Isles of Shoals Tragedy 1902 Oceanic Hotel Star Island

Photo permission of R Stearns Family Collection Note Not for Copy

 
The day before the incident The Portsmouth Herald printed "the drowning season is at hand" (July 16 1902) Picture from Saturday, July 19, 1902 Paper: Boston Herald (Boston, MA) Page: 12

From A chronicle of the history of the Shoals with many photographs from a former UNH Special Collections librarian Rutledge, Lyman V. The Isles of Shoals in Lore and Legend. Barre, MA: Barre Publishers, 1965; Boston: Star Island Corporation, 1971. Also see Vaughn Cottage

Two photo ads from Libby Foster DeYoung of her ancestors Mary Marshall and Eva Marshall

Captain Frederick Miles, a local fisherman, (age 48) who resided with his wife and eleven children at 2 Hunkings Street, Portsmouth, had been engaged many seasons to take out sailing parties at the Shoals.  The summer of 1902 he was so employed by Mr. Charles J. Ramsdell, manager of the Oceanic Hotel on Star Island.  Miles operated an Ipswich Bay whale boat, well known locally as a reliable sailing craft for small parties.  The Ipswich Bay was usually about twenty feet long (one account says the Miles boat was only seventeen feet, but that is incredible) rigged with two masts and sails.  The loose footed foresail was somewhat higher and larger than the mainsail.  The boat was decked over bow and stern, and was heavily ballasted with stone and iron.  “There was room amidship for six or ten passengers– no more,” says an expert writing for the Boston Journal.  Miles had no record of accident or careless conduct, and Mr. Ramsdell had complete confidence in his ability and judgement.

By his own account Captain Miles had taken out a small party which included Mr. Dingley, son of the elate Gov. Dingley of Maine, in the early afternoon, and on returning them to Appledore was handed a message informing him that a party was waiting at Star.  Mr. William Roger Greeley, a guest at the Oceanic says he was a member of the party which had just been out, and in a communication dated 1958 says “We were sailing in a whale boat owned and operated by local fishermen, when my uncle, Hon. George P. McLean, Governor of Connecticut, noticed a black cloud in the south and asked the ‘captain’ to make haste to the wharf to escape a squall.  He said there was no danger, but my uncle insisted.  As soon as we got out of the boat a party of fourteen or fifteen–the head waiter, a fine young college student, and a dozen or more waitresses got in over my uncle’s protest.” Mr. Greeley did not know, however, that five waitresses refused to go, much as they desired to join the party.  Ella Adams, Helen Twombly, Nellis Collins, Nellie Raitt and Hattie Gilmore stayed on the pier and watched the others sail off in gay laughter. Skipper Miles said, “I never sailed a jollier party than these young people…I said to them, “Where do you want to go, girls?” and they told me just to sail around the islands and not to go too far out.” There was brisk breeze from the southeast, so the Skipper headed northwest, intending to keep within the lee of the islands, and as he and came up the west coast of Appledore young Oliver Adams, brother of Ella who had stayed behind, and two other sisters who were on the boat, shouted and waved to turn back, but the party sailed on and cruised for nearly an hour to the north and east of Appledore.

The Rev. Charles E. Park watched the whole performance from the piazza of the Oceanic, and after more than fifty years revived his memory of it in a note for our “Living History.” He says:

“A young fisherman had offered to take them for a sail; and probably it was up north toward Boon Island.  On their return they were surging merrily along, close-hauled on the port tack to a brisk southwest breeze.  The girls were all ranged along the port gunwale to offset the list of the boat….As they opened up the harbor between Appledore and Star, so they could see the steam-boat pier, there was the steamer just in, and bringing another batch of delegates.  Very soon they had to go about on the starboard tack in order to shoot up into the (Appledore) harbor.  This was just what the girls wanted, for now, with the boat listing to port they could all crowd over to the starboard side and get a perfect view of the passengers leaving the steamer, not 50 feet away.  And then it happened.  The boat slipped into the lee of the steamer; and wind pressure on the sail was cut off; the boat righted with a jerk, and because all the weight was on the starboard side, she kept right on listing to starboard until water was pouring, green and heavy, over the gunwale.  Being well ballasted to make her stiff when on the wind, she sank like a plummet.”

The Rescue: It seems from various descriptions that the entire list of seventeen, including the skipper were carried down by the suction of the rapidly descending boat.  No one was caught in the rigging, and no one fell beneath the hull.  The skipper said: “My god, girls, it’s all over–we are all gone!” I yelled; and that was the last I saw of any of the party.  As the boat sank we were all drawn under by the terrible whirl and suction, but as the craft struck the bottom the air in her forced me up to the surface again.  I presume that the others also came to the top of the water, but I did not see any of the party. I was down for more than a minute, I should judge, and when I saw blue sky was some distance from where we went under.  Luckily a large soap box which had been in the boat was floating by and I put my arms around it.  This was my salvation as I cannot swim a stroke, although I have worked on the water for more than thirty years.  I drifted shoreward and soon reached the rocks, which bumped and brusied me to some extent.  I was taken from the water in an unconscious condition by two fishermen and carried to the hotel.” Oliver Adams was first to reach the floundering victims.  He said: “Lemuel Davis and I were near the Appledore Hotel when the party started out, and we waved them to turn back, but the boat kept on.  They had been out about an hour when we saw the flaw strike the boat a good blow and over she went.  With all possible haste Davis and I ran to the shore and launched a dory.  The breakers were coming high and strong, but we got out there first.  Davis had the oars and I never thought we would get to the drowning girls.  It was an awful suspense.

“When we got to where she went down all were bunched.  I grasped two of the girls, not knowing who they were and rowed rapidly to shore.  I kept their heads out of the water as best I could, but it was a hard job to go through the breakers.  We were about fifteen yards from the shore wehn I was thrown out of the boat, but still kept my hold on the girls…After a time we succeeded in reaching dry land, and then we turned our efforts to resuscitating the two girls.  It was then for the first time that I discovered that one of them was my sister Ena.  I did not know that she was in the boat…After fully half an hour we succeeded in restoring Miss Haggerty… My sister was undoubtedly dead when she reached the shore…” “The last I saw of Alward and Farrington they were struggling and trying to hold several of the girls above water.  Both were expert swimmers, but they could not hold out in such a sea against the odds.”

Steamer Sam Adams, which had just discharged her passengers at the dock now made for the rescue with only her Skipper, Charles Allen, and engineer, Peter Peterson aboard.  They threw a line to one girl who proved to be Lillian Bresnahan, and drew her aboard, but the second was too feeble to hold on, and sank.  Winds and waves were driving the steamer onto the rocks, so she had to pull away from shore, and rescued no others. By this time the waters were in tumult.  Fishermen from Star and Smuttynose came in doreis to join the frantic efforts of the Appledore boys.  These boats, bobbing like corks on the choppy sea managed to recover eight floating victims.  These were brought to shore where the whole population of the Islands was reaching out for them, and Drs. Warren and Richter were directing fruitless first aid.  The bodies were carried on cots to the music room of the Appledore Hotel, and placed in a silent row for identification by friends and relatives from Star– nine in all, five missing, somewhere under the still savage waves. Word had been cabled to Coroner Edward E. Shapleigh of Kittery and Undertaker H. W. Nickerson of Portsmouth who left Portsmouth at about 9:15 on the steamer Merryconeag.  After the bodies were identified they were carried on mattresses to the waiting Merryconeag and taken to Portsmouth where they were to be claimed by relatives. The next day (July 18) Michael E. Hurley was summoned to undertake the recovery of five missing bodies.  He assembled his own diving equipment and early Saturday morning, with John Ford of Dover as tender, went down to explore the ocean bed.  He found the whale boat intact, and announced that Skipper Miles had not been at fault in handling his sails.  Some had said he failed to free his sails in making his tack, and it was a tight sail which caused the boat to capsize, but Hurley found no tight sail.  One at a time he discovered the sunken bodies, at a depth of about sixty feet, but it was not until the next afternoon that all had been recovered.  Some faces were still recognizable, but others had been disfigured by the ravages of fish.  All were taken to Portsmouth to join their silent companions, and wait to be taken home. Guests at both hotels asked for no service on the evening of the tragedy.  Appledore recovered more quickly after the last victim had been taken to mainland, and the seas were calm once more.  But the Oceanic could not be reconciled.  Guests came from their rooms next morning in silence and seemed confused as they entered the dining room where only a handful of waitresses with haggard faces were there to serve them.  Out of twenty-two, sixteen were absent, fourteen never to return to their accustomed places.  Orders were given with choked voices if at all.  Many had no heart for eating but would rise without words and return to their rooms.

Days passed and new hands came to serve, but memory lingered long over those dark hours. Dr. Park speaks for them all in his later review: “You say, why begin your reminiscences with so sad a story?  Had you been an ardent Shoaler at that time could you have forgotten it?  Could you have attended a single session for the next fifty years without at least once during the week recalling that fearful tragedy?” Picture from Harvard Crimson Article H Coleman Farrington 

Roster of the Missing

Ena Adams, Portsmouth, NH

May Adams, Portsmouth, NH

Winfred A. Alward, Frederickon, NB

Catherine H. Bowes, Saxonville, MA

Elizabeth A. Bowes, Saxonville, MA

Bessie A. Chase, Malden, MA

Henry C. Farrington, Cambridge, MA

Laura Belle Gilmore, Exeter, MA

Bertha Graham, Danvers, MA

Isabelle Kauska, Cambridge, MA

Eva L. Marshall, Haverill, MA

Mary E. Marshall, Haverill, MA

Minnie McDonald, Cambridge, MA

Anna E. Sheehan, West Medford, MA

 Springfield Republican (Springfield, MA) Issue: 98 Page: 7

Oceanic Hotel Star Island 

Some Old Inns of Newburyport

Boston Gazette Monday January 2 1771
"William Lambert, from Yorkshire in England, begs Leave to inform the Publick that he has taken the Inn at Newburyort, formerly occupied by Mr. Choate, which is now completely repaired, and new furnished with convenient Furniture, and the greatest variety of excellent LIQUORS. He has also provided commodious Stabling for Horses and every Accommodation for Travellers and others. He humbly intreats Custom and will strive by his good Entertainment to merit the Publick Favour, at the Sign of the Wentworth Arms, near the Ferry, in Newburyport.

Six months later we find that Robert Calder (Pic above) from London, who writes himself down as " late servant to his excellency Governor Wentworth," has purchased William Lambert's lease and offers, in addition to the attractions of his predecessor's advertisement "best Entertainement with diligent attendance." Not for nothing had he bent to the imperious will of Governor Wentworth, it would appear.

Major Ezra Lunt was another of the late eighteenth century innkeepers in Newbury, adding the calling of publican quite easily to that of publisher, stagecoach proprietor and veteran of the Continental army. His inn was on the northwesterly side of Federal street, near the corner of Water street.

The splurge par excellence in the innkeeping way was made, however, by the enterprising landlord who advertised at the SIGN OF THE AMERICAN EAGLE in the summer of 1799. Under this patriotic headline "Samuel Richardson Informs his friends and the public in general that he has removed from Union Hall into that spacious and convenient building lately occupied by Captain Ebenezer Stocker, East Corner of the Ferryway Wharf, — which he has opened for public Entertainment and will make every exertion to gratify and please those who may visit his House. Every favor will be gratefully acknowledged, Good accommodation for a few Boarders: likewise Stabling for Horses."

It is interesting in this connection to note that the Newburyport selectmen had fixed by law the price of these various items of service. So, because the landlords could not underbid in price they overbade in attractions. The law placed "Dinners at taverns, for I travellers, of boiled or roast meat, with other articles equivalent, exclusive of wine at 1/16. Supper and breakfast 1/ each. Lodging 4/. Keeping a horse for one night, or for twenty-four hours, with English hay 2/—."

The Tracy house, which had accommodated Washington, became briefly the Sun Hotel, early in the eighteenth century, its proprietor, Jacob Coburn, informing the public (May 5, 1807), under a sign which quite effectively reflected the features of Old Sol, " that he has opened a spacious HOTEL in State street, Newburyport, the former mansion of the late Honorable Nathaniel Tracy Esq., and where Mr. James Prince last resided. Having at considerable pains and expense put the above in a situation suited to accommodate gentlemen he assures them with confidence that they will find every convenience and an unremitting attention to ensure the favor of the Traveller. Good horses and carriages to be had at all hours."  ad on L from Currier Old Newburyport

The dwelling-house of the eccentric "Lord" Timothy Dexter also descended temporarily to tavern uses, heralded by the following genial announcement: "The subscriber of Weare N. H. acquaints the public that he has taken the noted house on High Street, Newburyport, known by the name of Dexter House (where the Lion and the Lamb lie down together in peace and where the first characters in the land are known to make their stay) which he opened on the 20th ult. as a house of Entertainment for the weary traveller who may sojourn thither, and for the conviviality of the jovial citizens of the town who may wish to spend a social hour freed from the cares of busy life; and he respectfully solicits their company, fully persuaded that he shall be enabled to afford them satisfaction. Country people are informed that he will entertain them as reasonably and with as good cheer, both for man and beast, as any regular Innkeeper between M'Gregor's Bridge and Newburyport, having commodious and convenient stables with good attendance. He flatters himself they will call and see William Caldwell." This advertisement might have been written yesterday, so modern is its tone and so little archaic its spelling. Yet its date is April, 1810.

Prince Stetson, formerly of the Wolfe Tavern, returned to Newburyport in 1823 and assumed charge of the Washington hotel on the corner of State and Temple streets. He had the honor of serving Lafayette when the Marquis visited the town in 1824, and took the spacious apartments in the Tracy house which Washington had occupied during his visit in 1789. The landlord's son, Charles, then a lad of thirteen, had the honor of acting as valet de chambre to the liberty-lover who had done so much for America in her hour of need. From Newburyport Herald  May 31 1825

A tavern which is constantly mentioned in John Quincy Adams's account of his young manhood days in Newburyport is Sawyer's on the Bradford road at or near Brown's springs, and within the present limits of the town of West Newbury.

Picture by Southworth & Hawes

One interesting entry in the diary of this law student is that of May 21, 1788. "I walked," he says, "with Pickman in the evening to Sawyer's where we drank tea and made it almost ten o'clock before we got home. I then went up with my flute to Stacy's lodgings, our general headquarters. About a quarter before twelve Stacy, Thompson, Putnam with a couple of young lads by the name of Greenough and myself sallied forth upon a scheme of serenading. We paraded round town till almost four in the morning."

The charming home of Mrs. Harriett Prescott Spofford, near Newburyport's picturesque chain bridge, was once a tavern, also. It was then close to the public highway and its landlord, Ebenezer Pearson, was therefore not exempt from suspicion when Major Elijah P. Goodridge of Bangor, Maine, told, December 19, 1816, of having been assaulted about nine o'clock the previous evening, very near its doors, and robbed of a large sum of money. From Miner Descent

Pearson proved to be only one of the many who were subsequently accused, however, and, when Daniel Webster took the matter in hand he made Goodridge so contradict himself on the witness-stand that verdicts of " not guilty" were brought in for all the defendants. The whole thing appears to have emanated from the brain of the Major who, in order to escape financial trouble and at the same time account for the loss of his personal property, devised the scheme of a robbery and carried it into effect, firing with his own hand the pistol of the "assailant." Picture below Harriet  P  Spofford

One Newburyport tavern-keeper was a good deal more permanently embarrassed by the cleverness of one of his guests, as we shall see from the following papers on file at the State House in Boston and having to do with the escape of Bridget Phillips, who had been sent to Newburyport for safe keeping during the siege of Boston: "To the Honorable Provincial Congress at Watertown, June 22, 1775
"The petition of Bridget Philips humbly showeth that she hath lately arrived from Ireland and is desirous of going to her husband now in Boston. She therefore prays the Honorable Congress that they would give her a permit to go into the town of Boston & your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. BRIDGET PHILIPS."

In answer to this petition the following resolution was adopted June 24, 1775: — "Resolved, that General Ward do not suffer or permit Bridget Phillips, wife to an officer under General Gage, to go into Boston, nor any other person whatever, without leave first obtained of this Congress, or some future house of representatives; and that an express be forthwith sent to the committee of safety for the town of Newburyport, to order them to take the most affectual measures to prevent the said Bridget from going out of this province, or to Boston." The lady got the better of the law-makers, however, as the following letter shows: —"Newburyport, 26th July, 1775. "Sir: —
"We received some time since a Resolve of the late Congress ordering that Bridget Phillips (who called herself the wife of a Captain Phillips in Gen. Gage's Army) should not leave the Province & that the Committee here be desired to attend to her. Upon the receipt of it we applied to the Tavern Keeper, at whose house she was, to keep an eye upon her movements & to inform us should she take any suspicious steps, at the same time informing her that she must not leave the Province. This she judged to be very harsh but appeared for a month past so to acquiesce in it as to elude any suspicion in us that she would take pains for her escape. Upon the arrival of the New General at Cambridge she seemed to flatter herself, her case might be more tenderly considered by them & that upon application they would permit her to go to her husband. This she mentioned to several of the committee but was told she must not go to Cambridge without consent of a majority of them. However that she never asked & the 18th Inst, she took place in a Chaise with Capt. John Blake (formerly of Boston) from hence to Salem, giving out that she was going to Head Quarters at Cambridge. The Tavern Keeper (Mr. Greenleaf) supposing it not beyond the limits by the Order & from a faulty Inattention never gave the Committee notice. It was not for a day or two known by us that she was gone. Upon enquiry we find that she hired a Chaise & Boy at Salem & in company with Benjamin Jenks (who is said to belong to Casco Bay) she went the next day to Haverhill & the next to Portsmouth & by the assistance of this Jenks procured herself to be put on board the Scarborough Man of War there. This Intelligence was bro't us by the said Mr. Greenleaf whom we sent in pursuit of her.
"As she was a Woman & appeared of Some Fashion we did not think it expedient to put her under close Confinement neither did we suppose by the Order it was intended.
She left here two Trunks supposed to contain valuable apparrell which might prevent in Mr. Greenleaf the apprehention of her intending to go off. We judged it proper to give you this information & as she wrote for her Trunks to be sent to Boston we beg your Order about the delivery of 'em. Upon this occasion give us leave to remark what we hinted formerly to the Committee of War at Cambridge the ease with which an escape may at any time be made to the stationed ship at Portsmh as things are now ordered. We are respectfully

"Your obedt servnts "JONA. TITCOMB. "p. order of the Committee. "To the Honb. James Warren, Esq., (pic above) speaker of the House of Representatives, to be communicated."

The result of all this was that, though Bridget did not get her trunks, Landlord Greenleaf was made pretty uncomfortable,— and what was of far greater importance,— the seaport towns were given leave to do whatever might seem to them wise in the way of preventing other such escapes.

The privileges of tavern-keeping were so great that often a man with every right to whatever his house might earn was made exceedingly uncomfortable by his rivals. Such was the case with the host of the Boynton Tavern on the road between Newburyport and Rowley. In March, 1811, the other landlords of Byfield protested against Boynton's tavern, stating that while it had been established for some time they doubted whether its continued existence was necessary. "The influence of this tavern is pernicious to the morals, the peace and comfort of some families in the vicinity," declares the protest; after which it goes on to allege that " the undersigned are credibly informed that people are there at very unreasonable hours in the night" and that " even the holy Sabbath is profaned by persons who there pass the Sacred hours in an idle and dissolute manner." Whereupon the petitioners humbly prayed "that the license of Mr. Boynton may not be renewed."

Somehow, though, the tavern lived on, and once it was even able to add to its capacity, thereby bestowing the name of Adding upon the latest scion of the family. Another child of this eccentric landlord had been called Tearing because tavern-repairs were in that stage of development at his birth. Verily, some of those old time publicans were men of decided originality.
Poore Tavern Newbury MA from David Allen Lambert

From September 2, 1854 Front page Newburyport Herald William Lambert's son

Taproom Furnishings of an Old Ordinary from Stage-coach and Tavern Days, by Alice Morse Earle

Skipper Lunt, Seaman
Mary Caroline Crawford on Old Inns in Newburyport,  
News Bank,
J J Currier History of Ould Newbury  

Edward Henry Little and Spencer-Pierce-Little Farm

Edward Henry Little son of Henry Little and Phebe ? was born September 21, 1819 in Newbury Ma, and died February 27, 1877 in Newbury Ma. He married Catherine Adams Little (1828-1923) on March 21, 1850 in Newbury Ma. daughter of Ebenizer Little and Eliza Adams. Edward was GR Gr Gr Grandmother Sarah Jackson Little cousin

Edward was a tenant on the Spencer-Pierce-Little Farm for approximately ten years (Essex County Registry of Deeds Book). He had a dairy business and farmed a variety of vegetables sold in community.
Children:
Henry Bailey Little
Daniel Noyes Little
Edward Francis Little

According to Yamin Methany Edward was most certainty an interested owner and several of his accounts and journals show how meticulous and engaged he was in the everyday affairs. in 1991 hundreds of copies of the Massachusetts Ploughman were discovered in the attic of the house. Edward also had a subscription to the agricultural newspapers until his death in 1877. He was a member of the Essex Agricultural society and was a trustee before he owned the farm.

1812 plan below show that the property served multiple agricultural purposes, providing tillage, pasture. salt marsh, and wood lots.

After his death his sons Daniel and Edward and started a business of importing draft horses from the Midwest.
From Transactions By Essex Mass Agricultural Society
Edward H. Little, Newbury, draft horse, 4th premium, 5 00

Edward F. Little, Newbury; best teamster of horses, Loring

premium, $10 00 Picture: View from the west of the Spencer-Pierce-Little Farm1855 Photograph by Wilfred A. French

Thursday, July 17, 1947  Paper: Boston Herald (Boston, MA)

A Day to Remember Old Newbury
Descendants of George Little of Newbury
Visit The Spencer-Pierce Little Farm @ Historic New England Below is their link and some info
Little Family Papers

Tristram Dalton & Family

By Melissa Berry

Please see Article The First Daltons in the New World by Rodney G. Dalton

Tristram Dalton

From Vital Records & Benjamin Labaree Patriots and Partisans

Born   May 28, 1738 Newburyport, MA
Died   May 30, 1817 Boston, MA
Son of Captain Michael Dalton and Mary Little 
He married Ruth Hooper, daughter of  Robert Hooper and Ruth Swett Hooper of Marblehead, MA in 1758
Michael Dalton son of Philemon Dalton and Abigail Gove Dalton, b. Hampton, N. H., February 22, 1709.
Mary Little was daughter of Tristram Little and Anna Emery 


Children: By his marriage with Ruth Hooper he had ten children; four boys and six girls. Three of his daughters only lived to grow up. All of the boys and one of the girls died in childhood. The loss of his sons was a great affliction to him. In a letter written in 1790 to his friend Mr. Hodge, congratulating him on the safe return of his son John from a sea voyage, he says, " alas ! for me, I have no sons whose return I shall ever welcome." from Eben F. Stone

1. Mary Dalton, b. July 4, 1764; d. young.

2. Ruth Hooper Dalton, b. April 8, 1769; m. July 21, 1789, Lewis Deblois.

3. Mary Dalton, b. March 4, 1771. m. Hon. Leonard White of Haverhill

4. Sarah Dalton, b. Feb. 19, 1775.

5. Catherine Dalton, b. April 13, 1777.

6.  Robert Hooper, b. Apr. 8, 1769  bur. Sept. 6, 1775


The Hooper Family: 

Robert Hooper became a merchant of very great extent of business and owner of large and somewhat widely separated properties. His control of the fishing business of Marblehead and other interests was so pronounced that he was popularly called "King Hooper." He owned lands in Marblehead, Salem, Danvers, and at Lyndeborough, N. H., and elsewhere. He had a large and elegant house at Marblehead and also a mansion at Danvers where he did "royal" entertaining. His vessels sailed to the fishing grounds of this coast and to foreign ports. In May, 1747, he agreed to pay the expenses of a school for poor children, which was established. He had a high reputation for honor and integrity in his business dealings, and for his benevolence. He presented Marblehead with a fire engine in March, 1751. One of his schooners, the Swallow, was captured at the West Indies in 1756. He was representative to the General Court in 1755; declined a seat in the Council on account of deafness in 1759.

Robert Hooper, Esquire, was one of the thirty-six persons appointed " councillers of the Province" in 1774, at the beginning of the agitation which led to the Revolution; and was one of twelve of that number who refused to accept the honor and participate in what they felt would be unjust to the people. He was, however, rather inclined to the side of the king during at least the early part of the war. He died May 20, 1790. From Hooper Genealogy

The Dalton Family:

Michael Dalton was evidently a man of ambition, and held the English ideas of family pride and consequence. He died, in 1770, at the age of sixty-one, too early to enjoy the satisfactions which he naturally anticipated from his success in business. His widow, the mother of Tristram, and a most estimable woman, afterwards married Patrick Tracy, the ancestor, on the maternal side, of the distinguished Charles, James and Patrick Tracy Jackson, to whom the Lowells, the Lees, and others of distinction are related. She died Dec. 10, 1791, aged 78. Michael Dalton lived, during the early part of his life, en the northerly side of what is now Market square, near the head of Greenleafs wharf. His portrait is in the possession of a great-granddaughter. It indicates considerable force of character, and his figure, attitude and expression all impress one with the idea that he was a man of energy and self-reliance. from Eben F. Stone

Patrick Tracy

After his death his entire property, with the exception of the widow's thirds, went to his only child Tristram. He made no will, and his estate was never entered in Probate Court, so that there is no satisfactory evidence to be obtained of the extent and value of his property at the time of his decease. It was apparently ample to satisfy his son's wishes and expectations, for it seems that after his father's death he gave his attention not so much to business as to other matters more congenial to his taste. In 1782, Tristram Dalton paid the largest individual tax in Newburyport, the amount being £131-5-6. The same year Jonathan Jackson's tax was £100-1-5 ; Stephen Hooper's,£98-10-8; Joseph Marquand's, £67-6-7; Thomas Thomas's, £56-14-1; William Bartlet's, £37-7-8 ; Moses Brown's, £22-5-11. Tristram Dalton was named for his maternal grandfather, Tristram Little, who was a successful trader in Newburyport, having his place of business in Market square near the corner of Liberty street, and he, too, was named for his maternal grandfather, Tristram Coffin, the ancestor of the English admiral, Sir Isaac Coffin, and an important man in his day. The name of Tristram has been handed down to the present time in different families which trace their descent to Tristram Coffin.    from Eben F. Stone

 

Tristram attended Governor Dummer Academy and went on to study law at Harvard College (1755) and in was in the same class with John Adams. After graduation he worked in Salem, but soon left law and joined his father in business in Newburyport. 

Tristram had "a deep interest in agriculture and horticulture which was shown in the extensive garden of his residence on State street, and his estate on Pipestave hill. West Newbury."   from Sarah Emery 

Tristram does not appear to have taken any special interest in public affairs until the commencement of the Revolution, when he unhesitatingly put his heart and soul into the cause of his country. With what strength and ardor of patriotism he congratulates his friend Elbridge Gerry, then a member of the Continental Congress, on the Declaration of Independence in the following letter of July, 1776

Dear Sir: I wish you joy on the late Declaration, an event so ardently desired by your good self and the people you particularly represent. We are no longer to be amused with delusive prospects. The die Is cast. All is.at stake. The way Is made plain. No one can now doubt on which side it Is his duty to act. We have everything to hope from the goodness of our cause. The God of justice is omnipotent. We are not to fear what man or multitude can do. We have put on the harness, and I trust It will not be put off until we see our land of security and freedom, the wonder of the other hemisphere, the asylum of all who pant for deliverance from bondage.

Wishing every blessing to attend you, I am dear sir with great regard,

Your Obedient Servant,

Tristram Dalton 

Tristram served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1782 to 1785, and served as speaker in 1784. He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1783 and 1784, but did not attend. He served as a Massachusetts state senator from 1785 to 1788, and was appointed to the United States Senate in 1788. He served from March 4, 1789 to March 3, 1791. He spent his later years as surveyor Boston port from November 1814 until his death in 1817. According to records, Dalton lost all his fortune: he was induced by George Washington to invest in property about what is now Washington City. This did not prove for him a successful financial venture. Tristram Dalton was chosen vestryman of Fairfax Church, Fairfax Parish, Fairfax county, in 1789 (see page 268, Vol. I, Meade's Old Families and Churches of Virginia).

 Picture from www.clipperheritagetrail.com 

Below The Dalton Club built by Michael Dalton in 1746, was also the home of his son Tristram Dalton, merchant prince and Senator, who maintained a six-horse coach and an establishment that for luxury remains famous. According to legend At his death he left 1200 gallons of choice wines in his cellars. From Porter Sargent

Below: Invitation From President and Mrs. Washington to Tristram Dalton and family Ink, laid paper March 1, 1793 from Mount Vernon Museum

Quakers in Newbury MA

By Melissa Berry @ Newburyport News

---- — “The tale is one of an evil time,
When souls were fettered and thought was crime.
And heresy’s whisper above its breath
Meant shameful scourging, and bonds and death.”
— John Greenleaf Whittier

As we enjoy this season of good food and drink, as well as the liberty to choose which local house of the Lord we fancy, we can be thankful that Puritan tyrants no longer patrol our pastures as they did in our ancestors’ day.  

In Newbury, the early settlers ran into conflict with Puritan authority over ecclesiastical differences. Quakers especially were in the hot bed, and anyone that harbored the “cursed sect” would feel the fiery fury of local officials. These aggressively “bloodthirsty” and “extremely fanatical” men were not open to compromise. When dealing with dissenters, in the words of John Proctor, Puritan “justice would freeze beer.”

When the Quakers came to the Colonies, they brought with them a spiritual democracy that threatened the Puritan aristocratic system. Their simplistic faith had an absence of clergy, creed and sacrament; moreover, they gave women equality. The head honchos like Endicott and Hawthorne labeled them “dangerous intruders invading our borders” and “wandering vagabonds.” Despite the tenacious efforts of the magistrates who wanted to eliminate the “vile heretics,” which included branding, whipping and cropping, the Quakers just kept coming, and the good folk of Newbury were more than willing to board and support them.

Phelps Farm

In the summer months of 1658, the farm of Robert Adams played host to two Quaker missionaries, William Brend and William Leddra. The Phelps family of Salem held a secret Quaker meeting, and Adams escorted the guest speakers to the gathering. See Hannah (Baskel) Phelps Phelps Hill - A Quaker Woman and Her Offspring Unfortunately, word got out and the constables came to break up the assembly and haul in all the “quaking heretics.”

When the law boys arrived, chaos broke out, and perhaps the distraction of finding their wives in the midst of this devil’s den allowed Adams to sneak his guests out and bring them back to Newbury. However, it would not be long before the authorities would track them down. Captain Gerrish and the minister paid a call on their buddy Adams, and despite their best efforts to resolve things amicably, Brend and Leddra were turned over to Salem Court. Adams paid the fines, but his friends faced a different fate.
Picture of Quaker Trial from Laura George

The tragic events that followed were nothing short of extreme cruelty. Confined to the Boston jail, Brend and Leddra were starved and repeatedly beaten with a three-pitched rope until they were on the brink of death. The disapproving sentiment of the public reached Endicott. Knowing he had to intervene, Endicott sent in a surgeon. Russell L. Jackson asserts that the aged Brend, with help from an “unseen Healer,” rose from his sick cot as he still had more light to spread and preach about in New England.

In August 1659, Thomas Macy (see Powow Preacher Spats with Puritans) was prosecuted and fined 30 shillings for hosting four Quakers. Two of his guests, William Robinson and Marmaduke Stephenson, would later be executed upon the gallows on Dec. 27, 1659. (Visit The Thomas Macy Home-Colby House

Fed up with the Puritan government, Macy “shook the dust from off his feet” and departed to Nantucket, where the iron hand of these despots did not reach. Thomas left “because he could not in justice to the dictates of his own conscience longer submit to the tyranny of the clergy and those in authority” (Macy Papers). His journey was a spiritual sign of deliverance as he, his family, Isaac Coleman and Edward Starbuck survived a fierce storm that raged like the Furies on their open boat.

Others like Coffin, Swain, Pike and Folger joined Macy on Nantucket. Allen Coffin noted that, while it was not an Elysium, the island was indeed blessed with “plenty’s golden smile” and “a refuge of the free.” Thanks to these brave, forward-thinking men, Nantucket became the first settlement to enjoy complete separation of Church and State.

On March 16, 1663, John Emery was presented to the court at Ipswich and charged with entertaining Quakers. The whole ordeal caused quite a buzz, and Rev. Parker showed up with a posse, demanding some answers. Sarah Emery asserts: “At this period one can scarcely depict the commotion such an incident must have caused in the secluded and quiet settlement of Quascacunquen, on the banks of the winding Parker, or appreciate the courage evinced by John Emery and his wife in thus rising above popular prejudice, and fanatical bigotry, and intolerance.” For this offence, the court fined Emery four pounds, plus costs and fees.

While we are grateful to live with religious freedom, we must also be grateful that our ancestors’ spirit, courage and light was not extinguished despite the tyrannical terror of dark Puritanical forces.
Happy Thanksgiving! Thank You to the Port Library Archives and Cheryl Follansbee.