Topsfield Historical Society Local Lore Newsletter
Collection
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Local Lore
January 2010 Issue 67
The Topsfield Historical Society Newsletter
WEB Address < i:~ ■■ ‘ ; ; - ! 1 i ; (Email webmaster@topsfieldhistory.org
P.O. Box 323. Topsfield. Massachusetts 01983
Marquis de La Fayette
La Fayette was bom into a distinguished French noble family in 1757 and was a French military officer. He became enthused over the news of the American Revolution and, evading authorities, he arrived in Philadelphia in 1777 and offered his services. The Continental Congress made him a Major General at age 20. He shared the hardships of Valley Forge, distinguished himself in several major campaigns and was wounded at the Battle of Brandywine but still managed to organize a successful retreat, following the Battle of Rhode fnd he returned to France to TSgotiate an increased commitment from that country. Upon his return he blocked Cornwallis at Yorktown while Washington and the French leader Comte de Rochambeau prepared to fight the British. Washington reportedly treated him like a son.
Back in France in 1788 he served as president of a body composed of three classes of French Society- the clergy, the nobility and the commoners. He was appointed Commander in Chief of the French National Guard in response to violence leading up to the French Revolution. He attempted to maintain law and order for which he was persecuted by the Jacobins. In 1791 he tried to flee to the US but was captured by the Austrians and spent nearly five years in prison. Napoleon ^fcpaparte freed him in 1797 and returned to France, where, in 1815 he became a liberal member of the Chamber of Deputies.
In 1824 President James Monroe invited him to the U.S. as “The nation’s guest” and he was the first person to be granted honorary citizenship. During his trip he visited all 24 states. Many cities and monuments bear his name- Lafayette Park just North of the White House, Lafayette College in PA and Lafayette Road (Route 1A) in Hampton, NH which he traveled on- to name a few.
When he died in 1834 at age 76 he was buried in Paris and each year on the 4th of July the permanent US flag is replaced in a joint French-American ceremony.
Topsfield’s Railroad History Taping
A taping session was held at the Gould Bam with Ken Crocker, Grace Marciano, Dave Gerry, Richard Symmes, Joan Panella and Norm Isler, under the direction of Bill Whiting assisted by Rene Cloutier, for the purpose of documenting the history of the Georgetown and Danvers branch. This route provided an alternative to the Eastern Railroad whose rates were considered too high by the Newburyport merchants.
The tape will be shown on Topsfield’s Channel 10 at some time to be announced.
The permanent railroad historical marker sign is set for delivery and dedication next Spring at the corner of Park and Main Streets next to the siding back stop already in location. This will be the sixth historical marker erected as part of the Society’s long range plan to document locations, people and events that have contributed to the town’s rich history.
Editor/Publisher Anne Barrett
Contributor Norm Isler
Upcoming Events
A House Divided Songs of the Civil War
Jim Douglas January 10th. 3:00 PM
A Timeless Love Story: Love Letters of John & Abigail Adams
Thomas Macy & Patricia Bridgeman February 28th. 3:00 PM
Kid’s Corner
Forks were used in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, but only as cooking tools. People ate with their fingers and a knife, which each person brought with them to the meal. The use of forks for eating started in the noble courts of the Middle East and the Byzantine Empire in about the 7th century and became common among wealthy families of the regions by the 10th century. Elsewhere, including Europe, people stuck to eating with a knife and their hand.
In 1004 Maria Argyropoulina, the Greek emperor’s niece, arrived in Venice for her marriage to the son of the Doge of Venice, with a case of golden forks, which she used at the wedding feast. She was criticized by the local clergy, with one reported to have said, “God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks — his fingers. Therefore it is an insult to him to substitute artificial metal forks for them when eating.”
When Argyropoulina died of the plague two years later, Saint Peter Damian suggested that it was God’s punishment for her lavish ways. “Nor did she deign to touch her food with her fingers. ..this woman’s vanity was hateful to Almighty God; and so did He take his revenge so that her whole body did putrefy and all her limbs began to wither."
Local Lore
February 2010 Issue 68 .
The Topsfield Historical Society Newsletter
WEB Address (ltr.}v'\\v- v vj^i)dvlluM-.H\ >•!_;) Email, webmaster@topsfieldhistory.org P.O. Box 323. Topsfield. Massachusetts 01983
Henry Knox’s Impossible Task
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Every one remembers April 19, 1775 when the battle of Lexington and Concord took place ending with the Red Coats retreating back to Boston. What is often not as clearly remembered is what happened next.
The Colonials were faced with building barricades and manning them to keep the British troops from attacking. This worked but what was needed was enough fire power to drive them out of the town. This is where Henry Knox, a 25 year old Boston book seller, newly assigned to General Washington’s staff as Artillery fficer, pulled off one of the bughest missions in American history. Knox learned about artillery from reading books in his store and also by talking and listening to British Army officers who frequented his bookshop, called “The London Book Store” located at the corner of today’s Washington and Court Streets. He suggested moving the heavy guns and mortars located at Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point to Dorchester Heights where they could be trained on the British and their fleet in Boston Harbor. Washington agreed with the plan and Knox left for New York State in the Fall of 1775 with a small contingent of Colonists. On January 24, 1776 he returned, having been aided by boats to float the cannon down Lake George, by oxen, hired hands, and farmers ho helped along the 250 mile trek from Eastern New York State to Boston. He had pushed, pulled and cajoled 60 tons of artillery on sledges through thick woods,
across rivers and through the Berkshire Mountains on a route marked today by 56 stone markers through Great Barrington, Springfield and Worcester and onto Boston denoting the 56 days of the journey’s duration . Heavy snow, long grades, raw blisters that left a trail of red in the snow discouraged his men and some of the hired hands left. One cannon fell into the Hudson River near Albany where they crossed but was retrieved. A sudden thaw threatened this monumental feat of dragging heavy artillery through the wilderness but he and his men kept going; their feet wrapped in bloody rags because their boots had given out. To this day historians are still amazed that Knox was able to accomplish this feat. If it had not happened there might not have been a Revolution at all.
Although today highways mark the route, the roads of 1776 were often nothing more than rutted paths. The 59 iron cannons and mortars ranged in weight from 100 to 5,500 pounds; some 1 1 feet long. Once they arrived in Dorchester they were set up very quietly at night, some as close as 150 yards from the British line at Boston Neck. Hay was put on the road and on the wagon wheels to muffle the sound. Hay was also used for sight barriers. Some 400 oxen and 4000 men were used to set the artillery in place. Washington ordered a cannon barrage from other cannon positions as a distraction and it all worked. The British, seeing the hopelessness of their situation, evacuated Boston on March 17th, now known as Evacuation Day, and went to Halifax taking a number of Loyalists and their families with them.
Henry Knox’s feat gave Washington his first major victory and significantly helped establish his leadership. He was in charge of Washington’s crossing of the Delaware aided by John Glover’s
Upcoming Events
A Timeless Love Story: Love Letters of John & Abigail Adams
Thomas Macv <fc Patricia Bridgeman February 28th 3:00 PM
Society Annual Meeting
March 14th 3:00 PM
Kids’ Corner
old Remedies
Appendicitis - Tie a leather thong around your waist and the appendicitis will enter the thong. Tie the thong around a tree and the sickness will enter the tree. Boils - Catch a chaparral bird (roadrunner) in the early morning. Kill and eat it and the boil will go away.
Stiff Neck - Go down to the hog pen and find where a hog has rubbed his neck against the fence, then rub your neck in the same spot.
Cuts - Take a large army ant and apply him to the cut, so that he takes hold of each side of the wound with his pincers. Cut his head off from his body, leaving his head to hold the cut together.
Marblehead men. Knox went on to become one of Washington’s most trusted aides. Fort Knox, Kentucky, the repository of our nation’s gold supply, is named in his honor.
Information for this article came from a number of sources such as the National Parks Service, several American history books and Wikipedia. Norm Isler 12/21/09
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Anne Barrett |
Norm Isler |
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Local Lore
March 2010 Issue 69 .
The Topsfield Historical Society Newsletter
WEB Address (http://www.topsfieldhistorv.org) Email: webmaster@topsfieldhistory.org P.O. Box 323, Topsfield, Massachusetts 01983
Washington and the Rebellion
Civilian control of the military is a cherished principle in American government; the military advises, but the civilian leadership decides. Yet if not for the actions of George Washington, whose birthday we recently celebrated, America might have moved in a very different direction.
In early 1783, many in the Continental Army were enraged by Congress’s failure to provide promised back pay and pensions. Rumors of mutiny abounded. On March 10, an anonymous letter appeared, calling for a meeting of all officers the next day to discuss k grievances. Within hours came Irsecond anonymous letter, in which the writer, later revealed as Maj. John Armstrong Jr., an aide to top Gen. Horatio Gates, urged the troops, while still in arms, to either disengage from British troops, move out West and “mock” the Congress, or march on Philadelphia and seize the government.
When Washington learned of the letters, he quickly called for the meeting to be held instead on March 15 — to give time, he said, for “mature deliberation” of the issues. He ordered General Gates to preside, giving the impression that a friend of the instigators would run the show and that Washington himself wouldn’t even attend.
But just as the meeting of jproximately 500 officers came to ^der, Washington strode into the hall and asked permission to
speak. He said he understood their grievances and would continue to press them. He said that Congress supported their claims, but that it moved slowly. He warned that to follow the letter writer would only serve the British cause. The crowd rustled and murmured with discontent. Washington then opened a letter from a sympathetic congressman, but soon appeared to grow distracted.
As his men wondered what was wrong, Washington pulled out a pair of glasses, which even his officers had never seen before. “Gentlemen,” he said, “you must pardon me, for I have grown not only gray but blind in the service of my country.” The officers were stunned. Many openly wept. Their mutinous mood gave way immediately to affection for their commander.
After finishing the letter, Washington appealed to the officers’ “patient virtue” and praised the “glorious example you have exhibited to mankind.” He then strode from the hall. His appearance probably lasted less than 15 minutes. A resolution carrying out the general’s wishes was adopted by roaring acclamation and the meeting adjourned.
With the Newburgh incident fresh in their minds, further unrest was quickly dispelled. True to his word, Washington pursued the Army’s grievances, though with mixed results — Congress voted a lump-sum pension payment and disbanded the force. Given Washington’s near universal popularity, word of his speech spread rapidly, and civilian control of the military soon became a central priority in the formation of the young Republic. Six years later the new country adopted a Constitution that implicitly recognized civilian control. That tradition continues to this day, a testament to our first, finest and most political general.
Author John R. Miller, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute and a visiting scholar at the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, is working on a book on this subject.
Upcoming Events
Society Annual Meeting
March 14th 3:00 PM
Kids’ Corner
The first recorded Olympic Games were held in 776 BC. Coroebus won the sole event, the stade - a run of approximately 192 meters - making him the very first Olympic champion.
The Games grew and continued to be played every four years for nearly 1200 years. In 393 AD, the Roman emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, abolished the Games because of their pagan influences.
Approximately 1 500 years later, a young French aristocrat named Pierre de Coubertin began their revival. Some believe that Coubertin attributed the defeat of France during the Franco Prussian war not to its military skills but to the French soldiers' lack of vigor. Coubertin decided that it was exercise, more specifically sports, that made a well-rounded and vigorous person. In 1890, he founded a sports organization. Two years later he first pitched his idea to revive the Olympic Games. His speech did not inspire action but he persisted and two years later he organized a meeting with 79 delegates representing nine countries. His eloquent speech regarding the revival of the Olympic Games aroused interest. They decided to have Coubertin create an international committee to organize the Games. This committee became the International Olympic Committee and Demetrious Vikelas from Greece was selected to be its first president. Athens was chosen as the location for the revival of the Olympic Games and the planning was begun, http://history1900s.about.com
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Local Lore
April 2010
The Topsfield Historical Society Newsletter
WEB Address (hu
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Forgotton Independence Hero
In May of 1776, Captain James Mugford of Marblehead com- manding the schooner Franklin, avoided British ships patrolling Boston Harbor and captured the HMS Hope, which was carrying weapons, gunpowder, blankets and other supplies. Supply ships were still coming to Boston, unaware that the British had left the city. Patriot supplies were dangerously low and the new supplies may well have made the difference between a successful Continental Army and one too poorly equipped to fight.
Two nights later 26 year old ^ugford headed out again but this he ran aground on a sand bar and was discovered by the enemy. In short order an estimated 200 British boarders swarmed over the Franklin and another vessel and, in a fierce fight for survival, overwhelmed Mugford and his crew of less than 25 hacking away at the gunwales. At the height of the battle Mugford was run through with a pike, falling back on the deck, bleeding his life away. Yet, he called out “Don’t give up the ship!” and the boarders were driven off. Mugford did not live to see home again.
Artemis Ward, a key aide to George Washington, declared, “America owes its independence to the intrepid James Mugford”.
The street in Marblehead where he lived was named after him as well as two U.S. Navy vessels and he is buried atop Old Burial Hill where monument erected in 1876 stands in his memory. Yet, today who ever heard of him? Thanks to
Don Doiiber. National Honors Award winner in history , for allowing his story to be reprinted.
P.< ). Box 323. Topsfield. Massachusetts 01983
Bull Brook Paleo Indian Site
This site, located in Ipswich, is believed to be the largest such site in New England and possibly North America. Discovered in 1951, over 8,000 artifacts have been found that date to about 12,700 years ago. The site is believed to have been a base camp for hunting caribou, mammoth and other [ large animals as their bones have been found. In addition they hunted beaver, hare, fox, and birds and also fished.
These Native Americans were hunter/gather/ fishermen and they are identified by a unique fluted type of projectile point, one of the few traces left of their existence, that were made from stone that is not local; outcrops are found in distant locations such as New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania. Most of the fluted points were made on site.
Evidence indicates they traveled extensively and knew New England resources very well.
Such sites are rare because the coastline has dramatically changed by the sea rising we!! over a hundred feet since then, thereby inundating other possible sites. Unfortunately this site has been virtually destroyed by a sand pit operation over u ie years anu iurti ier examination may not yield additional information about this pre historic tribe.
Thanks to the Society for American Archeology for information contained in this article
Upcoming Events
History & Mysteries of RMS Titanic CDR. Bill Wilson. USCG (Ret) Member Titanic International Society April 30. 7:30 PM
Reminder! Donations to the Society
Your Society is a non profit 501 C 3 organization dedicated to collecting, preserving and disseminating Topsfield’s rich history. We rely on dues, donations and investment income to carry out our programs. Donations are welcome, and may be made in honor of someone. It is through the generosity of our members that the Society will continue to flourish.
Society News
Annual Meeting Wrap-Up
The 1 15th annua! meeting was held on March 14th followed by a pot luck supper enjoyed by the over 50 members who attended. After financial reports for both the Society and the Kimball Scholarship funds, a review of the past and coming year’s events was presented by Programs Chair Vince Guerra. A iist of accomplishments, challenges and plans was then reviewed - see copy attached - and elections were held. The event schedule and officer listing will be mailed to all the members shortly.
Dues are Due!
If you haven’t yet, please send in your membership dues. Also, a big
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members who continue to pay dues despite being entitled to free membership.
Give Us Your Email Address
If you don’t currently receive emails from the Society, email topsfieldhistory@juno.com and give us your email address, or you can call Carol Reid at (978) 535 5504. You.r email address will not be shared with anyone.
Editor/Contributor Anne Barrett
Contributor Norm Isler
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Local Lore
May 2010
v Issue 71
The Topsfield Historical Society Newsletter
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P O. Box 323. Topsfield. Massachusetts 0198a
Leslie’s Retreat
General Gage had an elaborate spy system and got word of some cannon stored in Salem. In February, 1775, the British made plans to seize them. At midnight on Sunday, February 26th, a British transport slipped out of Castle William in Boston Harbor bound for Marblehead. At noon the ship dropped anchor at Marblehead. Hidden out of site below deck were 240 troops under the command of Lt. Col. Alexander Leslie. As afternoon worship began, the troops came ashore, loaded their muskets, fixed their
Kiyonets and double time
arched towards Salem, 5 miles away. Some non church goers spotted them and ran to the nearest meeting house where a general alarm was sounded by drums. A Major John Pedrick suspected their mission and hastily rode towards Salem, overtaking Leslie and his troops. Pedrick was acquainted with Leslie and Leslie ordered his troops to file right and let Pedrick pass, supposedly to visit an ill friend. He continued hastily until he reached Salem s North Church where bells were struck to alert the town. The congregation emptied, joined in the street by neighbors. The main body of troops arrived at the town house where Leslie conferred with a young Tory lawyer. By this time hundreds of curiosity seekers had poured into the streets. The march
•resumed towards the North Bridge, accompanied by a large crowd. Meanwhile, Colonel David Mason of Salem quickly hauled the cannon towards Danversport and also raised the drawbridge just as
Leslie and his troops arrived on the Salem side. Leslie demanded the draw be lowered and the rebels refused, jeering at the “lobstercoats . Leslie then spotted two large gondolas that could be used to ferry his men across, but before he could commandeer them the rebels hacked holes in their bottoms. Scuffling broke out and one man was pricked by a bayonet. The crowd became aroused and a respected minister, Thomas Barnard, stepped in and persuaded Leslie to restrain his men. Leslie said he was determined to cross the bridge and use the King’s highway. He was told by a rebel it was a private road and could only be used by declaring martial law which Gage had not done. They finally compromised with Leslie pledging to march only 10 yards beyond the bridge if they would lower the draw to prove he had a right to use the road. The draw was lowered , the regiment marched over and, true to his word, turned around and marched back to Marblehead. Leslie had shown courage, honor and restraint and Reverend Barnard and others had kept passions in check; otherwise the Revolutionary War could have started in Salem instead of at Old North Bridge in Concord a few months later.
Upcoming Events
Paul Revere, Artisan & Patriot: The Man Behind the Myth Patrick Leahy Max 21. 7.30 PM
Kid’s Comer
From “The World Turned Upside Down by Ronald N. Tagney
SAVE THE DATE!
Why do dimes , quarters and half dollars have notches, while pennies and nickels do not?
The U.S. Mint began putting i notches on the edges of coins I containing gold and silver to I discourage people from shaving off small quantities of the precious metals. Dimes, quarters and half i dollars are notched because they | used to contain silver. Pennies and |
! nickels aren’t notched because the | metals they contain are not j valuable enough to shave.
Why do men's clothes have buttons 1 | on the right while women's clothes have buttons on the left?
When buttons were invented, they were very expensive and worn primarily by the rich. Because wealthy women were dressed by maids, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid's right! Since most people are right-handed, it is easier to push buttons on the right through holes on the left, and that’s where women’s buttons have remained since,
Editor/Contributor Anne Barrett
Contributor Norm Isler
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Local Lore
September 20 1 0 Issue 72
The Topsfield Historical Society Newsletter
WEB Address Email: webmaster@topslieldh, story.org
P.O. Box 323, Topsfield, Massachusetts 01983
Marquis de La Fayette
La Fayette was born into a distinguished French-noble family in 1757 and was a French military officer . He became enthused over the news of the American Revo- lution and, evading authorities, he arrived in Philadelphia in 1777 and offered his services. The Conti- nental Congress made him a Major General at age 20. He shared the hardships of Valley Forge, distinguished himself in several major campaigns and was wounded at the Battle of Brandywine but still managed to organize a successful retreat, following the Battle of Rhode ^feind he returned to France to ^^gotiate an increased commit- ment from that country. Upon his return he blocked Cornwallis at Yorktown while Washington and the French leader Comte de Rochambeau prepared to fight the British. Washington reportedly treated him like a son.
Back in France in 1788 he served as president of a body composed of three classes of French Society- the clergy, the nobility and the commoners. He was appointed Commander in Chief of the French National Guard in response to violence leading up to the French Revolution. He attempted to maintain law and order for which he was persecuted by the Jacobins. In 1791 he tried to flee to the US but was captured by the Austrians and spent nearly five ^^ears in prison. Napoleon ^■Jonaparte freed him in 1797 and returned to France, where, in 1815 he became a liberal member of the Chamber of Deputies.
In 1824 President James Monroe invited him to the US as
“the nation’s guest” and he was the first person to be granted honorary citizenship. During his trip he visited all 24 states. Many cities and monuments bear his name- Lafayette Park just North of the White House, Lafayette College in PA and Lafayette Road (Route 1 A) in Hampton, NH which he traveled on- to name a few.
When he died in 1834 at age 76 he was buried in Paris and each year on the 4th of July the permanent US flag is replaced in a joint French American ceremony.
Upcoming Events
Eating, Drinking and Entertaining in the Colonial Period
Joseph Carlin September 17th, 7:30 PM
Kid’s Corner
Topsfield Blockhouse
“In 1676 the General Court ordered that each town should “scout and ward, and clear the highway of brush and under- growth” to prevent the skulking of the enemy. A garrison-house was built by the early settlers of Topsfield, yet it is not known to have ever been used.”
This quote is from A Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts,
Volume 2 (available via GoogleBooks). 1676 was a time when Indian raids were frequent although none are known to have occurred in Topsfield. While the quote mentions that it was not known if the blockhouse was ever used there is evidence that it was used, at least once. Where was this blockhouse? On the site of the Topsfield Fairgrounds stands a dark gray slate marker with the following inscription:
This stone marks the site of an ancient blockhouse built before 1675 and during that year served as a refuge from impending Indian attacks by a company of 20 or 30 of whom the only name now known is Mary Esty of Topsfield who came to the fort by night on horseback carrying 2 small children. To recall those names and to help preserve the memory of the pioneers whose courage and fidelity laid the foundations of the nation this tablet is placed hereby.
Essex Agricultural Society 1924
On July 8, 1776, the first public readings of the Declaration were held in Philadelphia's Independence Square to the ringing of bells and band music. One year later, on July 4, 1777, Philadelphia marked Independence Day by adjourning Congress and celebrating with bonfires, bells and
fireworks. ,
The custom eventually spread to other towns, both large and small, where the day was marked with processions, oratory, picnics, contests, games, military displays and fireworks. Observations throughout the nation became even more common at the end of the War of 1812 with Great Britain. Congress established it as a holiday known as Independence Day in 1870.
"The day will be the most memorable in the history of America. I am apt to j believe it will be celebrated by i succeeding generations as the great j anniversary festival... It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other , from this time forward for ever more. "
- John Adams, July 3, 1776
Editor/Contributor Anne Bartett
Contributor Norm Isler
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Local Lore
October 2010 Issue 73
The Topsfield Historical Society Newsletter
WEB Address (http://vv\vw. topsfieldhistorv.org) Email: webmaster@topsfieldhistory.org P.O. Box 323, Topsfield, Massachusetts 01983
How Close to Topsfield Did George Washington Come?
On October 15, 1789 President George Washington, 57 years old and in office 6 months, left Manhattan to tour New England. He was slowly recovering from a protracted illness and needed a sojourn to restore his health. He also wanted to familiarize himseif with “the force of the country, the growth and agriculture thereof and the temper and disposition of the inhabitants towards the new government".
This was Washington’s first visit to New England since the 1775-76 j^ege of Boston when he was adquartered in Cambridge. He left Boston on Thursday, October 29 for Cambridge and passed through North Cambridge, Medford and Malden to Saugus Parish in Lynn. He was greeted at the Essex County line by Major General Jonathon Titcomb of Newburyport, leader of the Essex Brigade. Seated in his four horse carriage he passed through Lynn Village and Swampscott, going off his planned route at Vinnin Square to visit Marblehead and his old friend General John Glover. Glover had twice served him extremely well, first at the nighttime evacuation of Brooklyn Heights and later at the crossing of the Delaware to surprise the Hessians at Trenton. From Marblehead he headed to Salem on Lafayette Street where a resplendent reception was held, e stayed overnight at the Joshua ard house on Court Street, On October 30 he left on horseback
for Beverly and breakfast with
George Cabot, Beverly’s most prosperous merchant. Afterwards
they traveled to North Beverly to the “Cotton Manufactory” owned by Cabot and other investors. He was impress- ed by the operation as noted in his diary. From here he journeyed up what is now Route 1A through Wenham- Hamlet into Ipswich, Rowley, crossing the Parker River bridge into Old Town Newbury on his way to an overnight stay in Newburyport. From here he ferried across the Merrimac River at Amesbury just East of the Route 95 bridge (you can still see the stone ferry slip on the Amesbury side from the water) en route to Portsmouth, the Northernmost point on his tour.
• This “Manufactory” was located at the Northwest comer of the Routes 97 and 1A intersection in North Beverly. There is a historical marker next to the fire station commemorating the president’s visit, and this location being about 6 miles from Topsfield is as close to the town as he ever came.
Upcoming Events
Moll Pitcher of Lynn: World Famous Clairvoyant
Anne Barrett October 15th, 7:30 PM
Halloween Witches’ Roost for Kids
October 24th, 2 to 4 PM
The exhibit
Topsfield’s Agricultural Heritage
is on display in the Meeting Room of the Topsfield Library during the month of October. This exhibit was created by members of the Society and other town and local organizations. An exhibit reception for the public will be held October 16th 2 to 4 PM.
Don’t Miss It!
3rd Grade History Lesson
The Steward School third graders had a field trip to four historic locations in town, the Parson Capen House and Gould Barn, the Congregational Church Meeting House and the Rail Trail. Each location was manned by a Society member who gave a brief talk about the significance of their assigned location and answered questions. The children seemed to enjoy this based upon the nice thank you notes they sent to the participating society members. The teachers felt the trip was worth repeating next year. Who knows: these students could be tomorrow’s Society members!
Editor/Contributor Anne Barrett
Contributor Norm Isler
Signs of the Times
The permanent historical railroad history marker is installed at the corner of Main and Park Sireets, so when you’re downtown, please take time to see it.
The Society has placed a new Parson Capen House sign at the corner of routes 1 and 97. Look for it the next time you drive through that intersection.
Types of clouds are numbered ^ according to the altitudes they 1 attain, with nine being the highest. If someone is said to J be on 'cloud nine’ that person J is floating above worldly cares. ^
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Local Lore
November 2010 Issue 74
The Topsfield Historical Society Newsletter
WEB Address (httpVAvw vv.topsfieldhistorv.org) Email: webmaster@topsfieldhistory.org P.O. Box 323, Topsfield, Massachusetts 01983
TOPSFIELD COPPER MINES
“Mr. Endicott hath found a copper mine in his own ground.
Mr. Leader hath tried it.” So writes John Winthrop to his son in 1648. Such a find was of much importance to the infant colony and Mr. Endicott at once petitioned the General Court to layout the boundaries of the 550 acres granted him in 1639 and on which he had made so valuable a discovery. The Court acted upon his request and appointed two men from Reading to perform this duty, which for some unknown reason, they neglected to do; for nearly two years later in 1657 the ^nrt appointed two more men “to ray out the former grant of land on the Ipswich River made to the Honored Governor Endicott Esq. that he shall not suffer damage that it hath not been laid out formerly.” The return made to the Court in May, 1659 defined the location as being bounded by the Ipswich River, a brook to the east (Fish Brook), Blind Hole to the south and the wilderness elsewhere. One would naturally think that the Governor’s farmland on the Ipswich River was at last settled but there are four or five other orders of the Court in regard to it. There seems to have been much trouble about the bounds between Zaccheus Gould’s land and that of “Ye Honored Governor” and, as neither were of yielding dispositions, it required much time ^^nd patience to reach a ^»isfactory settlement, was in Topsfield on the Governor’s land that the first
TOPSFIELD, MAINE
Topsfield, Maine is a small township in the eastern part of the state, near the Canadian border that was named in honor of Topsfield, MA. It was founded by Nehemiah Kneeland* who moved from Topsfield, MA to Harrison, Maine about 1818; about ten years later moving to Lincoln, Maine where in March, 1832 in company with a few neighbors, he loaded his family and household goods on a sled drawn by oxen, and went forty miles further into the wilderness for a total of over 180 miles from Harrison. The party made a clearing in the unbroken forest and founded a new town. Here some of Nehemiah Kneeland’s descendants still live. The town has a heavy growth of timber and, like its namesake, has several high hills. It was incorporated February 24, 1838. The population in 1890 was 375 and in 2000 was down to 225. Essex County names- Bailey, Lane and Noyes appeared in an early list of business people.
‘Nehemiah Kneeland was born in Topsfield, Ma on May 5, 1780 and married Mary Goodhue of Salem. He was the son of Aaron and Hannah (Ramsdeii) Kneeiand, and a descendant of Edward Kneeland. an early settler of Ipswich. Aaron Kneeland was a soldier serving at Lexington and Bunker Hill. He moved with his family to Harrison, Maine about 1808 where many of his descendants still resided in 1900.
HAPIT
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Editor |
Contributor |
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Anne Barrett |
Norm Isler |
Upcoming Events
History of the Halifax Explosion
November 12, 7:30 PM
Parson Capen House Thanksgiving Open House
Costumed docents serve treats & roast a turkey fireside, children’s games Thanksgiving Day, 10 AM - 12 PM
History of the Battery
1748 - Benjamin Franklin first coined the term "battery" to describe an array of charged glass plates.
1780 to 1786 - Luigi Galvani demon- strated what we now understand to be the electrical basis of nerve impulses and provided the cornerstone of research for later inventors like Volta. 1800 - Alessandro Volta invented the voltaic pile and discovered the first practical method of generating electricity. Constructed of alternating discs of zinc and copper with pieces of cardboard soaked in brine between the metals, the voltic pile produced electrical current. The metallic conducting arc was used to carry the electricity over a greater distance. Alessandro Volta's voltaic pile was the first "wet cell battery" that produced a reliable, steady current of electricity. 1836 - Englishman, John F, Daniel invented the Daniel Cell that used two electrolytes: copper sulfate and zinc sulfate. The Daniel Cell was somewhat safer and less corrosive then Volta’s. 1839 - William Robert Grove developed the first fuel cell, which produced electric by combining hydrogen and oxygen.
1839 to 1842 - Inventors created improvements to batteries that used liquid electrodes to produce electricity, Bunsen (1842) and Grove (1839) invented the most successful.
http://inventors. about, com/library/inventors/blbatt ery.htm
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attempt was made by English colonists to mine the ore at a location called at the time Blind Hole. It was tested by a Mr. Richard Leader of the Lynn (now Saugus) iron works and in 1651 the Governor petitioned the General Court for the grant of a wood lot in his neighborhood to enable him to work it with more ease. He also mentioned that he had sent to Sweden and Germany for persons skilled in the art. The Court granted him 300 additional acres on the condition that he set up his works within seven years. Leader had been hired by “The Adventurers in the Iron Works” in England to oversee the Lynn operation and it is written that he visited Endicott’s farm but met with ill success. After 1651 he went to Berwick (now in Maine) where he had a grant for the exclusive use of the Little River to erect mills .and was replaced at Lynn by a Mr. John Gifford.
Charles M. Endecott, in his memories of Gov. Endecott closes his account of the mine by saying it was subsequently abandoned since it was not yielding enough copper to continue working it.
Here the records vary, with one describing two mine lots both owned by William Batchelder known as the upper and lower lots and the other by Mr. SS Mackensie in 1851 writing in the Essex Institute Proceedings saying there were three. The first two are well documented. A deed dated 1771 signed by Benjaim, Jacob, Joseph, Mary, and two Elizabeths all of the Towne family, gave Edmund Quincy of Stoughtonham all the mines, ores, minerals and other hidden treasures lying in their lower lot for the next 21 years. The upper mine lot is mentioned in a 1772 deed given by Samuel Cummings selling a four acre site to Elijah Porter. Porter, in turn, sold William Buntin of England one eighth part of “all and singular mines, mine ores, minerals and other treasures”.
According to tradition Buntin loaded a vessel with ore and went with it to England. He was taken sick enroute and died either before or after he landed and no one knows what became of the ore. The mine was abandoned and in the course of time was nearly forgotten.
It is related in the Society’s 1896 Historical Collections Vol II that one of Buntin’s descendants came to Massachusetts, visited the Registry of Deeds in Salem and found the mine at Topsfield was the one mentioned in the contract. It is thought he did not find the prospect promising enough to warrant working the mine. His visit did arouse old memories and was probably the cause of the mines being reopened in 1839.
Papers of the time say that the upper mine was opened first. A well shaped shaft was found with tools lying at its bottom left by workmen nearly seventy years before. Why the tools were left was likely due to water which filled the shaft except in very dry seasons. These tools were presented to the East India Marine Society in 1 843 along with a paper describing the mine. This mine did not yield much ore and so the shaft in the lower lot was opened to a depth of about one hundred feet. This shaft also had much water and, after an unsuccessful attempt to drain it the mine was abandoned a third time.
The natives had made use of copper for personal adornment long years before the advent of the white man, but these eastern tribes probably obtained it in barter from tribes living near the great lakes region where nearly pure copper could be found in its crude state.
So ends Topsfield’s copper mining adventure.
Background information for this article came from the 1896 Volume II of the Society’s Historical Collections
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Local Lore
December 2010 Issue 75
The Topsfield Historical Society Newsletter
WEB Address (httn:/A\ AVAv.toDsfieldhistorv.org) Email: webmaster@topsfiekJhistory.org P.O. Box 323, Topsfield, Massachusetts 01983
Perkins Row Stone Bridge
One of our residents recently asked who built the stone bridge on Perkins Row that stands near Steward School, not far from the town wellfield. As anyone who has passed over this bridge can attest it is quite attractive with its grand native stone construction and its high arch design. The answer is that we can thank Thomas Emerson Proctor who designed it so that a canoeist could pass beneath it. While the date of construction is not certain it most likely was built in the 1920s and probably by skilled Italian workers ^ho built the Rockery in 1911 after ie years of intensive labor. In "addition to building this bridge, Proctor supplied manpower to grade and gravel the full length of Perkins Row and to plow the snow in winter.
At one time Proctor’s estate occupied one quarter of the land within the town and employed nearly one tenth of the population. In 1930 his estate reached from the Ipswich River on the south and east to Pye and Howlett brooks on the north and was bounded on the west by Route 97 encompassing Great Hill. He also had two polo fields, one on either side of North Street that were converted in the early 30s to corn when he undertook the raising of Aberdeen Angus cattle. He donated the land where Proctor School stands and even offered to build the school; ^^ie town turned down his offer but ^Bd accept the land, but that is ^another story.
From the Topsfield Historical Collections Vol XXXII
Cemetery Monument Cleaning
John Holliman, a tombstone carver and house painter in Salem who lived from about 1700 to 1760, provided about a dozen monuments to Pine Grove Cemetery in Topsfield, including those of Parson Capen and Madame Capen, as she was then known.
These stones were made of a relatively soft brown sandstone which had deteriorated some over the years. The stones were also covered with lichens so that the inscriptions could not be read. About a year ago, cemetery superintendent Steve Shephard provided a wooden cover for the Capen tombstones with funding from the Society.
Earlier this year the Society engaged Ivan Myger of Building and Monument Conservation in Arlington to clean and repair the Holliman monuments.
Robin Rosten, a BU student working with Myjer, cleaned the stones by mildly scrubbing them with a brush and water. The results are quite dramatic, and the inscriptions on many of the stones can now be easily read, particularly on the stone for Madame Capen. Rosten has a grant to work in cemetery restoration, and so her services were contributed without charge. Ivan Myjer is now planning to seal the edges of these monuments with cement colored to match the stone, to further conserve them. The Society was pleased to provide the funding for this important preservation project in Pine Grove Cemetery.
HAIIY KEW YEAH!
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Editor |
Contributor |
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Anne Barrett |
Norm Isler |
Upcoming Events
Holiday Party
Members Only December 12, 3 PM
Topsfield’s Antique Homes and Their Residents
January 9, 3 PM Bill Whiting
Christmas Around the World
In Italy, children receive gifts from the good witch La Befana, (above) old, bent and dressed in black. La Befana was a widowed, childless woman when the Three Kings passed on their way to see the Christ child. When they asked her the way to Bethlehem she was busy cleaning and sent them away. Realizing her mistake, she left to search for the Baby Jesus. To this day she is still searching going from house to house on Epiphany, January 6, leaving a gift for good children.
Russian children await gifts from Babouska, a farmer's wife who offered food and shelter to the Three Wise men on their journey to Bethlehem, Baboushka declined their offer of travelling with them to visit the Christ child. Realizing her error on the eve of Epiphany, she tried unsuccessfully to find them, but handed the presents she had intended for the infant Jesus to children she passed along the way.