Whitcomb, and he retreated.

While on the Neck, the enemy fired on us from the ship that was in Charles
River, and the floating batteries came up Mystic River, within small gun-shot
of us. Col. Whitcomb took me in front of him, a little to the left. He



APPENDIX. XXI

placed me in a situation for them to take aim at. The first shot struck the
ground a little before me, and rebounded, and as it passed, struck my mus-
ket in my hand. The second struck the ground directly against my feet. The
third struck in the same hole, and made it deeper. I turned my eyes to the
guard, and found them retreating. I was the last man on the Neck. As I
returned, I got through a fence on my right, seeing the ground more favora-
ble to cover me — the ridge the Charlestovsrn Hotel now stands on, — and when
I had gone about a rod, I saw the flash of their guns, and dropped to the
ground. The ball passed over my back, and struck a little beyond me. I re-
turned to the guard, and found them all safe."

(While reading the above narrative, I scarcely know which most to admire,
— the extraordinary coolness with which this Col. Whitconib set his sergeant
up as a mark for the enemy to shoot at, — or the coolness, more extraordinary
still, with which Sergeant Gould stood and took their fire.)

" In the year 1780, there was a draft of men called for to reinforce the
garrison at West Point. Col. Wade, of Ipswich, was ordered to take the com-
mand of a regiment, and I was ordered to take command of a company in
it. We arrived there about the last of June. Soon after I was ordered to the
main-guard, it being a captain's guard. From the orders I received from the
Captain whom I relieved, and what I saw on the Point, I thought that all
was not right. The two sentinels were to load their guns, and when relieved,
to change them with the sentry who relieved them, so that the guard would
all have strange pieces, and we should, in case of attack, be thrown into the
utmost confusion, our guns being of different bores, and our men having had
their cartridges made to suit them. We had a large box of cartridges allow-
ed us in case we should be attacked. I knocked it open and found nothing in
it but pistol cartridges ; upon which I sent secretly and got a box of good
ones at Col. Lamb's quarters. The next day, Capt. Peabody of the same regi-
ment, who had lived with me in the same barrack on the Point, and Dr.
Dinsmore, of Lancaster, surgeon of the regiment from Worcester county, were
appointed in general orders to inspect the forage that was brought on the
Point. The Doctor and my father were old acquaintances, having been re-
presentatives together in the General Court a number of years. He found me
out. and called to see me, and we in confidence opened our minds to each
other, respecting our critical situation. The appointment of a Surgeon to such
an ofBce did not lessen our suspicions. We could not find a safe opportu-
nity to send to Gen. Washington, and he being expected en the Point in a
few days, we thought best to wait until he should arrive. No doubt Arnold's
spies had watched us. In a few days Arnold sent for me to take tea with
him at Col. Lamb"s quarters, his head being on this side of the river. He
told me that he wanted a building erected for the benefit of the garrison in



XAII APPENDIX.

tho winter, and wislied me to make a draft of one — which I did, so as to
put the potatoes in the knver story, and dry vegetables in the upper. He ap-
peared much pleased with it. The next morning there was a draft of fatigue-
men ordered out under my command, to go down the river several miles to
fix the ground for this building. That day while we were at work he (Arnold)
went on board a British ship that lay in the river, and Andre was brought on
the Point. General Washington arrived also that night. I was ordered, with a
number of otlicr officers, to watch with Andre. He appeared much of a gentle-
man, and conversed freely with us, but no allusion was made to his particular
situation. When we took supper, we thought he did not eat with as good a
relish as we did. All the circumstances I have mentioned, and seeing the cannon
dismounted, and new carriages making, and men sent out to cut wood and tim-
ber, so that we had scarcely enough to man our guards, put me in mind of what
my father [said] when Arnold was appointed Colonel to go to Canada, He said :
"I'm sorry for it." I asked him, why 1 "Because," said he, ''he's so avaricious
that he would sell his country for money."

" Arnold was in the Commissary's Department in the French war, and my father
being a member of the General Court, was concerned in settling his accounts, —
when he found him a very avaricious, and, as he thought, unprincipled man. We
did not see Andre executed, our time of service being out before that took
place."'



NOTE Xin.— Page 55.

C.tPT.tiN Gould, soon after tlie restoration of peace, was married to Grizzel
Apthorp. daughter of Gershom Flagg, Esq., of Boston. For a few years, he re-
sided in Lancaster, Ms., as a country-trader. Here his children were born. In
1805 he returned to Topsfield, and lived tJiere about three years. He then re-
moved to Newburyport, and there spent the residue of his life. Three of hi.s
children, John Flagg, Grizzel Apthorp, and Gershom F., are no more. Of the
survivors, Esther is the wife of Judge Fuller, of Augusta, Me. — Elisabeth, now
Mrs. Rapello, lives in New-York. — Benjamin Apthorp, even before his graduation
at Harvard College in 1814, was appointed Master of the Public Latin School of
Boston. Under his administration, this old and honored institution soon rose to
a height of excellence and classic fame, which it had not before equalled, and
has not since surpassed. For many years, Mr. Gould has been largely engaged
in navigation and mercantile pursuits. One of his sons, Benjamin A., after hav-
ing spent several years abroad, at the best Observatories — and under the instruc-
tion of great European Astronomers, — is now a resident of Cambridge, Mass.,
where he conducts the 'â–  Astronomical Journal," a work which has already at-
tained to a high reputation.

In this enumeration, one yet remains. To all the lovers of song, the name of
Hawaii F. Gould has long been familiar. For nearly a quarter of a century her



APPENDIX. XXIII

annual contributions of occasional poetry have been read with pleasure. She has.
indeed, attempted no extended or elaborate work. Her muse, as if unambitious
of loftier heights, seems content to play about the flowery base and gentler de-
clivities of the Aonian mount. In her best productions there are many touches of
nature, and graceful beauties enlivened, not seldom, by a genuine humor. Though
often playful, her playfulness is never spoilt by levity. No less conspicuous is her
tenderness — breathed, not in morbid^sighs, but in the tones of a true sympathy
or of a genial sadness. The moral and religious spirit which pervades and
sanctifies her poetry, is ever gentle, and pure. Her writings have been, from
time to time, collected, and now constitute three thin volumes. Some of her
smaller, and especially of her earlier pieces, are nearly, if not quite perfect
in their way, and have attained, beyond all doubt, to a permanent place in our
literature. In " The Scar of Lexington — " The Veteran and the Child" — and,
particularly, in '" My Lost Father," — Miss Gould has beautifully embalmed the
image and the virtues of that brave and meek old man, whose long decline
was cheered by her unceasing care. For many a year she was his solace
and his sole companion, — and when her fond solicitude could no longer keep
his spirit from the sky, she dropped on the cold clay her "melodious tears,"
and planted an undying laurel by his grave.



NOTE XIV.— P.^GE 58.

Francis P.\bod\- settled first in Ipswich, where he owned, in 1636, " a lot
of planting ground, near labor in vain." This fact, not mentioned by Endi-
cott, I give on the authority of A. Hammatt, Esq., of Ipswich — so well known
as a zealous and accurate archaeologist.



NOTE XV.— P.iGE 65.

Among the posterity of Elij.^h Porter, besides the children of Hannah Breck
one of whom has been alreadj^ mentioned, (p. 65,) may also be named the de-
scendants of her brother Thomas. This gentleman, who held a military com-?
mand in the first years of the revolution, married Ruth Allen, of Salem. The
late Dr. Elijah Porter, of Salem and Brooklyn, was their son. Their daugh-
ter Mary, born in Topsfield, married Seth Low, Esq., formerly a respected
inhabitant of Salem, Mass., and for many vears past an influential citizen of
Brooklyn, N. Y. Mrs. Ruth Porter died a short time since, aged 90, at the
house of her son-in-law. This charming old lady lived to see around her a
numerous and prosperous race, and certainly could feel, as she looked upon



APPENDIX.



them, that some, at least, of the Porter family, had effectually fought their
way out of " Blind Hole,"



NOTE XVI.— Page 68.

The southern portion of the house which my father owned and occupied
for almost fifty years, was by him regarded as one of the oldest erections in
the place. The grounds of this opinion I am unable to state, but I feel sure
that he did not adopt it without good reasons. Notwithstanding the numerous
alterations and additions which have modified the original structure, portions
of the ancient oak frame are yet visible.

The dwelling-house in which Lawyer Wildes was born and died, shows
indubitable evidences of antiquity. It was, perhaps, built by the old surveyor,
John Wilds. The spot was undoubtedly one of the earliest clearings in New
Meadows, being in the immediate vicinity of the first house of worship. In
this rude abode, I have no doubt, were entertained those sixteen sons and
daughters, who, from homes far and widely distant, all assembled upon one
occasion, beneath the old roof-tree. That must have been a joyous thanksgiv-
ing — though it is a little puzzling to conceive how they were all accommoda-
ted. The house is much dilapidated. I. visited and explored the ruinous edi-
fice in company with Mr. H. N. Perkins, of Boston — who is descended from a
Wildes. It is not to be supposed that a true antiquarian — as he is — could
visit such a scene of ancestral interest and modern neglect, without many
sighs of filial regret, and some groans of honest indignation. I can bear tes-
timony to the pious devotion with which he took a long draught from the old
patriarch's well.



NOTE XVII.— Page 70.

I devote this note to several matters of a miscellaneous character.

The first publicly educated native of Topsfield, I suppose to have been
Ivory Hovey. The Hovey family, no longer found in the place, was un-
doubtedly respectable — the name occurring often and honorably in the town
records. Ivory, born in 1714, graduated at Cambridge in 1735, and was settled
over the second pari.sh of Rochester, Ms. Here, for twenty-five years he
preached the gospel, and practised medicine. In 1770, he was installed at
Monument Ponds, in Plymouth, where he died in 1803. He left a journal —
the daily record of his feelings for sixty-five years, amounting to seven thousand
pages in short-hand. But he left also something better, namely, the memo-
ry of a long, pious, and useful life.

Nathaniel Porter, Harv. 1768; see Address, p. 65. Sylvanus Wildes, Harv. Mil.

.Samuel Balch, Harv. 1782. He became a teacher, and lived in Amesbury.

Daniel Gould, Harv. 1782 ; referred to in the Address. He was settled in



APPENDIX. XXV

Bethel and in Rumford, Me. Jacob Kimball, Harv. 1788, see Address.

Isaac Averill, Brown, 1795. Mr. A. died young and suddenly, just as he was

on the point of being settled in the ministry. David Cummins, Dart. 1806.

Mr. C. was, for many years, a successful practitioner of law in Salem. For
many years more, he was an honored and acceptable Judge in the Circuit Court

of Common Pleas. He is now a resident of Dorchester. Royal A. Mer-

riam. Dart. 1808 ; vid. Address. Asa W. Wildes, Dart. 1809 ; for several

years Master of the Newburyport Grammar School, but now and for a long

time past, one of the Essex Commissioners for Highways. Israel Balch, Dart.

1811 ; physician in Salisbury. Nehemiah Cleaveland, Bowd. 1813. Ebenezer

Perkins, Dart. 1814 ; long a Clergyman in Royalston, and still living there.

Josiah Lamson, Harv. 1814 ; physician in Essex. Elisha Huntington, Dart.

1815; physician. Dr. H. was for several years Mayor of Lowell, which, during
his abode there, has grown from a mere village, to be the second city in

the state. Asahel Huntington, Yale, 1819; a successful Advocate in Salem,

and for many years past. County Attorney. John Cleaveland, Bov:d. 1826,

Counsellor at Law in the city of New- York. Jonas Merriam, Bowd. 1826 ;

now a preacher in Barnard, I\Ie. David Peabody, Dart. 1828 ; see Address .

Elisha L. Cleaveland, Bowd. 1829 ; pastor of a Congregational Church in

New-Haven, Ct. Josiah Peabody, Dart. ; now at Erzroom, in Turkey, as a mis-
sionary to the Armenians. Cyrus Cummings, Dart.; Counsellor at Law, Boston.

Jacob Batchelder and John Batchelder, of Lynn ; Daniel P. Galloup, of
Salem ; Perley Balch, of Lowell ; are natives of Topsfield, and successful
teachers of public schools in the cities where they reside.

In my short account of the medical men, I omitted the name of the late
'Doctor' Pike. I hasten to repair the unintentional injury. "V^Tien, how, or
where, the 'Doctor' practised, I never exactly knew. It is certain that he had
given some attention to the important science of Hygieine, — for his opinion in
regard to the diet which is, at least, safe for swine, is still remembered and
quoted, and has never been controverted. Judging from his courtly demeanor,
it seems not improbable that he was, in some early, and now unknown period of
his life, the Physician in Ordinary at the Palace of King Perkins.

Smith — that multitudinous name, occurs in the first enumeration of Topsfield
Commoners. Durinsr the second third of the last century, it was illustrated by
an individual of some note. Samuel Smith, Esquire, was a justice of the peace,
and often held the place of town magistrate or agent. But the Smiths gradually
died out, or departed — and this universal name is no longer of Topsfield.
Among the latest lingerers was one Asahel Smith, who removed, about 1793,
to Tunbridge, in Vermont. This man. like " Ammon's great son, one shoulder
had too high ;"' and thence usually bore the significant and complimentary de-
signation of "Crook-necked Smith." He was so free in his opinions on re-
ligious subjects, that some regarded his sentiments as more distorted than his
neck. When he went to Vermont, a son, Joseph, then 8 or 10 years old,



XXVI APPENDIX.

accompanied him. In process of time, Joseph was married, and had children,
among whom was one bearing his own name, and destined to make no
small noise in the world. When Joseph Smith, allured by the star of west-
ern emigration, left Tunbridge, with his family, he little suspected that he
had a young Mohammed in that omnibus wagon, which conveyed him and his

household. The wagon stopped at Potsdam, in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y.

then a new settlement. Here, upon the banks of the noisy river Racket,
whose spirit seems to have entered into his soul — grew up the celebrated
founder of the Mormon faith.

I shall not pursue the story of Joe S.mith. Famous, or infamous, he was
no common man. His name is inseparably connected with the origin and
history of a numerous and remarkable sect. When Biography shall hereafter
seek to trace him to his source, among the thousand genealogical lines of
Smithdom, it may save her some trouble, to be told that Joe's ancestors were
Topsfield people — that his father was born there — and that some of the Goulds
and the Balches of this old town, still claim kindred with the "Prophet."

The rise of Mormonism is one of the wonders of our day. What, but
strong enthu.siasm, impelling from within, and a fiery persecution, pressing
from without, could have driven a people numbering many thousands, to seek
a safe home, in the far-distant, and almost impenetrable wilderness] "UTien
we were told that they had pitched their pilgrim tents upon the remote bor-
ders of the Great Salt Lake, how little did we dream, that they had gone thither
to build — unwittingly indeed— a half-way house — a grand caravansery — for the
refreshment of a hundred thousand of our countrymen, soon to be on their
way to the Pacific shore ! AVho will deny that there were an oversight and
a wisdom here, far beyond the reach of mortal ken ? Let us not despair,
even of the Mormons. Left as they are to themselves, may we not reason-
ably expect that the developed absurdity of a wild fanaticism will prove its
own corrective ! May we not confidently hope that the strong native sense of
the Anglo-American will, at Icngih, prevail, and bring back to the faith and
practice of a pure Christianity, these victims of delusion "!

Hood has been a Topsfield name since 1712. In that year, Nathaniel Hood
came from Lynn, and settled in the N. W. angle of the town. His father.
Richard, was from Lynn, in England. They were Quakers, and sometimes
suffered in consequence of their religious scruples — though I am not aware
that any of them were hung. John was the youngest son of Nathaniel, and
the father of John and Samuel, whom we all knew so well.

The name of Towne occurs conspicuously, though with a melancholy in-
terest, in the Address, (p. 21.) The descendants of William Towne, still some-
what numerous in Topsfield, have also spread themselves far and wide. John,
son of Jacob, s. of William, is the earliest ascertained emigrant. At the first
own-meeting held in Framingham, 1700, he was chosen a select-man. Thir-



APPENDIX. XXVII

teen years later, he and his sons, Ephraim and Israel, are found amonjr the
thirty families that began the settlement of Oxford. Here, too, he was a select-
man, town-clerk, and deacon. The Hon. Salem Towne, of Charlton, in Wor-
cester Co., who died in 1825, and his son, Gen. Salem Towne, who, in the
war of 1812, commanded the militia ordered out for the defence of Boston,
descended from the Oxford settler. Another Salem Towne, well known in
Western New-York, — and honorably distinguished in the cause of education ; —
the Rev. Josiah Towne, of Batavia, 111. ; Rev. Abner Towne ; and the late

William M. Towne, Esq., are of the same good stock. Jesse Towne, born

in Topsfield, 1697, became in 1725 one of the proprietors of Arundel, in
Maine. His younger brother Amos was with Sir Wm. Pepperell at the first capture
of Louisburg, and from him have sprung some of the best families in the town

— (now Kennebunk Port.) Elislia Towne, born 1706, removed to Boxford, and

was the ancestor of the Rev. Joseph H. Towne, a popular clergyman, formerly of
Boston, now of Lowell. Josiah Towne, born 1701, went to Killingly, Ct., and
from him came Ithiel Towne, of New-Haven, well known as an architect

and virtuoso. Individuals of this name from Topsfield, were among the early

settlers of Amherst, Keene, and Rindge, in New-Hampshire, and of Stur-
bridge, Sutton, and Adams, in Massachusetts. In fact, the Topsfield Townes
have actually been tracked into two thirds of the states in this Union. Mr.
William B. Towne, of Boston, has an account of two hundred families, very

few of which belong to the present generation. 1 should do injustice to this

name, if I should omit to mention here, the late Jacob Towne, Esq., of Tops-
field. For years — I know not how many — this excellent individual held the
offices of town-clerk, select-man, and representative to the General Court, —
until he came, at length, to be regarded as a sort of personification of his be-
loved Topsfield. He was the calmest, the most deliberate, the most cautious
of men. If he ever uttered a hasty word, or did a rash act, I never heard

of it. If ever there were a true conservative, it was Jacob Towne, jun.

He, alas ! is gone. But it is some consolation, that, faithful to the ancient
rule and privilege of primogeniture, he transmitted so large a share of his
own careful spirit to the present custodian of the Topsfield archives.

I made, last summer, several unavailing eflfbrts to obtain some authentic
account of the Cummings family. Its founder, Isaac, was among the thirty
commoners. Judge Cummins, in his dinner speech at the Celebration, gave a
conjectural explanation of his own descent, which, if not convincing, was, at
least, amusing. One individual of the name. C.\ptain Joseph Cummings, de-
serves special mention. He was born in Woburn, in 1692, and at the age of
twelve went to Ipswich, near the border of Topsfield, to live with an uncle. This
uncle, whose name was Hovvlet, was an extensive land-owner, and gave his
nephew, when of age, 500 of his unsubdued acres. The land proved to be
excellent, and became exceedingly valuable. Here the fortunate and industrious
possessor lived to extreme age, and, long before his death, had seen the family



XXVIII APPENDIX.

and the property of his kind patron all scattered to the winds. Captain C. and
several of his neighbors, in consequence of their remoteness from Ipswich
Village, early sought to be annexed to Topsfield. In this, they were opposed
by Ipswich, and it was not until after many years of disappointment, that
they succeeded. With physical energies scarcely impaired, and with a mental
vigor not perceptibly abated, Captain Cummings lived to the age of one hun-
dred and two. Even after he had completed his ' orb' of years, he could
mount his horse, unaided, from the ground, and ride many miles. To the last,
his memory was strong and exact — his judgment clear and sound — his retorts,
equally quick and keen. He had a son and a daughter. The latter married a
Lamson and removed to Exeter, N. H., and gave rise to a numerous posterity.
Through the son, the old man had eleven grand-children, and one hundred
and two great grand- children : the most of whom he lived to see. Among the
latter, is my friend of earlier days, the Rev. Asa Cummings, of Portland, Me.,
— the well known and widely esteemed Editor of the " Christian Mirror."

I regret that I have not the means to give some account of several other
families — old in standing, and, for the most part, as respectable as they are
old. I can only allude to the long-familiar names of Andrews, Averill, Balch,
Baker, Batchelder, Bixby, Boardman, Clark, Conant, Hobbs, Kimball, Lamson,
Lake, Rea, Wildes, &c. It is to be hoped that some of these ancient fam-
ilies will become so far imbued with the new-awakened spirit of genealogical
inquir\', as to look up, and place on record, before it is too late, their own history.

The present Congregation-^l Meeting House was erected in 1842, — occupy-
ing the same site with that of its predecessors of 1703 and 1759. It is a
smaller edifice than the one which it replaced — but comfortable, and good-look-
ing, with the exception of its steeple. In 1759, the town passed a formal vote,
that the building then to be erected should have " a perportionable spire."
This laudable example does not seem to have been followed.

The Indian name She-ne-we-me-dy, was given at the time of the Celebration
with a slight difference of spelling — the second and third syllables having
changed places. I so put the word on the authority of the Rev. Mr. Felt,
who assured me that he received it from Mr. Coffin. I give the present ortho-
graphy on the authority of Mr. Coffin himself. Ipse dixit.

The town of Topsfield occupies the centre of Essex County. The road
from Salem to Haverhill passes through it, as does, also, that obsolete affair,
the Newburyport Turnpike. Hills of considerable magnitude, rising on the north
and north-east — the south and south-west — enclose a pleasant valley of mod-
erate dimensions. From any of these heights, and especially from that called
River Hill, the eye may rove over a landscape of considerable extent, or may
repose, with pleasure, on the quiet scene immediately below. The Topsfield
vale presents a simple picture of rural beauty. Its little hamlet of white
tenements not ungracefully disposed, wears that air of cheerfulness and com-
fort, which characterizes a thriving New-England village. The summits and



APPENDIX. XXIX

declivities around, effectually redeem the scene from tameness, but would cer-
tainly be more pleasing if still adorned, in part, with their old garniture of
trees. The bright, meandering river skirts the northern base of the hills, and