408 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
CHAPTEK XXn.
Declaration of Independence. — Town consents to a State Con-
stitution. — Loan for the Poor. — Enlistment. — The Privateer
" Warren." — Other Privateers. — State Armed Vessels. — Town-
Meeting. — Large Class of Poor. — Loss of the Privateer
"Gloucester." — Dr. Samuel Rogers.— Privateer "Speedwell."
— State Constitution rejected. — The Town delinquent. — A
Company raised. — Small-Pox. — The Privateer "Starks." — Dis-
tressed Condition OF the Town. — Deprecuted Currency and
Exorbitant Prices. — Third Cruise of the " Starrs." — Notice op
other Privateers. — Loss of the "Tempest." — True History
OF Revolutionary Privateering a Sad One.
The advice and sympathy of the wise and good pastor — the
subject of the preceding chapter — were, at this time, of great
value. Questions of grave importance were constantly arising,
which, together with the distressed condition of many families
in the town, called into exercise all the wisdom, courage, and
benevolence of our fathers. The war had borne with great
severity upon them ; but they did not waver for a moment in
the support of their principles. On the 24th of June, the great
question of a declaration of independence by Congress came
before them at a large town-meeting called on purpose to con-
sider it; and they voted unanimously, if that body should
resolve upon the measure, to support them in it with their lives
and fortunes. In ten days, the Declaration was proclaimed to
the world. The immortal document was r^ad from all the pul-
pits of Gloucester, and copied into the records of the town.
Another subject of great interest at this time was a form of
government for Massachusetts, which came before our citizens
on the 20th of September ; when they voted their consent, that
LOAN FOR THE POOR. PRIVATEER "WARREN." 409
the House of Representatives, together with the Council, should
" enact a Constitution, or form of government, for this State, to
be made public for the inspection of the inhabitants before ratifi-
cation by the Assembly."
Winter was approaching, and the town had no supply of
money or provisions in the hands of its officers to relieve the
pressing wants of its nimierous poor. There was but one re-
source, which was to authorize a loan for this purpose ; and that
they adopted. A serious inconvenience, not seemingly neces-
sary, was added to the unavoidable burthens of the people.
Tradition states that the gristmills of the town were at this time
neglected, and not in working order ; and a vote of the town
concerning them justifies the statement. It is, indeed, but a few
years since an aged female died, who had, during the war, walked
from her home here to a mill in Ipswich, with a peck of com on
her back, and returned with it in the same way after it was
ground. The wives and mothers of the Revolutionary period
were, in Gloucester, the greatest sufferers.
At the close of this year and the beginning of 1777, exer-
tions were made by the town to enlist men for the Continental
Army. In December, a bounty of £6 was offered to each sol-
dier ; and, in March, it was voted to pay the soldiers who had
enlisted, or might enlist, to the number of sixty, the sum of
£14 in a town-treasurer's note on interest, payable in three
months. Enlistment in Gloucester for the land-service now went
on slowly.* Privateering was an employment more congenial
to a maritime community ; though its profits were uncertain, and
its risks great.
The first vessel that put to sea from Gloucester on a privateer-
ing cruise was a fishing schooner, called the " Britannia." She
was purchased by a company, who changed her name for one
which they honored more, — " Warren ; " and fitted out during
the summer of 1776, under the command of Capt. WilUam Coas.
She had eight old guns, mounted on new carriages, and such
* The company now enlisted was for three months* service, and was commanded
by Marie Pool. It is supposed to have joined the Northern Department of the American
Array; but nothing is certainly known in relation to its particalar movements.
.62
410 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
small-arms as could be procured ; on some of which, the locks
were tied with rope-yams. During the month of September,
she captured, and sent into Gloucester, three prizes; two of
which were very valuable. The first, which arrived on the
i4th, was the " Picary," a ship of about four hundred tons. The
name of her captain was Brookholt Cleaveland. She came in
imder the command of Capt. Harris of Ipswich as prize-master.*
Two days afterwards, the " Warren's " second prize came in.
She was a brig of about a himdred and twenty tons. She had
been on the coast of Africa; but, when taken, she was firom
Tobago, bound to London, in ballast, with some elephants* teeth
and gold-dust. The next prize arrived on the 30th. She was
a ship of five hundred tons, called the " Sarah and Elizabeth ; "
and, when taken, was from Jamaica, bound to London. Her
captain's name was Foot. She was captured in the night. The
captain's wife and a number of ladies were on board, who were
greatly terrified, under the apprehension, that, if any resistance
was made, they might be murdered by the Yankees, whom they
supposed to be Indians ; and, by their crying and screaming,
induced the captain to surrender without firing a gun. The
next morning, when he saw to what an insignificant craft and
small force he had surrendered his fine ship, which he could
have defended easily and successfully, he became completely
immanned, and gave vent to his mortification and regret in tears.
The ship was sent in under charge of John Somes as prize-mas-
ter ; and was sold the next spring, for a smaU sum, to Capt. Foot,
who remained in Gloucester through the winter.f
• The " Picary " was from Tobago, bound to London. Her cargo consisted of 825
hhds. sugar; 161 bales cotton; 168 pipes, 29 hbds., and 10 quarter-casks, Madeira-wine ;
and some indigo. The carpenter of this ship was Robert Watson, who settled in
town, and was the ancestor of persons still living here bearing that name.
t The cargo of the ** Sarah and Elizabeth " yielded a large amount of money to the
captors. It consisted of 894 hhds. sugar, 180 puncheons rum, 20 casks indigo, 70 liTe
tortoise, 6 casks tortoise-shell, 60 bags cotton, some cash and plate, and a quantity of
mahogany. One of the men belonging to this ship (Thomas Moore, a ship-carpenter)
settled in Gloucester. He was a superior workman, and was employed after the war,
by our merchants, in building vessels. He built, near his residence, on the west side
of Annisquam River, the brig ** Lightfoot" for Winthrop Sargent; and, at the head of
the harbor, the brig " Dolphin " for William and James Pearson.
PRIVATEERS. STATE ARMED VESSELS. 411
The subsequent cruises of the " Warren " were not so suc-
cessful. She was commanded on the second cruise by Capt.
John Colson, and took but one prize, — a topsail schooner,
with a West-India cargo of sugar, coflFee, and cotton. On her
next cruise, she was under the command of Capt. Silas Howell,
and was captured the third day from home, and carried to New
York.*
Another fishing schooner, called the "Langdon," was con-
verted into a privateer ; but of her fortune and fate nothing is
known. K they were foreshadowed by an accident which befell
her at the commencement of the voyage, she was not successful ;
for, in firing a salute on going out of the harbor, one of her
guns burst, and wounded four of her men.
Among the first privateers sent out from this town was the
sloop " Union," commanded by Capt. Isaac Somes. She cap-
tured a ship bound to Lisbon with a cargo of fish, and a brig
laden with salt. The latter was purchased by a company,
named the "Gen. Mercer," and fitted out on a cruise, under
command of James Babson. On the coast of France, in com-
pany with a Philadelphia privateer, she captured two or three
brigs, which were sent in there, and condemned.
Five small armed vessels, commissioned by the State this
year, made Gloucester Harbor their rendezvous. They were
commanded by Capts. Manly, Skinner, Waters, Hibbert, and
Burke. They cruised during the day in Boston and Ipswich
Bays, generally returning to port at night. Manly captured a
brig with a cargo of oats, bacon, porter, and other articles. She
was chased ashore by the frigate "Milford," on to the rocks
at Brace's Cove, where the prize-crew landed. Capt. Joseph
Foster, with a company of minute-men, marched over from
town to protect the vessel, in case the frigate should send a
force to take possession of her. He got out some of the cargo ;
but, during the night, a boat's crew from the frigate boarded
the brig, and set her on fire, by which she was destroyed.
* Capt Howell was prize-master of the first ship brought into Gloucester which
was taken at sea. She was called the ** Ann," and was captured by a Philadelphia
privateer.
412 HISTORY OP GLOUCESTER.
At the town-meetmgs in the early part of 1777, several mat-
ters of interest were considered and acted upon. A letter of
thanks was voted to Capt. Andrew Giddings, who had recently
made a handsome donation of molasses and flour to the town
for the use of the poor. The selectmen, and Committee of
Safety, were directed to determine the town's quota of soldiers
for the present campaign; and the same officers were to do
what they could to prevent any West-India goods and provi-
sions belonging to the inhabitants from being carried out of town
for a week. The meeting also voted unanimously to comply
with the late act of the General Court, rating the prices of
goods and provisions. At this time, too, the following officers
were chosen for the militia : Major James Collins, colonel ;
Capt. Daniel Warner, lieutenant-colonel ; Capt. John Row,
major.
In May, the representatives chosen were Peter Coffin, Esq.,
and Daniel Rogers, Esq. The latter desiring to be excused,
John Low, Esq., was chosen in his place.
During the summer, the small-pox again made its appearance
in town; but it did not spread. A pest-house was built this
year, near Richard Varrel's, on a back road leading off from
the Manchester Road, just west of Bond's Hill.
As winter approached, the condition of the families of our
soldiers became a subject of anxious concern and deliberation.
Such was the impoverished state of the town, that it was found
necessary to send a memorial to the General Court, stating its
inability to comply with the resolves of that body respecting
suppUes to the soldiers' families ; for whose relief, the only
apparent resource at this time was a subscription for voluntary
contributions. But all the means at the command of the bene-
volent were hardly adequate to give even a meagre support to
the whole number of families depending upon public charity;
for, in addition to the common calamities of war, the town was
now depressed by the unfortunate issue of one of its privateer-
ing adventures.
The most important enterprise of this kind in which our
people were engaged, this year, was the fitting-out of the brig
PRIVATEER "GLOUCESTER." 413
*' Gloucester." She was a new vessel, owned by David Pearce
and others ; and was placed under the command of Capt. John
Cokon. Great pains were taken with her armament and equip-
ment. She mounted eighteen carriage-guns, and had a crew of
one hundred and thirty men, including officers. Confident
expectations were entertained of a successfiil cruise ; but it was
the unfortunate destiny of this vessel to go down at sea, with
nearly the whole company that embarked in her. It is believed
that she sailed about the 1st of July, 1777. Not long after
leaving pcwrt, she captured the brig " Two Friends," a valuable
prize, with a cargo of wine and salt, and sent her in under
charge of John M*Kean. She also took, on the Banks of New-
foundland, a fishing brig, called the " Spark," having on board
part of a fare of fish and some salt. This vessel was brought
in by Isaac Day as prize-master. No further tidings of the
** Gloucester " were ever received. Various conjectures were
entertained as to the cause of her loss, — some founded upon
the model of the vessel, and some upon other circumstances;
but nothing was ever known concerning it. The number and
the names of those who were lost in her cannot now be ascer-
tained ; but current tradition has always affirmed that sixty wives
in Gloucester were made widows by the loss, and that the
calamity overwhelmed the town with sadness and gloom. To
the mourners, the following winter was one of imutterable grief;
which was somewhat aggravated by the tales which superstition
bore to their dismal firesides, that the fate of their friends had
been indicated by signs from the invisible world. It was cur-
rently reported, and believed by many, that one dark night,
about the time it was supposed the ship was lost, a ball of light
(called, by seamen, a corposant) was seen to move about the
town in a mysterious manner, and approach successively the
homes of all who were on board of her ; remaining a few
moments at each one of them, to indicate the melancholy fate
that had befaUen the ship and her unfortunate crew.
Among the losses by death in 1777 should be mentioned the
decease of Dr. Samuel Rogers, Feb. 18, aged thirty-seven. He
was son of Col. Samuel Rogers, a prominent citizen of Ipswich ;
414 HISTORY OF 6L0UCB8TER.
and cousin of Rev. John Rogers of our Fourth Parish. Nothing
is known of his early education. In 1758, he was attached to
the forces sent against Ticonderoga ; and, though only nineteen,
he served in the capacity of surgeon. By a letter to his father,
dated Louisburg, June 21, 1759, it appears that he was then
stationed there with a regiment, of which he was an assistant
surgeon. He had settled in Gloucester, May 4, 1767 ; when he
married Elizabeth Willis. At the opening of the Revolution,
he took an active part in the military preparations then going
on, became an officer in the militia, and also had command of
a company of minute-men. An obituary notice gives him a
high character " as a physician, a soldier, a citizen, a patriot, and
a friend." Dr. Rogers left a widow and three daughters.*
Another privateer sent out this year was the schooner " Speed-
well;" Philemon Haskell, captain. She captured three fishin
brigs, — the " George," " Dolphin " and " Phenix," — each with
a part of a fare of fish and some salt. The " George " was sent
on a voyage to Bilbao ; and, on her return, brought to this town
John Beach,t a man whose peculiarities will long keep his name
in traditional remembrance. The "Dolphin" and "Phenix"
were fitted out to the West Indies with cargoes, and both were
* John, brother of Dr. Rogers, also settled in Gloncester. Jnly 6, 1778, the hitter
was allowed pay by the town for disbursements on accoant of this relative, then con-
fined by a broken leg.
t John Beach was an Englishman. He bought the Sanders Estate on Middle Street,
and added two stories to the house in a fanciful style of architecture. He also built,
on his land there, a rope- walk ; and carried on the manufactory of cordage for several
years. He was principally distinguished for his wild pranks on convivial occasions.
In the latter part of his life, he went to Ohio; and died at Chillicothe, in that State,
about the beginning of 1819. By his first wife, — who was a daughter of our eminent
merchant, David Pearce, — he had several children. Two sons (William and John)
survived their father. The former was representative in 1824 and 1826. Having been
a prominent and ardent supporter of Gen. Jackson for the Presidency, he was ap-
pomted, in 1829, Collector of the Customs for this district^ and retained the office till
1889; when he removed to Chillicothe, where he died Nov. 22, 1840, aged fifYy-three.
He was a popular man ; and, for many years, exercised great influence as the leader of
the modem Democratic party in this town. Besides filling the offices already men-
tioned, he also held that of selectman, captain of the Gloucester Artillery', and colonel
in the militia. Col. Beach left a son John, who graduated at West Point, and settled in
the Western country. John, the other son of Capt. John Beach, died May 15, 1841*
aged fifty-nine, leaving no sons. William, brother of Capt. John Beach (a native of
Bristol, England), died here May 29, 1797.
8TATB CONSTITUTION REJECTED. 415
taken by the enemy. The salt taken in the fish- vessels came at
a time when it was greatly needed, and was sold for a very high
price. Indeed^ such was the scarcity of this article about that
time^ that the attention of our people was turned to the erection
of salt-works in several places. They were set up at Norman's
Woe, at the Cut, and at Squam.
In the early part of the year 1778, the attention of the town
was called to a form of government both for the United
Colonies and for Massachusetts. In the preceding November,
Congress had agreed upon a plan " of confederation and perpetual
union between the thirteen United States." This plan was sub-
mitted to the Legislature of Massachusetts, and some of the
towns expressed an opinion in favor of adopting it. The repre-
sentatives of Gloucester were instructed, by a vote of the town,
to act on this question as they should judge most for the advan-
tage of the Colonies.
The Constitution for the State was prepared by the Legisla-
ture of 1777, and submitted to the people early in the next
year. The people of this town, when they elected their re-
presentatives for that year, expressed an opinion, that it was
best for them to do nothing about forming a Constitution ; but
gave them no instructions. When the instrument came before
them at a town-meeting on the 1st of April, a committee of
seven was chosen to take it into consideration, and report at
another meeting. It was finally disapproved by the unanimous
vote of the town ; one hundred and nine persons voting against
it. At the town-meeting last mentioned, the Committee of Safety
were desired to let the lands belonging to refugees and the sub-
jects of Great Britain, and to sell their buildings.*
• I do not know the name of a single " refugee '* belonging to Gloucester who
owned real estate. There may have been a few of this class of persons, bat certainly
no prominent citizen. A subject of Great Britain owned a large lot of land on the
westerly side of Short Street, extending from Middle Street to Front Street It had
formerly belonged to Nathaniel Allen, Esq., a merchant of the town, who became bank-
rapt just before the war commenced. Mr. Allen*s mansion was on the Front-street end
of the lot, and was taken down about ten years ago. It was a large and handsome house
in the olden time; but it became a good deal dilapidated during the war, in consequence
of having been used as barracks for the troops stationed here to protect the town.
416 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
At the May meeting. Col. Coffin and Col. Low were again
chosen representatives. A rate of two thousand pounds was
voted for town-expenses ; an amount which indicates a consider-
able progress in the depreciation of the paper-currency. The
town, having become deUnquent during the summer in furnishing
its quota of clothing, and liable to prosecution, voted, on the
20th of August, that the selectmen should represent at Court
what had been done, and the reasons why it was impossible to
procure more. The selectmen were also desired to notify the
people of the several parishes, who could do it, to bring in to
them shirts, shoes, and stockings for the army ; to make up one
hundred and thirty-seven pairs of each, — the required num-
ber.
The enemy had at that time a large force at Newport, which
created considerable alarm throughout New England ; and it
was deemed advisable to attempt their expulsion. For this pur-
pose, several volunteer companies were raised to join the Con-
tinental troops, comprising the American Army, stationed there.
One of these companies was raised in Gloucester by Capt. Mark
Pool, and was in the engagement with the British when the
latter made their assault upon the fortifications which the Ameri-
cans had thrown up near the town. The American Army, as
is well known, were obliged to retreat from the island.
During the last four months of 1778, great excitement pre-
vailed in the town, on account of the smaU-pox. llie people
had taken a firm stand against inoculation ; having voted, in the
spring, " to have no inoculation in town on any terms : " but,
in October, they were obliged to recede, and provide hospitals
in different parts of the town to accommodate the inoculated.*
The disease seems to have spread all over the town at this
time ; but we have no knowledge who were its victims, or how
many they numbered.
Great exertions were put forth again this year to fit out
another large vessel for privateering; and David Pearce and
* Capt John Fletcher received the thanks of the town at this thne for his generous
offer of £100 towards inocnlating the poor.
THE PRTV'ATBEB " ST ARKS." 417
others, with the aid of some of Ipswich, succeeded in getting
ready for sea the ship " Gen. Starks." She was a new ship of
four hundred tons, built for the owners, and mounted eighteen
guns. She was chiefly owned by Mr. Pearce, who is said to have
embarked a large portion of his capital in the enterprise. She
made two short cruises this year, under the command of Capt.
William Coas, but met with poor success ; taking only a schooner
loaded with salt, and a ship called the " Providence ; " the latter,
it is supposed, without cargo.
The old privateer, the " Speedwell," was again fitted out this
year ; but nothing further is known of her doings, than that, on
one of her cruises, she had been out but a short time when she
encountered a severe gale of wind, in which her gims were all
thrown overboard, and she was obliged to return to port.
The business of privateering on a small scale was again
resorted to about this time. A boat called the ** Trial," with
twelve men, twelve oars, and twelve guns, was sent out to cruise
along shore. She had a small place built up forward to receive
the arms and ammunition, and she carried one sail. The crew
went ashore every night to encamp and cook. The commander
was Thomas Sanders. On one expedition, they took, oflF Canso,
three coasters ; two of which were got safely to Gloucester, and
the other was retaken.
The fifth year of the war arrived, and brought with it no
alleviation of the suffering and misery which hung like a pall
over the town ; and, let us add with gratefiil admiration, it
brought no abatement of the firm and patriotic determination of
our fathers to contend for their principles to the last. Their
resources were again taxed, even beyond their ability to pay, for
their proportion of the public burdens ; and they were obliged
to plead to the General Court for an allowance, and ask that an
agent firom that body should be sent to view the impoverished
condition of the town. They continued, however, to do their
best to furnish their quota of men and clothing for the army,
and in no case failed to come up to the full measure of every
demand made upon them within their means to supply.
In addition to the suffering and distress which the war brought
58
418 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
upon the people, they were now afflicted with a loathsome
disease, which, in the early part of 1779, had spread all over
the town, defying every effort to check it. The year is still
spoken of, by some very aged persons, as that in which ** the
small-pox went through the town." The disease was so widely
spread, that all were exposed to it ; and the prejudice against
inoculation, as the safest way of taking it, yielded to necessity,
and the citizens submitted to a general inoculation. Several
died ; but no particulars have been preserved to inform us how
many or what proportion of those who took the disease became
its victims. Tradition reports, that of one hundred and ten who,
in one of the villages of the town, were inoculated, but two
died. The expense incurred by the town, in consequence of
this sickness, was considerable, and added to the burden of tax-
ation already pressing so heavily upon the people.
All money transactions were at this time attended with a
good deal of embarrassment, and often with considerable loss ;
for the paper-money had depreciated so much as to be worth no
more than about three cents on a dollar. With this miserable
currency, and exorbitant prices of all the common articles of
living, it is not difficult to picture the condition of the people as
one of extreme poverty. Efforts were made by Congress, by the
State Legislature, and by Conventions, to mitigate the evils of a
depreciating currency, and to thwart the designs of monopolists,
extortioners, and speculators. At a meeting held in October,
Gloucester approved of the doings of a Convention held at Con-
cord, in July, for these purposes, at which prices were affixed
to all the products of the country ; but the people did not pay
any attention to the acts of the Convention, and no permanent
benefit resulted from them. It was found, even in that troubled
time, that the let-alone system was the best for trade.
On the 5th of April, 1779, the privateer ship " Gen. Starks "
sailed on her third cruise. As this was the most important en-
terprise of the kind, considering the size of the ship, the num-
ber of men enlisted, and the general preparations for the cruise,
which was imdertaken here during the war, a particular account
of it may be deemed worthy of record. She had a crew of a
THIRD CRUISE OF THE " STARKS.
419
himdred and thirty-five men and boys, and mounted eighteen
guns. Her officers were —
Wflliam Coas, captain.
Thomas Haskell, first lieutenant.
Job Knights, second lieutenant
Duncan Piper, third lieutenant.
James Pearson, sailing-master.
Hodgkins, sailing-master's mate.
Edward Bowden, boatswain.
James Snoddy, boatswain's mate.
Philip Priestly, boatswain's mate.
William Thomas, gunner.
Samuel Davis« gunner's mate.
M. Parker, captain of marines.
Jabez Farley, steward.
William Fears, steward's mate.
Jerry Row, armorer.
Peter Dowsett, quartermaster.
Josiah Parsons.
John Gwyer.
Samuel Hodgkins.
N. Perkins, carpenter.
Nathaniel Perkins, carpenter's mate.
Joseph Smith, cook.
John Hardy, cook's mate.
Jack Short, drummer.
David Knights, fifer.
Josiah Smith, surgeon.
Benjamin Somes, captain's clerk.
On the tenth day out, she encountered a gale of wind on the
Grand Bank ; during which, one of the men (William Steele)
was lost overboard. She then cruised to the eastward, and fell
in with a brig from Limerick, with a cargo of beef, pork, and
butter, which she took, and sent into Gloucester ; where she ar-
rived safe, and gave great joy to the people, who were much in
want of provisions at that time. She continued on her cruise,
without seeing any of the enemy's vessels, till she reached the
Western Islands, where she made a ship and a brig to windward.
The ship hove out an English ensign, and bore down for the
" Starks ; " the brig following. The " Starks," outsailing the
enemy, took in her light sails. As soon as the British vessels
came within gunshot, the ship was found to be a vessel mount-
ing twenty-eight gims; and the brig, one of fourteen. They
opened a fire upon the " Starks," which returned for it a broad-
side at long shot. A running fight was kept up some time ; when
Capt. Coas justly concluded that it would be only wasting am-
munition and uselessly exposing his men to continue the action
against such superior force, and hauled off. The brig rounded
to, to rake the " Starks ; " but her shot fell short. The ship
threw one shot into the "Starks's" mizen-mast, five through
the boat on the booms, and one into her quarter. The "Starks"
then cruised to the eastward, and made a sail ; which proved to
be the British ship " Porcupine," of fourteen guns. She struck
to the " Starks " without firing a gim. Capt. Coas took her
420 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
guns and light sails, gave the captain some provisions, and re-
stored him his ship. Six of the guns taken from the enemy-
were moimted on the " Starks's ** half-deck, and manned with
marines to increase her force. She next fell in with an English
brig from Bristol, with an assorted cargo ; which was taken, and
sent in. A few days after, she took a sloop boimd to Oporto ;
and, after taking off her sails, rigging, cables, and anchors,
sank her. After cruising a while off Cape Finisterre and down
the Bay of Biscay, the " Starks " put into Bilbao to refit for a
cruise homeward. Here the ship was entirely stripped, and
her armament was taken ashore. At this time, a sickness —
brought on board by one of the men taken from the Bristol
brig, and pronounced by the surgeon the yellow fever — broke
out among the " Starks's ** crew ; which made it necessary for
Capt. Coas to hire a house on shore for a hospital, where thirty
of his men were down at once, a number of whom died. As
soon as the " Starks " was ready for sea, the authorities at
Bilbao offered Capt. Coas a thousand dollars if he would go out
in the bay, and take a warlike vessel, — supposed to be an
enemy's cruiser. He accordingly sailed ; and, in a few days,
saw a brig and a lugger, the latter of which kept to the wind-
ward, out of his way : but on speaking the brig (which proved
to be a Dane), and ascertaining that the lugger was a Guernsey
privateer, he endeavored to decoy the latter down to him by
hoisting an English ensign. She immediately bore away, and ran
down imder the lee of the " Starks ; " which, on being hailed,
gave the name of an English ship from Whitehaven. The crew
of the " Starks" were then mustered to their quarters ; the Eng-
lish ensign was lowered, and the American flag run up instead.
The British vessel was then ordered to strike to the " Gen.
Starks." She was then about fifty yards to leeward ; and, in-
stead of striking, she luffed, intending to cross the " Starks's "
fore-foot, and escape on the wind. But the " Starks " luffed at
the same time, and gave the schooner a broadside ; upon which
she surrendered. The schooner moimted eight guns, and was
manned with sixty men, eight of whom were wounded by the
broadside from the " Starks." One of these (the steward) had
THIRD CRUISE OF THB " ST ARKS." 421
both legs shot off, and died the next day. The prize was a
good deal crippled, but was got into Bilbao, and sold for six-
teen hundred dollars ; to which was added the sum stipu-
lated for taking her. Here Capt. Coas was now joined by a
number of Americans, who came from different places to obtain
a passage home. They were mostly prize-masters and others
who had been retaken, and some of them belonged to Gloucester.
The " Starks " sailed for home about the 20th of July. When
a few days out, she decoyed an English cutter ; but, while the
lieutenant and boat's crew were on board the " Starks," her real
character was discovered, and the cutter escaped by outsailing
her. In about ten days after this, she made a sail imder a cloud
of canvas, and came up with her after a severe chase of four
hours. The enemy, finding he could not escape, hauled up his
courses, and prepared for action. Aft;er a brave resistance of
two hours, he surrendered to the " Starks," having first sunk
his mail ; for the vessel proved to be an EngHsh packet from
Jamaica, boimd home. When he struck, aU three of his top-
masts were shot away. He had six men killed and nine
wounded. The " Starks " had one boy killed and five men
wounded ; one of whom was shot in both legs, and in the head
by a musket-ball, besides being struck betwen the shoulders by
a splinter.* One of the woimded men had his right hand shot
off. The prize was put in charge of Duncan Piper, and ordered
for Gloucester, where she arrived safe. The next prize taken
by the " Starks " was a brig, with a cargo of fish, from New-
foimdland, boimd to Lisbon. Of fourteen guns which she
showed, ten were Quakers (wooden guns); useftd sometimes for
• The man thus severely wounded was John, Low, whom I give as authority for
many of the facts, contained in this work, concerning Gloucester privateering. His
father was Stephen Low, — a descendant, probably, of Thomas Low of Ipswich; from
which town, or its vicinity, it is supposed that he removed to Gloucester. Stephen
Low married Elizabeth Woodbury of Hamilton, and died May 8, 1790, aged seventy : hii
wife died Nov. 28, 1797, aged seventy-two. In consequence of the loss of one leg, —
which was supplied by a wooden one,'— John Low abandoned a seafaring life, and
established himself in a small shop on Front Street. This shop was a famous resort for
the principal men of the town many years. Mr. Low died Oct. 80, 1845, aged eighty-
five. He had a brother (Francis) who settled in Manchester, and died there in August,
1887, aged ninety.
422 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
intimidation, but availing nothing for purposes of attack or
defence. This vessel was also sent to Gloucester, where she
arrived safe. Soon after this, two other fish-brigs were taken,
and sent in. More of the English fishermen might have been
taken ; but Capt. Coas prudently suffered them to escape, as his
crew had been greatly reduced to man the prizes, and twenty
of his men were on the sick-list : besides, he had on board
eighty-four prisoners. The "Starks" was, therefore, steered
for home ; where she arrived on the 15th of September.
The future history and fate of this ship, for want of the dates
of her various cruises, will be traced here. During the winter
of 1779—80, — which was one of excessive coldness, — she lay
frozen up in the harbor from the middle of December to the
20th of March. Her provisions and wood were hauled alongside
by teams. The harbor was frozen over from Black Bess to Dol-
liver's Neck, — a state in which it has not been seen for many
years. It it said, that, at this time, a number of persons went
on the ice to Ten-pound-Island Ledge, and took the marks and
bearings. The two next cruises of the " Starks *' were not suc-
cessful. On the last, she encoimtered a severe gale of wind ; dur-
ing which, all her gims but five were thrown overboard. With
these, however, she engaged an English ship of superior force;
but found her too heavy, haiiled off, and returned to Gloucester.
Her next cruise was attended with better luck. She was com-
manded, as she had been on the two previous ones, by James Pear-
son. He sailed directly to the mouth of the St. Lawrence, in order
to intercept the Quebec fleet. He was in the fog there several
days ; but, as soon as it cleared away, he discovered three ships
of this fleet, which were captured, and sent to Gloucester. Their
names were the " Detroit," " Polly," and " Beaver." Three
vessels of this fleet were also taken by the ship " America " of
Newburyport, commanded by John Somes of this town ; and
three by the ship " Brutus " of Salem. The " Starks " returned
to Gloucester, having made one of the best cruises ever made
in America in so short a time. Having been so fortunate on
this cruise, Capt. Coas was induced to take command of her
again. He was out but a week, when he was captured by the
OTHER PRIVATEERS. 423
ship " Chatham," and carried to Halifax. It is said that the
" Starks " was converted by the English into the " Antelope
Packet," which was wrecked at the Pellew Islands. After re-
maining some time at Halifax as a prisoner, Capt. Coas went on
board a cartel with some of his officers, and sailed for Boston.
The same night, a violent storm arose ; in which, it is supposed,
the cartel foimdered, as she was never again heard from.
Another cartel, having on board some of the " Starks's "
crew, put into Gloucester. The men were landed at the town-
landing, in the Harbor Cove, most of them sick, and some not
able to walk. A few of them could only get up the hill by
crawling on their hands and knees ; but, by the sympathy and
kindness of friends, they were soon made comfortable, and re-
stored to health. A few of the " Starks's " crew were on board
of a cartel which got embayed in a violent snow-storm in Ip-
swich Bay. The men were sick, and the captain was a stranger
in that place ; so that the vessel would probably have been
wrecked, if Capt. William Allen of Gloucester — who was then
lying sick in his berth — had not offered, if he could be helped
to the place, to stand in the companion-way, and pilot her over
Squam Bar.
For the history of Gloucester privateering during the remain-
der of the war, dates are wanting ; and it may, therefore, be
properly given in this place, arranged under the names of the
different vessels with which it was carried on.
Schooner " Wasp." — She was first commanded by Isaac
Somes. She took a brig from Ireland, laden with provisions, and
sent her into Gloucester. She next sailed on a cruise, under the
command of John Somes, and fell in with the privateer " Harle-
quin " of Salem. While in company, they made a sail, which
proved to be a ship from Jamaica, with a cargo of rum. They
both gave chase ; but the ves6el struck to the " Harlequin " be-
fore the " Wasp " got up with her. Capt. Somes offered to put
some of his men on board the prize to bring her in, and share
the proceeds ; but the captain of the " Harlequin " would not
allow any participation. On the arrival of the " Wasp," her
crew claimed a share of the prize-money, in proportion to her
424 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
men and guns ; and, on the refusal of the other crew to pay,
they carried their claim into court, where their case was managed
by Theophilus Parsons, and resulted in their favor. It is said
that Mr. Parsons made a conditional agreement with the claim-
ants, by which he received for his services three hogsheads of
the prize-rum.
Brig " Wilkes." — This vessel was built by David Pearce ;
and, after making a mercantile voyage to the West Indies^ was
fitted out as a privateer, under command of Job Knights. She
was taken, and carried into Newfoundland ; but was afterwards
retaken by some men belonging to Marblehead, and brought back
to Gloucester. Capt. Pearce purchased her, and sent her out
again, under command of John Beach. She was taken on this
voyage, off the West Indies.
Brig "Success." — This vessel was also built by David Pearce.
He sent her to the West Indies as a letter of marque. She was
taken on the passage home, and carried into Halifax.
Brig " Friendship." — She was built by William Pearce and
others, and was commanded by Isaac ElweU. On a voyage to
the West Indies, she captured a small brig of a hundred and
thirty tons, with a cargo of nmi.
Ship " Gloucester Packet." — This was the Jamaica packet-
ship taken by the **Starks." She was purchased by David
Pearce, who sent her on a voyage to Cadiz as a letter of marque;
John Beach, commander. She captured a brig called the
^^ Mary," with a cargo of flour.
Schooner " Speedwell." — She was owned by William Pearce,
and was fitted out as a privateer ; but took nothing.
Schooner " Union." — She belonged to William Gee. Daniel
Parsons commanded her, and had a crew of thirty men. She
took a brig from Ireland, with beef, pork, and clothing.
Shallop ** Speedwell." — She was purchased by a company,
and decked over, leaving a large hatchway to serve as quarters
for the men in action. She had four swivels stepped in the
combings of the hatch, and small-arms according to the number
of her crew, which consisted of twenty-five men. She was com-
manded by Thomas Saunders, and sailed for a cruise off Canso
OTHER PRIVATEERS. 425
to intercept some of the vessels trading between that place and
Halifax. She was chased ashore in the Gmt by some British
cruisers^ and lost.
Ship " Tiger." — She was a privateer of sixteen guns ; John
Tucker, commander. She took one prize, which was retaken,
and carried into Halifax. The " Tiger " was soon after taken,
and carried into the same port.
Brig "Ruby;" Solomon Babson, commander. — She captured
a brig from Ireland, laden with beef, pork, and butter ; which
was sent to Gloucester.
Brig " Robin Hood." — This was a small brig, mounting nine
guns, under the command of Sargent Smith, who performed a
notable exploit in the capture of a British packet of greatly su-
perior force. When Capt. Smith fell in with this vessel, he had
no expectation of taking her ; but, as his brig was a fast sailer,
he thought he might venture near enough to give her a few shot
in passing. He accordingly brought his guns all on one side ;
and, when the brig came abreast of the packet, gave her a heavy
broadside. The effect of this was such, that another one was
given ; upon which the ship surrendered. She mounted sixteen
guns, and had on board a hundred men, including forty passen-
gers. The prize-crew put on board felt it necessary for their
safety to confine the prisoners in the hold of the ship. She was
carried into M artinico. The prisoners were sent in a cartel to
Antigua, and exchanged for Americans who had been taken in a
privateer under charge of Duncan Piper.
The "Civil Usage." — This was a privateer, carrying sixty
men, commanded by John Smith, who lost his life in a rash
attack upon an English transport-ship having eight hundred per-
sons on board. Capt. Smith fell in with this ship, and, as soon
as he got within fighting distance, opened a fire upon her; which
was returned from the transport. He continued the fight with
great bravery and spirit, till it was made certain that he must
haul off or surrender. In the early part of the engagement, he
received a woimd from a musket-ball, in the throat ; and while
remaining on deck during the action, as he attempted to swaUow
some water, he could only prevent the liquid from taking a
64
426 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
wrong direction by pinching his wound with his finger and
thumb. He died of the wound, and his vessel put into Mar-
tinico.
The last two vessels were owned, wholly or in part, in New-
buryport; probably by persons formerly belonging to Glouces-
ter, or having business connections with its citizens. Persons of
other towns were interested, in a few instances, in vessels hailing
from Gloucester.
Ship " Tempest." — This vessel was built by a company, and
fitted out for the West Indies as a letter of marque. The day
of her sailing is not known ; but it is supposed to have been in
1782. Her captain was Isaac Somes. William Oxden was first
mate ; and Nathaniel Low, second mate. The religious feeling
of the people was greatly shocked at the name given to this
ship ; and, when they saw the appropriate emblems and devices
with which her bow and stem were adorned, they indulged the
most melancholy forebodings concerning the punishment that
might overtake what they deemed a daring defiance of the power
of Him who rides upon the whirlwind and directs the storm.
And when, not many weeks after she sailed, tidings were re-
ceived of her foundering at sea, with all on board, in a violent
tempest, the sufferers were looked upon as men who had devoted
themselves to destruction by embarking on board of a doomed
ship, rather than such as had perished in the ordinary providence
of God. She sailed firom Gloucester in company with the ship
" Polly," Capt. Joseph Foster. They kept company till they
got into the Gulf Stream, where they encountered a severe gale,
attended with the most terrific thunder and lightning. During
one brief flash, by which several men on board the " Polly "
were stunned, the " Tempest " was seen by Capt. Foster, a short
distance off; but, when the next flash enabled him to discern
distant objects, she was missed, and never again seen. Capt.
Foster supposed that she was taken aback, and went down stem
foremost. She had a large crew, of which the greater part pro-
bably belonged to Gloucester. It was a singular circumstance,
that the builder of the ship was killed by lightning the next
year after she was lost.
TRUE HISTORY OF OUR PRIVATEERING. 427
The history of Gloucester privateering during the Revolu-
tionary War, here brought to a close, is believed to contain some
notice of nearly every enterprise of that kind undertaken in
town. True, it is, for the most part, but a mere sketch of voy-
ages ; but even some account of these may be deemed worthy of
preservation, when it is considered what interests, hopes, disap-
pointments, sorrows, and sufferings were connected with them.
A true history of our Revolutionary privateering woidd be a
record of individual experience ; of widows' broken hearts ; of
orphans' bitter tears ; of the agonies of men struggling with the
ocean, in the face of death; of physical suffering in prison-ships;
of wanderings in foreign lands, without friends, without money,
and without health ; and, worst of all, of the demoralizing influ-
ences of a practice which every enlightened conscience declares
to be at war with the justice of God and the happiness of man.
428 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
CHAPTER XXm.
INDEPENDENT CHRISTIAN SOCIETY.
DisTiNOUisHiNO Sentiments of Uniyebsausts. — John Murray, first
PUBLIC Preacher of them in America. — His Early Life. — Comes
TO America. — Visits Gloucester. — Has his Home here. — House
OF Worship built for him. — Lawsuit. — He visits England. —
Returns, and is ordained in Gloucester. — His Removal to
Boston, and his Death. — His Character. — His Wife and Fa-
milt. — The Society incorporated. — Meeting-House.
The benevolent affections of the human heart rejoice in the
paternal character of the Deity as revealed in the New Testa-
ment ; and they reject with horror the doctrine, that sins com-
mitted in time can only be expiated by eternal pimishment, —
a doctrine which, although accepted for many ages by the
popular belief, can be maintained as a part of divine revelation
only by false interpretations of Scripture, and which is clearly
disproved by the plain declarations that teach the final salvation
of the human race. These are the distinguishing sentiments of
Universalists, whose first organized body in America was formed
in Gloucester, under the name of the Independent Christian
Society.
The doctrine of future eternal punishment was denied, in an
early age of the church, by one of its brightest ornaments ; * one
who was among the most eminent of that period for genius and
learning, and a just and pure life. It was also opposed by
religious teachers in succeeding times ; and a few solitary voices
had been raised against it in America, prior to the period when
• Origen.
INDEPENDENT CHRISTIAN SOCIETY. 429
tlie opposition took the form of a regular religious denomination
in this town. About that time also, an author, supposed with
good reason to have been a learned doctor of divinity of the
popular creed, minister of the First Church in Boston,* after a
close and critical study of the Scriptures for several years, came
out an anonymous advocate of the doctrine of imiversal salva-
tion. But the first public preacher of this doctrine, in this coun-
try, was John Murray ; to whom the little company of believers
here attached themselves with a constancy and affection that
remained unshaken till death.
This preacher — the first minister of the Society of Univer-
salists in Gloucester, which was called into existence by his
preaching — was bom in the town of Alton, in Hampshire, Eng-
land, Dec. 10, 1741. He was the oldest of a large family of
children. He appears to have possessed from early life keen
and sensitive feelings, which rendered him peculiarly susceptible
of religious impressions. His parents were both very rigid
Calvinists ; and so strict was his father in his attention to the
concerns of religion, that he was regarded by his friends as a
person of eminent sanctity. The parental discipHne to which the
son was subjected was of the severest kind ; and he often passed,
he says, " from the terror of the rod to the terrifying apprehen-
sions of future and never-ending misery." At the age of eleven,
his family removed to Ireland. Here his father joined the
Methodists, whose preacher (Mr. John Wesley) distinguished him
in a particular maimer. The social worship of this sect excited
a powerful influence on the feelings of the son, and he soon
became a class-leader and preacher in their connection.
Little is known of his early education. Soon after the esta-
blishment of the family in Ireland, an Episcopalian clergyman of
the neighborhood, who was strongly attached to the father, and
who had charge of an academy of high repute, generously offered
to take his son into his own family, prepare him for the univer-
sity, and procure him admission to it. This offer was declined ;
and nothing further is known concerning his early opportunities
• Rev. Charles Chauncy, D.D.
430 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
for acquiring knowledge. A large portion of his youth, was
passed in a state of religious excitement, with some intervals of
melancholy. Ha\'ing lost his father by death, he went to reside
in the family of a wealthy friend, where he was much caressed ;
but failed to find sufficient contentment to extinguish the desire
that now possessed him, and the resolution he had formed to go
to London. His patron reluctantly parted with him; but he
generously supplied him with money : and, in a short time, the
youth was intoxicated with the pleasures and gayety of a London
life. The means of dissipation were soon exhausted. His mind
was aroused to the sin and folly of his course, and his heart
became affected with deep and sincere repentance. With the
aid of friends, he found employment ; but he was not designed
for business. His former habits of religious devotion returned,
and much of his time was given to public worship and private
prayer. He became a constant attendant upon the preaching of
Whitefield, and visited many other places of public worship ;
finding among reHgious people many admirers, some of whom
suggested that he should assume the office of a public teacher.
At one of the religious meetings, he met with a young lady
named Eliza Neale, with whom he formed an acquaintance that
soon ripened successively into intimacy, love, and marriage.
So high an opinion was entertained of his talents, that he was
urged by his religious friends to attempt the reclaiming of a
young lady of remarkable piety, who had become a convert to
the doctrines of Mr. Belly.* Mr. Murray had, on one occasion,
seen a number of Belly's followers gathered in an open field
for worship, and could hardly restrain his indignation at the
thought of the blasphemies to which they had assembled to
* James Relly gathered a society in London, to which he proclaimed the final sal-
vation of mankind. He entered into public life as an associate of Whitefield : bat,
after a time, renounced his Calvinistic opinions, and *' taught that Christ, as a Mediator,
was united to mankind ; and, by his obedience and sufferings, had as fully restored the
whole human race to the divine favor, as if all had obeyed or suffered in their own
persons." — "He believed in a resurrection to life and a resurrection to damnation.
Believers only, he thought, would enjoy the former; and unbelievers, after death,
would dwell in darkness and under wrath till the final restitution of all things.** Mr.
Belly died about the year 1783, in the full faith of the doctrine he had preached. —
Mod. Hist, of UnivertaUsm, Mothdm: Ch. BUt.
INDEPENDENT CITRISTIAN SOCIETY. 431
listen^ and that the blasphemer was permitted to promulgate his
sentiments. His zeal in opposition to the preacher led him to
undertake with alacrity the task of bringing the young woman
back from her errors. But he found this no easy matter. Her
questions perplexed him; he became embarrassed; and the
result of the errand was a tacit admission that she had gained
the advantage^ and a most cordial hatred of the sect she had
joined.
A manuscript was shown to him about this time, written by
one of his religious friends, with a view to confute the " Union ; "
a work in which Relly had unfolded his peculiar religious views :
but the arguments failed to convince him that Relly was in error,
and a perusal of the " Union " itself and the preaching of Relly
brought him to the belief, that " the testimony delivered by him
was the truth of God."
This led to his expidsion from Mr. Whitefield's society, and
the loss of the friendship of his religious associates. Severer
troubles soon followed. His wife and infant son were removed
by death. He had incurred debts which he was unable to pay ;
for which he was arrested, and thrown into prison ; where he
remained till released by the interposition of his wife's brother.
By the death of his wife, for whom he felt the strongest love, he
was thrown into a state of melancholy and despair ; and acting
under the incitement of the accoimts of America which he heard
from a gentleman from this country, whom he met at the house
of Mr. Relly, he resolved to enter upon new scenes in a distant
land, where a somewhat eventftd and imexpected career was to
open before him. He embarked on his passage to cross the
Atlantic in Jidy, 1770.
It does not appear that he came to America with the purpose
of making public proclamation of the doctrine he had embraced ;
but an acquaintance, commenced imder very peculiar circum-
stances, with a man named Thomas Potter, led him to appear as
a public preacher. He made Potter's house his home, but
travelled a good deal, preaching in many of the large cities and
towns amidst great opposition and heavy persecutions. He
found many, however, by whom he was warmly welcomed ; and
t
432 HISTORY OF GLOUCBSTER.
in Portsmouth, N.H., he received an invitation to settle. In
November, 1774, being then in Boston, he was visited by Mr.
Sargent of this town, and invited to come to Gloucester. In
compliance with the invitation, he came down immediately^ and
was received with much kindness, and hospitably entertained by
the Sargent Family. Mr. Chandler, the minister of the parish,
being sick, the elders and deacons waited upon Mr. Murray,
and conducted him to his house. He obtained permission to
preach in his pidpit ; and the sentiments he advanced found a
ready reception in many hearts. About four years prior to this
period, the writings of Mr. Relly had been brought to this town
by an Englishman named Gregory ; and with such eflFect had
they been perused, that Mr. Murray foimd here, as he states, ** a
few persons upon whom the light of the gospel had more than
dawned." More than three-quarters of a century have passed
away since that memorable visit ; and, with this lapse of time,
all personal recollections of the excitement it produced, and the
deep impression it left, have ceased to exist. Tradition reports
that his first sermons were not of a controversial character, but
were designed to draw his hearers to the love and service of
God by a touching and vivid portrayal of the divine benignity.
After remaining in town nine days, he returned to Boston,
where he continued about a month, preaching to lai^e congrega-
tions, in face of a strong opposition, and notwithstanding every
means was restorted to to prevent his speaking in public. In
December, he again visited Gloucester, and was cordially re-
ceived by his friends. " Here," he writes in his journal, ** my
God grants me rest from my toils ; here I have a taste of heaven.
The new song is sung here, and * Worthy is the Lamb ' con-
stantly dwells upon their tongues."
The Parish Meeting-house was now closed against him ; and
his followers assembled, at stated times, at the house * of Win-
throp Sargent, where their religious worship was held. On this
visit, he fully stated his views to Mr. Chandler. They met, of
* This hoiue was in the rear of the large three>story house afterwards built by Mr.
Sargent on Front Street, at the head of Duncan Street
INDEPENDBNT CHRISTIAN SOCIETY. 433
course, his decided opposition, and drew firom him a warning
address to his people ; which was read to them, and afterwards
printed in the "Essex Gazette."*
Surrounded by a small circle of admiring friends, Mr. Murray
now concluded to make Gloucester his home, occasionally visit-
ing other places, as he might be called ; but the enemies of his
doctrine here now made open demonstration of their hostility,
which gave rise to gloomy forebodings as to his prospect of hap-
piness and rest in this place. In May, 1775, he received and
accepted an invitation to serve as chaplain in the Rhode-Island
brigade, and repaired to the camp at Jamaica Plain. An effort
was made by the chaplains of the Continental Army to re-
move him ; but the commander-in-chief would not grant their
request. He continued with the army till obliged by sickness to
leave, when he returned to Gloucester, and remained until his
health was restored. After his recovery, he made a successful
appeal to his friends in the army, in favor of that large class of
our people who were reduced by the war to the last stages of in-
digence ; and obtained considerable supplies of necessary articles,
which were distributed among them. But neither his benevo-
lence, nor the friendship of several of the most respectable fami-
lies in town, coidd shield him from the effects of that " exquisite
rancor of religious hatred " which had gained possession of the
hearts of his enemies, and was expressed in very decided acts of
outward hostility. Personal violence was threatened, and a mob
was collected; which was only dispersed by the repeating, by one
of the elders of the church, of the timely advice addressed by
Gamaliel to the persecutors of the first apostles of our religion.
The shafts of persecution fell harmless at the feet of their ob-
ject, while the impotence of their rage only served to redouble
the fury of his opposers. They affected to believe him to be a
political character in disguise; and, under this pretence, pro-
* This address was also printed in an appendix to a pamphlet published by Rev.
John Cleaveland of Chebacco Parish, Ipswich, entitled ** An Attempt to nip in the Bud
the Unsicriptnral Doctrine of Universal Salvation, and some other Dangerous Errors
connected with it, which a certain Stranger, who calls himself John Murray, has of
late been endeavoring to spread in the First Church of Gloucester;** &c.
66
434 HISTORY OP GLOUCESTER.
ceeded against him as a vagrant. On the 27th of February, 1777,
he was cited before the Committee of Public Safety (all the mem-
bers of which, then present, being his inveterate enemies), and
subjected to an insulting examination, which he sustained with
dignity and Christian forbearance. He was warned to leave the
town before the Ist of March following; and the acts of the com-
mittee were approved at the next town-meeting, by a vote of
fifty-four in their favor, and eight against them. But this ebul-
lition of religious malevolence spent itself in vain. Mr. Murray
remained, and his opinions rapidly spread.
On Christmas Day, 1780, Mr. Murray's adherents first assem-
bled for public worship in a small building they had erected for
that purpose. About two years before this time (Jan. 1, 1779),
they had adopted a covenant, in which they professed themselves
an independent church of Christ, and received Mr. Murray as
their minister. The State Constitution was adopted the same
year; and, as no particular form of association for religious wor-
ship was therein prescribed, the friends of Mr. Murray believed
that the covenant they had signed constituted them a religious
society within the meaning of that instrument. They also be-
lieved that this covenant constituted him their ordained minister
(as the word " ordain " signifies no more than " to appoint "),
and that no public acts or ceremonies were necessary to confer
upon him the powers and privileges possessed by those whose
ordination had been attended with these circumstances. Holding
these opinions, they refused to pay the taxes assessed upon them
for the support of the parish minister; and thereupon their pro-
perty was seized, and sold at auction. An action was instituted
for the recovery of this property, and was brought in the name
of Mr. Murray, on the ground that a particular clause of the
Constitution secured to him all money paid by his supporters for
the support of public worship, if they wished it to be so applied.
This lawsuit involved principles affecting the rights of all reli-
gious sects, and was prosecuted with all the spirit and determina-
tion that a desire for the enjoyment of religious freedom could
inspire. Eminent counsel were engaged on both sides. Mr. Ru-
fus King, Mr. Sullivan, and Mr. Tudor, managed the case for the
INDEPENDENT CHRISTIAN SOCIETY. 435
plaintiff. The parish employed Theophilus Parsons and Mr.
Bradbury. The case was kept in court three years. Several trials
and reviews were had; and at last, in June, 1786, a conclusive
verdict was obtained in Mr. Murray's favor. At the last trial,
the interpretation of the Constitution by the judge, different from
what it had been on previous trials, was altogether in favor of
the plaintiff; and his instructions to the jury were clear, and just
in conformity with this change of opinion : but so difficult was it
for them to yield to the spirit of religious toleration, that, after
being out several hours, they returned to court, saying they could
not agree. The judge again addressed them, and they retired
once more. The foreman (Mr. Tracy of Newburyport) made an
earnest appeal for Mr. Murray, urging that his supporters had
as good a right to worship God according to the dictates of con-
science as others had, and that he was prepared to render a
verdict accordingly. He then composed himself to sleep, with
the remark, that they might arouse him as soon as they could
agree. During the night, they came to an agreement ; and, in
the morning, went into court with their verdict.*
Mr. Murray usually spent his summers in travelling ; and, at
the time of the termination of his long-protracted law-case, he
was absent in Connecticut. The rejoicing of his friends soon
reached his ears, and the occasion of it afforded him much satis-
faction. Their trials, however, had not yet reached their end.
The enemies of Mr. Murray, seizing the advantage that might
be gained by the doubts concerning his legal qualification to per-
form the marriage ceremony, entered a complaint against him,
and obtained a verdict which condemned him to pay a fine of
fifty pounds. The Judges of the Supreme Court were of opi-
nion that he was not an ordained minister in the sense of the
* Tradition has handed down the following anecdote connected with this trial. Mr.
Giddings, a Qualcer, was on the stand to testify that Mr. Murray's supporters had a
house of worship. It had been objected against them that they had a secret, which, in
the state of public affairs at that time, might be dangerous to the liberties of the people.
Mr. Giddings, being questioned on this point and pressed rather closely, at length
answered, ** Yes, they have a secret; and it is this (quoting Ps. xxv. 14): *The secret
of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant' They
have no other secret, to my knowledge."
436 HI8T0ET OF GLOUCESTER.
law, as the forms of his ordination were not sufficientlj noto-
rious. As this decision rendered him liable to prosecution fear
every marriage he had solemnized, he was advised to leave the
country until the intejference of the Legislature could be ob-
tained in his behalf. He accordingly embarked for England in
January, 1788 ; and, after a boisterous passage, had th& satisfac-
tion of landing on his native shores, and meeting once more his
venerable mother. During his absence, his £dends made appU-
cation to the Legislature for his relief. The petition of his
congregation here was lengthy and earnest ; and an act was ob-
tained, indemnifying him from all pains and penalties for having
performed the marriage ceremony under a mistaken conviction
that he was qualified so to do. Before the end of the year, he
retiimed to the United States. He was now relieved from the
apprehension of persecution through the courts of justice; but his
friends, wishing to place the pastoral relation in which he stood
to them beyond all cavil or doubt, and to put him on the same
footing with other ministers with respect to ordination, appointed
Christmas Day, 1788, as the time for carrying their desires into
effect. The ceremony of the occasion was simple, but solemn
and impressive ; and was concluded by a sermon from the newly
ordained pastor, from Luke x. 2 : ** The harvest truly is great,
but the laborers are few."
Mr. Murray remained in Gloucester about four years after his
last ordination. Li 1793, he was induced by the solicitations of
his friends in Boston to become their settled minister ; and, on
the 23d of October, was installed in that place. His connection
with the society there was a happy one, and continued till his
death; which, preceded by six years of -helplessness, took place
Sept. 3, 1815. He died at the age of seventy-four. During his
long confinement, much of his time was employed in perusing
the Scriptures ; and his dying words testified that his religious
belief remained unchanged to the last.*
* Mr. Murray published ^ Letters, and Sketches of Senn
lished by his wife. From this Memoir I have derived many of the facts in my narrative
of his career.
INDEPENDENT CHRISTIAN SOCIETY. 437
The last of the early friends and supporters of Mr. Murray
have, within a few years, passed away. They dwelt with
delight upon the memory of his earnest and effective preachmg,
and of the joy and gladness diffused by his presence in the
social circle. The undecayed freshness of their love and ad-
miration* preserved the vividness of their recollection of his
person and manners. They described him as a man of medium
stature ; of intelligent countenance, beaming with good nature
and benevolence ; and of easy address and gentlemanly deport-
ment. Respecting his character, the sober judgment of age did
not reverse the opinion they adopted at a period of Hfe when
enthusiasm exercises an influence upon the reason. They ad-
mitted that suspicions were entertained as to the purity of his
heart ; but these, they asserted, were wholly groundless, and only
cherished in minds from which reHgious bigotry had banished
every sentiment of justice and charity. They pointed to the fact,
that he enjoyed during his long life, and retained to its close,
the confidence and love of many, as much distinguished for
virtuous conduct, and a high regard for morality, as any of those
who assumed to judge him ; and, in absence of all proof that
their friend was unworthy of their affection, they clung to the
memory of his virtues, and cherished and defended it to the
end.
As a preacher, Mr. Murray excelled in the power, ease, and
grace with which he presented his views in extemporaneous
discourse. In this he was highly gifted. He possessed not
only facility, but feUcity, of diction ; for the fluency with which
he spoke was always accompanied by language so well chosen
as to need no correction, and by such a charm of voice and man-
ner as always left a deep impression upon his hearers. His
society increased in number from year to year ; and, at the time
of his departure, had, through its numerical strength and the
virtue and intelligence of its members, attained such a position
as to secure it from the persecution with which bigotry and
intolerance sought so zealously at first to destroy it.
The bitter persecutors of Mr. Murray were imdoubtedly sin-
cere; but scoffers may be so as well as bigots. Happily, no
438 HISTORY OF OLOtCESTER.
religious oppression can now find justification on the plea of
honesty. Time has fiilly proved the groundless nature of dieir
alarms as to the immoral tendency of the doctrine he advocated ;
and candor will allow, that the early believers here in the final
salvation of all men will as well stand the test of that trial which
judges the tree by its fruits as the members of any other religious
sect. Many of them lived to extreme old age, and died in faith,
declaring their love for the Saviour, whom they had found the
strength of their hearts here, and whom they believed they
should have as their portion for ever.
After remaining a widower several years, Mr. Murray mar-
ried, soon after his return to the United States from his visit to
England, Mrs. Judith, widow of John Stevens, and daughter of
his early and constant friend, Winthrop Sargent. Her former
husband had died some months before in St. Eustatia ; whither
he had fled from creditors, whose just demands the bankrupt
condition of his afiairs rendered him tinable to satisfy. She was
bom in 1751, and was gifted with tincommon beauty of person,
and a superior mind, which was cultivated and enriched by
education. In 1798, she published the " Gleaner," in three
volumes. The articles contained in these volumes were
originally published in the " Massachusetts Magazine." They
present the sentiments of the Mnriter on various subjects, but
possess the unity of a narrative in the romantic story of " Mar-
garetta." She appeared as an authoress under the name of
" Constantia," and with a strong desire for literary feme ; but
her writings have failed to secure her the posthumous celebrity
she craved, and the " Gleaner " has now no readers out of the
small circle of literary antiquaries. Mrs. Murray also wrote
poetical essays, which were pubHshed in the ** Boston Weekly
Magazine," with the signature of " Honora Martesia." The
fruits of her union with Mr. Murray were — a son, who died
at birth ; and a daughter (Juha Maria), who married A. L.
Bingaman, Esq., of Mississippi, and died in the autumn of 1822,
leaving a son, who married a Miss Livingston of New York.
Mrs. Murray died at Natchez, June 6, 1820, aged sixty-nine.
The society was as yet only an association of individuals. In
INDEPENDENT CHRISTIAN SOCIETY. 439
1785, they organized themselves under a *' compact," containing
a few regulations for their future government. This provided
for no compulsory payment for the support of public worship,
which depended entirely on the voluntary •contributions of the
members, who, in 1788, fotmd it necessary to sign an obligation
to pay their several parts of Mr. Murray's salary according to
the proportion of their town-tax. The sum thus raised in that
year for their " dear brother in God, and Christian teacher,"
was one htmdred pounds. The " compact " was signed by up-
wards of eighty males, who were probably all of the supporters
of Mr. Murray at that time. It is handsomely written on parch-
ment, and has been carefully preserved. Finding no form of
association they had yet tried suited to their wants, they obtained
from the Legislature, in 1792, an Act of Incorporation under the
name they at first adopted.
The meeting-house erected by Mr. Murray's friends was a
small building, without belfry or other architectural ornament.
It stood on the westerly comer of Spring and Water Streets,
and was taken down about 1805, and removed to the farm of
Col. Fearce, where it has ever since been used as a bam.
440 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Loss OF Polls. — One-sixth of the People living upon Charity. —
Loan to hire Soldiers. — Further Loans. — State Constitution.
— Town Delinquent. — Prospect of Peace. — Ship "Harriet"
CUT OUT OF THE HaRBOR BY THE EnEMT. — RECAPTURED BY OUR
People. — The Town-Treasury. — Peace.
Five years of war had passed, and our fathers had given pretty-
good proof of their ability to come at last triumphantly out of
the struggle; but the prospect immediately before them was
gloomy, and their present condition was such as to require the
brightest hopes of future good to cheer them on in their contest
for independence. One item of the town's loss during those
years speaks volumes of suffering and sorrow. The number of its
ratable polls had decreased from one thousand and fifty-three in
1775 to six hundred and ninety-six in 1779. Three hundred and
fifty-seven of our people had perished at sea, fallen in battle,
died in prison-ships, or in some way had become victims of the
war. The wail of woe from broken-hearted widows and destitute
orphans, bereaved parents, and afflicted friends, is just dying
away upon our ears, leaving a sad impression of the depth of
misery from which it issued ; but all the wretchedness and suf-
fering resulting from this great sacrifice of the youth and the
active men of the town can never be described or conceived.
The poverty which was one of its unhappy consequences is
sufficiently attested by the fact, that seven hundred and fifty, or
about one-sixth of the whole population, were at this time living
chiefly upon charity. The town did not furnish enough from its
soil to support its people two months in the year; its shore-
fishery was unproductive for want of a market ; its few privateer-
ing enterprises had yielded the means of subsistence to a small
LOAN TO HIRE SOLDIERS. 441
number only; and its foreign trade was nearly annihilated.*
From all these considerations, it may readily be seen that Glouces-
ter had thus far borne a heavy share of the burdens, sacrifices,
and sufferings of the war ; but, great as these had been, another
year of trial was before them.f
Of the State's quota, in 1780, of four thousand men to join
the Continental Army for six months, the number to be raised
here was thirty-two : which the town voted, June 19, to raise
by a tax ; and chose a committee for that purpose, with authority
to borrow sixty thousand dollars.^: On the 6th of July, the same
committee were authorized to borrow sixty thousand dollars more :
and, if they should agree with any soldier who would prefer to
take a town-note, the Treasurer was directed to give one pay-
able in six months ; such notes to be reckoned as a part of the
sum the committee were authorized to borrow. Three men
were procured at six thousand dollars each ; and the town then
agreed to offer that sum for the remainder; and if, upon an
average throughout the State, the bounty amounted to more
than that, to secure to each soldier the difference.
On the 17th of July, the town voted to raise a tax to procure
thirty-eight men as militia, and offered £300 per month to each
man who could be procured for three months' service. Autho-
rity was also given for another loan of $60,000. On the 7th
of August, they voted to raise $51,060 to pay soldiers ; and
directed that all money and goods fiimished by the inhabitants
* About seven hundred tons of our shipping employed in foreign commerce, and
seyeral valuable cargoes, were captured by the enemy in 1779.
t It was at this period of great poverty that a large troop of women, in want of
the necessaries of life, marched to Col. Foster*8 store, and made known their determina-
tion to supply themselves with provisions and groceries from his stock, in spite of all
resistance. Some of the number were prepared to take an exact account of the
articles delivered to each person, with reference to payment, if they should ever be
able to pay ; but, pay or no pay, they would have them, and proceeded to help them-
selves accordingly. This merchant was one of the most ardent patriots of the town;
and it is related of him, that his conduct on this occasion proved him to be one of the
most benevolent : for the tale of suffering and destitution that the women had to tell
80 touched his feelings, that he liberally supplied their wants, and dismissed them with
words of the utmost kindness and sympathy.
I The paper-money was now depreciated to about one-seventieth of its nominal
value.
56
442 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
for the campaign be carried to the several committees, for
them to lay before the selectmen in order for payment. In
addition to all this heavy expense for raising soldiers, the
town's quota of provisions and clothing for the army was to
be provided : and, to meet the charge of these items, a tax of
£40,000 was levied ; ' and the selectmen were authorized to
borrow that sum in anticipation of payment. It would afford
gratification to know some particulars concerning the supply of
such demands upon the pecuniary resources of the town ; but all
we can know of the financial operations of our fathers, at this
period, is the little that is contained in the votes which they
passed in town-meeting. The valuations and tax-lists of the
time have not been preserved.
While the people were making these great efforts to secure
the independence of their country, the prospect of final success
encouraged them to set about the formation of a Constitution for
their future government. In February, 1779, the Legislature
recommended that a vote should be taken in the several towns of
the State in relation to this measure ; and, a majority having
expressed an opinion in favor of it, a Convention of Delegates
assembled in September, at Cambridge, to engage in this impor-
tant and interesting work. The delegates from Gloucester were
Winthrop Sargent, Joseph Foster, Peter Coffin, Samuel Whitte-
more, and Epes Sargent.
The Convention completed their work in March, 1780 ; and
submitted the Constitution they had agreed upon to the people
of the State. A town-meeting to consider it was held here on
the 8th of May ; when a committee was chosen to report con-
cerning it, at an adjourned meeting to be held on the 22d of the
month. On that day, the Constitution was accepted by a vote of
forty-eight in its favor. No negative votes are recorded ; nor is
any thing more known of the debate on the subject than that
XJapt. Sargent and Col. Foster said that they objected to it.
The first election imder the Constitution was held on the
4th of September. The vote of Gloucester was small. Hon.
John Hancock had thirty-six votes for Governor, and Hon. James
Bowdoin twenty-nine for Lieutenant-Governor. Peter Coffin,
TOWN DELINQUENT. 443
Esq., was the first representative from the town under the new
government.
In January, 1781, the town was called upon to raise forty-
eight men for the Continental Army ; and although it voted a
tax of £1,000, in silver money, to pay the bounty authorized by
the State (fifty dollars to each man), the committee appointed
for raising the men reported in April that they had not pro-
cured them. While the town was thus deUnquent, the General
Court passed resolves inflicting a heavy penalty on those towns
that failed to procure the soldiers which they were called upon
to fiimish. Our people voted to petition for an abatement of
the men ordered to be raised, in consideration of their condi-
tion, — of the inroads that had lately been made upon them,
and the vessels that they had lost : but they continued their
efforts to get them ; and, in August, it appears that the men had
been procured. The town's quota of clothing and provisions
for the army this year appears to have been raised without com-
plaint; though the taxation necessary to procure it, with the
other assessments made upon them, must have been a grievous
burden to the people.
In the early part of 1782, a ministry, supposed to be favor-
ably disposed in regard to a peace with the United States,
came into power in Great Britain ; and measures were taken on
both sides to bring about that desirable event. Besides the first
great question, — the acknowledgment of independence, — the
people of Gloucester were interested to preserve their ancient
privileges on the fishing grounds. The importance of an article
to secure these privileges in any treaty of peace that might be
made had been considered by the Legislature of the State and
by Congress ; and this town, at a meeting on the 28th of January,
gave its representatives instructions concerning it, declaring that
such an article was "of the utmost consequence, not only to this
town, but to the State in general."
At the March meeting in 1782, the selectmen were instructed
to petition the General Court for a guard to be stationed in the
town ; but they did not anticipate an event that soon occurred,
showing the necessity of such protection. On the night of the
444 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
31st, the ship "Harriet," commanded by Capt. John Beach,
lying in the harbor, loaded for Cura9oa; and, having but
two men on board, was cut out by some men sent in from an
English fourteen-gun brig. On the previous day, a black-
looking boat, apparently a fishing vessel, was seen to come into
the harbor, and anchor outside of Ten-pound Island ; but, as
only two or three men appeared on deck at a time, she attracted
little notice. The " Harriet " belonged to David Pearce ; who,
on rising from his bed on the morning of April 1, missed his
ship from the place of her anchorage, and discovered that she
was outside of the harbor, running off in an easterly direction,
with a strong, fair wind, and having in company the small vessel
seen in the harbor the day before. No time was to be lost in
taking measures for her recapture. Accordingly, Mr. Pearce
proceeded immediately to the Meeting-house, and rang the bell
with violence imtil a general alarm was given. It then became
a matter of inquiry how the ship was to be retaken ; and this
was soon settled. The ship " Betsey," belonging to the same
owner, was then lying across the dock, at the head of his wharf,
for the purpose of being graved. She had no ballast, or goods
of any kind, on board ; and was entirely dismantled, having her
top-yards and rigging all down, leaving only her lower masts
standing, with the topmasts launched.
It was determined to put this vessel in order, and start in pur-
suit of the captured ship as soon as the tide (which was now at
the lowest ebb) would serve. Volunteers in igreat numbers
attended to the necessary preparations ; and, while these were
going on, a fine crew of about one hundred men were enlisted
for the enterprise. The rigging was replaced, sails were bent,
ballast, stores, guns and ammunition were taken on board : and,
as soon as there was sufficient water, the ship began to move from
the dock ; the men all the while at work on the rigging and
in bending sails, and receiving articles from gondolas alongside
as she was moving into the outer harbor. The wind being
light, she was assisted by tow-boats in getting out of the harbor.
About one o'clock, these were all cast off, and the ship proceed-
ed on her cruise, under command of Capt. Joseph Foster ; the
SHIP "HARRIET" CUT OUT. 445
owner of both vessels, Capt. Pearce, being also on board. The
direction which the " Harriet " had steered had been observed ;
and it was supposed to be the captor's intention to take her to
the enemy's station, on the eastern coast. Capt. Foster accord-
ingly took an east-north-east course ; and, in the mean time, had
his ship put in complete, order for action. She was pierced for
twenty guns ; and as her armament was complete, and her crew
brave, and animated with the strongest feelings of resentment,
success was certain, if they should be so fortimate as to overtake
or intercept the enemy.
Great was their joy, therefore, when, at daylight the next
morning, the captured ship was seen from deck, in company with
the brig and boat. She was soon overtaken, and given up with-
out an eflFort on the part of the enemy to retain her. The brig,
indeed, was glad to escape from the now dangerous company.
Capt. Foster gave chase to her ; but as she was some distance
ahead, and as night was coming on, and they had achieved the
object of the enterprise, the pursuit was abandoned, and the
course of the two ships changed for home. There were several
jolly fellows on board of the " Betsey; " and as provisions, wines,
and liquors in abtindance had been provided, the night was
passed in merriment, and in rejoicing over their success. The
prize was put under charge of WilKam Pearce ; and both vessels
arrived in the harbor the next afternoon, to the great joy of the
inhabitants.
The news that the " Harriet " had been cut out was received
in the principal towns on the seaboard very early, and prepara-
tions were made in several of them to recapture her. The
privateer ship " M. de La Fayette " started in pursuit from Salem
a Httle afl;er one o'clock, and returned the next night ; an armed
vessel was rowed out against the tide from Newburyport for the
same purpose ; and the new privateer ship " Resolution," be-
longing to Beverly, sailed from Portsmouth the same aft;emoon :
but they all returned to port without seeing the enemy or his
temporary prize.
The sequel of this event revealed the fact, that the brig was
sent by Capt. Mowatt from the British station on the Penobscot,
446 HI8TOEY OF GLOUCESTER.
under the command of a midshipman, with particular orders to
cruise off Cape Ann ; to take a fishing boat, and man her well,
and, if an opportunity presented, send her into Salem, Beverly,
or Marblehead ; to cut out any armed vessel that might be fitting
away firom either place ; and, in case of success, to proceed to
the English station. The boat was manned with twenty-five
men, and came into this port about a fortnight before the
" Harriet " was cut out. They found this vessel nearly ready
for sea, with a valuable cargo on board ; and so reported on
their return to the brig. They convinced the commander of
the brig that they had been on shore here, by producing a hat
and some blocks they had stolen out of a schooner. They said
that no military watch was kept in the town, and that the
stores might be broken open, or the ship cut out, without danger
to themselves. The enterprise was accordingly resolved on ;
and, but for the zeal and spirit of our people, would have been
accomplished. But the worst feature of this transaction remains
to be told. Daniel Somes, a native of the town, and having
many friends in it, was one of the party on board the boat ; and,
in all probability, greatly assisted them by his knowledge of the
harbor and town. Where he joined the British, and for what
reason he traitorously abandoned his home and country, no one
knows.
The surrender of the British Army at Yorktown on the 19th
of October, 1781, was the last great military event of the Revo-
lutionary War ; and Gloucester was thenceforth relieved of one
of the heavy burdens the contest had laid upon the town, — the
furnishing of its quota of soldiers for the army. It was a wel-
come relief: for it had at last become so difficult to hire men for
this purpose, that the town was obliged to petition the General
Court to accept a partial fulfilment of its last requirement of the
State for soldiers ; and the last act in town-meeting, in relation
to this subject, was a vote to apply to the Legislature to be re-
leased from the payment of fines which the town had incurred
for not raising their quota.
Being happily rid of this external pressure, the town now
gave attention to its financial concerns. Into these the depre-
TOWN TREASURY. PEACE. 447
ciation of the paper-money had introduced a good deal of con-
fusion ; and the conduct of the Treasurer seems not to have been
satisfactory to the town. As some of the assessments, during
the last few years, had been laid in specie, and some in the de-
predated paper-currency, it may be inferred that the balance
at any time in the treasury would be represented by both kinds
of money. At the March meeting in 1782, Nehemiah Parsons
was chosen Treasurer in place of Jacob Allen. A committee
to examine the state of the town-treasury had been chosen seve-
ral weeks before. Having had two added to their number after-
wards, they made a report to the town in May, which was read
and accepted. By this report, it appears that the balance in the
late Treasurer's hands was upwards of thirty-four thousand dol-
lars ; about one-half of which was justly due from him in specie,
at the rate of seventy-five dollars in bills for one dollar in spe-
cie, and the rest in the Continental money. The report accuses
Capt. Allen of some improper transactions with reference to
the paper-money: but he declined paying over his balance in
any currency but the depreciated paper ; whereupon the town
ordered the new Treasurer to lay an attachment upon his estate.
How the matter was finally settled, is not known. The report
of this committee makes no mention of the debts of the town at
this time, and nothing appears to show the amount of them;
but it was probably considerable, and existed in the form of out-
standing town-orders. All persons having these were notified
in May, 1784, to bring them to the Treasurer, in order that a
list might be made, and a tax raised to pay them ofi.
In April, 1783, proclamation of a suspension of hostilities
between Great Britain and the United States was made by Con-
gress. On the 3d of September, the Definitive Treaty of Peace
was signed at Paris ; and, on the 22d of October, the joyful
intelligence of this fact was received in Gloucester by the arrival
here of the ship " Robin Hood," Capt. Smith, from London.
We have no account of any public rejoicings on this occasion ;
but, though many internal difficulties remained to be surmotint-
ed, every heart was happy that the war was terminated, and the
great blessing of independence secured.
448 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
CHAPTER XXV.
VIEW OF THE TOWN AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR.
The Revolutionary period is an epoch in the history of Glouces-
ter, on which the mind dwells with mingled emotions of plea-
sure and pain. The men and women who bore its suflFerings
and achieved its triumph have all passed away, and the stream
of time is fast bearing into oblivion the traditions that tell of
their sorrows and their joys. Let us, therefore, before giving
them a parting benediction, linger a while around their homes,
and gaze upon the dwellings, of which nearly every one had,
during the war, been the scene of some severe form of human
distress. Many of these abodes are still standing ; and, with
the aid of a few venerable citizens who were children at the
close of the Revolution, we may fill out a picture, and obtain a
pretty correct view of the town as it then appeared.
The Meeting-house Green will afford a favorable spot from
which we can look abroad upon the original settlement. Just
below, stood then, as it stands now, the venerable mansion,
built, and occupied many years, by Rev. John White. Looking
farther towards the south, might be seen, on the road leading to
the Harbor, three more large houses, still standing ; the largest
of which was also built by Mr. White, and was his home when
he died. A few small tenements might also be seen in the same
direction, on the left; but on the right, around the burying-
groimd, and on the edge of the river, where several of the first
settlers lived, not a house was now to be seen. East of the
Meeting-house, on the opposite side of the road, was the laige
gambrel - roofed house, still standing, built by Col. William
Allen, and then owned and occupied by John Low, jim. Far-
VIEW OF THE TOWN AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 449
ther east, on the road to the Mill, stood the house built by
Joseph Allen about a hundred years before. Near by, on the
same road, might have been seen in more ancient times the
houses of Eev. John Emerson and Landlady Judkin, and a few
other early settlers ; but, at the period of the Revolution, these
had disappeared. On the road leading over Fox Hill were
several small dwellings, the homes of some of our soldiers
and seamen. Some of them still remain, now dilapidated and
untenanted. On the northerly side of the Meeting-house
Green, on opposite sides of the road, were the residences
of Col. John Low and Rev. John Rogers ; the latter still stand-
ing. Farther along, on Ferry Lane, at the Ferry itself, and
on the road to Ring's mill, were several small houses; some
of which we yet see there. On this road, there stood also, on
the farm yet in possession. of one of his descendants, the re-
sidence of William Pearce, — afterwards a distinguished mer-
chant of the town. A short distance beyond his house, on
the opposite side of the road, was the dwelling occupied not
long before by Dr. Samuel Plummer. A little farther on, close
to the Milldam, on a spot over which the road now passes,
was a large gambrel-roofed house, somewhat famous in later
years as the place where Methodism was first preached in
Gloucester. On the two roads diverging from this spot,— one
to the point between the two rivers, and the other to the Squam-
Farish line, — and on the by-ways connected with them, may yet
be seen a sufficient number of the buildings that stood on them in
the Revolutionary time, to give one a pretty correct idea of the
appearance of the settlement then.
In another part of the ancient settlement, the scene is wholly
changed. Parallel to the highway leading, by the river-side,
from the Mill to Squam, and separated from it by elevated land,
the visitor to that region sees a short road ; from the ends of
which, two other roads extend far into the pasture till they come
together at a point. For most part of the distance, these roads
are still well defined by stone-walls, and may be safely, though
not comfortably, travelled in a carriage. Various conjectures
have been offered respecting the inducements that led to the
67
450 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
peopling of this remote and sterile spot : but it is sufficient to
know that the land cost little or nothing ; and, barren as it was,
would yield vegetables, pasturage, and fuel. At the period of
our history of which we are now writing, about forty houses
were scattered along the sides of these roads ; and the whole
district was known by the appellation of Dogtown. At the
place where they met, stood a large house, of the gambrel-roof
style ; the site of which is still indicated by the cellar, around
which are yet visible the foundations of out-buildings and a
ruined well. In 1814, this building was hardly habitable ; and,
in that year, its last tenant, Abraham Wharf, sought relief from
poverty, and the accumulated sorrows of more than threescore
and ten years, by putting an end to his existence, under a
rock, where he had crawled for that purpose. Many of the
other dwellings were of the same .shape as that just noticed,
but of smaller dimensions; and a few were low, one-story
tenements, with a sharp roof. Most of them had, during the
war, been the homes of men who served their country on the
battle-field or the ocean; and most of them long afterwards
continued to be the abodes of widows of fallen soldiers, or
sailors who had gone down at sea. In the parish in which
this district was situated, there were living, twenty years after
the war, sixty of this unfortunate class; a number not much
exceeded, probably, by the married females then residing there.
Many of these poor widows resided in the old houses in Dog-
town ; and the last of them are still remembered, as they were
seen bearing to market the berries and herbs which yielded them
a scanty support.
" But now the sounds of population fail ;
No cheerful murmurs fluctuate in the gale ;
No busy steps the grass-grown footway tread ;
But all the bloomy flush of life is fled."
The poor widows have all found rest in the grave ; and the old
dwellings that scarcely afforded a shelter for their declining
years have also disappeared : but the ancient cellars, the grass-
grown roads, and the traditions of the place, still impart a
melancholy interest to the deserted hamlet.
VIEW OF THE TOWN AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 451
The portion of the town just described — the seat of the
first meeting-house, of the first schoolhouse, and, for many
years, of the larger portion of the inhabitants — had, at the
commencement of the Revolution, reached the maximum of its
growth. It then contained about a ninth of the property ; andf
probably, about a sixth of the population of the town. In both
these respects, it has been losing in rank ever since ; though,
such is the force of habit, it is still customary to call it Town
Parish, and to speak of going " up in town."
Before passing to a view of the settlement at the Harbor as it
appeared seventy-seven years ago, some account should be given
of the previous growth of that part of the town. Of the fii-st
settlers of the town, or those who were here before 1651, twenty-
eight became permanent residents ; of which number, ten appear
to have lived at the Harbor. Six of these had their houses on
or near what is now Front Street ; two were at Vinson's Cove ;
one at the point called, in our later history, Duncan's Point ;
and one lived at the Cut.
One of the first roads in the town, without doubt, was the
present road, leading nearly in a straight line, for about a mile,
from the north-west part of the Harbor Cove to the Meeting-
house Green. Diverging from this, near the foot of Governor's
Hill, a path led along over the ridge back of the two coves here
mentioned, and joined on what is now called Union Hill, — a
shore-path or road, that connected at the Harbor Cove with the
one leading to the " Plantation." The former of these paths
was the origin of Back Street and Prospect Street. It is not
known when or by whom the first house was built upon it;
but it does not appear that any person except William Coleman
had lived there before 1700. The shore-path was laid out as a
public highway, twenty-one feet wide, in 1698 ; and, in later
times, became known according to its present divisions of Front
Street and Spring Street. At the commencement of the last
century, the growth of the settlement at the Harbor had been
so slow, that probably not more than twenty families were then
living there. Babsons, Collinses, Elwells, and Princes were still
living on the homesteads of their fathers, on Front Street ; where.
452
HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
soon after this time, Nathaniel Ellery and Job Eveleth took up
their abode. Both of these men were active shipwrights, and
each built several small vessels during the period of activity in
that business heretofore noticed.
Of those who had moved into town since the first settlement.
Card, Duncan, Thomas Sawyer, and James Wallis, fixed their
abodes at the Harbor, — Wallis, it is supposed, at the foot of
Governor's Hill, near the Swamp ; Sawyer, at the Beach ; Dun-
can, at the point which has since borne his name ; and Card, on
a spot, near the water-side, a few rods south of the eastern end
of Front Street, where still stands the house, which, according
to tradition, he built and occupied. This venerable dwelling was
built, without doubt, before the close of the seventeenth century,
and is supposed to be the oldest house in town. In size, form,
and internal arrangement, it is a specimen of the best houses of
the time of its erection ; and as such, and as the only architec-
tural relic of the early period of our history in the part of the
town we are now describing, an engraving of it is here presented.
When, soon after 1700, the people of the town actively en-
gaged in the buildyag of vessels
several new residents, and began to gain that preponderance in
VIEW OF THE TOWN AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 453
"wealth and population which it has ever since retained. The
margin of the shore at the head of the Harbor became gradually
dotted with houses ; and Eastern Point, where Robinson and
some of the Elwells seem to have been the first to locate, was
foimd, in 1728, to have fifteen families at least. Now also the
unoccupied land between the two highways came into use for
house-lots. A portion of this unoccupied territory was swampy
land ; and, in the early period of our history, was covered with
. water. There were suitable sites for dwellings, however, suf-
ficient for a large increase of population ; and a new street, laid
out over it in 1737, gave evidence of prosperity and growth.
This street was at first called Comhill Street, but soon exchanged
that for the name of Middle, which it has ever since borne. On
this street, in the next year, a few wealthy citizens built a large
meeting-house, the first at the Harbor : and, finding a majority
of the parish to be now living nearer to the Harbor than to the
" town," they procured the removal of their minister to the new
house of worship ; and finally, by the secession of their brethren
of the ancient settlement, became themselves the First Parish.
In 1755, the new parish had gained so much upon the other
parts of the town, that it had attained in wealth and population
nearly to an equality with the aggregate of all the other parishes,
as has been seen on a previous page : but reverses by war, ship-
wieck, and the political troubles preceding the Revolution,
checked this gain ; and, during the next twenty years, its pro-
portionate increase was not so great. It contained, however,
in 1775, more than one-half of the property of the town. No
census of that period gives the whole number of inhabitants;
but, firom such data as we have, it may be estimated at nearly five
thousand, of which about one-half were living in the Harbor
Parish. The larger portion of the people of this parish resided
in the central viDage ; and the rest were scattered along the
highways in the outskirts, and in the little hamlets at Fresh-
water Cove, Eastern Point, and the Farms.*
• The number of polls in 1775 wa8 1,053; and, if the ratio of these to the population
■was the same then as it is now, it would give, as the whole number of inhabitants at
that time, 4,945. Distributing these among the several parishes according to the valua-
454 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
In each of the last-named places, some memorials of the Ke-
volutionary period still remain. In the first of them may have
stood, at the close of the war, about a dozen houses ; two of
which, on the south side of the road (the habitations of Dollivere
and Babsons), have since fallen to ruin. The places of others
have been supplied by new tenements ; but the whole number
has not been much increased. On Eastern Point, there were, it
is said, at that time, but fifteen dwellings. Among those which
have since disappeared were the " great house " of Capt. Robin-
son ; the Elwell House, on the side of the way going up the
hill, on the spot where the centenarian Robinson had lived ; the
Hidden House, on the opposite side ; and the Tarbox House, at
a little distance oflF, in the pasture. Not far from the " great
house," near the water-side, was the residence of Capt. WiUiam
Coas, who had often filled his house with captured property,
but who died poor, though leaving a trunk-full of Continental
money. A few of the ante-Revolutionary dwellings are left in
this locality; but the march of improvement has obliterated
almost every thing that could remind one of that time. At the
Farms, it is not so. There were standing there, at the close of
the Revolution, fifteen or sixteen houses, mostly of the one-
story, gambrel-roof style. Several of these yet remain, and the
natural features of the spot have undergone little change.
Nearly all the occupants of these abodes were of the old families
of Rowe, Parsons, and Witham; and nearly all of them had
been severe suflFerers by the war. Six sons of one family are
reported to have been its victims.
The houses standing in the time of the Revolution, that still
remain, are mostly of the gambrel-roof shape ; and difier from
each other but Uttle in form, though much in size. This style
tion of each in 1779, we have the following division of the population in the yeiir first
named : —
First, or Harbor Parish 2,565
Second, or West Parish 896
Third, or Town Parish 568
Fourth, or Squam Parish 656
Fifth, or Sandy-Bay Parish 872
The«c proportions, of course, are only approximate; but they are near enough to give
a pretty ct»rrect view of the rank of each parish in respect to population.
VIEW OF THE TOWN AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 455
seems to have prevailed about fifty years, and to have gone out
of favor entirely before the end of the last century. In the
Harbor Parish, there yet stand about one hundred houses of this
class; all but two of which date back beyond the memory of
any living citizen. Many of them are scattered along the old
streets of the central village, and are associated with interesting
persons or events of the Revolutionary time. The three avenues
already noticed were still the only streets of the village, at that
period ; with the exception that an ancient path, connecting the
upper and lower streets, had become the residence of a few
families. This path is our modem Pleasant Street. The ledges
and rocks by which it was formerly disfigured have disappeared ;
and other changes have been so great, that it is only by two of
the five old dwellings still standing on it that it would be recog-
nized by one of its primitive inhabitants. At the close of the
war, it had on the westerly side, between Middle Street and Back
Street, three houses : one of which was the Gibbs House, on the
comer of Middle Street; and another, the residence of Dr.
Witham. On the opposite side of the street were five dwellings.
One of these, at the lower end of the street, on the spot now
occupied by the Custom House, had a large garden attached to
it, and was the residence of Epes Sargent. Passing up the street,
we find the others occupied, in the order in which they stood, by
Nymphas Stacy, Capt. John Babson, John Oakes, and Solomon
Ingersol, unless the latter had already moved away. These five
houses are still standing, though only three of them remain
where originally located.
On the north side of Back Street, and its continuation. Pro-
spect Street, there stood twenty-two houses; which, with the
exception of two that were at different times destroyed by fire,
yet remain ; and nearly all of them are unchanged in outward
appearance, save by the addition of paint. On the south side
of these streets were but seven or eight houses, five of which
may still be seen there, and, as well as most of those on the
opposite side, can be readily recognized by the style of their
architecture. Though exhibiting a great change and improve-
ment since the Revolutionary period, these two streets preserve.
456 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
probably, more of their ancient look than any other part of the
Harbor. One of them could also show for many years the last
relics of a bygone and now-forgotten state of society ; for it was
on Prospect Street that two venerable old slaves — Gloucester
and Bacchus — had their homes as freemen, and died nearly
fifty years ago, one about ninety, and the other almost a hundred,
years of age.
On Middle Street, there yet stand seventeen dwellings that
were built before the war ; most of which were erected by mer-
chants and ship-masters, and were in the best style of their
time.* Not more than six have, since that date, disappeared ;
and it is not difficult, therefore, to present a view of the street
as it then looked. At the easterly end, on the north side,
was the Gibbs House; which at the close of the war, or not
long afterwards, was the residence of Thomas Sanders, the
schoolmaster. Next to this, on the spot now occupied by the
rear end of the Baptist Church, its front standing on a line with
the street, was a gambrel-roofed house, where James Prentice
kept a tavern. The next houses were those of Capt, John
Matchet, Capt. William Dolliver, and Hon. Thomas Sanders;
all now standing as they then stood, with the exception of Mr.
Sanders's house, the upper part of which has since been altered.
Adjoining the lot of the latter, westerly, was that of the First-
Parish Meeting-house, whose dark and frowning side rose from
the street-line of the lot. West of the Meeting-house, the space
was unoccupied as far as the path which afterwards became
School Street. This path had been used many years. It had
two branches : one leading to a few houses on the south side of
Back Street ; and the other up by the Windmill, on Windmill
Hill, where the Collins Schoolhouse now stands, and onward to
the road going " up in town." Next to this path, westerly, on
the spot occupied by the Orthodox Meeting-house, was a small
house, of a date prior to that of any now standing on the street.
It must have been one of the first houses erected on it ; and it
• Mr. Chandler's journal shows the date of erection of two of these houses. " 1760,
June 16: Mr. Whittemore's house raised, in the afternoon." — " 1764, July 10: Mr.
Sanders's house raised.'*
VIEW OF THE TOWN AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 457
was the last to fall, having stood till about 1824. In size and
appearance, it was much like the Card House, represented on a
previous page. Its occupant for many years was Josiah Haskell,
long the sexton and tithing-man of the parish. Adjoining this
house, on the west, was a small shop, in which Haskell worked
at his trade (that of a tailor) in company with Daniel Witham.
Next came in succession, as they now stand, four gambrel-roofed
houses ; the first of which was occupied by Neheraiah Parsons,
afterwards a merchant of Boston; the second, by Madam Rogers,
widow of the minister of the Fourth Parish ; the third, by Wil-
liam Parsons, who also became a merchant of Boston ; and the
fourth, by Philemon Haskell as a tavern. This building merits a
moment's attention. It was originally of large size for a private
residence : but it was necessary to add to its accommodations to
make it convenient for a tavern ; and, for that purpose, an un-
sightly projection was set up, covering one-half of its front, and
extending on to the street. This unsightly excrescence remained
till a few years ago ; when the building was restored to its ancient
form, and the street was also relieved of its only disfigurement.
A new generation watched the progress of the work with interest
only in the great improvement going on ; but occasionally a vete-
ran of the Revolution would tarry on the spot, and make the
old rooms alive again with the life of the olden time. Perhaps
Haskell inherited this house, and with it the vocation of host,
from his mother, who, a hundred years ago, kept the fashionable
boarding-house of the day. Not far from Haskell's tavern, ex-
tending nearly to the western end of the street, was a wide,
open, swampy space ; part of which is now occupied by the Uni-
versaHst Meeting-house, and the handsome avenue leading to that
building. No street connected here with Back Street ; but the
swamp was crossed by a row of stepping-stones, that led to the
lane now known as Pine Street, where two or three houses were
already erected. Next to this open space were the two houses
stiQ standing at the end of the street, — one occupied by Frau-
ds Low, and the other by Rev. Eli Forbes ; the latter so much
changed in outward appearance, that its original owner (Deacon
William Parsons) would not recognize it now as the place of his
68
458 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
earthly abode. Continuing from Middle Street to the Cut, we
find on the north side of the way a row of eight houses of the
old style, two of which date their erection since the war. The
first in the row was the residence of Daniel Rogers, and was
moved by him to its present position from the land in front over
which the street now passes. Returning through Middle Street,
the first house on the south side was Mr. Whittemore's, still
standing, with the addition of a third story. Next came a large,
vacant space ; and then the residence of Col. Coffin, yet remain-
ing, at the head of Short Street, which, at that time, was but a
foot-path. This house had previously been occupied, and was
probably erected, by William Stevens, a merchant and prominent
citizen a century ago. Between this house and the lane now
known as Centre Street were four dwellings, three of which still
remain. The first had been recently erected and was occupied by
John Stevens. The land in front of his house, extending down
to Front Street, was laid out in terraces, and tastefully arranged
as a flower-garden, as befitted the home of the accomplished lady
of the mansion.* Next, and near to this house, was one that had
been owned and occupied by Rev. Samuel Chandler ; but was
now, or about this time, the residence of Dr. John Manning.
Then came the house of James Hayes, a recent settler, and after-
wards a leading citizen. The next house was that of Capt. An-
drew Giddings, which stood near the lane, and was taken down
forty years ago. Between this lane and that which afterwards be-
came Hancock Street was an imoccupied, open space, upon which
were several locust-trees; but the most striking object on this
spot, remembered by any aged citizen, was a whipping-post,
where the last punishment of this kind in town was inflicted
upon a woman for theft, about eighty years ago. On the space
between Hancock Street and Pleasant Street we still see three
houses of the olden time, the first of which was the residence of
one of the most distinguished patriots of the town, — Col. Joseph
Foster. The next was famous several years before the war as
Broom's tavern ; and is said by some to have been occupied by
* Afterwards Mrs. Murray.
VIEW OF THE TOWN AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 459
Prentice, also, as a public-house. It is probably the oldest build-
ing on the street. The last of these three was the one-story,
gambrel-roofed house, standing on the comer of Pleasant Street.
Before and during the Eevolution, the famous barberess (Ee-
becca Ingersol) and her daughter had their shop in the south-
east room of this building ; and by professional skill, and lively
and intelligent conversation, made it a noted place of resort for
the merchants, ship-masters, sailors, and soldiers of those times.
Next, and near to Broom's tavern, was standing, at the close of
the war, a house that is supposed to have been long occupied,
previous to that period, by some of the Ellery Family. Its occu-
pant then was Epes Ellery, a son of the first Nathaniel. This
and the Giddings House are the only houses on the south side
of the street that have fallen since the Revolution, with the
exception of a small tenement that stood near the easterly end
of the street, and was the home of a German family named
Hoffains.
To complete our view of the Harbor Parish as it appeared
at the close of the Revolution, it only remains for us to pass
along the ancient shore-path, or highway as it had then become,
leading from the Cut to the head of the Harbor. At the Cut,
two houses of the three which then stood there yet remain ; the
other having since yielded to time and decay, after sheltering
four generations of the Stevens Family. The house first ap-
proached on coming into the village is said to have been occupied
during the war as a tavern, with the sign of a pine-tree ; and to
have been somewhat noted for an annual convivial assemblage
of the negroes of the town. On the right of the way passing
to Front Street, nearly the whole space, as far as the water-side,
was covered with fish-flakes ; no memorial of that day now re-
maining, save a single small house of the style then so popular.
At the entrance of Front Street were two houses, now standing,
but showing no marks of their venerable age. The one on the
right was the residence of Nathaniel Ellery; and that on the
left had been long occupied by Col. John Stevens, but had now
come into possession of Daniel Rogers, a prominent merchant,
and was his home for the rest of his life. Passing along, with
460 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
the north side of Front Street in view, was first seen, on the
spot where the Gloucester House now stands, a small building,
occupied as a mechanic's shop, in the rear of which was a small
tenement belonging to the early period of our history, and stand-
ing down to a recent time. Between these buildings and Short
Street, no part of the space was occupied, except that on the
corner of the last-named street, where stood the Allen House,
heretofore mentioned. On the opposite comer of this street
stood the mansion, built, and occupied nearly fifty years, by
Dr. William Coffin ; one of the first three-story houses erected
in the town. Next, and several rods distant, was the house
of Capt. James Babson, on the spot which had been the home of
his ancestors for several generations. A part of this house still
remains ; but no traces of its antiquity are preserved. A little
farther on stood a building familiarly called Joe Sargent's;
where Eldad Prindall did most of the tailoring of the town, and
where, at an earlier date, Mrs. Prince kept a house of entertain-
ment, and made, according to tradition, the first coffee drank in
Gloucester. Between this building and Centre Street were two,
that still stand, owned or occupied by Col. Daniel Warner, who
had a blacksmith's shop in or near one of them. On the comer
of Centre Street stood a small tenement, where lived a woman
then known as " Granny Keeley." Crossing this street to the
opposite comer, next appeared Deacon Klinsman's dwelling, yet
standing, though considerably changed in outward appearance.
Then came the little shop of John Dane ; next, the dwelling-
house of the latter ; and then the house of Capt. Samuel Babson.
All but the last of these are stiU standing, and bear the look they
have worn for a hundred years. The one last named was vio-
lently shaken by the great earthquake of 1755 ; about which
time, the venerable merchant (Samuel Stevens) who owned it
was carried from it to his grave. The next building stood on
the corner of Hancock Street, and had been long occupied by
Nathaniel Ellery ; but was now the residence of David Plum-
mer, who had a shop in the easterly end of it. It was a large,
gambrel-roof house at this time ; having attained that shape by
successive additions to the small dwelling supposed to have been
VIEW OF THE TOWN AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 461
built by Mr. EUery in the previous century. On the opposite
comer of the street, we still see the residence of Deacon Hub-
bard Haskell ; one of the only two houses on Front Street yet
occupied by descendants of those who lived in them a hundred
years ago. Leaving this, however, we begin to mark again the
changes of time ; for the two houses next to Deacon Haskell's
have disappeared in the march of improvement. The second of
these two houses was, during the latter years of the last century,
the noted tavern of Benjamin Somes ; noted not so much for its
entertaiament to travellers, as for the jolly and occasionally tur-
bulent demonstrations of our own citizens within it. Between
this house and Elder Warner's, on the comer of Pleasant Street,
were two or three small buildings ; one of which was the black-
smith's shop of Mr. Warner. The house of the latter still stands,
— the oldest on the street, without doubt; for it is known to
have been erected before 1710. Returning through Front Street,
the first house on the south side was Capt. William Pearson's,
previously the residence of Dr. Samuel Rogers, and just now
changing its ancient appearance. Next came a large house,
mentioned in a previous chapter as Mrs. Perkins's tavern ; occu-
pied, at the time of which we write, by Capt. Coas Gardiner, who
married her daughter. This house has long been down. The
next building was the gambrel-roof house, still standing, with*
one end near the street-line, then owned and occupied by James
Porter. Between this house and one built by Abraham Sawyer,
about 1760, at the head of David Pearce's (now Central) Wharf,
were four or five small buildings, principally used as mechanics'
shops. The house last mentioned was occupied by Mr. Pearce
during the war ; soon after which, he built the house stiQ stand-
ing on the opposite comer. Leaving this spot, we come to a
wide, imoccupied space, where persons yet living have picked
berries on land now the most valuable of any in the town. This
vacant territory is said to have extended nearly to that part of
the street, opposite the foot of Short Street, where stood a small
shop, occupied by Edward Northey, a goldsmith. A few rods
firom Northey's shop, at the head of what was then called Long
Wharf, was another small shop; which, after making several
462 HISTORY OP GLOUCESTER.
migrations in the street, finally left it for another spot. Be-
tween Long Wharf and the end of the street, besides one or two
buildings of inferior character, there stood two dwellings of a
better style, — the homes of William Murphy and John Logan.
Turning into Washington Street, we see changes at almost every
step. On the left, a large ledge of rocks rose above the sur&ce,
extending to Middle Street, and re-appearing at the opposite
comer. At that place stood a small schoolhouse, the only one
in the village. It was erected, several years before the war,
by private subscription ; and is supposed to have been occupied
by the Grammar School. A single house on Granite Street,
and a cluster of four or five near the jimction with High Street,
some of which are still standing, were the only other buildings
on that side of the street. On the opposite side, with the excep-
tion of the houses on the comers of the streets leading into this
old highway, but one house could be seen, — a large gambrel-
roof one, still remaining.
Let us next pass over that part of the old shore-path which
is now Spring Street. Beginning at the comer of Pleasant
Street, we find there the house supposed to have been built
by Col. Epes Sargent. It was occupied by his descendants of
two generations ; and stood, with various alterations, till a re-
cent time, on the spot where it was erected. A short distance
from the Sargent House was a small dwelling, occupied for
some time by Samuel Lane. Next, farther down the street,
stood, and still stands, the house of Peter DoUiver ; then came
the house of William Fuller, now down; and next, at a consider-
able distance, in the vicinity of Vinson's Spring, three houses,
yet remaining there. On the south side of this street, at the
termination of Front Street, we still see a large house, built
and occupied by Winthrop Sargent ; and, at a little distance
east of it, another, the residence of Daniel Sargent, — both
prominent merchants before the war. Next to the latter stood
the meeting-house erected by the friends of Rev. John Murray ;
and beyond this, elderly persons tell us, no dwelling was stand-
ing on that side of the street. But at a short distance from
the end of it, on the highway leading along by the head of the
VIEW OF THE TOWN AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 463
Harbor, was a settlement of about twenty houses, a few of which
yet remain. On the right hand, at Rose Bank, we still see the
house of Bradbury Sanders; several rods farther on, that of
Deacon Eliezer Grover, which no longer preserves its original
appearance ; and, next, the Leighton House, bmlt and occupied
by Edmimd Grover, jun., more than a century ago. Passing
along, at the turn of the way leading to Eastern Point, we see
the home of a family prominent in our history for the greater
part of the last century, — that of Thomas Sanders. At a little
distance from the latter, on the opposite side of the road, still
stands the house of John Sanders, a grandson of Thomas. Be-
tween this house and Cap Rock, — a large bowlder, then resting
at the comer of Prospect and Jackson Streets, — on the north
side of the road, one or two other houses of the olden time yet
remain ; but, at the close of the war, a row of about eight tene-
ments occupied this space, now covered with modem dwellings.
A large portion of the land in the easterly part of the village
was then owned by the Sargent Family. With the exception of
a few house-lots, this family held the entire tract embraced be-
tween the Harbor, on the south ; Pleasant Street and Duncan
Street, on the west ; Prospect Street, on the north ; and Chest-
nut Street, on the east. On the shore-side of this land, the
merchants of this family had their wharves, stores, and fish-
flakes; the latter covering almost the entire space between
Duncan Street and Vinson's Cove. On this space, at Duncan's j
Point, rises a small hill ; upon which now appears, as the most {
conspicuous object, the stone house of Mr. Lane, the artist. On I
that spot, at the close of the Revolution, stood a solitary and )
venerable oak-tree, twenty-three feet in circumference. It had
long been a cherished object, and a favorite resort for the
people ; and, when the news of peace arrived, the ancient oak
was fixed upon as the place at which the joyful event should
be celebrated. Its hollow trunk and leafless branches were bril-
liantly illuminated ; and, though no living person could remem-
ber the grandeur of its maturity, all agreed that it could not
have surpassed the splendor which it now exhibited in its
decay.
464 HISTORY OP GLOUCESTER.
We have now sketched the appearance of the several streets
of the Harhor Village at the close of the Revolutionary War, and
have looked upon the homes of some of the actors in that struggle.
Besides the houses noticed, there were a few small tenements
standing in by-places and along the shore of the Harbor Cove.
If, with the aid of the imagination, we restore these, the view,
it is believed, will be as correct as it can now be made.
In the Second or West Parish, we still see many memorials
of the Revolutionary period, and several of a time yet more
remote. The Eveleth House, and that of Byles, of Jacob
Davis, of Woodward, and those of some of the Haskells, in-
variably attract the attention of the passer by their venerable
aspect ; and several others show their ante-Revolutionary origin.
In this agricultural district, the number of ancient houses that
have been taken down since the war has been little more than
made good by the erection of new ones ; and no great change
has been made in any part of it to alter the view in any impor-
tant respect. The greatest change in the landscape is seen by
looking at the farm of Col. Coffin, near the entrance of Squam
Harbor ; where, in place of a wide extent of well- wooded ter-
ritory, we now see a collection of barren sand-hills. Gone, too,
is the large dwelling of the owner, the house for his slaves, and
every other mark that the farm was once the most valuable one
in town. In another part of the parish, we look in vain for the
old Meeting-house : but we see around us the dwellings of all its
pastors ; and, finding no relic or descendant of any of these, we
are impressed with the truth, that the families of men are more
evanescent even than the firail works which their hands create.
Leaving the parish at Coffin's Beach, and passing over to
Squam Point, we still find ourselves in presence of venerable
dwellings of the days of the Revolution. Two of them are of
the popular gambrel-roof style, and were both built, it is sup-
posed, by some of the Haraden Family ; though one was, at this
time, owned and occupied by Capt. William Babson. Another
was the house of William Davis ; and another was the home of
descendants of the early settlers of this spot, — the Haradens.
Several small tenements have disappeared, and new ones have
^TEW OF THE TOWN AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 465
been erected ; but enough of the old look remains to lead us
back to a remote era. One road led thence to the Meeting-
bousCy at the head of Lobster Cove. On the south side of this
road^ bordering the Cove, were scattered several houses, a few
of which have been spared to the present time. Among these,
the residence of Rev. Benjamin Bradstreet is yet pointed out.
At the head of the Cove, the Meeting-house no longer stands ;
but, aroimd the one now occupying the same spot, we may still
see some of the homes of the Revolutionary times, all easily
recognized by their architecture. One of these was that of
James Davis, a leading man in the town for many years. An-
other was once occupied by Rev. John Wyeth ; and has in one
side the hole of a bullet, shot into it for the purpose of killing
or frightening that minister. Not far distant, on a by-road
leading into the woods, were a few dwellings ; of which those
of Jesse Saville and the Dennison Family were remote from the
highway, and were in secluded and lonely situations. It was
the former of these that was searched by an exasperated mob in
September, 1768, as related in a previous chapter.
Continuing on the road around the Cape, a few small houses
could be seen at the coves ; but it is only at wide intervals of
space that an unmistakable relic of the ante-Revolutionary period
can be met with now. Entering within the boundary of Rock-
port, we still see the old homestead of the Wheelers ; and farther
on, at Pigeon Hill, the residence of a family of soldiers, — that
of Capt. John Rowe. Around this spot, and throughout the
old parish of Sandy Bay, nearly all is changed and new. On
no other part of the Cape have growth and improvement been
so marked as here. The population has increased tenfold, and
the usual characteristics of a large and flourishing town have
obliterated nearly all the memorials of the hamlet. At the
close of the war, this parish contained, probably, about eighty
houses; most of which were situated on the highway leading
into the village from the Harbor, and passing along by the two
coves towards Long Beach. Several of them were at these coves,
and were small tenements, occupied by the fishermen who pur-
sued their business there. Some of these yet remain, and with
59
/^
466 HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER.
a few others scattered along the road in the outskirts of the
settlement, to the number of about twenty-five in all, serve to
guide a beholder in tracing out the habitations of the last
century. These dwellings were the best of that time, and some
of them were good farm-houses — the abodes of descendants of
the ancient settlers, Tarr and Pool. One is still pointed out as
the residence of the patriotic minister of the parish, — Rev.
Ebenezer Cleaveland.
To complete this sketch of the town as it appeared at the
close of the war, it should be added, that few of the houses were
painted, and that many were in a dilapidated and imsightly con-
dition, which bore witness to the general poverty of the people.
In another respect, too, the effect of the war was plainly visible.
The roads of the town, requiring frequent repairs on account
of the imeven surface and rocky soil upon which they are built,
had been greatly neglected, and were hardly passable in a car-
riage, with comfort and safety.* But all these inconveniences
could be speedily overcome ; and with the blessings of independ-
ence and self-government secured, and a wide field for enter-
prise opened, energy in business, and morality of life, would
again bring all the substantial enjoyments of existence.
* The number of pleasure-carriages in town at this time was thirty-one; compris-
ing ** chairs, sullceys, and chaises.'*
SCHOOLS RE-OPENED. 467