pointed to convey some of the young fry into Prichard's
Pond. But it was all in vain. The Topsfield fisheries
gradually dechned, and are now, alas ! extinct. Seldom^
if at all, are the present dwellers on Ipsmch River
permitted to regale themselves with that piscatory de-
licacy, which their fathers prized so highly.

I should do injustice to those men, as well as to a
valuable member of the Pachydermatous Family, were

2



18



I to omit another fact, wliich I liave learned from these
records of the past. Of all the domestic animals, I find
mention of one only, on which the freedom of the town
was, in due form, conferred, by annual vote. I am
bound to add, that this honorable distinction was
coupled with the singular condition, that each individ-
ual thus enfranchised, should wear a small yoke, and
be adorned with a ring.

But there were higher matters than these. That dis-
tinctive and very important feature of Puritan New-
England, the Board of Selectmen: — chosen, according
to the phraseology of our earliest records, "to order
the prudential affairs of the town," has, of course,
always existed here. It is impossible not to mark, as we
follow on, from year to year, the entries of the clerk,
how closely this honor and other important town offices
were confined to a small number of influential men.
For several generations, the Peabodys, the Goulds, the
Bedingtons, the Perkinses, the Townes, the Bakers, the
Cummingses, and the Clarks, seem to have held them,
as by prescriptive right. The officers annually chosen,
and the mode of conducting town business, a])pear to
have difi:ered very little from what they are now.
Jurymen, during the first century, were not drawn by
lot, but were regularly elected. Tything-men, in those
days, constituted a prominent part of the body politic.
Each of them was a censor moruni for the time being,
and had his allotted district. The powers of inspec-
tion and superintendence which were committed to
these officers, are such, evidently, as could be exerted



19



only among a people, Higlily primitive in manners, and
devotedly attached to law and order.

We must not forget tliat the idea which is fur-
nished us by this record of municipal acts and busi-
ness, is, after all, very incomplete. Much that we would
gladly know, is entirely unnoticed there. The alarms
and perils of Indian wai'fare, — the agitations of reli-
gious controversy, which pervaded, and, at times, shook
the colony, — that whirlwind of superstitious frenzy,
called the "Witchcraft Delusion," which broke out not
five miles from this very spot, and which involved, in
its fatal sweep, several Topsfield families, — the repeated
drafts for men, which were made on all the New-Eng-
land towns, and of which we know that ours had its
full share, in the Indian and French wars ; — these are
matters, concerning which our town books say nothing.
The little that we know of these topics and events,
which, in their day, must have been all-absorbing,
comes fi'om other sources.

I have seen no account, and have met with no tradi-
tion, of fight or massacre mthin the town. But we
know that its inhal^itants, in times of Indian hostilities,
must have partaken in the terrors which they so uni-
versally produced. Against a foe so swift, so stealthy,
and so revengeful, it was not possible, ever, or any-
where, to feel secure. The colonial law of 1645, re-
quiring the maintenance in every place of scouts and
guards by day, and of sentinek by night, was doubt-
less obeyed here. The order of 1676, that each town
should "scout and ward," and clear up the brush- wood



20



along tlie liigliways, "to prevent tlie skulking of tlie
enemy," we may safely conclude, was not disregarded
by Topslield. Here, as elsewhere, the farmers carried
weapons and ammunition, as well as tools, to the field,
and here, doubtless, armed sentries used to walk their
rounds al)out the House of God, while the people were
assembled for his Avorship. I find in the Records no-
thing that bears on this point, excepting certain votes
respecting the watch-house. This small structm'e was
probably quite near the Meeting-House, and was, doubt-
less, during those periods of universal alarm, the scene
of many a painful vigil. When these had passed by,
it M'-as used on week days, by the minister, to work
in, while on Sunday it furnished, when the weather
was cold, a shelter and a fire to those Avhose homes
were far from the place of meeting. On the grounds
of the estate which belonged to Dr. Dexter, and
not far from the Newburyport tm'npike, may still be
seen the traces of an old fortification, once the gar-
rison house of the town. The 'widow Eastey, already
named, well rememliered this fortress. From the ele-
vated farm on which she lived, and which the rich
culture of the present owner has made "all one eme-
rald," she had often ridden to the stockade on horse-
back, finding her way thither through the woods by
means of marked trees. ^*^

I shall mention in this connection but one thins:
more. In 1675, a Committee of the town of Topsfield
petitioned the General Comi; for leave to form mili-
tary companies, in order to protect the inhabitants
while at their work, from attacks of the Indians. Ed-



21



miind Towne, eldest son of William, the patriarcli of
that name here, and of some thousands, elsewhere, was
on this committee. On the 12th of August, in the
same year, Thomas Towne, eldest son of Edmund, was
a member of Capt. Lathrop's company, then in Hat-
field. Whether he left it before the massacre of Bloody
Brook, on the 13th September following, or was one
of the very few who escaped from that fatal spot, is
not known. These facts, thus comiecting om* topic of
Indian warfare with, at least, two Topsfield men, Avere
ascertained by one of their descendants, ]VIi\ William
B. Towne, of Boston. Perhaps similar zeal and perse-
verance, on the part of others, might elicit much more
evidence of the same sort.

I have mentioned that Topsfield was a sufferer in
the -udtchcraft time. Two Topsfield women, IMary Eas-
tey and Sarah Wildes, were hung. Another, AT)igail
Hobbs, was condenmed to die, but received, fii'st, a re-
prieve, and then a pardon. I have seen a petition to
the General Court, signed by John Wildes, and sup-
posed to be in his handwriting, asking for aid in consi-
deration of loss incurred through the imprisonment
and execution of his grandmother, several years before.
I know not whether it was presented.

Mary Eastey of this place, and Rebecca Xurse of
Salem viEage, who Avas another of the victims, were
daughters of William ToAvne, the patriarch already
named. Theii* father came from the city of Bristol,
in England, in 1630 — ^lived several years in Salem —
and settled here, it is supposed, in 1652. Of all that



22

has come do^\Ti to us from that appalling scene, there
is nothing more extraordinary or affecting tlian tlie
case of these two umocent and exemplary women.
The excellence of Mrs. Nurse's character was so con-
spicuous, that the Jmy acquitted her. But Chief Jus-
tice Stoughton, impelled by a hideous outcry from
" the accusers and the afflicted," sent the Jury out to
re-consider the matter. Again they came in, and asked
the prisoner to explain a certain exj^ression which she
had used in the com'se of the trial. Mrs. Nurse, be-
ing deaf, did not understand the question, and there-
fore did not answer it satisfactorily. Tlie Jury then
rendered a verdict of " Guilty." The Governor,
wishing to save her, made out a reprieve, but the
clamors of the accusers induced him to recall it.
Being a member of Mr. Noyes' Chm'ch, she was, on
Sunday, taken from jail, and carried in irons to the
meeting-house, and there formally excommunicated. She
was executed on the 19th of July, 1692.

The clear good sense, the sweet sj^irit, the sublime
piety, and the cruel fate of Mary Eastey, have long
commanded, and must ever command, the admiration
and the pity of all avIio learn her story. I wish that
time would allow me to recite here a petition which
she sent to the Court before her condemnation, and
another, addressed by her to the Court and to the
Ministers while she was under sentence of death. Their
simple eloquence could not fail to reach your hearts.
Read, my fidends, read and contemplate the history
of that dark time. Conceive what anguish must have
wrung many Topsfield families, and what terror must
have reio:ned in all of them durinj' the dreadful sum-



23



mer and autumn of 1692. Recall those scenes — not
to think and s]3eak lightly or scornfully of them and
theii' actors — but to remind you how fearfully man is
made, and to appreciate the goodness of that Pro^d-
dence, which appointed our lot in an age of clearer
light, of l)etter temper, and of milder laws. ^^^

It was just nine years before this terrible episode
of the Salem Witchcraft — that is, in 1683 — that the
alarming demand for a surrender of the Proviucial
Charter, under a threat of quo warranto in case of
refusal, came over from Charles the Second. In the
Topsiield record of a lawful town meeting, held on
the 25th of December in that year, I find the fol-
loTvdng brief but significant entry : — " We do herebj^
declare that we are utterly unrolling to yield, either
to a resignation of the Charter, or to any thing that
shall 1)6 equivalent thereunto, whereby the foundation
thereof should be weakened." In the following year
the royal menace was put into execution, and the
letters patent of Massachusetts were cancelled by a
judgment in the Court of Chancery. To carry out
the arbitrary measures thus begun, James II., in 1686,
sent over the .notorious Edmund Andros. Nowhere
were his tyrannical proceedings and projects so reso-
lutely opposed from the very first, as in this County
of Essex. That Topsfield was not a whit behind her
sister towns, we have nndoul^ted evidence. That, in
common mth Ipswich and Rowley, she at first re-
sisted the unlawful demands of the new government,
is clear from a vote |passed Sept. 30, 1687, — doubtless
under the pressure of impending fine and imprison-



24



ment — by wliich tlie toTv^l removed from its record,
as " offensive to aiitlioiity," an answer wliicli liad pre-
viously been made to tlie Treasurer's warrant.

Wliat were generally the sentiment and feeling of
tlie people here, may be conjectm^ed from another
fact. John Gould, the only son of Zacheus, and, equal-
ly with him, the Patriarch of all who rejoice in that
name here, then the largest landowner in the town,
and a most influential citizen, had the honor to be
fined and imprisoned, at the instigation of the tyrant,
for seditious language which he was said to have ut-
tered. The fact is stated in the histories of the time,
and the very words he spake Ijefore the company
wdiich he commanded, have come down to us by tra-
dition. " If," said the brave Captain, " if you were all
of my mind, you would go and mob the Governor
out of Boston." ^')

In 1689, a grand and bloodless revolution had been
effected in Old England, and her young daughter here
in the West came in for a full share of its bless-
ings. It must have been gratifying to the people of
this town, to see again in the highest place of the
Commonwealth, one whom they knew so well and so
favorably as old Simon Bradstreet. On the Tth of
May, while Sii' Edmund Andros, in Boston, was ac-
tually tasting the comforts of that prison to wliich he
had sent so many good men, this town, in compli-
ance with a call from President Bradstreet, elected
Thomas Baker, to join, advise, and consult ^dth the
Council of Safety, about resuming the former govern-



25



ment; and in tlie June wliicli followed, said Baker
was again directed "to act for tlie j^i^l^lic good, wel-
fare, and safety of this Colony — ^proLibiting any act
or tiling tliat may have any tendency to the infi'inge-
ment of our charter privileges whatsoever." Such, my
friends, such were the intelligence and watchfulness,
the indej)endence and fidelity of the men who tilled
these farms, and filled your places here, one hundred
and sixty years ago.

Thii'ty-three of the first sixty-three years of the 18th
century, were, in New England, years of war. Dur-
ing this long struggle, we know that Topsfield must
have contrilnited to the public cause, its fiiU share of
men as well as of money. This is certain, because no
towns were exempt. The law was strict, and it was
strictly enforced. It has been estimated that nearly
one-thii'd of the eftective men in the Colony were in
military ser^dce during the French wars. The muster
rolls of the State archives, probably show very nearly
what individuals went from Topsfield. I have not
been able to examine them. The Eev. Mr. Barnard,
of Marblehead, in his autobiography, makes honorable
mention of a Captain Boynton, of Topsfield, who com-
manded a company in the Red Regiment of General
March's Brigade, during the unsuccessful attempt upon
Port Royal in 1707. In Gage's History of Rowley,
I find a notice of Captain Israel Davis, of Topsfield,
as commanding a company in the French war. John
Baker, whom many of us remember as the aged "Ma-
jor," was an officer in the same ser^dce. But enough,
— the story of those wearisome, and often bloody cam-



2G



paigns, so far as relates to the soldiers of Topsfield,
lias not come down to us. We know who and what
they were ; and we feel as well assured that they
were faithful and brave, as if we had seen the record
of their virtues and deeds on the historic page, or on
monumental brass.

In 1755, the removal of the French Acadians took
place. This severe measure, the memory of which has
lately been revived by one of our popular poets, was
never, I believe, justified by any proof of necessity.
The poor sufferers themselves were distributed over
the country. One family fell to the share of Tops-
field and Middleton. The cottage which they occu-
pied was on the right of the road to Salem, and
nearly opposite the house of Dr. Dexter. They are
three times mentioned in the town-book, by the sim-
ple designation of the "French family." The foreign
name was too much, probably, for the learning of
the town-ofi]cers. Tradition long preserved their me-
mory, as sad, retiring, and inoffensive. Sad they might
w^ell Ijc, — torn from their proi)eity and happy homes,
— separated fj'oni jill their kinsfolk and countrymen,
and cast among a people who could sympathize with
them neither in language, nor manners, nor religion.
Whether the gentle Evangeline, in her life-long pur-
suit of the ever-flying Gabriel, took the " French fam-
ily" of Topsfield in her way, is more than I can
tell.

Scarcely, as you know, was the French war over,
when the difiiculties with England began. In the



27



measures and events whicli preceded and accompanied
the separation of tliese colonies from tlie parent state,
it is not to be supposed that a place so small as this
could be very conspicuous. But it is pertinent to our
purjjose to show that Topsfield, however insignificant,
had yet a mind and will of her own, — a spirit, as in-
dependent and as high, — with a determination seem-
ingly as fixed, and as truly self-moved, as Boston itself
could claim.

On the 23d of September, 1766, the town appointed
a Committee, of which Stephen Perkins, then a leading
man here, was chairman, " to di^aw instructions" for the
guidance of theii' Representative in the General Court.
Four days afterward an able paper was presented and
adopted. The subject-matter was a measure, then be-
fore the Court, for remunerating Gov. Hutchinson, Se-
cretary Oliver, and others, for damage incurred by the
Boston riots. The town professes not to know the
cause of the disturbances, and concedes that if the pe-
titioners had really suffered because they were exert-
ing themselves for the good of his majesty's subjects
in the Province, they were entitled to aid from the
pul)lic fund. In any other case, the town would con-
sider such a measure unconstitutional, and of dangerous
tendency. The benevolence of the throne, in repealing
the Stamp Act, is acknowledged mth loyal gratitude —
and a willingness to reciprocate is announced with a
coolness that is quite amusing — reminding one of that
Yankee, who, as the poet has it, would

" Shake hands with the king upon liis throne,
And think it kindness to his majesty."



28



This letter of instinictioii concludes tlius : " In case
the sufterers shall make application for it, we are
heartily willing to give them as much as our ability
and low circumstances ^dll admit of, provided we may
do it either by subscription or by contribution, as in
case of calamitous accidents by fire ; which we take
to be much more agreeable to the constitution of a
free people, and the constant usage of this govern-
ment."

In Jime, 1770, I find the record of a meeting called
to consider the grievances under which the colonies
were laboring. The vote of the town, after recapitu-
lating these grievances, — such as taxes, imposed without
consent of the taxed, — armed troops quartered among
them in time of peace to enforce compliance, &c.,
goes on to say, that it was high time the community
should resort to every constitutional method possible,
for the redress of these evils. It commends the action
of those merchants who had combined, and agreed not
to import goods from Great Britain, so long as such
opj)ressions should continue, and concludes with the de-
claration, that the people of Topsfield will co-operate
with the merchants in this great object, l)y encour-
aging domestic manufactures, by making their own
clothing, by abstaining from the purchase of all im-
ported articles, and by rigidly excluding all foreign
teas, untn a general importation shall be allowed.
This vote was entrusted to a Committee, for the pur-
pose of procming the signatures of the inhabitants.

On the 18th of May, 1773, a meeting was held to



29

consider and reply to a letter from the Boston Com-
mittee of Correspondence. Tlie vote on this occasion
fully re-states and re-argues tlie topics of tlie letter —
it responds heartily to tlie sentiments and declarations
of tlie Boston gentlemen — thanks them for their vigi-
lance and activity in the public cause — and affirms,
"that this town, in particular, wiU be ready, at aU
times, to join ^^dth their brethren in every legal way
and manner, to defend the life and person of his ma-
jesty, and the lives of our brethren, his majesty's
loyal subjects, and in the same way to preserve and
defend our own lawfrd rights, liberties, and property,
even to tlie lad extremUyy This was passed, we read,
by a great majority. At the same meeting a commit-
tee was chosen to hold correspondence with the one in
Boston.

On the 20th of January, lYTo, the town, in legal
meeting, accepted a ftdl and very decided report, made
by a committee of previous appointment, in regard to
the reception of the East India Company's tea. This
paper closed with the declaration, that "this town
will regard as enemies to the American Colonies, all
merchants who shall import any tea with a duty upon
it." It was then read "distinctly several times — the
question was put whether the town would accept of
it, and it passed in the affirmative, nem. con."

On the Tth March, same year, the town passed a
vote providing for the enlistment, di-ill, and pay of
minute tnen.



30

A few days afterward ttis comparatively poor coun-
try town, voted to raise Ly subscription a donation
for the poor of Boston.

In one montli more came the summons to battle —
and many, probably most of the Topsfield men, proved
their sincerity, and showed their courage, by ming-
ling with the brave yeomanry of Essex and of Mid-
dlesex in the great transactions of the 19th of April.
But a still greater day, and more exciting scene, was
near at hand. Conceive, if you can, sons, daughters,
and grandchildi-en of those who were actors or spec-
tators then, — imagine, if it be possible, you who, float-
ing calmly along the current of om- unexciting times,
have never known what anxiety and apprehension
really are, — try, I say, to realize the sensations which
must have pervaded the entire population of this
place on that bright summer day, never to be for-
gotten while the world stands, the 17th of June, 1775.
The men capable of bearing arms were mostly away
— a part of the beleaguering host around Boston.
Yonder, upon Eastey's Hill, might be seen their grey-
haired lathers and mothers — their wives, and sisters,
and daughters, and young chUdi'en, watching — oli !
how earnestly — the distant smoke-cloud, and listening
with beating bosoms to that portentous roar of can-
non, which spoke so unequivocally of some tremen-
dous conflict,

It

Although the sword had thus been drawn, and
though precious blood had been spilt, it required
many months to reconcile and to nerve the people to



31



tlie new idea of independence. But tlie change was,
nevertlieless, effected, and almost universally. How the
men of Topsfield felt in regard to this matter, is
shown by their vote of June 14, 1776, which was as
follows : '' Voted, That in case the Honorable the
Continental Congress shall think fit, for the safety of
the United Colonies, to declare them independent of
the kingdom of Great Britain, this town do solemnly
engage to defend and support the measure, both with
their lives and their fortunes, to the utmost of their
power."

On the 21st of the same month, and only thirteen
days before the adoption of the Immortal Act itself,
this town instructed to the same effect, its Eepresen-
tative, Mr. John Gould, then attending the Provin-
cial Congress at Watertown. Thus did the voice of
encouragement, and the pledge of support, from even
this small community, mingling with similar voices
from hundreds of other towns, actually reach the il-
lustrious Congress at Philadelphia. It was not T^dth-
out evidence of the fact, that John Adams, who knew
Massachusetts well, assured his compeers in Congress,
tliat " the people would stand by the Declaration."

The instructions to which I just referred, are re-
markable not only for boldness, but for caution. With
an unflinching determination to preserve or to main-
tain all just rights, they evince the most decided
aversion to needless innovation. Even at that early
period, projects of reform in the constitution of the
long-established government of Massachusetts, had been



32

broiiglit forward in the Provincial Congress, whicli to
our thouglitfal Topsfield sages, seemed liasty and rash.
The Representative was accordingly directed to oppose
them, as matters requiring the deliberate consideration
of the whole community in more quiet times.

The authorship of those sensible and sj^irited town
papers, may, I think, be safely ascribed to Stephen Per-
kins and Israel Clark. More might easily be added,
but I vnjl not venture on your patience by pursu-
ing farther, even this interesting portion of our town
history. We have seen mth what mingled caution
and courage, zeal and coolness, the men of Topsfield,
in common, and pari passu with their fellow-citizens
elsewhere, advanced toward the grand crisis of their
country's destiny. We find them, at length, fairly
and fully embarked in the great cause of indepen-
dence. We feel that they could not, and we know
that for the most part they did not, prove recreant
to the high obligations which they had assumed, wheth-
er as patriots, as warriors, or as Christians.

In this attempt at a sketch of the facts most pro-
minent in our early history, I have confined myself,
thus far, to those of a ci^dl and municipal character.
I thought it better, for the sake of unity, to present
the ecclesiastical affairs of Topsfield in one connected
view. In point of fact, however, they were, as you
well know, constantly and closely intermingled with
those of a secular descrij^tion. Hardly had the first
feeble band of colonists planted themselves here in
the woods, ere they established among them the



33



preacliing of tlie Gospel. In 1641, the Kev. William
Knight, a resident of Ipswich, began to preach to the
little company, and probably continued his labors for
several years. Mr. Knight died, as it is supposed, in
1655. It was in that year that the Rev. William Per-
kins came hither from Gloucester. Like Mr. Knight,
he officiated a number of years. Of this distinguished
Topsfield patriarch and truly good man, I shall have
occasion to speak again. In 1663, a church was regu-