Author: WELLS, John A. Institution: SLGS Call Number: US/CAN Book 974.45/P1 Classification: COMPILED: GeneralHistory Location: USA, Massachusetts, Essex, Peabody Date Range: BTWN 1629 and 1661 Land Ownership: SOUTHWICK, Lawrence Document Entry Number: 1
Information: Page: 147-155
Transcription: SETTLERS ON TRASK BURYING GROUND SIDE OF MAIN STREET
As seen on the map of main Street in 1700, there were four houses and a fulling mill on the Trask burying ground side of Main Street to Peabody Square. At the present Peabody-Salem line was the Trask burying ground also known as the Old South, and Trask orchard. The Trask orchard was the site of Captain William Trask's early homestead as mentioned in this volume. His second mill was located at that site also. It is believed that he was buried in 1666 at the burying ground that bore his name in 1700. The Abel Gardner land as shown on map was granted in 1639 to Thomas Gardner. Following his death in 1674, it was left to his son, Samuel. The town granted to Samuel an additional 15 to 20 rods of common land by Strongwater Brook in 1688. On the Gardner land was located a burial place for the family, first used for that purpose in 1674. It was still used up to 1850 when the construction of Grove now Howley Street caused the remains to be removed to Harmony Grove Cemetery and the Trask burying ground. Gardner's hill was also cut down in 1850 to fill in the marsh and water area for the construction of Howley Street.
WILLIAM POOLE HOUSE (1754 to 1970)
Proceeding up Main Street adjoining the Trask burying ground was a strip of common land in 1700. Most of this was acquired by William Poole, the leather dresser and glove maker, who also owned a large part of Stones Plain. In 1754 he built the large gambrel roof house located at 188 Main Street until recent years. Five generations of the Poole family lived in the old homestead. It was occupied by William's son, Deacon Fitch Poole, early Peabody tanner, Fitch Poole, Jr., famous writer and wit of the 19th century, and Arthur F. Poole, who served as President of the Warren Five Cents Savings Bank for 23 years. Arthur engaged in the wholesale woolen business for many years. He served in the Civil war in his teens, and held many positions of honor and trust in Peabody. The old Poole homestead was sold in 1907, and was demolished in 1970.
GEORGE SMITH HOUSE
The land on which this house was located, as shown on map, originally belonged to Lawrence Southwick, the Quaker victim. He sold it to John Smith in 1650 who built a house on the lot. Following John Smith's death in 1681, it was owned by his children, George and Exercise Smith. Exercise married Samuel Pope, and they released their share in the property to George Smith in 1687. John Smith who built the original house on this land was arrested with his wife during the Quaker Persecution, and they were in prison for two years. He was a tailor and was hired by the town to repair Strongwater Brook bridge in 1673. George Smith, who acquired the property in 1687, later built a new house, he conveyed the western part of the old one to his son John in 1725, and also in 1740 his great barn, etc. George Smith died in 1744 and in his will left one part of the homestead to John, and the other part to his son, Samuel. Samuel Smith conveyed his interest to his brother, John, in 1745. John moved to Mendon, and in 1748 sold the house and land to Roger Derby, a sadler. It was stated that the first old house built by John Smith in 1650 was gone at this time. In 1798 when the George Smith house was owned by Charles Derby and Samuel Verry it was described in the direct tax as having an area of 1,497 square feet, two stories high, with 26 windows containing 217 square feet glass, and valued at $900. Part of the property was acquired about 1800 by George G. Smith, a merchant, from Samuel Verry. Smith sold his part to Gilbert Chadwick, a merchant, in 1807. William Sutton, the early wool manufacturer of Peabody, acquired the entire property from the Estate of Charles Derby and Gilbert Chadwick in 1808. The property at that time was described as containing a three-story house, stable, chaise house, wood house, and other outbuildings with an acre or more of land. William Sutton possibly rented part of this house before he acquired it, since his son, General William Sutton, was born in it in 1800. The Sutton house was a long, narrow, three-story structure with a flat roof. It was similar in design to the house owned by Dr. O'Rourke at 111 Main Street. It was torn down in the 1920's; the Sousa Oil Co. now occupies the site.
JOHN BLETHIN HOUSE (MCINTIRE AND HILDRETH SOAP SHOP)
This property was originally part of the Lawrence Southwick homestead. He left it to his son, Daniel, by will in 1659. Immediately after the will was made Daiiiel took possession of the land, knowing that his father would never return from his banishment to Shelter Island. Daniel Southwick conveyed the property to John Blethin, another Quaker, in 1659 in order to avoid its being taken from him to pay the heavy fines imposed on him for his Quaker belief. Following the Persecution period, the property was reconveyed to Daniel Southwick; he conveyed three acres to John Blethin. Another acre was released to Mr. Blethin by John Burnell; it had been left to him by Lawrence Southwick. John Blethin built a house on this property in 1664. Following his death his executors conveyed the house and lot to Daniel Southwick, Jr., in 1704. The property was owned by his son, Jonathan, in 1733; he sold it to his brother John Southwick III, the shopkeeper, in 1738. John Southwick III, who operated a general store in this part of Main Street (described in another part of this volume), lived in the old Blethin house, and conveyed the house and land to his son, Daniel Southwick, a yeoman, in 1773. In the direct tax of 1798 the house was described as containing 864 square feet, two stories high, with 14 windows, and valued at $500. Daniel Southwick died around 1800; in 1814 the easterly part of the house was conveyed to Ebenezer Osborn, a trader, and the western part to Squires Shove, early Peabody tanner. In 1816 Osborn sold his part of the property to Squires Shove. It was in this house that Samuel McIntire lived and had a shop for the manufacture of soap and candles in the rear. He tore down the old Blethin house and built the present building at 168 Main Street. Joseph Shaw succeeded McIntire in the 1840's. Joseph Hildreth took over the business and ran it to 1853. His younger brother, Elbridge Hildreth, then formed a partnership with Samuel Ferguson. In 1856 the business was taken over by Paul Hildreth who died in 1869, when the business was liquidated. Following the Hildreth ownership the property was owned by John Pinder, George Jacobs, the clothing merchant, and William 0. Batchelder, who operated the general store nearby. After Mr. Batchelder's death in 1920, his heirs sold the property to Charles Shannahan who built store fronts on the dwelling, where Collins Cafe is today. Adjoining the site of the old Blethin house was the building known as the oldest store in town built by John Southwick III in 1735 (described elsewhere in this volume). Adjoining the store was a house built in 1760 owned by Thomas Porter. He was a shopkeeper and one time owned the store mentioned above. The Porter house was replaced by the present house on that site by George J. Winchester, the tanner in the 1880's.
SOUTHWICK - FITZ - GENERAL FOSTER - DR. SHED - AND COOPER HOUSE (1664 - 1963)
The old house that stood at 156 Main Street until 1963 when it was destroyed by fire was known for many years as the Dr. Shed house. It was possibly built in 1664 by Daniel Southwick, the son of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick, the Quaker victims. Daniel married Esther Boyce in 1663 and died in 1718. The house was next owned by their son, Daniel, and by his son, John Southwick, known as the shopkeeper. Before 1769 the house was sold to Nathaniel Fitz, a sadler. In 1777 John and Daniel Southwick sold half an acre to Nathaniel Fitz for forty pounds. An additional tract included in that selling price was sold to Fitz on the other side of Main Street. General Gideon Foster of Revolutionary War fame acquired the house and land from Fitz in 1779 for 6,000 pounds. This was just four years after he led the local minuteman to the Battle of Lexington. General Foster lived in this house to 1816, a period of 37 years. In the direct tax of 1798 the area of the house was 1,050 square feet, two stories high, had 21 windows and was valued at $800. Dr. Joseph Shed bought the property from General Foster in 1816, making the following announcement of his acquisition in a Salem paper dated August 13, 1816: "Notice is hereby given that the subscriber has removed from his late residence, near Newburyport Turnpike Gate, to the house he lately purchased of Gideon Foster Esq., being a little below the sign of the Eagle; where he will attend to the several branches of public business which he has heretofore been engaged in. He feels very grateful to his friends and the public for the Liberal encouragement he has received and solicits a continuance. (signed) Joseph Shed" Dr. Shed conducted one of the early apothecaries at the old house from 1816 until his death in 1853. He also served as town clerk for Peabody and Danvers from 1835 to 1853, and it was written of him: "Perhaps the model clerk of all was Dr. Shed, a man who evidently loved to make his record clear and beautiful." It was during Dr. Shed's occupancy that the old house was used by the Jordan Lodge of Masons from 1816 to 1834; the first meeting of the Universalist Society was also held there. Following Dr. Shed's death, the apothecary was continued by his grandson, George Meacom. The old house was owned up to recent years by Dorothy Cooper; shortly after she sold it, the house was renovated and destroyed by fire in 1963. Thus, another of the historic landmarks of Peabody has disappeared from the scene.
LAWRENCE SOUTHWICK HOMESTEAD (1658-1862) (MAIN STREET OPPOSITE WASHINGTON STREET)
Lawrence Southwick, Quaker and early glass maker, originally owned all the land shown on map of Main Street in 1700 under the names of Daniel Southwick, John Blethin, and George Smith. Mr. Southwick was banished from the colony in 1659 for his Quaker belief. He went with his wife, Cassandra, to Shelter Island, where they died of privation and exposure. His will, proved in 1660, left to his son, Daniel, his homestead on Main Street opposite Washington Street which he built around 1658. Mr. Southwick had previously lived in the Aborn Street area, near the glass works he helped establish. Daniel Southwick, in 1706, conveyed to his son, Lawrence, this lot with part of the house and barn. By 1739 another Daniel Southwick, a tanner, acquired the entire property; in 1742, sold it to his brother Joseph Southwick, Jr., a currier, for 180 pounds. Joseph Southwick is recognized as the first real leather manufacturer of Peabody. He married Bethiah Collum of Urbridge, and she, though a Quaker, furnished refreshments to the Revolutionary Soldiers on their way to Lexington and Bunker Hill. The Peabody Chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution was named for Mrs. Southwick. When Joseph Southwick died in 1791, the property was left to his son, Edward, who was also a tanner. Edward's children were famed tanners, and the last to occupy the old homestead was Philip R. Southwick who became a prominent leather manufacturer of New England. He sold the property to David Pingree in 1847. Isaac B. and Lewis W. Elliot acquired the property in 1856; they sold the house to Calvin Pierce who took it down in 1862. Mr. Pierce then used the material from the Southwick house in a new house that he built at 41 Webster Street, Peabody, near the National Calfskin Co. The Elliots then built two twin houses on Main Street opposite Washington Street. The Lawrence Southwick house was described as having a gambrel roof, and was the first house in Peabody which had square panes of glass, which was so odd-looking at the time of diamond-shaped glass, that people from the country used to call it the "glass house." This was an appropriate name, since Lawrence Southwick was one of the founders of the first glass works in America off Aborn Street.
HENRY TRASK HOUSE (MAIN AND MILL STREET AREA)
This property as shown on map of Main Street in 1700 under the name of Nicholas Trask was originally the homestead of Henry Trask. He was a Quaker and came to America on the ship MARY & JOHN in 1634. He lived.in Salem to 1652, and was residing at his home on Main Street in 1658. He married Mary Southwick and they were the parents of four children. Following Henry Trask's death in 1683 several transfers of the property, occurred among the children; in 1695 Joseph Foster conveyed his wife's share to Nicholas Trask who was then conducting a fulling mill near Peabody Square. Nicholas also purchased shares of the property from the other heirs. By 1743 Nicholas Trask, who had moved to Mendon, sold the property to Samuel Tompson of Oswego, New York, and it was revealed that the early Henry Trask house was gone at the time of this transfer.
TRASK MILL (MILL STREET - REAR OF PEABODY COOPERATIVE BANK)
As mentioned previously Captain William Trask built the first mill at this site in what is now the rear of the Peabody Cooperative Bank in 1634. The first mill was discontinued in 1640. About 1645 Thomas Lovell used the original mill in his trade as a currier. He was the first currier in Peabody, and one of the pioneers of the leather industry. About 1654 a samp mortar-mill was established at this site, and in 1662 a new corn mill was erected. This corn mill ran for several years, after it had been unused for some time, it was removed. It was replaced in 1692 by a fulling mill built by John Trask. The title to the various mills at this site remained in the Trask family for over one hundred years. The last mill to occupy the site near Peabody Square was the Wallis and Southwick mill (shown on a map of the town in 1795 by-Gideon Poster, Jr.) One of the owners was Dennison Wallis, the Revolutionary War hero and prominent tanner.
FOSTER STREET AREA
The Foster Street area of Peabody that bordered on Stones Plain was laid out as a narrow way in 1713. Most of this area was lowland and watery. General Gideon Foster developed the water resources and conducted a bark mill, a grist mill, and a chocolate mill. His mills were destroyed by fire in 1823. Captain Garland, a famous sea captain, had a tan yard, near the former Cooper Ford Sales on Foster Street, which was operated by his son, William. Captain Garland was attacked by one of his crew on board the ship he commanded in 1823. This crewhand made a plan with the others, that if he succeeded in killing Captain Garland, he would take command, and on arriving at some distant port they would sell the vessel and share in the profits. In the death struggle that took place between the two, the Captain aided by a mulatto boy succeeded in knocking down the assassin and pitched him overboard. Before the wretch sank beneath the waves, he was heard to say, "Oh! damn you, I meant to have the command of the vessel." Captain Garland brought the mulatto boy back with him to Peabody, and he attended school in the town.
OLD BULL PEN (SITE OF POST OFFICE)
The site of the present Post Office on Poster Street was in early times used for cattle and sheep pens. The mural in the post office depicts this early scene. At the pens it was revealed in the early 1800's that Major Wheeler, Oliver Saunders, Isaac Elliott, and Elijah Webster used to buy stock for the Salem market. The Foster Street area was also used for horse races in the early 1800's and was a part of the early tanning industry of Peabody.
ABORN STREET AREA AND GLASS HOUSE FIELD
Aborn Street ran only a short distance (originally) from Boston Street, Salem, to the residence of Samuel Aborn near Strongwater Brook. A branch of the early road connected with the old Boston Road that went on through Peabody to Lynn and Boston. It was in the Aborn Street area that the first manufacture of glass in America was started by Ananais Conklin, Lawrence Southwick, and Obadiah Holmes in 1638 at the glass house field.
ABORN FAMILY
The Aborn family for whom the street is named were descendants of Samuel Aborn (Eaborne) who settled in Peabody in 1636 at the age of 25. He married Catherine Smith of Marblehead and they were the parents of seven children. The first Samuel Aborn lived in the Aborn Street area, and in 1661 built a house in the Wilson Square area of Peabody where he remained until his death in the winter of 1699/1700. Samuel Aborn helped build the first Salem bridge near Blubber Hollow when he helped saw 240 feet of 2-inch plank for the bridge in the common land of the town. For this work both Mr. Aborn and his helper were paid 25 shillings in 1645. Mr. Aborn also was a surveyor of fences in Peabody, served as a juryman, and was on the grand jury. His son, Samuel Aborn, Jr., lived in the Aborn Street area until his death in 1721. He also acquired his father's house in Wilson Square, which he left to his daughter in 1705. The Aborn property on Aborn Street was later owned by William Aborn and by his son, Samuel Aborn, a husbandman, who died in 1772. His sons, Joseph, a cordwainer and farmer, and Samuel, a husbandman, were possibly the last of that family to live in the Aborn Street area. Both died in 1800.
JOHN HILL AND GEORGE LOCKER HOUSE (ABORN STREET)
Another early settler of the Peabody section of Aborn Street was John Hill who was born in Bristol, England, around 1635. He was a wheelwright who lived on the easterly side of Aborn Street, south of the glass house field. On his death in 1680, he left his house and three acres of upland lying in the glass house field to his wife, Lydia (Buffum). She married George Locker before 1688; he owned the property in 1696. The land was later owned by General William Sutton who had large land holdings in the Aborn Street area.
GLASS HOUSE FIELD
The Aborn Street land that formed part of the Glass House Field in Peabody in 1638 was granted to Ananias Conklin, the glassmaker, and Henry Rennals in separate parcels. Lawrence Southwick owned the other part of the glass house field in Salem as shown on map. Mr. Conklin built a house on his part of the Peabody land before 1661, and it was gone before 1702. Henry Rennals later acquired the Conklin property and sold it in 1688 to Lieutenant John Pickering and Edward Flint. He sold the remaining part to John Pickering, Jr. in 1689. Mr Flint sold his part to John Pickering, Jr. in 1693. Upon Mr. Pickering's death in 1722, it was left to his heirs, and was later owner by General William Sutton.
Peabody figured prominently in the Quaker persecutions that took place in Massachusetts during the 17th century. The Quakers were a religious sect founded in England in 1648 by George Fox. The name Quaker in actually a nickname that came about when George Fox told an old English judge that he should "tremble at the word of the Lord." The judge then termed Fox and his followers "Quakers." The Puritans had themselves fled from European religions and political persecution, and it seems incredible that they should have become worse oppressors and persecutors. They were fiercer in opposition to those who differed from their religion that their own oppressors had ever been. The Puritan wrath was against a peaceful, sober, industrious, inoffensive class of citizens, who did not believe in force, war or strife, but who had their own belief in how to worship God. To the Puritans, the Quakers were strangers, interlopers, interrupters of assemblies, intolerant of the Puritan Church, shouters, haranguers, etc., and that was the basis of the action taken against them. When the Quakers refused to conform to the religious views of the Puritans they were subject to all forms of torture. Laws were passed against them. In 1656, the Massachusetts General Court forbade Quakers to enter the province, and forbade anyone to entertain them. Later, the General Court stated that if they came they would be evicted, if they came again their ears would be cut off, and if they returned a third time, they would be hanged. This did not stop the Quakers from coming, for with each atrocity and death others followed. Several Quakers came to Peabody and many families gave them shelter. Several families who refused to attend the regular church services of the Puritans at Salem, were fined and warned. Among those who suffered heavy fines were Samuel Shattock, Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick, and the Harnetts. The last were forced to sell their house (located near the site of the Peabody City Hall) in 1658, and disappear. The most noted Quaker family upon whom the Puritan wrath fell frequently was that of Lawrence Southwick, the glassmaker who resided in Peabody. The Quakers were hospitably entertained by the Southwicks at their home on Main Street. Because of this the Southwicks got into trouble, and two of their friends each lost an ear. In addition to this, the Southwicks were committed to the prison in Boston. Lawrence Southwick was soon released to be dealt with by the Church, but his wife, Casandra, was kept for seven weeks, and was allowed to return home only upon paying a fine of forty shillings. West Peabody was the scene of various Quaker services throughout the whole persecution. The woods of that section offered protection to those who were afraid to hold services in their homes. One of the Sunday meetings was held at the home of Nicholas Phelps in West Peabody near Crystal Lake. This was about seven miles from the church in Salem, and the meeting was attended by Quaker missionaries. At the trial held in 1658 it was revealed that many Quakers were sheltered in various homes in Peabody; the Southwick, Phelps, Buffum, Trask, and Needham families were all involved. Some confessed they were Quakers and were fined or imprisoned. Others recanted and were released. Those sent to jail were Lawrence and Casandra Southwick, Josiah Southwick, Samuel Shattuck, Samuel Gaskin, and Joseph Buffum. They did not take their punishment with humility, as is shown by the spirited letter headed, "This to Ye Magistrates in Court at Salem," and dated "From Ye house of bondage in Boston whar in we are made Captives by ye will of men although in measure made free be ye Son." The letter revealed that all had been whipped once, and Casandra Southwick twice.
SOUTHWICKS BANISHED
In 1659 the sentence of banishment was pronounced on Lawrence and Casandra Southwick, their son, Josiah, and Nicholas Phelps, Joshua Buffum, and Samuel Shattuck. All were under sentence of death if they returned. Governor Endicott said that "they deserved to hang as they were heretics." Lawrence and his wife, in their old age, were thus parted from their children, and with little money and a few articles, secured a boat and sailed to Shelter Island on Long Island Sound. The fines had taken most of their estate. On Shelter Island they built a little house and spent the few remaining months of their lives in exile. The rigorous winter that followed was too much for them, and both died in the spring of 1660, Mrs. Southwick surviving her husband by just three days. It has been stated that they were martyrs to the bigotry of Governor Endicott and a few other misguided officials of the time. Lawrence Southwick was the emmigrant ancestor of the numerous Southwick family in the United States. He came to Salem from Lancashire, England. He brought over his wife and children in 1630 and settled in Peabody. He was one of the partners in the first manufacture of glass and earthenware in the United States located off Aborn and Abbott streets in Peabody. Both Lawrence and Casandra were buried in the Sylvester burial lot on Shelter Island. The island derived its name from the fact that it served as a shelter for the Quakers. Members of the Sylvester family erected a substantial monument over the Southwick graves. The monument is located on a granite elevation, its base made of three granite steps that have the following inscription:
Top Step - "Lawrence and Casandra Southwick" Middle Step - "Despoiled, Imprisoned, Starved, Whipped, Banished" Bottom Step - "Who Fled Here To Die"
ATTEMPT TO SELL SOUTHWICK CHILDREN INTO SLAVERY
On the very day that Lawrence, his wife, and son were banished in 1659, their son Daniel, and their daughter Provided, age 18, were ordered sold into slavery to the ships' captains, and to be sent among the Barbarians of the Barbados Island. This was at the suggestion of Captain Hathorne, and the reason given was that they could not pay the heavy fines imposed upon them "for siding with the Quakers, and absenting themselves from public ordinances." The ships' captains refused to be a party to such an inhumane act. Edward Butter, one of the treasurers, in an effort to get something of the booty, sought to sell the Southwick children. One of the Captains, in an effort to put things off, pretended that they would spoil all the ships company. Butter replied, "No, you need not fear that , for they are poor, harmless creatures, and will not hurt anybody." "Will they not so?" replied the captain, "and will you offer to make slaves of such harmless creatures?" John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a poem entitled "Casandra Southwick" substituting the mother's name in place of Provided, as her mother's name was more poetic. The attempted sale of Provided Southwick was probably the only instance in America where a white girl was put up at auction as a slave. Fortunately, no one would have any part of Mr. Butter's proposal.
WHIPPINGS OF JOSIAH SOUTHWICK
Josiah Southwick, the son of Lawrence and Casandra, also went to Shelter Island when he was banished in 1659. Two years later he returned with Joshua Buffum and was discovered in Boston and taken into custody. He was kept in the Boston jail nine weeks; the court of assistants on Sept 9, 1661 ordered that he be tied to a cart's tail, stripped to the waist, and whipped out of Boston with ten stripes, and then with ten stripes through Roxbury, and then to be delivered to the constables of Dedham, who were ordered to whip him ten stripes out of the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Colony. Southwick said to the court: "Here is my body; if you want a further testimony to the truth I profess, take it and tear it to pieces; your sentence is no more terrifying to me than if you had taken a feather and blown it in the air." He was whipped not with the whip cord, as in England, but with dried intestines of animals, and with three knots at the end, which the constable laid on with both hands, producing most violent torture. Southwick received 26 miles of whipping and punishment that day, and then the constable left him in the wilderness 15 miles from any town. His back was plowed, and his flesh torn and beaten. Fortunately, some friends had followed and assisted him to his home, more than 35 miles that night, making in all more than 60 miles of travel, more than likely, without food or drink. His friends had one horse between them, and he undoubtedly rode on horseback in the night.