Date Due & PRINTED IN USA PROCEEDINGS AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE Cwo hundred and fiftieth Hnnivcrsary OF THE INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, AUGUST 16-17, 1900, WITH A HISTORY OF TOPPESFIELD PARISH, ESSEX COUNTY, ENGLAND. PUBLISHED BY THE (gnnii?et0at^ Committee, 1901. PREFACE. In publishing the following account of the proceedings at the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of our town, the committee in charge is reminded that ''every cloud has a silver lining," for the leaden clouds and pouring rain of August sixteenth, made impossible various expenditures that had been planned for that occasion, and the nucleus thus obtained, together with the valuable services and business connections of a member of the committee, have made possible the publication of this volume. Every effort has been made to present a faithful and accurate picture of the entire celebration, and, in addition, much space has been devoted to an extended account of the old home— Toppesfield, England. By the kindly assistance of Rev. H. B. Barnes, rector of St. Margaret's, numerous photographs and a description of the parish at the present time, have been obtained, while the editor has exhausted every available printed source of information. The anniversary committee feels that it is a source of much gratification to know that this book is the product of a local press, and it also wishes to express its acknowledgement to all who have in any way contributed to the success of the anniversary or to the publication of the present volume; to Rev. Herbert J. Wyckoff and Albert O. Elwell, whose excel- lent photographs are reproduced on the following pages ; to Messrs. John Andrew & Son, of Boston, whose engravings contribute so largely to the value of the volume ; to The Norwood Press, of Norwood, Mass., who printed the illus- trations ; to the Merrimac Paper Co., of Lawrence and Springfield, who supplied the coated paper; to M. V. B. Perley, of Portsmouth, N. H., who loaned half-tones, and to the Connecticut Magazine Co., who loaned the half-tone of Gov, John Winthrop. In presenting this report of the anniversary proceedings, the committee cannot refrain from saying that the citizens of Topsfield are to be congratulated upon this auspicious end- ing of their quarter-millenial celebration, and when another half-century shall have passed away, and with the returning season another civic anniversary is observed, may those on whom the mantle of duty and responsibility shall then fall, find the same degree of pleasure and satisfaction in perform- ing their task, as has the anniversary committee of the year nineteen hundred. George Francis Dow, Editor, Gilbert B. Balch, Alphonso T. Merrill. Committee on Publication, TABLE OF CONTENTS. PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS, I RELIGIOUS SERVICE, AUGUST 12, 190O, 7 SERMON. BY REV. A. W. MOORE, 1 3 ACCOUNT OF THE CELEBRATION, AUGUST 16, I9OO, 21 ADDRESS. BY REV. GEORGE H. PERKINS, 2/ ADDRESS OF WELCOME. BY BAXTER P. PIKE, 29 ORATION. BY HON. WILLIAM H. MOODY, 3 1 HISTORICAL ADDRESS. BY GEORGE FRANCIS DOW, 3/ AFTER DINNER EXERCISES, 59 ADDRESS. BY HON. HENRY CABOT LODGE, 60 ADDRESS. BY HON. JOHN L. BATES, 64 ADDRESS. BY HON. DAVID M. LITTLE, 6j ADDRESS. BY GEORGE A. SCHOFIELD, 68 ADDRESS. BY CHARLES J. PEABODY, 7 1 ADDRESS. BY HON. ROBERT S. RANTOUL, 73 ADDRESS. BY REV. FRANCIS A. POOLE, 75 ADDRESS. BY CAPT. JOHN G. B. ADAMS, 78 ADDRESS. BY ALBERT A. CONANT, 8 1 ADDRESS. BY JOHN W. PERKINS, 83 ADDRESS. BY HON. AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER, 86 ADDRESS. BY HON. WILLIAM H. MOODY, 88 ADDRESS. BY HON. GEORGE VON L. MEYER, 90 ADDRESS. BY GEN. FRANCIS H. APPLETON, 9 1 ADDRESS. BY EDWIN O. FOSTER, 93 THE PROCESSION, AUGUST 1 7, 19OO, 96 LIST OF THE DECORATIONS, IO5 TOPSFIELD, MAINE, SOME ACCOUNT OF, I06 TOPPESFIELD, ENGLAND. BY REV. H. B. BARNES, IO7 TOPPESFIELD, ENGLAND. BY PHILIP MORANT, II9 INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Academy Building, The Topsfield, 54, 55 Adams, Capt. J. G. B., Portrait of, 59 Agricultural Farm House, The, 53 Almshouse, The Topsfield, 63 Appleton, Gen. Francis H., Portrait of, 59 Averell, George F., Portrait of, i Balch, Gilbert B., Portrait of, i Balch, Gilbert B., Residence of, 89 Bates, Lieut. -Gov. John L., Portrait of, 61 Bradstreet, Dudley, Portrait of, i Bradstreet (Dudley) House, The, 53 Bradstreet, Gov. Simon, Portrait of, 43 Capen Gravestones, The, 51 Capen House, The Parson, 49 Centre School House, The, 55 Chase, Percy, Residence of, 8^ Clarke, Arthur A., Residence of, 89 Common, The, 21 Conant, Albert A., Portrait of, i, 59 Conant, Albert A., Residence of, 81 Congregational Church, The, 15 Congregational Parsonage, The, 85 Crane, Gov. W. Murray, Portrait of, 25 Deed, The Toppesfield, 41 Dexter (Dr. Richard) House, The, 53 Dodge, Albert M., Portrait of, i Donaldson, Wellington, Portrait of, i Dow^, George Francis, Portrait of, i, 37 INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS. VII Dow, George Francis, Residence of, 93 Dry Bridge on the Turnpike, 71 Edwards, Benjamin P., Portrait of, 3 Emerson-Holmes House, The, 85 Endecott, Gov. John, Portrait of, 45 Foster, Edwin O., Portrait of, 59 French-Andrews House, The, 47 Gardner, Hon. Augustus P., Portrait of, 59 Gould, George L., Portrait of, 3 Gould, George L., Residence of, 85 Grantham, George R., Portrait of, 3 Grist-Mill, The Hobbs-Donaldson, 71 Herrick, William H., Portrait of, 3 Herrick, William H., Residence of, 81 Hood's Pond, Views on, 67, 69 Hutchings, Mrs. E. W., Residence of, 91 Ipswich River, Views on, 6^^ 73, 75 Jenkins, Thomas L., M. D., Portrait of, 3 Jordan, C. Fred, Portrait of, 3 Jordan, C. Fred, Residence of, 95 Kimball, Mrs. M. S., Residence of, ^<, Kimball, Paul R., Portrait of, 3 Lamson, J. Arthur, Portrait of, 3 Little, Hon. David M., Portrait of, 59 Lodge, Hon. Henry Cabot, Portrait of, 59 Main Street, A Part of the, 97 Maple Street, 105 Meredith, J. M., Residence of, 87 Merrill, Alphonso T., Portrait of, i Methodist Episcopal Church, The, 17 Meyer, Hon. George von L., Portrait of, 61 Moody, Hon William H., Portrait of, 31 Moore, Rev. A. W., Portrait of, 13 Oak Tree, 400 Years Old, 67 Odd Fellows' Building, 93 Old Road, The, 105 Peabody, Charles J., Portrait of, 5» 61 VIII INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Peirce, Thomas W., Portrait of, 5 Peirce, Thomas W., Views of the Estate of, 83 Perkins, Miss C. Ellen, Residence of, 95 Perkins, Rev. George H., Portrait of, 27 Perkins, John W., Portrait of, 61 Pike, Baxter P., Portrait of, 5, 29 Pine Grove Cemetery, 51 Pingree, David, Residence of, 79 Pingree's Hill, Vievv^ Looking Down, 77 Poole, Rev. Francis A., Portrait of, 61 Poor, Joseph B., Portrait of, i Poor, Joseph B., Store and Residence of, 93 Procession, Some Features in the, loi, 103 Railroad Bridge, View of the, 75 Railroad Station, The, 55 Rantoul, Hon. Robert S., Portrait of, 61 Richardson, Abijah B., Portrait of, 5 River Views, (i"]^ 73, 75 Roberts, Henry H., Portrait of, 5 Rowley Bridge, View of, 69, 73 St. Margaret's Church, Toppesfield, Eng., Frontispiece, 113 Schofield, George A., Portrait of, 61 Smith's Hotel, 91 Stanwood School and Church Home, The, 91 Stone Bridge Over the Ipswich River, 33 Street Views, Topsfield, 65, 77, 83, 105 Thayer, Mrs. C. J., Residence of, ^"j Toppesfield, Eng., Views about, 107, 113, 121 Topsfield Village from Price's Hill, ^"^ Town Hall, The, 23 Towne's Bridge, View of, 73 Trowbridge, Charles L, Portrait of, 5 Turnpike Hill, View Looking Down, 79 Wildes, Eugene L., Portrait of, 5 Winthrop, Gov. John, Portrait of, 39 Woodbury, Isaac M., Portrait of, 5 Woodbury, Isaac M., Residence of, 81 .^0 I ^i^J ^ ^ GILBERT B. BALCH, ALPHONSO T. MERRILL, Secretary, ALBERT A. CONANT, GEORGE F. AVERELL. DUDLEY BRADSTREET. GEORGE FRANCIS DOW, JOSEPH BAILEY POOR, Chairinaq, WELLINGTON DONALDSON, Treasurer. ALBERT M. DODGE. PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. In the Secretary's report, presented at the annual meeting of the Topsfield Historical Society, held Jan. 6, 1899, appears the following paragraph : — "But this Society must not rest upon its oars and drift with the tide, for in the rapidly approaching year, nineteen hundred, must be cele- brated, with all the pomp and honor possible, the two hun- dred and fiftieth anniversary of the birth of our town, which was the twenty-eighth in the list of settlements incorporated in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. We should all take whole- some pride in our honorable record as a town, and make every effort to crown our natal day with a round of becoming festivities. At the annual town meeting it will be none too soon to discuss the question of 'ways and means', and even the appointment of a committee having power to outline, at a future meeting, the exercises of the day, and to submit es- timates of cost. He who goes forewarned goes armed at all points ; a consideration of the matter in ample season may prevent mistakes of both omission and commission." Public sentiment seemed to favor the observance of the anniversary, and at the annual town meeting, held March 13, 1899, the following article appeared in the warrant. ARTICLE 12. To see if the Town will take any action relating to the observance in 1900, of the 250th anniversary of the incorporation of the Town, and pass any vote or votes relating thereto. Under this article, after a short discussion, it was VOTED, that the Moderator appoint a Committee of five, to retire and nominate a Committee of twelve, who should (I) 2 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. report at the next annual town meeting a plan for the cele- bration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the Town of Topsfield. The Committee was appointed as follows :-George Francis Dow, Albert A. Conant, J. Arthur Lamson, Charles J. Peabody and Albert M. Dodge, and a little later it reported the following COMMITTEE ON ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION. Justin Allen, M. D.* Albert M. Dodge. Joseph B. Poor. Baxter P. Pike. Benjamin P. Edwards. Rev. Francis A. Poole. f Charles J. Peabody. Alphonso T. Merrill. Albert A. Conant. Henry H. Roberts. J. Arthur Lamson. George Francis Dow. The Committee organized by the choice of George Francis Dow, Chairman, and Alphonso T. Merrill, Secretary, and at the annual town meeting held March 5, 1900, re- ported the following recommendations. Report of the Committee. I. That the celebration be held during the moruth of August. II. That a historical sermon be delivered in the Con- gregational Church on the Sunday next preceding the day of the celebration. III. That bonfires be lighted on the hills at eight o'clock, on the evening preceding the day of the anniversary. IV. That the church and school bells be rung at sunrise. V. That a military, civic and trades procession be one of the features of the day. VI. That historical and literary exercises be held on the Centre School grounds.^ VII. That dinner be served in a tent located on the Common, and short speeches be delivered, interspersed with music. Dinner tickets to be provided for invited guests, and sold to others at one dollar each. •Declined to serve. tRemoved from town. Jit was afterwards decided to have the literary exercises iu a tent located on the Common. BENJAMIN P. EDWARDS. GEORGE L. GOULD. GEORGE R, GRANTHAM, WILLIAM H. HERRICK THOMAS L. JENKINS, M. D, C. FRED JORDAN. J. ARTHUR LAMSON. PAUL R. KIMBALL. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 3 VIII. That athletic games and sports be held on the Common, beginning at two o'clock, P. M. IX. That a band concert be given on the Common at four o'clock, P. M., and eight o'clock, P. M. X. That a reception or ball be given in the Town Hall in the evening. XI. That the town appropriate the sum of five hun- dred dollars and that an additional amount be raised by subscription. The report was accepted and adopted by the Town and the Committee were instructed to increase their number to twenty-five by nominating fifteen others and to report their doings at an adjourned town meeting. The sum of six hundred dollars was also appropriated to meet the expenses of the celebration. The Committee of Arrangements, as finally organized, consisted of the following persons, upon whom devolved the duty of making all the preparations for a suitable observ- ance of the anniversary: — Committee of Arrangements. George Francis Dow, - - - Chairman. Alphonso T. Merrill, - - - - Secretary. Joseph B. Poor, ----- Treasurer. George F. Averell. Charles F. Jordan. Gilbert B. Balch. Paul R. Kimball. Dudley Bradstreet. J. Arthur Lamson. Albert A. Conant. Charles J. Peabody. Albert M. Dodge. Thomas W. Peirce. Wellington Donaldson. Baxter P. Pike. Benjamin P. Edwards. Abijah B. Richardson. George L. Gould. Henry H. Roberts. George R. Grantham. Charles I. Trowbridge. William H. Herrick. Eugene L. Wildes. Thomas L. Jenkins, M. D. Isaac M. Woodbury. 4 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. The members of the Committee were thoroughly inter- ested and frequent meetings were held. Rev. George H. Perkins of Gloucester, a native of Topsfield, was chosen President of the Day, and Thomas W. Peirce was elected Chief Marshal. Congressman William H. Moody of Haver- hill accepted the invitation to deliver the oration, and Repre- sentative George Francis Dow was chosen to deliver the his- torical address. The incorporation of the Town occurred Oct. i6, or i8, 1650. The actual anniversary date coming too late in the season for an out-of-door celebration, the Committee decided upon Thursday, August the sixteenth, as Anniversary Day, thereby following the precedent established at the Bi-cen- tennial in 1850, which was observed in the month of August. Invitations to attend the celebration were sent to distin- guished persons. The list of invited guests included the State of^cials, natives of the Town who had acquired eminence in other places, the principal town ofificers of adjoining towns, ex-selectmen of Topsfield, and others. The following sub-committees were also appointed: — Publicity and Printing. — Alphonso T. Merrill, Chairman, Gilbert B. Balch, George Francis Dow, George L. Gould, George R. Grantham. Invitation and Reception. — George Francis Dow% Chair- man, Albert A. Conant, Benjamin P. Edwards, George L. Gould, Thomas L. Jenkins, M. D., Thomas W. Peirce, Baxter P. Pike, Joseph B. Poor. Sunday Exercises. — Charles J. Peabody, Chairman, KXh^xl M. Dodge, Benjamin P. Edwards, Charles F. Jordan, Eugene L. Wildes. Bell Ringing, Bonfires, etc. — Paul R. Kimball, Chairman, George F. Averell, Wellington Donaldson, Abijah B. Richardson, Eugene L. Wildes. Decorations and Illuminations. — Albert A. Conant, Chairman, Benjamin P. Edwards, Abijah B. Richardson, Henry H. Roberts, Charles I. Trowbridge. Transportation and Carriages. — Charles I. Trowbridge, Chairman, George L. Gould, Charles F. Jordan, Thomas W. Peirce, Joseph B. Poor, Isaac M. Woodbury. CHARLES J. PEABODY. THOMAS W. PEIRCE. ABIJAH B. RICHARDSON: CHARLES I, TROVv'BRIDGE, BAXTER P. PIKE, HENRY H. ROBERTS. EUGENE L. Vv'lLDES. ISAAC M. WOODBURY, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 5 Grand Stand and Band Stand. — Henry H. Roberts, Chairman, George F. Averell, J. Arthur Lamson, Baxter P. Pike, Abijah B. Richardson. Parade, Military and Police. — William H. Herrick, Chairman, Albert A. Conant, George Francis Dow, George R. Grantham, Thomas L. Jenkins, M. D., Charles F. Jordan, Paul R. Kimball, Alphonso T. Merrill, Thomas W. Peirce, Isaac M. Woodbury. Music. — Albert M. Dodge, Chairman, Albert A. Conant, Alphonso T. Merrill, Henry H. Roberts, Charles I. Trowbridge. Literary Exercises. — Baxter P. Pike, Chairman, Gilbert B. Balch, Dudley Bradstreet, George Francis Dow, Charles J. Peabody, Joseph B. Poor. Dinner. — Eugene L. Wildes, Chairman, Gilbert B. Balch, Wellington Donaldson, J. Arthur Lamson, Isaac M. Woodbury. Schools. — Wellington Donaldson, Chairman, George F. Averell, Benjamin P. Edwards, Charles J. Peabody, Joseph B. Poor. Sports and Races. — Thomas W. Peirce, (T/^^/r/zz^;/, Albert M. Dodge, William H. Herrick, Thomas L. Jenkins, M. D., Paul R. Kimball. Relics and Loan Exhibition. — Dudley Bradstreet, Chair- man, George Francis Dow, J. Arthur Lamson, Charles J. Peabody. Ball. — Thomas L. Jenkins, M. D., Chairmaji,GQorgQ Francis Dow, Paul R. Kimball, Alphonso T. Merrill, George R. Grantham. Contributions. — Joseph B. Poor, Chairman, Dudley Brad- street, Albert A. Conant, George Francis Dow, George L. Gould, George R. Grantham, William H. Herrick. Reception of the Governor. — Albert A. Conant, Chair- man, Gilbert B. Balch, George L. Gould. The Committee on Contributions met with great success in soliciting subscriptions. Interest in the celebration in- creased as the day approached, and with a treasury liberally supplied with funds and the hearty cooperation of citizens, nothing but favorable weather seemed wanting to make the anniversary occasion a complete success. "yii/H'ete'e'n- Ai'i/yu/i€^. /. ^. ^ ■ ■»^t''Vt-e^-i.- 9Sfe£ ES IIISZ ^ -ir-^t =^E 4^ o — ^i^^^^^^^=^^ 3=? # m^^: I - - - i f I 1^ r Whose hands with cheerful hearts u - nite In bonds of pi - e - ty. The trick- ling drops per- fumed his feet, And o'er his gar - ments spread. ^1 I , i ^v 1^ :«: ^-0 -¥=t -P- m: :^=^ j:j^j_ ^4 '-^-^i^T r- ^-^^^H :^: When streams of love, from Christ the spring, Descend to ev - 'ry soul 'Tis pleas -ant as the morn - ing dew s,That fall on Zi - on's hill; ^i^. ^ ±; ^^. «^^t| ti=N :t=:=t mm And Where •Jacob Kimball was born in Topsfield in 1760, praduated at Harvard College in 17S0, and died July 24, 1826. Musician and composer. Author of Rural Harmony ; Essex Harmony ; etc. And heav'n - ly peace with balm - y wing, Where God His mild - est glo - ry shews, And Where b—^ ^^ mm m. II And heav'n - ly peace "Where God His mild with ■ est heav'n -ly peace with balm - y wing, God His mild - est glo - ry shews, heav'n - ly peace with balm God His mild - est glo i ru -n^ y wmg, ry shews, EE ^=^— *-— • 3 balm glo - y wing, with ry, mild - est heav'n - ly peace with God His mild - est balm glo balm - y glo - ry, wing, with mild - est balm glo n & y wmg, ry shews, wmg, shews, -J- J n^ 9i56, Eb^ ^^ with His balm glo y wmg, ry shews, i :iM=d n ^^ I Efc --■^■- 94ife EE Shades and be - dews the whole, Shades and be - dews the whole. And makes His grace dis - till, And makes His grace dis - till. 21 m^^mm^ SERMON, Rev. a. W. Moore, D. D., of Lynn, Mass. HYMN, "One holy church of God appears," Tune: ''St. Ann's.' CORNET SOLO, ''Eternal Day," Adams Mr. Charles H. Kneeland, of Beverly, Mass. BENEDICTION, Rev. James H. Fitts, of Newfields, N. H. ORGAN POSTLUDE. REV, A. W. MOORE, D, D. SERMON. THE INFLUENCE OF THE CHURCH ON THE LIFE OF THE TOWN. BY REV. A. W. MOORE, D. D. ''Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." — Psalms I2y: i. The Hebrew Prophet was remarkable for depth and boldness. He looked beneath the surface of things, and possessed the courage of his convictions. His inspiration penetrated far into the realm of hidden causes, and he never shrank from revealing what he saw there. If we could be sure that the title prefixed to this psalm was attached to it at the outset and that we have in it a veritable hymn of the time of Solomon we might, perhaps, im- agine the circumstances which gave birth to it. We might picture to ourselves the most opulent of the Jewish kings contemplating with pride the great city which he had so en- riched and adorned, but with his pride overcast with a shadow of sadness as he remembered that material prosper- ity alone would not ensure the perpetuity of the city. But if, as the critics hold, the psalm is to be classed with those which .were composed after the return of the exiles from the Babylonian captivity, we may still find in it a reminiscence of the golden epoch I have just mentioned. As its author (13) 14 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. contrasted the magnificent temple of that earlier time with the comparatively humble and mean structure which had taken its place, the abundant inhabitants of the former city with its present scanty population, the fact that it had been then the capital of an independent nation but was now only a helpless tributary to a Gentile power, and as he recalled to mind that this mortifying change was a fulfilment of count- less prophecies, the sequel to the warnings which had been thundered over and over again by the men of God into the heedless ears of a recreant people, it would not have been strange if his emotions had found expression in that senti- ment which has since become proverbial, "Except the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain." The history of this people had given a new illustration of the truth suggested by the last of Israel's greatest prophets in the words : "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord." The psalmist implies that no social organization has in it the element of continuance unless it is built on a religious foundation, a truth which very naturally associates itself with the subject on which I have been invited to address you. The ultimate causes of all material phenomena are im- material. The beginnings of all visible things are invisible. The planet on which we live and all the stars which spangle the heavens have been evolved into their present shape and condition through the agency of forces that are beyond human comprehension. The various forms of organic life have been developed into their present state of complexity and efficiency by influences which can be named but cannot be understood. Ever since men began to investigate and reason they have been asking for some comprehensive fact which would reconcile the seeming antagonisms of nature. But not until Newton expounded the law of gravitation did they approximate to success. Then they learned that it is one and the same force which brings the autumn leaf fluttering to the ground and lifts the morning mists into the sky, that unyokes the fury of the destroying hurricane and moistens the earth with the soft patter of the summer shower, that covers the inland marshes with the silent tides and brings the torrent roaring down the mountain side, that keeps the moon THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 1 5 in her attendance on the earth and confines the earth to her orbit around the sun, that sends into the firmament the bale- ful glare of the comet and fills the heavens with shooting stars, that brings forth Mazzaroth in his season and guides Arcturus and his sons, that binds the sweet influences of the Pleiades and clasps the golden buckle of Orion's belt. Wherever in all immensity the telescope can reach or the spectroscope can read, in nebulae, in galaxies or in constella- tions, in spheres, in wreaths, in spirals of golden dust, there this immaterial, unseen but omnipresent force is at work, keeping harmony in the visible universe and holding all its parts to their duty. And woe to him who shall set it at defiance ! Woe to him who shall not adjust his conduct to this all-pervasive law ! If he is a builder the factory which he rears will be shaken to pieces by the jar of its own machinery and fall in ruins upon the heads of those within. If he is a shipwright the vessel which leaves his yard will founder in mid-ocean, and only a roaring maelstrom will mark the spot where she went down. If he is a balloonist he may tower in his pride of place till the clouds hide him from mortal view, but that same inevitable force will reach up after him, it will grapple him in the central blue and he will fall like Lucifer, never to rise again. And men have ever been trying to find some supreme fact that will harmonize the apparent contradictions of the moral world. Under the same system of natural law the hu- man frame is filled with the glow of health, and is stretched pale and emaciated on the bed of death ; the home is glad- dened by the prattle of merry children and darkened as one after another they are borne to the neighboring cemetery ; war is unloosed which tramples into the mire the harvests of the husbandman and fills the land with widows and orphans, with helpless cripples and new-made graves, and out of the devastation arise, like beds of violets hiding the furrow of can- non-shot in the turf, temporal reforms and political improve- ments which bury, in time, the thought of its ruin under the memory of its resulting blessings. What is the ultimate cause of these seeming antagonisms, the supreme fact which will bring them into concord and agreement? The ancient 1 6 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. Hebrew answered : "It is a character, perfect in justice and holiness, consistent with itself whether it is producing joy or sorrow." And Jesus added: "It is myself; the life which I am living, the principles on which I am acting, represent the moral character of the universe. Blessed is he whosoever shall find none occasion of stumbling in me. Woe unto him who shall not reconcile his life to my own." It was because the Hebrew seers had caught a clear glimpse of this fact that they launched their thunderbolts so confidently at the powerful but corrupt states which flourished on almost every side of them. What would be thought of a man who should take his stand in some valley among the White Mountains and predict their speedy overthrow, who should say to Mount Washington, "You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting;" to Mount Jefferson, "A de- cree of fate has gone forth against you, and you will soon be no more;" to Mount Jefferson and Mount Lafayette, "The time is not far distant when you shall be sought for and not found" — and should then turn his back upon them and wind his way in silent dignity to his home? What would be thought of him? Why the very echoes that came back to him out of a hundred mountain fastnesses would seem to mingle together in a laugh of derision. But what would be thought of him if his prophetic utterances should begin to be fulfilled? if before a generation or a century or half a millennium had passed the mountains should disappear, one by a volcanic explosion that would shatter it to its foundation, another by a prodigious landslide that would leave a sudden gap in the horizon, a third by the slow erosion of subterranean streams that would hollow out an abyss beneath it? What would be thought of his predictions then? They would take on an aspect of grandeur in the minds of men ; but it would be the grandeur of scien- tific knowledge. It would be said of him, "He was a geolo- gist. His science had revealed to him the secret forces that were at work among those mountains, and his prophecies were but safe deductions from the law of cause and effect." And there would be an analogy between these predictions and those of the Hebrew seer. All around him the horizon was notched with towering cities and kingdoms. There was THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. \J Babylon, impregnable behind its massive walls, inexhaustible in its resources, so confident in its strength that its defenders looked down from its battlements on the Persian besiegers and laughed at their pigmy preparations. There was Nineveh, as rich and powerful as Babylon, and larger perhaps in ter- ritory and population. There was Tyre, the commercial emporium of Phenicia, gathering within its harbor the ships of all nations, importing the luxuries and the vices of all the world. There was Egypt, the hereditary foe of Israel, loom- ing up in the south like a thunder-cloud, liable at any time to burst upon its northern neighbor with a crash of ruin. And among them was a people, small in numbers, occupy- ing a territory hardly larger than the state of Vermont, di- vided against itself by a bitter political schism. But its prophets hurled their denunciations against these Gentile powers and doomed them one after another to destruction. To one they said : "Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and an hissing, without inhabitant." To another : "Woe to the bloody city ! . . . . It shall come to pass that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will be- moan her?" To a third: "Behold I am against thee, O Tyre ... I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock. She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea ; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God." And of Egypt, "It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it any more lift itself up above the nations." The proceeding would have been ridiculous had not the event proved it to be sublime. As water runs in a trench that has been dug for it, so these prophetic words seemed to have made a furrow for destiny to flow in. Babylon and Nineveh are to-day but mounds of buried masonry. Tyre is an insignificant town, which is never mentioned in political circles or in commercial reports, and Egypt is even now but a helpless prey beneath the lion's paw. But the words of the prophets did not bring about these stupendous changes. Those profound seers had a clear vision of the destructive forces that were already at work in the moral and social life of the doomed states. They were not only great preachers, 1 8 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. they were the most far-seeing statesmen of their time. They knew that no organization could stand which was not in har- mony with the invisible laws of the universe. And it was the mission of the Hebrew nation to embody this fact in a practical government. It was called a theoc- racy, because whatever might be its form there was behind it a constitution which was believed to have been written by Jehovah himself. It was almost never without devoted men of God who interpreted the meaning of events and associated these with national acts of disobedience or of loj^alty to the law of God. The return of the Babylonian captives was an effort to profit by these teachings and to establish the state anew on a religious foundation. The mission of John, the Baptist, was a final attempt in the same direction. The Pil- grims and the Puritans who first settled our New England shores, were carrying out a similar policy. And your own town began its existence under the influence of the same idea. At the very outset it provided for the preaching of the gospel in its midst, and for two hundred and fifty years it has kept itself in contact with religious truth. It would be idle to attempt to specify the particular effects that have been produced on the development of your municipal life by the constant presence of the great facts for which the Christian church stands. Who can measure the various influences which have combined to form the Ameri- can character — the words of the Declaration of Independence, the freedom of individual life, the geographical features of the country, its interminable rivers, its endless mountain chains, its boundless prairies, its fresh water oceans, its giant trees, its mighty Niagara — all of these things are sources of psychological influence; but who can separate their mental effects one from another and assign each accurately to its cause? And so it is with the church; its influence on the life of the town is real, but it is recondite, and evades all attempts at precise definition. Even the empty meeting-house helps to educate the people near it — that unpretending, white structure so plain and simple in comparison with the more ornate styles of ecclesiastical architecture that are now prevalent, so appro- priate to the times in which it was first built, outlined, as it TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. IQ was, against the back-ground of the perpetual hills or against the evergreen of the primeval forest. Who can say how often the sight of it has uplifted the heart of some downcast way- farer, how often its glittering spire has brought supernal light into some despondent mind? There is much complaint in our own time that our churches exert no influence save for a few hours on the Sabbath-day ; but is that true? Does that shaft on Bunker Hill produce no educational effect because it has no mission but to be looked at? The patriotic be- holder reads in it, written in letters of stone, the truth that the men of peace are not necessarily helpless against the tyranny of the men of war. Are the soldiers' monuments which adorn so many towns and villages without influence because they are forever silent? There is not one of them which is not repeating over and over again the poet's prophesy, "In the hour of darkness and peril and need, The people will waken and listen to hear The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed. And the midnight message of Paul Revere." And so the country meeting-house has been associated with the manifold vicissitudes of human life. Its bell was the first to greet with a glad welcome the dawn of each national holiday. From its belfry clanged the wild signal that told of the conflagration. The same brazen throat counted off monotonously, by day and night, the swiftly passing hours, and mingled its solemn notes with the sobs of the funeral procession. And all the while that silent index-finger was pointing upward and teaching by an unchanging symbol that above all joy, all danger, all time and all sorrow there is One who holds all these things, and human life and destiny as well, in the hollow of his hand. And how much larger must be the influence of the sub- lime truths with which the church is associated, which have flowed down upon the community from the religious services of two hundred and fifty years. They are behind your pub- lic and private charities. They are the source of the purity of your domestic life. They are the inspiration of whatever disposition you have to provide for coming generations ben- 20 ' THE TOWN OF TOrSFIELD. efits in which you yourselves will have no share. Unrecog- nized and unthanked, they have doubtless inclined again and again the scales of your public deliberations on the side of justice and righteousness. They have furnished the force which has enabled you, times perhaps without number, to regulate your municipal life in the interests of public morals. They have removed from your cemetery its natural associa- tions of terror and gloom, and, by the texts they have en- graved on the tombs, have made it seem the vestibule of eternal life. Time is too short for high ambitions if it is ended at the grave. There is little encouragement for altru- istic and self-sacrificing living if the opportunity is to end when the foundations of the new character are hardly laid. We must be large men if we are to do large things in our indi- vidual or civic capacity. The church has made men large by revealing to them grand truths which take away the limit of time from human action and put all moral achievements and success within our reach. They who live in the neighborhood of a high mountain hardly realize how much they owe to it. Many of them do not stop to think that the fountains of clear water that are bubbling up all around them come from it, that the cool air which makes their climate so agreeable to the summer visitor has rolled down its sloping sides, that it has given momentum to the streams which move their machinery, that its summit has intercepted many a passing cloud and given it to them in the form of a grateful shower. And so it is with the church. It is the avenue by which the truths of God are brought down from their high sphere in order that they may add spiritual blessings to human souls. Hope, joy, faith, self-sacrifice, spring up in human hearts as a result of them. They lift up, at times most obviously, at times imperceptibly, the individual life, and by it the moral level of society as a whole. For the town is only an aggregation of units, and what- ever serves to elevate any portion of these cannot fail to raise at the same time the average character of the whole. THE CELEBRATION. Very little rain fell during the summer of the year nine- teen hundred. For nearly two months previous to the date selected for the anniversary celebration, hardly a shower moistened the parched ground. Then suddenly the clouds opened. On Sunday, August twelfth, when the anniversary religious exercises were held, a pouring rain deterred many from being present, although the Congregational Church was crowded with interested listeners. The three succeeding days were filled with alternate hours of hope and fear, as sickly sunshine followed drizzling rain. But few minds, however, were prepared for the dismal prospect presented by returning daylight on Anniversary Day. Beginning at four o'clock in the morning, the rain-fall during the next eight hours measured over three inches, and the consequent disappointment and sorrow will long remain in memory. An excellent account of the celebration as finally car- ried out, appeared in the Salem News of August seven- teenth and is here printed in a condensed form. TOPSFIELD'S BIG DAY. OF THE CELEBRATION, ETC. Well-laid plans of weeks, yea months, for the two hun- dred and fiftieth anniversary of the town of Topsfield, were knocked into a wet, bedraggled mass yesterday by the tor- rents of rain, which fell upon the heads of the just and un- just alike in that town. In fact it came near transforming the town of Topsfield back into its original name of "New Meadows," for the rain descended in such quantities that the streets and fields were as flooded as any meadows in spring. Although the rain was general throughout this section, it seemed harder at Topsfield. For a long time the inhabitants of this beautiful old village have been preparing for the quarter millennial anni- versary. Committees have met and arrangements have been made, with such good success that nothing remained to be done, but reap the harvest of their labors. Early in the evening preceding, the clouds of Wednes- day cleared away, and the stars twinkled as if in promise of a fair day for the morrow. Some of the older ones shook their heads and said mysterious things about the wind "back- ing in," or something like that, but the younger and more enthusiastic scouted the idea, and preparations went merrily on. The decorators worked far into the night, to finish their labors, but long before dawn it was apparent that their efforts would be futile, for the rain began coming down in torrents. Even during the early morning, a slight rift in the clouds was hailed as a sign that it was going to clear, but all signs fail in dog-days, and this was never more clearly proven than (22) THE TOWN HALL. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 23 at Topsfield. It rained and made a business of raining until the afternoon, and the protests went for naught. And yet, the residents kept up their courage as best they could, and carried out the programme as far as practi- cable. In fact, in adversity they proved themselves strong, although itwas plain to see that their disappointment was keen. The celebration started at daybreak when the bells awoke the more staid inhabitants of the village; but it was a gloomy prospect that greeted their sleepy eyes, and all the rubbing in the world wouldn't make it look any brighter. One lone, bedraggled float struck town during the early morning hours. It was an A. O. U. W.* float, bearing upon it a model of a house, and a motto stating that in the pres- ervation of the home to the widow and children, they are made happy. The sentiment was a splendid one, but a little ray of sunshine would have warmed the cockles of the hearts of the towns-people a great deal more just at that time. The early morning trains brought but slim crowds and later they went and came almost empty. Some balloon men came, but left on the first train out. It was estimated that there were about one thousand visitors in town during the day, most of these coming in the afternoon. Of those who did come earlier, many returned to their respective abiding places, wet and bedraggled, but with the most sincere regret and pity for the towns-people, that their labor of months should thus be spoiled. At eight forty-five o'clock the committee having the ar- rangements in charge met in the Town Hall. It was voted to postpone the parade, the field events, bicycle race and fire- works until the next day, but to have the literary exercises and the banquet with after dinner speeches, according to programme. The reporters were at once notified and they communicated with their respective papers. This doubtless saved many from going to the town with the hope of seeing the celebration. The News bulletined the postponement in Salem, Danvers and other towns. Word was also sent to the Salem Cadets at Boxford that the parade had been postponed. There was, however, a bright side to the day's events. Although the rain descended and the floods came, ♦Ancient Order of United Workmen. 24 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. they didn't dampen one bit the literary exercises or the after- dinner speaking. Each speaker seemed to vie with the others in putting much spirit and energy into his remarks, to offset the gloomy, depressing atmosphere without. At nine thirty o'clock the Reception Committee, consist- ingof Albert A. Conant, Gilbert B. Balch,and George L.Gould, with Representative George Francis Dow, went to the station to meet Governor Crane and his party. The train was late, but when it did arrive His Excellency was given as cordial a reception as the weather conditions would permit. There was a big crowd at the station, largely ladies, and every spot beneath cover was utilized as vantage ground from which to get a peep at His Excellency, as, clad in a black mackin- tosh and a silk hat, he passed along with the committee. With the governor were Lieut. Gov. Bates, Adjt. Gen. Samuel Dalton, and Col. William H. Brigham of the Governor's staff, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Hon. George von L. Meyer, Col. W. A. Pew, Jr., of the Eighth regiment. Senator Guy W. Currier of Methuen, Senator A. P. Gardner of Hamilton, Gen. Francis H. Appleton, Representative Bennett B. Hum- phrey of Peabody, Mayor David M. Little of Salem, Hon. Robert S. Rantoul of Salem, Ex-Senator John D. H. Gauss, of Salem, Maj. George M. Whipple of Salem, and others. Congressman William H. Moody had come from Haverhill earlier in the morning. The guests were driven in carriages to the home of George Francis Dow, near by, where an in- formal reception was held, and a light collation served. Shortly before eleven o'clock carriages took the guests to the Congregational Church, w^here the literary exercises were held, instead of in the tent as originally planned. The change was a wdse one, for the rain had soaked through the tent in some places, rendering it unserviceable. Every seat in the church was occupied when the Gov- ernor and the invited guests arrived, and, as if to dampen the ardor of the speakers, just as they left the carriages, the flood gates seemed to open and fairly deluge the earth. But all of the speakers were present, and were not in the least affected by the rude reception of the Storm King. George Francis Dow, Chairman of the Anniversary Committee, in- troduced the President of the Day, Rev. George H. Perkins GOVERNOR W, MURRAY CRANE. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 25 of Gloucester, a son of Topsfield, whose introductory address was a splendid tribute to the claims and worth of his old home. Music by the Choro-militant band,* which remained throughout the day, followed, after which, the invocation was delivered by the Rev. Herbert J. Wyckoff, pastor of the Congregational Church. Baxter P. Pike, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, then gave the address of welcome, it being received with vigorous applause. Seated in the organ loft, one hundred and fifty school children, directed by Mrs. Genie Fuller Kimball, sang Keller's American Hymn, a sweet and impressive rendi- tion of this beautiful composition. This was followed by Congressman William H. Moody's oration. The old edifice fairly shook with the thunderous applause which greeted the magnificent production of this eloquent speaker. The President of the Day then read a cablegram just received from Toppesfield, England. ''Congratulations from Toppesfield," and the following response, "A daughter's cordial greeting," was flashed under seas to the old home in Essex. "To thee, O Country" was sung by the school children, and the exercises closed with the historical address by George Francis Dow, an intensely interesting, carefully prepared, and well delivered production, and the singing of "America," by the audience, the rich harmony of the grand old hymn swelling deep and strong toward Heaven. Dinner was served at one o'clock, in the large tent on the Common. About four hundred and fifty people were present. After the dinner, which was an unusually fine one and served by Dill, of Melrose, those who did not partake of the banquet were admitted to listen to the speaking. **** ***** The celebration was concluded in the evening by a grand ball in the Town Hall, which was elaborately decorated for the occasion. The Salem Cadet Orchestra furnished the music. *Tberon W. Perkins, the leader, a native of Topsfield. LITERARY EXERCISES AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE 250th ANNIVERSARY of the Incorporation of the Town of TOPSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, August 16, 1900. ADDRESS. Rev. George H. Perkins, of Gloucester, Mass., President of the Day. MUSIC. Perkins' Choro-Militant Band. INVOCATION. Rev. Herbert J. Wyckoff, Pastor of the Congregational Church. ADDRESS OP WELCOME. Baxter P. Pike, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen. SINGING. The American Hymn, . . . . - Keller. Chorus of School Children, directed by Mrs. Genie Fuller Kimball. ORATION. Congressman William H. Moody. SINGING. To Thee, O Country, Eichberg. Chorus of School Children. HISTORICAL ADDRESS. George Francis Dow. America, Smith. The Audience is requested to rise and join with the Band and School Children in singing the National Hymn. (26) REV, GEORGE H. PERKINS. ADDRESS. BY REV. GEORGE H. PERKINS, PRESIDENT OF THE DAY. Ladies and Gentlemen, Citizens of Topsjield, and Hon- ored G nests: — The incorporation of a New England town is an event of no slight significance. Applying to the General Court, in due form, our fathers obtained the charter, and on these beautiful plains and hill-sides, formerly laid the foundations of this little community, which for two hundred and fifty years, has played an honorable part in the life of the com- monwealth and of the nation. We, the happy sons and daughters, are gathered to-day at the old town fireside, to exchange greetings, to recount history, and to rededicate ourselves to the great principles, political, social and religious, which have made Topsfield a pillar of strength in the temple of our republic. We have no increasing population, and no growing in- dustries to excite our jubilations, or to awaken anticipations of future greatness. Topsfield has stood here in its rural simplicity, subject to changes, incident, chiefly to the general progress of the centuries. But the natural characteristics of the township, and our historic legacy, are sufficient to war- rant a most joyful celebration of the event which so early gave Topsfield a place among New England towns. Beautiful for situation, it commands in view not only the charm of its own valley, but from the hill-top fields, it looks away inland, over billowy forests, to distant mountains, and (27) 28 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. away sea-ward, over sister villages and lesser hills to the mother towns, where Salem's temple spires speak the faith of our fathers, and where the white sand dunes of Ipswich Bay glisten in the morning sun, and the crested seas that bore our sires from far off shores, still break in evening splendor. The record of our home town, as we shall learn to-day, is a cause of just pride and of gratitude. It has been a home of Puritan virtues, of patriotism, of education and of religion. She has made noble contributions of her offspring to a thou- sand communities, and to every respectable vocation. She has reared sons who have honored all the learned professions, and magnified the higher offices of the land. While not a few have become eminent in industrial and commercial pur- suits. She has held herself ready from the earliest days, for the call to arms, and made herself proud on fields of battle. Topsfield, the "New Meadows" of our primitive age, like the stream that fiows through its mead, has continued to pour into the sea of humanity, some new life that has enlarged and enriched the world. The streams of influence from this foun- tain head of noblest virtues, have found their way not only into the state, but over-spreading the lands of the west and the south, and winding through various mountains and val- leys, they now renew the earth upon our most distant bor- ders. More than this, old Topsfield by her descendants of two hundred and fifty years, is to-day, a moral force in every great branch of the human family. What is to be her future no seer has yet announced. May there not be a good providence in the preservation of this little section of country so nearly in its primitive state? Now so convenient to centres of population, and yet simple, rural, restful, healthful and beautiful. No great industries, but men of industry can rest here. No growing population, but quiet and virtue are here. These are great needs of mankind to-day. Let Topsfield continue as it is, — a place of agricultural industry, and modest manufacturing interests; an increas- ingly residential community ; Nature's retreat for weary bodies and tired brains ; a home of virtue and a source of life for the nation, and fifty years hence it will be worthy of another celebration. BAXTER P. PIKE. ADDRESS OF WELCOME. BY BAXTER P. PIKE, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN. Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen: — We meet today to commemorate an event of great historic importance to all whose interest is quickened by birth, residence or mar- riage ties. In thus emphasizing this particular occasion, we claim no special patent. It has been the custom of all ages and races of men to mark important events in their histories by exercises flatter- ing to their local or national pri . The mind is ever fond of instituting comparisons and passing in review, the various stages of growth and development. The life of a town will never cease to be of interest to its true sons and daughters, wherever they maybe located or however situated. I will not refer to the historical events of the town, but will leave them to the historian, to whom they belong. Brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of Topsfield, and honored guests, with heart and hand we bid you welcome to the festivities of this occasion. We have killed the fatted calf, and with you would rejoice and make merry, not over the returning prodigal, but over the return of those sons and daughters, who by virtuous lives and noble deeds, have hon- ored the town that gave them birth ; and may we all be bet- ter for this day's festivities, our patriotism more ardent, our (39) 30 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. faith deeper, and our lives purer for the emotions which the exercises of today shall stir in our breasts and long may the good old town of Topsfield (she has still the vigor and fresh- ness of youth) ; long may she live to bless the world by raising sons and daughters to noble achievements in the great drama of life. To all who have come from far or near, from long or short wanderings from the old hearth stone, you are one with us today. We thank you for the special honor you bestow upon us by your return and presence on this anniversary, and most heartily we thank you for the honor you have re- flected upon Topsfield in your wnde-spread fields of duty and service. We bid friends and neighbors from adjoining towns a cordial welcome to the participation in this celebration. Fit- ly do you favor us today, since in the early history, Topsfield was part and parcel with you. We welcome you to our hearts ; we welcome you to our homes; and now, in behalf of the citizens of Topsfield, I welcome you, one and all, to the celebration of the two hun- dred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Topsfield. HON. WILLIAM H. MOODY, ORATION. BY HON. WILLIAM H. MOODY. I am glad to be here today. I prize the honor of taking part in these anniversary exercises and saying a few words which I hope may be in harmony with the spirit of the occa- sion. Few though the words be, it is not so easy to choose them. For many topics which are of the first interest are denied to me. It is not for me to recount the annals of your township, nor to recall to memory the half forgotten story of those who sleep in your ancient burial place, or who having gone hence, endowed with the sweet and strong and healthful spirit of the New England village, to play a part upon a wider stage, have won there the rewards of a life of achievement. These duties will be performed by the accomplished hands to which you have entrusted them. Yet when these are done, it is not all. The dif^culty comes not because the field for further speech is so narrow, but because it is so wide. So many familiar thoughts come thronging to the mind upon an occasion like this that it is hard to choose between them, and find those which are fitting for utterance within appropriate limits of time. The celebra- tions of these anniversaries which have become so frequent in the older parts of our country, arouse an interest which extends far beyond the borders of the communities in which they occur. The reason for this is not far to seek. The fathers lived their simple lives and went quietly to their last (31) 32 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. resting places with no thought of their significance in the world's history, for it is not given to any, except the prophet and the seer, to understand the hidden meaning of his own time. But the secret is revealed. We understand today. We know now that in the scanty records of those early times we may read the prologue of a great world drama whose final acts are yet to come. "It is the foundation of an em- pire, and not merely the purchase and plantation of Agawam, which we commemorate, — whether we will or not ; and I do not fear we shall enlarge our contemplations too far, or ele- vate them too high, for the service to which we have devoted this day." Thus spoke Rufus Choate sixty-six years ago this very day upon a Hke occasion in the town of Ipswich. And so it is now and here. While we reverently set down in minute detail the individual history of the town and its people, our thoughts are irresistibly drawn abroad to the great completed whole of which Topsfield is a part. True it is, that it is the foundation of an empire which we commem- orate. Nations like material structures are built from below and not from above. If the foundation stones are not strong and sound the structure, whether it be a monument or a nation, will fall in ruins while it is still building, and if they become weak or rotten all that rests upon them is in peril. It is to Topsfield then as one of the foundation stones of the nation that as your representative in her Councils I bring her greetings today. I do not speak thus with the purpose of magnifying your history, or flattering 5^our sense of local pride, but because in sober truth it is of such as these that the enduring walls of the splendid temple of American liberty were constructed. It is of Topsfield as a type and not as an individual township that I like best to think and speak ; a type not only of the sister communities in this ancient County and Commonwealth, but of those all over the land from Maine to California, where now the sons of your fathers look out from their distant w^est- ern homes over the waters of the Pacific ocean. It is such communities as these which have developed a virgin territory into a powerful nation within the span of three centuries ; the romance of recorded time. The picture is before us. The feeble and scattered settlements along our eastern seaboard, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 33 where alone the white man Hved two hundred and fifty years ago when Topsfield was born, have grown and spread and knitted together until they contain more than seventy-five millions of people, inhabiting the continent from ocean to ocean. Their very existence unknown, except by the few in the old world, they have come to be in our day a nation whose slightest wish is heard with attention by the powers of the earth. In their resistless w^estward course across rivers, mountains and arid plains, they have delved into the bowels of the earth and brought forth her most precious treasures. The products of the mine, the farm, and the forest, and the fabrics of the work-shop and the factory, have brought to us as a nation the power that wealth alone can bestow. The secrets which Nature's unwilling breast has yielded to a search which would not be denied have almost annihilated time and space, have increased the comforts and multiplied the activi- ties of life; liberty, security and respect for law prevails throughout our land. These things are not the result of mere chance. Men increase and multiply, the sun shines, the rain falls, and the crops grow in other lands than this. We must look elsewhere than to our numbers and our natural resources alone for the explanation of the wonderful phenomenon of our growth in power and happiness. I think we may find it in the charac- ter of our forefathers and in the ideals and institutions which they cherished. Let us see if we can discern a few of these institutions and ask ourselves whether they are not as valua- ble today as ever. "Topsfield shall from henceforth be a towne & have power within themselves to order all civil affaycrs as other townes have." Thus reads your charter. The words are few and simple, but their significance is profound. They mean the levying of local taxes by those who pay them ; the estab- lishment of local laws by those who are to obey them. In short, they mean all the privilege and burden of orderly self- government, of liberty under the law. Out of communities which were fit to be entrusted with such a burden and to en- joy such a privilege there was the making of a great nation. To them in their turn, as they rendered an account of their stewardship, the Lord of nations said ''Well done thou good 34 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. and faithful servant ; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many thincrs." If there be those who think that in the new lands across the seas now under our flag and jurisdiction, where power has always been exercised from above and never from below, the completed fabric of our institutions may be imposed in a day, I commend to them the study of the development of those institutions. Let them see that the lesson which was learned in the township taught us to construct a state and in turn a nation. Let them understand that the habit of self- government is of slow growth ; that it begins low down at the very foundations. For one if I could reconstruct the New England township in Porto Rico, Cuba and the Philli- pines, I should expect under its beneficent influence to see in God's good time completed Commonwealths as free as our own and as independent as their people should deliberately will. But self-government demands intelligence ; not the great learning of a few, but the common and ordinary education which may be shared by all. Our fathers forgot not this and an order of the General Court made in 1647 prescribed that every township of fifty householders should appoint one with- in their town to teach children to read and write, if need be at the public expense. From such slight beginnings as this, and we may find the like in the early annals of all our States, has grown the wonderful system of public education which has fitted our people for the great task to which they have been appointed. We do not forget the lesson in these days. Cherishing this institution as we do no other, we are attempting to bestow it upon the millions of new people, who for the time at least are under our jurisdiction and control. The school-houses which we are building in Porto Rico and the Cuban teachers whom we are entertaining at Cam- bridge, at the College founded by the early care of the fathers, attest our eaeer desire to share with others one of the secrets of our own strength. One of the traits which appears most clearly in our his- tory from the first is the constant and intense interest which the people took in the affairs of the government and in the TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 35 conduct of their public servants. If there came a great question to be decided by Colony, State, or Nation, it was no uncommon thing for the people to gather in their town- house, discuss it, and express by resolutions, the sentiments which they entertained. The fashion has passed away in our time, but I doubt not that well into the present century, the public opinion of New England in all great crises of our his- tory, could be obtained by the historian from the records of our town meetings. That this particular fashion of express- ing opinion no longer exists is not of importance, yet if it has perished through lack of interest in public affairs, and lack of attention to the conduct of the public servants, it bodes no good to the republic. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty and good government. The fate of a Democratic republic is threatened if the people concern themselves no longer with its affairs. I sometimes hear an impatience ex- pressed with the frequency of elections and regrets for the weight of the burden of self-government. It takes from our occupation ; it distracts our attention from business, we say. But I say to you that you have no business as important as the duties of citizenship. None which will pay you as well in the end. You have no right to be without opinion upon public questions. There is no greater public sin than the sin of indifference. We must watch the conduct of our public servants and be swift to condemn them if they are unfaithful, nor must we forget that there is no way in which we can more surely condemn and discourage unfaithfulness to public trust, than by applauding and encouraging fidelity. If time permitted, I should like to dwell upon other characteristics that our fathers exhibited. Their deep relig- ious feeling; the "fierce spirit of liberty" which possessed them ; and their ardent desire to establish fixed and equal laws suitable to their condition. The house of worship, the school-house, the town-house, and the court-house. They were held to be the guards and defenders of the State. They constitute the most precious inheritance which we have re- ceived from early times. We cannot in our time spare them. We must not neglect them. We must not be content to say "We are the salt of the earth," for it is written "If the salt have lost his savour wherewith shall it be salted. It is thence- 36 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. forth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of man." Let us not then be content with a mere recital of the events of the past which may satisfy the seeker for curious learning, nor with the commemoration of our dead which may fulfill the duty of filial piety, nor with the exhibition of the power, prosperity, and happiness of our county which may please and flatter a vain pride. Let us rather, by the fond contemplation of the past, seek to learn the duties of the present and the future, and inspired by the example of the fathers, resolve that the Republic shall receive no detriment in our day, and that our inheritance shall be transmitted un- impaired and enriched to the generations which shall dwell here when our day is done. GEORGE FRANCIS DOW. HISTORICAL ADDRESS. BY GEORGE FRANCIS DOW. Two hundred and fifty years ago it was ordered by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, "in answer to the petition of the inhabitants of Topsfield * * * that from henceforth they shall be a town and have power within themselves to order all civil affairs, as other towns have," and we, the successors of those who came seek- ing to build a Commonwealth in the New England wilder- ness, are here met together, in family pride, to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of our town, and, in loving memory of its builders, to recall from the bygone, yet living past, the story of their lives and deeds. And, while turning, leaf by leaf, the time-worn records of our forefathers, the quaint old letters reveal the sturdy life, the self denial, and the struggle toward a larger growth. The strong hands which for two hundred and fifty long years have cleared and tilled the hill^''' side and the valley, and the busy brains which for eight gen- erations have put their life and thought into this our heritage, have shaped a monument for generations yet unborn. The settlers of this town were a plain people, who won their bread by their industry, yet among them were men of ability and native worth, whose descendants, now spread far and wide across the broad continent, bear witness in their lives that the leaven of the early day leaveneth the whole lump. The mere mention of a dozen family names, — Gould, Peabody, (37) 38 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. Perkins, Bradstreet, Tovvne, Porter, How, Averill, Cummings, Baker, Wildes or Clark, brings to recollection the names of sons, distinguished in varied walks in life, and as the bene- diction of an honorable ancestry passes to the remotest generation, let us, the living present, faithfully preserve the memory of the past. We here commemorate the two hundred and fiftieth re- turn of our natal day, but the first clearing in the virgin forest and the first log house near the slowly-flowing Agawam antedate the political birth of the settlement b}^ a dozen years or more. When John Winthrop, the younger, with his little party of adventurers, landed at Agawam in the early spring of 1633, he laid the foundation of a settlement, from, which the present town of Topsfield was the natural offshoot. Two of his party of a dozen men were afterwards located at the New Meadows, which was the name applied by the settlers to this locality. The town of Ipswich was incorporated in 1634, and grew rapidly in population and importance, be- coming a shire-town in the county. - With the growth of the settlement came a need for more land. The greed of land possession is very noticeable in scanning the early records. The territory available was seemingly without limit and every- body hastened to obtain grants of land, which varied in extent with the social importance of the individual. Large grants of land were recorded without any attempt being made to specify bounds or even a location, that being a matter of controversy for committees and towns to agree upon at a later date. As the clearing of the unbroken forest was an undertaking requiring time and the assistance of many hands, the settlers early laid claim to the natural clearings near the river Agawam, and in time followed its banks to a point some seven miles to the westward where a large extent of meadow was found and designated as the "New Meadows." This locality had been much resorted to by the Agawam tribe of Indians, who called the spot Shenewemedy. On the plains lying to the westward of the present village, Indian relics frequently have been found, and at one place there seems to have been an Indian camping ground where a large number of stone implements and weapons were made, — the ground being littered with chippings from two varieties of rock ; and JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER. Founder Of Ipswich And Governor Of Connecticut, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 39 near at hand, on a conical elevation now used by the town for a gravel pit, can be seen, at the highest point, some six or eight inches below the surface of the ground as the hill has been dug away, evidences of beacon fires, — blackened soil and small bits of charcoal, — fires lighted generations be- fore the advent of the European, the ashes buried by the flight of years. The actual settlement of the New Meadows began about 1639, when the General Court granted certain lands lying near Ipswich river, to inhabitants of Ipswich and Salem who had farms nearby, "to bee enjoyed by those who first settled a village there." Four years later it appeared that the Ipswich farmers had, since 1641, ''maintained one to dispence the word of God unto them, which they intend to continue." Among the early settlers were Zaccheus Gould, after- ward a very large holder of land in Topsfield and Rowley Village (or Boxford as it afterward was called) ; the Reding- tons, Abraham and John ; Thomas Howlett and William Per- kins who had come with Winthrop ; Reverend William Knight who "dispenced the word ;" Walter Roper, the carpenter who built the great bridge across the river ; William Howard, the man of affairs; Francis Peabody, the miller and ancestor of a noteworthy line of descendants ; Isaac Cummings ; Wil- liam Towne, whose daughters, Rebecca Nurse and Mary Esty, suffered death during the witchcraft delusion ; Allan Perley, and Alexander Knight who had a Court record as a Her. Governor John Endecott owned large tracts of land lying on the south side of the river and Governor Simon Bradstreet was granted five hundred acres, a large portion of which has but recently passed from the family name, after a continu- ous occupation of over two hundred and fifty years. Reverend William Knight, the first who ministered to the spiritual needs of the inhabitants at the New Meadows, was a non-conformist minister who refused to obey ecclesi- astical injunction and, embarking for Massachusetts Bay, was received an inhabitant of Salem in 1637. The next year he was living in Ipswich and in 1641 he began his labors at the New Meadows. The organization of the church did not occur at this time, nor did Mr. Knight long remain with his little flock, for the tract, "Good News from New England," 40 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. which was published in London in 1648, says, — "William Knight of New Meadows has gone back to England." But how came the little settlement at the New Meadows by its present name? Unfortunately, the men who make his- tory seldom preserve for posterity detailed accounts of their achievements. The story of the christening of the locality is interesting, but the main fact, alas ! like much other histori- cal data, lacks absolute confirmation, for the speeches made at the meetings of the honored court of assistants, together with the motives governing the actions of that magisterial body, found no record on the written page. Among the earliest of those holding grants of land in and near our borders, was Samuel Symonds, of Ipswich, after- wards Assistant and Deputy Governor. In 1637 the town of Ipswich granted to him a farm of five hundred acres, having for its westerly bounds Pye brook, which still slowly makes its winding way through meadow and thicket, barely a five minutes walk from the ancient burial place. This farm was long known on the records by the name of "Olivers." In 1642, John Winthrop, son of Governor Winthrop and after- wards the first Colonial governor of Connecticut, while in London, sold a tract of land lying near Mr. Symonds' farm, to one Henry Parks, merchant-tailor of London, and in the deed, which is elaborately engrossed upon parchment, he mentions that the land is located partly in "the Hamlett Village or place called Toppesfield in the parish of Ipswich," preserving the spelling used to designate a small parish in Essex County in Old England. Thus early does the name appear and yet in other transfers of title, and in various mat- ters of record inscribed at Ipswich and Salem, the locality for several years longer was known as the New Meadows. At last, in 1648, the settlement having grown larger and more important, Zaccheus Gould, Brian Pendleton and William Payne, addressed a petition to the General Court asking that the locality be given a name, at the same time suggesting that Hempstead might with propriety be adopted. Now Zaccheus Gould, a large land owner, had come over seas from Hemel Hempstead, and in thus suggesting that the settlement should be named Hempstead, he was endeavoring to trans- plant to New England soil the familiar name of the old home. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 4 1 The petition was read to the Deputies and found their approval, but when the higher court of Assistants viewed their action it was unceremoniously set aside and the petition returned with the endorsement that the settlement should be called Toppesfield. In this the Deputies obediently con- curred and, with a slight abbreviation in the spelling, so it has remained to this day. Samuel Symonds was then a member of that court and beyond all doubt he was responsible for the change of name, being actuated by the same fond desire to perpetuate in the land of his adoption, the name of the parish in old England where he had worshipped God according to the dictates of his conscience and in whose old stone church ten of his children had been baptized. He had applied the name locally some years before, as witness the deed from John Winthrop in 1642. He was a prominent man in the colony, an Assistant from 1643 to 1673, when he was made Deputy- Governor and so remained until his death in 1678 ; so it is not strange that his influence should be a sufficient motive for the action of the magistrates. Toppesfield. England, in the County of Essex, is now^a small parish of little over a thousand souls. It lies about fifty miles north-east from London and is finally reached by narrow roads winding through a succession of luxuriant fields and meadows. Singularly enough, as Topsfield, New England, is noted, the country far and wide, for its rolling land and succession of hills, — indeed, one author has styled it "the Switzerland of Essex County", — so Toppesfield, old England, holds within its parish limits the highest lands in the shire. Its church, an ancient edifice of brick and rubble stone, is dedicated to St. Margaret ; the tower, which was rebuilt in 1725, containing a chime of five bells. Numerous memorial brasses are inserted in the floor and about the walls of the interior, one, containing the figures of a man and a woman in the costume of the sixteenth century, standing in a devotional attitude, has the following inscription, the spelling of which to modern eyes, presents wonderful combinations of the Roman alphabet. "Pray for the sowlys of John Cracherood and Agnes his wyff y*^ whiche John decsyd y" yere of o"" Lord God MDXXXIIII [1534] on whose sowl 42 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. Jesu haue mercy." Nearly four centuries ago the ashes of this sorrowing countryman of ours became a memory, and a hundred seasons passed before the first settler felled a tree growing on the wooded plains of Topsfield. There are five manors in the ancient parish while Hedingham Castle is but four miles distant. Berwick Hall, which is near the Church, in the days of King John paid an annual rental of 45 pence, 49 days work and 10 hens, while Flowers Hall not far distant annually figured in a transaction outranking Columbus' famous balancing feat with the egg, for at the end of the harvest season Edward Benlowes, Esq., of Finchingfield, received his assize of 8 shillings, one cock, one hen, and an egg and a half. Toppesfield ! As to the name, antiquarians tell us that in good old Saxon times, the locality belonged to a yellow- haired individual whose name was Toppa, — hence Toppes- field. We do know, however, that Roman civilization here found lodgment at an early date, for the ancient Roman road between Colchester and Cambridge passed near at hand and more than all, early in the present century, a laborer digging a ditch, unearthed the skeleton of a Roman warrior with a corroded sword blade lying across his fleshless breast ; a Roman coin ; a metal vase and several little cups of Samian ware, completed the sum of his earthly possessions, — nothing more. I have told you of Zaccheus Gould's ill success with the honored magistrates. Nearly two years elapsed after his petition, before the settlement became in fact a town. The entry on the Colony records, which I already have read, is in duplicate under the dates of October 16 and October 18. And so it was that New Meadows cast aside its swaddling clothes and entered into a new and enlarged life as a municipality, a part and factor in the Colony, and, after Lexington, the State ; a township which is very dear to us here assembled, because it is beautiful, and we love it, and it is our home. Her green hills and fertile vales ; the winding river and the sunlit lake; each touch of Nature's hand, each tree, each rock we love, and to-day the scattered sons of Topsfield in their distant wanderings have heard the mother's call and hasten to the old homestead to keep jubilee together. GOVERNOR SIMON BRADSTREET. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 43 The organization of the first town government, with its "selected" men, its "clarke", its constable, hogreeve and tithing men, is irrevocably lost, for the earliest book of records was burned, in 1658, by a fire that consumed the home of John Redington, the town clerk. So the historian and the ancestor-hunter must content himself with meagre extracts made from the second book, in 1676, by a committee who were instructed by the town to "transcribe the olde book into the new Towne Booke all that is needful to bee don" and, as the files of New England's newspapers until a recent day are filled with long extracts from European prints, — lengthy communications on political affairs and contain but little regarding the local happening which we need to supply the color for the picture of the period, so, until the year when King Philip of Mount Hope caused even the householders of Boston to tremble, we only find recorded the bounds between Salem and Topsfield, the division of the common lands on the south side of the river, an invitation to Samuel Howlett of Ipswich to come and set up his trade of smithing, and a few items of similar value. But after 1676, few towns or cities can boast of municipal records more carefully preserved, with entries made in greater detail. It is a story of grants of land, of boundaries, taxes, highways, bridges, provision for the poor, care of the common lands and timber and the careful oversight of the public morals. No matter was too small, nor too great, to merit watchful consideration by the town meeting or the selectmen. With loving minuteness they legislated on the location of the meeting-house, the pay of the minister, the construction of the gallery and the stairs leading thereto, the location of the pulpit and, with many reconsiderations and changes in the personnel of the committees in charge, the town acted upon that most important matter, the seating of the worshipers in the meeting house. Do not imagine for an instant that this seating of the congregation, meant the deposit of so much flesh and blood in an appropriate place. That would mean equality and was little in keeping with the New England life. The largest tax payers and those of social position exacted the last pound of flesh when a question of precedent arose. To supplement the watchful care of the minister. 44 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. tithing men living in various parts of the town were selected and placed in charge of the families living in their immediate neighborhoods, to catechize and overlook them in their homes. On Sunday, the tithing man's staff, a knob at one end, a rabbit's tail at the other, rapped or tickled the unwary sleeper according to the just deserts of the individual. The "meeting" was the centre round which the life of the town revolved, and the interval between the morning and afternoon religious service was the actual meeting where gossip, both masculine and feminine, on topics social, political and religious, lighted the dark shadows of the rugged life of our forefathers and sent them home, renewed and fit for their isolated struggle with the soil. Our neighbors from Boxford Village who attended meeting in the Topsfield meeting-house, in 1672, petitioned the town for liberty to "set up a house to shelter themselves in with a fire in it", — a shrine to physical comfort and the social life. The early records are not lacking in quaintness. When John Robinson, in consideration of the sum of twenty-five shillings per annum, agreed to sweep the meeting-house and fasten the doors, as a perquisite he was appointed to dig graves "for such as shall Requir him and to have three shillins six penc for al graues abou four foot long and two and six penc for al under." A sexton indeed in every sense of the word. In the spring of 1682, the town held its usual town meeting and after electing its "selectmen", it passed a vote outlining in part what was expected of them, namely, — "that ye selectmen shall repair all breaches about ye meeting house & parsonig house and barn & to make seates in ye meeting house & mend the wach house and all other prudenciall afares of ye Towne all at ye Towne charge prohibbiting the selectmen from aliniting any of ye Towne Common," carefully guarding, you will note, their landed rights. A year or two later a vote was passed accepting and allowing constable Comings' bill of charges for conveying Evan Morris out of town and for "forwarneing two women out of the Towne," the usual method of relieving the locality of destitute or undesirable inhabitants. This Evan Morris GOVERNOR JOHN ENDECOTT, Frotri the Original Painting iq the Possessioq of Wiiliani C. Endicott, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 45 must have been a fire brand and an uncomfortable fellow to have around, for the Quarterly Court records show that while he was living in Topsfield he was presented at court for "reviling in reproachful language the ordinances of God and such as are in church fellowship, saying when some were together keeping a day of Humiliation that they were howling like wolves and lifting up their paws for their Children saying the gallows were built for members and members' children and if there had been no members of churches there would have been no need of gallows." In 1687, the head of a wolf was worth ten shillings of the town's money and the same year liberty was voted to any person to plant tobacco on the common ground, provided he did not intrude in any highway. That the dignity and morality of the town was sometimes considered at stake, is witnessed by a vote recorded in the year 1693, when the selectmen were instructed to complain at court of Goodwife Neland, for "slandering the wholl Towne of Topsfield." Goodwife Neland was the eloquent partner in the joys and sorrows of an obstinate Irishman who had built a house directly over the boundary line that separated Topsfield from Ipswich. Whenever the constable from Topsfield called on him for the minister's rate, he was sure to be found in the Ipswich side of his house. Finally after many fruitless attempts to collect the tax, forbearance ceased to be a virtue, and taking with him several sturdy fellows. Constable Wildes presented himself at the pig pen of the wily Irishman, with black staff of office in hand, and distrained and carried away a fat porker, which cashed in full the unsettled balance in Parson Capen's salary rate. This event happened shortly before the town proceeded in its action against Goodwife Neland and indicates the probable animus for that good lady's scolding remarks concerning the fair name of Topsfield. The annals of a New England town must begin with its church, which was in fact the body politic, having an influence in the affairs of the community that can hardly be estimated at the present time. The support of the minister was a regular item of civic expense and he was chosen in open town meeting. When the log-house had given shelter, and the home field and common land had furnished suste- 46 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. nance, then the community began to estimate its financial strength and shortly the meeting-house was built and the minister settled. Reverend William Knight who *'dispenced the word" having returned to England, the settlement seems to have been without regular preaching until 1655 when Reverend William Perkins came from Gloucester, and buying a farm, cast his lot with the Topsfield farmers. He seems to have been a man of many parts and quite a figure in the colony. The son of a merchant tailor in London, he contributed £ 50 to the Massachusetts Bay Company and received a grant of 400 acres of land. Until 1643 he lived in Roxbury and then removed to Weymouth where he was elected representative to the General Court. He also commanded a military company and was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in Boston. In i65i,he appears in Gloucester, as a spiritual adviser to the people and in this profession he seems to have passed many troublesome moments, for on several occasions his grievances were aired in the County Courts. The testimony in one case is interesting, for, after making due allowance for personal bias, we have a picture of his pulpit success. Mrs. Holgrave of Gloucester was presented at Court the fourth month of 1652 for reproachful and unbecoming speech against Mr. William Perkins an of^cer of the church, witnesses testifying, that she had said, "that if it were not for the law she would never come to meeting the teacher was so dead and accordingly she did seldom come and with all persuaded Goodwife Vincent to come to her house on the Sabbath day and read good books, affirming that the Teacher were fitter to be a Lady's shamberman than to be in the pulpit." Mr. Perkins finally brought suit against the town of Gloucester in an effort to collect his salary, and early in 1655 came to Topsfield where he preached to the neighborhood until the gathering of a church in 1663. A fragment of an autobiographical sketch states that he was absent in England in 1670 and again two years later. While writing of the marriage of Katharine, his second daughter, he relates with much enthusiasm, that "she was the first which the mercifull Providence of God gave me opportunity to be disposed of TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 47 He died in 1682, aged 75 years, leaving a numerous posterity. The actual organization of a church and settlement of a minister did not take place until November 4, 1663, when the Roxbury church records have the following entry, — "A church is gathered at Topsfield with Mr. Thomas Gilbert over it." The records of the church at Salem also show that the people at Topsfield sent letters "signifying their intention of joining in church fellowship," and Reverend John Higginson and John Porter, the latter of Salem Village, were delegated to represent the Salem church. On their return *'an account was given to the church by the Pastor, that for the substance their proceedings at Topsfield in the church gathering and ordination there was approved of by the messengers of the Churches then present." Thomas Gilbert, the newly settled pastor, was a non- conformist minister who had been ejected from his living by King Charles II. of merry memory. He is supposed to have been a Scotchman, and proving to be a man of strong opinions and much given to the expression of his convictions, it is not a matter of wonder that he should early become the victim of his non-conformist views. Under date of 1661, the committee of the colonies wrote that he had **met with suitable employment at Rowley." He also appears at Salis- bury for a short time, but in 1663 he found at Topsfield his first and only settlement in the Colony. Mr. Gilbert has left no register of his labors in Topsfield, and as his temper on leaving the town could not have been of a meek and lowly nature, perhaps he preferred to destroy or carry away his story of infants baptized, of church meetings held during his ministry and of dead laid at rest in the little burial ground. Be that as it may, no manuscript remains and our church records begin with Parson Capen's hand in 1684. No doubt at first the relations between pastor and people were all that could be desired. Each felt the honor and the responsibility of the organization round which the town centred, and Mr. Gilbert was probably looked upon as a leader; but a man of his temperament could not live beside Reverend William Perkins without differences arising, perhaps 48 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. of theology, perhaps of politics, so in 1666 we find Mr. Perkins making complaint in the County Court against Mr. Gilbert for sedition, "that in his prayers and sermons he made scandalous speeches against the King's majesty and his government," for which, to my mind, he had ample ground, for had he not been ignominiously removed from his comfortable living and been compelled to seek a new home in the wilds of Massachusetts Bay? One of the deacons of the church testified that the minister had prayed that "God would convert the King's majesty and the royal family or turn them from superstition and idolitry" and it was said that on another occasion he used these words, "that Christ Jesus should reign in despite of all the devil's Kings, doe what they can." The evidence was too strong for Mr. Gilbert and the Court ordered that he be admonished by the Governor in their presence. But the majesty of the law and the power of the magistrates could not bridle the minister's tongue and he could not forget the active and successful interest of Mr. Perkins in his affairs, so the following year we find that gentleman bringing suit against Mr. Gilbert for defamation of character. But if the reverend gentleman twitted his brother by relating divers facts and personal fancies, he in turn soon gave occasion for his people to question the self-denial of their spiritual adviser when the wine was of good age and flavor, for it was not long before he was brought into court charged with intemperance. It was shown that one afternoon the previous summer, it being sacrament day, the people waited long for their minister, some even going home, and when he came at last and began to pray, all saw that he was distempered in his head, for he repeated many things over and lisped badly and when he had done, he commenced to sing and then read a psalm so that it could not be well understood and then went to praying again and was about following it with another hymn when Isaac Cummings arose in his seat and desired him to forbear. All testified that he then became very angry and said "I bless God I find a good deal of comfort in it," and came down from the pulpit and said to the people, "I give notice that I will preach among you no more." It finally appeared that the prime source of TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 49 the trouble was the excellent dinner he had enjoyed that day, several of his flock having gone home with him from the morning service, for the golden cup was brought out and filled with wine, and Mr. Gilbert drank twice, deeply, and on being reminded by his wife of his neglect to return thanks, said, '*I forgot", and then did return thanks and sing a psalm, "clipping of the King's English and lisping." Poor Mr. Gilbert ! Had he owned a spirit more gentle and tongue less unruly, his lapse at the wine cup would possibly have been thought less of and his stay in Topsfield prolonged. Cider, beer and wine were used freely by all, and many a will probated at Salem Court bears silent testimony to the loving forethought of the deceased husband, who provided that the widow should annually receive from his estate, a certain number of gallons of rum or barrels of cider, in addition to one-half of the old homestead from cellar to ridgepole ; cords of firewood ready for the fire- place ; a cow, the use of a horse to ride to meeting, — beef, pork, Indian corn, malt, flax, and many other necessities too numerous to mention. As late as 1 761, David Cummings of this town, provided by will, that the estate should annually supply his widow Sarah with five barrels of cider. At the raising of the frame of the new church which was built in 1759, the town voted to buy a barrel of rum, fifty pounds of sugar, and twelve barrels of cider, with which to regale the thirsty volunteers, and the item in the bill of charges, *'mugs broack", would seem to show that conviviality prevailed among some of those who were present. But to return to Mr. Gilbert, — In his case, it was the dignity of the pulpit which he should have preserved and the notice of departure spoken in heat was well received by his people, for in 1671 he was dismissed from the charge. Mr. Gilbert was soon followed by Reverend Jeremiah Hobart, a Harvard graduate and a son of Reverend Peter Hobart of Hingham. During his ministry occurred the direful Indian war, King Philip's. The terrible reverses which occurred during the summer of 1675, caused the colonists to take a gloomy view of the situation, and spurred by fear of possible raids by Indians from the eastward, the selectmen ordered a stone wall to be built around the meeting- 50 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. house. It was six feet high and had a watch tower ten feet square built at the south-eastern corner. The construction was undertaken voluntarily by those who worshipped in the meeting-house and included many from Rowley Village now Boxford, and others from Linebrook lying on the boundary line in Ipswich. Of a similar defence at that period, I have failed to find a record in eastern Massachusetts. For years it stood watch and ward over the safety of the Topsfield farmers. Meanwhile, Mr. Hobart was making enemies among his congregation. He was accused of immoralities and the town withheld his salary. Finally the minister brought the matter before the County Court and the town was ordered to pay all arrearages and also to put the ministry house, out- houses and fences into suflficient repair. This was in 1679. Matters dragged along until the next year when he was dismissed, but, while waiting for another settlement, he continued to occupy the parsonage, and as possession is nine points of the law, the town failed to oust him. In December 168 1, the town appointed a committee to go to Mr. Hobart and demand the keys of the parsonage house, but nothing was thereb}' accomplished for it was six months later when Mr. Hobart signed a receipt for the remainder of his salary, whereby he discharged the indebtedness of the town to him *'since the beginning of the world." He finally found a distant settlement at Hempstead, Long Island, a little later removing to Haddam, Connecticut, where in his 72nd year, in a petition to the Governor, he styled himself "an ancient, dejected and despised minister." November 6, 171 5, it being the Lord's Day, he attended public worship in the forenoon and received the sacrament and during the intermission, expired, while sitting in his chair. Reverend Joseph Capen, "that revered man", came to the town of Topsfield as its minister in 1682, Reverend John Danforth, a young preacher of Dorchester and Daniel Epps the famous Salem schoolmaster, having previously declined the honor of a settlement. We learn from the town records that Thomas Perkins jr., and Joseph Bixby jr., were chosen to go to Cambridge to pilot Mr. Capen to Lieutenant Francis Peabody's house in Topsfield and next we find that a committee was appointed "to discourse with Mr. Capen to stay and PINE GROVE CEMETERY. GRAVESTONES OF "PARSON" CAPEN AND HIS WIFE. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 5 1 preach awhile;" and a few weeks later three trustworthy citizens were chosen to accompany him to Dorchester **when he goes to visit his friends and to bring him again if they can with his friends' consent, to continue with us in the ministry." The committee held him securely in their keeping and in time a settlement was effected at £ 65 yearly, partly in silver and partly in current pay, namely: — corn, pork, beef, rye and malt. Mr. Capen was but twenty-three years of age when he came to Topsfield. Not long after, he married Priscilla, daughter of John Appleton, of Ipswich, and some time after May 24, 1686, he erected on the twelve acre lot granted him by the town, the two-story house which still stands near the Common, — a joy to the eye of the artist and a most picturesque relic of the past. For forty-two long years ''Parson" Capen preached acceptably, a faithful and loved pastor and a shining contrast to his predecessors. In 1703 the old meeting-house in the cemetery was abandoned and a new one built on the present location, an elevation having been leveled for the purpose. This building was torn down in 1759 and a new meeting- house built, which in turn, in 1842, gave way to the present structure. The building which was raised in 1759 was removed in 1842 to Salem, near the Peabody line, and is still standing and in use as a tannery. Mr. Capen died in 1725 and all that was mortal was buried on the spot where long years before his pulpit had stood, and at the head of the mound was erected an elaborately carved stone recording this summum of his life:— DEAR MR. CAPEN, THAT REVERED MAN V^HO DID THE FAITH OF CHRIST MAINTAIN A LEARNED MAN AND GODLY TOO NONE WILL DENY THIS, WHO HIM KNEW. During Mr. Capen's ministry occurred the terrible delusion of witchcraft. The nearness of Topsfield to Salem Village, — Danvers, the home of the accusing girls and especially the question of disputed boundswherein the Putnam and Towne families were concerned and which had caused much ill-feeling, made it impossible that this town should 52 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. escape. Rebecca Nurse of Salem Village, and Mary Esty of Topsfield, daughters of William Towne and highly respected by their neighbors, were carried to an ignominious death. Mary Esty has been called "the self forgetful," because in a petition to Governor Phips, written while in prison, she asked not for her own life but that other innocent blood might not be shed. Sarah Wildes, the aged wife of John Wildes, was also executed and several others were accused, only escaping as reason dawned on the frenzied community. Mr. Capen's successor was Reverend John Emerson, a native of Charlestown, Mass., who preached until shortly before the outbreak of the Revolution, serving "God faithfully in the gospel of his Son upwards of forty-five years." His descendants have been prominent in town affairs and a grand- son, Billy Emerson, was the greatest general trader that Essex County ever had, owning a large amount of live stock and real estate, and when journeying to Canada, as he frequently did, it is said that he could stop in his own tavern each night on the journey. Reverend Daniel Breck, who had been a Chaplain in the Revolutionary Army, was settled over the church in 1779. He was a man of fair talents who endeavored to introduce reforms into the church discipline, which awakened such opposition that he was dismissed after nine years of service. At the time of the Bi-centennial Celebration in 1850, a con- gratulatory letter from his son, then a congressman from Kentucky, was read at the after-dinner exercises. Reverend Asahel Huntington came to the church from Connecticut, and in 1813, death closed his useful and honor- able career. His son Elisha Huntington, M. D., was the first mayor of Lowell, and Lieutenant-Governor of Massa- chusetts. Another son, Asahel Huntington, was a bright light in the legal fraternity and eighth mayor of Salem, In 1817, a bell, the first in town, was purchased at Paul Revere's foundry, and the town voted that it "be rung on all public days and tolled for funerals." Reverend Rodney Gove Dennis of New Boston, N. H., was the next settled minister who, after a stay of seven years, asked for a dismission, urging that his success in the church did not justify his continuance here. He was followed by THE DR, RICHARD DEXTER HOUSE, Erected about 1750, now the property of the Essex Agricultural Society, THE DUDLEY BRADSTREET HOUSE, Erected m i77i, now remodeled and owned bu Thomas E. Proctor. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 53 Reverend James F. McEwen who labored with the Topsfield church for the space of ten years, and was dismissed in 1840, a **root of bitterness," as the church records style it, having sprung up between pastor and people. Almost at the begin- ning of his ministry a Methodist Episcopal church was organized in town. Its first house of worship w^as built on the Newburyport turnpike, near Springville. The present church was erected in 1853 and dedicated the following year. I lack opportunity to enumerate at this time the various ministers who have been stationed over the Methodist church, — suffice it to say that a number have placed their impress on the educational life of the town, both in the Topsfield Academy and in the district school. Reverend Anson McLoud, a native of Hartford, Conn., followed Mr. McEwen. It was his first pastorate and for twenty-eight years he labored faithfully. For a number of years after his connection with the church was dissolved, he continued to reside here and until the day of his death he had the respect and affection of the town. He was greatly interested in educational matters and, with Sidney Merriam, was instrumental in founding the Public Library in 1875. He represented the town at the Great and General Court in 1871. Reverend Edward P. Tenney, at one time President of Colorado College and author of numerous works, was installed in 1869 but resigned after a few months service. He was followed by Reverend James H. Fitts, now of Newfields, N. H. ; Reverend Lyndon S. Crawford, for many years a mis- sionary in Turkey; Reverend Charles W. Luck, now of Ogden, Utah ; Reverend Albert E. Bradstreet, who is now living in California ; Reverend Francis A. Poole, recently settled over a church in East Weymouth, Mass., and the present pastor. Reverend Herbert J. Wyckoff. Few changes have taken place in the religious life of the town during the past fifty years. The church bells call to worship children of the same name and blood as those who walked the aisles a half century ago. The foot stoves and the bass viol have long since been banished, but the work, worship and belief of our buried sires still have an influence on religious thought and action. That this town has marked its educational impress on the THE TOPSFIELD ACADEMY. THE ACADEMY BUILDING, no;/ the CENTRE SCHOOL-HOUSE. THE RAILROAD STATION and residence of MRS. MARY S. KIMBALL TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 55 community at large is well known. The prominent position held at one time by the Topsfield Academy cannot be forgotten nor can we estimate the services of such men as Professor Nehemiah Cleaveland, for twenty years principal of Dummer Academy ; Reverend David Peabody, professor at Dartmouth College ; Professor Albert Cornelius Perkins, for many years principal of Phillips Exeter Academy, nor Professor John Wright Perkins of Salem, formerly of Dum- mer Academy, who is with us to-day. The earliest reference to the subject of education to be found in the town records is in 1694, when the town voted that "Goodman Louewell School Master shall Hue in ye Parsonage house this yeare ensewing to kepe Schole and swepe ye meeting house." The district school was of course the medium for instruction and continued so until 1867, when the town purchased the Academy building and installed the village schools. The "Centre" school house on Academy hill to-day contains the High School, and in the same building are centralized the schools of the town, graded and efficiently maintained. The Topsfield Academy famous for its preceptors and the high standard of scholarship there maintained, turned out many scholars who have become distinguished, and many a man and woman has made the world better for the instruction there received. Among the more famous preceptors were Benjamin Greenleaf, the well known mathematician; Edwin D. Sanborn, for many years professor at Dartmouth College ; Asa Fowler, justice of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire and a law partner of President Peirce and later of Senator Chandler; Reverend Edmund F. Slafter, and many other men of mark in the various professions. Patriotism early found a home in this ancient town. In every war, from the swamp fight at Narragansett to the recent conflict with the yellow flag of Spain, she has borne her part. When King Charles H. demanded the surrender of the charter of the colony the town voted "Wee doe hereby declare y* wee are vtterly vnwilling to yeeld ether to a Rasig- nation of the Charter or to any thing y* shall be equeualent there Vnto Where by ye foundations there of should be raced." It was Lieutenant John Gould of this town who was 56 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. among the first of those who openly protested at this usurpa- tion of the rights of the colony and because of his brave words was taken to His Majesty's jail in Boston and after- wards fined. Six years later, shortly after Governor Andros had been deposed from power, Lieutenant Thomas Baker was elected to represent the town and instructed "To act for the publick good and welfare and safety of This Colony, prohibbiting any act or thing that may have any tendency to the infringement of any of our charter priulidges what so ever." I have alluded to the stone wall about the meeting- house ; in 1706 it was called the "old meeting house fort." At an early date a garrison house was built on what is now the Agricultural Farm and a military company was a recog- nized institution in the town until the middle of the present century, the Topsfield Warren Blues, anindependentcompany, being the last local organization. Topsfield soldiers were at Port Royal in 1707, and a few years later a number of our men, together with hundreds of other brave New Englanders, found a resting place beneath the dark greensward on Point Rochfort, near "the Dunkirk of America." "No monument marks the sacred spot, but the waves of the restless ocean, in calm or storm, sing an everlasting requiem over the graves of the departed heroes." The removal of the French Acadians brought into town Michael Dugoy and family, who lived in the house formerly occupied by William Towne whose daughters were hung for witchcraft. The old house stood near the highway, a few rods south of the home of Mrs. C. J. P. Floyd. In 1770, the town was drinking "liberty tea," and the same year in town-meeting assembled, a vote was passed to encourage and promote home manufactures, thus showing anticipation of the approaching conflict, and when the storm cloud broke two companies of minute-men, numbering one hundred and ten men, marched to the "Concord fight." At Bunker Hill, Bennington and Ticonderoga, sons of Topsfield fought for that independence which is our right. Over three hundred men were enlisted from this town during the Revolutionary War, the population at no time being greater than eight hun- dred souls. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 57 The war of 18 12, and the conflict with Mexico, found few supporters among our townsfolk, but the cannon-shot fired at Fort Sumter, aroused a patriotic fervor that sent our boys to many a southern battle field. At Fredericksburg and Bull Run ; at Antietam and the Wilderness, in many a bloody conflict, our "boys in blue" fought bravely for the right and for native land. Andersonville claimed its victims and men still move about our streets carrying with them the taint of the southern clime or the bullet of a fratricidal foe. Twenty-two gave up their lives while in the service, but their patriotism and sacrifice can never die. The veteran soldier is daily a reminder to us of a later generation, that he fought not in vain, "and that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish forever from the earth." His work, well done, speaks not only for to-day but for all time. During the Rebellion Topsfield furnished more than one tenth of its population or one hundred and thirteen soldiers, a surplus of six over all demands, while fifteen men were sent into the navy, and six, who claimed a birth- right in our town, enlisted on the quotas of adjoining cities and towns. I know that I should speak to-day of the sons and daughters of Topsfield who have risen above their surround- ings, and though not all are pillared in the Temple of Fame, yet to recount the lives of the many who have borne well a part in the professions or in business life, would bring us to the time of approaching twilight ere the story ended. With many thoughts unspoken, I must hasten to the close. The town has seen many changes during the past fifty years, yet the hand of Time has dealt kindly with her. The lumbering stage has given way to the rail of steel, and the Turnpike is almost forgotten by the traveller; the shop, filled with triumphs of Yankee ingenuity, has supplanted the shoe-maker's bench. But the broad acres of the farmer, annually yield their tribute as of old, and with the changing seasons, the beauty of hill and valley claims the lover of the quiet life. Buildings have grown here and there along the shaded streets and over and around all the love of Nature's footsteps can be seen. Truly our lines have fallen in pleasant places and we have much cause for thankfulness. What our 58 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. fathers builded we must jealously maintain and when fifty more years shall have rolled away, and many of us who are here to-day shall sleep in dust, may those who stand in our places find cause for rejoicing in the fruits of our stewardship, and thereby shall we be weighed and found not wanting. Wherever the future may lead us, and whatever fortune or honor the world may give, it will at all times be the cherished hope of every true son of Topsfield, to be kindly remembered and "lovingly honored on the spot which gave him birth." ALBERT A. CONANT. CAPT. JOmN G. B. ADAMS. GEN, FRANCIS H. APPLETON. HON. HENRY CABOT LODGE. EDWIN O. FOSTER. HON. AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER. HON. DAVID M. LITTLE THE AFTER-DINNER EXERCISES. The dinner was served in a tent located but a short dis- tance from the Congregational Church. Divine blessing was invoked by Rev. William N. Roberts, pastor of the Methodist Church, and, after an hour spent in festivity and social converse, the Toast-master, Rev. George H. Perkins, called the company to order and said : — Ladies and Gentlemen : — We have come to the less formal exercises of the day, but we trust not to the less enjoyable. Notwithstanding the dampness we shall offer you neither wet nor dry toast. We promise it all with cream. Because of the large number who are to serve us the quantity from each will be small. We announce as the first toast, ^^Our Country, A Land of Freedom and of Progress,' and I will ask the Band to respond with a patriotic selection. The Toast-master: — Much to our joy there is present one whose name does not appear on the programme. Had we been assured of his coming this apparent oversight would not have occurred. But we are glad for a double response to this toast, and no one could make it more fittingly than this distinguished guest. Let me present to you the Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge, our progressive Senator of the United States Congress. (59) ADDRESS OF HON. HENRY CABOT LODGE. It is not often when a speaker rises and says 'this is so unexpected, and that he is not prepared' that anyone believes him, but to-day I have the programme to bear me out. My name does not appear upon it, as your Chairman has just stated to you. Nevertheless, I could never refuse to speak upon such an occasion as this, the celebration of the foundation of a famous town of the old county of Essex. I have too many personal attachments to the county to decline such a request. I have lived all my life in one corner of the county as my father did before me. My children have been born there and, on one side, I am a descendant from the first minister of the first Salem church, and my people on that side have lived and labored, have joyed and sorrowed, have died and been buried within the bounds of the old Puritan county. It is a great history, that of Essex county, and to celebrate the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of one of its towns means a great deal. While two hundred and fifty 3^ears is a long time, measured by the life of an individual man, it is a very short time in the history, even the recorded history of man. It is but a speck in the time that men have been upon the earth, and in the life of our planet; it is but as yesterday or as a watch in the night. But it is not by the calendar that we test the two hundred and fifty years. When Stanley made his great expedition across Central Africa, he found there in the heart of it, a strange people of black dwarfs living in that vast wilderness, and it again appeared that the old Greek historian Herodotus had not told quite as many lies as some over wise persons said he did, and that here was another truth he had told when he mentioned the African dwarfs. They had been there, these queer little people, for three thousand years to our certain knowledge and they were just the same when Herodotus looked upon them as when Stanley found them. (60) r .31 0n # HON, GEORGE VON L. MEYER. CHARLES J. PEABODY, jOHN W, PERKINS, LIEUT, GOV, JOHN L, BATES. REV. FRANCIS A, POOLE, HON, ROBERT S, RANTOUL. GEORGE A. SCHOFIELD. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 6 1 It makes no difference whether you celebrate three thousand years, three hundred years, or three days, if the passage of time be all. That is simply existence. Whether there has been something done during that existence is the real question. It is not the length of time that concerns us, but what the men whom we commemorate have done with it. I can best put the thought if you will allow me to do so in the beautiful words of a great contemporary poet, contem- porary with the men who settled Topsfield, those Puritans who first came to Essex county. He was a writer of stage plays, this poet, and I am afraid that the Topsfield settlers in former days before they had come to the new country, or some of them at least, may have occasionally gone to the London theatres. They may have seen this poet's plays, they certainly must have heard his verses, and they knew that he had won the laurel of England. He said, "It is not growing like a tree In bulk, doth make Man better be ; Or standing long an oak, three hundred year, To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere : A lily of a day Is fairer far in May, Although it fall and die that night — It was the plant and flower of Light. In small proportions we just beauties see ; And in short measures life may perfect be." We think of the men who came here in those earlier years as religious reformers, as state builders, and they were both, but we are too apt to forget that it was a time of ferment and revolution among the English speaking peo- ple, and that other passions and desires were also stirring in their hearts. The men who landed at Salem and who settled Essex county brought with them the language which Shakespeare uttered on his death bed, in which Bacon delivered his judgments, and which Milton was lisping at his mother's knee. It was a great and splendid period, exuberant in life and thought and hope. 62 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. It was the age of adventure as well as the age of religious and political revolution, and the Puritans who came here were moved first, no doubt, by the spirit of reformation, that they might have their own church, and their own state under a new sky, but they were also adventurers and pioneers, researchers after new worlds to conquer. The people thus planted here were destined eventually to spread all over the New World, for after they had settled upon the coast their first move was toward the West. They began ev^en then to expand. Topsfield does not seem very far away from Salem to-day and yet it was both conquest and expansion to come here. I suppose many of you have read, if not, it would be well for you to do so, a book called "The Wonder-working Providence of Zion's Saviour in New England." If, judging from the title, you think it is a purely religious work, you are much mistaken. It is a book of travel and adventure. The author describes the first voyage of men of our race up the Mystic River. Remember, even while you smile, that a tributary of the Congo or the Amazon is not so remote or strange as the Mystic River was to Englishmen in that day. Soon after they began that march up the Mystic to Woburn, another party pushed through the forest and planted at Springfield. It was a very slow movement for many years but always they were sinking the foundations of the colony strong and deep and always they were moving westward. When the revolution came. New England was still largely a wilderness. After the Revolution, the great immigration to the farther west began, and this New England stream of population from the colonies which the Puritans planted at Plymouth and Salem spread all over the United States. This great stream began to flow to the westward at the close of the last century, but in 1849, New England men went across the Isthmus, and round the Cape, and settled on the shores of the Pacific. Now the two wings have come together and the frontiers have vanished. Earlier than that they had settled down in Hawaii, at the cross-roads of the Pacific, and to-day, the flag floats from Salem harbor, where they landed, to Honolulu, the centre of the Pacific ocean. It has been a great career and it has come out of the fact TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 6^ that those men not only believed deeply in their religion and in their political principles, but that they were pre-eminently the men of their time, filled with its daring spirit of adventure which they transmitted to their descendants. In the speech to which you listened to to-day, you heard that what they were doing was hidden from them, but the reason they succeeded was because they lived the life of their time. They did not helplessly dwell upon the past, or shrink feebly from an unknown future. They dealt with the conditions which were around them, and these men building here, farmers and fishermen, plain and simple Puritans, were laying the foundation of the great republic. They did not know how great that republic would be, but they knew that they believed in themselves, believed in their principles, believed in the democracy of town-meeting, in the independ- ent church, and in the independent state. Thus they marched on conquering and to conquer, a great and victorious race, and for this they deserve remembrance and the praise and love of those who have entered into their inheritance. T/ie Toast-master: — The presence of the chief citizens of the State in our town reminds us of an early Governor, Edmund Andros, who was sent from England to tyranize New York and the NewEngland Colonies. The feelings of Topsfield towards him are not the feelings of the people today for their Magistrate. In 1686, when Andros attempted to seize the colonial charters. Captain John Gould, speaking to his com- pany, on this ground where we are now assembled, then the training-field, said, "If you were all of my mind, you would go and mob the Governor out of Boston." We have not mobbed the Governor, we have welcomed him. And we welcome his representative who honors us at the banquet. We find among the earliest listed names on Topsfield records, one Bates. We have not traced his descendants, and we need not. We are perfectly satisfied with the representative of that ancient settler of our town. His Honor, and coming Excellency, John L. Bates, Lieutenant-Governor of Massa- chusetts, will speak on ''The Commonwealth of Massachusetts'' ADDRESS OF HON. JOHN L. BATES. I regret that the official duties of His Excellency, the Governor, should have taken him from this gathering before he had the opportunity to respond to this toast and to extend to you his congratulations on this occasion. I know it would have given him great pleasure. In his absence, it is, however, a very pleasant duty that devolves upon me. A reference has just been made by your Toast-master to one Francis Bates who lived here long ago. I should not have known it, if I had not gone into the State Library yesterday and asked the Librarian if he had anything on Topsfield. He brought out several mammoth volumes, which I had not the time to read, and also the historical addresses which were delivered fifty years ago when this town cele- brated its two hundredth anniversary. I found in one of the books that the name Francis Bates appeared on the first tax list of this town. I was uncertain as to whether or not he was any relative of mine, but when I discovered that he paid the smallest tax of any one in the town, and that his name disappeared altogether from the list of tax-payers the next year, I made up my mind that he must have been an ancestor. I read other things of interest in that history. One writer referring to an earlier time said : — "even at this day bounties were offered for wolves and so it is readily to be seen that it was a good while before Topsfield ceased to be a howling wilderness." Doubtless history will repeat itself, and fifty years from now, he who writes of this occasion will say, that on this day the town celebrated its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, and, "amid a raging storm fourteen men responded to toasts, and thus it is readily to be seen that it was a good while before Topsfield ceased to be a howling wilderness." (64) On The Boston hijj i\c.-. dukyport Turi^pike. Main Street, From The Corner Of Summer Street, The Turnpike. From The Corner Of Main Street. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 65 Having thus devoted myself at the Library yesterday to your history, I next endeavored to find out where you were located. I could not find you on the time-table, and I could not find you on the map, and finally I gave up and trusted to intuition, which has served me well, to bring me here to-day. But as I have observed the water to-day above us, about us, and beneath us, I have concluded that the trouble was mine, it was my ignorance. I consulted the wrong kind of a map. If I had looked on a chart of the deep sea I should have found Topsfield. I am hereto extend the congratulations of the Common- wealth, to one of its children. Yet I recognize that the town government of Topsfield is much older than the Common- wealth, older than the Province of Massachusetts, for its origin dates from the days of the Colony. There are 353 cities and towns in this Commonwealth. In population, under the census of 1895, 7^" rank as the 250th, but in age you are among the first forty of the towns within our territory. We are interested in you to-day because you are such a grand type of the old New England town to which the speaker referred this morning. A type of a strong, rugged, and liberty loving community whose deeds it is an inspiration to recall. We recognize that the greatest legacy received from those that have gone, is not the legacy of silver or gold, is not the legacy of houses or lands, but is the legacy of traits of character such as have come down to us through the seven generations of men and women who have lived on these New England shores. We are interested in those who lived before us. We like to rehearse the ancient virtues, virtues that have not passed away, and "to point the present to the olden day," because we recognize that we are but the product of the past; but whatever of hope or encouragement there may be for the future, exists because of the past. Topsfield has a worthy history. Her early settlers were men who had the courage, the manhood, and the vigor to make for themselves a foothold upon this continent. They withstood all privations. Independence and liberty were born in them. Listen to the voice of Topsfield in town- meeting : — ''Should the Continental Congress see fit to declare the independence of these colonies, we the inhabitants of 66 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. Topsfield will support that declaration, with our lives and property to the full extent of our power." They meant what they said and they made their declaration good. I bring you congratulations because you have exemplified in your history the progress and influence of Massachusetts. Hence I congratulate you on this occasion not only on that which we see, but also on that which is unseen. For the history of Topsfield is not to be made up from the one thousand people who constitute her population to-day, it is not to be made up alone from the people who have lived here the past two hundred and fifty years, it is not confined to these broad acres whose boundaries for two centuries and one-half your town of^cers have perambulated. No, there is a greater, an unseen Topsfield. For there has gone forth from here as from a fountain, a stream of humanity that has spread throughout the country, and Topsfield is a factor in the thought, activity and life of the nation, through the sons and daughters that she has sent forth. May you, may she, may all the citizens of this great Commonwealth, be inspired in the future by the same hardy spirit, by the same love of liberty, the same interest in the public welfare, the same honest activity that have character- ized her two hundred and fifty years of history. T/ie Toast-master: — You may have heard of the woman who wanted the thermometer set at 65, for that was what the doctor told her to keep the room at. The committee has instructed me to set it at 65 less 60, after the first two speak- ers. I must regretfully request therefore that the remaining speakers do not rise too high lest the thermometer be broken and the chronometer fail to record the five minutes limitation. Twin babies are not uncommon, but twin mothers are seldom heard of. Topsfield is honored with the unusual distinction of having two mothers really her own. I suppose Salem named the child first, when it was very "little." It is highly proper that we should hear from our mothers and that Salem should send one of her "Little" ones to speak for her. I have the pleasure of introducing His Honor, David M. Little, the mayor of Salem, who will respond to the toast ''Our Mother Towns: Salem and Ipswich y Near Rowley Bridge, Oak Tree, Over 400 Years Old, Hood's Pond, Looking Southward. ADDRESS OF HON. DAVID M. LITTLE. I was fully warned before I came here, by a letter from Mr. Dow, that I was to speak only three and not more than five minutes. Now Mr. President if you will kindly put the watch on me and when I have spoken three minutes I will stop. The president has spoken of a mistake which I noticed on the programme and that was "Our Mother Towns." As you all know, it is perfectly possible for a man to have a mother and a step mother, but he can not have two mothers. As we are gathered here today to celebrate the 250th anniversary of this town, we are having brought before us the true significance of the town. It is nothing more or less than a large family and as we have been seated here today at these tables we have seemed like a family. This town of which we speak is a large farnily, and it is governed by a select few who are practically the head of that family. The town differs very little from the state except in size and I, as the representative, as we might say, of the city of Salem come here today to extend to you the congratulations which you deserve. It is pleasant for me to come here and extend my best wishes to you, although I must say your welcome was a little bit moist today. I wish you all success and that you may prosper in the next two hundred and fifty years as you have in the past. The Toast-master: — The town grew, the garden became a field. The other mother seems also to have named the child, and she liked the name so well that she keeps a part of it for a child of her immediate household. Ipswich sends greetings to Topsfield by Mr. George A. Schofield, Chairman of her Selectmen will speak on ''Our Mother Towns: Salem and Ipswich!' (67) ADDRESS OF MR. GEORGE A. SCHOFIELD. Mr. Chairman, Sons and Daughters of Topsfield, and Friends: In every country upon this earth, whether it be in the sun-kissed tropics ; mid the icy cold of the polar regions, or in our own grand temperate zone, it is an acknowledged fact that a mother's love is the strongest love of all, and today, standing here to speak for the old mother town of Ipswich, I assure you that among the thousands who vie with each other to extend their congratulations to you, and to feel joy and pride at the success of this, your 250th anniversary, there are none who are more earnest and sincere than are the people of old Ipswich. Topsfield is 250 years young, not old, today. I say young, for there is no evidence of old age about your beautiful town. Your fertile valleys, green hills and pine groves, give every evidence that here Nature has met with better success in the search for the fountain of youth, than did he who sought it in the valley of the Missis- sippi so many years ago. Your people can indeed be congratulated as fortunate residents of a town, which while it has not seized upon all so-called improvements, has selected with wisdom such modern ideas as go to make your homes beautiful and pleasant, wnthout destroying the grand work of Nature, which to all lovers of true beauty, so surpasses the puny efforts of man. You have here that delightful blending of characteristics, which go to make an ideal New England Town, and search where you will there are none fairer. Nearly three hundred years ago, there came from a foreign land a band of those sturdy men who laid the foundation for this glorious Republic. Down by the sea was established the good old town of Ipswich. A few years later she gave birth to Topsfield, and for two centuries and a half, mother and (68) Rowley Bridge, Over The Ipswich River Hood's Pond, From Poor's Po:nt. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 69 daughter have stood side by side in joy and in sorrow. Upon the records of the town of Ipswich you will find the following: "Vote passed at Ipswich Town Meeting, August 23, 1687. Then considering that the s'd act doth infringe their Liberty as Free borne English subjects of his Majestie by interfearing with ye statuatory Laws of the Land, By which it is enacted that no taxes shall be levied on ye Subjects without consent of an assembly chosen by ye Freeholders for assessing the same: They do therefore vote, that they are not willing too choose a Commissioner for such an end, without said previledges, and moreover consent not that the Selectmen do proseed to lay any such rate, until it be Ap- pointed by a General Assembly, concurring with ye Governor and Counsell." Upon our town seal you will find the words, "Birthplace of American Independence," as we proudly claim that the action then taken by the town was the first official act in the colonies against taxation without representation. Even in those early days, Topsfield stood loyally by the mother town, and the history of your own town shows, that men like John Gould suffered imprisonment for their loyalty to the colonies, and their hatred of the oppressor, Andros. In the war of the Revolution, the men and boys of both mother and daughter fought side by side, and gave life and limb for Freedom's cause, and in 1861 the men and boys of both again shed their life's blood in order that the Freedom which their fathers had won, might be preserved and shared alike by all men whether their color be white or black. So, today, the old mother bids me say to you that she is indeed proud of her daughter, proud of her grandchildren, for she knows full well that your honorable record of the past would again be duplicated should necessity call. She bids me say also, that she does not forget that the true mother takes greater pride in hearing the praises of her children sung by others, rather than by herself, and it is my duty as her representative to bear that in mind, and not to take up the time which is allotted to others here today. So Mr. President I will close, by extending to you and to the people of 70 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. Topsfield, the sincere congratulations of the people of Ipswich ; and the hope that this anniversary celebration will be long remembered as one of both pleasure and profit to you all, and that when thfe next anniversary celebration shall come around, that whether it be given to us all to be present or not, that the people of 1950 will find Topsfield, then as now, true to the grand example set her by her sons in the past, and then, as now, may Old Glory, the emblem of liberty, float triumphant over a nation of happy, loyal people of whom none shall be happier, none more loyal than those of fair Topsfield. The Toast-master: — The Town of Topsfield. It was not always thus. New Meadows was its earlier name. What was its origin? Who can tell? Probably it will remain a conjecture. Here, however, is a pertinent suggestion. A now prominent resident remarking to one of our old towns- men the great similarity of the natural scenery of Topsfield to that of Kent County, England, received this quick reply, "New Meadows, a fitting name from the old meadows of the mother country." A direct descendent from one of the earliest and one of the most distinguished settlers, and whose father spoke at the celebration fifty years ago, will now address you. Mr. Charles J. Peabody of Topsfield will respond to the toast ^'The Town of Topsfieldy THE DRY BRIDGE, THE HOBBS-DONALDSON GRIST MILL, built in i740-4I ADDRESS OF MR. CHARLES J. PEABODY. To the fact of the inability of one of the former speakers to find Topsfield on the map or time table, I would like to say, it is exactly the geographical centre of Essex County, and Essex County is always to be found. About a half mile to the east of us stands a tree which was planted by the county surveyor, so that gentlemen from Boston or elsewhere might have no difificulty in finding Topsfield when they had occasion to know where it was. Gathered here today, I suppose there are a great many people who know very little about the town of Topsfield beyond what they have learned at this celebration. It is not so large a place in some respects, but it is large to us who live in it. It is not large in the extent of its population, or in the growth of its industries, but in the value that its citizens have always based upon intelligence, education and the ability to do the task that was set before its people. We are proud of our school system. During a recent vacancy in our High school there were over seventy teachers from all over the New England states who applied for the position. There are at least a large number of teachers who know where Topsfield is and were able to find it on some map or time table. Fifty years ago the teacher of that school was a graduate of an Academy and was one of the chief men of the town, and we greatly appreciate the progress made by our people, for today our school affords just as good an opportunity for an education as any of the adjoining towns. The orator of fifty years ago spoke of the Crowningshield farm, now the Pierce estate, as being like an emerald in beauty. We are fortunate as a town that men of taste and means have owned it, from that day to this; and now under (71) 72 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. the care and ownership of our Chief Marshal it rests like a jewel on the crown of the town. We welcome the rich man who seeks a commanding location to establish a summer home. We welcome every man, rich or otherwise, who seeks the good of the community. We welcome all you who have come to us today and though the weather is unfavorable now, come on almost any other day of the year and we will give you a welcome that will be dry and will send you home dry; if you are disposed to go that way. The Toast-Master: — It was Hosea Ballou who said, ''History makes haste to record great deeds, but often neglects good ones," and Carlyle said, "Histories are as perfect as the historian is wise and is gifted with an eye and a soul." There is one with us who has not neglected the "good deeds," and who has "an eye and a soul," whose accuracy and fidelity in research have made his publications as historian and author of real worth. The Hon. Robert S. Rantoul, President of the Essex Institute, will favor us. 'Local History in Essex County^ ■m ^S^: ROWLEY BRIDGE, TOWNE'S BRIDGE, RIVER BRIDGE. ADDRESS OF HON. ROBERT S. RANTOUL. I want to say to my friends that I am not here to criticise their excellent arrangements, but the suggestion has been made to me that possibly too large provision had been made for the floats. I do not purpose to tax your patience beyond a single moment in which I may simply express the sense of obligation which I feel towards Topsfield and the sense of duty which I feel towards the Essex Institute, since you have made in this crowded festival a little place for us to be heard. I think it is an honor to be here. These occasions occur but four times in a thousand years, and while I am always happy to be in Topsfield, today while you are engaged in writing this pleasant page in the history of Essex County, I am especially glad to be here. We are in the habit of claiming for Essex County that it has more history to the acre than any county on the continent of North America. It is one of the very oldest counties, and, excluding the great cities, one of the most densely populated. There are very few, if any, sections of the size of Essex County, outside of the great cities, to be credited with so large and so distinguished a population. It has six or seven thriving cities, one the great fish-mart of the County — one the great shoe-factory of the County. It has its half-dozen advantageous sea-ports and a magnificent, lordly river flowing through the northern section of it and turning more spindles than any stream of water in the world, and in the center of this great swarming hive of varied industries there must be a pivotal town, and that town is the town of Topsfield, — geographically so placed, a worthy center of this fine old community. In the olden times, the old stage-coach days, it was in a sense the County Metropolis, — the center of the scientific, literary, political and agricultural activities of the county. It gives me much pleasure to be here today as a representative, if I may say so, of the one Historical Society embracing the entire county. I most heartily congratulate you upon your distinguished history as portrayed by the (73) 74 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. various speakers, and especially on the claims made by the last speaker in behalf of your school system. I think, how- ever, there is another point not so much alluded to which may be counted to the credit of Topsfield and it is this, and I think it may not improperly be emphasized here, that she is a typical representative of the healthy old-fashioned New England town democracy, if you please, standing rather alone, rather aside and independent of her neighbors — stand- ing on her own merits, and she has her historical merits. A beautiful, a perfect object lesson of the old fashioned idea, and yet it does not seem to be old fashioned in any proper sense, of New England town autonomy. It is as good to live in a small community, as in a great city, and to me there is a special attraction here : every citizen knows all about every other citizen. When you are called on at March meeting to select your town magnates, you are not picking, as we of the larger places are forced to do, among strangers. Nor is the place too small to be worthy of the honest pride which every citizen takes in his contributions to the general advance and substantial interests of his little home community. Distant be the day when Topsfield shall have outgrown its town autonomy ! I hold her up then as a model in this respect. I like to be here to gaze upon her grassy hill-sides and to breath the bracingair of this high region, but I like especially to be here to contemplate Topsfield as a fit survival of our old-time. New England town autonomy, enshrined as she is amidst her rural beauty, like a little, miniature republic, in the heart of Essex County, just as Switzerland, the oldest republic of them all, sits enthroned amidst her Alpine grandeur, in the heart of Europe. The Toast-master: — The church has ever been a vital factor in the life of the New England town. Indeed the history of the church is in a great degree the history of the town. The Rev. Francis A. Poole of Weymouth, Mass., and a recent pastor of the local Congregational church, will speak upon this interesting subject. ''The Church in Topsfield ^ i,-"^'' / -^ fy lfc te^ g. s . ^^Ji I^^^^^H _rf Mj ■ ^Eh r ■,! , 51 IH VIEWS ON THE IPSWICH RIVER, THE RAILROAD BRIDGE. ADDRESS OF REV. FRANCIS A. POOLE. That you may have abundant respect for the present religious life of Topsfield (and especially that our invited guests may cherish this respect), I would say that the gentle- man who responded so happily to the toast "The Town of Topsfield", is deacon of the Congregational Church of this town. The Church in Topsfield is a miniature of the Church in New England. For two and a half centuries it has moulded thought and action and what the history of the Town would have been without it no man knows. The Church in Tops- field has not been the ideal church for the actual church is never such. Human nature with all its weakness and per- versity is sure to manifest itself, in the ecclesiastical as well as in the political realm, and human nature, I need not say, has found a dwelling-place among these hills. But while the ideal church has not been realized it has been worthily represented. If the religious life of Topsfield has not always been fragrant with brotherly love, the spirit of the Nazarene has yet found sweet and helpful expression. Sympathy has afforded comfort in time of sorrow and assist- ance has been rendered in distress. If the preaching of Topsfield pulpits (like every other pulpit known to time) has presented truth in a solution of error, the truth, never- theless, has been proclaimed. The splendid manhood of Jesus Christ has been portrayed before the people. Ideals of holy living have been set forth, their beauty to be admired, their power to be felt. With utmost faith in virtue and to the praise of the Most High, the thoughts of Topsfield youths and maidens have been directed to what is pure and true and just and lovely and of good report. And some of the best citizens of the Town, whose work was largest, whose (75) 'J^ THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. influence most potent and whose memory is most sacredly revered, were nurtured in the life that is useful and honorable by the ministrations of the Christian Church. The moral superiority of Christian principles is recog- nized on every hand ; the integrity and piety of the days that are gone no one can question and the Town of Topsfield, with the rest of New England and all these United States, has profited beyond our ability to estimate because our forefathers came here to worship God. And so the Church in Topsfield stands upon its record. It is a record not always creditable. Yet it proves I think, beyond the possibility of a contrary verdict, that the Church has mightly blessed the Tow^n. This of the Church in the past; this of the record that is made and of the influence that has been exerted. But what of the present and of the years that are to come? It is but a mockery and a waste of time to study and exalt the past unless it have power to instruct and inspire with relation to the coming time. And what of the Church in Topsfield in the years that are yet in store? The Church of the past I revere, the Church of the present I love, but it is the Church of the future for which I pray. I am aware of the dangers of prophecy, and this tale of an English clergyman comes forcibly to mind. He was baptizing a little child and something in the face before him appealed to his imagination. He was moved to make a speech. ''Behold this child ! I predict for him an honorable career. This child may lead armies on to the field of battle. This child may address a wondering Senate and his eloquence be received with applause. Yes, who knows? He may become Archbishop of Canterbury or Prime Minister of England." And then turning to the father, he asked the child's name and the father answered, "Mary Ann." And so it is. We make our prophecy and some perverse circum- stance that has eluded us brings our prediction all to naught. I am aware, too, of the pessimism of the time. The Church has competitors now for popular favor. Her congre- gations are diminishing. Her power is on the wane. The issue of her life is not yet apparent but the tendencies are such as to arouse the gravest fears. Discouraging Pessi- CD — ) CD , _1 O _) (11 X o g; CO -D ll 1 (/I LU (T O -n / c C3 n rii ■z. — ^ O n ~r Q ;^ C'J Ll -^ V Cl) O r^ () c _i D_ TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. T] mism ! Mightiest of all the devices of Satanic art ! And is there no bright prospect before the church of the living God? It is time for prophecy to speak. In the oration this morning the school-house and the house of worship were referred to as the defenders of the Nation. And at the very- moment when decadent politics and unscrupulous monopoly are said to menace the national life, the Christian Church and her daughter the Christian College are radiant with hope. These are injecting a new vitality into the veins of the Republic. A strong ethical gospel is heard in the pulpit, while the university is swayed by the love of truth. Recti- tude and altruism are foremost in the preaching and the teaching of the time. Appeal is made to the manly impulses and to the social instinct, and even now already brotherhood disputes the advance of avarice, in the name and with the authority of the Nazarene. Well indeed the Church has wrought but her mission is yet before her. And the Church in Topsfield, Methodist, Congregational, in league with the great sisterhood of Churches in the United States is to prove an instrument in the ethical revival that is coming; when our sovereign man- hood will be exalted to a higher plane, and when it will be made gloriously manifest, in the sight of all this world beside, that our American Democracy so far from being the failure that pessimists predict, is marching to its triumph in this fairest Western Land. The Toast-Master. — In the time of the American Revolution, when there were but six hundred inhabitants in the town, one hundred and nine were enrolled as soldiers. During the Civil War Topsfield furnished more than her quota. Patriotic from the beginning, her service to the country has been marked by brave deeds and heroic sacrifice. We are happy in having one today who can worthily speak for our patriot soldier, Captain John G. B. Adams of Lynn, who will respond to the toast, ^'The Patriot Soldier — Topsfield in War.*' ADDRESS OF CAPT. JOHN G. B. ADAMS. Mr. Toast-master: — I am more fortunate than the other speakers because I have just received a message from the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House, giving me their time, so I have fifteen minutes instead of five. I have listened attentively to the reference to the weather, and am reminded of a little incident in the war. An Irishman in my old company was on guard in a drenching rain. The Colonel, passing his beat, said, — "Michael, I am sorry to see you so wet." "Colonel," he said, "I wouldn't mind being so wet if I wasn't so dry." I am to speak for the soldiers of Topsfield. I did not represent this town in the war, but was a soldier from Essex County. I remember, after enlisting in the early days of '6i, I started with two others on the march from Groveland to Salem. We stopped at Topsfield on the way and enjoyed the hospitality of the town. Undoubtedly our appearance on that occasion inspired many men to rush to the front. The Lieutenant-Governor has referred to his visit to the State Library to find material for a speech. We have worked the Library at the State House pretty well to ascertain what to say about Topsfield, and I find the following from Schouler's "History of Massachusetts in the Civil War" : — ''Preamble and Resolutions: — Considering the present position of our country, not as waging war against the South, nor a party device, but an essay of the people to sustain their own rights, preserve their own institutions, give efB- ciency to their own laws, invigorate their execution, and perpetuate the inheritance of our fathers unimpaired, — Resolved, That we, the loyal people of Topsfield, in town-meeting assembled, constitute ourselves a National Guard for the preservation of our national integrity. (78) Residence of DAVID PINGREE, THE OLD TOLL HOUSE and the TURNPIKE TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 79 Resolved, That we appropriate the sum of three thousand dollars to meet the exigency of a national requisition on any detachment of our National Guard, giving a bounty of ten dollars to each one who may conform to this requisition. Resolved, That there be a discretionary committee of five, chosen by ballot, to furnish good and sufficient support from such appropriation to the families of those who may be detailed by our Government into its service, giving said committee power to draw on our treasury for the same." Topsfield furnished one hundred and thirteen men for the war, which was a surplus of six over and above all demands. Five were commissioned officers. The whole amount of money appropriated and expended by the town for war purposes, exclusive of State aid, was fourteen thousand seven hundred and forty-six dollars and thirty-five cents ($14,746.35). The amount of money raised and expended by the town in the payment of State aid to the families of volunteers during the four years of the war, and which was afterwards reimbursed by the Commonwealth, was as follows : 1 861, $307.46 1862, 1,628.58 1863, 2,259.00 1864, 2,020.00 1865, 1,419.06 Total, $7,634.10 The ladies of Topsfield worked heartily in the cause of the soldiers during the war, and forwarded to the army money, clothing and hospital stores to the value of five hundred dollars. While we are proud of our service in the army and navy of the Union during the war, we have been equally proud of our records as citizens since. It was expected that when more than 1,000,000 men were mustered out in 1865, they would return demoralized and unfit for civil life, but in the Adjutant-General's report of 1865 I find the following, which shows that the men from this town returned as good citizens, if not better, than they went away, — T have not been able to find any returned soldier guilty of crime, or hardly a case of drunkenness or a loafer, but all, 8o THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. or nearly all, have gone quietly to work In some useful employment, and I think some have improved in morals. I know of none that have grown worse. Jacob Foster, Chairman Selectmen.' No soldier, whatever his political faith may be, can help being proud of the fact that the boy who carried a musket in the ranks of the old Army of the Potomac as a private soldier, who as a Lieutenant rode with Sheridan up the Valley in 1 864, is to-day President of the United States and Commander- in-chief of our army and navy. I was personally acquainted with but two men who enlisted from this town. One was James Dunlap, who was killed July 30, 1864; the other Nathan H. Roberts, who served with me in the ranks of the old 19th. Massachusetts, and starved to death in a rebel prison rather than renounce the oath of allegiance to the Union and take the oath of the Southern Confederacy. We have sometimes thought, since the war, that the patriotism was exhausted when we were mustered out of the service ; that the young men of to-day were possibly not as loyal and true to duty as the boys of '61, but when the call came in '98, we found that the boys of to-day responded just as promptly and served just as faithfully as did the men in the Civil War. We, who fought in the war of the Rebellion, were anxious that if possible the war with Spain might be averted. No man, who has ever been actually engaged in battle, is anxious to pass through it again, but when the President issued his proclamation and the call came, we old boys stood solidly behind him and said to the young men, — "Go ahead, but if you can't whip them send for us and we will come and help you out." In the war of the Rebellion the soldier hated nothing more than the man who stayed at home and found fault. Nothing gave aid and comfort to the enemy so much as the cry that the war was a failure and ought to cease. The -same is true to-day. The boys who are fighting in the far- off Philippines and in China need the encouragement of all the loyal people. They are wearing the same uniform and 'following the same flag as did the soldiers whom you honor •l)y your toast to-day, and let us at all times give them nothing Residence of ISAAC M. WOOj^UkV, "BIRCHMONT," residence of ALBERT A. CONANT, Residence of WILLIAM H. HERRICK, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 8 1 but encouraging words, and wait until after peace is declared before we undertake to settle questions growing out of the war. The Toast-master: — The next speaker will tell us about "fifty years ago." He will stand on the threshold between the present and the past. And this reminds me of an adver- tisement which I read some time ago. "Wanted, a man partly behind the counter and partly out of doors." Query : what will happen when the door slams? We promise to hold the door for our brother while he leads us back to the days of our fathers. With pleasure I present Mr. Albert A. Conant of Topsfield. ''The Survivors of the Last Celebration^ ADDRESS OF MR. ALBERT A. CONANT. The magnetic half-century festival brings back the survivors of our last anniversary with the freshness of youth yet on their brows. "Still lovely in their strength as is the light of a dark eye in woman. Time writes no wrinkles on their brows. Eternal summer gilds them yet, and they wait the softening; overpowering knell, the tocsin of the soul — the dinner bell." We can enumerate living in our midst a large number, many of whom are present today, who were born in the first and second decades of the nineteenth century and their length- ened scores of years are crowned with that peace of mind which is the recompense for well spent lives. 82 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. The names of those who were principals in our last anniversary celebration have to-day come back to us to be honored and loved ; they are Balch, Batchelder, Cleaveland, Conant, Gould, Hood, Kimball, Lake, Merriam, Peabody and Perkins. To the fair sex who bore a prominent part in our last celebration we would pay a tribute of respect, and I quote from an old writer who said : "O woman ! lovely woman ! Nature made thee to temper man ; we had been brutes without you. Angels are painted fair, to look like you. There is in you all that we believe of heaven; amazing brightness, puritv and truth, eternal joy and everlasting love." The Toast-master: — My earliest recollection of the next speaker was of cousin John in the East School-house reading, with a voice I shall never forget, Isaac McLellan's patriotic lines. "New England's dead ! New England's dead ! On every hill they lie," etc. He was to me, a child commencing school life, an ideal. But what grander ideals he has reached since that time of beginnings. His success for many years as scholar and teacher in Essex County is known to this assembly. He will speak for the non-resident sons of Topsfield. Mr. John W. Perkins, Superintendent of the Public Schools of Salem. ''The Non-Resident Sons of Topsfield ^ THE THOMAS W. PEIRCE ESTATE. ADDRESS OF MR. JOHN W. PERKINS. Mr. Toast-master and Friends new and old of the town of Topsfield: — In the old familiar song to which so many thousands have often listened with moistened eyes and melt- ing hearts we are told again and again with pathetic iteration "Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home." And what words shall fittingly express one's attachment for the old home when it is one to which not only the returning native but also the passing traveller and the transient visitor have again and again given the name of the fairest of the fair, the loveliest among the most lovely. It is natural that to the native who continues to live among the scenes of his childhood they should come to seem somewhat commonplace however striking they may be. But speaking from my own experience as well as from the testimony repeatedly given me by other non-resident sons of Topsfield, I have to say that the power of her beauty grows upon us with every returning visit. I have a pleasing assurance that this impression is grounded upon something more substantial than the unconscious associations of early memories in the fact that my children, all of whom were born and, except for occasional visits, have always lived elsewhere, heartily join with me and endorse my increasing appreciation of the old town. But those of us who were nurtured in her lap and trained at her feet, whose views of life and principles of action have been largely modified by the ideals which we were here taught to reverence, feel that the debt of gratitude which we owe her for her virtues surpasses that of admiration for her outward attractions. (83) 84 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. We read the opening lines of that simple but immortal poem, "The Deserted Village," by Oliver Goldsmith, and, as we follow his vivid deliniation of the pictures and innocent pastimes of the rural scene, we feel and count it a privilege that we can feel that with a few minor and superficial changes we have seen it all, we were once a part of it all here. And as the poet goes on to portray the prominent personalities of his beloved Auburn, again we feel that, in strongly pro- nounced individuality, in intellectual vigor, in sincere, helpful and practical religious faith we have here seen their counter- parts. It would be a pleasant service, briefly to sketch characteristics of those who were leading members of this com- munity fifty years ago, and who bore, each his part in making the celebration of that year the conspicuous success that it proved to be. But time forbids that I should even enter upon the honorable list of noble men and noble women, whom to meet was to respect, whom to know was to honor, and whose memory is forever with us a precious legacy. Reference has been made here and very fittingly and truthfully made to the interest which the town has ever taken in the local system of education. But there is another field of education in which her record is one of which she may well be proud. To more than a common degree has she shown herself interested in the so-called higher education. For many successive years in this last half century one or more of her sons has been found in college or in the higher professional schools. So it naturally comes about today that we find them in all the so-called learned professions as well as holding leading and honorable positions in business and in industrial pursuits in other municipalities and in other states. But whatever may be their occupation and where ever may be their home, today they return at least in thought to hover upon the wings of memory over this the beloved nesting-place of their childhood. I believe that we should try to keep within the five minutes allotted to these several parts of our programme ; but in doing so it is, of course, impossible to do more than briefly hint at a few of the many things one would so much like to say. A few years ago I attended a memorial service of a go o CL O 2 z -J o O P X < . o ^ o TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 85 church in another country town of this county. On that occa- sion some remarks were made by a gentleman of honorable fame won upon the field of battle and in the halls of Congress, a man whom we of this vicinity for years delighted to honor and to whose successor we have been this day delighted to listen. This man in the course of his address testified that whatever he might have accomplished that was worthy of merit, was due, more than anything else, to the early instruction which he had there received ; that whatever mistakes he had made, and he confessed to have made his share, had been due to his departure from the principles which were there inculcated. And in a similar spirit, Mr. Toast-master and Friends, we the non-resident sons of Topsfield, today, reverently bring our tribute of thanksgiving, that our early lot was cast in a community whose civil, educational, religious and domestic life typified and, as we believe, in an eminent degree, illustrated the best of those old fashioned but eternal truths that have pervaded and adorned New England history. The Toast-master: — Topsfield is covered with honor today. What jewels are in her crown ! Governors, Senators, Congressmen, followers of the learned professions, instructors, patriots, and a host from every noble vocation. Surely the next speaker has no mean subject, and he will give us a purely "cream" toast. The Hon. Augustus P. Gardner, member of the Mass- achusetts Senate, will represent our distinguished guests from neighboring towns. ''Distinguished Guests From Neighboring Towns!' ADDRESS OF HON. AUGUSTUS P. GARDNER. It was with very great pleasure at first that I contemplated the invitation from your chairman to be present at this banquet and share the fatted calf with your returning prodigals ; but on further examination I found that my enjoyment was to be modified by the necessity of delivering an address ; on no account, as your chairman put it, to exceed five minutes. That it was the town of Hamilton, from which a repre- sentative was chosen to respond to this toast, I look upon as a tribute from extreme old age to extreme youth ; of the older sister Topsfield, now passing her 250th milestone, to a blushing maiden of some one hundred summers, the town of Hamilton. It is always a pleasure for Hamilton people to come to Topsfield, and I for one always enjoy it, particularly as I think Topsfield the most beautiful place in the world. I think her daughters the fairest and her sons the bravest of all the children of Adam. Perhaps I may have made a somewhat similar statement in the town of Ipswich. I am quite certain that I have paid this same compliment to my own town ; but it is true in each instance and no insincerity should be imputed to me. Where- ever I go in Essex County, I think it the most beautiful country I have ever seen. I think its sons the bravest and its women the fairest, just as the traveler, no matter what part of the world he is in, sees the zenith directly overhead. You are two hundred and fifty years old and we are only one hundred and seven, yet I regard the town of Hamilton as your sister and, to all intents and purposes, your twin sister. It is true that it was only in 1793 that we separated from the mother town of Ipswich ; but we were clearing our hills when the settlers of Topsfield were clearing their hills. (S6) ^^ ^m ^^^ ■^ M^m 4 ig .'^. ^ Jii^^lL ^.- i M ftj^jm ^^^^ ^^^^^^^'^M^^^^^^^^^^^l Residence of PERCY CHASE, Residence of MRS, C J. THAYER, Residence of J, M. MEREDITH, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 8/ The inhabitants of those two towns, working side by- side, laid out that road yonder, straight over hill and dale, turning neither to the right nor to the left. It is called the Newburyport Turnpike and it stretches from Saugus to Newburyport, as straight and unwavering as the Puritan character itself. I like to picture those men of old as they grappled with nature, hewing their path as the crow flies, regardless where the chips might fall. From your twin sister, I bring you this message: — This is her highest hope; that when she has reached her 250th year, she may be as young and fair as you and like you may- be able to look back and say: "I have preserved the Puritan character. I still raise sons and daughters who look the world squarely in the face and ask favors from no one." The T^oast-m aster: — Although he has so eloquently addressed us in the morning exercises his friends and constituents crave a few words from Mr. William H. Moody. Will the Honorable Member of Congress please favor us? After Mr. Moody's speech the toast-master remarked — '*A man who can speak like that, not knowing that he is to be called, will be remembered not many months hence." ADDRESS OF HON. WILLIAM H. MOODY. Mr. Chairman: — This was not nominated in the bond; neither in the bond which I gave to you nor in the bond of courteous attention which you returned to me. It is an imposition upon you for me to take more of your time on this occasion. I have already had this morning too much. Yet I cannot decHne to respond for a single moment to the courtesy of this gathering which gave me this morning so pleasant a greeting and has repeated it at this time. But I trust the few words I shall speak will be entirely within the thermometer limit which has been prescribed to us all. Moreover the same reason that compelled our distinguished junior Senator to respond to your invitation controls me. As he is, so am I, of the crop of your ground in Essex County. I was born upon its soil in the town of Newbury, upon a farm where my ancestors settled twenty-five years before the charter of the town of Topsfield was granted, and where they had lived a life of honorable toil from that day to the day of my birth. I have served the people of this County in one capacity or another according to the best of my ability for a decade. Any man who represents people such as those who dwell in this County, in any capacity or in any place, rests under a great responsibility. The standard which they have prescribed for him is a high one indeed, and he is held to it by the character of the people and the history of those who have preceded him in the public service. He cannot escape mistakes and must realize fully that he is to be judged by an intelligent constituency. It is said that the town of Topsfield has not grown ; that it still contains but a thousand people. It is true enough that New England has not grown so fast in mere numbers as some of the Middle and Western States. She no longer (88) 'THE KNOLLS," residence of GILBERT B, BALCH, "THE OAKS," RESIDENCE OF ARTHUR A, CLARKE. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 89 controls in the Council of the nation as she did in years gone by. She seems but a small part of our great nation in these modern days. But, though she cannot control by numbers, she can and has controlled the destinies of this country by her ideals, and to-day she is ruling the land through the institutions which she has implanted everywhere from sea to sea. It has been eloquently said that there are evils in the politics of the day. We all know it. We all realize it full well. Yet this is not happening for the first time. There were evils in the body politic two hundred and fifty years ago, small as that body was. There have been evils from that day to this and there will be evils in all the future time. But there have always been men ready to fight those evils to their death and I trust that there always will be such men. Evils do not cure themselves, nor countries govern them- selves ; it is through men of capacity, of courage, honesty, and power, that evils are cured and that successful govern- ment becomes possible. So long as the country can continue to produce men of this kind we may feel sure that we can accomplish the splendid destiny which we believe awaits our people. The Toast-master: — It was the sentiment of Daniel Webster that "whatever else may tend to enrich and beautify society, that which feeds and clothes comfortably the mass of mankind should always be regarded as the foundation of national prosperity." Bread and meat and clothing are the great factors in material civilization. Topsfield has been the birthplace of several societies, but none more important than that which fosters the agricultural welfare of the people. We are fortunate in our speakers upon this topic. We shall hear first from the Hon. George von L. Meyer, President of the Essex Agricultural Society on ''Topsfield the Birthplace of the Essex Agricultural Society!' ADDRESS OF HON. CEORGE von L. MEYER. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: — I desire to con- gratulate the citizens of Topsfield upon celebrating the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its incorporation. It also gives me great pleasure, as President of the Essex Agricul- tural Society, to respond for that Society ; for it was here that Timothy Pickering and his distinguished associates held the first meeting under the auspices of the Essex Agricultural Society. In those days it possibly meant more to the farmers than today, for it was used not only as an occasion to exhibit, but to exchange and sell their cattle and produce. Since then the Society has continued the annual exhibits, always endeavoring to further the interests of the farmer, and to demonstrate the possibilities of agriculture in Essex County. It has enrolled in its membership many of the most distinguished names in Essex County, and an orator at its annual meeting described the prize-list as reading like the lists of marriages and births in the records of the old churches in Essex County. While other towns in our County have outstripped Topsfield in growth, and some have become cities, yet Topsfield has a charm and attraction which in itself gives it identity, and well may it be called the Switzerland of Essex County. The Toast-master: — And now I introduce the President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society : General Francis H. Appleton. (90) SMITH'S HOTEL. Res;DENCE of MRS. E. 7/. HUTCH INGS THE STANWOOD SCHOOL AND HOME. ADDRESS OF GEN. FRANCIS H. APPLETON. On Monday the i6th of February, i8i8, at Cyrus Cumming's tavern in this historic town of Topsfield, there assembled "a meeting of farmers and others, inhabitants of the County, for the purpose of forming an Agricultural Society." The following patriotic citizens, loyal to the best interests of the County, were appointed at that meeting a committee to report a plan of organization. They were : Ichabod Tucker, lawyer; David Cummings, lawyer; Paul Kent, farmer; John Adams, farmer; and Elias Mack, lawyer. Their recommendation was at once adopted, and Colonel Timothy Pickering was chosen President, with a full list of ofificers. Colonel Pickering had previously, and soon after the close of the Revolutionary War, been intimately and actively associated with General Washington, in establishing State societies for the Promotion of Agriculture, and was well fitted to lead the new Society. Those men, then at the Topsfield tavern, realized the importance to the County, at that early period, of the best kind of agricultural development; and they knew well what both County and State then needed most for agricultural development, in order to help promote general prosperity. They planned to promote better methods of agriculture, to secure improved live-stock, and to provide quicker, and better, markets for our home-grown products of all kinds. Today we find the times greatly changed, with surrounding possibilities wonderfully extended, but the need of more scientific agriculture upon our farms still exists. The Gov- ernment has established Departments of Agriculture, and their incorporated Institutions of learning exist, all of which meet the needs of agriculture, if properly taken advantage of by our cultivators. (91) 92 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. The Essex Agricultural Society exists today, to the credit of its birthplace, ready to be useful, and to meet today's requirements in as up-to-date a way as is possible, by its Annual Fair in September, and by its Institutes of instruction in Winter ; but the personal efforts and interest of our land-owners are essential to attain best results. Farm- ing is being greatly intensified, and horticultural methods are necessary to make field work most profitable. Great sums of money are being expended annually in support of the work of the Agricultural Department at Washington (exten- sive and useful work), also the Nation, States and Territories join in appropriating large amounts of money for the support of State and Territorial agricultural experiment stations and Colleges, to which I have referred. May such expenditures continue to show themselves to be a wise investment, and may a full share of the results from these large outlays of money be brought to aid in promoting the agricultural prosperity of our County of Essex ; and may the good work, begun here in 1818, continue for many a year to be helpful. May Topsfield — the birthplace of the Agricultural So- ciety, and the home of its farm — grow and profit by the introduction of all kinds of better agriculture, may methods of farming advance, may her live-stock benefit, may she profit in market-gardening, in her arboriculture, in her roads and road-sides, in her landscape architecture, by the building of more homes upon her hills and along her road-sides. May she have more industries of these, and such other, kinds as may best help her. All to the benefit of her people of today and of the future, and as an example that is worthy of being followed. May our people have reason to be grateful that the Essex Agricultural Society was organized at Topsfield, and that it continues to live. May Topsfield, with her many natural attractions, continue to develop, and prosper. ODD FELLOW'S BUILDING and residence of GEORGE FRANCIS DOW. Residence and store of JOSEPH B, POOR. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 93 The Toast-master: — In the year 1800 there were only three newspapers taken in Topsfield. One copy was taken by Dr. Cleaveland, another by Jacob Towne and the third was subscribed for by the residents of the ''Colleges" in the eastern part of the town. By the way, some of us may not know how distinguished our town is abroad. For nearly a century the people of other towns, and cities, have talked about not only the "Colleges," but the Topsfield "navy-yard," and the "brick steamer," wondering when that noble vessel will be finished. I am unable to answer for I have made no inspection of the "navy" or of the "ship-building" interest. But of this let us be assured, that when the steamer is ready for launching we shall all be here for a celebration. Mr. Edwin O. Foster, of Salem, will serve the last toast: ''The Press r ADDRESS OF MR. EDWIN O. FOSTER. Mr. President and Friends: — It affords me great pleasure to meet with you, yet this occasion is one of sadness as well as gladness to me. Nearly forty years ago I left this pictur- esque village with little thought of the value of my early friends, but as I walked these streets today, and memory recalls the old familiar faces, my heart is sad that many whom I had known and who were kind to me had finished their mission on earth. Of the prominent men at that time. Rev. Anson McLoud, Benjamin P. Adams, Charles Herrick, Frederick Merriam, Ariel Gould, and many others equally conspicuous in the affairs of this town, have passed away. Yes, nearly all who 94 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. were factors in making this community forty and fifty years ago, a power, have gone. But I am pleased to know that many of my early schoolmates have ably assumed the duties incident to a progressive town, and whether it be in the management of government affairs or in educational and moral work, they are exemplifying the same influences for good as the active men of four decades ago. Topsfield is my birthplace, and I received my education in the one-story schoolhouse which stood near the site of the present town hall. Yes, it pleases me to return to the scenes of my childhood as the homes are as inviting and beautiful as of yore, the people as noble and generous as when I left here forty years ago. In this good old town many of the lessons and good impressions that have proved of inestimable value to me were received. It was in yonder Congregational Church that I first attended religious services and Sunday School, and I recall with pleasure the instructions given me by the devout teacher, who has passed away. Fifty years ago, when this town observed its two hun- dredth anniversary there was not a paper in the country that deemed the event of sufficient importance to assign 'a representative here, or to publish an account of the celebra- tion on the following day. This may seem remarkable from the fact that there is not a daily paper in New England this afternoon but has, to a greater or less extent, a story of the celebration we are enjoying. Then, there was neither tele- graph nor telephone, and the stage coach was the only public conveyance that the good people had in forwarding and bringing news by letter. Now, through the agency of electric force, despatches are forwarded to all parts of the country almost as fast as the words are uttered by the speaker, and, frequently, when addresses are written, in advance of the verbal delivery. This celebration, Mr. President, will result in great benefit to Topsfield. The town has been advertised and its varied beauties and attractions made known to the world. Far and wide the fact is known that this town is charming in its situation and natural beauty and exceptionally desirable for residence. And, today, this home coming of the sons 'THE WOODBINE," residence of C FRED JORDAN, erected i808, "THE LARCHES," residence of MISS C. ELLEN PERKINS, The site of the Oid Topstield Hotel, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 95 and daughters will stimulate pride in their birthplace and prompt all to herald praises of the town. Strangers will hear the refrain, and will come here to establish homes upon the hillsides, and in the valley with its winding and beautifully shaded streets. Already the valuation of this town has been enhanced by others than native born, as the elegant summer residences occupied by Boston and Salem business men and their families attest. The town is certain to increase in wealth as the years roll on, owing to the advent of summer residents, and during the present year real estate has been enhanced $50,000, largely through the establishment of country homes. The outlook for this pastoral town is certainly auspicious. In closing, permit me to acclaim that it is a pleasure to be present today to enjoy the festivities in commemoration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of this historic and beautiful town. ''Closing Sentiment by the President' God bless the old town of Topsfield. God save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. God perpetuate the glory of the United States. THE PROCESSION. ''Notwithstanding that in general, things postponed are not as successful, the Topsfield celebration must be the exception that proves the rule, for the postponed parade and sports, with fireworks in the evening, proved a splendid success in every way. It was estimated that fully five thousand people witnessed the day's festivities. They came from all over the county, by train and private and public conveyance. There was a slight delay in starting the different events, but this, in a measure, was due to the absence of Thomas W. Peirce, Chief Marshal of the parade and Chairman of the Sports Committee, who was suddenly taken ill on Thursday evening. It was a great disappointment and source of deep regret, for Mr. Peirce had worked very hard, until he had every detail arranged. Paul R. Kimball filled his position very acceptably. The parade did not start until nearly three o'clock. The Salem Cadets arrived just before two o'clock, coming from Boxford Camp by special train, and marched to the head of Main and Haverhill streets, the starting point. The line of march followed was Main street. Summer street, Central street, Main street, Washington street, Grove street, and Main street to the reviewing stand, which was located on the Common directly opposite the Congregational Church. The Cadets wore their regulation blue uniforms, and looked business-like with their rich coat of tan from their week spent in camp. The different features were excellent, combining to make a fine display, worthy of the town. (96) TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 97 During the whole day not an accident was reported. This is remarkable, when it is considered that hundreds of carriages and scores of horses were moving about constantly among the pedestrians. The fireworks given on the Common in the evening were witnessed by nearly three thousand people. They were beautiful in effect, one of the set-pieces being **Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniverary of Topsfield," in different colored fires. There were a number of set-pieces, but the last one, which said **Good night," was the most beautiful. The dis- play lasted over an hour, and closed the day's celebration. Taken as a whole the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration of 'New Meadows' or Topsfield, will go down into history as a splendid success and a great credit to all who had anything to do with it." Salem News, Atigtist i8, igoo. Ch\ief Marslial. PAUL R. KIMBALL. Chlef-of-Staff. THOMAS L. JENKINS, M. D. Aids. P. Joseph Collins. C. Fred. Jordan. J. H. Cunningham, Jr. Fred J. Lamson. Albert M. Dodge. William A. Russell. E. Brooks Edwards. Melvin F. Smerage. Warren F. Gould. C. von Tongen. Ralph D. Hood. Elton E. Wildes. Andy F. Jackman. 98 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. FIRST DIVISION. Marshal. DUDLEY P. ROGERS. Aids. John L. Fiske. James A. Gould. SALEM CADET BAND, 24 PIECES. Jean M. Missud, Bandmaster. SECOND CORPS CADETS. Lieut. Col. Walter F. Peck, commanding; Maj. Andrew Fitz. STAFF. Lieut. H. A. Titus, Adjutant; Maj. William Voss, Surgeon; Lieut. E. A. Maloon, Paymaster ; Rev. E. J. Pres- cott, Chaplain ; Lieut. William R. Graves, Battery L, First Heavy Artillery. Co. A, Capt. Philip Little ; Lieut. George E. Symonds. Co. D, Capt. P. Frank Packard ; Lieut. J. N. Clark. Co. B, Capt. A. N. Webb ; Lieut. Edward T. Graham ; Lieut. Frank S. Perkins, Co. C, Capt. John E. Spencer; Lieut. C. F. Ropes; Lieut. Harry R. Peach. NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF. Color Sergeants H. P. Nourse, Francis A. Cook ; Quarter- master-Sergeant J. Clarke Brown; Sergeant Major Henry R. Leach ; Hospital Steward E. A. Doyle. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 99 CARRIAGES WITH TOWN OFFICIALS AND INVITED GUESTS. Baxter P. Pike, George Francis Dow, Rev. George H. Per- kins, John Danforth, Wellington Donaldson, A. T. Merrill, George F. Averell, Rev. W. N. Roberts, Rev. H. J. Wyckoff, William Perkins, Isaac M. Woodbury, J. B. Poor, Wel- lington Poole, Hon. Samuel L. Sawyer, S. D. Hood, A. A. Conant, D. H. Conant, Hon. Charles F. Sargent of Lawrence, G. R. Grantham, George A. Schofield, John A. Brown, Charles E. Good- hue, the last three being Selectmen of Ipswich. Walter Thomas, in uniform of the Topsfield Warren Blues, of 70 years ago, with metal hat, flint-lock musket, and Continental style of uniform. TOPSFIELD VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR. James Wilson, Erwin T. Phillips, William H. Wildes, E. Per- kins Averill, Charles G. Cotton, Lewis A. Chapman, D. Oscar Nelson, Edwin K. Foster, Charles H. Frye, Enos Fuller, John H. Towne, Stephen Pierce, of Topsfield ; A. T. Howe, George- town ; Cleveland Gould, of Haverhill ; Henry H. Potter, of Danvers. Arthur Leach on pony. FLOAT. Forty-five girls from Intermediate and Grammar schools, dressed to represent "Our States ;" float handsomely decorated with tri-colored bunting; Ben- jamin Woodbury, driver, dressed as **Uncle Sam." 100 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. FLOAT. Forty boys of the Intermediate and Primary schools, dressed as ''Rough Riders" and Sailors ; the "Army and Navy." Barge with school children in light dresses, from the Lower Primary grades. HOOK AND LADDER TRUCK. SECOND DIVISION. Marshal. CHARLES J. PEABODY. Aids. John H. Bradstreet. George Little. E. B. Woodbury. Lyman A. Wilkins. FLOATS OF THE TOPSFIELD GRANGE. First, handsomely decorated with wheat, and containing farming implements, wheat stacks, etc., in wheat field. with curtain of wheat reaching to the ground. Second, Flora, Ceres and Pomona, seated beneath floral arches. Miss Gertrude Bradstreet, Mrs. Sarah Ward and Miss Grace Frame, representing the respective dei- ties. They were clad in light dresses, and presided over lavish displays of farm products. These ladies were the officers of the Grange. Some Of The Features In The Procession. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. lOI FLOAT. Indian camp, entered by Mrs. C. G. Rice of Hamilton, show- ing a typical camp with wigwam, camp-fire, two squaws and twelve pappooses. The float was drawn by six handsome horses ridden by Indians. DEADWOOD MAIL COACH. Driven by R. M. Appleton of the Myopia Hunt Club, and containing cowboys as passengers, with three armed outriders, all from the Appleton farm. MYOPIA HUNT CLUB HOUNDS. T. G. Frothingham, Acting Master, and E. S. Craven, Whip, dressed in red coats and white trousers, A. O. U. W. FLOAT. Representing a home made happy by the beneficence of that fraternal organization. Miss Elizabeth Ferguson as the mother, Helen Andrews and Harold Jordan as children. They were seated in the garden before the house. This was quite an elaborate design. FLOAT. Showing sick chamber with Odd Fellows and Rebekahs ministering to the needs of the afflicted. C. H. Leach, Eben S. Merrill, Mrs. R. G. Phillips and Miss Mary L. Woodbury assuming the parts. Entered by Fountain lodge, I. O. O. F., and Rowena Rebekah lodge. FLOAT. Satire on train accommodations at Topsfield, showing the "Topsfield Lightning Express" of one smoker and passenger car. Entered by Thomas W. Peirce. 102 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. FLOAT FROM J. A. LAMSON FARM. Displaying corn products, name of farm worked in pop corn on side. Amid a bower of corn sat Misses Grace and Hattie Merrill, Ethel Adams, and John Lamson Glover of the twelfth gen- eration from William Lamson, the settler. MAPLEWOOD FARM FLOAT. Johnson and Lewis, cow and three calves, one, two days old, and two sheep, making a pretty farm scene, amid profuse decorations of corn and bunting. Little Arthur Lewis, dressed like a farmer, was in attendance. FLOAT. From Mrs. John C. Phillips' Moraine farm, North Beverly, beautifully decorated with flags and bunting, and bearing a live donkey, hitched to a donkey cart in which sat Mildred L. Meade, dressed in white, a golden haired Miss of five summers. Mayor David M. Little, and Frank Cook, of Salem, in an automobile of their own make. FLOAT. Representing Indians of the Agawam tribe, in birch-bark canoe, "Among the lily-pads." The Indians were R. B. Young, John EUard, and O. C. Taylor. The float was drawn by horses, led by Fred Burnham and Alfred Lloyd, dressed in Puritan costume. Some Of The Features In The Procession. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. IO3 H. H. PILLSBURY, DANVERS, FLOAT. Containing life-sized wooden horse dragging four children in a handsome dog-cart. The children were Mar- garet George, Claude Porter, Gordon Allen and Laura Merrill. H. H. Pillsbury, Danvers, three-seated carriage drawn by a fine pair of white horses, and decorated with golden- rod, carrying Misses Perley, Abbott, Marston, Hayes, Perry and Pierce, who were dressed in white. Carriage of Mrs. Gilbert B. Balch, decorated with red and white pinks and ribbons, and drawn by a handsome pair of horses. ''A most artistic and tasty display, well worthy of special mention." Essex Agricultural Society barouche, containing four young ladies dressed in yellow and white. Carriage of the Danvers Evening Press, decorated with golden-rod, and containing four ladies. Mrs. George L. Gould's phaeton, artistically decorated with golden- rod, Warren F. Gould and Bertram C. Gould mounted as outriders. J. F. Porter, Danvers, float, displaying furniture. Charles McTerney, Danvers, float, displaying harnesses. C. H. Leach, butcher wagons. J. A. McLaughlin, float, showing a little boy, James Farrell, in a bath tub. Almy, Bigelow & Washburn Co., Salem, team. I04 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. Calvin Putnam, Danvers, teams loaded with lumber. P. R. Kimball, teams, with display of flour. Woodbury & Co., teams, with display of coal and wood. Poor & Co., teams, with display of flour and canned goods. E. E. Ferguson, team, displaying vegetables and fruits, artistically arranged. G. E. Hills, team, with display of boots and shoes. Frank B. Trask, Danvers, furniture team. Alden P. Peabody, farm wagon loaded with potatoes. Barouche containing Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Nickerson, Mrs. C. S. Brown, and W. C. Nickerson, all of Danvers. Carriage was prettily decorated, and was driven by D. W. Webster, dressed in Continental uniform. W. A. Webb, Danvers, team, displaying brick work. W. C. Ray, three milk wagons, decorated with flags and bunting, surrounding floral pieces on the sides. Batchelder Farm, milk wagon, with name on the side in floral letters. THE DECORATIONS. "A striking feature of the town is the beautifully kept grounds and lawns about the residences. Each house-owner seems to have vied with his neighbor, in trying to present the finest looking place. So wrote a newspaper correspondent at the time of the celebration. Public buildings and private residences were very generally decorated. The Town Hall and Centre School House were covered with bunting draped in elaborate designs. An arch across Main street near the rail- road crossing displayed the words TOPSFIELD, and WELCOME, and every telephone pole on Main street was draped with bunting looped from a projecting arm extended at a right angle over the street. Among the decorated buildings were the following: Town Hall, Centre School House, Congrega- tional Church and Parsonage, Boston and Maine R. R. Station, Post-OfTice, Fountain Lodge, I. O. O. F. Hall, Justin Allen, M. D., residence; W. H. Herrick, residence and shoe manu- factory ; T. L. Jenkins, M. D., residence ; Geo. R. Grantham, residence; Edwin S. Clifford, residence ; Geo. Francis Dow, residence ; Stanwood Church Home ; Daniel Fuller., resi- dence ; I. M. Woodbury, residence ; John H. Potter, res- idence ; Mary S. Kimball, residence and store ; Paul R. Kim- ball, store; Chas. H. Leach, residence and grounds; W. Pit- man Gould, residence; J. A. McLaughlin, store; Benj. Lane and Albert Lane, residence ; Eben S. Merrill and F. P. Smer- age, residence; H. H. Roberts, residence; John Bailey, resi- dence; C. L Trowbridge, store ; A. T. Merrill, residence ; Joseph B. Poor, residence and store ; Geo. E. Hills, store ; J. H. Chandler, residence ; E. B. Woodbury, residence ; C. W. Floyd and C. F. Dodge, residence; Smith's Hotel; Geo. L. Gould, residence ; Lyman A. Perkins, residence ; Albert A. Conant, residence; Gilbert B. Balch, residence. (105) TOPSFIELD, MAINE. Topsfield, Maine, a small township in the eastern part of the State, near the Canadian boundary, was christened in honor of Topsfield, Mass. It was founded by Nehemiah Kneeland* who removed from Topsfield, Mass., to Harrison, Maine, about 1818; about ten years later removing to Lin- coln, Maine, where in March, 1832, in company with a few neighbors, he loaded his family and household goods on a sled drawn by oxen, and went forty miles into the wilder- ness. The party made a clearing in the unbroken forest and founded a new town. Here some of Nehemiah Kneeland's descendants still live. The town still has a heavy growth of timber, and, like its namesake, several high hills. It was incorporated Feb. 24, 1838. The population in 1890, was 375; valuation, $81,598.00; number of polls, 78. The Essex County names — Bailey, Lane, and Noyes, appear in the list of those engaged in business in the township. *Nehemiah Kneeland was born in Topsfield, May 5, 1789, and married Mary Goodhue of Salem. He was the son of Aaron and Han- nah (Ramsdell) Kneeland, and a descendant of Edward Kneeland, an early settler at Ipswich. Aaron Kneeland was a soldier at Lexington and Bunker Hill. He removed with his family to Harrison, Cumber- land County, Maine, about 1808, where many of his descendants now reside. (io6) VIEWS SHOWING THE WEST PORCH AND INTERIOR OF ST. MARGARETS CHURCH, TOPPESFIELD, ENGLAND. A SKETCH OF TOPPESFIELD PARISH, ESSEX CO., ENGLAND. BY REV. H. B. BARNES, RECTOR OF ST. MARGARETS. For the last six months I have been trying to gather material for a sketch of the history of ancient Toppesfield. The work would be by no means easy even for an expert, for there appear to have been no previous workers in this field, from whom to gather without toil that which must in the first instance have been discovered at the cost of much time and labour. Of course the chronicler has the old records on the tombs, the old account books, as well as the old registers, which he can always consult, and which probably would reveal tales of deepest interest to any one who has leisure to study them, and experience and skill to understand the meaning of that which is written in these old-world records, but the present writer confesses with sorrow that even had he the time to spare he has not got the skill ; but he hopes that he is no dog in the manger; so should any one (and especially any one interested in the connection between Topsfield and Toppesfield) wish to work up all that can be learned from these original documents, he may count on being met with the heartiest welcome, and the fullest help that can be rendered. (107) I08 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. As then, (in the absence of other men's writings from which to steal, and of ability to make original researches) it is impossible to write any account of ancient Toppesfield which shall not be of an imaginative rather than an historical character. I have thought that perhaps some short account of the Toppesfield of to-day might be of interest. The village is situated in the north-eastern corner of the County of Essex, near to the borders of Suffolk on the east, and of Cambridgeshire on the north ; the country is not by any means of the level character that is usually attributed to the whole of Essex. There are no great hills but there is no flat country ; all is undulating. Toppesfield itself — whatever the origin of its name — certainly by its position deserves its designation ; the church does not stand on the highest ground in the parish, but yet its tower serves for a land-mark for miles around, on all sides except the west, on which side a wood screens it from view; while in the parish about two miles in a southerly direction from the church, is found the highest point in this part of the county, excelled in the whole county only, if at all, by Danbury Hill near Chelms- ford. The soil is almost uniformly clay, and very good for wheat growing, and its fertility is such that even in the present time of agricultural depression there is not an unoccupied acre in the parish. Yet it must not for a moment be sup- posed that Toppesfield has escaped unscathed ; very far from it. Thirty years ago it was as rich and prosperous a little place as could be found ; now it is miserably poverty- stricken ; then, there were numbers of well-to-do farmers, now, the land is farmed in large holdings by men who, for the most part, live in neighbouring villages; then, many of the old houses dotted about the parish were occupied by large and thriving families ; now, the families have gone and many of the houses are either occupied by labourers (e.g. Olivers. Cust Hall and Fry's Hall) or are falling into decay as *'Mullows" has done. The impossibility of making a living off the land, has driven the descendants of sturdy yeomen to seek elsewhere, the livelihood which the ground their fathers tilled, can no longer afford them. Nor is the lot of the labourer better than that of the TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. IO9 farmer; though the cause of the trouble is in his case differ- ent; for farm labourers wages, have this year stood higher than they have ever been known to be before. But in the old days the daughters and wife would earn more than the father, and would do so without being necessarily taken away from home ; even thirty years ago, straw plaiting was a great industry in this part of England. Old crones maintained themselves in comparative comfort by holding "schools" in which infants of quite tender years were taught to plait, and, as the children grew up, they plaited as they stood in their cottage doors or as they lolled about the roads, and their work was every week collected by higglers who came round for the purpose. All this has come to an end now; no straw plait is made here for it can be more cheaply imported from the East than it can be made at home; and though the money that was earned in this way is much missed, yet the village is happier and better for the loss of this business, for straw plaiting always seemed — wherever it was done — to bring a moral deterioration in its train. There is however an indirect way in which the agricul- tural depression seriously affects the labourer; it makes it very dif^cult for him to get a decent cottage. The profits of farming having been so much reduced, the farmers have been unable to pay anything like the old amount of rent and this has hit the land-owning class very hard ; in some cases the depreciation of the value of land has been so great that its capital value now is little more than its old annual rent; plenty of good land can now be bought for £j. an acre and in this price are sometimes included farm houses and out- buildings and cottages which have quite recently cost more than now they can fetch, even with the freehold of the land thrown in ; small pieces of land without buildings fetch (except for some special reason) even lower prices. I heard last week of thirteen acres of good land in an adjoining parish being sold for no more than £\0. The landlords then, being so hard hit in all cases, and sometimes having positively no balance left after they have paid the "charges" on the estate (doweries it may be or pen- sions determined upon during the fat years of prosperity) are unwilling, even when, through having other sources of income, no THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. they are able, to spend more money than can be helped, on the up-keep of their farm buildings and the cottages on their farms; hence on every side the barns and out-buildings are more or less dilapidated, (though it must be owned that in this respect there has been a considerable improvement during the last two years) hence too the refusal to repair old cottages, so that cottage after cottage is condemned by the medical officer of health as unfit or unsafe for human habitation, and the inhabitants of the condemned cottages are obliged to seek their living elsewhere than in the old parish. As for new cottages, none have been built lately and none are likely to be built, for if the landlords cannot build them no one else will except from philanthropic motives, for it would be difficult to get a nett return of two per cent, on the minimum cost of erection. The necessary results of such a condition of things are easily understood ; the best of the young men go off to the towns, and there gain their living; many of them become policeman or employes on the railways; others become soldiers ; the young women go out to domestic service and so the village is left with the old people and the young chil- dren to inhabit it. The proportion of the old is something remarkable ; that the climate is extremely healthy and that longevity is much more common here than in most places, may have a little to do with it, but fails altogether to account for the wonderful proportion of old people in the population ; no, the reason is that the young men and women as soon as they grow up go off elsewhere to seek a better market for their labour; and while we regret losing them, and fear that many of the men like the married man of the story find the change "none for the better and all for the worse," there can be no doubt that the course they take is the one which must seem most reasonable to those who have no knowledge of the condition of unskilled labour in the great towns. The extent to which this exodus is reducing the population of the parish may be judged from the fact that while in 183 1 there were 1088 inhabitants; in 1881 there were 861 ; in 1891 790, and in 1901 there is no doubt that there will be a still further reduction. It is impossible to form an accurate estimate, but I should guess the number at 650, basing my calculation TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 1 1 I on the number of children on the school books, which is now 115, while in 1891 it was 146. I am glad to say, however, that the average number in attendance for this year is higher than it was then, for while in 1891 the average was in, it is for the time that has passed since the beginning of the cur- rent school year on April ist last* 1 13, which we are proud to consider would be a remarkable performance for any school, but which is highly creditable in a parish where some of the scholars live two and one-half miles away from the school door. The school is a voluntary school supported by a voluntary rate of 4d in the £1, In addition of course to the Government grant; the total cost for a scholar in average attendance being about £2. 10. o. per annum ; the buildings are good and roomy, and would accommodate nearly double the present number of scholars. In the school is also held an evening continuation school for young men which was begun this year and which has been doing fairly well. In this same building are held the meetings of the members of what is known as "the school club," an excellent Benefit Society, a branch of the National Deposit Friendly Society. The Toppesfield branch started some fifteen years ago by the then Rector, the Rev, C. F. Taylor, has over 100 mem- bers ; many of them however are now living in distant parts and some come from neighbouring villages. Toppesfield has reason to feel proud of its school and of its Benefit Society. Near the School is the church which is dedicated to St. Margaret; the tower looks imposing from a distance but when examined more closely proves to be a rather poor specimen of the architecture of the beginning of the eighteenth century ; there was an old tower, the inside of which must have opened on to the church, with a lofty early English arch, and which is said to have been built of flint and rubble ; this fell down on July 4th 1689, and was replaced by the present structure of brick ; the tower contains five bells, two of which however need recasting. The church consists of a chancel, nave, and south aisle with a gallery at the west end, against the tower. The chancel contains an interesting old •It is only fair to state, that during the months April, May and June, there were ten more chil- dren •n the books, but the average weekly percentage of children present is, for this year, over ninety-flve. 112 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. tomb surmounted with a cross, built half in and half out of the south wall. There is no inscription on the tomb, and it is not known to whom it belongs. In the floor is an old brass, bearing the figures of a man and woman, and with the inscription Pray for the sowlys of John Cracherowd and Agnes his wyff : the whyche John decesyd the yere of Our Lord God I 5 13, upon whose sowl Christ have mercy. Near to this there is another brass plate with the inscription : Here lyeth buryed William Cracherod, Gent, who died Xth of January 1585, and Eliz ; his wyfe the XVIIth of Feb. 1587. Near to this again there is a tomb, with a full-sized effigy of a man, bearing no inscription, but probably containing an earlier mem.ber of the same family of Cracherod. On the walls of the chancel are commonplace memorials of three former Rectors,* and two memorials of ladies which may be worth transcribing ; on the north wall there is a marble monument bearing various symbolical devicesf and this inscription : *Against the east wall of the chancel is a small mural monument, upon which is written as follows:— Ego Richardus King, patria Here- fordiensis, educatione Oxoniensi, pofessione theologus, officio capel- loneus Jacobi Regis ferenissimi & hujus ecclesiae vicarius indignus, hoc in loco sacrosancto sponte depono & recondo corporis exuvias laus Deo, salus ecclesiae, & animae meae requies in aeternum. Amen. [For illustration of this tablet, see. The Ancient Sepulchral Monuments of Essex. By Frederic Chancellor, p. 325, London, 1890.] In English: — I Richard King, by country an Herefordshireman, by education an Oxonian, by profession a divine, by office a chaplain to king James and the unworthy vicar of this church, willingly deposit my remains in this sacred place. — Praise be to God, health to the church, and rest to my soul for ever. Amen. — History of Essex (Co.). By a Geti tie man . Chelmsford^ '^11'^- fTwo Bibles serve the office of trusses, upon which are two rows of books, that instead of two pilasters support a neat pediment, in the middle of which pediment is a beehive, and under the hive is written mdtcltria dulcis^ meaning sweet industry. Over the hive is placed a dove, with the words jida simplex (imparting simple fidelity) written below it. Six of the books which compose the pilasters are labelled thus: — Sacrae medit; Soliloquia; Publ. Prec; Praxis Pict; Flores Prac; Psalmi. — History of Essex {Co). By a Gentleman. Chelmsford., I77i« •,N OLD COTTAGE, TOPPESFIELD, ENGLAND. THE RECTORY, TOPPESFIELD, ENGLAND. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. II3 Sacrum memorioe pientiss* fceminoe Dorcadi (sic) uxori Guil Smyth armigeri ; qui eam prius viduam Guil. Bigg triumq liberor matre, ob modestia, pietate prudentia singulare duxit; etin familiaprosapia celebretraduxit; ubi multos annos ille, spendidce hospitalitatis et candoris, ilia solertise fideique matronalis exemplar; clara omnibusq nobilib* oeque ac infimis chara sui memoria reliqueru Laudatiss"® avice suae, sacra senecta lectione, meditatione bonisq operibus indefesse consolanti tandeq inter in- credibilia sanctissimae animse gaudia ultro in coelu avolanti H. Bigg nepos hisce symbolis parentat et lachrymis. Hoc pago educata. nupta; Cressingoe, mortua, sepulta. Obiit 1663. Dec. 18 anno aetat ']6* *In English: — Sacred to the memory of that very pious woman Dorcas the wife of William Smith, esquire; who married her, when the widow of William Bigg and the mother of three children, for her singular modesty, piety, and prudence; and placed her in a family of great eminence; wherein, he was many years a bright pattern of hospitality and goodness; she, of diligence and conjugal fidelity; persons of every rank held her in great esteem: the memory of them was dear to all who knew them. H. Bigg makes an offering of this and of his tears to his much esteemed grandmother, who incessantly comforted her old age, by reading the holy scriptures, by meditation, and by acts of goodness; and who, at length amidst the inconceivable joys of a most pious soul, willingly winged her way to heaven. She was brought up and married in this town: she died and was buried at Cressing. She "departed this life December 18, 1633, i^ the 76th year of her age. Beneath this inscription is the figure of a lamb placed upon a bible, upon which is written these words: Biblia fides sacra, which mean, Faith in the Holy Bible: on one side the bible is the representation of a bleeding heart, as figurativeof her feelings for the distressed poor: on the other side is that of an expanded hand; doubtless as a symbol of her readiness always to assist them. The whole is prettily designed, and executed in a masterly manner. — History of Essex {Co.). By a Gentleman. Chelmsford, 1771. 114 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. On the South wall is a memorial of a young lady of eighteen: Her disposition was mild and benevolent her manners gentle and simple and most respectfully obliging her sentiments enlarged and liberal her understanding clear and comprehensive enriched with an uncommon extent and variety of attainments, of which she was so far from making an ostentatious display that she seemed unconscious she possessed them nay, the degrading conceptions she unhappily formed of her own worth moral and intelectual (sic) were probably the source of insupportable sufferings "The brain too nicely wrought Preys on itself and is destroyed by thought." One cannot but wonder whether the young lady overburdened by the marvellous talents of which she was unaware sought relief in suicide. The South aisle has a fine old oak carved roof, the date of which can be determined (by the combination of the pomegranite and the rose found on it) to be about the year 1500. At the east end of the aisle there used to be a window with fine old glass, but it having been found necessary, some half century ago, to build a vestry out beyond the aisle, the glass in the window was removed and left about to perish ! this is not the only loss — caused by neglect or ignorance — - that we have occasion to deplore. At the east end of this aisle there can be seen on one side a piscina, showing that an alter once stood there, and in the other, high up in the wall, the entrance to the rood loft of which no other trace now remains. The font, which stands in the aisle, has no other interest than such as is derived from its great age. The body of the church has nothing to recommend it, the seats are mean looking and uncomfortable for use, the pulpit is commonplace, the west gallery (in which, in the good old days of even fifty years ago or less, sat the performers on the fiddles and the flutes) is Jacobean, but while all built of oak is faced on its pillars with carved oak ; the great oak beams which span the nave are similarly cased, and unhappily TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. ^15 neither they nor the roof are in a sound condition. The right of appointing the Rector rests with the Crown; there were here at one time both a Rectory (which then was a sinecure) and a Vicarage ; but the Bishop of London, about 1454, finding that the Vicarage had become too poor to maintain a clergyman, united the Vicarage to the Rectory. There is still a piece of the Glebe land known as "the vicarage," which forms a memorial of the old state of things. The names are known of all the clergy of the Parish since 1300: DATE. SINECURE RECTORS. 1327. 1385. 1386. 1386. 1446. 1452. 1454. 1492. 1504. 1520. I55I. 1553- 1554- 1556. 1559- John Hardy.* William de Grytton. John Cory. William Noble. William Barret. Thomas Haxeye.* Thomas Banaster.* William Gray. Nicholas Manvell. (died) William Breden.* John Hambalt. William Parker. DATE. VICARS. William (died) 1331. Stephen le Parker. John Hokyngton.* 1385. William Lambeleye or Welton.* 1394. John Cukkowe. William Mersey, (died) 1 43 1. Richard Pumpy.* 1432. John Scarlette.* 1433. William Meyr. John Peteville. 1448. Henry Huyton. RECTORS. William Parker. John Edenham or Ednam, D. D. Thomas Fermyn. (died) Adam Becansawe. Thomas Donnell, B. D. Cuthbert Hagerston, M. A. Thomas Havard. Richard Wynne. Thomas Donnell, B. D. 1571. William Redman, D. D. 1578. William Whiting. 1598. Edward Graunt, D. D. 1 601. William Smyth.* 1603. Theodore Beacon, M. D. 1604. Randolph Davenport, B. D. 1605. Richard Kinge, D. D. Preferred. Dean of Stoke; Canon of St. Paul's ; Master of Corpus Coll. Agent of Thomas Cromwell. Deprived. Restored. Prebendary of Lich- field. Preferred. Canon of Canterbury ; Bishop of Norwich. Canon of Ely ; Sub-Dean of West- minster. Chaplain to James I. Resigned. ii6 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. RECTORS. Dean of Gloucester; Bishop of Carlisle. Chaplain to Charles I. Thomas Overhead intruded. Bishop of Clonfert. Dean of Booking. Chaplain of the Rolls. Bishop of Bristol, Salisbury and Oxford. Dean of Bristol; Bishop of St. David's. Canon of Westminster. 1621. Richard Senhouse, D. D. 1624. Lawrence Burnell, D. D. 1647-1661. No rector. 1661. Clement Thurston, M. A. 1662. Nathaniel Ward, M. A. 1662. Edgar Wolley, D. D. 1664. Richard Collebrand, D. D. 1674. Robert Wild, M. A. 1691. Thomas Willett, M. A. 1735. John Hume, D. D. 1749. Samuel Squire, D. D., F. R. S., F. S. A. 1750. Henry Herring, M. A. 1772. George Pawson, L. L. B. 1797. Lord Henry Fitzroy, M. A. 1828. George Henry Gooch, M. A. 1876. John Sherron Brewer, M. A. * Beticned. Since the death of which distinguished man in 1879 there have been five other Rectors. In the Church and Churchyard many of these worthies lie buried, but none of their memorial stones are worth copy- ing. There is one stone however near the Tower which records that : Here lieth the body of Sarah Norfolk wife of Samuel Norfolk the younger who was cruelly murdered by her husband Septr. 24 1775 at a farm call'd Elms in this Parish in the 25th year of her age The said Samuel Norfolk confessed the fact was hang'd and desected The Parish registers date back to 1558 and are in a good state of preservation and fairly legible to those who have mastered the difficulties of the old form of writing ; there are also old account books dating back to 1662, and deeds of an earlier date. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. II/ On the first page of the earliest register is written in Latin and in English, the doggrel rhymes : Advent wills thee to contein But Hilarie sets thee free again Septuagesima said thee nay But eight from Easter says you may Rogation bids thee yet to tarrie But Trinity gives thee leave to marrie. The baptisms, marriages and burials are entered in separate parts of the book but mistakes occur every now and then, so that a marriage is entered among the funerals. Near the church stand the two village inns, the Chestnuts, and The Green Man, both of them picturesque in appearance. The Green Man is as quaint and old-fashioned as it is com- fortable and well-managed. The host, Mr. Charles Seaman, has held his house for over forty years, and it is commonly said that there is not an hotel in any of the neighbouring towns for miles round where guests are made so comfortable or where a dinner so well cooked and served can be had. Standing back in a park-like meadow is the old Manor House known as Berwick Hall ; a nice comfortable house, with some old oak in it, inhabited by Mr. Charles Darby, whose family name has been known in Toppesfield for some three centuries at least. Beyond the "Park" of Berwick Hall is the Rectory, part of which also is very old, dating back to the 14th century. There are traces of a moat round both Berwick Hall and the Rectory. Two years ago (1898) a very fine oak ceiling with large moulded beams, and an old oak doorway, were discov- ered in one of the rooms, having previously been covered up with plaister and canvas. The Rectory is very sheltered on all sides being enclosed by well-grown trees and with a large old Tithe Barn lying on its north side. About half a mile from the Rectory on the road to Yeldham, stands "Olivers," with a beautiful approach through an avenue ; it is now inhabited by two labourers ; there is a panelled room still in an excellent state of preservation though the woodwork has been unfortunately covered with" paint. Il8 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. Toppesfield Hall, which like Olivers, belongs to Mr. J. M. Balls, stands on the other side of the Yeldham road ; it is a comfortable modern house inhabited by Mr. J. F. Benson, one of the church-wardens, who is a nephew of the proprietor. Bradfields is a picturesque house lying rather low, and in a rather dilapidated condition. Gainsfords is another old Manor house about two miles from the church, occupied by Mr. C. Dean Darby, a son of Mr. Darby of Berwick Hall; it also has some nice oak. Flowers Hall, about another mile beyond Gainsfords, is another nice-looking house, not very large, but with a won- derful range of out-buildings; it is now occupied by Mr. Clarke who with his family of active sons gets excellent results from some of the least fertile land in the parish. I have given as fair a description as I can of the Toppesfield of today. What is its future to be? there is I think but little doubt. London is but fifty miles off, though thanks to the bad railway accommodation it takes two hours to get there. The Londoner is more and more developing a love for a country residence, and when the favourite counties of Kent, Surrey and Sussex get filled up, as they are doing already, those who like quiet will go further afield. Auto- mobilism, or electric railways, will make travelling easy, and then this corner of Essex with its healthy climate, its quiet beauty, its fertile soil, its fine oaks and other trees will attract the class of persons who want a nice house and a few acres of land. Then land will again fetch in this district ten times what it fetches now ; then there will be plenty of employment in stables, gardens and pleasure farms for the men who now flock into the towns. But this will not be in my day. But even now Toppesfield is a pleasant happy place with inhab- itants who are not very fond of strangers, but who are essentially good-hearted. TOPPESFIELD, ENGLAND. FROM HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX (ENGLAND), BY PHILIP MORANT. CHELMSFORD, 1 8x6. This parish* was so called from some Saxon owner, named Topa, or Toppa. It is otherwise written in records — Toppesfend, Toppesford, Thopefield. In Edward the Con- fessor's reign, some of the lands here belonged to freemen, named Alestan ; to Duua ; to Got, &c., but, at the time of the general survey, part was holden by Eustace, Earl of Bo- logne, and his under-tenant, Bernard; part by one Ralph; and a considerable share, called afterwards Camoys-hall, by Hamo Dapifer. These lands were divided, soon after, into the following maners: — The maner of Berwick and Scoteneys ; Gaynes- f ords ; The maner of Husees ; Cust-hall ; The maner of Cam- oys, and the maners, or reputed maners, of Flowers-hall, Gobions, Hawkeshall, and Bradfield. Most of these, if not all, are Duchy lands, and belonged to the honor of Clare. *Is of large extent, fruitful in its soil, and pleasant in its situation, but not being a great thoroughfare, the roads hereabouts are in general heavy and narrow. The village is but small and rather mean in appear- ance. History of Essex Co. By a Gentleman. Chelmsford, 1771. This parish extends northward to Great Yeldham ; to Finching- field on the west ; southward to Wethersfield, and on the east, to the Hedinghams. Distant from Clare, five, and from London, fifty miles. The village is small, and none of the roads passing through this district being leading thoroughfares, they are in general narrow, and not in very good repair. The soil is a deep tenacious marl, retentive of moisture, and universally requires draining. Wrights'' History of Essex Cotoity . London., 1836. ToppESFiELD. A. 3332; P. 861; Rectory, value ^900; 2 m. SW. from Y#ldham; B. 6. A pleasant, retired village on a commanding emi- (119) 120 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. THE MANER OF BERWICKS AND SCOTENEYS. They were separate at first, but have been long united, and took their names from their respective ancient owners, as will appear in the sequel. Berwick-hall stands a little way south-west from the church. The mansion-house and lands of Scoteneys lie near Yeldham, about half a mile from Ber- wick-hall. These two constitute the chief maner in this parish, though not the largest. In King John's reign, Albrey de Wicy or Wykes, held this estate, of the honor of Bologne, by the service of three parts of a Knight's-fee. He sold it to Gerebert de St. Clere; it being then called 84 acres of arable, 3 acres of meadow and pasture, 4 acres of wood, 45 pence rent of assize yearly, 49 days work, and ten hens. Part of the estate, viz. : 8 acres of arable, 5 of meadow, 4 of wood, &c., were holden of Ralph de Camoys. Scoteneys was then distinct from it, and belonged to Wal- ter de Scoteney, a Baron, who had also the maner of Hersham. But, for giving poison to Richard Earl of Clare, whose Stew- ard he was, and to William, his brother, of which the latter died, he was hanged in 1259; and his estate, most probably, given to John de Berewyk, who died in 1312 ; holding the the maner of Toppesfield, of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Glou- cester, by the service of one Knight's-fee ; and his heir was Roger, son of John Huse\ more particularly mentioned under the maner of Husees. From him it came to Tho. Rykedon ; nence, 280 ft. above the sea. The Church (St. Margaret) is of brick, and has a nave, S. aisle of four bays, chancel, and embattled brick tower with 4 corner pinnacles and 5 bells; 3 dated 1675; one 1720; and one 1779. The body was built in 1519, the tower in 1699. In the chancel are mural tablets to Dorcas Smyth (1633); Robert Wildes (1690), rector: Thomas Willitt (1731), rector; the Rev. George Pawson (1797); and Elizabeth Erie (1655); also an uninscribed altar-tomb, on the S. side of the chancel, with floriated cross, probably to the founder of the church; and brasses to Wm. Cracherod, gent. (1585), and wife; and to John Cracherod (1534), and wife. There is also a fine incised stone, with an efifigy of a cross-legged knight in armour, and a 14th century inscription to Thomas le Despen- ser. In the chancel is a piscina and another in the nave. The font is a rude, ancient one. The registers date from 1559. The women and chil- dren in this parish are partially engaged in straw-plaiting. Essex (Co.) Handbook, by Miller Christy. London, 1887. TOPPESFIELD, ENGLAND, The Parish^ Pump. Aq Old Resident. The Winding Street. St. Maraaret's Tov^er. Berwick Hail. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 121 and Robert Rykedon and others sold it, in 1420, to John Doreward, of Booking, Esq., who, at the time of his decease, in the said year, held the maners and other lands, &c., called Berewyk, Scoteneys, and Cardeaux, in Toppesfield, the two Yeldhams, Mapiltrested, Haverill, Hengham Sible, and else- where. John, his son, succeeded him ; and held this maner, with the lands, tenements, rents, and services, called Berwykes, Scoteneys, and Cardeaux, that composed the maner of Top- pesfield, of Cecily, Duchess of York, as of her maner of Stamburne. He died in 1476. Johfi Doreward, of Great Yeldham, Esq., held the same at the time of his death, the last day of February 1496; and Christian^ his neice, brought it, in marriage, to her husband, John de Vere, the 14th Earl of Oxford on whom it was settled, in case of failure of issue, and on his heirs forever. In this noble family it continued, till Edward [the 17th] Earl of Oxford sold it [he having squandered away his various estates] ist October 1584, to William Bigge, of Redgewell ; who died possessed of it, 5th January 1585, and of Gounces, Brownes Farm, Broad-oake, with other estates adjoining. By his wife, Dorcas, daughter of John Mooteham, of this parish, Gent.,* he had William, Samuel, Edward, and Dorcas. William, the eldest son, who lived at Redfens in Shalford, held several parcels of land in this parish, belonging to the adjoining estate of Ounces ; but Edward, the younger son had the maners of Berwick-hall and Scoteneys. Edward, his son, kept his first Court here on the 8th of October 1635. In 1645, it came into the possession of Robert Jacob, Gent, and, in 165 i, into that of John Blackmore, Esq. On the 23d of April 1658, Robert Wankford, Esq., kept his first Court here. He had two daughters by his first wife ; and by his second; Robert, baptized 12th June 163 1 ; and Samuel, 1 8th December 1632. Robert, his eldest son, seated at Berwick- hall, married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Thomas Shelley, of Magdalen-Lavor in this county; and had by her, Berwick, *She was remarried to William Smyth, of Cressing-Temple, Esq. and dying i8th December 1633, was buried at Cressing. But her grand- son, Henry Bigge, Esq. erected a curious monument to her memory in the chancel of St. Margarets. For illustration of this tablet, see, The Ancient Sepulchral Monu- ments of Essex. By Frederic Chancellor, p. 325, London, 1890. 122 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. who died young; Robert, Walter, Shelley ; and seven daugh- ters ; of whom, Anne was married to John Elliston of Over- hall in Gestingthorp, and afterwards to George Gent, Esq. Mary was wife of John Littel, of London, druggist; and the youngest, of Thomas Todd, of Sturmere. He died in 1688. Robert, his eldest surviving son, had no issue by his first wife, Dorothy, daughter of John Fotherby, of Rickmans- worth in Hertfordshire, Esq. ; but by his second wife, Mary, daughter of the Rev. John Oseley, Rector of Pantfeild, &c., he had several children. He was buried here on the 20th of June, 1708. Some time after, the maners and demesnes of Berwicks, Scoteneys. and Gaynesfords, coming into the hands of Mr. John Poultnor, Attorney at Law, at Clare, he sold them to Isaac Helbiitt, a rich merchant; from whom they passed to Moses Hart, and to Widph Ridolphus, or, as some call him, Michael Adolphtis, Esq. THE MANER OF GAYNESFORDS, Just now mentioned, took its name from an ancient fam- ily, who had also Gobions in this parish, Ashwell-hall in Finchingfield, NichoUs in Shaldford, &c. Richard Gayjt- ford, who died 20th May 1484. held lands in this parish, which we suppose to be these. His brother John succeeded him. William Butcher held this capital messuage, and 24 acres of land, in Queen Elizabeth's reign. June 14, 1669, Thomas Guyver, with Samuel Edwards and Margaret his wife, daughter of Francis Guyver, sold this capital messuage to Robert Wankford\ from whom they passed as above. Gaynesfords is near two miles south-west from the church. THE MANER OF HUSEES. Roger, son of John Huse, upon the death of John de Berewyk in 13 12, inherited this estate, to which he gave name. This Roger sprung from the ancient family of Huse in Wiltshire and Dorsetshire; was a great soldier; became a knight; had summons to Parliament in 1348 and 1349, and died in 1361 ; being seated at Barton Stacy, in Hamp- shire. John, his son, succeeded him. In 1419, Alexander TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 1 23 Eustace and John Wood sold this estate to John Symonds. Henry Parker, of Gosfeild, Esq. who died 15th January 1 541, held this messuage, called Hosees, and 80 acres of arable and meadow, of John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, in socage; besides other parcels here,* and great estates else- where. Roger, his son, succeeded him. William Cratckrode, junior, held this maner in 1585. About the latter end of Queen Elizabeth, it was holden by John Alston, of Belchamp Oton, who gave it to his third son, Matthew ; and and he having no issue, bequeathed it to Thomas Cracherode ; of whom it was purchased by Colonel Stephen Piper \ and it is now in the possession of Dr. Piper [whose family sold it to Henry Sperling, Esq., of Dines Hall]. THE MANER OF CUST-HALL. The mansion-house stands near a mile south-west form the church. It took its name from an ancient and considerable familyf which were seated here in King Edward the Third's reign. Afterwards, it became the Cracherode family that had long been settled at a place called from them Cracherodes, in this parish. The first of the name that hath occurred to us, was John Cracherode, witness to a deed, 17th Richard II. 1393. His son Robert, was father of John, an Esquire under John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, at the battle of Azincourt. John Cracherode, Gent., son of the latter, married Agnes, daughter and heir of Sir John Gates, of Rivenhall ; and had by her, John ; William, Clerk of the Green Cloth to King Henry VIII, and Thomas, who had to wife Brigett, daughter of Aubrey de Vere, second son to John the 15th Earl of Oxford. John, the eldest son, paid ingress fine for Cust-hall in 1504. He married Agnes, daughter of Tho. Carter; and departing this life in 1534, was buried in the middle of this church, under a grave-stone, *Namely, Shoremeadow, Foxholes; a messuage, called Dudmans, and 70 acres of arable and meadow; two tenements, called Griggs and Algers; St. John's Land, &c. fThe Cust family was originally of Yorkshire, but long seated in Lincolnshire; as may be seen in the Baronetage, vol. iv, p. 629, under the article of the Right Hon. Sir John Cust, present Speaker of the House of Commons. 124 THE TO\\rN OF TOPSFIELD. with an inscription. They had four sons and four daughters ; viz., Helen, wife of William Hunt, of Gosfeild, Gent. ; Joan, of John Tendring, of Boreham, Gent. ; Julian, of . . . Lee; and Jane, of Peter Fitch, of Writtle, Gent. William, the only son whose name is recorded, married Elizabeth, daugh- ter of John Ray, of Denston in Suffolk. They lived 56 years together in wedlock. At the time of his decease, lOth January, 1585, he held this capital messuage, called Custs, and 20 acres of free land, belonging of old thereto ; also a messuage, anciently called Cracherodes, and afterwards Colman's, in this parish and in Hedingham Sible; with several other parcels of land ; particularly Albegeons, and Camois Parke, Pipers Pond, &c. He, and his wife, which died 17th February 1587, lie both buried in the chancel of this church, under a blue marble stone. They had issue five sons and one daughter; viz., Thomas; Matthew, of Cavendish; John, Charles, William. The daughter, named Anne, was wife of John Mootham. — TJiomas, the eldest son, married Anne, daughter of Robert Mordaunt, of Hemstead in this county, Esq., a younger branch of the Lord Mordaunt, of Turvey in Bedfordshire ; by whom he had William, who died without issue ; Thomas; and four daughters: Frances, married to Robert Wilkins, of Bumsted ; Anne, to John Alston, of Belchamp-Oton ; Elizabeth, to John Fryer, of Paul's-Belchamp, and Barbara, to . . . Harris. He died 14th June 1619. — Thomas, his son and heir, then aged 40 years, married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Godbolt, of Finchamp in Norfolk; John, of Cranham-hall in Romford ; Richard; and three daughters: Elizabeth, Brigett, and Susan. — Mordattnt, the eldest son, married Dorothy, daughter of Antony Sammes, of Hatfeild-Peverell. He died 2d of February 1666, and she 6th of March 1692. Both lie buried in this church. — They had issue, Thomas, baptized on the 17th of September 1646; Antony; Mordaunt [who was a linen-draper of London] ; and Mary, wife of Christopher Layer, of Boughton-hall, Esq. Thomas, the eldest son, married Anne, daughter of Christopher Layer, of Belchamp St. Paul; by whom he had Thomas, baptized the 1st of June 1680. He was buried in this church the 8th of July 1706. Thomas, his son and heir, sold this maner^ in \']Q^^Jio TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 1 25 Colonel Stephen Piper, mentioned a little before [whose family sold in to Henry Sperling, Esq., of Dines Hall]. THE MANER OF CAMOYS, Is the largest in this parish ; consisting, in time past, of two Knight's-fees, holden in the honor of Clare. The mansion-house stands near the church, and formerly had a park. In Edward the Confessor's reign. Got held this lord- ship, as lying in this parish and Stanburne, and then in two maners; which, at the time of the survey, belonged to Hamo Dapifer. How long it continued united with Stam- borne, we cannot certainly discover. Sir Ralph de Camoys,* from whom it borrowed its name, held it under Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hert- ford, in 1262, as two Knight's-fees. He was a man of great note in his time; and after the taking of King Henry III, prisoner at the battle of Lewes, was chosen, by the discon- tented Barons, one of their Council of State, to govern the Realm. f He was also summoned to Parliament, 24th Decem- ber 1264. He died in 1276. — John,% his son and successor, was father of Ralph, who gave this estate, in free-marriage with his daughter Ela, to Peter Gonsell, or Gonshill. This family was originally of Yorkshire, Giles Gonsell, by Emin- entia, daughter of Fulk de Oyry, of Gedney in Lincolnshire, had Peter \ who, by the said Ela his wife, had Ralph and Margaret. Ralph dying in 1295, was succeeded by his sister, Margaret, who had two husbands, first, Philip le Despenser, 4th son of Hugh le Despenser, Earl of Gloucester. He *The name of Cammois is in the list of those that came in with William the Conqueror. — Chronic. J. Brointon, col. 963. fSee Dugdale's Baron, vol. z, p. 767. JThis John married Margaret, daughter and heir of Sir John de Gates- den; and she forsaking him, and living in adultery with Sir William Paynel, John de Cameys, as he calls himself, quitted all his right and title to her,^ as also to all her goods and chattels, spontaneously delivering and demising her unto the said Sir William, and releasing all title and claim to her and her appertenances; as appears by the deed, printed at length in Sir William Dugdale's Baron, vol. i, p. 767.— After her lawful husband's decease, she was married to the said Sir William, and claimed thirds of Camoys estate; which the Parliament, out of due regard to morality and law, refused her. 126 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. departing this life in 13 13, she took to her second husband, Sir John Roos, and lived till 1349. By her first husband, she had Philip le Despenser; who, at the time of his decease, in 1349, jointly with Joane his wife, held, of the Lady of Clare, a tenement here called Camoy's-hall, by the service aforesaid. Philip, his son, by . . . daughter of . . . Strange, had Philip, who died in 1400; leaving, by his wife, Margaret Cobham, Sir Philip, his son and heir, that departed this life in 1423, and held this maner of Edward, Earl of March ; as also those of Lyndsells, Little Stambridge, and a fourth part of the maner of Thaxted. He married Elizabeth, one of the daughters and coheirs of Sir Robert Tiptoft; and by her he had his only daughter and heir, Margery. She was married, first, to Sir Roger Wentworth, third son of John Wentworth, of Elmes-hall in Yorkshire, Esq. a younger branch of the Wentworths, of Wentworth Woodhouse ; from whence are descended the Earls of Stratford. Her second husband was John Lord Rosse ; by whom she had no issue. But by her first husband, she had two sons ; Philip ; and Henry, the first of this family seated at Codham-hall ; from whom sprung the Wentworths, of Gosfeild and Bocking; and several daughters. She died the 20th of April 1475. Sir Philip Wentworth, her eldest son, and heir to this estate, married Mary, daughter of John Lord Clifford ; and had by her, Sir Henry, father of Sir Richard, a Knight-Banneret; who, by Anne, daughter of Sir James Tyrell, of Gipping in Suffolk, had Sir Thomas Wentworth, of Nettlested, created Baron Wentworth the 2d of December 1529. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir Adrian Fortescue ; and had by her, Thomas, Lord Wejitworth, who held his first Court here the 1 6th of June 155 1. — He had also the maners Hackney and Stepney ; and was the last Governor of Calais under Queen Mary L The 4th of 13th of May 1557, he sold Camoys-hall to William Fitch, Esquire, of Little Canfield It continued little more than twenty years in his name, for he dying the 20th of December 1578, it came to his son Thomas ; who surviving him but a little while, it then fell to his only daughter and heir, Mary, that had been married, about the year 1556, to Francis Mannock, Esq who died 3d of November 1590 and was succeeded by his TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 12/ son William ; whose son and heir, Francis^ was created a Baronet the 1st of June 1627; and had for successors, Sir Francis and Sir William. The latter sold this estate, the 25th of March 1 713, to Matthias Unwhi, of Castle Hedingham, Gent, who died the i8th of September 171 5 ; and, by will, bequeathed Camoys-hall to his brother's son, Joseph. This latter dying in September 1747, was succeeded by his eldest son, Joseph Unwiiiy Gent, [of Castle Hedingham.] FLOWERS-HALL, Is about two miles south south-west from the church. From a family that existed here from 1369 to 1572, it took the name of Flowers. Thomas Glascock^ who died 29th October 1 63 1, held the maner and capital messuage called Flowers- hall, Giddings, and Brownes, with appertenances, of Edward Benlowes, Esq, of his maner of Justices, in Finchingfield, by the annual rent of 8 s. one cock, one hen, and an ^g^ and a half. It was afterwards Henry Glascocks.'^ This estate paid quit-rent to Nortofts in Finchingfeild. GOBIONS, Is denominated from an ancient knightly family, surnamed Gobyon, that had considerable estates at Finchingfeild, Bardfeild, Great Lees, Laindow, East Tilbury, 8z:c Sir Thomas Gobion was High Sheriff of Essex and Hertford- shire in 1323. . . . John Gobyon is in the list of the gentry of this county in 1433. Richard Gainford, mentioned above, under Gaynesfords, held this maner of Gobyns in 1483, of John Doreward, as of his maner of Great Yeldham. John, his brother, was his heir. It was afterwards in the Wentworth family. HAWKES-HALL, Formerly belonged to a family surnamed De Hausted ; from whom it passed to the St. Martins, and the noble family of Bourchier; in which last it continued long. Some of their *This estate afterwards became the property of Mr. Ralph Jephson, by marriage with the daughter of William Raymond, of Notley. 128 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. mesne or under-tenants were, Joane, daughter of John Gilderich, of Peches in Finchingfeild, about 1422 ; and John Helyoun, Lord of the maner of Bumstead-Helion, in 1450. It is described as comprehending 100 acres of arable, 8 acres of meadow, 8 acres of pasture, and 10 acres of wood. It passed since to Bendlowes, Sic., as Justices in Finchingfeild. THE MANER OF BRADFIELD, Near a mile sout-west from the church, was holden, about the year 1393, by John Bradfend or Bradfeild, from whom it received its name. He had also the maner of Nicholls in Shalford. William Toppesfeild held it of John Durward, at the time of his decease, in 1480; and his two daughters, Elizabeth and Joane Toppesfeild, were his heirs. The latter brought it in marriage to . . . Paynell, and was his widow in 1498. The Paynell, or Pannell family, was in these parts as early as the reign of King Edward I, and had an estate at Redgewell, where John Pannell lived in 1385, and his poster- ity continued till the reign of King James I. Henry Pannell, Esq., who died the i8th of July 1573, held this maner of Bradfield of the Earl of Oxford, as of his maner of Berewikes, and other lands here. His son and heir, Henry, was then 12 years old. [This estate afterwards passed into the hands of Mr. John Darby, of Little Waltham, Essex co., and at his death devolved to Mr. Solomon Edwards of Thackstead.]* *Some curious Roman remains were found on June 28, rSoo, by a labourer making a ditch at the bottom of Red Bamfield, belonging to Bradfield Farm, situate about two miles west by south of the ancient Roman road from Camulodunum to Camboritum, (Colchester to Cambridge). "The sword blade, which was very much corroded and broken in two or three places, lay across the breast of the skeleton found therewith; it was rather a singular situation, for in general they are found by the side of the person interred. The metal vase zxv^ patera merit attention. The vase was of that form which Montfaucon calls a precEfericulum used by the Romans at their sacrifices for pouring wine into the patera. The uses of the elegant little cups of Samian ware, one of which has an ornamented border, have not, that I can find, been ascertained. As they were interred with the corpse we may suppose them to have contained holy oil, gums, balsams, unguents, &c., but this is conjecture only. The real purposes to which they were applied must remain at present in obscurity; we only know that such things were TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 129 Olivers is an ancient capital messuage in this parish, about three quarters of a mile south-east from the church! John Oliver purchased an estate of John de Raclesden, about 1360, which is supposed to have been this. He was one of Sir. John Hawkwood's Esquires, companions, and fellow- warriors ; and concerned in founding his Chantry.* Richard Simon was possessed, in 1627, of this tenement, called Olivers and Dudmans, and, in 163 1, Thomas Glascock, above mentioned, had a messuage, and 12 acres of land thereto belonging, called Olivers ; f with Ashleies and Gadleies, two other parcels. Here were in this parish two acres and a half of land, called Molle, given for one obit and a lamp; used at their funeral obsequies, particularly unguents and perfumeTof several kinds for anointing the body before interment; therefore we may conclude that they were used at the funeral, and were afterwards deposited with the body, according to the custom of the ancients. Only one Roman coin was found, and that very imperfect. Whether it was the obolus, the naulum Charojttis, is left for others to determine. A nail and a handle of a bronze patera were found at the same Ximt^'—Archcsologia, vol. xiv,pp. 24-26, 2 plates, London, 1803. *The friends and executors of Sir. John Hawkwood founded a famous chantry, for one Chaplain in the church of Hedingham, to pray for the souls of Sir John Hawkwood, Thomas Oliver, and John Newenton, Esquires, his military companions, supposed to be born in this county. The license for this foundation was in 1412; and the endowment consisted of 4 messuages, 4 tofts, 420 acres of arable, 13 acres of meadow, 20 of pasture, 4 of wood, 22 of alder, and 12 s. rent, in Sible and Castle Hengham, Gosfeild, Mapiltrested, Great and Little Gelham, and Toppes- feild. The house where the Chantry Priest lived stands at some dis- tance from the church, and bore then, and still bears, the name of Hostage; having originally been a charitable foundation for the enter- tainment of devout Pilgrims. The patronage of this chantry belonged to the Lord of the maner of Hawkwoods. fThis estate was occupied at one time, by Samuel Symonds, gent., who came to New England, in 1637, and settled at Ipswich, where the town granted him a farm of five hundred acres, lying partly within the present bounds of Topsfield. This farm was known on the records as "Olivers." See ante, pp. 40, 41. The family of Symonds was originally of Croft in Lancashire, where they continued in a direct line for about twenty generations. Richard Symonds of the third generation was seated in Great Yeldham, at "The Pool," on the eastern bank of the river Colne. He married, Jan. 9, 1580, Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Plumb, of Yeldham Hall. Samuel, the third son, married Dorothy, daughter of Thomas Harlakenden, of Earl's- Colne; was a Cursitor in Chancery; and had Oliver's in Toppesfield; but retired to New England with his family. Moraiit. 130 THE TOWN OF TOPSFIELD. with about three acres more ; which, at the suppression of Chantries, were granted to Thomas Golding, Esq. Samuel Hurrell, John Piper, Geffrey Cook, Matthias and Edmund Davey, Tho. Orford, and Tho. Teader, have also estates here. This parish is rated to the land-tax at 1692 ^. i s. 4 d. The Church, dedicated to St. Margaret, is tolerably handsome and spacious. It was formerly, all leaded ; but is now only so in part. The chancel is tiled. About 70 years ago, the tower, which was built of flint and stone fell down; but hath since been rebuilt, of brick, in a firm and substantial manner; towards which, Mr. Wilde, Rector at the time it fell, bequeathed 100 £. To it belong five bells. Here was, anciently, a rectory and vicarage ; of both which, the Prior and Convent of Stoke near Clare, whilst a priory, and when a college, the Dean and Chapter, were patrons. In what year, and by whom given to them, is unknown. The rectory was a sinecure ; and so continued, till Thomas Kemp, Bishop of London, finding the vicarage was grown so poor* that it could not maintain a Vicar, or discharge the bur- dens incumbent thereon, so that it had been vacant and neg- lected several years, he reunited and incorporated again the rectory and vicarage. At the dissolution of religious houses, the patronage of this rectory coming to the Crown, King Edward VI. gave it to his proeceptor. Sir John Cheke; upon whose unhappy fall, it reverted to the Crown, and hath re- mained in it ever since ; it being a considerable living. There are lands of about six pounds a year, belonging to the church. TOPPESFIELD, Eng. ***'., March 75, igoi.