Georgetown Town (part 3 of 3)

January 7, 1823, sixty acres of the old "Shepard farm," then owned by Samuel and Benjamin Plumer, was deeded to this society, for the support of a Calvinistic Baptist Gospel ministry, and the society was to come into possession at the decease of the grantors. Not long after it came under the control of the society. It had been occupied and improved as the parsonage farm from the time of Mr. Lovell, and perhaps from a much earlier date. The fifth minister was Simeon Chamberlain, of Westmoreland, N. H., who continued from July, 1819 to September, 1825, followed by Ezra Wilmarth, of Wilmot, N. H., who came in 1826, remaining until June, 1834. The old meeting-house which had been twice removed and entirely rebuilt, was in January, 1829, by forty yeas to eight nays voted to be too far gone for repairs. Grin Weston bought this I'elic of the past at auction in 1830 for eighty-nine dollars. It had seen a century of existence, and was from all accounts but a shell. The birds had nested in its interior above, and mice hud played on the floor below ; and it has been said that one of Mr. John Woods' hens once "stole her nest" under the pulpit, and would come out cackling in service time.

The sounding-board which had echoed the resonant voice of Whitefield, that wonderful voice, which could be heard a mile, might until recently, be seen near the roadside at the house of Mr. Weston's family on Main Street.

In 1829 a new meeting-house, forty-five by thirtyfive feet, was built near the old house on the parsonage grounds, at a cost of seventeen hundred dollars.

As early as about 1800, and perhaps earlier, another class of irregular meetings in the line of the Separatists of a half-century before began to be held to the annoyance of the Congregational ist people and as these meetings lessened the Baptist audiences, when services were held on Sunday, perhaps partly to their annoyance also. These school-house preachers, as Mr. Braman called them, were fluent, possibly vituperative, not bound by formal rules or customs, and were attractive to those eager for novelty. A Mr. Foster was one of the first, although Elias Smith was doubtless the first to speak here, and meetings were held at the Pillsbury-house, near Edwin Brown's, on Pillsbury Street, then the home of Jonathan Harriman and family. Many traveling preachers, of both sexes followed, all glorying in the name of " free-will " as typical of their faith.

Nancy Toles, not claiming much gift of argument, but abundant vehemence and zeal ; Clarissa Danforth, keen and energetic; Harriet Livermore, a rare genius, later a pilgrim to the Holy Land, and other women were active in proclaiming the truth. Scores of converts were baptized in Pentucket pond. Mr. Moses Howe, of Haverhill, a Methodist in belief, but independent of church regulations, often preached, as did all the others" in the Centre school-house ; a man of superior natural gifts, enriched by thought and reading. He lived to a great age. " Christian " itinerants, creedless, and with but that one name, but Baptists in practice, were frequently here in the interests of their sect ; among them. Rev. Benjamin^Knight, afterwards a Baptist, who died as the Salem city missionary. Unitarians, as Rev. Mr. Loring, of North Andover, (the fiither of Hon. G. B. Loring) and Dr. Flint, of Salem, both of whom as another class of Separatists, proclaimed the cardinal principles of their faith in that same school-house.

Mr. Nathaniel Nelson, who built in 1797, the attractive old mansion on Elm Street, now owned by his son, William Nelson, was perhaps more continuously active in sustaining these varied religious movements, than any other of the residents of New Rowley. From some cause, they all found a congenial field here, especially the sects which made immersion the baptismal rite. At a later day a meeting-house was in contemplation for the Christians or Freewill believers, and some material purchased, of which the windows can still be seen in the shoe-shop of Joshua How, on Elm Street. The Universalist doctrine was perhaps first announced in town in the school-house at South Georgetown, by a Mr. Flagg, and Mr. Farnsworth at the Centre school-house, succeeded about 1818. It early took a tenacious hold, presented a.s it was by the leading spirits of the denomination, such as Hosea Ballon, Whittemore, Otis Skinner and others, who often spoke at the same school-house. Gradually the movement developed, until on March 13th, 1829, at a meeting held at the house of Moses Nelson, now Chas. E. Chaplin's on Nelson Street, ten males signed a call for a meeting, to form a religions society to be called the First Universalist Society in Rowley. On IMarch 26, 1829, they met at the Centre School-house, with Captain John Ki 11am, moderator, and Sylvanus Nelson, clerk. Had preaching five times that year, and six the year following.

In 1830, fifty-two males became members of the Society by signing the Constitution. The Lows, Nelsons, Harrimans, Spoftbrds and Killams were active and especially Colonel John Kimball, the wealthy tanner and farmer, who then owned the Captain Benjamin Adams' place on the Salem road, and who was afterwards regarded, at home and abroad, as the Universalist leader.

In 1831, the Society had services nine times, and probably all held in the school-house, but in February, 1832, at a meeting at Colonel Savory's hotel, it was decided to build a meeting-house, forty -five by thirty-five feet, which was erected that year at a cost of about twenty-one hundred dollars. The site was on the knoll, much more elevated than at present, where the Town-house now is, and was a part of the old Brocklebank farm. Two stoves were given to the Society, one a gift from John Kimball, the other from David Pingree, Esq., of Salem.

Chapter Lvi General Town History To Date Of Incorporation

From 1730 to 1770, there are a few surnames to be added to those which are already given as residents in the west parish of Rowley. One was that of Daniel Woodbury, who had doubtless removed here from Beverly, just after the first-named date. Mr. Woodbury, was one of the constituent members of the church in October, 1732, but was not a parish petitioner in 1730. In November, 1732, Richard Woodbury was received to church membership from the second church in Beverly. In November, 1734, Daniel Woodbury was dismissed to the church in Townsend. This family while here probably lived in Marlboro'. Early in 1734, Elizabeth, the wife ot Richard, was admitted to the church. They must have left this locality soon after this date.

The names of Moses Cooper and Phebe his wife, appear on the record in 1735. Several of this surname are buried in Union Cemetery. As the ancestor of this family in Rowley bore the name of Peter, it has been thought that the celebrated Peter Cooper of New York might be a descendant, and attempts have been made to trace the connection, but letters of inquiry were unanswered.

ThePingreesof this date (as did " widow Anne," who was the mother of Job Pingry, a petitioner), lived in the limits of what is now Rowley, on the Bloomingdale road, which was a travelled way as early as 1720.

In 1736, the names of Robert Grag and his wife Hannah, were recorded. They lived near Spofford Street, in the vicinity of Lieut. Abel SpofTord's house.

In 1737, Samuel Hazen, supposed to have settled on the John F. Kimball place on East Street, removed to Groton, Mass. This was afterwards the home of Jeremiah and Moses Hazen. Here on Pen Brook a saw-mill was built about 1750, and was in use as late as 1800. This was the homestead of one of the numerous Hazen families perhaps, until its purchase by Captain William Perley about 1790. About one mile southerly, on land then partially cleared but now forest, was the home of another family of this name, and fifty years ago the barn was still standing.

It is said that in the same locality, in a wood-tract now owned by heirs of W. B. Harriman, there were anciently one or two small houses, one of them occupied by a Crorabie family, John and Rebecca Smith were living in this pai-ish in 1736, supposed to be on West Street, not far from Mrs. Edward Poor's. They removed to Haverhill in 173S. Of this family was perhaps the John Smith who lived in a West Street house, kept an inn or what was so-called, by trade a cooper, and by virtue of a warning of the town of Rowley, sixty years before, was removed to Newbury poor-house about 1800. The house was then demolished.

The Kilbourne family were residents for many years. The name oi Daniel is found in 1730, Jedediah and Samuel in 1735, and David in 1737. Their house or houses must have been on or near Searl Street.

Robert Moors troubled the parish in the spring of 1738. After the death of Samuel Spojf'urd he rented the west-parish half of the farm and cut wood contrary to the provisions of the lease, and other delinquencies. Prosecution was threatened.

Before 1740 Amos Pillsbury was here. He is supposed to have built the house on the plain near Mr. Humphrey Nelson's. He appears in 1740 as parish clerk and John Pillsbury ajjpears in 1743. These two carried on blacksmithing. The Iniildings were removed, some by Mr. Nathaniel Nelson, to what is now Chestnut Street, and the shop to Box ford more than sixty years ago by Daniel Davis, the father of Mrs. Francis Marden, who converted it into his dv/elling.

In 1742 John Bayley and Mary, his wife, admitted to church. The name of Stephen Bayley recorded in 1746. Supposed to have lived on Bailey lane.

In 1747 Mr. Moses Hale was treasurer of i»arish and quite prominent for some years. The constant use of the title of Mr., indicates a man of importance.

Samuel Johnson's name, in 1730, recorded. This family lived on Searl Sti'eet, on the Benjamin Merrill place. His sou Samuel sold, about 1800, to Dudley Stickney, who again sold to Merrill Johnson, removing to Winthrop, Me.

The first mention of Crombies is in 1742, when Rebecca, the wife of Benjamin, and Peter, a negro servant of Jeremiah Harriman, in Christian equality, owned the covenant (the half-way covenant, so-called) the same day.

On the church records in 1764, the name of David Tenney is recorded as a " Student of ye College, aged fifteen years and almost seven months." Jonathan Searl, also a student, received to church same year.

In 1760, the name of Benjamin Wallingford first seen. He, and a son of the same name, lived on Andover Street, where John Pickett's house now is. The Wallingford house was demolished about 1825 by Benjamin S., father of John Pickett. The junior Mr. Wallingford was a lame man, a maker of saddle bags, etc.

About 1760 Captain Benjamin Adams' house on Central Street, now owned by S. K. Herrick, was built. Was the first house in the parish to be painted white, new phase. His second son, Jeremiah, was a member of Congress, and elected as a Federalist, and his father was so unflinching a Republican that he always voted for his son's political opponent.

Everything indicated that the junction of the roads would be the village centre, and a removal was made by the brothers Little from their first locality to this centre, where they built, about 1814, the store building which was used for that purpose about sixty years, and upon the site of which the Odd Fellows' Block was erected in 1871. The house now owned by W. K. Lambert was also built at this time. They carried on a large trade, and continued the manufacture of shoes in a building in the rear.

Three or four years later, Benjamin Winter and William Perley opened a store in a building which was situated near where the new business block now is. This building, which was removed across the street, is thought to be that now occupied by John W. Bailey as a stove store. Mr. Perley went to Virginia, where he died many years ago.

Where now is the Main Street extension of Little's shoe factory, Robert McQuestion kept a store for some years, from about 1820. The whole community was astir. The industries of New Rowley were all sustained, rapidly advancing, and general prosperity prevailed. About 1830, several of the houses on Elm Street, near the meeting-house, were built. In 1836, a bank of issue was established, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, with Benjamin Little, President, and George Foot, Cashier. It was styled the Manufacturers' Bank of Rowley. The rapid growth after 1830 gave anticipation of a more rapid increase, and separation from Rowley began to be discussed.

Not very many years after the young and rising business men (who, coming here as strangers, were indifterent to the sentiment that made an attachment to the name of Rowley and all connected therewith, a sacred thing), began to demand and even clamor for a separation. The distance between the two parishes disturbed their business interests. Letters intended for New Rowloy were addressed to Rowley, and were delayed in the delivery, often resulting in trouble and difficulty. A meeting in 1837 was called to consider the question and arrange for a division. This was the prelude for a succession of meetings, the west parish demanding a division along the parish line, east of the Phillips' house in Dodgeville, and the first parish declaring that if a division must take place it shall be west of Phineas Dodge's house.

A partial compromise was finally made ; Muddy Brook being made the easterly bounds of the proposed new town at one point and Rye Plain bridge, near Newbury line, as a prominent bound at another point. The west parish strove hard to include what is now known as Dodgeville in the new town, but failed, and Warren Street, with three-fourths of the Rowley part of Byfield parish, was allowed instead. (About thirty

A remonstrance against the division was signed by about three hundred citizens, headed by Dr. David Mighill. It was only after considerable debate, that the decision was reached, to call the new town Georgetown. There were those who, for a long time, felt that the name had too pretentious a sound, and were shy about repeating it. There were several names proposed, as Howard, Littleton, Nelson, and Mrs. Lavinia Spofford Weston suggested Lagrange. In the heat of the controversy and perhaps the babel of voices, one facetious individual proposed the name of Babylon. There has always been a conflict of opinion as to the honorable citizen who first suggested the name finally decided upon. By some it has been said to have been Mrs. Judith Daniels, then Mrs. J. Russell, and that it was named in honor of her brother, George Peabody. Others have claimed that they were the sponsors, and, doubtless, at this day it never will be definitely known, from what source, or why it was so called.

The erection of buildings was going on at a rapid rate. Two churches had been built in the village, the old parish meeting-house modernized in its interior, and the church in Byfield, which is within Georgetown limits, also built. In 1840 an outside observer, in a sketch of the town as it appeared at that date, stated that "Georgetown is a pleasant and very flourishing place. Its growth has been more rapid than that of any village in the county. The greater part of it has been built since 1827. Real estate has more than doubled in value during the last twelve years. More than fifty buildings, including shops, were erected in 1839. The inhabitants are probably more extensively engaged in the manufacturing of boots and shoes than those of any place of the same population in the United States." At that date, Spencer, Mass., and Georgetown, with similar industries, were nearly alike in population, with Georgetown, however, slightly ahead in value of manufactured products, having twenty-seven manufactories of boots and shoes : product, $221,900; invested capital, $99,000. Nine tanneries: product about $60,000; invested capital, $10,300. Carriages : product, $2,500. The aggregate product of boots and shoes in 1880 was about one-half million dollars.

Chapter Lvii Union And Harmony Cemeteries

April that the town-meeting should no longer be held there. With the rapidly increasing population, had the town not been divided as was done five years later, a commodious hall would at an early day have been necessary. Town-meetings began to be held in Savory's Hall. In 1836 a church vestry was suggested. The building which is now the dwellinghouse of W. B. Hammond, was then owned by Benjamin Winter, the second floor of which had been used for vestry purposes and social meetings for some years. In August, 1840, under the influence of the exciting questions of the day, which were then intensely agitating this community, several members of the parish, with one exception now all deceased, petitioned for the use of the meeting-house for discussions and lectures upon the great moral questions of the day. This request was not granted at the time, the meeting adjourning without any action upon the call. A similar petition signed by twenty citizens asking for the use of the house for debates on slavery was approved at a meeting of the parish in February,

1841, and conditionally granted. At this meeting a colleague pastor was voted, and George Prime Smith, of Salem, Mass., who had assisted Mr. Braman, and with marked acceptance was invited, but declined the call. Mr. Smith, who died in early manhood, was of Rowley ancestry, and on the maternal side by the Primes, was a direct descendant of Solomon Nelson, who settled on Nelson Street, in 1729. In February,

1842, a vote was passed to leave it discretionary with Mr. Braman as to the speakers, who, on the slavery question, are to be admitted to the desk. December 8, 1842, Enoch Pond, Jr., was ordained as colleague, his father. Prof. Pond, of Bangor Seminary, delivering the sermon. Rev. Mr. Pond was a young man of much promise, deeply beloved by the church and people and highly esteemed by the whole community. The zeal and energy he displayed, wasted a perhaps not naturally robust constitution. March 15, 1846, he preached his last sermon and returned to Maine, where at Bucksport he died December 17th, of that year, at the age of twenty-six years. One week later his remains were conveyed to this town and buried in Harmony cemetery. The church and parish erected a monument. During the ministry of Mr. Pond in the autumn of 1844, the meeting-house was widened eleven feet on each side by an extension the entire length of the audience-room, of one story in height. Furnaces were added, and in the early part of 1845 a new pulpit, with furnishings, the gift of George Peabody, and a clock, the gift of Mrs. Apphia S. Tenney. In the evening of February 3, 1847, John M. Prince, Jr., was ordained as colleague, the successor of Rev. Mr. Pond ; sermon by Rev. Uriah Balkham, of Wiscasset, Maine; Rev. Isaac Braman gave the charge to the candidate. The venerable pastor was nearing the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination, and on Monday, June 7th of that year, the jubilee was observed with a discourse by the aged man, then almost an octogenarian. The services were held in the afternoon, with assistance from Rev. Messrs. Hartshorn, of the Georgetown Baptist Church, Milton P. Braman, of Danvers (son of the pastor), and Prince, the junior pastor, and original hymns by Mrs. L. S. Weston, of this town, and W. B. Tappan, of Newburyport. A [)rocession was then formed with Dr. William Cogswell as chief-marshal, which marched from the meeting-house to Tenney's Hall, where a collation was served.

There were present as guests, - Drs. Dana of Newburyport, Perry of Groveland, Pierce of Brookline, Cogswell of Boston, Rev. Messrs. Braman of Danvers, Phelps of Groton, Withington of Newbury, Judge Gummings of Boston and A. Huntington of Salem. 0. S. Tenney presided.

Several hymns, written by the talented Mrs. Weston, were sung, and a song with music composed by D. B. Tenney, was sung by Messrs. Tenney, Palmer and Holmes, and gifts were presented at the house of the pastor, among them the easy chair from the young men of the parish, so familiar for many years afterwards. The need of a vestry had been felt for years, and during the pastorate of Mr. Pond, the ladies of the church and society were actively engaged in furtherance of the movement. This was especially ihe work of the " New Rowley Female Benevolent Society," an organization which was begun in November, 1834, with Mrs. Hannah Braman and Miss Susan Nelson (now Mrs. G. J. Tenney), as the first president and secretary. In March, 1849, a committee previously appointed to purchase or build a vestry, reported favorably on the purchase of Adams Hall, now the residence of Jophanas Adams. This building, erected about 1835 by Josiah Adams, had originally a hall used for social purposes on the second floor, a store below, and was bought that year for eight hundred dollars, and used for a vestry until August 25, 1852, when it was sold, becoming the residence of Rev. Mr. Prince, and later the home of Hon. Moses Tenney, the State Treasurer at the time. The chapel, now the Catholic Church, was built in the autumn of 1852, and on completion was at once occupied for vestry meetings. The society under whose auspices this property had been purchased, and held, accepted July 20, 1852, the act of the Legislature of April 23, 1852, incorporating it as the " Woman's Benevolent Society.'' Rev. Mr. Prince resigned February 8, 1857, and removed to Bridgewater in 1858, where he died the following year. He was born in Portland, June, 1820 ; graduate of Bowdoin, 1841 ; Bangor Seminary, 1845.

Rev. Charles Beecher was installed November 19, 1857, as the third colleague pastor with sermons by Professor Calvin Stovve. Other clergymen assisting were Doctors Withington, J. P. Cleveland and Pike, E. B. and Revs. D. W. Foster, McCoUum and Willcox.

Kimball, of Ipswich, preached the funeral sermon. A suggestive memorial in Union Cemetery marks the grave of the venerated second pastor of this church. Kev. Mr. Beecher continued in active service as i^astor until 1870, and nominally for some years afterwards. He is now pastor of a church in Pennsylvania. A daughter, the wife of Mr. G. W. Noyes, still resides in this town, whom he often visits. Mr. Beecher is much beloved by his former charge, and highly esteemed by the community. His presence is ever a benison of peace to many, and the gift of music w'hich God has given him, had its birth in a nobler world than ours. January 30th, 1873, Thomas R. Beeber, now of Pennsylvania, was ordained with sermon by Rev. T. T. Munger, of Lawrence. Ordaining prayer by Rev. Dr. John L. Taylor, of Andover. Doctors Campbell and Fiske, of Newburyport, Rev. Messrs. Marsh, of Georgetown, Voorhees, of North Weymouth, Ecob, of Augusta, Me., and Coggin, of Boxford, aided in the service.

The erection of a new house of worship soon began to be contemplated, and May 16, 1873, the society voted to purchase and build on a lot, then owned by Messrs. Moulton, Chaplin and Noyes, at the left of a court then extending from Central to Middle Streets. Since the erection of the church building this court has been opened beyond to School Street, and to commemorate the Daniel Clark house, which was anciently near by, has been named Clark Street.

December 13, 1874, the final service was held in the old meeting-house. Rev. Mr. Beeber preaching an historical sermon. December 17, 1874, the new church was dedicated, with sermon by Rev. J. H. Ecob, of Maine. Prayer of dedication by Rev. Dr. Seelye. The old house was demolished tlie following year. August 30, 1876, Rev. Alfred F. IMarsh was installed, with a sermon by Rev. Dr. Campbell, of Newburyport. Other parts of the service w^ere by Rev. Messrs. Fulsom, Boyd, Kimball, Childs, Spauldingand Marsh.

The present pastor. Rev. Levi Rodgers, was installed May 4, 1881. The sermon by Professor Smythe, of Andover. Other parts by Doctors Seelye and Spaulding, Rev. ]\Iessrs. Kingsbury, Hubbard, Marsh and Barnes. The Sunday-school of this church was begun about 1816. For many years before, exercises in the catechism were sustained on Saturday afternoons by the pastor. This parish have a ministei'ial fund of seven thousand dollars, a bequest from John Perley.

Should the society cease to have a settled minister, or be dissolved, then the income is to revert to the Perley Free School. This society has a flourishing mission circle. Miss Theodora Crosby, a member, is a missionary in the Pacific Islands.

In the settlement of Mr. Beecher as pastor of the Congregational Church, some positive opposition was manifested by a prominent minority of the parish. The objections, openly expressed at the outset, gathered force, and finally culminated in a public council of ministers and churches, on the ground that the doctrines advocated by Mr. Beecher were not in accordance with the accepted theology of the Orthodox Congregational Church. The result of the council was eventually the wathdrawal of those not in harmony with Mr. Beecher, and the establishing by them of a separate religious service in the chapel, as a majority of the members of the society, controlling this chapel property, are said to have been among the ladies who withdrew. They were organized into a distinct church January 27, 1864, Dr. Pike, of Rowley, preaching the sermon on the occasion from Phil. 1 : 27. Rev. Mr. McCullom, of Bradford, gave the fellowship of the churches ; Rev. IMr. Thompson, of Amesbury, the consecrating prayer; Rev. Mr. Dogget, of Groveland, read the Scripture lesson ; and Rev. Mr. Edgell, of West Newbury, administered the sacrament. This church had the pulpit service of several clergymen, most of them young men, and some of rare gifts.

Rev. Eugene Titus, afterwards settled in Gorham, N. H., and Beverly, Mass., a son-in-law of Mr. George W. Chaplin, of this town, a longer period than any other. Mr. Titus, born November, 1834, died July 21, 1876, and is buried in Harmony Cemetery. During the visit of George Peabody, of London, to this country in 1866, he conferred with his sister, Mrs. Daniels, formerly the wife of Jeremiah Russell, Esq. (the first attorney to settle in this town), who was a member of this church, and the result was the erection of the Memorial Church building, which was made a joint gift from the brother and sister, to this new religious organization. The corner-stone of this attractive brick edifice was laid by Dr. Jeremiah Spoftbrd, of Groveland, in the afternoon of September 9, 1866, the ceremonies preceding those at the Library Building on the same day.

This building, the cost of which, including the grounds adjoining, was not less than one hundred thousand dollars, is a memorial to Judith Dodge Peabody, the daughter of Jeremiah Dodge, who removed with his family from his home on the Bailey Lane road, about 1793, to South Danvers (now Peabody), and who was the mother of George Peabody and Mrs. Daniels. The house was dedicated January 8, 1868, M. P. Braman, D.D., of Danvers, delivering the sermon, and a dedication hymn by John G. Whittier, with an additional service in the evening, and sermon by Mr. Richardson, of Newburyport. Two tablets in the rear of the desk are memorials, one of Mrs. Peabody, the mother of George Peabody, who while living in New Rowley, was a member of the Congregational Church, and the other of Rev. Isaac Braman.

Rev. David Dana Marsh, the first and present pastor, was ordained September 12, 1868 ; Rev. Mr. Barbour, of Peabody, delivering the sermon. Ordaining prayer was by Rev. Dr. Pike, of Rowley. Other exer- cises were by Messrs. Tolman, of Wilmington, Kingsbury, of Bradford, and McCullom, of Medford. The Sunday-school connected with this church was established where public services were begun, and has John F. Jackson as present superintendent, and Henry Hilliard as Librarian.

There is also a society of Christian Endeavor, organized at an early period in the formation of these societies, and a flourishing branch of the " Woman's Missionary Society." The original benevolent society, dating back to 1834, of which this church is regarded as the direct sequence still exists with regular meetings, and annual meeting in November. The fine house adjoining, formerly the home of Mrs. Daniels, and a place that in its quiet had more attractions to Mr. Peabody, when in this country, than any other, is now the permanent residence of the pastor. This church is in no wise allied to a parochial, secular body or society, but is incorporated, and controls all its property in its own name.

The Byfield parish were afflicted March 1, 1833, by the loss of the meeting-house by fire. Their third and present house was built the same year, and dedicated November 7th, with a sermon by Rev. Dr. J. P. Cleveland, then of Salem, Mass. Rev. Henry Durant, the fourth pastoi', was ordained December 25, 1838. He continued in the jsastorate until March 31, 1849. About two years previously, the Trustees of Dummer Academy had urged his acceptance as 2^rincipal of that institution, but his Byfield parish were decided in retaining him as pastor. Rev. Francis V. Tenney was installed March 1, 1850, and was the pastor until April 22, 1857.

June 16, 1858, Rev. Charles Brooks was settled. Other pastors who followed, are Rev. James H. Childs, who was ordained October 7, 1875, and dismissed December 22, 1880. The present incumbent, Rev. Geo. L. Gleason, of Manchester, Mass., was installed September 20, 1882. The cemeteries of this parish are near, and adjoining the church. The first interment, was that of Mrs. Mehetable Moody, a daughter of Henry Sewall, in 1702. The new cemetery was opened some years ago, and already many have been buried there. All the surroundings of this church are peculiar and Engli.sh-like, and the parish, in its entire history, is unique and attractive.

This history in Chapter LV. left the Baptists in possession of their new meeting-house. Rev. Ezra Wilmarth, after his dismission from the pastorate in 1834, remained in the town, as several of his daughters w^ere married here, residing here until his death, which occurred November 28, 184G. He was born January 19, 1772. He was buried in Harmony Cemetery. For eighteen months the church was Avithout a pastor, and the pulpit supply for much of the time was Rev. Daniel F. Richardson, afterwards a tutor in Wake Forest College, N. C, and later, for many years, the postmaster of Hanover, N. H., where he died a few years ago.

February 4, 1836, John Burden, of Hampstead, N. H., was ordained the pastor, with sermon by Rev. John Holroyd, of Danvers ; Dr. Jeremiah Chaplin, who had not long before resigned his position as president of the college at Waterville, Me., was then the pastor of the Baptist Church at Old Rowley, and counselled the young candidate of this church, into whose fellowship he had been baptized about a half century before. Late in 1837, or early in 1838, the meeting-house was removed from its site near the mill, now the woolen-factory, to where it now is. This removal was in the face of much opposition, largely from the Thurlows, Pearsons and other members of the society, living in the vicinity of Byfield. The founding of the Methodist interest at Byfield Mills can largely be attributed to the removal. Rev. Mr. Burden continued as pastor until the autumn of 1840. He was a warm anti-slavery advocate, and during his ministry much of the moral atmosphere was seething hot with reform movement, and he was not backward about entering the lists. The Grirake sisters spoke from the Baptist pulpit, with Deacon Solomon Nelson, although a Henry Clay moderate, willing listener until Angeline denounced Washington as a man-stealer, then he could listen no longer. I'he appeal had been made to the Congregational Parish for a recognition of the importance of this slavery question, but at first withont a hearing.

The community at large had already become one of the most active in the propagation of the new ideas. The Baptists did not wholly indorse the views of Garrison and his associates on the issue of southern slavery, woman's rights and kindred topics, but were ready to grant them a candid hearing. The Liberator was read approvingly by some of them, the abolition almanac was cherished as almost a sacred thing, as the writer well remembers he so regarded it in his boyhood, and many of the most active of the women, who met to pray for the emancipation of the slaves were of the Baptist people. The Liberator, that firebrand, was excluded from the United States mails in the South, but the writer and his brother with boyish enthusiasm were agents in sending several copies to Charleston, S. C, in the packing of their father's shoes, for which they received a severe reprimand, when complaints came as they soon did from the Southern consignee. The Moral Reform Society, an organization of ladies, for the lifting up of their unfortunate sisters, was active from 1835 and onward, and was largely under Baptist auspices. For some years after the resignation of Mr. Burden, the Baptist church except for a brief period, when Rev. L. E. Caswell was pastor (afterwards for many years a popular city missionary in Boston, was pastor, was without a settled minister. They had, however, the services of some men of fine talent, especially Rev. Mr. Moody, of England, who not long after he preached here returned home.

South ; Horace Richardson, later noted as an educator in California ; Isaac Sawyer, of Deerfield ; Stephen H. Mirick, George Keely and his son, Josiah B., of Haverhill. October 9, 1844, Joseph C. Hartshorn of Chelsea, was ordained the pastor, with sermon by Dr. Barnas Sears, the successor of Horace Mann as Superintendent of State Board Education. Rev. Mr. Hartshorn was scholarly, had a very successful pastorate, and much esteemed in the community. His resignation occurred August 29, 1848. He soon after retired from the ministry, entered into business as a manufacturer of gas-fixtures in Providence, R. I., and acquired an ample fortune. He is now a resident of Newton, Mass., retired, but perhaps retaining an interest in his former business.

The public gifts of Mr. Hartshorn, expressive of his peculiar character, are ten thousand dollars to Dr. CuUis's Consumptives' Home, for a ward which is known by his name, and a very large sum in 1884 to found and endow the Hartshorn Memorial College for females only at Richmond, Va., a gift in memory oi his wife Rachel Thurber Hartshorn, who was a sister of one of the leading members of the Gorham Silver Ware Company in Providence, and who died very suddenly, a few years ago. In the summer of 1844, the meeting-house was lengthened, by the addition oi about fifteen feet at the easterly end,'the pulpit removed from the west, between the entrance doors, to the east end, and the slips reversed, to front the pulpit in its new position. A bell was also hung in the belfry.

In December, 1848, Rev. Arlow M. Swain, of New Hampshire, became the tenth pastor. While he was with the church, a vestry for social meetings was finished in the basement of the house. In July, 1850, Rev. Paul S. Adams, of Newbury port, became the eleventh settled pastor. The rightfulness of capital punishment, Avas under general debate at the time. Mr. Adams taking the affirmative, had a sharp controversy with Rev. Mr. Baker, the Universalist minister. Mr. Adams was chaplain of a New Hampshire Regiment during the Rebellion, and died not long since in Newport, N. H.

In September, 1850, the Salem Association met with this church. In November, 1851, Rev. Philemon R. Russell, ordained a minister of the Unitarians, and later a Universalist Restorationist, became the pastor, and continued until May, 1853. In the summer of that year he was residing in the Baptist parsonage, where his wife, one Sunday afternoon, just after returning from church, was seated with an infant in her arms, during a violent shower, and was instantly killed by lightning. The child escaped unharmed.

In November, 1855, Rev. William Read, of Raynham, was settled, resigning in March, 1857. Both Mr. Read and wife were of literary tastes, a gift which is inherited by their children. Rev. Joseph H. Seaver, of Salem, Mass., was settled in November, 1858, resigning in April, 1862. Rev. Joseph M. Burtt succeeded, assuming the pastoral office in March, 1863, resigning in March, 1871. During his pastorate the meeting-house was modernized in the interior, with other improvements, at an expense of about one thousand dollars.

The parsonage property was, by permit of the legislature, sold, and valuable property opposite the church building, for some years the residence of Dr. H. N. Couch, bought for a parsonage with the proceeds. Mr. Burtt removed to Buxton Center, Me. He was chaplain of the State Almshouse in Tewksbury for some years previously, was also founder and sole proprietor of the Christian Era, a Baptist weekly paper, now merged in the Watchman. Rev. R. G. Farley was installed in the evening of May 31, 1871, with sermon by Dr. Bosworth of Haverhill, Mr. Farley was su[)erintendent of the public schools one year during his pastorate. He removed to Maine.

In May, 1874, Rev. E. T. Lyford, of Rowley, was settled and was pastor until May, 1878, when he removed to Billerica, Mass. Mr. Lyford was chaplain of the Eleventh Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers (Colonel Harriman), during the Rebellion. In March, 1879, Rev. N. B. Wilson, a city missionary in East Boston, succeeded, but resigned, and in the following January removed to Newton, N. H. He was much esteemed in town, and found a congenial field in the active temperance work of the time.

In 1880, Rev. J. M. Burtt again assumed pastoral duties, remaining until the spi'ing of 1881, when he returned to Buxton, Me. W. D. Athearn, a student of Newton Seminary, was pulpit supply until 1883, when he became the pastor of the Baptist Church in Spencer, Mass. Other students followed, among them Robert MacDonald of Boston, who on graduation accepted the call of the church and was ordained pastor, early in June, 1885, Rev. Mr. Braislin, of Newton, Mass., preaching the sermon. Other parts by Rev. Messrs. Gardner, Stetson and Tilson. Extensive improvements on the church building began November 9, 1886.

The Sunday-school was founded in June, 1820, and Deacon Solomon Nelson and wife were especially interested in its organization. The Sunday-school Convention of the Merrimac River Association, with George S. Merrill, of Lawrence, secretary, met with this church in June, 1870, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of their school. For many years prior to 1840 the ladies of this church had amission organization known as the Female Mite Society.

The Universalist Society held services about onefourth of the time, as speakers could be obtained, until the spring of 1835, when Rev. Joseph B. Morse was engaged for one-half of the time, and this engagement was renewed for 1836. The three following years their meeting-house was opened about one-half of the Sundays of the year, with a frequent change of ministers, until 1840, when Rev. D. P. Livermore, afterwards the husband of the now famous Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, was engaged and the Society had his services regularly for that year. The next year he preached one half of the time. In 1842 some improvements in the meeting-house and various speakers as before. In 1843 Rev. George Hastings supplied regularly for that year, but the next year but one- half of the Sundays. Mr. Hastings was a practical machinist, working at his trade when not employed in pastoral duty. He also served as school committee.

James T. Dunbar, then the hotel-keeper in the house now the residence of Dr. R. C. Huse, was quite active in the affairs of this Society at this date, and for several years afterwards. After Mr. Hastings, who had married a daughter of Jonathan Harriman, left town, services were not held regularly, and Mr. Dunbar, who was the financial representative of the Society, had authority to hire whom he pleased. In December, 1849, Rev. Henry H. Baker, from Essex, Mass., was engaged for three months, and the engagement successively renewed for the two following years, retiring in the spring of 1852. He was the representative of the town in the legislature in 1852.

Charles II. Webster, whose name was changed from Kent, born in the Merrill House on East Street, was from 1840 one of the active and talented young men of this Society. He became a Universalist minister, had several pastorates in this State, was once pastor at Dedham, was a chaplain in a Massachusetts regiment during the Rebellion, and died some years ago in Maryland.

Samuel Chase was another Universalist minister who attended service here. So did his brothers, John K. and James Chase, for a time; both afterwards became Baptist ministers of considerable note, of whom John K. is still living. These young men were all shoemakers, working in the cozy home shops and in the old-fashioned manner, debating and studying while their hands were employed. After Mr. Baker left, and Spiritualism making inroads into this Society, the interest in sustaining religious meetings of the denomination gradually lessened, until the Proprietors decided to sell their property.

March 27, 1855, a committee reported the sale of the meeting-house and lot to the town of Georgetown, for two thousand dollars. The church building was sold by the town for about three hundred dollars, removed to land owned by William Boynton, made into a dwelling-house, is at present occupied in part by Edward S. Fickett, Principal of the High School. The Society held an occasional preaching service, and much of the time a Sunday-school. W. H. Harriman, the successor of Sylvanus Nelson as Society clerk, was more prominent than any other person in sustaining the school. After the sale of the meeting-house and erection of the Town Hall on the site, all meetings held were in the hall and those supplying were generally of high denominational talent, as Drs. Patterson, Miner, St. John Chambre, Rev. Willard Spaulding and others equally noted. This appointment of Mr, Fickett as teacher of the High School, with his known religious views, encouraged the members of the school to renewed efforts, and for a time while he was superintendent there was a large membership, but since about 1872 or 73, all meetings of the denomination have been discontinued.

This Society never had a church organization, although at times the question was under favorable consideration. There was fine musical talent among them and the services of the choir were always of a high order. Their observance of Christmas, with decorated house, sermons, songs and choruses, now general in all denominations, was then regarded as a dangerous innovation, almost heathenish even, by the other churches. Perhaps the last service of local importance, held in the church, was that of the funeral of Mr. Nathaniel Nelson, in March, 1853.

The first Roman Catholic service held in this town was in 1849, in Mr. Nathaniel Nelson's house on Andover Street, now the residence of J. P. Jones, Esq., with Rev. Mr. Lannen of Newburyport, as officiating priest. The Newburyport parish included at that time all Northern Essex. This celebration of mass was in the part of the house then occupied by James McLain, now living on West Street. Several Irish emigrant families, antedate Mr. McLain by many years. Mr. Delaney, a Conuaught-man, Mr, Dorney, the harness-maker, who it is said began a course of study for the priesthood, Timothy O'Brien, and perhaps two or three others, were in town as early as 1842 or 43, but Nicholas Reynolds, who returned to Ireland and whom L. H. Bateman afterwards visited, was perhaps the first Irish born resident of this town.

From 1840 to 50, Mr. Nathaniel Nelson had several farm laborers of Irish birth transiently employed. In 1850, Father Lannen officiated in the service of the mass several times in the Brocklebank house on Central Street, then occupied by James Molloy. The opening of the Newburyport Railroad, led to the permanent location of several Catholics in town, who had been employed, among them Michael and Dennis Buckley. Three brothers of the same name of Molloy, cousins of James, one of whom had arrived in 1849, were settled here 1852. The families of Hughes, Haley, Barry, with Gauley, O'Doyle, Monaghan, appear at about this date, some before and others a little later, most of whom remained and are i)ermanent residents. Several young men also arrived and located, as Donaghue, Moan, Kane and others, and but little time elapsed before the Catholic population was sufficiently numerous to require a frequent service of their church.

The attic hall, known as Tammany, in the Boynton building, burned in the October fire of 1874, was temporarily engaged, afterwards an upper room in the Masonic building, and at a later date, the Town Hall. Haverhill was then a parish centre, and Georgetown was attached to it, with Rev. John Mc- Donald in charge of the service here, continuing to about 1870. The next appointment was that of Rev.

Richard Cumraings, who was recalled from the parochial oversight in 1871, and Rev. John Cumming.* appointed, who soon located here, living at first in the faniil}^ of Dennis Donaghue, afterwards renting the house at the head of Clark Street, near the carriage factory. In 1870 the Congregational Chapel which the Memorial Church had vacated four year;- before, was purchased for the Catholics, of Mr. G. J. Tenney, by Mr. Donaghue, at a cost of one thousand dollars. It was soon made ready for occupancy, and the first mass was celebrated in what was then known as St. Mary's Church, in October of that year. In addition to the original cost, there has been expended on improvements, before and since entering, an estimated sum of not less than another thousand of dollars. Rev. John Cummings was removed about 1876, and Rev. Thomas O'Brien, of Somerville, wa^ the priest, until about 1878, when Rev. Edward L. McClure, who had been very successful in general parochial work in Woburn, Mass., was assigned the care of this parish.

About 1881 the very attractive dwelling-house and grounds of Mrs. G. W. Boynton, on Central Street, was purchased for a parochial residence, at a cost ol about four thousand dollars. About one-fifth of the Catholic population at present, are of P'rench Canadian descent. For many years there were but two families of this race in the town, and not until six or seven years ago, were they sufficiently nu)nerous to be noticeable.

Most of the prominent divisions of the religious world have had their representatives in this town. The Mormon faith, while strongly entrenched in Groveland, had an outpost here on Main Street, and some converts. In 1846 Elder Nathaniel Holmes was a firm believer and zealous worker for the doctrines of that church, as preached by the pioneers, but a strong opposer of the spiritual wifehood or polygamy views, as was then advocated. It has been said that they had a church organization for a time.

The opinions of Wm. Miller, and the excitement of 184?, were not popular here. As far as is known, there was but one person in town, who practically acknowledged faith in the speedy closing of all things earthly.

Late in December, 1840, a movement toward Church Union, led to the founding of an organization, composed of some previously connected with both the Congregationalist and Baptist churches, and the engaging of the Universalist meeting-house for services, when it was not wanted by the Universallsts. These were known as " Christian Unionists, " and regular services were held in Savory's Hall, when the meeting-house could not be had. Their minister who was an "Oberlin Perfectionist, " founded a church, and claimed that all the true element in town would eventually rally under their name.

like a whirlwind, was to some extent the outgrowth of this union movement, and was also the result of the abolition agitation of the preceding year. Shut out from the meeting-houses, as Henry C. Wright, Parker Pillsbury, S. S. Foster, Abby Kelly, Rev. Mr. Beach and the other earnest enthusiasts claimed they began to gather audiences in the open air. Their cry was " come out from the churches, '' and from this they derived their name. Addresses were made in this town from the Central Street front of Little's shoe factory, the barn belonging to T. J. Elliott, in Little's grove, and elsewhere. The Sunday question was soon brought in, and that all days were alike holy, and that there was no especially holy time. The believers claimed that this Gospel of Liberty, was taught by Jesus, when he plucked the ears of corn on the Sabbath day, and for a sign to their enslaved neighbors, they conspicuously performed unnecessary labor on Sunday, seeking persecution in so doing. One sister carried her knitting to the Baptist Church, the click of her needles, keeping time with the exhortations of the speaker. Practical non-resistant as she was (and as they all were), and refusing voluntarily to leave the meeting-house, she was forcibly carried out, the next day. , She was carried up the narrow stair-way at Savory's Hall for trial on the charge of disturbing religious worship. Immensely corpulent as she was she gave another severe burden to the officers, in carrying her to the vehicle which conveyed her to the Ipswich House of Correction.

Physical reforms were also made a religious duty, and a vegetarian and Graham diet with daily ablutions and shower baths were supplemented by open discussions on the delicate questions of Heredity, Marriages and congenital topics.

At one of the grove meetings, while a speaker was fluently denouncing the eating of meat and applauding the use of Graham flour, the audience were electrified by a facetious listener shouting, as a poser, " Peter was commanded to slay and eat. Could he slay bread V It was a queer period, and Georgetown more than most towns in the county was a sort of a battle-ground. There was but little persecution here, only legal correction, when some of the most earnest persisted in invading the churches and interrupting meetings, but much undisguised dislike and scorn. Their radical crusade against Southern Slavery is now endorsed, and the statue of Garrison, their grand pioneer, is one of the glories to-day of that mammonworshipping Boston, that sought his death. Spiritualism had many disciples in this town at an early period of the manifestations, but while public services are rarely held, there are many who still hold to this belief embraced a score or more of years ago. Frank Baxter has spoken in town, as have several others equally celebrated, and until recently private seances were occasionally held. A Methodist class-meeting was established some twenty years ago, in the hope that it would result in a permanent interest of that denomination, but it soon died out. The Seventh-day Adventists held a series of tent-meetings in the summer of 1877 or '78, at the easterly end of Lincoln Park, Elder Haskell, prominent in the denomination, was the active spirit. For a time there were a few persons who adhered lo the distinctive tenets of their faith and observed Saturday as the Sabbath, but with but one or two exceptions, they returned to their former views. About 1881-82 Episcopal services were held in town ; at first in Grand Army Hall in the hotel building and afterwards in Library Hall. These services were the result of the efforts of the Misses De Wolf, young ladies residing in the town. The rectors of South Groveland and Trinity Church, Haverhill, officiated, and the diocesan missionary was here several times, but there was not sufficient interest aroused to give permanency to the movement, and, after a few weeks, meetings were suspended. The Bible-readings of Mr. Charles in 1877 and '78 were popular at Byfield depot village, and several families living on North Street, near the Newbury line, became believers. Dwelling-house services are still held in that locality, A few open-air meetings were held at Georgetown Corner, with but little encouragement. The Salvationists, with Haverhill as headquarters, are the latest attempt of a new religious organization to secure a hold in this town. Two or three short campaigns have already seemed abortive. The present may be more of a success than any that have preceded it.

Cemeteries. - Union Cemetery, for more than one hundred years the only public burial-ground, is locacated in the Marlboro' district. The original part, at the extreme easterly end, of one-fourth acre, was purchased of Joseph Nelson, March 6, 1732-33, Mr. Nelson's wife, Hannah, who was the grand-daughter of Captain Brocklebank, killed, as has been said, many years before, by the Indians at Sudbury, had been already buried there, dying in June of the previous year, and during the following autumn and winter, several others who had also died in the parish, had been buried beside her. In 1755 the first enlargement was made, and the following year, the ground was enclosed by a close board fence, colored with " Spanish brown" (as reads the record) in front, and a substantial stone wall, four feet in height, in the rear. In 1769 a stone wall was built along the road, replacing the fence of some years before. The entire fence was rebuilt in 1783, A further enlargement in 1805, of land bought of Job Brocklebank. Dr, Amos Spoffbrd, one of the committee chosen by the parish to purchase this land, was the first person who died in the parish after it was made. His death occurred December 20, 1805, and he was buried in the new ground. The following year a faced wall was built along the front, which continued until the erection of the present iron fence, which was set upwards of forty years ago, and was a gift to the town by David

Pingree, of Salem. A burial-cloth was purchased by the parish in 1836, another in 1800, and a hearse in 1819. Mrs. Huldah Harriman was the oldest person ever buried there. She died March 5, 1848, aged one hundred years, five months and twenty-six days. By the last enlargement, now many years ago, this upland knoll was then entirely enclosed for the purpose for which the first quarter of an acre was selected more than a century and a half ago, and no further increase of suitable land was possible, consequently, nearly a half century ago, the selection of another locality for a cemetery began to be agitated. In 1845, the opening of the " New Yard," as it was at first called, awakened an intense interest throughout the community.

The first interment in the new yard, now known as Harmony Cemetery was that of a lady named Mrs. Cram, The father of J. M. Clark was the second person buried. As we think of some who are buried there, we recall events peculiarly painful in the history of the town, as that of the Beecher sisters, Esther and Hattie, younger daughters of Rev. Charles Beecher, who, with their cousin, a son of Rev. Edward Beecher, were drowned by the capsizing of a boat on Lake Pentucket, at noon-day, August 27, 1867. Lieutenant Frederick Beecher, who was killed with General Custer, is also remembered by a stone near by. Here were also laid, during the Christmas season of 1885, George A. Chase and J(iseph A. Illsey, the two young men who were almost instantly killed in the service of the town, while battling against the incipient fire that then raged, threatening to destroy the village, and a few weeks later their comrade, Clarence M, Clark, who was spared for but a few weeks of suffering. Captain George W. Boynton, chief constable of the State, who died March 23, 1877, is also buried here. John Perley, who bequeathed the fund for the Prospective Free School, has a memorial of Italian marble, said to have cost upwards of three thousand dollars, an exact copy of that erected to the memory of Sir Walter Scott. This in a central position, and on the highest part of the ground, probably covers the spot upon which the ancient watch-house stood.

The burial of the Catholic dead of the town is in the cemetery at Haverhill. Twice, at least, some steps have been taken by some of that faith towards the purchasing of ground for a Catholic cemetery in this town. At one time the lot at the corner of Mill and North Streets was suggested, and at a later day land of Sylvanus Nelson's, on Elm Street, but nothing resulted, and for some years the matter has not been considered.

The only family burial ground ever in the town was many years ago on North Street. This was used for the interment of several persons. The removal of those buried there to the public cemeteries, was in harmony with the almost universal sentiment in Northern Essex, as regards the burial of the dead.

Chapter Lviii The Manufacturing Industries

The colonists, at their first settlement in New England, were alive to the importance of encouraging home industries. Burr-stones, for milling use, were shipped here as early as 1628, and the emigration of coopers, millers and all artisans, was especially urged. In 1639, millers, ship-carpenters and others, were exempted from the burden of training-day. As soon as Thomas Nelson had taken a survey of the out-lands around the village of Rowley, he found a good location for a mill ; and but a year or tw^o elapsed before a grist-mill was in operation. A fulling-mill and clothiers' works soon followed. Many of the early settlers of Rowley were skilful cloth-makers, having a celebrity throughout the colony for skill in this particular industry.

One of the first mills built to accommodate what was afterwards the west parish, was bj^ Sergt. Jeremiah Pearson. The town granted him authority in 1697, to build a mill, provided a convenient place could be found. In January, 1699-1700, a lot of land, which had been granted to Samuel Platts, Jr., was returned to the town, Platts receiving other land in exchange ; and on this convenient site Pearson erected a grist-mill, which was in use about one hundred years. This was situated near the afterwards somewhat famous Stickney mills. How long a time the Harriman mill on Rock Brook was run is not known, but, whatever the length of time, it was unquestionably the first to be built within the limits of Georgetown.

Some, if not all, the earlier-built Houses in this west parish, were of logs. Pine trees were scarce down to a late day in this locality. A severe penalty was imposed by special statute, in Massachusetts, for unnecessary injury to pine trees, as late as 1790 ; and this species were so rare where now they are almost the exclusive growth, that Capt. Solomon Dodge has been known to say that, when a boy, a pine tree was something of which but few could be seen for a long distance around his home in Dodgeville. The boarding of the houses was of oak, as well as the frames, until past the middle of the last century ; and whether originally the boards were sawed or split, with a shaved surface afterward, is uncertain. There was a class of mechanics known as sawyers at a very early day, and perhaps the boards may have been worked out by hand with pit-saws. The shingles were split, and the durable ones are said to have been from trees killed by burning, while in a growing, vigorous condition.

The Harriman mill was doubtless a saw as well as grist-mill, for, at the time it was first projected, there were several houses in contemplation, and evidently much enterprise in the eighteen mill-owners. Deacon

Abner Spofford had a saw-mill in operation, in 1734, on the stream which finds its outlet at Parker River, above Scrag Pond. Forty years afterward, his halfbrother, Col. Daniel Spofford and his sons, run a grist-mill at the same site, and three thousand bushels of grain, grown in the neighborhood, have been ground there in a single year. The same millstones, no doubt, had been previously used in another grist-mill, a sort of an improvised affair, on a dry spot originally, the only power being what water was conveyed by several uncertain streams. This mill was in the rear of William B. Howe's house, and was run by John Spofford, another of this Spofford family.

About 1740 Daniel Pierce, perhaps the grandfather of the late Major Daniel Pierce, commenced digging a canal below Pentucket Pond, preparatory to the erection, or possible enlargement, of a mill already in operation, and at the site now occupied by the Parker Woolen Mills. The interest that Pierce had was soon sold by him, the purchaser running a gristmill, which, for a century, was in use from the middle of October to the middle of April of each year.

In 1807 John Wood, who lived near by, was the owner, and added a saw-mill. Paul Stickney was at one time the proprietor, and also Major Paul Dole, for more than twenty years. About 1851 or '52, money was raised by subscription, land damage paid ; the meadow around Pentucket Pond flowed through the year, and the mill was run constantly during the summer months. This made a precedent ; the result of which has been the permanent flowage of these lands, or sufficiently so, as to make them valueless.

About 1863 Hon. Moses Tenney bought and enlarged the mills, adding improved machinery at a large expense. Many were hoping when the purchase was made, that the intentions were to remove the entire structure, and thus give unobstructed passage to the vast body of water which flowed, or would flow, if unchecked, through the central and southern part of the town ; but their hopes were doomed to disappointment. About five years ago, the property changed owners, and the manufacture of blankets was begun, with an enlargement of the buildings. Under the present competent management, the production is largely cassimeres. There are about fifty employees, with Edward C. Aldrich as superintendent, and the corporation name is the "Parker River Mills." Returning to the last century, we find other industries. The iron works have been referred to, and the Hazen Saw-mill at J. S. Kimball's place. All the little streams, only available for one-half of the year, were utilized.

Eleazar Spofford, the son of Deacon Abner, began about 1775 the work of wire-drawing near his father's saw-mill. Jonathan Chaplin, the father of Captain Eliphalet, built a rope- walk where the road now is, just north of Wilfred S. Chaplin's house. Deacon Stephen Mighill, like his predecessors, manufactured malt. The Burpy family dammed a swift-running little brook that coursed through their land, and made a rude mill for breaking flax. Jeremiah, the father of Dr. Jeremiah Spofford, had a mill for the making of snuff in operation during the Revolution. Molasses was made from Indian corn-stalks and watermelons during this war. Saltpetre was made from the dried earth found under old buildings. A part of the house of the late Deacon Moses Merrill was the workshop of Deacon Thomas Merrill, in which his eldest sons were employed during the Revolutionary War in making nails with forge and hammer.

Benjamin Wallingford, Sr., and son of the same name, manufactured, in a humble way, articles from leather, as saddle-bags, harness and horse-collars in their house on Andover Street. Mr. Burbank, who lived at the "Corner," was a chaise-maker before 1800. One of the chaises of that period - perhaps of his make - was called the " Ark ; " doubtless the name was appropriate.

The old gambrel-roofed shop of Burbank, which stood in front of where Mr. Pettengill's brick blacksmith shop now stands, was on the same site at the " Corner " some years after his death. There were several cooper-shops in the parish. One was where L. G. Wilson's house now is.

Charcoal-burning was common as late as seventyfive years ago. The farmers often find the remains of the charcoal pits turned up by the plough. Philip Nelson had a blacksmith shop near the " Pound '' in '1760. He afterwards removed to Haverhill. Several fishing-vessels of eighteen or twenty tons burden were built near the meeting-house by Solomon Nelson and his sons, nearly one hundred years ago. These were for Chebaco (now Essex) parties, and were hauled to the water, either at Rowley or Byfield, to be floated around. Up to about 1860 there have been those at ditterent periods who did considerable business in cutting and roughing shiptimber and plank for the Essex and Newburyport builders.

At one time, when repairs were being made on the frigate " Constitution," some valuable timber cut on Baldpate Hill was used. Captain Eliphalet Chaplin, who kept several pairs of oxen, and employed a number of men, was, in the first quarter of this century, largely engaged in this ship-stock industry, also Mr. William and Ensign Daniel Spofford, and, in after years, Mighill Nelson, father of the writei'. The clipper-ship building of forty years ago, drew heavily on the primitive timber-growth, which had been spared up to that time.

Captain Benjamin Adams began the tanning and currying of leather at his home on the Salem road, now Central Street, about 1780. The next to begin this important industry was Captain William Parley, at the Hazen, now Kimball place, where he for some time ground bark by water-power. Deacon Solomon Nelson, on Nelson Street, and perhaps Daniel Clark, on North Street, where Henry Milliard afterwards carried on the business, continued by a son and a grandson, both of the same name, which at present is the only manufacture of the kind in town. Some domestic or slaughter hides (the skins of cattle killed in the vicinity) with the dressing of skins of some unusual kind, is now the only work performed, and the business is more from pleasure, as one of the past customs of the fiimily, than from necessity or special profit. Another yard opened was that of Noyes Pearson, on a little romantic streaiu which crosses North Street, near the Newbury line, having its outlet eastwardly, at Wheeler's brook. Others, established at an early day were the Westen and Phineas Hardy yards, on '' Rock Brook," or Parker River, very near the site of the Harrimau mill of nearly a century before. At about the same period Nathaniel Nelson began the same industry near the meeting-house.

In 1815, or near that date, Deacon Asa Nelson, who had served his three years' apprenticeship with his relative, Deacon Solomon Nelson, and had worked at the business for two or three years at the Pearson tannery, on North Street, began operations at his home on Elm St., now owned by his son, Sherman Nelson. He conducted a large business. About 1824 or '25 Major Jeremiah Nelson, a son of Stephen M., who had also learned the trade of Deacon Nelson, began the same business near the meetinghouse, and about 1835 was the first to introduce steajn as a motive power into town. This engine, with the buildings, was the property of a corporation. Nathaniel Morse had also a yard near by. Most of the young men who learned this trade in New Rowley from 1810 to 1830 served their apprenticeship to Deacon Solomon Nelson. The privileges of the apprentice were to dress for himself two dozen calf-skins, one-half dozen sides of leather, and as many sheepskins as the apprentice pleased. These were not statutes from the law-books, but were recognized as having equal authority. Colonel John Kimball, about 1825, began an extensive manufacture of leather at the Captain Adams tannery, then owned by him. One year he tanned and curried four thousand South American horse-hides. Manj' of the imported skins of those days were of Russian red cattle. Besides those in town who had yards and were employers of labor, there were those who, like Amos Nelson, had the use of pits and carried on an independent business of their own, and Benjamin Low, who was a currier, and worked in his own shop for many years. Patented leather splitting-machines, worked by hand, were an awkward thing, but only one could be used in a town. New Rowley manufacturers, to evade the law, had one in Gideon Baker's barn, just beyond the Boxford line. An extensive business in the slaughtering of cattle was carried on in town early in the present century and during the war with England. This was conducted principally by Deacon Solomon Nelson and his cousin, Nathaniel Nelson. Droves of fiftv or more head were often purchased at one time. Cattle were frequently bought of Governor Colby, of New Hampshire. The deacon was also State insjjector of beef. The cellarfloor under his house has at times been completely covered with barrels of beef awaiting shipment. The hides were converted into leather, and both industries carried on simultaneously. The shoe business, in its manufacture outside of family use, is thought to have been begun by Deacon Thomas Merrill, father of I. Newton Merrill, at his home in Marlboro'. He used to carry in his horse-cart the shoes which he had made, to Gloucester, Marblehead and Salem, for sale, as four-wheeled vehicles had not then become common.

There were cordwainers from an early day who had their patrons, and going from house to house would, in the corner of the farmer's kitchen, make the shoes needed for the family. John Bridges, in 1775, worked in this way through the west parish. After the shoe industry was started, there were many who had much of the cutting, making, dressing and other parts of the work done in their dwelling-house. It was with most a mixed industry, combined with farming or some other employment. The Brothers Little were at Solomon Nelson's, near the meeting-house, manufacturing in 1810, and were afterwards at the " Corner," but in both places combined the business with trade in general merchandise. Richard Tenney and his son, Amos J. Tenney, began early at their home on Tenney Street. Deacon Nelson on Nelson Street, and Nathaniel Nelson at his home, were both engaged in shoemanufacturing before 1812. To have, as it were, "many irons in the lire" was the rule with these business men of that day. Benjamin Winter followed a few years later, and is said to have made the first boys' brogans ever made in town. Stephen Little claimed to have made the first pegged shoes ; Paul Pillsbury, as has been said, the first shoe pegs, Paul Spofford was the consignee or purchaser of many goods shipped at that early period. A bill of lading before the writer while penning this, is for shoes shipped to Spoftbrd, Tileston & Co., New York City_ Deacon Asa Nelson soon added the shoe manufacture to his tanning business. D. M. Winter began a limited business about 1830. Amos J. Tennev and his son George J., built at the Corner the dwelling-house and factory in 1829, which were burned in the first extensive fire in 1874. The boots made by the Tenneys soon became generally known in the boot and shoe towns of the State as a standard make both in style and quality, and the firm became known as a leading firm in the business centres of the country. Samuel Little began the same business in 1831, establishing a trade with Pittsburgh, and, as the population spread westward, with points beyond Western Pennsylvania, and finally, under the firm name of Little & Noyes (Hiram N.), afterwards Little & Moulton, became the leading business house of the town.