1803.

     Rev. Joseph Roby, pastor of the Congregational Church in Saugus, died on the last day of January, aged 79. He was born at Boston, in 1724, graduated in 1742, and was ordained minister of the third parish of Lynn, now the first parish of Saugus, 1752. He preached fifty-one years. He was an excellent scholar, a pious and venerable man, and was highly esteemed for his social virtues. He published two Fast Sermons, one in 1781, the other in 1794. He married Rachel Proctor, of Boston, and had seven children; Joseph, Rachel, Mary, Henry, Thomas, Elizabeth and Sarah. [Mr. Roby belonged to an excellent family. Dr. Thomas Roby, of Cambridge, and Dr. Ebenezer Roby, of East Sudbury, both highly distinguished men, were his uncles. Some of the family spelled the name Robie. His son Thomas, who was born 2 March, 1759, graduated at Cambridge in 1779; settled at Chatham in 1783, and remained there till 1795. He died in 1836.]
     The ship Federal George, of Duxbury, sailed from Boston in February, bound to Madeira, with a cargo of flour and corn. In the number of the crew were three men from Lynn, whose names were Bassett Breed, Parker Mudge, and Jonathan Ward. In the midst of the Atlantic they were overtaken by a great storm, which, on the 22d, capsized the vessel, carried away her masts, and bowsprit, and when it subsided, left the deck two feet beneath the water. The crew, which consisted of seven men, remained lashed upon the windlass for twenty-four days. Their sustenance, for the first part of the time, was a small piece of meat, and a box of candles, which floated up from the hold. They afterward succeeded in obtaining a bag of corn, and some flour soaked with salt water. Their allowance of drink, at first, was a coffee-pot cover full of water twice a day. This was afterward reduced to one half, and then to one third. On the 18th of March, they were relieved by the Duke of Kent, an English merchant ship, returning from the South Sea. When they were taken from the wreck, they had but one quart of water left. [The Bassett Breed mentioned as one of the sufferers, survived for many years, and died at Lynn, on the 22d of December, 1862, at the advanced age of 87. He had accumulated considerable property, and was a worthy citizen.]
     On Sunday, the 8th of May, a snow storm commenced, and continued about seven hours. The snow was left upon the ground to the depth of one inch. The apple trees were in blossom at the time.
     On the 8th of July, Mr. William Cushman, aged 23, a workman on the Lynn Hotel, was drowned from a raft of timber, in Saugus river.
     On Sunday, the 10th of July, about three of the clock in the afternoon, a house on Boston street, nearly opposite the foot of Cottage, was struck by lightning, and Mr. Miles Shorey and his wife were instantly killed. The bolt appeared like a large ball of fire. It struck the western chimney, and then, after descending several feet, separated. One branch melted a watch which hung over the chamber mantel, passed over the cradle of a sleeping infant, covering it with cinders, and went out at the north chamber window. The other branch descended with the chimney, and when it reached the chamber floor, separated into two branches, above the heads of the wife and husband, who were passing at that instant from the parlor to the kitchen. One part struck Mrs. Shorey on the side of her head, left her stocking on fire, and passed into the ground. The other part entered Mr. Shorey's bosom, passed down his side, melted the buckle of his shoe, and went out at one of the front windows. There were four families in the house, which contained, at the time, nineteen persons, several of whom were much stunned. One man, who stood at the eastern door, was crushed to the floor by the pressure of the atmosphere. When the people entered the room in which Mr. Shorey and his wife lay, they found two small children endeavoring to awaken their parents. An infant, which Mrs. Shorey held in her arms, when she was struck, was found with its hair scorched, and its little finger nails slightly burned. She lived, and became the wife of Mr. Samuel Farrington. Mr. Shorey was a native of New Hampshire, 29 years of age. Mrs. Love Shorey, aged 28 years, was a daughter of Mr. Allen Breed, of Lynn. On the next day they were buried. The coffins were carried side by side, and a double procession of mourners, of a great length, followed the bodies to their burial in one grave.
     On the next Sunday, a funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Thomas Cushing Thacher, at the First Congregational meeting-house, from Job xxxvii: 2, 3, 4. At the close of the service, a house in Market street, owned by Mr. Richard Pratt, was struck by lightning. It descended the chimney, separated into three branches, did considerable damage to the house, and left Mr. Pratt senseless on the floor for several minutes.
     On Sunday, the 28th of August, at one o'clock in the morning, the hotel on the western part of Nahant, owned by Captain Joseph Johnson, took fire and was consumed, with all its contents. The family were awakened by the crying of a child, which was stifling with the smoke, and had just time to escape with their lives. A black man, who slept in the upper story, saved himself by throwing a feather bed from the window, and jumping upon it.
     On the 8th of September, John Ballard, John Pennerson, and his son, went out on a fishing excursion. On the next day, the boat came ashore at Nahant, with her sails set, the lines out for fishing, and food ready cooked. Nothing more was ever heard of the crew; but as Mr. Pennerson was a Frenchman, and as a French vessel had been seen that day in the bay, it was conjectured that they were taken on board and carried to France.
     On Thursday, the 22d of September, the Salem Turnpike was opened and began to receive toll. The Lynn Hotel was built this year. The number of shares in this turnpike was twelve hundred, and the original cost was $189.000. This road will become the property of the Commonwealth, when the proprietors shall have received the whole cost, with twelve per cent. interest; and the bridge over Mystic river, when seventy years shall be accomplished. This turnpike, for nearly four miles, passes over a tract of salt marsh, which is frequently covered by the tide. When it was first projected, many persons esteemed it impracticable to build a good road on such a foundation. One person testified that he had run a pole down to the depth of twenty-five feet. Yet this turnpike proves to be one of the most excellent roads in America.
     The post office was removed from Boston street to the south end of Federal street.

1804.

     This year a powder house was built, near High Rock, at an expense of one hundred and twenty dollars. [This remained a curious and conspicuous little mark for about fifty years, when on a certain night some rogue set it on fire and it was consumed. It had ceased to be used for the storing of powder, many years before.
     [The first celebration of Independence, in Lynn, took place this year. There was a procession, and an oration was delivered by Rev. Peter Janes, the Methodist minister. A patriotic ode, written by Enoch Mudge, was sung. A large company partook of a dinner in the hall in the west wing of the Hotel, which was built the preceding year.
     [Snow fell in this vicinity, in July; yet the month proved, on the average, to be the warmest of the year.]
     On the 4th of August, the body of a woman was found in the canal, on the north side of the turnpike, a short distance west of Saugus bridge. She was ascertained to have been a widow Currel, who was traveling from Boston to Marblehead. The manner of her death was unknown.
     Rev. William Frothingham was ordained minister of the Saugus parish, on the 26th of September. He continued to perform the duties of that office till the year 1817, when he was dismissed, on his own request.
     One of the greatest storms ever known in New England commenced on Tuesday morning, the 9th of October. The rain fell fast, accompanied by thunder. At four in the afternoon the wind became furious, and continued with unabated energy till the next morning. This was probably the severest storm after that of August, 1635. The damage occasioned by it was very great. Buildings were unroofed, barns, chimneys, and fences were blown down, and orchards greatly injured. The chimney of the school-house on the western part of the Common, fell through the roof, in the night, carrying the bench, at which I had been sitting a few hours before, into the cellar. Many vessels were wrecked, and in several towns the steeples of meeting-houses were broken off, and carried to a great distance. The number of trees uprooted in the woodlands was beyond calculation. Thousands of the oldest and hardiest sons of the forest, which had braved the storms of centuries, were prostrated before it, and the woods throughout were strewed with the trunks of fallen trees, which were not gathered up for many years. Some have supposed that a great storm, at an early period, may have blown down the trees on the marshes; but it could not have buried them several feet deep; and trees have been found thus buried.

1805.

     For a hundred and seventy-three years, from the building of the first parish meeting-house, the people had annually assembled in it, for the transaction of their municipal concerns. But this year, the members of that parish observing the damage which such meetings occasioned to the house, and believing that, since the incorporation of other parishes, the town had no title in it, refused to have it occupied as a town-house. This refusal occasioned much controversy between the town and parish, and committees were appointed by both parties to accomplish an adjustment. An engagement was partially made for the occupation of the house, on the payment of twenty-eight dollars annually; but the town refused to sanction the agreement, and the meetings were removed to the Methodist meeting-house, on the eastern part of the Common, in 1806.
     The Lynn Academy was opened on the 5th of April, under the care of Mr. William Ballard. A bell was presented to this institution by Col. James Robinson.
     An earthquake happened on the 6th of April, at fifteen minutes after two in the afternoon.
     On the 11th of May, Mr. John Legree Johnson's house, on the east end of the Common, was struck by lightning.
     A society of Free Masons was constituted on the 10th of June, by the name of Mount Carmel Lodge. [For further notices of this institution, see under dates 1834 and 1845.]
     On the 24th of July, Mr. Charles Adams fell from the rocks at Nipper Stage, on Nahant, and was drowned.
     [On Sunday, 11 October, Benjamin Phillips's house, on Water Hill, was struck by lightning.]

1806.

     A total eclipse of the sun happened on Monday, the 16th of June. It commenced a few minutes after ten in the forenoon, and continued about two hours and a half. The sun rose clear, and the morning was uncommonly pleasant. As the eclipse advanced, the air became damp and cool, like the approach of evening. The birds at first flew about in astonishment, and then retired to their roosts, and the stars appeared. The shadow of the moon was seen traveling across the earth from west to east; and at the moment when the last direct ray of the sun was intercepted, all things around appeared to waver, as if the earth was falling from its orbit. Several persons fainted, and many were observed to take hold of the objects near them for support. The motion of the spheres was distinctly perceptible, and the whole system appeared to be disordered. It seemed as if the central orb of light and animation was about to be forever extinguished, and creation was returning to its original nonentity. The most unreflecting mind was made sensible of its dependence, and the soul involuntarily sought the protection of its Maker. The total darkness endured about three minutes. When the sun came forth from his obscurity, it was with overwhelming lustre; the dreadful silence which had spread its dominion over the universe, was broken; the cocks began to crow, the birds renewed their songs, and man and nature seemed to rejoice, as if returning to existence, from which they had been shut out by the unwonted darkness.
     The anniversary of American Independence was this year publicly celebrated in Lynn, for the first time. [Mr. Lewis is mistaken here. See under date 1804.] As the spirit of party was exercising its unabated influence, the inhabitants could not unite in performing the honors of the day, and made two processions. The Federalists assembled at the First Congregational meeting-house, where an oration was delivered by Mr. Hosea Hildreth, preceptor of the Academy; and the Democrats met at the First Methodist meeting-house, where an oration was pronounced by Dr. Peter G. Robbins. The Democrats dined at the Hotel, and the Federalists in the hall of the Academy.

          And such regard for freedom there was shown,
          That either party wished her all their own!

     [The town meetings began to be held, this year, in the First Methodist meeting-house; and they were held there till 1814.]

1807.

     The town having determined that no person who was not an inhabitant should have the privilege of taking any sand, shells, or sea manure from the Lynn beaches, this year prosecuted several of the inhabitants of Danvers, for trespassing against this order. The decision of the court established the right of the town to pass such a vote and left it in legal possession of all the natural treasures which the sea might cast upon its shores.
     [A rock on the east side of Oak street, was struck by lightning, this year, and a portion weighing some twelve tons thrown two hundred feet.
     [Theophilus Bacheller's house was burned in October.]
     The depression of commerce and manufactures, at the close of this year, was very great. This was principally occasioned by the state of affairs in Europe, and the spoliation of property in American vessels, by the governments of France and England, which, in the prosecution of their hostilities, had made decrees affecting neutral powers. On the twenty-second of December, congress passed an act of embargo, by which all the ports of the United States were closed against the clearance of all vessels.

1808.

     The enforcement of the embargo law occasioned great suffering throughout the Union, particularly in commercial places. The harbors were filled with dismantled vessels, which lay rotting at the wharves. Thousands of seamen were thrown out of employment, the price of provisions was enhanced, and the spirit of desolation seemed to be spreading her dark wings over the land. While the democrats were disposed to regard this state of things as requisite to preserve the dignity of the nation and the energy of government, the federalists viewed it as an impolitic, unjust, and arbitrary measure, by which the interests of commerce were sacrificed to the will of party. The spirit of opposition, in this difference of opinion, was put forth in its utmost strength. At the election in April, the greatest number of votes was produced which had at this time been given in the town; of which 418 were for James Sullivan, and 273 for Christopher Gore. On the second of May, the people assembled for the choice of representatives. The democratic party voted to choose three, and the federalists were inclined to send none. As there was some difficulty in ascertaining the vote, it was determined that the people should go out of the house, and arrange themselves on different sides of the Common, to be counted. The democrats went out, but a part of the federalists remained, and took possession of the house. They chose a town clerk, to whom the oath of office was administered, voted to send no representative, and made a record of their proceeding in the town book. The other party then returned, and chose three representatives. Several of the principal federalists were afterward prosecuted for their infringement of a legal town meeting; but as it appeared on examination, that none of the town meetings had been legal for many years, because not called by warrant, they were exonerated. On the 29Ah of August, a meeting was held, to petition the President to remove the embargo; but the town voted that such a proceeding would be highly improper, and passed several resolutions, approving the measures of the administration. On the following day, the federalists prepared a memorial, expressing their disapprobation of the embargo, and requesting its repeal, which was transmitted to the President. The feelings of both parties were raised to a degree of excitement, which could only be sustained by political events of unusual occurrence.
     [A great bull fight took place at the half way house, on the turnpike, in the summer. Bulls and bull dogs were engaged in the cruel and vulgar sport. It was got up by a Mr. Gray, of Salem, and great numbers attended. Raised seats were arranged for the spectators to conveniently watch the ferocious conflict. This was the first bull fight in New, England, and certainly should have been, as it probably was, the last.]
     On the 20th of September, the house of widow Jerusha Williams, in Market street, was struck by lightning. On the same afternoon, the lightning fell on a flock of sheep, at Nahant, which were gathered beside a stone wall for shelter, and killed eighteen of them.
     On the night of Monday, October 31, Mr. Theophilus Breed's barn, oh the south side of the Common, was burned; and on the night of the following Thursday, a barn belonging to Mr. Jacob Chase, on the opposite side of the Common, was consumed; both of them having been set on fire by a mischievous boy.
     A company of Artillery was incorporated by the General Court, on the 18th of November, and two brass field pieces allowed them. [Aaron Newhall was the first captain, and Ezra Mudge and Benjamnin Mudge were lieutenants.]
     This year Benjamin Merrill, Esq., came into town. He was fihe first lawyer at Lynn. [Mr. Merrill's office was in the southwest chamber of the dwelling house that still stands on North Common street, the next west from Park. He died at Salem, 30 July, 1847, aged 63. He was a man of fine talents, excellent education, and kind feelings. He remained in Lynn but a few months and then removed to Salem, where he became quite eminent in the profession; rather, however, as a counsellor and conveyancer than as a pleader. He received the degree of LL. D. at Cambridge, in 1845. The occasion of his removal from Lynn as he informed me, a few years before his death, was somewhat singular. A deputation of the citizens called on him with the request that he would leave the place, it being apprehended that evil and strife would abound wherever a lawyer's tent was pitched. He took the matter in good part and soon departed. The people of Lynn afterward made some amends for their uncivil proceeding, by entrusting a large share of their best legal business to his hands. He served them faithfully, and never seemed to entertain the least ill feeling toward any here. He died lamented by a large circle who had received benefits at his hand, and left a considerable estate. He was never married, which seemed the more singular, as he was eminently social in his habits.
     [Samuel Newell - as he spelled his surname, though Mr. Lewis makes it Newhall - was this year preceptor of Lynn Academy. He was feeble, and unable to keep up a rigid discipline. He remained but a short time, and was afterward a missionary in India. The celebrated Harriet Newell was his wife.
     [A white faced cow, while grazing in the old burying ground broke through a tomb. Some persons in the vicinity, at night, observing her head raised and struggling, were much alarmed, and horrifying ghost stories immediately prevailed.
     [The trapping of lobsters was first practiced at Swampscot, this year, by Ebenezer Thorndike. He had twelve pots.
     [The manufacture of chewing and smoking tobacco was begun this year, in that part of Lynn now known as Cliftondale, Saugus, by Samuel Copp. By degrees it grew to be a large and lucrative business.]

1809.

The inhabitants petitioned the General Court for an act to establish the proceedings of the town in their previous meetings, which had been illegal, in consequence of the meetings having been called by notice from the selectmen, instead of a warrant to a constable. A resolve confirming the proceedings of the town was passed by the Court on the 18th of February.
The embargo law was repealed by Congress, on the 12th of April, and an act of non-intercourse with France and England, substituted in its place.

1810.

     Independence was celebrated by both political parties, who very patriotically and cordially united for that purpose. They formed a procession at the Lynn Hotel, which was then kept by Mr. Ebenezer Lewis, and proceeded to the First Congregational meeting-house, where an oration was delivered by Dr. Peter G. Robbins.
     This year the Lynn Mineral Spring Hotel was built.
     On Friday evening, November 9, there was an earthquake.
     [It appeared, by careful estimation, that there were made in Lynn, this year, 1.000.000 pairs of shoes, valued at about $800.000. The females earned some $50.000 by binding.]

1811.

     On the 8th of January, Ayer Williams Marsh, aged five years, was killed by the falling of an anvil, firom a cheese-press.
     A great snow storm commenced on the 2d of February, and continued three days. It was piled up in reefs, in some places, more than fifteen feet. In Market street, arches were dug beneath it, high enough for carriages to pass through.
     On the 4th of July, the officers of Lynn, Marblehead, and Danvers, had a military celebration at Lynn. The young federalists also partook of a dinner in the hall of Lewis's hotel, which was tastefully decorated for the occasion, by the young ladies.
     The 7th of July was excessively hot. The thermometer rose to a hundred and one degrees in the shade. Mr. John Jacobs, aged 70, while laboring on the salt marsh fell dead in consequence of the heat.
     A splendid comet was visible on the 11th of October, between Arcturus and Lyra. Its train was estimated to be forty millions of miles in length. It remained visible for a number of months.
     [The "Lynn Wire and Screw Manufacturing Company," was incorporated this year. They built a dam and factory on Saugus river. There was a fair prospect of success; but the peace of 1815, by restoring the means for cheap importations, ruined their prospects, and the business was abandoned. A number of substantial individuals were engaged in the promising enterprise.
     [The first meeting for the preaching of Universalism, in Lynn, was held in the Academy, on the Common, this year. Rev. Joshua Flagg, of Salem, preached. He also lectured at Gravesend.]
     The Second Methodist Society was formed in the eastern part of the town, by separation from the First Society. A meetinghouse was built, which was dedicated on the 27th of November. Their first minister was Rev. Epaphras Kibbey.

1812.

     On the 4th of May there was a snow storm, all day and night. The snow was about eight inches deep.
     War was declared by Congress against England, on the 18th of June. This was called the War of Impressments, because England claimed the right to search American vessels for her sailors. The conflict was chiefly conducted by battle ships on the water, but people were much affected by it in the depression of commerce. The Federalists disapproved of the war - the Democrats exulted in it.
     A new meeting-house was built by the First Methodist Society, at the east end of the Common.
     The burial ground in Union street was opened.
     [A pottery was commenced in what is now Cliftondale, Saugus, by William Jackson. A fine kind of earthen ware was made from clay found in the vicinity. It was continued about four years. Mr. Jackson was an Englishman and occupied a respectable position. He twice represented the town in the General Court.
     [The old Lynn Light Infantry was organized this year.
     [Reuben P. Washburn, a native of Leicester, Mass., commenced the practice of law, at Lynn. His office was in the building so long occupied by Caleb Wiley for a West India goods store, at the corner of Federal street and the Turnpike. He graduated at Dartmouth College, with the class of 1808, and studied law under Judge Jackson, at Boston. He procured his education and made his way in the world by his own exertions. While at Lynn he married a daughter of Rev. Mr. Thacher. He was a personal friend of Judge Story and other eminent men both in law and letters. Considering the business of the place, his practice could not have been large, here, and he removed to Vermont, in 1817. There he became a judge, and to the end of his life maintained a high position, and preserved an unsullied reputation. He died in 1860, at the age of 79.]

1813.

     Rev. Thomas Cushing Thacher discontinued his connection with the First Parish. The people gave him a recommendation and made him a present of eight hundred dollars. He was a son of Rev. Peter Thacher, minister of Brattle Street Church, in Boston. He graduated in 1790, was ordained in 1794, preached nineteen years, and removed to Cambridge. He wrote many good sermons, six of which, on interesting occasions, he published.
     1. A Sermon on the Annual Thanksgiving, 1794.
     2. A Sermon on the Interment of Eight Seamen, 1795.
     3. A Eulogy on the Death of Washington, 1800.
     4. A Sermon on the Death of Mrs. Ann Carnes, 1800.
     5. A Masonic Address, delivered at Cambridge.
     6. A Sermon on the Death of Mr. Shorey and Wife, 1803.
     [Mr. Thacher died at Cambridge, 24 September, 1849. He was born at Malden, 11 October, 1771. His wife was Elizabeth Blaney; and she survived him, living till September, 1858, when she died at South Reading, aged 88.]
     At a town meeting in March, thirty-nine tithing-men were chosen. This was for the purpose of enforcing the Sunday law, that no person should journey on the Sabbath.
     The schooner Industry was fitted out as a privateer, under the command of Capt. Joseph Mudge, and sent in three prizes - two brigs and one ship.
     On the first of June, the people of Lynn were called forth by an occasion of unusual interest. The English frigate Shannon, Capt. Brock, being expressly fitted for the purpose, approached the harbor of Boston, and challenged the American frigate Chesapeake, to battle. The hills and the house tops were crowded with spectators, who looked on with intense solicitude. The Chesapeake, commanded by Capt. James Lawrence, sailed out beyond Nahant, and engaged with her adversary. After a short and spirited conflict; Capt. Lawrence fell, the colors of the Chesapeake were lowered, and the Shannon, with her prize, departed for Halifax.
     The new Methodist meeting-house was dedicated on the 3d of June.
     Rev. Isaac Hurd was ordained pastor of the First Parish, on the 15th of September.
     This year, many racoons, driven by the war from the north, were shot at Swampscot; and a wild cat, after a deperate resistance, was killed at Red Rock. [It can easily be imagined that wild animals have no partiality for gunpowder. But it seems hardly reasonable to suppose that the war could have had much influence in driving the racoons hither, inasmuch as there were military movements here as well as at the north. Such animals abounded a short distance back, and some necessities touching their food may have induced their descent. They had always been found hereabout; occasionally in considerable numbers. As late as November, 1829, four were killed in the barn on the Carnes place, Boston street, two of them weighing fifteen pounds each.]
     The celebrated Mary Pitcher, a professed fortune-teller, died April 9, 1813, aged 75 years. Her grandfather, John Dimond, lived at Marblehead, and for many years exercised the same pretensions. Her father, Capt. John Dimond, was master of a vessel from that place, and was living in 1770. Mary Dimond was born in the year 1738. She was connected with some of the best families in Essex county, and, with the exception of her extraordinary pretensions, there was nothing disreputable in her life or character. She was of the medium height and size for a woman, with a good form and agreeable manners. Her head, phrenologically considered, was somewhat capacious; her forehead broad and full, her hair dark brown, her nose inclining to long, and her face pale and thin. There was nothing gross or sensual in her appearance -her countenance was rather intellectual; and she had that contour of face and expression which, without being positively beautiful, is, nevertheless, decidedly interesting - a thoughtful, pensive, and sometimes downcast look, almost approaching to melancholy - an eye, when it looked at you, of calm and keen penetration - and an expression of intelligent discernment, half mingled with a glance of shrewdness. She took a poor man for a husband, and then adopted what she doubtless thought the harmless employment of fortune-telling, in order to support her children. In this she was probably more successful than she herself had anticipated; and she became celebrated, not only throughout America, but throughout the world, for her skill. There was no port on either continent, where floated the flag of an American ship, that had not heard the fame of Moll Pitcher. To her came the rich and the poor - the wise and the ignorant - the accomplished and the vulgar - the timid and the brave. The ignorant sailor, who believed in the omens and dreams of superstition, and the intelligent merchant, whose ships were freighted for distant lands, alike sought her dwelling; and many a vessel has been deserted by its crew, and waited idly at the wharves, for weeks, in consequence of her unlucky predictions. Many persons came from places far remote, to consult her on affairs of love, or loss of property; or to obtain her surmises respecting the vicissitudes of their future fortune. Every youth, who was not assured of the reciprocal affection of his fair one, and every maid who was desirous of anticipating the hour of her highest felicity, repaired at evening to her humble dwelling, which stood on what was then a lonely road, near the foot of High Rock, with the single dwelling of Dr. Henry Burchsted nearly opposite; over whose gateway were the two bones of a great whale, disposed in the form of a gothic arch. There, in her unpretending mansion, for more than fifty years, did she answer the inquiries of the simple rustic from the wilds of New Hampshire, and the wealthy noble from Europe; and, doubtless, her predictions have had an influence in shaping the fortunes of thousands.
     Mrs. Pitcher was, indeed, one of the most wonderful women of any age; and had she lived in the days of alleged witchcraft, would doubtless have been the first to suffer. That she acquired her intelligence by intercourse with evil spirits, it would now be preposterous to assert - and it requires a very great stretch of credulity to believe that she arrived at so many correct conclusions, merely by guess-work. That she made no pretension to any thing supernatural, is evident from her own admission, when some one offered her a large sum, if she would tell him what ticket in the lottery would draw the highest prize. "Do you think," said she, "if I knew, I would not buy it myself?" Several of the best authenticated anecdotes which are related of her, seem to imply that she possessed, in some degree, the faculty which is now termed clairvoyance. Indeed, there seems to be no other conclusion, unless we suppose that persons of general veracity have told us absolute falsehoods. The possession of this faculty, with her keen perception and shrewd judgment, in connection with the ordinary art which she admitted to have used, to detect the character and business of her visitors, will perhaps account for all that is extraordinary in her intelligence. In so many thousand instances also, of the exercise of her faculty, there is certainly no need of calling in supernatural aid to account for her sometimes judging right; and these favorable instances were certain to be related to her advantage, and insured her abundance of credibility. She married Robert Pitcher, a shoemaker, on the 2d of October, 1760. Had she married differently, as she might have done, she would have adorned a brighter and a happier station in life, and the world would never have heard of her fame. [The period in which she lived was one in which the education of females was very little regarded; yet it is evident that she was by no means destitute of education. A facsimile of her signature is here given. It was engraved, with great care, from her signature on a deed dated in 1770, conveying a piece of land near her habitation.] She had one son, John, and three daughters, Rebecca, Ruth, and Lydia, who married respectably; and some of her descendants are among the prettiest young ladies of Lynn. Nor is there any reason why they should blush at the mention of their ancestress. While it is hoped that no one, in this enlightened age, will follow her profession, it must be admitted that she had virtues which many might practice with advantage. She supported her family by her skill, and she was benevolent in her disposition. She has been known to rise before sunrise, walk two miles to a mill, purchase a quantity of meal, and carry it to a poor widow, who would otherwise have had no breakfast for her children.
     [The cottage in which this remarkable woman so long dwelt, may still be seen. It stands on the north side of Essex street, nearly opposite Pearl. But population has so increased in the vicinity that it is now very far from being in a lonely place. The hum of business is heard around, and numerous pretentious edifices look down upon its modest roof. Within a short time it has undergone repairs, and, together with its surroundings has been made to assume more of a modern appearance. Its essential features, however, remain unchanged; and the following is a faithful representation of it as it was.]

1814.

     [Samuel W. Coggshall was drowned in Saugus river, 1 May. He was a son of Capt. Timothy Coggshall, of Newport, R. I., and 29 years of age.]
     The district of Lynnfield, which was separated from Lynn on the 3d of July, 1782, was this year incorporated as a town, on the 28th of February.
     On the 28th of February, also, the Lynn Mechanics Bank was incorporated, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars.
     The erection of the Town, House, on the Common, was begun in February.
     A company of militia, consisting of seventy-eight men from Essex county, was detached, in July, for the defense of the sea coast. Of this number, Lynn furnished fifteen, and the whole were placed under the command of Capt. Samuel Mudge, of Lynn. On the first of August, they mustered at Danvers, and on.the next day marched to Salem, and encamped on Winter Island. On the 27th, a violent storm blew down most of the tents, and on the next day the detachment removed to Fort Lee. On the night of the 28th of September, a great alarm was occasioned by some men who were drawing a seine at Beverly. Alarm guns were fired about midnight, and in less than thirty minutes the Salem regiment was drawn up for orders. Nearly sixty old men of that town also took their arms, went directly to the fort, and patriotically offered ther services to Captain Mudge. The alarm spread to the neighboring towns, and within an hour the Lynn regiment was in arms, and on its march toward Salem. The promptitude with which these two regiments were formed, the self-possession manifested by the officers and soldiers, and the readiness with which they marched toward what was then confidently believed to be a scene of action and danger, is worthy of commendation. The company was discharged on the first of November. During a considerable part of this season, guards were stationed in Lynn, on Long Wharf and Saugus Bridge. The town, with its accustomed liberality, allowed to each of its soldiers, who went into service, thirty dollars in addition to the pay of the government, which was only eight dollars a month. The town received a hundred muskets from the State, and a hundred old men volunteered to use them.
     In a great sleet and rain storm, on the night of November 19th, Mr. Ward Hartwell, of Charlemont, perished in attempting to pass Lynn Beach, to Nahant. He lost his way and drove into the water.
     An earthquake happened on the 28th of November, at twenty minutes past seven in the evening.
     [The manufacture of linen goods was this year commenced by the "Lynn Linen Spinning Factory Company." They built a factory of wood, three stories high, on the east side of Saugus river, and commenced with the manufacture of sail duck. But the termination of the war with England afforded facilities for procuring linen goods from abroad at such reduced prices that the business was soon abandoned. Some linen, however, was made in Lynn long before this; but it was probably more like the ordinary tow cloth. See under date 1726.]

1815.

     The Saugus parish was incorporated as a separate town, on the 17th of February.
     A treaty of peace with England, which was signed at Ghent, on the 24th of December, 1814, was ratified by Congress, on the 17th of February.
     This year the First Baptist Church in Lynn was organized, on the 17th of March. In May, the meeting-house which the Methodist society had vacated, was purchased for their use. It is worthy of remark, that this building was placed upon land purchased of the First Congregational Church - that very church which had persecuted the Baptists, and delivered them up to the executioner, a hundred and sixty-four years before. [No Baptists were executed. Some were banished, and others fined. It is worthy of remark, also, that this building was, last of all, occupied by the Roman Catholics, that Church which Baptists, Congregationalists, and Methodists, as well as all other protestant bodies delight to traduce. It was burned on Saturday night, 28 May, 1859. And so closed its eventful history.
     [In Brooks's history of Medford it is stated that at this time, when only a few persons resided at Nahant, it was the custom for families in Medford to join in parties to that beautiful promontory. From ten to twenty chaises would start together, and, reaching their destination, the ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, would proceed to fishing from the rocks and boats. Each one wore the commonest clothes; and the day was passed in all sorts of sports. A fish dinner was an agreed part of the fare; and a supper at Lynn Hotel closed the eating for the day. The party rode home by moonlight; and by ten o'clock were sufficiently fatigued to accept the bed as a most agreeable finale. And such parties often came from Maiden, Reading, Stoneham, and places more remote. The dinners were generally cooked by the parties themselves, over fires built among the rocks, a sufficient supply of drift wood being gleaned from the shores. They were right jolly times, and involved little expense.]
     A very great storm, on the 23d of September, occasioned much damage. The wind blew violently from the southeast, and buildings, fences, and trees, fell before it. A part of the roof of the Academy was taken off, and carried by the wind more than half way across the Common. The spray of the ocean was borne far upon the land, and the fruit on trees several miles from the shore was impregnated with salt.

1816.

     [The first Methodist Society in Lynnfield, was organized on the 2d of April.]
     The Baptist society was incorporated on the 15th of April; and on the 15th of September, Rev. George Phippen was settled as their first minister.
     Rev. Isaac Hurd relinquished his pastoral care over the First Congregational Society, on the 22d of May. He was born at Charlestown, [in December, 1785, and graduated at Cambridge, in 1806. From Lynn he removed to Exeter, N. H., where he was installed over the Second Church of that place, September 11, 1817. There he remained till his death, which took place a few years since.
     [The summer of this year was very cool, and little corn ripened. There was a frost in every month; and snow fell on the 8th of June. The 23d of June, however, was excessively hot, the thermometer rising to 101 degrees, in the shade.
     [The Quaker meeting-house was built on Broad street, this year; and it stood on its original site till 1852, when it was moved back some rods and made to face on Silsbe street. For facts relating to the earlier Quaker meeting-houses see under dates 1678 and 1723.
     [A great horse trot took place on Friday, September 6. The course was on the Turnpike, and extended three miles toward Boston, from Saugus river bridge. This is said to have been the first regular trot in the country; and it was attended by a great multitude of spectators, from far and near. A horse called Old Blue, owned by Major Stackpole, trotted three miles in eight minutes and forty-two seconds. The same horse, four days after, trotted the same distance in eight minutes and fifty-six seconds, and again, two days after that, the same distance in eight minutes and eighteen and three quarter seconds.
     [This year another attempt was made to establish the manufacture of linen in this vicinity. Nathaniel Perry built a dam over the brook in North Saugus, and erected a large wooden building in which he designed to spin and weave a finer kind of linen. He did not, however, succeed in his enterprise.
     [Isaac Burrill, who lived near Saugus river bridge, on Boston street, while returning from Boston, on a cold, moonlight night, was robbed, on the Turnpike, by three highwaymen. He was a shoe manufacturer, on a small scale, and was walking home from Boston with a bag of articles which he bad received in exchange for shoes disposed of during the day. He had also a small sum of money in his pocket. When near a small shanty, which stood on the south of the Turnpike, perhaps a mile west of the Half-way House, and which had been erected for the convenience of laborers on the marshes, three men rushed out and forced him into the building. There they robbed him of all he had of value, and bound him, hand and foot, with raw hemp. They then left him, with the threat of instant death if he should make any outcry before the mail stage had passed, adding that they intended to rob that. He kept silence for the time specifled, but they did not return. By straining and kicking he finally succeeded in releasing his feet, and soon reached the Half-way House. The robbers were never caught. He said they assured him that nothing but shear necessity impelled them to the act. There was no attempt to rob the mail, the pretense about that probably being for the purpose of keeping him quiet while they made good their escape. His pocketbook was found, weeks after, in Cambridgeport, in a ditch.]
     In November, new bells were placed on the First Congregational and First Methodist meeting-houses.

1817.

     Friday, the 14th of February, was an exceedingly cold day. The thermometer was eighteen degrees below zero.
     There was an earthquake on Sunday, 7 September, and another on 5 October.
     This year, Hon. Thomas H. Perkins built the first stone cottage on Nahant.
     President Munroe passed through Lynn.
     [The prices of provisions were very high, in Lynn, at this time. From the old book of a respectable shoe manufacturer it appears that flour was $16 a barrel, Indian meal $2 a bushel, molasses 70 cents a gallon, young hyson tea $1.60 a pound, and brown sugar 18 cents a pound.]

1818.

     [Herbert Richardson, jr., aged 24, and Charlotte Palmer, aged 20, were drowned in the Shawsheen river, on their way to Lynnfield, where they were to be married, the same evening, March 3.
     [There was a very long storm in April. A memorandum made by Major Ezra Hitchings, who kept a store on Boston street, says it "began to snow the second of April, at eleven o'clock, and continued to snow and rain alternately till the tenth, at six o'clock in the evening."]
     Rev. Otis Rockwood was ordained pastor of the First Congregational Church, on the 1st of July.
     A stone building, for a school-house and library, was built at Nahant, and several hundred volumes were presented by gentlemen from Boston.
     The First Social Library at Lynn was incorporated. [But it would be a mistake to suppose that the first library was formed this year. There was a good social library here before the commencement of the present century, and Mr. Thacher acted as librarian during a part of his ministry. The library incorporated this year became a useful institution, and was continued, much according to its original organization, till it was merged in the Lynn Library Association, incorporated in March, 1855. And finally, in 1862, the collection went to form the basis of the adjective-afflicted "Lynn Free Public Library." At the last mentioned date the number of volumes was about 4.100. No doubt care will be exercised to increase the value of this institution. A free library, especially, should be composed of only such books as will exert a healthful influence; it should be a corrector, not a follower, of public taste. The books of such a library, whatever they are, will be extensively read; and if it contains none but good ones, the influence must be highly beneficial. The circulating library, as it is called, stands on a very different footing, and is in some sense beyond the control of those who may stand in the attitude of conservators of the public weal.]

1819.

     The winter was unusually mild, with little snow, and the harbor scarcely frozen. Farmers ploughed in every month; January was like April, and the spring was forward and warm. [The principal snow storm was on the 8th of March.]
     The first attempt to form an Episcopal Church in Lynn, was made this year. A few persons were organized as a Church on the 27th of January, and continued to worship in the Academy about four years.
     On the 31st of January, Jonathan Mansfield was drowned in the Flax pond. On the 6th of April, William Phillips was drowned in the Pines river. On the 4th of September, Asa Gowdey was drowned near the mouth of Saugus river.
     [The first Missionary Society of the great Methodist Church was formed in Lynn, on the 21st of February. The General Missionary Society was not organized till the 4th of April.]
     Tuesday, July 6, was an exceeding warm day. The thermometer rose to 120 degrees in the sun.
     A farm of about fifty acres was purchased by the town, and a new poor-house built on Willis's hill. [I do not understand why Mr. Lewis, here and in one or two other places, calls this Willis's hill. No one else appears to have done so. True, one of the early settlers, named Willis, owned lands hereabout, but the hill does not appear to have been called by his name.
     [Isaiah Newhall, a shoemaker, who lived on Federal street, made in three consecutive days, fifty one pairs of ladies' spring heel shoes. The price of making, was thirty-three cents per pair.]
     This year the Nahant Hotel was built, by Hon. Thomas H. Perkins and Hon. Edward H. Robbins, at an expense of about sixty thousand dollars.
     That singular marine animal, called the Sea-serpent, first made his appearance in the waters of Lynn this year. It was alleged that it had been seen in August, 1817 and 1818, in Gloucester harbor. On the 13th and 14th days of August, this year, many hundred persons were collected on Lynn Beach, by a report that it was to be seen. Many depositions have been taken of its subsequent appearance. It was represented to have been from 50 to 70 feet in length, as large as a barrel, moving swiftly, sometimes with its head several feet above the tide. I have not seen such an animal, but perhaps it exists; and it may be one of the mighty existing relics of a buried world. In 1638, Dr. John Josselyn tells us of "A Sea Serpent or Snake, that lay quoiled up, like a cable, upon a Rock at Cape Ann. A boat passing by, with English aboard and two Indians, they would have shot the serpent, but the Indians disswaded them, saying that if he were not killed outright, they would be in danger of their lives."
     [It may be thought that so celebrated a wanderer of the sea is deserving of a little more extended notice than Mr. Lewis has afforded. The learned Agassiz says, in a lecture delivered at Philadelphia, 20 March, 1849, "I have asked myself in connection with this subject, whether there is not such an animal as the Sea-serpent. There are many who will doubt the existence of such a creature until it can be brought under the dissecting knife; but it has been seen by so many on whom we may rely, that it is wrong to doubt, any longer. The truth is, however, that if a naturalist had to sketch the outlines of an Ichthyosaurus or Plesiosaurus from the remains we have of them, lie would make a drawing very similar to the Sea-serpent as it has been described. There is reason to think that the parts are soft and perishable, but I still consider it probable that it will be the good fortune of some person on the coast of Norway or North America to find a living representative of this type of reptile, which is thought to have died out."
     [The late prominent Boston merchant and worthy gentleman, Amos Lawrence, under date 26 April 1849, writes, "I have never had any doubt of the existence of the Sea-serpent since the morning he was seen off Nahant by old Marshal Prince, through his famous mast-head spy-glass. For, within the next two hours, I conversed with Mr. Samuel Cabot, and Mr. Daniel P. Parker, I think, and one or more persons besides, who had spent a part of that morning in witnessing its movements. In addition, Col. Harris, the commander at Fort Independence, told me that the creature had been seen by a number of his soldiers while standing sentry in the early dawn, some time before this show at Nahant; and Col. Harris believed it as firmly as though the creature were drawn up before us in State street, where we then were. I again say, I have never, from that day to this, had a doubt of the Sea-serpent's existence."
     [The Mr. Cabot to whom Mr. Lawrence refers gave a description of the animal in a letter to Col. T. H. Perkins, dated 19 August, 1819, from which the following is extracted:

     I got into my chaise [at Nahant] about seven o'clock in the morning, to come to Boston, and on reaching the Long Beach, observed a number of people collected there, and several boats pushing off and in the offing. I was speculating on what should have occasioned so great an assemblage there without any apparent object, and finally had concluded that they were some lynn people who were embarking in those boats on a party of pleasure to Egg Rock or some other point. I had not heard of the Sea-serpent as being in that neighborhood, and I had not lately paid much attention to the evidences which had been given of its existence; the idea of this animal did not enter my mind at the moment. As my curiosity was directed toward the boats, to ascertain the course they were taking, my attention was suddenly arrested by an object emerging fiom the water at the distance of about one hundred or one hundred and fifty yards, which gave to my mind, at the first glance, the idea of a horse's head. As my eye ranged along, I perceived, at a short distance, eight or ten regular bunches or protuberances, and, at a short interval, three or four more. I was now satisfied that the Sea-serpent was before me, and, after the first moment of excitement produced by the unexpected sight of so strange a monster, taxed myself to investigate his appearance as accurately as I could. My first object was the head, which I satisfied myself was serpent shaped. It was elevated about two feet from the water, and he depressed it radually, to within six or eight inches as he moved along. I could always see under his chin, which appeared to hollow underneath, or to curve downward. His motion was at that time very slow along the beach, inclining toward the shore. He at first moved his head from side to side, as if to look about him. I did not see his eyes, though I have no doubt I could have seen them if I had thought to attend to this. His bunches appeared to me not altogether uniform in size; and as he moved along, some appeared to be depressed, and others brought above the surface, though I could not perceive any motion in them. My next object was to ascertain his length. For this purpose, I directed my eye to several whale-boats at about the same distance, one of which was beyond him, and, by comparing the relative length, I calculated that the distance from the animal's head to the last protuberance I had noticed would be equal to about five of those boats. I felt persuaded by this examination that he could not be less than eighty feet long. As he approached the shore and came between me and a point of land which projects fiom the end of the beach, I had another means of satisfying myself on this point. After I had viewed him thus attentively for about four or five minutes, he sank gradually into the water and disappeared. He afterward again made his appearance for a moment at a short distance.... After remaining some two or three hours on the beach, without again seeing him, I returned toward Nahant, and, in crossing the Small Beach, had another good view of him for a longer time, but at a greater distance. At this time he moved more rapidly, causing a white foam under the chin, and a long wake, and his protuberances had a more uniform appearance. At this time he must have been seen by two or three hundred persons on the beach and on heights each side, some of whom were very favorably situated to observe him.

     [James Prince, Esq., Marshal of the District, to whom Mr. Lawrence also refers, writes as follows to Hon. Judge Davis, under date 16 August:

     MY DEAR SIR: - I presume I may have seen what is generally thought to be the Sea-serpent. I have also seen my name inserted in the evening newspaper printed at Boston on Saturday, in a communication on this subject. For your gratification, and from a desire that my name may not sanction any thing beyond what was actually presented and passed in review before me, I will now state that which, in the presence of more than two hundred other witnesses, took place near the Long Beach of Nahant, on Saturday morning last.
     Intending to pass two or three days with my family at Nahant, we left Boston early on Saturday morning. On passing the Half-way House on the Salem turnpike, Mr. Smith informed us the Sea-serpent had been seen the evening before at Nahant beach, and that a vast number of people from Lynn had gone to the beach that morning in hopes of being gratified with a sight of him; this was confirmed at the Hotel. I was glad to find I had brought my famous mast-head spy-glass with me, as it would enable me, from its form and size, to view him to advantage, if I might be so fortunate as to see him. On our arrival on the beach, we associated with a considerable collection of persons on foot and in chaises; and very soon an animal of the fish kind made his appearance...
     His head appeared about three feet out of water; I counted thirteen bunches on his back; my family thought there were fifteen. He passed three times at a moderate rate across the bay, but so fleet as to occasion a foam in the water; and my family and self, who were in a carriage, judged that he was from fifty to not more than sixty feet in length. Whether, however, the wake might not add to the appearance of his length, or whether the undulations of the water or his peculiar manner of propelling himself might not cause the appearances of protuberances, I leave for your better judgment. The first view of the animal occasioned some agitation, and the novelty perhaps prevented that precise discrimination which afterward took place. As he swam up the bay, we and the other spectators moved on and kept nearly abreast of him. He occasionally withdrew himself under water, and the idea occurred to me that his occasionally raising his head above the level of the water was to take breath, as the time he kept under was, on an average, about eight minutes.... Mrs. Prince and the coachman having better eyes than myself, were of great assistance to me in marking the progress of the animal; they would say, "He is now turning," and by the aid of my glass I saw him distinctly in this movement. He did not turn without occupying some space, and, taking into view the time and the space which he found necessary for his ease and accomnodation, I adopted it as a criterion to form some judgment of his length. I had seven distinct views of him from the Long Beach, so called, and at some of them the animal was not more than a hundred yards distant. After being on the Long Beach with other spectators about an hour, the animal disappeared, and I proceeded on towards Nahant; but on passing the second beach, I met Mr. James Magee, of Boston, with several ladies, in a carriage, prompted by curiosity to endeavor to see the animal; and we were again gratified beyond even what we saw in the other bay, which I concluded he had left in consequence of the number of boats in the offing in pursuit of him, the noise of whose oars must have disturbed him, as he appeared to us to be a harmless, timid animal. We had here more than a dozen different views of him, and each similar to the other; one, however, so near, that the coachman exclaimed, ",see his glistening eye!"... Certain it is, he is a very strange animal.

     [Among the papers left by the late Benjamin F. Newhall, of Saugus - than whom no man in the community stood higher for truthfulness - I find an interesting account of what he witnessed of the seeming gambols of the monster, who appeared to him also to be a timid animal. As he approached the shore, at about nine A. M., says Mr. N., he raised his head apparently about six feet, and moved very rapidly; "I could see the white spray each side of his neck, as he ploughed through the water." He came so near as to startle many of the spectators, and then suddenly retreated. "As he turned short, the snake-like form became apparent, bending like an eel. I could see plainly what appeared to be from fifty to seventy feet in length. Behind his head appeared a succession of bunches, or humps, upon his back, which the sun caused to glisten like glass."
     [And, lastly, the writer well remembers traveling down to the Beach, with other barefoot urchins, on the memorable day, but arrived too late - the serpent had gone and the multitude were dispersing. Boastful boys declared that they could have thrown stones beyond him as he ranged about there in the morning.
     [The following is copied as a fair specimen of the pictorial representations of the Sea-serpent which were given at the time. I do not find, however, in the written descriptions, that he was in the habit of carrying his tail in that style. And considering the use that serpents in general put that appendage to, it would seem improbable that if he belonged to the tribe he would have displayed it in that manner, which is much like a ship carrying her rudder above water.
     [A small work, somewhat odd in style but evidently the production of a person of intelligence and ingenuity, was published at Cambridge, in 1849, under the title, "A Romance of the Seaserpent, or the Ichthyosaurus." It contains, in the Notes and Appendix, divers interesting matters relating to sea monsters. Two editions were readily disposed of, the author informs me.
     [For several years succeeding this alleged visit of the Sea-serpent, accounts were spread from time to time of his appearance at different points on the coast. And so many false reports were made for the transparent purpose of attracting visitors to the marine resorts, that doubts increased as to the existence of this solitary rover of the deep. Little has been heard of him of late years. In 1849, however, John Marston, a respectable and credible resident of Swampscot, appeared before Waldo Thompson, a justice of the peace, and made oath that as he was walking over Nahant Beach, on the 3d of August, his attention was suddenly arrested by seeing in the water, within two or three hundred yards of the shore, a singular looking fish, in the form of a serpent. He had a fair view of him, and at once concluded that he was the veritable Sea-serpent. His head was out of water to the extent of about a foot, and he remained in view from fifteen to twenty minutes, when he swam off toward King's Beach. Mr. Marston judged that the animal was from eighty to a hundred feet in length, at least, and says, "I saw the whole body of the serpent; not his wake, but the fish itself. It would rise in the water with an undulatory motion, and then all his body would sink, except his head. Then his body would rise again. His head was above water all the time. This was about eight o'clock A. M. It was quite calm. I have been constantly engaged in fishing, since my youth, and I have seen all sorts of fishes, and hundreds of horse-mackerel, but I never before saw any thing like this."]

1820.

     On the 14th of February, two barns, belonging to Mr. Joseph Breed, in Summer street, were burnt by the carelessness of a boy. The people by a subscription, built him a good barn immediately, which they stocked with hay.
     [India rubber over-shoes first made their appearance about this time. They were made much thicker and heavier than at present. Pattens, clogs, and goloeshoes were in use for keeping the feet dry, before rubbers were known; but they all, to some extent, failed of their purpose.
     [There were six tanneries in Lynn, this year. But before 1833 they were all discontinued, as leather could be procured from Philadelphia and other places at such rates as rendered them unprofitable.]

1821.

     On the 25th of January, the thermometer was 17 degrees below zero.
     [There was a violent northeast snow storm, on the 17th of April. It was so severe as to prevent the assembling of a quorum of the house of representatives, at Boston.]
     Rev. Joseph Mottey died on the 9th of July. He was born at Salem, May 14, 1756, and graduated at Dartmouth, in 1778. He was ordained over the Lynnfield parish, September 24, 1780. He was characterized by extreme sensibility, and fondness for retirement. His manners were affable, and his mode of preaching mild and persuasive. He married Elizabeth Moody and had four children; Charles, Elias, Charles Edward, and Eliza.

1822.

     A considerable disturbance was this year occasioned in the meetings of Friends, in consequence of a portion of that society having embraced different views. On Sunday, the 17th of February, one of these essayed to go into the ministers' gallery, with a sword by his side, which he said was an emblem of the warlike disposition of those against whom he wished to bear testimony; but before he had reached the seat, he was stopped, and the sword taken away. In the afternoon the disturbance was renewed, by several persons attempting to enter the high seats; and many people having assembled about the house, the deputy sheriff was called from the First Parish meeting-house, who read the riot act in the street. Four persons were apprehended, and after an examination, the next day, before a justice, were committed to prison, at Salem, where they remained until the time of their trial, at Ipswich, on the 16th of March. Two of them were then discharged, and the others were fined. A report of this trial was published, with a review in a separate pamphlet.
     The first Circulating Library at Lynn was opened this year, by the author of this sketch. [This was a very limited collection, and may have formed the basis of a small circulating library kept by Charles F. Lummus from 1827 to 1832.
     [A singular phenomenon was witnessed at Saugus river, in March, and is thus described by the late Benjamin F. Newhall, of Saugus, who was careful in noting unusual occurrences: "The ice in the river had just broken up, and the dam at the bridge was overflowed with a large volume of fresh water. It was in the evening succeeding a very foggy day, and as dark as a foggy night with no moon could possibly be. In looking under the great bridge, where the waters swiftly poured over the dam, my eyes were greeted with the appearance of balls of fire, about the size of a large cannon ball. They made their appearance as soon as the water broke over the dam, and seemed to dance and whirl about upon the swiftly rushing torrent for a moment or two, and then disappear, to be succeeded by others. The light of these apparent balls of fire was so great that the whole space under the bridge, was illuminated to that extent that all objects were clearly visible. So striking and beautiful was the phenomenon, that I summoned several persons from the neighborhood to come and witness it. The balls of fire were continuous that night as long as we had patience to look at them. There was no appearance of that phosphorescent sparkling that is often seen about the bows of a vessel. There was no light but what seemed to be balls of fire. They were not seen at all on the succeeding evening, and have never been seen since."
     The Second Congregational Society [Unitarian] was incorporated on the 15th of June; and on the 25th of November, the corner stone of the first Unitarian meeting-house was laid with an address by Rev. Joseph Tuckerman, of Chelsea.
     As some workmen were this year digging a cellar, in Liberty street, they found the skeleton of an Indian. It was more than six feet in length, and the skull was of an uncommon thickness. Two large clam shells were found buried with it.

1823.

     The coldest day this year, was the 1st of March. The thermometer was seven degrees below zero.
     The Unitarian Meeting-house was dedicated on the 30th of April. Sermon by Rev. Henry Colman.
     On the 5th of May, snow fell, and the ice was a quarter of an inch thick. Thermometer twenty-nine at sunrise.
     A young woman named Sarah Soames, aged 19 years, living at Thomas Raddin's went in to bathe in Saugus river, on the evening of June 15, and was drowned.
     [The first Methodist meeting-house in Lynnfield, was dedicated on the 14th of October.]

1824.

     The tide, during great storms, had for many years been making its encroachments upon Lynn Beach, washing its sands over into the harbor, and sometimes making deep channels, as it ran across in rivulets. In compliance with a petition of the town, the General Court, on the 18th of February, made a grant of $1.500, to which the town added $1.500 more; and by aid of this fund, a fence was constructed, about half the length of the beach, to prevent the encroachments of the tide.
     On the 6th of May, the ice was a quarter of an inch thick. Thermomneter twenty-seven at sunrise.
     On the 21st of June, Rev. Joseph Searl was ordained pastor of the Congregational society in Lynnfield. He continued his connection with that parish, till the 17th of September, 1827, when he removed to Stoneham.
     The French General Lafayette, who served in the War of Independence, this year came to America, and was received with general gratulation and welcome. He passed through Lynn on the 31st of August. He was received at Saugus bridge, on the Turnpike, by an escort, consisting of a battalion of cavalry, the Lynn Rifle Company, Lynn Light Infantry, the Salem Cadets, and a large number of officers and citizens, by whom he was conducted to the Lynn Hotel, where an address was delivered to him by Capt. John White, to which he made an affectionate reply. After being introduced to many gentlemen and ladies, with several revolutionary soldiers, he entered an open barouche, and passed through two lines of the children of the town, who threw flowers into his carriage as he proceeded. A salute of thirteen guns was fired, on his entrance into the town; and another of twenty-four, when he departed. On his way he passed through seven beautiful arches, decorated with evergreens, flags, and festoons of flowers, and bearing inscriptions in honor of Lafayette and Freedom. Proceeding through the principal streets, he was received, at the eastern boundary of the town, by another escort, and conducted to Marblehead.
     Rev. James Diman Greene was ordained pastor of the Unitarian Society, on the 3d of November.
     [That very ingenious mechanic, Joseph Dixon, lived in Lynn at this time. And here he labored on some of those useful inventions by which he became so widely known. Among other things he directed his attention to the application of steam, and was the originator of combinations that proved the germs of some of the most gigantic and useful contrivances through which that mighty agent works at the present day. The New England Farmer, of 21 February, 1824, thus speaks of one of his inventions: "We have seen some ingenious machinery for heating steam to a high temperature, invented by Mr. Joseph Dixon, of Lynn, Mass., which promises to prove of much utility." And a particular description is added.]

1825.

     [The Probate Court was first held at Lynn, on the 4th of January. And sessions were continued here for about thirty years.]
     For several days, in April, the moon and stars, with the planet Venus, were visible for some hours, in the middle of the day. There were no clouds, and the sun shone with a dim light.
     On the 20th of April, a piece of land adjoining the Quaker burial ground, in Lynn, was purchased by several individuals and opened as a free burial ground. This was done because that society had refused to permit a child to be buried in their ground, without a compliance with their regulations.
     This year Frederic Tudor, Esq., of Boston, built his beautiful rustic cottage at Nahant.
     On Thursday, the 23d of June, at the commencement of twilight, a remarkable sungush appeared. It proceeded from the place of sunsetting; and rose perfectly straight and well-defined, to the height of twenty degrees. Its color was a beautiful bright red, and its width equal to that of a broad rainbow; the clouds around were variegated with the finest colors, and the pageant continued about fifteen minutes.
     [The thermometer rose, 21 July, to 101 degrees in the shade.]
     On Saturday, September 3d, the first newspaper printed in Lynn was published by Charles Frederic Lummus, with the title of Lynn Weekly Mirror.
     A comet was visible in October, on the right of tne Pleiades, with a train about six degrees in length.

1826.

     The coldest day this winter, was February 1, when the thermometer was sixteen degrees below zero.
     A schooner, loaded with six hundred bushels of corn, struck on a rock off the mouth of Saugus river, on the 12th of April, and sunk.
     The festival of St. John, June 24, was celebrated at Lynn, by Mount Carmel Lodge, and five other lodges of free masons. The address was delivered by Hon. Caleb Cushing, of Newburyport.
     The Lynn Institution for Savings was incorporated on the 20th of June.
     [A temperance meeting was held at the First Methodist meeting-house, on the evening of August 12. A hundred and thirty members were added to the society, which before numbered seventy-one. The object of the society was "the suppression of intemperance and its kindred vices."]
     The Quaker meeting-house, in Boston, with the burial ground adjoining, having been long disused, and few or none of the society remaining in the city, it was thought best to remove the bones. The remains of one hundred and nine persons were taken up and removed to the Quaker burial ground at Lynn. Mr. Joseph Hussey, who had two sisters buried at Boston, was unwilling that they should be removed with the rest, and caused their remains, so dear to his memory, to be deposited in the cemetery of King's Chapel.

1827.

     On the 11th of April, the First Congregational meeting-house [the Old Tunnel] was removed from the centre of the Common to the corner of Commercial street. Its form was changed, a new steeple added, and it was dedicated on the 17th of October. [It would perhaps be more correct to say that the old house was demolished and a new one built, in which a portion of the old materials were used; the new erection bearing no resemblance to the old, either inside or out. The Second Universalist Society now occupy the house.]
     On the 30th of April, Mr. Paul Newhall was drowned from a fishing boat, at Swampscot, in attempting to pass within Dread Ledge. His body was found, uninjured, thirty-nine days after; having, it was said, been caused to rise by heavy thunder, which agitated the water.
     On the night of Thursday, May 10th, a schooner from Kennebeck, loaded with hay and wood, was driven by a storm upon Lynn Beach, and dismasted.
     The anniversary of Independence was this year celebrated at Woodend. In the procession were thirteen misses, dressed in white, wearing chaplets of roses, representing the thirteen original states, and eleven younger misses, representing the new states. They recited a responsive chorus, written for the occasion, and an oration was delivered by the author of this history.
     On Tuesday evening, August 28th, a most beautiful pageant was displayed in the heavens. During the first part of the evening, the northern lights were uncommonly luminous; and at half past nine, a broad and brilliant arch was formed, which spanned the entire heavens, from east to west. No one who did not behold it, can easily imagine its splendor and sublimity. [It was like a splendid rainbow, with the exception of the prismatic colors; and was so transparent that stars were clearly discernible through it. It shot up in a stream of white light from the western horizon and extended to the eastern.]
     On several evenings in September, the northern lights were exceedingly luminous, sometimes so bright as to cast shadows.
     In the month of November were several great and drifting snow storms, and the weather was colder than had been known at that season for many years. It was so cold that it froze a large water cistern solid, and burst it.

1828.

     On the 2d of May, a whale was cast ashore at Whale Beach, Swampscot, measuring sixty feet in length, and twenty-five barrels of oil were extracted from it.
     An oration was delivered, on the 4th of July, by Rev. James Diman Green. His connection with the Unitarian Society, was dissolved, at his request, on the 4th of August.
     [The Lynn Mutual Fire Insurance Company was organized this year - Dr. James Gardner, president, and Benjamin Massay, secretary.]
     Flora, a black woman, died on the 1st of October, aged one hundred and thirteen years. She was born in Africa, and related many interesting anecdotes of her country. Her father was one of the chiefs, and when he died they built a house over him, as they considered it an indignity to suffer the rain to fall on his grave. One day a party of slave dealers came and set fire to their happy and peaceful village. Her mother was unable to run so fast as the rest, and as Flora was unwilling to escape without her, she remained and was taken. She had two husbands and five children in Africa, and three husbands and five children in America. She was a sensible and purely pious woman, and was greatly respected.
     In a storm, on the 22d of November, a schooner, belonging to Freeport, was cast upon the Lobster Rocks. The crew, with a lady passenger, immediately left the vessel, which was found in the morning, drifted upon Chelsea Beach.
     The Lynn Lyceum was established, 23 December.

1829.

     One of the most beautiful appearances of nature was presented on the morning of Saturday, the 10th of January. A heavy mist had fallen on the preceding evening, and when the sun rose, the whole expanse of hill and plain displayed the most enchanting and dazzling prospect of glittering frost. The tall and branching trees were bent, by the weight of ice, into graceful arches, and resembled magnificent chandeliers, glittering with burnished silver. As far as the eye could reach, all was one resplendent surface of polished ice; and in some places, the trees which stood in colonnades, were bent till their tops touched together, and formed long arcades of crystal, decorated with brilliant pearls, and sparkling with diamonds. But the scene in the open village, although so highly beautiful was far exceeded by the magnificent lustre of the woods. The majestic hemlocks bent their heavy branches to the ground, loaded as with a weight of gold, and formed delightful bowers, sparkling with gems, and illuminated with colored light. The evergreen cedars were covered with crystal gold, and glowed with emeralds of the deepest green. The silver tops of the graceful birches crossed each other, like the gothic arches of some splendid temple; while the slender shafts, and the glittering rocks, resembled columns, and altars, and thrones; and the precipitous cliffs looked down, like towers and battlements of silver; and far above all, the tall pines glittered in the frosty air, like the spires of a thousand cathedrals, overlaid with transparent gold, and burnished by the cloudless sun. This beautiful and surprising exhibition continued undisturbed for two whole days. On the third morning, the warm fingers of Aurora found the frozen chords which upheld the glittering show. They severed at the touch - and from lofty spire and stately elm, came showering gems and pearls, that tinkled as they bounded on the crystal plain. The ice, which had confined the mighty arms of aged forest trees, came crashing down, breaking the frosted shrubs beneath, and sending through the woods a mingled sound, like falling towers, and the far dash of waters. The admirer of the works of nature, who, during the continuance of this beautiful scene, was in the majestic woods, will never forget their indescribable splendor, or doubt the power and skill of Him, who, with such slight means as the twilight vapor and the midnight mist, can form an arch of fire in heaven, or create an exhibition of glory and grandeur on earth, so far surpassing the utmost beauty of the works of man.
     [On this inspiring occasion Mr. Lewis produced the poem which has generally been considered the most beautiful of his productions. It first appeared, I think, in the Token, one of those elegant gift volumes so fashionable at this period. And surely if he had never written any thing else, this would have been sufficient to seal him as a poet. Its insertion here seems appropriate:]

     THE FROSTED TREES.
     JANUARY 10, 1829.
     What strange enchantment meets my view,
        So wondrous bright and fair?
     Has heaven poured out its silver dew
        On the rejoicing air?
     Or am I borne to regions new,
        To see the glories there?

     Last eve, when sunset filled the sky
        With wreaths of golden light,
     The trees sent up their arms on high,
        All leafless to the sight,
     And sleepy mists came down to lie
        On the dark breast of night.

     But now the scene is changed, and all
        Is fancifully new;
     The trees, last eve so straight and tall,
        Are bending on the view,
     And streams of living daylight fall
        The silvery arches through.

     The boughs are strung with glittering pearls,
        As dew-drops bright and bland;
     And there they gleam in silvery curls,
        Like gems of Samarcand;
     Seeming in bright and dazzling whirls,
        The work of seraph's hand.

     Each branch is bending with the weight,
        Which makes it nod and swerve,
     As if some viewless angel sate
        Upon its graceful curve,
     Causing its heart to glow elate,
        And strain each secret nerve.

     It seems as if some robe of God
        Had been spread out below;
     As if His hand had stretched abroad,
        Where midnight breezes go:
     To make the mind of nature awed
        With His most glorious show.

     In the snow storm on the 6th of February, a woman perished on Farrington's Hill, on the Turnpike, one mile eastward of the Lynn Hotel. Another great storm commenced on the 20th, when several vessels belonging to Swampscot, were driven out to sea. One of them remained five days, and went on shore at Chatham, where the crew were much frozen.
     On the night of the 5th of March, a schooner, loaded with coffee, struck on Shag Rocks, on the south side of Nahant, and was dashed entirely to pieces. No traces of the crew were found, and it is probable that they all perished.
     Great excitement was occasioned this year in Lynn, as it had been in many other towns and cities for some years previous, on the subject of Freemasonry. On the 1st of April, Mr. Jacob Allen, of Braintree, gave an exhibition of some of the alleged mysteries of that institution, at Liberty Hall, corner of Essex and Market streets; and on the 6th, the inhabitants, in town meeting, voted, that they regarded Freemasonry "as a great moral evil," and its existence "as being dangerous to all free governments," and gave Mr. Allen the use of the Town Hall to continue his exhibitions. [The nature and tendency of the oaths taken on admission to the different masonic degrees were soon vehemently discussed in the community at large, and the principles of the institution and its value freely canvassed, it being generally conceded that the veil had been rent from its privacy. Anti-masonry presently formed an active element in politics, and its influence began seriously to be felt. We had here an anti-masonic newspaper - the Lynn Record - and in other places similar journals, conducted with zeal and ability, sprang up. In Lynn, for several years, the anti-masonic party were in complete ascendancy, and managed things as they thought best. The battle against the institution continued to rage till in some states extra-judicial oaths were prohibited under severe penalties. Many lodges surrendered their charters, and then the excitement began to decline. Soon after, however, other secret societies - the Odd Fellows' for instance - claiming to be free from the objectionable features of Freemasonry, were established. And, finally, after a disturbed sleep of about twenty years, the ancient institution began to arouse and assert itself with renewed vigor.]
     Rev. David Hatch Barlow was ordained minister of the Unitarian Society, on the 9th of December.
     The canker worms, for seven years, have been making great ravages among the fruit trees. Many orchards have borne but little fruit during that time, and the leaves and blossoms have been so thoroughly devoured, that the trees have appeared as if scorched by fire.
     In a very great thunder shower, on the 30th of July, a barn on Nahant, belonging to Stephen Codman, Esq., was struck by lightning, and Mr. William Hogan, a carpenter, was killed.
     In September, a stone beacon twenty feet in height, was erected on the outer cliff of Dread Ledge, by order of the United States government, at an expense of one thousand dollars. It was thrown down by a storm, on the 31st of October.
     The first complete Map of Lynn was made this year, from a particular survey, by Alonzo Lewis. [And the first numbers of the first edition of Mr. Lewis's history were published.
     [The manufacture of flannel was commenced at Saugus, this year, by Brierly and Whitehead. In a few years it grew to be a large and profitable business.]

1830.

     The publication of the second newspaper, entitled the Lynn Record, was begun, January 23, by Alonzo Lewis. [Mr. Lewis's connection with this paper ceased with the sixth number. It then became the organ of the anti-masonic party, which soon attained supremacy in municipal affairs, and held it for several years. The Record was discontinued in 1841.
     [During January, not a single death occurred in the whole population of 8.000 in Lynn, Lynnfield, and Saugus.]
     One of the highest tides ever known happened on the 26th of March. It rose about five feet higher than common high tides, passing entirely over the Long Beach, and making Nahant an island. It also flowed over the southern part of Market street, and passing up the mill brook, swept off a quantity of wood from a house in Bridge street.
    On the 12th of July, Mr. Joseph Blaney, aged 52, went out in a fishing boat at Swampscot, when a shark overset his boat and killed him. [This shark must have been extremely ferocious. Mr. Blaney went out into the bay in one of the large Swampscot boats, which he left, and in a small boat rowed away, alone, to fish. After some hours he was seen to wave his hat for assistance. Another boat immediately started toward him, and presently the fish was seen to slide off, Mr. Blaney still remaining in his boat. But the shark renewed the attack, carrying down the boat, before the other could arrive. It came to the surface bottom up, and the unfortunate man was no more seen.]
     The meeting-house of the Third Methodist Society, built this year, in South street, was dedicated on the 3d of August. The first minister was Rev. Rufus Spaulding.
     A great tempest of rain and wind, on the 26th of August, occasioned very great damage to the corn and fruit trees.
     Donald MacDonald, a native of Inverness, in Scotland, died in the Lynn almshouse, on the 4th of October, aged 108 years. He was in the battle of Quebec, when Wolfe fell, and was one of the few whom Washington conducted from the forest of blood when Braddock was killed by the Indians.
     Vegetation this year was abundant; English hay was eight dollars a ton; and more apples were gathered than in all the seven previous years.
     Another great storm tide, on the 29th of November, came in high and furious, doing great damage to the Long Beach, by sweeping down the ridge and throwing it into the harbor.
     On Wednesday, December 1st, there were two shocks of an earthquake, about eight o'clock in the evening.
     On the morning of the 4th, half an hour after midnight, a meteor, exceedingly brilliant, passed south of the moon, which was then shining near the meridian.
     The northern lights made an uncommonly rich display on the evening of the 11th, assuming the most fanciful forms, changing into the appearance of tall spires, towers, arches, and warriors armed with long spears.

1831.

     Dr. Aaron Lummus died on the 5th of January, aged 74. He resided in Lynn nearly fifty years, and was one of the most popular physicians in the town. He married Eunice Coffin, in 1786. In 1823 and 1824, he was a senator of Essex county. [Dr. Lummus had seven sons and three daughters, viz: Clarissa, Hannah, John, Aaron, Edward A., George, Elizabeth C., Samuel, Charles F., and Thomas J.
     [The Essex Democrat, the third Lynn newspaper, was commenced this year, by Benjamin Mudge. It was published a year or two, and then the materials were moved to Salem and used on the Commercial Advertiser.]
     A great storm commenced on the 15th of January, in which a schooner, belonging to Stephen Smith, was torn from her fastenings at his wharf, and dashed to pieces against the embankment on Deer Island, throwing down about sixty feet of the new granite wall, recently built by the United States government.
     In August, the sun and the atmosphere, for many days, presented a smoky appearance, of a greenish blue color. The same phenomenon was noticed by M. Arago, the French astronomer, at Paris. [It was also observed in other parts of Europe. It was not damp, like fog, and was entirely wanting in some of the properties of smoke. In some places it was at times so luminous that people were able to read by it, at midnight. I remember it very well, and how much it was remarked and speculated upon here at Lynn. Some time after it had disappeared, an eminent astronomer of Europe thought he had discovered sufficient evidence to determine that the earth was then enveloped in the tail of a comet. And such an occurrence has now ceased to be alarming, as it is well ascertained to have taken place at other times. The tail of the great comet which appeared in our heavens with such startling suddenness, in 1861, is known to have been in actual contact with the earth, three days before it became visible. See under date 1861.]
     On the evening of the 26th of August, the moon rose about fifteen minutes before nine; and half an hour after, there was a shower in the northwest, and on the cloud a perfect and beautiful lunar rainbow was depicted, of a yellowish color.
     This year the small-pox made its appearance in Chesnut street, Woodend. The infected were promptly removed, and the disease soon disappeared. One death occurred.
     Another beacon was erected on Dread Ledge, at Swampscot - an obelisk of granite, twenty-five feet in height, and three feet square at the base.
     On the 22d of November there was a singularly mingled tempest, very violent, for an hour in the morning, with rain, hail, snow, thunder and lightning, a strong east wind, and a high tide. The lightning struck at Breed's End, and a vessel went ashore on Phillips's Beach, and another on Nahant Beach.
     Dr. James Gardner died 26 December, aged 69 years. He was born at Woburn, in 1762, entered the army of the Revolution at an early age, and on the return of peace devoted himself to study, and graduated at Harvard, in 1788. He came to Lynn in 1792, and commenced the practice of medicine. The next year he married Susanna, daughter of Dr. John Flagg. He was a skillful and popular physician, and possessed the manners of a gentleman. [His residence was on the south side of Boston street, near Bridge; and he was the father of a very respectable family.]
     This year Mr. John Alley enclosed about twenty acres of water, by a dam from his wharf to the marsh, [near the foot of Pleasant street,] thus making a pond, on which he built a grist mill, and afterward a fulling mill.
     On the last of December, the thermometer was eleven degrees below zero.

1832.

     [Col. James Robinson died on Saturday, 21 January, aged 75. He was the first postmaster of Lynn - appointed in 1795 - and for many years a most useful citizen. For a long time he resided in the ancient mansion, still standing on the northeast corner of Boston and Federal streets. And in a little shop near by, the post-office was kept. He was father of a large and respectable family. After marrying his second wife, he removed to Boston and there lived for a number of years. The latter part of his life was passed in reduced circumstances, and mental obscurity. He was a soldier of the Revolution, and in his last years received comforts from a small pension. His first wife was a daughter of James Newhall, known as 'Squire Jim, and his children by her were, James, Lydia, Abigail, John, Harriet, Lois, Janet, George, Charles, Horatio.
     [The Weekly Messenger, the fourth newspaper established in Lynn, was commenced April 14, by James R. Newhall. It was published on Saturdays, and was as large and well printed as any newspaper ever printed in Lynn, up to that period. The publishing business was not then profitable here; nor was it for many years after, if, indeed, it has ever been. It is a kind of business that naturally concentrates in the larger cities; and Lynn is too near Boston to afford any great encouragement to printers.]
     The Lynn Anti-Slavery society was formed on the 25th of April.
     Rev. Otis Rockwood was dismissed from the pastoral charge of the First Congregational Church, on the 12th of May. Rev. David Peabody was ordained pastor of the same church on the 15th of November.
     [The Lynn Mechanics Fire and Marine Insurance Company was incorporated this year. Also Nahant Bank, which failed in 1836.
     [Eight and a half inches of rain fell in May, and the summer was cold.]
     The Tuscan Chapel at Nahant was erected by subscriptions made by gentlemen of Boston. Religious services are held in it during the warm and visiting season.
     [The first meeting for the preaching of Mormonism, in Lynn, was held in the summer of this year. And for the space of ten years afterward, elders of the faith continued to visit here and hold meetings at intervals. About a dozen converts were made. Several emigrated to Nauvoo, and thence, when the Latter Day Saints, as they styled themselves, were driven from Illinois, journeyed to the Salt Lake. Two or three finally returned, having renounced the faith; and one of them, a female, put forth a book exposing the errors and evil practices of the Saints. Baptism by immersion was administered to a small body of converts, by an elder named Freeman Nickerson, near the foot of Market street, in 1841.]
     A Whaling Company was formed, and five ships employed, three of which were built at Lynn. They harbored in Saugus river, but on the crossing of the rail-road, in 1838, they were removed to Boston. [None of the whale ships were built at Lynn. A ship yard was established in the western part of the town, about this time, but no vessel larger than a schooner was built there.
     [This year the great Nullification ferment in South Carolina occurred. Many entertained serious apprehension that it would result in a dissolution of the Union. Indeed the fiery southern sentiment seemed rapidly ripening into a gigantic rebellion. But the energy and unswerving patriotism of General Jackson, who was happily then in the presidential chair, in all human probability saved the country from great disasters. The stern and uncompromising proclamation which he issued on what appeared to be the eve of a terrific political storm, created a profound sensation, and was enthusiastically applauded in every loyal quarter of the Union. The excited southerners at once saw the danger of precipitancy, and discreetly abstained from overt acts. And the danger passed away in harmless dischages of oratory. On the evening of the 25th of December, soon after the reception of the proclamation at Lynn, a meeting of the citizens was held in the Town Hall, composed of the adherents of all parties - of Anti-masons, Democrats, and National Republicans - at which the following preamble and resolutions passed unanimously:

     At a time of unprecedented prosperity in agriculture, commerce and manufactures, in our happy Union, and this Union purchased with a great treasure, and cemented with the blood and tears of our progenitors, and hallowed by our own devout prayers, aspirations, and labors, we, the citizens of Lynn, learn with sorrow that our sister State, South Carolina, once so patriotic, has assumed false principles, and, pretending peace, made warlike preparations to dissolve the Union so dear to the people in most portions of the nation. We cannot consent to the proposition, in fact we do not believe, that any State of the twenty-four States now solemnly united, can withdraw her allegiance to the United States, whenever she may please, or dictate to the Congress of the United States the laws which should be enacted or repealed, any further than the weight of the representatives of such State may prevail in the acts and deliberations of that body.
     But since the acts of the State of South Carolina have undertaken to decide the constitutionality of the laws of Congress, and upon the same principle all other laws of the United States, when such decision is wholly confided to, and intrusted in, the Supreme Judicial Court of the Union, by the United States constitution, to which every citizen of the twenty-four United States owes absolute and unqualified allegiance, and since such principles of Nullification and misrule prevail by a majority of the citizens of one State, and are openly approbated, and not reprobated, by some other States, we are alarmed for the safety of the Union, and our own, and in common, for the liberties of the people.
     It is with satisfaction that we have read the Proclamation of the President of the United States denouncing the treasonable designs and acts of the Convention and Legislature of the State of South Carolina. This Proclamation is replete with true sentiments upon the construction of the Federal Constitution, of the power and duty of the President, and of the Supreme Judicial Court of the Union.; which sentiments we, in common with our brethren of this State, have been educated, from the cradle to the present time, to cherish and love; and we will never abandon them. Therefore,
     RESOLVED, That we abhor and denounce the doctrine of South Carolina Nullification, and the awkward and unnatural attitude in which she has placed herself before the Union and the world.
     RESOLVED, That we approve of the sentiments and principles spread before the public by the President in his late able Proclamation, and believe it to be the duty of all good citizens to support such sentiments and principles to the hazard of life and property.
     RESOLVED, That in all cases in which the construction of the Federal Constitution is drawn in question, the Supreme Judicial Court of the United States is the sole interpreter.
     RESOLVED, That no individual State or any individual of any State has a right to declare void or nullify a single act of the Congress of the United States; and that the several States, and each and every citizen in them, owe allegiance to the United States, which cannot be dissolved excepting by a majority of the voices of the people of the whole United States, constitutionally and legally expressed. And, further,
     RESOLVED, That a copy of the foregoing preamble and resolutions be signed by the chairman and secretary, and transmitted to the President of thy United States.]

1833.

     On the 16th of January, Mr. David Taylor's shoe manufactory, corner of Ash and Elm streets was burnt, with a large amount of stock.
     On the 2d of February, Rev. David H. Barlow relinquished the care of the Unitarian Society; and Rev. Samuel D. Robbins was ordained pastor of the same church on the 13th of November.
     On the 14th of February, the new Baptist meeting-house on the north side of the Common was dedicated.
     [The First Universalist Society was organized, 25 March, in the Town Hall.
     [President Jackson visited Lynn, 26 June. The old hero was warmly greeted; but the day was stormy, and his stay was short.]
     One of the most remarkable phenomena ever witnessed in New England, was a shower of meteors. It commenced soon after three o'clock, on the morning of Wednesday, the 13th of November, and continued until day. There were many thousands, which fell in all directions, like flakes of snow. Most of them were small, but some appeared as large as seven stars combined in one. The meteors seemed to proceed chiefly from a point about fifteen degrees southeast of the zenith, and the display was noticed in Philadelphia and Baltimore.
     [Friction matches came into use about this time. And they soon supplanted the old tinder-box, with its flint and steel.
     [Anthracite coal, also began to be used here, in small quantities. But it grew in favor slowly, and sorely tried the patience of its friends. It required such different treatment, in burning, from any kind of fuel before used, that it seemed as if some people never could become habituated to it.
     [Metal pens, likewise, came into use at this time; but the old goose quill long continued in favor with many. The writing paper of that time was not well adapted to the new pen, a harder and smoother surface being required; the want, however, was soon supplied, and then the metal pen became more generally popular.]

1834.

     On the 28th of May, several persons destroyed the curious cave in the Dungeon Rock, under the imagination that they might obtain a treasure. They placed a keg of powder in the cave, which, on its explosion, blew out the lower portion of the rock, causing the great mass above to fall, and thus destroying the cavern. This is the third time that curious and wonderful caves in Lynn have been destroyed by wantonness . It is much to be regretted that this rage for destructiveness cannot cease. Such persons ought to be confined as destroyers of God's beautiful works.
     On the 31st of July, Mr. Durant, aeronaut, ascended in a balloon, from Boston, passed over Nahant, and descended into the water, from which, in about fifteen minutes, he was taken up by a schooner.
     On the 12th of August, Mr. John Mudge's barn, in Shepard street, was burnt by lightning.
     [The anti-masonic sentiment, growing out of the alleged revelations regarding the evil tendency of freemasonry prevailed so extensively that in December the meetings of Mount Carmel Lodge were discontinued. But they were resumed in 1845.]

1835.

     On the 22d of April, Rev. David Peabody resigned the pastoral charge of the First Congregational Church.
     [In the early part of the summer of this year, George Thompson, a prominent English abolitionist, visited Lynn and lectured in several of the meeting-houses, to large audiences, on the subject of slavery. In the latter part of the summer he again came to Lynn, to attend a meeting of the Essex County Anti-Slavery Society, held in the First Methodist meeting-house. Some opposition was now manifested by the opponents of the anti-slavery movement. In the evening, while Mr. Thompson was lecturing, a great crowd collected about the meeting-house, and a stone was hurled through one of the windows, causing great disturbance within. A large number pressed into the entry and attempted to burst in the inner doors, which had been closed. During the tumult Mr. Thompson ended his discourse, and passed out, unobserved by the crowd. He was presently surrounded by a guard of ladies, and conducted to a neighboring house, whence he departed, privately, to his temporary residence, at Swampscot.]
     A comet appeared, in the constellation of Ursa Major, on the 9th of October, and continued in view about two weeks.
     On the 4th of November, Hezekiah Chase's mill, at the mouth of Strawberry brook, was burnt.
     The Christian Church, in Silsbe street, was organized on the 5th of November. The first minister was Rev. Philemon R. Russell, who preached there about five years.
     On Tuesday evening, November 17, the northern lights were very lustrous, and presented the singular appearance of a splendid illuminated crown in the zenith.
     On the 10th of December, the First Universalist Meeting-house, in Union street, was dedicated.
     The 16th of December was the coldest day of the season, the thermometer being fourteen degrees below zero.
     On the evening of the 17th of December, Mr. Rufus Newhall's barn, in Essex street, was burnt.
     On the 28th of December, Lieutenant Robert R. Mudge, of Lynn, aged 26 years, was killed by the Seminole Indians, near Withlacoochie, in Florida, three persons only escaping in a company of a hundred and eight.
     [There were one hundred families reckoned as belonging to the Society of Friends, in Lynn, this year.]

1836.

     This year a second attempt was made to form an Episcopal Church in Lynn. It was commenced on the 7th of January, by three persons, under the name of Christ Church. On the 5th of November, a handsome rustic edifice, with diamond windows, and four Tuscan columns, was erected on the north side of the Common. [And this was the first Episcopal Church built in Lynn.] Rev. Milton Ward was the first minister.
     The Second Universalist Society was organized on the 9th of March. Their first minister was Rev. Dunbar B. Harris.
     [The act establishing the fire department of Lynn was passed March 23, and accepted by the town April 18.]
     The winter was very long and cold; snow began on the 23d of November, and sleighing continued until the 15th of March - sixteen weeks. [There was a frost in every month, and remarkable spots appeared on the sun.]
     Rev. Parsons Cooke was installed pastor of the First Congregational Church on the 4th of May.
     [The first post-office in Lynnfield was established 25 May, in the south village.]
     This year Henry A. Breed, Esq., built a large brick factory on Water Hill, for calico printing and dyeing. He dug a new pond, comprising about an acre, for a reservoir. He also laid out several new streets, and built nearly four hundred convenient cottages, and other buildings, and a wharf.
     [The Trinitarian Congregational Society, at Saugus centre, built their stone meeting-house, at a cost of $2.800.]
     Dr. Richard Hazeltine died on the 10th of July. He was born at Concord, N. H., November 28th 1773, married Phebe Carter in 1799, and came to Lynn in 1817. [He owned the beautiful estate on the south side of Essex street, between High and Pearl streets, and there resided. He was a man of sterling integrity, dignified manners, and commanding person. He acted to some extent as a civil magistrate, and took much interestin the common schools.]
     On the 23d of September, a young man jumped off the precipice of High Rock, a descent of sixty feet, and, strange to tell, walked away uninjured.
     A fire in Broad street, near Exchange, on the evening of the 18th of October, burnt the stable of Boynton Viall and the shoe manufactory of Isaac B. Cobb.
     The brig Shamrock, Jortin, of Boston, with a cargo of sugar and molasses, was wrecked on Long Beach, on the 17th of December.
     [At this time there were but seventeen buildings of brick in all Lynn, and only six, of any material, above two stories in height. There were sixty streets, and the dwellings, throughout the town were valued at an average of $500.]

1837.

     On the 15th of January, at two o'clock in the morning, there was an earthquake.
     The new meeting-house of the First Congregational Society, on South Common street, corner of Vine, was dedicated on the 1st of February.
     On the 20th of June, the schooner Triton of Waldoborough, loaded with wood, was wrecked on Fishing Point, Swampscot.
     [The barn of Hubbard Emerson, Lynnfield, was struck by lightning, 20 June, and an ox killed.]
     On the 21st of June, Lewis A. Lauriat ascended in a balloon from Chelsea, and landed in the woods near Lynn Dye House.
     Augustus, son of Israel Perkins, aged 14, was drowned on the 1st of July, while bathing in Alley's mill pond, near the wharf.
     Independence was celebrated near Lover's Leap, by a party of ladies and gentlemen of Lynn, Boston and Salem, and several songs written by the Lynn Bard, were sung. [The'" Lynn Bard' was Mr. Lewis. He adopted the name soon after he began to publish poetry.]
     The Episcopal Church, on North Common street, was consecrated on Thursday, 20 July. Sermon by Bishop Griswold.
     [The subject of the manufacture of silk excited much attention in Lynn and many other places at this time. Great numbers of white mulberry trees were planted to furnish food for the worms, and high expectations were entertained. Considerable success attended the experiments; but the matter died away without important results. A gentleman who took quite an interest in the business, showed me, within a few months, some handkerchiefs, which were woven from silk produced by worms raised by him, and fed on leaves of trees which he planted. They were of beautiful texture, and handsomely printed at the silk printing works then in operation here.]
     In August, a survey of Lynn Beach and Harbor was made by Alonzo Lewis, under the direction of Congress; and a plan submitted for the purpose of erecting a sea wall, the whole length of the Beach, at an expense of $37.000; but though encouragement was given for a grant, yet none was obtained.
     [This year the surplus United States revenue was distributed. The amount received by Lynn was $14.879.00; and it was, by vote of the town, applied to the payment of the town debt. Lynnfield received $1.328.29, and in like manner applied it to their town debt. Saugus received $3.500.00, and appropriated it to the building of a town hall. Where shall we look for a parallel case in the history of any nation? But, judging from the present and prospective accumulation of our national debt, centuries will roll away before the United States will be in a condition to repeat the example.
     [There was a frost every month this year, as well as the preceding.]

1838.

     [The thermometer fell to 18 degrees below zero on the 30th of January.]
     The ladies of Lynn held a fair at the Town Hall, on the 4th of July, for benevolent purposes. Francis Maria, [wife of Mr. Lewis] was principal, and nearly $500 were obtained.
     The Eastern Rail-road, passing through Lynn, was opened for public travel, from Boston to Salem, on the 28th of August. Before this time, a few stages had accommodated all the eastern travel; but now the number of passengers, to and from Boston, so rapidly increased, that for the first three months, the average was three hundred and forty-eight persons each day. The company for effecting this great and convenient enterprise was incorporated on the 14th of April, 1836. [After the road was opened, as above, it was rapidly extended eastward to Portland.] It was a magnificent project, happily accomplished, and it may be regarded not merely as a civil convenience, but as a work of great moral influence, tending to break down the barriers of sectional prejudice, and to promote feelings of benevolence and refinement, by bringing many persons of both sexes into habits of social and daily intercourse. [In relation to what Mr. Lewis says above regarding the travel by stage, before the rail-road was opened, it may be stated that in 1836, twenty-three stages left Lynn Hotel for Boston, daily, and there were likewise numerous extras. They belonged to the great eastern and the Salem lines. Oftentimes they were well filled on their arrival at Lynn, and the cry "stage full," fell upon the ear of the hurrying man of business in a way any thing but pleasant. A great many, however, drove to Boston in their own vehicles. And there were numerous fast horses about town.]
     On the 28th of September, two brakemen a Mr. Tyler and a Mr. Baker, who were standing upon the top of a car, were instantly killed, by being struck against the overhead framework of the little bridge near the West Lynn depot.
     [Edward Pranker this year bought the water privilege and other property of the New England Wool Company, at Saugus, and commenced the manufacture of flannel. In 1846 he increased the power by raising the dam two feet, and greatly enlarged his business, which proved lucrative and added much to the prosperity of the place. In 1860, he built a fine large mill to be run by steam power. His mills, together with that of Mr. Scott, are picturesquely situated in the vicinity of the site of the old Iron Works, a location well adapted to manufacturing purposes.]
     The Lynn Freeman newspaper was commenced on the 10th of November - David Taylor and Charles Coolidge, proprietors.

1839.

     On the 27th day of May, died, Francis Maria, wife of Alonzo Lewis - a woman amiable, talented, virtuous and greatly beloved. Her funeral was attended by perhaps as great a number of persons as were ever present at the interment of any lady in Lynn, to whom her active benevolence, and her worth as a teacher, had greatly endeared her. Amid the attention which is given to the various concerns of humanity, surely one page may be spared as a tribute to the excellence of Woman. In the course of history, the virtues and the worth of Man are delineated in all the features of strong and admirable portraiture; but Woman - the inspiration of existence, the soul of humanity, without whom the world would be but a resplendent desert, and life itself a burden to its lordly and lonely possessor - Woman is overlooked with indifference, as if she were not entitled even to a small share in the record of human events. When a man is consigned to the tomb of his fathers, his worth is recorded on monuments of marble, and his virtues illuminate the page of history; but the grave of woman is passed in silence and neglect. She who is the mother of man, the wife of his bosom, the daughter of his affection - she who has shared all his dangers and encouraged his footsteps up the steep ascent of fame - she who in the hour of sickness has been his comforter, in the day of adversity his support, and in the time of trial his guardian angel - generous, virtuous, unassuming woman - is permitted to go to her everlasting sleep, with no mention of her name, no record of her virtues. Poetry indeed has extolled her, but even poetry has praised her but half. It has represented her chiefly as a thing of beauty, an object of youthful admiration, a creature of light and fancy, full of fascination and the blandishments of love. Poetry and romance follow her in the sunny days of youth and beauty; but when the time of her maturity and usefulness arrives, they abandon her for other pursuits, and leave her alone to encounter the trials, and sickness, and sorrows of home. It is there, in the unobserved paths of domestic life, that the value of woman is to be estimated. There may be found unwavering faith, untiring affection, hope that endures all afflictions, and love that bears all trials. There may be found the smile of unfailing friendship, mantling over a breaking heart - the unobtrusive tear of sympathy, falling in the silence of solitude. There may be found a being, like a spirit from another world, watching through the long dark hours of night, over the form of manhood, prostrate and wasting by slow consuming sickness, and performing all the numerous duties, and encountering all the innumerable trials of common life, with the enduring patience of years, and with no reward but the satisfaction of her own secret heart. Man performs the public toils of life, and participates the honors of the world and the recompense of fame; but woman, who has formed man for his high destiny, and whose virtues and amiable qualities constitute the refinement of society, has no share in such rewards. But history cannot do justice to her merits; she must be satisfied with the living admiration of her excellence on earth, and the everlasting remuneration of her virtues in heaven.
     [Louisa Jane a young daughter of Samuel Stearns, keeper of the rail-road depot on Central Square, in August, 1837, drank some potash, in a tumbler of water, which had been prepared for cleaning purposes. It destroyed the inner coating of her stomach, and she did not eat for twenty-two days. On the 30th of March, this year, she died, having again abstained from food for twenty-one days.]
     On the 7th of June, Rev. Samuel D. Robbins resigned the care of the Unitarian Society.
     One of the greatest storms for many years commenced on Sunday, December 15th, and continued three days. It consisted of snow and rain, and the wind blew a gale, which did great damage to the shipping in many places. The schooner Catharine, from Philadelphia, for Boston, was wrecked on the rocks near Bass Point, at Nahant. Two of the crew were instantly drowned, and another was so injured, by being dashed upon the rocks, that he soon died. Capt. Nichols and one man were saved. At Gloucester, twenty vessels were wrecked, and seventeen dead bodies were picked up on the beach.

1840.

     On the 1st of January, Rev. William Gray Swett was ordained minister of the Unitarian Society.
     [The house of widow Betsey Newhall, in the south part of Lynnfield, was burned, on the 4th of January.
     [On the 16th of January the thermometer was 18 degrees below zero.]
     On the evening of Sunday, October 25th, a scene of terrific grandeur was exhibited. A tempest suddenly rose, in which the thunder was exceedingly heavy, so as to shake the houses like an earthquake; and the lightning was intense, making the whole atmosphere, at times, appear as if it were a flame; and in the house it seemed as if one were enveloped with fire. At the same time snow fell and covered the ground. The exhibition was singular and awfully sublime.
     On the 11th of November, during a storm, the tide rose higher than it probably had done since 1815. The wind had been easterly for several weeks, and the swell of the waters was immense, passing for several days entirely over the Long Beach, so that not only the harbor, but the marshes of Lynn, Saugus and Chelsea, were a portion of the mighty sea. There was no safety in approaching the level shore; but it was a grand and terrible sight, to stand upon Sagamore hill, or some other elevation, and view the fearful devastations of the waters. Nahant appeared to be severed forever from the main, and ocean to be passing the bounds of its ancient decree.
     [The Puritan, a religions and secular newspaper was commenced this year, at Lynn. Rev. Parsons Cooke was editor of the religious department, and James R. Newhall of the secular. The paper was afterward removed to Boston, and being united with the Recorder was called the Puritan Recorder. Subsequently the name Puritan was dropped and the publication continued under the name Recorder. Mr. Cooke's connection with it continued till 1862.]
     One fact appears evident from recent observation - either the sea is encroaching upon our shores by elevation, or the marshes are sinking. There are strong indications, by marks upon the rocks, that the ocean once broke against the cliffs of Saugus; and on examination of the marshes, we are led to the almost irresistible conclusion that the whole region now occupied by them was once a portion of the sea. By some means, not easily explained, these marshes were formed, and covered, or filled, with trees. The trunks and stumps of those trees, in some places bearing marks of the axe! are now buried two or three feet below the surface of the marsh! and twice that depth beneath the level of high tides! - so that the sea, after having been shut out by some great revolution, appears to be returning to claim what were perhaps its ancient limits. Another proof that the waters are gaining upon the land is the fact that the creeks are much wider now than they formerly were; and the trunk of a pine, which a few years since projected three feet into the river, now projects twenty feet.

1841.

     The Lyceum Hall, in Market street, was built this year.
     Phrenology and Mesmerism received much attention at this period. Many lectures were given by European and American professors, and many interesting experiments performed to the satisfaction of numbers; but some remained incredulous.
     This year Joseph G. Joy, Esq. built his log cabin, at Nahant, from a plan by Alonzo Lewis. [A sort of log cabin mania prevailed to some extent throughout the country. The political campaign which resulted in the election of General Harrison to the presidency, was called the log cabin and hard cider campaign, in allusion to the alleged fact that the General, during his western life, lived in a log cabin and refreshed himself, while toiling as a husbandman, by the free use of hard cider. It was thought by sagacious politicians that the picture of simplicity thus brought before the people, with the adjunct of hard cider songs, had great influence in the election. Many individuals, before and after the election, erected unique structures, for temporary residences and other purposes, bearing some resemblance to the log cabins of the frontier.
     [Some disturbance was created in Lynn and other places, about this time, by the Comeouters, as they were called. They arrayed themselves against the religious organizations, and in a number of intances disturbed public worship by entering the meeting-houses and denouncing the proceedings. The First Congregational and the First Baptist churches had the benefit of their visits; but members of the congregations, without appreciating the interruptions, quietly carried out the disturbers. They had little respect for Sunday, or the settled institutions of religion. In some cases their conduct became so outrageous that they were arrested and punished as breakers of the peace. They professed great regard for morality, but seemed to think it better when separated from religion. In a few years, however, the new light exhausted itself in extravagance of doctrine and indecorum of practice.
     [On the 17th of April a party of public spirited young men assembled and set trees around the Common, in Lynnfield.
     [The first Daguerreotype picture ever taken in Lynn was executed this year by James R. Newhall. It was a landscape, and the instrument by which it was taken was a cumbrous affair, imported from France. The beautiful art had been discovered but a few months before, and was just beginning to be applied to the taking of likenesses of persons. No more sensitive coating for the plate had then been discovered than the simple exhalation of iodine; and the plate was of copper with a face of silver; it not having been discovered that a picture could be taken on any thing but a surface of silver. Three minutes were the shortest time thought of for a sitting, even in clear sunshine; and eight or ten minutes were not unfrequently required. And after the trial of sitting, the miniatures were dim and unsatisfactory, requiring to be held in a particular light to have any effect, or even, in most cases, to be discernible. American ingenuity, however, soon greatly improved the art. And at the famous world's exhibition, in London, in 1852, the pictures from the United States took precedence of all others. In about twenty years after the first operations under the process, the elegant miniatures known as photographs were produced. And presently the photograph album appeared on the centre-table of the mansion and shelf of the cot, often dearer than the Bible itself.]

1842.

     [Robert W. Trevett died, 13 January, aged 53. He was a graduate of Harvard College, and for many years in respectable practice as a lawyer, at Lynn, having come in 1813. He was a conspicuous man in our community, and something of a politician, though he never occupied a very high official position. With general literature of the better sort, he was more than ordinarily familiar, and few stood before him in knowledge of the history of American commerce and manufactures. In person he was of something more than medium size, and in temperament exceedingly nervous, so much so, that in his latter years his whole system, mental and physical, was unfavorably affected. The closing years of his life he passed in obscurity and indigence, shunned by most of those who in his prosperous days had received benefits at his hand. His wife was a lady eminent for her virtues. They had four children; Sarah, Robert W., Susan W., and Warren G.
     [The Essex County Washingtonian, a large and well printed paper, designed to advocate the cause of temperance, was commenced on the 16th of March - Christopher Robinson proprietor.]
     The Lynn Natural History Society was formed on the 3d of August. It was quite successful in the collection of interesting natural curiosities, and continued in operation a number of years.
     [The house of Warren Newhall, at Lynnfield Centre, was destroyed by fire, on the 23d of September.]
     Another great storm happened on Friday, the 3d of December, during which a singular phenomenon occurred. It was high tide about ten o'clock in the forenoon, and the tide rose nearly three feet higher than common spring tides. Soon after eleven, when the water had ebbed more than a foot, the wind changed, and brought the tide in again above two feet; so that vessels and timbers, landed by the first tide, were set afloat by the second. This is the only instance on record of a double tide, since the remarkable one in 1635.

1843.

     Dr. Charles O. Barker died on the 8th of January. He was born at Andover, March 8, 1802, graduated at Cambridge in 1822, and married Augusta, daughter of Rembrandt Peale, in 1828. His practice was extensive and successful, and he was beloved by all who formed his acquaintance.
     Rev. William Gray Swett, pastor of the Unitarian Society, died on the 15th of February. He was born in Salem, July 15, 1808, and graduated at Cambridge in 1828. He went to Cuba in 1830, for the benefit of his health, where he spent upwards of two years. In July, 1836, he was ordained at Lexington; and on the first of January, 1840, was installed at Lynn. He was a practical preacher, and was greatly beloved by his people. His death was a great loss to his society and to the town; for he was a man of talent, of active benevolence, and of sterling worth. He united high classical attainments with a manly piety, and knew enough of human nature to mingle with all its sympathies and partake of all its innocent and social enjoyments.
     In a sudden storm of snow and rain, on the morning of March 17, before daybreak, the schooner Thomas, Captain William Sprowl, of Belfast, loaded with wood, was wrecked on the southern end of the Long Beach. There were seven men on board, five of whom were drowned, by the swamping of the long-boat, as they were attempting to gain the shore.
     A splendid comet made its appearance this year. It was observed on the 1st of February, in the day time, passed the sun on the 26th of that month, and was in its most favorable position for observation on the night of the 18th of March. Its train then extended from Zeta in Eridanus, to Eta in Lepus - thirty-eight degrees in length. It was brilliant and beautiful.
     The winter was very cold. I crossed the harbor on the 17th of March, and the ice was then strong enough to bear a horse. On the 4th of April the snow in many places was three feet deep, and on the 8th, a man drove an ox-sled, loaded with wood, across Spring Pond. On the 20th of April, the ice was still thick on the ponds . There were heavy frosts on the 1st and 2d of June.
     President Tyler attended the celebration of the battle of Bunker Hill, on the 17th of June; and in that week, 20,600 people passed over the Eastern Rail-road.
     Lewis A. Lauriat made an ascent, in a balloon, from Chelsea, on the 4th of July, and descended amid thousands of spectators, near the Lynn Bard's cottage, at Sagamore Hill.
     This year, Theophilus N. Breed built his factory for making cutlery and shoemaker's tools on Oak street. [An excellent water power was obtained by running a dam across the valley, a few rods from Oak street, on the north. A fine pond, of fifty-three acres, was thus formed, which, besides answering the useful purpose of carrying machinery, constituted a most picturesque feature of the landscape. Surrounded by woodland hills, excepting at the narrow outlet on the west, where, at the dam, the busy little colony of iron workers was located, and with waters as clear as an alpine lake, it never failed to attract the eye that could appreciate the romantic and beautiful. On the 15th of April, 1851, during the memorable storm by which the light house on Minot's Ledge was destroyed, a serious disaster happened here. Some forty feet of the dam were carried away, and out rushed the waters, in a current ten feet in depth, with such impetuosity as to carry large rocks across Oak street, down into the meadow, where they still remain. Some of the buildings were considerably injured by the storm and rushing waters, and other damage was done. The dam was repaired, and Mr. Breed continued his business, which was casting and machine work, five or six years longer, and then the works were closed. In 1860 the dam was broken and the water suffered to escape. And then the acres which formed the bed of that beautiful pond were reduced to a noxious bog, where rank vegetation flourished and noisy reptiles congregated. The clink of the iron worker's hammer no longer rang among the hills, the red fires of the forges went out, and the buildings began to decay. In 1863, however, the dam was again repaired, the pond restored, and the business of preparing hair commenced.]
     In August, about twenty of the Penobscot Indians came to Lynn, and encamped, some at High Rock, and others at Nahant.
     Rev. John Pierpont, Jr. was ordained minister of the Unitarian Society, on the 11th of October.
     For about four years past, it has been noticed that the sycamore trees [buttonwoods] have been leafless, decayed, and dying. It is supposed that their decay has been owing to heavy frosts blighting them, after they had budded early. [But their diseased condition was noticed in various distant parts of the country and in Europe. They seem now, [1864] however, in a great measure to have recovered; though there are but few left of what was once a very fashionable tree.]
     Sagamore Hall, near the Central Square Depot, was partially burnt in the night of the 25th of November. Loss, about $3000. The town has been remarkably exempt from losses of this kind - this being the only great fire for ten years.

__________

With the year 1843 the labors of Mr. Lewis, as the historian of Lynn, close. He inserted a concluding chapter, bearing date 1844, which was probably written in the early part of that year. A few passages of it appeared to be superseded by other matter in this edition, and the remainder is given in other connections. In 1857, he made known his intention to prepare a new edition, but causes operated to prevent his fulfilling his design; and he died in the early part of 1861. I have not thought it right, in the preceding pages, to make any essential alteration in the text of Mr. Lewis, nor to introduce additions of my own in a way that would render him responsible. And hence, as elsewhere remarked, I have indicated by brackets what I have supplied. It would have been a little more fashionable, perhaps, to have resorted to foot notes than to have introduced the new matter in the way chosen. But the most fashionable things are not always the most convenient. And foot notes, though often pets with writers are dire afflictions to readers. In the remainder of our volume, however, the unornamental bracket will of course be dispensed with, as Mr. Lewis's matter extends no farther than this page. J. R. N.

Part 1, pgs. 111 - 171 (1629-1637)	Part 2, pgs. 171 - 229 (1638-1650)	Part 3, pgs. 229 - 291 (1651-1690)
Part 4, pgs. 292 - 352 (1691-1786)	Part 5, pgs. 352 - 412 (1787-1843)	Part 6, pgs. 413 - 478 (1844-1864)