; firr, pine, walnut, chestnut, birch, ash, elme, cedar and many other sorts."

Its diversity of surface gives to Beverly a flora equally varied ; in the gloom of its most secluded dells and swamps grow plants rare in localities more to the southward, while the southern exposure of its coast slopes offers a congenial habitat for several unknown much farther north. Its fragrant pasture lands breathe the incense of spiciest bloom in the season of inflorescence, and here are found those plants of mystical and medicinal virtues so beloved of the Indian medicine-man and the "yarb doctor" of early times. Nowhere in the world is there a greater variety of berries and native small fruits than may be found in the coast country of New England : such as blueberries, high and low, blackberries of several varieties, barberries, cranberries, whortle or huckleberries, elderberries, strawberries, raspberries, wild currants and gooseberries, cherries, grapes, etc., to which may be added many other kinds and the nuts and fruits of various trees.

In this region, favored of nature, may be found most of the flowering plants belonging to Massachusetts, many of brightest bloom being especially abundant; as the laurel (Icalmia), occasionally the magnolia (m, glauca), on the borders of Manchester; the cardinal flower {lobelia car dinalis), the bright rhodora, the fringed gentian {g. crinita), late in autumn, the fragrant water lily {nymjihcea odorata), the choicest species of the violet family, the wild rose and clematis; in fact, the entire range of flowering plants peculiar to New England. That early blooming plant of adjacent regions, the mayflower {epigosa repens), is rarely found here, but almost cotemporary with it are the saxifrage, dog-tooth violet, anemone and Housatonia, close followed by the columbine {aquilegia CanocZeresis), the " Solomon's seal," "ladies' slipper" {ajpripedium pubescens), the star flowers and a constantly augmented troop of summer flowers. Certain meadows, in June, are red with that delicate orchid, the arethusa bulhosa, and white with the buckbean, while along the water-courses, later, grow the sagittaria (the arrow-heads), the thickets are green with the parasitic dodder, and all the roadsides, later yet, lined with the golden-rod. It would be impossible to merely enumerate the species (in this brief introductory), that fill the months of spring, summer and early autumn, with bloom and fragrance. It was of this (Cape Ann) coast that the reverend Higginson wrote, when on his voyage to Salem :

"By noon we were within three leagues of Cape Ann, and as we sayled along the coast we saw every hill and dale, and every island, full of gay woods and high trees.

"The nearer we came to the shore the more flowers in abundance, sometynies scattered abroad, sometimes joyued in sheets nine or ten yards long, which we supposed to be brought from the low meadowes by the tyde.

" Now, what with tine woods and greene trees by land, and these yellow flowers paynting the sea, made us all desirous to see our new paradise of New England, whence we saw such forerunning signals of fertilitie affarre off'."

There is in Beverly, growing wild in the fields, a native grass, peculiarly fragrant; and the odors from these fragrant fields, mingled with the balsamic breath of the pine woods, and borne to a sea-stranger by an oflT-shore breeze, must, indeed, have seemed to him like favored gales direct from paradise.

Having glanced at Beverly in its aspects topographical, geological and botanical, it only remains now (in order to complete our picture of this region as it existed prior to the Europeati visitation \ to view it in its aspect zoological. Its elementary features : rocks, soils, water-courses, vegetation, - these have been described ; from them^from their relative arrangements and combinations - it may be deduced that this section was eminently favored by nature, and well fitted to support a numerous population.

Nor was that population lacking, although composed principally of the humbler inhabitants of the woods and meads, in fur and feather. With a few exceptions, the animals found here by the early settlers may be assumed to have existed here from time immemorial. The knowledge acquired by the early planters was necessarily imperfect, but they soon became acquainted with the larger and more obtrusive members of the lower animals that ranged the wilderness around them. Says the inquisitive Higginson, writing at that time, and of it :

' ' For beastes, there are some beares, and they say lyons ; for they have been seen at Cape Anne. Here are several sorts of deers, also wolves, foxes, beavers, otters, martins, great wild cats, and a great beast called a molke (moose) as bigge as an oxe."

" There are not many kinds of Beasts in New England; they may be divided into Beasts of the chase of the stinking foot, as Roes, foxes, Jaccals, Wolves, Wild-cats, Kaccoons, Porcupines, Squncke, Musquashes, Squirrels, Sables, and Mattrisses ; and Beasts of the chace of the sweet foot : Buck, Bed Deer, Rain Deer Elk, Marouse, Bear, Maccarib, Beaver, Otter, Martin, Hare."

The larger quadrupeds, such as the bear, deer, beaver, otter, martin, wolf and wild-cat, have long since been exterminated here (though the locality known as Cat Swamp derived its name from the abundance of wild-cats once found there), but several of the smaller yet remain. The fox yet haunts the hills of the northern part of the townshija, leading a precarious existence, even though the feeling towards him is friendly, rather than otherwise, as the survivor of a race now nearly extinct.

The hunter instinct still remains in the breasts of our people, and many here would gladly reimburse the farmers the loss of an occasional fowl rather than that reyuard should be exterminated, and the spark that lingers from the frontier existence of our ancestors become extinguished. Scarce a clover-field on the forest border that has not still a resident beneath its surface, in the shape of the woodchuck - arcfomys monax - that gray hermit, indigenous to the soil. This animal, likewise, would be sadly missed and even lamented, though occasionally destructive to clover and early vegetables.

There is another, however, whose presence would be gladly dispensed with ; a small animal of inotiensive habit, generally, but endowed by nature with most pungent possibilities when thoroughly aroused. "The Squnck," says Joselyn, referring to the skunk [mephitis mephitica), "is almost as big as a Raccoon, perfect black, white, or pye-bald, with a bush tail like a Fox - an offensive carion." And, of a truth, he is offensive when at his worst ; yet, indirectly of great benefit to our agriculturists as he is insectivorous in his habit. "The Musquash," says the same writer just quoted, "is a small Beast that lives in shallow ponds." This is the Indian name for the musk-rat {nndrata zibethicus), which still inhabits our shallow ponds, and within a score of years was quite numerously represented.

That the beaver once dwelt in our ponds and built his dams in our waters there yet remain tradition and ocular evidence ; yet none is found here to-day.

Another fur-bearing animal, the mink, is occasionally seen, as also the weasel ; the other has long been extinct. But Beverly, even to the present day, constitutes with several adjoining towns, a fine range for the unambitious fur hunter to trap in during the winter months. In the larger swamps the hare is still found, while the rabbit is a denizen of every woodland, and moles, rats and field-mice are in the fields in modern abundance. The squirrels, red and gray, are quite numerous, especially the former; occasionally the flying-squirrel is seen, and the striped squirrels, or " chipmonks," are everywhere in the woods and j^asture lauds.

Birds of Beveely. - Although the number of ferous quadrupeds is not large, the territory embraced in this township contains nearly every representative genus of the avifauna, or bird-life, of the Eastern States. The first settlers, though not particularly observant of animated nature, could not avoid noticing the numerous birds. Captain John Smith (1616), mentioned some of the many birds seen in coasting Cape Ann, as " Eagles,Gripes, divers sorts of Hawkes, Cranes, Geese, Brantz, Cormorants, Ducks, Sheldrakes, Teals, Meawes, Guls, Turkies, Dive-hoppers,

Higginson, a decade later, speaks of wild ducks, pigeons, geese, and turkeys, partridges, eagles and hawks. But their attention, though called to the coast species and water birds, and such as from their size or habits were conspicuous, was not drawn to the numerous species resident within the woods and secluded meadowlands. The species resident in Beverly to-day, and those found here at some season of the year as migrants, number about two hundred, and these were (at least conjecturally) identified with this region three hundred years ago.

Our ancestors, those who first settled here and reclaimed the country from its original wildness, gladly welcomed the birds, especially those harbingers of spring, forerunners of the coming of milder air, and the relaxation of the rigors of winter. Our best litei'ature has celebrated the softening influence of the birds and flowers upon those stern settlers who were compelled to battle with nature for the mere elements of subsistence. Without these free gifts of a beneficient Providence there would be little to cheer them at their toil. That they appreciated the coming of the birds and looked forward anxiously to their presence among them, and encouraged it in every way, is well-known. They drew from the ranks of their feathered friends only such as were necessary for food, and allowed the harmless and smaller members of the fraternity to flit and warble unmolested. But even the savage, the red Indian, equalled them in this, never slaying except for sustenance and the simple demands of ornamentation.

With a few j'light additions, perhaps through the introduction of strangers - such as the English sparrow - the avifauna of Beverly is essentially the same as it was when the first settlers landed here. Assuming this, then, they would have found, had they investigated and classified the results, nearly two hundred species. Of the hawks, nine or ten, besides occasional visitants in the bald-headed eagle and the fish-hawk. Of owls, there are eight or nine species, including the great Arctic owl (though rarely seen) and the great-horned.

The cuckoos give us two species, the woodpeckers six, while of the humming bird there is one species as a summer resident (the ruby-throat), whip-poor-will, one night-hawk, and one kingfi^her.

The thrushes, also, seven species, containing our most delightful songsters : the brown, hermit and wood-thrushes, and the cat-bird, as well as the robin. There is one blue-bird, one gold-crested and one ruby-crowned wren, one of the tit-mice, the chickadee, two nut-hatchers, one creeper, three wrens (including the house-wren), and one titlark. Of that large family termed the warblers, we have at least twenty species. They comprise a considerable num-

Every season a host of birds may be noted winging their way from woodland to woodland, copse to thicket. This aerial army of invasion comes to us, mainly, from the far South, making its long journey of thousands of miles by progressive stages, never fairly halting at any one place, except for food and short intervals of rest, until its ultimate destination is reached.

The advance pickets of this flying column arrive early in March, their posts continually being occupied by later visitants, and finally succeeded by the army of occupation.

The black-birds, robins, song-sparrows, blue-birds, are among the first arrivals, and these are followed by others of their kind so obscure of coloration (some of them - though others are of beautiful color), and of such secluded habits, that they escape the observation of any but the trained eye of the ornithologist.

These are the warblers, - quiet and unobtrusive tree inhabitants. They take their places amongst the ranks of the winter residents, such as the crows, jays, snow-birds and chickadees, while some of these latter retire yet further north to make room for them.

Thus it is that our fields and forests are occupied by the feathered flocks. The shores are swept by sand-pipers, plover, gulls and terns, while the socalled birds of prey, the hawks, owls and eagles, circle in the ether of the upper air or lie in wait in the dim recesses of the wood.

The interesting oven-bird, or golden-crowned thrush, is included in the warbler group. In the oak woods the scarlet tanager is found. Of the swifts, swallows and martins, there are six species. Of chatterers, one, the cedar-bird, one shrike (the butcher-bird), five vireos and one skylark.

Four members of the finch family, two cross-bills and two red-polls and snow-buntings, sparrows and snow-birds give us twelve representatives; there is one grosbeak (the rose-breasted), one indigo-bird and one towhee-bunting, or "chewink." That most delightful melodist, the bobolink, resides in our meadows after the first week in May, and we are favored with the presence of four species of blackbirds.

The meadow-lark is found occasionally, and two orioles; one, the golden robin, builds its pensile nest in the elms of our principal streets. One species of crow resides here throughout the year; the blue jay, also; and a specimen of the raven may occasionally descend to this latitude.

The wild pigeon once visited our territory in immense flocks, though now rarely found, since the great wheat fields of the West offer it food nearer home. Within a score of years, however, it was very abundant in the month of September, passing over our woods in great flocks.

"Upon the eighth of March, from after it was faire daylight until about eight of the clock in the forenoon, there flew over all the towns in our plautacons soe many flocke of doues, each flock contayning many thousands, and soe many that they obscured the light, that paeseth credit, if but the truth should be written."

One species of turtle-dove is a visitor here, " partridges " (ruffled grouse) are found in every wood, and quail in the pastures. Of herons and bitterns, five species visit our meadows and marshes ; plover, five species, on the shore ; one species of woodcock and one of snipe. Ten species of curlew and sandpipers may be shot here, and three of rails and coots.

The Canada goose sometimes alights here, on its way to the far north, and, in olden times, doubtless bred here. Ducks and sheldrakes, to the number of sixteen, swim along shore and sometimes penetrate our creeks ; now and then a few remain to breed.

Six species of gulls and terns visit the shore; two breed on the islands in the harbor. Two of the petrels (or " Mother Gary's chickens "), may be detected by the more observant, in the winter. Of loons and grebes five' species, the most conspicuous being the great northern diver. To end the list, mention should be made of four sub- Arctic birds ; the auks and puffins, which come down from hyperborean regions in mid-winter. That species now extinct, the great auk {alca impennis), doubtless existed here in the time of our forefathers ; but the only representative of the family to-day is the little auk, or dovekie, which is sometimes blown upon our coast during severe storms.

In the preceding pages are enumerated nearly all the higher forms of animal life indigenous here at the time of which we write. Space will not permit of a description in detail of these, nor even mention of those still lower families, of the insect world, which are numerous ; yet, with few noxious, or even annoying, representatives.

Tradition has, perhaps, invested some reptiles with fateful attributes, but it is not known that there are many harmful here, unless they have been introduced from other parts. In a word, then, this territory was amply provided by the Creator with animals necessary to man's subsistence, and even to minister to his sesthetic tastes ; but with none noxious so numerous as to cause him excessive apprehension.

The Aborigines. - Mention ought to be made, before this general subject is dismissed, of the original proprietors of this territory, at least, who were found in possession when it was discovered by while men.

There is abundant evidence that this region was looked upon as a favored abiding-place by the red men, the American aborigines. Not alone tradition points to it as the ancient home of the Indian, but the material evidence of his occupation, in the shape of remains of his feasts, his village sites and specimens of his domestic utensils and implements of war and the chase. Banks of shells, where the wigwam was once pitched, and the refuse of the kitchen deposited, are yet found here. The largest yet discovered was near the head of Galley's Brook, doubtless an ancient estuary, on the slope leading to the cemetery. These ancient encampments were always at or near the head or mouth of some stream contiguous to the sea; for almost the entire subsistence of the Indians, during the summer months especially, was drawn from the sea. "They hunted in the winter," says an ancient writer, " the moose, bear, etc. ; for this purpose making long excursions into the interior, but their tishing followes in the spring, summer and fall of the leaf; first for Lobsters, Clammes, Flouke, Lumps or Poddlers, and Alewives, and afterwards for Bass, Cod, Rock, Bluefish, Salmon, etc."

" All these, and diverse other good things," says Captain John Smith, " do heere, for want of use, increase and decrease with little diminution ; whereby they growe to that abundance that you shall scarce find any Baye, or shallow Cove of sand, where you may not take many Clampes (clams) or Lobsters, or both, at your pleasure, and in many places lode your boat, if you please ; nor iles where you finde not fruites, birds, crabs, rauskles, or all of them, for the taking, at low water. And in the harbors we frequented, a little boye might take of Gunners and Pinacks and such delicate fish, at the ship's sterne, more than sixe or tenne can eat in a dale."

They are not quite so plentiful to-day; but in the season our forefathers (like the Indians) only had to go forth with hook and line, or spade, or lobster spear, to be assured of abundant material for a dinner. The shell-heaps of Ipswich sand-hills have yielded many a specimen of Indian relics, and the fields of Beverly, likewise, though not so many as the former, where numbers of the Aborigines were gathered together, for many seasons, to feast upon the products of the sea. Skeletons have been found here, in different places, which were undoubtedly those of the red men, sometimes with various articles of stone in the graves, as arrow and spear heads, stone hammers, pestles and gouges. This was undoubtedly a favorite resort of theirs, but not held in so high estimation as the sandhills of Ipswich. It was one of the outlying possessions of the Sagamore of Agawam, Masconomo, sometimes known to the settlers as "Sagamore John." His possessions extended from the Merrimac River south to the Naumkeag, and from Gochicewick, or Andover, to the coast of Massachusetts Bay. Being well disposed toward the English who sought settlement here, he freely granted them all the territory they desired. But in the year 1700, when the descendants of the Sagamore were very few in number and without possessions, a claim was set up by his grand-children to the township territory. Although such a claim could not be enforced, and the inhabitants of Beverly were well aware of this fact, yet they exhibited the fairness of their intentions towards the impoverished Indians by settling with them, giving them £6 6s 8d., and taking a formal deed of the property.

The fate of the Agawams, who were so closely connected with our earliest history, furnishes an illustration of that of all the Eastern tribes. They were at enmity with the Tarrantines, or wilder Indians of Maine, in conflicts with whom they lost heavily ; but appear to have wasted gradually away, even though kindly treated by the English. In 1638 Masconomo, who seems to have been high-minded and generous, sold his fee in the soil of Ipswich to John Winthrop, Jr., for £20. He died in 1658, and was buried on Sagamore Hill, in Hamilton, still known by its original name. His gun and valuables were buried with him; but a certain vandal, a few years later, dug up his bones and paraded his skull through Ipswich streets. For this act he was punished, but the ancient home of the Agawams no longer afforded them more than a mere tarrying-place ; the last record of the survivors is in 1726-30, when a few were living at Wigwam Hill, in the Hamlet, or Hamilton.

1626. Earliest White Inhabitants. - A shore so attractive as that subsequently called " Cape Ann Side," could not long remain unnoticed by the first arrivals, and it must have early drawn the attention of those fishermen of Gape Ann itself: Roger Gouant and his associates in 1624.

When, in 1626, the fishing station there was abandoned, and these people removed to Naumkeag, they coasted the Manchester and Beverly shore, which l^reviously had seemed so beautiful to Gapt. Smith, that he called it "the paradise of all these parts," and subsequently won the admiration of Endicott and Higginson. They passed by its numerous headlands and embayed beaches, seeking a site nearer the head of navigation than these afforded, and landed on a rock on the southwest side of Beverly Harbor.

1 "Near the extremity of North Point, or at Cape Ann, or Ipswich Ferry, as it was variously called, now a little west of the junction of Beverly Bridge, may be seen the outcropping of a metamorphic rock, as it slopes its checkered surface to the sea, that, with its intersected dikes and veins, fills the mind of the geologist with wondering interest, as he counts the deeply-graven records of eleven of the old earth's eruptions."

- " Well might we wish - and with no irreverence, surely - that the Almighty Being, who, in His wonder-working caused them, had, as a twelfth signature of His di: ine power, affixed the very footprints of the worthy company that first stepped on that rock, to make here their permanent abode.

" Here on this spot, thus scored by the hand of Deity, we believe Conant and his followers, the pilgrim band of Massachusetts, stayed their wandering feet, and commenced their permanent abode ; and here, too, we believe, they welcomed Endicott and his company to their wilderness home ; thereby tallying another epoch in the world's history ; fur here it was that freedom, long confined in the mother country, burst the crust of oppression that bound her and began to overflow the land with its blessings, and spread out the solid foundations on which our republic rests."

Their first settlement, where they began their plantation, living in perfect amity with the resident Indians, was on the peninsula lying between Collins Cove and North River,

1 "Here they took up their station, upon a pleasant and fruitful neck of land, environed with an arm of the sea on each side, in either of which vessels and ships of good burthen might easily anchor."

Nearly two years, they remained here, courageously clinging to the soil they had won from the forest, and portions of which they cultivated in common with the Indians; then arrived the "Abigail," with Governor Endicott and his colonists, who, at the same time, furnished them succor and superseded their leaders in authority.

The new arrivals were, in point of numerical strength, double those of the original settlers; but the latter were of seasoned stock, and not desirous of yielding up their hard-earned territory and freedom. A controversy followed which, but for the '\prudent moderation of Mr. Conant, agent before for the Dorchester planters," might have proved a serious matter. These good people, however, "who came so far to provide a place where to live together in Christian amity and concord," ^ finally allowed reason to prevail, and, in commemoration of this, changed the name of the place from Naumkeag to Salem, City of Peace.

With the " Old Planters," however, this was but a compromise, for sake of peace; they cast about for another location, where they could be permitted to exercise a portion at least of that freedom they had previously enjoyed.

That they were highly respected by the promoters of the new company, and that their assistance and counsel were desired, is shown by their retention in official capacity for many years, as also in a letter from Matthew Craddock, governor of the company's affairs in London, to Governor Endicott, in April, 1629:

"As to the old planters themselves, . . . wee are content they shall be partakers of such privileges as wee, from his Majesty's espetial grace, with great cost, favor of personages of note, and much labor, have obtained, and that they shall be incorporated into this societj', and enjoy not only their lauds, which formerly they have manured, but such a further proportion as, by the advice and judgment of yourself and the rest of the council, shall be thought fit for them or any of them," etc.

"The legal title was now in the new company, who, strong in wealth and influence, were decidedly aggressive in spirit, and the only alternative for their leaders in the forlorn hope was dispersion, and an abandonment of the now ripening fruits of their labors. They submitted to the lesser evil ; but historic impartiality, upon a survey of the facts, will yield a verdict of exact justice, unvitiated by superior interests and . prejudices." 2

We need not to seek for any other cause than this feeling of insecurity and the desire to occupy the fertile meadow lands about the bays of the opposite coast.

" The same yeare we came over, it was, that wee tooke a farther possession on the north side of Salem Ferrye, commonly call'd 'Cape An Side,' by cutting thatch for our houses; and soone after laid out lotts for tillage, land on the said Cape An Side, and quickly after sundry houses were built on the said Cape An Side."

Most of the dwellings of that period were cottages, with thatched roofs and wooden or "catted" (mixed clay and stick) chimneys. The first house erected in Salem was, probably, that of Roger Conant ; and one he had occupied at Cape Ann was subsequently taken down and removed to Salem, for Endicott's use.

The leaders of the Cape Ann plantation, and the most prominent, men of the first Salem settlement were, doubtless, the founders of the first permanent colony of " Cape Ann Side," later incorporated as Beverly.

Tradition points to a small colony of fishermen at Tuck's Point as early as 1628-'30 ; but the first substantial house was probably erected farther down the coast.

As nearly as can be determined, the first settlers who came here to stay were the Woodburys. In the spring of 1628, John Woodbury, who had come to Naumkeag with Conant in 1626, returned from England (whither he had been sent for assistance) with his son Humphrey and his brother William. Humphrey (probably with his father's aid), located at or near the Cove, between two rocky points directly opposite the " Willows " of the Salem shore.

William Woodbury settled near the lower point of the name (Woodbury), and here was built (tradition states), the first dwelling, a large, double, oak-framed structure, called the garrison house, about the year 1630. This was. says an old resident, built with loopholes and scuttles, open underneath, and some of its oak timbers are in the lower portion of the house afterwards built there by John Prince. The first settlers were probably as above mentioned, the first great house at William Woodbury's Point and the first town-born child (accepting current tradition), was of the name of Dixey ; a William Dixey, who followed Conant to Bass River side, was admitted freeman in 1634, and died, aged eighty-two, in 1690.

It will not fail to be noticed, that the settlement of Cape Ann side, afterwards Beverly, virtually began with the arrival of those sturdy pioneers, Roger Conant and his associates. They were but temporarily located at Naumkeag, the leaders of this band, styled the " Old Planters ; " and removed hither as soon as grants of land were secured, though retaining for a while, in Naumkeag, their gardens and improved lots.

" Mem. the limits of a fearme of ground granted to Ilenery Herrick, between two and three acres of ground, lying on the north side of Jeffry Mercy's Cove, bounded by the Rock on one side and Woolytons (Porter's) River on the other."

The best lands were then found at the heads of creeks and the margins of rivers, the higher sections being, for the most part, covered with dense forest, while these meadow-lands were open, or, in great part, free from forest.

There were no roads in those days, there being, for many years, but a single Indian trail between Boston and Agawam, or Ipswich; hence all communication between different settlements was by water.

It is related of the origin of the first road in Beverly that it was laid out by a heifer, which, having been driven from Woodbury's Point to the farms at the head of Bass River, by a circuitous irail along the shore, escaped, and made her way back home directly through the woods. This trail was followed, and subsequently became a line of communication between the two places. " Two hundred years," says the historian of Beverly (Stone), "still leave us in possession of many highways whose numerous windings bear ample testimony to the same scientific origin."

Regarding means of travel at that time, a contemporary,'^ writing in 1634 of Salem, says: "Although their land be none of the best, yet beyond the rivers is a very good soyle, where they have their farmes and get their Hay and jjlant their corne; there they crosse these rivers with small cannowes (canoes), which are made of whole pine trees, being about two foot and a half over, and 20 foot long; in these likewise they goe a fowling sometimes two leagues to sea; there be more cannowes in this town (Salem) than in the whole Patent, every household having a water-house or two."

Of the lives of the planters of that time, the same writer gives us a glimpse: "For all New England must be workers in some kinde; and wheresoer it hath been reported that boyes of tenne or twelve yeares of age might doe much more than get their living: that cannot be, for he must have more than a boye's head, and no lesse than a man's strength, that intend-) to live comfortably; and he that hath understanding and Industrie, with a stock of an hundred pound, shall live better there than he shall doe here (in England) of twenty pound per annum."

This pioneer life led by our forefathers, passed in felling forests, clearing land and opening roads and trails, is well described in several books treating of that formative period of New England's history.

Of the "Old Planters" who received the thousandacre grant of land between Bass River and Wenham Lake, three - Roger Conant, John Balch and John Woodbury - soon settled on their respective tracts. Captain Trask's grant went by exchange to Thomas Scruggs, whose daughter, Rachel, married John Rayment (Raymond), by a descendant of whom it is occupied (or a portion of it) to-day.

The two-hundred-acre grant to Peter Palfrey was not occupied by him, but subsequently came by purchase (1644) into the possession of William Dodge, the founder, with his brother Richard, of this numerous family in Wenham and Hamilton. He was known as Farmer Dodge; his son, Captain William Dodge, married a daughter of Conant, a portion of whose grant was sold by one of his descendants, to John Chipman, the first minister of the Second Society, ordained December 28, 1715.

3 " The grant of a thousand acres, comprising the five farms, was always known as the 'Old Planters' Farms.' The first proprietors of them, and their immediate successors, appear to have arranged and managed them in concert - to have had homesteads near together between the head of Bass River and the neighborhood of the 'Horse Bridge,' where the meeting-house of the Second Congregational Society (or of the Precinct of Salem and Beverly) now stands. Their woodlands and pasture lands were farther to the north and east The dividing line between Beverly and Salem Village, finally agreed upon in 1703, ran through the 'Old Planters' Farms,' particularly the portions belonging to the Dodges, Raymond, and Woodbury. It went through 'Capt. John Dodge's dwelling-house, six feet to the eastward of his brick chiniDey as it now stands.' At the time of the witchcraft delusion (1692), the Raymonds and Dodges mostly belonged to the Salem Village parish and church. They continued on the rate-list and connected with the proceedings entered on the record-books until the meeting-house at the horse-bridge was opened for worship, in 1715, when they transferred their relations to the 'Precinct of Salem & Beverly.' "

It would, perhaps, be well to digress from the following of events in chronologic sequence to glance at three of these "Old Planters," the fathers of Beverly: - Conant, Balch and Woodbury. Roger Conant, one time Governor of the Plantation at Cape Anne and at Naumkeag, was born in Budleigh, England, in Devonshire, in April, 1591. He came to New England (Plymouth Colony) in 1623, removing to Nantasket, where he remained a while, and then went to Cape Ann as superintendent of the Dorchester (England) Company's venture there, being, in point of fact, "the first Governor of the Colony of Massachusetts." Removing to Naumkeag in 1626 (as already related), he was instrumental, through his firmness and constancy of purpose, in keeping his little band together until the arrival of Endicott, in

1628. He proved himself, according to Cotton Mather, "a most religious, prudent and worthy gentleman, always maintaining an interest in the affairs of the town to the last of his life." An original member of the first church in Salem, he was also one of the founders of that of Beverly, was made a freeman in 1630, and represented Salem in the General Court, In addition to the grant of lands in Beverly, he received, in 1671, two hundred acres more, near Dunstable, as a " very ancient planter." He died on November 19, 1679, in his eighty-ninth year, leaving seven children, - four sons and three daughters : Lot, born 1624, died 1674 ; Roger, born 1626, died 1672 ; Mary, married John Balch, and afterwards William Dodge; Sarah; Exercise (son), baptized December 24, 1637, died April 28, 1722; Elizabeth; Joshua, died 1659.

The ancestor of the Beverly branch of the family was Lot, some of his descendants yet residing here. The second son, Roger Conant, Jr., enjoyed the distinction of having been the first child born in Salem (in 1626), and was granted tw'enty acres of land in 1639 in recognition of this.

On the fly-leaf of an old Bible, once the property of the Conants (according to Mr. G. D. Phippen, in his memoir^), is this entry by the widow of Roger, Jr., who lost both son and husband within the space of six weeks:

"The 4 day of May, 1672, being Saturday, my dere littel sone Samuel Conant dyed. The 15 of June 1672, being Saturd.ay, my dere, dere, dere husband Koger Conant dyed."

John Balch descended from a very ancient family of Somersetshire, England, where he was born at or near Bridgewater about 1579. He came to New England in September, 1623, with Captain Robert Gorges and settled at Salem with Conant. He was made a freeman May 18, 1631, and was one of the original members of the first church in Salem, also holding various offices of trust, - an "intelligent, exemplary and useful citizen."

He removed to his Bass River grant in 1638, and there resided until his death, in June, 1648. His will, dated May 15, 1648, was witnessed by Peter Palfrey, Nicholas Patch and Jeffrey Massey, and proved in the same court a fortnight later.

It brings in a vivid manner before us the life of his times to read in his inventory of the "great fruit trees, the young apple-trees, the corn that is growing upon the ground," and two of his cows "Reddie" and " Cherrie." Even at that early time our first settlers were firmly rooted in the soil of Beverly.

Balch's children were: Benjamin, born 1629; John, drowned in 1662, June 16th, at Beverly Ferry during a violent storm. It was his widow, daughter of Roger Conant, who afterwards married Capt. Wm. Dodge.

John Woodbury, the first of the name in America, came from Somersetshire, England, to Cape Ann in 1624, afterward removing with Conant to Salem, in 1626. The year following he went to England for supplies, returning in 1628, bringing with him his son Humphrey. He and his wife, Agnes, were of the original members of the first church in Salem, and he was made a freeman May 18, 1631.

It is stated that John and his brother, William, went over to Cape Ann Side about 1630, where the latter settled at what is now called William Woodbury's Point. From them, it is thought, are descended all of the name in New England. - After his grant at Bass River, John, or " Father Woodbury " (as he is called), removed thither and there died, " after a life of energy and faithfulness to the colony," 1641, aged about sixty years.

Humphrey, son of John, came to Naumkeag with his father in 1628, and at that time was nineteen years old, having been born in 1609. He was a member of the Salem Church in 1648, and one of the founders of the first church in Beverly, of which he was chosen deacon in 1668.

Other children of John, whose names are recorded, were Hannah, baptized 1636; Abigail, 1637; Peter, 1640. Humphrey is said to have reached the age of three-score and ten, and his widow died about 1689. Peter, son of John, was made freeman in 1668, a representative to General Court in 1689, and died July 5, 1704.

William Woodbury, John's brother, had also grants of land in Salem, and is mentioned in the records of 1639. His children : Nicholas (the oldest), William, Andrew, Hugh, Isaac and Hannah. His will was dated 1st Fourth month, 1663, and he died in 1676. Nicholas died 1686, leaving a widow, who survived till June 10, 1701. His daughter, Abigail, married Richard Ober, and died 1727, aged eighty-six.

It is an honorable as well as ancient family of Beverly. "Few enterprises of 'pith and moment' were set on foot in the colony except a Woodbury was of the party, and they seem to have been ready early and late, whether in humble or conspicuous station, and whatever might betide, to bear a man's part. Two Beverly Woodburys piloted the little fleet in the capture of St. Johns and Port Royal, in the N. E. expedition of 1654. And a full century later a Beverly Woodbury stood by the side of Wolfe as he fell in victory upon the plains of Abraham, and wore that day a sword which is still an heirloom with his family." ^ with those of the Old Planters, were those of Brackenbuiy and Lothrop. Richard Brackenburj"^ came with Endicott in 1628, was a member of the first church, made freeman in 1630, and was granted seventy-five acres of land in 1636.

He was an active member of the first church in Beverly, where he lived till 1685, and died at the age of eighty-five. The family long ago became extinct here, though the name is perpetuated in one of our streets, Brackenbury Lane, which runs through his former farm.

Captain Thomas Lothrop was another man of force and integritj^ who came early from England, and who received a grant of land on Bass River Side in 1636, in which year he became a member of the first church of Salem. He was a representative to General Court for several terms from Salem, assisted in founding the church in Beverly, and was there elected selectman for many years.

The more important events of his history will be narrated in proper sequence, but it will be well to keep in mind this eminent man as one of the leaders of this young and struggling colony. His grant of land was at the Cove, not far from Humphrey Woodbury's, where traces of his house-cellar were shown until a very recent period, and there he lived for forty years, a model of fidelity to all his public and private relations.

"Biave and gentle, penerous and just, confiding,- yet cautious and wise, of large estate for the time, bountifully as skilfully administered, never sparing of his own exertions, but always ready for every good word or work, he had a rare and remarkable hold on the confidence and affection of the comniuuity in which he lived. . . . His house was not only the abode of a liberal hospitality, but an asylum for the orphan and distressed. . . . Among those who shared his fostering care was a sister, Ellen, whom he brought with him on his return from a visit to England. She became the second wife of the veteran schoolmaster Ezekiel Cheever, who taught for more than s-eventj' years in New Haven, Ipswich, Charlestown and Boston."

Lothrop, in 1654, was lieutenant under Captain Hawthorn, and a captain under Major Sedgwick at the capture of St. Johns and Port Royal. From the latter place he brought home a bell, taken from the "New Friary " there, for the use of the church in Beverly.

1636. - " It is agreed, December 26, that John Stone shall keep a ferry, to begin this day, betwixt his house on the neck upon the north point and Cape Ann side, and shall give diligent attention thereupon dureing the space of three yeares, unless he shall give just occation to the contrary; and in consideration thereof he is to have twopence from a stranger and one penny from an inhabitant. Moreover, the said John Stone doth engage to provide a convenient boat for the said purpose, betwixt this and the first month next coming after the date hereof."

In 1653 the profits of the ferry " towards Ipswich,'' were allowed to Richard Stackhouse's family provided he find boats and men. He continued in charge till 1686, when he was succeeded by John Massey, "the oldest town-born child then residing in Salem." Two years later, Massey had charge of the south side, and Bogers Haskins of the north (or Beverly) side. In 1694 the latter was succeeded by Edmund Gale, and he, in 1701, by the widow of Haskins, who, in 1708, leased the ferry for a term of twenty years. In 1742, over one hundred years after the establishment of the ferry, the rates for crossing were " 3c?. for a person, 9d. for a horse and 3s. for a chair or chaise."

In 1749 it was leased by Robert Hale, of Beverly, at three pounds sterling per annum for seven years'. In] 769 B. Waters, of Salem, and Ebenezer Ellinwood, of Beverly, hired the ferry for three years. The rates then were, " Id. for an individual, 2 half-pence for ahorse, 4 half-pence for man and horse, 5c?. for a chair, 7d. for two-wheeled chaise, and 9d. for a fourwheeled."

The building of a bridge over the ferry was agitated in 1787, the principal mover in the matter being an eminent merchant of Beverly, George Cabot. As the proposition gave rise to angry discussion, a certain Mr. Blyth remarked, that he " never knew a bridge to be built without a ' railing ' on both sides.'' The following year, 1788, the bridge was built by a distinguished contractor, Lemuel Cox. It rested upon ninety-three piles, was thirty-two feet span, fourteen hundred and eighty-four feet long, entirely of wood. Its cost was about sixteen thousand dollars, which sum was divided into two hundred shares, worth, prior to 1830, five times the original value, but steadily declining later, after the railroad was built, and in view of its approaching reversion to the commonwealth.

It was called Essex Bridge, as so beneficial to the county, and its cost was to be remunerated by tolls for a period of seventy years, after which it became free to the public.

This, in brief, is the history of the Salem and Beverly ferry and tlie Essex Bridge. In 1789 General Washington, then on his famous tour, was so interested in it that he dismounted after he had crossed the " draw," which was hoisted that he might examine it.

1638. - John Winthrop, Jr., having settled at Agawam (1633) has leave to set up salt-works at Eyal Side - then part of Salem, now of Beverly - and to have wood enough for carrying on his works, and pasturage for his cows. The name of Salt-house, or Salter's Point, remains to this day, applied to the point between Danvers River and Duck Cove.

1639. - " At genall towne meeting, the 11th month. Granted to Roger Conant. the Sonne of Eoger Conant, being the first borne childe in Salem, 20 acres of Land."

1642. - " At a particular meeting of the seven men, Granted to Samuel Edson 25 acres of Land joyning to Humphrey Woodburys farme in Mackerell Cove,

1643. - " 8th moneth : John Balch, for the Basse Eiver, and William Woodbury for the Mackerell Cove, were nominated to receive donations of corne for a certain John Moore."

" It is ordered that all those that have land granted them at the great pond, shall fence with the rest or els leave theirre Lands. And all that have lotts at Bass Eiver are bound to the like conditions."

" Ordered that Guydo Bayly shall have soe much of the swamp that lyeth along by his lott over at Cape Ann side as he can ridd within 3 yeares next insuing."

These extracts, from the Salem Book of Grants', give us a glimpse of the toiling pioneers and enable us to localize some of those hitherto in doubt.

" Ordered, that Willm Woodbury and Richd Brackenbury, Ensign dixie, Mr. Conant, Lieftenant Lo- Ihrop, Lawrence & Leech, shall forthwith Lay out a way between the ferry at Salem & the head of Jeffryes creek, and that it be such a way as men may travell on horse back & drive cattle ; and if such a way not be found, then to take a speedy course to sett up a foote bridge at Mackrell Cove."

The original roads were merely tracks or trails, over the beaches, and leading from one house or settlement to another, not having a well-defined objective point; hence their meandering courses at the present day. From foot-paths and bridle-trails, those most in use finally hardened into roads, which were ultimately extended so as to connect distant points, or with the great public highways, as between Boston and Ipswich.

Our forefathers came here, primarily, for religious freedom ; they accepted the country and conditions of life as they found them, striving hard and always to improve both, They could not, like settlers at the present day, project a town or city in advance, on paper, laying out streets and highways, broad and straight, and defining beforehand the position of every public building, park and station.

A home, first of all, they sought ; a farm, where the land was most fertile and its surface most easily prepared for the plough. They found no broad acres of prairie land lying open to cultivation ; but were obliged to labor, for many months, at the surfacework of preparation. There was at first a struggle for mere existence ; their sustenance was to be drawn from the soil, supplemented by the various products of the sea. Theirs was not a high ambition, yet it was the noblest man can conceive: to have a home of their own for the possession of themselves and their descendants.

This characteristic trait has descended to the present generation : this desire to retain an ownership in the soil ; and jjerhaps explains the thrift and prosperity that has ever attended upon the town.

As the founding of homes was the main occupation of the inhabitants during the first century or so, and as this gave them little leisure for visiting, there was not much attention paid to the means of intercommunication. Thus it was the original trails, with all their sinuous traceries, became indurated, as it were, into the roads of the present day. The cow path of the " stray " from the Woodbury farm at the Cove to the larger farms on the Bass River, is now crossed by portions of Cross and Colon (or Cow Lane) Streets.

It may be well to note, in passing, that the right to traverse the ancient bridle-trail along the shore is still claimed by many inhabitants.

1647. - 27 th October: The inhabitants of Mackerell Cove (as the coast settlement was called), were released from watching in Salem, except in seasons of danger. They had preaching soon after at Cape Ann Side, and erected a house of worship. Twelve years later, they built a parsonage, as appears from the curious deposition in the Salem Records :

"Wee whose names are heareunfler written being desired to vew and to take notice what work is yet to be done to the house whicli John Norman built for the use of the Minislrie on Cape An Side, having vewed the same accordinge to our best vnderstandinge wee doe judge tliat the work yet to be donne is worth att least fiftie shillings, besides the dividing of the rooms.

This house was built on the slope of the hill opposite the (Bancroft) house at present standing, which was built for the minister's use about 1690.

First Church of Beverly. - The records of the First Church contain a faithful description of the first foundation in Beverly, as follows : " The Lord in mercy alluring and bringing over into this wilderness of New England, many of his faithfull servants from England, who:<e aymes were to worship God in purity according to his word; they, in pursuance of that work, began to sett up particular churches ; and the First Church gathered in Massachusetts colony was in the town of Salem ; a gratious beginning of that intended church reformation, which hath beine farther prosecuted and prospered through the Lord's mercy in divers parts of the land. This church of Salem entered church covenant with publique fasting and prayer upon the sixth day of the sixth month, 1629 ; their number att the beginning very small, was soon greatly increased and inriched with divers worthy labourers in God's vineyard as Pastors and Teachers successively, viz. : Mr. Samuel Skelton, Mr. Francis Higginson, Mr. Hugh Peters, Mr. Edward Norris and Mr. John Higginson, their present Pastor.

side, who, on the 10th of the 12th mo., 1649 (Me. Norris beinge teacher), presented their request to the rest of the church for some course to be taken for the means of grace among themselves, because of tediousness and difficulties over the water and other inconveniences, which motion was renewed againe the 22d of 1st mo., 1650, and on the 2d day of the 8th mo. they returned their answer, viz. : that we should look out some able and approved teacher, to be emploied amongst us, wee still holding communion with them as before.

"But upon farther experience wee, uppon the 23 of the first month, 1656, presented our desires to be a church of ourselves, and after some agitation about it, wherein our teacher stood for us, it was put to voat and yielded unto, none appeering opposite, we protesting there was no disunion in judgment or affection intended but brotherly communion.

"Our desire being consented unto, wee proceeded to build a meeting-house on Bass River Side, and we called unto us successively to dispense the word of life unto us, Mr. Joshua Hubbard, Mr. Jeremiah Hubbard and Mr. John Hailes ; and after almost three yeares experience of Mr. John Hailes, our motion was 'again renewed the 23d of 4th mo., 1667." The petition follows of Mr. Roger Conant and some eighty others, to be set off from the First Church in Salem to form the First Church of Beverly.

Rev. John Hale was ordained 1667, with John Higginson, pastor of the First Church, Salem, Thomas Cobbett, of the Church of Ipswich and Antipas Newman, of the Church in Wenham, officiating.

The first fast day, or day of humiliation, entered on the parish records is in 1667, 8th day of Tenth month. On the 26th day of First month, 1668, " The Councill of Magistrates apoynt a General Fast, to mourne for prophainess, superstition & herisie, in ceasing to pray for the encouragement of religion, disapoynting of its Enemys, yt the great motions of ye world bee overruled by God's glory. That He would bless & direct ye King, Counsell & Parlament, bless ye peace with Hollend, & sanctifie ye late war, pestilence & burning of ye city of London, & continue to New England peace, liberty & ye gospel, & prevent in ye ensuing yeare blasting mildew & caterpillars, & convert the rising Generation."

1669, 17th day. Ninth month, was a day set apart for Public Thanksgiving, " to bless ye Lord for staying ye immoderate raines wch thretened to destroy ye harvests of corne & fresh hay, & for ye harvests the Lord has given."

Let us now turn to the first records of the growing settlement, still to be found in the custody of the town clerk, and in excellent preservation :

1665. - lit month. - " A booke of such publicke concernements as appertaine to the people of Bass river or Cape An side, relating bothe to theire civill & ministeriall affairs, from the first of the first month, 1665.

invite Mr. John Hayle to come amongst us, in order to setling with us in the worke of the ministry ; for his due encouragement in the work of the Lord, amongst us, according to 2 Chron. 31, 4; & that he may attend upon the worke of the ministrie without distraction, we doe promise & engage to pay unto him £70 per annum, & his fierwood raised amongst us by a rate in equall portions, according to our former custome; & for the manner and time of payment, that he may not have to doe with particular men's portions of allowance, the bill shall not be delivered unto him, nor shall he be troubled with gathering of it in ; but 2 men shall be chosen yeere by yeere, to take the care of bringing it into his house, and to make up the account at the time appointed. Also, whereas we have built a house for the ministrie, wherein it is defective to be finished by us. And there are 2 akers of home lot (to be fenced in by us) & as much meadow land belonging to it as commonly bears about fower load of hay ; we doe agree that he shall have the use of that so long as he continues in the worke of the ministrie with us; yet, because we do acknowledge it his duty to provide for wife and children, that he may leave behind him, and our duty to have a care of him in that respect, we doe therefore promise and engage that in case he die in the mini.strie with us, that either the house and two aker house lot forementioned shall be his, or that which is equivalent, to be paid (according to his last will and testament) within the compass of one yeare after his decease, and for the repaire of the house and fenced home lot, to be done by him living thereon for the time being.

" May 15th. - There was chosen at a publick meeting, for to make the rate for Mr. Hails maintenance for this yeere ('65), as followeth : Captain Lathrop, Mr. Thorndick, Roger Conant, Samuel Corning, Joseph Rootes.

1667. - The first meeting-house was erected in 1656, just easterly of the present building; but the first church was organized in 1667, September 20, and the Rev. John Hale ordained as pastor. The names of original members are here given: John Hale, Richard Dodge, William Woodbury, Richard Brackenbury, John Stone, John Dodge, Roger Conant, William Dodge, Humphrey Woodbury, Nicholas Patch, John Hill, Thomas Lothrop, Samuel Corning, Robert Morgan, John Black, Lot Conant, Ralph Ellingwood, William Dixey, Henry Herrick, Peter Woolfe, Josiah Rootes, Exercise Conant, Edward Bishop, Elizabeth

Dodge, Mary Lovett, Elizabeth Haskell, Mary Woodbury, Sarah Leech, Freegrace Black, Eliz. Corning, Eliz. Woodbury, Ellen Brackenbury, Hannah Woodbury, Eliz. Patch, Hannah Sallows, Bethiah Lothrop, Anna Dixey, Anna Woodbury, Eliz. Woodbury, Martha Woolfe, Hannah Baker, Mary Herrick, Bridget Luff, Mary Dodge, Anna Woodbury, Ede. Herrick, Mary Dodge, Jr., Abigail Hill, Lydia Herrick. Mrs. Rebekah Hall was subsequently admitted by letter from the Church at Salisbury, and a month later Humphrey Woodbury's wife, Sarah, Humphrey Jr., John Clark, Jr., Remember Stone and Sarah Conant, were received into full communion. The first sacrament was observed September 29th, and the first infant baptized was Abigail, daughter of John and Hannah Sallows.

1667. - " At a generell meeting of [the inhabytants of Cape An side, the 11th of the 9th month, there is chosen to make the rate for Mr. Hale for the year Mr. [I.] Thorndike, Thomas Lowthropp, Robert Morgan, Richard Brackenbury, Ensigne Corninge, William Ramond & John Dodge Sen., to see it brought in."

Four men were appointed for ihe year, to see that the cutting and hauling of wood were attended to, viz.: "(1) Goodman West, from his house to Cedar Stan (from West Beach to Sallow's Bridge) ; (2) Humphrey Woodbury, from his house to the ferry (probably from Humphrey Woodbury's point to bridge), and soe to the meeting-house (and from the ferry via Cabot street to the Old South); (3) Ensigne Corning, from his house to Mr. Conant's bridge (or from the Old South to Tan-yard brook) ; (4) Mr. Conant is for all the rest " (probably all north of Tanyard brook to the Wenham line).

" Cart waves. It is agreed that the waves to the meeting-house & mill be laide out wheare it is most convenient, & those that are damnified thereby shall be satisfied by those that make use of the same."

The Town Incokporated. - The Bass River people were allowed by General Court to exercise some of the powers of a town in 1665, a step preliminary to final separation from the mother-settlement. They were still subordinate to Salem until 1668, Xovember 23d.

" Whereas, wee the inhabitants of Basse River and Cape Ann side, after many agitations in publique meetings what might be for our comfortable settleing, made choise of some amongst us to draw upp a writing specifying our desires and deputing messengers to the General Court held att Boston the 29th of Aprill 1668, by petition to our Governor & magistrates to invest them with power to choose yearly a fitt number of persons, who might have power within themselves as Selectmen have in other places, and so to act in the behalfe of the place by imploying others, officers or persons, as the affairs of the place may occasion.

"Att the next General Court att Boston the 14th of October 1668, Wee received this answer ; that they judged meets that henceforth wee should be a towneshipp of ourselves, nomanating itt Beverly."

" It was not long," says Cotton Mather, in his Magnalia Christi Americana, "before the Massachusetts colony was become like an hive, overstocked with bees; and many of the new inhabitants entertained thoughts of swarming into plantations extended further into the country."

Thus had "Cape Ann Side" and "Bass River" grown from its small beginnings until strong enough to set up a hive of its own, and, in turn, send out the avant couriers of conquest and colonization. And regarding the name selected, "As there are few of our towns but what have their namesakes in England, so the reason why most of our towns are called what they are, is because the chief of the first inhabitants would thus bear up the names of the particular places there from whence they came.'' This may not have been the case with Beverly, though the inhabitants of Cape Ann Side were exceedingly fortunate in the euphonious appellation bestowed by General Court. The name may have been suggested by Beverley i n England, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, celebrated for its beautiful minster and as the home of John de Beverley, Archbishop of York, a thousand years ago. The name also, may have been derived from " Beaver Lea " or beaver meadow, as we have " Beaver Pond ; " and remains of beaver dams have been found here. Notwithstanding the beauty of the name and its associations, some of the settlers were dissatisfied, as appears in 1671 (May 28). in

"The umble petition of Roger Conant, of Bass river, alias Beverly who have bin a planter in New England fortie-eight yeers and vpwards, being one of the first, if not the very first, that resolved and made good my settlement, vnder God, in matter of plantation with my family, in this collony of the Massachusett Bay, and haue bin iustrumentall, botti for the founding and carrying on of the same ; and when in the infancy thereof, it was in great hassard of being deserted, I was a meaus, through grace assisting me, to stop the flight of those few that then were heere with me, and that my vtter deniall to goe away with them, who would haue gon either for England or mostly for Virginia, but therevpon stayed to the hassard of our Hues.

"Now my vmble suit and request is vnto this honorable Court, onlie that the name of our town or plantation may be altred or changed from Beuerly and be called Budleigh. I haue two reasons that haue moved me vnto this request. The first is the great dislike and discontent for this name of Beuerly, because, (wee being but a small place) it hath caused on vs a constant nickname of beggarly, being in the mouths of manj', and no order was giuen or consent by the people heere to their agent for any name vntill they were shure of being a town granted in the first jilace.

" Secondly, I being the first that had house in Salem (and neuer had any hand in naming either that or any other towne) and myself with those that were then with me, being all from the western part of England, desire this western name of Budleigh, a market town in Deuonshier and neere vnto the sea as wee are heere in this place, and where myself was borne.

"Now in regard to our firstnesse and antiquity in this soe famous a colony, we should umblie request this littell priuelidg with your fauors and consent, to giue this name abouesaid vnto our town.

"I neueryet made sute or request vnto the Gcnerall Court for the least matter, tho' I thinks I might as well haue done, as many others haue, who haue obtained much without hassard of life or preferring the publick good before theire own interest, which, I praise God, I haue done. If tills my sute may find acceptation with your worships, I shall rest vmbly thankfull and my praires shall not cease vnto the throne of grace for God's guidance and his blessing to be on all your mightie proceedings and that iustice and righteousness maybe eurie where admlnls. tered, and sound doctrine, truth, and holiness eurie where taught and practised throughout the wilderness, to all posterity, which God grant. Amen.

His petition was not granted, fortunately, though the General Court gave him, in recognition of his services, two hundred acres of land, near Dunstable.

1668. - November 23. - "Att a generall meeting of the Inhabitants of Beverly, this 23d Nov., 1668, selectmen were nominated, & by vote 5 chosen, to order the affaires & consernments of the town for this yeare following, viz. : Capt. Thomas Lothropp, Wm. Dixey, Wm. Dodge, sen., John West, Paule Thorndike. . . .

'- It is also agreed at this present meeting, that Capt. Lothropp, Wm. Dodge, sen., John Rayment, Edw'd Byshopp & Wm. Rayment, shall meet with our neighbours of Salem, to divide the grounds between us . . , in tyme convenient."

A little previous to this time, in 1660, Salem had applied to the Legislature for a grant of the islands lying off her harbor, though nearer the Beverly shore. Baker's Island and the Miserys.

" Whereas there are certayne Hands neare our towne commonly known by the names of the Miserys and Baker's Hand, fit for fishing emi^ioyments, etc." In 1662-63 Thomas Tyler, then of Martha's Vineyard, son of Masconomo, the Ipswich sagamore, sold his claim on these islands to Bartholomew Gale; but it was disallowed by Salem.

Baker's Island was so-called after one Robert Baker, a ship-carpenter, ancestor of the present families of the name in North Beverly and the Cove, who was accidentally killed while felling timber there.

1669. - June 11. - "At a generall towne meeting, legally warned by the Inhabitants of Beverly, it is agreed upon that Mr. John Hailes shall have hold and enjoy that parcell of land being within the generall fence of the field adjoyning unto his pasture which he bought of Wm. Dodge, sen., for him and his heirs forever, hee maintaining the side fence liing against the Common without the field. (This land probably lies along Esses St., adjoining Prospect

Hill, which was Hale's pasture). It is allso oi-dered this present tyme by a generall vote that no man shall fall any timber in the Commons without order, except it be for his own use ; but he shall pay the value of twenty shillings for each tree, to him or them, that are deputed to receive it for the publique good of the place."

1670. - 29th April. - Ordered and generally voted, "that there shall not be any of the towne land liing in the Commons disposed of uppon any accoumpt ; but by the consent of the whole, att a Generall towne meeting, legally warmed."

1671. - It is ordered that the country highway from Cederstand up to the meeting-house, as far as the ferry, be made sufficient for horse and cart.

It is agreed with Jonathan Byles to make a pound for the town. "And the said Jonathan is to have for this pound aforesaid & to make a payre of stocks, both to be brought in and sett up in ' Beverly, 50 shillings,' part of it in trees from the Commons.

nth Aug. "It is ordered that their shall be a rate made to make provision for powder & shott & ammunition, according as the law requires, by the selectmen.

13;;^ Sept. " It was agreed that a place for buriall should be provided, and an acre of ground to be gotten, - which was bought of Lieut. Wm. Dixey, lying by the country highway on the one side, bounded on the other side uppon Nathaniel Stone & Josias Rootes." (This land extended from Milton to Wallis stieets, between Cabot street and Stephen's hill,) and was not used for burial purposes, but exchanged for land of John Lovett.

The bounds between Beverly and Manchester were defined and settled about as they stand to-day. The land bought for a cemetery was " exchanged with John Lovett, Jun., for one acre of Land, on part whereof the publique meeting-house standeth, begining at the bound tree on the northeast & so to make up the acre compleat towards the house of the said John Lovett." (This latter is the one first used as a cemetery, on a portion of which the present Old South chapel stands, and through which Abbott Street now runs.)

1674. - " It was agreed upon and voted that there shall as soon as conveniently may be, a school-house built that shall likewise be for a watch-house ; and that the said house shall be set upon the town's land by the meeting-house." Its construction was delayed, and for a time the school continued to be held in the church.

1675. - " It is agreed at a publick towne raeetinge, in the two & twentie day of October, that they should have forthwith a forte builte, about the meetinghouse, & one at Bass River, & one at Mackrill Cove

The Narragansett War. - These preparations for defense announce that the mutterings of war were beginning to disturb the cahii of their peaceful occupations. Philip of Pokanoket, the dreaded sachem of the Wampanoags, broke the peace, which had existed between his tribe and the settlers for fifty years, and began the series of massacres that alarmed every resident in the colonies. No section felt safe from attack; all the towns joined in sending soldiers to the seat of operations in the Connecticut Valley. And even Beverly, though remote from the field of active warfare, felt the necessity for not only defensive, but aggressive action.

Her favorite son. Captain Lothrop, was appointed to the command of a company of infantry in the Massachusetts forces, and with them hastened to the frontier. The town of Hadley was then the headquarters of the troops in that region, and at that place Captain Lothrop was soon found, with his choice company of young men, selected from the best families in the county, and styled the " Flower of Essex."

The provisions and forage of Hadley ran short, but in the near town of Deerfield was a large amount of grain, estimated at 3000 bushels, stacked in the fields, which had been abandoned by the farmers when driven out by the Indians. To thresh this grain and transport it to Hadley, Captain Lothrop and his company were detached, and set out for Deerfield with a number of teams and drivers.

Having secured the grain, Lothrop began the return march to Hadley, on the 18th of September, without apprehension of attack from Indians, as none had been seen. But the wily Philip had marked him for his prey. The following account,^ published many years ago, describes the terrible event :

" For the distance of about three miles, after leaving Deerfield meadow, Lothrop's marcli lay through a very level country, closely wooded, where he was every moment exposed to an attack on either flank ; at the termination of this distance, near the south point of Sugar-loaf hill, the road approximated the Connecticut River, and the left was in some measure unprotected. At the village now called Muddy Brook, in the southerly part of Deerfield, the road crossed a small stream, bordered by a narrow morass, from which the village has its name ; though more appropriately it should be denominated Bloody Brook, by which it is sometimes known. Before arriving at the point of intersection with the brook, the road for about half a mile ran parallel with the morass, then, crossing, it continued to the south point of Sugar-loaf hill. On discovering Lothrop's march, a body of upwards of seven hundred Indians planted themselves in ambuscade at the point of crossing, and lay in waiting. Without scouring the woods in front and flank, or suspecting the snare laid for him, Lothrop arrived at the fatal spot, crossed the morass with the principal part of his force, and probably halted to allow his teams to drag through their loads. The critical moment had arrived - the Indians instantly poured a heavy and destructive fire upon the column, and rushed furiously to the attack. Confusion and dismay succeeded. The troops broke and scattered, fiercely pursued by the Indians, whose great superiority enabled them to attack at all points Hopeless was the situation of the scattered troops, and they resolved to seU their lives in a vigorous struggle. Covering themselves with trees, the bloody conflict now became a trial of skill in sharpshooting, in which life was the stake. Difficult would it be to describe the havoc, barbarity and misery that ensued. The dead, the dying, the wounded, strewed the ground in all directions; the devoted force was soon reduced to a small number, and resistance became faint. At length the unequal struggle terminated in the annihilation of nearly the whole of the English, only seven or eight escaping to relate the dismal tale ; and the wounded were indiscriminately butchered. Captain Lothrop fell in the early part of the action."

The whole loss, including teamsters, amounted to ninety, and among the slain were included, from Beverly, besides the lamented Lothrop, Josiah Dodge, Peter Woodbury and John (Joseph) ? Balch, John Bennett,(?) Edward Trask, (?)SaiTiuel Whitteridge. (?) Unsusjiicious of danger, it is said, the soldiers had laid aside their arms and were gathering grapes by the roadside when the destructive volleys were poured into their ranks.

2 "This catastrophe sent a thrill of terror and dismay through all the New England colonies. Especially did the news of it come with appalling force to this county, from which its choicest flowers, all culled out of its towns, and blooming so lately in manly beauty and strength, had been thus suddenly cut down and withered as by untimely frost. Throughout its length and breadth, scarcely was there a village or hamlet left unscathed by this great calamity. More particularly, and with stunning effect, did the blow fall here, where, besides several that were deeply lamented, the fallen chief was best known, and for that reason most respected, trusted and loved."

In the year 1835 the burial-place of Lothrop and his thirty men was identified, and a monument erected (1838) in commemoration of the battle of Bloody Brook. At the laying of its corner-stone, Edward Everett delivered a memorable address, saying, in conclusion, "The ' Flower of Essex ' shall bloom in undying remembrance, as the lapse of time shall continually develop, in richer abundance, the fruits of what was done and suffered by our fathers." In order that the descendants of such ' fathers ' should remember one of the most valiant of their deeds, we should acquaint them with the story, and locality, of the famous Bloody Brook. The monument erected may be seen to-day, standing in South Deerfield, overshadowed by the towering mass of sandstone known as the Sugar-loaf, where, beneath a shelving cliff, is shown the hollowed rock known as King Philip's Seat, whence he overlooked the surrounding country and that day noted the movements of Captain Lothrop's command.

The original list of the slain at " Muddy Brook, being y*" 18 of Sept.," is in the State-House, Boston : "A List of Men slain in the county of Hamshire, tho' we cannot gett y'' names of all, yet as many as wee can gett are here ynserted ; also, the time when and place where they were slain." - Mass. Military Records, v. 68, p. 33.

" Ah, gallant few ! No generous foe Had met them by that crimsoned tide ; Vain even despair's resistless blow, - As brave men do and die, - they died ! Yet not in vain, - a cry that shook The inmost forest's desert glooms, Swelled o'er their graves, until it broke In storm around the red man's homes !

" But beating hearts, far, far away, Broke at their story's fearful truth, And maidens sweet, for many a day, Wept o'er tlie vanislied dreams of youth ; By the liliie distant ocean-tide. Wept years, long years, to liear tlieni tell How by the wild wood's lonely side The Flower of Essex fell."

In the same year, 1675, in the expedition against the Narragausett Fort, when Philip met his Waterloo, Beverly contributed her quota, nothing dismayed at her previous losses. We find, as the soldiers engaged under the brave Captain Gardner, of Salem, who fell December 19th, the following persons, townsmen of ours : William Allen, William Balch, Wm. Bonner, Josejjh Bayley, Thomas Blashfield, Jonathan Biles, Christopher Browne, Lot Conant, John Clark, Wm. Dodge, John Dodge, John Ellingwood, Wm. Ferryman, Samuel Harris, Richard Hussband, Moses Morgan, Jos. Morgan, Elias Picket, Thos. Rayment, Wm. Rayment, Cliristopher Reed (wounded), John Trask.

At the capture of Port Royal, in 1654, where Lothrop served as captain, he had with him, from Beverly, Lieut. Thomas Whittredge, Lieut. Elias Rayment, Wm. Woodbury, Humphrey Woodbury and Peter Wooden. From the very beginning of their settlement, the people of Beverly furnished their share of soldiers for the common defense and conquest.

In addition to these soldiers, engaged, there were others, in a company on the eastern frontier, under the command of Captain Frost. These were John Ellingwood (who had the fore-finger of his right hand shot away, for which he subsequently received a pen-ion), Thomas Parlor and Samuel Collins.

Previous to tlie attack upon the Narragausett Fort, when the soldiers were assembled on Dedham Plain, they were promised a reward in land for their services in addition to their pay, provided they "played the man, and drove the Narragansetts from the fort." This promise was eventually fulfiled, but not until nearly sixty years had passed away, when the soldiers engaged in this campaign were granted several townships of land, each six miles square, in the wild region, now included in the States of Maine and New Hampshire. The township shared in by the Beverly soldiers or their heirs, was known then as Souhegan West, at present Amherst, New Hampshire. The names of the proprietors from Beverly, in 1741, when they met to take possession, were ^ * Henry Bayley, Henry Blashfield and assigns, * Jonathan Byles, *Lott Conant, Andrew Dodge for J. EUinwood, Jona. Dodge for John Dodge, Wm. Dodge's heirs, * Ralph Ellinwood, Saml, Harris' heirs, Joseph Morgan for his father, Joseph Picket for his father, Elias, * Thomas Rayment, Wm. Raymeut's heirs, and * Christopher Reail.

voted to employ two constables, in place of one, on account of the extraordinary troubles of the times. And " It is ordered by the selectmen that the hinder site of the olders galery in the meeten house is to be altered, and the Boise ar to seete there, and Robert Hibberd, senior, is to hafe an Eie out fer them, and for the first ofense to aquaint thar parants or masters of it, and if they do ofend again to aquante the Selectmen with it, who shall dele with them according to lawe."

1677. - May 12th, " It is agreed between the selectmen, in behalf of the towns, and Mr. Samuel Hardie, that the said Mr. Hardie is to begin to teach a scoole, according to the utmost of his ability, . . . and the said Hardie is to have the meeting-house to teach scoole in during the somer tyme, and some other place against winter." He was to receive £20; and it is explained that " by ordinary learning is meant reading, writing, arethmetick, and Latin according to his ability."

June 25th, "In obedians to a law of the honored Jenerall Corte they made choise of ten men to inspecte thar naibours to prevente as much as may be, privet tipling and Drunckenness," whose names be as followeth: Wm. Dodge, Robt. Bradford, Humph. Woodbury, Josiah Root, Robert Heberd, Nath. Hayward, Exsersis Conant, John Hill, Richard Ober, John Dodge.

1679. - 28th April, " We whose names are underwritten beeing by the apointraent of the selectmen of our respective towns, mett to goe a perambulation in the bounds between our said towns from the Rock at the head of Bass River to the pine stump in the swamp that runneth out of Laurence Leach's meadow, have acordingly gone the said preambulation, and renewed the said bounds as neere as one could guess," etc.

1679. - 25fh November, " Leftenent Thorndike and William Rayment was chosen to manage the case in ye behalf of ye towne of Beverly at the present corte held at Salem, which controversy is between the town of Beverly and Captaine Moore; about a bell." (This was a controversy on the freight on the bell brought from Port Royal in 1654.)

1680. - December 10, The selectmen agreed with William Hoar to . . . "sweep the meeting-house as is necessary and usual), keep and turn the (hour) glass, & doe in all respects as Goodman Bayly hath done before him ; and further, the said Goodman Hoar is to ring the meeting-house bell at nine of the clock every night a sufficient space of time, and as is usugiU in other places. In consideration whereof the said Hoar is to have for his pains as goodman Bayley had,

It is said that the town was troubled by wolves, and in 1678 John Edwards was allowed £3 for killing three of them. These creatures were numerous and troublesome in the neighboring village of Ipswich, so late as 1750.

Beverly resisted the claims of the Mason heirs to their portion of the territory between the Naumkeag and the Merrimac, and memorialized the king.

IQSl. - February 22flJ, "So that we can produce quires, yea Eheams of paper, which we conceive it would be presumption for us to desire our dread sovereign to bee diverted from the mighty affairs of three kingdoms for the hearing of; for we had above fifty years possession, & entered upon'^the place with the good liking of the Indians, the ancient inhabitants of this country. Wee have adventured our lives and estates & worn out much time and strength in the subduing a wilderness for the increasing his Majesties dominions & customs ; and in the late wars with the heathen have carried our lives in our hands to defend our possessions, with the loss of about 12 English lives of our towne, & and expended some hundreds of pounds to maintain our lands, & in this time of above fifty years neither Mr. Mason nor any for him did either take possession or disburse estate, or make demand of our lands or expended one penny to defend them."

The testimony of the aged inhabitants of the town, as Richard Brackenbery, William Dixy and Humphrey Woodbury, to the effect that the Massachusetts Company had purchased of the Dorchester Company all their rights and property at Cape Ann, before Gov. Endicott arrived, was regarded as conclusive. They further declared that they had " free lease to build and plant " from the resident Indians, and that the same year, or the next after they had come to Salem, they had cut hay for their cattle on the Cape Ann, or Beverly side, and '' had been in; possession of Beverly side ever since."

Although the occupants of the soil were never actually molested, it was not until 1746, after nearly a century of agitation, that the Mason claimants abandoned this pretension and left the settlers in jseaceful possession. '

1684. - September 1st, " At a meeting of the selectmen it was agreed with Andrew Elliott Sen., and Samuel Hardie, to transcribe all that is necessary to be transcribed out of the old town book into the new one within two months after the date hereof; & that when the work is completed then the selectmen in the town's behalfe shall pay to said Andrew Elliott ten shillings in money, and unto Samuel Hardie five shillings in money, besides ten already paid him on the same account." The second volume of records begins :

" Third Nov. 1685, then this book was improved for the town of Beverly, as a town book to record the town concerns by the selectmen of said town successively," etc.

1686. - One of Beverly's aged and worthy citizens, John Lovett, died this year ; he was born 1610, and was " one of the eight admitted inhabitants of Salem,'' July 25, 1639. At the "seven men's meeting," Nov. 3, 1665, he received a grant of two acres of marshland lying near the old planter's meadow, near Wenham Common. He owned much real estate, and his descendants maintain the name in Beverly to this day.

1690. - The town had no regularly-appointed clerk until 1690, hence the fragmentary character of the records, which were begun in 1665, until, in April of this year, Andrew Elliott was elected to the office at a salary of 30 shillings in money and 40s. in " pay," or produce. He was one of the five witnesses, in 1680, taken from Beverly to attend at the execution of the Indian deed of the town of Salem. He was town clerk until his death, in 1703-4, when Robert Woodbury succeeded to the office. His entries in the record were very circumstantial, as witness the following :

"John Tovy, sometime of Winserd in Old England, near Bristow, afterward apprentice with Andrew Elliott, shoemaker, of Beverly, Ivew England, &, nextly, husband unto Mary Ilerrick (now widdow) was unfortunately drowned coming from Winter Island in a Canuoo unto said Beverly, not to be forgotten, on the 24th day of August, in the year of our Lord God 1686."

"Andrew Elliott, the dear and only son of Andrew Elliott, (whose mother's name was Grace) & was born in East Coker in the County of Somerset in Old England, being on board of a vessel appertaining unto Phillip English of Salem, one Bavidge being master, said vessel being then at Cape Sables, by an awful stroke was violently thrown into the sea & there perished in the water, to the great grief of his said father, the penman hereof ; being aged about 37 years on the 12th day of September, about 10 of the clock in the morning, according to the best information, in the year of our Lord God 1688.