Ipswich Town

Preface

In the preface of his History of England, Macaulay observed : ' ' I shall cheerfully bear the reproach of having descended below the dignity of history, if I can succeed in placing before the English of the nineteenth century a true picture of the life of their ancestors." My own aim and method in the writing of this book could not be described more fitly.

I have tried to tell, accurately but in readable fashion, the story of the builders of our Town: their homes and home life, their employments, their Sabbath keeping, their love of learning, their administration of Town affairs, their stern delusions, and their heroism, in War and in resistance to Tyranny. The seventeenth century was a brilliant and thrilling period in Ipswich history, and it seemed best to me to consider it somewhat at length, and to close my historical study with the end of that century rather than to attempt a briefer summary of the complete history of the Town. If this work finds favor, I shall begin at once to gather material for another volume, in which the historical and topographical studies will be carried on to completion.

No attempt has been made to construct a genealogical appendix. The magnitude of the undertaking, properly carried out, seemed too great, and the forthcoming i)ublication of the Vital Statistics of the Town, by the Essex Institute, renders it unnecessary. In Part Two, however, a topographical study has been made, from the beginning to the present generation- Nearly two thousand citations from the County Records have been carefully verified, and the likelihood of error has been reduced to the lowest possible degree.

Iv Preface

I wish to acknowledge my great indebtedness to the late Daniel Fuller Appleton Esq. for the original incentive to this work, and for his constant and substantial encouragement. 1 am indebted as well to Mr. Francis R. Apj^leton, Mr. John B. Brown, Mr. Charles A. Campbell, Mr. Moritz B. Philipp, Mr. Charles H. Tweed, and Capt. Augustus P. Gardner for valuable assistance. Mr. Robert Dudley Winthrop of New York generously contributed a now photograph from the original portrait of John Winthro)) Jr., now in his possession, and the Essex Inslit uto of Salem kindly allowed tlic use of ancient maps. Mr. Jolin W. Nourse has contributed greatly to the interest and value of the topographical studies by his skilful diagrams.