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 GROWTH OF METHUEN, 
 
 A paper read before the Methuen Historical 
 Society by Joseph S. Howe. 
 
 I am sorry that no one is prepared 
 with a paper to read to us tonight on 
 some subject relating to the past. It 
 may be that we attempted too much 
 when we tried to have an elaborate 
 historical paper at each of our monthly 
 meetings. The field for us is neces- 
 sarily Hmited in extent, although there 
 are many subjects of interest which 
 might be profitably investigated. I 
 find upon inquiry among other histori- 
 cal societies that few, if any, have as 
 frequent meetings as we have had, or 
 an essay at each meeting. We have 
 talent enough in our Society, but 
 members have not the time to spare 
 which is necessary for the preparation 
 of an elaborate paper on any historical 
 subject. 
 
 In the absence of anything better, I 
 have thought it might be interesting to 
 occupy a few moments in a review of 
 the events and changes which have 
 been taking place in our town in the 
 recent past. 
 
 Since our last regular monthly meet- 
 ing the Historical Society has had no 
 
meeting or excursion such as we have 
 so frequently talked about. The So- 
 ciety however, had a rather informal 
 invitation from the Topsfield Historical 
 Society to visit Topsfield on July 27th 
 with the Essex Institute, and other 
 historical societies of the county. The 
 morning was unfortunately cloudy and 
 threatening, so that but fifteen mem- 
 bers of our Society responded to the 
 invitation. Those who did so were 
 well repaid. 
 
 The trip through the country on the 
 electrics is a delightful one, and to 
 most of us was new. Topsfield is a 
 typical old New England town, set 
 among the hills, occupied mostly by 
 farmers, with here and there the 
 dwelHng of some well-to-do city resi- 
 dent who has chosen Topsfield for a 
 summer home. It was one of the 
 earliest settled towns in Essex County 
 and we were shown one house which 
 was built before the Indians ceased to 
 be troublesome, and whenitv/as neces- 
 sary to build the houses with reference 
 to defence. The forenoon was occu- 
 pied by those who reached the town 
 in season, in visiting places of interest. 
 In the afternoon a meeting was held 
 in the town hall. About every histori- 
 cal society in the county appeared to 
 be represented. We Methuenites did 
 not arrive until nearly noon, so that 
 we did not have an opportunity to see 
 many of the interesting places in the 
 town. 
 
 The meeting in the town hall was 
 presided over by Hon. Robert S. Ran- 
 toul of Salem, President of the Essex 
 
 P. 
 Society* 
 
Institute, and the addresses were made 
 by distinguished literary and scientific 
 men and women, and were of an un- 
 usually high order. 
 
 Mr. Rantoul, in his opening address, 
 told us about the early history of 
 Topsfield, and how it was in the past 
 one of the most important towns in 
 the county. Some of us know that 
 Topsfield was more frequently men- 
 tioned in early history than most other 
 towns in Essex County, but few of us 
 knew why, until we heard his explana- 
 tion. The geographical centre of 
 Essex County is near the hall where 
 the exercises were held. The New- 
 buryport and Boston turnpike runs 
 through the town a little east of the 
 village, and the old Salem turnpike, — 
 I believe it was called — runs a mile or 
 two south. In old times the stage 
 lines between Newburyport and Boston 
 ran on the Newburyport turnpike, and 
 from this part of the county to Salem 
 on the Salem turnpike, intersecting in 
 or near Topsfield. 
 
 There was a famous tavern in Tops- 
 field near the intersection of these two 
 roads, so that Topsfield was the most 
 accessible and central place for county 
 meetings before the days of railroads. 
 People could drive to Topsfield from 
 any part of the county and return the 
 same day, or they could easily reach it 
 by stage. Hence the old tavern in 
 Topsfield became the place where 
 many of the county meetings, political 
 and otherwise, were held. I think 
 that nearly all such meetings were held 
 at Topsfield or Ipswich. 
 
Mr. Rantoul told us of several 
 important and educational movements 
 which were organized at Topsfield, 
 and, in this connection, we Methuenites 
 were proud to hear him name Methuen. 
 He told us that among the important 
 movements which have originated in 
 Essex County the Lyceum system, 
 which for many years had such a wide 
 spread influence over the country, had 
 its inception in Methuen, and received 
 its first impetus from a county society 
 which was organized at Topsfield by 
 representatives from the different 
 towns in the county. Very little is 
 known of the old Lyceum in this town, 
 and this society can do no more 
 important work than to ascertain what 
 can now be learned of the beginnings 
 of a system which has had such a far- 
 reaching influence, and whose origin 
 here is an honor we ought to claim. 
 I will not speak of the other addresses, 
 which were valuable and interesting, 
 and will only say that we returned 
 home rejoicing in a day well spent. 
 
 Since our last meeting the event 
 which has caused the deepest sorrow 
 to the people of Methuen was the 
 death of David Nevins, the last male 
 member of the family which has done 
 so much for this town. This building, 
 the fine library in the adjoining room, 
 the fund with which the Memorial 
 has been endowed, the magnificent 
 memorial to Henry C. Nevins at the 
 stone church, will make the name a 
 household word in this town for all 
 coming time. Few towns have had a 
 gift so valuable and so well planned 
 
for the future as the Nevins Memorial. 
 The elegant grounds, every tree in 
 which was selected and set by Henry 
 C. Nevins, whose practised eye was 
 never at fault in such matters, will 
 always delight the eyes of every one 
 fond of the beautiful in nature. This 
 building is one of which any town or 
 city may be proud. And the manage- 
 ment of the magnificent fund with 
 which the whole is endowed is so 
 wisely planned that so far as human 
 foresight can perceive, the inhabitants 
 of the town are secure in the contin- 
 uance of the whole for an indefinite 
 future. Surely the people of this 
 town, now and for all coming time, 
 owe a debt of gratitude to the Nevins 
 family, which will be more and more 
 appreciated as time goes on. 
 
 I do not know what items of historic 
 interest may have been gathered up 
 during the summer by members of the 
 society, but hope there have been 
 many. One fact has come to my 
 notice which is of some interest, and 
 that is that the parents of Thaddeus 
 Stevens, who was so prominent in 
 national politics a few years ago, once 
 lived in this town. There was a rumor, 
 about the time of his death, that his 
 ancestors once lived here, but nothing 
 certain was known about it. But a 
 few weeks ago I received a letter from 
 Congressman Samuel McCall, saying 
 that he was writing the biography of 
 Thaddeus Stevens, and wishing me to 
 ascertain what could be learned about 
 his parents, who were said to have 
 lived here. An examination of the 
 
old tax books disclosed the fact that 
 the father of Thaddeus Stevens lived 
 here until within a year or two of the 
 birth of Mr. Stevens, when he removed 
 — as Mr. McCall says to the state of 
 Vermont. So it seems that Methuen 
 just missed being the birthplace of the 
 *'Great Commoner." 
 
 The changes which are taking place 
 in Methuen we hardly perceive, so 
 gradual are they, but the future his- 
 torian of the town will discover that it 
 is now passing through a period of re- 
 markable growth. To get a clear idea 
 of just what is happening, we will 
 make the best survey we can of the 
 past five years. And first as to popu- 
 lation. The assessors' statistics, and 
 the state census, taken in 1895, furnish 
 the only data in existence for that 
 period. It is therefore impossible to 
 know the exact number of inhabitants 
 except in the years when the state or 
 national census is taken. But a pretty 
 close estimate may be made from the 
 number of poll tax payers as ascer- 
 tained by the assessors in each year. 
 The ratio of poll tax payers to the 
 total population was almost exactly 
 the same under the national census in 
 1890, and the state census in 1895. 
 
 The population of Methuen in 1890 
 was 4814, and in 1895, 5690. The 
 number of assessed polls in 1890 was 
 1259, in 1895, 1495, and in 1898, 
 1839 ; in the census years almost four 
 inhabitants to an assessed poll. Es- 
 timating on this basis, we had a popu- 
 lation on May 1st of this year, of a 
 little over 7000, a gain of more than 
 
13D0 in three years. Methuen is now 
 the fifth town in population in Essex 
 county, the larger towns being Ames- 
 bury, Danvers, Marblehead and Pea- 
 body. The number of dwelling houses 
 has increased from 905 in 1893 — five 
 years ago— to 1179 in May of 1898, 
 a gain of 274 dwelling houses in five 
 years. I think there is no doubt that 
 there are now more than 1200 dwell- 
 ing houses in the town. 
 
 This increase has not been confined 
 to any one section of Methuen, but 
 has been greatest in the west part of 
 the village, the Arlington District, and 
 on the lines of electric road in both 
 ends of the town. The demand for 
 house lots has led to the laying out of 
 many new streets, whose very names 
 are as yet unknown to us, and house 
 lots enough, if everyone was built 
 upon, to comfortably accommodate 
 the people of a city of twenty thousand 
 inhabitants. The number of school 
 children has increased in the five 
 years from 936 to 1266, a gain of 330, 
 enough for eight schools of 40 scholars 
 each. 
 
 Another indication of growth is in 
 the increased number of dogs ; 290 
 were licensed in 1893, and 351 in 
 1898. So it would seem that the in- 
 crease of dogs does not keep pace with 
 the increase in population ; a curious 
 fact which will probably be variously 
 accounted for, according to the differ- 
 ent degrees of love or hatred which a 
 person has for the canine race. 
 
 The property of the town has mate- 
 rially increased in the past five years, 
 
but probably not in quite the ratio of 
 population. The valuation in 1893 
 was $3,396,345 and in 1898, 
 $4,104,108— a gain of $707,763 in 
 the five years. When we consider 
 that no large business enterprise has 
 been located in the town within that 
 time, and that most of the new comers 
 are v»'orking people of small means, 
 1 think the gain is quite as much as 
 could reasonably be expected. It is 
 doubtful if the farming interests of the 
 town have on the whole developed 
 much. Some of our most prosperous 
 farmers are doing more than ever, but 
 the number of such is small, and more 
 than offset by those who are doing 
 less. 
 
 The number of horses in the town 
 in 1893 was 742, in 1898, 780; an 
 increase of 38. This probably only 
 indicates that horses are used less 
 than formerly, and has no bearing on 
 the amount of business done. Farm- 
 ers, doubtless, use as many horses as 
 ever. The number of cows in town in 
 1893 was 1233, and in 1898, 1154, a 
 decrease of 23. In 1890 the number 
 was 1368, — 214 more than on May 1st 
 of this year. Whether this decrease 
 is due to the fact that farmers think 
 that but little money can be made in 
 making milk, or whether the stringent 
 laws which have been enacted in 
 recent years to regulate its production 
 and sale, have produced this result, I 
 will not attempt to say. It is a singu- 
 lar fact, that a large increase in the 
 demand should be accompanied by a 
 decrease in production. 
 
 8 
 
The vital statistics of the town, 
 afford many points of interest, a few of 
 which I will mention. 
 
 The number of births in the past 
 five years has been as follows : 1893, 
 134; 1894,111; 1895, 157; 1896, 
 179 ; 1897, 187. It will be seen that 
 the number of births in the different 
 years has probably increased at about 
 the same rate as the population of the 
 town. One would suppose that the 
 birth rate would vary greatly in differ- 
 ent years, but on the contrary it is 
 surprisingly uniform. 
 
 A scarcity in the annual crop in one 
 part of the town, is always made up 
 by an extraordinary yield in some 
 part. 
 
 The marriages in the town are not 
 uniform in number as will be seen. 
 The number in 1893 was 59; 1894, 
 56; 1895, 52; 1896, 57; 1897,71. 
 The number this year will be some 
 less than last year. It is said, that 
 other things being equal, marriages 
 vary in number with the prosperity of 
 the times ; it is certain that in this 
 town at least, they do not increase in 
 the ratio of the increase in population. 
 The number of marriages last year, in 
 proportion to population was in excess 
 of any year since I have had the 
 custody of the records ; and yet the 
 times were not very prosperous and it 
 did not seem to be a good year for 
 marrying. I am inchned to think that 
 the natural laws which regulate mar- 
 riages, are too subtle and mysterious 
 for any "fellow to find out." 
 
 The deaths in the town for the past 
 
five years have been as follows : 
 1893, 101 ; 1894, 91 ; 1895, 107 ; 
 1896, 110; 1897, 103. It will be 
 seen that the total number of deaths 
 in a year was not much increased in 
 the five years, although there was a 
 large increase in population. This 
 means a diminished death rate. For 
 the five years previous to 1893 the 
 number was as follows : 1888, 88 ; 
 1889, 85; 1890, 124; 1891, 92; 
 1892, 125. 
 
 What is the cause of this diminished 
 death rate? The water works were 
 put in operation in the fall of 1894. 
 The average number of deaths per 
 annum for the five years peceding the 
 introduction of water was almost 
 exactly the same as the average since 
 we have had the water. The death 
 rate in 1890 was upwards of 25 per 
 thousand. In 1895 about 19 per 
 thousand. In 1897 about 15 per 
 thousand. Whether this diminished 
 death rate is due to the introduction 
 of water, or to an accidental freedom 
 from deadly epidemics, or to increased 
 skill of our physicians, can be better 
 determined in the future. 
 
 Certain it is that the death rate of 
 Methuen is below the average. It 
 thus seems probable that the most 
 important result of the introduction of 
 water, has been the better health of 
 the people of the town. It would be 
 interesting to know of what nationali- 
 ties our new townspeople are made up, 
 but there is no way of finding out. It 
 is generally supposed that a very large 
 proportion are of foreign birth, mostly 
 
 lO 
 
English and German and Canadian, 
 with a small sprinkling of almost every 
 European nation. Most of them are 
 working people, many of whom own 
 their homes, and are temperate, thrifty 
 and industrious. I do not think the 
 number of paupers has increased in 
 proportion to the increase in numbers. 
 I think, too, that the number of 
 foreign-born newcomers is probably 
 over-rated. The only means of form- 
 ing any opinion on that matter, that I 
 know of, is from the additions to the 
 check list. 
 
 The number of new voters registered 
 the present year, 1898, is 189, and a 
 larger proportion of naturalized citi- 
 zens were registered this year than 
 ever before. Of this number 104 or 
 55 per cent, were native-born Ameri 
 cans, 57 or 30 per cent, were English, 
 14 or about 8 per cent, were German, 
 8 or 4 per cent, were Canadians, 
 4 or 2 per cent, were Irish, 1 Nor- 
 wegian, 1 Austrian. Probably this 
 does not fairly represent the proportion 
 of new residents of foreign birth, but 
 it shows who are becoming voters, and 
 also that a goodly number of Ameri- 
 cans are taking up their abode in 
 Methuen. The causes of this phe- 
 nomenal growth, which has recently 
 been going on, are not far to seek. 
 There has been no great industry 
 established here calling for a large 
 number of workmen, but there can be 
 no doubt that the expansion of busi- 
 ness in the Arlington mill, just over 
 the line in Lawrence, has had much 
 to do with it. Our fine water system, 
 
which has probably few equals in the 
 State, has doubtless been another cause 
 of growth. To these two causes must 
 be added the electric roads running 
 through the town, which make it easy 
 for people doing business or working 
 in Lawrence, to have a home in the 
 country, where land is cheap, and the 
 surroundings pleasanter than in the 
 crowded streets of the city. The 
 question whether this rapid growth is 
 to continue is not easy to answer, but 
 I think we may reasonably expect a 
 steady increase in wealth and popula- 
 tion for a long time to come. Methuen 
 is, doubtless, destined to be mainly a 
 residence town, which is the best kind 
 of a town to live in. There are several 
 things which must, in the long run, 
 exert an important influence. 
 
 Our water system, already mention- 
 ed, will be an important factor in the 
 future prosperity of Methuen. It is 
 one of the best in the State, and I 
 ought to say, in passing, that its estab 
 lishment has been one of the most 
 successful and important enterprises of 
 the past five years. There are now 
 nearly 900 water takers, a number far 
 exceeding the anticipation of the most 
 sanguine advocates of the introduction 
 of water, and consequently the income 
 is greater, and burden upon the tax- 
 payers less, than was anticipated. 
 One of the speakers at Topsfield said 
 that a person seeking a place in which 
 to make his home would judge the 
 character of a community by three 
 things : — the character of the roads, 
 the quality of the schools, and the 
 manner in which the cemetery are 
 
kept. Judging by this standard Me- 
 thuen is a most desirable place to 
 settle in. Our roads have attained a 
 very enviable reputation within the 
 past five years. Methuen has, now, a 
 dozen or fifteen miles of streets not 
 excelled in any town of its size in the 
 State, and not equalled in the county. 
 In road making we are furnishing an 
 object lesson to the cities and towns 
 around us. 
 
 Last year I attended a meeting at 
 Salem of the officers of the towns and 
 cities of the county, called together by 
 the State Highway Commission to dis- 
 cuss the subjects of roads and road- 
 making, and was greatly pleased to 
 hear one of the town officers from the 
 eastern part of the county, in a speech 
 favoring an improved system of road- 
 making, say "we want better roads, 
 such roads as Methuen has." Now 
 this system of road-making, which we 
 have entered upon with such success 
 and for which we really deserve great 
 credit, cannot fail to have an important 
 influence on the future of our town. 
 Our schools are kept well up to the 
 standard, and our old burial grounds, 
 thanks to a public spirited citizen, have 
 been put in perfect condition, and are 
 models of neatness. 
 
 But some one will remind me of 
 things we lack and say that we are 
 behind other towns in the matter of 
 sidewalks, sewers, electric lights, etc. 
 The answer to that is, that we should 
 be judged by what we have, rather 
 than by what we have not. The public 
 spirit of a town or city is to be judged 
 by what they are willing to contribute 
 
for the public benefit. In other words, 
 by the taxation, they are wilHng to 
 impose on themselves for desirable 
 public works. I believe that, hitherto, 
 this town has taxed itself as heavily as 
 it ought for public improvements, and 
 that the money has been spent as 
 judiciously on the whole, as can be 
 expected in any municipality. Me- 
 thuen is is not a rich town. We have 
 been blessed with a few very wealthy 
 citizens, who have spent their means 
 with a lavish hand for improvements, 
 which the poorest citizen can enjoy as 
 well as the most wealthy. But the 
 great majority of our people have 
 small means. There are very few of 
 what may be called moderately wealthy 
 men. The rate of taxation which we 
 have imposed on ourselves is greater 
 than the average in the State, and I 
 contend that this is the true measure 
 of our public spirit. If we lack some 
 thmgs we much desire, it is because we 
 cannot yet afford to have them. 
 
 But after all, Methuen will be distin- 
 guished in the future for attractions 
 which none of us would have dreamed 
 of twenty years ago. We should not 
 then have believed that the town would 
 ever be noted for containing some of 
 the masterpieces of the most famous 
 painters and sculptors of our time, 
 and yet this is an accomphshed fact. 
 
 Nature has done much for the sur- 
 roundings of this village, but within 
 the last few years the region around 
 this building, and about "Whittier's 
 Hill," including the grounds of Mr. 
 Searles, has been transformed by the 
 art of the landscape gardner and the 
 
exquisite taste of the proprietors of 
 the grounds, into a scene of beauty 
 which is equalled in few, if any, places 
 in the country. And I suspect that 
 the masterpiece of Mr. Ball — as I 
 believe he regards it — which our 
 munificent fellow-citizen has just placed 
 in position, is in itself sufficient to 
 make Methuen famous and to immor- 
 talize the name of him who had the 
 means and the inclination and appre- 
 ciative taste to enable the distinguished 
 artist to embody his conception in 
 bronze and stone for the admiration of 
 this and future generations. Already 
 the lovers of the beautiful in nature 
 and art are coming to Methuen, as 
 the faithful Moslem visits Mecca. It 
 requires no great stretch of imagination 
 to believe that a hundred years hence 
 lovers of art will flock hither from 
 distant places just as they now visit 
 the old world to see the great works 
 of the old masters, and the town will 
 be famous for containing some of the 
 best specimens of the work of Ball, 
 LaFarge, St. Gaudens and other great 
 artists. Our town is every year be- 
 coming more and more attractive. 
 The unsightly old buildings one by 
 one disappear. A few, perhaps, ought 
 to remain as relics of the old times. 
 Just now we are seeing the old hotel 
 transformed by the skill and taste of 
 its owner into a tasteful structure, 
 which beautifies the square. All these 
 improvements must have their influence 
 to make the town more desirable to 
 live in, and to draw hither a commu- 
 nity of refined and cultured people. 
 
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