Hampton Falls NH Fogg Collection

From the John D Fogg Collection @ Lane Memorial Library  Hampton NH

 

Anson Green Phelps & The Phelps Dodge Dynasty

From the Archives For my Phelps Group Connection to join Phelps Genealogy in America Ad 1887 Guide to the Phelps Dodge Co
Phelps Dodge Co A History of Phelps Dodge, 1834-1950
Junior engineer to president, director of Phelps Dodge, 1937 to 1983 oral history transcript 1996 19th-Century Origins
In 1834 founder Anson Phelps, a New York entrepreneur thoroughly experienced in the import-export trade and well-connected in his targeted British market, formed Phelps, Dodge & Co. Along with his junior partners, sons-in-law William Dodge and Daniel James, Phelps supplied his English customers with cotton, replacing it on the homeward journey with tin, tin plate, iron, and copper, for sale to government, trade, and individual consumers in the United States. Before long, Phelps started a manufacturing company in Connecticut called the Ansonia Brass and Battery Company, and in 1845 he helped organize the Ansonia Manufacturing Company, which produced kettles, lamps, rivets, buttons, and other metal items. Phelps steered his fledgling empire grimly through a seven-year panic that began during 1837. His reward came during the following 14 year s of national prosperity, when large numbers of his products went west with new settlers, accompanied travelers on the rapidly expanding railroads, and provided a modicum of comfort for miners at the recentl y discovered Sierra Nevada gold deposits in California. Even broader markets came from such inventions as the McCormick reaper and the electric telegraph, whose need for cable wire would swell Phelps Dodge c offers well into the next century. By 1849 the company was capitalized at almost $1 million, and its profits were almost 30 percent. Phelps's death in 1853 gave his son and each of his two sons-in-law a 25 percent interest in the business, with 15 percent going to a younger son-in-law. This second partnership was scarcely five years old when Anson Phelps, Jr., died. On January 1, 1859, the partnership was revised again, to increase the firm's capitalization to $1.5 mill ion and to give William Dodge and Daniel James each a 28 percent share. With reorganization complete, the company turned its attention to developing industries such as mining. An interest in timber had begun in the mid-1830s, when Phelps, Dodge accepted timber-lands in Pennsylvania in lieu of payment for a debt. Later it built the world's largest lumber mill there, establishing a timber agency in Baltimore, Maryland, to send its products to domestic and foreign customers. Despite these diversification, the principal interests of the company were still mercantile. However, through the advice of James Douglas , a mining engineer and chemical geologist, Phelps, Dodge was persuaded to take a large block of stock in the Morenci copper mine in what was then the Arizona Territory. Morenci was owned by the Detroit Copper Company, which exchanged the stock for a $30,000 loan. Douglas was also enthusiastic about prospects for another claim called Atlanta, situated in Arizona's Bisbee district, about 200 miles southwest of Morenci. In 1881 the company bought the Atlanta claim for $40,000. Two years later Phelps, Dodge had a chance to purchase the adjoining Copper Queen mine, which was then producing about 300 tons of ore monthly. The partnership decided to buy Copper Queen when Douglas hit th e main Atlanta lode in 1884, at almost the same time that a Copper Queen tunnel penetrated the lode from a different spot. Arizona mining operations at the time stuck strictly to the "rule of the apex," according to which a claim owner could follow a vein of ore onto another claim, if the deposit had come closest to the surface on his land. Th is had occurred with Copper Queen, and Phelps, Dodge, rather than ris k losing this strike to the Copper Queen owners, purchased the Copper Queen mine, merging it with the Atlanta claim. In August 1885 Phelps, Dodge & Co. decided to streamline its operations by incorporating the subsidiary Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company in New York, with James Douglas as president. Cautiously, Douglas made no major acquisitions for ten years. Then, he bought the Moctezuma Copper Company in Sonora, Mexico, from the Guggenheim family. Two years later he purchased the Detroit Copper Company.

James S Douglas Mine Tales (1867–1949) Antique Ansonia Clocks was the first company owned by Anson Green Phelps

 

Rev Anson Green Phelps Dodge JR B: June 30, 1860 N Y City, NY D: 1898 St. Simon's Island, Georgia Father: Anson Green Phelps Dodge SR (1834-c. 1899) Mother: Rebecca Wainwright Grew (1836-1925) Married: (1) Ellen Ada Phelps Dodge Eloped June 5, 1880, London, England Married: (2) Anna Deborah Gould (1856-1927) 1890 St. Simon's Island, Georgia. Children: by Ellen Ada Phelps Dodge: none by Anna Deborah Gould: Anson Green Phelps Dodge, 3rd (1891-1894)

Ellen was the daughter of Rev. D. Stewart Dodge, of New York State, a Presbyterian clergyman, and his wife Rachael. Ellen married her cousin, Rev. Anson Green Phelps Dodge, and although she died in India fifteen years before he did, she is buried with him on St. Simons Island. Find A Grave Born: Feb. 28, 1862 New York, USA Death: Nov. 29, 1883 Allahabad, India An excerpt from the long obituary of her husband, which appeared in the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, August 28, 1898, on page 4: "When his first wife died in India, Mr. Dodge had her body embalmed by one of the most noted embalmers in that country. It was inclosed in a metallic coffin and then placed in an ebony casket. This was carried across two continents to its last resting place on St. Simons. At Frederica the memorial church stands, one of the most expensive of the smaller churches in this section. On the wall to the right of the altar this inscription is engraved on a marble tablet:
To the glory of God and in loving memory of Ellen Ada Phelps Dodge, beloved wife of Rev. A. G. P. Dodge, Jr. Born February 28th, 1862; died November 29, 1883, at Allahabad, India. To her under God is due the rebuilding and endowing of this church. May she rest in peace."
Rev. Dodge wrote directions that his former wife's remains were to be taken from their ebony casket and placed in a pine coffin like his own, and the two were then to be placed side by side in the burying grounds at Frederica. Their grave was dug "under the shadow of Wesley Oak, where John Wesley first expounded Methodism in this country..."

Anna was the daughter of Horace B. Gould and Deborah Abbott, both of Glynn Co., Georgia. She married Rev. Anson Greene Phelps Dodge, Jr. as his second wife.Birth: Dec., 1856 Glynn County Georgia, USA Death:  Mar. 18, 1927 Saint Simons Island Glynn County Georgia, USA

See The Phelps Papers: The papers consist of diaries kept by Anson Greene Phelps, philanthropist, officer in several voluntary associations, manufacturer, and founder of Ansonia, Connecticut. The diaries cover the years 1806-1807 and 1816-1853 and primarily contain thoughts on religious subjects.

Anson Green Phelps I (1781-1853) Father Thomas Phelps (1741 - 1789) Mother Dorothy Lamb Woodbridge Phelps (1745 - 1792) Of an old Connecticut family. Orphaned at age ten, Anson Green Phelps I (1781-1853) was apprenticed to a saddle maker and later set himself up in business in Hartford as a merchant. He traded saddles against cotton from Charleston SC which in turn he sold in New York and bought there the dry goods he marketed in his store. After the war of 1812, Anson Phelps moved to New York, where he associated himself to fellow Connecticut trader Elisha Peck, to form Phelps & Peck. The firm prospered and became New York's largest metal importer, with Phelps selling the metals in New York and buying cotton in the South which he exported to England. Peck handled the English end of the business in Liverpool. After the collapse of their new six story store at Cliff Street, the partnership was dissolved and Phelps took two of his sons-in-laws as partners to for Phelps, Dodge & Co in New York and Phelps, James & Co in Liverpool. Starting in 1834, Anson Greene Phelps involved himself in the brass industry which emerged in the Naugatuck valley in Connecticut. By the time of his death, some twenty years later, Phelps was one of the main factors in the copper and brass business, at the same time as Phelps Dodge & Co was the dominant metal importer. Ansonia, the industrial township he founded, stands as a monument to Phelps' enterprising spirit. Like other merchant capitalists, Anson Phelps had many other interests, including railroads, notably the New York & Erie, and banking. He owned a controlling interest in the Bank of Dover New Jersey, which was managed by his friend Thomas B. Segur. When he died in 1853, he left an estate exceeding $2 million, of which half was real estate in New York City and Ansonia. From his marriage to Olivia Eggleston, he had six daughters and one son Anson Phelps jr., who married but had no children. Three of his sons-in-law (William Earl Dodge, Daniel James and James Stokes) joined Phelps Dodge & Co and fathered one of New York's most renowned merchant dynasty.

The family to which Mr. Dodge belonged is descended from William Dodge, son of John Dodge of Somersetshire, England, who was one of the settlers of Charlestown, Mass., in 1629. A branch of this family settled in Connecticut about the time of the Revolution from which came David Low Dodge, grandfather of Wm. E. Dodge, jr., who married Sarah, daughter of the Rev. Aaron Cleveland, grandfather of ex-President Cleveland R Dodge's mother was Melissa Phelps, daughter of Anson Green Phelps, founder of the firm of Phelps, Dodge & Co., and Oliver Egleston, daughter of Elihu and Elizabeth (Olcott) Egleston. She was descended from George Phelps who came over in the Mary and John and first settled in Dorchester, and numbered among her ancestors, Governors Dudley, Haynes and Wyllys.
Read Letter 1839 Melissa Phelps Dodge 

Mr. William Earle Dodge received his education in New York City and followed the path his father trod before him both in business and ublic life. In 1864 he became a partner in the firm of Phelps, Dodge & Co., an finally senior member of the firm. His connection with this house, however, constituted only one of the various interests of his business life. The town of Ansonia, Conn., had been named after his grandfather, Anson G. Phelps, and its industries were fostered by the two families united in the Phelps-Dodge marriage. He became president of the Ansouia Clock Company, and a director in the Ansonia Brass Company. He was also a director in many railway and mining comanies, a trustee of the New York Life Insurance Com any, and the Atlantic utual Insurance Company, and was vice-president o the New York Chamber of Commerce at the time of his death.

Yet varied as were his business interests these constituted only a fraction of the many interests with which Mr. Dodge identified himself. He was one of the most patriotic, public spirited and philanthropic citizens of New York, and perhaps the most active of them all in things which concerned its best welfare.
While still a young man he began to take a deep interest in all matters affecting the public welfare and he gave his hearty support to almost every reform or public work of importance. During the civil war he was active in many ways; was one of the founders of the Union League Club, and a projector of the Sanitar Fair; served in the Allotment and Sanitary Commissions, and was one of the commissioners of the State of New York to supervise the condition of its troops in the field. His commission was one of the first signed b President Lincoln, and at the conclusion of his service he received a vote 0 thanks from the Legislature of the State for his efficiency. "At the time of the draft riots in New York City, he was the man who found the ammunition which the militia used to tell the mob. The city was in a turmoil, and the militia was under arms in t e armories, but not a cartridge could be found for the soldiers. The State and federal authorities were appealed to without success, and the city was looking forward to another night of terror, when it occurred to Mr. Dodge to go to the navy yard and secure ammunition from the commandant there. The commandant was willing to give the cartridges, but could furnish no men to take them to the armories, as he was having trouble defending the yard. At last Mr. Dodge got a truck, loaded the ammunition on it, and himself drove it through the,streets to one of the armories. The militia was armed and the city was quieted."—N. 1’. Tribune.
Mr. Dodge was much interested in various public institutions and societies founded to promote the knowledge of science and art among the people. He was vice-president, trustee and chairman of the Executive Committee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and was very active in its behalf; was also vice president and trustee of the American Museum of Natural History, and a trustee of the New York Botanical Garden; was a trustee of the Carnegie Institution, and a member of the New York Academy of Science, the Linnehan Society of New York, the American Geographical Society, the American Historical Association,and of the New York Historical Society . But he specially interested himself in the welfare of the young men 0 New York Cit , devoting himself to the work of the Young Men's Christian Association, with which he was connected from the be inning of its prosperity, serving it for many years as president of its Board 0 Trustees. It was largely through his activity that its first building in Twenty-third Street was erected, and he lived to carry through the project of a new building for the Association now almost completed. He was also president of The Evangelical Alliance, and of the National Temperance Society; was vice-president of the American Sunday School Union, and chairman of the National Arbitration Committee. He contributed liberally of his means as well as his services to the institutions and objects with which he was identified, and it was often said no good cause ever appealed to his generosity in vain. He presented to the garrison at Governor's Island a fine Young Men's Christian Association building, which was opened in July, 1900. He led a fund to endow Union Theoloical Seminary as well as gave valuable moral support to that institution. e founded a lectureship on " The Duties of Christian Citizenship" at Yale; gave largely to the Woman's Hospital, and as chairman of the Abram S. Hewitt Memorial Fund collected over two hundred thousand dollars, to which amount he was one of the largest contributors. His last beneficence was the gift to Columbia University, in 1902, of Earl Hall, as the club center of the university.
William E. Dodge married Sarah Tappan Hoadley, daughter of the late David Hoadley, president of the Panama Railroad, who survives him. He leaves also one son, Cleveland Hoadley Dodge, member of the firm of Phelps, Dodge & Co., and three daughters; Grace Hoadley Dodge, who has distinguished herself by her charitable work, especially amon working girls, and was the first woman to be appointed a member of the New York Board of Education; Mrs. William C. Osborn of New York, and May M. Dodge of London, England.

Anson Phelps Stokes (detail of a painting by Cecilia Beaux, Metropolitan Museum) Helen Louisa Phelps and Anson Phelps Stokes at the time of their engagement

Clockwise from center: Helen Phelps Stokes, J. Graham, Isaac Newton, Helen O., Sarah M., 1872. Stokes Records, vol I, after p. 182 
Dodge Burial: Bronx Bronx County New York, USA
Plot: Ravine, section 33, catacomb 2 Woodlawn Cemetery

Golden Wedding; Dodge Wednesday, June 26, 1878 Springfield Republican MA 

Phelps Dodge Mercantile Co. Dawson, NM

Ben Perely Poore So how do you like them APPLES!

A Great story on Poore, but before you taste this tidbit a little back ground info from the Archives and some new adds from a private collection

Ben Perley Poore was born November 2 1820 in Neburyport, MA and died May 29, 1887 Washington DC. He was the son of Benjamin Poore (1797 - 1853) and Mary Perley Dodge Poore (1799 - 1861)

Served in Civil War as a Major in Company A, 8th Mass. Inf. was a member of Major Boyd G.A.R. Post #151 in West Newbury. He married (June 12, 1849) Virginia, daughter of Francis and Mary (Thompson) Dodge, of Georgetown, D. C. Ben attended Governor Dummer Academy and after graduation became editor of Georgia paper.

In a private Collection purchased last month. Signature of Poore--Never bet on election if you do, pay up, or wheel up.

In 1844 "he was authorized by the Massachusetts legislature to procure copies of all the important documents relating to the American Revolution on file in the archives of the French government. Ten large volumes of valuable manuscript papers and two volumes of maps were sent to the state house in Boston as the result of his labors and investigations in Paris. When the work was accomplished, he returned home, and soon after was engaged as Washington correspondent of the Boston Atlas." Currier "Ould Newbury"   Complete list on the works of Poore

Taken from The Celebration of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Ipswich, MA
A response will be made by Hon. Ben: Perley Poore of our sister town, West Newbury.

Is there a society with a long name here at Ipswich, whose protection I can claim against the cruelty of calling upon me — a reporter, and not a speaker — to address this brilliant audience? I find, too, upon reference to the programmer, that I am one of two respondents to this toast— a pilot balloon, as it were, sent off in advance of the larger and imposing one which is to follow. It was perhaps well, however, that a resident of Old Newbury should be selected to respond to the toast of " Our Guests;" for during the past two centuries and a half the men, women, and children of Old Newbury have often been welcomed here. A convenient resting-place, in the old days of horse-power, for those who journeyed between Newbury and Salem, Ipswich was noted for the hospitality of her citizens and the reasonable charges of her tavern-keepers. Why, Mr. President, the men of Newbury have drunk enough punch and flip here in Ipswich to fill the channel beneath Choate's Stone Bridge ; and I doubt whether there was a headache in the whole of it. Ipswich Photo

Newbury, sir, was once a part of Ipswich, which was originally bounded on the north by the Merrimack River, on the east by Gloucester, and on the south by the Salem villages now known as Manchester, Wenham, and Gloucester. It was an Indian sagamoreship, or earldom, of which Masconnomet was the last sachem, and he sold his territory to Mr. John Winthrop, afterward the governor of Connecticut, for twenty pounds.
While I am not disposed to condemn the Puritans, who endeavored to found a theocracy in the forests of "New England, I may be pardoned for saying that they were dependent on the military men who had been invited to cross the ocean, and who were not disposed to submit to the strict laws dictated by bigotry. At Ipswich, which was one of the frontier towns behind which Boston and Salem found security, Major General Denison, and others with martial reputations, gave proof of that military spirit which the soldiers of Ipswich afterwards displayed so gallantly and so gloriously in the old French war, in the Revolutionary struggle with Great Britain, and in the recent contest for the suppression of the Rebellion.
But, sir, I am to speak of the "guests" of Ipswich. Shall I go back to the Norsemen, who were here 877 years ago, or to Captain John Smith, who called the place Argona when he visited it in 1614? Shall I go back to Governor Winthrop, who came here in 1637; or to President Rogers of Harvard College, whose father preached here, and who married a daughter of General Denison; or to Governor Shute, who was escorted from here to Newbury by the once famous Ipswich troop? Shall I recall the visit of that gifted Frenchman, the Marquis de Chastellux, or that of the Father of his Country, George Washington, who here reviewed in 1789 the Third Essex Regiment, many of whose officers had served under him during the Revolution; or of General Lafayette, who in 1824 once more fraternized with his old comrade Colonel Wade, who was the commander in the Revolution (permit me to say) of my maternal great-grandfather, Robert Dodge of the Ipswich hamlets? Shall I recall those guests of Ipswich, — John Adams, Lowell, Parsons, Dexter, Webster, Story, Cushing, and Choate, — who often, with others "learned in the law," used to plead for their clients in the old Court House, and then tell stories at the tavern fireside?

What a brilliant panorama would the visits of the distinguished guests of Ipswich make and how much could be said about .them, did time permit! But, sir, I will not weary your patience, and I will leave the subject in the hands of my eloquent coadjutor, expressing in conclusion a hope that the good old town of Ipswich may long continue to hospitably welcome her guests, and that her sons and daughters may say of her, as the Italians did of their beloved city, Esto Perpetua ! " Be thou eternal"

Ben and Virginia Poore had two children Alice Poore, born at Indian Hill August 27, 1854.  She married Frederick Strong Moseley, of Newburyport, Sept. 29, 1880. She died at Indian Hill July 12, 1883, leaving one son, Ben Perley Poore Moseley, born at Indian Hill Aug. 20, 1881. Second child Emily Poore was born March March 19, 1850 in Newbury and died April 19, 1879 in DC.

Taken from The Evening Star December 26, 1867

 AND now the core of the story on Ben and his famous Apples!

Information from The Old First Massachusetts Coast Artillery in War and Peace Author: Frederick Morse Cutler and Project Gutenburg

Veterans of the Mexican War organized a company in the 1st Regiment on June 18, 1849, to which they gave the title, National Guards; and were the recognized representatives of the 1st Mass. Mexican War Regiment. Ben Perley Poore, a prominent newspaper correspondent, was elected Captain. As it became difficult to secure a sufficient number of Mexican veterans in Boston, admission was granted to all militia veterans, after a few years. Capt. Poore presently removed from Boston for business reasons, and made his residence in Newburyport. There he became famous as Major of an independent battalion of infantry; and altho absent from his Boston comrades, continued to retain a warm place in their hearts. In Nov., 1856, he had made an election bet with Col. J. J. Burbank, proprietor of the Tremont House, Boston, to the effect that Millard Fillmore would get the Massachusetts electoral vote for President; and lost. So on Saturday, Nov. 8, he paid the forfeit—by wheeling a barrel of apples, on a wheelbarrow, all the way, thirty-six miles, from Newburyport to Boston. Maj. Poore’s popularity caused a wide-spread interest to develop in this feat; especially in Boston were the streets thronged with friendly spectators. When the Fusiliers learned of the plan, they determined to have a part in it; so the doughty Major, himself in citizen’s dress, was met in Charlestown by a company of thirty-four red-coated soldiers, and solemnly escorted across the bridge into Boston. Then, as a slight recompense for all the fun which had been provided, when the procession arrived at the Tremont House, the apples were sold at $1.00 apiece, for the benefit of the man who had transported them. Maj. Poore’s portrait, as well as two pictures of the event, are today in the A. & H. Art. Company museum.

The Fusiliers about 1845

From The Living Age Volume 61

Many of the election freaks throughout the country are still more evident examples of droll devices and mirthful agitation. Among these the curious wagers that are laid vary, by their ludicrous conditions, the otherwise too eager gambling for money rushed hit on a occasion of such events. One of the most original of these was between two violent politicians respectively candidates for the State Senate and for Congress, by name and title, Colonel R. I. Burbank nnd Major Ben Perley Poore; the first a Fremont "Free-soiler," the latter a Filltnore "Know-nothing," the wager for a barrel full of apples, the loser undertaking to transport the same in a wheelbarrow from West Newbury to Boston, a distance of about forty miles; the feat depending on the Presidential election and the greater or lesser amount of votes polled by their respective favorites. As Fremont was the fortunate man and Fillmore the beaten one (both, however, being out-voted by Buchanan), Major Ben Perley Poore feeling himself bound to pay the penalty of his confidence in the defeat of' Freesoil, Freemen, and Fremont" (although released from his pledge by his courteous adversary), manfully set out on the day fixed upon by the conditions to perform his stipulated engagement, a real debt of honor, with nothing sordid or mercenary either in principle or practice.

The excitement on this ludicrous occasion was intense throughout the line of country traversed by the loser, to cheer whom as lie advanced on his road, thousands of spectators awarded the best compensation for his bad luck and the troublesome redemption of his promise in shouts of laughter and complimentary addresses, and all sorts of convivial entertainment,in return for the one for which he afforded the public. As he ' progressed' towards the accomplishment of his journey, and during the two days of its continuance, the telegraph announced his advances hour by hour; the newspapers gave reports of them, the whole population within any reasonable distance of the line of march hurried to the best places foreseeing the hero, who conquered the whole country by his good-natured submission to the penalty of his defeat. He was met nt Charlestown, a before-mentioned suburb of Boston, by a delegation from the city, his escort of the Boston 'Independent Volunteers,' headed by the Boston ' Cornet band." Next came Hie Major dressed in a fancy costume, a brown hat, green-baize jacket and blue trousers, wheeling his barrow which, with its load of apples, weighed one hundred and eighty-five pounds. Above it floated the American Eagle handsomely painted on a banner, and another flag was borne close behind with this inscription, Major Poore—may the next administration prove as faithful to their pledges as he was to his.' Behind was an open carriage drawn by four horses and occupied by the two judges. A countless crowd followed the procession through the streets, sending forth loud acclamations as the dust-covered, sweltering, and jaded—but smiling—Major, harnessed by a strap to his barrow, with blistered hands and shoulders, triumphantly deposited his load in front of the Tremont Hotel, without having dropped a single apple on the whole length of route. Many a hand shook liis on that proudest moment of his life; while many a tongue uttered a pitying transposition of his names from Ben Perley Poore to Poor Ben Perley—a change which the legislature would doubtlessly have confirmed in consideration of his memorable and unique exploit, Which we celebrated on the spot of its accomplishment by a sumptuous banquet, wine without stint, and humorous speeches without end.

Greenleaf-Dole Farm Host Centennial 1919 West Newbury Massachusetts

Sunday, August 17, 1919 Boston Herald (Boston, MA)
Page: 5

History of Berry's Tavern Danvers MA

Now open under the same name see Berry Tavern

The tavern was first owned by John Porter, licensed to run an ordinary in 1748. His widow Aphia sold it to Colonel Jethro Putnam who operated  it from 1799-1803. Josiah Dodge, jr. managed it and in 1804 Ebenezer Berry, Sr. bought it.

"He kept an inn or tavern here until his death in 1843, and then the same came into possession of his son, Eben Gardiner Berry, and from him it passed to his descendants, who now own the same.  The old tavern was removed in parts when the present house was erected, and the hall part, that portion of the same which had been a part of the beautiful mansion erected on Folly Hill by William Browne, of Salem, about 1750, was also removed a short distance away and in the great fire of 1845 was burned, that fire which destroyed most of the buildings on both sides of that portion of Maple Street lying between Conant and Cherry streets. Many distinguished persons must have tarried here.

The hall of the old house was the portion of the " Browne Hall" already referred to. This hall was used on all state occasions. The officers of the militia at the May trainings had their headquarters here. The selectmen of the town met here, as did also Jordan Lodge of Masons, and here also were held the meetings of the Danvers Lyceum. Dr. Braman once delivered a very funny lecture in this hall, the subject of which was " Quackery." Many debates took place in the old hall. And it is said that here were held those dancing parties, at the mention of which old eyes kindle and limbs no longer sprightly beat time to the echoes of the darky Harry's fiddle, which still linger in their ears. Mr. Eben G. Berry conducted the house up to 1870, when he retired from active management. It was known as the Howard house by the management Edwin A. Southwick, who managed it up to the time of his death in 1895. Mr. Berry died the same year, and during the settlement of the Southwick and Berry estates, Mr. Littlefield managed the house. The present lessee, Mr. Brown, took possession in the latter part of 1896 Danvers Historical Society

Ebenezer Gardner Berry was a descendant from the early Newbury Ma and Rye Beach settlers. He was son of Ebenezer Berry and Ruth Peabody.


Eben married Sept. 12, 1831 1st Elizabeth Jaquith/Jaques Abbott, (b. November 8 1807) daughter of Asa Abbott and Judith Jaquith/Jaques 2nd Mrs. Sarah Page Nichols daughter of Abel Nichols

Eben G. Berry

From Mrs. Louisa Crowninshield Bacon Personal Reminiscences Of The Old Home At Danvers, Massachusetts:

 

"It must have been about 1848 that I first remember going to stay with Grandpa and Grandma Putnam, but afterwards the visit became annual. We went in the train to Salem, where we took the real old-fashioned stage-coach for Danvers. It was a very hot day in May, and I sat on the middle seat of the coach. This seat folded over to let in the more favored passengers who sat in the back seat, after which it was folded hack and a rather wide leather strap was fastened at the end with an iron pin, making a back for the occupants, but toohigh to be of any comfort to the very young, who could hardly reach it. We drove through Salem and South Danvers, passing the large house on one side of the road and the brick woolen mill on the other belonging to Richard Crowninshield. I think we passed the old Judge Collins house, as it was then called, then Danvers Plains and Mr. Berry's tavern, where we once passed a summer. Mr. Berry was much interested in my mother's collecting old-fashioned furniture and crockery. We still have in the family a fine old oak armchair, much carved, and some very beautiful old Chinese porcelain, highly decorated, that he found in Andover, I think. Then came a hawthorne hedge on the right side of the road, soon followed by a privet hedge which made one side of Grandpa's garden, when we turned into the yard and stopped at the front door, which was on the end of the house.

From Historical Collections of the Danvers Historical Society Volume 10
Dr. John H. Nichols expressed for himself, and for all the family, their appreciation of all the words spoken for the sake of honoring the memory of his father." An obituary notice in the Salem Evening News, immediately following his death, includes these paragraphs: "His was the unseen influence behind the events which culminated in the passing of the title of the present public park from Eben G. Berry to the Improvement Society. He plotted what is now known as 'Back Bay' for Mr. Berry, in 1895, and the arrangement of the street lines and lots made the utmost out of the desirable location.

From History of Essex County Volume 2  
The first meetingr of the stockholders of the Village Bank was held “ at Eben G. Berry's Tavern," on Friday April 22, 1836. Elias Putnam was chosen moderator and Moses Black, Jr., clerk. It was voted to accept the charter granted by the Legislature, and Elias Putnam, Jeremiah Stone and Eben Putnam were chosen to consider favorable locations for a banking-house. At adjournment, May 9th, the first board of directors were chosen, namely: John Page, Eben Putnam, Samuel Preston, John Perley, Elias Putnam, Daniel F. Putnam, Joseph Steams, Amos Sheldon, Moses Black, Jr., Samuel Putnam, Nathaniel Boardman, Frederick Perley. It was reported “ that lv‘leeper’s house and land on the corner could be purchased for $3000, and that it would be a favorable place for a Bank,” and later this estate was purchased for $2800. 

From Old Anti-Slavery Day Danvers Historical Society

A "DanVeis Female Anti-Slavery Society," of which Mrs. Isaac Winslow was chosen the President; Mrs. Richard Loring, Vice-President; Miss Harriet N. Webster, Corresponding Secretary; Miss Emily Winslow, daughter of Isaac Winslow, (Mrs. Emily W. Taylor, now of Germantown, Pa.), Recording Secretary, and Mrs. Elijah Upton, Treasurer; with Mrs. Eben Upton, Mrs. Amos Osborn, Mrs. Benjamin Hill, Mrs. Charles Northend, Mrs. Abel Nichols, and Mrs. John Morrison, as Councillors. The Society was evidently meant for the whole town and probably its sixty members represented the North Parish as well as the South. Mrs. Abel Nichols, not to mention others, was of North Danvers, and she and her husband were among the best of abolitionists. Their daughter, the late Mrs. Eben G. Berry, recalled with what fear and trembling she was wont, as a young girl, to circulate antislavery documents, and their nephew, Mr. Andrew Nichols, now of Danvers, son of Dr. Andrew Nichols, remembers how he used to be stoned in the streets for procuring subscribers to anti-slavery papers. But among the men of the place who were earnest for emancipation, there were—besides Isaac Winslow and Joseph Southwick—Mr. Abner Sanger, whom Frederick Douglass so deservedly hoaors in his eloquent letter; Eli F. Burnham, Amasa P. Blake* and Andrew Porter; and Dr. Andrew Nichols and Alonzo P. Phillips, both of whom were of the highest character and came to be prominent and influential members of the Liberty party.

Portrait of Levi Preston painted by Abel Nichols Danvers Archival Center

More Art on Abel Nichols Peabody Essex Institute

• The Berry Family of Andover http://www.mhl.org/sites/default/files/files/Abbott/Berry%20Family.pdf
• The Jacques & Jaquith Family of Andover
• Find A Grave 

In the Danvers Archival Center a poem written by Eben “Milan [Murphy] and his wife Happy”