Essex County, Massachusetts - Chapter 16: Town of Boxford, 1922

In the beginning, what is now the town of Boxford comprised a large part of western Rowley. About 1750 there were several villages in Rowley, viz : Rowley, Rowley Village, and Rowley Village by the Merrimac ; the first of these is still Rowley ; the last is Bradford, and Rowley Village was given the name of Boxford.

The first settler in the present town of Boxford was Abraham Redington, who arrived certainly as early as 1645, being an emigrant from England. He located near the Hotel Redington, in the East Parish Village. Before a score of years had passed, there was a goodly settlement here. Writers usually place the following-named as having been pioneer settlers at some date in the seventeenth century: Robert Andrews, from England, 1656; John Cummings, in 1658; Robert Stiles, of Yorkshire, England, 1659; Joseph Bixby, from Ipswich, 1660; Robert Eames, from England, in 1660; William Foster, from Ipswich, 1661; Robert Smith, 1661 ; Zaccheus Curtis, from Gloucester, 1661 ; John Peabody, from Topsfield, 1663 ; Samuel Symonds, 1663 ; Daniel Black, a Scotchman, about 1665; Moses Tyler, from Andover, 1666; John Kimball, from Wenham, about 1666; Joseph Peabody, from Topsfield, about 1671; Samuel Buswell, from Salisbury, 1674; George Blake, from Gloucester, about 1675 ; Daniel Wood, about 1675 ; John Perley, 1683 ; Thomas Perley, from Rowley, about 1684; Thomas Hazen, from Rowley, 1684; William Peabody, from Topsfield, 1684 ; Timothy Dorman, from Topsfield, 1688 ; Joseph Hale, from Newbury, about 1691 ; Luke Hovey, from Topsfield, 1699 ; and Ebenezer Sherwin, about 1699.

When the place was incorporated, August 12, 1685, its name was changed from Rowley Village to Boxford, after Boxford, England. At that date the settlement consisted of about forty families. The town then embraced a part of present towns of Groveland and Middleton.

Boxford escaped Indian troubles such as other frontier towns endured, and its only connection with that race was when certain heirs of the old sachem of the Agawams, Masconomet, laid claim to this soil. They met at the house of Thomas Perley in January, 1701, and a quit-claim deed was obtained from them upon the payment of some refreshments in the nature of "rum and vittels", together with the paltry sum of £9 in money.

witchcraft delusion visited the settlement, and one of the wives and mothers of the town was condemned to pay the death penalty. The convicted woman was Rebecca, wife of Robert Fames. She was in a house near Gallows' Hill in Salem, when Rev. George Burroughs was executed, August 19, 1692, "and the woman of the house" felt a pin stuck into her foot, as she said. Mrs. Fames was accused of doing it, and convicted of witchcraft, but was later reprieved, having lain in jail over seven months. She survived until May 8, 1721, when she died, aged eighty-two years.

Topsfield was used as a burying place by this settlement until the mcorporation of the town. The oldest burying ground in Boxford is near the residence of Walter French, well known to settlers of these parts not over a third of a century ago. The oldest stone erected there bears the date of 1714. The next cemetery, that near the old Barnes place, and the oldest in West Parish, began to be used about 1800. In 1807 the cemetery near the First Church was platted, and the later one in West Parish in 1838.

A population table compiled at various periods for this town would be almost a curiosity to behold, so many changes have been made in the territory. In 1765 it contained 851 souls; in 1860 it had a population of 1,020 ; the State census in 1885 gave Boxford 840, and at present it has a population of only 588. More than a century ago there were several negroes in Boxford, and one named Neptune served as a brave soldier in the War for Independence.

'The Moral Society of Boxford and Topsfield," established in 1815, had a wonderfully good effect on the community as against Sabbath breaking, profanity and intemperance, with kindred vices.

The Boston & Maine railroad line runs through this town, the same having been constructed in 1853. Thirty-five years ago the taxable property of the town was valued at $650,000. The first medical doctor to take up his practice here was Dr. David Wood, a native of the town bom 1677, died 1744. (See Medical chapter.)

The history of Boxford was written and published by Sidney Perley, m 1880, in a beautiful four hundred page book. The bi-centennial anniversary services were held here in August, 1885, at the First Church. The first public house or tavern in the town was kept by William Foster from 1687 on for a number of years. Others who have presided over inns or hotels of later dates include Solomon Dodge, 1754 ; Lieutenant Asa Merrill, 1788; Phineas Cole, 1800; Captain Josiah Batchelder, 1840; Elisha G. Bunker, in 1836; John Brown, in 1837; the hotel Redington was opened by Daniel S. Gillis about 1885, and it was the only public house in Boxford then.

Every town in the county has its own particular industries and retail business houses, as well as professional interests, and of course Boxford comes in for its share of all. While it must here be stated that this is an agricultural more than a manufacturing district, and has so been noted for nearly three hundred years, the fact of possessing such rapid i^unning mill-power streams has also made it the home of numerous factories which have hummed and whirled with the passing of the years.

The Peabody saw and grist mill, constructed about 1695 by old William Peabody, was the first attempt to harness the waters of the town for milling purposes. This milling plant existed until 1845. Another saw mill was erected in 1710 by Thomas Hazen, Jacob Perley and Dr. David Wood. It went to final ruin and decay about Civil War days. Shoe pegs were also made in large quantities at the last named saw mill up to about 1863. Other mills were the Howe saw and grist mills, established in 1710, by Messrs. Kimball, Dorman and Samuel Fisk. About 1795 a grist mill was built by Asa Foster. The Day mill, the Richard Pearl mill, 1740, was changed to a saw and box-mill, about 1848, and three years later was burned. Herrick's saw mills were established in 1760 by John Hale. Captain Porter erected his mill in 1836, and added a grist mill to the saw mill part in 1839.

Possibly very few present-day residents of Essex county know that once the iron mdustry was carried on with considerable success in this town, but such is the fact. The first business, aside from that of farming, was that of the iron works of Henry Leonard, established 1669. The capital was at first £1000 sterling. The site of these ancient works is just in the rear of the Andrews mills of a later date. These works were run until about 1685.

In 1770 iron smelting works were established by Samuel Bodwell and Thomas Newman, and there they continued to smelt iron until 1805. The Diamond Match factory later utilized the site for its works. But long prior to its use for that industry, there were plants for making cotton goods, then a giist mill; there were also produced at that point a large number of wooden trays, bowls, etc. In 1867 the entire proi)- erty was sold to Byam & Carlton, makers of matches, and five years later the plant was taken over by the great Diamond Match Comi)any. Eighteen hundred tons of timber were there cut into matches annually for many years.

The shoe industry has also touched Boxford to a good degree. As early as 1837 the estimated value of shoes made here was $52,975. Among the men thus engaged were Samuel Fowler, Marion Gould, John Hale, and Edward Howe & Son. The last mentioned were the only survivors in this line in 1887.

The business interests of this town, including West Boxford and East Boxford (at the depot) , are now limited to a few small stores and shops. The churches, of course, are still there, and in a flourishing condition for a country town. There are two small but valuable public libraries - one in West Boxford, the other in Boxford proper. The dogtax collected annually goes into the library fund for these libraries.

There is also a saw mill, near the depot at East Boxford. While at present there is not much doing in this industry, many millions of feet of native lumber have been cut at this mill in years gone by. A woodyard is also run in connection with this mill, and here hundreds of cords of slabs are sold annually for fuel to the surrounding country

There are postoffices at Boxford, East Boxford and West Boxford The two latter have only been established a few years, while Boxford proper has been serving the people of the town since an early date Since President Cleveland's first administration in about 1885 the office has been kept by Postmasters F. A. Howe, H. L. Cole and the present postmaster, Charles A. Bixby, whose commission dates July 3 1908 This is a fourth-class office.

The town officers for Boxford in 1920-21 were as follows: Town Clerk John W. Parkhurst, term expires in 1923; Selectmen: Harry L Cole' Charles Perley, and Charles F. Austin; Assessors, same as Selectmen' Treasurer, William K. Cole; Collector of Taxes, Charles M. Moulton- Town Accountant, Rev. Emery L. Bradford; Committee on School Funds: William K. Cole, William B. Howe and John W. Parkhurst- Constables: David Mighill, Alvard P. Lyon; Forest Warden, Clarence E Brown.

December 31, 1920, the following was shown by the town assessors' book and town records: Real estate valuation, April 1, 1920 $376 585- Real estate buildings, $434,708; Personal estate, $176,514. Number of polls assessed, 166 ; Persons assessed on polls only, 40 ; Residents assessed on property, 219; Non-residents assessed on property, 189; Corporations and others (resident or non-resident), 22; Dwellings, 279; Acres of land, 14,269; Horses, 153; Cows, 381; Neat cattle, 99; Sheep, 182; Swine 48- Fowl, 3,898 ; Value of fowl, $7,753. ' '

Boxford has had within its borders at least three churches and panshes. The First Church parish house was commenced in 1699 - it was thirty by thirty-four feet in size, and eighteen feet high. Rev Thomas Symmes was the first pastor; he preached his first sermon in Boxford, April 27, 1701; salary £16 in money, thirty-five cords of wood a parsonage, with ten acres of land. There are now 122 members, and a Sunday school with an attendance of about 35 pupils. The present edifice was erected in 1837, and is valued at $10,000. The following have served as pastors since 1886 : Revs. R. R. Kendall, until 1891 ; Emery L. Bradford, 1892 to 1902; Laird W. Snell, 1902-04; Walter B. Williams 1904-09 ; E. A. Roys, 1909-13 ; E. L. Bradford, June, 1913, to present time - summer of 1921.

The Second Congi-egational Church of Boxford was formed at West Boxford in 1736. The present edifice was erected in 1843, costing $5 000 The pipe organ was installed in 1895, at a cost of $1,500; new heating plant placed in church in 1919, costing $1,000; and in 1875 the parsonage was provided at an expense of $6,000. The church has endowment

The church has been served by pastors since 1885 as follows : Revs. Charles L. Hubbard, 1885 to 1905; F. Arthur Sanborn, 1906-11; William Taylor, 1912-13; Owen James, 1914-15; Edward D. Disbrow, 1916-21. The present membership is 70; present attendance at Sunday school, 75. The Sunday school is under charge of Superintendent Eugene A. Bascom. Rev. Cushing (son of Rev. Caleb Cushing) was ordained as the first pastor of this church.

The Third Parish in Boxford was an off-shoot of the old First Church. It was incorporated as the Third Congregational Society, April 19, 1824. No regular church organization was ever perfected, but services were held for ten years. The last services were held in 1834. In 1826 they had a membership of almost one hundred. The preaching was quite liberal, far from the old Congregational doctrine.