The earliest settlers of Cape Ann looked first for a quiet cove in which to anchor : so, the settlements were little villages near the heads of bays and inlets. The Indian inhabitants were few and not much feared, and the people went across the hills, through the woods from cove to cove, until well trodden paths were formed. Later some of these became highways, a few of which remain to the present time. Cherry St. and Holly St. are good examples. Later still, causeways and bridges were constructed across some of the inlets. The dam at Riverdale, the causeway at Goose Cove, the bridge at Annisquam, will illustrate. So it gradually came about that in places Cape Ann had two sets of travelled ways, the early paths and roads from the head of one cove to the next, and a later system of highways, which went nearer the shore and crossed the coves wherever possible. Almost every village had its own paths to the villages upon the other side of the cape. A beginning was made to establish some of them as highways. One that remains is the portion of Gee Avenue which extends toward the center of the island.
Having no railroads, steamship lines, or even a system of high-ways throughout the state, Gloucester fishermen were obliged to be farmers as well, not only raising crops, but having cattle and sheep. Each man had his own land to cultivate, but the sheep and cattle that were owned in a village were all pastured together, as was the custom in many parts of the old world. This was a good way, not only on account of wild animals, but also because the cattle would have wandered away into the forest to become entangled in thickets or mired in swamps. It was the duty of the old men and the larger boys to drive the cattle to pasture, watch them during the day, and return with them at night. Since neighbors used the land in common, such pastures became known as the "Commons."
When one takes the pleasant walk to Whale's Jaw and counts the cellars which may be found, he will wish to know how people came to settle in so remote a place, who they were, how they lived, and why the settlement was deserted. If he will remember that Poplar St., Cherry St., etc., were the main highways, while Washing-ton St., past the hospital, and across the dam at Riverdale, was not yet built, we will see that the region was not nearly so remote then as it seems to us now. Then, too, the settlements at Annisquam were for many years, larger than at Gloucester proper. The church was at "the Green." There was a grist mill at Annisquam. The people who built on "Dogtown," as we call it, were simply settlers on or near what they may have expected to be a sort of main street in that time.
Even after one sees how naturally the Dogtown settlement occurred, there remains the question of how anyone could expect to get a living or any income at all from the land. We see enormous boulders like Whale's Jaw, Peter's Pulpit, and heaped up masses like Lamb Ledge and Raccoon Ledge, while at one's feet smaller stones are everywhere. But the soil was stronger and better then than it is now, and for a long time it bore good crops. War and piracy were common in those days : there was a certain amount of safety for .an inland settlement which people on the coast could never feel. We can easily imagine the people who lived here congratulating themselves at times because their homes were so much better placed than those of their neighbors.
When anyone walks through Dogtown today and sees the old cellars, the overthrown garden walls, and the filled up wells, he is inclined to recall stories of earthquakes, fire, and pestilence, which swept off everyone at once. The last chapter in the story of Dog-town can not have been like that. It is much more reasonable to think that as business grew in the villages, particularly in the Harbor village, and as means of travel improved, the more energetic men established themselves away from Dogtown, and no new homes were built. In the course of time there would be left only widows, old people, and some who were mentally and physically weak. The land had lost much of its early fertility. Its owners, being too feeble to go on regular fishing trips, became pitifully poor. By this time most people were travelling on the newer highways. Hence, the inhabitants of Dogtown were left remote and neglected.
There is little profit in inquiring how the name "Dogtown" came to be. Two or three accounts are given. Very likely ill-favored dogs were numerous. It is better that we should look further back to the time when the Dogtown community was well peopled, prosperous, and in good repute. Read, for example, Hiram Rich's poem concerning Morgan Stanwood. It does not greatly matter whether Mr. Rich was historically exact in referring to Morgan Stanwood, or whether, as he decided later, he should have given credit to Peter Lurvey—the story of a man leaving his work, seizing his musket, bidding his family an affectionate goodbye, and dying in defense of his town when it was attacked by the British, as a tale of patriotism and heroism.
Rather than dwelling on the legends of witchcraft, let us recall that one of the oldest and best maps which we possess, which hangs in the corridor at City Hall, designates certain paths as roads to a church. Let us think of the entire population attending piously the long church service, and then devoting themselves honestly and industriously to their simple life of fishing, farming, and caring for their cattle and sheep.
No city in this commonwealth possesses close at hand such a wonderful expanse of territory, unspoiled. Here are miles of wild land, with unique scenery, upland and lowland, field and forest, brooks and ponds. These stretches await only the establishing of bounds, improved means of approach, and a well-marked system of paths. When such improvements are made, the Common will become as it deserves to be, the central gem of beautiful Cape Ann.
RALPH P. IRELAND,
MARY BROOKS.